Two-level document processing method

Abstract

A two level document processing method which prepares a downstream document on the basis of an upstream document associated with software. The upstream document is one used by users of a software product or the like, and the downstream document is one used by designers of the software product or the like. The downstream document is prepared by comparing the upstream document with an upstream deletion document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document (steps SA1-SA4), by continuing to search a deletion candidate to be eliminated from the upstream document until the last one, and by performing deletion/non-deletion of the deletion candidate from the upstream document in accordance with the results of the search (steps SA7-SA16). This makes it possible to improve efficiency of preparing a document, to refine the document, and to exploit potential information.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A two-level document processing method preparing a downstream document on the basis of an upstream document, said upstream document being a document associated with a product and placed near a user, and said downstream document being a document associated with the product and placed near a maker, said method comprising the steps of:

comparing the upstream document with an upstream deletion document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the upstream document until no more deletion candidate is found; and

preparing the downstream document by performing deletion or non-deletion of the deletion candidate from the upstream document in accordance with results of the step of selecting.

2. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching said upstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved; and

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file.

3. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching in said upstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved.

4. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching in said upstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate; and

storing the deletion candidate into an upstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the upstream deletion document.

5. A two-level document processing method preparing a downstream document on the basis of an upstream document, said method comprising the steps of:

comparing the upstream document with a downstream addition document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream addition document and based on the results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the upstream document until no more addition candidate is found; and

preparing the downstream document by performing addition or non-addition of the addition candidate to the upstream document in accordance with results of the step of selecting.

6. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching said downstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the upstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved; and

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file.

7. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching said downstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition; and

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved.

8. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching said downstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate; and

storing the addition candidate into a downstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the downstream addition document.

9. A two-level document processing method preparing a downstream document on the basis of an upstream document, and an upstream document on the basis of a downstream document, said method comprising the steps of:

comparing the upstream document with an upstream deletion document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the upstream document until no more deletion candidate is found;

searching said upstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file after the deletion of the deletion candidate;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved;

storing the deletion candidate into an upstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the upstream deletion document;

comparing the upstream document with a downstream addition document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream addition document and based on the results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the upstream document until no more addition candidate is found;

searching said downstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the upstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved;

storing the addition candidate into a downstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the downstream addition document; and

outputting the input upstream document and the output downstream document contrastively in order to clarify the addition and deletion portions.

10. A two-level document processing method preparing an upstream document on the basis of a downstream document, said method comprising the steps of:

comparing the downstream document with a downstream deletion document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream deletion document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the downstream document until no more deletion candidate is found; and

preparing the upstream document by performing deletion or non-deletion of the deletion candidate from the downstream document in accordance with results of the step of selecting.

11. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching the downstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved; and

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file.

12. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching the downstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion; and

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved.

13. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching the downstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate; and

storing the deletion candidate into a downstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the downstream deletion document.

14. A two-level document processing method preparing an upstream document on the basis of a downstream document, said method comprising the steps of:

comparing the downstream document with an upstream addition document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream addition document and based on results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the downstream document until no more addition candidate is found; and

preparing the upstream document by performing addition or non-addition of the addition candidate to the downstream document in accordance with results of the step of selecting.

15. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching the upstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved; and

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file.

16. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching the upstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition; and

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved.

17. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said step of preparing comprises the steps of:

searching the upstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate; and

storing the addition candidate into an upstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the upstream addition document.

18. A two-level document processing method preparing an upstream document on the basis of a downstream document, and a downstream document on the basis of an upstream document, said method comprising the steps of:

comparing the downstream document with a downstream deletion document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream deletion document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the downstream document until no more deletion candidate is found;

searching the downstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved;

storing the deletion candidate into a downstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the downstream deletion document;

comparing the downstream document with an upstream addition document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream addition document and based on results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the downstream document until no more addition candidate is found;

searching the upstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved;

storing the addition candidate into an upstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the upstream addition document; and

outputting the input downstream document and the output upstream document contrastively in order to clarify the addition and deletion portions.

19. A two-level document processing method comprising:

inputting an upstream document and a downstream document,

comparing the upstream document with the downstream document to extract differences between the two documents;

storing information, which is present in the upstream document and absent in the downstream document, as an upstream addition/deletion document; and

storing information, which is present in the downstream document and absent in the upstream document, as a downstream addition/deletion document.

20. A two-level document processing method comprising the steps of:

selecting shortage candidate from an upstream document under shortage decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are lacking or not;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more shortage candidate is found in said upstream document; and

performing addition or non-addition of said corresponding information to said upstream document in accordance with results of the step of searching.

21. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 20, wherein said step of performing comprises the steps of:

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive deletion file under a decision that an excessive deletion has been made if the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document; and

adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document.

22. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 20, wherein said step of performing comprises the steps of:

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the upstream addition/deletion document, said repository being resources of information; and

adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information to an addition file, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and if the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be reasonable.

23. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 20, wherein said step of performing comprises the steps of:

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the upstream addition/deletion document; and

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be unreasonable.

24. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 20, wherein said step of performing comprises the steps of:

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the upstream addition/deletion document; and

storing the shortage candidate into an upstream shortage candidate file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is absent in the repository.

25. A two-level document processing method comprising the steps of:

selecting an excessive candidate from an upstream document under excess decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are excessive or not, after no more shortage candidate is found in the upstream document under shortage decision rules;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate, said upstream addition/deletion document storing information which is present in the upstream document and is absent in the downstream document;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more excessive candidate is found in said upstream document; and

performing deletion or non-deletion of said excessive candidate to said upstream document in accordance with results of the step of searching.

26. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 25, wherein said performing comprises the steps of:

storing the excessive candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive addition file under a decision that an excessive addition has been made, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document; and

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document.

27. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 25, wherein said step of performing comprises the step of:

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document and storing the excessive candidate into a deletion file, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and if the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be reasonable.

28. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 25, wherein said step of performing comprises the step of:

storing the excessive candidate into a non-deletion file without deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive document is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be unreasonable.

29. A two-level document processing method comprising the steps of:

selecting shortage candidate from an upstream document under shortage decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are lacking or not;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more shortage candidate is found in said upstream document;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive deletion file under a decision that an excessive deletion has been made if the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document;

adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document,

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the upstream addition/deletion document, said repository being resources of information;

adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information to an addition file, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and if the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be reasonable;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be unreasonable;

storing the shortage candidate into an upstream shortage candidate file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is absent in the repository;

selecting an excessive candidate from an upstream document under excess decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are excessive or not, after no more shortage candidate is found in the upstream document under shortage decision rules;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate, said upstream addition/deletion document storing information which is present in the upstream document and is absent in the downstream document;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more excessive candidate is found in said upstream document;

storing the excessive candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive addition file under a decision that an excessive addition has been made, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document;

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document after storing the excessive addition;

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document and storing the excessive candidate into a deletion file, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and if the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be reasonable;

storing the excessive candidate into a non-deletion file without deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive document is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be unreasonable; and

outputting the upstream document and the upstream addition/deletion document contrastively in order to clarity the addition and deletion portions before and after refinement.

30. A two-level document processing method comprising the steps of:

selecting shortage candidate from an downstream document under shortage decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are lacking or not;

searching an downstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more shortage candidate is found in said downstream document;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive deletion file under a decision that an excessive deletion has been made if the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate is present in the downstream addition/deletion document;

adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the downstream addition/deletion document,

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the downstream addition/deletion document, said repository being resources of information;

adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, and storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information to an addition file, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and if the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be reasonable;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be unreasonable;

storing the shortage candidate into an downstream shortage candidate file without adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, if the corresponding information is absent in the repository;

selecting an excessive candidate from an downstream document under excess decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are excessive or not, after no more shortage candidate is found in the downstream document under shortage decision rules;

searching an downstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate, said downstream addition/deletion document storing information which is present in the downstream document and is absent in the downstream document;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more excessive candidate is found in said downstream document;

storing the excessive candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive addition file under a decision that an excessive addition has been made, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is present in the downstream addition/deletion document;

deleting the excessive candidate from the downstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the downstream addition/deletion document after storing the excessive addition;

deleting the excessive candidate from the downstream document and storing the excessive candidate into a deletion file, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is absent in the downstream addition/deletion document, and if the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be reasonable;

storing the excessive candidate into a non-deletion file without deleting the excessive candidate from the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive document is absent in the downstream addition/deletion document, and the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be unreasonable; and

outputting the downstream document and the downstream addition/deletion document contrastively in order to clarity the addition and deletion portions before and after refinement.

31. A two-level document processing method comprising the steps of:

deciding whether a query about a product relates to upstream information or downstream information;

searching an upstream document, upstream addition/deletion document, upstream repository, downstream document, downstream addition/deletion document, and downstream repository, for an answering candidate, in accordance with results of the step of deciding until non-searched portion remains;

presenting the answering candidate if it is found; and

storing an unsatisfied answering candidate, or a fact that no answering candidate is found, into a non-answering file.

32. A two-level document processing method preparing a downstream document on the basis of an upstream document, and an upstream document on the basis of a downstream document, said method comprising the steps of:

comparing the upstream document with an upstream deletion document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the upstream document until no more deletion candidate is found;

searching said upstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file after the deletion of the deletion candidate;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved;

storing the deletion candidate into an upstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the upstream deletion document;

comparing the upstream document with a downstream addition document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream addition document and based on the results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the upstream document until no more addition candidate is found;

searching said downstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the upstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved;

storing the addition candidate into a downstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the downstream addition document;

outputting the input upstream document and the output downstream document contrastively in order to clarify the addition and deletion portions;

comparing the downstream document with a downstream deletion document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream deletion document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the downstream document until no more deletion candidate is found;

searching the downstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved;

storing the deletion candidate into a downstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the downstream deletion document;

comparing the downstream document with an upstream addition document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream addition document and based on results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the downstream document until no more addition candidate is found;

searching the upstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved;

storing the addition candidate into an upstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the upstream addition document;

outputting the input downstream document and the output upstream document contrastively in order to clarify the addition and deletion portions;

selecting shortage candidate from an upstream document under shortage decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are lacking or not;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more shortage candidate is found in said upstream document;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive deletion file under a decision that an excessive deletion has been made if the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document;

adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document,

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the upstream addition/deletion document, said repository being resources of information;

adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information to an addition file, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and if the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be reasonable;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be unreasonable;

storing the shortage candidate into an upstream shortage candidate file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is absent in the repository;

selecting an excessive candidate from an upstream document under excess decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are excessive or not, after no more shortage candidate is found in the upstream document under shortage decision rules;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate, said upstream addition/deletion document storing information which is present in the upstream document and is absent in the downstream document;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more excessive candidate is found in said upstream document;

storing the excessive candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive addition file under a decision that an excessive addition has been made, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document;

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document after storing the excessive addition;

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document and storing the excessive candidate into a deletion file, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and if the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be reasonable;

storing the excessive candidate into a non-deletion file without deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive document is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be unreasonable;

outputting the upstream document and the upstream addition/deletion document contrastively in order to clarity the addition and deletion portions before and after refinement;

selecting shortage candidate from an downstream document under shortage decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are lacking or not;

searching an downstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more shortage candidate is found in said downstream document;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive deletion file under a decision that an excessive deletion has been made if the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate is present in the downstream addition/deletion document;

adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the downstream addition/deletion document,

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the downstream addition/deletion document, said repository being resources of information;

adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, and storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information to an addition file, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and if the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be reasonable;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be unreasonable;

storing the shortage candidate into an downstream shortage candidate file without adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, if the corresponding information is absent in the repository;

selecting an excessive candidate from an downstream document under excess decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are excessive or not, after no more shortage candidate is found in the downstream document under shortage decision rules;

searching an downstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate, said downstream addition/deletion document storing information which is present in the downstream document and is absent in the downstream document;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more excessive candidate is found in said downstream document;

storing the excessive candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive addition file under a decision that an excessive addition has been made, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is present in the downstream addition/deletion document;

deleting the excessive candidate from the downstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the downstream addition/deletion document after storing the excessive addition;

deleting the excessive candidate from the downstream document and storing the excessive candidate into a deletion file, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is absent in the downstream addition/deletion document, and if the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be reasonable;

storing the excessive candidate into a non-deletion file without deleting the excessive candidate from the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive document is absent in the downstream addition/deletion document, and the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be unreasonable;

outputting the downstream document and the downstream addition/deletion document contrastively in order to clarity the addition and deletion portions before and after refinement;

deciding whether a query about a product relates to upstream information or downstream information;

searching an upstream document, upstream addition/deletion document, upstream repository, downstream document, downstream addition/deletion document, and downstream repository, for an answering candidate, in accordance with results of the step of deciding until non-searched portion remains;

presenting the answering candidate if it is found;

storing an unsatisfied answering candidate, or a fact that no answering candidate is found, into a non-answering file;

deciding information value of information associated with the upstream under upstream file elimination decision rules, said information associated with the upstream being stored in the deletion file, non-deletion file, addition file, non-addition file, special candidate file, document shortage file, excessive deletion file, excessive addition file, and non-answering file;

extracting valuable information as a processing candidate;

comparing the processing candidate with technical information as past results, until the last processing candidate; and

storing the processing candidate into the repository in accordance with results of comparison.

33. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 32, further comprising the steps of:

comparing the processing candidate with a term dictionary as technical information;

adding the processing candidate to the term dictionary if a term corresponding to the processing candidate is not present in the term dictionary; and

storing the processing candidate into an existence repository as another expression of existing information if a term corresponding to the processing candidate is not present in the term dictionary.

34. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 32, further comprising the steps of:

comparing the processing candidate with background knowledge as technical information;

deciding whether or not the processing candidate is eligible for the background knowledge under background knowledge adoption decision rules, if information corresponding to the processing candidate is not found in the background knowledge;

adding the processing candidate to the background knowledge if the processing candidate satisfies the rules; and

storing the processing candidate into an existence repository as another expression of existing information if the processing candidate satisfies the rules.

35. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 32, further comprising the steps of:

comparing the processing candidate with an upstream document of another product as technical information; and

storing the processing candidate into an existence repository as another expression of existing information, if the processing candidate has corresponding information in the upstream document of another product.

36. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 32, further comprising the steps of:

comparing the processing candidate with information associated with a development plan of a product; and

storing the processing candidate into a plan repository as another expression of the information associated with the development plan, if the processing candidate has corresponding information in the information associated with the development plan.

37. The two-level document processing method as claimed in claim 32, further comprising the steps of:

deciding whether or not the processing candidate is eligible for future repository under producibility decision rules; and

storing the processing candidate into the future repository as another expression if the processing candidate satisfies the rules.

38. A two-level document processing method preparing a downstream document on the basis of an upstream document, and an upstream document on the basis of a downstream document, said method comprising the steps of:

comparing the upstream document with an upstream deletion document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the upstream document until no more deletion candidate is found;

searching said upstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file after the deletion of the deletion candidate;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved;

storing the deletion candidate into an upstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the upstream deletion document;

comparing the upstream document with a downstream addition document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream addition document and based on the results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the upstream document until no more addition candidate is found;

searching said downstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the upstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved;

storing the addition candidate into a downstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the downstream addition document;

outputting the input upstream document and the output downstream document contrastively in order to clarify the addition and deletion portions;

comparing the downstream document with a downstream deletion document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream deletion document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the downstream document until no more deletion candidate is found;

searching the downstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved;

storing the deletion candidate into a downstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the downstream deletion document;

comparing the downstream document with an upstream addition document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream addition document and based on results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the downstream document until no more addition candidate is found;

searching the upstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file;

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved;

storing the addition candidate into an upstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the upstream addition document;

outputting the input downstream document and the output upstream document contrastively in order to clarify the addition and deletion portions;

selecting shortage candidate from an upstream document under shortage decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are lacking or not;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more shortage candidate is found in said upstream document;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive deletion file under a decision that an excessive deletion has been made if the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document;

adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document,

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the upstream addition/deletion document, said repository being resources of information;

adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information to an addition file, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and if the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be reasonable;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be unreasonable;

storing the shortage candidate into an upstream shortage candidate file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is absent in the repository;

selecting an excessive candidate from an upstream document under excessive decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are excessive or not, after no more shortage candidate is found in the upstream document under shortage decision rules;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate, said upstream addition/deletion document storing information which is present in the upstream document and is absent in the downstream document;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more excessive candidate is found in said upstream document;

storing the excessive candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive addition file under a decision that an excessive addition has been made, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document;

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document after storing the excessive addition;

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document and storing the excessive candidate into a deletion file, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and if the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be reasonable;

storing the excessive candidate into a non-deletion file without deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive document is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be unreasonable;

outputting the upstream document and the upstream addition/deletion document contrastively in order to clarity the addition and deletion portions before and after refinement;

selecting shortage candidate from an downstream document under shortage decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are lacking or not;

searching an downstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more shortage candidate is found in said downstream document;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive deletion file under a decision that an excessive deletion has been made if the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate is present in the downstream addition/deletion document;

adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the downstream addition/deletion document,

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the downstream addition/deletion document, said repository being resources of information;

adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, and storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information to an addition file, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and if the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be reasonable;

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be unreasonable;

storing the shortage candidate into an downstream shortage candidate file without adding the corresponding information to the downstream document, if the corresponding information is absent in the repository;

selecting an excessive candidate from an downstream document under excessive decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are excessive or not, after no more shortage candidate is found in the downstream document under shortage decision rules;

searching an downstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate, said downstream addition/deletion document storing information which is present in the downstream document and is absent in the downstream document;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more excessive candidate is found in said downstream document;

storing the excessive candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive addition file under a decision that an excessive addition has been made, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is present in the downstream addition/deletion document;

deleting the excessive candidate from the downstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the downstream addition/deletion document after storing the excessive addition;

deleting the excessive candidate from the downstream document and storing the excessive candidate into a deletion file, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is absent in the downstream addition/deletion document, and if the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be reasonable;

storing the excessive candidate into a non-deletion file without deleting the excessive candidate from the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive document is absent in the downstream addition/deletion document, and the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be unreasonable;

outputting the downstream document and the downstream addition/deletion document contrastively in order to clarity the addition and deletion portions before and after refinement;

deciding whether a query about a product relates to upstream information or downstream information;

searching an upstream document, upstream addition/deletion document, upstream repository, downstream document, downstream addition/deletion document, and downstream repository, for an answering candidate, in accordance with results of the step of deciding until non-searched portion remains;

presenting the answering candidate if it is found;

storing an unsatisfied answering candidate, or a fact that no answering candidate is found, into a non-answering file;

deciding information value of information associated with the downstream, said information associated with the downstream being stored in the deletion file, non-deletion file, addition file, non-addition file, special candidate file, document shortage file, excessive deletion file, excessive addition file, and non-answering file;

extracting valuable information as a processing candidate;

comparing the processing candidate with technical information as past results, until the last processing candidate;

storing the processing candidate into the repository in accordance with results of comparison;

comparing the processing candidate with a term dictionary as technical information;

adding the processing candidate to the term dictionary if a term corresponding to the processing candidate is not present in the term dictionary;

storing the processing candidate into an existence repository as another expression of existing information if a term corresponding to the processing candidate is not present in the term dictionary;

comparing the processing candidate with background knowledge as technical information;

deciding whether or not the processing candidate is eligible for the background knowledge under background knowledge adoption decision rules, if information corresponding to the processing candidate is not found in the background knowledge;

adding the processing candidate to the background knowledge if the processing candidate satisfies the rules;

storing the processing candidate into an existence repository as another expression of existing information if the processing candidate satisfies the rules;

comparing the processing candidate with a downstream document of another product as technical information;

storing the processing candidate into an existence repository as another expression of existing information, if the processing candidate has corresponding information in the downstream document of another product;

comparing the processing candidate with information associated with a development plan of a product;

storing the processing candidate into a plan repository as another expression of the information associated with the development plan, if the processing candidate has corresponding information in the information associated with the development plan;

deciding whether or not the processing candidate is eligible for future repository under producibility decision rules; and

storing the processing candidate into the future repository as another expression if the processing candidate satisfies the rules.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a two-level document processing method, and particularly to a method for converting an upstream document into a downstream document, or vice versa, for bringing out an addition/deletion document including information to be added or deleted during the conversion, for refining the addition/deletion document, and for storing reusable information as technical resources. Here, the upstream document and the downstream document constitute a two-level structure, where both document are associated, for example, with software as a product, and the upstream document is a document prepared for and placed near a user, and the downstream document is a document prepared for and placed near a maker.

Description of Related Art

In a series of processes of preparing software and selling it to customers, two types of documents are generally made: A document which is placed near users of the software, and used in an inquiry or estimation, such as specifications or system manuals; and a document which is placed near makers of the software, and used by the makers or other system engineers, such as system survey manuals, or technical specifications.

Assuming that the user side is upstream because the need for the software specification arises therefrom, and the maker side is downstream, the former document may be referred to as an "upstream document" and the latter document as a "downstream document".

Generally speaking, the volume of an upstream document is smaller than that of the downstream document. Since the upstream document is mainly used in activities for receiving orders or business, it does not usually include detailed technical information that would be required by system engineers and described in the downstream document.

On the other hand, information required by users, such as utilization results of the software, comparison of performance with other products, or the like, will be described in the upstream document, but often omitted from the downstream document.

Preparing a new upstream document or downstream document by reusing an existing downstream document or upstream document associated with a particular software product, can be readily carried out if information to be added to or deleted from the original document is clearly designated. Here, prparing means converting an upstream document to a dowstream document by adding and/or deleting information, or vice versa.

These addition and/or deletion items (a document including addition/deletion items will be referred to as addition/deletion document below), however, cannot be readily exploited because they are hidden in personal knowledge or experience, or stored in files of a company. This will cause a great difficulty in improving efficiency of preparing a document.

This presents technical problems in that the addition/deletion document, which exists between the two-level upstream and downstream documents, should be made explicit as technical resources, and that the efficiency of preparing documents should be increased by reusing the addition/deletion document, upstream document and downstream document.

The conversions between the upstream document and the downstream document as described above are common to system engineering work.

More specifically, the system engineering work begins from preparing a demand specification as an upstream document by researching and implementing the need of customers at the upstream side, and ends with actual system design, in which the contents of the demand specification are reflected onto a design specification as a downstream document. Thus, preparing a downstream document from an upstream document, for example, is similar to a series of processes of the system engineering work, in which the system design is carried out in accordance with the need of customers.

Accordingly, once the technical problem of improving the document preparation efficiency has been solved, the method would be applied to the system engineering work. Thus, such solution has been strongly desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a two-level document processing method which can improve efficiency of document conversions and document preparation efficiency by reusing and refining an upstream document, downstream document and addition/deletion document, which can make implicit information explicit in order to exploit that information as resources of technical information, and which can be applied to the system engineering work.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a two-level document processing method preparing a downstream document on the basis of an upstream document, the upstream document being a document associated with a product and placed near a user, and the downstream document being a document associated with the product and placed near a maker, the method comprising the steps of:

comparing the upstream document with an upstream deletion document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the upstream document until no more deletion candidate is found; and

preparing the downstream document by performing deletion or non-deletion of the deletion candidate from the upstream document in accordance with results of the step of selecting.

According to this aspect of the present invention, technical information or the like, which will be necessary to a user side but not necessary to a maker side, is deleted from the upstream document, so that the downstream document of a minimum amount is prepared.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the upstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved; and

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the deletion candidate is deleted from the upstream document, and the deletion candidate and the corresponding information are stored into the deletion file in order to be inspected as information of the upstream deletion document.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching in the upstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved.

According to this aspect of the present invention, decision is made for each deletion candidate whether it is reasonable to eliminate that deletion candidate, and if it is decided that the deletion candidate should not be eliminated, the deletion candidate is left intact. This is performed because some of the deletion candidates are necessary for a maker side, even if corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidates is present in the upstream deletion document. The deletion candidate which is not deleted and its corresponding information are stored into a non-deletion file to be inspected as information of the upstream deletion document.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching in the upstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate; and

storing the deletion candidate into an upstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the upstream deletion document.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the deletion candidate is stored into the upstream special candidate file as a special candidate in order to accumulate new information, even if corresponding information associated with the deletion candidate to be deleted in principle is absent in the upstream deletion document. This benefits much to improve an insufficient upstream deletion document.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a two-level document processing method preparing a downstream document on the basis of an upstream document, the method comprising the steps of:

comparing the upstream document with a downstream addition document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream addition document and based on the results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the upstream document until no more addition candidate is found; and

preparing the downstream document by performing addition or non-addition of the addition candidate to the upstream document in accordance with results of the step of selecting.

According to this aspect of the present invention, a high automation efficiency of the forward conversion from the upstream document to the downstream document is achieved, because the downstream document is generally generated by adding a large amount of information to the upstream document. In this case, the starting upstream document may be the original upstream document, or the upstream document which has undergone the deletion processings mentioned above.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the downstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the upstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved; and

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the addition candidate is added to the upstream document, and the addition document and its corresponding information are stored into an addition file to be inspected as information of the downstream addition document.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the downstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition; and

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved.

According to this aspect of the present invention, decision is made for each addition candidate whether it is reasonable to add that addition candidate, and if it is decided that the addition candidate should not be added, the addition candidate is not added. This is performed because some of the addition candidates are unnecessary for a maker side, even if corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidates is present in the downstream addition document. The addition candidate which is not added and its corresponding information are stored into a non-addition file to be inspected as information of the downstream addition document.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the downstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate; and

storing the addition candidate into a downstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the downstream addition document.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the addition candidate is stored into the downstream special candidate file as a special candidate in order to accumulate new information, even if corresponding information associated with the addition candidate to be added in principle is absent in the downstream addition document. This benefits much to improve an insufficient downstream addition document.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the processings from the first to eighth aspects of the present invention are carried out, and the input upstream document and the output downstream document are outputted contrastively in order to clarify the addition and deletion portions.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the upstream document is contrastively displayed with the downstream document which is obtained as a result of the addition and deletion to and from the upstream document, together with the addition and deletion portions which have been stored in the addition file and the deletion file. This makes it possible to support an examination of quality of the forward conversion.

According to a 10th aspect of the present invention, there is provided a two-level document processing method preparing an upstream document on the basis of a downstream document, the method comprising the steps of:

comparing the downstream document with a downstream deletion document including information which is particular to the downstream document and is unnecessary for the upstream document;

selecting, from the downstream deletion document and based on results of the step of comparing, a deletion candidate to be deleted from the downstream document until no more deletion candidate is found; and

preparing the upstream document by performing deletion or non-deletion of the deletion candidate from the downstream document in accordance with results of the searching.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the upstream document of a minimum amount is prepared by deleting information which is unnecessary to the upstream document from the downstream document. As the downstream deletion document in this case, the same document as the downstream addition document in the fifth aspect of the present invention can be used.

According to an 11th aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the downstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion;

deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document if the deletion of the deletion candidate is approved; and

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a deletion file.

According to this aspect of the present invention, which corresponds to the second aspect, the deletion candidate which has been deleted and the corresponding information are stored into the deletion file in order to be inspected as information of the downstream deletion document.

According to a 12th aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the downstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the downstream deletion document, the deletion candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of deletion; and

storing the deletion candidate and the corresponding information into a non-deletion file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the deletion of the deletion candidate is not approved.

According to this aspect of the present invention, which corresponds to the third aspect, decision is made for each deletion candidate whether it is reasonable to eliminate that deletion candidate, and if it is decided that the deletion candidate should not be eliminated, the deletion candidate is left intact. This is performed because some of the deletion candidates are necessary for a user side, even if corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidates is present in the downstream deletion document. The deletion candidate which is not deleted and its corresponding information are stored into a non-deletion file to be inspected as information of the downstream deletion document.

According to a 13th aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the downstream deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate; and

storing the deletion candidate into a downstream special candidate file without deleting the deletion candidate from the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the deletion candidate is absent in the downstream deletion document.

According to this aspect of the present invention, which corresponds to the fourth aspect, the deletion candidate is stored into the downstream special candidate file as a special candidate in order to accumulate new information, even if corresponding information associated with the deletion candidate is absent in the downstream deletion document. This benefits much to improve an insufficient downstream deletion document.

According to a 14th aspect of the present invention, there is provided a two-level document processing method preparing an upstream document on the basis of a downstream document, the method comprising the steps of:

comparing the downstream document with an upstream addition document including information which is particular to the upstream document and is unnecessary for the downstream document;

selecting, from the upstream addition document and based on results of the step of comparing, an addition candidate to be added to the downstream document until no more addition candidate is found; and

preparing the upstream document by performing addition or non-addition of the addition candidate to the downstream document in accordance with results of the searching.

This aspect of the present invention corresponds to the fifth aspect. In this case, the starting downstream document may be the original downstream document, or the downstream document which has undergone the deletion processings in the 10th-13th aspects of the present invention. As the upstream addition document in this aspect, the same document as the upstream deletion document in the first aspect can be used.

According to a 15th aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the upstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition;

adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is approved; and

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into an addition file.

According to this aspect of the present invention, which corresponds to the sixth aspect, the addition candidate is added to the downstream document, and the addition document and its corresponding information are stored into an addition file to be inspected as information of the upstream addition document.

According to a 16th aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the upstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate;

displaying, if the corresponding information is present in the upstream addition document, the addition candidate and the corresponding information to have approval of addition; and

storing the addition candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document if the addition of the addition candidate is not approved.

According to this aspect of the present invention, which corresponds to the seventh aspect, decision is made for each addition candidate whether it is reasonable to add that addition candidate, and if it is decided that the addition candidate should not be added, the addition candidate is not added. This is performed because some of the addition candidates are unnecessary for a user side, even if corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidates is present in the upstream addition document. The addition candidate which is not added and its corresponding information are stored into a non-addition file to be inspected as information of the upstream addition document.

According to a 17th aspect of the present invention, the step of preparing may comprise the steps of:

searching the upstream addition document for corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate; and

storing the addition candidate into an upstream special candidate file without adding the addition candidate to the downstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the addition candidate is absent in the upstream addition document.

According to this aspect of the present invention, corresponding to the eighth aspect, the addition candidate is stored into the downstream special candidate file as a special candidate in order to accumulate new information, even if corresponding information associated with the addition candidate is absent in the upstream addition document. This benefits much to improve an insufficient upstream addition document.

According to an 18th aspect of the present invention, the processings from the 10th to 17th aspects of the present invention are carried out, and the input downstream document and the output upstream document are contrastively outputted in order to clarify the addition and deletion portions.

According to this aspect of the present invention, which corresponds to the ninth aspect, the downstream document is contrastively displayed with the upstream document which is obtained as a result of the addition and deletion to and from the downstream document, together with the addition and deletion portions which have been stored in the addition file and the deletion file. This makes it possible to support an examination of quality of the inverse conversion.

According to a 19th aspect of the present invention, there is provided a two-level document processing method comprising:

inputting an upstream document and a downstream document,

comparing the upstream document with the downstream document to extract differences between the two documents;

storing information, which is present in the upstream document and absent in the downstream document, as an upstream addition/deletion document; and

storing information, which is present in the downstream document and absent in the upstream document, as a downstream addition/deletion document.

According to this aspect of the present invention, a first stage addition/deletion document is prepared by extracting differences between existing upstream document and downstream document under predetermined rules. Since this addition/deletion document depends on the existing upstream document and downstream document, a refining processing described below will be required.

According to a 20th aspect of the present invention, there is provided a two-level document processing method comprising the steps of:

selecting shortage candidate from an upstream document under shortage decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are lacking or not;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more shortage candidate is found in the upstream document; and

performing addition or non-addition of the corresponding information to the upstream document in accordance with results of the step of searching.

According to this aspect of the present invention, if a shortage candidate is found in the upstream document, this is considered that an excessive deletion is carried out in accordance with the upstream addition/deletion document, and hence, the corresponding information is added to the upstream document, and is eliminated from the upstream addition/deletion document.

According to a 21st aspect of the present invention, the step of performing may comprise the steps of:

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive deletion file under a decision that an excessive deletion has been made if the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document; and

adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document.

According to this aspect of the present invention, since the corresponding information, which causes the excessive deletion from the upstream addition/deletion document, is deleted, the refinement of the upstream addition/deletion document as well as that of the upstream document will be carried out. In addition, since the shortage candidate and its corresponding information is stored into the excessive deletion file, an appropriate generation of the upstream addition/deletion document thereafter is performed with reference to the excessive deletion file.

According to a 22nd aspect of the present invention, the step of performing may comprise the steps of:

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the upstream addition/deletion document, the repository being resources of information; and adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, and storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information to an addition file, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and if the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be reasonable.

According to this aspect of the present invention, if the corresponding information is present in the result repository or the like, it is stored into the upstream document, even if the corresponding information is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document. In this case, since the shortage candidate of the upstream document is stored into the addition file, an appropriate preparation of the upstream addition/deletion document thereafter will be carried out.

According to a 23rd aspect of the present invention, the step of performing may comprise the steps of:

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the upstream addition/deletion document; and

storing the shortage candidate and the corresponding information into a non-addition file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is present in the repository, and the addition of the corresponding information is decided to be unreasonable.

According to this aspect of the present invention, even if the corresponding information is present in the result repository, decision is made for each corresponding information whether it is reasonable to add it, and the corresponding information is not added if inappropriate to do so. Then, the corresponding information is stored into the non-addition file in order to accumulated it as beneficial information for the upstream addition/deletion document, thereby utilizing the corresponding information.

According to a 24th aspect of the present invention, the step of performing may comprise the steps of:

searching a repository for the corresponding information corresponding to the shortage candidate if the corresponding information is not present in the upstream addition/deletion document; and

storing the shortage candidate into an upstream shortage candidate file without adding the corresponding information to the upstream document, if the corresponding information is absent in the repository.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the corresponding information is absent in the result repository as well. In this case, the shortage of the upstream document cannot be compensated. The shortage candidate should be checked whether it is convertible into a product which a user demands before it is added as technical information. The shortage candidate which is not added is accumulated into the upstream document shortage file as beneficial information for the upstream addition/deletion document.

According to a 25th aspect of the present invention, there is provided a two-level document processing method comprising the steps of:

selecting an excessive candidate from an upstream document under excess decision rules used as a reference to decide whether some kinds of information are excessive or not, after no more shortage candidate is found in the upstream document under shortage decision rules;

searching an upstream addition/deletion document for corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate, the upstream addition/deletion document storing information which is present in the upstream document and is absent in the downstream document;

repeating the steps of selecting and searching until no more excessive candidate is found in the upstream document; and

performing deletion or non-deletion of the excessive candidate to the upstream document in accordance with results of the step of searching.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the excessive addition to the upstream document, which may be carried out in accordance with the upstream addition/deletion document, is checked under predetermined decision rules, and if the excessive addition is confirmed, the excessive candidate is deleted from the upstream document, and the corresponding information is deleted from the upstream addition/deletion document.

According to a 26th aspect of the present invention, the performing may comprise the steps of:

storing the excessive candidate and the corresponding information into an excessive addition file under a decision that an excessive addition has been made, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is present in the upstream addition/deletion document; and

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, and deleting the corresponding information from the upstream addition/deletion document.

This aspect of the present invention is effective to delete low priority information. Such a case will occur, for example, when the upstream document is prepared from the downstream document, where restrictions on the document volume is severe. Contents of the excessive addition file are information beneficial to preparing the upstream addition/deletion document.

According to a 27th aspect of the present invention, the step of performing may comprise the step of:

deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document and storing the excessive candidate into a deletion file, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive candidate is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and if the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be reasonable.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the excessive candidate is deleted from the upstream document, and stored into the deletion file. Thus, beneficial information is accumulated for the upstream addition/deletion document.

According to a 28th aspect of the present invention, the step of performing may comprise the step of:

storing the excessive candidate into a non-deletion file without deleting the excessive candidate from the upstream document, if the corresponding information corresponding to the excessive document is absent in the upstream addition/deletion document, and the deletion of the excessive candidate is decided to be unreasonable.

According to this aspect of the present invention, although the excessive candidate comes under the deletion decision rules, it is decided not to be deleted. Accordingly, reinspection of the deletion decision rules or of the expression should be carried out. Contents of the non-deletion file are used for the reinspection.

According to a 29th aspect of the present invention, there is provided the processings from the 20th to 28th aspects of the present invention are carried out, and the upstream document and the upstream addition/deletion document are contrastively outputted in order to clarity the addition and deletion portions before and after refinement.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the upstream document and the upstream addition/deletion document are refined by the addition processing and the deletion processing. In addition, information for studying the repository is generated. The upstream document and the upstream addition/deletion document are outputted to clarify amended and changed portion by the refinement.

According to a 30th aspect of the present invention, the processings from the 20th to 28th aspects of the present invention are carried out, and the downstream document and the downstream addition/deletion document are contrastively outputted in order to clarity the addition and deletion portions before and after refinement.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the downstream document and the downstream addition/deletion document are refined. After that, results of the refinement are confirmed by preparing the downstream document by performing forward conversion on the upstream document using the upstream addition/deletion document and the downstream addition/deletion document, and by preparing the upstream document by performing inverse conversion on the downstream document using the upstream addition/deletion document and the downstream addition/deletion document.

According to a 31st aspect of the present invention, there is provided a two-level document processing method comprising the steps of:

deciding whether a query about a product relates to upstream information or downstream information;

searching an upstream document, upstream addition/deletion document, upstream repository, downstream document, downstream addition/deletion document, and downstream repository, for an answering candidate, in accordance with results of the step of deciding until non-searched portion remains;

presenting the answering candidate if it is found; and

storing an unsatisfied answering candidate, or a fact that no answering candidate is found, into a non-answering file.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the upstream document or downstream document, which are public or secret, are searched in accordance with the type of a query, and an answering candidate is presented and outputted. If the answering candidate is satisfactory, the processing ends. If no answering candidate is found, or the answer candidate is not satisfactory, this is stored in the non-answering file, thereby calling attention to the fact that expansion of the repository is necessary.

According to a 32nd aspect of the present invention, the processings from the first to 31st aspects of the present invention are carried out, followed by the following steps: deciding information value of information associated with the upstream under upstream file elimination decision rules, the information associated with the upstream being stored in the deletion file, non-deletion file, addition file, non-addition file, special candidate file, document shortage file, excessive deletion file, excessive addition file, and non-answering file; extracting valuable information as a processed candidate; comparing the processed candidate with technical information as past results, until the last processed candidate; and storing the processed candidate into the repository in accordance with results of comparison.

According to this aspect of the present invention, information of high utility value in the upstream work file is not eliminated, but stored in the repository in such a form that it can be reused in accordance with the characteristics of the information.

According to a 33rd aspect of the present invention, the two-level document processing method may further comprise the steps of:

comparing the processing candidate with a term dictionary as technical information;

adding the processing candidate to the term dictionary if a term corresponding to the processing candidate is not present in the term dictionary; and

storing the processing candidate into an existence repository as another expression of existing information if a term corresponding to the processing candidate is not present in the term dictionary.

According to this aspect of the present invention, a new term in the processed candidate is stored into the term dictionary as a new term.

According to a 34th aspect of the present invention, the two-level document processing method may further comprise the steps of:

comparing the processing candidate with background knowledge as technical information;

deciding whether or not the processing candidate is eligible for the background knowledge under background knowledge adoption decision rules, if information corresponding to the processing candidate is not found in the background knowledge;

adding the processing candidate to the background knowledge if the processing candidate satisfies the rules; and

storing the processing candidate into an existence repository as another expression of existing information if the processing candidate satisfies the rules.

According to this aspect of the present invention, information having utility value as background knowledge is added to the background knowledge, and stored into the existence repository as well.

According to a 35th aspect of the present invention, the two-level document processing method may further comprise the steps of:

comparing the processing candidate with an upstream document of another product as technical information; and

storing the processing candidate into an existence repository as another expression of existing information, if the processing candidate has corresponding information in the upstream document of another product.

According to this aspect of the present invention, if the processed candidate is present in the document associated with another actual product, it is stored into the existence repository as a new expression which is usable as repository. This is because the fact that the processed candidate is included in the work file associated with the product of interest means that the processed candidate is incomplete in the upstream document associate with the produce of interest, and hence, is not included in the repository.

According to a 36th aspect of the present invention, the two-level document processing method may further comprise the steps of:

comparing the processing candidate with information associated with a development plan of a product; and

storing the processing candidate into a plan repository as another expression of the information associated with the development plan, if the processing candidate has corresponding information in the information associated with the development plan.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the processed candidate, which is absent in documents associated with an existing product, is compared with a development plan of a product, and is stored into a plan repository if it is decided that the processed candidate belongs to the information associated with the plan.

According to a 37th aspect of the present invention, the two-level document processing method may further comprise the steps of:

deciding whether or not the processing candidate is eligible for future repository under producibility decision rules; and

storing the processing candidate into the future repository as another expression if the processing candidate satisfies the rules.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the processed candidate, which is absent in the development plan of a product, is subject to a test deciding possibility of realization as a product. If it is realizable, the processed candidate is stored into the future repository as contents for the future. The processed candidate having no possibility of realization is adopted as the background knowledge if it is versatile. Otherwise, the processed candidate is eliminated even if it has utility value.

According to a 38th aspect of the present invention, the processings from the first to 31st aspects of the present invention are carried out, and then, the processings of the 32nd to 37th aspects of the present invention are carried out for information associated with the downstream, the information associated with the downstream being stored in the deletion file, non-deletion file, addition file, non-addition file, special candidate file, document shortage file, excessive deletion file, excessive addition file, and non-answering file.

According to this aspect of the present invention, the utility value of the repository increases because the repository associated with the upstream information and the repository associated with the downstream information are separately generated.

The two-level document processing method in accordance with the present invention can effectively prepare a reasonable volume document of each level by inputting the upstream document or the downstream document, along with the addition/deletion document. This makes it possible to reduce labor, time and cost involved in preparing the document.

An initial addition/deletion document used in the conversion processing can be easily prepared by extracting differences between existing upstream document and downstream document. The addition/deletion document can be improved, together with the upstream document and the downstream document, by the refining processing.

In addition, since an addition/deletion document, which could exist potentially before, can be made explicit if necessary, technical information can be effectively utilized at the upstream and downstream sides.

Furthermore, since a so-called query-and-answering processing can be carried out using the upstream information and downstream information which have been hierarchically stored, acquisition and utilization of necessary information can be achieved in the upstream and downstream sides by effectively circulating not only published information but also potential information. This serves to reinforce business and technical power.

A wide variety of information resources, which are prepared as repository, and are organized systematically, can be utilized for improving document expression or the like.

Finally, the principle of the present invention is not only applicable to documents of three or more levels, but also to fields other than documents, such as the system engineering.

The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, and 2B are flowcharts showing the operation of a first embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 4A, and 4B are flowcharts showing the operation of a second embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a forward conversion in the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a inverse conversion in the second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a hot water heater control system as a background of the first and second embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a system of the first and second embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of a third embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a system for the third embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a document preparation processing in the third embodiment;

FIGS. 12, 12A, 12B, 13, 13A, 13B, and 14 are flowcharts showing the operation of a fourth embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a refining processing in the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a system for the fourth embodiment;

FIGS. 17, 17A and 17B are flowchart showing the operation of a fifth embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a system for the fifth embodiment;

FIGS. 19, 19A, 19B, 20, 20A, and 20B are flowcharts showing the operation of a sixth embodiment in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a repository generation processing in the sixth embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

EMBODIMENT 1

FIGS. 1A-2B show a first embodiment in accordance with the present invention, which relates to a forward conversion processing for preparing a downstream document from an upstream document.

As mentioned above, an upstream document is a document at the side of users of a product, and a downstream document is a document at the side of producers of the product. In general, the amount of an upstream document is much less than that of a downstream document.

The first embodiment is assumed to relate to a hot water heater control system as shown in FIG. 7, and business materials for the software for controlling temperature are supposed to be an upstream document, and design materials for system engineers are supposed to be a downstream material.

When preparing design materials (a downstream document) from business materials (an upstream document), although special technical information for design may be unnecessary for the business materials, some technical information will be necessary for users.

For example, when the PI control is adopted in the software for controlling the hot water heater, information which shows rich application results of the PI control will be necessary as a business material to emphasize the advantages of the PI control. This type of information, however, will not be necessary as a design material.

On the contrary, operational equations and types of control parameters of the PI control are essential to the design materials, though they are unnecessary for the business materials.

Considering these facts, in a forward conversion from an upstream document to a downstream document, a downstream document 31 is prepared by eliminating deletion portions (upstream deletion document) of an upstream addition/deletion document 12 from an upstream document 11, and by adding additional portions (downstream addition document) in a downstream addition/deletion document 13 to the upstream document 11, as shown in FIG. 5.

The procedures of the forward conversion processing will be described below. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, an upstream document and an upstream deletion document are inputted at steps SA1 and SA2. Here, the upstream deletion document contains information to be eliminated from the upstream document in the form of corresponding information.

The two documents are compared at step SA3, and results of the comparison are produced at step SA4. Then, deletion candidates to be eliminated from the upstream document are selected based on the results of the comparison at step SA5. Subsequently, at steps SA6 and SA7, the upstream deletion document is searched for the corresponding information until the last deletion candidate.

If the corresponding information is found at step SA8, both the deletion candidate and the corresponding information are displayed at step SA9. If an operator decides that the deletion candidate can be eliminated at step SA10, the deletion candidate is eliminated at step SA11, and is stored with the corresponding information into a deletion file at step SA12. On the other hand, if the operator decides that the deletion candidate should not be eliminated, both the deletion candidate and the corresponding information are stored into a non-deletion file as new information of the addition/deletion document at step SA13, and the processing returns to step SA5.

The validity of deletion is decided here because there are some cases where the deletion candidate should not be eliminated even if the corresponding information is found.

For example, special operational equations of the PI control, which are used to reduce production cost, may not be understood by designers without explanation, and may cause a misunderstanding. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to explain the current development of the PI control, which would usually be unnecessary for the downstream document. In such a case, a part of the general description of the PI control will be left for the downstream document. The undeleted information is stored into the non-deletion file at step SA 13, and the processing returns to step SA5.

At step SA8, if no corresponding information is found, this fact is displayed in a phrase of "corresponding item" at step SA14, and the current deletion candidate is stored in an upstream special candidate file at step SA15. Subsequently, the processing returns to step SA5.

The upstream addition/deletion document (upstream deletion document) is originally made by picking up information to be deleted from the upstream document. The upstream addition/deletion document, however, may sometimes be incomplete in a new application field.

For example, a manufacturer of a heat exchanger, who is beginning to produce a hot water heater system for domestic use, has no previous instances for deleting various information for domestic user from the upstream document. Accordingly, he must pick up information for domestic user from the upstream addition/deletion document. Thus, the fact that no corresponding information is present should be utilized by storing the deletion candidate into a special candidate file in order to prepare new information.

At step SA6, if the deletion candidate is no more found, the deletion file, the non-deletion file, and the upstream special candidate file are outputted as the results of the processings at step SA16.

After that, at step SB1 in FIG. 2A, a downstream addition document is inputted on the assumption that the deletion processing as shown in FIGS. 1A and 2B has already been carried out with the upstream document. Then, the upstream document is compared with the downstream addition document at step SB2, and results of the comparison are produced at step SB3. Subsequently, candidates to be added to the upstream document are selected based on the results of the comparison at step SB4.

If an addition candidate is present, the downstream addition document is searched for the corresponding information at step SB6. If the corresponding information is found at step SB7, both the addition candidate and the corresponding information are displayed at step SB8. Subsequently, the operator tests the validity of addition, and if he decides that the addition candidate can be added at step SB9, the addition candidate is added to the upstream document at step SB10. Then, the addition candidate and the corresponding information are stored in an addition file at step SB11. After that, the processing returns to step SB4.

On the other hand, if the operator decides that the addition candidate should not be added at step SB9, both the addition candidate and the corresponding information are stored in a non-addition file at step SB12, and the processing returns to step SB4.

At step SB7, if the corresponding information is not found, this fact is indicated by displaying a phase "corresponding item" at step SB13, and the addition candidate is stored in a downstream special candidate file at step SB14 for the same reason described above. Subsequently, the processing returns to step SB4.

At step SB5, if no more addition candidate is found, the addition file, the non-addition file, and the downstream special candidate file are outputted as the results of the processings at step SB15. Subsequently, the upstream document and the downstream document are outputted contrastively at step SB16 so that the addition and deletion portions are clarified.

This step is necessary because it is difficult for the operator to decide whether the results are correct or not unless the original upstream document is shown in comparison with the downstream document, which is prepared by adding to and deleting from the upstream document, thereby indicating the differences between the two documents. The addition and deletion portions outputted simultaneously are those which have been stored in the deletion file and the addition file. This will help the operator to decide whether the forward conversion processing is appropriate or not.

In FIGS. 1A-2B, steps SA1-SA16 correspond to the first aspect of the present invention, steps SA1-SA12 correspond to the second aspect of the present invention, steps SA1-SA10 and SA13 correspond to the third aspect of the present invention, steps SA1-SA8, SA14 and SA15 correspond to the fourth aspect of the present invention, steps SB1-SB16 correspond to the fifth aspect of the present invention, steps SB1-SB11 correspond to the sixth aspect of the present invention, steps SB1-SB9 and SB12 correspond to the seventh aspect of the present invention, steps SB1-SB7, SB13 and SB14 correspond to the eighth aspect of the present invention, and steps SA1-SA16 and SB1-SB16 correspond to the ninth aspect of the present invention.

EMBODIMENT 2

FIGS. 3A-4B show a second embodiment of the present invention.

Generally, the forward conversion will be a normal conversion processing because software is usually produced in accordance with an order from a user. Sometimes, however, the business materials may be prepared from the design materials of a software product. The second embodiment relates to the inverse conversion processing, in which the upstream document 11 is prepared by eliminating deletion portions (downstream deletion document) of the downstream addition/deletion document 13 from the downstream document 31, and by adding addition portions (upstream addition document) of the upstream addition/deletion document 12 to the downstream document 31, as shown in FIG. 6.

In this case, the deletion portions in the forward conversion are addition portions in the inverse conversion, and the addition portions in the forward conversion are deletion portions in the inverse conversion. Therefore, both the forward and inverse conversions can share the same upstream addition/deletion document 12 and downstream addition/deletion document 13.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the inverse conversion from the downstream document to the upstream document. Through this procedure, information which is particular to the downstream document and unnecessary for the upstream document is deleted.

The process is substantially the same as that of FIGS. 1A and 1B, and differs only in that the upstream document is replaced with the downstream document, the upstream deletion document is replaced with the downstream deletion document, and the upstream special candidate file is replaced with the downstream special candidate file. Hence, repeated descriptions thereof will be omitted here.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show the inverse conversion from the downstream document to the upstream document, in which information which is particular to the upstream document and not contained in the downstream document is added to the downstream document.

The process is substantially the same as that of FIGS. 2A and 2B, and differs only in that the downstream document is replaced with the upstream document, the downstream addition document is replaced with the upstream addition document, and the downstream special candidate file is replaced with the upstream special candidate file. Hence, repeated descriptions thereof will be omitted here.

In FIGS. 3A-4B, steps SC1-SC16 correspond to the 10th aspect of the present invention, steps SC1-SC12 correspond to the 11th aspect of the present invention, steps SC1-SC10 and SC13 correspond to the 12th aspect of the present invention, steps SC1-SC8, SC14 and SC15 correspond to the 13th aspect of the present invention, steps SD1-SD16 correspond to the 14th aspect of the present invention, steps SD1-SD11 correspond to the 15th aspect of the present invention, steps SD1-SD9 and SD12 correspond to the 16th aspect of the present invention, steps SD1-SD7, SD13 and SD14 correspond to the 17th aspect of the present invention, and steps SC1-SC16 and SD1-SD16 correspond to the 18th aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a system for the first and second embodiments. In this figure, the reference numeral 100 designates a conversion processing unit including a computer for performing the forward conversion and the inverse conversion. The reference numerals 14 and 15 designate the upstream work file and the downstream work file, each of which includes the deletion file, the non-deletion file, the addition file, the non-additi