JP2002163199A - Image uploading system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a system for automating work that takes time to open an image received as the attached file of electronic mail, widely to the public because of needing to extract the image from the received mail, to arrange it on HTML and to upload it to a WWW server to open it as a home page to the public. SOLUTION: Receiving of electronic mail is always monitored, and when the image file attached mail is received, an image file is extracted from the mail, and the image is automatically arranged and uploaded to the WWW server to rapidly open the image on the home page.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an e-mail attached to an image and a homepage for arranging those images side by side, and arranges and lays out a plurality of images received as an e-mail attached file in a predetermined procedure. WW
Provided is a method and system for automating an operation of uploading to a W server and publishing it as a homepage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image taken by a digital camera or an image taken by an image scanner or the like is taken into a computer, the image is laid out in HTML, and the image taken by uploading the data to a server is obtained. It is widely published on the homepage.

[0003] Images are edited using software such as HT.
The work of laying out on an ML, creating a description about an image in a text file, and uploading these data to a WWW server are performed exclusively by hand.

[0004] However, this work requires manpower and time, which has been an obstacle to updating the contents of the homepage.

There are mainly three conventional technologies similar to the present invention: (a) a live camera, and (b) a CGI (CommonGatewa).
Posting systems such as "bulletin boards" and "auctions" using yInterface) and shopping mall systems,
(C) A mobile terminal with a camera.

(A) A live camera is set at a fixed position, and the scenery and the situation inside the store can be viewed in real time on an HP.
Is displayed on the screen, but this system can only introduce what is currently displayed on the screen,
There is a disadvantage that a plurality of images cannot be displayed simultaneously on the HP.

(B) Posting systems for "bulletin boards" and "auctions" using CGI and systems for shopping malls have a function of uploading not only text documents but also images taken by a digital camera or the like to the HP. There is a drawback, however, that it takes time and effort to transfer the image of the digital camera to the personal computer, connect to the Internet, display the posting screen, and upload the image.

(C) The camera-attached portable terminal is a system in which a photographed image is transmitted to another same terminal, and the image received by the other terminal can be viewed. Further, there is a disadvantage that a plurality of images cannot be handled.

[0009]

In order to post an image from a photographed photograph on the HP and widely disclose the photographed image, the photographed image file is transferred from the digital camera to the personal computer, and the HTML is used.
It is necessary to lay out the above and upload it to the WWW server, and this work requires manpower and time, which has been an obstacle to updating the HP content.

[0010] Further, it is necessary to remove old image data on the HP in a timely manner, and this operation also requires manpower and time.

Therefore, in order to reduce the labor and cost of these operations, it is necessary to automate the above series of operations.

[0012] There is an existing system in which a digital camera is connected to a communication device such as a mobile phone or a PHS, and the captured image is attached to mail and sent immediately through the Internet without using a personal computer. Only had the ability to send as an email attachment.

Also, since the description of each image uses a text file, it has to be created using a keyboard of a personal computer.

With a camera-attached portable terminal, no image can be seen unless a dedicated terminal or software is used, and it cannot be widely disclosed on the Internet.

[0015]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, (a) when an e-mail is received,
Automatically extract only attached image files,
(B) automatically rearranging those images in the language in which the images can be displayed in the order in which the images were received, according to a predetermined arrangement;
(C) The image files arranged first are automatically removed or moved to another folder, and (d) the images arranged in a language in which the images can be displayed are automatically uploaded to the server.

Further, according to a command included in the received mail, a method of processing an image attached to the mail and a layout of the image in a language in which the image can be displayed are determined and uploaded to a server. .

Further, in parallel with the uploading of the image, a mail in which the URL of the home page on which the image is posted is described is transmitted to the mail address of the other party who wants to know the contents of the image.

The language in which an image can be displayed in claim 1 is a general HTML or XM used on a homepage.
L, SGML and languages derived from them.

In the second aspect, the image processing method is as follows.
Image size, image quality, rotation angle, gradation conversion, color tone correction,
The arrangement of the images in the language in which the brightness, the contrast, the file format, and the like can be displayed, and the images can be displayed are right-aligned, left-aligned, and line-spaced.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

First, an outline of the system of the present invention is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

The reception of the e-mail is constantly monitored, and when the e-mail attached with the image file is received (11), the image file is extracted from the e-mail (12), and when the instruction is described in the e-mail text file, Executes the processing for the matched instruction (13), (14), and then HT
The oldest image among the images arranged on the ML is removed or moved to another folder (15), and then the n-th image is moved to the (n-1) -th image (16), and then received. The image obtained is arranged as the last image (17), and finally the HT
A plurality of images arranged on the ML are uploaded to the WWW server (18).

When the upload is completed, the process returns to the beginning again and waits for an incoming e-mail.

Next, individual processes in FIG. 1 will be described.

In the steps (11) and (12) in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for extracting the image file (23) from the received image file attached electronic mail (20).

In the step (13) in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 shows a method of instructing image processing and layout of an image in HTML in a text file of a received mail.

A text file of the received mail (FIG. 3)
-A) is a text file set in advance (Fig. 3-b)
If both of them match, if the image processing or HTML layout processing for the text files (31) and (32) is set in advance (FIG. 1 (1)
4)) is performed.

(15), (16), (1) in FIG.
FIG. 4 shows a method of arranging images in step 7).

In the sequence of images predetermined on the HTML (FIG. 4A), the oldest image (41) is removed or moved to another folder (FIG. 4-B), and the second and subsequent files are deleted. Are sequentially moved (FIG. 4-c) (moved as second → first, third → second...), And the image (45) extracted from the last received e-mail is arranged as the last image. I do.

In FIG. 4, the case where the number of image files is four has been described, but a plurality of images may be arranged in any arrangement. (An example is shown in FIG. 5)

The H in which the image files are arranged as described above
Upload the TML to the WWW server and update the contents of the HP.

In the present invention, the above steps are repeatedly and automatically performed.

The movement of the image file is not limited to one file, but may be a plurality of files.

The page on which the image is uploaded and displayed may be a plurality of pages.

In another embodiment of the present invention, HT
When uploading the ML to the WWW server, an e-mail containing the URL is transmitted (61) to the mail address of the party whose contents are to be notified (FIG. 6).

[0036]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the digital camera (71) with a communication function shown in FIG.
S (72) is connected to each other by a cable so that an image captured by a digital camera can be transmitted by a mobile phone or PHS.

From the e-mail transmitted from the mobile phone or the PHS, only the image file is taken out according to the procedure shown in FIG. 1 (12), and is incorporated into a predetermined position on the HTML (15), (16), ( 17) The image files that existed before move sequentially in the display position (FIG. 4), and the image file that was in the first display position is removed or moved to another folder.

H in which image files are arranged as described above
The TML is uploaded to the WWW server, and the contents of the HP are updated (FIG. 1 (18)).

The digital camera with communication function (71) and the portable telephone or PHS (72) shown in FIG. 7 may be constituted by any wireless device such as a portable terminal attached to the camera.

The means for transmitting e-mail is not limited to the above medium, but may be any means such as a wired communication means or various computers.
Any means such as an AX, an image scanner, a tablet, and an image created by drawing software on a computer may be used.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, only the image file is extracted from the received e-mail, and image processing (image size, image quality, rotation, color correction and file size change) is performed on the text file of the mail body. Etc.) and HTM
Layout on L (right-aligned, left-aligned, spaced, etc.)
Is described on the server side, and the layout of the HP can be instructed at the time of photographing.

The contents ((31) in FIG. 3) of the electronic mail body (22) (text file) in FIG. 2 are shown in FIG.
b (32)), and if there is a match,
The processing contents (3
3) is executed.

According to the third embodiment of the present invention, the camera on the sending side is fixed, images are sequentially attached to mail and transmitted, and a plurality of received images are arranged in chronological order.
Changes over time can be monitored. (FIG. 8)

According to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, access to the uploaded HP is restricted by a password so that only a specific person can view the contents of the image.
At the same time as uploading the L file (or transmitting an image), an e-mail in which the URL of the HP is described is transmitted to the e-mail address of the other party (FIG. 6).

The recipient of the mail can browse the image by inputting the password with reference to the URL described in the mail text.

According to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, a character such as a printed matter is photographed by a digital camera, and the transmitted image is converted into a text file by performing character recognition software (OCR) processing, and simultaneously converted to a HP. It can also be displayed.

Similarly, a pattern such as a barcode can be recognized, and the layout and image of the HP can be corrected according to the corresponding command.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects are obtained.

A first effect of the present invention is that a plurality of captured images can be immediately and widely disclosed without human intervention.

The second effect of the present invention is that, if handwritten characters or printed matter is photographed, the characters are disclosed as images on the homepage without entering the keyboard, so that even those who cannot enter the keyboard can easily enter the image. Can send information to
That's what it means.

There are known methods of handwriting on a screen with a pen, storing the image, and transmitting / transmitting the image. However, this method requires a dedicated screen or pen,
There are drawbacks such as difficulty in colorization.

In addition to this, in the method of the present invention, if a form to be filled out and a form are prepared, it is easy to take a form of filling out the form.

As a third effect of the present invention, since the images are arranged in an array laid out in advance, the description of adjacent images can be described in the images.

FIG. 9 is an example showing the third effect, and is composed of an image (92) of a sentence explaining images (91) and (93) of an object.

A fourth effect of the present invention is that an image having old contents (the image uploaded first) can be automatically removed.

A fifth effect of the present invention is that the function of sending handwritten mail can be easily realized without a personal computer.

The photographed document remains as a copy that can be viewed without using an electronic device, and remains at the sender.

The sixth effect of the present invention is that if the color reduction or the image quality of the photographed image is adjusted by a command included in the e-mail, the file size of the image is reduced and displayed when the image posting page is viewed. Can be speeded up.

A seventh effect of the present invention is that, when the camera is fixed, a plurality of received images are arranged in a time series, so that a change over time can be monitored without always watching the images. (FIG. 8).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an attached file and the like in an electronic mail according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a method of moving a display position of a plurality of images according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an embodiment showing a plurality of image arrangements of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example showing a third effect of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 71 Digital camera 72 Mobile phone or PHS

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) When an electronic mail is received, only an attached image file is automatically extracted, and (b)
According to a predetermined arrangement, the images are automatically rearranged in the order in which the images are received in a language in which the images can be displayed. (C) The image files arranged first are automatically removed or moved to another folder, d) A method of automatically uploading images arranged in a language in which images can be displayed to a server. 2. A method for processing an image attached to an e-mail and determining an arrangement of the image in a language in which the image can be displayed according to a command included in the received e-mail, and uploading the image to a server. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is characterized by: 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting an e-mail describing the URL of a homepage on which the image is posted to a person who wants to know the content of the image in parallel with the upload of the image. .