Document processing to permit sharing of content by plural documents

Abstract

A document processing apparatus which permits the sharing of a document element in a document structure while ensuring that any change to the content appears in the document element in each document sharing it. In a document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, a document element having content to be shared with a second document is designated from a plurality of document elements of a first document, and the content of the designated document element is defined as the content of a predetermined document element of the second document to be shared as common content by the first and second documents. Further, any document element having shared content is detected from a document when the display of the document is commanded, and is displayed in a distinguishable manner from other portions.

1. A document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising;
 a storage constructed to store a plurality of documents; 
 a first designation means for designating unit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first pointer to a first content to be shared with a destination document; 
 a second designation means for designatingunit constructed to designate from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second pointer to a second content; and 
 a replacing means for replacingunit constructed to designate the second pointer with the first pointer so that the second document element designated by said second designation meansunit should share the first content with the first document element designated by said first designation meansunit. 
 
     
     
       2. A document processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a display control means for displayingunit constructed to display the first and second documents on a display; 
 said first designation means unit designating on the display the first document element having the content to be shared with the second document, from the displayed source document; and 
 said second designation means unit designating on the display the second document element from the displayed destination document. 
 
     
     
       3. A document processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said first designation means unit designates the first document element by an order thereof in the first document and said first designation means unit designates the second document by an order thereof in the second document. 
     
     
       4. A document processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a storage means for storingconstructed to store the first pointer of the first document element designated by said first designation meansunit; and 
 said replacing means unit replacing the second pointer with the first pointer stored in said storage means each time the second document element is designated by said second designation means unit. 
 
     
     
       5. A document processing apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein said first designation means unit designates a plurality of first pointers and said storage means stores the first pointers with names thereof, and said apparatus further comprising a selecting means for selecting unit constructed to select one of the first pointers by specifying the name and said replacing means unit replaces the second pointer with the one of the first pointers selected by said selecting means unit. 
     
     
       6. A document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising:
 a storage means for storingconstructed to store document data with file names to be read out by a read command with a file name as a content of a document element; 
 a first designation means for designatingunit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having the read command with a file name of a first content to be shared with a destination document; 
 a second designation means for designatingunit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; 
 a replacing means for replacingunit constructed to replace the second content with the read command by using the file name of the first content as an argument of the command; and 
 a control means for outputtingunit constructed to output the file content of the file name as the content of the document element when the document containing the document element having the read command with the file name is outputted. 
 
     
     
       7. A document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising:
 a storage constructed to store a plurality of documents;  
 a first designation means for designatingunit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first content to be shared with a destination document; 
 a separation means for separatingunit constructed to separate the first content of the first document element designated by said first designation meansunit from the source document; 
 a first definition means for definingunit constructed to define such that the first content of the first document element separated by said separation means is referred to by the source document as the content of the first document element; 
 a second designation means for designatingunit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; and 
 a second definition means for definingunit constructed to define such that the content of the first document element separated by said separation meansunit is referred to by the destination document as the content of the second document element in place of the second content. 
 
     
     
       8. A document processing apparatus according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a display control means for displayingunit constructed to display the first and second documents on a display; 
 said first designation means unit designating the document element from the source document displayed by said display control means unit; and 
 said second designation means unit designating the document element from the destination document displayed by said display control means unit. 
 
     
     
       9. A document processing apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the first document element has a first pointer to the first content and the second document element has a second pointer to the second content, said pointer a storage means storing a pointer to the document element to be shared and said separate means separation unit transporting the first content to a new segment; and
 said first and second definition means unit defining the contents of the first and second document elements by replacing the first and second pointers with a pointer to the segment, respectively. 
 
     
     
       10. A document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements by setting management information in each document, comprising:
 a storage constructed to store a plurality of documents; 
 a first designation means for designating unit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a content to be shared with a destination document; 
 a setting means for settingunit constructed to set new management information to the first document element designated by said first designation meansunit; 
 a control means for controllingunit constructed to control the first document element designated by said first designation meansunit to manage by the management information set by said setting meansunit in place of the management information to the source document; 
 a first definition means for definingunit constructed to define to refer the management content of the management information set by said setting meansunit as the content of the first document element in the source document; 
 a second designation means for designatingunit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; and 
 a second definition means for definingunit constructed to define to refer the management content of the management information set by said setting meansunit as the content of the second document element in the destination document so that the second document element designated by said second designation meansunit should share the content with the first document element designated by said first designation meansunit. 
 
     
     
       11. A document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising:
 a storage constructed to store a plurality of documents; 
 a first designation means for designating unit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first content to be shared with a destination document; 
 a second designation means for designatingunit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; 
 a definition means for definingunit constructed to define the first content of the first document element as a sharing content to be shared by the first and second document elements; 
 an instruction means for instructingunit constructed to instruct the display of the source document or the destination document; 
 a detection means for detectingunit constructed to detect the document element containing the sharing content defined by said definition meansunit, from the document instructed to be displayed by said instruction meansunit; and 
 a display control means for displayingunit constructed to display the document instructed to be displayed by said instruction meansunit in a manner distinguishable the document element detected by said detection meansunit from other elements of the document. 
 
     
     
       12. A document processing apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein said display control means unit displays the detected document element with specified characters or character sequences added before and after the document element. 
     
     
       13. A document processing apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein said display control means unit displays the detected document element in a different form than that for other portions. 
     
     
       14. A document processing apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein the documents are nested with respect to the sharing of the document element content, said detection means unit determined the depth of the nesting, and said display control means unit distinguishably displays the depth of the nesting. 
     
     
       15. A document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements comprising:
 a storage constructed to store a plurality of documents; 
 a first designation means for designating unit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first content to be shared with a destination document; 
 a second designation means for designatingunit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; 
 a definition means for definingunit constructed to define the first content of the first document element as a sharing content to be shared by the first and second document elements; 
 an instruction means for specifyingunit constructed to specify a document element and instructing the editing of the document element; 
 a determination means for determiningunit constructed to determine whether the document element specified by said instruction meansunit contains the sharing content defined by said definition meansunit; and 
 a notification means for notifyingunit constructed to notify to a user of the determination result if the document element is determined to contain the sharing content by said determination meansunit. 
 
     
     
       16. A document processing method in a document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of document each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first pointer to a first content to be shared with a destination document; 
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second pointer to a second content; and 
 replacing the second pointer with the first pointer so that the first document element should share the first content with the second document element of the second destination document. 
 
     
     
       17. A document processing method in a document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of document each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising the steps of:
 storing document data with file names to be read out by a read command with a file name as a content of a document element, in a memory; 
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having the read command with a file name of a first content to be shared with a destination document; 
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; 
 replacing the second content with the read command by using the file name as an argument of the command; and 
 outputting the file content of the file name as the content of the document element when the document containing the document element having the read command with the file name is outputted. 
 
     
     
       18. A document processing method in a document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first content to be shared with a destination document; 
 separating the first content of the first document element designated in said designating step from the source document; 
 defining such that the first content of the first document element separated in said separating step is referred to by the source document as the content of the first document element; 
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; and 
 defining such that the content of the first document element separated in said separating step is referred to by the destination document as the content of the second document element in place of the second content. 
 
     
     
       19. A document processing method in a document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements by setting management information in each document, comprising the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a content to be shared with a destination document; 
 setting new management information to the first document element; 
 controlling the first designated document element to manage by the set management information in place of the management information to the source document; 
 defining to refer the management content of the set management information as to the content of the first document element in the source document; 
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; and 
 defining to refer the management content of the set management information as the content of the second document element in the destination document so that the second document element designated by said second designation means should share the content with the first document element designated by said first designation means. 
 
     
     
       20. A document processing method in a document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements comprising the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first content to be shared with a designation document; 
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; 
 defining the first content of the first document element as a sharing content to be shared by the first and second document elements; 
 instructing the display of the source document or the destination document; 
 detecting the document element containing the defined sharing content from the document instructed to be displayed; and 
 displaying the document instructed to be displayed in a manner distinguishable the detected document element from other elements of the document. 
 
     
     
       21. A document processing apparatus method for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first content to be shared with a destination document; 
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; 
 defining the first content of the first document element as a sharing content to be shared by the first and second document elements; 
 specifying a document element and instructing the edition of the document element; 
 determining whether the specified document element contains the sharing content defined in said definition step; and 
 notifying to a user of the determination result if the document element is determined to contain the sharing content. 
 
     
     
       22. A document processing apparatus for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising:
 a storage constructed to store a plurality of documents;   a first designation unit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a first document, a first document element containing a first content to be shared with a second document;   a second designation unit constructed to designate, from a plurality of document elements of a second document, a second document element containing a second content;   a revising unit constructed to revise a content in a document element of one of the plurality of documents; and   a sharing unit constructed to share the first content between the first document element and the second document element by replacing the second content in the second document element with the first content, and for updating, in response to a revision of the first content in one of the first and second document elements by said revising unit, the first content in the other of the first and second document elements to be consistent with the revised first content.    
     
     
       23. The apparatus according to claim 22, further comprising a display control unit for displaying the first and second documents on a display.  
     
     
       24. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said first and second designation unit designate the first document element of the first document and the second document element of the second document on the display, respectively.  
     
     
       25. The apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising an area specifying unit constructed to specify area in the document on the display; and wherein
 said first designation unit designates a minimum document element including a first area in the first document specified by said area specifying unit as the first document element, and   said second designation unit designates a minimum document element including a second area in the second document specified by said area specifying unit as the second document element.    
     
     
       26. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said display control unit displays the first content in the first and second document elements in respective layouts corresponding to the types of the first and second documents.  
     
     
       27. The apparatus according to claim 23, further comprising detection unit for detecting the document element containing a content shared by said sharing unit, from the document to be displayed by said display control unit, and
 said display control unit displays the document in a manner that the document element detected by said detection unit is distinguishable from other elements of the document.    
     
     
       28. The apparatus according to claim 23, further comprising:
 a specifying unit constructed to specify a document element to be revised by said revising unit;   a determination unit constructed to determine whether the document element specified by said specifying unit contains a sharing content shared by said sharing unit; and   a notification unit constructed to notify a user of a determination result if it is determined by said determination unit that the document element contains the sharing content.    
     
     
       29. A document processing method for managing a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, comprising the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a first document, a first document element containing a first content to be shared with a second document;   designating, from a plurality of document elements of a second document, a second document element containing a second content;   revising a content in a document element of one of the plurality of documents; and   sharing the first content between the first document element and the second document element by replacing the second content in the second document element with the first content, and updating, in response to a revision of the first content in one of the first and second document elements, the first content in the other of the first and second document elements to be consistent with the revised first content.    
     
     
       30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising the step of displaying the first and second documents on a display.  
     
     
       31. The method according to claim 30, wherein, in said designating step, the first document element of the first document and the second document element of the second document are designated on the display, respectively.  
     
     
       32. The method according to claim 30, wherein,
 in said step of designating the first document element, a first area is specified in the first document and a minimum document element including the first area is designated as the first document element, and   in said step of designating the second document element, a second area is specified in the second document and a minimum document element including the second area is designated as the second document element.    
     
     
       33. The method according to claim 30, wherein, in said step of displaying the first and second documents on the display, the first content in the first and second document elements are displayed in respective layouts corresponding to the types of the first and second documents.  
     
     
       34. The method according to claim 30, further comprising the steps of:
 instructing to display the first document or the second document;   detecting the document element containing a sharing content shared with another document element from the document instructed to be displayed, and   displaying the document instructed to be displayed in a manner that the document element detected in said detecting step is distinguishable from other elements of the document.    
     
     
       35. The method according to claim 30, further comprising the steps of:
 specifying a document element to be revised;   determining whether the specified document element contains a sharing content shared with another document element; and   notifying a user of a determination result if it is determined in said determination step that the document element contains the sharing content.    
     
     
       36. A computer-readable storage medium storing a document processing program for controlling a computer to manage a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, said program comprising codes for causing the computer to perform the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first pointer to a first content to be shared with a destination document;   designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second pointer to a second content; and   replacing the second pointer with the first pointer so that the first document element should share the first content with the second document element of the designation document.    
     
     
       37. A computer-readable storage medium storing a document processing program for controlling a computer to manage a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, said program comprising codes for causing the computer to perform the steps of:
 storing, in a memory, document data with file names to be read out by a read command with a file name as a content of a document element;   designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having the read command with a file name of a first content to be shared with a destination document;   designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content;   replacing the second content with the read command by using the file name as an argument of the command; and   outputting the file content of the file name as the content of the document element when the document containing the document element having the read command with the file name is outputted.    
     
     
       38. A computer-readable storage medium storing a document processing program for controlling a computer to manage a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, said program comprising codes for causing the computer to perform the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first content to be shared with a destination document;   separating the first content of the first document element designated in said designating step from the source document;   defining such that the first content of the first document element separated in said separating step is referred to by the source document as the content of the first document element;   designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; and   defining such that the first content of the first document element separated in said separating step is referred to by the destination document as the content of the second document element in place of the second content.    
     
     
       39. A computer-readable storage medium storing a document processing program for controlling a computer to manage a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, said program comprising codes for causing the computer to perform the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a content to be shared with a destination document;   setting new management information to the first document element;   controlling the first designated document element to manage by the set management information in place of the management information to the source document;   defining to refer the management content of the set management information as to the content of the first document element in the source document;   designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content; and   defining to refer the management content of the set management information as the content of the second document element in the destination document so that the second document element should share the content with the first document element.    
     
     
       40. A computer-readable storage medium storing a document processing program for controlling a computer to manage a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, said program comprising codes for causing the computer to perform the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first content to be shared with a designation document;   designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content;   defining the first content of the first document element as a sharing content to be shared by the first and second document elements;   instructing to display the source document or the destination document;   detecting the document element containing the defined sharing content from the document instructed to be displayed; and   displaying the document instructed to be displayed in a manner that the detected document element is distinguishable from other elements of the document.    
     
     
       41. A computer-readable storage medium storing a document processing program for controlling a computer to manage a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, said program comprising codes for causing the computer to perform the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a source document, a first document element having a first content to be shared with a destination document;   designating, from a plurality of document elements of a destination document, a second document element having a second content;   defining the first content of the first document element as a sharing content to be shared by the first and second document elements;   specifying a document element and instructing the editing of the document element;   determining whether the specified document element contains the sharing content defined in said defining step; and   notifying a user of a determination result if it is determined that the document element contains the sharing content.    
     
     
       42. A computer-readable storage medium storing a document processing program for controlling a computer to manage a plurality of documents each containing a plurality of document elements, said program comprising codes for causing the computer to perform the steps of:
 designating, from a plurality of document elements of a first document, a first document element containing a first content to be shared with a second document;   designating, from a plurality of document elements of a second document, a second document element containing a second content;   revising a content in a document element of one of the plurality of documents; and   sharing the first content between the first document element and the second document element by replacing the second content in the second document element with the first content, and updating, in response to a revision of the first content in one of the first and second document elements, the first content in the other of the first and second document elements to be consistent with the revised first content.