JP2006261907A - Character processing device, character processing method, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To estimate the types of documents from their contents, and to perform prohibitions, such as the prohibition of copy, prohibition of printing, etc, corresponding to the types of the documents. <P>SOLUTION: Page images scanned or rasterized are sent to an OCR for extracting texts, and the type of a document is judged from its layout or its content. Prohibition, such as the prohibition of copy etc, is imposed on the document in accordance with its type. It is judged resting on the number of inherent expressions extracted from the text whether the document is a nominal list or not, and the nominal list is prohibited to be copied or printed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a character processing apparatus, a character processing method, and a recording medium for scanning a paper document and performing processing such as copying, FAX, and transmission, or specifying an electronic document for printing.

  In recent years, copiers have become more and more multifunctional, not just for copying paper, but for example, connecting to a PC to print electronic documents as a printer, FAX function for faxing scanned documents, and email forwarding A transmission function is also provided. Now, in the flow of digitization of documents, it is positioned as a key component that realizes document solutions that cooperate with document management.

  Under such circumstances, in the copying machine, security considerations are emphasized, and a copy / print suppression function or the like is proposed as a technique for preventing leakage of scan information or print information.

  Various functions have been proposed for such copy / print suppression functions, and some have been implemented in copiers. For the purpose of suppressing the copy of a specific manuscript such as a gift certificate or securities, a technique for processing and outputting a manuscript such as adding additional information to a specific manuscript has been proposed (see, for example, [Patent Document 1]). In this proposal, as a means for determining whether or not a document is a specific document, a technique is disclosed in which an input image is compared with image data of specific document images to obtain a similarity. Such direct comparison of image data can be expected to be effective in suppressing copying / printing when image patterns are fixed, such as banknotes, but it can also be used in cases where text content cannot be specified, such as address books and directories. Is less effective. For example, it is impossible to cover what names and addresses appear in the address book.

  A technique for alerting an operator to processing a document with high confidentiality is disclosed (for example, see [Patent Document 2]). Whether the confidentiality is high or not is determined based on whether or not a specific symbol string such as “top secret” is included after character recognition of the original image. This requires an operation such as adding a specific character string to the confidential document in the sentence or the title beforehand, and has a limited effect. For example, if the unauthorized user simply deletes a character string such as “confidential” from the document, the copy / print suppression function can be easily avoided.

  Next, a technique is disclosed in which a copyrighted work name is given to paper in advance using a barcode or the like, and copyright information is obtained from a host computer and an operator is inquired whether to continue copying (for example, [Patent Document 3]). reference). In this method, additional information such as a barcode needs to be given in advance at the time of printing. For example, ad hoc security management is not possible, such as when copy management is required after paper documents are distributed.

  Finally, a technique is disclosed in which it is determined whether or not a specified keyword is included in a document, and a search for a document including the specified keyword is suppressed (see, for example, [Patent Document 4]). In such a method of specifying keywords one by one, if it is desired to prohibit copying / printing of address book or directory, it is necessary to specify each person's name / address as a keyword comprehensively, which is not practical. .

These past proposals are for controlled documents that have a consistent layout, are always given barcodes, and always contain certain keywords, It was not always effective in preventing information leakage such as a directory. It is necessary to have a function to make a judgment based on document characteristics such as statistics of text content, not direct comparison of image data, comparison of fixed keywords, and copy / print suppression based on attached information such as barcodes. There was no such proposal.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-110815 JP 2001-266112 A JP 7-129270 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-187542

  The present invention is intended to solve the above-described problems.

  In other words, whether to suppress copying is determined not by image patterns or specific keywords, but by document features extracted from the entire document, and is not controlled and confidential documents such as address books and directories that are not fixed. It is intended to provide a copy / print suppression function that can be applied to a wide range.

  In order to achieve the above object, a character processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement.

  That is, a character processing device for processing characters, a copy instruction means for receiving a document copy instruction, a document reading means for reading a document content recorded on a recording sheet into text, and a document type based on the text A document type estimation unit for estimating the copy, a copy permission determination unit for determining whether copying is possible based on the document type, and a copy suppression that suppresses copying of the document when the copy permission determination unit determines that the copy is suppressed Means.

  Also, a character processing device for processing characters, a print instruction means for receiving a document print instruction, a text extraction means for extracting text from the document content, and a document type estimation means for estimating the document type based on the text And a print propriety determining unit that determines whether or not printing is possible based on the document type, and a print suppression unit that suppresses printing of the document when the print propriety determining unit determines that printing is to be suppressed.

  A character processing apparatus for processing characters, further comprising: a specific expression extracting unit that extracts a specific expression from the text; and a specific expression number calculating unit that calculates the number of the extracted specific expressions. The type estimation means determines whether or not the document type is a name list type according to the calculated number of unique expressions.

  In order to achieve the above object, a character processing method according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement.

  That is, a character processing method applied to a character processing apparatus for processing characters, a copy instruction step for receiving a document copy instruction, a document reading step for reading a document content recorded on a recording sheet and converting it into text, A document type estimating step for estimating a document type based on the text, a copy permission determining step for determining whether copying is possible based on the document type, and the document when copy suppression is determined by the copying permission determining step A copy suppression step for suppressing copying of

  A character processing method applied to a character processing apparatus for processing characters, a print instruction step for receiving a document print instruction, a text extraction step for extracting text from document contents, and a document type based on the text A document type estimation step for estimating the printability, a printability determination step for determining whether or not printing is possible based on the document type, and a print suppression that suppresses printing of the document when the printability determination means determines that printing is to be suppressed Steps.

  Also, a character processing method applied to a character processing device for processing characters, a specific expression extraction step for extracting a specific expression from the text, and a specific expression number calculation step for calculating the number of the extracted specific expressions The document type estimating step determines whether the document type is a name list type according to the calculated number of unique expressions.

  In order to achieve the above object, a recording medium according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement.

  That is, a computer-readable recording medium storing a program code of a character processing method applied to a character processing apparatus that processes characters, and recorded on a recording sheet and a copy instruction step program code for receiving a document copy instruction The program code of the document reading step for reading the document content into text, the program code of the document type estimating step for estimating the document type based on the text, and the copying permission / non-permission determining whether copying is possible based on the document type And a program code for a copy suppression step for suppressing copying of the document when copy suppression is determined by the copy permission determination step.

  A computer-readable recording medium storing a program code of a character processing method applied to a character processing apparatus that processes characters, wherein the program code of a print instruction step for receiving a document print instruction and text from the document content A program code of a text extraction step to extract, a program code of a document type estimation step of estimating a document type based on the text, a program code of a print permission determination step of determining whether printing is possible based on the document type, And a program code of a print suppression step for suppressing printing of the document when the print permission determination unit determines that the print is suppressed.

  A computer-readable recording medium storing a program code of a character processing method applied to a character processing apparatus that processes characters, the program code of a specific expression extraction step for extracting a specific expression from the text, and the extraction And a program code for calculating a number of unique expressions for calculating the number of unique expressions, wherein the document type estimating step determines whether the document type is a name list type according to the calculated number of specific expressions. To do.

  As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the document type can be specified from the text content, and whether or not an action such as copying or printing can be determined based on the document type can be determined. Copy prohibition, print prohibition, and the like can be comprehensively set, and security can be flexibly managed, so that a character processing device with high operability can be provided.

<Embodiment 1>
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a character processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

  In the configuration shown in the figure, the CPU is a microprocessor, performs calculation for image processing, character processing, recognition processing, logical determination, and the like, and controls each component connected to the bus via the bus.

  BUS is a bus and transfers an address signal and a control signal instructing each component to be controlled by the microprocessor CPU. In addition, data transfer between each component is performed.

  The RAM is a readable / writable random access memory and is used for primary storage of various data from each component.

  ROM is a read-only nonvolatile memory. The boot program by the microprocessor CPU is stored. The boot program loads a control program stored in the hard disk into the RAM when the system is started, and causes the microprocessor CPU to execute it. The control program will be described in detail later with reference to a flowchart.

  The input device is a touch panel or the like. It can be configured with a keyboard, mouse, etc. like a normal PC.

  The display device is a liquid crystal display or the like. It can also be configured with a CRT, etc. like a normal PC.

  The scanner is a device that performs processing such as reading and digitizing a paper document as a document.

  A printer is a device for printing a document. An electronic document in PDL (print control language) format sent from the communication line is printed. The copy function is realized by printing a scanned image read from the scanner as it is by a printer.

  HD is a hard disk, a control program executed by the CPU, a morphological analysis dictionary for performing natural language analysis, a document type layout table for determining a document type according to a layout, a specific expression dictionary describing a specific expression, The unique expression rule for determining the specific expression from the form, the document control information for determining whether the action for the document should be permitted or suppressed, and the like are stored and loaded into the main memory shown in the RAM for reference as necessary. Is changed as necessary and written back to the HD.

  The morphological analysis dictionary stores necessary information proposed in general natural language analysis, such as word notation, part-of-speech information, utilization information, and word co-occurrence information.

  The removable external storage device is a removable storage device such as a USB memory device or an IC card. As with a normal PC, a drive for accessing an external storage such as a flop-flop disk, CD, or DVD can be arranged. It is a device that can be used in the same manner as the HD and exchanges data with other character processing devices through these recording media. Note that the control program stored in the hard disk can be entirely or partially copied from these external storage devices to HD as necessary.

  The communication device is a network controller. A device for exchanging data with the outside via a communication line.

  The character processing apparatus according to the present invention composed of these components operates according to various events from the input device or the like. When an interrupt from an input device is supplied, a signal is sent to the microprocessor CPU, and an event is generated accordingly, and the CPU reads various instructions stored in the ROM or RAM according to the event, Various controls are performed.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow in the present invention.

  The MFP is a copying machine. When a copy of a paper document is instructed on the MFP, the document is scanned and a document image is obtained. Alternatively, when a certain electronic document is designated from the PC and a print instruction is issued to the MFP, the electronic document is rasterized and a similar document image is obtained.

  The document image is analyzed on the MFP, the document type is estimated, and it is determined whether the copy instruction is executed or suppressed based on the document control information attached to the document type. When the document control information is “action permitted”, the document image is output as it is, and normal copy (print) processing is performed. In the case of “action suppression”, a copy (printing) action is suppressed, and a message indicating that the action has been rejected is displayed on the display screen of the MFP.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of screen transition of the operation panel of the copying machine according to the present invention. Screen 3-1 is a screen in an initial state. Buttons (such as a copy button) for starting various actions are arranged. Since the print instruction is issued from the PC, no print button is arranged here. When the copy button is touched, it is determined whether or not copying is possible. If copying is permitted, the copying operation is performed without any problem. When the copy operation is normally completed and completed, “copy completed” is displayed (screen 3-2). If it is determined that the copy is to be suppressed, the copy operation is not performed, and the reason why the operation is not performed is notified (screen 3-3).

  In the present invention, the comparison with the image pattern of the document is not performed directly, and the determination is made based on the estimation of the document type from the layout and the text content. Therefore, the operator may not understand why the action is suppressed. Absent. Even in such a case, since the grounds for action suppression are displayed, it is possible to request cancellation of action suppression by consulting a document security administrator or the like.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of block analysis performed in the present invention.

  Reference numeral 4-1 denotes a scanned image obtained by scanning a paper document or a rasterized image rasterized from an electronic document. Block analysis is a process of dividing the document image into rectangular blocks according to the properties of the blocks. In the case of the figure, as a result of block analysis, it is divided into three blocks. One block (4-2) is a text block because sentences (text) are included inside, and the remaining two blocks (4-3, 4-4) are information other than text (graphs, photographs, etc.). Is included in the image block. Character recognition is applied to the text block and text is extracted, but text information is not extracted from the image block.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of block analysis in the case of an address book. Reference numeral 5-1 denotes the entire document image. 5-2 was extracted as a title block. A title block is a text block near the top of the page and having a relatively large character size. Reference numeral 5-3 denotes a table block extracted by being recognized as a table. Information such as the number of rows and the number of columns is also extracted for the table block.

  FIG. 6 explains the OCR text information extracted from the text block and the keyword data extracted by keyword extraction therefrom.

  Character recognition processing is applied to the text block of the document image, and text data is extracted as OCR text information. Morphological analysis is applied to the text data, and keywords are extracted. Since it is character recognition processing, 100% accurate recognition is not always performed, and certain erroneous recognition data is included. In the figure, the character string that should be “BJ Series” is “8 Series”, and the character string that should be “Super Photo Quality” is “Super Photo White”. If such a misrecognized character is included, an unknown word is generated in the morphological analysis, but the unknown word cannot be checked against the specific expression dictionary, and is thus removed in advance. Since character recognition is an accurate process that is nearly 100%, there are a small number of erroneously recognized characters. Even if unknown words are excluded in this way, it can be considered that the statistical tendency of sentences is not much different.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of a document type layout table describing layout characteristics of document types.

  In the document type layout table, 7-1 “document type” and 7-2 “layout feature” are stored.

  “Document type” is an ID for identifying a group of similar documents. Examples of document types include “address book (name list)”, “transfer slip”, and “report”.

  “Layout characteristics” is information describing layout characteristics of each document type. An example of an address book is shown in 7-3. Layout features are divided into feature items. According to the feature item 1 “title block =“ address book ””, the title block is requested to include the character string “address book”. The feature item 2 “number of columns = 3” requests to include a table block having 3 columns. The feature item 3 “number of blocks = 2” requests that the total number of blocks be two. A document that satisfies all these requirements is recognized as an “address book”. Another description example of more morphological features is also disclosed in a form recognition technique such as Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-285187.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the specific expression dictionary.

  The unique expression dictionary holds a list of well-known unique expressions (person names, place names, company names, etc.) that are generally used. Specific expressions such as “Tokyo,” “Ota-ku,” “Shimomaruko,” “Yamada,” “Tanaka,” “Taro,” and “Hanako” are stored.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the specific expression rule.

  In the above-mentioned specific expression dictionary, since there must be a list for each case, there are some that have no limit. For example, listing phone numbers one by one is a silly act. It is the proper expression rule that makes it possible to describe the form of the specific expression for such a case. Reference numeral 9-1 denotes a specific expression type, which describes what type of specific expression it is. Reference numeral 9-2 denotes a regular expression, which describes the format of a necessary specific expression in the form of a regular expression. The form in which the regular expression is described is introduced in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-36069 and will not be described in detail here. For example, by describing the amount, all of “¥ 1000” and “¥ 30” can be recognized as the amount.

  FIG. 10 shows document control information. Describes whether or not an action (copy, print, fax, transmission, etc.) on a document should be permitted for each type. 1 means permission, 0 means suppression.

  The above operation will be described with reference to a flowchart.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the character processing apparatus of the present invention, more specifically, the processing procedure of the microprocessor CPU. Step S11-1 is a system initialization process that initializes various parameters, displays an initial screen, and the like. Step S11-2 is a process in which the microprocessor CPU waits for some event to occur, such as a request from an input device such as a touch panel or a directly connected / network connected device / device. When an event occurs, the microprocessor CPU determines this event in step S11-3, and branches to various processes according to the type of event. A plurality of branch destination processes corresponding to various events are collectively expressed in the form of step S11-4. The copy process and print process described in detail in FIGS. 12 and 13 are part of this branch destination. As other processing, details are not described, but there are normal MFP processing such as transmission processing, FAX processing, processing for specifying a FAX and a transmission destination. Step S11-5 is a display process for displaying the processing result of each of the above processes and the end of the process. This is a process that is normally performed widely, such as displaying an error when there is an error, displaying the basis when the operation is suppressed, and displaying the end when the operation ends normally.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart detailing the copy process that is a part of step S11-4. In step S12-1, a paper document is read from the scanner, and a scanned image is generated as a document image. In step S12-2, block analysis is performed on the generated document image. In step S12-3, character recognition processing is performed on the image in the text block extracted by the block analysis, and OCR text information is extracted. In step S12-4, morphological analysis is performed on the OCR text while referring to the morphological analysis dictionary, and the OCR text is divided into phrases. In step S12-5, keywords are extracted from the divided clauses, and a keyword list is generated as sentence features. In step S12-6, the layout feature illustrated in FIG. 9 is extracted from the block-analyzed page. In step S12-7, the document type is estimated from the extracted sentence feature and layout feature as described in detail in FIG. In step S12-8, it is determined whether the copying operation is permitted based on the estimated document type. If permitted, the normal copying process is performed in step S12-9, and the copying operation is often performed. If so, in step S12-10, the ground information that the copy is suppressed to be displayed on the display at a later stage is output.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart detailing the printing process which is a part of step S11-4. The printing process is a process started when a device such as a connected PC is instructed to print an electronic document by PDL such as LIPS or PS. In step S13-1, the document is rasterized to generate a raster image as a document image. In step S13-2, block analysis is performed on the generated document image. In step S13-3, character recognition processing is performed on the image in the text block extracted by the block analysis, and OCR text information is extracted. In step S13-4, morphological analysis is performed on the OCR text while referring to the morphological analysis dictionary, and the OCR text is divided into phrases. In step S13-5, keywords are extracted from the divided clauses, and a keyword list is generated as sentence features. In step S13-6, the layout features illustrated in FIG. 9 are extracted from the block-analyzed page. In step S13-7, the document type is estimated from the extracted sentence feature and layout feature as described in detail in FIG. In step S13-8, it is determined whether the printing operation is permitted based on the estimated document type. If the printing operation is permitted, a normal printing process is performed in step S13-9, and the copying operation is often performed. If yes, in step S13-10, the ground information indicating that printing is suppressed to be displayed on the display in the subsequent stage is output.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart detailing the document type estimation in steps S12-7 and S13-7. First, in step S14-1, the acquired layout feature is collated with the layout feature registered in the document type layout table, as detailed in FIG. If there is a match as a result of the collation in step S14-2, the document type is determined, and the process branches to step S14-6 to end the document type estimation. If there is no matching layout feature, the process proceeds to step S14-3. The keyword extracted as the sentence feature in step S14-3 is checked against the specific expression dictionary, and the number of specific expressions is counted. In step S14-4, in order to extract a specific expression that cannot be described in the dictionary, a specific expression rule is collated, a specific expression described in the rule is extracted, and the number is further added to the number of specific expressions. In step S14-5, it is determined whether or not the determined number of unique expressions exceeds a predetermined number (for example, 20), and if it exceeds, the process proceeds to step S14-7 and type 1 (address book) is set as the document type. To finish the document type estimation. If the number of unique expressions does not exceed the predetermined number in step S14-5, the process branches to step S14-8, sets “Unknown” as the document type, and ends the document type estimation.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart detailing the collation with the document type layout table in step S14-1. First, in step S15-1, it is determined whether there are any document types to be checked in the document type table. If it remains, one piece of document type feature information is obtained in step S15-2. In step S15-3, one feature item of the document type is obtained. In step S15-4, it is determined whether or not all feature items have been checked and have not been obtained. If they have been obtained, the process proceeds to step S15-5, where they are collated with the feature item description. For example, when a title block = “address book” is described as a feature item, a text block described at a point larger than the whole existing above the page is obtained, and “address book” is added to the text in the block. "Is included, and whether it is included is checked. In step S14-6, it is determined whether or not they match as a result of the collation. In the previous example, it is determined as “match” when “address book” is included. If they match, the process loops to step S15-3 to check the next feature item, and if they do not match, the process proceeds to step S15-7. In step S14-7, in order to start checking the next document type, the pointer of the document type being processed is set next, and the process loops to step S15-1. If it is determined in step S15-4 that the feature item has ended, the process branches to step S15-9. In step S15-9, the currently processed document type is set as the corresponding document type, and the process ends. If it is determined in step S15-1 that the document type has ended, the process branches to step S15-8, and the process ends in step S15-8 assuming that there is no matching document type.

<Embodiment 2>
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  In the above-described embodiment, only the operation permission / suppression of copying, printing, FAX, and transmission is assumed as a security control mode, but other implementation modes are also conceivable. For example, it is conceivable whether a watermark is imprinted on the document during the above operation, or whether additional information (such as “Distribution prohibited”) is added to the document. In addition, it is possible to specify a message to be displayed during the above operation (such as “This document is confidential”). In this case, a column for storing the ON / OFF information of the operation is added to the document control information, and an action is performed according to the information. In this way, not only whether a duplicate is simply output, but also the attention associated with the handling of the duplicate can be alerted, and finer security management can be performed.

  In the above-described embodiment, only discrete values such as the title block, the number of columns, and the number of blocks are described as layout features. However, the document is obtained by storing and determining the arrangement of color information on the entire page. The type can also be estimated. In this case, the entire page is divided into several cells, the image feature amount for each cell is stored, and the similarity between corresponding cells is determined to estimate the document type. By doing so, the document type can be estimated even for a document including a natural image such as a photograph, and finer security management can be realized.

  In addition to the above, the configuration can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the character processing apparatus of a present Example. It is the figure which showed the example of operation in the character processing apparatus of a present Example. It is the figure which showed the example of a screen transition in the character processing apparatus of a present Example. It is the figure which showed the example of the block analysis. It is the figure which showed the example of the block analysis in the case of an address book. It is the figure which showed the example of the keyword extraction from OCR text. It is the figure which showed the structure of the document classification layout table in the character processing apparatus of a present Example. It is the figure which showed the structure of the specific expression dictionary in the character processing apparatus of a present Example. It is the figure which showed the structure of the specific expression rule in the character processing apparatus of a present Example. It is the figure which showed the structure of the document control information in the character processing apparatus of a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the whole character processing apparatus of a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of a copy process. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for print processing. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of document classification estimation. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of collation with a document classification layout table.

Claims (9)

  A character processing device for processing characters, a copy instruction means for receiving a document copy instruction, a document reading means for reading a document content recorded on a recording sheet into text, and estimating a document type based on the text A document type estimation unit that performs copying, a copy propriety determination unit that determines whether copying is possible based on the document type, and a copy suppression unit that suppresses copying of the document when the copy permission determination unit determines copy suppression. A character processing device comprising:   A character processing apparatus for processing characters, a print instruction unit that receives a document print instruction, a text extraction unit that extracts text from document content, a document type estimation unit that estimates a document type based on the text, A printing availability determination unit that determines whether printing is possible based on the document type; and a printing suppression unit that suppresses printing of the document when the printing availability determination unit determines that printing is suppressed. Character processing unit.   A character processing apparatus for processing characters, further comprising: a specific expression extracting unit that extracts a specific expression from the text; and a specific expression number calculating unit that calculates the number of the extracted specific expressions, the document type estimation The character processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means determines whether the document type is a name list type according to the calculated number of unique expressions.   A character processing method applied to a character processing device for processing characters, a copy instruction step for receiving a document copy instruction, a document reading step for reading a document content recorded on a recording sheet into text, and the text A document type estimating step for estimating the document type based on the document type, a copy permission determining step for determining whether copying is possible based on the document type, and a copy of the document when the copy suppression determining step determines that the copy is suppressed And a copy suppressing step for suppressing the character.   A character processing method applied to a character processing apparatus that processes characters, a print instruction step for receiving a document print instruction, a text extraction step for extracting text from the document contents, and a document type is estimated based on the text A document type estimation step to be performed, a print permission determination step for determining whether printing is possible based on the document type, and a print suppression step for suppressing printing of the document when the printing permission determination means determines that printing is to be suppressed. A character processing method comprising:   A character processing method applied to a character processing device for processing characters, comprising: a unique expression extracting step for extracting a specific expression from the text; and a specific expression number calculating step for calculating the number of the extracted specific expressions. The character processing method according to claim 4, further comprising: determining whether the document type is a name list type according to the calculated number of unique expressions.   A computer-readable recording medium storing a program code of a character processing method applied to a character processing apparatus that processes characters, and a copy instruction step program code for receiving a document copy instruction, and a document recorded on a recording sheet Program code for document reading step for reading contents into text, program code for document type estimating step for estimating document type based on the text, and copy permission / non-permission determining step for determining whether copying is possible based on the document type And a copy suppression step program code for suppressing copy of the document when it is determined that copy suppression is determined by the copy permission determination step.   A computer-readable recording medium storing a program code of a character processing method applied to a character processing apparatus for processing characters, wherein the text is extracted from the program code of a print instruction step for receiving a document print instruction and the document content Program code for text extraction step, program code for document type estimation step for estimating document type based on the text, program code for print permission determination step for determining whether printing is possible based on the document type, and the printing What is claimed is: 1. A computer-readable recording medium comprising: a print suppression step program code for suppressing printing of a document when it is determined that printing is suppressed by an admissibility determining unit.   A computer-readable recording medium storing a program code of a character processing method applied to a character processing apparatus for processing characters, the program code of a specific expression extracting step for extracting a specific expression from the text, and the extracted And a program code of a specific expression number calculating step for calculating the number of specific expressions, and the document type estimating step determines whether the document type is a name list type according to the calculated number of specific expressions. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 7 or 8.

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