JP2009026122A - Document-processing device, document-processing method, and document-processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide: a document-processing device which adequately generates annex information for identifying the position of a document element in a document image when an electronic document including the document image is generated; a document-processing method; and a document-processing program. <P>SOLUTION: A displaying part 24 displays the number of document elements included in a document image for each kind of element after an element kind determination part 20 analyzes the kinds of extracted document elements. Selection conditions relating to the kinds are set to the display of the analysis result by the displaying part 24. The element kind determination part 20 selects the document elements, which satisfy the selection conditions, from among the extracted document elements in response to the selection conditions concerned, and outputs the kinds of the selected document elements and position information for identifying their positions in the document image to a bookmark data-generating part 22. The bookmark data-generating part 22 generates bookmark data, and an electronic document-generating part 16 generates an electronic document by adding the bookmark data to the (compressed) document image from a compression processing part 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a document processing apparatus, a document processing method, and a document processing program for generating an electronic document including a document image, and in particular, generates attached information related to a specific type of document element among document elements included in the document image. Regarding technology.

  From the viewpoint of resource saving and space saving, a document management system that converts and manages a document described on a paper manuscript or the like into an electronic document has been put into practical use. In such a document management system, a document image is generated by reading a document using a scanner device or the like, and an electronic document is generated from these document images.

  Since such a document image stores the document as an image (image) that is a set of pixels, data for specifying the contents such as characters and charts included in the document (typically, text data, etc.) ) By nature. Therefore, it is difficult to search a document including specific information from many document images.

  Therefore, a technique for recognizing and analyzing the contents of a document included in the document image has been proposed so that such a document image can be managed more easily. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-141368 (Patent Document 1), a heading of an input document, an in-document element recognition unit that recognizes an in-document element such as a paragraph and a sentence in the paragraph, and the like are selected. A document element selecting unit for selecting an element in the document recognized by the element recognition unit in the document based on the condition of the element in the document to be identified, and a document for identifying and displaying the element in the document selected by the element selecting unit in the document A skip reading support display device having a display means is disclosed. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-214983 (Patent Document 2), a plurality of document images expressed as black and white binary images are logically structured having a structure divided into chapters, sections, document paragraphs, drawings, and the like. A system for converting to a document is disclosed.

By the way, in addition to the document image, attached information for specifying a page, a position in the document, and the like may be added to the digitized document. Such attached information is also referred to as “bookmark” or “annotation”, and indicates the position (page number or in-page position) and attribute information of the corresponding document element. Therefore, when reading a document using a scanner device or the like, the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-141368 (Patent Document 1) or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-214983 (Patent Document 2) is used. It is very useful to extract document elements from the document image and automatically generate the attached information based on the extraction result.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-141368 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-214983

  However, if the attached information is generated for all document elements in the document image, there is a problem that the data size of the attached information becomes too large. There is also a problem that search efficiency is lowered because there are too many target document elements.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to specify the position of a document element in a document image when generating an electronic document including the document image. To provide a document processing apparatus, a document processing method, and a document processing program capable of appropriately generating attached information.

  A document processing apparatus that generates an electronic document including a document image according to an aspect of the present invention extracts a document element from the document image, and acquires the type of the extracted document element and the position of the document element in the document image Obtaining means for receiving, setting accepting means for accepting the setting of the selection condition for the type of document element, comparison means for comparing the type of the extracted document element and the selection condition, and in the document image of the document element satisfying the selection condition And auxiliary information generation means for generating auxiliary information for specifying the position at

  According to the present invention, when generating an electronic document including a document image, only document elements satisfying a selection condition set by the user are selected from the document elements extracted from the document image, and the selected document is selected. Ancillary information is generated for the element. That is, the data included in the attached information is limited to information for specifying the position in the document image of the document element that satisfies the selection condition. Therefore, compared to the case where all document elements included in the document image are targeted, the data size of the document image can be reduced, and the attached information is generated only for the document elements that the user considers to be high in importance. be able to.

  Preferably, the information processing apparatus further includes display means for displaying a selection condition setting screen together with the acquisition result for the extracted document element type, the setting reception means accepts the selection condition in accordance with an operation on the setting screen, and the comparison means includes The comparison operation is started in response to the selection condition setting operation.

  More preferably, the display means displays the number of document elements extracted from the document image for each type as an acquisition result.

  More preferably, the document image includes at least one page area, and the display unit displays the number of document elements for each type in association with the page area.

  More preferably, the setting of the selection condition can be accepted for each page area of the document image.

  Preferably, the information processing apparatus further includes setting accepting means for accepting setting of a sorting condition, and the comparing means compares the type of the extracted document element with a preset sorting condition.

  More preferably, it further comprises display means for displaying at least one selectable selection condition candidate, and each of the selection condition candidates designates at least one specific type of document element types, and the comparison means. Performs comparison processing based on the selection condition corresponding to the selection condition candidate selected from the selection condition candidates.

  Preferably, the apparatus further includes document generation means for generating an electronic document by adding attached information to the document image.

  Preferably, the document element type includes at least one of a title, a headline, a paragraph break, a figure, a table, a photograph, a handwritten character, an underlined character, a decorative character, and a color character.

Preferably, the apparatus further includes image reading means for generating a document image by reading a document.
Preferably, a transmission unit for transmitting the digitized document to another device via the network is further provided.

Preferably, storage means for storing the digitized document is further provided.
A document processing method for generating an electronic document including a document image according to another aspect of the present invention extracts a document element from the document image, and determines the type of the extracted document element and the position of the document element in the document image. The step of obtaining, the step of accepting the setting of the screening condition for the type of the document element, the step of comparing the type of the extracted document element and the screening condition, and the position of the document element satisfying the screening condition in the document image Generating ancillary information for specifying.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document processing program for causing a computer to execute the document processing method described above.

  According to the present invention, when an electronic document including a document image is generated, a document processing apparatus, a document processing method, and a document that can appropriately generate attached information for specifying the position of a document element in the document image, etc. A processing program can be realized.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or corresponding parts in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will not be repeated.

[Embodiment 1]
(Overall system configuration)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system including a document processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) equipped with the document processing apparatus according to the present invention will be typically described. The document processing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to an MFP, and can be applied to a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, a scanner apparatus, and the like.

  Referring to FIG. 1, MFP 1 according to the present embodiment is configured to include an image reading unit 104 for reading a document 300 and a printing unit 106 for performing a printing process on a paper medium or the like.

  In particular, MFP 1 according to the present embodiment acquires a document image by reading original 300 with image reading unit 104 and generates an electronic document including the document image. At this time, the MFP 1 generates ancillary information for specifying the type and the position in the document image for the document elements included in the read document image that satisfy a predetermined selection condition. The “document element” is a descriptive element constituting the document. Such ancillary information is also referred to as “meta data”, and in addition to the data for specifying the type and position as described above, for example, thumbnails (reduced images) of each document element, etc. May be included. Then, the MFP 1 adds the attached information to the read document image and generates the digitized document 400. Typically, the electronic document 400 can employ a format such as PDF (Portable Document Format).

  The MFP 1 stores the generated electronic document 400 in its own storage unit (not shown), or transmits it to the personal computers PC1, PC2, PC3 (hereinafter also collectively referred to as “personal computer PC”) via the network. To do. As a typical usage mode, the personal computer PC1 and PC2 connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) that is a network laid in the same office where the MFP 1 is installed are transferred from the MFP 1 to an electronic document. 400 is sent directly. On the other hand, a server SRV is provided at a connection point between a LAN and a WAN (Wide Area Network). A personal computer PC3 or the like located in an office remote from the MFP 1 is connected from the MFP 1 via the server SRV. An electronic document 400 is transmitted. Here, the server SRV typically includes a mail server, an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server, a Web server, an SMB server, and the like.

  The image reading unit 104 includes a loading table for setting a document, a document table glass, a conveyance unit that automatically conveys the documents set on the loading table one by one to the document table glass, and a scanned document. And a discharge stand for discharging (both not shown). As a result, a plurality of documents can be continuously read and generated as one electronic document 400.

(Schematic configuration of MFP 1)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic functional configuration in MFP 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the functional configuration of MFP 1 includes a control unit 100, a memory unit 102, an image reading unit 104, a printing unit 106, a communication interface unit 108, an operation panel unit 110, and a storage unit 112. Including.

  The control unit 100 is typically composed of an arithmetic device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and implements document processing according to the present embodiment by executing a program. The memory unit 102 is typically a volatile storage device such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and holds a program executed by the control unit 100, data necessary for executing the program, and the like. The communication interface unit 108 is typically a part for transmitting and receiving data to and from the personal computer PC (FIG. 1) via a network (for example, the LAN shown in FIG. 1). Including driver software to control The print unit 106 is a part for performing print processing, and includes a control device for controlling the operation of each unit in addition to the hardware configuration related to print processing. The storage unit 112 is typically a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk device or a flash memory, and stores the electronic document 400 generated by the control unit 100.

(Configuration of personal computer)
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration of personal computer PC according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 3, personal computer PC temporarily stores a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201 that executes various programs including an operating system (OS) and data necessary for the CPU 201 to execute the program. A memory unit 213 that stores data and a hard disk unit (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) 211 that stores programs executed by the CPU 201 in a nonvolatile manner are included. The hard disk unit 211 stores a browsing application for displaying the digitized document 400 generated by the MFP 1. Such a program is stored in the flexible disk by the FDD drive 217 or the CD-ROM drive 215, respectively. 217a or CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) 215a.

  The CPU 201 receives an instruction from the user via the input unit 209 including a keyboard and a mouse, and outputs a screen output generated by executing the program to the display unit 205. Further, the CPU 201 acquires the digitized document 400 from the MFP 1 or the server SRV (FIG. 1) connected to the LAN or WAN via the communication interface unit 207 including a LAN card and stores it in the hard disk unit 211 and the like. . Further, the above-described units exchange data with each other via the internal bus 203.

(Display screen of digitized document on personal computer PC)
When the CPU 201 executes the browsing application stored in the hard disk unit 211, the digitized document 400 is displayed on the display unit 205 in the form shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 schematically shows an example of a display screen of the digitized document 400 in the personal computer PC according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 4, a document display area 500 and an attached information display area 510 are formed on display unit 205 as an example. The document image 300A included in the digitized document 400 is displayed in the document display area 500, and icons 512 and 514 corresponding to the attached information are displayed in the attached information display area 510. In the present embodiment, icons 512 and 514 that exhibit a “bookmark” function are shown as representative examples of attached information.

  The attached information includes information for specifying the position in the document of a specific document element. When the user selects the icon 512 (typically, a click operation with a mouse or the like not shown), the document display area 500 is displayed. Then, the display area of the document image 300A changes (scrolls) so that the bookmark position 502 becomes a predetermined position (typically, the uppermost part of the document display area 500). Similarly, when the user selects and selects the icon 514, the display area of the document image 300A changes so that the bookmark position 504 becomes a predetermined position.

  In addition, document element types (for example, “headline” and “handwritten (character)”) are also displayed at positions adjacent to the icons 512 and 514, and the user refers to this display content to determine the necessary type. You can also search for document elements.

  As described above, the user can easily search and browse predetermined descriptions and contents in the digitized document by using the bookmark icon as a clue. In the following description, a configuration in which “bookmark” is added to an electronic document will be described as a representative example of attached information. In this specification, “attached information” is metadata including at least information related to “position in a document image” of a document element, and in addition to “bookmark”, a supplementary comment about the document element is further added. It may be an “annotation” or the like.

(Functional configuration related to attached information generation processing)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration for realizing the auxiliary information generation process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. These functions are mainly realized by the control unit 100, the memory unit 102, and the like.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the functions for realizing the attached information generation process are the image reading unit 104, the image buffer unit 12, the compression processing unit 14, the digitized document generation unit 16, and the document element extraction unit 18. , Element type determination unit 20, bookmark data generation unit 22, display unit 24, setting operation unit 26, transmission unit 28, and storage unit 112.

  The image reading unit 104 reads the document 300 to acquire a document image, and outputs the document image to the image buffer unit 12. The image buffer unit 12 is a part that temporarily stores document image data sequentially output by the image reading unit 104, and outputs the once stored document image to the compression processing unit 14 and the document element extraction unit 18. The compression processing unit 14 compresses the document image output from the image buffer unit 12 and outputs the compressed document image to the digitized document generation unit 16. The degree of compression by this compression processing may be changed according to the size of the generated electronic document, the required resolution of the document image, and the compression processing may be irreversible conversion. Note that the compression process may be omitted when high resolution is required.

The document element extraction unit 18 extracts a predetermined type of document element included in the document image output from the image buffer unit 12. When extracting the document element, the document element extracting unit 18 also extracts the position of each document element in the document image. Then, the document element extraction unit 18 outputs the extracted document element type and its position information to the element type determination unit 20.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining extraction processing of document elements included in a document image.
FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example of a document image generated from the document 300, and FIG. 6B illustrates a state in which document elements are extracted from the document image illustrated in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example. With reference to FIG. 6A, as an example, when a document 300 (5 pages) of a report is read by the image reading unit 104, a document image corresponding to each page is stored in the image buffer unit 12. As shown in FIG. 6B, the document element extraction unit 18 extracts a rectangular document element 420 included in such a document image. Note that a known method can be used for extracting the document element 420, but each area is typically extracted based on the character size, the interval between adjacent areas, and the like. Here, the document elements to be extracted are “title”, “heading”, “paragraph break”, “figure”, “table”, “photo”, “handwritten character”, “underlined character”, “ Those having types such as “decorated characters” and “color characters” are included.

  More specifically, the “title (title)” can be extracted based on the character size of the character arranged in the document image. The “heading” can be extracted based on an offset position, an indent position, or the like in the document image. The “paragraph break” can be extracted based on an interval between character areas that follow. The “diagram” can be extracted based on the number of detected straight lines or curves. The “table” can be extracted based on the number of detected straight lines and intersections of the straight lines. The “photograph” can be extracted based on the degree of change in shading of the image. The “handwritten character” can be extracted based on the degree of character recognition. The “underlined character” can be extracted based on the distance between the character and a straight line. The “decorative character” can be extracted by performing character recognition at a plurality of stages. The “color character” can be extracted based on pixel color information corresponding to character recognition. Note that a plurality of document elements may be extracted redundantly for a common area in the document image. The types extracted as character elements are not limited to those described above, and various types of document elements can be extracted using a known recognition technique.

  Then, after analyzing the type of the extracted document element, the element type determination unit 20 outputs the analyzed information to the display unit 24 in order to notify the user of the acquisition result of the document element included in the document image. . More specifically, the element type determination unit 20 counts the number of document elements included in the document image for each type, and outputs the obtained result to the display unit 24.

  The display unit 24 displays the number of document elements included in the document image for each type according to the acquisition result output from the element type determination unit 20. In response to the display of the acquisition result by the display unit 24, the user operates the setting operation unit 26 to set the selection condition regarding the type. This selection condition is to specify the type to which a bookmark should be added, and the necessity for adding a bookmark can be selected for each type. In response to the selection condition, the element type determination unit 20 selects a document element satisfying the selection condition from the extracted document elements, and specifies the type and position of the selected document element in the document image. Are output to the bookmark data generation unit 22.

  FIG. 7 is an example showing an appearance of operation panel unit 110 of MFP 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, operation panel unit 110 includes a display panel 110a including a liquid crystal display device, a touch panel, and the like, a stop button 110b, a start button 110c, and an operation button 110d including alphanumeric keys. ing. The display unit 24 shown in FIG. 5 is realized by the display panel 110a, and the setting operation unit 26 is realized by the display panel 110a, the stop button 110b, the start button 110c, and the operation button 110d.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of display contents on display panel 110a of operation panel unit 110 regarding the display of analysis results and the setting of selection conditions according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8A shows display contents related to “type elements” among character elements, and FIG. 8B shows display contents related to elements other than “type elements” among character elements.

  With reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B, a type appearance frequency graph 450 that visually represents the number of document elements included in the document image for each type is displayed. A type display 452 is arranged in association with the row element of the type appearance frequency graph 450. The user selects a type to which a bookmark is to be added by checking a check box 454 provided in association with the type display 452 while referring to the type appearance frequency graph 450. In other words, a selection condition is set for selecting a type corresponding to the selected check box 454 (a check mark is set).

  Further, as the selection condition, all pages of the document image can be set collectively, or can be set for each page. When the user selects the all page selection button (ALL) 460, the mode for selecting the sorting condition for all pages at once is selected, and the selection of the page selection button (by page) 462 selects the selection condition. The mode to be set for each page is selected. Further, in the mode in which the selection condition is set in units of pages, the user can switch the target page in the document image by selecting a page feed button (next page) 456.

  Further, when the user selects a tab button (type element) 464, a “type element” (title (title), heading, paragraph break, underlined character, decoration character, color character) shown in FIG. When the tab button (others) 466 is selected, a display screen related to elements (photos, tables, figures, handwritten characters) other than the “printed elements” shown in FIG. 8B is displayed. .

  The display content according to the present invention is not limited to the mode shown in FIG. 8, and may be any mode as long as the user can set the selection condition.

  Referring again to FIG. 5, the bookmark data generation unit 22 generates bookmark data based on the document element type and position information output from the element type determination unit 20. Then, the bookmark data generation unit 22 outputs the generated bookmark data to the digitized document generation unit 16.

  The digitized document generation unit 16 generates a digitized document by adding the bookmark data from the bookmark data generation unit 22 to the (compressed) document image from the compression processing unit 14.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of the digitized document 400 generated by the digitized document generation unit 16.

  Referring to FIG. 9, the digitized document 400 includes a header part 402, a document image part 404, a bookmark data part 406, and a footer part 408. The header part 402 and the footer part 408 store information about the attributes of the digitized document 400, such as creation date / time / creator / copyright information. A document image corresponding to each page is stored in the document image unit 404. The document image may be stored in a compressed state as described above. The bookmark data unit 406 stores bookmark data for specifying a document element included in the document image.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of bookmark data.
Referring to FIG. 10, the bookmark data stores page numbers, area upper left coordinates, area lower right coordinates, element types, and the like in association with each document element. The page number is position information for specifying the page on which the corresponding document element exists. The area upper left coordinates and area lower right coordinates are position information for specifying the area (rectangle) in the page of the corresponding document element. The element type is information for specifying the type of the corresponding document element.

  Referring again to FIG. 5, the digitized document generation unit 16 stores the generated digitized document in the storage unit 112 or outputs it to the transmission unit 28 according to the setting by the user. The transmission unit 28 is realized by the communication interface unit 108, and transmits the digitized document generated by the digitized document generation unit 16 to a personal computer PC (FIG. 1) or the like via a network such as a LAN.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of display contents on the display panel 110a of the operation panel unit 110 regarding the setting of the output destination of the digitized document. FIG. 11A shows display contents when an electronic document is attached to a mail and sent, and FIG. 11B shows display contents when the electronic document 400 is stored in the storage unit 112 of the MFP 1 itself. Indicates. The display contents shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B are switched when the user selects a tab button (mail transmission) 474 and a tab button 476 (mail transmission), respectively.

  In the display screen shown in FIG. 11A, a destination button 470 to which a destination address or the like is assigned in advance is displayed so that it can be selected. A mail with an electronic document attached to the destination address is transmitted.

  On the other hand, in the display screen shown in FIG. 11B, a storage destination button 472 to which a folder (directory) in the storage unit 112 is assigned in advance is displayed so as to be selectable. By selecting the button, the digitized document is stored in the corresponding save destination folder.

  With the configuration described above, an electronic document in which bookmark data is added to a document element having a desired type selected by the user from among the document elements included in the document image can be generated.

  As for the correspondence between each functional block shown in FIG. 5 and the present invention, the document element extraction unit 18 corresponds to “acquisition means”, the element type determination unit 20 corresponds to “comparison means”, and bookmark data generation is performed. The unit 22 corresponds to the “attached information generation unit”, the display unit 24 corresponds to the “display unit”, the setting operation unit 26 corresponds to the “setting reception unit”, and the digitized document generation unit 16 performs the “document generation unit”. The image reading unit 104 corresponds to “image reading unit”, the transmission unit 28 corresponds to “transmission unit”, and the storage unit 112 corresponds to “storage unit”.

(flowchart)
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the digitized document generation process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 is realized by the control unit 100 reading the program to the memory unit 102 and executing the program, and controlling each function shown in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 12, first, image reading unit 104 reads document 300 to generate a document image (step S100). The generated document image is stored in the image buffer unit 12. Then, the compression processing unit 14 compresses the document image stored in the image buffer unit 12, and outputs the compressed document image to the digitized document generation unit 16 (step S102).

  On the other hand, the document element extraction unit 18 extracts a predetermined type of document element and its position included in the document image stored in the image buffer unit 12 (step S104). Then, the element type determination unit 20 determines the type of the document element extracted by the document element extraction unit 18, and analyzes the type of the document element included in the document image (step S106). Specifically, the element type determination unit 20 counts the number of document elements included in the document image for each type. In response to this analysis result, the display unit 24 displays the number of document elements included in the target document image for each type (step S108).

  Selection conditions set by the user in response to the display of the analysis result are given from the setting operation unit 26 to the element type determination unit 20. In response to this, the element type determination unit 20 selects a document element satisfying the selection condition from the document elements extracted by the document element extraction unit 18 (step S110). Then, the element type determination unit 20 outputs the type of the selected document element and position information for specifying the position in the document image to the bookmark data generation unit 22 (step S112). Then, the bookmark data generation unit 22 generates bookmark data based on the type and position information of these document elements (step S114).

  Subsequently, the digitized document generation unit 16 generates a digitized document by adding the bookmark data from the bookmark data generation unit 22 to the (compressed) document image from the compression processing unit 14 (step S116). ). Further, in accordance with the user setting, the transmission unit 28 transmits the digitized document to a predetermined transmission destination connected via the network (step S118). Alternatively, the digitized document generation unit 16 stores the digitized document in a predetermined directory of the storage unit 112 according to the user setting (step S120). Then, the digitized document generation process ends.

  According to the first embodiment of the present invention, when an electronic document including a document image is generated, the user can set the selection condition after notifying the user of the analysis result of the document element included in the document image. For this reason, it is possible to appropriately set the selection information according to the type of the target document image. Therefore, the data included in the bookmark information is limited to information for specifying the type of the document element that satisfies the selection condition and the position in the document image. Therefore, compared to the case where all the document elements included in the document image are targeted, the data size of the document image can be reduced, and bookmark information is generated only for the document elements that the user considers to be high in importance. be able to.

  As a result, it is possible to avoid the bookmark information data size from becoming too large, and to suppress a decrease in search efficiency.

[Embodiment 2]
In the first embodiment of the present invention described above, a configuration is described in which the document element included in the acquired document image is analyzed, and the user can determine which document element the bookmark is added to based on the analysis result. did. On the other hand, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the type of document element to which a user should add a bookmark is set in advance, and the MFP generates a digitized document according to the preset condition. Illustrate.

  Since the hardware configuration and the like of MFP 1 # and personal computer PC according to the second embodiment of the present invention are the same as those in the first embodiment, detailed description will not be repeated.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration for realizing the auxiliary information generation process according to the second embodiment of the present invention. These functions are mainly realized by the control unit 100, the memory unit 102, and the like.

  The functional block diagram shown in FIG. 13 is the functional block according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5 and includes a document element extraction unit 18, an element type determination unit 20, a display unit 24, and a setting operation unit 26. Instead, this corresponds to a document element extraction unit 18 #, a display unit 24 #, a setting operation unit 26 #, and a setting data storage unit 32 #.

  The display unit 24 # and the setting operation unit 26 # are mainly parts for the user to set the selection conditions in advance, and the setting data storage unit 32 # stores the selection condition candidates and the selection conditions set in advance by the user. It is a part for. More specifically, display unit 24 # displays a setting screen for the user to set selection conditions. On this setting screen, selection condition candidates stored in advance in the setting data storage unit 32 # may be displayed. Then, the user operates the setting operation unit 26 along the setting screen displayed on the display unit 24 #, thereby setting the sorting condition regarding the type. The set screening conditions are stored in the setting data storage unit 32 #.

  In addition, the document element extraction unit 18 # selectively extracts only the document elements included in the document image output from the image buffer unit 12 that satisfy the selection condition stored in advance in the setting data storage unit 32 #. To do. Then, the document element extraction unit 18 # outputs the type of the selectively extracted document element and the position information for specifying the position in the document image to the bookmark data generation unit 22.

  14 and 15 are diagrams showing an example of display contents on the display panel 110a of the operation panel unit 110 regarding the setting of the selection conditions according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 shows a case where selection condition candidates are displayed so as to be selectable, and FIG. 15 shows a case where detailed conditions of each selection condition candidate are displayed.

  Referring to FIG. 14, first, when the user intends to set selection conditions, a plurality of selection condition candidates 480 are displayed so as to be selectable. Each selection condition candidate 480 is preferably set for each document type (for example, research report, newspaper, presentation material, minutes, etc.). That is, because the format (style) and content (characters, diagrams, tables, etc.) are different depending on the type of the target document, the types of document elements to which attention should be paid differ. Therefore, it is more user-friendly that a selection condition is set for each document type, and the user selectively sets the selection condition according to the type of the document for which the digitized document is generated.

  Furthermore, when the user wants to change the condition of the selection condition candidate 480 or to newly set the selection condition candidate 480, a screen for detailed setting as shown in FIG. 15 may be displayed.

  Referring to FIG. 15, a detailed setting screen on which type display 494 and corresponding check box 492 are arranged is displayed corresponding to each selection condition candidate 480. The user can change or newly select the detailed setting by checking a check box 492 corresponding to the type to which the bookmark is to be added on the detailed setting screen. Thus, the changed or set selection condition candidate 480 (and the corresponding detailed setting) is stored in the setting data storage unit 32 #. Note that when the selection condition is set in advance, it is not necessary to set the selection condition for each page because the number of documents is unknown.

When the user selects any one of the selection condition candidates 480 in this way, the element type determination unit 20 # validates the selection condition corresponding to the selected selection condition candidate 480 and executes document element selection processing.

  Since other configurations are the same as the corresponding functions in FIG. 5, detailed description will not be repeated.

  As for the correspondence between each functional block shown in FIG. 13 and the present invention, the document element extraction unit 18 # corresponds to “acquisition unit” and “comparison unit”, and the bookmark data generation unit 22 “attachment information generation unit”. ”, The display unit 24 # corresponds to“ display unit ”, the setting operation unit 26 # corresponds to“ setting reception unit ”, the digitized document generation unit 16 corresponds to“ document generation unit ”, and the image The reading unit 104 corresponds to “image reading unit”, the transmission unit 28 corresponds to “transmission unit”, and the storage unit 112 corresponds to “storage unit”.

(flowchart)
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the digitized document generation process according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16 is realized by the control unit 100 reading the program to the memory unit 102 and executing it, and controlling each function shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIGS. 13 and 16, first, element type determination unit 20 # determines whether or not the user has selected a selection condition candidate selection instruction from setting operation unit 26 (step S200). If no selection condition candidate selection instruction has been received (NO in step S200), the process enters a standby state until a selection condition candidate selection instruction is given.

  If an instruction to select a selection condition candidate is accepted (YES in step S200), element type determination unit 20 # acquires a selection condition corresponding to the selected selection condition candidate from setting data storage unit 32 # (step S202). ).

  Then, the image reading unit 104 reads the document 300 and generates a document image (step S204). The generated document image is stored in the image buffer unit 12. Then, the compression processing unit 14 compresses the document image stored in the image buffer unit 12, and outputs the compressed document image to the digitized document generation unit 16 (step S206).

  On the other hand, the document element extraction unit 18 # selectively extracts document elements satisfying the selection condition acquired in advance in step S202 from among the document elements included in the document image stored in the image buffer unit 12 (step S208). . Then, the document element extraction unit 18 # outputs the type of the selectively extracted document element and the position information for specifying the position in the document image to the bookmark data generation unit 22 (step S210). Then, the bookmark data generation unit 22 generates bookmark data based on the type and position information of these document elements (step S212).

  Subsequently, the digitized document generation unit 16 generates a digitized document by adding the bookmark data from the bookmark data generation unit 22 to the (compressed) document image from the compression processing unit 14 (step S214). ). Further, according to the user setting, the transmission unit 28 transmits the digitized document to a predetermined transmission destination connected via the network (step S216). Alternatively, the digitized document generation unit 16 stores the digitized document in a predetermined directory of the storage unit 112 according to the user setting (step S218). Then, the digitized document generation process ends.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, when an electronic document including a document image is generated, only those satisfying a predetermined condition among document elements included in the document image according to a selection condition preset by the user. After selection, bookmark information is generated. When setting the selection condition, at least one selection condition candidate corresponding to the type (type) of the target document image is displayed, and the user can easily select the selection condition.

  Thus, even when it is necessary to generate an electronic document from a large amount of manuscripts, the user can generate an electronic document with appropriate bookmark information added by performing a relatively easy operation. it can. As a result, it is possible to avoid the bookmark information data size from becoming too large, and to suppress a decrease in search efficiency.

[Other embodiments]
In the first and second embodiments described above, the case where the processing according to the present invention is executed by the MFP 1 or MFP 1 # has been described, but the above processing is executed by a computer having an image reading function for reading the document 300. May be. In this case, a program for executing the processing functions shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 13 for causing the computer to function as a document processing apparatus can be provided. Such programs include a flexible disk, CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory), ROM (Read Only) attached to the computer.
It can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as a memory (Random Access Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a memory card and provided as a program product. Alternatively, the program can be provided by being stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk built in the computer. A program can also be provided by downloading via a network.

  Alternatively, the image reading function may be realized by another device or a computer, and the generated document image may be received and only the attached information may be generated according to the above processing. Further, the configuration in which the document image and the attached information are included in the same digitized document is illustrated, but the attached information may not necessarily be added to the same digitized document, and may be output as a separate file.

  The program according to the present invention is a program module that is provided as a part of a computer operating system (OS) and calls necessary modules in a predetermined arrangement at a predetermined timing to execute processing. Also good. In that case, the program itself does not include the module, and the process is executed in cooperation with the OS. A program that does not include such a module can also be included in the program according to the present invention.

  The program according to the present invention may be provided by being incorporated in a part of another program. Even in this case, the program itself does not include the module included in the other program, and the process is executed in cooperation with the other program. Such a program incorporated in another program can also be included in the program according to the present invention.

  The provided program product is installed in a program storage unit such as a hard disk and executed. Note that the program product includes the program itself and a storage medium in which the program is stored.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system including a document processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing a schematic functional configuration in the MFP according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the schematic hardware constitutions of the personal computer according to Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the figure which showed typically an example of the display screen of the electronic document 400 in the personal computer according to Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure which implement | achieves the production | generation process of the attached information according to Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the extraction process of the document element contained in a document image. It is an example showing an appearance of an operation panel unit of the MFP according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display content on the display panel of an operation panel part regarding the display of the analysis result according to Embodiment 1 of this invention, and the setting of the selection conditions. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the electronic document 400 which an electronic document production | generation part produces | generates. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of bookmark data. It is a figure which shows an example of the display content in the display panel of an operation panel part regarding the setting of the output destination of an electronic document. It is a flowchart which shows the specific example of the production | generation process of the digitized document according to Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure which implement | achieves the production | generation process of the attached information according to Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display content in the display panel of an operation panel part regarding the setting of the selection conditions according to Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display content in the display panel of an operation panel part regarding the setting of the selection conditions according to Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the specific example of the production | generation process of the digitized document according to Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1 # MFP, 12 image buffer unit, 14 compression processing unit, 16 digitized document generation unit, 18, 18 # document element extraction unit, 20 element type determination unit, 22 bookmark data generation unit, 24, 24 # display unit , 26, 26 # setting operation unit, 28 transmission unit, 32 setting data storage unit, 100 control unit, 102 memory unit, 104 image reading unit, 106 printing unit, 108 communication interface unit, 110 operation panel unit, 110a display panel, 110b stop button, 110c start button, 110d operation button, 112 storage unit, 203 internal bus, 205 display unit, 207 communication interface unit, 209 input unit, 211 hard disk unit (HDD), 213 memory unit, 215 CD-ROM drive, 215a CD-ROM, 217 FDD drive, 217a Flexible disk, 300 document, 300A document image, 400 digitized document, 402 header part, 404 document image part, 406 data part, 408 footer part, 420 document element, 450 type appearance frequency graph, 452 type display, 454, 792 Check box, 470 destination button, 472 save destination button, 476 tab button, 480 sorting condition candidate, 494 type display, 500 document display area, 502,504 bookmark position, 510 attached information display area, 512, 514 icon, PC, PC1 , PC2, PC3
Personal computer, SRV server device.

Claims (14)

A document processing apparatus for generating an electronic document including a document image,
Obtaining means for extracting a document element from the document image and obtaining a type of the extracted document element and a position of the document element in the document image;
Setting accepting means for accepting setting of the selection condition for the type of the document element;
A comparing means for comparing the type of the extracted document element and the selection condition;
A document processing apparatus comprising: attached information generating means for generating attached information for specifying a position in the document image of a document element satisfying the selection condition. A display means for displaying the setting screen of the selection condition together with the acquisition result about the type of the extracted document element,
The setting accepting unit accepts the selection condition according to an operation on the setting screen,
The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the comparison unit starts a comparison operation in response to the selection condition setting operation.   The document processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit displays the number of the document elements extracted from the document image for each type as the acquisition result. The document image includes at least one page region;
The document processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display unit displays the number of the document elements for each type in association with a page area.   The document processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the setting receiving unit is capable of receiving the setting of the selection condition for each page area of the document image. Further comprising setting accepting means for accepting the setting of the selection condition;
The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the comparison unit compares the type of the extracted document element with the selection condition set in advance. A display unit for displaying at least one selectable selection condition candidate;
Each of the selection condition candidates designates at least one specific type among the types of the document elements,
The document processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the comparison unit performs a comparison process based on the selection condition corresponding to the selection condition candidate selected from the selection condition candidates.   The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a document generation unit configured to generate the digitized document by adding the attached information to the document image.   The type of the document element includes at least one of a title, a headline, a paragraph break, a figure, a table, a photograph, a handwritten character, an underlined character, a decorative character, and a color character. Document processing apparatus described in 1.   The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image reading unit that generates the document image by reading a document.   The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission unit configured to transmit the digitized document to another apparatus via a network. The document processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for storing the electronic document. A document processing method for generating an electronic document including a document image,
Extracting a document element from the document image, obtaining a type of the extracted document element and a position of the document element in the document image;
Receiving a setting of a selection condition for the type of the document element;
Comparing the type of the extracted document element with the selection condition;
Generating ancillary information for specifying a position of the document element satisfying the selection condition in the document image.   A document processing program for causing a computer to execute the document processing method according to claim 13.

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