JP2007249411A - Data processor, data processing method, document management system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data processor, a data processing method, a document management system, and a program for generating documents in a plurality of formats from input of a raster image in response to an external request. <P>SOLUTION: This document management system 10 is provided with data storage parts 16 and 26 storing an acquired raster image, a request analysis part 24 analyzing a client request from the outside, deciding an object to be activated in response to the analysis result, and generating a data processing sequence complying with the client request, and image processing parts 18, 20 and 22 processing the raster image according to the generated data processing sequence. This invention provides the method and the program operable by the data processor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to image processing, and more particularly, to a data processing apparatus, a data processing method, a document management system, and a program for generating documents in a plurality of formats in response to client requests from acquired raster images.

  In recent years, digitization of document creation has progressed, and document creation is often performed by an application such as a word processor or spreadsheet software. Within a document management system, documents are most often represented in an application specific format. On the other hand, there is always a document whose original is a paper medium. For example, slips, catalogs, pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers. These paper documents are handled by the document management system after being converted into raster images using a scanner. However, there is a problem that data management is difficult because attribute data cannot be assigned only with a raster image. Further, since the raster image itself has a large amount of data, the storage capacity and the load in data transfer become a problem.

  In order to centrally manage the format unique to the application and the scanned raster image, a method of taking out character information included in the raster image by using character recognition is used. Character data extracted from a raster image using character recognition is targeted for retrieval, and is converted into a format for a specific application using a table or character information in the raster image. Functions such as enhancing usability are also known.

  In the document management system as described above, a request for converting a scanner input image into various data is generated. In the conventional character recognition processing, the same processing is performed uniformly and the recognition result is passed to the client regardless of the usage of the client. When the client uses the recognition result, the client always receives the same recognition result, and there is a problem that wasteful recognition processing and data transfer processing occur depending on the purpose of the client.

  Conventionally, as a document management system, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-92945 (Patent Document 1), a server executes temporary image processing substantially equivalent to image processing on a temporary execution image and performs temporary execution. Real image processing means that obtains an image and is activated in response to an actual processing command transmitted from the client, and performs image processing according to preset conditions for the original image read from the image data storage unit; In addition, an image processing system is disclosed in which a client displays a provisionally executed image transmitted from a server via a network on a predetermined display unit.

  In the image processing system disclosed in Patent Document 1, input characteristics, output characteristics, departmental characteristics, and product characteristics are provided so that the user can execute image processing without performing complicated settings for image processing. A table in which a plurality of image processing modes grouped in accordance with the table is registered, and at least one processing element selected in advance in an optimal combination from among a plurality of processing elements specified by the table is allocated. Image processing is being executed.

The image processing system disclosed in Patent Document 1 executes processing for outputting an image with respect to an input image, and combines text, HTML, image data, and these for document management from the input image. It does not disclose anything about generating a plurality of types of data such as data. For this reason, the image processing system disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot always be appropriate for efficient document management.
JP 2001-092945 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art. The present invention performs only processing according to a client request from a raster image, and passes a document in a requested format to the client. To provide a data processing apparatus, a data processing method, a document management system, and a program that can reduce processing time, compress data amount according to client purpose, save data transfer amount, and save data amount (file) For the purpose.

  In addition, the present invention generates data in a plurality of formats in response to a request from a client from an input raster image, reduces processing time by performing only necessary processing, and data according to the purpose of the client An object of the present invention is to provide a data processing apparatus, a data processing method, a document management system, and a program that can reduce the amount of data and save the data transfer amount and the data storage amount (file).

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention acquires a raster image and creates an optimal data processing sequence for responding to a client request from the acquired raster image. The data processing apparatus registers and manages a client request and a processing function required for the request as a correspondence table that corresponds in advance. When a client request is received from an externally connected personal computer or the like that has a data processing device connected externally or from a client application, the data processing device selects an object name that provides a processing function necessary for responding to the request. The object specified by the searched object name is activated by a method call or the like, a data processing sequence customized to the client request is generated, and documents of a plurality of formats are generated from the raster image.

  With the above-described processing of the present invention, the data processing apparatus of the present invention can execute processing by receiving a client request and calling a minimum set of objects for realizing an abstract request from the client each time. Can be saved in parallel, and processing efficiency can be improved.

  Further, the above-described processing of the present invention is used together with image compression technology such as MRC (Mixed Raster Content) technology, and responds to abstract requests from clients, and data with less burden on hardware resources in data transmission and data storage. Can be created efficiently.

That is, according to the present invention,
A data storage unit for storing the acquired raster image;
A request analysis unit that analyzes a client request, determines an object to be activated in response to the analysis result, and generates a data processing sequence that conforms to the client request;
An image processing unit that processes the raster image according to the generated data processing sequence and creates a document in a format that conforms to the client request can be provided.

  In the present invention, it is possible to provide a correspondence table that is referred to by the request analysis unit and enters an object name corresponding to the client request. In the present invention, the image processing unit includes a preprocessing unit, a compression processing unit, and a layout reproduction processing unit, and the data processing apparatus calls an object specified by an object name specified by the correspondence table. Object calls can be performed.

  In response to the client request, the data processing apparatus of the present invention creates a document corresponding to the client request as text data, a structured document, or a compressed file, and sends the document to the outside of the data processing apparatus. A transceiver can be provided. The data processing device includes an access right source control device connected externally, receives a notification of the access right source of the client request, and executes processing of the data processing device according to the client request in response to the access right source. it can. The data processing apparatus includes an object counter that counts activated objects, and can generate billing data corresponding to the called object.

According to the present invention,
Storing the raster image in the data storage unit;
Analyzing the client request to the request analysis unit, determining an object to be activated in response to the analysis result, and generating a data processing sequence conforming to the client request;
A device-executable data processing method is provided that causes a data processing device to execute a step of processing the raster image according to the data processing sequence generated by an image processing unit to create a document having a format conforming to the client request. Is done.

  The present invention may include a step of causing the request analysis unit to search a correspondence table for entering an object name corresponding to the client request. In the present invention, the step of creating the document may include a step of calling an object that calls an object specified by an object name specified by the correspondence table.

According to the invention, in response to the client request, creating the document corresponding to the client request as text data, a structured document or a compressed file;
And sending out the created document from the data processing device. The present invention may include a step of receiving a notification of the access right source of the client request and executing the processing of the data processing device according to the client request in response to the access right source.

In the present invention,
Counting activated objects; and
Generating billing data corresponding to the called object.

  According to the present invention, a document management system including any one of the data processing devices described above can be provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an apparatus-executable program that causes an apparatus to execute any one of the data processing methods described above.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a document management system 10 of the present invention. A document management system 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a data processing device 12 that executes data processing on a document, and a plurality of clients 34, 36, and 38 that request the data processing device 12 to provide a document. The data processing apparatus 12 and the clients 34, 36, and 38 are connected via a network 40. The network 40 is based on a network infrastructure such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or the Internet interconnected by Ethernet (registered trademark) or the like, and is suitable for TCP / IP, UDP / IP, etc. A request is issued to the data processing device 12 under a simple protocol, and a document at a level in response to the request is acquired.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, the clients 34 to 38 are not personal computers externally connected via the network 40 but client applications that the data processing device 12 executes input / output. Also good. In this case, the client is configured as one module of the data processing device 12 and can send and receive client requests via the internal bus line. In this case, the client can connect to the data processing device 12 particularly via the network. There is no need to be connected.

  In the present invention, the data processing device 12 can be configured as a personal computer, a workstation, or a multi-function peripheral. Alternatively, the data processing device 12 includes a CISC CPU such as a PENTIUM (registered trademark) series, a PENTIUM (registered trademark) compatible CPU, or a RISC CPU such as a POWER PC (trademark), MIPS, and a RAM that provides a work space. And a program written in an object-oriented programming language under an operating system such as Unix (registered trademark) or Linux (registered trademark).

  Further, the document management system 10 of the present invention will be described. The document management system 10 includes a built-in or external scanner processing unit 14. The scanner processing unit 14 reads a document image and generates a raster image. The generated raster image is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 16 for processing. The raster image stored in the buffer memory 16 is sent to the preprocessing unit 18 and subjected to processing for subsequent processing. The raster image stored in the buffer memory 16 is stored in the image data storage unit 26 configured by the hard disk 26 or the like. In the present invention, the buffer memory 16 and the image data storage unit 26 constitute a data storage unit.

  The document management system 10 further includes a compression processing unit 20 that executes compression processing in response to a request from a client, and a layout reproduction processing unit 22. In the present invention, the compression processing unit 20 performs compression by run-length encoding such as MR and MMR, or image compression processing such as MRC. The layout reproduction processing unit 22 performs processing for reproducing an image using the attributes acquired by the preprocessing unit 18 or the compression processing unit 20. In the present invention, a processing unit in charge of image processing including the preprocessing unit 18, the compression processing unit 20, and the layout reproduction unit 22 is referred to as an image processing unit.

  Requests from the clients 34 to 38 are received by the transmission / reception unit 28 of the data processing device 12, temporarily stored in a buffer memory (not shown), and then sent to the request analysis unit 24 to analyze the client request. . In the present invention, the client request is not an individual processing request, but is given a unique identification value for acquiring the user's target document. When the request analysis unit 24 acquires the unique identification value, An inquiry is made to the table management unit 30.

  In the correspondence table management unit 30, the object name corresponding to the unique identification value is registered, and the correspondence table management unit 30 acquires the corresponding object name from the correspondence table 32 and passes the result to the request analysis unit 24. . The request analysis unit 24 calls an object specified by the acquired object name by a method call or the like, and executes a corresponding process. In the present invention, the above-described processing enables efficient processing by acquiring only the objects necessary for the client request without calling an object that executes processing not included in the client request.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the image processing unit included in the data processing apparatus 12 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the preprocessing unit 18 includes a binarization processing unit 42, a skew correction processing unit 44, a noise removal processing unit 46, and a region identification processing unit 48. The binarization processing unit 42 executes a process of identifying a character / line drawing and sharpening a character / line drawing part such as line emphasis. The skew correction processing unit 44 executes processing for correcting the inclination of the document image, and the noise processing unit 46 performs noise removal in the grayscale image or the like. The region identification processing unit 48 performs region division, determines a character / line drawing, a table, and an image region, and simultaneously generates corresponding position information and the like. These processes can be performed using any method known so far. For example, Takagi et al., “New Image Analysis Handbook”, first published on September 10, 2004, University of Tokyo Press Can be used.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the compression processing unit 20 is configured as a processing unit that executes MRC compression processing, and includes a character separation processing unit 50 and a layer attribute processing unit 52. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, when the client request instructs the MRC compression process, the MRC compression is executed by the compression processing unit 20 after a predetermined pre-process, and MRC data is created. In another embodiment of the present invention, the compression processing unit is not limited to the MRC compression method, and performs image compression such as a run length compression method, an MRC compression method, JPEG, JPEG2000, JBIG, and JBIG2. be able to.

  When the MRC compression method is used in the present invention, the layer attribute processing unit 52 performs a character / line drawing region, a background region, and a region identified by the preprocessing unit such as a background image, a character / line drawing image, and a color image. A mask is designated, a layer attribute is assigned to each region, and the image can be used for image reproduction by the layout reproduction processing unit 22.

  The layout reproduction processing unit 22 of the present invention includes a shading removal processing unit 54, a ruled line extraction processing unit 56, and a character recognition processing unit 58, and these processing units cooperate to constitute a recognition processing unit. The layout reproduction processing unit 22 includes a font identification processing unit 60, a character position acquisition processing unit 62, and a partial image acquisition processing unit 64, and data generated by the preprocessing unit 18 and the compression processing unit 20. Is integrated to generate an image in response to a client request, and create a document to be provided to the user.

  FIG. 3 shows the data structure 66 stored in the correspondence table of the present invention. The data structure 66 shown in FIG. 3 includes a field 68 for entering a unique identification value corresponding to a client request, and a field 70 for entering an object name necessary for executing a user process specified by the unique identification value. Is provided. In addition, for each unique identification value, a call flag that specifies an object to be used for processing is set. When receiving the client request, the request analysis unit 24 of the present invention determines the unique identification value of the client request, verifies the call flag corresponding to each object, and acquires the object name in which the call flag is set. The acquired object name is used by the request analysis unit 24 as an argument for invoking an object in accordance with processing to be described later. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the client request entered in the field 68 is registered not as an individual command but as a value for commanding the processing desired by the user in an abstract manner.

  In the object name entry field 70, an object name necessary for the requested processing is entered. For example, when the user issues a “search data request” as a client request, the object name is acquired by the preprocessing unit. “Character recognition”, which is an object for performing OCR processing, which recognizes the character data thus generated and generates text data, is entered.

  In addition, when the client request instructs MRC compression, an object name “character image separation” that is an object for executing the MRC compression processing is entered. In addition, in the field 70, in order to reduce the file size rather than the image quality mainly for the purpose of reducing the file size, the background image is an object for performing sampling at a low resolution, “file size reduction”, “structured document”. An object name such as “Create” may be entered. These object names are registered as components of the data processing sequence specified by the client request, and are called and used in a timely manner by a class loader, method call, runtime call, and the like.

  In the present invention, object names for performing compression processing such as compression XML, MR, MMR, JPEG, JPEG2000, JBIG, and JBIG2 other than the object names shown in FIG. 3 can be entered.

  These object names are sent to the request analysis unit 24 and used to call the objects in the data processing device 12. In the object call processing, for example, the object name obtained by the request analysis unit is used as a request analysis unit or other appropriate means, for example, a class loader, an argument for specifying an object for object call, and the corresponding object is activated. Can be done.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, an object specified by the object name described in the field 70 is configured as a plug-in program or an add-in program, and the data processing device 12 performs predetermined processing. When executed, runtime calls can also be made and added to the processing sequence in response to client requests.

  FIG. 4 shows a basic flowchart of processing executed by the data processing apparatus 12 of the present invention. The process shown in FIG. 4 starts from step S100. In step S101, the request analysis unit 24 receives a client request, searches the correspondence table, and determines whether the corresponding client request is registered. The following process will be described when it is determined that the client request corresponding to the correspondence table is not registered as a result of the determination. If a client request corresponding to the correspondence table is entered in step S101, the data processing apparatus 12 of the present invention acquires a registered object name using a data processing sequence different from that shown in FIG. Execute method call or runtime call processing to generate a processing sequence that matches the client request.

  Hereinafter, the processing of FIG. 4 will be further described. In step S102, acquisition of a raster image by the scanner processing unit is executed and stored in the buffer memory. In step S103, skew correction is performed on the acquired raster image, noise correction is performed in step S104, and region identification processing is performed in step S105.

  In step S106, the result of the area identification process is determined. For the area determined to be a character area, the character area extraction process is executed in step S107. For the area determined to be an image area, the process in step S108 is performed. The image area extraction process is executed. On the other hand, for other areas, the shading removal process and the ruled line extraction process of step S110 are executed in step S109, and the process corresponding to the ruled line area is executed.

  In step S111, the character recognition is executed by reading the data obtained by the character region extraction process in step S107. Thereafter, in step S112, the data registered as the image area is read out and transmitted as recognition data to the client as a document corresponding to the client request, and the process ends in step S113.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an embodiment when a client request is found in the correspondence table in the present invention. The process shown in FIG. 5 is the same as that up to step S105 in FIG. 4 up to step S205, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. The data processing apparatus 12 executes the processing up to step S206, and when the preprocessing used for the subsequent processing is completed, executes the object call referred to by the found object name in step S201 in step S206. .

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the branch “A” calls a process for creating a document of the MRC compression method, and the branch “B” calls a process for generating text data for search as a document. The branch “C” executes a process for calling a process for creating a structured document such as HTML. For example, if the request analysis unit 24 determines that the client request is a request for a document compressed by the MRC method, it is an object name for executing the MRC compression process at the branch “A”, for example, “MRC compression”. And pass it as an argument to perform a class loader or method call, or runtime call, and execute the object call to build a processing process that meets the client request.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by the MRC compressed object called in FIG. The process shown in FIG. 6 starts from step S300, and in step S301, character colors and character masks are separated into a plurality of character areas. In step S302, background image data, character color data, and mask data are used. For background image data, low-resolution JPEG compression is executed, and for character data, color information and position data are generated corresponding to the character by specifying a transparency attribute, for example, in high-resolution MMR. The compression process is executed, and the mask data is similarly subjected to the compression process such as JBIG and JBIG2, and MRC data is created.

  Thereafter, in step S303, the created MRC data is transmitted to the client that issued the client request to respond to the client request, and the process ends in step S304. By using the processing shown in FIG. 6, the present invention configures a processing flow in response to a client request at runtime, and effectively uses a memory such as a RAM without calling an unnecessary object for the client request. , Enabling efficient use of hardware resources. At the same time, since data subjected to compression processing such as MRC can be transmitted without performing unnecessary processing, it is possible to improve processing efficiency and transmission efficiency.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a data processing sequence generated by the data processing device 12 when the client issues a client request corresponding to a text data request for search to the document management system 10 in the present invention. It is. As shown in FIG. 7, the data processing apparatus 12 determines that it is only necessary to request text data from the client as a result of the search of the correspondence table, and in step S400, the object that executes the preprocessing shown in FIG. Is called to execute a pre-process, and then a character recognition object, which is an object that executes an OCR process, is called. Thereafter, the character recognition processing of the acquired image is executed to generate text data, the text data generated in step S401 is passed to the client that issued the client request, and the processing ends in step S402.

  FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of processing when the document management system 10 of the present invention receives a client request for requesting creation of a structured document such as HTML or XML from the client. In the case of this embodiment, the data processing apparatus 12 starts the processing from step S500, and in step S501, calls the object for executing the preprocessing, executes the preprocessing, and then executes the object for executing the OCR processing. In step S502, text data, font data, position data, and partial image data are acquired. In step S502, text data is edited into a structured document format such as HTML, and appropriate compression processing is performed on the image data to generate compressed data such as PNG, GIF, JPEG, and JPEG2000. The identification value of the compressed data is described in the corresponding part of HTML, and the generated HTML document is created. Thereafter, the HTML document and the generated compressed image data are transmitted to the client in step S502 to display the image as a structured document requested to the client, and the process ends in step S503.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of processing executed by the data processing apparatus 12 when the client issues a client request instructing creation of a structured document including size compression priority processing to the document management system in the present invention. The process shown in FIG. 8 starts from step S600 and causes the processes described in FIG. In step S601, the character, ruled line, image determination, shading process, ruled line extraction process, and character recognition described in FIG. 4 are executed. Thereafter, in order to enable size compression in step S602, the data determined to be an image area is called, resampled, and subjected to compression processing at a low resolution to reduce the file size, and the structured document Create In step S603, the created structured document is transmitted to the client, and the process ends in step S604.

  Even in this embodiment, unless the client requests a process for giving priority to size compression, an object that executes the size compression priority process as a default setting is not called, thereby enabling more efficient use of hardware resources. This makes it possible to reduce the amount of data communication and save the storage space, thereby enabling more efficient document management.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an embodiment when the document management system 10 receives a client request designating file size reduction MRC processing from a client in the present invention. The process shown in FIG. 10 starts from step S700, and in step S701, a character area and an image area are deleted from the entire image to create a background image. In step S702, the background image is resampled and a higher compression process than before is executed.

  In step S703, character color data and character mask data are separated from the character area, MRC data is created from the highly compressed background image, character color, and mask data in step S704, and the file created in step S705 is created. The size-prioritized high-compression MRC data is transmitted to the client, and the process ends in step S706.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the data processing apparatus 12 customizes only a predetermined component among objects that execute a predetermined process as a result of searching the correspondence table. In the embodiment of FIG. 11, it is a flowchart showing processing when a client request requests preprocessing that is not a default setting, and requests that character recognition processing be executed in Arabic.

  As a result of the search of the correspondence table, the data processing device 12 receives, for example, a client request for manual skew correction instead of the default setting preprocessing, and calls and executes a preprocessing object including manual skew correction. Start. The process of FIG. 11 starts from step S800 and executes the processes of steps S801 to S805. In this case, since the client request instructs manual skew correction, the data processing apparatus 12 calls a preprocessing object including manual skew correction as an object to execute processing.

  In the manual skew correction processing in step S803, in order to enable manual skew correction to the client, the acquired raster image is transmitted to display the raster image on the client display screen, and the raster image on the client is processed. A skew correction process is enabled, a raster image for which the skew correction process has been completed is acquired, and the raster image is supplied to the noise correction process in step S804. Thereafter, for the processes in steps S805 to S810, S812, and S813, the same process as shown in FIG. 4 is executed, and the process corresponding to the client request is provided to the client. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, in step S811, an object for executing Arabic character recognition is called up, and a data processing sequence customized to the client request is provided. In the present invention, the processing sequence described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 10 can be called simultaneously with the customization of the preprocessing in response to the client request.

  In the present invention, the data processing device 12 can execute the charging process for each object or component constituting the object that is customized and called. For example, as a component of the present invention, a noise removal will be described as an example. The noise removal object includes three components: a component 1 is an isolated point removal object, a component 2 is a peripheral noise removal, and a component 3 is a show-through removal object. It is assumed to be configured. In the present invention, an object call is counted for each object or each object component constituting the object, and charging processing is executed.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart executed by an object that performs charging for each object name called in response to a client request in the present invention. The charging object shown in FIG. 12 determines whether or not the calling process of the object corresponding to the object name registered in the correspondence table is executed during a predetermined session in step S900 as a daemon process or a background job. Monitoring.

  When the object is called (yes), the object counter counts the number of object names called in step S901, and the called object name and the number of calls are counted correspondingly within a predetermined session. . In step S902, a billing table (not shown) is looked up to obtain billing data assigned to each object name. In step S903, the end of the session is determined, and the object count is repeated until the session ends (no).

  Also, when the session ends in step S903 (yes), the object name registered in the object counter is associated with the number of calls, and the accumulated billing data is multiplied by the accumulated count to generate a total billing amount. Register for billing.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a document management system 80 according to the second embodiment of this invention. The document management system 80 shown in FIG. 13 has a configuration substantially similar to that shown in FIG. The document management system 80 illustrated in FIG. 13 includes an external authentication server 104 that authenticates a client's access right using authentication data included in a client request issued from the clients 108, 110, and 112. When receiving a client request from the client, the data processing device 82 transfers authentication data such as an electronic signature included in the client request to the external authentication server 104 and requests authentication by the external authentication server 104.

  The external authentication server 104 receives the authentication data, uses the encryption code assigned to the client in advance, acquires the client authentication data from the database storing the authentication data, executes the decryption process, and decrypts the electronic signature. It is determined whether or not it has been completed, and the determination result is returned to the data processing device 82. The data processing device 82 manages the access right source by permitting or denying the request from the clients 108 to 112 using the authentication result. In the present invention, the external authentication server 104 can perform access control corresponding to the client by looking up the access restriction table stored in the external authentication server 104 without using electronic authentication.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the document management system of the present invention. The document management system 120 shown in FIG. 14 is also provided with a data processing device 122 having substantially the same configuration as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and clients 148 to 152. On the other hand, when the document management system 122 shown in FIG. 14 accepts a client request from the clients 148 to 152, the client request is transferred to the policy management server 144 connected via the network 154 according to the access management policy set in advance. The database 146 that manages the policy data is inquired as to whether or not they match, and the source of access right of the client request issued by the client is determined. Thereafter, the policy management server 144 returns the result of the policy determination to the data processing device 122 and controls the subsequent processing of the client request.

  FIG. 15 shows a flowchart (a) including an authentication process executed by the document management system according to the second embodiment of the present invention and an access restriction (b) used therefor. The process shown in FIG. 15A starts from step S1000, receives a client request in step S1001, and requests authentication from the authentication server. In step S1002, the result from the authentication server is received, and it is determined whether or not the authentication is successful. If the authentication fails (no), the process branches to step S1003, and the process is canceled as an error.

  If the authentication is successful (yes), an object is selected in response to the authentication data in step S1004 to create a data processing sequence. FIG. 15B shows an embodiment of an access restriction table included in the authentication server in order for the document management system to perform user authentication. In the access restriction table 156 shown in FIG. 15B, rankings such as “trial”, “contractor”, and “special contractor” as user categories, and execution corresponding thereto are permitted. The object name is registered correspondingly. When the data processing device receives the user category data together with the client request, the user category data is sent to the authentication server and the authentication process is executed.

  Data of the object set that can be executed by the authentication process is sent to the data processing apparatus as a response packet from the authentication server. The data processing device looks up the access restriction data sent as a response packet and the correspondence table shown in FIG. 3, calculates a logical product, calls an object permitted in both, and allows the permitted data. Create a processing sequence to respond to client requests. Thereafter, a raster image is acquired in step S1005, and image processing is executed in accordance with the selected data processing sequence in step S1006. Thereafter, the document created in step S1007 is transmitted to the client, and the process ends in step S1008.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a flowchart (a) and a policy table (b) of policy restriction processing executed by the document management system according to the third embodiment of this invention. The process shown in FIG. 16A starts from step S1100, and a client request and user data are acquired in step S1101. In step S1102, user data is sent to the policy server to inquire about its policy.

  In step S1103, it is determined whether there is a policy corresponding to the user data. If there is no corresponding policy data (no), an error is returned in step S1104, and the process is interrupted. On the other hand, if there is policy data corresponding to the user data (yes), an object for data processing is selected in response to the policy table transmitted as a response packet from the policy server in step S1105. To create a data processing sequence. FIG. 16B shows an embodiment of a policy table managed by the policy server. Similarly to the access restriction table 156, the policy data 158 shown in FIG. 16B is ranked as a user category such as “Trial User”, “Contractor”, and “Special Contractor”, and corresponds to it. Thus, object names that are permitted to be executed are registered correspondingly. When the data processing device receives the policy data along with the client request, it creates a logical product of the policy data and the correspondence table, selects an object to execute the object call, and responds to the client request.

  Thereafter, in step S1106, a raster image is acquired. In step S1107, image processing is executed in accordance with the selected data processing sequence, the document created in step S1108 is transmitted to the client, and the process ends in step S1109.

  The above functions of the present invention are described in object-oriented programming languages such as C ++, Java (registered trademark), Java (registered trademark) Beans, Java (registered trademark) Applet, Java (registered trademark) Script, Perl, and Ruby. It can be realized by a program executable by the apparatus, and can be stored in a device-readable recording medium and distributed.

  Although the present invention has been described with the embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, and other embodiments, additions, modifications, deletions, etc. It can be changed within the range that can be conceived by a trader, and any embodiment is included in the scope of the present invention as long as the effects and effects of the present invention are exhibited.

1 is a schematic diagram of a document management system of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a detailed view of an image processing unit of the present invention. The figure which showed embodiment of the corresponding | compatible table used by this invention. The flowchart of 1st Embodiment of the process which the data processor of this invention performs. The flowchart of 2nd Embodiment of the process which the data processor of this invention performs. The flowchart of 3rd Embodiment of the process which the data processor of this invention performs. The flowchart of 4th Embodiment of the process which the data processor of this invention performs. The flowchart of 5th Embodiment of the process which the data processor of this invention performs. The flowchart of 6th Embodiment of the process which the data processor of this invention performs. The flowchart of 7th Embodiment of the process which the data processor of this invention performs. The flowchart of 8th Embodiment of the process which the data processor of this invention performs. The flowchart of the accounting process in this invention. The schematic diagram of 2nd Embodiment of the document management system of this invention. Schematic of 3rd Embodiment of the document management system of this invention. The figure which showed the flowchart of the authentication process which the document management system of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention performs, and the access restriction table to be used. The figure which showed the flowchart of the authentication process which the document management system of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention performs, and the policy table to be used.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Document management system, 12 ... Data processing apparatus, 14 ... Scanner processing part, 16 ... Buffer memory, 18 ... Pre-processing part, 20 ... Compression processing part, 22 ... Layout reproduction processing part, 24 ... Request analysis part, 26 ... Image data storage unit, 28 ... transmission / reception unit, 30 ... correspondence table management unit, 32 ... correspondence table, 34 to 38 ... client, 40 ... network, 42 ... binarization processing unit, 44 ... skew correction processing unit, 46 ... noise Removal processing unit, 48 ... area identification processing unit, 50 ... character separation processing unit, 52 ... layer attribute processing unit, 54 ... shading removal processing unit, 56 ... ruled line extraction processing unit, 58 ... character recognition processing unit, 60 ... font Identification processing unit, 62 ... character position acquisition processing unit, 64 ... partial image acquisition processing unit, 66 ... correspondence table, 68, 70 ... field

Claims (14)

A data storage unit for storing the acquired raster image;
A request analysis unit that analyzes a client request, determines an object to be activated in response to the analysis result, and generates a data processing sequence that conforms to the client request;
A data processing apparatus comprising: an image processing unit that processes the raster image according to the generated data processing sequence to create a document in a format that conforms to the client request.   The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a correspondence table that is referred to by the request analysis unit and enters an object name corresponding to the client request.   The image processing unit includes a preprocessing unit, a compression processing unit, and a layout reproduction processing unit, and the data processing apparatus executes an object call for calling an object specified by an object name specified by the correspondence table The data processing device according to claim 1 or 2.   In response to the client request, the data processing device creates a document corresponding to the client request as text data, a structured document, or a compressed file, and further includes a transmission / reception unit that sends the document to the outside of the data processing device The data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:   The data processing device includes an access right source control device connected externally, receives a notification of the access right source of the client request, and executes processing of the data processing device according to the client request in response to the access right source. Item 5. The data processing device according to any one of Items 1 to 4.   The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data processing apparatus includes an object counter that counts activated objects, and generates billing data corresponding to the called object. . Storing the raster image in the data storage unit;
Analyzing the client request to the request analysis unit, determining an object to be activated in response to the analysis result, and generating a data processing sequence conforming to the client request;
A device-executable data processing method that causes a data processing device to execute a step of processing the raster image by the data processing sequence generated by an image processing unit to create a document in a format that conforms to the client request.   The data processing method according to claim 7, further comprising: causing the request analysis unit to search a correspondence table for entering an object name corresponding to the client request.   The data processing method according to claim 7, wherein the step of creating the document includes a step of calling an object that calls an object specified by an object name specified by the correspondence table. In response to the client request, creating the document corresponding to the client request as text data, a structured document or a compressed file;
The data processing method according to claim 7, wherein the created document is transmitted from the data processing device.   The data processing according to any one of claims 7 to 10, comprising a step of receiving a notification of an access right source of the client request and executing a process of the data processing device according to the client request in response to the access right source. Method. Counting activated objects; and
The data processing method according to claim 7, further comprising: generating billing data corresponding to the called object.   A document management system including the data processing apparatus according to claim 1.   An apparatus-executable program for causing an apparatus to execute the data processing method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

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