JP2005316652A - Form processor and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a form processor and a program reconciling both the versatility and easiness of a form design by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The customization user performs customization with basic form specification information 131 set with specifications to a basic form prepared by a maker as a base to form specifications of an arbitrary form, and stores them as customization information 132. When generating and outputting the form, an end user such as a person in charge of business not having expert knowledge selects the basic form specification information 131 or the customization information 132 in accordance with a purpose, and arbitrarily only designates a totaling target or the like in each totaling level. Thereby, a record corresponding to definition contents of the customization information 132 and the basic form specification information 131 is read from original data, and the record is classified and totaled with a hierarchical structure in accordance with the totaling level, and the totaling result thereof can be outputted in a form wherein the totaling result is printed as form data or the like. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a form processing apparatus that creates and outputs forms such as various management tables.

  Along with the recent development of information processing technology and network technology, form processing is generally performed that performs summation using electronic data generated by various kinds of processing or generates and outputs a form.

  The types of forms generated by this form processing differ for each user and purpose. For this reason, various methods for causing the user to specify the output layout of the form and outputting the form have been proposed in Patent Documents 1-6.

  In addition, since it is not easy for general users to design their own forms, the manufacturer that provides the form processing system (program) generates form specification information for generating and outputting several types of forms in advance. It is prepared so that the user can easily select and use a form suitable for the purpose.

Note that this form specification information is designed separately assuming the required objects and their combinations even if the print items are almost the same.
JP 2003-141439 A JP 2001-250077 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-290067 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-78214 JP-A-7-85176 JP-A-7-282162

  However, when there are few types of forms provided by manufacturers, it was not possible to deal with various users and all of their purposes. In addition, if the number of types of forms provided by the manufacturer is increased, it is possible to deal with many users and their purpose by itself, but it is necessary to select a form that suits the purpose from among the many form specification information provided. It was hard to find a specification. In addition, it is necessary to design, generate, and test a function of the basic form specification information separately.

Furthermore, although what is disclosed in each patent document can be customized by the user, the process is complicated.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a form processing apparatus and a program that achieve both ease of designing a form by a user and versatility.

  The form processing apparatus according to the present invention is premised on generating a form classified and aggregated hierarchically, and includes basic form specification information storage means, customization source form selection means, output suppression means, and customization information storage means.

The basic form specification information storage means stores in advance a plurality of basic form specification information defining the form specifications.
The customization source form selection unit selects one of the plurality of basic form specification information as a customization source based on a user instruction.

  The output suppression means sets whether or not to output the classification item defined as the output target by the basic form specification information selected by the customization source form selection means based on a user instruction.

  The customization information storage means stores information specifying the basic form specification information selected by the customization source form selection means and information indicating whether to output the classification items set by the output suppression means as customization information. .

With this configuration, basic form specification information indicating the form specifications is prepared in advance, and customization is performed based on this, so that the user can easily customize.
In addition, when the user is instructed to generate a form based on the customization information, the output of the customization information is restricted for the classification items defined as the output target by the basic form specification information specified by the customization information. A customized form generation means for generating a form in line can be provided.

With this configuration, a customized form can be easily generated.
Further, the customized form generation means temporarily stores an aggregation code classified and aggregated based on basic form specification information specified by the customization information, and the customization information indicates an output of the temporarily stored aggregation record. A form can be generated by outputting a total record corresponding to a classification item.

  With this configuration, the hierarchical structure in the classification and aggregation of customized forms derived from the basic forms based on the basic form specification information is almost the same. At the time of output, various customized forms can be output simply by controlling the output of the total record according to the contents of the customization.

  Further, the basic form specification information storage means classifies the plurality of basic form specification information by a combination of a total item to be totaled and a plurality of classification items that may be used for classification of the total item. Can be stored.

With this configuration, the user can easily select a form as a customization source according to the purpose from the basic form specification information classified systematically.
The present invention also includes a program executed in the form processing apparatus.

According to the present invention, a plurality of customized forms required from one basic form can be designed.
In addition, since this customization can be easily performed only by giving an instruction such as specifying a classification item that is not output, it is possible to achieve both ease of form design and versatility.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In the following example, sales data is aggregated to generate and output a form. However, this embodiment is not limited to this, and occurs in other business processes and general paperwork in general. It can also be used for data forms.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 11, a main storage device 12, an auxiliary storage device 13 such as a hard disk, an input / output device (I / O) 14 such as a display, a keyboard, and a printer interface, and a modem. A network connection device 15 and a medium reading device 16 for reading stored contents from a portable storage medium such as a disk or a magnetic tape are provided, and these are connected to each other via a bus 17.

  The form processing apparatus of FIG. 1 stores auxiliary data for original data for performing form processing stored in the auxiliary storage device 13 and original data read from the outside via a network using the network connection device 15. A form is generated and output using the basic form specification information 131 and the customization information 132 stored on the apparatus 13. The basic specification information 131 is form specification information in which specifications of basic forms provided by the manufacturer are defined. The customization information 132 is form specification information that defines the specifications of the customized form generated from the basic form by the customization user.

  In the form processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the medium reading device 16 reads out programs and data stored in a storage medium 18 such as a magnetic tape, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, and an MO and stores them in the main storage device 12 or auxiliary storage. Download to device 13. Alternatively, the program and data received from the outside via the network connection device 15 are downloaded to the main storage device 12 or the auxiliary storage device 13. Then, based on the program and data, the CPU 11 performs processing using the storage devices 11 as work memory, thereby realizing processing for generating and outputting a form, which will be described later.

  In this form processing apparatus, a customization user forms a specification of an arbitrary form by customizing based on basic form specification information 131 in which specifications for a basic form prepared in advance by a manufacturer are set, Store as customization information 132. When generating or outputting a form, an end user such as a business person who does not have specialized knowledge selects the basic form specification information 131 or the customization information 132 according to the purpose, and then, for each aggregation level. By simply specifying the aggregation target etc., records corresponding to the definition contents of this form specification information 131 and customization information 132 are read from the original data, and the records are classified and aggregated in a hierarchical structure according to the aggregation level. The tabulation results can be output as form data.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a form system handled by the form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In this figure, the forms generated and output by the form processing apparatus of this embodiment are first classified into major classifications, basic reports belonging to the major classifications, customized reports that customize each basic report, and finally aggregation targets It is classified as the specified printout form.

  The major classification is a form classification according to the difference in the aggregation target such as sales information and order information. In the figure, each form is classified as a sales management table for which sales are subject to aggregation, an order management table for which orders are subject to aggregation, an order management table for which orders are subject to aggregation,. The basic form is a form data form provided in advance by a manufacturer, and has a different form of the hierarchical structure of classification and aggregation by management entities such as products and customers. In this basic form, a form name is added according to a rule of a name part corresponding to a higher-level management entity + a name part corresponding to a lower-level management entity + a name part corresponding to a totaling item. The basic form specification information of the basic form is classified based on the method of adding the name and stored in the form processing apparatus.

  The customized form is a form customized from the basic form by the customization user. This customized form allows you to customize the printing level at the aggregation level, the order of records in each aggregation level, the aggregation level for page breaks, etc. to the basic form. I can do it. The print output form is a form that is finally output by the end user, and even if the same basic form or customized form specification information is used, the records to be extracted from the original data and the aggregation targets to be output are different.

  The customized user creates a customized form based on the basic form provided by the manufacturer as described later, and the end user creates a basic form or customized form that is already prepared as a form format when outputting the form. After selecting from the above, specify and input the data to be counted.

  As described above, the form handled by the form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is a basic form according to a specific classification and a customized form. Therefore, an end user can easily and systematically generate a form. The required form format can be selected from the classified forms.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a way of classifying and summing up forms handled by the form processing apparatus according to this embodiment. This figure shows, as an example, classification and tabulation data in the sales management table by product and customer.
Forms handled in this embodiment are extracted from the original data based on the record extraction conditions that are input by the end user at the time of form generation / output, and are classified and aggregated into multiple hierarchical levels. To do.

  In FIG. 3, first, a product category of “vegetable” or “fruit” is extracted from the original data as the highest level classification, and for each product (green pepper, tomato,. ..), and further classified into customer classifications (retail stores, mass retailers,...) As the next level of classification, and finally classified by customer. The totaling is performed for each customer classification (retail store, mass sales store,...), Which is the next level of the lowest level, and the sales quantity and sales amount are totalized, and the total values 21 and 22 are recorded. Aggregate each product (green pepper, tomato, ...) at the upper level, record the aggregated values 23 and 24, and then aggregate for each product category (vegetable, fruit) at the receiving level. The total values 25 and 26 are recorded and finally the total is totaled and the values are recorded.

Thereby, it is possible to obtain a form classified and aggregated hierarchically.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of basic form specification information 131, customization information 132, and record extraction condition information.

FIG. 5A shows an example of the configuration of the basic form specification information 131. The basic form specification information 131 defines the specifications of the basic form provided in advance by the manufacturer.
In the figure, as basic form specification information 131, name information of each basic form, total item information, classification item information, and layout information dialogue screen information are defined. Among these items, the total item information defines one or more items to be totaled. The classification item information specifies the items to be classified. In the example shown in the figure, classification / aggregation is performed after the classification / aggregation by the upper management entity that performs classification / aggregation first and the upper management entity. Subordinate management entities to be performed are defined, and two classification items are defined for each management entity. Classification can be defined at a total of four levels. In the example of the figure, the top level (level 5) management entity is the product classification, the next level (level 4) management entity is the product, the next level (level 3) management entity is the customer classification, The customer is defined in the management entity at the lowest level (level 2). The layout information is information that defines the output layout of each basic form, and specifies the coordinate data of the header part that outputs the form name and the like and the detail part that outputs the result of classification and aggregation. The interactive screen information defines screen data of an interactive screen such as an input screen when the user inputs a record extraction condition or the like.

  FIG. 4B shows an example of the configuration of the customization information 132. The customization information 132 is generated when a customization user creates a customized form by customizing a basic form, and defines a format for the customized form.

  In the figure, as the customization information 132, a basic form (information) name, a print suppression information, sort condition information, condition input information, and page break information that are the basis of a customized form are defined. Among these, the print suppression information specifies whether each item defined by the classification item of the basic form specification information 131 is output or deleted in the generated form. In the example of the figure, among the four classification items defined by the classification items of the basic basic form specification information 131, the levels 5, 4, and 3 are output, and the level 2 items are deleted and not output. It is prescribed. The sort condition information specifies how to sort. In the example in the figure, the upper management entity that performs the sorting first and the lower management entity that performs the classification by the higher management entity are specified. Has been. The condition input information defines classification items of record extraction conditions that are input by the end user when a form is generated. The page break information defines the page break position of the form, and specifies in which classification item unit the form is to be paged and output. For example, as shown in the figure, when “product” is designated, one form is generated for each product and a page is broken.

  FIG. 4C shows an example of the configuration of the record extraction condition information. This record extraction condition information stores record extraction conditions input by an end user who generates and outputs a form, and is classified by the condition input information of the customization information 132 shown in FIG. Defines what data is to be extracted when it is set. In the case of the figure, it is stored as a record extraction condition that the product category is “vegetable” or “fruit”, and records with “vegetable” or “fruit” set in the product category are extracted from the original data. The When outputting a form, record extraction processing is performed using the record extraction condition information.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of customization processing by the form processing apparatus in the present embodiment. The form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can generate customization information 132 by the customization process for the basic form provided in advance by the manufacturer, and creates the form using the customization information 132. , You can create your own forms.

By this customization processing, customization is performed based on the basic form specification information 131 to form an arbitrary form specification, and this is stored as the customization information 132.
When the customization user selects a basic form to be customized, the form processing apparatus reads the basic form specification information 131 corresponding to the basic form from the memory, and displays various setting screens for customization on the display screen of the form processing apparatus. Display above.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a layout setting screen displayed on the form processing apparatus during the customization process. In this embodiment, the print suppression information is set from such a setting screen displayed on the form processing apparatus.

  FIG. 6 is an example of a layout setting screen when the customer-specific sales management table for each product is selected as a basic form and customization processing is performed. A screen 31 in FIG. 6 is a setting screen for setting information indicating whether to output or delete each item corresponding to the print suppression information in FIG. 4B, and displays a detailed area portion 311 of the setting screen 31. The customized user operates from the screen to set whether to output each item. The screen 32 is a display screen showing a sample layout of a form based on the contents set on the setting screen 31, and a part 321 for displaying a header part of a form for arranging a heading for each page and a part for displaying a detail part. There are 322. When the customization user performs settings for each item on the setting screen 31 and then operates the reflection button 33, a sample layout display showing a display layout in which the setting is reflected is displayed on the screen 32. In the figure, each display item is displayed on the screen 32 based on the layout information of the basic form specification information 131, and is actually displayed in a portion where the output contents are determined by the extraction & sort & layout output processing described later. “X” is displayed instead of the numerical value or the character.

It should be noted that the user may operate the setting screen 31 to output the category items deleted to the header section to generate a form.
The customization user issues an instruction to change the form layout from the layout setting screen shown in FIG.

7 and 8 show screen display examples after a layout change instruction is given to the layout setting screen of FIG.
FIG. 7 shows that the customized user operates the setting screen 31 with respect to the layout of the sales management table classified by product and customer shown in FIG. 6 to display “product classification”, “product”, “customer classification”, and “customer”. In the four classification items “”, the output of “product classification” is deleted, and then the reflection button 33 is pressed. In the figure, a sample layout showing a display layout of a form classified in the order of “product”, “customer classification”, and “customer” without classification by “product classification” is displayed on the screen 32. The

  Further, FIG. 8 shows that the customized user operates the setting screen 31 with respect to the layout of the sales management table classified by product and customer shown in FIG. 6, and “product classification”, “product”, “customer classification” and “customer”. Of the four classification items “destination”, the output of “customer classification” and “customer” is deleted, and then the reflection button 33 is pressed. In the figure, a sample layout showing a display layout of a form in which “customer classification” and “customer” are not classified, but is classified in the order of “product classification” and “product” is displayed on the screen 32. The

  Further, in this customization, it is possible to change the condition input information, the sorting condition when generating the form, and the position of the page break of the form. This change is performed by operating the selection button 34 in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 to display these setting screens.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen for condition input information.
When the customized user operates the selection button 34 to select a setting screen for condition input information that defines classification items of record extraction conditions to be input by the end user, a setting screen as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed.

  In the figure, “product category” and “product” are displayed in the selection column 41 as the types of conditions that can be selected, and the customized user selects one of the items displayed in this selection column and then clicks the OK button 42. When the condition input information is instructed by operating, this information is stored in the customization information 132 shown in FIG.

  Similarly, the customization user operates the selection button 34 on the setting screen to display the setting screen for sorting conditions and page break information, and customizes these by inputting the setting contents.

Next, a process for generating and outputting a form that is performed when the end user outputs the form using a printer or the like will be described.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of extraction & sort & layout output processing for generating and outputting a form by the form processing apparatus in the present embodiment. In the figure, a case where a form is generated / output using a customized form will be described as an example.

  In the form processing apparatus, when an end user selects a customized form, first, the basic form of the basic form that is the original of the customized form selected by the end user from the basic form specification information 131 provided by the manufacturer. Specification information 131 is selected. Then, using the total item information and the classification item information of the basic form specification information 131, the original data stored in the server or the like in the form of a database is read via the network, and the classification target is read. Aggregation processing 51 is performed to generate classification aggregation data 52 on the memory.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the classification total data 52. This figure shows as an example a case where the basic basic form is a sales management table for each product and customer.
The classification total data 52 is composed of a plurality of total records for each total level, and in the case of FIG. 11, since the classification total data of the sales management table for each product by customer, one total record is monthly, product classification, It consists of data on merchandise, customer classification, customer, sales volume and sales amount.

  In addition, the classification summary data 52 of the sales management table classified by product and customer is classified by the product (level 4) after being classified by the product classification (level 5) as the classification of the upper layer relative to the original data, and then the lower layer As a classification, classification is made by customer classification (level 2) after classification by customer classification (level 3). Then, the total value is obtained for each classification level. In the case of the figure, first, the product classification “vegetable” is extracted from the original data, and after classifying it with the products “tomato” and “green pepper”, the customer classification “retail store” as the customer classification for each. ”And“ mass retail store ”, and“ customer A store ”“ B store ”. Then, the sales amount and the sales quantity at each of the customer classifications “retail store” and “mass retail store”, which are the lowest levels, are totalized to obtain and record the total values 61 and 62, and then the next level. Totals 63 and 64 of the sales amount and sales quantity for each of the products “tomato” and “green pepper” are obtained and recorded, and then the sales amount and sales volume for the product category “vegetable” which is the next level 65 Finally, the total amount of sales and the total sales quantity 66 are obtained and recorded.

Since it is a well-known technique to perform processing such as combination, extraction, and calculation from data divided into a plurality of tables such as a database, detailed description is omitted.
Next, the form processing apparatus performs processing 53 on the classification total data 52 temporarily generated on the memory by the classification total processing 51. In this processing 53, the record extraction processing is performed on the classification summary data 52 using the record extraction condition information input by the end user, and the sorting processing using the sort condition information in the customization information 132 is performed on this result. The layout output processing is performed using the layout information in the specification information 131, the print information suppression information and the page break information in the customization information 132. Finally, using the output form data 54 generated as a result of the process 53, the form is output by a printer or the like.

  Since the hierarchical structure in the classification and aggregation of customized forms derived from basic forms based on basic form specification information is almost the same, when using the totaled records classified and aggregated based on basic forms, Various customized forms can be output simply by controlling the output of the total record according to the contents of customization.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flow of record extraction processing by the form processing apparatus in the present embodiment.
In the form processing apparatus, when the extraction & sort & layout output process shown in FIG. 10 is performed, the end user inputs a record extraction condition, and stores and holds it as the record extraction condition information shown in FIG.

  In this process, the dialog screen information is read from the basic form specification information 131 that is the basis of the customized form information 132 corresponding to the customized form selected by the end user, and the screen data indicated by the dialog screen information is used. The record extraction condition input screen is displayed on the screen of the form processing apparatus.

From this display screen, the end user inputs a condition for a classification item to be a record extraction target.
13, 14, 15 and 16 are diagrams showing examples of forms output by the form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an example of a form of a sales management table for each product, which is a basic form, and is displayed according to the layout of the display screen 32 of FIG.
14 and 15 are examples of customized forms when the layout change shown in FIG. 7 is performed and a product is designated as page break information. The form shown in FIG. 7 is classified in the order of “product”, “customer classification”, and “customer” as in the layout shown in the display screen 32 of FIG. Since the product is designated, the product shown in FIG. 14 is output as a separate form for the “green pepper” form, the “Ehime Mikan” form shown in FIG.

  The form in FIG. 16 is an example of a customized form when the layout change shown in FIG. 8 is performed. In the form shown in the figure, the form is classified in the order of “product classification” and “product”.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an operation process in the form customization process performed by the form processing apparatus according to this embodiment. The processing shown in the figure is realized by the CPU in the form processing apparatus executing a program on the memory.

When the processing is started in the figure, first, a form customization processing program is started as step S1, and an interactive screen is displayed.
Next, in step S2, a plurality of selectable basic form names are displayed in a list in order to allow the customizing user to select a basic basic form in response to an operation input by the customizing user. In step S3, the user is allowed to select one basic form as a customization source from the list display. Then, the basic form specification information 131 of the basic form selected in step S3 is read from the memory, and the layout setting screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed based on the basic form specification information 131. In step S4, a sample layout display based on the basic form specification information shown on the screen 32 is performed on the layout setting screen.

When this layout setting screen is displayed, the form processing apparatus waits for an instruction input by the customized user (step S5).
In this state, if the instruction input by the customized user is deletion of the total level (step S5, deletion of the total level), the specified content is stored in the memory and the specified total level (classification item) is stored as step S6. After the display deleted from the sample layout display, the process returns to the instruction input waiting state in step S5.

  In step S5, if the instruction input by the customized user is designation of condition input (step S5, designation of condition input), as step S7, the classification item used for condition input to the customized user is selected as the selected basic form specification. After selecting and specifying from the dialog screen based on the data stored in the dialog screen information in the information 131, the specified content is stored in the memory and the process returns to the instruction input waiting state in step S5.

  In step S5, if the instruction input by the customized user is the designation of the sort condition (step S5, sort condition designation), in step S8, the sort condition for each management entity is set in the customized user for the selected basic form specification information. After selecting and specifying from the dialog screen based on the data stored in the dialog screen information in 131, the specified content is stored in the memory and the process returns to the instruction input waiting state in step S5.

  In step S5, if the instruction input by the customized user is a page break designation (step S5, page break designation), in step S9, the total level at which the customized user performs a page break is selected as the selected basic form specification information. After selecting and specifying from the dialog screen based on the data stored in the dialog screen information in 131, the specified content is stored in the memory and the process returns to the instruction input waiting state in step S5.

  In step S5, if the instruction input by the customized user indicates the end of operation (step S5, operation end), as step S10, the designation specified by the customized user in the processing of steps S5 to S9 and stored in the memory The customization information is generated based on the information, and the name specified for the customization user is added and stored in the memory. Then, the process is terminated.

With the processing in FIG. 17, the customized user can generate a form specification in which the basic form is customized by a simple designation instruction.
FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an operation process in the extraction & sort & layout output process performed by the form processing apparatus in the present embodiment. A form is generated and output from the form processing apparatus by this extraction & sort & arrangement output process. The processing shown in the figure is realized by the CPU in the form processing apparatus executing a program on the memory.

When the process shown in FIG. 6 starts, first, in step S21, a customized form is designated by the end user and a form output processing program (routine) is started.
In step S22, customization information corresponding to the designated customized form is acquired from the memory. In step S23, record extraction condition input processing is performed. Details of this record extraction condition input processing will be described later.

  Next, in step S24, the record extraction condition input process in step S23 sequentially processes the total records in the classification total data 52 as shown in FIG. 11 based on the record extraction condition and the sort condition specified by the end user. One is read out. If the read total record is a total record corresponding to the classification item designated to be deleted by the print suppression information in the customization information 132, the following processing is skipped and the next total record is processed. Therefore, the process returns to step S24.

  If the processing is not skipped in step S25, then, in step S26, if the total record is of the total level designated for page break, page break designation is performed before this total record. In step S27, the totalized record is arranged on a form according to the layout information and data is output.

  Thereafter, the processes in steps S24 to S27 are performed for all the total records in the classification total data 52 (step S28), and when the processes are completed for all the total records, this process is terminated.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation process of the form processing apparatus in the record extraction condition input process. The process in FIG. 18 corresponds to step S23 in FIG.
When the record extraction condition input process is started, first, in step S231, the dialog screen stored in the dialog screen information in the basic form specification information 131 is edited and displayed based on the condition input information in the customization information 132. .

  In step S232, the end user is made to input record extraction conditions that can be input on the dialog screen displayed in step S231. Then, after storing the record extraction condition input as step S232 in the memory, this process is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S233 in FIG.

  By outputting the form data generated and output by the processing shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 in the form of printer printing or the like, the end user performs classification / aggregation suitable for his / her purpose, and a desired layout. You can get a form formed in

Next, a process performed when the extraction condition has a special parent-child relationship performed in the form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.
This special parent-child relationship means a case where the classification item in the lower layer has an influence on the consistency of the aggregation result of the classification item in the upper layer.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of this special parent-child relationship.
For example, if the category item (parent) in the upper layer is the customer category and the category item (child) in the lower layer is the customer, what conditions are input by the end user when generating and outputting the form? However, this does not cause an abnormality in the aggregation of the parent classification items.

  However, the classification item (parent) in the upper layer is the billing party for expenses, and the classification item (child) in the lower layer is the customer. When the billing costs are totaled, the billing costs cannot be accurately tabulated unless all the customers compiled by the parent billing destination are counted. For example, when the billing party A summarizes the expenses of three customers, customers a, b, and c, all of the customers a, b, and c must be included in the billing costs for the billing party A. However, depending on the condition input by the end user, not all three are subject to aggregation.

  In order to cope with this point, the form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment records whether or not a special parent-child relationship exists in the customization process at the time of the customization process. If there is a parent-child relationship, limit the input range. As a result, it is possible to prevent the above-described consistency abnormality.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing an operation process for this purpose. The process shown in FIG. 17 is added as part of the process of step S10 in the form customization process shown in FIG.
In the figure, first, in step S31, the customized user is inquired as to whether or not a classification item for which a special parent-child relationship is set is included. As a result, if there is no special parent-child relationship (step S31, N), the process proceeds to step S36.

In step S31, if a special parent-child relationship exists (step S31, Y), the relationship between the aggregation level of the parent management entity and the page break level is checked in step S32.
As a result, if the page break level is lower than the parent aggregation level (step S32, lower than the parent aggregation level), only the child level is output in one form. Since the consistency does not occur even if it is selected, condition input by the child classification item is set in the condition input information as step S34.

  In step S32, if the page break level is the same as the parent aggregation level (step S32, lower than the parent aggregation level), when a child condition item is selected for condition input, the parent level is included in one form. Since both the child level total items are output, in step S35, the condition input by the parent classification item is set in the condition input information.

  In step S32, if the page break level is higher than the parent total level (step S32, higher than the parent total level), then in step S33, it is determined whether the parent total level exists in the detail section. As a result, if deletion is specified in the print suppression information and does not exist (step S33, N), even if a child condition item is selected for the condition input, no abnormality occurs in the consistency. In S34, the condition input by the child classification item is set in the condition input information. In step S33, if there is a parent aggregation level in the detail part (step S33, Y), if a child condition item is selected for the case input, both the parent level and the child level are aggregated in one form. Since the item is output and the consistency is abnormal, in step S35, the condition input by the parent classification item is set in the condition input information.

When the processes in steps S31 to S35 are completed, the condition input information is stored as customization information in step S36, and this process is terminated.
As described above, the form processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can generate and output a consistent form even if the above-described special parent-child relationship exists in the category items by performing the process shown in FIG. I can do it.

It is a system block diagram of the form processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the system of the form handled by the form processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the method of the classification | category / totalization of the form handled with the form processing apparatus in this embodiment. (A) is basic form specification information, (b) is customization information, (c) is a figure which shows the example of record extraction condition information. It is a figure which shows the flow of a customization process. It is a figure which shows the example of the layout setting screen displayed on a form processing apparatus at the time of a customization process. FIG. 10 is a diagram (part 1) illustrating a screen display example after a layout change instruction is given to the layout setting screen. FIG. 10B is a second diagram illustrating a screen display example after a layout change instruction has been given to the layout setting screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting screen of condition input information. It is a figure which shows the flow of an extraction & sort & arrangement | positioning output process. It is a figure which shows the example of classification | category total data. It is a figure which shows the flow of a record extraction process. FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a form output by a form processing apparatus (part 1); FIG. 10 is a diagram (part 2) illustrating an example of a form output by the form processing apparatus. FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a form output by the form processing apparatus (part 3); FIG. 10 is a diagram (part 4) illustrating an example of a form output by the form processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement process in a form customization process. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement process in an extraction & sort & arrangement | positioning output process. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement process in a record extraction condition input process. It is explanatory drawing of special parent-child relationship. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement process in case a classification item has special parent-child relationship.

Explanation of symbols

11 CPU
12 Main Storage Device 13 Auxiliary Storage Device 14 Input / Output Device 15 Network Connection Device 16 Medium Reading Device 17 Bus 18 Storage Medium 131 Basic Form Specification Information 132 Customization Information

Claims (12)

A form processing device that generates a form classified and aggregated hierarchically,
Basic form specification information storage means for storing a plurality of basic form specification information prescribing the form specifications;
A customized source form selection means for selecting one of the plurality of basic form specification information as a customization source based on a user instruction;
Output suppression means for setting whether or not to output a classification item defined as an output target by the basic form specification information selected by the customized source form selection means, based on a user instruction;
Customization information storage means for storing, as customization information, information indicating whether to output basic classification specification information selected by the customization source form selection means and classification items set by the output suppression means;
A form processing apparatus comprising:   When the user is instructed to generate a form based on the customization information, the output by the customization information is restricted for the classification items defined as the output target by the basic form specification information specified by the customization information. The form processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising customized form generation means for generating a form.   The customized form generation means temporarily stores an aggregation code classified and aggregated based on basic form specification information specified by the customization information, and the customization information indicates an output of the temporarily stored aggregation record. The form processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the form is generated by outputting a total record corresponding to the classification item.   The customization information further includes information defining how to sort the classification items defined as the output target, and the customized form generation means includes the classification items defined as the output target based on the sorting method. The form processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the forms are generated by sorting.   The customization information further includes page break information that defines classification items for page breaks, and the customized form generation unit performs a page break based on the page break information to generate a form. Item 5. A form processing apparatus according to any one of Items 2 to 4.   The form generated by the customized form generation means includes a detail part in which each data is arranged hierarchically and a header part in which a heading for each page is arranged, and a classification item in which output is restricted by the customization information. The form processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein a form is generated by outputting to the header section.   The basic form specification information storage means classifies the plurality of basic form specification information by a combination of a total item to be aggregated and a plurality of classification items that may be used for classification of the total item. The form processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the form processing apparatus stores the form.   The basic form specification information storage means further classifies and stores the plurality of basic form specification information according to a difference in priority in a hierarchical structure of classification and aggregation among a plurality of classification items that may be used for the classification. The form processing apparatus according to claim 7.   When the customization source form selection means selects one of the plurality of basic form specification information and when the output suppression means performs the setting, the user is instructed to select a candidate and gives an instruction from the user. The form processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for inputting.   10. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying a sample layout to a user when the output suppression means performs the setting, and updating the display of the sample layout based on an instruction from the user. The form processing apparatus as described in one.   11. The form name defined by the basic form specification information includes a part indicating a totaling item to be totaled and a part indicating a classification item used for a higher level classification. The form processing apparatus according to any one of the above. A program that is executed in a form processing device that generates a form classified and aggregated hierarchically,
A function for storing a plurality of basic form specification information prescribing the form specifications;
A function of selecting one of the plurality of basic form specification information as a customization source based on a user instruction;
A function for setting whether or not to output a classification item defined as an output target by the selected basic form specification information based on a user instruction;
A function for storing, as customization information, information for specifying the selected basic form specification information and information indicating whether to output the set classification item;
A program that realizes

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