JP2000312290A - Data processing method, data processor and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To impart area information to still image data without giving effect on an existing application. SOLUTION: In the method of imparting area information with respect to each area of a still picture to image data, first still picture data being an object of imparting of the area information are read in a step S301 and data as area information to be provided to the still picture data are read in a step S302. Whether or not data read in the step S302 are valid SVG data are discriminated in a step S303, and when the data are valid, the processing continues to a step S304. After the still picture data read in the step S301, the SVG data as the area information read in the step S302 are connected to in the step S304. Then entire data obtained in the step S304 are outputted as one still picture data file.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data processing method and apparatus for handling image data and area information relating to the image data, and a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Region information is data on a partial image obtained by extracting a region in which features are uniform from a still image. This area information is used for detecting and recognizing the object in the image. However, when region information is not attached to the still image data, in order to detect and recognize an object in the image, it is necessary to perform a region division process of the still image as a pre-process. It is extremely inefficient because it requires huge computer resources and processing time.

Therefore, it is desired to manage such area information in association with still image data. However, if the still image data and the corresponding area information exist in different files, the user must manage the still image data and the area exclusion information at the same time when moving or copying the file, It will be very annoying.

Conventionally, there has been no attempt to manage the above-described still image data and its area information. However, methods for managing these two data in association with each other can generally be divided into two methods, a method of defining a new image format and a method of managing the data in a database.

First, an example of a method for defining a new binary format is as follows.
f, Exif, Flashpix, etc. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an overview of a format in which metadata is embedded in binary data. FIG. 10 shows an overview of a format in which area information is embedded in still image data. As described above, by providing a framework for describing the area information in the header portion of the image and storing the area information relating to the image therein, it becomes possible to manage the file as a single file. Relatively easy.

On the other hand, the case where image data and area information are managed in a database will be as follows. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing a method of managing still image data and area information in a database. As shown in FIG. 11, a method of managing still image data and area information which exist in separate files using a database or the like is also conceivable. In this case, there is an advantage that no change is made to the still image data and the existing still image data can be used as it is in the existing application.

[0007]

However, the following problems arise in each of the above-described method of defining a new format for describing metadata and the method of managing metadata using a database. Can be considered.

First, when a new format for describing region information is specified, existing still image data must be converted to the new format, and the region information must be described in the new format. Further, in order to use the area information in the new format, an application corresponding to the new format is required. In other words, there is a problem that an extremely large number of steps and a dedicated environment are required to describe and use the area information. Further, in order to process such new format still image data (for example, to output an image if it is image data), an application corresponding to the format is required, and the existing application cannot support it.

In addition, the description method of the area information is also uniquely determined in the new format. To create an application that uses the area information in the new format, a new area information reading routine must be created. There is also the problem that it must be done. In addition, there is a problem that the format specification must be changed to describe the area information of the new framework.

On the other hand, when still image data and area information are simultaneously managed using a database, there is a problem that the addition and use of area information cannot be performed without database software. Furthermore, when only the still image data is taken out of the database, there is also a problem that the area information is not added and the still image data has no area information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems relating to the description and use of area information, and has as its object to provide area information to still image data without affecting existing applications. And

It is another object of the present invention to provide still image data in which region information is registered in a form that can be processed by an existing application.

Another object of the present invention is to use a general data description language for describing area information, thereby making it possible to use an existing tool for the data description language and to develop a corresponding application. To make it easier.

Still another object of the present invention is to make it possible to extract region information from still image data in which region information is described, and to provide the extracted region information to various processes.

[0015]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing method including the following steps. That is, a data processing method for adding area information relating to each area of a still image to image data, comprising: a first reading step of reading image data to which area information is to be applied; A second reading step of reading information; a connection step of connecting the area information read in the second reading step after the image data read in the first reading step; and a connection step of the data obtained in the connection step. And outputting the whole as one file.

A data processing method according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object includes, for example, the following steps. That is, a method of determining area information in image data to which area information has been added, a reading step of reading data to be processed, and inspecting the processing target data read in the reading step from the end to obtain predetermined data. A determination step of determining whether or not there is partial data surrounded by a predetermined identifier defined by a description format, thereby determining area information included in the data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing apparatus for realizing the above data processing method.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a computer program for causing a computer to implement the above data processing method.

[0018]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.
In FIG. 1, a reading unit 100 reads an image using a scanner device or the like. Reference numeral 101 denotes an input unit for inputting instructions and data from a user, and includes a keyboard and a pointing device. 102 is a storage unit,
Still image data and area information are stored. Generally, a hard disk is used as the storage unit 102. 1
A display unit 03 displays the still image data stored in the storage unit 102 and displays the image data read by the reading unit 100. As the display unit 103, a CRT or a liquid crystal display device is generally used.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a CPU, which is involved in all of the above-described processing of each component, and the ROM 105 and the RAM 106 provide the CPU 104 with programs, data, or a work area necessary for the processing. It is assumed that a control program for realizing the processing procedure of the present embodiment described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Of course, the control program may be stored in the storage unit 102, and the control program may be loaded on the RAM 106 in accordance with the execution by the CPU 104.

Although the data processing apparatus of the first embodiment has various components other than the above,
Since this is not the main subject of the present invention, the description thereof is omitted here.

Next, a description will be given of processing for registering area information in still image data in the data processing apparatus configured as described above. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of assigning area information according to the first embodiment.

In FIG. 2, first, at step S301
Then, the still image data designated by the user is read into the memory (RAM 106). This is performed, for example, by inputting a file name of desired still image data from a keyboard, or by pointing an icon of the still image data with a pointing device (eg, a mouse). Next, in step S302, the SVG file in which the area information is specified by the user is read into the memory (RAM 106). The designation of the SVG file is also performed by inputting a file name from a keyboard, pointing a corresponding icon with a pointing device (for example, a mouse), or the like.

Next, in step S303, it is checked whether the SVG file describing the area information is appropriate SVG data. This determination is made by checking whether the description format of the SVG file is satisfied (for example, whether the parentheses on the left and right of the tag form a correct pair, whether the tagging format is correct, and the like). It can be realized.

If it is determined in step S303 that the data is not proper SVG data, the flow advances to step S305. In step S305, the fact that there is an error in the SVG data is displayed on the display unit 103, and this processing ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S303 that the SVG file is appropriate SVG data, the process proceeds to step S304. Step S304
In step S301, area information is added by connecting the data (area information) of the SVG file after the still image data read into the memory in step S301.
Then, in step S306, the still image data to which the region information has been added is output, and the process ends. In addition,
By the data output in step S306, data having the data structure shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the storage unit 102 as one file.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a registration state of the area information in the still image data according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, by connecting SVG data as area information at the end of still image data, area information can be registered without affecting other applications. That is, since the information of the header portion of the still image data does not change before the connection of the region information, the still image data can be displayed by a general browser (the connected region information is ignored).

Further, since the area information is SVG data, by extracting this SVG data part,
If you have a tool to understand G data,
It can be changed and referenced, and is very versatile.
The extraction of the SVG data portion will be described in detail in the second embodiment.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, an existing application is affected by connecting area information described in an appropriate format in a predetermined data description language to the end of still image data. Without affecting, it is possible to add area information to existing still image data. That is, it is possible to provide the still image data to which the region information is added in a form that can be processed by the existing application. Further, since the area information and the still image data can be managed as one file, the management of the area information is facilitated. If an existing data description language is used as the area information, an existing tool for the data description language can be used as it is when editing or referring to the area information, and the time and effort for development can be saved.

The still image data may be in any form, such as a bitmap format, a JPEG format, or a GIF format.

<Second Embodiment> The method of registering area information in still image data in the first embodiment has been described. In the second embodiment, a process will be described in which it is determined whether or not area information is registered in still image data, and when the area information is registered, the area information is extracted. Note that the configuration of the data processing device according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1), and a description thereof will be omitted.

In the following, the data of the designated file is
The operation of determining whether or not the area information is registered as described in the embodiment and the operation of extracting the registered area information will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining and extracting registered area information according to the second embodiment. In the present embodiment, the extracted area information is displayed on the display unit 103, but the output form is not limited to this.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the extracted area information can be provided to various processes such as recognition of an object in an image.

According to FIG. 4, first, in step S501,
Then, in accordance with the user's instruction, a file for which it is desired to determine whether or not the area information is registered, that is, data to be processed is designated. The designation of the data to be processed in step S501 is performed by inputting the file name of the data to be processed from the keyboard, or by pointing the corresponding icon with a pointing device (mouse). In the present embodiment, in order to distinguish normal still image data from still image data to which area information is added as described in the first embodiment, the former is processed as still image data, and the latter is processed as still image data. It is called target data.

Next, in step S502, it is determined whether or not area information described in SVG has been added to the data of the designated file. Hereinafter, step S5
The details of the determination process in 02 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5 and the schematic diagram of FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the area information determination process according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of still image data to which SVG data is added as area information.

As described in the first embodiment, the data structure of processing target data in which SVG data as area information is registered is as shown in FIG. Therefore, the determination of the presence / absence of the area information is performed as follows.

As shown in FIG. 5, first, in step S
In step 601, the entire data of the file specified in step S 501 (the entire data to be processed) is stored in a memory (RAM 1).
06) Read on. Since the data output in step S306 of the first embodiment is managed as one file, the entire data can be read by a general file management system.

Next, in step S602, "</ Area_Info" is added at the end of the data read in step S601.
Check if there is a character string ">". If not, the process proceeds to step S605.

On the other hand, if a character string “</ Area_Info>” exists at the end of the read processing target data, the process proceeds to step S603. In step S603, “<
/ Area_Info> ”before the string“ <Area_Info> ”
To see if the string exists. Thus,
It is determined whether data enclosed by “<Area_Info>” and “</ Area_Info>”, that is, SVG data exists. Then, “<Area_Info>” and “</ Area_Inf”
For data enclosed by o>", the correspondence of the tag is checked to determine whether or not the data is valid SVG data.

As described above, it is determined whether the SVG data exists at the end of the data to be processed and is valid. If the existence and validity of the SVG data are confirmed, the process proceeds to step S604. In step S604, it is concluded that the area information has been added (there is valid SVG data), and this processing ends.
On the other hand, if it is determined that the SVG data does not exist or is not valid in the processes of steps S602 and S603, the process proceeds to step S605.
In step S605, it is concluded that the area information has not been added (there is no valid SVG data). Thus, the determination of the area information is completed.

Next, return to the flowchart of FIG. If it is concluded that the area information has been registered by the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the processing proceeds to step S503. In step S503, the contents of the area information registered based on the SVG data in the portion surrounded by the character strings "<Area_Info>" and "</ Area_Info>" are displayed, and the process ends. On the other hand, step S50
If it is determined in step 2 that the area information has not been registered, the process ends.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the still image data added with the area information and the ordinary still image data are discriminated by the SVG rule, and the area information is added. For still image data, the area information can be used. In the above embodiment, the content is displayed based on the SVG data.
There are various other ways of using the SVG data. For example, it is conceivable to enable clipping of an area including a clicked point when an image is clicked. It is also conceivable to use it as a kind of metadata when searching for an area having a specific shape and color.

Further, since SVG data described in an existing data description language is used as the area information, an existing tool for the data description language can be used as it is when searching using metadata. The development effort can be saved.

In the above embodiments, the SVG data is used to describe the area information, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a data description language such as XML, SGML, or HTML may be used.

<Third Embodiment> Next, the form of the area information added to the still image data will be described. In the third embodiment, a form in which each region is represented by index information indicating a region number will be described as a data form of region information for still image data. That is, the index information indicates a unique area number assigned to each area obtained by the area division processing. Based on this index information, area information is constructed by associating each pixel of the still image with an area number.

Here, the area information corresponding to each pixel is stored in the same manner as the color information of the pixel in the still image data. That is, it has a data form in which the color information for each pixel is replaced with the area information. Thereafter, tags (for example, “<Area_Info>” and “</ Area_I>” indicating the beginning and end of the area information are added to the beginning and end of the area information thus obtained.
nfo> ”).

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining the data format of the area information according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 2, areas A1 and A2 are extracted as a result of the area division processing. In such a case, the area information is the following bitmap data. That is, a numerical value (in this example, “0”) indicating that no region number exists is assigned to pixel data corresponding to regions other than the regions A1 and A2. In addition, area numbers indicating A1 and A2 are assigned to data of pixels belonging to the area A1 or the area A2, respectively. Each region may be approximated by a rectangle, a polygon, a circle, an ellipse, or the like. By holding the area number as bitmap data as described above, it is possible to obtain the area number of an arbitrary pixel. Therefore, for example, when an arbitrary region of the image is clicked, all the pixels having the same region number as the pixel indicated by the mouse pointer can be selected. By applying this, a function of clipping an arbitrary area can be realized.

<Fourth Embodiment> In the fourth embodiment,
Another embodiment regarding the data format of the area information will be described. In the method of adding region information to still image data according to the fourth embodiment, each region is represented by binary bitmap data indicating inside and outside of a region within a minimum rectangle surrounding the region,
It is represented by a set of data indicating the position and size of the rectangle.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a process for generating area information in a data form according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 8 shows an image (a) obtained by dividing an area,
It is a figure which shows the data structure example (b) of the area | region information list of 4th Embodiment corresponding to this. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to these drawings.

In step S801, a still image is divided into regions, a unique region number is determined for each region, and an index is assigned to each region. Note that this region division processing may be automatic or manual. In FIG. 8A,
This shows a state in which three areas are extracted as a result of the area division, and area numbers (indexes) of A1 to A3 are assigned to the three areas.

Next, in step S802, it is determined whether or not an unprocessed area exists in the following steps S803 to S806, and if there is an unprocessed area, the flow advances to step S803. Through the processing from steps S803 to S806, the binary bitmap data, position, and size of the region of interest are obtained.

First, in step S803, the maximum and minimum values of the x-coordinate and y-coordinate of the region of interest are determined. Then, in step S804, step S804
A rectangle S having the coordinates obtained in 803 as four corners is formed, and the region of interest is surrounded by the rectangle S. Next, step S8
In step S 804, in step S 804, binarization is performed on pixels included and not included in the area surrounded by the rectangle S to obtain binary bitmap data.

In step S806, the coordinates of the upper left vertex of the rectangle S (rectangular position) and the size of the rectangle S in the x and y directions (rectangle size) are calculated from the coordinates of the four corners of the rectangle S. The calculated and obtained rectangle information, rectangle size and binary bitmap data are added to the region information list as region information.

For example, if the region of interest is A1, a rectangle circumscribing the region is obtained in steps S803 and S804. Then, step S80
In 5, the bit indicating the pixel included in this rectangle is set to 1
, A bit indicating a pixel not included is set to 0 to generate binary bitmap data. Further, step S80
In step 6, the position (coordinates of a1) and the size (X1 and Y
1), and together with the binary bitmap data described above,
The information is added to the area information list as shown in FIG.

The above processing is performed for the areas A2 and A3, and when the above processing is completed for all the areas in the image, the processing is terminated by the determination in step S802.

According to the above procedure, for each divided area,
Information composed of a set of binary bitmap data indicating the inside and outside of the minimum rectangular area surrounding the area and data indicating the position and size of the rectangle is generated and stored in a list as shown in FIG. 8B. As a result, an area list is generated. Then, by attaching tags (for example, “<Area_Info>” and “</ Area_Info>”) to the beginning and end of the obtained area list, the area information usable in each of the above embodiments can be used. Is generated. As described above, in the fourth embodiment, bitmap data representing inside and outside of an area is held. For this reason, when processing is performed on an area basis,
When data is stored in the form of the third embodiment, it is necessary to scan the image to obtain a set of pixels constituting the region. However, the bit map representing the inside and outside of the region according to the fourth embodiment is used. For example, it is not necessary to scan the image and obtain a set of pixels constituting the region.

In the above embodiment, the rectangle surrounding the area is used, but the area may be represented by another polygon or curve.

Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copier, a facsimile machine) comprising one device Device).

An object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
And MPU) read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Region information can be added to still image data without affecting existing applications. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide still image data in which region information is registered in a form that can be processed by an existing application. Further, according to the present invention, by using a general data description language for the description of the area information, an existing tool for the data description language can be used, and development of a corresponding application is facilitated. Further, according to the present invention, the region information is easily extracted from the still image data in which the region information is described,
It can be used for various processes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a data processing device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of assigning area information according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a registration state of area information in still image data according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for determining and extracting registered area information according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating details of a region information determination process according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration example of still image data to which SVG data is added as area information.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process for generating region information in a data format according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a data configuration of an area-divided image (a) and a corresponding area information list according to the fourth embodiment (b).
FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a data format of area information according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an overview of a format in which metadata is embedded in binary data.

FIG. 11 is a diagram conceptually showing a method of managing still image data and area information in a database.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B050 AA09 BA06 CA07 DA03 EA19 FA02 GA08 5B057 AA11 BA24 CA16 CB16 CC03 CE08 CE12 DA08 DB08 5C076 AA19 BA02 BA04 CA01 CA10

Claims (30)

[Claims] 1. A data processing method for adding area information relating to each area of a still image to image data, comprising: a first reading step of reading image data to which area information is to be applied; A second reading step of reading area information to be read; a connection step of connecting the area information read in the second reading step after the image data read in the first reading step; And outputting the whole data as one file. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining whether the area information read in the second reading step is valid data in a predetermined data description format. 2. The data processing method according to claim 1, wherein, when it is determined that the area information is described in an appropriate format, the area information is connected after the image data. 3. A method for determining region information in image data to which region information has been added, comprising: a reading step of reading data to be processed; and inspecting the processing target data read in the reading step from the end. Determining whether or not there is partial data surrounded by a predetermined identifier defined by a predetermined data description format, thereby determining area information included in the data. Processing method. 4. The data processing method according to claim 3, further comprising an output step of extracting and outputting the determined area information when the area information is determined in the determining step. 5. The data processing method according to claim 4, wherein the output step performs a display based on the extracted area information. 6. The data processing method according to claim 4, wherein the output step provides a predetermined processing tool using the extracted area information. 7. The determining step includes: checking whether a first identifier exists at the end of the data to be processed; and determining the second identifier if the first identifier exists. A search step of searching for the head of the processing target data; and, when the second identifier is searched in the search step, determining data surrounded by the first and second identifiers as the area information. The data processing method according to claim 3, wherein: 8. The data processing method according to claim 1, wherein the area information indicates an area obtained by an area dividing process. 9. The data processing method according to claim 8, wherein the area information represents the area using polygon approximation. 10. The data processing method according to claim 8, wherein the area information represents the area using curve approximation. 11. The data processing method according to claim 8, wherein the area information includes an area number assigned to an area to which each pixel belongs as data of a corresponding pixel. 12. The area information includes, for each area, a set of binary bitmap data indicating the inside and outside of a minimum rectangular area surrounding the area, a position of the rectangle, and data indicating the size of the rectangle. 9. The data processing method according to claim 8, wherein: 13. The data processing method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined data description format is XML. 14. The data processing method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined data description format is SVG. 15. The data processing method according to claim 1, wherein the data description format is SGML. 16. The data processing method according to claim 1, wherein said data description format is HTML. 17. A data processing apparatus for adding area information relating to each area of a still image to image data, a first reading unit for reading image data to which area information is to be applied, Second reading means for reading the area information to be read; connecting means for connecting the area information read by the second reading means after the image data read by the first reading means; Output means for outputting the entire data as one file. 18. The apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the area information read by the second reading unit is valid data in a predetermined data description format. 18. The data processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein, when it is determined that the area information is described in an appropriate format, the area information is connected after the image data. 19. A method for determining area information in image data to which area information has been added, comprising: reading means for reading data to be processed; and inspecting the data to be processed read by the reading means from the end, Determining whether or not there is partial data surrounded by a predetermined identifier defined by a predetermined data description format to determine area information included in the data; Processing equipment. 20. The data processing apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising an output unit that extracts and outputs the determined area information when the area information is determined by the determination unit. 21. The data processing apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said output means performs display based on said extracted area information. 22. The data processing apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said output means provides a predetermined processing tool using the extracted area information. 23. A check means for checking whether or not a first identifier exists at the end of the data to be processed, and, if the first identifier exists, the second identifier A search unit that searches for the head of the data to be processed; and when the second identifier is searched by the search unit, determining data surrounded by the first and second identifiers as the area information. 20. The data processing device according to claim 19, wherein: 24. The data processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the area information indicates an area obtained by an area dividing process. 25. The data processing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the area information expresses the area using polygon approximation. 26. The data processing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the area information represents the area using curve approximation. 27. The data processing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the area information includes an area number assigned to an area to which each pixel belongs as data of a corresponding pixel. 28. The area information includes, for each area, a set of binary bitmap data indicating the inside and outside of a minimum rectangular area surrounding the area, a position of the rectangle, and data indicating the size of the rectangle. The data processing device according to claim 24, wherein: 29. A storage medium for storing a computer program for data processing for adding area information to image data, the computer program comprising: a first reading step for reading image data to which area information is to be added; A code, a code of a second reading step for reading area information to be added to the image data, and the area information read in the second reading step after the image data read in the first reading step. A storage medium comprising: a code of a connection step; and a code of an output step of outputting the entire data obtained in the connection step as one file. 30. A storage medium for storing a computer program for processing for determining area information in image data to which area information has been added, the computer program comprising: a code for a reading step for reading data to be processed; By inspecting the processing target data read in the reading step from the end and determining whether there is partial data surrounded by a predetermined identifier defined by a predetermined data description format, A code for a discrimination step of discriminating region information to be determined.