JP2006163524A - Document retrieval system, document retrieval method, program and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for easily retrieving coupled document data including original document data. <P>SOLUTION: When a coupled document is made, identification information of the original document and the original document data are incorporated together. Thereby, a document control system can obtain identification information of the original document data (step S112), and can retrieve the coupled document data including the original document data having the identification information (step S114). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a document search system, a document search method, a program, and a storage medium that search for combined document data including original document data.

A conventional document management apparatus searches managed document data using an index search, a full-text search, and a document concept. The index search is a method for searching document data using an index. Full-text search is a method of searching document data for a portion that matches an input character string. The search based on the document concept is a method in which a keyword that conceptually represents the contents of document data is registered in advance, and document data having a keyword having the same meaning as the input character string is searched.
JP 2003-316773 A

  However, in a conventional document management application, when searching for a combined document obtained by combining a plurality of document data, it is possible to search for a combined document based on a search keyword input using the above search method. A method for searching for a combined document created from original document data (hereinafter referred to as “original document data”) has not been considered. Therefore, when the user wants to know which merged document the original document is merged with, after searching the merged document data by inputting a search keyword, the user selects what includes the original document from the retrieved merged document data. I had to find it, and it took a lot of time and work.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to easily search for combined document data including original document data.

  A first aspect of the present invention relates to a document search system, an acquisition unit for acquiring identification information of original document data, and a combination of searching for combined document data including the original document data having the identification information And a document data search unit.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document search method, a step of acquiring identification information of original document data, and a combined document that searches for combined document data including the original document data having the identification information. And a search step.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program, wherein the document search method is executed.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to a storage medium, and stores a program for executing the document search method.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily search for combined document data including original document data.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First embodiment]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a document search system 200 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The central processing unit 203 controls the entire document search system 200, executes a program stored in the memory 205, and the like. The storage device 204 is composed of, for example, a hard disk. The memory 205 reads and stores programs and data stored in the storage device 204. In general, the capacity of the memory 205 is smaller than the capacity of the storage device 204, and programs and data that cannot be stored in the memory 205 are stored in the storage device 204. Programs and data that must be stored for a long time are also stored in the storage device 204. In the present embodiment, a program is stored in the storage device 204, read into the memory 205 when the program is executed, and the central processing unit 203 executes the program. The input device 202 includes a card reader, a scanner, a film scanner, and the like necessary for inputting image data in addition to a mouse and a keyboard. The display device 201 includes a monitor, a printer, and the like. The external interface 206 is a device for exchanging information and signals with other devices.

  3A and 3B are diagrams showing an outline of the main window 300 displayed on the display device 201 of the document search system 200. FIG.

  FIG. 3A shows a thumbnail display screen 301 in which document data in the storage area α is displayed in the main window 300 in the thumbnail format. On the thumbnail display screen 301, four document data A, B, C, and D stored in the storage area α are displayed. 3A and 3B show a case where four document data A, B, C, and D are stored in the storage area α, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any number Can be stored in the storage area α (and storage areas β, γ).

  Document data A indicates a thumbnail image of application document data. An application icon Z is displayed at the lower right of the thumbnail image. Document data B represents a thumbnail image of the image data. Below this thumbnail image, an arrow indicating page turning is displayed. For example, “2/3” displayed below the thumbnail image of the document data B indicates that the second image data of the three image data is displayed. Similarly, page turning is displayed for document data C and document data D. Document data C is binder document data. The binder document data is combined document data obtained by combining a plurality of document data into one. The binder document data may hold original document data and image data for each page printed by an image creation driver, or application document data or image document data may be used alone as binder document data. The document data D is combined document data with printing attributes obtained by combining application document data or image document data (hereinafter referred to as “combined document data with printing attributes”). Unlike the binder document data of the document data C, the document data D retains only the document data printed by the image creation driver without retaining the original data, and print attributes such as imposition information (for example, Z Folding, punching holes, etc.) can be set.

  FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a list display screen 302 when document data in the storage area α is displayed in a list format in the main window 300. In FIG. 3B, “object name”, “size”, “document ID”, “number of pages”, and “attribute” are shown, but there is no particular limitation. The list display item on the list display screen 302 can be selected by the user. Reference numeral 303 denotes a button for changing the storage area to be displayed. In FIG. 3, three storage areas α, β, and γ are shown as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an arbitrary number of storage areas can be used. Reference numeral 304 denotes a button for selecting “thumbnail display” and “list display”. FIG. 3A shows a state in which “thumbnail display” is selected and thumbnail images of document data A to D are displayed on the thumbnail display screen 301, respectively. In FIG. 3B, “list display” is selected, and “object name”, “size”, “document ID”, “page number”, and “attribute” of the document data A to D are displayed on the list display screen 302, respectively. Indicates the state.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a file format of data handled by the combined document data search method according to the present embodiment.

  FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an example of the original document format 400 held by the search system 200 according to the present embodiment. The original document data includes application document data and image document data. When the original document data is input to the search system 200, such as by importing the original document data from the external interface 206 into the search system 200, a document ID (identification information) unique to the original document data is automatically generated. The actual data of the original document data is stored in the document database 600 (see FIG. 6) of the storage device 204 in association with the document ID.

  FIG. 4B is a view showing an example of a format 401 of combined document data held by the search system 200 according to the present embodiment. The combined document data includes combined image document data, binder document data, and combined document data with printing attributes. When the image document data is combined, the image document data is stored in the combined document format.

The relationship between the original document data and the combined document data is expressed as “original document data => combined document data”, and the combination of a plurality of document data is expressed as “document data + document data”. It is shown as (1) to (5).
(1) Application document data => Binder document data or combined document data with print attributes (2) Image document data => Binder document data or combined document data with print attributes (3) Application document data + Application document data => Binder document Combined document data with data or print attributes (4) Image document data + image document data => Combined image document data, binder document data or combined document data with print attributes (5) Application document data + image document data => Binder Document data or combined document data with printing attributes

  In (1), the original document data is “application document data”, and the combined document data is “binder document data” or “bound document data with printing attributes”. In (2), the original document data is “image document data”, and the combined document data is “binder document data” or “printed attribute combined document data”. In (3), the original document data is a plurality of “application document data”, and the combined document data is “binder document data” or “combined document data with printing attributes”. In (4), the original document data is a plurality of “image document data”, and “image document data”, “binder document data”, or “combined document data with printing attributes” combined with the combined document data. In (5), the original document data is “application document data” and “image document data”, and the combined document data is “binder document data” or “combined document data with printing attributes”.

  FIG. 5 illustrates a combined document data search method according to the present embodiment, using a display screen displayed in the main window 300.

  First, in step S501, a search using the search dialog 501 is performed. A search dialog 501 in which the user performs a search operation from the input device 202 of FIG. 2 is displayed in the main window 300. First, the search method is selected from “attribute search” (for example, document name, index value, date, etc.), “full-text search”, and “concept search”, and items necessary for each method are input from the input device 202. Then, the “document search” button 504 is pressed. In step S502, the general document search result display dialog 502 is displayed.

  In step S502, a search using the general document search result display dialog 502 is performed. The number of searches is displayed in the first line of the general document search result display dialog 502. In FIG. 5, the number of searches is indicated as “5”, which corresponds to the number of document data displayed in the general document search result display dialog 502. Each time the document data displayed in the general document search result display dialog 502 is selected, the storage location is displayed on the top line (the storage location is α in FIG. 5), and the thumbnail image is displayed on the left side. Next, one document data displayed in the general document search result display dialog 502 is selected, and a “combined document search” button 505 is pressed. In step S503, the combined document data combined from the selected document data is displayed in the combined document search result display dialog 503.

  In step S503, if the document data A is selected in step S502, two pieces of combined document data including the binder document data C and the combined document data D with printing attributes configured to include the document data A are searched. In this way, combined document data created based on original document data can be easily searched.

  FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing the combination handled by the combined document data search method according to the present embodiment.

  In this example, a document management application 610 that manages document data and a combined application 620 that combines document data (for example, an image editing application, a binder application, and a print support application) are positioned as different applications. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In this example, each application is stored in the storage device 204 in FIG. 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be stored in another storage medium or another device. .

  When combining two pieces of document data in the combination application 620, first, the document management application 610 first stores actual data of original document data stored in the document database (for example, “a.txt” in FIG. 4A). And the ID (for example, “2002210601” in FIG. 4A) is acquired from the document database 600. In the document database 600, the actual data of the original document data and its ID are stored in association with each other as in the original document format 400 of FIG. Next, the combined application (for example, image editing software, binder software, print support software, etc.) 620 is activated, and the actual data of the document data acquired from the document database 600 and its ID are sent from the document management application 610 to the combined application 620. Is done.

  When the document data sent from the document management application 610 is application document data, the combined application 620 creates a print image for each page using an image creation driver. The combined application 620 displays actual data of a plurality of document data (for example, “a.txt”,..., “B.bmp” in FIG. 4B), a print image for each page, and a document ID (for example, In FIG. 4B, “2002210601”,..., “2002102600N”) are combined as shown in the format 401 in FIG. 4B to create combined document data. Next, the combined application 620 sends the generated combined document data to the document management application 610. The document data management application 610 stores the combined document data sent from the combined application 620 in the document database 600.

  Each application program is stored in an external storage device (FD, CD-ROM, ROM, magnetic tape, etc.) on the PC / WS side and a storage medium on the printer side, and a reading device ( (Not shown) may be stored in a storage device (memory).

  Needless to say, the present embodiment is also applied to a case where the present embodiment is implemented by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, the storage medium storing the program according to the present embodiment constitutes the present embodiment. Then, by causing the system or apparatus to read the program from the storage medium, the system or apparatus operates in a predetermined method.

  With reference to FIG. 7, a process necessary for creating combined document data will be described with reference to a flowchart.

  On the document management application 610 side shown in FIG. 7A, in step S701, the user selects desired original document data from the original document data stored in the document database 600 by the input device 202.

  In step S702, the document name of the original document data selected by the user is acquired from the document database 600. That is, the central processing unit 203 in FIG. 2 refers to the format 400 (see FIG. 4A) in the document database 600 based on the document name input from the input device 202 by the user, and the document data Actual data (for example, “a.txt” in FIG. 4A) and the document ID stored in association with the actual data (for example, “2002102001” in FIG. 4A) are acquired.

  In step S <b> 703, the document management application 610 transmits the actual data of the original document data and the document ID to the combined application (for example, an image editing application, a binder application, a print support application, etc.) 620.

  In step S704, the document management application 610 waits for a response from the combined application 620.

    In the combining process on the combined application 620 side shown in FIG. 7B, first, in step S711, the combined application 620 determines whether or not the document data sent from the document management application 610 is application document data. If it is determined that the data is application document data (“YES” in step S711), the process proceeds to step S712, and print data for each page is created using an image creation driver. If it is not determined to be application document data (“NO” in step S711), the process proceeds to step S713.

  In step S713, as shown in the format 401, the actual data of the original document data (eg, “a.txt”,..., “B.bmp” in FIG. 4B) and the document ID (eg, FIG. 4). In (b), “2002102601”,..., “2002102600N”) and the print data are combined.

  In step S714, it is determined whether or not the combined application 620 is a print attribute setting application. If it is determined that the application is a print attribute setting application (“YES” in step S714), the process proceeds to step S715, and print attributes such as Z-folding are set with reference to the format 401. In FIG. 4, it is determined that the combined application 620 is a print attribute setting application, and the print attribute is set to “Z-fold” set in “print attribute of document”. If it is not determined that the application is a print attribute setting application (“NO” in step S714), step S716 and subsequent steps are continued.

  In step S716, when the user selects the saving process in the document management application 610 in the combined application 620, all the combined data (actual data of original document data, print data, document ID, print attributes, etc.) are stored in the document management application 610. Returning to FIG. 4, the joining process on the joining application 620 side is completed.

  Returning again to the processing on the document management application 610 side shown in FIG. 7A, in step S705, the document management application 610 acquires all the data returned from the combined application 620.

  In step S706, the document management application 610 acquires attributes such as a new document name and a storage location for the combined document data input from the input device 202 by the user.

  In step S707, the document management application 610 creates a thumbnail image of the combined document data.

  In step S708, the document management application 610 stores all the combined document data (actual data of original document data, print data, document ID, print attributes, etc.) in the document management database 600.

  In step S708, the combined document data is displayed in the display areas 301 and 302 of the document management application 610, and the process ends.

  With reference to FIG. 1, processing necessary for searching for document data in the document management application 610 executed by the central processing unit 203 of this system will be described with reference to a flowchart.

  First, the flow in the case of performing a general document search using the search dialog 501 (FIG. 5) will be described.

  In the general document search shown in FIG. 1A, in step S101, the search application 630 (FIG. 6) searches a search method (for example, “attribute search”, “full-text search”, and “concept” input from the input device 202 by the user. "Search" etc.).

  In step S102, the search application 630 acquires a search keyword input by the user according to the search method indicated in the search dialog 501. The search keyword is, for example, a document name, an index value, a date, and the like for “attribute search”, and a character string for search for “full-text search” and “concept search”.

  In step S103, the search application 630 searches the document data in the document database 600 shown in FIG. 6 based on the input search method, search keyword, and search range.

  In step S104, the search application 630 acquires the document name of the document data searched in the document database 600 and its attribute (for example, storage location, size, thumbnail image, etc.).

  In step S105, the search application 630 displays the search result of the general document search on the general document search result dialog 502, and ends the process.

  Next, a processing flow when the user selects document data displayed in the general document search result dialog 502 and presses the “combined document search” button 505 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the document data A is selected.

  In the combined document search shown in FIG. 1B, in step S111, the search application 630 allows the user to select the original document data shown in the general document search result dialog 502 with the input device 202, and the “Search combined document” button. When the user presses 505, the document name “A” of the selected original document data is acquired.

  In step S112, the document database 600 acquires the document name “A” of the original document data selected in step S111, and acquires the document ID “2002210601” stored in association with the document name “A” (FIG. 4). (See (a)).

  In step S113, the document database 600 transmits the document ID and search range (same as step S103) of the document data A to the search application 630. Here, the search application 630 uses the document ID (for example, FIG. 4A) of the document data in the document database 600 based on the document ID of the document data A (for example, “2002210601” in FIG. 4A). Then, the combined document data including “2002102601”) is searched. For example, the combined document format 401 in FIG. 4B includes the document ID “2002102601” and is searched by the search application 630.

  In step S114, the search application 630 displays the document name of the combined document data searched in the document database 600 (for example, “α” in the combined document format 401 in FIG. 4B) and its attribute (for example, storage location, Size, thumbnail image, etc.).

  In step S115, the search application 630 displays the document names “C” and “D” of the combined document data searched in step S114, the attributes “binder document”, “binder document with printing attributes”, and the like in the related document search result display dialog. Displayed in 503, the search process is terminated.

[Second Embodiment]
In this embodiment, a document management application and a combined application (for example, an image editing application, a binder application, a printing support application, etc.) are not separated into one application, but are incorporated into the document management application as one function. It is also possible. In particular, it is common for images to be combined without displaying an image editing application, and it is also quite common to implement a binder function and a print attribute setting function in one dialog.

  As described above, according to the combined document data search method of the present invention, the combined document data created from the original document data can be searched in correspondence with the document management application.

It is a flowchart which shows a process required when searching the document data in the document management application which concerns on suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows a part of structure of the information system which concerns on suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the main window which displays the document data in the document management application which concerns on suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the file format of the original document data and combined document data which concern on suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the search process which concerns on suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the joint process which concerns on suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows a process required when creating the combined document data which concerns on suitable embodiment of this invention.

Claims (12)

An acquisition unit for acquiring identification information of original document data;
A combined document data search unit for searching for combined document data including the original document data having the identification information acquired by the acquisition unit;
A document retrieval system comprising: A management unit for storing in the storage means information that associates the original document data with its identification information;
The document retrieval system according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the identification information based on the information stored in the storage unit. A selection unit for selecting the original document data;
The document according to claim 2, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the identification information associated with the original document data selected by the selection unit based on the information stored in the storage unit. Search system.   4. The document search system according to claim 1, further comprising a creation unit that creates a plurality of the original document data including the identification information to create the combined document data. 5.   5. The general document data search unit that searches for at least one of the original document data and the combined document data based on an input search keyword, according to claim 1. Document search system. An acquisition step of acquiring identification information of the original document data;
A combined document search step of searching for combined document data including the original document data having the identification information acquired in the acquisition step;
A document retrieval method comprising: Storing information that associates the original document data with its identification information in a storage means,
The document retrieval method according to claim 6, wherein in the obtaining step, the identification information is obtained based on the information stored in the storage unit. A selection step of selecting the original document data;
8. The document according to claim 7, wherein in the acquisition step, the identification information associated with the original document data selected in the selection step is acquired based on the information stored in the storage unit. retrieval method.   9. The document search method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of creating a combined document data by combining a plurality of the original document data including identification information. Entering search keywords,
A general document data search step for searching at least one of the original document data and the combined document data based on the input search keyword;
The document search method according to claim 6, further comprising:   A program for executing the document search method according to any one of claims 6 to 10.   A storage medium storing a program for executing the document search method according to any one of claims 6 to 10.

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