JP2004252725A - Tree structure display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tree structure display method that displays a unit of document structures of different settings due to establishment of additional information, etc. with an icon different from that of a normal setting condition. <P>SOLUTION: Data information of a chapter constitutes document data that consist of a plurality of hierarchies, acquires data information of a page constituting respective data for the respective data belonging to the chapter, and determines whether or not additional information is provided to the respective data belonging to the page. Then kinds of icons are decided representing data of respective hierarchies when displaying document data in a tree structure, using data information of a chapter, data information of a page and the result of the determination, and the hierarchical structure of the document data is displayed in a tree structure using the icon which have been decided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tree structure display technique for hierarchically expressing the structure of document data including a plurality of chapters and pages in a personal computer or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a method of displaying the structure of document data in an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, a tree structure display that can be expressed hierarchically is generally used. For example, when the document structure is composed of chapters and pages, the document structure is hierarchically expressed by using a tree system in which chapters are arranged immediately below the root document and pages are arranged immediately below each chapter, By displaying documents, chapters, and pages with different icons, the expressive power of the hierarchical structure is enhanced. In addition, when the document structure is a heading and its description, the operability is improved by collectively expressing the heading in units of heading groups.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional tree structure display as described above, the unit of each layer of the document structure such as a document, a chapter, and a page is always displayed with the same icon, and different settings are made in the unit of the document structure belonging to the same layer. The way of expression in the case of was not considered. For example, as a different setting performed in each unit of the document structure, there is a setting in which additional information is added to each page. That is, when different additional information is set for each unit of the document structure, the conventional tree structure display has a problem that it is not possible to determine which document structure unit the additional information is set to. Was.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has a tree structure in which a unit of a document structure having different settings due to setting of additional information or the like can be displayed with an icon different from a normal setting state. It is intended to provide a display method.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention is a tree structure display method for displaying a hierarchical structure of document data having a plurality of layers using a tree structure in which data of each layer of the document data is displayed as icons. ,
A first acquisition step of acquiring data information of a first hierarchy constituting the document data;
A second acquisition step of acquiring, for each piece of data belonging to the first layer, data information of a second layer constituting the respective data;
A judging step of judging whether or not additional information is added to each data belonging to the second hierarchy;
Using the data information of the first hierarchy, the data information of the second hierarchy, and the determination result of the determination step, a type of an icon indicating data of each hierarchy when tree-displaying the document data is determined. A decision step;
Displaying a hierarchical structure of the document data in a tree structure using the determined icon.
[0006]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a tree structure display technique according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0007]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system including a host computer 3000 capable of displaying a tree structure and a printer 1500 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device or system having the tree structure display function according to the present invention may be a single device, a system including a plurality of devices, or a device that performs tree structure display. , A system connected via a network such as a LAN or a WAN.
[0008]
In FIG. 1, a host computer 3000 includes a computer control unit 2000, a keyboard (KB) 9, a CRT display (CRT) 10, and an external memory 11. The computer control unit 2000 stores figures, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) based on the ROM 3 for storing various data, and a program processing ROM stored in the ROM 3 or a document processing program stored in the external memory 11. And a RAM 2 functioning as a main memory and a work area of the CPU 1. Each device connected to the system bus 4 (the RAM 2 and the ROM 3, the keyboard controller 5 described below, and the CRT The controller 1 generally controls the controller 6, the disk controller 7, and the printer controller 8).
[0009]
The program ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11 stores an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as “OS”) as a control program of the CPU 1 and the like. Font data and the like used at the time of document processing are stored, and various data used at the time of performing the document processing and the like are stored in the data ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11.
[0010]
A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls a key input from a KB 9 or a pointing device (not shown). A CRT controller (CRTC) 6 controls display on the CRT 10. The disk controller (DKC) 7 includes a hard disk (HD) storing a boot program, various applications, font data, a user file, an edit file, a printer control command generation program (hereinafter, referred to as a “printer driver”), a flexible disk. (FD) to control access to the external memory 11. The printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to the printer 1500 via the bidirectional interface (interface) 21 and executes a communication control process with the printer 1500.
[0011]
The CPU 1 executes, for example, a process of rasterizing an outline font in a display information RAM set on the RAM 2 to enable WYSIWYG on the CRT 10. Further, the CPU 1 opens various registered windows based on commands specified by a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on the CRT 10 and executes various data processing. When performing printing, the user opens a window related to print settings, and sets a printer and a print processing method for a printer driver including selection of a print mode.
[0012]
The printer 1500 includes a printer control unit 1000, a printing unit 17, an operation unit 1501, and an external memory 14, and is controlled by the CPU 12 in the printer control unit 1000. The printer CPU 12 sends an image as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program or the like stored in a program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program or the like stored in the external memory 14. Output a signal. The program ROM of the ROM 13 stores a control program of the CPU 12 and the like. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data and the like used when generating the output information. The data ROM of the ROM 13 stores the font data on the host computer 3000 in the case of a printer having no external memory 14 such as a hard disk. Is stored.
[0013]
The CPU 12 can perform communication processing with the host computer 3000 via the input unit 18 and can notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer 1500 and the like. The RAM 19 is a RAM that functions as a main memory of the CPU 12, a work area, and the like, and is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The RAM 19 is used for an output information development area, an environment data storage area, an NVRAM, and the like. The access to the external memory 14 realized by the above-described hard disk (HD), IC card, or the like is controlled by a memory controller (MC) 20. The external memory 14 is connected as an option and stores font data, emulation programs, form data, and the like. In addition, the operation unit 1501 is provided with switches, an LED display, and the like for operating with an operation panel or the like.
[0014]
The external memory 14 described above is not limited to one, and a plurality of external memories can be provided. In addition to the built-in fonts, an option card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different languages are connected. You may comprise so that it can be performed. Further, an NVRAM (not shown) may be provided, and printer mode setting information set from the operation panel 1501 may be stored.
[0015]
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a typical print processing module in a host computer 3000 to which a printer is connected directly or via a network. 2, an application 201, a graphic engine 202, a printer driver 203, and a system spooler 204 exist as files stored in the external memory 11, and are loaded into the RAM 2 by an OS or a module using the module when executed. The program module to be executed.
[0016]
The application 201 and the printer driver 203 can be added to the FD or the CD-ROM (not shown) as the external memory 11 or the HD as the external memory 11 via a network (not shown). The application 201 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and executed. When the content of the document file 205 of the application is printed from the application 201 to the printer 1500, the application 201 is similarly loaded into the RAM 2 and executed. Is output (drawn) using the graphic engine 202.
[0017]
The graphic engine 202 similarly loads a printer driver 203 prepared for each printer (printing device) from the external memory 11 to the RAM 2 and sets the output of the application 201 in the printer driver 203. Then, a GDI (Graphic Device Interface) function received from the application 201 is converted into a DDI (Device Driver Interface) function, and the DDI function is output to the printer driver 203. The printer driver 203 converts, based on the DDI function received from the graphic engine 202, a control command that can be recognized by the printer, for example, a PDL (Page Description Language). The converted printer control command is output as print data to the printer 1500 via the system spooler 204 loaded into the RAM 2 by the OS, for example, via the interface 21.
[0018]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen of the application 201 displayed on the CRT 10 of the host computer 3000. The application 201 is capable of setting functions of the printing apparatus such as stapling and punching in addition to editing such as changing the page order of the document, duplicating and deleting, and printing on a designated printing apparatus.
[0019]
In the area 31 on the left side of FIG. 3, a tree structure indicating the structure of the document is displayed. In the present embodiment, a document is composed of a set of chapters, and each chapter is composed of a set of manuscript pages. Further, a print preview of each page is displayed in the area 32 on the right side of FIG. Further, the application 201 can add annotation data, variable print data, and the like as additional information to the page.
[0020]
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an “annotation editor” window that can be started from the application 201. The “annotation editor” window is a window for adding annotation data to a page. This window provides various functions for adding graphics, characters, images, and the like to a page. FIG. 4 shows a state where the graphic 41 is added to a specific page. In the present embodiment, the annotation editor window shown in FIG. 4 is started by pressing the “start annotation editor” button 33 in the tool menu on the application operation screen of FIG. 3 or the “start annotation editor” button 33 on the toolbar. Is done.
[0021]
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a “variable print editor” window that can be started from the application 201. The “variable print editor” window is a window for adding variable print data to a page. This window provides various functions for adding variable print data to a page. FIG. 5 shows a state where variable print data is added as a variable field 51 to a specific page. Further, the variable field can be linked to a database, and variable data linked to the database can be added. In the present embodiment, the “Variable Print Editor” window shown in FIG. 4 is a “Variable Print Editor Startup” button in the tool menu on the application operation screen of FIG. It is activated by pressing.
[0022]
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a tree structure display of a document structure in a case where additional information such as annotation data and variable print data has not been set for all pages. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a tree structure display of a document configuration when additional information such as annotation data or variable print data is set on a specific page. These tree structure displays are displayed in the left frame of the screen in FIG. 3, as described above.
[0023]
As illustrated in FIG. 6, as an example, an icon 61 indicating a page is adopted as an icon of a page in which annotation data, variable print data, and the like are not set. Also, as shown by reference numerals 71 and 72 in FIG. 7, a page to which annotation data and variable print data are set is marked with a pencil mark on an icon of a page that has not been set, and a page that does not include annotation data and variable print data. So that it can be clearly distinguished.
[0024]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed data structure of the document file 205 handled by the application 201. As shown in FIG. 8, in the document file 205 in the present embodiment, the document structure information, the document detailed setting information, the chapter detailed setting information, the page detailed setting information, the document information, the annotation data, and the variable print data are respectively stored. It is recorded in fields 801-807.
[0025]
The document structure information in the field 801 is information on the structure of the document displayed in the tree structure of the application operation screen shown in FIG. The document detailed setting information in the field 802 is detailed document setting information. The detailed setting information of the chapter in the field 803 is detailed setting information of the chapter. The detailed setting information of the page in the field 804 is detailed setting information that can be set for each page. In the same manner as the detailed setting of the document can be changed in the detailed setting of the chapter, the detailed setting information of the page can be changed. This is setting information about setting items that can be changed for each page with respect to detailed settings of chapters and chapters. The document information in the field 805 is drawing information of each document page, and is page information used for preview display on the right side of FIG. The document file 205 contains other necessary information for each document, but the description is omitted here. The field 806 records annotation data as additional information. In a field 807, variable print data as additional information is recorded.
[0026]
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining the case where the annotation data is included in the field 806 of FIG. As the annotation data, a figure 908, an image 909, and a text 910 can be embedded in the page as additional information. In that case, the data is recorded in the annotation data field 806 in the data structure of FIG.
[0027]
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining a case where variable print data is included in the field 807 of FIG. The variable print data is stored as in a field 1008, and data is recorded in each variable field. Further, the variable field can be connected to a database, and can be connected to the database 1009 to embed variable information in the database in a page.
[0028]
As described above, the host computer 3000 according to the present embodiment can display the hierarchical structure of the document data including a plurality of layers using the tree structure in which the data of each layer of the document data is displayed as an icon. For this reason, first, the data information of the first layer (for example, chapter) constituting the document data is acquired, and the second layer (for example, chapter) which constitutes each data is obtained for each data belonging to the first layer. , Page), and determines whether or not additional information is added to each data belonging to the second hierarchy. Next, using the data information of the first hierarchy, the data information of the second hierarchy, and the determination result, the type of the icon indicating the data of each hierarchy when the document data is displayed as a tree is determined. Then, the hierarchical structure of the document data is displayed in a tree structure using the determined icon.
[0029]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed procedure of the tree structure display processing in the application 201. First, the application 201 acquires the number N of chapters included in the document file 205 being edited (step S1101). At this time, the constants I and J are initialized to 0. Next, it is determined whether or not the obtained number N of chapters matches I (step S1102). As a result, if they do not match (No), the constant I is incremented (+1) (step S1103). Next, the number of pages M of chapter I is obtained (step S1104).
[0030]
Next, it is determined whether or not the acquired page number M of the chapter I matches the constant J (step S1105). As a result, if they do not match (No), the constant J is incremented (+1) (step S1106). Then, if additional information is added to the J page of Chapter I, F = 1 is set, and if not, F = 0 is set. That is, it is checked whether the page contains the annotation data or the variable print data described with reference to FIGS. Then, if at least one of them is included, the flag F = 1 is set as the icon information of the page if no at least one is included (step S1107).
[0031]
Then, the chapter number, the page number, and the values of the flags I, J, and F are stored as page information (step S1108), and the process returns to step S1105. Here, if the page number is 0, it means chapter information. Then, after creating and storing the page information up to the last page, if J is not equal to M by the determination in step S1105 (Yes), the process returns to step S1102 to create the information of the next chapter. This procedure is repeated until the last chapter to complete the information for creating the document structure (Yes in step S1102), and display processing is performed (step S1110).
[0032]
In the display processing in step S1110, an icon to be used on the page is determined based on information on the chapter, page, and flag. For example, if the page number is 0, it means chapter information and the chapter icon is displayed. If the page number is other than 0, it means page information, and the page icon is displayed. Furthermore, if the page flag is 1, the page includes additional information, and an icon indicating that fact is displayed.
[0033]
That is, in the tree structure display processing in the present embodiment, the data information in the first hierarchy (for example, a chapter) or the data information in the second hierarchy (for example, a page) replaces the identification information I and J of each data. If the determination result in step S1107 is indicated by flag information F indicating whether or not additional information has been added, in step S1110, a flag relating to data based on the identification information I and J in the first and second layers is set. Using the information F, the icon of the data to which the additional information is not added is made a normal icon (normal icon), and the icon of the data to which the additional information is added is a special icon (an icon for storing the additional information). It is characterized by doing.
[0034]
Note that if there is additional information on the page in step S1107, the flowchart uses ON / OFF of the flag, but there is also a method of storing which additional information is added as information. For example, in the page setting, the annotation data and the variable print data are stored in a format that can be identified instead of the flag. If all the icons corresponding to the types of data stored in step S1110 are displayed in a tree structure, it is possible to immediately determine which additional information is added to the page from the tree structure. However, in this case, it is necessary to include a process of displaying a plurality of icons in step S1110.
[0035]
Further, as a method of displaying the additional data, there is a method of notifying the additional information by a tool tip when a mouse cursor or the like is moved to a page to which the additional information is added.
[0036]
Further, when additional information is added to the document data, the icon of the data to which the additional information has been added may be switched to a special icon.
[0037]
Note that, as described above, the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), but is not limited to a single device (for example, a copying machine). , Facsimile machines, etc.).
[0038]
Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a recording medium (or a storage medium) in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or a CPU or a CPU) of the system or the apparatus. Needless to say, the present invention can also be achieved by the MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the recording medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the recording medium on which the program code is recorded constitutes the present invention. When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
[0039]
Further, after the program code read from the recording medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.
[0040]
When the present invention is applied to the recording medium, the recording medium stores program codes corresponding to the flowcharts described above.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a unit of a document structure that is set differently by setting additional information or the like can be displayed with an icon different from a normal setting state.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system including a host computer 3000 capable of displaying a tree structure and a printer 1500 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a typical print processing module in a host computer 3000 to which a printer is connected directly or via a network.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen of an application 201 displayed on a CRT 10 of a host computer 3000.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an “annotation editor” window that can be started from an application 201;
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a “variable print editor” window that can be started from the application 201.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a tree structure display of a document structure when additional information such as annotation data and variable print data is not set for all pages.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a tree structure display of a document structure when additional information such as annotation data or variable print data is set on a specific page.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed data structure of a document file 205 handled by the application 201.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining a case where annotation data is included in a field 806 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a case where variable print data is included in a field 807 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed procedure of a tree structure display process in an application 201.

Claims (1)

A tree structure display method for displaying a hierarchical structure of document data including a plurality of layers using a tree structure in which data of each layer of the document data is displayed as an icon,
A first acquisition step of acquiring data information of a first hierarchy constituting the document data;
A second acquisition step of acquiring, for each data belonging to the first hierarchy, data information of a second hierarchy constituting the respective data;
A determining step of determining whether or not additional information is added to each data belonging to the second hierarchy;
Using the data information of the first hierarchy, the data information of the second hierarchy, and the determination result of the determination step, a type of an icon indicating data of each hierarchy when tree-displaying the document data is determined. A decision step;
Displaying the hierarchical structure of the document data in a tree structure using the determined icon.

Images