JP2002133358A - Document reading method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enter update information by, for example, handwritten characters in the contents of a first database printed on a paper document, read the document and generate a second database efficiently, in a system that prohibits direct access to the first database for the purpose of protecting the first database. SOLUTION: Information about a two-dimensional bar code printed in advance on a document is used to determine which item a handwritten change character string corresponds to in a database. The item value of the corresponding item is replaced with the change data, which is registered in a second database.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for prohibiting direct access to a database for the purpose of protecting the database. The present invention relates to a form reading method for reading a form image with respect to a form in which is filled in, and generating a separate database.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-114616 discloses a technique of printing a barcode on a form and reading the barcode to search for a specified form. However, this conventional method does not consider a method of changing a barcode reading result based on a character recognition result of a handwritten character or the like. Further, in this conventional method, there is no description about access prohibition of a database.

Further, a technique relating to a method of reading a two-dimensional bar code is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 5-290204 and 6-1.
2515, and JP-A-7-254037. However, these conventional methods do not describe a method of changing a barcode reading result based on a character recognition result of a handwritten character or the like.

[0004]

Conventionally, in a system in which it is prohibited to directly access a database via a network to create a new database in order to protect the security of the database, the contents of the database are stored in a form as a character string. , And the character string is manually entered by key and registered in a new database. Also,
As another method, a character string printed from a form image is recognized as a character to register the character string in a new database.

In the conventional manual key input method, it is necessary to input the entire character string, which requires a large amount of input work. In addition, an input error has occurred due to manual key input. In the method of inputting a character string by character recognition from a form image, an error in character recognition cannot be completely avoided. There was a problem that.

Further, when there is a change in the contents data of a form on which the contents of the database are printed, it is necessary to associate the above-mentioned changed item with the contents of the change. A method of detecting a changed portion by associating items with contents has not been disclosed in the related art.

[0007] Further, there is no known method for replacing the contents of a two-dimensional barcode printed on a form with a modified character string entered by hand and registering it in a database.

[0008] It is also known to use an encrypted two-dimensional bar code so that the corresponding contents of the two-dimensional bar code printed on the form cannot be easily read for security. However, there is no known method of making the encryption method variable for each type of form in order to further improve confidentiality.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, a first invention of the present invention comprises means for selecting the contents of a first database, printing a two-dimensional barcode on a form, and writing characters. Means for printing on a form, means for collecting a surface image from a form in which change information has been entered for the printed form, and reading the two-dimensional bar code and reading the change information by character recognition. Means for generating a second database based on the information obtained by changing the contents of the code.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, as means for reading change information in the first aspect, a means for detecting a correction line from a filled-out form image and a circumscribed rectangle of a character string existing near the correction line are changed. Means are provided for extracting a character string in which information is described, and means for extracting an item corresponding to the change information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second database generation of the first aspect, there is provided means for replacing the contents and the items corresponding to the change information with the contents of the two-dimensional barcode using the read result of the character recognition. ing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in reading a two-dimensional barcode printed on a form, means for specifying the type of encryption of the two-dimensional barcode from format information provided for each type of form is provided. Means for decrypting the above two-dimensional barcode in accordance with the type of encryption is provided.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a form reading method according to an embodiment of the present invention. First database 1
00 and a second database 116. FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of the first database. This database 700 includes a plurality of components (records) of the database 701. For example, in the case of a customer database, individual information is assigned to each component. Examples of items (fields) in the component include an address (710), a name (711),
Date of birth (712), affiliation (713), amount of money (714)
, And the data content 72 which becomes the item value for each item
0, 721, 722, 723, and 724 are registered.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the configuration of the second database 116.
There are a plurality of components of the database indicated by.
For example, in the case of a customer database, personal information of each person is assigned as a component, and the address (810), name (811), date of birth (8)
12) and the amount of money (813).
0, 821, 822, and 823 are registered. The result obtained by changing the contents of the first database 100 is stored in the second database 116. Note that items and contents required for the second database are selected from the first database 100 and stored.

In FIG. 1, the first database 100 and the second database 116 are connected via a network 102. From the viewpoint of security protection, the first database 100 is directly accessed and the second database 116 is accessed.
It is forbidden to register with.

A print control unit 103 is connected to the network 102 and controls a printer 104 for printing a form. The contents of the first database 100 are the print control unit 103
Is printed on the printer 104 via the
05 is output. The print form 105 includes the selected first
The contents of the database are printed as a print character string and a two-dimensional barcode.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a printed form. In the paper form 300, items and contents are printed in a frame. Address (301), name (30)
2), date of birth (303), amount of money (304), remarks (3
05), and a content frame 31 corresponding to each item value
1, 312, 313, 314, and 315 are printed with content information. Here, the two-dimensional barcode 316 includes all the contents of the print form.

The changed portion is manually entered in the print form 105 to obtain a filled-out form 110. A surface image of the filled-out form 105 is collected by the image scanner 111. The two-dimensional barcode reading unit 112 reads the two-dimensional barcode of the form 105. Further, the character reading unit 113 performs character recognition of the changed portion entered in the form. The integrating unit 114 integrates the two-dimensional bar code reading result and the character reading result. Here, the read result of the written changed portion is replaced with the read result of the two-dimensional barcode. The correction registration unit 115 corrects an erroneous part or an unread part of the character reading result via the screen, and registers it in the second database 116.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a procedure of a form reading method according to the present embodiment. The contents of the first database 200 are retrieved and output in a selection process 201 for a specified item and a specified component. The output contents are encrypted 202
And two-dimensional barcode generation processing 203
A dimensional barcode is generated. In the encryption process 202, an encryption method can be specified based on the format information of the form. The format information may be set in advance for each form, or the format may be automatically extracted based on the frame structure and line structure of the form.

On the other hand, in the character / symbol generation processing 204, the output contents are converted into character codes. In the form printing process 205, a two-dimensional barcode and a character code are printed on the paper.

As described above, in the form 206 on which a part of the contents of the first database 200 has been printed, the changed contents are entered by hand at the portions to be changed. A surface image is collected from the completed form 206 in a form image input process 207. Then, in a two-dimensional barcode reading process 208, a two-dimensional barcode on the form surface is read, and in a decrypting process 209, the two-dimensional barcode previously encrypted is read.
Decode a dimensional barcode. In the decryption process 209, since the encryption method is specified based on the format information of the form, the decryption process may be performed according to the format information. Note that the format information may be set in advance for each form, or the format may be automatically extracted based on the frame structure and line structure of the form.

On the other hand, in the character / symbol reading process 210, the changed portion is detected and character recognition is performed, and the changed content is converted into a character / symbol code. Since the character recognition may include erroneous reading or unreading, the result of the character / symbol reading processing may be modified through the screen to correct the output code (2.
11).

In the integration process 212, the data is replaced with the changed result as a result of the character / symbol reading process with respect to the reading result of the two-dimensional barcode, and stored in the second database 213. In the second database 213,
Update data that is a part of the first database 200 and that has been changed is stored.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a filled-out form with a change. Paper form 4 printed out from the first database
At 00, the contents of the address portion 410 and the amount of money 411 are changed. The printed address is erased by the correction lines (401 and 402), and the address character string 403 is newly written by hand. Further, the printed amount is erased by another correction line (404 and 405), and the amount character string 406 is newly written by hand. Note that the content of the two-dimensional barcode 407 is the content of the print character string before correction, and even if only the two-dimensional barcode is read, the changed content cannot be reflected in the second database 213. Therefore, by detecting the correction line,
Read the correction string.

FIG. 5 shows the processing steps of the character reading unit 113. Step 500 indicates the start of the character reading process, and step 509 indicates the end of the character reading process.
First, in step 501, the form of the form is identified from the form image. Here, the format of the form is identified based on the spatial arrangement of ruled lines and character lines.

Next, in step 502, the items are associated with the contents. That is, in the example of the form 300 shown in FIG. 3, the name frame 302 and the like are associated with the corresponding content frame 312 and the like.

Next, in step 503, a correction line is detected. Here, a line segment in which the black image continues in the horizontal direction is detected. At this time, the feature that two correction lines exist in the vicinity may be used as a line segment detection method. In step 504, a character string in the form, that is, an area where a block of black images, which are components of a character, are arranged in the horizontal direction is extracted.

In step 505, a corrected character string is selected from the extracted character strings. Here, a corrected character string is determined using the position coordinates of the correction line detected in step 503. In step 506, a character pattern is cut out from the internal image of the selected corrected character string. Then, character identification is performed on the character pattern cut out in step 507. In step 508, the item corresponding to the corrected character string is output in association with the content.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a process of integrating read results in the integrating unit 114. The process starts at step 600 and ends at step 608. In step 601, decoded data of a two-dimensional barcode is input from the two-dimensional barcode reading unit 112. In step 602, a character reading result is input from the character reading unit 113.

In step 603, the second database 1
Steps 604 and 607 described below are repeated until the items registered in No. 16 are exhausted. That is, step 6
In step 04, it is determined whether or not there is an item corresponding to the character reading result. If the item is "present (605)", in step 607, the corresponding contents are replaced with the character reading result from the decoded data of the two-dimensional barcode.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the process of detecting the correction line in step 503. From the image of the form 400 in which the correction data is entered by hand, a portion where a line segment composed of a black image continues in the horizontal direction is detected, and the continuous portion is extracted as a horizontal line to obtain an image 900. As horizontal lines in the image 900, frame lines 901, 904, 905, 906, 909, 9
10 are extracted, and 902, 903 and 907, 908 are extracted as correction lines.

FIG. 10 is a detailed process of step 503. In step 1000, the process of detecting a correction line is started. First, in step 1001, a horizontal line is extracted. Here, the portion where the black pixels are continuously arranged in the horizontal direction is extracted as a horizontal line. Note that a horizontal line may be extracted using a black run that is a continuous line segment of black pixels.

Next, the processing of steps 1003 and 1006 is repeated until the horizontal line previously extracted in step 1002 is exhausted. That is, in step 1003, it is determined whether there is a similar horizontal line near the horizontal line of interest.
If the similar horizontal line is “present (1004)”, the horizontal line is registered as a correction line in step 1006. Thus, by repeating steps 1003 and 1006, all correction lines can be detected from the extracted horizontal line group.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the process of selecting a corrected character string in step 505. A result 1100 of extracting a character line from the completed form image 400 is shown in 1100.
Here, the circumscribed rectangle of the character component is merged in the horizontal direction, and the merged rectangle is extracted as a character line. Completed form image 4
From 00, character line rectangles 1101 to 1111
Is extracted.

From among the extracted character line rectangles, a corrected character string is extracted by comparing the position coordinate value of the rectangle with the position coordinate value of the correction line obtained in the process of detecting the correction line in step 503. For example, as correction lines, 902 and 9
03 is detected, and the character line 1102 closest to the correction line is set as a corrected character string. Note that the character string 110
Numeral 3 is the original printed character line, which is erased by the correction line.

[0036]

According to the present invention, in a system in which it is prohibited to create a new database by directly accessing the database via a network for security of the database, the database once printed is input to the form. At this time, by using both the two-dimensional barcode reading and the character recognition for the changed part, there is an effect that the input work of a new database can be reduced.

Further, since the changed part is automatically detected by associating the item with the contents, the database of the changed part can be easily registered. In addition, since the contents of the two-dimensional barcode printed on the form are replaced with a changed character string entered by hand and registered in the database, there is an advantage that change information can be registered automatically.

Further, for security, the encryption method of the two-dimensional bar code is variable for each type of form, so that the reliability of security can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a system configuration for implementing a form reading method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a procedure of a form reading method.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printed form.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a filled-out form with a change.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing steps of a character reading unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of integrating read results;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a first database.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a second database.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a process of detecting a correction line.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of detecting a correction line.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a process of selecting a corrected character string.

[Explanation of symbols]

100: first database, 116: second database, 112: two-dimensional barcode reading unit, 113: character reading unit, 114: integration unit, 202: encryption processing,
209: decoding process, 316: two-dimensional barcode, 40
1 ... Correction line, 403 ... Correction character string, 502 ... Correlation of item contents, 505 ... Correction character string selection, 607 ... Data replacement processing process, 701 ... Constituent elements of the first database, 801 ... Constitution of the second database Element, 901 ... frame line, 902 ... correction line, 1102 ... correction character string.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06K 17/00 G06K 17/00 A

Claims (5)

[Claims] A step of reading, from the form, a bar code corresponding to the written information before correction on the form, a step of detecting a correction line on the form, and recognizing a corrected character string as a character; Replacing the information corresponding to the corrected character string with the information of the corrected character string. 2. A form reading system comprising a first database and a second database, wherein the form reading is prohibited in which the first database is not directly accessed via a network to generate the second database. In the system, the contents of the first database are selected, the two-dimensional barcode is printed on the form, the characters are printed on the form, and the surface image is collected from the form in which the change information is entered for the printed form. And reading a two-dimensional bar code and reading change information by character recognition, and generating a second database based on the information obtained by adding the change to the contents of the two-dimensional bar code. . 3. A method of reading change information according to claim 2, wherein a correction line is detected from the filled-out form image, and a circumscribed rectangle of a character string existing near the correction line is set as a character string in which the change information is described. A form reading method characterized by extracting items corresponding to change information as well as extracting items. 4. A form reading method according to claim 2, wherein in the generation of the second database, the contents and the items corresponding to the change information are replaced with the contents of the two-dimensional barcode by using the result of the character recognition reading. 5. When reading a two-dimensional barcode printed on a form, a type of encryption of the two-dimensional barcode is specified from format information provided for each type of form, and a two-dimensional barcode on the form is specified. A form reading method characterized by decoding a code.