JP2000194832A - Data controller, data processing system, data control method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data controller capable of surely preventing illegal editing or the like from an optional user from being performed to data and improving the reliability of the data. SOLUTION: In preparing or editing the object of a graphic or a character or the like corresponding to the instruction of a user from a keyboard 107 or the like and preserving it as the data in an FD 105 or the like, additional information (individual information relating to the user who prepares and edits the object and the preparation date and time, etc.), relating to the data is buried in the data by an electronic watermark method and preserved. In the case that data output by a printer 109 or the like is instructed, the propriety of the data output is judged by the additional information in the data of an output object.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data control device, a data processing system, a data control method, and a process for implementing the same, which enable editing and output without impairing data reliability. The present invention relates to a storage medium in which steps are readable by a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, objects such as figures and characters have been created, and the objects have been displayed and printed out as data.

[0003]

However, conventionally, the entire data of an object as described above has been perceptually visible. For example, when trying to output certain data with an output device, information that the user does not want to output (information that he wants to make invisible perceptually) has been output perceptually visible. For this reason, there has been a problem that an arbitrary user can specify a position with respect to such information and falsify, destroy, or delete the content, and as a result, the reliability of the data itself is impaired. .

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages, and it is possible to reliably prevent unauthorized editing or the like from being performed on data by an arbitrary user, and to prevent data from being edited. It is an object of the present invention to provide a data control device, a data processing system, a data control method, and a storage medium in which a computer can store processing steps for implementing the data control device, the data control method, and the data control method capable of improving the reliability.

[0005]

For such a purpose,
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a predetermined object is created based on an instruction from a user, and a creation / editing unit that edits the created object, and saves the object created or edited by the creation / editing unit as data. It is characterized by comprising a storing means and an embedding means for embedding at least the additional information on the user in the data by a digital watermarking technique when the data is stored in the storing means.

According to a second aspect, in the first aspect,
The embedding unit includes a unit that executes the embedding when the user performs an operation that causes the data to be updated at the time of editing the data by the creation / editing unit. .

[0007] A third invention is the above-mentioned first invention, wherein:
At the time of editing the data by the creation / editing means, the additional information embedded at the time of data creation in the data to be edited or at the time of the previous data editing is changed to the second additional information relating to the user performing the editing at this time. A search unit for searching for the corresponding first additional information, wherein the embedding unit updates the first additional information with the second additional information based on a search result of the search unit; or It is characterized by including means for adding the second additional information to the first additional information.

[0008] In a fourth aspect based on the first aspect,
An output unit that outputs the data stored by the storage unit; and a prohibition unit that prohibits the output of the data by the output unit based on additional information embedded in the data to be output by the output unit. It is characterized by having.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is based on the fourth aspect,
The output unit includes at least one of a unit that prints out the data and a unit that displays the data on a screen.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing system in which a plurality of devices are connected, and each device exchanges data with each other. It has a function of the data control device according to any one of the above-described items.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is a data control method for controlling data by a computer. When a predetermined object is created or edited, and when the object is stored as data, the data relates to the data. An embedding step of embedding the additional information by a digital watermarking method is included.

According to an eighth invention, in the above-mentioned seventh invention,
The additional information includes information on a user who created or edited the corresponding data.

According to a ninth aspect, in the seventh aspect,
A first determining step of determining whether or not the data to be stored has been edited by a user operation that causes the data content to be updated; and, based on a result of the determination in the first determining step, And an execution step of executing the embedding step.

In a tenth aspect based on the seventh aspect, it is determined whether the first additional information equivalent to the second additional information at the time of editing is already embedded in the data to be edited. The embedding step is based on the result of the discrimination in the second discrimination step.
Updating the additional information, or adding the second additional information to the first additional information.

In an eleventh aspect based on the seventh aspect, an output step of outputting the stored data is provided,
A prohibition step of prohibiting the output of the data in the output step based on the additional information in the data.

In a twelfth aspect based on the seventh aspect, the output step includes at least one of a step of printing out the data and a step of displaying the data on a screen.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable storage medium stores the processing steps of the data control method according to any one of the seventh to twelfth aspects.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) The present invention provides, for example,
It is applied to a data control device 100 as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the data control device 100 includes a CPU 101 that controls the operation of the entire device, a ROM 102 that stores a basic I / O program and the like, a RAM 103 that is used as a work area, and the like. Floppy disk (FD) 105 storing a data control program based on a digital watermarking method and data related thereto
FD drive 104 into which an HDD is inserted, and a hard disk (HD) drive 106 for storing an operating system (OS), various application programs, and the like.
, A keyboard 107, a display 108, and a printer 109 are connected on a bus 110 and exchange data with each other.

The data control device 100 as described above uses R
A basic I / O program stored in the OM 102,
OS and FD1 stored in the HD drive 106
05 is stored in the CPU.
It operates by being read and executed by 101.
Specifically, when the power of the data control device 100 is turned on, the OS is read from the HD drive 106 into the RAM 103 by the IPL (initial program loading) function in the basic I / O program,
The operation by the OS is started.

The data control program here is assumed to be, for example, a process coded according to a flowchart shown in FIG. Such a program is stored in the FD 105 together with data related thereto. That is, the FD 105 stores volume information 301, directory information 302, a data control program execution file 303 using a digital watermarking method, and a data file 304 related to the volume information 301, directory information 302, and the like according to the format shown in FIG.

The contents stored in the FD 105 as described above are loaded into the apparatus when the FD 105 is set in the FD drive 104 as shown in FIG. That is, under the control of the OS and the basic I / O program described above, in which the FD 105 is set in the FD drive 104, the data control program by the digital watermarking method and its related data are read out from the FD 105, To be executable. FIG. 5 shows a memory map of the RAM 103 at this time.

Here, the data control program by the digital watermarking method and its related data are loaded directly from the FD 105 onto the RAM 103 and executed. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
5, the data control program by the digital watermarking method and the related data are temporarily stored (installed) in the HD drive 106, and when the data control program by the digital watermarking process is executed, the HD drive 10
6 to the RAM 103. Further, the storage medium for storing the data control program by the digital watermarking technique is not limited to the FD 105, and may be, for example, a CD-ROM, an IC memory card, or the like. Further, a data control program based on the digital watermarking method may be stored in the ROM 102, configured to be a part of the memory map, and directly executed by the CPU 101.

Hereinafter, the operation of the data control device 100 by executing the data control program of FIG. 2 will be described.

Step S201: First, the keyboard 10
7 and the like, it is determined what the user has to do with the data composed of objects such as figures and characters. If the result of this determination is that the operation is to create a new object, the process proceeds to step S202. If the operation is to edit the object, the process proceeds to step S208. If the operation is to output the
It proceeds to the processing from step 7.

<New Creation of Object> Step S202: When a user performs an operation of creating a new object, a process of creating an object such as a figure or a character is performed. Step S203: It is determined whether or not the above-described object creation processing has been completed. If the result of this determination is that processing has not been completed, the flow returns to step S202, and the above-described object creation processing is repeatedly executed. When the above object creation processing is completed, the next step S
Proceed to 204. Step S204: When the object creation processing in step S202 is completed, it is determined whether or not the object is stored as data. As a result of this determination, the processing from the next step S205 is executed only when the data is to be stored, and otherwise the processing is terminated.

Step S205: When saving the above object, the object is saved as data (FD for saving, temporarily saving on RAM 103, etc.). Step S206: Simultaneously with the data saving in step S205, additional information related to the user who created and saved the object is obtained. Step S207: Then, the additional information (hereinafter, referred to as “additional information 1”) acquired in step S206 is embedded and stored in the data stored in step S205 by a so-called digital watermarking method. After that, the process ends. Here, the “digital watermarking method” refers to a process of embedding information (additional information) related to digital data in the original digital data (data to be stored in step S205) in the digital data. This is a technique that is often used to protect copyrights and the like. The “additional information 1” (hereinafter, “additional information” is also referred to as “digital watermark information”) includes personal information of the user who saved the data and information such as the date and time when the data was created. It is assumed that the information is input from the keyboard 107 by the user.

<Editing of Object> Step S208: When an operation of editing an object is performed by the user, that is, data of an object such as a figure or a character that has already been created and saved by the above-described <new object creation> processing is added. When an editing operation is performed on the object, a flag is provided for determining whether the user has performed an operation that causes a certain object to be updated, and the flag value is initialized. here,
Operations that cause the user to update the object include moving, deforming, duplicating, and deleting objects such as figures and characters.

Step S209: Additional information relating to the user performing the editing operation on the object (hereinafter referred to as "additional information")
"Additional information 2"), and stores it in the RAM 10.
3 (specifically, the data area 504 on the memory shown in FIG. 5). The “additional information 2” here also includes personal information of the user who is editing the object and information such as the date and time of editing the object, as in the case of the additional information 1 described above. And the information that was given. Step S210: It is determined whether or not the user has completed the editing operation of the object. As a result of this determination, if the editing operation has been completed, the processing from step S213 is executed; otherwise, the processing from step S211 is performed. Execute the processing of Step S211, Step S212: If the editing operation has not been completed, it is determined whether or not the user has performed an operation that causes the object to be updated (Step S2).
11). As a result of this determination, when an operation that causes the object to be updated is performed, a predetermined value is set to the flag initialized in step S208 (flag update:
Step S212). Thereafter, the process returns to step S210, and the subsequent processing steps are repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if the operation that causes the object to be updated has not been performed, the process returns to step S210 without executing the processing step of step S212, and repeatedly executes the subsequent processing steps.

Step S213: When the editing process is completed, it is determined whether or not the user has saved the edited object. As a result of this determination, if the data is to be saved, the process from step S214 is executed, and if not, the process ends. Step S214: When saving the edited object, it is determined whether or not the above-mentioned flag has been updated.
If the result of this determination is that the flag has not been updated (if an operation that causes the object to be updated has not been performed), the present process ends. On the other hand, when the flag has been updated (when an operation that causes the object to be updated has been performed), the processing from the next step S215 is executed.

Steps S215 and S216: If the flag has been updated (if an operation that causes an object to be updated has been performed), digital watermark information (additional information) embedded earlier in the edited data 1), the additional information 2 acquired in step S209 is added and embedded, and stored. After that, the process ends.

<Output of Object> Step S217: When an operation of outputting the data of the object is performed by the user, for example, the data edited by the above-described processing of <edit of the object> is printed out by the printer 109. When an operation is performed, digital watermark information embedded in the data to be output is obtained. Step S218: Based on the digital watermark information acquired in step S217, it is determined whether or not output by the printer 109 can be performed. Specifically, for example, step S202
-Additional information 1 (information on the user who newly created the object) from step S207 and step S20
By comparing the additional information 2 (information on the user who edited the object) in steps 8 to S216, it is confirmed whether or not the data to be output is newly created and edited by the same user. . If the result of this check is that the data is from the same user, the process of step S220 is executed; otherwise, the process of step S219 is executed. Step S219: If the data to be output has been edited by a user different from the user who newly created it, for example, a message indicating that fact is displayed on the display 108, so that the data cannot be output to the user. Notify that. Step S220: On the other hand, if the data to be output is edited by the same user as the user who newly created it, the data is output to the printer 109 or the like.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when an operation of newly creating a graphic or character object is performed, information (additional information 1) relating to the user who performed the operation is sent to the digital watermarking method. When an operation of editing an object is performed, the operation particularly causes the object to be updated (operations such as moving, deforming, duplicating, and deleting figures and characters) when the object is edited. Is performed, information (additional information 2) about the user who performed the addition is additionally embedded in the object by a digital watermarking technique. Then, when the operation of outputting the object is performed, the object created and edited by the same user by the digital watermark information (additional information 1 and additional information 2) embedded in the data of the object. Only when it is determined that there is, the output is performed. That is, any user cannot output data. With this configuration, information for determining the reliability of the data can be provided as perceptually invisible information (digital watermark information), so that the original data has been processed (edited) by another user. Can be confirmed, and thus the reliability of the data can be maintained. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, any user can specify the position with respect to the object, and alter or destroy the content.
Deletion can be reliably prevented.

In step S209 of <Edit Object>, the additional information 2 of the user who is currently performing the editing operation is replaced with the digital watermark information embedded in the data to be edited. If it is different from the additional information 1 of the created information including the additional information 1 on the user, the present process may be terminated. As a result, if the user who is currently performing the editing operation is different from the user who newly created the data to be edited, the editing operation cannot be performed, and if the users are the same, the subsequent step processing is executed. Can be edited. Thereby, it is possible to prevent an object from being illegally edited by an arbitrary user. In step S217 of <output of object>, for example, information (additional information) about the user who performed the operation of outputting the data of the object is acquired, and the additional information and the information are embedded in the data to be edited. From the additional information 1 of the digital watermark information (information including the additional information 1 relating to the user who newly created this data), it is confirmed whether or not the data output is performed by the correct user. It may be executed. As a result, it is possible to prevent an object from being illegally output from any user.

(Second Embodiment) In the above-described first embodiment, after the user performs an editing operation that causes an object to be updated, every time the user saves the object, information about the user ( Although the additional information 2) is added and embedded by the digital watermarking method, in the present embodiment, if the additional information equivalent to the additional information 2 has already been embedded in the object at this time, the additional information Is updated with the additional information 2, and if not, the additional embedding of the additional information 2 is performed. For this reason, the data control program based on the digital watermarking method executed by the data control device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, a program according to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the data control program is executed, the data control device 100
Works as follows.

In the data control program shown in FIG. 6, the same steps as those in the data control program shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same step numbers, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 6, a processing unit mainly different from the data control program of FIG. 2 is indicated by a dotted line.

Step S601: If it is determined in step S213 that the data of the object is to be saved, and if it is determined in step S214 that an editing operation that causes the object to be updated has been performed, the above-described step S2 is performed.
Data is stored in the same manner as in step 15. Step S602: At the time of saving the data in step S601, additional information relating to the user who performed the above-mentioned editing operation (data area 50 acquired in step S209) from digital watermark information already embedded in the data.
4 is searched for additional information that is temporarily stored on the storage unit 4, that is, additional information equivalent to the additional information 2). For example, additional information including personal information of the same user is searched. Step S6
03: As a result of the search in step S603, it is determined whether or not additional information equivalent to the additional information 2 has been searched. As a result of this determination, if additional information equivalent to the additional information 2 is found, the process of step S604 is executed; otherwise, the process of step S605 is executed. Step S604: If additional information equivalent to the additional information 2 is retrieved from the electronic watermark information in the object, in this case, it is not necessary to add the additional information 2 to the electronic watermark information as it is, and therefore, it already exists. The additional information is updated with the additional information 2. As a result, for example, information on the date and time of data editing is updated while the personal information of the user remains unchanged. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S606. Step S605: On the other hand, if additional information equivalent to the additional information 2 is not retrieved from the electronic watermark information in the object, the additional information 2 is added to the electronic watermark information. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S606. Step S606: Then, the digital watermark information updated with the additional information 2 in step S604 or the digital watermark information with the additional information 2 added in step S605 is included in the data to be stored in step S601. Embed by technique and save it.

According to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the above-described first embodiment, the ratio of digital watermark information to the entire data can be suppressed. The effect that the efficiency can be improved can also be obtained.

In the first and second embodiments described above, information (additional information) relating to the user who created or edited the data is added to the entire data composed of objects such as figures and characters. Although embedding is performed by the digital watermarking technique, for example, additional information for individual objects (such as graphic objects and character objects) constituting data may be embedded by the digital watermarking technique. In this way, by configuring the electronic watermark information to have the additional information of each object, it is possible to control each object such that a specific object is output to an output device or not.

An object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the host and the terminal in each of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer for the system or the apparatus. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by a program (or CPU or MPU) reading and executing a program code stored in a storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the function of each embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, RO
M, floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, and the like can be used. In addition, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the embodiments are realized, but also based on the instructions of the program code,
It goes without saying that the OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the embodiments.
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory provided in an extension function board inserted into the computer or a function extension unit connected to the computer, the function extension is performed based on the instruction of the program code. C provided on board and function expansion unit
It goes without saying that a PU or the like performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the embodiments.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an object such as a graphic or a character is created or edited and saved as data, the data is subjected to additional information (data creation or editing). The personal information of the edited user and the date of creation or editing of the data) are embedded by a digital watermarking technique.

More specifically, for example, when new data is created, additional information 1 relating to the user who created the data is embedded and stored in the data, and when data is edited, an operation that causes the data to be updated (in the data). (Operation for moving, transforming, duplicating, deleting, etc.) an object such as a figure or character, the additional information 2 relating to the user who performed the operation is added to the additional information already embedded in the data. Embed in addition to 1. At this time, additional information 2
Is equivalent to the additional information 1, by updating the additional information 1 with the additional information 2, the ratio of the additional information to the entire data is suppressed, the addition of data processing is reduced, and the processing efficiency is improved. You may do so. At the time of outputting the data, by comparing the additional information 1 and the additional information 2 embedded in the data, the output of the data is permitted only when the data is created and edited by the same user. If not, the output of the data is prohibited, and a message for notifying the user is displayed on the screen. Also, for example, when editing data,
If the additional information 2 of the user who performed the operation for that is different from the additional information 1 already embedded in the data,
The data may not be edited (the data editing process is terminated). At the time of data output, information (additional information) relating to the user performing the operation for the data is acquired. If the additional information is different from the additional information 1 already embedded in the data, the data output is performed. May not be performed (the data output process ends). As a result, data editing and output by any user can be reliably prevented.

With this configuration, the information for determining the reliability of the data can be provided as perceptually invisible information (digital watermark information), so that the original data can be processed (edited) by another user. ) Can be confirmed, and thus the reliability of the data can be maintained. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent an arbitrary user from specifying a position with respect to an object such as a graphic or a character, and to prevent unauthorized editing such as falsification, destruction, or deletion of content, and reliability of data. Can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data control device to which the present invention is applied in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a data control program based on a digital watermark technique executed by the data control device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a format of a storage medium in which the data control program is stored.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining how the data control program is loaded into the device from the storage medium.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the memory map of the load destination when the data control program is executed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a data control program by a digital watermarking method executed by the data control device in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 data control device 101 CPU 102 ROM 103 RAM 104 FD drive 105 FD 106 HD drive 107 keyboard 108 display 109 printer 110 bus

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/92

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A creation / editing unit for creating a predetermined object based on an instruction from a user and editing the created object, and storing the object created or edited by the creation / editing unit as data. A data control device comprising: an embedding unit for embedding at least additional information on the user in the data by a digital watermarking technique when the data is stored in the storage unit. 2. The embedding means includes means for executing the embedding when the user performs an operation that causes data to be updated when editing the data by the creation / editing means. 2. The data control device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. When editing data by the creation / editing means, the information relating to a user who performs the editing at this time is determined from additional information embedded at the time of data creation in the data to be edited or at the time of previous data editing. A search unit for searching for the first additional information corresponding to the second additional information, the embedding unit based on a search result of the search unit,
Updating the first additional information with the second additional information;
2. The data control device according to claim 1, further comprising means for adding the second additional information to the first additional information. 4. An output unit for outputting data stored by the storage unit, and outputting the data by the output unit based on additional information embedded in data to be output by the output unit. 2. The data control device according to claim 1, further comprising a prohibition unit for prohibiting the data control. 5. The data control device according to claim 4, wherein the output unit includes at least one of a unit that prints out the data and a unit that displays the data on a screen. 6. A data processing system in which a plurality of devices are connected and each device exchanges data with each other, wherein at least one device of the plurality of devices is any one of claims 1 to 5. A data processing system having the function of a data control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 7. A data control method for controlling data by a computer, comprising: creating or editing a predetermined object; and storing the object as data, electronically adding additional information regarding the data to the data. A data control method comprising an embedding step of embedding by a watermark method. 8. The data control method according to claim 7, wherein the additional information includes information on a user who has created or edited the corresponding data. 9. A first determining step of determining whether or not the data to be stored has been edited by a user operation that causes the data content to be updated; and determining whether the data has been edited in the first determining step. 8. The data control method according to claim 7, further comprising an execution step of executing the embedding step based on a result. 10. A second determining step of determining whether the first additional information equivalent to the second additional information at the time of editing is already embedded in the data to be edited. The embedding step updates the first additional information with the second additional information based on a result of the determination in the second determination step, or updates the first additional information to the first additional information. 8. The data control method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of adding the additional information of item 2. 11. An output step of outputting the stored data, and a prohibition step of prohibiting output of the data in the output step based on additional information in the data. 7. The data control method according to 7. 12. The data control method according to claim 7, wherein said output step includes at least one of a step of printing out said data and a step of displaying said data on a screen. 13. A storage medium, wherein the processing steps of the data control method according to claim 7 are stored so as to be readable by a computer.