JP2000285250A - Method and device for picture processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a method and a device for picture processing which effectively prevent an undesired template from being set. SOLUTION: This picture processor a picture file to the picture processing according to a prescribed template and checks whether the contents of the template which a user is going set correspond to the picture file at the time when the user sets picture processing determined in the template.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus and method capable of handling a desired image file and performing image processing by user operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of image processing apparatus, for example, image information input by an input device is stored in a storage device, and an operator selects pre-stored template information and stores the image information in the storage device. There is known an image processing apparatus that processes image information based on selected template information and outputs the processed image information to an output device (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-1998).
232913).

[0005] Template information is created or changed in content by an operation of an operator, and stored as template information associated with an image file.

[0004]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned prior art, template information having contents not corresponding to an image file is created by an operation of an operator, and the template information is used for the image file. In this case, there has been a problem that the image processing apparatus does not operate properly and desired image information cannot be obtained from the output apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and a method thereof which can effectively prevent setting of an undesired template. It is in.

According to the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus for performing image processing on an image file in accordance with a predetermined template. And setting means for setting whether the content of the template to be set by the user by the setting means corresponds to the image file.

[0006] The check means has check information storage means, and checks the contents of the template according to the check information stored in the check information storage means.

[0007] Version information is included in the template and the check information, and the check means includes a check information search means for searching the check information storage means for check information corresponding to the template based on the version information. It is characterized by.

[0008] The checking means controls the setting by the setting means according to the result of checking whether or not the contents of the template correspond to the image file.

If the contents of the template do not correspond to the image file, the checking means prohibits the setting of the template by the setting means, wherein the check information is character string information. It is characterized by.

An image processing method according to the present invention is an image processing method for performing image processing on an image file in accordance with a predetermined template, comprising: a setting step in which a user sets image processing specified in the template; , The content of the template that the user intends to set in the setting step,
A checking step of checking whether the image file corresponds to the image file.

[0011] The checking step is characterized in that the contents of the template are checked according to the check information stored in the check information storage means.

[0012] Version information is included in the template and the check information, and the checking step includes a check information retrieving step of retrieving check information corresponding to the template from the check information storage means based on the version information. It is characterized by.

[0013] The setting in the setting step is controlled according to the result of checking whether or not the contents of the template correspond to the image file in the checking step.

In the checking step, when the contents of the template do not correspond to the image file, the setting of the template in the setting step is prohibited.

Further, the computer readable memory according to the present invention is a computer readable memory storing an image processing program for performing image processing according to a predetermined template on an image file, wherein the image processing program is executed by a user. A setting program for setting image processing defined in the template, and a check program for checking whether or not the content of the template to be set by the user by the setting program corresponds to the image file are stored. And

[0016]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the relative arrangement of components described in this embodiment, formulas, numerical values, etc., unless otherwise specified,
It is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a CPU 2 for controlling the entire operation of the image processing apparatus 1 is connected via a bus 12 to a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FDD) which is an external storage device for storing image information and template information. 3.) a hard disk drive (HDD) 4, which is a main storage device for storing image information, template information, and check information;
A RAM 5 for writing and reading various data during template information editing processing and template information checking processing operation, and a program for template information editing processing and template information checking processing operation to be described later with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7. It is interconnected with the ROM 6. Similarly, the CPU 2 is connected with a keyboard 7 for inputting various data and an editing instruction operation from an operator via a bus 12 and a video RAM (VRAM) 8 for storing image display data.
A CR for displaying an image or displaying an operation panel or the like in the RAM 8
T9 is connected. Further, the CPU 2 controls the bus 12
Via a printer interface (printer I /
F) 10 and mutually connected, and the printer I / F 10
A printer 11 for performing image print output is connected. Similarly, the CPU 2 is mutually connected to a scanner interface (scanner I / F) 13 via a bus 12,
The scanner I / F 10 includes a scanner 14 for inputting an image.
Is connected.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure (data format) of the template information 21 used by the image processing apparatus 1. The template information 21 is stored in, for example, the HDD 4 or the FDD 3.

In FIG. 2, the template information 21 is 1
One header information 22 and a plurality of page information 23. The header information 22 stores the number 24 of page information and the like. In each page information 23, information corresponding to each page of the print output is stored, and the page number 26, the file name 27 of the output image information, the number of image frames 28, the position 29 of each image frame / hierarchy 30 / A size 31 / attribute 32 and a file name 33 of image information to be inserted are stored.

The position information 29 of the image frame is information representing the coordinate position of the lower left corner of the image frame in coordinates with the origin at the lower left corner of the page.

The hierarchical information 30 of the image frame is represented by numerical information based on the frame present at the back of the page. The larger the numerical value, the more the image frame is output to the front.

The image frame size information 31 is information representing the rectangular size of the image frame.

The attribute information 32 of the image frame is information indicating permission / non-permission of inserting the input image information input by the image input device.

The file name 33 of the image information is a file name for identifying a file in the main storage device or the external storage device in which the image information to be inserted into the image frame exists. If no image information is inserted into the image frame, the file name 33 of the image information is not set.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an image output using the template information 21. Reference numeral 34 denotes an image frame 1 in the template information, and reference numeral 35 denotes an image frame 2 in the template information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure (data format) of the check information 36 used by the image processing apparatus 1.
Stored in DD3.

In FIG. 4, the check information 36 is composed of one version information 37 and a plurality of rule information 38.

The version information 37 includes check information 3
The version of the template information 21 that can be checked by using the rule information 38 of 6 is stored.

As each rule information 38, a condition that is satisfied when the template information 21 has correct contents is stored as a character string. The rule information 38 is made up of a combination of a prerequisite part 39 and a mandatory condition part 40, and is separated by a separator character 41 (a period in this embodiment). If the requirements described in the essential condition part 40 are satisfied for all pages or image frames of the template information 21 for which the precondition part 39 is satisfied, the content of the template information is determined to be correct. . The rule information 38 without the prerequisite part 39 is such that the requirements described in the essential condition part 40 are satisfied for all pages or image frames of the template information 21 unconditionally. It is determined to be correct.

The template information editing processing, template information storage processing, and template information check processing operations performed by the image processing apparatus 1 configured as described above are described below.
Hereinafter, description will be given based on the flowcharts of FIGS.

In step S1, initialization processing is performed, and new template information is created in a memory for storing the template information being edited.

In step S2, the contents of the template information being edited stored in the memory are displayed on the CRT, and in step S3, an input of an editing operation instruction from the operator is waited.

In step S4, if the operation instruction input is reading of template information, the flow proceeds to step S5; otherwise, the flow proceeds to step S7.

When reading of the template information is instructed, the file name of the template information to be read is input by the operator in step S5, and H is set in step S6.
The file of the template information specified in step S5 is read from the DD or FDD into the memory, and the process returns to step S2. In step S4, if the operation instruction input is creation of an image frame, the process proceeds to step S8; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S10.

When creation of an image frame is instructed, step S
At 8, the operator inputs the size and position coordinates of the image frame to be created, and adds image frame information to the template information being edited stored in the memory at step S9.
After the size and position of the image frame input in step S8 are set, the process returns to step S2.

In step S10, if the operation instruction input is to correct the image frame, the process proceeds to step S11; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S13.

When an instruction to correct the image frame is issued, step S
In step 11, the operator inputs the image frame to be corrected, the size and the position coordinates, and obtains the image frame information specified in step S11 from the template information being edited stored in the memory in step S12. And step S
After the size and position input at 11 are set, the process returns to step S2.

In step S13, if the operation instruction input is to change the setting of the image frame, the process proceeds to step S14, and if not, the process proceeds to step S16.

When an instruction to change the setting of the image frame is given, in step S14, the image frame to be corrected and the items and contents to be changed are input by the operator. In step S15, the editing stored in the memory is performed. The image frame information specified in step S14 is obtained from the template information in the table, the setting is changed to the content input for the item specified in step S14, and the process returns to step S2.

At step S13, if the operation instruction input is to save the template information, the process proceeds to step S20. Otherwise, if the operation instruction input is the end of the template editing work at step S17, the process ends.
Otherwise, return to step S2.

When an instruction to save template information is issued,
In step S20, version information is obtained from the template information being edited stored in the memory, and in step S21, a check is performed to determine whether or not the check information having the same contents of the obtained version information exists in the HDD. .

In step S22, as a result of the search in step S21, if the corresponding check information does not exist, a message indicating that the content check processing of the template information being edited cannot be performed in step S23 because there is no check information. After displaying on the CRT, the process returns to step S2.

In step S22, as a result of the search in step S21, if the corresponding check information is present, in step S24, based on the obtained check information and the template information being edited stored in the memory, A template information check process described later is performed.

If it is determined in step S25 that there is an error in the template information being edited stored in the memory as a result of the template information check processing, step S26
A message stating that template information cannot be saved due to an error in the template information being edited in C
After the display on the RT, the process returns to step S2.

In step S25, as a result of the template information check processing, if the contents of the template information being edited stored in the memory are correct, step S2
At 7, the operator inputs the file name of the template information to be saved, and at step S28, the template information being edited stored in the memory is saved to the HDD or FDD with the designated file name. Later, the process returns to step S2.

Next, the template information check processing operation executed by the image processing apparatus 1 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Before performing the process, it is a precondition that template information to be checked and check information are provided from the process that called the process.

In step S30, as an initialization process, a flag having no error in the template information is set in the result of the template information check process.

In step S31, a character string of one line of rule information is obtained from the given check information, and is separated from the character string into a prerequisite part and an essential condition part based on a separator character.

In step S32, a search is made to see if the description of the "image frame" exists in the description of the indispensable condition part. If so, the process proceeds to step S33, and if not, the process proceeds to step S3.
Proceed to 8.

If the description of the essential condition part includes the description of "image frame", in step S33, one piece of image frame information is acquired from the page part of the given template information, and the description of the prerequisite part is described. And whether the setting contents of the image frame information match. If the result of the determination is that they do not match, the operation proceeds to step S37. If the result of the judgment is that they match,
In step S35, it is determined whether or not the description of the essential condition part matches the setting content of the image frame information. As a result of the judgment,
If they match, the process proceeds to step S37. If they do not match, in step S36 a flag indicating an error in the template information is set as a result of the template information check processing, and then the process proceeds to step S37.

If it is determined in step S37 that all the image frame information of the template information given above has not been checked, the process returns to step S33. If all image frame information has been checked, step S4
Proceed to 2.

In step S38, a search is made to see if the description of the "page" exists in the description of the indispensable condition part, and if there is, the flow proceeds to step S39; if not, the flow proceeds to step S4.
Proceed to 2.

If there is a description of “page” in the description of the essential condition part, the number of pages is obtained from the header part of the given template information in step S39, and
At 40, it is determined whether or not the description of the above-mentioned essential condition part matches the content of the above-mentioned number of pages. As a result of the determination, if they match, the process proceeds to step S42. If they do not match, in step S41, a flag indicating an error in the template information is set as a result of the template information check processing, and then the process proceeds to step S42.

In step S42, it is determined whether or not the processing has been performed on all the rule information included in the check information given above. If the processing has not been performed, the flow returns to step S31 to execute the processing. repeat. If the processing has been performed, the template information check processing is terminated after notifying the result of the template information check processing to the processing called this processing.

In the above embodiment, the check contents performed in the template information check processing are limited to the number of pages and the setting contents of the image frame. However, if the information can be obtained from the data structure of the template information, ,
The effect of the present invention does not change even if any check processing is performed.

In the above embodiment, the template information check processing is performed on the assumption that the rule information is represented by a character string. However, the rule information is represented by a binary file or a function of a software program. However, the effects of the present invention do not change even if realized using such expressions.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when template information is incorrect in the template information storing process, the template information cannot be uniformly stored.
As long as the method does not overwrite D or FDD, the effect of the present invention does not change even if processing such as being able to save only as a temporary file with a different file name is performed.

(Other Embodiments) Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus including a single device (for example, For example, the present invention may be applied to a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and the like.

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) on which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (a computer) of the system or the apparatus. It is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by a CPU or an MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Also,
When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code.
It is needless to say that a case in which the functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented by performing part or all of the actual processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, the CPU included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIG. 6 and / or FIG. 7 described above.

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an image processing apparatus and method capable of effectively preventing setting of an undesired template.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of template information 21 used by the image processing apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which the image processing apparatus of FIG. 1 processes image information 20 based on template information 21 and outputs the processed image information.

FIG. 4 is check information 3 used by the image processing apparatus of FIG.
6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of No. 6. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of template information editing processing and template information storage processing performed by the image processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of template information editing processing and template information storage processing performed by the image processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a template information check processing operation executed by the image processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 CPU 3 FDD 4 HDD 7 Keyboard 9 CRT 11 Scanner

Claims (12)

[Claims] An image processing apparatus for performing image processing on an image file according to a predetermined template, wherein the setting means sets image processing defined by the user in the template; Checking means for checking whether or not the content of the template corresponds to the image file. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said checking means has check information storing means, and checks the contents of said template according to the check information stored in said check information storing means. Image processing device. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the template and the check information have version information, and the check means includes a check information search means for searching the check information storage means for check information corresponding to the template based on the version information. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said checking means controls the setting by said setting means according to a result of checking whether or not the contents of said template correspond to said image file. Image processing device. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the checking unit prohibits the setting of the template by the setting unit when the content of the template does not correspond to the image file. . 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the check information is character string information. 7. An image processing method for performing image processing on an image file in accordance with a predetermined template, wherein the user sets the image processing specified in the template. A checking step of checking whether or not the content of the template corresponds to the image file. 8. The image processing method according to claim 7, wherein in the checking step, the contents of the template are checked according to check information stored in check information storage means. 9. A method according to claim 9, wherein said template and said check information have version information, and said checking step includes a check information searching step of searching said check information storage means for check information corresponding to the template based on said version information. 9. The image processing method according to claim 8, comprising: 10. The setting in the setting step is controlled in accordance with the result of checking whether the content of the template in the checking step corresponds to the image file. The image processing method described in the above. 11. The image processing method according to claim 7, wherein in the checking step, when the contents of the template do not correspond to the image file, the setting of the template in the setting step is prohibited. . 12. A computer-readable memory storing an image processing program for performing image processing according to a predetermined template on an image file, wherein the image processing program sets image processing specified by the user in the template. A computer-readable memory storing: a setting program; and a check program for checking whether contents of a template to be set by a user by the setting program correspond to the image file.