JPH05165595A - Document management retrieval method and data processing system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily retrieve and display a unit such as a page including a desired content from a document comprised as a set of plural units with a method such as graphical user interface. CONSTITUTION:The document comprised as the set of plural pages is managed by connecting to an identifier to represent the content of the page. The position of each page 2P is superimposed by shifting on the display screen of a computer system, and the identifier 3 is connected to the page 2P visually, respectively, thereby, the page 2P and the identifier 3 can be related and displayed so as to be observed visually. The page in accordance with the identifier can be displayed by selecting a desired identifier 3 by a pointing device cursor 5. The identifier 3 is located as so-called the header of the page. The summary 4 of the identifiers is displayed when a margin exists in display screen size, and page designation can be performed by selecting the identifier from the summary.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document management search method using a graphical user interface and a data processing system using the same, for example, a page search display of a document, for example, a personal computer system, a workstation, a word processor. It is related to a technology effectively applied to a data processing system such as.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A man-machine interface adopted in a data processing system such as a workstation has a format in which commands are input from a keyboard,
There are a menu selection format by keyboard operation, a format using a pointing device such as a mouse, and the like.
In particular, a graphic user interface of a type in which switches and icons displayed on a graphic screen are designated by a pointing device greatly improves operability as compared with a conventional command interface. An example of the document describing the graphical user interface is "User Interface Design" published by Nikkei McGraw-Hill in 1987.

The present inventor has particularly studied an interface for displaying a desired page from a document having a plurality of pages. In this case, the conventional page selection method is such that, when the number of pages is designated, the corresponding page is calculated from the number of lines of one page and displayed, or the page is moved forward or backward sequentially for each page. In addition, a page search is performed using a keyword to display a page including the keyword.

[0004]

However, in such a method, there is no way to know which page of a document describes desired pages by performing a search or a page designation and displaying the desired items. It has been clarified by the present inventor that the operation for easily searching for and displaying a page including the contents of is not visually convenient.

An object of the present invention is to provide a document management search capable of easily searching for and displaying a unit such as a page containing desired contents from a document constituted by a set of a plurality of units by a technique such as a graphical user interface. A method and a data processing system using the method.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0007]

The outline of a typical one of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.

That is, when a document configured as a set of a plurality of units is managed by being linked with an identifier for representing the contents included in the unit of the document and a desired unit of the document is searched and displayed, The document unit and the identifier are displayed in association with each other in a visible manner, and the document unit corresponding to the selected identifier is displayed as the uppermost display image. For example, as the display form, an identifier for selecting a page is displayed in association with a page on a display screen of a computer system. At this time, the units of the document may be overlapped with each other by slightly shifting the positions, and the identifiers may be visibly linked to the corresponding units of the units of the superimposed document, and the document units and the identifiers may be visually displayed in association with each other. it can. In this state, by selecting a desired identifier with a manual input device such as a pointing device, a page having the contents of recognition or representation by the identifier is displayed. The identifier can be positioned as a so-called page heading, but the amount of information displayed in the heading-like portion is limited. The screen size of the display device may be large or small. If the screen size allows, a list of identifiers may be displayed together with the page, and an identifier may be selected from the list to specify a page. Such a document management search method includes a data processor, a storage unit and a display device that are controlled by the data processor, and a manual input device for giving an instruction to the data processor. It is possible to realize by a data processing system which makes it possible to search for and display a desired unit included in a document based on. At this time, the data processor is
When a document configured as a set of a plurality of units is connected to an identifier for representing the contents included in the unit of the document and managed on a storage unit and a desired unit of the document is searched and displayed, The unit and the identifier are visibly associated with each other and displayed on the display device, and the unit of the document corresponding to the selected identifier is displayed as the uppermost display image.

[0009]

According to the above-mentioned means, an identifier is added to a required page by selecting the identifier addition from the menu. When the identifier list creation function is adopted, at the same time, the identifier and the comment that it represents are written in the list. The binding position of the identifier to the page is automatically determined and sequentially displayed. The identifiers for the required pages may be assigned in parallel with the document creation, or may be assigned collectively after the document creation is completed. When selecting a desired page from a document in which an identifier is combined with a required page, the document is first designated. The pages of the designated document are displayed, for example, with their positions slightly offset and overlapping. At this time, all the identifiers are displayed so as not to overlap each other. In this state, the operator grasps the content of the page from the content represented by the identifier and designates the identifier corresponding to the desired content via a manual input device such as a mouse. The page with the specified identifier is displayed on the surface of the display screen without being blocked by other pages. The data structure and the management search program structure for performing such processing by the data processor are configured as objects having an identifier and a page as a pair. When you click an identifier with the pointing device, a message is transmitted to the object of the corresponding page, which brings the corresponding page to the front, and thereby aligns the position of the strange identifier, and it was above it. A process of moving the page to another area or the back side is performed.

[0010]

1 shows an example of a display screen obtained by the document management search method according to the present invention. The document management method of this embodiment manages a document (an example of a document) configured as a plurality of units, for example, a set of pages, by linking it with a tack (an example of an identifier) for representing the content of a page, When a desired page is searched and displayed, the page and the tack are visually associated with each other, and the page corresponding to the selected tack is displayed as the uppermost display image. FIG. 1A shows a display state before page selection, and FIG. 1B shows a state after page selection.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a display screen of a CRT terminal computer, 2 is a document, 2P is a page,
3 is a tack, 4 is a tack list, 5 is a pointing device cursor, and 6 is a menu. The example of FIG. 1 is an example assuming that the display screen of the computer is sufficiently large, that is, there is an empty display area even if the entire page is displayed. The pointing device cursor 5 is a mouse cursor which is an example of a manual input device. Menu 6 has items such as "tacking process". When adding a tack to a document, select "tacking process" of the menu 6 with the pointing device cursor 5 and then select the page to which the tack is added. Select with the pointing device cursor 5. According to this example, the tack is a serial number. At this time, the tack number is added to the tack list 4, and the header information is described in the column next to the same number. Note that the heading information may be displayed on the tack itself if the displayable size of the tack allows. To search for the desired page,
Place the pointing device cursor 5 on the tack to be searched and click the pointing device. Alternatively, the tack number in the tack list 4 may be selected with a pointing device. The display form of the document on the screen is such that pages are slightly shifted and overlapped, and the tacks 3 are visibly linked and displayed on the overlapped page 2P.

FIG. 1B shows a display state after a page is searched, and when the overlapping lower page is selected in the state of FIG. 1A, the upper page is selected. The page is flipped over and the display position is changed in the horizontal direction so that the selected page appears on the top surface.

FIG. 2A shows a display example of adding a bookmark to a desired page. That is, a desired page is provided with a pattern or color that can be distinguished from other pages, for example, a striped pattern 2PI to facilitate the distinction from other pages. This striped pattern 2P
I is positioned as a bookmark. This bookmark can be used with the tack 3 or can be used alone. When the bookmark is used alone, the page may be selected by directly designating the page with a pointing device.

FIG. 2B shows a display example when the display screen is relatively small. The computer screen 1 is divided into a document display screen 10 and a tack list display screen 11. When the document display screen 10 is not sufficiently large, for example, a scroll bar 12 is provided so that the page 2P of the document can be scrolled vertically and horizontally. When the user wants to search for a required page, he or she selects a required portion from the tack list 4 with a pointing device. This causes the selected page to appear in the area of the document display screen.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a data processing system for realizing the above method. This system
A data processor 20 that controls the entire operation, and an RO that holds an operation program and control information of the data processor 20.
The system bus 23 is shared by the M21 and the RAM 22 which is a work area of the data processor 20 or a temporary storage area for data, and a display controller 24, a keyboard switch interface 25, and a printer control circuit 26 for interfacing with peripheral devices. , A communication interface 27, and a disk interface 28. A display 29 such as a CRT is connected to the display controller 24, and a keyboard 30 and a mouse 31 as an example of a pointing device are connected to the keyboard switch interface 25. A printer 32 is connected to the printer control circuit 26, and an auxiliary storage device 33 such as a magnetic disk device is connected to the disk interface 28.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a data structure for managing documents processed by the system shown in FIG. This data structure includes a document file 40, a tack data table 41, and a tack management table 42. The document file 40 is grasped as a set of a plurality of pages divided by the number of lines according to a predetermined format. Tack data table 41
Constitutes a set of a plurality of tack data 41. One piece of tack data 41 is configured for each page of a document, and has each piece of information such as a tack number, a corresponding page, tack contents, and a display location as one block. The figure shows an example in which tack data 41TD is assigned to each page. The tack management table 42 stores other management information such as a tack number, a tack data location address, a flag indicating whether the tack data is valid or invalid, and tack data 41TD.
Have for each. The data shown in FIG.
Stored in the work area of the RAM 22 and processed by the data processor 20 as needed.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be generally described.
For example, when an instruction is given from the keyboard 30 and a predetermined document is selected, the document 2 is displayed in the form shown in FIG. When searching a page including desired contents from the displayed document, the tack list 4 is referred to search for a tack corresponding to the required contents, and the required tack is selected by the mouse cursor 5. When the data processor 20 receives the selected information via the keyboard switch interface 25, it acquires the location of the tack data from the tack management table 42 based on the corresponding tack number, refers to the tack data, and refers to the tack data. The page is displayed at the top layer of the screen according to the corresponding page information included in. As a result, the display state as shown in FIG. 1B is obtained.

When a document is created or proofread and a desired page is tacked, tacking is selected from the menu 6, the page is designated by the mouse cursor 5, the tack number is input, and the tacking is further searched. Enter the information. As a result, the data processor 20 describes the tack number, the corresponding page, the heading information, and the tack display location information in the tack data area corresponding to the page, and manages the tack data as a new entry in the tack management table 42. To do. On the display screen, the tack is displayed on the side of the tacked page,
Further, the heading information is displayed on the tack list 4.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto, and needless to say, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Yes.

For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the desired page of the document is tacked has been described, but the desired document may be tacked in a configuration in which one file includes a plurality of documents.
In this case, the tack is managed by being combined with the document. Further, tack management may be performed for each document and page for one file and search and display may be performed. Further, the management of tack data is not limited to the case where the data structure shown in FIG. 4 is used, and the tack data may be managed by connecting them with a pointer.

[0021]

The effects obtained by the typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.

That is, when a document configured as a set of a plurality of units is linked to an identifier for representing the contents contained in the document and managed, and a desired unit of the document is searched and displayed, Since the document unit and the identifier are displayed in a visually recognizable manner and the document unit corresponding to the selected identifier is displayed as the display image of the uppermost layer, the document content and the identifier are In addition to being visually linked and displayed, the content of the corresponding part is represented by the identifier, grasping where in the document the desired matter is described, and easily searching for and displaying the part containing the desired content. The effect is that you can.

Further, in combination with the graphical user interface by adopting the method of designating the identifier directly or the list thereof with a manual input device like a pointing device, the operation for searching and displaying the document is further facilitated. Therefore, there is an effect that the work efficiency can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a display screen obtained by a document management search method according to the present invention, where (A) shows a display state before page selection and (B) shows a state after page selection. Indicates.

FIG. 2 is another example explanatory view of a display screen obtained by the document management search method according to the present invention, FIG.
Shows a display example of adding a bookmark to a desired page,
(B) shows a display example when the display screen is relatively small.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a document management search system according to the present invention.

4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a data structure for managing a document processed by the system of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CRT Terminal Computer Display Screen 2 Document 2P Page 3 Tack 4 Tack List 5 Pointing Device Cursor 6 Menu 20 Data Processor 21 ROM 22 RAM 25 Keyboard Switch Interface 29 Display 31 Mouse 33 Auxiliary Storage Device 40 Document File 41 Tack Data Table 41 Tuck Data 42 Tack management table

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. When a document configured as a set of a plurality of units is managed by linking with an identifier for representing the contents included in the unit of the document, and a desired unit of the document is searched and displayed, A document management search method characterized by displaying a document unit and an identifier in a visually recognizable manner and displaying the document unit corresponding to the selected identifier as a display image of the uppermost layer. 2. A document unit and an identifier are visibly linked to each other by merging document units by slightly shifting their positions and visibly connecting the identifiers to the corresponding units of the unit of the superimposed document. The document management search method according to claim 1, which is displayed by being displayed. 3. The document management search method according to claim 2, further comprising displaying a list of pairs of the identifiers and the contents represented by the identifiers, and making the identifiers of the list selectable. 4. A pattern different from another unit in which the bookmark information is further managed by linking the bookmark information to the specific identifier, and the unit of the document specified by the bookmark information is slightly overlapped by shifting the position. The document management retrieval method according to claim 2, wherein the document management retrieval method is displayed in color. 5. A document comprising a data processor, a storage unit and a display device under the control of the data processor, and a manual input device for giving an instruction to the data processor, and a document based on the instruction from the manual input device. A data processing system capable of searching for and displaying a desired unit included in the data processor, wherein the data processor represents a document configured as a set of a plurality of units, the content included in the unit of the document. When the desired unit of the document is searched and displayed by being linked with the identifier and managed on the storage unit, the unit of the document and the identifier are visibly associated with each other and displayed on the display device, and the selected identifier is displayed. A data processing system characterized in that a corresponding document unit is displayed as a display image of the uppermost layer. 6. The storage means has a table formation area for holding identifier data in association with a document unit, and an identifier management table formation area for managing the identifier, and the data processor comprises: In accordance with the designation of the identifier from the manual input device, the location of the corresponding identifier is searched from the identifier management table, the unit designation information of the document defined by the data of the retrieved identifier is referred to, and the contents of the unit are displayed. The data processing system according to claim 5, wherein the display control is performed on the display.