JP2007036581A - Information management apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage the configuration of directories and files by an optional setup of a user. <P>SOLUTION: The information management apparatus includes: an operation section 7 for setting a prescribed limit to image files stored in one directory in a recording medium; a flash memory 5 for storing a limit value placed on a total data capacity of the image files storable in the one directory set by a setting section; and a CPU 6 that compares the total data capacity of the image files stored in the particular directory with the limit value stored in the flash memory 5 in a prescribed operating timing of the information management apparatus and properly adds a new directory next to a final directory managed in directories of a tree structure depending on a result of the comparison. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information management apparatus and method suitable for application to, for example, a digital camera that records captured image files on an external recording medium.

  Conventionally, when a still image or the like is recorded using a digital camera, information is written on a removable external recording medium. When recording captured image data on an external recording medium loaded in a digital camera, recording is performed on the recording medium with a directory structure based on a specific standard. To enable recording and playback to external recording media using digital cameras from different manufacturers, for example, files based on the DCF (Design Rule for Camera File system) standard that defines the directory structure, file handling, etc. And management of files related to images.

  In the DCF standard, a “DCIM directory” called a “DCF image root directory” is created immediately below a “ROOT directory” of a recording medium. Then, a directory based on a naming rule of “three-digit directory number + five free characters (for example,“ 101MSDCF ”) called“ DCF directory ”is formed in a lower directory of“ DCIM directory ”, and the recorded image file Is saved. As long as the DCF directory has a non-overlapping directory number from 100 to 999, classification at the time of saving a captured image is possible using a plurality of DCF directories. Also, one DCF directory has a naming rule of “4-character free character + 4-digit file number + extension (for example,“ ABCD0001.jpg ”), which is called“ DCF file ”as an image or sound file. A file is formed. A group of files having the same file number as the DCF file name is referred to as a “DCF object”, and up to 9999 DCF objects can be recorded in one DCF directory. In addition, when a new DCF directory is newly created, it is recommended that the directory number be incremented by a sequential number of the maximum number + 1 of the existing directory number.

  In the past, when taking a picture using a digital camera, the photographer needs to make a DCF directory creation operation in advance and set the designation of saving an image file in the corresponding DCF directory. It was. For this reason, various techniques for automating directory creation have been proposed for the purpose of enhancing the convenience of the photographer when using a digital camera.

  Patent Document 1 detects changes in the state of a digital camera by a user operation, such as power on / off, lens exchange, change of shooting mode, change of shooting ISO value, and change of resolution, and based on the detection results, A technique for automatically changing the image data storage folder is described.

  Patent Document 2 describes a technique of automatically resetting a file number at the time of shooting and saving it in another directory according to an instruction at an arbitrary timing by a photographer.

  Patent Document 3 describes a technique of an electronic camera that newly creates a directory whose directory name includes the shooting date and time according to the shooting date and time of the file.

In Patent Document 4, when the number of image files allocated to one classification item exceeds the upper limit value, the image files allocated to a predetermined classification item are distributed to a plurality of directories having different directory names. The storing technique is described.
JP 2003-162709 A (see FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-150929 (see FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-164234 (see FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-271617 (see FIG. 11)

  Here, using a portable information terminal such as a PDA (Personal Digital (Data) Assistants) having a low processing capacity and a small memory area, which is used for developing a plurality of images as small images such as thumbnails, the images are browsed. Assume that Such a portable information terminal has a large display panel as compared with a display panel provided in a digital camera, and can be taken out and used easily. For this reason, it is conceivable that the photographer can organize images for the purpose of alleviating the complexity of image classification at any time when the photographer is away from home.

  However, when developing and displaying image data as thumbnails for each directory, it may be difficult to equalize the processing amount for displaying a plurality of image files stored in each directory for each directory. is there. That is, in a state where a large number of high-quality images with a large amount of information are contained in a single directory, the processing for expanding and displaying the images takes too much time due to the low processing capability of the portable information terminal. Or, the lack of a development memory area for image data causes a failure in securing the development memory area and makes it impossible to display the display data.

  Conventionally, a function for automatically creating an additional directory when the number of photographed images stored in one directory exceeds a predetermined number has been realized. However, such an automatic directory generation function functions only when the number of shots is several thousand or more. In other words, it works only with such a large value that a directory is not automatically created. Furthermore, since the photographer cannot arbitrarily set a predetermined number of images, a large amount of image data is stored in one directory, and the processing capability is low, and a portable information terminal with a small memory area for developing image data has a small image size. It is poor in practicality when displaying the expanded display of.

  In recent years, with the increase in capacity of external recording media, it has become possible to store a large number of image data. However, if the photographer continues shooting for a long time without organizing the image data, or if the image data is viewed or edited on various image playback devices while shooting is continued As described above, the photographer's usage may change. In such a case, even when the technique described in Patent Document 1 is used, since the number of image files stored for each directory differs, the complexity of browsing images is inevitable. In addition, the number of images and the capacity in each directory created by automation are not constant.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 2, if the directory structure is changed after shooting, the directory structure may not reflect the photographer's intention. In addition, due to the recent high performance of digital cameras, most cameras can perform simple editing such as file deletion and size change when browsing with a single camera. Even in such a case, since the amount of information of the image file stored for each directory can change, inconvenience occurs when browsing the image on the portable information terminal.

  Also, with the technique described in Patent Document 3, when going out for a trip or the like that spans a plurality of days, the photographer may not be able to organize the recorded image files during that period. For this reason, there is a possibility that a large number of image files exist in one directory, which also causes a problem that images are not displayed promptly when browsing an image on a portable information terminal.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 4, it is possible to limit the number of files intended by the user without distinction between image creation and browsing / editing. By the way, when the file size per image file increases due to the recent increase in resolution of digital cameras, images cannot be displayed or the display processing speed decreases due to a lack of a development memory area. The inconvenience still remains.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to manage directories and files with arbitrary settings of a user.

  The present invention relates to an information management method for managing an image file captured by an image capturing unit in a directory having a tree structure and storing the image file in a removable recording medium, and storing the image file stored in one directory in the recording medium. Set a predetermined limit value, store the limit value of the total data capacity of image files that can be stored in one set directory, store the total data capacity of image files stored in a specific directory, and the stored limit The values are compared at a predetermined operation timing, and a new directory is appropriately added after the last directory of the tree-type directory structure according to the comparison result.

  By doing in this way, the image file imaged can be stored in the directory which set the limit value defined by the predetermined standard, and the directory can be reconfigured at a predetermined operation timing.

  According to the present invention, a directory for storing captured image files is reconfigured according to a predetermined reference at a predetermined operation timing, stored in a removable recording medium, and the recording medium is stored in an electronic device having a different memory capacity at the time of display. When mounted, the file image can be displayed for each optimized directory.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present embodiment is an example applied to a digital camera that records still image data on a removable external recording medium.

  First, an internal configuration example of the digital camera of this example will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the digital camera 100 of this example. Imaging light input from the optical unit 1 including a lens, a diaphragm, a filter, and the like is photoelectrically converted by an imaging element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices) imager 2 to convert analog data into digital data. Supplied to section 3. The image data converted into digital data is supplied to a signal processing circuit 4 that performs predetermined processing. In the signal processing circuit 4, the obtained still image data is compressed by a JPEG (Joint Photographic Coding Experts Group) method and recorded on a removable recording medium 9. The user can perform setting, imaging operation, and reproduction operation of the digital camera 100 from the operation unit 7 provided with a menu key, an operation cursor, a shutter, and the like. At the time of image reproduction, image data stored in the recording medium 9 can be read and displayed at any time by the display unit 8 having an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel. The CPU 6 that controls the processing in the digital camera 100 reads out necessary data from the rewritable flash memory 5 in which predetermined set values, parameters, programs, and the like are recorded, and calculates and writes to the recording medium 9. Etc. When recording on the recording medium 9, an arbitrary number of sets of photographed image files are recorded and stored in a tree-type directory structure based on the DCF standard.

  Next, a configuration example of a directory based on the DCF standard will be described with reference to FIG. The digital camera 100 of this example manages directories and files with a directory structure based on the DCF standard when recording captured images on the external recording medium 9. The ROOT directory 10 is at the top layer of the tree-type directory structure. Directories and files other than the ROOT directory 10 are always stored in one of the directories. A DCIM directory 11 is stored directly under the ROOT directory 10 as a DCF image root directory. Further, 101MSDCF directory 12 and 102MSDCF directory 13 are stored under DCIM directory 11. In the 101MSDCF directory 12, there are still image files 14a, 14b,... Compressed by the JPEG method, and these file groups are referred to as file groups 14. Similarly, in the 102MSDCF directory 13, there are still image files 15a, 15b,... Compressed by the JPEG method, and these file groups are referred to as file groups 15. The still image file photographed by the user is stored in the DCF directory 12a or 12b in time series. Here, in the following description, the DCF directory is referred to as “directory”. In addition, when a user performs a file operation, a directory in which a file to be operated is stored is referred to as a “current directory”.

  In the technology for managing information in this example, limit values based on the number of shots, capacity, and number of days are set in advance when recording in the MSDCF directories 12a and 12b. When the file group 13a or 13b exceeds a predetermined limit value, a new MSDCF directory is created, and excess files are stored in the created directory. In this example, when a captured image is recorded and saved, the storage destination directory of the captured image data (image file) can be transferred at any time. The still image file is stored as close as possible within a predetermined limit set in the directory. The digital camera 100 of this example performs limit value setting and directory configuration change processing by itself.

  Next, a selection example of the setting process of the limit number of sheets, the limit capacity, and the limit days for automatic directory generation processing by the photographer will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  For the digital camera 100 that can use an operation for selecting automatic directory generation processing based on the number of shots, capacity, and number of days, the photographer inserts the external recording medium 9, operates the setting screen by the user, or turns on the power. At any arbitrary timing, the directory automatic creation processing is set for the recording directory configured on the recording medium 9 according to any of the restrictions on the capacity, the number of sheets, and the number of days.

  First, a restriction selection screen is displayed (step ST1). At this time, inquiries are displayed on the display unit 8 in order to perform switching setting for enabling / disabling the directory automatic generation processing for the user. Details of the inquiry display (directory configuration change example) on the display unit 8 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Then, the input from the operation unit 7 by the user's button operation is processed, and it is determined whether or not the limit value based on the capacity is set for the directory (step ST2). When setting a limit value by capacity, a process of holding the value in the setting recording area of the flash memory 5 is performed (step ST3). As a value held at this time, there is a limit value (capacity). When the limit value based on the capacity is not set, it is determined whether or not the limit value based on the number of pages is set for the directory (step ST4).

  When setting the limit value based on the number of sheets, a process of holding the value in the set recording area of the flash memory 5 is performed (step ST5). As a value held at this time, there is a limit value (number of sheets). When the limit value based on the number of pages is not set, it is determined whether or not the limit value based on the number of days is set for the directory (step ST6).

  When setting the limit value based on the number of days, a process of holding the value in the setting recording area of the flash memory 5 is performed (step ST7). The value held at this time includes a limit value (number of days). When the limit value based on the number of days is not set, the limit value setting is canceled (step ST8), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the limit value based on the number of sheets, the capacity, and the number of days is set, it is confirmed whether there is already image data that has been captured in the previous limit value setting state (step ST9). If captured image data exists, the capacity of the storage destination directory is set within the limit value (step ST10), and the process ends. This processing is the same as the directory reconfiguration processing example shown in FIG. 7 when an image in a directory to be described later is changed. If there is no captured image data, the process ends.

  As described above, the value held in the setting recording area secured in the flash memory 5 in the digital camera 100 includes the type of restriction (capacity restriction, restriction on the number of sheets, restriction on the number of days, unlimited), and There are limit values (capacity, number of sheets, days).

  Next, an example of processing for determining a recording directory when shooting using the digital camera 100 in which the file number limit is set in the directory will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the recording directory determination process of this example, an automatic directory generation process based on the number limit is performed, the current directory is determined, and the file is stored. Here, the automatic directory generation processing based on the number limit is set, for example, by setting the number of files that can be stored in one directory to be within 20 files, and when the data amount of this directory exceeds 20 files, a new one is created. This is a process of creating a directory. The number of files for one directory can be arbitrarily set by a user operation.

  First, at the time of shooting by the user, the value of the setting recording area of the flash memory 5 is referred to and it is determined whether or not automatic directory generation setting is performed due to the restriction on the number of directories (step ST11). If there is no restriction, the photographed image is saved in the current directory (step ST16). If the automatic generation setting is valid, the limit value is referred to and compared with the number of files in the current directory (step ST12).

  After the comparison, it is confirmed whether the number of files in the current directory has reached the set number of files (step ST13). If the set number of files has been reached, a new directory having a directory name obtained by incrementing the directory number is created from the directory name of the current current directory (step ST14), and this new directory is set as the current directory. (Step ST15). By performing the recording directory creation process in this way, the subsequent captured images are stored in the newly created directory (step ST16).

  Next, a processing example for determining a recording directory when shooting using the digital camera 100 in which the capacity limit is set for the directory will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the recording directory determination processing of this example, automatic directory generation processing due to capacity limitation is performed, the current directory is determined, and the file is stored. Recording directory generation processing due to capacity restrictions means, for example, that the data capacity that can be stored in one directory is set to within 5 MB, and a new directory is created when the data volume of this directory exceeds 5 MB. It is processing to do. The data capacity for one directory can be arbitrarily set by a user operation.

  First, at the time of shooting by the user, the value of the setting recording area of the flash memory 5 is referred to, and it is determined whether or not automatic directory generation setting due to directory capacity limitation is performed (step ST21). If there is no restriction, the photographed image is saved in the current directory (step ST26). When the automatic generation setting is valid, the limit value is referred to and compared with the total file size of the current directory (step ST22).

  After the comparison, it is confirmed whether the total capacity of the file size of the current directory has reached the set directory capacity (step ST23). If the set directory capacity has been reached, a new directory having a directory name obtained by incrementing the directory number is created from the directory name of the current current directory (step ST24), and this new directory is set as the current directory. (Step ST25). By performing the recording directory creation process in this way, the subsequent captured images are stored in the newly created directory (step ST26).

  Next, an example of processing for determining a recording directory when shooting using the digital camera 100 in which the number of days is set in the directory will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Since date information is added to the image file when the image is taken, the directory can be classified by specifying the date.

  In the recording directory determination process of this example, an automatic directory generation process with the number of days is performed, the current directory is determined, and the file is stored. In the recording directory generation process based on the number of days limitation, when using image data with date information, for example, the number of days that can be stored in one directory is set as March 3 to March 4. If the date and time when the image was taken is March 5, it is a process of creating a new directory. The number of days for one directory can be arbitrarily set by a user operation.

  First, at the time of shooting by the user, the value of the setting recording area of the flash memory 5 is referred to and it is determined whether or not automatic directory generation setting based on the directory number limit is performed (step ST31). If there is no restriction, the photographed image is saved in the current directory (step ST36). If the automatic generation setting is valid, the limit value is referred to and compared with the date / time information of the current directory (step ST32).

  After the comparison, it is confirmed whether the date information of the files in the current directory is within the set number of days (step ST33). If the set number of days has been reached, a new directory having a directory name obtained by incrementing the directory number is created from the directory name of the current current directory (step ST34), and this new directory is set as the current directory. (Step ST35). By performing the recording directory creation process in this way, the subsequent captured images are stored in the newly created directory (step ST36).

  Next, an example of processing for reconfiguring a directory when the limit value setting of the directory is changed or when viewing an image will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When an image file in the directory is browsed (added or divided), deleted, resized, or the like when the digital camera 100 browses the image, the digital camera 100 reconfigures the directory. Also, if the recording medium 9 is removed from the digital camera 100, and the image is deleted or edited with a computer device or the like and then attached to the digital camera 100, the limit value set in the directory and the contents of the actual directory structure will be different. A possibility arises. For this reason, when browsing images, it is necessary to grasp the directory structure and change the directory structure as necessary.

  When any processing is performed on the image file in the directory, the value of the setting recording area of the flash memory 5 is referred to and it is determined whether automatic directory generation setting is performed due to the limitation on the number of files and the capacity. (Step ST41). If no restriction is set, the process ends. Note that, when the restriction is based on the number of days, the shooting day information is not changed in the editing process on the image file, and therefore the directory need not be reconfigured.

  If the restriction on the number of files / capacity is set, the comparison is made with the limit value of the number of files / capacity in the directory where the image file change processing has been performed (step ST42). If the result of the comparison matches the limit value (step ST43), the process ends at that point. If the number of files / capacity in the current directory is smaller than the limit value (step ST43), it is determined whether the directory is the last directory created by the automatic directory generation function (step ST44). At this point, the process is terminated.

  If the directory in which the image file change process has been performed is not the final directory, a process of moving the first image file existing in the directory one directory number higher to the current current directory is performed (step ST45). Then, the process by comparing the number of files / capacity in the directory with the set limit value (step ST42) is repeated again.

  If the comparison result indicates that the limit value is exceeded (step ST43), it is determined whether or not the current directory is the last directory created by the automatic directory generation function (step ST46). If it is the last directory, a new directory is created by incrementing the directory number by one (step ST47), and the last image file in the current directory is moved to the new directory (step ST48).

  Thereafter, the current directory is changed to a directory in which the directory number is incremented (step ST49), and the process is repeated again by comparing the number of files / capacity in the directory with the set limit value (step ST42).

  When a new directory is created by incrementing the final directory number, directory numbers may not be configured because the DCF standard allows missing directory numbers. In other words, there is a possibility that an existing directory exists with the skip number of the directory number determined as the final directory. Therefore, the directory number of the final directory is determined after scanning the entire directory up to the final directory.

  Here, an example of directory configuration change will be described with reference to FIG. For example, assume that a capacity limit of up to 5 Mbytes is set for one directory. At this time, if the data amount of the image file is 500 Kbytes, a maximum of 10 image files can be stored in one directory from 5 Mbytes / 500 Kbytes = 10. Since image files are given time-sequential file names, the file names of image files stored in other directories do not overlap. If a total of 20 image files are stored in the file groups 13a and 13b, respectively, no more image files can be stored in the MSDCF directories 12a and 12b. Note that the final directory is the MSDCF directory 12b.

  Assume that the user changes the setting to a capacity limit of 4 Mbytes for one directory. In this case, the file groups 13a and 13b can store only up to 8 image files, each of 4M bytes / 500K bytes = 8. For this reason, a new directory (not shown) (for example, “103MSDCF directory”) in which the directory number of the final directory is incremented is automatically created, and an image file with an excess capacity is created in this directory (in this example, the MSDCF directory before the setting change). 4 image files stored in 12b).

  Also, assume that the user changes the setting to a capacity limit of 10 Mbytes for one directory. In this case, up to 20 image files can be stored in each of the file groups 13a and 13b from 10 Mbytes / 500 Kbytes = 20. Therefore, all the image files stored in the MSDCF directory 12b can be stored in the MSDCF directory 12a, and the MSDCF directory 12b has zero stored image files. Thus, the MSDCF directory 12b having zero image files is deleted to eliminate unnecessary directories.

  Also, the limit values for the number of days and the number of sheets can be set by inputting specific numerical values. The capacity and number of copies can be restricted by specifying the type of electronic device that is equipped with a display unit such as “game machine”, “mobile phone”,. It is also possible to change the value setting.

  Here, an example of setting a limit value by screen operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 shows various menu items displayed on the display unit 8 of the digital camera 100 of this example. The user selects a necessary menu by operating the operation unit 7 with keys. First, various setting operations of the digital camera 100 are selected from the menu M1. If “memory” is selected now, “setup (memory)” is displayed in the menu name M2. In this example, the limit value for the directory can be set by selecting this “memory”.

  As the menu M3, various setting menus in the “memory” menu can be selected, and the “limit value setting” menu is now selected. The user can switch ON / OFF of “limit value setting” in the menu M4, and is now set to ON. When set to OFF, there is no limit, and unlimited files are stored in one directory. Various limit value setting menus are displayed on the menu M5. Now, as limit value setting menu, “days”, “number of sheets”, “capacity”, “game machine with monitor”, “mobile phone”, “digital camera”, “PDA”, “DVD recorder”, “printer with monitor” And the external recording medium 9 can be removed from the digital camera 100, and can be set according to the browsing performance or the development memory according to other models. The user can display hidden items with the up and down keys M6. The user selects “PDA” from the selection bar M7 to be moved up and down. In this way, the limit value is set so that the optimum display can be performed when the image is browsed and displayed by “PDA”. At this time, even in the case of an electronic device in which the capacity of a RAM such as a PDA is small and it takes time to develop thumbnail images, the images can be quickly developed.

  Even if the directory configuration is changed, the image file itself is not edited, but only the path information is changed. Therefore, the setting can be changed with a small amount of processing. Therefore, directory management can be performed using an appropriate limit value according to each setting.

  This makes it possible to store files appropriately according to the limit values set for the directory.

  According to the present embodiment described above, the user can set a limit in advance on the total capacity value for each directory in accordance with the PDA held by the user before using the external recording medium. Even when shooting / viewing / editing without being aware of the storage location of image data when browsing / editing on the Internet, it is possible to always avoid undisplayable states when browsing image data in the corresponding media using a PDA or other portable information terminal. There is an effect that it can be viewed in a simple state.

  When backing up image data, when performing backup work that involves uploading data to a shared directory on a network with limited capacity, or when backing up to optical disk recording media, specify the capacity specification for each recording. By matching to the capacity of the disk, there is an effect that processing can be performed without requiring capacity adjustment.

  In addition, since the number of images that can be viewed differs depending on the model, the number of images that can be viewed is different, so by setting a limit value for the number of other electronic devices that perform image viewing in advance, it is possible to quickly view images on other electronic devices as well. There is an effect of doing.

  In addition, since the number of files stored in the directory is limited every day, for example, when the recording medium 9 is removed and the recording medium 9 is mounted on a computer device having a large screen and high computing capacity, the user can check the contents in units of events. There is an effect that can be.

  In addition, regarding the limit value for the directory, it is possible to arbitrarily switch and set the limit number, limit capacity, and limit days. For this reason, there exists an effect which improves a user's convenience by switching a limit value appropriately according to a user's use condition.

  In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a digital camera capable of capturing a still image. However, the present invention is similarly applied to a digital camera to which a moving image capturing function is added and an electronic device such as a DVD recorder. The effect of can be obtained.

  In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a DCF standard digital camera. However, the same effect can be obtained even if the present invention is applied to other standard digital cameras.

  In the above-described embodiment, the number of days for the directory is limited. However, the directory setting for each hour may be performed based on the time information. At this time, it is also possible to set numerical values, for example, every 3 hours, or to roughly classify such as morning, noon, night, morning, or afternoon.

  In the above-described embodiment, the limit value is set for each of a plurality of types of electronic devices in FIG. 8, but an appropriate limit value is set for each electronic device manufacturer and model number. Also good. Furthermore, the digital camera 100 may be provided with an external interface that can be connected to the network so that the version can be upgraded at any time, thereby updating the limit value of the electronic device, adding the type of electronic device, and the like. Alternatively, a similar upgrade program may be stored in the recording medium 9 so that the upgrade is performed when the recording medium 9 is mounted.

It is the block diagram which showed the example of an internal structure of the digital camera in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the structural example of the directory in one embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the selection example of the setting process of the limit number of sheets, limit capacity, and limit days in one embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the example of a recording directory setting process by the limit value (number of sheets) in one embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the example of a recording directory setting process in the limit value (capacity) in one embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the example of a recording directory setting process in the limit value (days) in one embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the example of the reconstruction process of the directory in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of a limit value setting by screen operation in one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical part, 2 ... CCD, 3 ... A / D conversion part, 4 ... Signal processing circuit, 5 ... Flash memory, 6 ... CPU, 7 ... Operation part, 8 ... Display part, 9 ... Recording medium, 10 ... ROOT Directory, 11 ... DCIM directory, 12, 13 ... MSDCF directory, 14,15 ... File group, 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b ... File, 100 ... Digital camera

Claims (8)

In an information management apparatus that manages an image file captured by an imaging unit in a tree-type directory and stores it in a removable recording medium,
A setting unit for setting a predetermined limit value of the image file stored in one directory in the recording medium;
A storage unit that stores a limit value of the total data capacity of image files that can be stored in one directory set by the setting unit;
The total data capacity of the image file stored in the specific directory and the limit value stored in the storage unit are compared at a predetermined operation timing of the information management apparatus, and the tree-type structure according to the comparison result And a control unit for adding a new directory as appropriate after the last directory managed by the directory. The information management device according to claim 1,
The predetermined operation timing is when an image is captured by the imaging unit,
When the total data capacity of the image file stored in the final directory of the tree-type directory structure exceeds the limit value, the control unit creates a new directory after the final directory, and stores the new directory in the new directory. Store the image file generated by the imaging process,
When the total data capacity of the image file stored in the final directory does not exceed the limit value, the image file generated by the image capturing of the image capturing unit is stored in the final directory. apparatus. The information management device according to claim 1,
The predetermined operation timing is determined when an image file managed in the tree-type structure directory is edited, or when the recording medium in which file management is performed by the tree-type structure directory is attached to the information management apparatus When
When the total data capacity of the image file stored in the directory to be compared exceeds the limit value and the target directory is the final directory, the control unit is newly added next to the final directory. Create a directory, move the image files that exceed the limit value to the new directory,
When the target directory is not the final directory, the image file corresponding to the limit value is moved to a directory next to the target directory. The information management device according to claim 1,
The control unit ends the file management process when the total data capacity of the image file stored in the directory to be compared is less than the limit value and the target directory is the final directory,
When the target directory is not the final directory, an information management apparatus is configured to move a first image file stored in a directory next to the target directory to the target directory. The information management device according to claim 1,
The control unit ends the file management process when the total data capacity of the image file stored in the directory subjected to the comparison matches the set limit value. apparatus. The information management device according to claim 1,
The storage unit further stores a limit value of the total number of image files that can be stored in one directory in the recording medium and a limit value of the number of days of image files that can be stored in one directory.
The control unit includes a limit value for the total data capacity of image files that can be stored in one directory in the recording medium stored in the storage unit, a limit value for the total number of images, or a limit value for the number of days. Based on the limits selected from
The value of the image file stored in the specific directory is compared with the selected limit value at a predetermined operation timing of the information management apparatus, and is managed in the tree-type structure directory according to the comparison result. A new directory is appropriately added after the last directory. The information management device according to claim 1,
The information management apparatus is characterized in that the addition of the new directory is performed by newly creating a directory assigned with a directory number obtained by adding a certain value to the directory number assigned to the final directory. In an information management method for managing an image file captured by an imaging unit in a tree-type directory and storing it in a removable recording medium,
Set a predetermined limit value of image files stored in one directory in the recording medium,
Store the limit value of the total data capacity of image files that can be stored in one set directory,
The total data capacity of the image file stored in the specific directory is compared with the stored limit value at a predetermined operation timing, and a new directory is added next to the last directory of the tree-type directory structure according to the comparison result. An information management method characterized by adding as appropriate.

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