JP2007087238A - Data conversion program, method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select either conversion with emphasis on layout or conversion with emphasis on data in a table region by user setting. <P>SOLUTION: A data extraction part 24 extracts linear data, rectangular data and character string data from vector data input by a vector data input part 12, and a table region recognizing part 26 recognizes the table region and a plurality of rectangular regions arranged in the table region from the linear data and rectangular data extracted by the data extraction part 24. A spreadsheet data generating part 28 generates a cell region of spreadsheet data having two-dimensional matrix corresponding to the plurality of rectangular regions recognized by the table region recognizing part 26, and the character string data extracted by the data extraction part 24 is arranged in the generated cell region to generate spreadsheet data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a data conversion program, method and apparatus for converting form vector data used for printing processing into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of cells, and more particularly to extracting a table area from the form vector data and performing a spreadsheet. The present invention relates to a data conversion program, method and apparatus for converting data.

  In recent years, vector data, which is drawing information generated by a form application that performs print processing, is converted into a cell with a two-dimensional matrix arrangement (two-dimensional grid arrangement) that is easy to perform secondary processing, such as an Excel (R) file or CSV (Comma). There is an increasing need to output spreadsheet data such as Separated Value files.

  By converting such form vector data into spreadsheet data, the form data can be processed using a spreadsheet tool such as Excel (R) on the client's personal computer as needed, or to another tool. It is possible to reflect the data in the form system again after data migration.

A conventional method for converting form vector data into spreadsheet data is to replace the coordinate system of the form vector data with a coordinate system in cell units in spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement (two-dimensional grid arrangement) of cells. is doing.
JP-A-6-131497 JP 2004-72558 A

  However, in such a conventional conversion method, the coordinate system of the form vector data is simply replaced with the coordinate system in the cell unit in the spreadsheet data having the two-dimensional matrix arrangement. Objects such as columns and images may be misaligned, text strings and numbers in the form may be unnaturally divided into separate cells, or concatenated into a single cell, resulting in secondary data. The result may be difficult to use.

  Further, when spreadsheet data converted from form vector data is printed or displayed on the screen, the form layout of the form in the vector data is destroyed, resulting in a conversion result that is difficult to see.

  In addition, when generating spreadsheet data directly from a report application, it is necessary for the report application side to support each spreadsheet data format such as Excel (R) or CSV, and a free layout that is not conscious of the table format can be created. It was difficult to generate spreadsheet data from drawing tools.

  The present invention provides a data conversion program, method and apparatus for correctly converting a character string of a form vector data into a spreadsheet data cell.

In addition, the present invention provides a data conversion program, method, and apparatus capable of selecting a conversion that emphasizes layout or a conversion that emphasizes data in a table area by user settings.

The present invention provides a data conversion program for converting form vector data into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of cells. That is, the data conversion program of the present invention is stored in a computer.
An input step for inputting vector data of a form including straight lines, rectangles and characters;
A data extraction step for extracting straight line data, rectangular data and character string data from vector data;
A table region recognition step for recognizing a table region and a plurality of rectangular regions arranged inside the table region from the straight line data and rectangular data extracted in the data extraction step;
A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to a plurality of rectangular areas recognized in the table area recognition step is generated, and the character string data extracted in the data extraction step is arranged in the generated cell area to perform table calculation. A spreadsheet generation step for generating data;
Is executed.

  In the data conversion program of the present invention, the input step inputs the vector data converted from the image data of the form including straight lines, rectangles and characters read by the optical reader.

  The data conversion program of the present invention further generates a cell area having the same two-dimensional matrix arrangement as the table area when character string data exists outside the table area in the computer, and generates external character string data. To execute the external character string processing step for placing the at the corresponding cell position.

  The data conversion program of the present invention further causes the computer to execute a correction step for correcting the straight line data, rectangular data, and character string data extracted in the data extraction step.

  The correcting step corrects the coordinates so that the vertical lines and / or horizontal lines are aligned when the vertical lines and / or horizontal lines of one or more rectangular areas arranged in the table area are shifted.

  In the correction step, when the character string data is numerical data with a comma added, the comma is deleted. In the correction step, when the character string data is character string data with uniform allocation, the uniform allocation is canceled and the character string data is made into one-sided character string data.

  The data conversion program of the present invention further selects whether to control the conversion contents to spreadsheet data based on the layout data when the input step inputs the layout data of the form together with the vector data to the computer. The conversion control selection step to be executed is executed.

  In the conversion control selection step, when a page header and / or page footer composed of a plurality of pages is input as layout data, output of the page header and / or page footer is suppressed, and spreadsheet data of continuous forms is generated. .

  In the conversion control selection step, when the order data indicating the order of the plurality of tables existing in the form is input as the layout data, the spreadsheet data is generated by combining the plurality of tables according to the order relation based on the order data.

  The conversion control selection step generates spreadsheet data in which output of the control line is suppressed when a control line indicating subtotals, totals, etc. is input as layout data at a form break.

The present invention provides a data conversion method for converting vector data of a form into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of cells. That is, the data conversion method of the present invention
An input step for inputting vector data of a form including straight lines, rectangles and characters;
A data extraction step for extracting straight line data, rectangular data and character string data from vector data;
A table region recognition step for recognizing a table region and a plurality of rectangular regions arranged inside the table region from the straight line data and rectangular data extracted in the data extraction step;
A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to a plurality of rectangular areas recognized in the table area recognition step is generated, and the character string data extracted in the data extraction step is arranged in the generated cell area to perform table calculation. A spreadsheet generation step for generating data;
It is provided with.

The present invention provides a data conversion apparatus for converting form vector data into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement. That is, the data conversion device of the present invention is
An input unit for inputting vector data of a form including straight lines, rectangles, and characters;
A data extraction unit for extracting straight line data, rectangular data and character string data from vector data;
A table region recognition unit for recognizing a plurality of rectangular regions arranged in the table region and the table region from the straight line data and the rectangular data extracted by the data extraction unit;
A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to a plurality of rectangular areas recognized by the table area recognition unit is generated, and the character string data extracted by the data extraction unit is arranged in the generated cell area to perform table calculation. A spreadsheet data generator for generating data;
It is provided with.

The details of the data conversion method and apparatus according to the present invention are basically the same as those of the data conversion program according to the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily output spreadsheet data having a format of a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of cells from an application such as a form printing that outputs form vector data. Therefore, the application can be converted to Excel (R) or CSV. It is no longer necessary to support each spreadsheet data format, and the man-hours for application development can be reduced.

  In addition, by converting the form layout data obtained at the same time as the form vector data, it is converted into spreadsheet data that maintains the appearance of the table, and complex data secondary processing such as correcting the table data after conversion is performed. It is not necessary, and the number of man-hours required for data conversion can be reduced.

  In addition, when data conversion is performed, the user can selectively specify whether layout is important or reuse of spreadsheet data, so that easy-to-read spreadsheet data that emphasizes layout or character strings in each frame of the table area are correctly converted to cells. Obtained spreadsheet data can be obtained and converted into spreadsheet data suitable for the user's needs.

  Further, since the converted spreadsheet data is an intermediate data format having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of cells, conversion to a data format such as XML data intended for secondary use of data can be easily performed.

Furthermore, for print forms and the like, by converting them into vector data after being imaged in cooperation with the OCR function, it is possible to correctly extract the table area from the print forms as well as vector data and convert them into spreadsheet data. it can.

   FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a functional configuration for performing data conversion processing from form vector data to spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of cells according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the data conversion module 11 of the present invention is positioned as, for example, a printed circuit board module for a form output application 10 existing as middleware. The data conversion module 11 realized by the present invention includes a vector data input unit 12, a layout data input unit 14, an OCR conversion unit 16, a spreadsheet data object construction unit 18, an intermediate data format file 20, and a spreadsheet data format conversion unit. 22 is provided.

  The table data object construction unit 18 includes a data extraction unit 24, a table area recognition unit 26, a spreadsheet data generation unit 28, a correction unit 30, and a conversion control selection unit 32. Each function provided in the data conversion module 11 is a function realized by executing a data conversion program by a computer.

  The form output application 10 outputs vector data A that is drawing data and its layout data B to the data conversion module 11 as a printed circuit board. The vector data A includes data for drawing a form including straight lines, rectangles, and characters as drawing data. The layout data B includes layout information necessary for printing or displaying a form such as a page header and a page footer.

  On the other hand, the OCR conversion unit 16 acquires image data by optically reading a printed form, converts the vector data of the form including straight lines, rectangles, and figures from the image data, and the vector data input unit 12 Output to.

  Therefore, in the data conversion module 11 of the present invention, not only the vector data of the form directly output from the form output application 10 but also the image data of the printed form optically read by the OCR conversion unit 16 is obtained. The obtained vector data can be converted.

  The data extraction unit 24 provided in the spreadsheet data object construction unit 18 is a straight line or rectangle that can be converted from the vector data of the form obtained from the vector input unit 12 into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of cells. Extract objects such as strings.

  The table area recognition unit 26 recognizes the table area in the form vector data and a plurality of rectangular areas arranged inside the table area from the straight line data and the rectangular data in the vector data extracted by the data extraction unit 24, A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to the recognized rectangular area is generated, and the character string data extracted by the data extraction unit 24 is arranged in the generated cell area to generate spreadsheet data.

  Basic functions for the functions of the data extraction unit 24, the display area recognition unit 26, and the spreadsheet data generation unit 28 provided in the spreadsheet data object construction unit 18 to convert the form vector data of the present invention into spreadsheet data. The spreadsheet data generated by the spreadsheet data generator 28 is stored in the intermediate data format file 20 as intermediate data.

  The external character string processing unit 30 additionally generates a cell region having the same two-dimensional matrix arrangement as the table region for the character string existing outside the table region recognized by the table region recognition unit 25, and character string data An external character string is placed at the cell position corresponding to. As a result, a character string existing outside the form vector data table can also be converted into a cell position having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement.

The correction unit 31 performs correction suitable for conversion on objects such as straight line data, rectangular data, and character strings extracted by the data extraction unit 24 prior to conversion to spreadsheet data. The correction processing by the correction unit 30 includes (1) coordinate correction of vertical and horizontal lines of a rectangular area, (2) comma removal of a numeric string, and (3) cancellation of equal allocation of character strings in the rectangular area.

  When the vertical and horizontal lines of one or more rectangular areas arranged in the table area of the form vector data are misaligned, the coordinate correction of the vertical or horizontal lines of the rectangular area is made to correspond to the cell of the two-dimensional matrix arrangement as it is. In this case, there is a possibility of erroneous conversion in which rectangular areas are unnecessarily divided or combined. Therefore, as correction processing before conversion, the coordinates are corrected so that the vertical and horizontal lines of the rectangular area are aligned.

  For comma removal of numeric strings, if a numeric string including commas is converted into spreadsheet (R) spreadsheet data, for example, calculation processing cannot be performed as it is, and comma removal is required as a secondary correction work. In order to make this unnecessary in advance, the comma included in the numeric string is deleted at the time of data conversion.

  Furthermore, even if the character string is evenly allocated to the character area, there is a possibility of erroneous conversion in which cell division is performed when the character string is identified as a separate character string when converted to spreadsheet data. In this case, the uniform allocation of the character string is canceled, and correction is made to character string data that is right-justified or left-justified.

  By correcting the extracted object that can be converted into the spreadsheet data including the straight line data and the rectangular data by the correction unit 30 as described above, erroneous conversion can be prevented and secondary correction after conversion can be reduced as much as possible. .

When the layout data B is input from the form output application 10 through the layout data input unit 14, the conversion control selection unit 32 selects whether or not to control the conversion contents to the spreadsheet data based on the layout data B. . Conversion control by the conversion control selection unit 32 can select one of (1) layout-oriented mode and (2) table area data-oriented mode.

  When the layout-oriented mode is selected, the layout data is reflected in the conversion from the form vector data to the table conversion data, and the table conversion data holding the layout based on the form vector data as much as possible can be generated.

  On the other hand, when the data emphasis mode in table area is selected, output by layout data is suppressed, and character strings in multiple rectangular areas arranged in the table area are correctly converted to cell areas of spreadsheet data correctly. The obtained spreadsheet data can be obtained, and data migration to another tool using the spreadsheet data in the correct form and data securing can be performed appropriately.

As the conversion selection control by the conversion control selection unit 32, in this embodiment, for example, (1) page header and page footer (2) page order (3) page control line are handled. Of course, other layout information can be selected by user settings.

  For the page header and page footer, the output of the page header and page footer is suppressed by selecting and setting the data emphasis mode in the table area. For example, a plurality of table areas arranged in one form are divided, It can be converted into continuous spreadsheet data.

  In ordering, when the intra-area data emphasis mode is selected, spreadsheet data is generated by synthesizing a plurality of tables according to an order relation indicating the order of the plurality of tables existing in the form.

  In addition, there are cases where control lines that indicate subtotals or totals are entered as form layout data as form layout data. By selecting and setting the table area data emphasis mode, output of this control line is suppressed. Spreadsheet data can be generated.

  On the other hand, in the layout emphasis mode, page header and page footer are output, and spreadsheet data reflecting the layout of the form vector data can be generated. Further, the control lines are output in the layout-oriented mode, and the spreadsheet data is generated while maintaining the subtotals and the total control lines as the form separators.

  As for ordering, in layout-oriented mode, the layout is maintained even if there are multiple table areas in one form, for example, by page header or page footer. Is not necessary.

  The intermediate data converted from the form vector data to the spreadsheet data by the spreadsheet data object construction unit 18 is stored in the intermediate data format file 20 and then, for example, the Excel (R) format or the CSV format by the spreadsheet data format converter 22. Can be used for other applications. Further, by using the spreadsheet data of the intermediate data format file 20 as the intermediate data, conversion to a data format can be easily performed for the purpose of secondary use of spreadsheet data such as XML.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a hardware environment of a computer in which the data conversion module of FIG. 1 is realized. In FIG. 2, the computer includes a CPU 160, and a RAM 164, a ROM 166, a hard disk drive 168, a device interface 170, and a network adapter 178 are connected to a bus 162 from the CPU 160. The device interface 170 connects the keyboard 172, the mouse 174, and the display 176 to the bus 162 of the CPU 160.

  A program for realizing the data conversion module of the present invention is stored in the hard disk drive 168, read into the RAM 164, and executed by the CPU 160.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a specific conversion example from form vector data to spreadsheet data (intermediate data) according to the present invention. In FIG. 3, the form vector data 34 is divided into left and right display areas 38 and 40, and character strings 42, 44, 46, 48 and 50 are arranged outside the table areas 38 and 40.

  With respect to the form vector data 34, the table areas 38 and 40 can be converted into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of cells by extracting straight line data, rectangular data, and character string data.

  In each of the table areas 38 and 40 of the form vector data 34, a page header and a page footer are set as layout information. In this conversion example, the output of the page header and the page footer is prohibited. For this reason, the converted spreadsheet data 36 shown on the lower side has a data arrangement in which the spreadsheet data area 38-1 corresponding to the table area 38 and the spreadsheet data area 40-1 corresponding to the table area 40 are combined. It has been converted.

  Here, the synthesis area of the spreadsheet data areas 38-1 and 40-1 in the spreadsheet data 36 has a cell structure of a 13-by-4 matrix arrangement.

  On the other hand, for the character strings 42 to 50 existing outside the table areas 38 and 40 in the form vector data 34, a cell area having the same number of columns as the table areas 38 and 40, ie, four columns, is additionally generated. Each of the character strings 42 to 50 is arranged at the corresponding cell position in the cell area. As a result, the form vector data 34 in FIG. 3 is converted into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of four columns and 17 rows.

  FIG. 4 shows a classification structure of objects that can be converted into spreadsheet data extracted from vector data in the data conversion processing of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the object group 52 that can be converted into spreadsheet data in the page is roughly divided into a character group 54, a table 56, a figure 58, and an image 60. The character group 54 is classified into horizontal writing 62 and vertical writing 64, and can be classified into a left side 70, a right side 72, a central arrangement 74, an upper side 76, a lower side 78, and a central arrangement 80, respectively.

  On the other hand, the table 56 can be classified into a rectangle 66 and a non-rectangle 68. The rectangle 66 can be classified into a non-lattice 82 and a lattice 84. The non-rectangular 68 is divided into an outer periphery 86 and an outer periphery 88. The outer periphery 86 can be classified into 90 and 92 which are not lattice-shaped. The outer periphery 88 can be classified into a row only 94, a column only 96, and a row / column 98.

  By classifying and extracting objects that can be converted from form vector data into spreadsheet data according to the classification as shown in FIG. 4, necessary conversion processing is performed for each classified object, and vector data is as accurate as possible. Can be converted into a spreadsheet object.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the data structure of the table area for data conversion according to the present invention. FIG. 5A shows a data structure of a general table area, in which coordinate values are stored as the table area 100, and character areas 102, rectangular areas 104, and four lines are stored as information on the rectangular areas included in the table area 100. It consists of a minute 106 and a character string 108. Since the character area 102 and the rectangular area 104 are rectangular areas, the lower left and upper right corner coordinates are defined. Further, the four line segment 106 is the start point coordinate and the end point coordinate of the line segment, and the type is a line type such as a solid line or a dotted line. The character string 108 is the character string itself arranged in the area.

  FIG. 5B is an example of the table area 110, and the table area 110 has coordinates (x5, y5) (x6, y6) of the lower left coordinate point P5 and the upper right coordinate point P6 as coordinate values. FIG. 5C shows a character area 114 arranged in a rectangular area 112 in the table area 110. The character area 114 has a rectangular shape surrounding the character string “Aiueo”, and its coordinates are the coordinates of the lower left corner. It can be defined by (x3, y3) of the point P3 and (x4, y4) of the upper right coordinate point P4. 5D shows a rectangular area 112, which is defined by the coordinates (x1, y1) of the lower left coordinate point P1 and the coordinates (x2, y2) of the upper right coordinate point P2.

  FIG. 5E specifically shows a data structure in the rectangular area 112 included in the table area 110 of FIGS. In the table area 100, the coordinate values of the coordinate points P5 and P6 in FIG. 5B are stored using the number “# 1” indicating the table area as an index. The character area 102 stores the coordinate values of the coordinate points P3 and P4 in the character area 114 of FIG. 5C using the character area number “# 1” as an index. For the rectangular area 104, the coordinate values of the coordinate points P1 and P2 in the rectangular area 112 in FIG. 5D are stored using “# 1” as an index.

  For the four line segments 106, the start point coordinates and end point coordinates of the line segments L1, L2, L3, and L4 shown in FIG. The character string 108 stores “Aiueo” arranged in the character area 112. When the data structure of the table area for such data conversion is converted into a table data cell having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement, the coordinate values of the character area 102, the rectangular area 104, and the four line segment 106 are represented by cell addresses ( Cell number).

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the coordinate correction of the vertical lines of the table area by the correction unit 31 of FIG. In FIG. 6, in the table area 116, vertical lines 118, 120, 122, and 124 that form a rectangular area in the table area 116 are shifted in the horizontal direction in the state of the input vector data. Is different, there is a possibility that conversion into spreadsheet data is complicated and an error occurs.

  In such a case, as shown in the correction table region 116-1, for example, the coordinates are corrected so as to match the coordinate position of the vertical line 124, and corrected vertical lines 118-1, 120-1, and 122-1. To do. Thus, before converting the spreadsheet data of the two-dimensional matrix layout into the cell layout of the vector data, the table area of the vector data also has a two-dimensional matrix layout equivalent to the cell layout, and the conversion to the spreadsheet data is simple and accurate. To be able to.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a correction process for deleting a comma from a numeric string in a rectangular area by the correction unit 31 of FIG. In FIG. 7, a numeric string “1,000,000” is arranged in the rectangular area 126 before correction. When a numeric string having such a comma is converted into, for example, an Excel format, it cannot be used as calculation data as it is, and requires processing by an operator to remove the comma after conversion. Therefore, prior to conversion, as shown in the correction rectangular area 126-1, the data is obtained by removing commas in the numeric string.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a correction process for canceling the uniform arrangement of the character strings in the rectangular area by the correction unit 31 of FIG. In the rectangular area 128 before correction shown in FIG. 8, the character string “That” is evenly arranged. For this reason, the interval between the characters is greatly widened in the rectangular area 128, and when converted into spreadsheet data as it is, There is a possibility of erroneous conversion in which each character is converted separately into one cell.

  Therefore, as shown in the corrected rectangular area 128-1, the uniform arrangement of the character strings is canceled and converted into, for example, a left-justified character string. Thus, the corrected rectangular area 128-1 can be correctly converted into one cell of spreadsheet data.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of additional table area setting processing by the external character string processing unit 30 of FIG. In the form vector data 130 before processing in FIG. 9, character strings 134 and 135 exist outside the table area 132. In such a case, as shown in the processed form vector data 130-1, a table area 136 having the same two-dimensional matrix arrangement as the table area 132 is additionally arranged on the character strings 134 and 135 side. Character strings 134 and 135 are arranged in the corresponding regions in the middle.

  As a result, not only the rectangular area in the table area of the form vector data but also the character string existing outside the table area can be converted into cell data of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement of cells.

  FIG. 10 is a flow chart of data conversion processing according to the present invention, which will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 10, first, in step S1, the vector input unit 12 and the layout data input unit 14 receive and input the vector data A and the layout data B using the application program interface (API) of the data conversion module 11. To do.

  Even when data from the OCR conversion unit 16 is input, in this case, the vector data converted from the image data read by the OCR conversion unit 16 is also used using an application program interface corresponding to the OCR conversion unit 16. And input.

  In the next steps S <b> 2 to S <b> 7, output suppression of layout information is selected according to user settings by the conversion control selection unit 32 provided in the spreadsheet data object construction unit 18.

  That is, in step S2, it is checked whether or not selection of output suppression of the page header and page footer according to user settings has been performed. If so, output of the page header and page footer is performed in step S3. Is suppressed.

  If the selection of the order relation of the table areas is set in step S4, the output designation with the order relation set in step S5 is performed. In step S6, it is checked whether or not control line output suppression is selected. If output suppression is selected, control line output suppression is set in step S7.

  When the layout information output control selection setting is completed, the spreadsheet data object construction unit 18 executes a table area recognition process for recognizing the table area from the input vector data in step S8. Subsequently, in step S9, an intermediate data format as spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement serving as a cell unit for spreadsheet is generated for the recognized table area and stored in the intermediate data format file 20.

  Subsequently, the spreadsheet data format conversion unit 22 performs conversion from the intermediate data format file to, for example, Excel (R) or CSV format specified by the user, and determines that all the formats requested for output in step S10 have been generated. Then, a series of processing is completed.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing details of the table area recognition processing in step S8 of FIG. In FIG. 11, the table area recognition process reads the vector data input in step S <b> 1, and in step S <b> 2 each data as an object that can be converted into spreadsheet data such as a straight line, a rectangle, and a character included in the vector data by the data extraction unit 24. Extract data.

  Subsequently, in step S3, the correction unit 30 performs correction processing such as the coordinates of each data of a straight line, a rectangle, and a character as shown in FIGS. In step S4, the table area recognition unit 26 forms a rectangular area from the straight line data, and generates a cell area corresponding to the rectangular area in the table area. Subsequently, in step S5, the character string data extracted by the data extraction unit 24 by the spreadsheet data generation unit 28 is applied to the rectangular region generated as the cell region. In step S6, the external character processing unit 30 additionally constructs a table area from character area groups existing outside the table area.

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of another specific example of data conversion according to the present invention. In FIG. 12, the form vector data 34 before conversion is divided into two left and right portions and includes table areas 38 and 40, and character strings 42 to 50 are arranged outside the table areas 38 and 40. The form vector data 34 is classified into a header 138, a body 140, and a footer 142. For example, data conversion specifying the body 140 can be performed.

  As for the data conversion designating the body 140, as shown in the spreadsheet data 36 after conversion, a table data area 38-1 corresponding to the table area 38 and a table conversion area 40-1 corresponding to the table area 40 are obtained. It is generated as data combined through a free area 144 between the two.

  FIG. 13 shows another specific example of data conversion according to the present invention. In this example, two pages of form vector data are converted into continuous spreadsheet data.

  In FIG. 13, the form vector data before conversion includes form vector data 146 for the first page and form vector data 148 for the second page. For such two-page form vector data 146 and 148, when data conversion is performed by designating the output suppression of the page header and page footer, the vector data of the first page is displayed as shown in the spreadsheet data 150 after conversion. The spreadsheet data 150 obtained by connecting the spreadsheet data 146-1 corresponding to 146 and the spreadsheet data 148-1 corresponding to the form vector data 148 of the second page can be generated.

  The present invention also provides a conversion program for converting form vector data executed in a computer hardware environment as shown in FIG. 2 into spreadsheet data. This conversion program is shown in FIG. The processing contents shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  Further, the present invention includes appropriate modifications that do not impair the object and advantages thereof, and is not limited by the numerical values shown in the above embodiments.

Here, the features of the present invention are collectively listed as follows.
(Appendix)

(Appendix 1)
On the computer,
An input step for inputting vector data of a form including straight lines, rectangles and characters;
A data extraction step of extracting straight line data, rectangular data and character string data from the vector data;
A table area recognition step for recognizing a table area and a plurality of rectangular areas arranged in the table area from the straight line data and rectangular data extracted in the data extraction step;
A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to a plurality of rectangular areas recognized in the table area recognition step is generated, and the character string data extracted in the data extraction step is arranged in the generated cell area. A spreadsheet data generation step for generating spreadsheet data;
A data conversion program characterized in that (1)

(Appendix 2)
The data conversion program according to appendix 1, wherein the input step inputs vector data converted from image data of a form including lines, rectangles and characters read by an optical reader. Conversion program.

(Appendix 3)
In the data conversion program according to attachment 1, when character string data exists outside the table area, a cell area having the same two-dimensional matrix arrangement as the table area is additionally generated to generate the external data A data conversion program for executing an external character string processing step for arranging character string data at a corresponding cell position.

(Appendix 4)
The data conversion program according to appendix 1, further comprising a correction step for correcting the straight line data, rectangular data, and character string data extracted in the data extraction step. (2)

(Appendix 5)
In the data conversion program according to attachment 4, in the correction step, when the vertical lines and / or horizontal lines of one or more rectangular areas arranged in the table area are shifted, the vertical lines and / or horizontal lines are aligned. A data conversion program characterized by correcting coordinates as described above.

(Appendix 6)
The data conversion program according to appendix 4, wherein the correction step deletes the comma when the character string data is numerical data to which a comma is added.

(Appendix 7)
The data conversion program according to appendix 4, wherein the correction step cancels the uniform assignment and sets the character string data as one-sided character string data when the character string data is character string data with uniform assignment. Data conversion program.

(Appendix 8)
In the data conversion program according to appendix 1, when the input step inputs the layout data of the form together with the vector data, whether to control the conversion contents to the spreadsheet data based on the layout data is determined by user setting A data conversion program characterized by causing a conversion control selection step to be selected to be executed. (3)

(Appendix 9)
In the data conversion program according to appendix 8, when the page header and / or page footer of a form composed of a plurality of pages is input as the layout data, the conversion control selection step includes the page header and / or page footer. A data conversion program characterized by suppressing output and generating continuous form spreadsheet data.

(Appendix 10)
In the data conversion program according to attachment 8, the conversion control selection step is performed according to an order relationship based on the order data when the order data indicating the order of a plurality of tables existing in the form is input as the layout data. A data conversion program for generating spreadsheet data obtained by combining a plurality of tables.

(Appendix 11)
The data conversion program according to appendix 8, wherein the conversion control selection step includes a spreadsheet that suppresses output of the control line when a control line indicating subtotals, totals, etc. is input as the layout data at a form break. A data conversion program characterized by generating data.

(Appendix 12)
In a data conversion method for converting vector data of a form into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement,
An input step for inputting vector data of a form including straight lines, rectangles and characters;
A data extraction step of extracting straight line data, rectangular data and character string data from the vector data;
A table area recognition step for recognizing a table area and a plurality of rectangular areas arranged in the table area from the straight line data and rectangular data extracted in the data extraction step;
A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to a plurality of rectangular areas recognized in the table area recognition step is generated, and the character string data extracted in the data extraction step is arranged in the generated cell area. A spreadsheet data generation step for generating spreadsheet data;
A data conversion method characterized by comprising: (4)

(Appendix 13)
In a data conversion device for converting form vector data into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement,
An input unit for inputting vector data of a form including straight lines, rectangles, and characters;
A data extraction unit for extracting straight line data, rectangular data and character string data from the vector data;
A table region recognition unit for recognizing a table region and a plurality of rectangular regions arranged inside the table region from the straight line data and rectangular data extracted by the data extraction unit;
A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to a plurality of rectangular areas recognized by the table area recognition unit is generated, and character string data extracted by the data extraction unit is arranged in the generated cell area. A spreadsheet data generator for generating spreadsheet data;
A data conversion device comprising: (5)

The block diagram of the function structure of the data conversion process by this invention 1 is a block diagram of a computer hardware environment in which the data conversion module of FIG. 1 is implemented. Explanatory drawing of the conversion example of the spreadsheet data from the form vector data by this invention Classifying explanatory diagram of objects extracted from vector data in the present invention Explanatory drawing of the data structure of the table area for data conversion according to the present invention Explanatory drawing of the coordinate correction of the vertical line of the table area by the present invention Explanatory drawing of the correction | amendment process which deletes the comma from the numerical sequence of the rectangular area by this invention Explanatory drawing of the correction | amendment process which cancels | releases equal arrangement of the character string in the rectangular area by this invention Explanatory drawing of the process which sets a table area to the character string outside the table area in this invention Flowchart of data conversion processing according to the present invention The flowchart which showed the detail of the table area recognition process by step S8 of FIG. Explanatory drawing of another example of data conversion of the present invention for generating spreadsheet data by specifying conversion of the body of the form vector data Explanatory drawing of the specific example of the data conversion by this invention which converts form vector data of 2 pages into spreadsheet data

Explanation of symbols

10: Form output application 11: Data conversion module 12: Vector data input unit 14: Layout data input unit 16: OCR conversion unit 18: Spreadsheet data object construction unit 20: Intermediate data format file 22: Spreadsheet data format conversion unit 24 : Data extraction unit 26: Table area recognition unit 28: Spreadsheet data generation unit 30: External character string processing unit 31: Correction unit 32: Conversion control selection unit 34: Form vector data 36: Spreadsheet data (intermediate data)
38, 40: Table areas 38-1, 40-1: Spreadsheet data areas 42, 44, 46, 48, 50: Out-of-line character strings 42-1, 44-1, 46-1, 48-1, 50 -1: Cell area

Claims (5)

On the computer,
An input step for inputting vector data of a form including straight lines, rectangles and characters;
A data extraction step of extracting straight line data, rectangular data and character string data from the vector data;
A table area recognition step for recognizing a table area and a plurality of rectangular areas arranged in the table area from the straight line data and rectangular data extracted in the data extraction step;
A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to a plurality of rectangular areas recognized in the table area recognition step is generated, and the character string data extracted in the data extraction step is arranged in the generated cell area. A spreadsheet data generation step for generating spreadsheet data;
A data conversion program characterized in that
2. The data conversion program according to claim 1, further comprising a correction step of correcting the straight line data, rectangular data, and character string data extracted in the data extraction step.
2. The data conversion program according to claim 1, wherein when the input step inputs layout data of a form together with the vector data, whether to control conversion contents to spreadsheet data based on the layout data is set by a user. A data conversion program characterized by causing a conversion control selection step to be selected according to the above to be executed.
In a data conversion method for converting vector data of a form into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement,
An input step for inputting vector data of a form including straight lines, rectangles and characters;
A data extraction step of extracting straight line data, rectangular data and character string data from the vector data;
A table area recognition step for recognizing a table area and a plurality of rectangular areas arranged in the table area from the straight line data and rectangular data extracted in the data extraction step;
A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to a plurality of rectangular areas recognized in the table area recognition step is generated, and the character string data extracted in the data extraction step is arranged in the generated cell area. A spreadsheet data generation step for generating spreadsheet data;
A data conversion method characterized by comprising:
In a data conversion device for converting form vector data into spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement,
An input unit for inputting vector data of a form including straight lines, rectangles, and characters;
A data extraction unit for extracting straight line data, rectangular data and character string data from the vector data;
A table region recognition unit for recognizing a table region and a plurality of rectangular regions arranged inside the table region from the straight line data and rectangular data extracted by the data extraction unit;
A cell area of spreadsheet data having a two-dimensional matrix arrangement corresponding to a plurality of rectangular areas recognized by the table area recognition unit is generated, and character string data extracted by the data extraction unit is arranged in the generated cell area. A spreadsheet data generator for generating spreadsheet data;
A data conversion device comprising:

Images