JPH11272666A - System and method for editing document and record medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the document editing system which reconstitute areas extracted from plural documents with specific pattern and displays in the state that a user can edit them. SOLUTION: A set of generally usable start and end patterns and document structure information are used to extract areas between places corresponding to the set of the patterns from plural documents, and the results are put together and reconstituted according to the document structure information and layout information 122 and displayed in the state that the user can edit them. The areas edited by the user are written back to the documents of the extraction sources. Further, the document structure information and layout information 122 are registered and held together; and the document structure information includes the information on the hierarchical structure (inclusion relation) of areas in the documents, appearance order, the presence of the repetition part, etc., and the layout information includes the information on the display positions, fonts styles, and font sizes of the respective areas, the arrangement and character color of character strings, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for editing a document, and more particularly, to a display device which extracts regions belonging to the same pattern from a plurality of documents and reconstructs the extracted regions. The present invention relates to a document editing system that displays an editable area on the top and further reflects each area after the editing on a document of an extraction source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a technique for efficiently displaying or printing a document according to a certain rule, SGML (Sta) is used.
nd Generalized Markup
Language) is widely known. User is SG
The ML allows a document type definition that defines the structure of a document and a document layout definition to be used for a display layout or a print layout to be set in advance, and a user can efficiently use the definitions according to a certain rule. The document can be reconstructed and displayed or printed. The document type definition is a DTD (Document Type)
For example, when a document is composed of a plurality of areas, the document has information on the hierarchical structure (inclusion relation), appearance order, repetition, and the like of each area. Each of the areas is associated with an arbitrary pair of tags (identifiers).

When a user creates a document, the DTD
The part corresponding to the area defined in the above is created so as to be sandwiched between a pair of tags associated with the area. For example, the title area of a sentence is a pair of tags “title” and “/ t
It is associated with “title”, and the user places a character string to be displayed as a title between the pair of tags. Tags may not need to be specified in pairs in some cases.

[0004] The document layout definition is set corresponding to a pair of tags defined by the DTD. For example, an area in a document sandwiched between the pair of tags is determined by what font style and font size. Define whether to output, etc. This document layout definition is usually held by output software or the like called a formatter, and when the formatter processes a document, each area sandwiched between a pair of tags appearing in the document by the formatter is defined in the document layout definition. Displayed or printed according to the content defined for the tag. For example, an area between a pair of tags “title” and “/ title” in a document is displayed in a 12-point Gothic style.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-98708, "Document Processing System and Method", a document or a part of the document is selected as intended by the user, and the contents are reconstructed and displayed. A document processing system is disclosed. In this document processing system, when a user inputs, for example, a request to “read a document useful for recognition technology” in a sentence, the intention is analyzed, and at least one document or the like (material) matching the intention is selected. Then, all or part of the document is reconstructed and processed into a state that is easy for the user to read, and then displayed. In order to select a document or a part of the document that matches the user's intention, a plurality of keywords or synonyms of the keywords in the text input by the user are used.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-202711 discloses a "document editing operation electronic device" which detects a specific character pattern from a range of an editing target specified first by a user.
An apparatus is disclosed in which if there is a portion having a similar pattern in the same document, that portion is also automatically added and registered as an edit target. The apparatus aims at selecting headlines, title portions, commentary sentences, and the like scattered in one document at a time as an object to be edited. The device comprises:
First, when the user selects one range to be edited, it is determined whether or not a specific symbol such as “•” or “§” frequently used in a heading or the like exists within the range. If any one exists, the symbol and the display column position of the symbol are registered as a pattern. Next, the apparatus detects a portion having the same pattern as the registered pattern in the document, that is, a portion having a symbol such as “•” or “§” at the same column position, and detects them all as editing targets. Select automatically.

[0007]

In the first prior art SGML, it is necessary to intentionally embed a pair of tags in a document in order to extract and reconstruct a part of the document. For this reason, a great deal of labor is required when creating a document. As a result, tags that are not directly related to the contents of the document are scattered in the document, resulting in a poor appearance as a whole, and in some cases, the tags are misunderstood as the contents of the document. Further, tags are fixed character strings, and cannot be patterned and associated with a document layout definition used for display or printing.

[0008] Furthermore, in SGML, it is possible to partially extract and reconstruct one document. However, regions between character strings of the same pattern are extracted from a plurality of documents, and they are listed. They cannot be aggregated and reconfigured. SGML mainly performs layout based on a certain rule in display or printing, and enables editing of the content of a reconstructed document and writing the edited content back to the original document. No function.

In SGML, a DTD that defines the structure of a document and a layout definition held in a formatter must be set. This is a very complicated task for the user. Furthermore, tag names and the like must be matched between these definitions, and tag names and structural inconsistencies are more likely to occur if created separately.

The above-mentioned second prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-98
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 708, “Document processing system and method”, in order to extract and reconstruct a part of a document, a character string search based on a keyword analyzed from a sentence input as a user's request or a synonym of the keyword is performed. Done. In such a character string search, even if the document of the extraction source is changed even a little, the part is not extracted, and the search result is greatly changed. In addition, since synonyms of keywords are also searched, the search results may be enormous in some cases, and in some cases, they may not be practical. Further, since the user inputs the request in a sentence or the like, the extraction cannot be performed using a character string or the like that has been patterned in a predetermined manner.

Further, in this technique, a plurality of documents can be extracted, but since the selection of the plurality of documents themselves uses a keyword or the like analyzed from a user's input, the documents are actually selected. Documents cannot be confirmed in advance. Further, there is no function of editing the content of a reconstructed document and writing the edited result back to the original document.

The above-mentioned third prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
No. 2711, "Document Editing Operation Electronic Device"
In order to extract and reconstruct a part of the document, a portion having the same pattern as the range initially selected by the user is searched, but the pattern is frequently used for a heading portion such as “•” or “§”. A specific character string and its display column cannot be searched using a general-purpose pattern.

Further, in this technique, a plurality of portions in one document are targeted, and only a sentence having the pattern is selected as an editing target. Further, there is no function of reconstructing a sentence selected as an editing target using layout information or the like.

[0014] An object of the present invention is to use a pair of general-purpose start patterns and end patterns and document structure information defining the structure of a document to determine the location corresponding to the start pattern from a plurality of documents. Provided is a document editing system that extracts regions between portions corresponding to an end pattern, collects and extracts the extracted results according to the document structure information and the layout information, and displays the extracted results in a state where the user can edit them. It is in.

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide an editing apparatus in which, after a user edits an area reconstructed and displayed in an editable state, the edited area is written back to an original document to extract the user's editing result. An object of the present invention is to provide a document editing system that reflects the original document.

Still another object of the present invention is to register and hold the document structure information and the layout information integrally, wherein the document structure information includes an area name of each area in the document,
Defines information related to the document structure such as a hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship), an order of appearance, the presence or absence of repetition, and whether or not it can be omitted.
An object of the present invention is to provide a document editing system that defines layout information such as a style, a font size, a character string arrangement, and a character color.

[0017]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document editing system for extracting an arbitrary area from at least one document and editing the extracted area. A document editing system for displaying in a possible state, an area definition information registering means for registering area definition information used for extracting a desired area from each document as a pattern, and a structure of an area in each document. Document structure / layout information registration means for registering document structure information and layout information used to reconstruct each area; area definition information registered by the storage area definition registration means; Document extraction means for searching for a first location and a second location using document structure information registered by the layout information registration means and extracting an area between the two locations Using the document structure information and the layout information registered by the document structure / layout information registering means to reconstruct and display the at least one extracted area. You. As a result, a stable area is extracted using the extraction pattern, and the contents of each area extracted from at least one document can be aggregated and displayed in an easily viewable format.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the document editing system according to the first aspect, the document editing system further includes a document editing control unit for controlling at least one of the reconstructed and displayed areas to be edited. It is composed of As a result, the contents of each area extracted from at least one document are displayed collectively and easily viewed, and editing can be performed in that state.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the document editing system according to the first aspect, the document editing control means further includes at least one of the reconstructed and displayed images.
The editing function for one area is controlled to be limited to only the contents of the area extracted from the document. Thus, when trying to edit the contents of each extracted region, a modified portion on the display other than the contents of each region is not erroneously edited, and the editing operability is improved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the document editing system according to the first aspect, when at least one of the extracted areas is edited, a result of the editing is added to a document from which the area is extracted. It is configured to have a document editing result reflecting means to be reflected. As a result, it is not necessary to individually search for similar parts of a plurality of documents and perform an editing operation on each of them, and related parts of a plurality of documents can be edited collectively.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the system of the first aspect, the document editing system is used for reconstructing the document structure information on the structure of an area in each of the documents and the respective areas. The document structure / layout information registration means registers the layout information integrally. As a result, the document structure information and the layout information are registered and held as one, so that they can be easily created without contradiction.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each figure, the same or similar items have the same reference numerals or
A description will be given with symbols.

FIG. 1 shows a document editing system 100 according to the present invention.
1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration according to an embodiment. The document editing system 100 includes a processing device 110, a storage device 120, an input device 130, and a display device 140. The processing device 110 reads necessary data stored in the storage device 120, performs processing based on information obtained from the data, displays the processing result on the display device 140, and displays the processing result as necessary. Content storage device 12
Write to the relevant data stored in 0.

The storage device 120 is usually a secondary storage device such as a hard disk or a floppy disk, and includes area definition information 121, document structure / layout information 122, and area-document necessary for the document editing system 100, which will be described in detail later. Structure correspondence information 123 and a plurality of extraction source documents 12
4 is stored. However, these data can be read from a storage device or the like of another computer via a network, or can be written by a reverse route. In this case, the data needs to be stored in the storage device 120. There is no.

The input device 130 is used to input and change data stored in the storage device 120 as necessary.
An input device such as a mouse or a keyboard. The input device 130 is used by the user to edit the reconstruction result displayed on the display device 140. Here, editing refers to adding, changing, or deleting an object such as a character string displayed on the display device 140 using the input device 130.

The display device 140 is a display device such as a CRT display for displaying the data stored in the storage device 120 and the contents of the processing result in the processing device 110. The reconstruction result processed by the processing device 110 is first displayed on the display device 140. In addition, a printing device can be provided to print the reconstruction result, the result of editing the reconstruction result, and the like.

The configuration of these devices is common in personal computers and UNIX workstations. Therefore, the document editing system 10 of the present invention
0 can also be implemented by a single general personal computer or the like.

The processing device 110 further includes an area definition information registration unit 111, a document structure / layout information registration unit 112, a document extraction unit 113, a document reconstruction unit 114, a document edit control unit 115, and a document edit result reflection unit 116. Including.

The area definition information registration unit 111 registers a pair of patterns including a start pattern and an end pattern for extracting a document area to be reconstructed from each of a plurality of documents to be processed by the user. Provides functions.
The registration result is stored as the area definition information 121 in the storage device 120. Further, since the area definition information 121 may be text information, the area definition information registration unit 111 can be realized by an arbitrary text editor, but can be achieved by a specific application having a predetermined input area and a check function. Is desirable.

Document structure / layout information registration unit 112
For each area corresponding to the extraction pattern registered by the area definition information registration unit 111, document structure information such as an area name, a hierarchical structure (inclusive relation), an order of appearance, the presence or absence of repetition, and whether or not it can be omitted is stored. And a function of registering layout information such as a display position of each area, a font style, a font size, a character string arrangement, and a character color when reconstructing. The registration result is stored as document structure / layout information 122 in the storage device 120. In this embodiment, since the document structure information and the layout information are registered integrally, the registration mechanism is also shown integrally. However, the document structure information and the layout information registration unit are configured as separate mechanisms. You can also. In that case, the document structure / layout information 122 in the storage device 120 can also be separately stored as the document structure information and the layout.

The document extracting unit 113 reads at least one document 124 in the storage device 120 designated by the user, and stores the area definition information 121 registered by the area definition information registering unit 111 and the document structure / layout information registering unit 11.
2 document structure / layout information 122 registered
Is used to extract the desired region of the document 124. The document extracting unit 113 determines, in each of the read documents 124, locations that match a pair of extraction patterns including a start pattern and an end pattern registered in the area definition information 121, and further determines those locations. The area sandwiched between the parts is the area name, hierarchical structure (inclusive relation), appearance order, repetition or non-repetition, and whether or not to omit each area in the document defined in the document structure / layout information 122. If it is determined that there is no conflict with the document structure information, the area is extracted. In addition, at the time of this extraction, information that associates a region from which to extract the region of the extraction source document 124 to the region-document structure correspondence information 123 in the storage device 120 is output. This is because there is a possibility that the lengths of the extracted areas are changed by the document editing control unit 115 described later, and then these areas are changed to the document editing result reflecting unit 116 described later.
Is individually reflected in the extraction source document 124 by
This is to prevent the other unextracted area in the document 124 from being updated.

In the document extracting section 113, when the user specifies a document 124, the contents of each document 124 are displayed in one window, and thereafter, settings are made so as to instruct extraction. However, the extraction may be designated without displaying the contents of each document 124.

The document reconstructing unit 114 includes a document extracting unit 113
Each area in the document 124 extracted by the area definition information registration unit 111
1 and the document structure / layout information 122 registered by the document structure / layout information registration unit 112,
Reconfigure on display device 140. The extracted area is given a name (area name) corresponding to the extraction pattern from which the extracted area is extracted, and the content in the document structure / layout information 122 corresponding to the area name is assigned to each area. Used for reconstruction. In this reconfiguration, a fixed character string such as a heading not included in the extracted area, a modification such as an enclosing line or an underline is added according to the layout information, and the reconfiguration is performed so that the user can easily see it. You.

Further, the document reconstructing unit 114 stores the area-
The output of the document structure correspondence information 123 is output to the document extraction unit 113.
It is also possible to do this instead. In this case, the document extracting unit 113 generates, in addition to the contents of the extraction target area, intermediate information indicating where and how the contents correspond to the contents of the extraction source document 124. It is necessary to output to the unit 114.

As a result of the reconstruction, at least one area extracted for a plurality of documents is displayed as one window according to the layout information. In this embodiment, a word processor Word is used on a multi-window system such as Windows 95 of Microsoft Corporation.
Is operated, and the reconstruction result is displayed in one of the windows. The reconstruction result may be configured so that at least one area extracted for one document is displayed as one window according to the layout information, and each document is displayed in one window.

The document editing control section 115 controls editing in the window displayed on the display device 140 by the document reconstructing section 114. As described above, the results of reconstructing a plurality of documents are displayed in the window, but the extracted area and information such as a headline newly added by layout information are mixed. Therefore, the document editing control unit 115 allows only the extracted area to be edited in this window, and prohibits editing of a modification area such as a heading added by layout information. Also,
The editing here may be an editing that changes the length of the extracted area as a result.

When the user instructs the document 124 to be extracted to reflect the editing result, the document editing result reflecting section 116 stores the area-document structure correspondence information 1 in the storage device 120.
In accordance with the correspondence information stored in 23, the contents of the extraction source document 124 are updated to the edited contents. of course,
What is reflected is an area extracted and edited from a plurality of documents, and information such as a headline newly added by layout information is out of scope.

As described above with reference to FIG.
The illustrated configuration merely shows the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention, and is not limited to such a configuration. For example, each part in the processing device 110 can be performed by being distributed to a plurality of computers. Further, the storage device 12
The input device 130, the input device 130, and the display device 140 can be connected to one or more processing devices 110 via a network, and a user can remotely operate the document editing system 100 of the present invention.

Next, the processing flow of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the flow of document extraction and reconstruction processing by the document extraction unit 113 and the document reconstruction unit 114. In FIG. 2, the left 1/3 column shows the information created by the document extraction and reconstruction process, the central 1/3 column shows the flow of the document extraction and reconstruction process, and the right 1/3 column shows the flow of the document extraction and reconstruction process. It shows information defined by the user in advance.

In the first step S10 of FIG. 2, the document extracting section 113 reads the area definition information 121. The area definition information 121 is stored in advance by the user in the area definition information registration unit 1.
11 is registered.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the area definition information 121 registered by the user. Note that the parentheses painted black in the drawings are "[]" in the text.
Notation is replaced by parentheses. In this example, it is defined to extract an area in the document 124 sandwiched between character strings corresponding to a pair of character string patterns (a start pattern and an end pattern). For example, the character string pattern (start pattern) immediately before the area to be extracted is [＠＠],
The character string pattern (end pattern) indicating immediately after is [＠＠-
End], and a region between the character string corresponding to [＠＠] and the character string corresponding to [＠＠-end] is defined to be extracted. Outside 1 (hereinafter referred to as

[0042]

[Outside 1]

The squares painted black are replaced with “(black squares)”. ) Is defined as a pattern indicating the end of an arbitrary area. However, here, [＠＠-end] is not essential. If there is another character string corresponding to [＠＠] after the character string corresponding to [＠＠], the second [＠ Until just before [＠], the first [＠＠]
The extraction range of the region for ＠＠ indicates a character string having an arbitrary number of characters, and 、 in [＠＠] and [＠＠-end] in a pair of character string patterns is the same character string. Note that the character string corresponding to ＠＠ should match each area name (name of a component) of the document structure information in FIG. 5 described later.

In the next step S11 of FIG. 2, the document extracting unit 113 reads the document structure / layout information 122. The document structure / layout information 122 is registered in advance by the user using the document structure / layout information registration unit 112. In step S11, the document 124 of the document structure / layout information 122 is used.
Only the document structure information that defines the area name, the hierarchical structure (inclusive relation), the order of appearance, the presence / absence of repetition, the omission of omission, etc. In this embodiment, the document structure
The layout information 122 is defined as one, and will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. Here, in order to simplify the description, the description will be given with reference to FIG. 5 which conceptually shows an example of the document structure information.

The document structure information shown in FIG. 5 is an example in which a document structure relating to a program specification is defined, and mainly shows a hierarchical structure (inclusion relation) of the document 200.
Blocks at the lowest level (that is, headings, function names, processing outlines, call types, interfaces, and notes) indicate the substance of the area in the document. Document 200 has heading 21
0 and the processing specification 220. Heading 210 is 1
Exist. The processing specification 220 is described as having repetition, and there is a possibility that a plurality of processing specifications exist. Processing specification 220
Is a function name 221, a process outline 222, a call format 223,
An inclusion relationship is defined that includes an interface 224 and a note 225. The processing specification 220 only defines a set of each of the above elements, and does not correspond to the substantial area of the document 200. Since the interface 224 is described as having repetition, there may be a plurality of interfaces in one processing specification, and the attention 225 can be omitted and may not be present.

Conversely, the heading 210, the function name 221, the processing outline 222, the calling form 223, and at least one interface 224 are essential in the document 200. In S12, it is possible to display an error message at a predetermined timing with respect to the document.

Next, in step S12 of FIG. 2, the document extracting unit 113 sets at least one document 1 specified by the user.
24 based on the area definition information 121 of FIG. 4 and the document structure information of FIG.
Extract two regions. As described above, each area name (name of a component) of the document structure information shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to the character string corresponding to ＠＠ described in the pattern of the area definition information 121 in FIG. I have. That is, the document extracting unit 113 extracts each of the documents 124 specified by the user from the area definition information 121 of FIG. 4 already read and the document structure information of FIG.
Is, at least the area of [heading] to [heading-end],
[Function name]-[Function name-End] area, [Processing overview]-
The area of [Processing Overview-End], the area of [Call Format]-[Call Format-End], the area of [Interface]-[Interface-End], and the area of [Caution]-[Caution-End] Further, from the area of [function name] to [function name-end] to the area of [caution] to [caution-end], it is interpreted that there is a possibility of being repeated in the same order.

However, as described above, [heading-end],
[Function Name-End], [Process Overview-End], [Call Format-
Character strings for determining the end of the area such as [end], [interface-end], and [caution-end] are document 124.
The end of the area is determined by the appearance of a character string for determining the start of the next area or a predetermined character string such as (black square).

Consider an example of such extraction with the example of the document 124 shown in FIG. From the above description, document 124
In this case, the area relating to the heading 210 is indispensable, but is omitted here. When the document extracting unit 113 reads the document 124 shown in FIG. 6, the character string "[function name]" is first detected, and then the character string "[function name-end]" is detected. This matches the pattern of the area definition information 121 in FIG. 4, and matches the function name 22 in the document structure information in FIG.
1 (it is assumed that the heading 210 does not exist here, and the function name 221 is the first valid area, as described above), so that “[function name]” to “[function name−end” ]] ”, The character string“ ZaikoHikiate ”
Is extracted in association with the area name “function name”.

Next, when the document extracting unit 113 continues reading, a character string “★ This line is not extracted ★” is extracted. This character string is used in the area definition information 12 shown in FIG.
It is not extracted because it is not sandwiched by the patterns defined in 1 and does not begin with such a pattern.

Next, the document extracting unit 113 detects the character string "[Processing outline]", and thereafter, "[Calling form]"
Is detected. Here, the character string “[Process Overview]” matches the pattern of the area definition information 121 in FIG. 4, and the area name appearing next to the function name 221 in the document structure information in FIG. Therefore, the condition of the appearance order is also satisfied, and whether the stock can be allocated based on the given product code and the ordered quantity of the character string “(line feed)” between “[processing outline]” and “[call form]” ( new line)
Judge. "Is extracted in association with the area name" process outline ". In this case, although there is no character string indicating the end of the area, "[processing outline-end]", the character string "[call form]" indicating the start of the next valid area "call form" appears. Character string "[Processing Overview-End]"
Is determined to be omitted. In addition, in order to faithfully reproduce the contents of the extraction source, control information relating to line feed and page break is also extracted from the contents of the character string extracted here. In the example of the processing outline, the control information regarding the line feed is extracted as “(line feed)” in the extracted character string.

Thereafter, when the same processing is repeated,
The following character strings are extracted in association with each area name. Area name: Call format = "ZaikoHikiate (ShohinCD, ZaikoSu, Kekka)" Area name: Interface (1) = "Int ShohinCD, // Key value of product code to be assigned" Area name: Interface (2 ) = “Int ZaikoSu, // amount to be allocated”, area name: interface (3) = “Int Kekka /// whether or not allocation is possible. (Line feed) // 1 if allocation is possible, 0 if not possible Is set. ”, Area name: Attention =“ If the stock quantity (ZaikoSu) contains a negative numerical value, the operation result (line feed) of this processing is undefined ”.

Here, although the processing specification 220 is not repeated, the interface 224 is repeated three times. In such a case, (1) to (3) are added to the area name after the interface as described above. Is done. This is to make the repeated elements uniquely identifiable, and various other methods can be used.

FIG. 7 shows a second example of the area definition information 121. In this example, it is defined that an area starting from a character string in the document 124 having a character string pattern that is somewhat regular is extracted. For example, the character string immediately before the region to be extracted is {[0-9] + {. ＠＠ ＄
And there is no pattern indicating the character string immediately after the area. ＾
[0-9] + {. ＠＠ ＄ indicates a character string composed of a sequence of at least one number from the beginning of the line, one period, an arbitrary number of character strings corresponding to the area name, and a line feed. The pattern indicating the end of any area is Where ＾ ＄

[0055]

[Outside 2]

A row including only rows is shown. Therefore, an arbitrary region ends when a line or a character string (black square) including only a line feed appears. As described above, ＠＠ is the same as each area name (name of a component) of the document structure information.

An example of extraction based on the area definition information 121 shown in FIG. 7 will be considered with an example of the second document 124 shown in FIG. Also, here, the document structure information as shown in FIG. 5 is omitted, but “hierarchy name”, “claims”, and “detailed description of the invention” which do not have a hierarchical structure and repetition Is assumed to be a simple document structure in which each area is arranged in this order.

When the document extracting unit 113 reads the document 124 shown in FIG. 8, it first detects a character string "1. title of invention", and then detects a line consisting only of a line feed. Here, from the area definition information 121 of FIG. 7, "invention name" corresponds to the triangle, and coincides with the first area "invention name" in the document in the assumed document structure information. Therefore, the character string “(line feed) electronic file editing device (line feed)” between “1. title of the invention” and a line including only a line feed is extracted in association with the area name “name of the invention”. Thereafter, when the extraction is repeated in the same manner, the following character strings are extracted in association with each area name.

Area name: Claim = “(line feed) An apparatus for reconstructing and editing an electronic file by defining rules for designating an area of an electronic file and information for laying out the area ( Line break) ", Area name: Detailed description of the invention =" (Line break) In the present invention, plural (line break) is undefined. "

FIG. 9 shows a third example of the area definition information 121. In this example, it is defined that an area sandwiched between character strings in the document 124 having a character string pattern that is fixed to some extent is extracted. For example, "1.
"Title of Invention", ＾ ＄ (line with only line breaks),
Or a character string between (black squares) is extracted by an area name called an invention name. A character string between “2. Claims” and a character string between ＾ ＄ or (black square) is A character string between “3. Detailed description of the invention” and a character string between “＾ ＄” and (black square) is extracted as an area name “detailed description”. Where ＾ ＄
Indicates a line containing only a line feed.

In the example of the area definition information shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 7, a part (a part corresponding to ＠＠) in the pattern in the document corresponds to the area name, but in the third example, ,
It is fixedly set for each pattern. Also in this example, although the document structure information is omitted, the areas of the "invention name", "claims", and "detailed description" which do not have a hierarchical structure and repetition are arranged in this order. Assume a simple document structure. Here, it should be noted that the name of each area is set corresponding to each extraction pattern in the area definition information 121, and is different from the area name in the document structure information assumed in the description of FIG. It is.

When the extraction from the document 124 in FIG. 8 is performed again using the area definition information 121 in FIG.
3 first detects the character string “1.
Then, a line containing only a line feed is detected. Here, from the area definition information 121 of FIG. 9, the corresponding area name is “invention name”, which matches the area “invention name” that should be first in the document in the assumed document structure information. The character string “(line feed) electronic file editing device (line feed)” from the “name of invention” to the line with only line feed is extracted in association with the area name “invention name”. When the extraction is repeated in the same way,
Then, the following character strings are extracted in association with each area name.

Area name: Claim = “(line feed) Device for reconfiguring and editing an electronic file by defining rules for specifying the area of the electronic file and information for laying out the area (line feed) , Area name: Detailed description = "(Line feed)
(Line feed) is undefined. ".

In step S12 of FIG. 2, the document extracting unit 11
3 shows a method for extracting an area to be extracted from the document 124 as described above.
Information associating the region from which to extract the region of the extraction source document 124 to the region-document structure correspondence information 123 in the storage device 120 is output. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the area-document structure correspondence information 123.

The area-document structure correspondence information 123 has, for each area name in the document structure information, extraction source document information indicating which position of the extraction source document 124 the area corresponds to. Here, assuming a document 124 having the document structure information shown in FIG. 5, the extraction source document information corresponding to “heading” is “C: \ document \ source-1.
c ", From (2,10), To (2,20)"
This means that the source document is “so” in a directory “document” in the C drive in the storage device 120.
urce-1. c), and the extracted “heading” area is stored in the second row of the document at 10 columns to 2
This indicates that the extraction was performed from the position of the 20th column in the row. The same applies to other areas, but in FIG. 10, there are repetitions in the processing specifications and interfaces, and in the area names, repetition elements are shown in parentheses.
Further, in order to represent the repetitive element and the hierarchical relationship (inclusive relationship), the area name is in a linked notation such as "processing specification (2). Interface (1)".

In this example, the position of the extracted area in the document 124 of the extraction source is stored by holding the start row and column and the end row and column of each area. That is, the extraction order for each search pattern (in this case, when writing back, the document 124 needs to be subjected to the same pattern search processing as the extraction processing by the document extraction unit 113), and the start address in the extraction source document 124 By storing the position and the size of the extracted region, the position of the extracted region in the document 124 from which the extraction was performed may be stored.

In this way, by storing the position of each extracted region in the original document 124, that is, by storing the region-document structure correspondence information 123, the region extracted by the document extracting unit 113 is stored. Can be edited independently of the extraction source document 124, while maintaining consistency with other unextracted areas in the document 124,
4 can be reflected.

Returning again to step S 13 in FIG. 2, here, the document reconstructing unit 114
Reads the information of the area extracted from the document 124 and displays the information on the display device 14 based on the document structure / layout information 122.
0, the information of those areas is reconstructed and displayed.

FIG. 11 shows the document structure / layout information 122.
Here is an example. This document structure / layout information 122
FIG. 6 illustrates a method for simultaneously defining the conceptual document structure information illustrated in FIG. 5 and the layout information used for the reconstruction. As described above, the document structure information and the layout information may be individually defined.

In this example, the layout information such as the display position of the area, the font style, the font size, the arrangement of the character string, the character color, and the like are used for each area using the Microsoft word processor Word. It defines the document structure information indicating the name, inclusion relation, the presence or absence of repetition, and whether or not it can be omitted, and also adds word processing modifications such as encircling lines and dividing lines. This information includes font style, font size, text placement,
Layout information such as text color and the like, and document structure information indicating the region name, the presence / absence of repetition, and the omission of omission are set for each region by using the Word bookmark function.

However, as described above, layout information and document structure information can be defined for each area, and if the information can be controlled (including input / output) by a computer, any other means can be used. No problem. Also,
The example of the present invention using Microsoft's Word is for illustrative purposes only, and is not limited to these specific means.

Document structure / layout information 1 shown in FIG.
22 is roughly divided into a visible part and an invisible part. The visible portion is further classified into a fixed portion where editing by the user is prohibited and an editing portion where the extracted area is displayed and which can be edited by the user. The dividing line 326, the fixed titles 327, 328, 329, and 32A, and the surrounding lines surrounding each area are fixed parts. Regions 310, 32
Reference numerals 1, 322, 323, 324, and 325 denote editing portions corresponding to the heading, function name, processing outline, call format, interface, and attention area name, respectively.

As described above, the document extracting unit 113 associates the area extracted from the document 124 with the area name such as a heading or a function name and outputs the extracted area information. The document reconstruction unit 114 outputs the information of the extracted area received from the document extraction unit 113 to the position of the area shown in FIG. 11 having the corresponding area name. This area can be edited by the user, and the displayed contents can be deleted, changed,
Additions can be made. The editing control unit 115 prohibits a user from editing other areas. Enabling editing only for a given area can be easily achieved using the functions of a conventional word processor. However, a special application can be prepared and incorporated into the word processor, or a completely independent application can be used. It can be created as another application.

The invisible part includes an area 320 corresponding to the processing specification, which is an area of a higher hierarchy, and a definition part 33 for defining layout information and document structure information for each area.
0, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, and 3
36 (the contents of the definition are set by the bookmark function of Word). The area 320 corresponds to the processing specification 220 shown in the document structure information of FIG. 5, and is shown to include a set of the editing areas 321, 322, 323, 324, and 325. Thus, the hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship) of each of the regions 320 and 321 to 325 is known, and this is also one piece of document structure information. The definition part 3 defines this area 320.
36. Here, it is defined that this area 320 has an area name of processing specification and has repetition. The fact that the region 320 includes the regions 321 to 325 is indicated by the region 320 being set to include all the regions 321 to 325.

Other definition parts 330, 331, 33
2, 333, 334, and 335 are edit areas 310, 321, 322, 323, 324, and 325, respectively.
And layout information and sentence structure information relating to the displayed character string to be edited.

For example, the font style of the displayed character string corresponding to the definition part 330 area 310 is Mincho type,
Font size is 22 points, character modification is BOLD
(Bold), the arrangement of the character strings is centered (centering), the color is black, and the area name of the corresponding area 310 is “heading”.

The definition part 33 corresponding to the area 324
4 is an area name of the area 324 is an interface;
This indicates that there is repetition. The definition part 335 corresponding to the area 325 indicates that the area name of the area 325 is cautionary and can be omitted.

FIG. 12 shows a display example 400 in which the document reconstructing section 114 reconstructs the information of the area extracted from the document extracting section 113 in this way and displays it on the display screen 140. The display example 400 shown in FIG. 12 is the document 124 shown in FIG.
Is extracted, reconstructed, and displayed based on the area definition information 121 shown in FIG. 4 and the document information / layout information 122 shown in FIG. 11 (however, the document 124 shown in FIG. 6).
The heading "A project-function definition specification" is omitted.

This display example 400 shows a case where a plurality of areas are extracted from one document. If regions are extracted from multiple documents, they are added below this display or provided as a display in another window.
As a result, the user can, for example, display a list of processing outlines, call formats, and the like of the specifications of a plurality of programs in the same format.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of the document editing result reflecting process by the document editing result reflecting unit 116. FIG.
In the left 1/3 column, the information created by the reconstruction process and the editing by the user is shown, the center 1/3 column shows the flow of the document editing result reflection process, and the right 1/3 column shows the flow of the user editing process. This shows information defined in advance.

When the user instructs to reflect the editing result on the document 124 of the extraction source, the first step S2 in FIG.
At 0, the document editing result reflecting unit 116 reads the document structure information / layout information 122. This is for acquiring the area name and the like of each editing area. In this embodiment, as described above, the document structure information / layout information 122
Since the Word function is used for saving and editing the file, it is read from a Word-related file or memory.

Next, in step S21, the document editing result reflecting unit 116 reads the area-document structure correspondence information 123 output by the document extracting unit 113, and the contents of each area on the display device 140 edited by the user. Is reflected in which position of the extraction source document 124.

Next, in step S22, the document editing result reflecting unit 116 reflects the contents of each area on the display device 140 edited by the user at the corresponding position of the document 124 as the extraction source. When the user deletes a certain area on the display device 140 by an arbitrary number of characters, the address A, which is the final position of the area when the area is reflected in the extraction source document 124, is the area-document. Since it is smaller than the address B of the last position at the time of extraction of the area held in the structure correspondence information 123, the area is reflected on the document 124 of the extraction source, and then the document 124 of the extraction source is added by the difference between the two addresses. Must be moved after address A.

When the user has added an arbitrary number of characters to a certain area on the display device 140, the address A, which is the final position of the area when the area is reflected in the original document 124, is Area-document structure correspondence information 123
Is larger than the address B of the last position at the time of extraction of the area held in
Before being reflected in the address 24, it is necessary to move the contents after the address B of the extraction source document 124 after the address A by the difference between the two addresses.

If the user has not edited a certain area on the display device 140, or if the number of characters has not fluctuated as a result of editing, the area is reflected in the original document 124. Since the address A, which is the final position of the region when the region is extracted, is equal to the address B of the final position at the time of extraction of the region held in the region-document structure correspondence information 123, the region is extracted from the document 124 of the extraction source.
It only needs to be reflected in the original position of.

As shown in the area-document structure correspondence information 123 illustrated in FIG.
Although it can be grasped by the line and the column in the document 124, it can also be grasped as a logical address from the head of the document 124.

Next, a series of operations of the document editing system of the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to FIGS. The area definition information 121 is the one shown in FIG.
The document configuration / layout information 122 shown in FIG. 11 is used.

FIG. 13 shows a screen 410 for designating reading of the extraction source document 124. in this way,
The document editing system of the present invention can be achieved by incorporating the unique functions of the present invention into, for example, a Microsoft word processor Word, etc., but may be newly created, or may be combined with an existing application by an arbitrary method. It is also possible to realize them in combination.

When "Display (V)" is selected by a mouse click, a keyboard, or the like in the menu of the display example 410 of the screen, a submenu 411 as shown in the figure is displayed. Then, when "extract file designation (S)" is selected from the submenu 411, a screen 421 for selecting the source document 124 as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed.

FIG. 14 shows a screen 421 for selecting the document 124 to be extracted. The screen 421 is displayed as a pop-up window from the screen 420. In this example, Title. txt (422), ZaikoHi
kitate. c (423) and Zaiko Kousi
n. Three files c (424) are selected. These files are all text files. Since the present invention is a system that performs a character string pattern search on the extraction source document 124 and enables editing of the extraction result, there is no point in specifying a binary file or the like having no text information here. . This screen 42
After selecting the extraction source document 124 to be extracted in step 1 and selecting the "Open (O)" button, a screen 430 displaying the contents of the selected extraction source document 124 is displayed as shown in FIG. Is displayed.

FIG. 15 shows the selected document 124 as the extraction source.
Is displayed on the screen 430 that displays the contents of. The contents of the designated document 124 are displayed in one window. Window 431 contains a ZaikoKou
sin. The contents of c are displayed in the window 432 as Zaik
oHikiate. c is displayed in the window 433 as Title. txt are displayed.

FIG. 16 shows a screen 440 for instructing a reconstruction process from the state of FIG. When "Display (V)" is selected in the menu of the screen 440, a submenu 444 as shown in the figure is displayed. Therefore, when “source → specification (S)” is selected from the submenu 444, the reconstruction process is started for all the selected documents 124. Depending on the design, the content display screen in FIG. 15 can be omitted.

FIG. 17 shows a screen 450 for displaying the reconstruction result when the reconstruction is designated in FIG. The reconstructed result of the screen 450 is displayed as one window, and the separation of the extraction source document 124 is represented by a page separation. For example, ZaikoHikiate. c and the reconstructed content is shown in area 451 and Za
ikoKousin. The content extracted and reconstructed from c is shown in area 452. As described above, instead of expressing the break of the document 124 of the extraction source by the page break, a mode in which a separate window is displayed for each document 124 of the extraction source is also possible. In this screen 450, regions 310, 321, 322, and 32 shown in FIG.
For the parts corresponding to 3, 324, and 325, the user can freely perform editing work in the same manner as in a word processor. Have been.

FIG. 18 shows a display screen 450 of the reconstructed result shown in FIG. 17 on which ZaikoHikiate.
Screen 4 for editing the content extracted and reconstructed from c.
60 is shown. The editing here adds the description content regarding the processing outline. Preferably, the portion 461 added by the user's editing is highlighted, as in this example, to indicate that it has been edited after it has been reconstructed.

FIG. 19 shows a document 124 from which an editing result is extracted.
9 shows a screen 470 for giving an instruction to reflect the information to the user. When "Display (V)" is selected in the menu on the screen 470, a submenu 472 as shown in the figure is displayed. Therefore,
When “specification → source (D)” is selected from the submenu 472, the editing result is reflected on the original document 124. In this example, the source document ZaikoHik
iate. For c, a portion (inversion area 471) where the contents are substantially added is reflected.

FIG. 20 shows a screen 480 showing the contents of the extraction source document 124 on which the editing result is reflected. FIG.
9 on which the editing result is reflected by the operation of the screen 470 shown in FIG. When c is displayed again, as shown in a window 481, a sentence "Check at that time ..." is added to the contents of the processing summary. Also, in step S22 in FIG. 3, when the document editing result reflecting unit 116 reflects the user's editing result on the extraction source document 124, the edited portion is finally determined in which position of the extraction source document 124. Is stored in the window, as shown in the window 481,
It is also possible to reverse display the area added by the user.

FIG. 21 shows the document editing system 10 described above.
0 shows an example of a hardware configuration of a computer 600 used for constructing 0. The computer 6
00 is the CPU 61 connected to the bus 680, respectively.
0, a storage unit 620, a memory unit 630, a display unit 640, an input unit 650, a printing unit 660, and a network interface unit 670.

The CPU 610 corresponds to the processing device 110 of the document editing system 100 shown in FIG. 1, and includes an area definition information registration unit 111, a document structure / layout information registration unit 112, a document extraction unit 113, a document reconstruction unit 114, a document editing unit Control unit 1
15 and each part of the document editing result reflecting unit 116 are executed.

The storage unit 620 corresponds to the storage device 120 of the document editing system 100 shown in FIG. 1, and executes programs executed by the CPU 610 to realize the above functions, area definition information 121, document structure / layout information 122,
The memory unit 630 storing the area-document structure correspondence information 123 and a plurality of documents 124 to be extracted is stored in the CPU 6.
10 is loaded with a program for realizing each of the above-mentioned parts, and the contents displayed on the display unit 640 including the contents edited by the user and the contents of various information in the storage unit 620 are loaded as necessary. Is done.

The display unit 640 corresponds to the display device 140 of the document editing system 100 shown in FIG. 1 and displays a reconstructed result, which is required when the user edits the reconstructed result.
A display device such as an RT or an LCD.

The input unit 650 corresponds to the input device 130 of the document editing system 100 shown in FIG. 1, and is used for inputting and giving instructions along the screen displayed on the display unit 640. The input device includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, a touch panel, a voice input device, and the like.

The printing unit 660 is a printing device such as a laser printer that prints data or the like stored in the storage unit 620 or the memory unit 630 according to an instruction from a user or the like. The printing unit 660 is not an essential component for implementing the document editing system 100.

Network interface section 670
Functions mainly to realize a connection with the storage unit 620 at a remote location or a connection with another CPU. This is not required when the document editing system 100 is implemented by a single computer.

A bus 680 is provided for each of the components 610-6.
This is a common transmission path for transmitting and receiving data, commands, and the like between the 70s.

[0105]

According to the document editing system of the present invention, the start pattern is obtained from a plurality of documents by using a pair of general-purpose start patterns and end patterns and document structure information that defines the structure of the document. Are extracted from the area corresponding to the area corresponding to the end pattern and the area corresponding to the area corresponding to the end pattern is extracted. You. As a result, information of multiple documents is
The editing operation can be performed while displaying the layout in the most easy-to-view format for the user, and the editing operation is much more efficient than performing the editing operation directly by searching a required area from a plurality of documents.

By specifying the extraction target by using a character string pattern indicating the start and end of the extraction area instead of matching the character strings, a wide area including a plurality of sentences can be specified. In a method such as character string matching, even if the extraction source document is slightly changed, the extraction result greatly changes. On the other hand, in the system of the present invention, the extraction is performed unless the part corresponding to the start or end pattern is changed. There is no change in the area itself. As a result, an extraction result intended by the user can be always obtained, and a stable reconstruction result can be displayed.

Further, according to the present invention, after an area reconstructed and displayed in an editable state is edited by a user, the edited area is inconsistent with another area of the original document. It is written back without.

Further, according to the present invention, the document structure information and the layout information are registered and held as one body,
The document structure information includes information on a document structure such as an area name of each area in the document, a hierarchical structure (inclusive relation), an order of appearance, the presence or absence of repetition, and whether or not omission is possible, and the layout information includes Layout information such as the display position, font style, font size, character string arrangement, and character color of each area is included. Conventionally, both pieces of information have been carefully matched so that they do not conflict with each other. However, the present invention makes it possible to easily create both pieces without contradiction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of a document editing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of document extraction and reconstruction processing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of a document editing result reflecting process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of area definition information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of document structure information.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an extraction source document.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a second example of the area definition information.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a second example of an extraction source document.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a third example of the area definition information.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of area-document structure correspondence information.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of document structure / layout information.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a reconstruction result.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for designating reading of an extraction source document.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for selecting a document to be extracted.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for displaying the contents of a selected extraction source document.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for instructing a reconstruction process.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displaying a reconstruction result.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen on which a displayed reconstructed result is edited.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen instructing to output an editing result to a document of an extraction source.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen showing the contents of an extraction source document in which an editing result is reflected;

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a computer that executes the document editing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Document editing system 110 Processing device 111 Area definition information registration unit 112 Document structure / layout information registration unit 113 Document extraction unit 114 Document reconstruction unit 115 Document editing control unit 116 Document editing result reflection unit 120 Storage device 121 Area definition information 122 Document Structure / layout information 123 Area-document structure correspondence information 124 Document 130 Input device 140 Display device

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A document editing system for extracting an arbitrary region from at least one document and displaying the extracted region in an editable state, wherein the system is used to extract a desired region from each document. Area definition information registering means for registering area definition information to be formed as a pattern, document structure information relating to the structure of the area in each document, and document structure information for registering layout information used to reconstruct each area. Layout information registration means, area definition information registered by the storage area definition registration means, document extraction means for extracting an area using the document structure information registered by the document structure / layout information registration means, Using the document structure information and the layout information registered by the document structure / layout information registration unit, the extracted at least one area Document editing system comprising: the document reconstruction means for displaying reconfigure, the. 2. At least one of said reconstructed and displayed
2. The document editing system according to claim 1, further comprising document editing control means for controlling one of the areas to be edited. 3. The document editing control means further controls to limit an editing function for at least one of the reconstructed and displayed areas to only contents of an area extracted from the document. 3. The document editing system according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a document editing result reflecting unit that, when the at least one extracted area is edited, reflects the editing result on a document from which the area is extracted. Document editing system. 5. The area definition information registered by the area definition information registering means includes a first pattern for specifying a location immediately before the desired area, and is registered by the document structure / layout information registering means. The document structure information includes information on an area name, a hierarchical structure, an order of appearance, the presence or absence of repetition, and whether or not to omit each area in the document. If the obtained first pattern corresponds and the area name corresponding to the location satisfies the appearance condition of the same area name obtained from the document structure information, the location is determined as the start location of the area, If there is no location corresponding to an arbitrary pattern between the start location and the location that is a location corresponding to the same or different pattern as the first pattern, the location is defined as an area. 2. The document editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the end point is determined, and an area between the start point and the end point is extracted in association with the area name obtained from the document structure information. system. 6. The area definition information registered by the area definition information registration means includes a pair of patterns consisting of a first pattern and a second pattern, wherein the first pattern is located immediately before the desired area. The second pattern specifies a location immediately after the desired area, and the document structure information registered by the document structure / layout information registration means includes an area name of each area in the document, a hierarchical structure , The order of appearance, the presence or absence of repetition, and the omission / non-reduction of the document. If the region name to be executed satisfies the appearance condition of the same region name obtained from the document structure information,
Is determined, and after the first location, the location corresponding to the second pattern, and there is no location corresponding to an arbitrary pattern between the first location and the location. Determining the location as the second location, and extracting an area between the first location and the second location in association with the area name obtained from the document structure information; The document editing system according to claim 1, wherein: 7. The document structure / layout information, wherein the area definition information registered by the area definition information registration means includes one or more pairs of a pattern of a character string at the start of the area and a pattern of a character string at the end of the area. The document structure information registered by the registration unit includes information on an area name, a hierarchical structure, an appearance order, the presence or absence of repetition, and whether or not to omit each area in the document. Corresponds to the pattern of the starting character string obtained from the area definition information, and if the area name corresponding to the location satisfies the appearance condition of the same area name obtained from the document structure information, Is determined as a start position, and if there is no position corresponding to an arbitrary pattern between the start position and the position in the position corresponding to the pattern of the end character string, the And determining a location as an end location of the area, and extracting an area between the start location and the end location in association with the area name obtained from the document structure information. Document editing system. 8. The document editing system according to claim 5, wherein the pattern is defined by a combination of a fixed character string and an arbitrary number of arbitrary characters. 9. The document structure / layout information registering means integrally registers the document structure information relating to the structure of an area in each document and the layout information used for reconstructing each area. The document editing system according to claim 1, wherein: 10. A document editing method for extracting an arbitrary area from at least one document and displaying the extracted area in an editable state, wherein the method is used to extract a desired area from each document. Area definition information registration step of registering area definition information as a pattern; document structure information relating to the structure of the area in each document; and document structure / layout information for registering layout information used to reconstruct each area A registration step, searching for a first location and a second location using the area definition information registered by the area definition registration means and the document structure information registered by the document structure / layout information registration means; Extracting a region between the two places, and the document structure information registered by the document structure / layout information registration means. Using the finely the layout information, document editing method characterized by having a document reconstruction step of displaying reconfigure the extracted at least one region, a. 11. A recording medium recording a program for implementing a document editing method for extracting an arbitrary area from at least one document and displaying the extracted area in an editable state, wherein the program includes: An area definition information registration step of registering area definition information used to extract a desired area as a pattern; document structure information relating to the structure of an area in each document; A document structure / layout information registration step of registering layout information to be registered; a region definition information registered by the region definition registration unit; and a document structure information registered by the document structure / layout information registration unit. A document extraction step of retrieving a first location and a second location and extracting an area between the two locations; and registering the document structure / layout information. Means for executing a document reconstructing step of reconstructing and displaying the extracted at least one area using the document structure information and the layout information registered by the means. A readable recording medium. 12. A program stored in the computer-readable recording medium for implementing the document editing method, wherein when the at least one extracted area is edited, the editing result is extracted from the area. The recording medium according to claim 11, further comprising a document editing result reflecting step of reflecting the result in an original document.