JP2006338258A - Document preparation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control the presence/absence of mask processing from a data file by performing the mask processing of a portion of a document concerning a document preparation method. <P>SOLUTION: When performing overlay print by using a complex form setting file(file whose form to be used or print attributes are set for each page) and data, a mask is designated for a component form so that the processing of a mask is performed to a field in the component form. Also, the ON/OFF of mask processing is performable from a data file. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a form creation method and apparatus, and more particularly to mask processing in overlay printing by a computer system or the like.

  Conventionally, in a form, a method of receiving data in a separate file and displaying it as shown in FIG. 4 may be used. Hereinafter, a graphic that receives data and displays the data is called a field graphic. Also, overlay printing is a process in which data in a data file is dynamically embedded in a field on a form for display / printing. Some field graphics can specify how to receive data (specify output format). Hereinafter, an output format is designated as an output picture. For example, in FIG. 4, if “K”, which is an output picture, means that only one character is received, only a character can be received instead of a numerical value. If there are 5 "K" s, you can specify that only 5 characters are accepted. In addition, the type of character string received by the field, such as a numerical value or a character, can be set in the field.

  An example of a data file description method is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the form to be used can be specified in the form specifying the form. In addition, arbitrary data that is to be dynamically embedded in the form can be described at the location of the format for specifying the data.

  In addition, when a plurality of forms are to be used on a plurality of pages, it is possible to set the form used on each page, the number of times of printing, and the like and save the file as a file. Hereinafter, this setting file is referred to as a composite form setting file. FIG. 6 shows an example of the composite form setting file. When overlay printing is executed using a composite form setting file, the overlay execution library sequentially reads the forms and performs overlay printing according to the settings of the composite form setting file. There is no need to store the form in the composite form setting file itself. For example, it is only necessary to store a form whose storage location is uniquely determined, such as a file path name of the form.

Moreover, as a prior art example, patent document 1, patent document 2, and patent document 3 can be mention | raise | lifted, for example.
JP 2000-222494 A JP 2001-306448 JP 2000-122837 A

  When overlay printing is performed using a form and data file, there is a case where it is desired to hide only a part of the data. For example, there is a method of making certain data invisible by painting a part of the printed material with black or the like. Hereinafter, such processing is referred to as mask processing.

  However, the conventional overlay printing has a poor mask processing function.

In order to solve the above problem, in the present invention,
A form creation method that performs overlay printing using a composite form setting file and a data file,
The composite form setting file has a function of setting a printing order and the number of times for a plurality of forms, and a function of specifying a mask process for some forms.
The data file has means for describing the data to be embedded in the fields in the form;
In the overlay printing, a means for designating the first form and data file in the overlay execution library, a means for the overlay execution library to analyze the data file and embedding data in the fields in the form, and mask processing are designated in the form. A form creation method comprising: means for determining whether or not a form is designated for mask processing; and means for filling a field in the form.
Is provided.

  As described above, the present invention can mask a part of a form with respect to the form creation method, and can control the presence or absence of the mask process from the data file.

Example 1
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a form creation / editing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  This system consists of a central processing unit by CPU10, main storage by ROM11 / RAM12, external storage by FD drive 13 and HD drive 15, input devices by pointing devices such as keyboard 16 and mouse 18, display by CRT display 17, etc. A plurality of computer systems, each of which includes a printing apparatus 19 such as an apparatus, a printer or a plotter, and a system bus 20 connecting them, are connected to each other by a network bus 21.

  This control device operates when the CPU executes a basic I / O program, an OS, and a program. The basic I / O program is written in ROM11, and the OS is written in HD15. When the control device is turned on, the OS is read from the HD 15 into the RAM 12 by the IPL (Initial Program Loading) function in the basic I / O program, and the operation of the OS is started.

  In the case of the present embodiment, this control program and related data are recorded in the FD 14, and the configuration of the recorded contents is shown in FIG.

  The control program and related data recorded in the FD 14 can be loaded into the computer system through the FD drive 13 as shown in FIG. When this FD is set in the FD drive 13, the control program and related data are read from the FD 14 under the control of the OS and the basic I / O program, loaded into the RAM 12, and operable.

  FIG. 3 shows a memory map in a state in which the present control program is loaded into the RAM and becomes executable.

  In this embodiment, the control program and related data are loaded directly from the FD 14 to the RAM 12 and executed. You may make it load from HD15 to RAM12 in the stage which operates. Further, the medium for recording this control program may be a CD-ROM, an IC memory card or the like in addition to the FD. It is also possible to record this program in the ROM 11, configure it as a part of the memory map, and execute it directly by the CPU 10.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of setting a file in a conventional field.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a description of a conventional data file.

  FIG. 6 is an example of a conventional composite form setting file.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations when designing a form according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of mask processing setting at the time of form design.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation flow during overlay printing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 10 shows an example in which mask processing is performed during overlay printing.

  The operation of this embodiment will be described below. In the present embodiment, the description will be divided into two parts at the time of form design and overlay printing.

  First, the form design time will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations when designing a form.

  First, the user activates application software for editing the composite form setting file (S001). Hereinafter, this application software is called an editor.

  Next, the user opens the composite form setting file on the editor activated in S001 (S002).

  Next, it is determined whether a part form on an arbitrary page in the composite form setting file is selected in response to a user operation (S003).

  If it is determined in S003 that it is currently selected, it is next determined whether or not it is a mask process setting for a user operation (S004).

  If it is determined in S004 that the mask process is set, a dialog for setting the mask process is displayed (S005). An example of the dialog displayed at this time is shown in FIG.

  Next, the user sets a mask for the mask setting dialog displayed in S005 (S006). As a setting, it is possible to set whether to perform mask processing at the time of overlay printing. Furthermore, when performing mask processing, the mask color, type (shading, etc.), mask shape (circle, square, etc.), etc. can be set.

  When all settings are completed in (S006), the user then closes the mask setting dialog and ends the operation (S007).

  Next, the overlay printing will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations during overlay printing.

  Here, it is assumed that one page is set in the composite form setting file. When there are settings for a plurality of pages, the processing of the overlay execution library in FIG. 9 is repeated for the pages.

  First, the user designates a composite form setting file for the overlay execution library (S101).

  Next, the user designates a data file for the overlay execution library (S102).

  Next, the user designates the overlay execution library to perform overlay printing using the composite form setting file designated in S101 and the data file designated in S102 (S103).

  If overlay printing is designated in S103, the overlay execution library proceeds to processing for the first component form set in the composite form setting file (S104).

  For the component form in S104, the overlay execution library determines whether or not a mask is set (S105).

  If it is determined in S105 that there is a setting, the overlay execution library fills the field according to the mask setting (S106).

  If it is determined in S105 that there is no setting, the overlay execution library embeds the data analyzed from the data file in the field (S107).

  Next, the overlay execution library determines whether there is a next component form with respect to the composite form setting file (S108).

  If it is determined in S108 that there is a next part form, the process proceeds to the next part form, and the process returns to S105 (S109).

  If it is determined in S108 that there is no next part form, the process ends.

  Through the above processing, the form subjected to mask processing is printed. This flow is shown briefly in FIG. As shown in the figure, a form with mask processing applied to only a part of the fields can be created. If the field to be masked is created in advance in another component form, the mask processing can be performed only by setting a mask for the component form. When the mask process is not performed, it is only necessary to turn off the setting. Therefore, both the form with the mask process and the form without the mask process can be printed easily.

(Example 2)
In the first embodiment, the example in which the mask is set for the component form of the composite form setting file has been described. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, an example in which a mask is set at other locations will be described.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of setting a mask in the composite form setting file. As shown in FIG. 11, a mask can be set at a file setting or page setting. See Figure 6 for file and page settings.

  When the mask is set in the file settings, mask processing is performed for all form fields. When the mask is set in the page setting, the mask process is performed on the field of the form used in the page. As a result, for example, when the user wants to perform mask processing on all forms on a certain page, it is not necessary to set masks on all component forms on the page one by one. . Thereby, the trouble at the time of form design is reduced.

(Example 3)
In the first and second embodiments, an example has been described in which mask processing is performed during overlay printing in accordance with the mask setting in the composite form setting file. In contrast, in the third embodiment, an example in which mask processing can be specified from data will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of this embodiment.

  FIG. 13 shows a description example of the data file in this embodiment.

  The operation of this embodiment will be described below.

  S201 is the same as S101 in the first embodiment.

  Next, the user designates a data file for the overlay execution library (S202). At this time, the presence or absence of mask processing can be specified in the data file. A description example of the data file is shown in FIG.

  S203 is the same as S103 of the first embodiment.

  Next, the overlay execution library analyzes the data file designated in S202 and determines whether or not mask processing is designated (S204).

  If it is determined in S204 that mask processing is specified, the overlay execution library performs overlay printing in accordance with the mask setting in the composite form setting file (S205). This process is the same as S104 to S109 of the first embodiment.

  If it is determined in S204 that no mask processing is specified, the overlay execution library performs overlay printing without performing mask processing regardless of the mask setting of the composite form setting file (S206).

  With the above processing, the presence or absence of mask processing can be controlled from the data file. This eliminates the need to change the mask setting of the composite form setting file every time when printing a form that requires masking and a form that does not need to be masked, and can be realized simply by changing the description of the data file.

  In actual operation, once the composite form setting file is created, the composite form setting file is not changed, and only the data file is changed to create a form. Is valid.

1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a form creation / editing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Composition of the contents recorded in FD14. Memory map when this control program is loaded into RAM and can be executed. An example of a conventional form part. An example of a conventional data file format. An example of a conventional composite form setting file. The flowchart showing the flow of operation | movement at the time of form design in Example 1 by this invention. An example of the mask process setting at the time of form design in Example 1 by this invention. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation flow during overlay printing according to the first embodiment of the present invention. An example in the case of performing a mask process at the time of overlay printing in Example 1 by this invention. An example of setting a mask in the composite form setting file according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement in Example 3 by this invention. The description example of the data file in Example 3 by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

S001 Step for starting editor S002 Step for opening composite form setting file S003 Step for determining whether component form is being selected S004 Step for determining whether mask setting is to be performed S005 Step for displaying dialog for mask setting S006 Mask setting Step S007 Step for closing mask setting dialog S101 Step for specifying composite form setting file S102 Step for specifying data file S103 Step for specifying execution of overlay printing S104 Step for moving to processing of first part form S105 Mask setting for part form Step S106 for determining whether or not there is a step S106 for masking the field S107 Step for embedding data in the field S10 8 Step for determining whether there is a next part form S109 Step for proceeding to processing of the next part form S201 Step for specifying a composite form setting file S202 Step for specifying a data file S203 Step for specifying execution of overlay printing S204 In the data file Step S205 for determining whether or not there is a mask designation Step S205 Step for performing mask processing in accordance with the mask setting in the composite form setting file S206 Step for performing normal overlay processing 10 Central processing unit CPU
11 Read-only main memory ROM
12 Read / write main memory RAM
13 External storage device FD drive 14 External storage medium FD
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 External storage device HD drive 16 Input device keyboard 17 Display device display 18 Input device mouse 19 Printing device 20 System bus 30 Medium 31 Volume information area of medium 32 Directory information area of medium 33 Execution file area of control program 34 Relevance of control program Data file area 40 Storage area 41 Basic I / O program area 42 OS area 43 Control program area 44 Data area 45 Work area

Claims (3)

A form creation method that performs overlay printing using a composite form setting file and a data file,
The composite form setting file has a function of setting a printing order and the number of times for a plurality of forms, and a function of specifying a mask process for some forms.
The data file has means for describing the data to be embedded in the fields in the form;
In the overlay printing, a means for designating the first form and data file in the overlay execution library, a means for the overlay execution library to analyze the data file and embedding data in the fields in the form, and mask processing are designated in the form. A form creation method, comprising: means for determining whether or not a form is designated; and, in the case of a form for which mask processing is designated, means for filling a field in the form.   2. The form creation method according to claim 1, wherein various forms of mask processing can be set for the form set in the composite form setting file, and the field is filled according to the setting at the time of overlay printing.   In the data file, there is means capable of specifying whether to perform mask processing. When overlay printing is performed using the form and the data file, the overlay execution library analyzes the data file and performs mask processing. The form creation method according to claim 1, wherein the field is filled in accordance with the setting of the form when the designation is analyzed.

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