EP0015374A1 - Method and apparatus for the superposition of partial frames to produce complete pictures, especially illustrated texts - Google Patents

Abstract

In this method, partial-frame information items stored at different positions are assembled to form a complete picture information in accordance with an instruction previously specified. It is characterising of this method that, by means of a device, a superposition file is generated which contains individual partial frames of the partial frames to be superposed and/or instead of partial frames to be superposed, their respective identification and a superposition instruction, that all information items belonging to the superposition file are represented in an established coding and that the superposition file is transmitted to a superposition device by means of which the superposition can be carried out, the partial frames or at least their pixels needed for the superposition, which are not contained in the superposition file, being taken from the storage locations which are indirectly or directly specified in the respective identification items. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a method for superimposing partial images for creating overall images, in particular illustrated texts, in which partial image information stored at different locations is combined to form overall image information in accordance with a previously defined instruction.

Devices are known which carry out the superimposition of differently coded images, in particular images in dot-matrix representation, of vectorially coded drawings and of character-coded text, and are often connected to devices for output on screen or paper, in particular with graphic screens and matrix Plotter.

(If such plotters are combined with a device for overlaying dot screen images and characters, they are referred to as printer plotters.)

However, these devices have no means of extracting the individual images from different storage locations.

It is also known to use text data, e.g. Generate rehab programs from a workstation for output (if necessary 'after temporary storage) on a printer, some of which from text keyed in at the workplace, partly consist of texts saved elsewhere.

However, this compilation takes the form of a link or in such a way that a certain part of one text is replaced by another, not in the form of an overlay. In addition, this method is limited to patterns consisting of text characters.

The creation of a program file by combining several text files, which can be archived in different storage media, is described in: ISIS-II PL / M-80 translator (operating instructions), May 1977, page 26, Siemens AG, order no. B 1772.

The invention has for its object a. From a workstation controlled overlay of images that are partially created or entered at the workplace, some are stored at any, possibly different locations, for output, possibly after buffering, at a suitable two dimensional medium, such as a screen or on paper.

The term "image" is understood to mean a two-dimensional pattern which is defined by the assignment of brightness and color to a pair of coordinates. For the purposes of this definition, characters and line drawings are also pictures.

The object on which the invention is based is achieved by the features specified in the characterizing part of patent claim 1.

The invention offers the advantage that the method can be implemented at suitable workplaces in a workstation network. The images or partial images required for an overlay file can advantageously be stored at different locations. The output of an overlay image can also be requested from a different workstation than the one who created the overlay file required for this.

Facilities that are required to create the overlay file (hereinafter referred to as the Ü file), for transferring the Ü file and the images, for overlaying the images and for outputting the overlaid images after overlaying are known, as are (for one other purpose) the connection of such facilities.

Further developments of the invention are characterized by the features specified in the subclaims.

In the following, the invention will be explained on the basis of several figures relating to the method and exemplary embodiments for arrangements for implementing the method according to the invention.

• 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a device for creating a Ü file,
• 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of an arrangement with a plurality of devices for creating transmission files,
• 3 shows an example of the coding of an image by so-called printable characters,
• 4 shows an example of an image consisting of characters and the associated coding,
• 5 shows an example of a possible superimposition of the images according to FIGS. 3 and 4,
• 6 shows a further example of a possible superimposition of the images according to FIGS. 3 and 4,
• Fig. 7 shows an example of a T _e ilbildes B1 with the direction indicated by an arrow image boundary,
• 8 shows the example of a further partial image B2 with the image limitation indicated by an arrow,
• 9 shows the example of an overlay image in which the partial images according to FIGS. 7 and 8 are used as overlay elements,
• Fig. 10 shows the example of a Ü file.

As already mentioned, FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a device for creating a Ü file, which according to the invention consists of an additional device A for creating a text file with keyboard T and an image capture device B which is connected to a suitable interface of the additional device A. This interface is characterized by the entirety of the two interfaces 2 and 3 are shown, with about. 2 the image data acquired by B and transmitted via 3 control signals. In the example shown in FIG. 1, B consists of a camera K and an interface IF. The additional device A contains a switching device U, by means of which the input of character-by-character and possibly differently coded information between the keyboard and the interface 2 can be switched. This switchover can be initiated by the image capture device via the interface 3.

As already mentioned, FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of an arrangement with several devices according to FIG. 1. This arrangement consists of devices for creating a transmission file, devices for overlaying images, devices for outputting images, and storage for Archiving of images and other data, facilities for the transmission of Ü-files and images as well as any other facilities that enable or facilitate the additional use of the facilities mentioned for other purposes.

All of the facilities mentioned are known or can be put together from known facilities. A connection of these devices in accordance with FIG. 2 is also known for purposes other than for overlaying images, for example for creating computer programs.

• -Datenterminals (Datenfernschreiber und Datensichtgeräte), die mit einer Rechenanlage verbunden sind,
• -Textarbeitsplätze, die mit einer Rechenanlage verbunden sind oder mit einem Speicher ausgerüstet sind (Diskette, Kassettenbandgerät), der ggfs. den Transport darauf abgespeicherter Ü-Dateien zu einer Ü-Einrichtung ermöglicht,
• -Grafik-Arbeitsplätze.

The following can be used to create Ü files:

• -Data terminals (teletype and visual display devices) that are connected to a computer system,
• -Text workstations connected to a computer system or equipped with a memory (floppy disk, Cassette tape device) which, if necessary, enables the transport of stored data files to a data transfer facility,
• -Graphic jobs.

• -Rechenanlagen, an die die Teilbilder übertragen werden, und die die Überlagerung entsprechend der Ü-Anweisung nach einem Programm ausführen,
• -Einrichtungen zur Bildausgabe, die bestimmte Überlagerungen mit Hilfe einer Zusatzeinrichtung ausführen können. Insbesondere sind Einrichtungen bekannt, die punkt- und strichweise codierte Bilder mit zeichenweise codierten Schriftdarstellungen überlagern können (Grafik-Plotter, Printer-Plotter).

The following can be used to overlay images:

• -Computing systems to which the drawing files are transmitted and which carry out the superimposition according to the Ü instruction according to a program,
• - Image output devices that can perform certain overlays with the help of an additional device. In particular, devices are known which can superimpose point-by-point and line-by-line coded images with character-coded character representations (graphic plotter, printer plotter).

However, these devices require certain codes which differ from device to device and which are not necessarily optimally suitable for encoding via Ü-file.

It is therefore expedient to connect these devices to a computer system which, if necessary, carries out a recoding.

All types of storage, for example disk, tape or microfilm files of varying sizes, are suitable for archiving image and other files, with some files preferably being used for image archiving. The 'transmission of images and Ü files can be done in a known manner by dedicated or selected lines or materially by transfer of the storage medium (eg tape or plate or printed paper). Printers with sufficient resolution are suitable for image output solution, in particular vector and matrix plotters, facsimile output devices or facsimile machines, if output on paper is desired. There are facilities available for output on the screen, such as those used at graphics workstations and microfilm archives.

The method according to the invention makes it possible to output images consisting of a plurality of superimposed images, which may be clear and error-protected, using known devices from any workstation of a first workstation network at any number of image display devices. with different coding - either transmitted from the workstation or archived at different storage locations.

The overlaid images are called "partial images" in the following.

An image is understood here to mean a two-dimensional pattern which is defined by an assignment, with a pair of coordinates being a sequence of real parameters. is assigned meters, which mean, for example, brightness, hue, color saturation. In this sense, representations of letters and line drawings are also pictures. It is contemplated that an image is defined over a discrete coordinate grid, that is, a line or a dot grid.

The method consists in that the user of a work station creates a file at this work station - hereinafter referred to as an overlay file or briefly as a transfer file - which contains each of the partial images and / or to be overlaid contains an identification assigned to it, as well as an instruction for overlaying these sub-images, hereinafter referred to as a transfer instruction, and that this transfer file, if necessary, is forwarded to a device which carries out this overlay (transfer device), whereby it contains those Partial images, or at least their image elements required for the overlay, which are not contained in the Ü-file, are taken from the storage locations which are specified directly or indirectly in the respective identifications.

Indirect information is understood here to mean that the storage locations can be determined from the identifications by the transmission facility. For example, the identification is the name of a file in which the relevant drawing file is archived. Such a file is called "image file" in the following.

The transfer of a Ü-file to a Ü-institution can take place accordingly for the creation of any work place of a second work place group, which can overlap with the first work place group, if necessary from the same work place that was used for the creation, whereby an archiving the Ü file may be omitted. This then only exists as a virtual file.

The coding of a transmission file is in itself arbitrary insofar as it can be interpreted by the transmission device to which it is sent. Proposals for advantageous coding of the Ü file are given below.

A further development of the method according to the invention consists in the fact that in a transfer file instead of a part The identification of another (second) transfer file is specified, and that the transfer device takes the second transfer file from the storage locations specified there and produces the drawing file by executing the transfer instruction contained therein.

Correspondingly, third and higher transfer files can be used in the process.

This further training brings the advantage that a user of the Ü device only needs to transfer the identification of an image without having to know whether this image is available as an image file or in the form of an Ü file. This difference cannot be determined from the output image.

This can also be used to avoid the problem of additional entries on a microfilm image, e.g. to make handwritten remarks or drawings, which, as is known, is not possible without considerable technical and legal difficulties. Using the above-mentioned method, a Ü file is created which contains the identification of the microfilm image and, as partial images, the additional entries or corresponding identifications. For this purpose, it must be assumed that the microfilm image is in an archive that allows the electronic transmission of the image to the transmission facility.

However, it is advantageous if, at an agreed point in the transfer file, e.g. at the beginning or in a data field assigned to the Ü file, e.g. Within a table of contents, a key word is included that identifies the file as a file.

• Um zu verhindern, daß eine archivierte Bild- oder Ü-Datei, deren Identifikation in einer anderen Ü-Datei anstelle der eigentlichen Information enthalten ist, gegen die Absicht eines Benutzers der letztgenannten Ü-Datei verändert oder sogar gelöscht wird, wird jeder Bild- oder Ü-Datei, deren Identifikation in einer anderen Ü-Datei verwendet wird oder voraussichtlich verwendet werden wird, ein Speicherbereich zugeordnet, in dem ein Sperrvermerk eingetragen wird, der bei bestimmten Veränderungen abgefragt wird und dann vereinbarte Maßnahmen auslöst.

The following further development can reduce the susceptibility to failure of the method according to the invention:

• In order to prevent an archived image or Ü file, the identification of which is contained in another Ü file instead of the actual information, from being changed or even deleted against the intention of a user of the latter Ü file, each image or Ü-file, the identification of which is or will probably be used in another Ü-file, is assigned a memory area in which a blocking note is entered, which is queried for certain changes and then triggers agreed measures.

These changes do not include those which are expected to be carried out without information or consent from any users, e.g. certain corrections.

It is advantageous to accomplish the assignment between a picture or a Ü file and the blocking notice in that the identification of the blocking note differs from that of the picture or Ü file only by a suffix and / or prefix.

A procedure for creating a blocking note is in. described below.

It is assumed that each user is assigned an access identification, for example ABC17, which can be classified if necessary, for example by the first two characters of the identification, ie ABC 17 belongs to class AB. The procedure is that After the creation of a Ü file, all blocking notes that are assigned to external identifications are read and checked to see whether the access identification of the user or their class is contained therein and - if this is not the case - the respective blocking note by the access identification of the user or whose class is added. The addition takes place in the form and according to the procedure intended for the extension of files of this type. It can be done with lower priority, and therefore at less expensive times.

It can be done at any time after the Ü file has been created, if necessary for the first time immediately and automatically after creation. The user can, but does not have to, be the same as the creator of the file. The addition can be made by any number of authorized users, whereby known measures (password, ID card) can be used to regulate the access authorization.

It is also advantageous if the addition of the blocking note contains the date of the addition and, if applicable, a qualification that contains a measure desired by the user, e.g. Notification or creation of a copy of the original condition, specified.

Depending on the identification, the date of the entries and their qualification, the measures that are taken in the event of an intended change to an image or transfer file to which a blocking note is assigned can be agreed in the blocking note.

The following describes a facility that facilitates the creation of Ü-files that contain images. It consists of an addition to a facility suitable for creating text files.

Such a facility is e.g. a. Text workstation or a teleprinter that is connected to a computer system via an arbitrarily long connection. In the second case, the file is transferred to the computer system in characters or blocks during the creation, with the decision to archive only at the end of the creation. Until then, the created part of the file will be saved in a location that is insignificant for the user. Such a file is called a "virtual file". If archiving is dispensed with, transmission to any partner and output is nonetheless possible.

• a) Die Datei einschließlich der Bilder muß durch, eine Folge von Schriftzeichen (einschließlich gewisser nichtabdruckbarer Zeichen) codiert werden, die über die Einrichtung eingegeben werden können.
• b) Die Eingabe von Bildern über die vorhandenen Eingabemittel ist häufig nur umständlich ausführbar. Die Eingabe eines Bildes über die Tastatur mit diesem Code ist deshalb nur bei fast weißem Bild sinnvoll.

The object of the device described below is the preparation of a UE-D _a tei, if necessary. As a virtual file that contains identifications and a UE statement images. The creation of such a file is also possible with the text creation devices described above, but with two restrictions:

• a) The file, including the images, must be encoded by a sequence of characters (including certain non-printable characters) that can be entered through the facility.
• b) The input of images using the existing input means is often difficult to carry out. Entering an image using the keyboard with this code is therefore only useful for an almost white image.

At least (b) is fixed in a way that the existing * input and transmission devices can be largely unchanged that an image capture device, e.g. a camera or a facsimile scanner, is connected to this interface via a recoding device, which adapts the output signal of the image capture device to a suitable interface of the text creation device.

• - der Lochstreifen-Leseeingang
• - die Schnittstelle zum Anschluß eines Speichers, z.B. einer Diskette oder Kassette
• - die Schnittstelle zum Anschluß einer Übertragungseinrichtung, sofern diese Schnittstelle nicht gleichzeitig zur Verbindung mit einem externen Partner, z.B. einer Rechenanlage, benötigt wird.

Suitable interfaces are, for example:

• - the paper tape reading entrance
• - The interface for connecting a memory, such as a floppy disk or cassette
• - The interface for connecting a transmission device, provided that this interface is not required at the same time for connection to an external partner, such as a computer system.

However, it is possible that this interface in the input device is connected to the image capture device in the output direction with the partner.

The device also includes a switching device, see Fig. 1, which is between the input from the image capture device and the other input devices, e.g. the keyboard. For this purpose, an existing switchover device can be used, which is provided for switching the interface on or off, to which the image capture device is connected. The existing hardware and software facilities can be used to switch over. In addition, it is advantageous if the shutdown of the image capturing device can be actuated by the latter itself as soon as it detects that the capturing process has ended.

Known image capture devices, e.g. Remote copiers send a signal after detection, which can be used to control a switching device.

An example of the coding of an image by printable characters is given in FIG. 3. It represents the image to be encoded - a dot pattern - and gives a sequence of characters arranged in 13 lines, i.e. the coding of this picture again. The sign "#" means the beginning or end of the picture. The individual lines each represent a row of dots, the characters 0, 1, 2, 3, 4th, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F in the known hexadecimal representation of the dot sequences "----", "--- •", "- • -" to "••••" are assigned. (Spaces within a row of dots mean missing dots. The end of a row of dots is coded by the characters "carriage return" and / or "line feed", which are contained in the Ü- or image file.

FIG. 4 shows a further picture, namely a character with the associated coding. The sign "#" means the beginning or end of the picture, the character strings "S12" and "TA" mean that the signs " T "and" A "are to be replaced by dot patterns which are assigned to the respective characters in a data field archived under the identification" S12 ".

In the example of FIG. 4, it is assumed that these dot patterns consist of 8 rows of dots, each with 7 (missing or existing) dots.

5 and 6 show different superimpositions of the images of FIGS. 3 and 4. They differ in the relative position of the two partial images, in the relative magnification of the two partial images and in the way in which the two partial images are linked.

In principle, each image can be viewed as a superimposition of several partial images, the image elements of which can be described as a function of the image elements of the partial images.

• a) Die Identifikation eines Teilbildes (ersatzweise einer Ü-Datei) kann in einer Ü-Datei mehrfach enthalten sein. Sie kann insbesondere zur Definition von Überlagerungen an mehreren Stellen der Ü-Anweisung verwendet werden.
• b) Einer Identifikation kann eine andere, z.B. eine Kurzbezeichnung zugeordnet werden, die an Stelle der Identifikation nach Belieben in der Ü-Datei verwendet wird. Die Zuordnung erfolgt in einer vereinbarten Form, z.B.:
  • M1=Hikrofilm.mayer.4811.
• c) Es ist vorteilhaft, wenn sämtliche Identifikationen, die Teilbildern entsprechen, die nicht in der Ü-Datei enthalten sind, an vereinbarter Stelle der Ü-Datei, beispielsweise am Beginn oder am Ende -ggfs. mit einer zusätzlichen Kennung- zusammengestellt sind. Ein vergleichbares Verfahren ist aus der Programmiertechnik bekannt. Hierbei werden die Namen von Programmen, die in einer Programmdatei ggfs. mehrfach verwendet werden, vorzugsweise am Beginn der Programmdatei im Anschluß an ein besonderes Codewort, z.B. "EXTERN", zusammengestellt. Dies ist nicht unbedingt erforderlich, erleichtert jedoch die Verarbeitung der Programme und das Auffinden von Programmierungsfehlern.
• d) Die Ü-Datei kann mit Hilfe abdruckbarer Zeichen erstellt werden, ggfs. mit Ausnahme von in der Ü-Datei enthaltenen Bildern, insbesondere solchen, die mittels der beschriebenen Einrichtung in die Ü-Datei eingebracht werden. Dies hat den Vorteil, daß der Inhalt der Ü-Datei (mit erwähnter Ausnahme) visuell gelesen werden kann. Es ist ferner möglich, daß zur Codierung der Ü-Anweisung eine bekannte Programmiersprache, ggfs. mit geeigneten Modifikationen, verwendet wird.
• f) Ungeachtet sonstiger Angaben in der Ü-Anweisung kann die relative Position der Teilbilder im Ü-Bild in besonders übersichtlicher Weise dadurch angegeben werden, daß in der Ü-Datei ein rechteckiges Zeichenfeld definiert wird und daß die Identifikationen dieser Teilbilder oder deren Kurzformen (s.o.) an die Stellen dieses Zeichenfeldes geschrieben werden, die zwei gegenüberliegenden Ecken eines Rechteckbereiches entsprechen, in den das Teilbild ggfs. nach Vergrößerung der Verkleinerung optimal eingepaßt werden soll. Hierbei wird in Betracht gezogen, daß eine Vergrößerung oder Verkleinerung nur in bestimmten Stufen möglich sein kann.
  Eine genauere Markierung der Eckpunkte erfolgt z.B. durch ein Beginnzeichen, das der linksstehenden Identifikation vorangestellt und ein Schlußzeichen, das der rechtsstehenden Identifikation nachgestellt wird, z.B. die Zeichen " < " und "> ".
  Es wird in Betracht gezogen, daß ein Paar gleicher Identifikationen mehrfach in dem erwähnten Zeichenfeld vorkommt, was die mehrfache Überlagerung eines Teilbildes bedeutet. Gleiche Identifikationspaare können zusätzlich mit Nummern versehen werden, um Fehler_'zu vermeiden. Diese Numerierung erübrigt sich, falls durch die Reihenfolge der Eingabe eine eindeutige Zuordnung definiert wird. Die Angabe nur einer Identifikation pro Kopiervorgang, ggfs. mit Beginn- oder Endezeichen und/oder Nummer, bedeutet, daß das Teilbild in der ursprünglichen Größe einkopiert wird, wobei die Position der Identifikation einem vereinbarten Bezugspunkt des Teilbildes entspricht, vorzugsweise einem bestimmten, z.B. dem linken oberen Eckpunkt.
• g) Die Codierung eines Teilbildes kann eine Mäßstabsangabe enthalten. Z.B. kann die Codierung eines punktweise codierten Bildes wie Fig. 3 an vereinbarter Stelle eine Angabe enthalten, welchen Längenintervallen in mm der Abstand zweier Rasterpunkte in horizontaler bzw. vertikaler Richtung entspricht. Die Maßstabsangabe kann auch in relativer Form erfolgen, z.B. in Vielfachen eines Bezugsabstandes, der für jedes Ausgabegerät individuell festgelegt ist, was bedeutet, daß die Größe des ausgegebenen Überlagerungsbildes von dem jeweiligen Ausgdbegerät abhängt. Fehlt in der Codierung eines Bildes eine Maßstabsangabe, so erfolgt die Überlagerung durch die Ü-Einrichtung unter Anweadung bestimmter Maßstäbe, die entsprechend der Codierungsart unterschiedlich festgelegt werden können, z.B. für punktweise codierte Bilder anders als für zeichenweise codierte Schriftzeichenfälgen. Es wird hierbei angenommen, daß die Angabe der Art der Codierung ein Bestandteil der Codierung ist oder durch eine besondere Form der Identifikation des Bildes erfolgt.

The coding of a Ü file can be agreed according to any rules, provided that it meets the conditions specified above. It is considered appropriate to agree the following rules:

• a) The identification of a drawing file (alternatively a transfer file) can be contained several times in a transfer file. In particular, it can be used to define overlays at several points in the T instruction.
• b) An identification can be assigned another, for example a short name, which is used instead of the identification as desired in the Ü-file. The assignment is made in an agreed form, for example:
  • M1 = Hikrofilm.mayer.4811.
• c) It is advantageous if all identifications, which correspond to partial images, which are not contained in the Ü-file, at the agreed place of the Ü-file, for example at the beginning or at the end -ggfs. with an additional identifier. A comparable method is known from programming technology. The names of programs that are used more than once in a program file are used here which, preferably at the beginning of the program file following a special code word, for example "EXTERN". This is not absolutely necessary, but it facilitates the processing of the programs and the finding of programming errors.
• d) The Ü-file can be created with the help of printable characters, possibly with the exception of images contained in the Ü-file, in particular those that are inserted into the Ü-file using the described device. This has the advantage that the contents of the Ü file can be read visually (with the exception mentioned). It is also possible that a known programming language, possibly with suitable modifications, is used for coding the T instruction.
• f) Regardless of other information in the Ü instruction, the relative position of the drawing files in the Ü picture can be specified in a particularly clear manner by defining a rectangular drawing field in the Ü file and by identifying these drawing files or their short forms (see above) ) are written in the places of this drawing field, which correspond to two opposite corners of a rectangular area into which the partial image should be optimally adjusted after enlarging the reduction. It is contemplated that enlargement or reduction may only be possible in certain stages.
  A more precise marking of the corner points is done, for example, by a start character that precedes the identification on the left and a closing character that is placed after the identification on the right, for example the characters "<" and ">".
  It is contemplated that a pair of identical identifications will appear multiple times in the character mentioned field occurs, which means the multiple overlay of a partial image. Same identification pairs can be additionally provided with numbers in order to avoid _errors'. This numbering is not necessary if a clear assignment is defined by the order of entry. The specification of only one identification per copying process, possibly with a start or end character and / or number, means that the partial image is copied in the original size, the position of the identification corresponding to an agreed reference point of the partial image, preferably a specific one, for example that top left corner.
• g) The coding of a partial image can contain a scale specification. For example, the coding of a point-by-point coded image, such as FIG. 3, at an agreed position can contain an indication of which length intervals in mm the distance between two raster points corresponds in the horizontal or vertical direction. The scale can also be given in a relative form, for example in multiples of a reference distance, which is individually defined for each output device, which means that the size of the output overlay image depends on the respective output device. If there is no scale specification in the coding of a picture, the overlay is overlaid by applying certain scales which can be set differently depending on the type of coding, for example for point-coded pictures differently than for character-coded characters. It is assumed here that the specification of the type of coding is part of the coding or takes place through a special form of identification of the image.

It also makes sense if agreements that concern the scale information of point-coded images also apply to non-point-coded images, such as microfilm images, provided that these are fed to the transfer device by means of point-by-point scanning, which can also take place in the transfer device. In this case, the said agreements apply to the horizontal or vertical spacing of the sampling points.

5 and 6 show two examples of an overlay of images. FIG. 5 was created by superimposing the image of FIG. 4, which had been enlarged twice, with the image (arrow) of FIG. 3, which had been reduced to half.

FIG. 6 was created by superimposing the image from FIG. 3 with the image (arrow) from FIG. 4 reduced to half.

6, in contrast to FIG. 5, the overlay is erased, i.e. the pixels of the first partial image are replaced by the pixels of the second reduced partial image in its (rectangularly delimited) area.

• Es wird aus jeweils vier an den Eckpunkten eines Quadrats angeordneten Punkten ein neuer Bildpunkt erzeugt, - der dann schwarz ist, wenn mindestens einer der vier Bildpunkte schwar war.

The reduction to half is carried out according to the following procedure:

• A new pixel is generated from four points arranged at the corner points of a square, which is black if at least one of the four pixels was black.

7 and 8 show the partial images B1 and B2 reduced by a factor of 4, the respective image boundaries (corresponding to a DIN A4 area) being drawn in (arrows).

Fig. 9 shows, in the same reduction, the overlay image.

10 shows an example of a transfer file consisting of the transmission of three fields, two of which are not contained in the transfer file. This Ü file is encoded using printable characters, of which the characters "#", "^<" and ">" have the meaning of circuit symbols. The meaning of the code words used in this Ü file is explained below.

• # FILE MAYER. 1704 Identification of the transfer file = "MAYER.1704"
• # EXTERNAL The identifications and, if necessary, short descriptions of the drawing files that are not contained in the Ü file follow
• B1 = MIEROFILM.HAYER.4811 B1 = Short description of the drawing with the identification "MIKROFILM.WAYER. 4811 _"
• TEXT TYPE = S10 There follows a drawing file consisting of characters of the type "S10", which are encoded by text characters
• # PAGE start on a new page
• <B2A # Image "B2A" (defined below) lies through that
• # B2A> the characters "<" and ">" marked rectangle
• # TEXT END End of the drawing file consisting of characters
• # B2A = B2 #OH picture "B2A" is the upper half of the sub-picture B2
• # END End of the Ü file

Claims (18)

1. A method for overlaying partial images for creating overall images, in particular illustrated teams, in which partial image information stored at different locations is put together to form overall image information according to a previously defined instruction, characterized in that an overlay file is created by means of a device (eg APn) , the individual of the partial images to be overlaid and / or instead of partial images to be overlaid contains their respective identification and an overlay instruction, that all information belonging to the overlay file is shown in a defined coding and that the overlay file is transmitted to an overlay device (UEE1, UEEn) , by means of which the overlay can be carried out, those partial images or at least their image elements required for the overlay, which are not contained in the overlay file, being taken from the storage locations which are in the respective identifications are given directly or indirectly. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the identification is identical to the name of a file in which the relevant drawing file is archived. 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the identification is identical with the address of the memory area in which the relevant field is stored. 4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the identification of a further overlay file is specified in a particular overlay file instead of a partial image and that the overlay device (UEE1, UEEn) takes the further overlay file from the storage locations specified there and the relevant partial image by execution of the overlay instruction contained therein. 5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the overlay file, the identification of a T _e ilbildes or another overlay file is present several times at certain locations. 6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the overlay file the position and / or the reproduction scale of a partial image is determined by the position of its identification, possibly supplemented by. 7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the identification is additionally contained at a fixed location, for example at the beginning or at the end of the overlay file, if necessary with an additional identifier. 8. Method according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that in the overlay a short description is used instead of the identification of a drawing file or another overlay file and that this short description is assigned to the identification within the overlay file in a fixed form. 9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a keyword is included at a fixed point in the overlay file which identifies the relevant overlay file as such. 10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the keyword is at the beginning of the overlay file. 11. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the keyword is in a data field assigned to the overlay file, in particular in the data field which is the overlay file within a table of contents of the files of a database. 12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that each image or overlay day file, the identification of which is used in another overlay file or will probably be used, is assigned a memory area in which a blocking notice is entered that the blocking notice is requested for certain relevant operations and that certain protective measures are triggered under certain conditions. 13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that the assignment of a blocking note to an image or overlay file is provided in that the identification of the respective blocking note is different from that of the relevant image or overlay file only by a suffix and / or Prefix differs. 14. Arrangement for performing the method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the device (for example AP1) is provided for creating overlay files, that an overlay device (for example UEE1) is provided that an output device (for example AE1) for outputting Images are provided that a memory (for example SP1) is provided for archiving images and other data and that a transmission network (UEN) is provided, by means of which the relevant data generated and / or required when creating an overlay file between the individual devices of the arrangement can be conveyed. 15. The arrangement according to claim 14, characterized in that to the transmission network (UEN) several devices (AP1, AP2 ... APn), several memories (SP1 ... SPn), several superimposition devices (UEE1 ... UEEn) and several Output devices (AE1 ... AEn) are connected. 16. The arrangement according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that a device (for example AP1) consists of an image capture device (B), a keyboard (T) and an additional device (A), that the additional device (A) a switch contains device (U), by means of which the additional device (A) can selectively receive data from the keyboard (T) via a first interface (1) or the image capture device (B) via a second interface (2), and that the image capture device ( B) contains a camera (K) which is connected to the second interface (2) via an interface (IF) via which control data are to be exchanged between the additional device (A) and the image capture device (B) via a third interface (3) is. 17. The arrangement according to claim 16, characterized in that a facsimile scanner is provided instead of the camera (K). 18. The arrangement according to claim 16, characterized in that the image capture device (B) is connected to the interface of the additional device (A) provided for the connection of a punched tape scanner.

Images