JPS61224558A - Picture processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decrease the transfer time and to facilitate a call operation by designating a prescribed range of a file at registration of the information file and displaying simultaneously only the said range for plural files at read. CONSTITUTION:The index area of a picture file is designated on a CRT scope and a retrieval keyword (KW) for the registration file is set to a RAM 34. Then in order to transfer a picture signal, various parameters are set to a direct memory access controller (DMAC) 36. The data is transferred from the RAM 34 to an optical disc interface (IF) 39 and a picture file 4 fetches the picture signal from there in the unit of sector. A write head and an end sector are read from the file 4 and the sector is used in pair with the KE of the RAM 34 and set to the RAM 34 as the sector in the said area. When different files A, B are registered in the common KW, the said KW, the said sectors in both the files and the final sector of the registration area are set to the RAM 34. An address next to the final address of the area of the file A in the RAM 34 is set and the number of transfer word of the file B is set as the transfer data number.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image processing device, and particularly to a device for searching an image file or the like from a recording device such as an optical disk.

[Prior Art] In a conventional image processing device, after image information is registered as a file, when the contents of the registered file are called up, the entire file must be called out. Therefore, if you want to view multiple files for confirmation In this case, the entire file must be retrieved each time, which takes a long time to transfer one image information, and when the search and retrieval operation is frequently performed, the operation is complicated.

[Purpose of the Invention] The present invention has been made by focusing on the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is applicable to cases in which image information is registered as a file and then the contents of the registered file are called, and multiple registered files are checked. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus that can shorten the transfer time of one image information when the user wants to view the image information at a certain level, and also allows easy calling operations.

[Embodiments of the invention] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

The control unit (workstation) 1 has a microcomputer for system control, an internal memory composed of RAM, ROM, etc., and an external memory composed of a floppy disk or cartridge disk. .

This control unit l has a designation function for designating a predetermined range of files registered in the registration means at the time of file registration;
It has a display control function that allows the display means to simultaneously display only the predetermined range for a plurality of registered files.

The document reader 2 is an input unit of a digital copying machine, and converts image information of a document placed on a document table into an electrical signal (image signal) using an image sensor such as a CCD.

Also, the high-speed printer 3.

It is an output unit of a digital copying machine, and forms an image on a recording member using a laser beam printer or the like based on one image signal.

The image file 4 has a recording medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk, and is capable of writing or reading a large amount of image signals. The CRT device 8 displays image signals photoelectrically read by the input scanner (league) of the digital copying machine or system control information.

Further, in the above embodiment, cables 11, 12, which electrically connect each input/output device and send control signals or image signals,
13 and 14, a keyboard 31 through which an operator inputs system control commands, and an operation panel 21 through which operational commands for the digital copying machine are issued. This operation panel 21
The apparatus has setting keys for setting the number of copies, copy magnification, etc., a copy key 25 for instructing the start of copying, a numerical value display, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit of the above embodiment.

In this circuit, ROM (read only memory)
33 is a central processing unit CPU (for example, Motorola 68) in which a system control program is written in advance.
000) 32 performs control operations according to a program written in the ROM 33. 1 (AM (Random Access Memory) 34 is mainly used as a working memory of the CPU 32 and a page memory for recording image signals exchanged between each input/output section.

The external memory 35, which is made up of a floppy disk, stores a system control program, a database for searching images from image files, etc., which will be described later.

When the CPU 32 issues a transfer command, the DMAC (direct memory access controller) 36
The CPU 32 transfers a specified number of data from a transfer source to a transfer destination specified in advance.

The input/output interface 37 is for exchanging information between the control unit 1 and the digital copy@42. The CRTC (CRT controller) 38 is a RAM
34 (7) Image booter, which is a controller for displaying on the CRT 8 and displays image data in the RAM 34 on the CRT 8 via the CRT interface 40.

The optical disk interface 39 is for exchanging information with one image file. CRT interface 40
is for exchanging information with the CRT8. A 16-bit bus 41 is used to transfer signals between each block within the control section 1. Also, image file 4 and CRT8
are connected by cables 13.14 to the respective interfaces 39.40 of the control unit I. The CRT 8 is provided with a display RAM 43 that stores image information to be displayed.

Furthermore, the image signal input to the digital copying machine 42 is
The information on the bus 41 of the control unit l is a serial signal, and the information on the bus 41 of the control unit l is
Since the signal is a parallel signal, the input/output interface 37 is provided with a serial→parallel register for capturing the image signal and a parallel→serial register for outputting the image signal.

The image signal output from the document reader 2 is sent line by line to the input/output interface 37 of the control unit l. The input/output interface 37 converts the serially input image signal into a parallel signal of 16 bits each, and connects the image signal to the bus 41.
Output on top. The image signal output on the bus 41 is R
One page is sequentially input into the image area of AM34.

The image signal stored in the RAM 34 in this way is outputted to the bus 41 again and sent to the optical disk interface 39.
The image data is sent to one image file 4 via the input/output interface 37 and written on an optical disk, or is transmitted via the input/output interface 37 to the high-speed printer 3 to form an image.

Further, the image signal of one image file 4 read from the optical disk is once written in the RAM 34 and then transferred to the high-speed printer 3 via the input/output interface 37.

The control regarding the transfer of the image signal is performed using the keyboard 31 according to the operation command input by the operator.
2 executes.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of registering a file in the above embodiment.

First, the operator sets the original on the original reader 2,
The CPU 32 receives an instruction to read image data from the keyboard 20.
(S1), the CPU 32 sends a reading command for the document size to the reader 2 (32), and the reader 2 performs pre-scanning to detect the size of the document, and
Sends size information to U32 (33).

The CPU 32 uses the input/output interface 37 as a transfer source.
, set the start address of the image area of the RAM 34 as the transfer destination, and set the number of transferred words calculated from the document size information as the number of transferred data (S4).
, each of the above settings is performed by the DMAC 36. 35)
, issues a command to start up the DMAC 36 (3B).

The reader 2 reads the original and sends the image signals generated at that time line by line to the input/output interface 3 of the control unit l.
At the input/output interface 37, the image signal is subjected to serial-parallel conversion, and the DMAC 36 transfers the image signal to the image area of the RAM 34 (38).

When all the image signal transfers are completed in this manner, the DMAC 36 notifies the CPU 32 of an acknowledgment that the data transfer has ended. Then, it is determined whether or not the transfer end acknowledgement has been notified (S9), and if the notification has been done, the CRTC 38 is activated (S10).
.

The CRTC 38 causes the CRT 8 to display image information corresponding to the image signal stored in the image area of the RAM 34 via the CRT interface 40 (S11).

On the other hand, after checking the image on the CRT 8, the operator enters the registered keyword from the keyboard 20,
The CPU 32 issues a registration instruction (512), as shown in FIG.
As shown in a), an input keyword is set in the work area of the RAM 34 (S l 3).

Then, the CPU 32 sets the start address of the image area of the RAM 34 as the transfer source, sets the optical disk input/output interface 36 as the transfer destination, and sets the number of words set in S4 above as the number of transfer data. These settings are performed by the DMAC 36. Then, instruct the write command to the image file 4 (315), DMAC
36 is issued (S l B).

On the other hand, the DMAC 36 transfers one image information from the image area of the RAM 34 to the optical disk interface 39 (S17), and the image file 4 reads and writes one image value number in units of one sector from the optical disk interface 39. (SlB).

(519) to determine whether all these transfers have been completed.
When the transfer of the image information is completed, a write end command is issued to the image file 4 (S20).

Then, read out the write start sector and end sector from the image file 4 (521), and transfer those sectors to S1.
Set the keyword in the work area of the RAM 34 to be paired with the keyword set in the RAM 34 in step 2 (322
), an example of which is shown in FIG. 4(b). And 5
The data set in step 22 is written to the floppy disk 35 as a database for image search (step S23).
).

In this way, by registering a pair of a keyword and a writing start sector or end sector as a search database on a floppy disk or the like, images can be called up based on the keyword at the time of search.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of searching for files registered as described above.

First, enter the search keyword from the keyboard 20 (
324), the search database area of the floppy disk 35 is searched for the above search keyword (S25), and the search keyword and the corresponding first sector and last sector of the optical disk image registration area are searched. Set in the work area of RAM34 (32
6).

Next, the optical disk interface 39 is set as the transfer destination, the start address of the image area of the RAM 34 is set as the transfer destination, and the transfer word calculated from the start sector and last sector of the optical disk image registration area is set as the transfer data count. Set the number. The above settings are performed by the DMAC3B. Then, the first sector for reading is set for the image file device W14 (32B).

Instruct the image file device 4 to read the command 52
9) Instructs the DMAC 36 to start a transfer (330), then transfers the image signal from one image file 4 to the optical disk interface 39 in units of one sector (331), and the DMAC 36 The image signal is transferred from the interface 39 to the image area (S32).

Once all these data have been transferred, the DMAC 36 transfers the C
The data transfer end acknowledgment is notified to the PU 32. The CRTC 38 determines whether this transfer end acknowledgment has been notified (333), and if so, issues a read end command to the 1 image file 4 (334).
(S35), CR703g is %RAM34
The data in the image area is displayed on the CRT 8 through the CRT interface 40 (336).

By the way, when recalling the contents of a registered file, in order to shorten the time to transfer the image information and simplify the operation, it is necessary to register the file.

Specify only part of the area in that file.

□When searching, you only need to call up the specified area.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart regarding the operation of specifying a part of the area of one image file at the time of registration.

Note that in FIG. 6, the steps S1 to Sit are the same as those shown in FIG. 3, so their explanation will be omitted.

If you want to display an image file on a CRT (311), this CRT
Based on the display, the index area is designated from the keyboard 20 (TI), for example.

Perform key operations on the keyboard 20 and move the cursor on the CR7 screen to specify the above area (TI)
, and inputs a search keyword for the registered file, and at the same time issues a registration instruction (T2).
, as shown in Figure 7 (IL), the search keyword is R.
Set in the work area of AM34 (T3).

Then, read the first cursor position of the index area (T4), calculate the address from the first cursor position (T5), read the last cursor position of the index area (T6), and calculate the final address from the last cursor position. (T7).

The number of words of the area data is calculated from the above start address and end address (T8), and various parameters are set in the DMAC 36 in order to transfer the image signal existing in the index area (T9), that is, The start address of the index area of the RAM 34 is set as the transfer source, the optical disk input/output interface 36 is set as the transfer destination, and the number of words of the index area data calculated at T8 is set. The above settings are DM
This is done in AC36.

Instruct a write command to image file 4 (Tl0), DMA
Issues a start command to C36 (Tll), and also issues RAM34
Transfer data from to optical disk interface 39 (
T12), the image file is created by taking in an image signal from the optical disk interface 39 in units of sectors, and writing the signal onto the optical disk (T13).

Then, it is necessary to determine whether all these transfers have been completed.
l4), when the data transfer is completed, a write end command is issued to one image file 5 (T15), and the write start sector and end sector are read from the image file 4 (T1
6) Then, these sectors are set in the work area of the RAM 34 as sectors of the index area so as to be paired with the keywords set in the RAM 34, as shown in FIG. 7(b) (T l 7).

Then, set the address next to the final address of the index area as the transfer source, set the optical disk interface 39 as the transfer destination, and calculate the difference between the number of image data words in the index index area from the number of total image data words as the number of transfer words. settings.

Then command the write command to 1 image file 4 Tl 9
), issue a startup command to DMAC36 (T20), RAM
34 to the optical disk interface 39 according to the conditions set in step 718 (T21), and the image file 4 takes in one image data in units of one sector from the optical disk interface 39, and transfers data to the next sector after the writing end sector. Write from sector to sector (T22).

Determine whether all these transfers have been completed (T23)
, once that data transfer is finished.

Command the write end command to image file 4 T24), read the write end sector from image file 4 T25)
, set that sector as the 1-inclusive final sector in the work area of the RAM 34 as shown in FIG. 7(e) (726);
Then, the data set in this way is written to the floppy disk 35 as a database for searching one image (T2
7).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the present invention.

Here, it is assumed that two different image files are registered according to a common keyword, and one is called image file A and the other is called image file B, based on the operation explained using the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, use the keyboard 20 to instruct index display (Ul), and input a search keyword common to image file A and image file B (U2). Enter the search keyword from the floppy disk search database area. Search (U3), and
The keyword, the first sector of the optical disk index registration area of image file A, the last sector thereof, and the last sector of one image registration area are set in the work area of the RAM 34 (U4).

Similarly, the keyword, the first sector of the optical disc registration area of one image file B, the last sector, and the last sector of the one image registration area are set in the work area of the RAM 34 (U5).

On the other hand, the optical disk interface 39 is set as the transfer source in the DMAC 3B, the start address of the image area of the RAM 34 is set as the transfer destination, and the start and end sectors of the optical disk index registration area of the image file A are set as the transfer data and numbers. The number of transfer keywords calculated from the sectors is set (U6).

The first sector of the optical disk index registration area of image file A is set to the image file device 14 as the first sector to be read (U7), and! ! if&
'Set a binding 4-instruction to the file loading M4 (U8), and DM
A transfer start command is issued to the AC 36 (U9).

1 from image file 4 to optical disk interface 39
Transfers image signals in sector units (UlO), DMAC
36 is from the optical disk interface 39 to the RAM 34.
Transfer one image signal to the designated image area (Ull).

After all these data have been transferred, DMAC3B transfers CP
Notify U32 of completion of data transfer. It is determined whether a transfer end acknowledgment has been notified (U12), and if so, a reading end command is output to the image file device 14 (U13).

Then, the optical disk interface 39 is set as the transfer source, and the previously transferred image file A is set as the transfer destination.
Set the address next to the final address of the image area of the RAM 34 that has been confirmed, and also set the number of transfer words calculated from the first sector and last sector of the optical disk index registration area of image file B as the number of transfer data. (U l 4), the above settings are performed in the DMAC 36.

Next, the image file device 4 is provided with an image file, file B.
Read the first sector of the optical disk index registration area and set it as the first sector (U15), issue a read command to the IIi image file device 4 (U16), DMA0
Issue a transfer start command to 3B (U 17)
, and transfers one image data from one image file 4 to the optical disk interface 39 in units of one sector (U
18), DMAC36 is the optical disk interface 3
9 to the specified image area of the RAM 34 (U19), and determine whether all data has been transferred (U3O), if it has been transferred.

Output a read command to the image file device N4 (U21),
Then, the CRTC 38 is activated (U22).

The CRTR 38 displays the image signal in the image area of the RAM 34 on the CRT 8 via the CRTC interface 40 (U23), that is, the image information in the index area of one image file A.

The image information in the index area of image file B can be called up on one screen at the same time.

In the above embodiment, only two files are shown as multiple files, but three or more files are defined as multiple files within the range of one image area, and image information in the index area of each of these multiple files is used. may be displayed simultaneously on one screen.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, when the contents of the registered file are called after image information is registered as a file, and when the user wants to view multiple registered files for confirmation, the transfer time for one image information is reduced. This has the effect of making it possible to shorten the length.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the above embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the registration operation in the above embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the correspondence structure between the first sector and the last sector of an optical disc in which keywords and corresponding image files are written in the conventional example. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the search operation in the above embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the file registration operation in the above embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the correspondence between the first sector and the last sector of the optical disc in which the keyword and the corresponding image file in the registration operation shown in FIG. 6 are written. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the present invention. l...Operation unit. 2... Manuscript league, 3... Printer, 4... Image file, 8... CRT. Patent applicant: Canon Co., Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 4 (b) Figure 7 (Q) (b)
(C) Figure 5

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An image processing apparatus having an input means for inputting image information, a storage means for storing the image information, a display means for displaying the image information, and a registration means for registering the image information as a file, When registering the file, among the registered files,
An image processing apparatus comprising: range designating means for designating a predetermined range; and display control means for simultaneously displaying only the predetermined range on the display means for a plurality of registered files. (2) The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined range in the range specifying means is an index area in the registered file.