JPS6243777A - Information memory device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To search information in a file by a simple method, by selecting an image from a storage means of an image data, relating the image, and displaying the related image by instructing a part of the image which is being displayed. CONSTITUTION:A control part 800 fetches an image programmed so as to be displayed first of all in a reset state, from an image data storage part 100, and outputs it to a display part 500. Or an image registration number is searched from the bibliographical item of a title, etc. by a usual retrieval means and displayed. An operator moves a cursor to a part related to an image to which he desires to display himself, and designates one point of a display screen by pushing the next display button of the control part 800. When executing its designation, when it is desired to know to which part other image is related, the partial area display button of the control part 800 is depressed. In this way, it can be executed to display a prescribed page from the list of contents, and to refer to a prescribed page from the index of the end of a book.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a device that sequentially displays images stored in a file of a computer or the like, and particularly relates to a device in which images to be displayed are correlated with each other and information desired by an operator is correlated. The present invention relates to an information storage device suitable for retrieving images from images.

[Background of the invention]

Conventionally, in order to search and display images stored in a file on a computer or the like, an operator inputs the title or image number of the image using a keyboard. However, as the amount of stored images increases, it is becoming more difficult to obtain the necessary images from titles and the like. A method of searching by attaching multiple keywords to each image has also been adopted, but in order to reliably retrieve the spine image later, it is necessary to
Vertebrae, the search must be done with great care and knowledge. Databases that allow employees to store and search large amounts of information were entrusted to experts, and when the general public wanted information, they had to go through the experts. Therefore, database management and search methods may be somewhat complicated. However, in recent years, with the advent of large-capacity storage technology and expectations for office automation, the need for general end users to directly access devices and systems to store and retrieve information has rapidly increased.

Under these circumstances, it is currently considered to be extremely difficult for general users to efficiently register and search a large number of images, which was previously done by experts.

One method that allows general users to easily search for images is (1A Prototype 5pati).
alData Management System
m', Computer Graphics,
Mo1.14, /S63, 1980.

pp63-7Q). This method is a method of graphically representing information spatially on a two-dimensional surface and searching for information on that surface. This method is currently built into search devices and can only be used for registered searches on the guidance screen set by the device provider. Even if the user were able to change and create both sides of the guide, it would be easy to search using this method, but when it becomes necessary to register a new guide image, it would be difficult for anyone to understand when searching. It is necessary to create a guide screen that is easy to use.

In order to create this guidance screen, the image registrant must put in a considerable amount of effort in order to have the computer display the graphics.

For example, to create a 71-screen as shown in Figure 1, the registrant enters character strings such as 'Image display guide screen', 'Schedule', etc., and specifies where those characters should be placed. , it is necessary to input a large amount of vector data to display pictures of clocks, factories, etc. Furthermore, changing the image registration method also means changing the graphic display screen registered in the computer, which is not efficient from a maintenance standpoint. Further, according to this idea, the image to be registered and the guide screen are handled separately, and it is impossible to associate the next image with the image registered by the user.

In addition, there is a document that links a part of text with an image, such as Japanese Patent Publication No. 1979-197926 (published on November 9, 1981), and a part of the input guidance screen has a more detailed guidance screen for that item. Related published patent publication Showa 6
There is O-15736 (released on January 26, 1985).

However, in all of these known techniques, the screen for association is built-in for guidance, and the user cannot freely associate the images with the already registered screen while registering both images.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a device that allows a registrant to associate and register information input into a file of a computer or the like using a simple method according to the user's wishes, and also allows the user to search for information in the file using a similarly simple method. It's about doing.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides, in addition to an image data storage unit, position data of partial areas of the same image for associating each image with another image, and registration of images associated with each partial area. It has an associative memory unit that stores numbers, and allows the operator to associate already registered images with any partial area of the displayed image, and when searching, the image associated with the partial area of the displayed image It is designed so that it can be brought out. To explain more specifically, in registration, images to be associated are displayed as shown in FIG. Next, by controlling a cursor using the mouse to specify a partial area of the image, the registration number of the image to be associated with the position data of the area is stored in the associative memory. Second
As shown in the figure, the designated area on the display screen 11 is displayed as a dotted line 12 so that the designated area can be confirmed. Similarly, in the search, the specified image 1 as shown in Figure 3 is used.
The image 14 to be displayed next is determined by comparing the position on 3 with the contents of the associative memory section.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the image display device of the present invention. This device includes an image data storage section 100
, an associative memory unit 200 that stores partial areas of each image and registration numbers of related images pointed to by each partial area, and a bibliographic item storage unit 30
0, image management data storage section 400, image display section 500,
An image small area designation unit 600 that allows you to designate a single point on a display image;
It consists of an image input section 700, a control section 800 that controls these, and a keyboard 900.

In this embodiment, a rectangular area is assumed as the partial area.

FIG. 5(A) schematically shows the related partial areas of each registered image, Picφ0001, Picφ00.
02 etc. indicates the registration number of each image (page unit), and Re
ctφOOO1, Rectφ0002, etc. are the names of partial areas defined in each image.

FIG. 5(B) schematically shows the format of related data stored in the associative memory unit 200. The position of each partial region is defined by the coordinates W (XI, yl) of the upper left vertex and the coordinates (X2, y2) of the lower right vertex of the rectangular region. Further, position data of the partial area is stored for each registered image. Each subregion is R
Each image is managed using a serial number such as e c t ÷ 0001. At the same time as the definition of each partial area, the registration number of the associated image is also stored. Pic◆000 of Figure 5 (B)
7, Pieφ0009, etc. are the registration numbers.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the partial area is represented by a rectangle, the cursor can be used to specify only two points, the upper left and the lower right of the partial area. The registration number in page order associated with the coordinate data of the partial area is registered in the associative memory unit 200 as shown in FIG. 5(B).

The flow of processing in the case of image registration will be explained with reference to FIG.

Set the original you want to input on the input section 700 and input it to the control section 80.
When the input button 0 is pressed, the image data is sent to the storage section 100 and registered with an appropriate image number. At this time, the screen shown in FIG. 7 is displayed, and the operator can input bibliographic information such as the title, author, and year of publication of the input image. If no input is made here, the control unit 800 assumes that there is no bibliographic item or registers the II bibliographic item.

The relationship between the two images can be made by using the search means described later and calling up the art world you want to associate with.To associate, move the cursor to a certain part of the displayed image and press the partial index button on the control unit 800. This is done by pressing .

Note that the association between images can be performed at the same time as the registration of a new image, or can be performed between images that have already been registered.

More specifically related to the method.

Assume that the third page of a certain document is associated with the table of contents of the document, as shown in the display screen of FIG. The operator first displays the table of contents page of the document on the display unit 500 by newly registering or searching. Then, move the cursor to the top left vertex of the image portion of “1. Purpose/3” and press the control unit 800.
Press the part specification button. Next, move the cursor to the lower right vertex of the same area and press the part specification button. This means that the partial area for association has been specified. The operator then searches for or newly registers the third page of the document and displays it on the display section 500. Therefore, the control section 8
Press the registration button 00 to notify the control unit 800 that the currently displayed image is to be associated. The registration number of the current display image, the area numbers of all specified partial areas, the position data of the partial areas, and the registration numbers of the associated images are now registered in the associative memory unit 200.

Furthermore, by displaying the image of the table of contents page on the screen and inputting the page number from the keyboard, it is also possible to associate a certain row of the table of contents with the image of the page indicated by that row. Specifically, see °1. the purpose ··
- After specifying the partial area 3" with the cursor, enter the number 3 from the keyboard. The control unit 800 refers to the image management data to specify the number 3 of the currently displayed document.
Registration number of image on page, e.g. Pic+ 0003
, can be detected.

If the image of the table of contents page is now Pieφ0001 and the position data of the specified partial area is (xi, yl, x2, y2), then the data (Pic◆0001, Rectφ0001)
, xl, yl, x2, y2, picφ0003) will be stored in the associative memory unit.

Here, the image management data is a set of records consisting of a document registration number, image registration number, page number within the document, storage physical address, record length, image compression code, etc., and the data in the image data storage unit. Manage all states of.

Next, the flow of processing in the case of image retrieval will be explained with reference to FIG.

The control unit 800 stores the image programmed to be displayed first in the reset state in the image data storage unit 10.
It is taken in from 0 and output to the display unit 500. Alternatively, the image registration number is searched for and displayed from the i-magazine items such as the title using a normal search means. The operator moves the cursor to a portion related to the image he or she wishes to display and presses the next display button on the control unit 800 to specify a point on the display screen. When specifying, if you want to know which part the other area 1 house is related to, press the partial area display button on the control unit 800.

By doing this, the control unit 800 and the associative memory unit 200
The positional information of all the partial areas registered in the currently displayed image, that is, the coordinates of the upper left and lower right of the rectangular area are taken in from , and the rectangular area is outputted superimposed on the display screen.

Each partial area can be highlighted by displaying its stage with a broken line or by inverting black and white.

By pressing the next display button on the control unit 800, the coordinates of the current cursor on the screen are changed from the designation unit 600 to IB ("
It is taken into the control section 800 and registered in the associative memory section 200.
The day of the partial area that is in the sky is compared with the evening. That is, the control unit 800 determines whether or not the coordinates sent from the specifying unit 600 are included in the partial area VC for the data of all partial areas of the currently displayed word r-elephant. The image data recorded with the registration number of the related image specified in the partial area is stored in the image storage unit 10.
Read from 0 and display.

Taking Figure 5 as an example, the current display screen is Pic0001
Assume that you move the cursor inside Rec+÷0001 in FIG. 5(A) and press the next screen display button all the way. At this time, the specifying unit 600 sends the coordinate value to the control unit 800, for example (
15, 60) is sent. The control unit 800 receives Rect+0
From O01 to Rect◆0004, (15, 60) is judged to be included in RectφOQ (J 1, and is associated with Rectφ0001 and is a one-plane image P
The image data of icφ0007 is read from the image storage unit 100 and displayed.

As described above, according to the present invention, hierarchical images,
Although it is easy to register and search images related to each other in a network, it is also possible to search not only on images but also on bibliographic items such as titles. Rather than always starting a search with a predetermined image, it is more efficient to display both clear images of bibliographic information such as titles first.

Therefore, it is effective to call up the initial image using a title or the like. In this way, by combining with the conventional technology, it is possible to provide an efficient search means as a whole.

In this example, a partial area of one image and another image (whole image)
However, it is possible to further expand this to associate a partial area with a separately determined partial area. For example, by associating a partial area in the main text that references a figure with a partial area of the referenced figure, the reference figure can be read from the image data storage unit and the partial area of the figure can be displayed. becomes possible. The present invention also includes the above-mentioned extensions.

Furthermore, the technique can be used to automatically extract the partial area using document understanding technology that performs character recognition or figure recognition.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily associate a part of an image with another image by a simple means. It becomes possible to easily display the pages of the book, refer to a predetermined page from the index at the end of the book, and even display separately listed documents from the reference list. In particular, it is highly effective in that it greatly simplifies the input of information that enables such search and display.

Furthermore, by applying this method to reference parts such as charts and tables that appear in the main text, it becomes possible to automatically display predetermined charts and tables without manually turning the pages, and relationships can be easily established at any time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a guidance screen when retrieving images, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an image registration processing flow, Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an image search processing flow, and Fig. 4 is an information storage device of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the memory contents of the continuous memory, Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the sequence of image registration processing, and Fig. 7 is the -f journal item input screen. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the flow of image search processing. Article 11! l half 2 illustrations, 3 concave friend shank button d red

Claims (1)

[Claims] Image data storage means that stores a plurality of images and can retrieve a specific image by image number; display means that displays the image; and a position on the image displayed on the display means that specifies the position of the image. and means for selecting image 1 and image 2 from the image data storage means and associating the partial area of image 1 with image 2, the part of the image being displayed An information storage device characterized in that an image associated with the above means is displayed in response to an instruction.