JP2001014313A - Device and method for document processing, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to accurately grasp document contents by performing a read-aloud processing corresponding to a displayed summary sentence. SOLUTION: A summary sentence of an electronic document can be presented to a user through display and voice output and the summary sentence on which a reading-aloud voice is based is nearly equal in document length to or longer than the displayed summary sentence. Namely, when a summary display area WS is too small in size to display a sufficient document as the summary sentence, a document which is long enough for the user to understand the contents is outputted as the reading-aloud voice (F30A) to enable the user to clearly know the summary sentence contents (electronic document contents) irrelevantly to the state of the summary sentence display area WS.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to electronic document processing, and more particularly to a document processing apparatus capable of creating an abstract sentence of an electronic document, and displaying and outputting the summary sentence.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, WWW (World Wide Web) has been provided as an application service for providing hypertext information in a window format on the Internet.

[0003] The WWW is a system for executing document processing for creating, publishing, or sharing a document, and showing the way of a new style document. However, from the viewpoint of practical use of documents, advanced document processing beyond WWW, such as classification and summarization of documents based on the contents of the documents, is required. For such advanced document processing, mechanical processing of the contents of the document is indispensable.

However, mechanical processing of the contents of a document is still difficult for the following reasons. First
HTML, a language that describes hypertext
(Hyper Text Markup Language) specifies the expression of a document, but hardly specifies the content of the document. Second, a network of hypertexts formed between documents is not always easy for a reader of the document to understand the contents of the document. Third
In general, the author of a document writes without considering the convenience of the reader, but the convenience of the reader of the document is not adjusted to the convenience of the author.

[0005] As described above, the WWW is a system showing the way of a new document. However, since the document is not mechanically processed, advanced document processing cannot be performed.
In other words, in order to perform advanced document processing, it is necessary to process the document mechanically.

Therefore, a system for supporting mechanical processing of documents has been developed based on the results of natural language research, with the goal of mechanical processing of documents. As a document processing based on natural language research, mechanical document processing using tags attached to a document has been proposed on the assumption that attribute information about the internal structure of the document by the author of the document, so-called tags are added. I have.

[0007]

By the way, with the recent spread of computers and the progress of networking, text processing, creation of text documents, labeling, change, and the like have been performed by using an index depending on the contents of the documents. There is a demand for enhanced document processing to be performed. For example, it is desired to summarize a document or classify a document according to a user's request. Also,
Processing that is more suitable for users, such as display styles suitable for the form of the document viewer or display unit that displays documents and their summaries, read-aloud functions that accompany display, and interlocking of display of documents and images with read-aloud is required. ing. In particular, when displaying a summary, if the display area is small, it may not be possible to display it sufficiently.However, with such insufficient display, it is necessary to present the document contents to the user appropriately. is necessary.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in view of such circumstances, and in a document processing apparatus, a document content (abstract text content) is used by effectively using display and voice output. The purpose of the present invention is to allow the user to be accurately presented.

For this reason, the document processing apparatus of the present invention has a summary creating means for creating summary text data of an electronic document according to the size of the summary text display area, and a document length of the summary text data created by the summary creation means. And a read-out summary creating means capable of creating read-out summary sentence data having the document length. That is, a display summary sentence and a read-out summary sentence as a longer sentence are generated. Further, in the present invention, the display means having the summary sentence display area, the audio output means, and the display and output of the summary sentence data created by the summary creation means in the summary sentence display area of the display means are performed by the audio output means. And a control means for outputting a read-out voice based on the read-out summary sentence data created by the read-out summary creating means. That is, the summary sentence can be presented to the user as a display by the display unit and a read-out voice output by the voice output unit,
The summary sentence that is the basis of the read-out voice is set to have the same or longer document length than the displayed summary sentence. In other words, when the size of the summary sentence display area of the display means is small and a sufficient sentence cannot be displayed as a summary sentence, a document having a document length sufficient for the user to understand the contents is output as a reading voice.

[0010] In particular, when the size of the summary sentence display area is variable, the reading summary creation means sets the document length in accordance with the size of the summary sentence display area and creates the reading summary sentence data. Thus, it is possible to perform optimal reading-out output according to the size of the summary sentence display area. For example, if the user can display the document with a length sufficient for comprehension of the content, the size of the read-out summary sentence data may be equal to the displayed summary sentence data.
When the summary sentence display area is small and the document length of the displayed summary sentence data is short and it is considered that the content is insufficient for comprehending the contents, the read-out summary sentence data is created with a longer document length.

On the other hand, depending on the device, the size of the summary sentence display area may be a fixed size, but if the size is small and the summary sentence data must be short, the read-out summary creation means may include: The user can sufficiently comprehend the contents of the document by creating the read-out summary sentence data having a document length exceeding the document length of the summary sentence data created by the summary creation means and outputting it as audio. To do.

According to the document processing method of the present invention, a summary creating procedure for creating summary sentence data according to the size of a summary sentence display area of a display unit for an electronic document, and a method for summarizing sentence data created in the summary creating procedure are provided. A reading summary creation procedure that creates reading summary sentence data that is longer than the document length, and a display output based on the summary sentence data created by the summary creation procedure in the summary sentence display area of the display unit, and voice The output unit performs an output procedure for outputting a reading voice based on the reading summary sentence data created in the reading summary creation procedure. Further, the recording medium of the present invention is assumed to record an operation control program having such procedures.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in the following order. In this embodiment, first, the configuration and various processes of the document processing apparatus will be described, and then, as an example in which the summary display area is variable, display and reading operations realized by this document processing apparatus will be described. . After that, as an example in which the summary sentence display area is fixed, the configuration and operation of a portable document processing device (portable terminal device) will be described. 1. 1. Configuration of document processing device 2. Document data structure 3. Manual classification process for document data 3-1 Processing procedure 3-2 Index creation 3-3 Document browsing / classification creation / classification operation 3-4 Classification model creation / registration 4. Automatic classification processing for document data 4-1 Processing procedure 4-2 Automatic classification Summary creation processing Read aloud processing 7. 7. Read-aloud processing according to the displayed summary size 8. Summarization and reading-out processing 9. Mobile terminal device and document processing system configuration 10. Document reception processing by mobile terminal device 11. Document display and reading-out processing by portable terminal device Document processing system operation

1. 1. Configuration of Document Processing Apparatus As shown in FIG. 1, a document processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main body 10 having a control unit 11 and an interface 12, and a main body 10 which receives an input from a user.
, An input unit 20 for sending and receiving signals to and from the outside, and a display unit 30 for displaying an output from the main body 10
Recording / reproduction for recording / reproducing information on / from the recording medium 32
It has a reproduction unit 31, an audio output unit 33, and an HDD (hard disk drive).

The main body 10 has a control unit 11 and an interface 12, and constitutes a main part of the document processing apparatus 1. The control unit 11 has a CPU 13 that executes processing in the document processing apparatus 1, a RAM 14 that is a volatile memory, and a ROM 15 that is a non-volatile memory. The CPU 13 temporarily stores data, if necessary, in the RAM 14 according to a procedure recorded in the ROM 15, for example, and performs control for executing the program. The operation of the control unit 11 is as follows.
As will be described later in detail, there are a classification process for the supplied document data, a summary creation process, a process of generating a speech reading file for a reading operation, and a document analysis required for these processes. The programs and application software necessary for these operations are stored in the ROM 15, the HDD 34, or the recording medium 32.
Is stored in The document processing program used by the control unit 11 may be stored in the ROM 15 in advance as described above, or may be fetched from the recording medium 32 or the HDD 34. It is also conceivable to download a document processing program provided by an external server or the like.

The interface 12 includes a control unit 11, an input unit 20, a communication unit 21, a display unit 30, and a recording / reproducing unit 3.
1. Connected to the audio output unit 33 and HDD. Under the control of the control unit 11, the interface 12 inputs data from the input unit 20, inputs and outputs data to and from the communication unit 21, outputs data to the display unit 30, and controls the recording / reproducing unit 31. Each operation of data input / output, data output to the audio output unit 33, and data input / output to the HDD 34 is performed. More specifically, it adjusts the timing of data input / output between the control unit 11 and each of the above units, converts the format of data, and the like.

The input section 20 is a section for receiving an input from the user to the document processing apparatus 1. This input unit 20
Is composed of, for example, a keyboard and a mouse. The user uses the input unit 20 to input characters such as keywords using a keyboard, or to display the display unit 30 using a mouse.
For example, the user can select an element of the electronic document that is displayed in. Hereinafter, an electronic document handled by the document processing apparatus 1 is referred to as “document data” or simply “document”. The “element” is an element constituting a document, and includes, for example, a document, a sentence, and a word.

The communication unit 21 is a unit that receives a signal transmitted from the outside to the document processing apparatus 1 via, for example, a communication line, and transmits a signal to the communication line. The communication unit 21 receives one or a plurality of data such as documents transmitted from the outside, and sends the received data to the main body 10. Of course, data is transmitted to an external device via a communication line.

The display section 30 is a section for displaying characters and image information as an output of the document processing apparatus 1. The display unit 30 is, for example, a cathode ray tube (CR).
T), a liquid crystal display (LCD), or the like, for example, displays one or more windows, and displays characters, figures, and the like on these windows.

The recording / reproducing section 31 records / reproduces data on / from a recording medium 32 such as a so-called floppy disk. Here, the recording medium 32
An example of a floppy disk (magnetic disk) is given as an example of an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk,
Recording medium 3 if it is a portable medium such as a memory card.
2 can be applied as an example. Then, the recording / reproducing unit 31
Any recording / reproducing device (disk drive, card drive, etc.) according to the media may be used.

When the recording medium 32 has recorded therein a document processing program for processing a document,
The recording / reproducing unit 31 can read out the document processing program from the recording medium 32 and supply it to the control unit 11. If document data is recorded on the recording medium 32, the recording / reproducing unit 31 can read it out and supply it to the control unit 11. That is, for the document processing apparatus 1,
This is an input mode of the document data different from the reception of the document data by the communication unit 21. Further, the control unit 11 can cause the recording / reproducing unit 31 to record the document data processed by the document processing apparatus 1 on the recording medium 32.

The voice output section 33 is a section for outputting a document as an output of the document processing apparatus 1 as a reading voice. That is, when a voice signal generated by a voice synthesis process based on document information (a reading file to be described later) is supplied by the control unit 11, the voice output unit 33 performs output processing of the voice signal to perform display. Together with the unit 30, it functions as an output unit of the document processing apparatus 1.

The HDD 34 provides a large-capacity recording area in the document processing apparatus 1. The HDD 34 includes the control unit 11
The recording / reproduction of information is performed based on the control of. This HDD
Reference numeral 34 denotes an application program for various processes executed by the control unit 11, for example, a program for speech synthesis, and the like, and stores, for example, document data and the like taken into the document processing apparatus 1. It can be used as a part to be kept.

A portable terminal reader 22 can be connected to the document processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment. The portable terminal reader 22 may be built in the main body 10, for example. The portable terminal reader 22 is capable of reading document data held in the portable terminal 50 by mounting the portable terminal 50. That is, the control unit 11 can receive document data from the portable terminal reader 22 via the interface 12 when the portable terminal 50 is mounted on the portable terminal reader 22. The control unit 11 transmits the received document data to the communication unit 2
Various processes can be performed in the same manner as the document data input from step 1. The processing related to the portable terminal 50 and the document data transferred from the portable terminal 50 will be described later in detail.

2. Document Data Structure Next, the structure of document data in this example will be described. In this example, document processing is performed with reference to a tag that is attribute information assigned to the document. The tags used in this example include syntactic
c) There are tags and semantic / pragmatic tags that enable mechanical understanding of the content of documents between multiple languages.

Some syntactic tags describe the internal structure of a document. As shown in FIG. 2, the internal structure by tagging is configured such that each element such as a document, a sentence, and a vocabulary element is linked to each other by a normal link and a reference / referenced link. In the figure, a white circle “○” indicates an element, and the lowest white circle is a vocabulary element corresponding to the minimum level word in the document. The solid line is a normal link indicating a connection between elements such as a document, a sentence, and a vocabulary element, and the dashed line is a reference link indicating a dependency relationship by reference / reference. The internal structure of a document is document (documemt), subdivision (subdivision), paragraph (paragraph), sentence (sentenc
e), subsentential segment (subsentential s
egment), ..., vocabulary elements. Of these, subdivisions and paragraphs are optional.

On the other hand, as the semantic / pragmatic tagging, there is a method of describing information such as a meaning like a meaning of a polysemy. Tagging in this example is performed by HTML (Hyper Te
XML (Extensible Mar) similar to xt Markup Language
kup Language).

An example of tagging is shown below, but tagging a document is not limited to this method. In the following, examples of English and Japanese documents are shown, but the description of the internal structure by tagging can be similarly applied to other languages.

For example, "Time flies like an arro
The sentence "w." can be tagged as follows. <> is a tag added to the document.

<Sentence> <noun phrase word meaning = “time0”> time </ noun phrase> <verb phrase> <verb word meaning = “fly1”> flies <// verb> <adverb phrase> <adverb word meaning = like0> like < / Adverb> <noun phrase> an <noun meaning = “arrow0”> arrow </ noun> </ noun phrase> </ adverb phrase> </ verb phrase>. </ Sentence>

Here, <sentence>, <noun>, <noun phrase>, <
Verbs, <verb phrases>, <adverbs>, <adverb phrases> are sentences, nouns, noun phrases, verbs, verb phrases, adjectives / adverbs (including prepositional or postpositional phrases), adjective phrases / adverbial phrases, respectively. Is shown. In other words, the syntactic structur of a sentence
e).

These tags are arranged immediately before the front end and immediately after the end of the element. The tag placed immediately after the end of the element indicates that it is the end of the element by the symbol "/". Elements are syntactic constructs: phrases, clauses, and sentences. Note that the meaning (word sense) = “time0” corresponds to the word “ti”.
It refers to the plural meanings of “me”, that is, the 0th meaning of the plural meanings.
Has at least the meanings of a noun, adjective, and verb. Here, it indicates that the word "time" is a noun (= the 0th meaning). Similarly, the word "orange" has at least the meaning of plant name, color, and fruit, but these can also be distinguished by their meaning.

In this example, the syntactic structure of the document data can be displayed in the window 101 on the display unit 30 as shown in FIG. In this window 101, vocabulary elements are displayed on the right half 103, and the internal structure of the sentence is displayed on the left half 102.

For example, as shown in FIG.
1 has a sentence “A” in which the internal structure is described by tagging.
In C City, where his B meeting was over, some popular and general newspapers have stated on paper that they will voluntarily regulate their photographic coverage. Is displayed. An example of tagging this document is as follows:

<Document> <Sentence> <Adverb Phrase Relation = “Place”> <Noun Phrase> <Adverb Phrase Location = “C City”> <Adverb Phrase Relation = “Subject”> <Noun Phrase Identifier = “B Association” > <Adverb phrase relation = “affiliation”> <person name identifier = “Mr. A”> </ adverbular phrase of Mr. A <// person name> The noun phrase ends with </ adverb phrase> </ adverb phrase> <place name identifier = "C city"> C city </ place name> </ noun phrase> where </ adverb phrase> <adverb phrase relation = "subject" "> <Noun phrase identifier =“ press ”syntactic =“ parallel ”> <noun phrase> <adverb phrase> Some </ adverb phrase> popular paper </ noun phrase> and <noun> general paper </ noun> < / Noun phrase> is </ Adverb phrase> <Adverb phrase> Relation = "Object"> <Adverb phrase Relationship = "Content" Subject = "press"> <Adverb phrase Relation = "Object"> <Noun phrase> <Adverb Phrase> <noun Co-reference = "B-kai"> </ noun> </ adverb phrase> Photo coverage </ noun phrase> </ adverb phrase> Self-regulating </ adverb phrase> Policy </ adverb phrase> <adverb phrase> Coordinator = "position"> </ adverb phrase> on paper. </ Text> </ text>

By being tagged in this way, the structure of the document is represented by each pair of tags <> to </>. For example, <document> to </ document> indicates the range of one document, and similarly, <sentence> to </ sentence> indicates the range of one sentence. Also, for example, <Noun phrase identifier = “B meeting”>
According to </ noun phrase>, the part "Mr. A's B meeting"
It is expressed as a noun phrase with "kai" as the identifier. That is, the internal structure of the sentence shown on the left half surface 102 in FIG. 3 is expressed by the tagging.

Further, in this document, "part of popular paper and general paper" is expressed in parallel by the tag "syntax =" parallel ". The definition of parallel is to share a dependency relationship. If nothing is specified, for example, <noun phrase relation = x><noun> A </ noun><noun> B </ noun></ noun phrase> indicates that A has a dependency on B Represent. Relation = x represents a relation attribute.

The relation attribute describes an interaction between syntactic, meaning, and rhetorical. Grammar functions such as subjects, objects, and indirect objects, subject roles such as an actor, a subject, a beneficiary, etc., and rhetorical relations such as a reason and a result are described by the relation attributes. In this example, the subject, object,
Describe relative attributes for relatively easy grammar functions such as indirect objects.

In this document, "Mr. A",
For proper nouns such as "B Association" and "C City", place names,
Attributes are described by tags such as person names and organization names. By adding tags such as place name, person name, organization name, etc.,
It is expressed that the word is a proper noun.

3. Manual Classification Processing on Document Data 3-1 Processing Procedure In the document processing apparatus 1 of this example, when document data is taken in from the outside by, for example, the communication unit 21 (or the recording / reproducing unit 31), the document data is converted according to the content. Perform classification processing. In the following description, it is described that document data from the outside is taken in via the communication unit 21.
The description is the same when the document data is supplied from the outside in the form of a portable medium such as a floppy disk and the document data is taken in from the recording / reproducing unit 31.

As the classification process, there are a manual classification process in which the user manually classifies according to the contents of the document data, and an automatic classification process in which the document processing apparatus 1 automatically classifies. These classification processes are performed based on a classification model described later. However, in the document processing apparatus 1, no classification model exists in an initial state. Therefore, at the time of the initial state, a classification process including creation of a classification model is required as a manual classification process. After the classification model is generated, the input document data can be automatically classified. First, a manual classification process that needs to be performed first will be described. That is, the manual classification process means that when the document processing apparatus 1 in the initial state receives document data sent from the outside, the control unit 11 creates a classification model and classifies the document data based on a user operation. Is performed.

FIG. 4 shows the overall processing procedure as the manual classification processing. The detailed processing of each processing step will be described later.

Step F11 in FIG.
2 shows a document receiving process by the receiving unit 21 of FIG. In step F11, the receiving unit 21 receives one or a plurality of documents transmitted via, for example, a communication line. The receiving unit 21 sends the received document to the main body 10 of the document processing device. The control unit 11 stores the supplied document data or document data in the RAM 14 or the HDD 34.

In step F12, the control section 11 of the document processing apparatus 1 extracts the features of the plurality of documents sent from the receiving section 21 and creates feature information, that is, an index of each document. The control unit 11 stores the created index in, for example, the RAM 14 or the HDD 34.
As will be described later, the index includes proper nouns, meanings other than proper nouns, and the like, which are characteristic of the document, and can be used for document classification and search.

The document browsing in step F13 is a process executed as required by the user. That is, it is performed according to a user operation. Step F13 and the next step F14 are processes based on a user operation.
The user can view the content of the input document data on the screen of the display unit 30 by performing a required operation. While browsing the document, the user can instruct various processes such as summarization, which will be described later, by operating the icons and the like on the screen. The process will proceed to the classification operation. In step F14, in response to the user performing an operation of setting a classification item (the classification item is also referred to as a category in this specification), the control unit 11
Generates / displays classification items. The user also performs an operation of sorting the document data into the set classification items, and the control unit 11 sorts and displays the document data accordingly.

In step F15, the control unit 11 creates a classification model according to the classification item creation and classification operation performed by the user in step F14. The classification model includes a plurality of classification items (categories) for classifying documents, and associates each document index with each category index (index of each document created in step F12) to change the classification state. This is the specified data.
After generating such a classification model, step F16
Then, the classification model is registered. That is, the control unit 11 performs the registration by storing the classification model in, for example, the RAM 14. By the processing of FIG. 4 described above, manual classification and creation of a classification model have been performed for one or a plurality of pieces of document data input when the document processing state 1 is in the initial state. The processing of step F12 and subsequent steps in FIG. 4 will be described in detail.

3-2 Index Creation In step F14, the control section 11 creates an index for the input document data. First, a specific example of an index created for certain document data will be described.

<Index Date = "AAAA / BB / CC" Time = "DD: EE: FF" Document Address = "1234"> <User Operation Log Maximum Summary Size = "100"> <Number of Selected Elements = " 10 "> Picturetel </ selection> ...... </ user operation history> <summary> Tax reduction scale, not touching-Prime Minister X's meeting </ summary> <word meaning =“ 0003 ”central activity value =“ 140.6 ” > Do not touch </ word> <word meaning = “0105” identifier = “X” central activity value = “67.2”> Prime Minister </ word> <person name identifier = “X” word meaning = “6103” central activity value = “ 150.2 ”> X Prime Minister </ word / person name> <word meaning =“ 5301 ”central activity value =“ 120.6 ”> determined </ word> <word meaning =“ 2350 ”identifier =“ X ”central activity value =“ 31.4 ”> Prime Minister </ word> <word meaning =“ 9582 ”central activity value =“ 182.3 ”> emphasized </ word> <word meaning =“ 2595 ”central activity value “93.6”> Touch </ word> <word Teijin = “9472” Central activity value = “12.0”> Notified </ word> <word Sense = “4934” Central activity value = “46.7”> No touch < / Word> <word meaning = “0178” central activity value = “175.7”> declared </ word> <word meaning = “7248” identifier = “X” central activity value = “130.6”> I </ word> < Word Meaning = "3684" Identifier = "X" Central Activity Value = "121.9"> Prime Minister </ word> <Word Meaning = "1824" Central Activity Value = "144.4."> Complained </ word> <word Meaning = “7289” Central activity value = “176.8”> Showed </ word> </ index>

In this index, <index> and </ index> indicate the start and end of the index, <date> and <time> indicate the date and time when this index was created, <summary> and </ Summary> indicates the start and end of the summary of the contents of this index, respectively. Also, <word> and <
/ Word> indicates the beginning and end of the word. Further, for example, the meaning = “0003” indicates that it is the third meaning. The same applies to other cases. As mentioned above,
Since the same word may have a plurality of meanings, a number is predetermined for each meaning in order to distinguish them, and the corresponding meaning is represented by a number.

<User operation history> and </ User operation history> are the start and end of the user's operation history, and <Select> and </ Select> are the start and end of the translated element. Are respectively shown. The maximum summary size = “100” indicates that the maximum size of the summary is 100 characters, and the number of elements = “10” indicates that the number of selected elements is 10.

As in this example, the index includes proper nouns, meanings other than proper nouns, and the like, which are characteristic of the document. For example, the process of step F12 for creating such an index will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows an index creation process for one document data. Therefore, when a process is performed for a plurality of document data, the process of FIG. 5 is performed for each document data. Further, FIG. 7 shows a detailed process of step F31 in FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 shows a detailed process of step F43 in FIG.

In the index creation processing in step F12 in FIG. 4 described above, first, active diffusion in step F31 in FIG. 5 is performed. This active diffusion is a process in which the central activity value of an element is spread based on the internal structure of a document with respect to document data, so that an element related to an element having a high central activity value also has a high central activity value. It is. That is, after giving a central activity value as an initial value to each element constituting the document, the central activity value is diffused based on the internal structure of the document, specifically, the link structure. Since this central activity value is determined according to the internal structure by tagging, it is used for extracting features of a document. The control unit 11 determines in step F3
As 1, the active diffusion is performed, and the central active value of each element obtained as a result of the active diffusion is stored in, for example, the RAM 14.
Will be stored.

FIG. 6 shows the active diffusion in step F31.
8 will be described in detail. First, an example of a link structure between elements is shown in FIG. In FIG.
The periphery of elements E1 and E2 is shown as part of the structure of the elements and links that make up the document. E1
E8 is an example of an element, in which element E
1 and E2 will be described.

It is assumed that the central activity value of the element E1 is e1, and the central activity value of the element E2 is e2. The elements E1 and E2 are connected by a link L12 (the normal link or the reference link described above). The end point of the link L12 connected to the element E1 is T12, and the end point of the link L12 connected to the element E2 is T21. Element E1 further includes elements E3, E4,
E5 is connected to links L13, L14, and L15, respectively. The end points of the links L13, L14, and L15 on the element E1 side are denoted by T13, T14, and T, respectively.
It is assumed to be 15. Element E2 is composed of elements E6 and E6.
Links L26, L27, L2 for E7 and E8 respectively
8 are connected. Each link L26, L27, L28
At the element E2 side are denoted by T26 and T26, respectively.
27 and T28. The active diffusion processing of FIGS. 7 and 8 will be described using an example of such a link structure.

In step F41 of FIG. 7, when starting the active diffusion for the document data to be indexed, the control unit 11 first initializes the central active value for all elements of the document data. As the initial value of the central activity value, for example, a high value is given to a proper noun, an element selected (clicked) by a user, or the like. Further, the control unit 11 sets the end point activation value of the end point T (xx) of the link connecting the elements to 0 for the reference link and the normal link. The control unit 11 stores, for example, the RAM 14 with the initial value of the endpoint activation value thus assigned.

In step F42, the control unit 11
Initializes a counter for counting the elements Ei constituting the document. That is, the count value i of the counter for counting elements is set to one. If i = 1, this counter will refer to the first element (eg, element E1 in FIG. 6).

In step F43, the control unit 11
Executes a central activation value update process for calculating a new central activation value for the element referenced by the counter. This center activation value update process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 8 by taking the process for the element E1 as an example. The center activation value updating process is a process of updating the end point activation value of the element, and calculating a new center activation value using the updated end point activation value and the current center activation value.

In step F51 of FIG.
Is an element Ei (for example, in this case E
In 1), a counter for counting the number of links having one end connected thereto is initialized. That is, the count value j of the counter for counting the links is set to one. When j = 1, this counter refers to the first link L (yy) connected to the element Ei. In the example of FIG.
For example, the link L12 is referred to as the first link for the element E1.

In step F52, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the link being referred to, that is, the link L12 connecting the elements E1 and E2, is a normal link by referring to the tag of the related attribute. If the link L12 is a normal link, the control unit 11 proceeds to step F53, and if the link L12 is a reference link, proceeds to step F54.

If the link L12 is determined to be a normal link and the process proceeds to step F53, the control section 11 performs a process of calculating a new endpoint activation value of the endpoint T12 connected to the normal link L12 of the element E1. Endpoint T12
Are the endpoint activation values of all the endpoints connected to the link other than the link L12 among the endpoint activation values of the linked element E2 (in this case, T26 and T2).
7, each end point activation value t26, t27, t28 of T28)
And the central activation value e2 of the element E2, and the value obtained by this addition is divided by the total number of elements included in the document. The control unit 11 performs such an operation using each endpoint activity value and each center activity value read from the RAM 14, thereby calculating a new endpoint activity value for the endpoint connected to the normal link. The calculated end point activation value is stored in the RAM 14. That is, the end point T1
The end point activation value t12 of No. 2 is updated.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step F52 that the link L12 is a reference link and the process proceeds to step F54, the control unit 11 similarly sets a new end point activation of the end point T12 of the element E1 connected to the normal link L12. The processing for calculating the value is performed. The calculation for calculating the end point activity value is as follows. That is, in this case, the endpoint activation values t12 of the endpoint T12 are the endpoint activation values of all the endpoints connected to the link other than the link L12 among the endpoint activation values of the linked element E2 (in this case, T2
6, each end point activation value t26, t27, t of T27, T28
28) and the central activation value e2 of the element E2. (That is, the point where there is no division is different from the case of the above-mentioned normal link.) Then, the control unit 11 performs such an operation using each of the endpoint activation values and each of the center activation values read from the RAM 14, A new endpoint activity value is calculated for the endpoint connected to the reference link, and the calculated endpoint activity value is stored in the RAM. That is, the end point activation value t12 of the end point T12 is updated.

After performing the processing in step F53 or F54, the control unit 11 performs the processing in step F5 through the determination processing in step F55 (if the determination result is NO).
Proceeding to 7, the count value j is incremented, and the process returns to step F52. That is, subsequently, by setting the count value j = 2, the second link (for example, link L13) for the element E1 is referred to.
In the same manner as described above, the end point activation value t13 of the end point T13 connected to the link L13 is calculated / updated in the processing after step F52.

In step F55, the control unit 11 determines whether or not a new endpoint activation value has been calculated for all the links for the element Ei (E1) currently referred to by the count value i, and branches the processing. Because
The process of updating the endpoint activation values is performed until all endpoint activation values of the element Ei being referred to are updated. That is, by repeating the process while incrementing the count value j in step F57, for the element E1, for example, the endpoint activation values t12, t13, t14, and t15 are updated for the endpoints T12, T13, T14, and T15, respectively. When all of them have been updated, the process proceeds from step F55 to F56.

In step F56, a new central activity value ei of the element Ei is calculated by using the updated endpoint activity values in response to the determination of all the endpoint activity values for the element Ei. The new central activation value ei of the element Ei is the current central activation value e of the element Ei.
It is determined by the sum of new endpoint activation values of all endpoints of i and element Ei. For example, in the case of the element E1 in FIG. 6, the new central activation value e1 (new) is e1 (new) = e1 +
t12 + t13 + t14 + t15.

The control unit 11 calculates the central activation value ei of the element Ei being referred to by the current count value i in this way. Then, the control unit 11 causes the RAM 14 to store the calculated new central activation value ei. That is, the central activation value ei of the element Ei is updated. (However, at this point, the old center activation value is also held because it is used in the process of step F45 described later.)

When the processing shown in FIG. 8 is performed as the central activation value updating processing in step F43 in FIG. 7, the processing of the control unit 11 proceeds to step F44 in FIG.
The control unit 11 determines whether or not the central activation value update processing has been completed for all elements in the document. Specifically, control unit 11 determines whether or not count value i has reached the total number of elements included in the document. Control unit 1
When the central activation value update processing has not been completed for all the elements, the process proceeds to step F47, where the count value i is incremented, and
Return to For example, after the processing for the element E1 is completed as described above, the count value i is set to 2 and the element E2 is referred to this time. Then, for the element E2, the central activation value update processing of step F43 (that is, the processing of FIG. 8) is performed in the same manner as described above. Although the details will not be described because they are redundant description, in the case of the link example of FIG. 6, in the case of the element E2, the end point activation values t21, t26, t27 of the end points T21, T26, T27, T28 in the processing of FIG. After t28 is updated,
A new central activity value e2 (new) is calculated as e2 (new) = e2 + t21 + t26 + t27 + t28, and is updated.

In the process shown in FIG. 7, the count value i is incremented in step F47, and the central activation value updating process in step F43 is repeated while changing the reference element. Will be updated.

When the updating of the central activation value has been completed for all the elements in the document, the processing is terminated at step F44.
To F45. In step F45, the control unit 11 calculates the average value of the change in the central activity values of all the elements included in the document, that is, the change in the newly calculated central activity value from the original central activity value. For example, the control unit 11 reads the old central activation value stored in the RAM 14 and the updated new central activation value for all elements included in the document. Then, for each element, the difference between the new central activity value and the old central activity value is obtained, and the sum of the differences is divided by the total number of elements to calculate the average value of the change in the central activity value of all elements. The control unit 11 causes the RAM 14 to store, for example, the average value of the change in the central activity value of all elements calculated in this way.

Subsequently, at step F46, the control unit 11
Determines whether the average calculated in step F45 is within a preset threshold. When the average value is within the threshold value, the control unit 11 ends a series of steps as the active diffusion process. When the average value is not within the threshold value, the control unit 11 returns to step F42 and performs the above-described series of processes. Perform the process again.

This series of active diffusion processing can be said to be processing for raising the central activity value of an element related (linked) to an element having a high central activity value. However, by performing this activation diffusion only once, when considering the purpose of the index creation processing, among the elements that should be able to raise the central activation value,
In some cases, the central activity value may not be sufficiently raised. For example, in one activation diffusion, for an element directly linked to an element for which the initial value of the central activation value is set high, the central activation value is raised to some extent, but for an element that is not directly linked, it is Even if the element is important as an index, the central activity value may not be sufficiently raised. Therefore, by performing the active diffusion process a plurality of times as necessary based on the determination in step F46, the central activity value can be converged as a whole, and important elements that cannot be increased in the central activity value As much as possible. The reason why the central activity value is converged as a whole in the active diffusion process a plurality of times is that the central active value of each element updated in the active diffusion process is based on the central activity value of each element, and further the active activity diffusion process is performed for each element. This is because the central activity value is updated. However, if such activation diffusion processing is performed too many times, the central activation values of all the elements converge and become almost the same, which is inappropriate.
For this reason, in the processing of steps F45 and F46, the end timing of the active diffusion process is determined based on the change so as to obtain the average value of the change of the central active value, so that the active diffusion suitable for index creation is performed. Will be realized.

When the active diffusion processing as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 (ie, step F31 in FIG. 5) is completed, the controller 1
The process 1 proceeds to step F32 in FIG. In step F32, the control unit 11 determines in step F3
Based on the central activity value of each element obtained in step 1, an element whose central activity value exceeds a preset threshold is extracted. The control unit 11 causes the RAM 14 to store the extracted elements.

Subsequently, in step F33, the control section 11 reads out the elements extracted in step F32, for example, from the RAM 14. Then, the control unit 11 extracts all proper nouns from the extracted elements and adds them to the index. Proper nouns have special properties such as having no meaning and not appearing in dictionaries, and are therefore treated separately from words other than proper nouns. As described above, the word meaning corresponds to each of a plurality of meanings of the word. Whether or not each element is a proper noun can be determined based on a tag attached to the document. For example, in the internal structure by tagging shown in FIG. 3, "A", "B" and "C"
“City” is a proper noun since the related attributes of the tags are “person name”, “organization name”, and “place name”, and the control unit 11 adds the extracted proper noun to the index, and The result is stored in the RAM 14.

In the next step F34, the control unit 1
1 extracts the meanings other than proper nouns from the elements extracted in step F32, adds them to the index, and stores the result in the RAM 14.

By the above processing, for example, an index as in the above specific example is generated. That is, the index finds the features of the tagged document and arranges the features, and the features of the document are determined based on the central activity value diffused according to the internal structure of the document. It will be. Since such an index includes meanings and proper nouns representing features representative of a document, it can be used when referring to a desired document. The index includes, in addition to the meanings and proper nouns representing the characteristics of the document, the document in the RAM 14 (or H
The document address indicating the position stored in DD34) is included.

3-3 Document Browsing / Category Creation / Category Operation The index creation processing described above with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8 is performed in step F12 of FIG. Therefore, FIG.
As for the manual classification processing of step F13 and step F1
The process proceeds to the process of No. 4, that is, the process of browsing and manual classification by the user as described above.

As described above, in step F13 of FIG. 4, the user can browse the document displayed on the display unit 30. In step F14, the user can perform an operation of setting a classification item and an operation of sorting document data into the set classification item. The operations performed in steps F13 and F14,
The corresponding process of the control unit 11 and a display example of the display unit 30 are as follows.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show specific examples of the display on the display unit 30. FIG. First, FIG. 9 is a display example of a document classification window 201 corresponding to a classification model described later in detail. That is, a graphic user interface (graphic user interface) used for displaying a document classification.
GUI). This document classification window 201
The operation button display 202 includes a position reset button 202a for returning a screen window state to an initial position, a browser button 202b for calling a browser (browser) for reading the contents of a document, An exit button 202c is displayed.

The document classification window 301
Document classification areas 203, 204, 205,... Are formed as small windows corresponding to the classification items corresponding to the classification model. The document classification area 203 is an area for displaying “other topics”. The “other topics” document classification area 203 is an area where documents that have not been classified yet are presented. For example, step F in FIG.
Each document received at 11 (that is, a document to be classified) is presented in the "other topics" document classification area 203. The document classification area 204 is an area where documents classified as, for example, “business news” are presented. The document classification area 205 is an area in which documents classified as, for example, “political news” are presented. In addition to these, document classification areas without reference numerals in the figure are areas where documents corresponding to specific classification items are presented.

Each of these document classification areas 203 and 204
.., The documents classified into the classification items (categories) set in the respective document classification areas are presented by the icon of the document and the title of the document. If there is no title, a summary of one sentence is displayed. Also, the size of each of the document classification areas 203, 204,... Is not fixed,
When the user moves the delimiting frames 211, 212, 213,... Separating the document classification areas by a drag operation or the like, the document classification areas 203, 204,.
Can be arbitrarily changed. The user can arbitrarily increase or decrease the number of document classification areas.

Each of the document classification areas 203, 204,.
The title (for example, "political news") can be arbitrarily set and changed by the user. Note that the number of document classification areas and each title correspond to the classification items of the classification model described later. In other words, the user sets or deletes a document classification area or performs a title setting in the classification window 201 by operating the input unit 20 using a mouse, a keyboard, or the like.
The number and title of the classification items of the classification model are set.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a browsing window 301 for a user to browse the contents of document data. For example, the user clicks on a certain document in the classification window 201 of FIG. 9 to select the document, and then clicks the browser button 202b, so that the control unit 11
Opens a browsing window 301 for displaying the selected document as shown in FIG.

In the browsing window 301, a file name display section 3 for displaying the file name of the document data file
02, a document display unit 303 for displaying the document data of the file name, a summary display unit 304 for displaying a summary of the document displayed on the document display unit 303, and a keyword display unit 305 for inputting / displaying a keyword. . As the operation button display 306, a summary creation button 306a for instructing creation of a summary sentence, an undo button 306b for performing an undo operation (operation cancellation), a reading button 306c for executing a reading operation, and the like are displayed. Is done.

In such a browsing window 301,
The user can browse the document displayed on the document display unit 303. If the entire document cannot be displayed, a part of the document is displayed. Of course, you can browse the full text by scrolling. In addition, by clicking the summary creation button 306a, the user can cause a summary sentence for the document displayed on the document display unit 303 to be created and displayed on the summary display unit 304. The process of the control unit 11 for creating the summary sentence will be described later. Further, by clicking the read-aloud button 306c, the user can cause the text or the summary of the document displayed on the document display section 303 to be read aloud. This reading operation will also be described later.

The classification window 201 and the browsing window 301 as described above are displayed on the display unit 20 at any time according to the user's operation, not limited to the manual classification processing in FIG. As for the manual classification process,
The user can confirm the type and content of the received document in the classification window 201 and the browsing window 301. Specifically, one or a plurality of documents received in step F11 in FIG. 4 are subjected to the index creation processing in step F12, and then the classification window 2 shown in FIG.
01 "other topics" document classification area 20
3 is displayed. In this classification window 201,
The user manually classifies each of the documents displayed in the document classification area 203. If, for example, the content is not known only by the title of the document, the user checks the content of the document by using the browsing window 301 in FIG. . The browsing performed as needed by the user in this manner is the process of step F13 in FIG.

In step F14, the user can arbitrarily add, update, or delete a classification item on the classification window 201. In response to the operation, the control unit 11 causes the displayed document classification area 203, 204 ...
・ Change the display mode (number, area, title, etc.). The setting / change of the classification item (title of the document classification area) by the user is reflected in the classification model described later.

After setting the classification items as necessary, the user sorts the documents displayed in the document classification area 203 into the respective document classification areas. That is, the documents are classified manually by the user. Specifically, the icon of the document displayed in the document classification area 203 of “other topics” is dragged to the document classification area corresponding to a desired classification item (category) using, for example, the mouse of the input unit 20. Do it by doing. For example, the user sets a document classification area titled “Sports”, and changes the icon of a sports-related document displayed in the document classification area 203 of “Other topics” to the document classification area of “Sports”. Perform an operation like dragging. The icons and titles of the documents that have been manually classified in this manner are thereafter displayed in the dragged destination document classification area.

3-4 Creation / Registration of Classification Model As described above, when the user performs the manual classification operation, the control unit 11 determines in step F15 in FIG. 4 that the classification model is composed of a plurality of categories based on the user's classification operation. Create That is, the control unit 11 collects indices of the plurality of documents classified into each category and generates a classification model. Then, the plurality of documents are classified into each category of the classification model.

The classification model is composed of a plurality of classification items (categories) for classifying documents. Then, for each category, a data format is provided in which the classified documents are shown.
An index is formed for each document in step F12 and the like, and the classification model is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the data structure is such that the indexes of the documents classified for each category are associated with each other.
In FIG. 11A, the category is “sports”.
“Company”, “Computer”, etc. are set, but these are the classification items set by the user in the classification window 201 as described above. Of course, even if the user does not set, it is set in advance (that is, displayed as a document classification area in the classification window).
There may be categories. Each of the classification items is associated with an index IDX1, IDX2,.
That is, the index of the document classified by the user as described above is associated with each classification item.

The index associated with each classification item is the index of a document displayed in the document classification area of the classification item in the classification window 201. For example, the index IDX1 is associated with the category "sports" because the user creates a document classification area with the title "sports" in the classification window 201, and furthermore, sets the icon of the document of the index IDX1 to "sports". Is manually dragged to a document classification area having a title of "".

As described above, the index of each document includes proper nouns, meanings other than proper nouns, document addresses, and the like. Then, for example, as shown in FIG.
One or a plurality of indices are associated with one classification item. Since the indexes include proper nouns, meanings, document addresses, and the like, the classification model can be represented as shown in FIG. 11B.

That is, as shown in FIG. 11B, the classification model has a structure having columns of proper nouns, meanings other than proper nouns, and document addresses as category indexes corresponding to each category. Then, in the classification model, the proper noun “Mr. A” for each category “sports” “society” “computer” “plant” “art” “event”
... "," Mr. B, ... "," Company C, Company G, ...
"," D type, ... "," Mr. E, ... "and" F
A proper noun such as "Mr." is also assigned.
546), ground (2343), ... "," labor (3112), unique (9821), ... "," mopile (2102), ... "," cherry blossom 1 (11111), orange 1 ( 9911) "," Sakura 2 (11112), Orange 2 (9912) ", and" Sakura 3 (11113) "are also assigned to each category. Further, the document addresses" SP1, SP2, SP3,... " “S01,
S02, S03,... "," CO1, CO2, CO
3, ... "," PL1, PL2, PL3, ... ",
"AR1, AR2, AR3, ..." and "EV1,
EV2, EV3,... "Are also assigned to each category.

Note that "Sakura 1", "Sakura 2" and "Sakura 3"
The first meaning (11111) and the second meaning (1111)
112) and the third meaning (11113). “Orange 1” and “Orange 2” indicate the first meaning (9911) and the second meaning (9912) of “orange”. For example, "orange 1" represents a plant orange, and "orange 2" represents an orange color. The reason that the meaning is used instead of the word itself in cases other than proper nouns is that the same word may have a plurality of meanings.

In step F15 in FIG. 4, for example, such a classification model is generated according to the manual classification operation by the user. Then, the classification model is registered as Step F16,
That is, it is recorded in the RAM 15 (or the HDD 34). The generation / registration of the classification model in this way means that the classification of the document has been performed.

Note that step F in FIG.
After the creation / registration of the classification model is performed as F15 and F16, the classification model is sequentially updated in accordance with automatic classification processing described later, editing of a classification item by a user, or manual classification operation. Become. When the classification model is updated, the update date and time are recorded in the classification model. FIG. 11 shows that the update date and time “19:05 on December 10, 1998
6 minutes and 10 seconds "are recorded.

4. 4. Automatic Classification Processing for Document Data 4-1 Processing Procedure In the document processing apparatus 1 of the present example, after the classification model is once created as described above, for example, the document data taken in from the outside by the communication unit 21 is automatically converted. The automatic classification process of classifying into is possible. That is, the automatic classification process described below is a process of, when the document processing apparatus 1 receives document data sent from the outside, classifying the document data with respect to a classification model. In this example, the automatic classification process described below may be performed each time one document is received, or may be performed each time a plurality of predetermined documents are received. The automatic classification process may be performed on all the documents received so far when the operation of opening is performed.

FIG. 12 shows the entire processing procedure as the automatic classification processing. Step F21 in FIG. 12 illustrates a document receiving process by the receiving unit 21 of the document processing apparatus 1. In this step F21, the receiving section 21 receives one or a plurality of documents transmitted via a communication line, for example. The receiving unit 21 sends the received document to the main body 10 of the document processing device. The control unit 11 stores the supplied document data or document data in the RAM 14 or the HDD 34.

Subsequently, the process proceeds to step F22, where the control unit 11
Creates an index for the document taken in step F21.

In step F23, the control unit 11 converts each indexed document based on the classification model into
Automatic classification into one of the categories of the classification model. Then, the control unit 11 causes the RAM 14 to store the result of the classification, for example. Details of the automatic classification will be described later.

In step F24, the control unit 11 updates the classification model based on the result of the automatic classification of the new document in step F23. Then, in step F25, the control unit 11 registers the classification model updated in step F24. For example, the classification model is stored in the RAM 14.

By the above-described processing of FIG. 12, automatic classification processing is performed so that the document data input to the document processing state 1 is classified on the classification model. That is, in this automatic classification process, an index is created for the received document, and after the automatic classification is performed, proper nouns, meanings,
The document address and the like are associated with a certain category on the classification model as shown in FIG. 11 (the classification model is updated).

The processes in steps F21 and F22 are the same as steps F11 and F12 in the above-described manual classification process. That is, as the index creation processing in step F22, the processing described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8 is performed, and a repeated description thereof will be omitted. The update of the classification model in step F24 depends on the classification result of the automatic classification in step F23. Hereinafter, automatic classification in step F23 will be described in detail as processing different from the above-described manual classification processing.

4-2 Automatic Classification FIG. 13 shows the detailed processing of the automatic classification in step F23 in FIG. In step F61 of FIG.
Defines the number of intersections of the set of proper nouns included in the category Ci of the classification model and the set of proper nouns among the words extracted from the document received in step F21 and put into the index by P ( Ci). Then, the control unit 11 calculates the number P (Ci) thus calculated.
Is stored in the RAM 14.

In step F62, the control unit 11
Refers to the degree of association between all meanings included in the index of the document and all the meanings included in each category Ci by referring to the table of association between meanings shown in FIG. The total sum R (Ci) of the degrees is calculated. That is, the control unit 11 calculates the total sum R (Ci) of the degrees of association between all the meanings of words other than the proper noun in the classification model. The control unit 11 then calculates the total sum R (C
i) is stored in the RAM 14.

Here, the degree of association between meanings will be described. The degree of association between meanings may be calculated in advance for the meanings included in the electronic dictionary included in the document processing apparatus 1 by the processing in FIG. 14 and the result may be stored as shown in FIG. That is, if the control unit 11 executes the process of FIG. 14 once in advance, it can be used in the automatic classification process of FIG.

The processing of FIG. 15 which is executed in advance by the control unit 11 is as follows. First, in step F71, the control unit 11 uses the description of the meaning of a word in the electronic dictionary and creates a meaning network using this dictionary. That is, a meaning network is created from the reference relation between the explanation of each meaning in the dictionary and the meaning appearing in the explanation.
The internal structure of the network is described by tagging as described above. For example, the control unit 11 of the document processing apparatus sequentially reads meanings and descriptions of the electronic dictionary stored in the RAM 14 and creates a network. The control unit 14 causes the RAM 14 to store the meaning network created in this manner.

The above network is not only created by the control unit 11 of the document processing apparatus using a dictionary, but also by the receiving unit 21.
The recording / reproducing section 31 reproduces the data received from the outside from the recording medium 32. Further, the electronic dictionary can be obtained by receiving from the outside by the receiving unit 21 or by reproducing from the recording medium 32 by the recording / reproducing unit 31.

In Step F72, Step F7
The central activity value corresponding to each semantic element is spread on the semantic network created in step 1. By this activity diffusion, the central activity value corresponding to each meaning is given according to the internal structure by tagging given by the dictionary. The diffusion processing of the central activity value is the processing described with reference to FIG.

In Step F73, Step F7
One semantic Si constituting the semantic network created in 1 is selected, and in the subsequent step F74,
The initial value of the central activity value ei of the vocabulary element Ei corresponding to this meaning Si is changed, and the difference △ ei of the central activity value at this time is calculated.

Further, in step F75, a difference Δej of the central activation value ej of the element Ej corresponding to another meaning Sj corresponding to the difference Δei of the central activation value ei of the element Ei in step F74 is determined. In step F76, the difference Δe obtained in step F75
quotient ｊej obtained by dividing j by △ ei obtained in step F74
/ △ ei is the degree of association between meanings of the meaning Si with respect to the meaning sj.

In step F77, one meaning Si
It is determined whether or not the calculation of the degree of association between meanings has been completed for all pairs of the word and another meaning Sj. When the calculation of the relevance between meanings is not completed for all pairs of meanings, the process returns to step F73, and the calculation of the relevance between meanings is continued for the pairs for which the calculation of the relevance is not completed. In the loop from step F73 to step F77, the control unit 11 sets a necessary value to, for example, RA
M14 is sequentially read out, and the degree of association between meanings is calculated as described above. The control unit 11 causes the RAM 14 to sequentially store the calculated meaning-to-sense associations, for example. Then, when the calculation of the degree of inter-word meaning is completed for all the word-sense pairs, this series of processing is ended from step F77.

The calculation of the degree of association between meanings is performed by a certain one.
It can be said that, when the central activity value of one meaning is changed, the meaning in which the central activity value changes along with the meaning has a high degree of relevance. That is, if the central activity value of a certain meaning is changed in step F74, the central activity value of the related (linked) meaning changes accordingly, and if the degree of the change is examined, a certain meaning is obtained. The degree of relevance of each other meaning with respect to is understood. (The center activity value of a certain element Ei reflects the center activity value and the endpoint activity value of the linked element as described in the above description of activity diffusion, and the element Ei endpoint activity value is updated. In addition, since it is obtained from the sum of the end point activity value of the element Ei and the current center activity value, the larger the degree of association with the link destination is, the larger the change amount of the center activity value is.) By performing the processing for all other meanings, it is possible to calculate the degree of association for all pairs (combinations) of meanings.

The calculated degree of association between meanings is defined between each meaning as shown in FIG. In the table of FIG. 15, the degree of association between meanings is normalized to take a value from 0 to 1. In this table, as an example, the degree of inter-semantic association between “computer”, “television”, and “VTR” is shown. The relevance between meanings of "computer" and "television" is 0.55, the relevance between meanings of "computer" and "VTR" is 0.25, and the relevance between meanings of "television" and "VTR" is 0.60. It is.

When the processing in step F62 in FIG. 13 is performed using the degree of association between the meanings calculated in advance as described above, the control unit 11 subsequently proceeds to step F63, where the inter-document classification for the category Ci is performed. Relevance Rel (C
i) is calculated as Rel (Ci) = m1P (Ci) + n1R (Ci). Here, the coefficients m1 and n1 are constants and represent the degree of contribution of the respective values to the inter-document-class relevance. The control unit 11 performs the calculation of the above expression using the number P (Ci) of common sets calculated in step F61 and the sum R (Ci) of the degree of association between meanings calculated in step F62, and calculates the degree of association between document classifications. Calculate Rel (Ci). The control unit 11 causes the RAM 14 to store the thus calculated inter-document-class relevance Rel (Ci).

The values of these coefficients m1 and n1 can be, for example, m1 = 10 and n1 = 1. The values of the coefficients m1 and n1 can also be estimated using a statistical method. That is, the control unit 11 determines the degree of association Rel between document classifications for a plurality of pairs of coefficients m and n.
Given (Ci), the coefficient can be obtained by optimization.

In Step F64, the control unit 11
Is the document class relevance Rel (C
When i) is the largest and the value of the degree of association Rel (Ci) between the document classifications exceeds a certain threshold, the documents are classified into the category Ci. That is, the control unit 11 creates the inter-document-class relevance for each of the plurality of categories, and when the maximum inter-document-class relevance exceeds the cabinet value, the control unit 11 assigns the document with the maximum inter-document-class relevance. Classify into category Ci. As a result, the document is automatically classified into a required category. If the maximum degree of association between document classifications does not exceed the threshold value, no document classification is performed.

The processing shown in FIG.
If the automatic classification in step F23 is performed,
The series of automatic classification is completed by updating and registering the classification model accordingly at 24 and F25. That is, the document data received by the document processing apparatus 1 is automatically classified, and the user can confirm the received document data in a required document classification area, for example, in the classification window 201 of FIG. Become.

5. Summary Creation Processing Next, processing for creating a summary sentence for document data will be described. As described above, the user can browse the text of the document by selecting the document and opening the browse window 301 as shown in FIG. For example, the viewing window 301 can be opened from the classification window 201 described with reference to FIG.

For example, when a browser button 202b is clicked while a certain document is selected in the classification window 201, a browsing window 301 in which the text of the selected document is displayed in the document display unit 303 as shown in FIG.
Is opened. When the entire text of the document cannot be displayed on the document display unit 303, a part of the document is displayed. At the time when the summary sentence has not been created, the summary display section 304 is blank as shown in FIG.

When the user clicks the summary creation button 306a in the browsing window 301, the document display unit 30
A summary sentence for the document displayed in 3 is created,
It is displayed on the summary display section 304 as shown in FIG. That is, the control unit 11 responds to the user's summary creation operation by
A summary sentence creation process as described below is performed, and after creation, control for displaying the summary sentence is performed. The process of creating an abstract from a document is performed based on the internal structure of the document by tagging. The summary sentence is generated according to the size of the summary display unit 304. The area of the text display unit 303 and the summary display unit 304 can be changed by moving the partition frame 312 by the user. In other words, the summary sentence is created in a size (document length) according to the size of the summary display unit 304 at the time when the summary creation is instructed.

FIG. 1 shows a summary creation process of the control unit 11, which is started when the summary creation button 306a is clicked.
FIG.

At step F81 of FIG.
Performs active diffusion. In this example, by adopting the central activity value obtained by the active diffusion as the importance,
Summarizes the document. That is, in a document given an internal structure by tagging, by performing active diffusion, a central activation value corresponding to the internal structure by tagging can be given to each element. The active diffusion process performed in step F81 is the same process as that described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8, but the active diffusion is performed as described above.
This is a process of giving a high central activity value to an element related to an element having a high central activity value. That is, the active diffusion is an operation on the central activity value such that the central activity value is equal between the anaphor (co-reference) expression and its antecedent, and the central activity value attenuates otherwise. Since the central activity value is determined according to the internal structure by tagging, it can be used for analyzing a document in consideration of the internal structure by tagging.

Next, at step F82, the control unit 11
The size of the summary display section 304 of the browsing window 301 displayed on the display section 30, specifically, the summary display section 3
The maximum number of characters that can be displayed in 04 is set as ws. Further, the control unit 11 initializes a summary character string (an internal register holding a summary sentence) and sets an initial value s (0) = “”. The control unit 11 sets the maximum number of characters w
The s and the initial value s (0) of the character string s are recorded in the RAM 14.

In step F83, the control section 11 sets the count value i of a counter for counting the sequential creation of the skeleton of the digest to "1". Then, in step F84, the control unit 11 extracts a skeleton of a sentence having the ith highest average central activity value from the sentence based on the count value i of the counter. The average central activity value is the average of the central activity values of the elements constituting one sentence. Control unit 11
Is, for example, a character string s (i-1) recorded in the RAM 14.
Is read out, and the character string of the skeleton of the extracted sentence is added to this character string s (i-1) to obtain S (i). Then, the control unit 11 converts the character string s (i) thus obtained into R
Record in AM14. In the first time, since the character string s (i-1) has the initial value s (0), the skeleton of the sentence extracted this time is stored in the RAM 14 as the character string S (i).
When the process of step F84 is performed thereafter, the skeleton of the extracted sentence is changed to the character string S (i), and the character string S (i) up to that point (that is, the character string S (i-
1)). At the same time, the control unit 11 determines in this step F84 a list L (i) of the elements not included in the skeleton of the sentence in the order of the central activation value.
And the list L (i) is recorded in the RAM 14.

That is, in step F84, the summarization algorithm uses the result of activity diffusion to
The sentences are selected in descending order of the average central activity value, and the skeleton of the selected sentence is extracted. The skeleton of a sentence is composed of essential elements extracted from the sentence. Required elements can be the head of the element, the subject, the object (obj
ect), indirect object, owner (poss
An element having a relationship attribute of essor, cause, condition, or comparison, and an element directly included when the coordination structure is an essential element, constitute an essential element. Then, by connecting the essential elements of the sentence, a skeleton of the sentence is generated and added to the summary.

In step F85, the control section 11 determines whether or not the length of the character string s (i) is larger than the maximum number of characters ws of the summary display section 104 of the browsing window 301. This step F85 is a determination process for creating a summary sentence according to the size of the summary display unit 304.

If the length of the character string s (i) has not reached the maximum number of characters ws, the control unit 11 executes the processing in step F
Proceed to 86. In step F86, the control unit 11 determines in the document the central activity value of the element of the sentence having the (i + 1) -th highest average central activity value and the highest central activity value of the list L (i) created in step F84. Compare the central activity values of the elements. That is, a sentence having the second highest average central activity value after the sentence adopted as the summary in step F84 (that is, a sentence which is a candidate to be added to the next summary sentence) and a sentence adopted as the summary in step F84 The central activity values of elements excluded from the summary as not scaffolds are compared.

In the process of step F86, the part to be added next to the character string as the summary sentence is set in the immediately preceding step F86.
In the sentence adopted in S84, the process is to determine whether to select from those not adopted as a skeleton or to select from other sentences.

The list L is higher than the central activity value of the element in the (i + 1) -th sentence having the highest average central activity value.
In the case where the highest central activity value in (i) is a higher central activity value, the portion to be added next to the character string as the summary sentence is set as the skeleton in the sentence adopted in the immediately preceding step F84. Try to choose from those that have not been adopted. For this reason, the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step F88, in which the element having the highest central activity value in the list L (i) is stored in the character string S (i) stored at that time.
And a character string SS (i). At this time, the element added to the character string SS (i) is deleted from the list L (i). Then, in a step F89, the character string S
It is determined whether S (i) is greater than the maximum number of characters ws. If not, the process returns to step F86.

In step F86, if the (i + 1) -th element having the highest central activity value is higher than the highest central activity value in the list L (i), the summary sentence The part to be added next to the character string as is selected from a sentence different from the sentence adopted in step F84 immediately before that step F87.
, The count value i is incremented, and the process returns to step F84. That is, in step F86, (i + 1)
For the sentence having the second highest average central activity value, the skeleton is extracted in step F84 and added to the character string S (i).

As described above, in step F84 or step F88, while adding elements to the character string based on the element having the higher central activation value as the element or other element serving as the skeleton of the sentence in step F84 or step F88,
9, the character string S (i) or SS (i) is converted to the maximum number of characters ws
By comparing with, a character string close to the maximum number of characters ws but not exceeding the maximum number of characters ws is created.

For example, if the character string S (i) exceeds the maximum number of characters ws in step F85, the processing of the control unit 11 proceeds to step F90, and the character string S (i- 1) is a summary sentence. In other words, this means that the maximum number of characters ws has been exceeded by adding the skeleton of the sentence in step F84.
The character string S (i-1) before adding the skeleton is determined to be a character string that is close to the maximum number of characters ws but does not exceed the maximum number of characters ws, and is used as a summary sentence.

If the character string S (i) exceeds the maximum number of characters ws at step F85 when the character string S (i) is first generated at step F (i = 1) at step F85, Since the character string S (i-1) becomes the character string S (0) as the initial value set in step F82, a summary sentence could not be created substantially. This is because the size of the summary display unit 304 is too small.
The user may enlarge the area of the summary display unit 304 on the screen, and then click the summary creation button 306a again to start the processing in FIG.

If it is determined in step F85 that the character string S (i) does not exceed the maximum number of characters ws, as described above, the control unit 1
The process of step 1 proceeds to step F86, where a portion to be added to the next character string is determined. When the process proceeds to step F88 as described above, the character string SSi is
s is determined. Here, if the character string SSi exceeds the maximum number of characters ws, the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step F91, and the character string S (i) before adding a certain element in the immediately preceding step F88 is used as a summary sentence. Will be. In other words, this means that the maximum number of characters ws has been exceeded by adding an element in step F88.
It is determined that (i) is a character string that is close to the maximum number of characters ws but does not exceed the maximum number of characters ws, and is used as a summary sentence.

By the above processing, a summary sentence suitable for the size of the summary display unit 304 at that time is created. The contents of the summary sentence include the skeleton of one or more sentences having a high average central activity value and elements having a high central activity value other than the skeleton. The summary sentence thus created is stored in the RAM 14 and displayed on the summary display unit 304 as shown in FIG.

When the user looks at the displayed summary and wants to see a more detailed summary, or wants to see a shorter summary, the viewing window 30 is displayed.
After increasing or decreasing the size (area) of the first summary display unit 304, the user may click the summary creation button 306a again. Then, a summary having a document length corresponding to the size of the summary display unit 304 at that time is created and displayed by the processing of FIG. 18 described above.

6. Read-aloud processing When the document processing apparatus 1 receives a document tagged as described above, the document processing apparatus 1 can display the body and the summary sentence to the user, and can also present the received document to the user by voice. . That is, the ROM 13
5 or an electronic document processing program recorded in the HDD 34 to activate a speech reading program,
The document can be read aloud through a series of steps as shown in FIG. First, here, a simplified description of each step is given, and thereafter, each step is explained in detail using a specific document example.

As the processing of the control section 11, step F101 in FIG. 19 is the same document receiving / storing processing as step F11 in FIG. 4 (or step F21 in FIG. 12). As described above, the received document (tagged document) is subjected to manual or automatic classification processing. Similarly, in step S101, FIG. It is written. Here, the order of the classification process and the reading process and the like are not particularly defined as the processing procedure.

It should be noted that a document (reception document) to be subjected to the text-to-speech process needs to be provided with a tag necessary for performing speech synthesis, as described later. However, after receiving the tagged text, the document processing apparatus 1 can also create a document by newly adding a tag necessary for performing speech synthesis to the document. Hereinafter, the tagged document prepared by receiving or creating in this manner is referred to as a tag file.

In the document reading process of the document processing apparatus 1, a reading file is generated based on the tag file under the control of the CPU 13 in step F102. As will be described later, the reading file is generated by deriving attribute information for reading from a tag in the tag file and embedding the attribute information.

Subsequently, in step F103, under the control of the CPU 13, the document processing apparatus 1 performs a process suitable for the speech synthesis engine using the reading file.
The speech synthesis engine may be configured by hardware or may be realized by software. When the speech synthesis engine is realized by software, the application program is stored in the ROM 15 or the HDD 34 in advance.

Subsequently, the document processing apparatus 1 proceeds to step F104.
In, processing is performed according to an operation performed by a user using a user interface described later. Document processing device 1
Can read out a given document by performing such processing. Each of these steps will be described in detail below.

First, reception or creation of a tagged document in step F101 will be described. The document processing apparatus 1 receives, for example, a document (a document to which a tag required for performing speech synthesis has already been added) from the communication unit 21. Alternatively, the document processing apparatus 1 receives a tagged document, and newly adds a tag necessary for performing speech synthesis to the document to create the document.

As an illustrative example, it is assumed that the following tag file in which Japanese and English documents are tagged is received or created.

First, a Japanese document serving as a source of a tag file is as follows. "[Nice aging] / 8 cancer metastases can be suppressed! Cancer has been the leading cause of death in Japan for more than a decade.
Reed mortality is increasing with age. When thinking about the health of the elderly, you cannot avoid cancer.
Characterizing cancer is cell proliferation and metastasis. There are two types of human cells: "cancer genes", which act as accelerators in automobiles and rapidly grow cancer, and "cancer suppressing genes" that act as brakes. There is no problem if both are balanced. Loss of normal regulatory function and nonbreaking mutations in the cell initiate cancer growth. In the elderly, the mutation accumulates over the years, increasing the proportion of cells with cancerous conditions, leading to more cancers. By the way, without the other characteristic, metastasis, cancer doesn't have to be so afraid. This is because a complete cure is possible just by resection. Here is the importance of suppressing metastasis. This metastasis does not occur simply by increasing the number of cancer cells. Cancer cells dissolve proteins (proteins) between cells, create their own way, and enter blood vessels and lymph vessels. In recent years, it has been elucidated that complicated movements such as searching for a new “dwelling house” while circulating are performed. "

The following is an example of an English document serving as a tag file: "During its centennial year, The Wall Street Jour"
nal will report events of the past century that st
and as milestones of American business history.TH
REE COMPUTERS THAT CHANGED the face of personal co
mputing were Iaunched in 1977. That year the Apple
II, Commodore Pet and Tendy TRS came to market.T
he computers were crude by today's standerds.Appl
e ll owners, for example, had to use their televisi
on sets as screens and storeddata on audiocassette
s. "

When the document processing apparatus 1 receives a document with a tag attached to such a Japanese or English document,
As described with reference to FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 and the like, it is possible to display the main text or create and display a summary sentence.

Here, the above-mentioned Japanese or English documents are each constituted as a tag file as shown in FIG. 21 or FIG. As a tag file of a Japanese document, FIG. 21 (a) shows an excerpt of the heading “[nicely aging] / 8 cancer metastasis, suppressed !?”, and FIG. 21 (b) It shows an excerpt from the last paragraph in the document, "This metastasis, cancer cells are being elucidated in recent years." The remaining paragraphs have been omitted. It should be noted that the actual tag file is composed of one file from the heading to the last paragraph.

In the heading shown in FIG.
The tag <heading> indicates that this part is a heading. The tag files shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B are basically attached with tags in the same manner as the tag file example used when the document data structure was described with reference to FIG. Although a detailed description of each of the above-described tags is omitted, tags required for performing speech synthesis are added to required locations.

For example, as a tag necessary for performing speech synthesis, first, as shown in the portion of “Example 1” in the figure,
Some are given when information indicating a reading pseudonym is given to the original document, such as “protein”.
In other words, in this case, the pronunciation = “nul
Reading attribute information “l” is described, and a tag for prohibiting partial reading of “(tanpaku)” is added. Also, the tags required to perform speech synthesis include:
As shown in the "Example 2" and "Example 3" in the figure, technical terms such as "lymphatic vessels" and difficult-to-read parts such as "dwelling house" that may be read aloud incorrectly There is. In other words, in this case, "Rinpakuda" or "Sumie"
In order to prevent the pronunciation from being read out, pronunciation attribute information indicating the pronunciation pseudonym of pronunciation = “Rinkan” and pronunciation = “Sumika” is described.

On the other hand, as a tag necessary for performing speech synthesis in the tag file shown in FIG. 22, as shown in a portion shown as “Example 4” in the figure, for the Roman numeral “II”, the pronunciation = “ Two ”reading attribute information is described. This is described in order to prevent "II" from being read out as "second" when it is desired to be read out as "two".

If a citation is included in a document, for example, such a tag file includes
A tag indicating that the sentence is a quote is attached. Further, when there is a question sentence in the document, for example, a tag indicating that the sentence is a question sentence is added to the tag file, though not shown.

In step F101 shown in FIG. 19, the document processing apparatus 1 receives or creates a document to which a tag necessary for performing speech synthesis has been added, for example, as in the above example. .

Next, the generation of a reading file in step F102 of FIG. 19 will be described. The document processing device 1 derives attribute information for reading out from a tag in the tag file, and generates a reading-out file by embedding the attribute information. Specifically, the document processing apparatus 1 finds tags indicating the beginning of a paragraph, a sentence, or a phrase of a document, and embeds attribute information for reading aloud in correspondence with these tags. When the document processing apparatus prepares the summary of the document, the head of the part included in the summary is found from the document, and the attribute information for increasing the volume at the time of reading out is embedded. Can be emphasized.

The document processing apparatus 1 generates a reading file as shown in FIG. 23 or 24 from the tag file shown in FIG. 21 or FIG. FIG. 23 (a)
(B) corresponds to the portion shown in FIGS. 21 (a) and (b). It goes without saying that the actual reading file is composed of one file from the above-mentioned heading portion to the last paragraph.

In the read-out file shown in FIG. 23, attribute information Com = Lang *** is embedded corresponding to the head of the document. This attribute information indicates the language describing the document. Here, the attribute information is Com = Lang = JPN, indicating that the language describing the document is Japanese. In the document processing apparatus, by referring to the attribute information, it is possible to select an appropriate speech synthesis engine corresponding to the language for each document.

In addition, attribute information such as Com = begin_p, Com = begin_s, and Com = begin_ph is embedded in this reading file at various places. These pieces of attribute information indicate the beginnings of paragraphs, sentences, and phrases of the document, respectively. The document processing device 1 identifies the beginning of these paragraphs, sentences, and phrases based on the tags in the tag file described above. In the reading file, for example, portions where tags representing syntactic structures of the same level appear continuously, such as <adjective verb phrase><nounphrase> in the above-described tag file, correspond to each. Without the number Com = begin_ph being embedded,
It is put together and one Com = begin_ph is embedded.

Further, the read-out file includes Com = be
Attribute information of Pau = 500, Pau = 100, and Pau = 50 is embedded corresponding to gin_p, Com = begin_s, and Com = begin_ph, respectively. These pieces of attribute information indicate that pause periods of 500 ms, 100 ms, and 50 ms are provided for reading out. That is, the document processing apparatus 1 provides pauses of 500 ms, 100 ms, and 50 ms at the beginning of a paragraph, a sentence, and a phrase of a sentence, respectively, so that the document is read out by the speech synthesis engine. Information. Note that these pieces of attribute information are embedded corresponding to Com = begin_p, Com = begin_s, and Com = begin_ph. Therefore, for example, a portion where tags representing the same level of syntactic structure appear continuously, such as <adverb phrase><nounphrase> in the tag file, is regarded as one phrase, and the corresponding number of Pau = One Pau = 50 is embedded together without being embedded. Also,
For example, Pau = *** is embedded in portions where tags representing different levels of syntactic structure appear continuously, such as <paragraph><sentence><nounphrase> in the tag file. Therefore, when reading out such a portion, the document processing apparatus 1 provides a pause period of 650 milliseconds obtained by adding the pause periods of the paragraphs, sentences, and phrases of the document, for example. in this way,
By providing a pause period corresponding to a paragraph, a sentence, and a phrase, the document processing apparatus 1 can perform reading without discomfort in consideration of a break between the paragraph, the sentence, and the phrase. This pause period does not need to be 600 ms, 100 ms, and 50 ms at the beginning of the paragraph, sentence, and phrase of the document, respectively, and can be changed as appropriate.

Further, in the reading-out file, “(protein)” is removed and the pronunciation = “rin” corresponding to the pronunciation attribute information of pronunciation = “null” described in the tag file. According to the reading attribute information of "kan" and pronunciation = "Sumika", "lymphatic vessels"
"Dwellers" are "Rinkan" and "Sumika", respectively.
Has been replaced by By embedding such reading attribute information, the document processing device 1 prevents reading errors due to inadequate dictionaries referenced by the speech synthesis engine.

In the reading file, attribute information for designating only this quotation to use another speech synthesis engine based on a tag indicating that the quotation is included in the document is included. It may be embedded. Further, attribute information for raising the intonation of the ending of the sentence may be embedded in the reading-out file based on a tag indicating that the sentence is a question sentence. Furthermore, in the reading-out file, if necessary, attribute information for converting a so-called "Dama-tona" style to a "Dama-tona" style can be embedded. In this case, instead of embedding such attribute information in the reading-out file, the document processing apparatus 1 converts the style of "Dana-tona" into the style of "Dan-Ma-tona" and converts the speech reading-out file. You may make it generate | occur | produce.

On the other hand, in the reading file shown in FIG. 24, attribute information of Com = Lang = ENG is embedded corresponding to the head of the document, indicating that the language describing the document is English. ing. The attribute information of Com = Vol = *** is embedded in the file for reading out.
This attribute information indicates the volume at the time of reading. For example,
Com = Vol = 0 indicates that the text is read out at the default volume of the document processing apparatus. Com = Vol = 80 indicates that the default volume is read out at a volume increased by 80%. Any Com = Vol = *** is valid until the next Com = Vol = ***. Further, in the reading file, "II" is replaced by "two" in accordance with the reading attribute information of pronunciation = "two" described in the tag file.

The document processing apparatus 1 generates such a reading file through a series of steps shown in FIG. First, the document processing apparatus 1 executes step F201.
The CPU 13 analyzes the received or created tag file. Here, the document processing apparatus 1 determines the language in which the document is described, and searches for the head of the paragraph, sentence, and phrase of the document, and the reading attribute information based on the tag. Subsequently, in step F202, the document processing apparatus 1 embeds attribute information Com = Lang = *** at the head of the document by the CPU 13 in accordance with the language in which the document is described.

Next, the document processing apparatus 1 executes step F203.
, The CPU 13 replaces the head of the paragraph, sentence and phrase of the document with the attribute information in the reading file. That is, the document processing apparatus 1 replaces <paragraph>, <sentence>, and <*** phrase> in the tag file with Com = begi
Replace with n_p, Com = begin_s and Com = begin_ph.

Further, the document processing apparatus 1 executes step F20.
In 4, the same level of syntactic structure appears by the CPU 13 and the same Com = begin _ ***
Combine into one Com = begin _ ***. Subsequently, in step F205, the document processing apparatus 1 embeds Pau = *** in correspondence with Com = begin _ *** by the CPU 13. That is, the document processing apparatus 1 embeds Pau = 500 before Com = begin_p, embeds Pau = 100 before Com = begin_s,
Embed Pau = 50 before gin_ph. And the document processing device 1
Is determined by the CPU 13 in step F206.
Replace with correct reading based on reading attribute information. That is, the document processing apparatus 1 removes “(protein)” based on the pronunciation attribute information “pronunciation =“ null ”, and based on the pronunciation attribute information“ pronunciation = “Rinkan” and pronunciation = “Sumika”. "Lymphatic vessels", "houses"
Substitute “Rinkan” and “Sumika”, respectively.

In step F102 shown in FIG. 19, the document processing apparatus 1 automatically generates a reading file by performing the processing shown in FIG. The document processing device 1 causes the RAM 14 to store the generated reading file.

Next, the processing using the reading file in step F103 of FIG. 19 will be described.
The document processing device 1 uses the read-out file to
Under the control of the CPU 13, processing suitable for the speech synthesis engine stored in advance in the M15, the HDD 34, or the like is performed.
Specifically, the document processing apparatus 1 selects a speech synthesis engine to be used based on the attribute information of Com = Lang = *** embedded in the reading file. The speech synthesis engine is provided with an identifier according to the type of language or male / female voice, and the information is recorded in the HDD 34 as, for example, an initialization file. The document processing device 1 refers to the initialization file and selects a speech synthesis engine having an identifier corresponding to the language. .

Further, the document processing apparatus 1 converts Com = begin _ *** embedded in the file for reading out into a format suitable for the speech synthesis engine. For example, the document processing device 1
Mark Com = begin_ph with a number in the 10000s, such as Mark = 10000. Also mark Com = begin_s with a number in the 1000s, such as Mark = 1000, and Com = begin_p
Is marked with a number in the 100s, such as Mark = 100. This means that the heads of <phrase>, <sentence>, and <paragraph> are indicated by numbers in the 10000s, 1000s, and 100s, respectively.
The head of <sentence> and <paragraph> can be identified. Furthermore, in the reading file, the volume attribute information is
Since the volume is represented by the default volume percentage such as Voll = ***, the document processing apparatus 1 converts the percentage information into absolute value information based on the attribute information and obtains the absolute value information.

In step F103 shown in FIG. 19, the document processing apparatus 1 performs processing using such a file for reading out, so that the text-to-speech file can be read out by the speech synthesis engine. Format.

Next, the operation using the user interface in step F104 of FIG. 19 will be described. The document processing device 1 activates the speech synthesis engine when the user operates the mouse or the like of the input unit 20 and clicks on the reading button 306c shown in FIG. 16 or FIG. Then, the document processing apparatus 1
A reading window 401 for a user interface as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display unit 30.

[0169] As shown in the figure, the readout window 401 has a play button 42 for reading out a document.
0 and a stop button 421 for stopping reading out
And pause button 4 to pause reading aloud
22. In addition, the reading window 401
Are a cue button 411, a fast rewind button 412, and a fast forward button 413 for cueing, fast rewinding, and fast forwarding in sentence units, a cueing button 414 for cueing, fast rewinding, and fast forwarding in paragraph units, and a fast rewinding button. A button 415 and a fast forward button 416, and a cue button 417 and a fast reverse button 4 for cueing, fast rewinding, and fast forwarding in phrase units
18 and a fast forward button 419.

Further, the reading window 401 is provided with a selection switch 4 for selecting whether to read the whole sentence or the summary sentence created as described above.
23,424. Further, an image display area 403 for displaying an image at the time of reading is set, and an image of a person who is reading is displayed, and a telop display area 402 is displayed.
Is provided so that characters can be displayed in a telop corresponding to the reading voice.

Although not shown here, for example, there are buttons for increasing and decreasing the voice, buttons for increasing and decreasing the reading speed, and buttons for changing the voice such as male / female voice. Is also good.

The document processing apparatus 1 performs a reading operation by the speech synthesis engine in response to the user clicking / selecting these various buttons / switches by operating, for example, the mouse of the input unit 20 or the like. For example, the document processing device 1
Starts reading the document by clicking the play button 420 by the user. Specifically, the control unit 1
1 supplies the audio signal generated by the audio synthesis processing to the audio output unit 33 and outputs it as audio. In addition, the document processing apparatus 1 stops or pauses the reading process when the stop button 421 and the pause button 422 are clicked.

Further, when the user presses the cue button 411 during the reading, the user jumps to the head of the currently read sentence and reads the sentence again. Cue button 4
In the same manner, for 14 and 417, the program jumps to the beginning of the currently read paragraph or phrase, and is read again. The control unit 11 controls the cue buttons 411, 414,
Regarding the operation 417, the jump destination is recognized by the above-mentioned marking. In other words, when the cue button 411 relating to a sentence is operated, the control unit 11 traces the sentence back from the middle position of the sentence currently being read out.
Search for 000's mark. When a mark in the 1000's range is detected, reading out is resumed from there. In the case of paragraphs and phrases,
Reading is resumed by looking for a mark in the 10000s range. By such processing, for example, it is possible to respond to a request that a user wants to repeatedly reproduce a desired portion in a document.

The document processing device 1 executes the processing in step F1 in FIG.
At 04, in response to the user performing an operation using the user interface in the reading window 401, the text-to-speech engine reads the document. In this manner, the document processing apparatus 1 can read out a desired document by the speech synthesis engine without any discomfort.

By the way, the document to be read out may be the body of the document data or an abstract. The text or the summary is selected by clicking the selection switches 423 and 424. In any case, the tag file as the text or the summary is read in step F of FIG.
By performing the processing of steps 102 and F103, the text-to-speech reading by the speech synthesis engine becomes possible.

In this example, the reading file is generated from the received or created tag file.
Instead of generating such a reading file, reading may be directly performed based on the tag file.
In this case, after receiving or creating the tag file, the document processing device 1 uses a speech synthesis engine and, based on tags indicating paragraphs, sentences, and phrases attached to the tag file,
A certain pause is provided at the beginning of a paragraph, sentence or phrase to read out. By doing so, the document processing device 1
Can be read directly based on the tag file without generating a voice reading file.

[0177] 7. Speech Processing According to Displayed Summary Size Next, a description will be given of a speech processing according to the displayed summary size, which is realized by the document processing apparatus of this example. As described above, in the case of this example, a summary can be displayed on the summary display 304 of the browsing window 301, and the summary can be arbitrarily changed by the user.
The document is generated and displayed with a document length corresponding to the size of the document 04. As described above, this allows the user to specify the size of the summary sentence.However, when the user wants to make other displays such as the text wider, or when other windows are displayed at the same time, In some cases, the size of the summary display unit 304 may not be sufficient. Alternatively, the user may be bothered to increase the size of the summary display unit 304. For example, because of this, it is not possible to display a summary with a sufficient document length, and as a result,
Insufficient display may occur as a summary showing the outline of the document.

Therefore, in this example, when the user requests a reading process for the summary sentence, the document length (ie, the summary sentence displayed on the summary display unit 304) of the summary sentence created at that time (ie, the summary sentence). If the length is short according to the size of the summary display unit 304), a summary with a longer document length is created and read out. In other words, when the displayed summary is short and insufficient for understanding the content, it is possible to assist the user in understanding the content of the document by creating and reading out the summary that seems to be somewhat sufficient. .

The processing for this will be described with reference to FIG. In the present example, such a reading process is performed as shown in FIG.
The operation is performed when an operation for reading out the summary sentence is performed in the reading-out window 401 of No. 5, but this is merely an example.

Now, for example, the user clicks the summary creation button 306a from the browsing window 301 shown in FIG. 16, and a summary of a document length corresponding to the size of the summary display unit 304 is created by the processing of FIG. It is assumed that the display is as shown in FIG. Here, when the user clicks the read-aloud button 306c, the above-described process for the read-aloud is performed, and the read-aloud window 401 of FIG.
Is displayed. At this time, the user selects the switch 424
After clicking, click the play button 420,
That is, it is assumed that the user has read out the summary sentence. Then, the control section 11 performs a reading process according to the size of the summary sentence as shown in FIG.

First, in step F301, the control unit 11 confirms the size of the currently displayed summary sentence. Since the summary is generated according to the size of the summary display unit 304, in this step F301, the variable ws in the processing of FIG. 18 performed when the current summary is generated may be referred to. Then, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the value of the variable ws is equal to or greater than a preset reference value wsth.
The reference value wsth is set as the size of the summary display unit 304 that can display a certain sufficient document length as a summary sentence.

Here, for example, the variable ws as the size of the summary sentence display area 304 shown in FIG.
If it is less than h, the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step F302, prepares a variable wsrd, and
The value of the variable ws + α is substituted for srd. There are various possible settings for the value of “α”, which will be described later.

As a result, the variable wsrd becomes a value indicating a size larger by “α” than the current summary display area 304. Subsequently, in step F303, the control unit 11 executes the digest creation processing of FIG. 18 using the variable wsrd. This process will not be described repeatedly, but here, the variable wsrd is used instead of the variable ws in steps F82, F85, and F89 in FIG. Therefore, by the process of step F303, a summary sentence (a tag file as a summary sentence) having a document length longer than the current summary sentence is generated.

Subsequently, the control unit 11 determines in step F304 that
A reading-out file is generated from the tag file generated in step F303. This corresponds to step F10 in FIG.
This is the processing of No. 2 and the processing described in detail in FIG. 20 is performed. When the reading file is generated, the control unit 1
The process 1 proceeds to step F305, and performs a process using the reading file. That is, step F10 in FIG.
Similarly to the process described in 3, the speech file is converted into a format in which the speech synthesis engine can read the document. The specific processing is as described above.

Upon completion of the processing in step F305, the speech synthesis engine can read out the summary sentence generated in step F303, that is, the summary sentence longer than the current summary sentence. Therefore, the control unit 11
Starts reading out a relatively detailed summary sentence as step F306. At this time, the display shown in FIG.
May be the reading window 401 as in
For example, as shown in FIG. 28, a display may be performed in which only a part (operation button part) of the reading window 401 is superimposed on the browsing window 301. By performing the display as shown in FIG. 28, the user can recognize that a more detailed summary is presented by reading aloud even if the displayed summary is a small sentence.

After the start of the reading, the control section 11 performs a process corresponding to the operation of the user interface as step F307. That is, playback stop, pause, cueing, fast forward, fast rewind, etc. are performed in accordance with a user operation using various buttons 411 to 422 displayed as shown in FIG. 25 or FIG.

By the way, if the current summary sentence size is relatively large as shown in FIG. 17, for example,
If the value of the variable ws is equal to or greater than the reference value wsth in step F301, the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step F30.
Proceeding to S8, a reading file is generated from the tag file of the current summary sentence. Further, in step F305, a process using the reading file is performed. And step F
At 306, reading out is started. That is, in this case, the current summary sentence is converted into a format in which the text-to-speech engine can read out the document as it is, and is output as a read-out voice.

By performing the processing in FIG. 26 as described above, even if the summary text is displayed only with an insufficient document length, the user hears the summary text with more detailed contents by reading aloud. And the content of the document can be accurately grasped. If the displayed summary has a sufficient content to some extent, by reading the sentence as it is, the read summary does not become unnecessarily complicated. Of course, in that case, the process of step F303 is not necessary, so that the process is simple.

The value of “α” in step F302, that is, the length of the digest sentence for reading aloud, may be determined by a value suitable for actual use. Further, the value of “α” may be a fixed value or a variable value. In the case of a fixed value, for example, it is conceivable that the document length is a value that reaches at least the reference value wsth. Alternatively, the user may be able to arbitrarily set the value of “α” as the fixed value. In the case of a variable value, for example, it is conceivable that a value corresponding to the summary sentence size at that time, that is, a value of the variable ws can be obtained by using a coefficient operation or a memory table. For example, it is conceivable that the shorter the displayed summary sentence is, the longer the summary sentence is read out, so that the display of the summary sentence is complementarily provided to the user so that the summary content is presented to the user. That is, the value of “α” is calculated or selected such that the size of the displayed summary sentence and the size of the summary sentence to be read have an inversely proportional relationship linearly or stepwise.

Further, although different from the processing of FIG. 26, for example, when the displayed summary is long, a summary shorter than the displayed summary may be generated and read out. Conceivable. As a result, the user can confirm a very rough summary content in the read-out voice, and can confirm the further deep content from the display content.

By the way, the reading process according to the displayed summary size is performed when the operation of requesting the reading of the summary sentence from the reading window 401 of FIG. 25 is performed. The reading process and the reading process of FIG. 26 may be selectable. For example, as a selection switch on the reading window 401, a selection switch of "detailed summary sentence" is prepared in addition to "all text" and "summary sentence" of the selection switches 423 and 424, and when "summary sentence" is selected, The summary sentence is read aloud as it is, but if the “detailed summary sentence” is selected, the reading may be performed in the process of FIG. 26. The reading process according to the displayed digest size may be directly instructed from the browsing window 301. For example, in this example, a summary reading button is provided in addition to the summary creation button 306a and the reading button 306c of the browsing window, and when the button is clicked, the processing of FIG. 26 is started.

8. Summarization and Reading Process The above process has been described as a process for reading out a summary sentence that has already been created, but it is also conceivable to simultaneously read out a summary at the time of creation according to the size of the summary. Such a process will be described with reference to FIG.

For example, it is assumed that the process of FIG. 29 is executed when the user clicks the summary creation button 306a while the browsing window 301 is displayed as shown in FIG. First, the control unit 11 executes step F401
Then, a process of creating a summary sentence according to the size of the summary display unit 304 at that time is performed. That is, the processing described in FIG. 18 is executed. If a summary sentence can be created by this, the control unit 1
1 displays the summary sentence in step F402. That is, a summary sentence is displayed on the summary display unit 304 as shown in FIG. 27, for example.

Subsequently, in step F403 and subsequent steps, the summary sentence is read aloud. Steps F403 to F409
26 is the same as the processing in steps F301 to F307 in FIG. 26, and thus detailed description is omitted. That is, in steps F403 to F409, the size of the generated summary sentence, ie, the size of the summary display unit 304 Variable ws
Is smaller than the reference value wsth, a summary sentence longer than the summary sentence is created, and then a read-out file is generated or converted into a format suitable for a speech synthesis engine. Then, with the display as shown in FIG. 28, for example, the reading of a relatively detailed summary sentence is started, and thereafter, an operation according to the operation of the user is performed.

As a result, even if the generated and displayed summary sentence is a small sentence, the user can know more detailed summary content by reading aloud. That is, the reading voice is presented to the user as supplementary content of the display content.

On the other hand, if the size of the created summary sentence is relatively large, that is, if the user
04, the summarization is requested after the area is expanded, and the value of the variable ws is changed to the reference value w in step F403.
If it is not less than sth, the control unit 11 terminates the processing of FIG. 29 without executing the reading. In this case, since the summary is sufficiently expressed only by the display, it is determined that the reading of the more detailed summary content is not necessary, and the process ends.

However, as shown by the broken line in FIG.
If the value of the variable ws is equal to or greater than the reference value wsth in 403, the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step F410, generates a reading file from the current summary sentence tag file, and proceeds to step F407 and subsequent steps. You may be able to do it. That is, the displayed summary text content can be read out as it is.

When the summary sentence is created and displayed to the user by performing the processing of FIG. 29 as described above, if the size of the summary sentence is small, a more detailed summary content is read out to the user. Can be presented. Therefore, the user can accurately grasp the contents of the document. If the summary sentence is created and displayed to a certain extent, do not read it out,
Alternatively, by reading the sentence as it is, the processing is simplified.

It should be noted that various examples can be considered for setting the value of “α” in step F404, as in the case of FIG. It is also possible to create a summary sentence shorter than the displayed summary sentence and read it out. Of course, various operations for starting the operation as shown in FIG. 29 are conceivable.

9. Portable Terminal Device and Document Processing System Configuration In the document processing device 1 described above, the size of the display area of the summary text (that is, the summary display unit 304) can be arbitrarily changed by the user, but the summary text can be displayed. Even in a document processing device having a fixed size, a more detailed summary sentence can be created and read out in consideration of the size of the summary sentence. A portable terminal device will be described as an example of such a document processing device. This portable terminal device is shown as a portable terminal 50 in FIG. 1, and a user can use the portable terminal 50 by itself and can perform a system operation by connecting to the document processing device 1. .

In the following, the portable terminal device (portable terminal 50)
And the operation of the portable terminal 50 and the document processing apparatus 1 as a document processing system will be described. First, an appearance example will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 30 shows an example of the appearance of the portable terminal 50. The portable terminal 50 is, for example, a card-type small and lightweight device. On the upper surface of the portable terminal 50, for example, a display unit 51 using a liquid crystal panel and a required number of operation units (operation keys)
52 are provided. The size of the display area of the display unit 51 is determined by the design circumstances of the mobile terminal, but, for example, one or several lines of a document can be displayed. Operation unit 5
The number and operation contents of the operation keys as 2 are set according to functions provided in the mobile terminal 50. Here, for example,
Forward / back operation for switching the display of various documents,
It is assumed that an erasing operation for erasing unnecessary documents can be performed.

At a predetermined position such as the side surface of the portable terminal 50,
A reader terminal 53 is provided to enable information transfer with the portable terminal reader 50 shown in FIG. In addition, a headphone terminal 60 is provided, and the user can listen to a reading voice described later by connecting the headphones 70.

FIG. 31 shows the appearance of the personal computer 90. This is an example in which the document processing apparatus 1 of FIG. In this case, as is generally the configuration of the general-purpose personal computer 90, the personal computer main body includes:
Monitor display 91, keyboard 94, mouse 95
Etc. are connected. In addition, a floppy disk drive 93, a CD-ROM drive 92, and the like are provided in the main body of the personal computer. The monitor display 91 is provided on the display unit 30 shown in FIG. 1, the keyboard 94 and the mouse 95 are provided on the input unit 20 shown in FIG. 1, and the floppy disk drive 93 and the CD-ROM drive 92 are provided on the recording / reproducing unit 31 shown in FIG.
, Respectively. Although not shown in FIG. 31, the configurations of the communication unit 21, the main body 10, the audio output unit 33, and the HDD 34 of FIG. 1 are also provided in the personal computer main body.

FIG. 31 shows a portable terminal reader 96 as a separate device connected to the personal computer main body. Such a portable terminal reader 96 is an example of the portable terminal reader 22 of FIG. The portable terminal reader 96 can be equipped with the portable terminal shown in FIG. 30. At this time, by connecting the reader terminal 53, the control unit 10 can communicate with the portable terminal 50 by the configuration shown in FIG. Document data can be received.

FIG. 31 shows an example of a hardware configuration for realizing the document processing system according to the present embodiment. Of course, various other examples are conceivable. First, the document processing device 1
As, without using a general-purpose personal computer,
A dedicated document processing device having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 may be formed. Further, it is needless to say that a portable notebook personal computer may be used instead of the desktop personal computer as shown in FIG. Further, the portable terminal reader 96 may be built in a personal computer main body (or a device as a dedicated document processing device). Further, the portable terminal 50 and the main body 1 of FIG.
The data transfer of 0 may be performed in a wired manner using the portable terminal reader 96 (22) or the like, or may be performed wirelessly by infrared transmission or the like.

FIG. 32 shows the configuration of the portable device 50. The portable device 50 includes a control unit 54, a document memory 55, a receiving unit 56, a display drive 57, an interface 58, and an audio output unit 59 in addition to the display unit 51, the operation unit 52, the reader terminal 53, and the headphone terminal 60 described above. Prepare. Control unit 54
Is a microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and performs various operation processes.

The receiving section 56 is a section that can receive document data from a wireless telephone line or the like. The received document data is transferred to the control unit 54 and processed. This receiving unit 56
For example, it has a receiving function similar to a so-called pager. The document memory 55 is a section for storing document data received according to an instruction from the control unit 54, a summary sentence generated by the control unit 54, and the like. Display drive 57
Causes the display unit 51 to execute a display operation based on an instruction from the control unit 54. The control unit 54 controls the document memory 5
5 can be displayed on the display unit 51 by the display drive 57.

The interface 58 is connected to the reader terminal 53
And the portable terminal reader 22 and the interface 12 of FIG.
Is a part that performs processing for transferring data to the control unit 11 of the document processing apparatus 1 via the. The data to be transferred is document data stored in the document memory 55.

[0210] The audio output section 59 is a section for outputting an audio signal as a reading voice from the headphone terminal 60. That is, the control unit 54 is equipped with a speech reading program and a speech synthesis engine, which will be described later. When the speech signal obtained by the speech synthesis process in the control unit 54 is supplied to the speech output unit 59, the speech The output unit 59 performs an operation of outputting the audio signal from the headphone terminal 60.

10. Document Receiving Process by Portable Terminal Device The process of the control unit 54 when the portable terminal 50 receives document data will be described with reference to FIG. When the receiving unit 56 receives one or a plurality of document data from a predetermined server, the control unit 54 fetches the document data into the internal RAM and stores the received document data text in the document memory 55 in step F501. Let it.

Various examples are conceivable as the receiving form of the receiving section 56. For example, it is conceivable that the server organization transmits document data to the portable terminal 50 at an arbitrary time. In this case, for example, the user who owns the mobile device 50 registers in advance with the server organization. As a result, the server organization makes a call to the portable device 50 of the user at an arbitrary time and transmits the document data according to the line connection. Alternatively, the receiving unit 56 may be provided with a transmission function, and the user may connect the line to the server and request information transmission, so that document data is transmitted from the server. Furthermore, by connecting the portable device 50 to a mobile phone or a public phone,
It is also conceivable to allow a user to request the server to send document data.

The control unit 54 receives the received document data (text)
In step F502, a summary sentence of the document data is created. This summary sentence creation processing is executed by the processing of FIG. 18 similarly to the above-described document processing apparatus 1. However, in the case of the mobile device 50, since the display area of the display unit 51 is fixed, the summary is displayed on the display unit 51.
The document length is determined according to the size of the display area. That is, the display size ws in step F82 in FIG. 18 is a fixed length according to the size of the display unit 51.

When the control unit 54 creates a summary sentence for each of the received one or a plurality of documents, the control unit 54 proceeds to step F5.
At 03, the summary is stored in the document memory 55.

Subsequently, the control unit 54 determines in step F504
Then, for each of the received one or a plurality of documents, a summary for reading out is created. The summary sentence created in step F502 is very short according to the size of the display unit 51. In this step F504, a summary sentence is created for the received document within a predetermined document length range longer than that. . This processing is executed by the processing of FIG. 18 similarly to step F502. In this case, instead of the display size ws in step F82 or the like of FIG.
Use the value of α. Here, ws + α has the same meaning as that described in step F302 in FIG. 26 and step F404 in FIG. 29, that is, a value for creating a summary sentence having a longer document length. However, in the case of the portable terminal 50, since the display area of the summary text is fixed, the value of α may be a fixed value. However, the user may be able to change the fixed value.

When a tag file as a summary for reading is generated in step F504, the control unit 54 generates a file for reading in step F505 and converts the file into a data format suitable for the installed speech synthesis engine. Perform the following processing. This corresponds to step F3 in FIG.
04, F305. That is, in step F504, the control unit 54 can obtain a reading file in a format that can be read by the speech synthesis engine.

If a reading file has been generated for each of the received one or a plurality of documents, step F
In step 506, the control unit 54 stores the read-out file in the document memory 55, and ends a series of processes at the time of reception.

By such processing, the document memory 55 stores, for example, a text, a summary, and a reading file for each document as shown in FIG. For example, as shown in the figure, a document number is assigned to each of the documents, and the text of the document (A document, B document,...) And a summary of the document corresponding to each text (A summary, B summary...)
And read-out files (A read-out file, B read-out file...).

(11) Document Display and Speech Processing by Portable Terminal Device By storing the text, summary sentence, and speech file of the received document data in the document memory 55 in the portable device 50 as described above, the user can By displaying the summary of each document on the display unit 51, the content of each document can be confirmed. Then, the user can hear the read-out voice of the content more detailed than the summary sentence displayed at that time. Documents that the user deems unnecessary can be deleted. As described later, the user checks the document contents,
If you want to know the content in more detail (that is, you want to read the text as well as the summary),
The document data can be transferred to the document processing apparatus 1 to view the text.

The processing of the control unit 54 for presenting a summary of each document stored in the document memory 55 to the user is shown in FIG.
It looks like 4. As the user operation for presentation, an operation for instructing presentation start and presentation of the next document, an operation for instructing presentation of the previous document, and an operation for instructing erasure can be performed using the operation keys of the operation unit 52. And

When the user performs an operation for requesting the start of presentation of a summary sentence, the control unit 54 executes the process of step F60 in FIG.
From 1, the process proceeds to F <b> 602, and first, a variable n referring to the document number is set to “1”. Then, in step F603, the control unit 54 reads the summary of the document number (n) from the document data stored in the document memory 55 as shown in FIG. 35, sends the summary to the display drive 57, and displays the summary. It is displayed on the unit 51. Therefore, first, “A summary” in FIG.
Will be displayed. Further, in step F604, the control unit 54 reads out the file for reading out the document number (n), and starts the reading operation by the speech synthesis engine. Therefore, an audio signal as a read-out audio by the audio synthesis processing is sent to the audio output unit 59 and output from the headphone terminal 60.

During the period in which a certain summary sentence is presented, that is, displayed and read aloud, the control unit 54 executes step F6.
At 05, F606, and F607, user operations are monitored. Note that the reading started in step F604 ends when the reading of all the sentences in the reading file ends, but even if reading is still being performed, one of steps F605, F606, and F607 is performed. If a user operation is detected in, the process is terminated.

If the user has performed an operation to request the presentation of the next document, the process of the control unit 54 proceeds from step F605 to F608, increments the variable n, and returns to step F603. In step F603, the summary sentence of the document number (n), that is, the control unit 54, in this case, performs display processing of the summary sentence of the document stored in the document memory 55 as the next document number. Further, in step F604, a reading operation based on the reading file corresponding to the displayed summary is started.

If the user performs an operation for requesting the presentation of the previous document, the process of the control unit 54 proceeds to step F606.
The process proceeds to F609, decrements the variable n, and returns to step F603. In this step F603, the summary sentence of the document number (n), that is, in this case, the control unit 54 displays the summary sentence of the document stored in the document memory 55 as the document number preceding the displayed document. Processing will be performed. Further, in step F604, a reading operation based on the reading file corresponding to the displayed summary is started.

By the processing corresponding to the operation for obtaining the next document and the previous document, the user can arbitrarily confirm the summary sentence of each received and stored document by display and reading voice. be able to.

Although omitted in the processing flow of FIG. 34, if the user performs an operation for obtaining the previous document in a state where n = 1, that is, a state in which the summary sentence of document number 1 is displayed, What is necessary is just to invalidate the operation. Similarly,
When the user performs an operation for obtaining the next document in a state where the summary of the last document is displayed as the document number, the operation may be invalidated. However, if the user performs an operation to obtain the previous document while the summary of document number 1 is displayed, the summary of the last document number is displayed and read out, or the summary of the last document is displayed. When the user performs an operation for obtaining the next document while the sentence is displayed, the summary sentence display and the reading of the first document number may be performed.

In this example, when a user reads a summary (or listens to a reading voice) while a certain summary is being displayed and considers that the document data is unnecessary,
An erasing operation may be performed. When the erasing operation is performed, the process of the control unit 54 proceeds from step F607 to F610, and erases the text and the summary of the document data on the document memory 55. The document number is updated in accordance with the deletion. For example, if the user performs an erasing operation when the B summary in FIG. 35A is displayed, the control unit 54
In step F610, the data of the B document, the B summary, and the B reading file are deleted from the document memory 55, and the subsequent document number is incremented.
The state is as shown in FIG. That is, the C document and the D document are moved up to the document numbers “2” and “3”, respectively, in response to the deletion of the text, the summary sentence, and the reading file as the B document of the document number “2”. Then, since the processing of the control unit 54 returns to steps F603 and F604 (the variable n is kept as it is), the C summary of the next C document is displayed with the deletion of the B document, and the reading by the C reading file is started. Becomes

By the processing of FIG. 34 as described above, the user can confirm the content of the received document by its summary. In particular, when confirming the content, a summary sentence that is more detailed than the displayed content is read aloud as a reading voice along with the display of the summary sentence on the display unit 51. Therefore, even if the display unit 51 is a very small portable terminal 50 as in this example and can display only a short summary of the document length, the user can accurately hear the text content by listening to the reading voice. Can be grasped. Then, the user can easily delete the document determined to be unnecessary after grasping the content of the document. In addition, for the necessary (not erased) document, the user can view and listen to the contents by connecting the portable terminal 50 to the document processing apparatus 1 using a system as shown in FIG. 31 later. .

By the way, in the processing described with reference to FIGS. 34 and 35, it is assumed that the user can delete from the document memory 55 the document data determined to be unnecessary by viewing and listening to the summary. Document processing device 1
A processing method of selecting whether or not to transfer the data to the destination is also conceivable.

For example, as a process at the time of reception shown in FIG. 33, the control unit 54 stores the text of the received document, the summary sentence, and the reading file in the document memory 55 as shown in FIG.
As described above, the transfer flag is set to 0 and stored. At the time of display and reading-out processing as shown in FIG. 34, the user operation includes an operation of instructing presentation start and presentation of the next document, an operation of instructing presentation of the previous document, and It is assumed that an operation to specify a transfer document is possible.

The display and reading of the summary sentence of each document are the same as in FIG. 34. However, when the user checks each summary and finds a document (summary sentence) whose contents are to be understood in more detail, While the summary is being displayed, an operation of designating the document as a transfer document is performed. In response, the control unit 54 sets the transfer flag of the document in the document memory 55 to “1”. For example, FIG.
(B) is an example in which the user has designated the B document and the C document as transfer documents. In this way, you can specify documents that are important to your users,
There is also a processing method in which a document determined to be insignificant is left without being deleted at that time.

Here, the method in which the user selects an important document has been adopted. On the contrary, in the initial state, the transfer flags are all set to “1”, and the user performs an unnecessary designation operation to transfer the document. The processing may be such that the flag is set to “0”.

Further, it is conceivable to combine the methods described with reference to FIGS. 35 and 36. For example, the user can perform an erasing operation and a transfer designation operation, and can select three states of an erasure operation, a transfer designation operation, or no operation while looking at each summary sentence. When an erasing operation is performed, erasing is performed as in the example of FIG. 35, and when a transfer specifying operation is performed, a transfer flag is set as illustrated in FIG. If these operations have not been performed, the transfer flag is set to “0” as a hold, but is not erased. Of course, other than this, various display / speech methods and selection operation methods are conceivable.

12. Operation of the Document Processing System The reception, display and reading of the document data and selection of important documents in the portable device 50 are performed as described above. Can read. By attaching the portable terminal 50 to the portable terminal reader 96 as shown in FIG. 31, the control unit 11 of the document processing apparatus 1 can read the document data stored in the document memory 55 of the portable terminal 50. . In this case, the control unit 1 of the document processing apparatus 1
1 and the control unit 54 of the portable terminal 50 communicate with each other to transfer the document data in the document memory 55. For example, a configuration in which the control unit 11 can directly access the document memory 55 is adopted. It is also possible to take.

In the case of the example shown in FIG. 35, the transferred document data is the text data of all the documents which have not been deleted in the state as shown in FIG. 35 (b). In the case of the example of FIG. 36, the control unit 54 extracts a document having the transfer flag = 1 as shown in FIG. 36B and transfers the document to the control unit 11 side. The data to be transferred may be only the text or both the text and the summary. Of course, it is also possible to transfer a reading file.

As described above, one or a plurality of documents are transferred. In the document processing apparatus 1, the above-described various processes can be performed on the transferred document (text). That is, the control unit 11 performs classification processing on the transferred document data into a classification model, summary creation processing according to the window size, text-to-text or summary sentence reading-out processing, and text-to-speech reading processing according to the displayed summary size. Etc. are made executable. This allows the user to use the mobile terminal 5
In addition, the user can browse the detailed text contents, hear the read-aloud voice, and easily refer to the selected document at a later point in time by being properly classified. Of course, the document data can be effectively used by using various further functions of the document processing apparatus 1 (personal computer 90). From these facts, in the document processing system of the present example, the acquisition, the content confirmation, and the selection of the document data can be easily and always executed by the portable terminal 50.
Further, a required document can be processed in a high-level and various manners by a document processing apparatus, so that the system is very useful for a user.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but this is merely an example, and the document processing apparatus 1
In addition, various configurations and processing examples of the portable terminal 50 as the document processing device can be considered. For example, the portable terminal 50 may display or read not only the abstract but also the text. Further, the shape of the portable terminal 50 is not limited to the card type. Further, the document processing apparatus 1 in which the display area of the summary is variable and the portable terminal 50 as the document processing apparatus in which the display area of the summary is fixed have been described as an example. Whether it is fixed or fixed does not correspond to a stationary device / portable device or the like. For example, even if the document processing device is implemented by a stationary personal computer, the display of a summary sentence The area may be fixed. In that case, the operation described for the portable terminal 50 can be applied. Of course, the reverse is also possible.

There are various specific examples of devices that constitute the document processing apparatus 1 and the portable terminal 50. For example, when the input unit 20 in the document processing apparatus 1 is an example, not only a keyboard and a mouse but also a tablet and a light Other devices, such as a wireless commander device using a pen, infrared light, etc., are conceivable.

Further, in the embodiment, the description has been made assuming that the document is transmitted from the outside to the communication unit 22 via a telephone line or the like, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to a case where a document is transmitted via a satellite or the like.
Or a document may be written in the ROM 15 in advance.

Further, in the embodiment, an example of a method of tagging a document has been described, but it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this tagging method. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, Japanese and English sentences have been exemplified, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to these languages. As described above, it goes without saying that the present invention can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Further, in the present invention, it is possible to easily realize, as the recording medium 32, a disk-shaped recording medium or a tape-shaped recording medium in which the above-described electronic document processing program is written. That is, the recording medium of the present invention can be realized. The recording medium of the present invention can be similarly used as the HDD 34 shown in FIG. According to such a recording medium 32, a program for realizing the above-described document processing method can be provided, and the document processing apparatus of the present invention can be easily realized using, for example, a general-purpose personal computer. Of course, recording medium 3
2) In addition to floppy disks, optical disks,
It may be a memory card, a memory chip, or the like using a magneto-optical disk, magnetic tape, flash memory, or the like. Furthermore, the program for realizing the document processing method of the present invention can be provided also via a network communication such as the Internet. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to a program server or a recording medium in a communication process. Things.

[0242]

As will be understood from the above description, the present invention has the following effects. That is, according to the document processing apparatus and the document processing method of the present invention, a digest sentence of an electronic document can be presented to a user by display and voice output, and the digest sentence of the read-out voice is displayed as a digest sentence. And the document length is the same or more. For this reason, when the size of the summary sentence display area is small and a sufficient sentence cannot be displayed as a summary sentence, it is possible to output a document having a document length sufficient for the user to understand the contents as a reading voice, Regardless of the state of the sentence display area, there is an effect that the user can clearly know the contents of the summary sentence (electronic document contents).

In particular, when the size of the summary sentence display area in the display means is variable, the reading summary creation means sets the document length according to the size of the summary sentence display area, and reads out the reading summary sentence data. By creating, it is possible to perform the optimal reading-aloud output according to the size of the summary display area. For example, if the user can display the document with a document length that is sufficient for comprehending the content, it is sufficient to make the size of the summary text for reading aloud the same as the displayed summary text data, and create a question and a section. Since it is not necessary to perform the processing, the processing is simplified. On the other hand, if the summary sentence display area is small and the document length of the displayed summary sentence data is short, and it is considered that the content is insufficient for comprehension of the content, by creating the summary sentence data for reading with a longer document length, Document contents can be accurately presented to the user.

Depending on the device, the size of the summary display area in the display means may be fixed, but if the size is small and the summary data must be short, the reading summary creation means may be used. Creates summary text data for reading that has a document length that exceeds the document length of the summary text data created by the summary creation means, and outputs it as audio, thereby limiting the size of the display means. Regardless, the contents of the document can always be accurately presented to the user. This is particularly suitable for a small or portable document processing device.

Further, according to the recording medium of the present invention, a program for realizing the document processing method of the present invention can be provided. For example, the document processing apparatus of the present invention can be easily realized using a general-purpose personal computer or the like. Become like Thus, the general user can easily enjoy the above effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a document processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a document structure used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a window for displaying a sentence structure according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a manual classification process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an index creation process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an activation value of an element according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an active diffusion process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a central activation value update process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a classification window according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a browsing window according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a classification model according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an automatic classification process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of automatic classification according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a word meaning association degree calculation process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a degree of association between meanings according to the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a display example of a browsing window according to the embodiment.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of a display example including a summary of a browsing window according to the embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a summary creation process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a document reading process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a reading file generation process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a tag file according to the embodiment;

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a tag file according to the embodiment;

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a reading file according to the embodiment;

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a reading file according to the embodiment;

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram of a reading window according to the embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart of a reading process according to the displayed summary size according to the embodiment;

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram of a display example of a browsing window according to the embodiment.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram of a display example of a browsing window during a reading process according to a displayed summary size according to the embodiment;

FIG. 29 is a flowchart of a summary generation process and a reading process according to the size according to the embodiment.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram of an appearance of the portable terminal device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 31 is an explanatory diagram of a document processing system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram of a portable terminal device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart of a document receiving process of the portable terminal device of the embodiment.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart of a display and reading process of the portable terminal device of the embodiment.

FIG. 35 is an explanatory diagram of a storage form of the portable terminal device of the embodiment.

FIG. 36 is an explanatory diagram of a storage form of the portable terminal device of the embodiment.

[Description of Signs] 1 Document processing apparatus, 10 main body, 11 control unit, 12
Interface, 13 CPU, 14 RAM, 15
ROM, 20 input unit, 21 communication unit, 22 portable terminal reader, 30 display unit, 31 recording / reproducing unit, 32 recording medium, 33 audio output unit, 34 HDD, 50 portable terminal, 51 display unit, 52 operation unit, 53 reader Terminal,
54 control unit, 55 document memory, 56 receiving unit, 57
Display drive, 59 audio output unit, 60 headphone terminal, 101 window, 201 classification window,
301 browsing window, 303 document display unit, 304
Summary display section, 401 reading-out window

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] July 7, 1999 (July 7, 1999)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name]

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

When the character string S (i) exceeds the maximum number of characters ws in step F85 when the character string S (i) is first generated in step F84 (i = 1) at step F85, Since the character string S (i-1) becomes the character string S (0) as the initial value set in step F82, a summary sentence could not be created substantially. This is because the size of the summary display unit 304 is too small. Therefore, the user enlarges the area of the summary display unit 304 on the screen, and then clicks the summary creation button 306a again to return to FIG. What is necessary is just to make a process start.

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name]

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

If it is determined in step F85 that the character string S (i) does not exceed the maximum number of characters ws, as described above, the control unit 1
The process of step 1 proceeds to step F86, where a portion to be added to the next character string is determined. When the process proceeds to step F89 as described above, it is determined whether or not the character string SS (i) has exceeded the maximum number of characters ws. Where the string SS
If (i) exceeds the maximum number of characters ws, the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to step F91, and the character string S (i) before adding a certain element in step F88 immediately before is used as a summary sentence. Become. In other words, this means that the maximum number of characters ws has been exceeded by adding the element in step F88. Therefore, the character string S (i) before the addition of the element is close to the maximum number of characters ws but the maximum number of characters ws Is determined to be a character string that does not exceed, and is used as a summary sentence.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0243

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

In particular, when the size of the summary sentence display area in the display means is variable, the reading summary creation means sets the document length in accordance with the size of the summary sentence display area, and reads out the reading summary sentence data. by creating, it is possible to perform an optimum speech output depending on the size condition of summary display area. For example, if the user can display the document with a document length long enough to grasp the contents, it is sufficient to make the size of the summary text for reading aloud the same as the displayed summary text data, and create a longer summary text. Since there is no need to do so, the processing is simplified. On the other hand, if the summary sentence display area is small and the document length of the displayed summary sentence data is short, and it is considered that the content is insufficient for comprehension of the content, by creating the summary sentence data for reading with a longer document length, Document contents can be accurately presented to the user.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G10L 13/00 G10L 3/00 E 21/06 S

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A summary creating means for creating summary sentence data of an electronic document in accordance with the size of an abstract sentence display area, and a reading-out device having a document length longer than the document length of the summary sentence data created by the summary creating means. A document processing apparatus, comprising: a read-out summary creating unit capable of creating summary sentence data. 2. A display means having the summary sentence display area, a voice output means, and a display of the summary sentence data created by the summary creation means is executed in the summary sentence display area of the display means. Control means capable of causing the voice output means to output a read-out voice based on the read-out summary sentence data created by the read-out summary creation means. 2. The document processing device according to 1. 3. The summary text display area is variable in size, and the reading summary generation means sets a document length in accordance with the size of the summary text display area to generate reading summary text data. The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The summary summary display area has a fixed size, and the reading summary creation unit includes a reading summary that has a document length exceeding the document length of the summary sentence data created by the summary creation unit. 2. The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document data is created. 5. A summary creating procedure for creating summary sentence data corresponding to the size of a summary sentence display area of a display unit for an electronic document, and a document having a length equal to or longer than the length of the summary sentence created in the summary creating procedure. A reading summary creation procedure for creating a long summary text for reading, and a display output based on the summary sentence data created in the summary creation procedure, in the summary display area of the display unit, and a voice output unit. And an output procedure for outputting a reading voice based on the reading summary sentence data created in the reading summary creating procedure. 6. An area size setting procedure for variably setting the size of the summary display area in the display unit, and in the reading summary creation procedure, the size of the summary display area set in the area size setting procedure is provided. 6. The document processing method according to claim 5, wherein a document length is set in accordance with the summary and the read summary sentence data is created. 7. The summary sentence display area in the display unit has a fixed size, and the read-out summary creation procedure has a document length exceeding the document length of the summary sentence data created in the summary creation procedure. 6. The document processing method according to claim 5, wherein summary text data for reading is created. 8. A summary creating procedure for creating summary sentence data corresponding to the size of a summary sentence display area of a display unit for an electronic document, and a document longer than the document length of the summary sentence created in the summary creating procedure. A reading summary creating procedure for creating a long reading summary sentence data; and a display output based on the summary sentence data created in the summary creating procedure in the summary displaying area of the display unit, and a voice output unit. And an output procedure for executing a read-out voice based on the read-out summary sentence data created in the read-out summary creation procedure. 9. The method according to claim 9, further comprising an area size setting step of variably setting a size of the summary sentence display area on the display unit, wherein the reading summary creation step includes a step of setting the size of the summary sentence display area set in the area size setting step. 9. The recording medium according to claim 8, wherein an operation control program for setting a document length according to the above and generating summary text data for reading out is recorded. 10. The read-out summary creating procedure records an operation control program for creating read-out summary sentence data having a document length exceeding the document length of the summary sentence data created in the summary creating procedure. 9. The recording medium according to claim 8, wherein: