JPH07160789A - Document information processor with ruled line conversion function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To input a character, a mark, etc., with a desired line feed pitch and the desired number of characters without changing the length of a line segment in a vertical direction by setting a line feed pitch to be reference and the size of a character to be reference concerning a document information processor with a ruled line conversion function. CONSTITUTION:The processor is provided with a reference line feed pitch setting means 4 setting the line feed pitch to be reference and a vertical line segment conversion means 8 converting a vertical line segment to a longitudinal ruled line through the use of the line feed pitch to be reference. When the length of the vertical line segment is longer than the line feed pitch to be reference. the vertical line segment conversion means 8 divides the length of the vertical line segment into lines of the same length as the line feed pitch to be reference, provide the part of the remaining length of the vertical line segment, which can not be divided, with the line of the line feed pitch of the same length as the part and converts the vertical line segment to the longitudinal rules line having a length corresponding to the sum of the lengths of one or plural lines equal to the line feed pitch to be reference and the line of the line feed pitch of the same length as the remaining part which is smaller than the line feed pitch to be reference.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a Japanese word processor, a personal computer, etc.
The present invention relates to a document information processing apparatus capable of handling ruled line data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, there is a Japanese word processor that reads an existing table with a scanner, imports this table as ruled line data into a document being created, and inputs a numerical value into this table. In addition, JP-A-2-3365
In JP-A-8, a table is enlarged / reduced in consideration of the relative positional relationship between the ruled lines forming the table and the characters in the table so that a table in one document fits in the blank area of another document. However, a table and a document image editing apparatus for synthesizing a table and a document are described.

[0003]

However, in the conventional apparatus, the position and size of the read table are determined by looking at the displayed layout, but the vertical direction of the read table is used. Since it does not specify the line feed pitch or character size that is the standard for determining the length of the ruled line in the horizontal direction, it is not possible to incorporate a table of the correct size into the document, and the line feed pitch width desired by the user It was not easy to create a table that allows you to enter the number of characters. In particular, the vertical line segment of the table cannot accurately represent the length before reading because the line feed pitch is not set for each line.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and a line feed pitch which becomes a reference when the line segments forming the table are read and then converted into ruled line data attached to the document. By setting the character size and the character size, a document information processing apparatus capable of inputting characters or symbols in a table with a desired line feed pitch and a desired number of characters without changing the length of a vertical line segment is provided. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the configuration of the present invention. As shown in the figure, according to the present invention, a line segment data recognizing means 1 for recognizing a straight line segment from input document information, and a line segment for storing coordinate information for the recognized line segment document. The data storage means 2, the vertical / horizontal determination means 3 for determining whether the line segment stored from the coordinate information is a vertical line segment or a horizontal line segment with respect to the document, and a reference for determining the line spacing of the document. A standard line feed pitch setting means 4 for setting a line feed pitch, a reference character size setting means 5 for setting a character size as a reference for determining the character width per line of a document, and a line feed for storing the set reference line feed pitch. The pitch storage means 6, the character size storage means 7 for storing the set reference character size, and the vertical line segment determined by the vertical / horizontal determination means 3 using the reference line feed pitch in the vertical direction. Ruled line Vertical line segment conversion means 8 for converting, horizontal line segment conversion means 9 for converting the horizontal line segment determined by the vertical / horizontal determination means 3 into horizontal ruled lines by using the reference character size, and vertical line segment conversion And a ruled line data storage unit 10 for storing the ruled line data obtained by the means 8 and the horizontal line segment conversion unit 9, and when the length of the vertical line segment is larger than the reference line feed pitch, the vertical line segment conversion unit. 8 divides the length of the vertical line segment into lines equal to the length of the reference line feed pitch, and the line feed pitch equal to the length of the remaining length of the vertical line segment that could not be divided. A line is provided, and the vertical line segment is equivalent to the sum of the length of one or more lines equal to the standard line feed pitch and the line with a line feed pitch equal to the remainder length smaller than the standard line feed pitch. To a vertical ruled line with a length that Characterized by conversion, it is to provide a document information processing apparatus having a border conversion function.

Further, the above-mentioned means 1 to 10 are all provided, and the horizontal line segment conversion means 9 can include a number of characters of a character size whose reference is within the range of the length of the horizontal line segment. A document with a ruled line conversion function, which calculates whether or not, and converts the horizontal line segment into a horizontal ruled line having a length equal to the maximum number of characters that can be included in the range of the length of the horizontal line segment. An information processing device is provided.

Here, as the line segment data recognizing means 1,
It is preferable to use an image scanner capable of inputting a document or an image. A RAM is preferably used as the line segment data storage unit 2, the line feed pitch storage unit 6, the character size storage unit 7, and the ruled line data storage unit 10.

As the reference line feed pitch setting means 4 and the reference character size setting means 5, it is preferable to use a pointing device such as a keyboard, a pen, a mouse, or a trackball. The vertical / horizontal determination means 3, the vertical line segment conversion means 8 and the horizontal line segment conversion means 9 are usually a CPU (central control unit), a RAM, a ROM, and an I / O.
It is preferable to use a so-called microprocessor composed of an O interface or the like and execute the functions of the respective means by the software built in this ROM.

The line segment data stored in the line segment data storage means 2 includes vertical and horizontal coordinates of the start point of the line segment with respect to the document and horizontal and vertical coordinates of the end point of the document with respect to the document. The ruled line data, which is composed of directional coordinates and is stored in the ruled line data storage means 10, is preferably composed of a start line number and a start column number, and an end line number and an end column number for the document of the ruled line. .

[0010]

When the line segment data recognizing means 1 recognizes a linear line segment from the input document information, the coordinate information for the recognized line segment document is stored in the line segment data storing means 2. Next, the vertical / horizontal determination means 3 determines from the coordinate information whether the stored line segment is a vertical line segment or a horizontal line segment with respect to the document.

The reference line feed pitch setting means 4 sets a line feed pitch which is a reference for determining the line spacing of the input document, and the reference character size setting means 5 sets a character which is a reference for determining the character width per line of the document. The size is set. Further, the set reference line feed pitch is stored in the line feed pitch storage means 6, and the set reference character size is stored in the character size storage means 7.

Next, when the length of the vertical line segment is greater than the reference line feed pitch, the vertical line segment conversion means 8 sets the line length equal to the reference line feed pitch length. A line with a line feed pitch equal to the remaining length of the vertical line segment that could not be divided, and the vertical line segment is set to one or more standard line feed pitches. Converts to a vertical ruled line having a length equivalent to the sum of the length of the same line and the line of the line feed pitch equal to the remainder length smaller than the reference line feed pitch.

Further, the horizontal line segment conversion means 9 calculates how many characters can be included in the length of the horizontal line segment as a reference character size and calculates the horizontal line segment as the horizontal line segment. Convert to a horizontal rule with a length equal to the maximum number of characters that can be included in the minute length range. The ruled line data obtained by the vertical line segment conversion unit 8 and the horizontal line segment conversion unit 9 is stored in the ruled line data storage unit 10.

According to the present invention, the standard line feed pitch and the standard character size are set. Based on these, vertical line segments are converted into vertical ruled lines, and horizontal line segments are converted into horizontal ruled lines. Since the conversion is performed, it is possible to input characters / symbols or the like with a desired line feed pitch and a desired number of characters in the area surrounded by the ruled lines without changing the length of the vertical line segment.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. The present invention is not limited to this. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the document information processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 21
Is an input device, and a keyboard or a pointing device such as a pen, a mouse, or a trackball is used to input documents and set various data necessary for document processing.

Reference numeral 22 is a reading device, which reads a document in which characters, figures, tables, etc. are written and converts it into data that can be handled by a computer. An image scanner is used for this, for example. Two
Reference numeral 3 denotes a control device for controlling the operation of the document information processing device, which is usually a CPU, ROM, RAM and I
A so-called microprocessor including an I / O interface is used. Further, an operation control procedure program is generally stored in the ROM.

Reference numeral 24 is a storage device, which is a ROM or RA.
Although M is used, a hard disk or a floppy disk may be used to store a large amount of data such as document data. Further, in the RAM inside the storage device 24, it is desirable to have a line segment data memory 24a, a ruled line data memory 24b, and a setting data memory 24c as memories of data particularly related to the present invention.

Here, the line segment data memory 24a is a memory for storing line segment data such as a table in the document read by the image scanner 22. As shown in FIG. 3A, the line segment data includes a start X coordinate value that is the X coordinate of the start point of the line segment and a start Y coordinate value that is the Y coordinate of the start point of the line segment for each line segment. , An end X coordinate value that is the X coordinate of the end point of the line segment, and an end Y coordinate value that is the Y coordinate of the end point of the line segment.

The ruled line data memory 24b is a memory for storing the ruled line data obtained by converting the line segment data taken into the document into a format that can be handled by a computer in the same manner as characters and symbols. As shown in FIG. 3B, the ruled line data is composed of the start line and start digit corresponding to the start X coordinate and the start Y coordinate, and the end row and end digit corresponding to the end X coordinate and the end Y coordinate. Composed.

The setting data memory 24c is a memory for storing setting data necessary for document information processing, for example, data relating to the format of a document. As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the setting data relating to the present invention are mainly line numbers and
It is composed of a line feed pitch indicating the width between lines and a character size indicating the size of one character, and these data are provided for each line of the document.

A display device 25 is a CRT or LC.
D or the like is used to display the input document information, setting data, or the like. Reference numeral 26 denotes a printing device, which uses a printer to print document information, setting data, and the like. The above is the apparatus constituting the present invention. The operation of storing the read line segment data in the storage device 24, identifying the line segment data according to the setting data, and converting the line segment data into ruled line data is as follows.
It is controlled by a control program built in the control device 23.

Next, the operation of converting line segment data into ruled line data according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 shows a schematic flow of a ruled line data conversion operation. The following operation is normally performed by the control device 23 in accordance with a control program stored in the ROM therein. In step S1, first, the document including the table or the line segment is read by the reading device 22. The read data is stored in the storage device 2
4 is stored in a predetermined area.

In step S2, the table or line segment data is recognized from the read data, and in step S3, each recognized line segment data is converted into the format shown in FIG. 3 (a). Is stored in the line segment data memory 24a. Here, the reading of the document by the reading device 22 in step S1 and the recognition of the data of the table or the line segment in step S2 shall be performed by using a commonly used method.

In step S3, the line segment data of the format shown in FIG. 3A is created, for example, by using the upper left of the read sheet as the origin of the (X, Y) coordinates and the start point of the data recognized as the line segment. This is done by obtaining the (X, Y) coordinate value of the end point. The unit of the value of the (X, Y) coordinate may be a numerical value corresponding to the number of dots of the display device 25, for example.
A numerical value corresponding to the number of dots with respect to the resolution of the printing device 26 may be used. It should be noted that the X-coordinate represents the horizontal coordinate from left to right with respect to the document, and the Y-coordinate represents the vertical coordinate from top to bottom with respect to the document.

In step S4, the line segment data of the table read by the display device 25 is displayed, and the read table or ruled line is at what position and in what size with respect to the read document. Informs the user if it is laid out. In step S5, the reference line feed pitch and character size are set in the read table so that the area includes the number of characters and the number of lines desired by the user.

For setting the line feed pitch and the character size, it is generally desirable to display a setting screen and input these numerical values from the keyboard. The set data is stored in the setting data memory 24c in the format shown in FIG.

Next, in step S6, the line segment data of the conversion source stored in the line segment data memory 24a is converted into the line segment data shown in FIG.
Convert to ruled line data as shown in (b). The outline of the conversion of ruled line data has been described above. The ruled line data created in this way is handled in the same way as characters and symbols, and ordinary document editing such as ruled line insertion, deletion, and movement is performed. Will be able to work.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a detailed flow of the ruled line conversion processing in step S6. First, in step S11, one line segment data is read from the line segment data memory 24a. That is, the set of data shown in FIG. 3A is read.

Next, in step S12, it is determined whether or not the values of the start X coordinate and the end X coordinate match the read line segment data. Here, when the start X coordinate and the end X coordinate match, it is determined that the line segment is a vertical line segment, and the process proceeds to step S14.

If the start X coordinate and the end X coordinate do not match, it is determined in step S13 whether the values of the start Y coordinate and the end Y coordinate match. Here, if the start Y coordinate and the end Y coordinate match, it is determined that the line segment is a horizontal line segment, and the process proceeds to step S15.

In step S14, the vertical line segments are converted into ruled line data and stored in the ruled line data memory 24b as vertical ruled lines in the format shown in FIG. 3B. In step S15, the horizontal line segments are converted into ruled line data and stored in the ruled line data memory 24b as horizontal ruled lines in the format shown in FIG. 3B. Step S1
The detailed flow of 4 and step S15 will be described later.

Next, in step S16, it is determined whether or not the line segment data that is the conversion source data remains in the line segment data memory 24a. If there is, the process returns to step S11, and if there is no line segment data, the process ends.

Next, a detailed flow of the above-described steps S14 and S15, which is a process of converting line segment data into ruled line data, will be described. FIG. 6 shows data used in the ruled line conversion processing. The rectangular line segment shown in FIG. 6 indicates a ruled line, and the upper left end of the line segment is assumed to be at the position of n rows and m columns in one document. That is, here, n is the starting line of the ruled line, m is the starting digit of the ruled line,
In the ruled line data memory 24b, n is stored as the starting line and m is stored as the starting digit.

L indicates the length of the vertical line segment (vertical ruled line), and W indicates the width of the horizontal line segment (horizontal ruled line). These are shown in FIG.
It is obtained from the (X, Y) coordinate values of the line segment shown in (a). In addition, a is a line feed pitch which is the set reference,
Let b be the set reference character size, and Pn be the line feed pitch of the nth line.

Here, the number of dots per line (Y) of the document data to be displayed or printed by the document information processing device.
1) and the number of dots per digit (X1) are determined by the set line feed pitch and character size, so the upper left (X, Y) coordinates of a line segment, that is, the upper left Y
The line to which the dot belongs in the document data and the column to which the X dot belongs can be obtained from the dot numbers Y1 and X1.

FIG. 7 shows a conversion flow of vertical line segments, that is, vertical ruled lines. First, in step S21, it is determined whether or not the length L of the vertical ruled line is smaller than the reference line feed pitch a. If it is larger, the process proceeds to step S22, and if it is equal or smaller, the process proceeds to step S25. In step S22, the line feed pitch Pn of the nth line is set to the reference line feed pitch a.

In step S23, La is calculated and set as the length L of the new vertical ruled line. That is, the reference line feed pitch a is subtracted from the length L of the vertical ruled line to calculate the length of the remaining vertical ruled line. In step S24, n is incremented by 1. Here, the reason for updating n is to obtain the line number of the end line of the current vertical ruled line to be converted.

After the processing of step S24, step S2
Returning to step 1, the length L of the vertical ruled line is compared again with the reference line feed pitch a, and when L> a, the above step S2 is performed.
The processing from 2 to step S24 is repeated.

When L≤a in step S21, that is, when the length L of the remaining vertical ruled lines is equal to or smaller than the reference line feed pitch, the process proceeds to step S25 and remains at the line feed pitch Pn of the nth line. Substitute the length L of the vertical ruled line. As a result, the length L of the vertical ruled line initially given is represented by the integral multiple of the reference line feed pitch a + the line feed pitch Pn obtained in step S25, and thus the length of the input vertical line segment. Will be accurately converted as ruled line data.

Next, in step S26, n is incremented by +1.
Then, in step S27, this n is stored as the line number of the end line of the ruled line for that line segment in the ruled line data memory 24b. In step S28, m is stored as the end digit of the ruled line corresponding to the line segment in the ruled line data memory 24b.

As described above, the start (X, Y) coordinates and the end (X, Y) coordinates of the vertical line segment data are the ruled line data (start line, start digit) and (end) in the document data. line,
It is converted as an end digit) and stored in the ruled line data memory 24b for each vertical ruled line.

Next, FIG. 8 shows a conversion flow of horizontal line segments, that is, horizontal ruled lines. First, in step S1, it is determined whether the horizontal ruled line width W is smaller than the reference character size b. If it is larger, the process proceeds to step S32. If it is equal or smaller, the process proceeds to step S34. In step S32, Wb is calculated and set as the width W of the new horizontal ruled line. That is, the reference character size b is subtracted from the width W of the horizontal ruled line to calculate the length of the remaining horizontal ruled line.

In step S33, m is incremented by one. Here, the reason why m is updated is to obtain the digit number of the end digit of the current horizontal ruled line to be converted. Note that one digit corresponds to one character width. After the process of step S33, the process returns to step S31, the width W of the horizontal ruled line is compared again with the reference character size b, and when W> b, the above step S33 is performed.
32 and the process of step S33 are repeated.

When W ≦ b in step S31, that is, when the length W of the remaining horizontal ruled lines is equal to or smaller than the reference character size, the process proceeds to step S34, and m is set to +1.
Update the digit number. Next, in step S35, n
Is stored as the end line of the ruled line corresponding to the line segment in the ruled line data memory 24b. In step S36,
m is stored as the end digit of the ruled line corresponding to the line segment in the ruled line data memory 24b.

As described above, the start (X, Y) coordinates and the end (X, Y) coordinates of the line segment data in the horizontal direction are the ruled line data (start line, start digit) and (end) in the document data. line,
It is converted as the end digit) and stored in the ruled line data memory 24b for each horizontal ruled line.

Next, FIG. 9 shows a diagram for explaining an example of the correspondence between the set line feed pitch and the character size in the table after conversion into ruled line data. FIG. 9A shows a table in which the read line segment is recognized and (X, Y) coordinate information is determined. This table consists of two vertical line segments and two horizontal line segments.

9 (b) to 9 (e), the line segments of the table of FIG. 9 (a) are used as ruled lines by using the reference line feed pitch and the reference character size set by the user. It shows the converted one.

For example, FIG. 9B shows the length of ruled lines in the vertical direction of the table as the sum of the line feed pitches set for three lines and the pitch width smaller than the set line feed pitch. In this table, characters for three lines are input. The length of the ruled line in the vertical direction of this table is adjusted with a pitch width smaller than the line feed pitch set as shown in FIG. 9B, so that the length of the line segment in the vertical direction of the input table is adjusted. Can be converted to be faithfully equal. Further, since the number of lines that can be input with the set line feed pitch width is set in the vertical direction of the table, it is possible to input a character having a line feed pitch set by the user to each line.

FIG. 9 (c) is an example of setting a line feed pitch smaller than that of FIG. 9 (b).
Indicates that the characters for the line will be input.

FIG. 9D shows that the width of the ruled line in the horizontal direction of the table is
Characters that are represented by an integer multiple of the set reference character size are shown. In this table, 6 lines per line are shown.
Indicates that a character will be input. In this way, the width of the ruled line in the horizontal direction of the table is adjusted to be an integer multiple of the set reference character size, that is, the number of digits determined by the end digit-start digit, and is set by the user in each row. You can enter characters in the specified font size.

FIG. 9E shows an example in which a character size smaller than that of FIG. 9D is set, and shows that 10 characters are input per line in the table.

As described above, by setting the reference line feed pitch and the character size to the values desired by the user, the length of the vertical line segment among the input line segments forming the table is changed. Instead, it becomes possible to input the line feed pitch and the character size of characters or symbols set in the table.

[0053]

According to the present invention, when the reference line feed pitch and the reference character size are set, and the vertical line segment conversion means has a length of the vertical line segment larger than the reference line feed pitch. , Divide the length of the vertical line segment into lines equal to the length of the standard line feed pitch, and for the part of the remaining length of the vertical line segment that could not be divided, add a line with a line feed pitch equal to that length. The vertical line segment has a length equivalent to the sum of the length of one or more lines equal to the reference line feed pitch and the line with a line feed pitch equal to the remainder length smaller than the reference line feed pitch. Since it is converted to a vertical ruled line with a certain length, the vertical ruled line is generated without changing the length of the vertical line segment,
Characters and symbols can be input with a desired line feed pitch.

Further, the horizontal line segment conversion means calculates how many characters can be included in the length of the horizontal line segment and has a reference character size, and the horizontal line segment is converted into the horizontal line segment. Since it is converted into a horizontal ruled line having a length equal to the maximum number of characters that can be included in the length range, characters / symbols can be input with the desired number of characters.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a data structure of line segment data, ruled line data, and setting data used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of the overall operation of ruled line conversion according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a detailed flowchart of ruled line conversion processing of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of data used in the ruled line conversion processing of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a detailed flowchart of vertical ruled line conversion processing.

FIG. 8 is a detailed flowchart of horizontal ruled line conversion processing.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a correspondence relationship between a set line feed pitch and a character size.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 line segment data recognition means 2 line segment data storage means 3 vertical / horizontal determination means 4 reference line feed pitch setting means 5 reference character size setting means 6 line feed pitch storage means 7 character size storage means 8 vertical line segment conversion means 9 horizontal line segment conversion means 10 Ruled Line Data Storage Means 21 Input Device 22 Reader 23 Control Device 24 Storage Device 24a Line Segment Data Memory 24b Ruled Line Data Memory 24c Setting Data Memory 25 Display Device 26 Printing Device

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location 9071-5L G06F 15/62 325 K

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A line segment data recognizing means for recognizing a straight line segment from input document information, a line segment data storing means for storing coordinate information of the recognized line segment document, and the coordinates. Vertical / horizontal determination means for determining whether the line segment stored from the information is a vertical line segment or a horizontal line segment for the document, and a reference line feed pitch setting for setting a line feed pitch which is a reference for determining the line spacing of the document. Means, a reference character size setting means for setting a character size as a reference for determining the character width per line of a document, a line feed pitch storing means for storing a set line feed pitch as a reference, and a set reference A character size storage means for storing a character size; a vertical line segment conversion means for converting a vertical line segment determined by the vertical / horizontal determination means into a vertical ruled line by using the reference line feed pitch; A horizontal line segment conversion means for converting a horizontal line segment determined by the vertical / horizontal determination means into a horizontal ruled line using the reference character size; and a ruled line obtained by the vertical line segment conversion means and the horizontal line segment conversion means. When the length of the vertical line segment is larger than the standard line feed pitch, the vertical line segment conversion unit uses the ruled line data storage means for storing data. Divide into lines equal to the length, provide a line with a line feed pitch equal to that length to the remaining length of the vertical line segment that could not be divided, and use one or more vertical line segments as a reference. It is characterized in that it is converted into a vertical ruled line having a length corresponding to the sum of the length of the line equal to the line feed pitch and the line of the line feed pitch equal to the remainder length smaller than the reference line feed pitch. Yes, with ruled line conversion function Write the information processing apparatus. 2. A line segment data recognizing means for recognizing a straight line segment from the input document information, a line segment data storing means for storing coordinate information of the recognized line segment document, and the coordinates. Vertical / horizontal determination means for determining whether the line segment stored from the information is a vertical line segment or a horizontal line segment for the document, and a reference line feed pitch setting for setting a line feed pitch which is a reference for determining the line spacing of the document. Means, a reference character size setting means for setting a character size as a reference for determining the character width per line of a document, a line feed pitch storing means for storing a set line feed pitch as a reference, and a set reference A character size storage means for storing a character size; a vertical line segment conversion means for converting a vertical line segment determined by the vertical / horizontal determination means into a vertical ruled line by using the reference line feed pitch; A horizontal line segment conversion means for converting a horizontal line segment determined by the vertical / horizontal determination means into a horizontal ruled line using the reference character size; and a ruled line obtained by the vertical line segment conversion means and the horizontal line segment conversion means. A ruled line data storage means for storing data is provided, and the horizontal line segment conversion means calculates how many characters of a character size to be a reference can be included in the range of the length of the horizontal line segment, A document information processing apparatus having a ruled line conversion function, which converts a horizontal line segment into a horizontal ruled line having a length equal to the maximum number of characters that can be included in the range of the length of the horizontal line segment.