JP2006185026A - Image search device, image search method and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an operator to easily search his or her desired data even when the operator's memory of dates is vague. <P>SOLUTION: A field FL2 for input is constituted of year designation parts M1 arranged in a vertical direction where the list of years is expressed, month designation parts M2 arranged in a horizontal direction where the list of months is expressed and a matrix part M3 arranged between the year designation parts M1 and the month designation parts M2. When each of buttons configuring the year designation parts M1 is clicked, all the months of the year can be designated as retrieval conditions. When each of buttons Ybt1 to Ybt3 configuring the month designation parts M2 is clicked, the clicked month for all the years can be designated as retrieval conditions. When each of cells configuring the matrix part M3 is clicked, dates satisfying AND conditions between the year of the vertical axis and the month of the horizontal axis specified by the clicked cell can be designated as retrieval conditions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for searching for an image file having date information.

  In recent years, electronic still cameras, so-called digital cameras, have been developed and are in widespread use. Since digital cameras have advantages such as ease of photography and economy, the number of photographs taken tends to be large. On the other hand, information indicating the shooting date and time is added to an image file of a photograph taken by a digital camera. Therefore, conventionally, a method has been proposed in which when searching for a target object from a large number of photographs, an “year” and a “month” are designated and an image file is narrowed down by shooting date and time.

  There exists the following patent document 1 as an example of the said method. According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, the year and month are graduated on a one-dimensional coordinate axis, such as “month and month”, and for example, from June 2001 to August 2001 can be performed by operating the mouse. The search condition is specified as described above (example of FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-331258 A

  However, in the above-described conventional technique, the operator cannot search for a target photograph unless both the year and the month are memorized, such as what month and what month. For example, I often remember the moon like I wanted to look for a picture of that bathing, but I often forgot it for several years. In such a case, it is necessary for the operator to sequentially specify the corresponding months for all years as search conditions, and it is difficult to find desired data.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to make it possible to easily search for desired data even if the memory is ambiguous for the operator.

  As means for solving at least a part of the problems described above, the following configuration is adopted.

The image search apparatus of the present invention
A storage medium for storing a plurality of image files including date information;
Search means for searching for a desired image file using the date information as a search item from among a plurality of image files stored in the storage medium;
An input display area for inputting a search condition related to the search item based on an operation command using an input device by an operator is displayed on the display device, and the search condition input from the input display area is displayed on the display device. In an image search apparatus comprising search condition providing means for giving to search means,
The search condition providing means includes:
A predetermined time designation field for designating a predetermined time within a year is displayed in the input display area, and the predetermined time is determined based on an operation command using an input device by an operator for the predetermined time designation field. With a predetermined time input means for inputting as a search condition,
The search means includes
By selecting an image file whose date information coincides with the predetermined time, an image file obtained at the predetermined time in all years is searched for.

  According to the image search device having the above-described configuration, the operator can specify the search condition by performing input to the input display area displayed on the display device using the input device. In particular, by inputting a predetermined time of one year using a predetermined time designation field displayed in the display area for input, an image file obtained at the predetermined time of all years is retrieved by the search means. You can find out.

  Therefore, the operator can narrow down the image files corresponding to the predetermined time of all years by one operation of inputting the predetermined time designation column. As a result, even if the time is ambiguous for the operator, the desired data can be easily found without knowing the year if the time is known.

  The predetermined time input means may be configured to display a month specifying field for specifying a month as the predetermined time.

  According to this configuration, even if the memory of the year and month is ambiguous for the operator, the desired data can be easily found if only the month is known.

  The search condition providing means displays a first time axis representing a year sequence in the display area for input, and selects a desired one from the year sequence based on an operation command using an input device by an operator. Alternatively, a year input means for inputting a search condition for the year by selecting a plurality of years is provided, and the month designation field has a second time axis representing the arrangement of months, and an input device by an operator is used. It may be configured such that a desired month or months can be selected from the arrangement of the months based on the operation command.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to easily specify the year from the first time axis and the month from the second time axis, which is excellent in operability.

  In the image search apparatus configured to include the first time axis and the second time axis, a matrix that displays the matrix having the first time axis and the second time axis in the horizontal and vertical directions in the display area for input. When a component of the matrix is designated by an operation command using an input device by the display means and an operator, the position on the first time axis for specifying the designated component and the second A year and month may be determined from the position on the time axis, and a year and month search condition determining means for determining a search condition that gives an AND condition for the year and month to the search means.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to easily input year and month AND conditions by specifying the components of the matrix using a matrix having the first time axis and the second time axis as vertical and horizontal directions. Can do. Therefore, it is more excellent in operability.

  In the image search apparatus configured to display the matrix, a plurality of image files stored in the storage medium are classified according to year and month which are AND conditions of year and month based on the date information, and It is also possible to provide a matrix element display means for determining how many image files exist in each of them and changing the display of the corresponding component elements of the matrix in accordance with the determined number of sheets.

  According to this configuration, the operator can know how many image files he / she wants to retrieve simply by looking at the matrix, and is excellent in convenience during operation.

  The image file may be an Exif format file having an image data portion representing an image and an attached data portion for storing the date information.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to use a highly versatile Exif format image file, which is excellent in convenience.

The image search method of the present invention includes:
(A) a step of searching for a desired image file using the date information as a search item from among a plurality of image files having date information;
(B) A search input for inputting a search condition for the search item based on an operation command by an operator using an input device is displayed on the display device, and the search is input from the input display region. Providing a condition to the process (a), and
The step (b) is:
(B-1) Based on an operation command using an input device by an operator for displaying the predetermined time designation field for designating a predetermined time within one year in the input display area. And a step of inputting the predetermined time as a search condition,
The step (a)
By selecting an image file whose date information coincides with the predetermined time, an image file obtained at the predetermined time in all years is searched for.

The computer program of the present invention is:
A computer program for searching for an image file having date information,
(A) a function of searching for a desired image file by using the date information as a search item from among a plurality of image files having date information;
(B) A search input for inputting a search condition for the search item based on an operation command by an operator using an input device is displayed on the display device, and the search is input from the input display region. A function that allows the function (a) to use the condition, and
The function (b) is
(B-1) Based on an operation command using an input device by an operator for displaying the predetermined time designation field for designating a predetermined time within one year in the input display area. A function for inputting the predetermined time as a search condition,
The function (a) is:
By selecting an image file whose date information coincides with the predetermined time, an image file obtained at the predetermined time in all years is searched for.

  Even with the image search method and computer program of the present invention, as with the image search apparatus of the present invention, even if the time is ambiguous for the operator, the desired data can be easily obtained without knowing the year if the time is known. There is an effect that can be searched for.

  The recording medium of the present invention is characterized by a computer-readable recording medium that records the computer program of the present invention. This recording medium has the same operations and effects as the computer program of the present invention.

  The present invention includes other aspects as follows. The 1st aspect is an aspect as a program supply apparatus which supplies the computer program of this invention via a communication path. In this first aspect, the above-described method and apparatus are realized by placing a computer program on a server or the like on a computer network, downloading a necessary program to a computer via a communication path, and executing the program. Can do.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described based on examples. This embodiment will be described in the following order.
A. Device configuration:
B. Computer processing:
C. Action / Effect Other embodiments:

A. Device configuration:
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computer system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The computer system of this embodiment mainly includes a personal computer 10 constituting the image search apparatus of the present invention, and includes a display 20, a keyboard 22, and a mouse 24 as peripheral devices. Furthermore, a digital camera 26 and a printer 28 are connected to the personal computer 10.

  The personal computer 10 includes a memory 13, a hard disk drive 14, an input control unit 15, a display control unit 16, and the like connected to each other by a bus 12 around a CPU 11 as a central processing unit. The memory 13 stores various data and becomes a work area of the CPU 11. The hard disk drive 14 stores a computer program Pr as image search device software. The hard disk drive 14 stores a large number of image files Fp of photographic images (color photographic images) taken by the digital camera 26.

  The image file Fp obtained by photographing with the digital camera 26 is usually in the Exif format, which is an image file format standard for digital cameras. Exif file specifications are defined by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA).

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the data structure of an image file Fp in the Exif format. As shown in the figure, the image file Fp includes an image data storage area 30 for storing image data, and an attached data storage area 32 for storing various attached data related to the stored image data. The image data storage area 30 stores JPEG format image data. In the attached data storage area 32, various pieces of shooting information including date information Dt indicating the shooting date and time when the photograph image was taken, and thumbnail images Ds of the image data stored in the image data storage area 30 are attached data. Stored.

  Although an Exif format image file is used as the image file here, the format of the image file according to the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the image file may be in any format as long as it can include image data and date information. The date information can also be the date and time of creation of the image file, the date and time of correction of the image file, etc., instead of the shooting date and time as described above. The information can be replaced with any information.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the input control unit 15 is a control unit that captures input operations from the keyboard 22 and the mouse 24 and captures image data from the digital camera 26. The display control unit 16 is a control unit that controls signal output to the display 20.

  The computer program Pr is originally stored in a CD-ROM (not shown) as a recording medium, and is installed in the hard disk drive 14 from the CD-ROM by starting a predetermined installation program. is there. When the CPU 11 executes this computer program Pr, various constituent requirements of the image search apparatus of the present invention are realized.

  In FIG. 1, various constituent requirements are indicated by functional blocks implemented in the CPU 11. The CPU 11 can search for a desired image file by the search unit 40 from the plurality of image files Fp stored in the hard disk drive 14 by executing the computer program Pr. This search is performed using the date information Dt provided in the image file Fp as a search item. Search conditions for the search item are given by the search information providing unit 42. The search information providing unit 42 includes a predetermined time input unit 42a. The function of each part 40, 42, 42a will be described in detail later.

  This computer program Pr is actually an application program for DTP (Desk Top Publishing), and functions of the search unit 40, the search information providing unit 42, and the predetermined time input unit 42a described above are determined by predetermined modules therein. This is realized in the personal computer 10.

  The computer program Pr is provided as a configuration stored in another portable recording medium (portable recording medium) such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, and an IC card in place of the CD-ROM. It can be. Further, the computer program Pr can be provided via a network from a specific server connected to an external network. The network may be the Internet or a computer program obtained by downloading from a specific homepage. Alternatively, it may be a computer program supplied in the form of an email attachment.

B. Computer processing:
The control process according to the computer program Pr will be described in detail below. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a main routine of this control process. This main routine is started when an instruction to start the computer program Pr is given. As shown in the figure, when the process is started, the CPU 11 first executes an image file fetching routine for fetching a photographic image from the digital camera 26 (step S100).

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing details of the image file fetching routine. As shown in the figure, when the process shifts to this routine, the CPU 11 first performs a process of taking in one image file Fp of a photographic image taken from the digital camera 26 (step S110). The captured image file Fp is stored in the hard disk drive 14. Next, the CPU 11 performs processing for registering the captured image file Fp in the search table TBL prepared in the memory 13 (step S120).

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the data structure of the search table TBL. As shown in the figure, the search table TBL is composed of two data items T1 and T2 of “year / month information” and “file name”. More specifically, in step S120, the CPU 11 reads the date information Dt from the attached data storage area 32 of the image file Fp captured in step S110, and stores the “year” and “month” data constituting the date information Dt. The data item T1 of the “year / month information” of the new record data in the search table TBL is transferred, and the file name of the image file Fp is transferred to the data item T2 of the “file name” of the new record data. .

  Returning to FIG. 4, after executing step S120, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the image file Fp captured from the digital camera 26 in step S110 is the final one. Then, the process returns to step S110 to capture the next image file Fp. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S130 that the image file Fp captured from the digital camera 26 is final, the CPU 11 exits to “RETURN” and temporarily ends this image file capture routine.

  According to the image file fetching routine having the above configuration, the search table TBL storing the date information and the file names for all the image files Fp fetched from the digital camera 26 to the hard disk drive 14 is created. Each time the computer program Pr is started and a new image file Fp is captured, “year / month information” and “file name” for the captured image file Fp are newly added to the search table TBL. Will be.

  Returning to FIG. 3, after executing step S100, the CPU 11 advances the process to step S210. The process of step S100 is, so to speak, preparation for image search, and after step S210, image search corresponding to the main part of the present invention is performed. The image search is input by the operator from a plurality of image files Fp taken in from the digital camera 26 and managed by the computer program Pr, that is, a plurality of image files Fp registered in the search table TBL in step S100. The desired image file Fp that matches the set search condition is searched for. Details will be described below.

  In step S210, the CPU 11 first executes a process of displaying the application window WD on the display 20. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the application window WD. The application window WD constitutes a graphical user interface (GUI). As shown in the figure, the toolbar FL1, the input field FL2 for inputting search conditions, and the search input from the input field FL2 And an image list display field FL3 for displaying a list of images narrowed down by the search under the condition.

  The toolbar FL1 is provided with three types of buttons BT1, BT2, and BT3 of [Viewer], [Modify], and [Output]. The function of each button BT1 to BT3 will be described later.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the input field FL2 in an enlarged manner. As described above, the input field FL2 is used for inputting the search condition. The year designating section M1 is arranged in the vertical direction to represent the year sequence, and the month designation is arranged in the horizontal direction to represent the month sequence. It consists of a part M2, and a matrix part M3 arranged between the year specifying part M1 and the month specifying part M2. The input field FL2 corresponds to the input display area of the present invention.

  The year designation part M1 corresponds to the year designation field of the present invention, and is composed of a plurality of buttons arranged with each year included in a period from a predetermined year to another predetermined year. In this embodiment, it is composed of buttons for each year in the period from 1995 to 2010 (2007 is displayed at a time without scrolling). The month designating part M2 corresponds to the month designating field of the present invention, and is composed of an array of 12 buttons in which each month from January to December is described.

  The matrix part M3 has a vertical axis from 1995 to 2010, a horizontal axis from January to December, and the intersection of each year on the vertical axis and each month on the horizontal axis (corresponding to the components of the matrix, (Hereinafter referred to as cells) and a lattice structure is created. In each cell, a bar graph indicating the number of photographs of the corresponding year and month (the year and month satisfying the AND condition of the year on the vertical axis and the month on the horizontal axis specified in the cell) is displayed. Specifically, the image files Fp registered in the search table TBL are classified by month in order from January of 1995, and each month (here, each month is the year of what year and what month is The number of image files Fp registered in the AND condition of the month is calculated, and the calculated number is displayed as a bar graph. Here, the bar graph is the height at which 100 cells fill the cell. For example, in the figure, a cell C1 in December 1996 indicates that the number of photographs is 100 or more, and a cell C2 in December 1997 indicates that the number of photographs is 50. Yes.

  Note that, as described above, the calculated number of sheets may be expressed by the color density instead of the configuration in which the calculated number is displayed as a bar graph. That is, when the calculated number is small, it is thin, when the calculated number is large, and the density and the calculated number are directly proportional. Further, in the configuration in which the calculated number is expressed by the bar graph or the calculated number by the density, when the mouse cursor is moved to each cell (on-cursor state), a control box that displays the calculated number in numbers appears. It can also be.

  The operator can input various search conditions determined by “year” and “month” by operating the mouse 24 and specifying the input field FL2. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, all the months in the year can be specified as a search condition by clicking each button constituting the year specifying unit M1 by operating the mouse. The matrix portion M3 has a white background color, but the designated cell changes to a yellow background color (indicated by hatching in the drawing). The illustrated example is a case where the buttons Ybt1, Ybt2, and Ybt3 of [2000], [2001], and [2002] are clicked in order, and all months of 2000, 2001, and 2002 are used as search conditions. It is specified.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, by clicking each button constituting the month designating section M2 by a mouse operation, the clicked month for all years can be designated as a search condition. The illustrated example is when the buttons Mbt1 and Mbt2 of [July] and [August] are clicked in order, and July and August in all years from 1995 to 2010 are search conditions. Will be specified.

  By clicking a cell constituting the matrix portion M3 with a mouse operation, a year / month satisfying an AND condition between a year on the vertical axis and a month on the horizontal axis specified by the clicked cell may be specified as a search condition. it can. For example, when the cell C1 in FIG. 7 is clicked, the position of the vertical axis specified in the cell C1 is “1996” and the position of the horizontal axis is “December”. “December” is designated as the search condition.

  You can also click multiple cells one by one with the mouse. FIG. 10 shows the cells C3, C4 of “August 2000”, “July 2001”, “July 2002”, “August 2003”, and “July 2004”. This is when C5, C6, C7, and C8 are clicked in order, and the logical sum of the specified year and month is specified as the search condition. That is, "August 2000", "July 2001", "July 2002", "August 2003", and "July 2004" were specified as search conditions. become.

  Each cell constituting the matrix part M3 can be designated by dragging, in addition to clicking one by one. You can specify multiple years at a time by dragging. FIG. 11 shows a case where the cell C8 in “July 2000” is dragged to the cell C9 in “August 2002”, and a rectangular area having the cells C8 and C9 as vertices on a diagonal line. Cells, ie, “July 2000”, “August 2000”, “July 2001”, “August 2001”, “July 2002” and “2002” “August of the year” is designated as the search condition.

  According to this computer program Pr, an image search process is performed using the search conditions specified from the input field FL2. The search target is a plurality of image files Fp taken from the digital camera 26 and under the control of the computer program Pr, that is, image files Fp registered in the search table TBL by the image file fetching routine.

  In the image list display field FL3 shown in FIG. 6, a thumbnail image Ds (read from the attached data storage area 32 of each image file Fp) for the image file Fp narrowed down by the search process is displayed.

  In addition, below the input field FL2, a “cancel all designations” button BT4 is provided. When the “cancel all designations” button BT4 is clicked, all designations made previously are cancelled, all the cells included in the matrix portion M3 return to the white background color, and the image The list display field FL3 is in a state where no thumbnail image is displayed.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the processing after step S <b> 220 following step S <b> 210 realizes the change in the display of the application window WD described above together with the execution of the search processing, and will be described in detail below. In step S210, the above-described application window WD is displayed. At this point, the input field FL2 is in a state where no search condition is specified, and the image list display field FL3 has one thumbnail image. Is not displayed.

  After execution of step S210, the CPU 11 determines whether or not an end command for ending this computer program Pr has been received (step S220). This end command is issued by an operation by the operator using the mouse 24, and is issued, for example, when the [Close] button BT9 (see FIG. 6) provided on the title bar TB is clicked.

  If it is determined in step S220 that an end command has not been received, the CPU 11 advances the process to step S230 to determine whether an operation for specifying a search condition has been performed. The “operation for specifying the search condition” is an operation using the mouse 24 for the input field FL2 described above, an operation for clicking each button constituting the year specifying portion M1 by the mouse operation, and a month specifying portion M2. An operation for clicking each button constituting the matrix by mouse operation and an operation for clicking or dragging each cell constituting the matrix portion M3 are applicable. In step S230, it is determined whether any of these operations has been performed.

  If it is determined in step S230 that an operation for designating a search condition has been performed, the CPU 11 designates “year designation” using the year designation portion M1 and “month designation” using the month designation portion M2. Then, it is determined which one of “cell designation” using the matrix part M3 (step S240). Here, when it is determined that the year is specified, the CPU 11 adds the year determined by the clicked button among the buttons constituting the year specifying unit M1 (that is, the specified year). Processing to store as search conditions is performed (step S242).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S240 that “month designation” is set, the CPU 11 determines the month determined by the clicked button among the buttons constituting the month designation unit M2 (ie, the designated month). Is stored as an additional search condition (step S244).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S240 that the cell designation is “cell designation”, the CPU 11 determines the year of the vertical axis identified by the cell designated by clicking or dragging among the cells constituting the matrix portion M3. The month on the horizontal axis is determined (step S246), and the year and month satisfying the AND condition of the year and month are stored as additional search conditions (step S248). If a plurality of cells are specified together by dragging, a plurality of years corresponding to each cell are stored as additional search conditions.

  After executing step S242, S244, or S248, the CPU 11 advances the process to step S250. In step S250, the CPU 11 performs a process of determining whether or not the result determined in step S240 is the same as the result determined in the previous step S240. This determination is to determine whether or not the operation for specifying the search condition performed this time is the same specification method as the previous one. Here, when it is determined that they are the same, a process of adding the additional search condition obtained in step S242, S244 or S248 to the search condition is performed (step S260). It is assumed that the search condition is cleared when the image search routine is started. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S250 that the designation method is not the same as the previous one, a process of storing the additional search condition obtained in step S242, S244 or S248 as the search condition is performed (step S270). . In the process of step S270, unlike the process of step S260, the contents of the previously stored search condition are cleared, and the additional search condition is newly stored as the search condition.

  For example, when the buttons Ybt1 to Ybt3 of [2000], [2001], and [2002] shown in FIG. 8 are clicked in order, or the buttons Mbt1 of [July] and [August] shown in FIG. , Mbt2 are clicked in order, or “August 2000”, “July 2001”, “July 2002”, “August 2003”, “2004” shown in FIG. When the cells C3 to C8 of “July” are clicked in order, an affirmative determination is made in step S250, and as a result, the search conditions are added and stored in order in step S260. For example, in the example of FIG. 8, “2000”, “2001”, and “2002” are stored as search conditions. In the example of FIG. 9, “July” and “August” are stored as search conditions. In the example of FIG. 10, “August 2000”, “July 2001”, “July 2002”, “August 2003” and “July 2004” are stored as search conditions. Is done.

  On the other hand, for example, when the operation of clicking the button configuring the year specifying unit M1 was last performed and the operation of clicking the button configuring the month specifying unit M2 was performed this time, the specification method was switched. Is negatively determined in step S250, and only the current search condition is stored in step S270. In the above example, the month specified by the month specifying unit M2 is stored as a search condition. As a modification of this embodiment, the previous operation of clicking the button that configures the year specifying unit M1 was performed last time, and the operation of clicking the button that configured the month specifying unit M2 was performed this time (or vice versa). When the operation is performed on both the year specifying unit M1 and the month specifying unit M2, the year and month satisfying the AND condition of the year and month are determined. It can also be configured as a search condition.

  After executing step S260 or S270, the CPU 11 executes a search process for searching for an image file using the search conditions obtained in step S260 or S270 (step S280). Specifically, the search is performed in the following procedure using the image file Fp registered in the search table TBL as the search target. For the data item T1 of “year / month information” in the search table TBL, it is sequentially determined whether or not the search condition is satisfied, and stored in the data item T2 of “file name” in the record determined to satisfy the search condition. The extracted data is extracted in order. Then, the image file Fp specified by the extracted “file name” data is sequentially called as a search result.

  After execution of step S280, the CPU 11 performs processing for displaying the image file Fp called in step S280 in the image list display field FL3 of the application window WD (step S290). Thereafter, the CPU 11 returns the process to step S220, and repeatedly executes the processes after step S220. Also, if it is determined in step S230 that the operation for specifying the search condition has not been performed, the process is returned to step S220.

  If it is determined in step S220 that an end command has been received, the CPU 11 advances the process to step S295, closes the application window WD, and then exits to “return” to end the image search routine once. To do.

  As a result of executing the image search routine having the above configuration, an image file Fp satisfying the search condition input from the input field FL2 is searched from among the plurality of image files Fp registered in the search table TBL. The thumbnail image of the output image file Fp is displayed in the image list display field FL3.

  The operator selects one of the thumbnail images displayed in the image list display field FL3 by clicking on the desired thumbnail image, and then selects [Viewer], [Modify], Click one of the three types of [Output] buttons BT1 to BT3. By clicking the [Viewer] button BT1, the selected image can be enlarged and displayed. By clicking the [Modify] button BT2, a menu related to image modification is displayed, and the selected image can be modified by a desired modification method. By clicking the [Output] button BT3, the selected image can be output to the outside.

  The search unit 40 illustrated in FIG. 1 corresponds to step S280 executed by the CPU 11. The search information providing unit 42 corresponds to steps S230 to S260 executed by the CPU 11, and in particular, the predetermined time input unit 42a corresponds to step S244.

C. Operation / Effect According to the present embodiment configured as described above, the operator can specify the search condition by performing input to the input field FL2 using the mouse 24. In particular, by clicking a cell constituting the matrix portion M3 of the input field FL2, a year and month satisfying the AND condition of the year on the vertical axis and the month on the horizontal axis specified by the clicked cell is used as a search condition. Can be specified. By clicking each button constituting the year designating section M1 by operating the mouse, all months of the year can be designated as search conditions. By clicking each button constituting the month designating section M2 by operating the mouse, the clicked month for all years can be designated as a search condition.

  Therefore, the operator can narrow down the image files of the month of all the years with one operation of input of the month designation part M2. Therefore, even if the memory of the year and month is ambiguous for the operator, the desired data can be easily found if the month is known.

  Also, in this embodiment, by specifying the cell of the matrix part M3 using the matrix part M3, it is possible to easily input the AND condition of the year and month such as “what month and what month”. it can. Therefore, it is more excellent in operability.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the image files Fp registered in the search table TBL are classified by year and month, which are AND conditions of year and month, and how many image files exist in each year and month are obtained. Thus, the obtained number of images is displayed as a bar graph in each cell of the corresponding matrix portion M3, so that the operator can see the number of image files to be searched only by looking at the matrix portion M3. You can know how much it is, and it is very convenient for operation.

D. Other embodiments:
The present invention is not limited to the above-described examples and embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the following modifications are possible.

(1) In the above embodiment, the input field FL2 includes the year designation part M1 arranged in the vertical direction, the month designation part M2 arranged in the horizontal direction, and the year designation part M1 and the month designation part M2. However, instead of this, the input field can be modified into various forms.

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an input field FL12 as a first modification. As shown in the figure, the input field FL12 is composed of a year specifying part M11 and a month specifying part M12. The year designation portion M11 is arranged in the vertical direction and represents a sequence of years. Here, “No designation” and each year from 1995 to 2010 can be displayed by scrolling the slide bar SB1. It has become. The month designation part M12 is arranged in the vertical direction and represents the arrangement of the months. Here, “No designation” and each month from January to December can be displayed by scrolling the slide bar SB2. It has become. The operator clicks on the item “No designation” displayed in the month designation part M12, and clicks one or more years from 1995 to 2010 displayed in the year designation part M11. All months of the clicked year can be specified as search criteria.

  In addition, the operator clicks the “no designation” item displayed in the year designation part M11, and clicks one or more months from January to December displayed in the month designation part M12. Thus, the clicked month for all years can be designated as a search condition. Furthermore, by specifying a year or month other than “no specification” in both the year specifying part M11 and the month specifying part M12, the year and month satisfying the AND condition of the year and month can be specified as a search condition.

  Therefore, according to the first modified example, as in the previous embodiment, it is possible to narrow down the image files of all the month months by a simple operation. Therefore, even if the memory of the year and month is ambiguous for the operator, the desired data can be easily found if the month is known.

(2) FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an input field FL22 as a second modification. As shown in the figure, the input field FL22 is composed of a year designation part M21 and a month designation part M22. The year designating section M21 includes an “undesignated” input field M211, an input field M212 for inputting the start point of the year period, and an input field M213 for inputting the end point of the year period. The month designating unit M22 includes an “undesignated” input field M221, an input field M222 for inputting the start point of the month period, and an input field M223 for inputting the end point of the month period. By operating the year designation part M21 and the month designation part M22, as in the first modification, one of the year and month is designated as “no designation”, the other period is designated, Both periods can be specified. Therefore, similar to the above-described embodiment and the first modification, it is possible to narrow down the image files of all the year months by a simple operation. Therefore, even if the memory of the year and month is ambiguous for the operator, the desired data can be easily found if the month is known.

(3) FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an input field FL32 as a third modification. In the first embodiment, the input field FL2 is expressed in a two-dimensional form. Instead, as shown in the figure, the input field FL32 is expressed with three-dimensional (solid) shape data. . Arranged between the year designation part M31 and the month designation part M32 arranged in the horizontal direction, the month designation part M32 arranged in the vertical direction and the month designation part M32 representing the month arrangement, It is comprised from the matrix part M33. In each cell of the matrix portion M33, a number of quadrilaterals corresponding to the registered number of the corresponding year and month are displayed protruding in the height direction. According to this configuration, as in the above-described embodiment, it is possible to narrow down the image files of the month of all years by one operation of input of the month designation unit M32. Therefore, even if the memory of the year and month is ambiguous for the operator, the desired data can be easily found if the month is known. In addition, since the 3D display is provided, it is possible to provide a fun user interface by stimulating the playfulness of the operator.

(4) In the above embodiment, the predetermined time of the year is specified by month, but instead of this, other predetermined times such as “day of the week”, “date”, and “time” are specified. It can also be a time. The “date” may be the day of the month or the day. The “time” may be hours and minutes, hours only, or minutes only. FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing an input field FL42 configured to designate “day of the week” in the fourth modified example. The input field FL42 includes a year designation part M1 arranged in the vertical direction (same as the first embodiment), a day designation part M42 arranged in the horizontal direction, and between the year designation part M1 and the day designation part M42. And a matrix portion M43 arranged in the area. In the fourth modified example, “day of the week” is also registered in the search table TBL (the day of the week is calculated from the date information Dt and the day of the week is registered). Perform a search using. According to the fourth modification, it is possible to narrow down the image files of the designated day of the week in all years by one operation of inputting the day of the week designation unit M43. Therefore, even if the memory of the year is ambiguous for the operator, if only the day of the week is known, the desired data can be easily found.

(5) In the above embodiment, the image file taken from the digital camera 26 and stored in the hard disk drive 14 is temporarily registered in the search table TBL, and the search is performed using the search table TBL. However, instead of this, the image file stored in the hard disk drive 14 may be directly searched without creating the search table TBL. Further, the storage medium for storing the image file to be searched need not be limited to the hard disk drive 14, but may be another storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a memory 13.

(6) In the above embodiment, the image file to be searched is taken by the digital camera 26. However, instead of this, the image data of a silver halide photograph acquired using a color scanner or the like may be used. Good. In short, any image file having date information may be used. For example, it may be imported from outside via a network. Further, it is not always necessary to use color image data, and can be applied to monochrome image data.

It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the computer system to which one Example of this invention is applied. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of the image file Fp of an Exif format. It is a flowchart which shows the routine of the control processing according to the computer program Pr. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the image file taking-in routine performed by step S100 of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of table TBL for a search. It is explanatory drawing which shows the application window WD. It is explanatory drawing which expands and shows the field for input FL2. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example when the button which comprises the year designation | designated part M1 is clicked in the input field FL2. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example when the button which comprises the month designation | designated part M2 in the input field FL2 is clicked. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example when the cell which comprises the matrix part M3 is clicked in the field for input FL2. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example when the cell which comprises the matrix part M3 is dragged in the field for input FL2. It is explanatory drawing which shows the field for input FL12 as a 1st modification. It is explanatory drawing which shows the field for input FL22 as a 2nd modification. It is explanatory drawing which shows the field for input FL32 as a 3rd modification. It is explanatory drawing which shows the input field FL42 as a 4th modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Personal computer 12 ... Bus 13 ... Memory 14 ... Hard disk drive 15 ... Input control part 16 ... Display control part 20 ... Display 22 ... Keyboard 24 ... Mouse 26 ... Digital camera 28 ... Printer 40 ... Search unit 42 ... Search information providing unit 42a ... Predetermined time input unit Fp ... Image file 30 ... Image data storage area 32. ..Attached data storage area Dt ... Date information Ds ... Thumbnail image WD ... Application window FL1 ... Tool bar M1 ... Year designation part M2 ... Month designation part M3 ... Matrix part FL2 ... input field FL3 ... image list display field Pr ... computer program TBL ... search table FL12, FL22, FL32, FL42 ... input field

Claims (12)

A storage medium for storing a plurality of image files including date information;
Search means for searching for a desired image file using the date information as a search item from among a plurality of image files stored in the storage medium;
An input display area for inputting a search condition related to the search item based on an operation command using an input device by an operator is displayed on the display device, and the search condition input from the input display area is displayed on the display device. In an image search apparatus comprising search condition providing means for giving to search means,
The search condition providing means includes:
A predetermined time designation field for designating a predetermined time within a year is displayed in the input display area, and the predetermined time is determined based on an operation command using an input device by an operator for the predetermined time designation field. With a predetermined time input means for inputting as a search condition,
The search means includes
An image search apparatus configured to search for an image file obtained at the predetermined time of all years by selecting an image file whose date information matches the predetermined time.   The image search device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time input means displays a month specifying field for specifying a month as the predetermined time. The image search device according to claim 2,
The search condition providing means includes:
A first time axis representing a sequence of years is displayed in the input display area, and one or more desired years are selected from the sequence of years based on an operation command using an input device by an operator. A year input means for inputting a search condition for the year,
The month designation field has a second time axis representing the arrangement of months so that a desired month or months can be selected from the arrangement of months based on an operation command using an input device by an operator. Configured image search device. The image search device according to claim 3,
The search condition providing means includes:
Matrix display means for displaying a matrix having the first and second time axes in the vertical and horizontal directions in the display area for input;
When a constituent element of the matrix is specified by an operation command using an input device by an operator, the position on the first time axis that specifies the specified constituent element and the second time axis are specified. An image search apparatus comprising: a year and a month determined from the position of the date; a search condition for determining an AND condition for the year and month; The image search device according to claim 4,
A plurality of image files stored in the storage medium are classified according to year and month, which are AND conditions of year and month, based on the date information, and how many image files exist for each year and month respectively. An image search apparatus comprising: a matrix element display unit that obtains and changes the display of each component of the matrix corresponding to the obtained number of sheets.   6. The image search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image file is an Exif format file having an image data portion representing an image and an attached data portion for storing the date information. (A) a step of searching for a desired image file using the date information as a search item from among a plurality of image files having date information;
(B) A search input for inputting a search condition for the search item based on an operation command by an operator using an input device is displayed on the display device, and the search is input from the input display region. Providing a condition to the process (a), and
The step (b) is:
(B-1) Based on an operation command using an input device by an operator for displaying the predetermined time designation field for designating a predetermined time within one year in the input display area. And a step of inputting the predetermined time as a search condition,
The step (a)
An image search method characterized in that an image file obtained at the predetermined time of all years is searched by selecting an image file whose date information matches the predetermined time. A computer program for searching for an image file having date information,
(A) a function of searching for a desired image file by using the date information as a search item from among a plurality of image files having date information;
(B) A search input for inputting a search condition for the search item based on an operation command by an operator using an input device is displayed on the display device, and the search is input from the input display region. A function that allows the function (a) to use the condition, and
The function (b) is
(B-1) Based on an operation command using an input device by an operator for displaying the predetermined time designation field for designating a predetermined time within one year in the input display area. A function for inputting the predetermined time as a search condition,
The function (a) is:
A computer program configured to search for an image file obtained at the predetermined time of all years by selecting an image file whose date information matches the predetermined time.   The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the function (b-1) is configured to display a month designation field for designating a month as the predetermined time. A computer program according to claim 9,
The function (b) is
(B-2) A first time axis representing a year sequence is displayed in the display area for input, and one or more desired from the year sequence based on an operation command using an input device by an operator By selecting a year, you can enter search criteria for the year,
The month designation field has a second time axis representing the arrangement of months so that a desired month or months can be selected from the arrangement of months based on an operation command using an input device by an operator. Configured computer program. A computer program according to claim 10,
The function (b) is
(B-3) a function of displaying a matrix having the first time axis and the second time axis vertically and horizontally in the display area for input;
(B-4) When a constituent element of the matrix is designated by an operation command using an input device by an operator, the position on the first time axis for specifying the designated constituent element and the first A computer program comprising: a function for determining a year and a month from a position on the time axis of 2 and determining an AND condition for the year and month as a search condition to be provided to the search means.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the computer program in any one of Claims 8 thru | or 11.

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