JP2006087050A - Imaging apparatus and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus capable of reducing a time required for an operation (reading, deleting, and informational acquiring etc.) of an object recorded on a record media (internal memory and a detachable memory card etc.) in the apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: As for each object constituting a logical folder hierarchy in a record medium, an object information including an information specifying a master object at least in a logical folder hierarchy is generated. Then, for example, a command for a photography image file based on a PTP is received from an external device, and processed using the object information generated beforehand. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus using an imaging element such as a CCD and a control method thereof, and more particularly to an imaging apparatus capable of efficiently creating a hierarchical structure of captured objects and efficiently searching for objects and the like It relates to a control method.

  USB (Universal Serial Bus) is known as a communication standard between an information terminal such as a personal computer and an imaging apparatus. Also, recently, PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) has been proposed by PIMA (Photographic and Imaging Manufactures Association, INC.) As an upper-layer communication standard for USB created based on the USB still image class interface. This standard defines a data transfer method for digital cameras and scanners. According to this standard, the user can take in a data file of an easily captured or scanned image into a personal computer without being aware of the directory structure in which the image file is stored.

  In addition, for example, a function for displaying thumbnail images of image files is prepared in PTP. Note that commands are prepared for the PTP, and there are standard commands and vendor extension commands.

  There is also known a so-called direct printing technique in which image data recorded in an imaging device is directly printed from the printer by directly connecting the imaging device and a printer and communicating with each other (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .

  DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) has been established by the Japan Electronics Industry Promotion Association as a standard that defines how to manage images taken with digital cameras. In DCF, a folder structure, a folder name, an object file name, and an object structure method are defined, and the object is stored in a folder under the “DCIM” folder.

  When searching for an object, a data table in which each object and a full path of the object (all the existing positions of the object are described from the highest hierarchy of the directory structure) are associated with each other in a temporary manner in the digital camera. A method is often used in which data is created in a storage device, and the data table is referenced to search from the top entry in the order of the data table address.

JP 2004-15234 A

  Consider using a data table in which an object and its full path have a one-to-one correspondence and searching for an object from the top entry in the address order of the data table (from the top). When there are a large number of images on a recording medium built in or attached to the imaging apparatus, there are many entries in the data table. When such a data table is searched in order from the first entry, all entries in the data table are searched in the worst case, and there is a problem that the search takes time.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and operates (reads, deletes, deletes information) on objects recorded on a recording medium (such as a built-in memory or a removable memory card) in the imaging apparatus. The purpose is to shorten the time required for acquisition).

  The above-described object is an image pickup apparatus that has a means for communicating with an external device and records a picked-up image file in a removable or built-in recording medium in accordance with a hierarchical logical folder structure, and provides a storage area And, for each object constituting the logical folder hierarchy in the recording medium, object information including information for identifying at least the parent object in the logical folder hierarchy is generated and stored in the storage means, and received from the external device This is achieved by an imaging apparatus comprising processing means for processing a command for a captured image file using object information stored in a storage means.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup apparatus that has a storage unit that provides a storage area and a communication unit that communicates with an external device and that records a captured image file in a removable or built-in recording medium according to a hierarchical logical folder configuration. An object information generation step of generating object information including information for identifying at least a parent object in the logical folder hierarchy for each object constituting the logical folder hierarchy in the recording medium, and storing the object information in a storage unit; The present invention is also achieved by a control method for an imaging apparatus, characterized by comprising processing steps for processing a command for a captured image file received from an external device using object information stored in a storage means.

  With the above configuration, according to the present invention, the time required to operate (read, delete, acquire information, etc.) an object recorded on a recording medium (such as a built-in memory or a removable memory card) in the imaging apparatus is shortened. can do.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a digital camera 100 as an imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment, and a personal computer as an external information terminal (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “terminal”) that can communicate with the digital camera 100. 2 shows a state in which a (PC) 101 and a digital camera (hereinafter simply referred to as “camera”) 100 are connected.

  The digital camera 100 includes a communication control device 102 for performing communication with the terminal 101, a computing device (CPU) 103 for controlling the operation of the entire digital camera 100, and processing such as compression encoding, contour enhancement, noise removal, and the like of captured images. Non-volatile such as a signal processing device 104 that performs the above, an optical unit 105 that includes a lens, autofocus, zoom drive motor, and the like, a temporary storage device (DRAM) 106 that is used for a temporary storage area of the CPU 103, and a flash memory (registered trademark) A secondary storage device 107 as a storage device, an operation unit 108 for a user to give various instructions to the digital camera 100 such as a cursor key, a setting / execution button, and a menu key, a display unit 109 represented by an LCD, and a CPU 103 Read-only memory (ROM) 11 for storing control programs Has removable recording medium 111 and reading and writing apparatus (such as a card reader-writer, an optical drive, etc.) to represent the memory card and 112.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the digital camera 100 and the terminal 101 are connected via a USB interface, and communication conforming to PTP, that is, communication using a command conforming to PTP is performed. However, the digital camera 100 and the terminal 101 may be connected by a connection method other than USB. Specifically, a wired connection represented by IEEE 1394 or a wireless connection represented by Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11x can be used. As described above, the PTP-compliant commands include standard commands and vendor extension commands.

(Description of TreeDataTable)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a TreeDataTable created in the temporary storage device 106 when the digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment starts communication with the PC 101.
TreeDataTable is a table for recording object information (file information, directory information) recorded in the camera. The size of this table is fixed. Each TreeDataTable has a fixed size and is recorded in association information or image information unit corresponding to one object. Therefore, the number of objects that can be stored in one table is fixed.

  As described above, the TreeDataTable is composed of association information that is information about objects other than images, such as folders, and image information in which information about image objects is recorded. In FIG. 2, A1 is illustrated as an example of Association information, and I1 is illustrated as an example of image information. In the TreeDataTable, the order in which the association information and the image information are stored is arbitrary.

  Next, each field of Association information will be described. A field UsedFlag is a flag indicating whether the object information is valid. UsedFlag takes, for example, a true value (TRUE) in the initial state (valid state), and is rewritten to an invalid state (FALSE) when the corresponding object is deleted.

  The field FormatCode stores the format of the object information (information that can identify whether it is Association information or image information. For example, in the case of image information, a value indicating the type of the object (JPEG, GIF, bmp, etc.)) is stored. A field InitState indicates the state of object information. At the time when communication with the PC 101 is started and the TreeDataTable is created, the folder configuration state is established. When the object information is first acquired in response to the PTP command from the PC, InitState enters the object information detailed recording state, and some fields of the image information are recorded in the TreeDataTable.

  As will be described later, the folder configuration state is a state in which information about the parent object, the first child object, and one object in the same hierarchy is recorded in the TreeDataTable when communication with the terminal is started. The object information detailed recording state is a state in which information about the object such as update date and time and file size is recorded in the TreeDataTable with reference to the object header.

  A field DriveNo indicates a volume number. A field Handle is a handle (object handle) to this object, and is equal to an index number of TreeDataTable as will be described later.

  A field ParentObjectHandle is a handle to a parent object (a value of an object handle corresponding to the parent object, that is, an index number). The field PreviousSiblingObjectHandle is a handle to the previous object in the same hierarchy. The field NextSiblingObjectHandle is a handle to the next object in the same hierarchy. A field ChildObjecthandle is a handle to the first child object. With these four fields, it is possible to reproduce and grasp the hierarchical structure of the object.

  Field FileName is an object name. A character string conforming to the DCF rules is entered and should be 13 characters or less. A field Attribute indicates a file attribute (such as access right). A field FileStamp indicates a file update date and time. A field FileSize is the size of the file, and is the size of the entire object including the header. A field ChildNum is the number of child objects. The field ChildState indicates whether the object handle of the child object is a sequential number. Field Reserve is a reserved area.

  Next, each field of the image information of TreeDataTable will be described. The fields UsedFlag, FomatCode, InitState, DriveNo, Handle, ParentObjectHandle, PreviousSiblingObjectHandle, nextSiblingObjectHandle, ChildObjectHandle, FileName, Attribute, FileStamp, and FileSize are used for the same purpose as the field with the same name in the Association information.

  Fields Year, Month, Day, Hour, Min, and Sec are used to indicate the shooting date (year, month, day, hour, minute, second). ThumbSize is the data size of the thumbnail image. PixWidth is the number of pixels in the main image data width direction, and PixHeight is the number of pixels in the height direction. Offset is a value (number of bytes) indicating a position where the main image data starts in an image file object including thumbnail image data and main image data. Size is the data size of this image. Reserve is a reserved area.

  In the present embodiment, the TreeDataTable is created so that the values stored in the field handle (object handle) of the Association information and the image information are equal to the index number in the TreeDataTable. That is, the field handle of the association information and the image information constituting the TreeDataTable is equal to a value indicating what number the object information exists in the TreeDataTable.

  As described above, since the Association information and the image information have a fixed size (for example, n bytes), if the object handle (index number) is an integer starting from 1, the object handle (index) in the TreeDataTable The start position of the object information of number (a) can be obtained immediately as the (n × a + 1) th byte.

  Therefore, when a search using a PTP command using an object handle is requested, the association information or image information to be searched can be read immediately, and the search can be speeded up.

(TreeDataTable generation process)
FIG. 4 shows an example of a logical hierarchical structure of objects recorded in the storage medium 111 or the secondary storage device 107 in the digital camera 100. In the following description, it is assumed that the image object is recorded in the removable storage medium 111, but the operation is the same even if it is recorded in the non-detachable secondary storage device 107.

  In a state where such a recording medium 111 is mounted, a user connects the digital camera 100 and the PC 101 as shown in FIG. 1 through a wired interface such as USB or IEEE1394 or a wireless interface such as Bluetooth. As a result, communication between the digital camera 100 and the terminal 101 starts.

  With the start of communication, the CPU 103 of the digital camera 100 generates TreeDataTable in a predetermined area of the temporary storage device 106 while referring to the contents of the recording medium 111. Hereinafter, generation and writing processing of TreeDataTable will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. To do.

  First, the CPU 103 initializes the index number i to 1 (step ST101). Then, the recording medium 111 is referred to and sequentially referenced from the hierarchy below the root directory D. First, the folder “DCIM” is referenced to determine whether or not this object is an image object (step ST105). Since “DCIM” is a folder, the process proceeds to step ST107, and object information (Association information) of the folder “DCIM” is recorded in each field shown in FIG. In addition, although it is the determination method in step ST105, since the folder name and hierarchy structure produced | generated to the recording medium 111 of the digital camera 100 are defined by the standard, CPU103 is the folder and image in the hierarchical structure in the recording medium 111. The file can be determined by, for example, the number of hierarchies from the root directory D in which the file exists.

  When the object information of “DCIM” is written to the TreeDataTable, the index number is incremented by 1 in step ST111, and the process returns to step ST103. The object information of the folder “DCIM” is association information having InitState as the folder configuration state, Handle = 1, FileName = “DCIM”, ChildNum = 1, and ChildObjectHandle = 2.

  Next, as object information having Handle = 2, information on the folder “100GANON” existing in the layer immediately below “DCIM” is recorded in the TreeDataTable as Association information. The object information of the folder “100GANON” is association information whose InitState is the folder configuration state, Handle = 2, ParentObjectHandle = 1, NextSiblingObjectHandle = 6, ChildObjectHandle = 3, FileName = “100GANON”, ChildNum = 3.

  Next, as object information having Handle = 3, the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” existing in the hierarchy below the folder “100GANON” is processed. Since it is an image object, the process proceeds from step ST105 to ST109, and object information is recorded as image information. However, since the InitState state is a folder structure at this time, among the fields shown in FIG. 2, the first used flag to the file size are written, and nothing is written after the field Year.

  The object information of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” is image information having InitState as the folder configuration state, Handle = 3, ParentObjectHandle = 2, NextSiblingObjectHandle = 4, ChildObjectHandle = NULL, and FileName = “IMG_0001.JPG”.

  Similarly, the object information of the image object “IMG — 0002.JPG” is recorded as object information having Handle = 4. The object information of the image object “IMG_0002.JPG” is image information having InitState as a folder configuration state, Handle = 4, ParentObjectHandle = 2, PreviousSiblingObjectHandle = 3, NextSiblingObjectHandle = 5, ChildObjectHandle = NULL, and FileName = “IMG_0002.JPG”. is there.

  Next, the object information of “IMG — 0003.JPG” with Handle = 5 indicates that InitState is the folder configuration state, Handle = 5, ParentObjectHandle = 2, PreviousSiblingObjectHandle = 4, NextSiblingObjectHandle = NULL, ChildObjectHandle = NULL, FileName = “IMG_0003.JPG” The image information is recorded in the TreeDataTable.

  Next, the object information of the folder “101GANON” is recorded as Association information, and the object information of the image objects “IMG_0005.JPG” and “IMG_0006.JPG” existing in the lower hierarchy is recorded in the TreeDataTable as image information.

  Finally, the information on the folder “MISC” and the objects in the folder “MISC” are recorded in the TreeDataTable in the same manner as the folder “DCIM” and the object information in the folder “DCIM” are recorded.

  If it is determined in step ST111 that no unregistered object exists in the recording medium 111, the creation process of the TreeDataTable ends. Here, only writing to main fields used for processing to be described later has been described, but it goes without saying that appropriate values are stored for other fields as well.

  As described above, for each object in the recording medium 111, association information for a folder / directory and image information for an image file are registered (added) in the TreeDataTable. At this time, the field InitState of each object information is a folder configuration state.

Hereinafter, a specific example of how to process and respond to a PTP command from the PC 101 by using the table created in this way will be described.
(Obtain object count processing in the folder)
A process when receiving the PTP command GetNumObjects from the PC 101 and acquiring the number of objects included in the folder specified by the command will be described.

  Here, in the state of FIG. 4, that is, in the state where there are three objects “IMG_0001.JPG”, “IMG_0002.JPG”, and “IMG_0003.JPG” in the folder “100GANON”, the objects in the folder “100GANON” Assume that the number is requested to be obtained.

  First, the CPU 103 takes out an object handle (information specifying the folder “100GANON”) included in the PTP command, and searches the TreeDataTable for object information having a value equal to the value in the field Handle.

  If found, the number indicated by the field ChildNum in the object information (here, the association information because it is the object information of the folder) is acquired as the number of objects in “100GANON” and returned to the PC 101.

(Object information acquisition process)
Next, processing when receiving a PTP command GetObjectInfo from the PC 101 and acquiring information about an object specified by the command will be described.
Here, it is assumed that the object information acquisition of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” in the folder “100GANON” in FIG. 4 is requested.

  First, the CPU 103 takes out an object handle (information specifying the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG”) included in the PTP command, and searches the TreeDataTable for object information having a value equal to the value in the field Handle.

  If found, the field InitState in the object information (image information here) is referred to. When InitState is the object information detailed recording state, since information is stored in all fields in the image information, the information of this image object is acquired from the necessary fields of the image information and returned to the PC 101.

  On the other hand, if the object information “IMG — 0001.JPG” has never been acquired since the TreeDataTable was created, InitState is in the folder configuration state. In this case, the file header of the image object is read from the storage medium 111 in the digital camera 100, and information about the image object is acquired. After acquiring this image object information, the image information field Year and later (shooting date, thumbnail image size, image horizontal size, image vertical size are displayed in the fields Year, Month, Day, Hour, Min, Information acquired from the header is written in (Sec, ThumbSize, PixWidth, PixHeight), and InitState of the image information is changed to the object information detailed recording state. Then, the object information is returned to the PC 101.

(Object data acquisition process)
Next, processing when receiving a PTP command GetObject from the PC 101 and acquiring object data specified by the command will be described.
Here, it is assumed that the object data acquisition of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” in the folder “100GANON” in FIG. 4 is requested.

  First, the CPU 103 takes out an object handle (information specifying the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG”) included in the PTP command, and searches the TreeDataTable for object information having a value equal to the value in the field Handle.

If found, the field FileName in the object information (image information) is referred to.
With reference to the field ParentObjectHandle, an object handle “2” of the parent object (folder “100GANON”) of “IMG — 0001.JPG” is acquired.

Object information having this object handle in the field Handle is retrieved from the TreeDataTable.
If found, the field FileName of the object information (object information of the folder “100GANON”) is referred to.

The object handle “1” of the parent object (folder “DCIM”) of “100GANON” is acquired with reference to the field “ParantObjectHandle”.
Object information having this object handle in the field Handle is retrieved from the TreeDataTable.
If found, the field FileName of the object information (object information of the folder “DCIM”) is referred to.

With reference to the field ParentObjectHandle, the object handle “0” of the parent object (volume “D”) of “DCIM” is acquired.
Object information having this object handle in the field Handle is retrieved from the TreeDataTable.
If found, the field FileName of the object information (object information of volume “D”) is referred to.
Since the volume “D” is the highest hierarchy, no further higher hierarchy search is performed.

  By arranging the file names referred to in the above steps in order, the full path “D: \ DCIM \ 100GANON \ IMG_0001.JPG” of “IMG_0001.JPG” can be obtained. With this full path, “IMG — 0001.JPG” recorded in the storage medium 111 in the digital camera 100 is accessed, and the image data “IMG — 0001.JPG” is transferred to the PC 101.

  As described above, by using the TreeDataTable of this embodiment, the object information can be referred to immediately from the object handle specified by the PTP command, and the object information includes at least information that can identify the parent object. After that, if you get the file name in order up to the top level, you can get the full path of the object. In the case of the recording medium 111 having the folder configuration of FIG. 4, regardless of the number of image objects, any image object can obtain its full path by referring to the TreeDataTable four times. On the other hand, in the method described in the prior art, since it is necessary to search the object handle sequentially from the beginning of the table, the number of times the table is referenced increases as the number of objects increases, and it takes time to obtain a full path. It will be.

(Object deletion process)
Next, processing when receiving the PTP command DeleteObject from the PC 101 and deleting the object specified by the command will be described.
Here, it is assumed that the deletion of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” in the folder “100GANON” in FIG. 4 is requested.

  First, the CPU 103 takes out an object handle (information specifying the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG”) included in the PTP command, and searches the TreeDataTable for object information having a value equal to the value in the field Handle.

  If found, the value of the field UsedFlag in the object information (image information) is rewritten to FALSE (invalid), and the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” is deleted from the storage medium 111 in the digital camera 100.

  Then, the related fields of other objects are changed. Specifically, for the object information of the parent object of the deleted object, the field ChildNum is decreased by 1, and if the deleted object is the first child object, ChildObjectHandle is stored in NextSiblingObjectHandle of the deleted object. Rewrite the handle. Also, the PreviousObjectHandle of the object specified by the NextSiblingObjectHandle of the deleted object is changed to NULL. If the deleted object is not the first or last child object, (Next child object handle)-(Child object handle) = 1 will not hold, so the ChildState indicating the object handle number is set to FALSE. Update. However, if ChildState is FALSE and the number of child objects becomes 1 by deleting the object, ChildState is updated to TRUE.

  If the deleted object is a parent object, the UsedFlag of the object information of all objects below the child object is set to FALSE.

(Registration process of object information from PC)
Next, processing for receiving a PTP command SendObjectInfo from the PC 101 and registering object information in the TreeDataTable will be described.
Here, object information of an image object that does not exist in the recording medium 111 of the camera is transmitted from the PC 101 to the camera 100 and registered as object information of the object “IMG_0006.JPG” in the folder “100GANON” in the recording medium 111. Assume a case. Here, it is assumed that object information can still be registered in the TreeDataTable (not recorded until the final index).

Hereinafter, the registration process to the TreeDataTable when the PTP command SendObjectInfo is received will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
In the TreeDataTable, the image information of the image object “IMG_0006.JPG” is written in the index next to the last index in which the object information is recorded (step ST501).

With reference to the field Handle, it is determined whether the object handle of the object “100GANON” (step ST502).
If it is determined in ST502 that the object handle is not the object “100GANON”, it is determined in step ST503 whether the index of the referenced object information is the final index of TreeDataTable.

If it is determined in step ST503 that the index is not the last index, the next index (object information) is referred to in step ST504. Next, the process returns to step ST502.
If it is determined in step ST503 that the index is the last index, the process ends.

  When it is determined in step ST502 that the object is the handle of the object “100GANON”, that is, when the object information of “100GANON” is found from the TreeDataTable, in step ST505, refer to the field ChildObjectHandle and the field ChildNum of the Association information including the Handle. To do. Also, the value of ChildNum is increased by 1.

In step ST506, it is determined whether the field ChildObjectHandle is NULL.
If it is determined in step ST506 that the field ChildObjectHandle is not NULL, that is, if another image file already exists in the folder “100GANON”, the object information of the index indicated by the field ChildObjectHandle is referred to in step ST507.

  The field NextSiblingObjectHandle of the reference destination image information is referred to, and the object information of the index indicated by the field NextSiblingObjectHandle is referred to. This process is repeated (value-1 recorded in the field ChildNum) times (step ST508). As a result, the last object information corresponding to the image file included in the folder “100GANON” (one layer below the folder “100GANON”) is reached.

  In step ST509, the index (Handle value) in which the image information “IMG — 0006.JPG” is recorded in step ST501 is written in the field NextSiblingObjectHandle of this object information. As a result, “IMG — 0006.JPG” is registered in the TreeDataTable as existing one layer below the folder “100GANON”.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST506 that the field ChildObjectHandle of the object “100GANON” is NULL (that is, if no image file exists in the folder “100GANON”), the image information of “IMG_0006.JPG” is stored in the field ChildObjectHandle in step ST510. Write the recorded index.
Note that the determination in step ST507 may check whether the field ChildNum is 0 or not.

(Object size and offset acquisition processing)
Next, processing when receiving the extended PTP command GetPartialObjectInfo from the PC 101 and acquiring the object size and the offset at which the object data starts for the object specified by the command will be described. Here, GetPartialObjectInfo is a command that specifies the type of a component in an object and acquires the size of the component and the offset of the component from the beginning of the object.

  Here, for all JPEG image data (actual image data, not thumbnail images) of the image object “IMG_0001.JPG” in the folder “100GANON” in FIG. 4, the size and the beginning of the object “IMG_0001.JPG” Assume that acquisition of offset information (that is, values of fields Offset and Size) is requested.

  First, the CPU 103 takes out an object handle (information specifying the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG”) included in the PTP command, and searches the TreeDataTable for object information having a value equal to the value in the field Handle.

If found, refer to the field InitState in the object information.
As a result of the reference, if InitState is the object information detailed recording state, since the values are already read in the fields Offset and Size as described above, the configuration of the object “IMG_0001.JPG” from the fields Size and Offset in the image information The size of all JPEG images as elements and the offset from the beginning of the object “IMG — 0001.JPG” are acquired for all JPEG images.

  On the other hand, when InitState is in the file configuration state, since the value is not read in the fields Offset and Size, the full path of the object “IMG_0001.JPG” is acquired and stored as described above in the object data acquisition process. Referring to the header file of the object “IMG_0001.JPG” recorded on the medium 111, the number of bytes of all JPEG images that are components of the object “IMG_0001.JPG” and the object “IMG_0001.JPG” for all the JPEG images Get the offset from the beginning of. Then, these pieces of information are returned to the PC 101.

(Object handle acquisition processing from full path)
Next, processing when receiving an extended PTP command GetObjectHandleByName from the PC 101 and acquiring an object handle from a path name specified by the command will be described. Here, GetObjectHandleByName is a PTP extended command for acquiring the handle of the object indicated by the path name. In this extended command, an object is specified by a full path instead of an object handle.
Here, it is assumed that the handle acquisition of the object specified by the full path “D: \ DCIM \ 100GANON \ IMG_0001.JPG” is requested in the command.

The processing will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
First, in steps ST601 to ST604, object information corresponding to “DCIM” is searched from the TreeDataTable.

  That is, in step ST601, the field FileName of each object information of TreeDataTable is referred. Since it is clear that “DCIM” is not an image object, the field FileName may be referred to only for object data whose object information field FormatCode is Association information.

Next, in step ST602, it is determined whether or not the field FileName is “DCIM”.
If it is determined in step ST602 that the folder is not the “DCIM” folder, it is determined in step ST603 whether it is the final index (final object data).

If it is determined in step ST603 that the index is not the final index, the next object data field FileName is referenced in step ST604, and the process returns to step ST602.
If it is determined in step ST603 that the index is the last index, the process ends.

  When object data with FileName “DCIM” is found in step ST602, the fields ChildObjectHandle and ChildNum of the object information are referred to in step ST605.

Next, in step ST606, the object information indicated by the handle (index number) described in the field ChildObjectHandle is referred.
Next, in step ST607, the field FileName is referenced.
Next, in step ST608, it is determined whether FileName is “100GANON”.

  If it is determined in Step ST608 that FileName is not “100GANON”, the object information indicated by the index number described in NextSiblingObjectHandle (that is, the object information of another folder in the same hierarchy) is referred to in Step ST609. Next, returning to step ST607, the TreeDataTable is searched up to ChildNum times (twice in the example of FIG. 4) until the object information “100GANON” is referred to.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST608 that FileName is “100GANON”, fields ChildObjectHandle and ChildNum are referred to in step ST610.
Next, in step ST611, the object information indicated by the index number described in ChildObjectHandle is referred.
Next, in step ST612, the field FileName is referred to.

  Next, in step ST613, it is determined whether or not FileName is the “IMG — 0001.JPG” folder. If it is determined in Step ST613 that FileName is not “IMG — 0001.JPG”, the object information indicated by the index number described in NextSiblingObejctHandle is referred to in Step ST614. Next, the process returns to step ST612, and TreeDataTable is searched for ChildNum times of the maximum “100GANON” object information until the image information “IMG — 0001.JPG” is referred to.

  If it is determined in step ST613 that FileName is “IMG_0001.JPG”, the field handle of the object information is referenced in step ST615, and the object handle corresponding to the path name “D: \ DCIM \ 100GANON \ IMG_0001.JPG” Are transferred to the PC 101.

(Get all object handles in storage)
Next, processing when receiving a PTP command GetObjectHandles from the PC 101 and acquiring all object handles of a specified object format in the storage will be described. Here, GetObjectHandles is a PTP command for acquiring the handles of all objects in the storage.
Here, the format of the object to be acquired is all objects.

Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
In Step ST901, the field FileName of TreeDataTable is referred.
In step ST902, it is determined whether it is “DCIM”.
When it is determined in step ST902 that it is not “DCIM”, it is determined whether the index is the final index (step ST903).

When it is not determined as the last entry in step ST903, the next index of TreeDataTable is referred to (step ST904), and the process returns to step ST901.
If it is determined in step ST903 that the entry is the last entry, the process is terminated.
If it is determined in step ST901 that it is “DCIM”, the field Handle is referred to and its value is acquired (step ST905).
Next, in step ST906, the field ChildHandle is referred to, and the index of “100GANON” of TreeDataTable is referred to.

Next, in step ST907, the field Handle is referred to, and the object handle of the folder “100GANON” is acquired. Let that value be h.
Next, in step ST908, the field ChildNum is referred. The value is N (3 in FIG. 4).

Next, in step ST909, the field ChildState is referred.
Next, in Step ST910, it is determined whether or not ChildState is “TRUE”.
If “TRUE” is determined in step ST910, the value of the object handle in the folder “100CANON” is obtained from the object handle value h of the folder “100GANON” acquired in step 907 and the number N of child objects acquired in step ST908. , H + 1, h + 2,..., H + N can be acquired (step ST911). Next, the process proceeds to step ST918.

If “FALSE” is determined in step ST910, the field ChildHandle is referred to in step ST912 and the entry of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” in the TreeDataTable is referred to.
In step ST913, the field Handle is referred to, and the object handle of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” is acquired.

In step ST914, it is determined whether N is 1.
If N is determined to be 1 in step ST914, the process is terminated.
When N is determined to be 1 in step ST914, the index of the image object described in the field NextSiblingObjectHandle is referred to (step ST915).

Next, in step ST916, the field Handle is referred to and its value is acquired.
In step ST917, it is determined whether step ST915 and step ST916 have been performed (N-1) times.
If it is not determined in step ST917 that step ST915 and step ST916 have been performed (N-1) times, the process returns to step ST915.
If it is determined in step ST917 that step ST915 and step ST916 have been performed (N-1) times, the process proceeds to step ST918.

In Step ST918, the NextSiblingObjectHandle (folder “101GANON” in the example of FIG. 4) of the folder having the image object as the child object (folder “100GANON” in the example of FIG. 4) is referred to.
In Step ST919, it is determined whether NextSiblingObjectHandle is NULL.
If it is determined in step ST919 that NextSiblingObjectHandle is NULL, all object handles have been acquired, and the process is terminated.

If it is determined in step ST919 that NextSiblingObjectHandle is not NULL, the processing from step ST907 to step ST917 is performed (step ST920). That is, all the object handles in the folder “101GANON” in FIG. 4 can be acquired in step ST920. Next, the process returns to step ST108.
Through the above processing, the handles of all objects existing in the storage can be acquired. At that time, if the field ChildState of the TreeDataTable of the folder where the image object is one level below is “TRUE”, it is necessary to follow the handle of the child object and then follow the handles of N image objects of the same level. Therefore, the processing can be speeded up.

(Invalid area reuse processing of TreeDataTable)
As described above, in this embodiment, the size of the TreeDataTable is fixed, and the number of objects that can record object information in one TreeDataTable is also fixed. Therefore, when object information is recorded for the maximum number of objects (when the last index is used), object information for a new object cannot be recorded.

  However, if there is invalid object information (information in which the field UsedFlag is FALSE) like the object information about the deleted object, the area can be reused.

Hereinafter, this reuse process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Here, it is assumed that the object information is recorded in the TreeDataTable up to the final index, and information on a new image object “IMG — 0010.JPG” is tried to be recorded in the TreeDataTable.

In step ST701, an unrecorded object information index is searched up to the end of TreeDataTable.
Next, when there is an unrecorded object information area, the object information of the new object is written in the area (step ST702). As described above, the processes in steps ST701 to ST702 correspond to a process for adding new object information in a state where there is still a free area.

  Here, since there is no free space, the process proceeds to step ST703, and object information whose field UsedFlag is FALSE is searched from the top of the TreeDataTable. That is, if UsedFlag is TRUE, it is determined in step ST706 whether this object information is the final index. If it is determined that the object information is not the final index, the next index is accessed in ST707, and the process returns to step ST703.

  If it is determined in step ST706 that the index is the last index, the field Used of all indexes of TreeDataTable is TRUE, and new object information cannot be added, so the process ends as unprocessed.

  On the other hand, if UsedFlag is FLASE in step ST703, the object information of the image object “IMG — 0010.JPG” is overwritten on the object information (step ST704).

In step ST705, the field UsedFlag of the object information is changed to TRUE.
Thus, by using UsedFlag, a finite area can be reused without waste.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, for each object included in the recording medium, information representing the relative positional relationship with at least one other object, specifically, at least the parent in the logical hierarchy folder configuration. By creating a table that stores object information including information that can identify objects, it is possible to search at high speed even if the number of objects contained in the recording medium, specifically, the number of image files increases. .

  In addition, information that can specify the first child object is included as object information, and another child object is specified for a plurality of child objects having a common parent object belonging to the same hierarchy in the logical hierarchy structure. By recording information, a specific child object can be easily searched from among a plurality of child objects of a parent object.

  Further, regarding the parent object, by including information on the number of child objects in the object information, it is possible to grasp the number of child objects at a higher speed than the conventional method of counting the number of child objects.

  In addition, since the object handle and the table index correspond one-to-one (corresponding to the same value or a predetermined relationship), when searching for an object by specifying the object handle with the PTP command, the search time Has the advantage of shortening. In particular, when each object information of the table is recorded in a fixed size area, the start position of the object information can be obtained immediately from the object handle, so that the search is speeded up.

  The object information included in the file header of the image object is acquired at the time when the request is first made, and is registered in the table, thereby shortening the time required for the initial table creation and thereafter requesting the same information. If there is, object information can be obtained without accessing the file again.

  In addition, when the handles of all child objects of an object are acquired, if the values of the handles of all the child objects are shown as sequential numbers, they can be calculated from the handles of the objects. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the values of the handles of all child objects at a higher speed than the conventional method of accessing individual child objects and acquiring the handles of the child objects one by one.

<Second Embodiment>
(Use of StrageInfoTable)
In the imaging apparatus of the above-described embodiment, it is also possible to further create a table “StrageInfoTable” for recording storage information.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a StorageInfoTable that the digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment can create in the temporary storage device 106 in the camera after the TreeDataTable is created.

  The StorageInfoTable is a table for recording the recording medium 111 inserted into the digital camera and the storage information of the logical recording medium created in the temporary storage device 106 defined by PTP. StorageInfoTable is a different table from TreeDataTable in FIG. The StorageInfoTable has two types of information ST for each storage ID and information MT for the whole. Since it is necessary to generate logical storage information in accordance with the PTP standard, two STs are created for one recording medium. Here, since the size per information ST1 entry for each storage ID is a fixed size, it is possible to specify which storage ID information entry on the StorageInfo table by specifying the field DriveNo of the TreeDataTable in FIG.

  A field ValidFlag is a flag indicating whether or not this information is valid. A field Num is the number of STs recorded in the StorageInfoTable. The field TotalObjectNum is the number of objects existing in the storage corresponding to all STs recorded in the StorageInfoTable (the sum of ObjectNum of each ST). RollState indicates a state in which the TreeDataTable in FIG. 2 is written up to the final index, and the field UsedFlag invalidated in FIG. 2 may be reused.

  AccessCapability indicates whether or not the storage (recording medium or logical storage information thereof) corresponding to the ST is readable / writable. DriveName is a volume name and is one character. DriveName is the same as the field FileName of the TreeDataTable in FIG. StorageID is a storage ID. RootHandle is a handle to the root directory (in the example of FIG. 4, an object handle corresponding to the directory D). ObjectNum is the number of objects included in the storage corresponding to this ST. Reserve is a reserved area.

(StrageInfoTable creation process)
As described above, the digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment can create the StorageInfoTable in the temporary storage device 106 after creating the TreeDataTable.
In this case, the CPU 103 refers to the memory card 111 attached to the camera 100, creates storage information ST1 of the memory card 111 and logical storage information ST2, and generates MT1 as overall storage information. Store the appropriate value in the field.

  For volume information, the StorageInfoTable field DriveName and the TreeDataTable field FileName have the same character, and the StorageInfoTable field RootHandle and the TreeDataTable field Handle have the same value. In the example of FIG. 4, information about the volume “D” is created in this way.

(Relationship between StorageInfoTable and TreeDataTable)
Hereinafter, an example in which two tables, StorageInfoTable and TreeDataTable, are used will be described.
(1. Acquisition of file size)
An example in which a file size of an image object is acquired by accessing a storage medium will be described.
Here, it is assumed that the file size of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” existing in the folder “100GANON” in the volume “D” in FIG. 4 is acquired.

Access the image object “IMG_0001.JPG” entry from TreeDataTable.
Next, the field DriveNo is referred.
Next, the entry of the volume “D” of the StorageInfoTable is accessed from the DriveNo of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” acquired from the TreeDataTable.

Next, the field StorageID on the StorageInfoTable of the volume “D” is referred to.
Look at the upper 2 bytes of the obtained StorageID.
If the upper 2 bytes of StorageID are 0x0001, data exists on the real storage, so the file size is acquired from the header of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” existing on the real storage.
If the upper 2 bytes of StorageID are 0x8000, the data exists in the virtual storage, so the file size is acquired from the header of the image object “IMG_0001.JPG” that exists in a memory different from the real storage.

(2. Object deletion prohibited by access attribute)
An example will be described in which an object is to be deleted when the storage access attribute is write-protected.
Here, it is assumed that the volume “D” in FIG. 4 has a write-protect attribute and the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” existing in the folder “100GANON” is deleted.

Access the image object “IMG_0001.JPG” entry from TreeDataTable.
Next, the field DriveNo is referred.
Next, the entry of the volume “D” of the StorageInfoTable is accessed from the DriveNo of the image object “IMG — 0001.JPG” acquired from the TreeDataTable.
Next, the field “AccessCapacity” on the StorageInfoTable of the volume “D” is referred to.

Since the attribute of the field “AccessCapacity” is a write-protect attribute, the process of deleting the image object “IMG_0001.JPG” is stopped.
In this embodiment, the deletion of the image object in the volume has been described, but the same applies to the deletion of the folder in the volume. The same applies to the addition of objects.

<Other embodiments>
In the above-described embodiment, the timing at which the object information (image information) of the image object transitions from the folder configuration state to the object information detailed recording state is the time when the object information is actually requested. By doing so, it is possible to access the image object file only when necessary, and to reduce the processing load of the camera and the time required for creating the TreeDataTable. However, for example, when the load is low, such as when the camera is in an idle state, the image object file may be sequentially accessed to obtain information from the file header and write it to the table.

  Note that an image capturing apparatus or an information processing apparatus (summary) having a CPU or other configuration capable of executing a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments directly from a recording medium or using wired / wireless communication. The present invention also includes a case where an equivalent function is achieved by supplying the information to a computer and executing the supplied program.

  Accordingly, the program code itself supplied and installed in the computer in order to implement the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also realizes the present invention. That is, the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention is also included in the present invention.

  In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a magnetic recording medium such as a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD- There are optical / magneto-optical storage media such as RW, and non-volatile semiconductor memory.

  As a program supply method using wired / wireless communication, a computer program forming the present invention on a server on a computer network, or a computer forming the present invention on a client computer such as a compressed file including an automatic installation function A method of storing a data file (program data file) that can be a program and downloading the program data file to a connected client computer can be used. In this case, the program data file can be divided into a plurality of segment files, and the segment files can be arranged on different servers.

  That is, the present invention includes a server device that allows a plurality of users to download a program data file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to the user, and key information for decrypting the encryption for a user who satisfies a predetermined condition is provided via a homepage via the Internet, for example. It is also possible to realize the program by downloading it from the computer and executing the encrypted program using the key information and installing it on the computer.

  In addition to the functions of the above-described embodiments being realized by the computer executing the read program, the OS running on the computer based on an instruction of the program is a part of the actual processing. Alternatively, the functions of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing all of them and performing the processing.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or The CPU of the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the digital camera which concerns on embodiment of this invention, and a connection state with PC. It is a figure which shows the data structure of TreeDataTable which the digital camera which concerns on embodiment of this invention produces | generates. It is a figure which shows the data structure of StorageInfoTabel which the digital camera which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention produces | generates. It is a figure which shows the example of the hierarchical structure of the object in the recording medium with which the digital camera was mounted | worn. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing when a SendObjectInfo command is executed using TreeDataTable in the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing when a GetObjectHandleByName command is executed using TreeDataTable in the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart for describing processing when object information is added to TreeDataTable in the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing for creating a TreeDataTable in the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart for describing processing for acquiring all object handles in a storage in the first embodiment.

Claims (15)

An imaging device that has a means for communicating with an external device and records a captured image file in a removable or built-in recording medium according to a hierarchical logical folder configuration,
Storage means for providing a storage area;
Object information generating means for generating object information including information for identifying at least a parent object in the logical folder hierarchy for each object constituting the logical folder hierarchy in the recording medium, and storing the object information in the storage means;
An imaging apparatus comprising: processing means for processing a command regarding the photographed image file received from the external device using object information stored in the storage means.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content of the information stored as the object information is different between a folder object constituting the logical folder hierarchy and an image object.   3. The information included only in the object information of the folder object includes information for specifying object information of a first child object in the logical folder hierarchy and information on the total number of child objects. Imaging device.   4. The information included only in the object information of the image object includes information for specifying object information of another object in the same hierarchy having a common parent object. Imaging device.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information included only in the object information of the image object is information recorded in the captured image file.   6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information included only in the object information of the image object includes information related to an imaging date and time. The captured image file includes a thumbnail image and a main image,
7. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information included only in the object information of the image object includes information regarding the thumbnail image and information regarding the main image.   The information included only in the object information of the image object is acquired and recorded by the object information generation unit when the information request command for the image object is first processed. The imaging device according to any one of the above.   9. The size of the storage area provided by the storage means and the size of the area for storing object information for each object are both fixed. The imaging device according to item.   Each of the object information includes unique information, and the unique information is defined so as to have a one-to-one correspondence with information used for specifying an object in the command. The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object information generation unit generates and stores the object information when communication with the external device is started.   4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a function of updating information of a parent object and a child object by adding or deleting the object.   The object information includes information on the total number of child objects, and can be obtained by referring to the total number of child objects in the object information without counting the child objects when obtaining the number of child objects. Imaging device.   The object information includes information indicating whether or not the handles of all the child objects are sequential numbers. When the handles of all the child objects are obtained, An imaging apparatus characterized in that handles of all child objects can be obtained by calculation without searching. A control method for an image pickup apparatus that has a storage means for providing a storage area and a means for communication with an external device, and records a shot image file in a removable or built-in recording medium according to a hierarchical logical folder configuration,
For each object constituting the logical folder hierarchy in the recording medium, generate object information including information for specifying at least a parent object in the logical folder hierarchy, and store the object information in the storage means; and
And a processing step of processing a command regarding the photographed image file received from the external device using object information stored in the storage unit.

Images