JP5404593B2 - Address book server and data processing system having the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an address book server that performs OCR processing on image data and adds the data to address books having different table definitions, and a data processing system including the address book server.

  In the following Patent Documents 1 and 2, a business card is imaged with a camera-equipped mobile terminal, the image data is transmitted to a server, OCR processing is performed on the server side, and the company name, address, telephone number, FAX are obtained from the obtained character string. A method is disclosed in which line data is generated by discriminating numbers and the like, added to an address book, and this line data is edited by a user operation on a portable terminal, processing on a server, and editing.

JP 2002-366563 A JP 2003-296353 A

  However, the row data cannot be used in a plurality of address books having different table definitions. If the server has a plurality of address books and this data is stored in the address book of each table definition, the configuration becomes complicated, and if it is stored only in the address book selected by the user, the usability is lowered.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to use address book data obtained by processing image data with a plurality of address books having different table definitions with a simple configuration. And providing a data processing system including the same.

In the first aspect of the present invention, in response to the address book data addition request received together with the image data, the character string included in the image data is recognized, the item of each character string is determined, and the individual address book data request is made. In response, an address book server that returns the requested individual address book data among the individual address books having different table definitions,
Column order conversion information in which the column order of the individual address book is associated with the column order of the unified address book for each individual address book ID;
In response to the address book data addition request, row data in which the item is associated with the column name of the unified address book is added to the unified address book, and the individual address book data request associated with the individual address book ID In response, the information processing means refers to the column order conversion information and converts the row data into the requested individual address book row data.

In a second aspect of the address book server according to the present invention, in the first aspect, the apparatus further includes device / individual address book association information in which the device ID and the individual address book ID are associated with each other.
Information related to the individual address book ID is a device ID,
The information processing means refers to the device / individual address book association information, determines an individual address book ID from the received device ID, and refers to the column order conversion information by this individual address book ID.

In a third aspect of the address book server according to the present invention, in the second aspect, the unified address book includes a column of update date and time,
The device / individual address book correspondence information is further associated with an update date / time for each device ID,
The information processing means writes the current date and time at the corresponding update date and time when adding row data to the unified address book,
In response to the individual address book data request, row data having an update date and time newer than the corresponding update date and time of the device / individual address book correspondence information is read from the unified address book, and the device / individual address book correspondence information Update the corresponding update date and time with the current date and time.

  According to the configuration of the first aspect, in response to the individual address book data request associated with the individual address book ID, the column order of the individual address book corresponds to the column order of the unified address book for each individual address book ID. By referring to the attached column order conversion information, the row data of the unified address book is converted into the row data of the requested individual address book, so that the server does not have a plurality of individual address books with different table definitions, There is an effect that the address book data obtained by processing the image data can be used in these individual address books.

  According to the configuration of the second aspect, the individual address book ID is determined from the received device ID by referring to the device / individual address book association information, and the column order conversion information is referred to by this individual address book ID. As a result, the apparatus ID at the time of login can be used and the security can be ensured.

  According to the configuration of the third aspect, when adding row data to the unified address book, the current date and time are written in the corresponding update date and time, and the device / individual address book correspondence is responded to the individual address book data request. Since the row data of the update date and time that is newer than the corresponding update date and time of the additional information is read from the unified address book and the corresponding update date and time of the device / individual address book correspondence information is updated with the current date and time, the individual address book on the server side It is possible to synchronize the unified address book on the server side and the individual address book on the client side without providing.

  Other objects, characteristic configurations and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description read in connection with the appended claims and the drawings.

(A) is an explanatory diagram of a column order conversion table showing the correspondence between the column order of the unified address book and the column order of a plurality of individual address books, and (B) is which device has which address book and which is updated when. It is explanatory drawing of the table which shows. It is column name correspondence data explanatory drawing which shows the correspondence of the column name of a unified address book table definition, and the column name of an individual address book table definition by XML. It is table definition explanatory drawing which shows the individual address book table definition from which table definitions mutually differ, and the unified address book table definition produced based on these. (A) is an explanatory diagram of the unified address book table, and (B) is an individual address book row data explanatory diagram showing the last row of this table converted into a row of the individual address book table and expressed in CSV format. It is. 4 is a flowchart of a program for generating k-th row data of the column order conversion table of FIG. 1A using an arbitrary individual address book table definition ADRk in FIG. 3 and XML of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process after a server receives image data from a portable terminal until it adds line data to a unified address book. FIG. 3 is a schematic sequence diagram illustrating user operations on the mobile terminal, the image forming apparatus, or the PC and communication between the server and the mobile terminal, the image forming apparatus, or the PC. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an address book data processing system according to the present invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the hardware of a server.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of an address book data processing system according to the present invention.

  In this address book data processing system, N image forming apparatuses 11 to 1N, M PCs 21 to 2M, a server 30, and a mobile terminal base station 40 are coupled to a network 50. Base station 40 is coupled to portable terminal 60 via radio waves.

  Each of the image forming apparatuses 11 to 1N includes any one of a plurality of address books having different table definitions, and the address book is used for facsimile transmission, e-mail transmission, or file transmission. On the other hand, each of the PCs 21 to 2M includes one or more of these address books, and the address book is used to perform facsimile transmission or the like via the image forming apparatuses 11 to 1N.

  Addition or editing of row data to each address book can be performed by each of the image forming apparatuses 11 to 1N and the PCs 21 to 2M. Further, the business card 61 is imaged by the mobile terminal 60 with a camera, and the image file is transmitted to the server 30 via the base station 40, whereby line data is added to the unified address book provided in the server 30. Can be received and edited by each client, or can be added to each individual address book by converting the column order of the edited ones.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the server 30.

  In the server 30, a CPU 31 is coupled to a memory 33, an auxiliary storage device 34, an interactive input / output device 35, and a network interface 36 via an interface 32. The memory 33 and the auxiliary storage device 34 constitute storage means. The block 32 collectively shows an interface between the CPU 31 and each of the components 33 to 36 for the sake of simplicity, and includes a chip set.

  The auxiliary storage device 34 includes a general-purpose operating system, a Web server, a runtime for a Web application, and a DBMS (database management system), a Web application specific to the present embodiment described below based on a flowchart, and a specific example of the present embodiment described below. And the database that contains the tables.

  FIG. 3 shows individual address book table definitions ADR1 to ADR3 whose table definitions are different from each other, and a unified address book table definition ADR in which tables are defined so as to include all columns corresponding to these column names.

  For example, the column name “address name” of the unified address book table definition ADR is the column name “address” of the individual address book table definition ADR1, the column name “destination name” of the individual address book table definition ADR2, and the individual address book table definition ADR3. Corresponding to the column name “destination name”, the column name “fax number” in the unified address book table definition ADR is the column name “fax” in the individual address book table definition ADR1, and the column name “fax number” in the individual address book table definition ADR2. ”And the column name“ facsimile ”of the individual address book table definition ADR3.

  FIG. 1A shows a column order conversion table 70 showing these correspondences, and is provided in the server 30. The column order conversion table 70 is a table in which column numbers of corresponding column names of the individual address book table definitions ADR1 to ADR3 are entered with reference to the column name of the unified address book table definition ADR. For example, in the row where the individual address book ID (ADRID) is ADR3, the column numbers “destination name” and column numbers 0 and 1 of “facsimile” are respectively the column names “destination name” and “fax” of the unified address book table definition ADR. It is entered in the “Number” column. A blank is NULL, meaning that there is no corresponding column name.

  FIG. 2 shows an item determination XML 71 indicating the correspondence between the column names of the unified address book table definition ADR and the column names of the individual address book table definitions ADR1 to ADR3, and is provided in the server 30. For example, “address”, “destination name” and “destination name” in the individual address book table definition correspond to the column name “destination name” in the unified address book table definition ADR (same items). Yes.

  FIG. 5 shows a program for creating k-th row data of the column order conversion table 70 in FIG. 1A using the arbitrary individual address book table definition ADRk in FIG. 3 and the item determination XML 71 in FIG. It is a flowchart. In the following, the step identification codes in the figure are shown in parentheses.

  (S0) For each index i in the range 0 to n, the column name of the i-th column of the unified address book table definition ADR is substituted into the array element URN (i).

  (S1) For each index j in the range 0 to m, the column name of the i-th column of the individual address book table definition ADRk is substituted into the array element IRN (j).

  (S2) The initial value 0 is substituted for i.

  (S3) The initial value 0 is substituted for j.

  (S4) Referring to the item determination XML 71, it is determined whether or not URN (i) and IRN (j) are compatible (whether they are the same item). Otherwise, go to step S5.

  (S5) Increment j by 1.

  (S6) If j> m, the process proceeds to step S8; otherwise, the process returns to step S4.

  (S7) j is substituted into the k-th row and i-th column RT (k, i) of the column order conversion table 70.

  (S8) Increment i by 1.

  (S9) If i> n, the process of FIG. 5 is terminated, otherwise, the process returns to step S3.

  By performing such processing for each individual address book table definition ADRk, the column order conversion table 70 of FIG. 1A is obtained.

  FIG. 4A shows a unified address book 73 based on the unified address book table definition ADR, which is provided in the server 30. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process which is started in response to the server 30 receiving image data from the portable terminal 60 and until line data is added to the unified address book 73.

  (S10) Each character included in the image data is recognized by performing OCR processing on the image data.

  (S11) It is determined whether the character string is in the row direction or the column direction from the character interval, and the determined character string in the row direction or the column direction corresponds to which column (item) of the unified address book table definition ADR. Is determined. For example, if the character string includes “corporation”, it is determined that the item is “destination name”, and if the character string includes “FAX” and a numeric string, the item is “fax number”. If the character string includes a prefecture name, it is determined that the item is “address”.

  (S12) The character string of the determined item is distributed to the column of the unified address book table definition ADR to generate row data.

  (S13) This row data is added to the unified address book 73.

  FIG. 1B is a table showing which device includes which address book, and when the server transmits update data to the device.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic sequence diagram showing the operation of the user 80 on the portable terminal 60, the image forming apparatus 11 or the PC 21, and the communication between the server 30 and the client (the portable terminal 60, the image forming apparatus 11 or the PC 21). . In FIG. 7, in order to avoid complication, the login process for the client in the server 30 is not shown. Hereinafter, the numbers in parentheses are the sequence numbers in FIG.

  (1) The user 80 activates the mobile terminal 60.

  (2) The user 80 operates the portable terminal 60 and images the business card 61.

  (2.1) In response to this, the portable terminal 60 generates the image file.

  (3) The user 80 operates the mobile terminal 60 to activate the browser and designates the address of the Web page that provides the row data addition service to the unified address book 73.

  (3.1) In response to this, the portable terminal 60 requests the Web page from the server 30.

  (3.1.1) In response to this, the server 30 generates this Web page and transmits it to the portable terminal 60. Thereby, this Web page is displayed on the portable terminal 60.

  (4) The user 80 makes a row data addition request by selecting the image file on this Web page and clicking the send button.

  (4.1) In response to this, the server 30 performs the processing shown in FIG. Thereby, line data is added to the unified address book 73 of FIG. In this row data, a row number (No in FIG. 4) and an update date / time are added, and the update date / time is this additional date / time.

  (4.1.1) This row data is transmitted to the portable terminal 60 and displayed.

  If an erroneous recognition occurs in the OCR process at the server 30, it must be edited. The user 80 can also edit this by operating the mobile terminal 60, but FIG. 7 shows a case where this editing is performed as follows using the PC 21 with better operability.

  (5) The user 80 activates the PC 21.

  (6) The user 80 operates the PC 21 to activate the browser and designates the address of the edited Web page.

  (6.1) In response to this, the PC 21 requests the Web page from the server 30.

  (6.1.1) In response to this, the server 30 generates this Web page and transmits it to the PC 21.

  (7) The user 80 designates the data range of the unified address book 73 on this Web page, for example, all lines, lines after a predetermined date, or line numbers.

  (7.1) In response to this, the PC 21 requests the server 30 for data in the above range.

  (7.1.1) The server 30 reads the requested range of data from the unified address book 73, generates a Web page including this and the editing program, and transmits it to the PC 21.

  (8, 8.1) The user 80 interactively edits data on the Web page with the PC 21.

  (9) The user 80 operates the PC 21 to instruct an update by clicking a transmission button on this Web page.

  (9.1) In response to this, the PC 21 transmits the updated data to the server 30 together with the update request.

  (9.1.1) In response to this, the server 30 updates the received data by overwriting the corresponding data in the unified address book 73. At this time, the update date and time is rewritten with the date and time of this overwrite, and then the update is performed. Information indicating completion is transmitted to the PC 21 together with the update date and time.

  Next, a case where the updated data is added to the address book provided in the image forming apparatus 11 will be described.

  (10) The user 80 activates the image forming apparatus 11.

  (11) The user 80 presses a predetermined button on the image forming apparatus 11 to instruct data addition to the address book of the own apparatus. The ID of the own device is transmitted to the server in the login process before this instruction, and the client can be identified by, for example, a cookie in session management at the server. Therefore, it is not necessary to transmit the device ID to the server at this stage.

  (11.1) In response to this, the image forming apparatus 11 makes a remote call (RPC) to the server 30 for a data addition procedure using, for example, the SOAP protocol.

  (11.1.1) In response to this, the procedure of the server 30 reads the individual address book ID (ADRID) and the update date and time corresponding to the device ID from the server-side individual address book update information 72, The row data having the update date after this update date is read from the unified address book 73 of 4 (A), and then the column data of this individual address book ID, for example, ADR2, is read from the column order conversion table 70 and unified. By rearranging the column of the row data read from the address book 73, it is converted into the row data of the individual address book table definition ADRk, and then converted into the row data of the standard format, for example, CSV format. However, the line number is deleted. FIG. 4B shows a line in which No = 0325 in the unified address book 73 is converted into line data in the individual address book ADR2 except for the line number and converted into the CSV format. The server 30 rewrites the update date / time of the device ID in the individual address book update information 72 to the current date / time, and returns the row data as a return value to the image forming apparatus 11 using the SOAP protocol.

  (11.2) In response to this, the image forming apparatus 11 adds the row data to the address book of the own apparatus. At this time, the line number is automatically added.

  According to the first embodiment, the server 30 responds to the individual address book data request related to the individual address book ID by the device ID at the time of login and the table 72, and the individual address book ID is stored for each individual address book ID. With reference to the column order conversion table 70 in which the column order is associated with the column order of the unified address book 73, the row data of the unified address book 73 is converted into the requested individual address book row data. There is an effect that the address book data obtained by processing the image data can be used in these individual address books without providing the server 30 with a plurality of different individual address books.

  Further, by referring to the server side individual address book update information 72, the individual address book ID is determined from the received device ID, and the column order conversion table 70 is referred to by this individual address book ID. There is an effect that it can be used and security can be ensured.

  Further, when adding row data to the unified address book table 73, the current date and time are written in the corresponding update date and time, and in response to the individual address book data request, the row data of the update date and time newer than the corresponding update date and time in the table 72 Is read from the unified address book 73 and the corresponding update date and time of the table 72 is updated with the current date and time, so that the server 30 side does not have an individual address book and the server 30 side unified address book 73 and the client side individual address book There is an effect that it becomes possible to synchronize.

In the above, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention includes other various modifications, and those skilled in the art can use other configurations that realize the functions of the respective components. Other configurations that would be conceivable from these configurations or functions are also included in the present invention.
For example, the server 30 may be a cloud server.

11 Image forming apparatus 21 PC
30 server 31 CPU
32 Interface 33 Memory 34 Auxiliary Storage 35 Interactive Input / Output Device 36 Network Interface 40 Base Station 50 Network 60 Mobile Terminal 61 Business Card 70 Column Order Conversion Table 71 Item Determination XML
72 Server side individual address book update information 73 Unified address book 74 Line data 80 User ADR Unified address book table definition ADR1 to ADR3 Individual address book table definition

Claims (5)

In response to the address book data addition request received together with the image data, the character strings included in the image data are recognized, the items of each character string are determined, and the table definitions are mutually exchanged in response to the individual address book data request. An address book server that replies with data of a requested individual address book among different individual address books,
Column order conversion information in which the column order of the individual address book is associated with the column order of the unified address book for each individual address book ID;
In response to the address book data addition request, row data in which the item is associated with the column name of the unified address book is added to the unified address book, and the individual address book data request associated with the individual address book ID In response to the information processing means for referring to the column order conversion information and converting the row data into the requested individual address book row data;
An address book server. It further has device / individual address book correspondence information in which the device ID is associated with the individual address book ID,
Information related to the individual address book ID is a device ID,
The information processing means refers to the device / individual address book correspondence information, determines an individual address book ID from the received device ID, and refers to the column order conversion information by the individual address book ID.
The address book server according to claim 1. The unified address book includes an update date column,
The device / individual address book correspondence information is further associated with an update date / time for each device ID,
The information processing means writes the current date and time at the corresponding update date and time when adding row data to the unified address book,
In response to the individual address book data request, row data having an update date and time that is newer than the corresponding update date and time of the device / individual address book correspondence information is read from the unified address book and the device / individual address book correspondence information Update the corresponding update date with the current date,
The address book server according to claim 2. An address book server according to claim 3;
A camera-equipped terminal that transmits image data acquired by imaging to the address book server together with an address book data addition request;
An image forming apparatus that transmits an individual address book data request to the address book server and adds the returned individual address book data to the built-in individual address book in response to an instruction input by the operator;
Is connected to a network. Address book data processing system   5. The address book data processing system according to claim 4, wherein the server is a cloud server.

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