JP2004252908A - Electronic document processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow for image degradation and inaccessibility from a network. <P>SOLUTION: An electronic document processing device for interconverting information between an electronic document of a computer-readable format and a hard copy document comprises user information acquiring means 2 for acquiring information on a user of printing means 4 when the electronic document is printed, and encoding means 3 for encoding at least one attribute of the selected electronic document and the user information into a machine-readable format. The machine-readable codes are printed by the printing means 4 together with a human-readable image generated from the electronic document. When information by the hard copy document is converted into a computer-readable format, at least the electronic document attribute or user information can be reproduced from the code printed on the hard copy document. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

デコード精度の判定は、符号化データデコード部８−２が行うデコード処理の際にデコードプログラムが返すエラーコードによって行われる。一般的にこうしたデコード処理は、誤り訂正処理を含むため、誤り訂正が不能な場合に特別なエラーコードを出力する。前記判定部１０は、符号化データデコード部８−２から当該のエラーコードを受け取ると、その符号化データに関する文書情報・利用者情報格納部１１のデコード精度判定の項目に、成功／失敗フラグの値を０として格納する。
すべての符号化データのデコードが終了すると、文書情報・利用者情報格納部１１には復元された電子文書情報および利用者情報が格納されている。前記判定部１０は、格納されている復元情報の中から文書情報の所在情報に関するタグを検索し値を取得し、当該の所在情報から文書情報が取得できるかどうかを判定する。一般的に文書情報の取得が不能な場合にも特別なエラーコードが出力されるので、前記判定部１０は当該のエラーコードに基づき判定を行い、結果を文書情報・利用者情報格納部１１に格納する。
これらの処理により例えば表２のように文書結果が文書情報・利用者情報格納部１１へ出力される。ここで０は判定の結果が失敗（デコード失敗／文書情報を取得できない）、１は成功（デコード成功／文書情報を取得できる）を示す。またタグおよび値は、符号デコードにより復元されたデータが代入されている（表２参照）。
【表２】

ここで、符号化データＩＤの２は、デコード精度判定でＦａｉｌのため、タグ情報、値が取得できなかったことを示している。また、タグが所在情報以外のものに関しては、到達判定は行わない。以上の手続を図６のフローチャートに示す。
ここで、前記判定部１０の判定結果に基づいて行われる典型的な処理について説明する。処理内容は、符号化されハードコピー文書に埋め込まれている電子文書情報を入手する方法に関するものである。
ハードコピー文書に人間が読解可能な形式で印刷されている元の電子文書の情報が符号化され埋め込まれている場合について説明する。電子文書処理装置は、まず、文書情報・利用者情報格納部１１のデコード精度判定の値を参照し、１であればそのまま電子文書情報を出力する。
一方、文書情報・利用者情報格納部１１のデコード精度判定の値を参照し、０であれば、文書情報・利用者情報格納部１１から利用者情報を検索し利用者情報に対応する値と、当該のハードコピー文書の少なくとも一部の情報を出力する。ここで当該のハードコピー文書の一部の情報とは、ハードコピー文書を読み込んだ際の画像データの一部、あるいは（および）デコード精度判定が成功している電子文書情報の一部もしくすべてのことである。
【００１４】
続いてハードコピー文書に人間が読解可能な形式で印刷されている元の電子文書の所在情報が符号化され埋め込まれている場合について説明する。電子文書処理装置は、まず、文書情報・利用者情報格納部１１の到達判定の値を参照し、１であればそのまま当該の電子文書情報を、電子文書情報獲得手段２により取得し出力する。
一方、文書情報・利用者情報格納部１１の到達判定の値を参照し、０であれば、文書情報・利用者情報格納部から利用者情報を検索し利用者情報に対応する値と、当該のハードコピー文書の少なくとも一部の情報を出力する。以上の手続をフローチャートとして図７に示す。
さらに、スキャン手段にハードコピー文書から電子文書情報を復元しようとする利用者へのアクセス手段に関する情報を入力させる手段を持たせれば、画像劣化により電子文書情報が復元できなかったり、また、ファイヤーウォールなどにより当該の電子文書情報を取得できない場合でも、自動的にハードコピー文書を印刷した利用者、すなわち元の電子文書を利用できる利用者に、文書情報を要求することができる。
【００１５】
【発明の効果】
以上説明したように、請求項１、２、３、４、１０によれば、ハードコピー文書と電子文書との間で情報をやり取りする際に、何らかの原因で、電子文書情報がハードコピー文書から復元できないときに、ハードコピー文書に対してそのハードコピーを印刷した第一の利用者の情報を付与することで、すくなくとも元の電子情報を所有する第一の利用者からの入手を、第二の利用者に保証することができる。
請求項５、７、９によれば、特に、ハードコピー文書の元の電子文書情報に対してアクセスできない場合でも、ハードコピー文書に対してそのハードコピーを印刷した第一の利用者の情報を付与することで、すくなくとも元の電子情報を所有する第一の利用者からの入手を、第二の利用者に保証することができる。
請求項６、８、９によれば、特に、繰り返しの複写、あるいは持ち歩くことによるハードコピー文書の画像劣化が起こり、電子文書情報がハードコピー文書から復元できないときに、ハードコピー文書に対してそのハードコピーを印刷した第一の利用者の情報を付与することで、すくなくとも元の電子情報を所有する第一の利用者からの入手を、第二の利用者に保証することができる。
【図面の簡単な説明】
【図１】本発明の実施の形態に係るハードコピー文書の一例を示す図である。
【図２】本発明の実施の形態に係る電子文書処理装置の機能ブロック図である。
【図３】電子文書情報獲得手段と符号エンコーダを中心としたブロック図である。
【図４】本発明の制御動作を示すフローチャートである。
【図５】符号デコーダを中心としたブロック図である。
【図６】本発明の制御動作を示すフローチャートである。
【図７】本発明の制御動作を示すフローチャートである。
【符号の説明】
１ 利用者情報獲得手段
３ 符号エンコーダ（符号化手段）
４ プリンタ[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic document processing apparatus having a print and scan function, and in particular, enables related information of an electronic document and information of a user who printed the electronic document to be recognizable even when a hard copy is output. The present invention relates to an electronic document processing apparatus which scans and makes it available again as electronic data having similar related information.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, an electronic document processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 embeds attribute information of an original electronic document in a hard copy of the electronic document using a barcode or the like, and further scans the hard copy. This is a basic mechanism for decoding a barcode and restoring attribute information of an original electronic document. Thus, information is exchanged between the electronic document and the hard copy document.
However, the information encoded and embedded in the hard copy includes “at least one attribute of the selected electronic document file”, that is, the file name, content, location, creator, file size, and the like of the electronic document to be printed. And does not include an attribute corresponding to the application user when using the document. Also, no consideration is given to the image deterioration of the barcode caused by duplicating the hardcopy document.
[0003]
For example, an analog and digital data double-sided printing method disclosed in Patent Literature 2 prints an analog (human-readable expression) on a medium such as paper or film by a conventional method, and simultaneously converts the original digital data (computer is used). This is a method of printing encoded data (readable data) on the same medium. Since this method prints analog data that is being printed and digital data that is to be matched, encoding and printing data that is not to be printed as analog data is not considered.
For example, an information processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 3 processes attribute information or location information of an original electronic document and an original electronic document that is not an attribute of the original electronic document, for a hard copy of the electronic document. Application information for embedding using a barcode or the like, and when scanning the relevant hard copy, decode the barcode, and restore the attribute information or location information and application information of the original electronic document, This is for processing electronic documents.
Application information is assumed as information other than the attribute information of the electronic document, but user information is not assumed. Also, no consideration is given to the image deterioration of the barcode caused by duplicating the hardcopy document.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 3219251
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-288363
[Patent Document 3] JP-A-2001-30587
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Hardcopy documents are still one of the main media for browsing, carrying, and recording / archiving because they do not require special devices for display or carrying, and printed matter is not easily modified.
In addition to such excellent readability, portability, and recordability, hardcopy documents can be copied easily and inexpensively by copiers and facsimile machines, so more and more hardcopy documents are copied and generated. Documents are widely distributed beyond their creators. Further, in recent years, with the development of networks, electronic documents created by an electronic document processing apparatus are transmitted to a wide range of users via a network, and are output as hard copy documents not by the document creator but by the user. .
However, hard copy documents that are widely distributed in this way have several problems as compared with electronic documents. First, hardcopy documents are not easy to modify. For example, if you want to change the content of text, graphs, tables, etc. in a hardcopy document, it is generally necessary to scan the hardcopy document and convert the depiction into a format that can be read by a computer using recognition technology (eg, OCR). There is no technology that can be achieved completely.
[0005]
Second, hardcopy output of electronic documents is often only a partial representation of the content of the electronic document. The electronic document managed by the electronic document processing apparatus is provided with bibliographic information such as a creator, a creation date and time, a version, and a link to a reference document, in addition to the content. In addition, some documents, such as tables generated by spreadsheet software, include, in addition to the numerical values drawn in the hard copy document, formulas required for calculating the numerical values. However, these bibliographic information, link information, and formulas are not actually depicted in hard copy.
To cope with these first and second problems, Japanese Patent No. 3219251 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-288363 disclose attributes of electronic documents (contents, bibliographic terms, calculation formulas, etc.) as barcodes, and The solution is to print on a hardcopy document along with a human-readable image corresponding to the document.
Utilizing the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-288363, an electronic document itself is converted into a barcode, and a hard-coded document is printed in a human-readable format on the front side, for example, and the bar-coded electronic document is printed on the back side. You can print the file itself. Alternatively, if the location information (for example, URL) of the electronic document file is converted into a barcode instead of the electronic document file itself and is additionally printed on the hardcopy document, the hardcopy document with the barcode is read and the barcode is decoded. Thus, an electronic document corresponding to the hard copy document, or information on a part of the electronic document can be obtained.
A third problem with hardcopy documents is image degradation due to repeated duplication and use. Even if information of an electronic document is relatively robust against image deterioration such as a bar code as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3219251 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-288363, the information disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-288363 can be used. When the entire hard copy document is encoded and printed as described above, the robustness against image deterioration relatively decreases.
In such a case, it is sufficient to encode information having a relatively small amount of information, such as location information of the original electronic document in a hard copy, but in a world where hard copy documents are distributed, the original electronic document is restricted due to restrictions such as firewalls. Sometimes a document cannot always be reached. This is the fourth problem. A problem in the hard copy document world is that it is not possible to predict in advance the number of copies and whether the original electronic document can be reached via a network at the time of printing.
[0006]
By the way, as described above, the fact that a copy of an electronic document is widely distributed beyond the creator means that both the creator of the electronic document and the user of the electronic document can own electronic documents with completely the same contents. Become. Here, the possession includes a case where the data of the electronic document is owned and a case where the electronic document is accessible. Therefore, as one variation when restoring the original electronic document information from the hard copy document, a method that utilizes information on the user side instead of information on the creator side of the electronic document can be considered.
The attribute information associated with the electronic document as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3219251, that is, the attribute information determined when the document is created, but not the attribute information that is received or accessed by the electronic document. The information determined when using the document is also important. In other words, it is useful to be able to temporarily print the information on the user side separately in a hard copy document without altering the original document information specified at the time of creation.
As a typical example, an electronic document that can be accessed by a third party (user) who is not the creator, for example, printing while browsing an in-house web document, and “a person who can access or own the electronic document” By encoding the information that identifies the user as described above and attaching it to the hard copy document, the hard copy document is obtained, another scanned third party requests the above user for the original electronic document There is a method that is considered.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-30587 discloses a technique for encoding information other than attribute information of an electronic document and printing the encoded information on a hardcopy document. This technique processes an original electronic document of a hardcopy document. The information on the application is encoded, and the application is activated when the hard copy document is scanned. The information as “a person who can access or own the electronic document” is not encoded.
As described above, the present invention relates to an electronic document processing apparatus that encodes and embeds information of an original electronic document in a hardcopy document in order to obtain a corresponding electronic document from a hardcopy document, or to obtain a part of the information, It is intended to cope with a case where access is not possible.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is an electronic document processing apparatus for mutually exchanging information between an electronic document in a format readable by a computer and a hard copy document, User information acquiring means for acquiring information of a user of the printing means when printing a document, and encoding at least one attribute and user information of the selected electronic document into a format readable by a machine. The machine-readable code comprising the encoding means is printed together with a human-readable image generated from the electronic document by the printing means, and the information provided by the hardcopy document Is converted to a form that can be read by a computer, at least the attributes of the electronic document or user information can be reproduced from the code printed on the hard copy document. The most important feature electronic document processor that.
The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the electronic document processing apparatus according to claim 1, the electronic document processing apparatus is characterized in that the user information is information that can be accessed by at least a third party to the user.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic document processing apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the user information is information that can be accessed by at least a third party to the user via a firewall. Features.
The invention according to a fourth aspect is characterized in that, in the electronic document processing apparatus according to the third aspect, the electronic document processing apparatus is characterized in that the user information is a mail address of the user.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic document processing apparatus of any one of the first to fourth aspects, the encoding unit encodes location information indicating at least a location where the electronic document is stored. Is the main feature.
[0008]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic document processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the encoding unit encodes at least a hard copy content and user information of the electronic document, and the encoded information is printed on the hard copy document. When converting information into a format that can be read by a computer, the electronic document processing device that has a determining unit that determines the accuracy of reading the code and that determines the processing based on the determination result of the determining unit. Characteristics.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic document processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the encoding unit encodes location information and user information indicating a location where at least the electronic document is stored, When converting information printed from a code printed on a hardcopy document into a format that can be read by a computer, the apparatus has a determination unit that determines whether access to location information is possible. The main feature is an electronic document processing device that determines processing.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic document processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the encoding means includes at least hard copy content of the electronic document, location information indicating a location where the electronic document is stored, When encoding user information and converting the code printed on the hardcopy document into a format that can be read by a computer, determine the reading accuracy of the code and whether access to the location information is possible. An electronic document processing apparatus that has a determination unit and determines a process based on a determination result of the determination unit is a main feature.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic document processing apparatus according to any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, the processing performed based on the determination result of the determination unit is for accessing the user using the user information. The main feature of the present invention is an electronic document processing device that outputs information about an electronic document in addition to user information.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic document processing apparatus according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the encoding means sets two or more error correction degrees based on the size of a code to be printed and performs encoding. The main feature of the present invention is an electronic document processing apparatus.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a hard copy document according to the embodiment of the present invention.
There are two types of representations in the hardcopy document shown in FIG. One is of a human-readable representation format, and the other is of a computer-readable encoded representation format. In the latter representation format, three types of information are encoded and embedded in FIG. For this code, a known technique such as a bar code or a glyph code can be used. For example, the glyph code is a code system expressing “0” and “1” that can be read by a computer using a leftward slash and a rightward slash.
For example, if a printing device and a scanning device of 600 dpi to 1200 dpi to 2400 dpi are used, several megabytes to several tens of megabytes of data can be recorded and restored on one A4 sheet. It should be noted that the capacity of one code can be changed according to the degree of error correction. Further, by compressing a file by a predetermined algorithm and printing it based on the glyph code, a larger amount of data can be recorded.
In the upper left of the electronic document shown in FIG. 1, information enabling access to the electronic document (the embodiment of claim 5), for example, the location information of the electronic document such as a URL, and the information managed by the electronic document processing apparatus are stored. The identification symbol of the electronic document is encoded and printed. In the upper right corner, information enabling access to the user who printed the hard copy document from the electronic document is encoded and printed. The access information to the user may be any information as long as the information allows a third party to access the person. For example, administrative identification information such as the name, address, and telephone number of the user may be used, or identification information in a communication network such as a mail address may be used. Similarly, the electronic document itself is encoded and printed below the electronic document in FIG.
[0010]
In this embodiment, two or more error correction levels are provided as in the tenth embodiment. Taking the above example as an example, the information that allows a small amount of information to be encoded and that enables access to an electronic document and the information that enables access to a user have high redundancy and are robust against image degradation. I have to. The lower part of FIG. 1, in which the electronic document itself is encoded, is encoded and printed in a format with relatively low redundancy so that it can be compactly printed to a predetermined one of the hard copy document due to the large amount of information. I have.
Further, in this embodiment, the address of the electronic document and the document itself are exemplified as the information to be encoded and printed in addition to the user information. However, any information of the electronic document such as a file name and a summary of the document may be used. good.
The printing material of the hard copy document may be any material such as ordinary paper, coated paper, plastic, metal, etc., as long as it can be printed at a predetermined dot reproducibility during printing. Similarly, any printing method such as laser, ink jet, and thermal printing may be used as long as it can print at a predetermined dot reproducibility during printing.
This allows the user to read, carry, duplicate and distribute the document using a hardcopy document as before, and if a scanning device is available, the original electronic document can be restored first. You can also. Further, even if a hard copy document is repeatedly copied and the image of the hard copy document is deteriorated, information for accessing the electronic document is encoded and printed so as to be robust to the image deterioration. In such a case, the original electronic document can be restored.
In addition, since the access information to the user is encoded and printed, even if the access information to the electronic document is used, even if the original electronic document cannot be reached due to, for example, a firewall, the use of the printed image is not performed. To send the original document to the person.
Note that mounting ideas and variations, such as when the user selects the printing position of the code, the code indicating the start / end of the code, or the attribute information of the electronic document and prints some information of the electronic document, are described in this book. Since it can be used in the invention, refer to, for example, JP-A-2001-344588.
[0011]
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the electronic document processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. As a preferred example, a user prints a hard copy document according to the present invention while browsing a Web document with a browser, and a third party receiving the document restores the electronic document information and the user information from the hard copy document. And
(Hard copy document generation)
The present electronic document processing apparatus includes a user information acquired by the user information acquiring means 1, electronic document information for encoding, and an electronic document originally intended to be printed as human-readable information. The information is acquired by the electronic document information acquisition means 2 and output to the code encoder 3. The code encoder 3 encodes predetermined electronic document information and user information, adds it to the electronic document information originally intended for printing, and sends it to the printer 4 as print data. Reference numeral 5 is a user information storage unit, 6 is an electronic document storage unit, 7 is a scanner, and 8 is a code decoder.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram mainly showing the electronic document information obtaining means and the code encoder. The information of the user who performs printing is obtained from the user information storage means 5 shown in FIG. 2 by the user information obtaining means 1, and the user information data such as the mail address of the user and a predetermined type indicating the type of information are obtained. The tag is output to the code encoder 3 using a notation such as XML.
The electronic document information obtaining means 2 accesses an electronic document for generating a hard copy document, and encodes and embeds the hard copy in the hard copy. It extracts predetermined information selected by the user or predetermined information (for example, the URL and the entire electronic document), and similarly outputs the information to the code encoder 3 together with a tag indicating the type of information. The electronic document information (entire electronic document) originally requested by the user to be printed is output to the formatter 3-1 of the code encoder 3.
The code generation unit 3-2 sequentially codes user information and predetermined information to be coded, and outputs the coded information to the formatter 3-1. The formatter 3-1 refers to the print layout definition data prepared in advance or defined by the user to determine the layout of the user information, the document information to be encoded, and the electronic document information originally intended to be printed. Then, the result is output to the print data generation unit 9. The print data generation unit 9 generates print data such as PDL, PostScript or bitmap data, and outputs the print data to the printer 4 to create a hard copy document. For the generation of the code, refer to the method referred to in Japanese Patent No. 3219251.
[0012]
(Restoration of electronic document information and user information)
Next, a method for restoring the original electronic document information and user information from the hardcopy document in which the obtained code is embedded will be described. In FIG. 2, first, a hard copy document is read by a scanner 7 such as a copying machine or a facsimile, and is output to a code decoder 8 as, for example, TIFF format image data. The code decoder 8 extracts the electronic document information according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG.
While reading the image data in the TIFF format, the code decoder 8 detects the code start position and extracts up to the code end portion as one coded data. The extracted encoded data is decoded by using, for example, a method referred to in Japanese Patent No. 3219251. This is repeated until there is no more image data.
As described above, the document information embedded in the hard copy document and the user information are restored. Each of the restored document information or user information is output in pairs with an identification symbol indicating what attribute information has been restored.
The function relating to the generation of the hard copy document is possible in the electronic document processing apparatus shown in FIG. Therefore, here, a description will be given of a function for restoring encoded and embedded information from a hardcopy document and performing processing.
[0013]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram mainly showing a code decoder. The processing up to the restoration of the electronic document information and the user information from the hard copy document can be performed by the electronic document processing apparatus shown in FIG. Here, the decoding accuracy and document location information arrival determination unit 10 and the document information / user information storage unit 11 will be described.
First, when encoded data extraction is started by the encoded data extraction unit 8-1, a data management table is generated in the document information / user information storage unit 11, and a decoding result is stored for each encoded data. (See Table 1).
[Table 1]

The determination of the decoding accuracy is performed based on an error code returned by the decoding program at the time of the decoding process performed by the encoded data decoding unit 8-2. Generally, since such decoding processing includes error correction processing, a special error code is output when error correction is impossible. Upon receiving the error code from the encoded data decoding unit 8-2, the determination unit 10 stores the success / failure flag of the success / failure flag in the item of decoding accuracy in the document information / user information storage unit 11 relating to the encoded data. Store the value as 0.
When decoding of all the encoded data is completed, the restored electronic document information and user information are stored in the document information / user information storage unit 11. The determination unit 10 retrieves a tag related to the location information of the document information from the stored restoration information, acquires a value, and determines whether the document information can be acquired from the location information. In general, a special error code is output even when the acquisition of document information is impossible. Therefore, the determination unit 10 makes a determination based on the error code, and stores the result in the document information / user information storage unit 11. Store.
Through these processes, a document result is output to the document information / user information storage unit 11, for example, as shown in Table 2. Here, 0 indicates that the determination result has failed (decoding failure / document information cannot be obtained), and 1 indicates success (decoding success / document information can be obtained). Further, data restored by code decoding is substituted for the tag and the value (see Table 2).
[Table 2]

Here, the coded data ID 2 indicates that tag information and a value could not be obtained because the decoding accuracy determination was Fail. The arrival determination is not performed for tags other than the location information. The above procedure is shown in the flowchart of FIG.
Here, a typical process performed based on the determination result of the determination unit 10 will be described. The processing content relates to a method of obtaining electronic document information which is encoded and embedded in a hard copy document.
A case in which information of an original electronic document printed in a human-readable format in a hard copy document is encoded and embedded will be described. First, the electronic document processing device refers to the value of the decoding accuracy determination in the document information / user information storage unit 11, and if it is 1, outputs the electronic document information as it is.
On the other hand, the value of the decoding accuracy determination in the document information / user information storage unit 11 is referred to. If the value is 0, the user information is retrieved from the document information / user information storage unit 11 and the value corresponding to the user information is retrieved. And output at least a portion of the information of the hardcopy document. Here, a part of the information of the hard copy document is a part of the image data obtained when the hard copy document is read, or a part or all of the electronic document information for which decoding accuracy determination is successful. That is.
[0014]
Next, the case where the location information of the original electronic document printed in a human-readable format in the hard copy document is encoded and embedded will be described. First, the electronic document processing apparatus refers to the value of the arrival determination in the document information / user information storage unit 11, and if it is 1, the electronic document information acquisition unit 2 acquires and outputs the electronic document information as it is.
On the other hand, the value of the arrival determination in the document information / user information storage unit 11 is referred to. If the value is 0, the user information is searched from the document information / user information storage unit, and the value corresponding to the user information is determined. Output at least a portion of the information of the hardcopy document. The above procedure is shown in FIG. 7 as a flowchart.
Further, if the scanning means is provided with a means for inputting information regarding access means to a user who intends to restore electronic document information from a hardcopy document, the electronic document information cannot be restored due to image deterioration, Even when the electronic document information cannot be acquired due to the above, the document information can be requested from the user who automatically printed the hard copy document, that is, the user who can use the original electronic document.
[0015]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first, second, third, fourth, and tenth aspects, when information is exchanged between a hardcopy document and an electronic document, for some reason, the electronic document information is converted from the hardcopy document. When the hard copy document cannot be restored, the information of the first user who printed the hard copy is attached to the hard copy document, so that the hard copy document can be obtained at least from the first user who owns the original electronic information. Users can be guaranteed.
According to the fifth, seventh, and ninth aspects, in particular, even when the original electronic document information of the hard copy document cannot be accessed, the information of the first user who has printed the hard copy on the hard copy document is stored. By providing the information, it is possible to guarantee to the second user at least the acquisition of the original electronic information from the first user who owns the original electronic information.
According to the sixth, eighth, and ninth aspects, in particular, when the electronic document information cannot be restored from the hard copy document due to image deterioration of the hard copy document due to repeated copying or carrying around, the hard copy document can be rewritten. By providing the information of the first user who printed the hard copy, it is possible to guarantee to the second user at least the acquisition of the original electronic information from the first user who owns the original electronic information.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a hard copy document according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the electronic document processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram mainly showing electronic document information acquisition means and a code encoder;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram focusing on a code decoder.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 User information acquisition means
3 Code encoder (encoding means)
4 Printer

Claims (10)

An electronic document processing apparatus for mutually exchanging information between an electronic document in a format readable by a computer and a hard copy document, wherein use of acquiring information of a user of a printing means when printing an electronic document User information acquiring means, and encoding means for encoding at least one attribute of the selected electronic document and user information into a machine-readable format, wherein the machine-readable code is printed. Printed together with a human-readable image generated from the electronic document by the means, at least when the information provided by the hardcopy document is converted to a computer-readable format. An electronic document processing apparatus wherein the document attributes or user information can be reproduced from codes printed on the hard copy document. 2. The electronic document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user information is information that can be accessed by a user at least by a third party. 3. The electronic document processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the user information is information that can be accessed by at least a third party to the user via a firewall. 4. The electronic document processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the user information is a mail address of the user. 5. The electronic document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the encoding unit encodes at least location information indicating a location where the electronic document is stored. 6. The electronic document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the encoding unit encodes at least a hard copy content and user information of the electronic document, and converts the information from a code printed on the hard copy document by a computer. An electronic document processing apparatus, comprising: a determination unit that determines a reading accuracy of a code when converting into a format that can be read, and determining a process based on a determination result of the determination unit. 6. The electronic document processing device according to claim 1, wherein the encoding unit encodes at least location information and user information indicating a location where the electronic document is stored, and the encoded information is printed on a hard copy document. When converting information from a code into a format that can be read by a computer, the apparatus has a determination unit that determines whether access to location information is possible, and determines a process based on a determination result of the determination unit. An electronic document processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 6. The electronic document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the encoding unit encodes at least a hard copy content of the electronic document, location information indicating a location where the electronic document is stored, and user information. When converting the information printed on the copy document into a format that can be read by a computer, the apparatus has a determination unit that determines whether the code can be read and whether or not the location information can be accessed. An electronic document processing apparatus, wherein a processing is determined based on a determination result of a means. 9. The electronic document processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processing performed based on the determination result of the determination unit is for accessing the user using the user information. An electronic document processing apparatus for outputting information about an electronic document in addition to user information. 10. The electronic document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the encoding unit encodes by setting two or more error correction degrees based on a size of a code to be printed. Document processing device.

Images