JP2009169810A - Authoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an authoring device capable of outputting information to convert submitted data into those in a format suited to a layout. <P>SOLUTION: The authoring device 10 includes: a layout editing means 100 for editing layouts of printed matter; and a data conversion specifications file generating means 101 for extracting an object including variable data substituted for variable data every printed matter, among the layouts edited by the layout editing means 100 and generating a data conversion specifications file including syntax data describing items of the variable data included in the extracted object and format data describing items of the variable data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an authoring apparatus in which DTP (Desktop publishing) software is installed.

  In one-to-one marketing that approaches to meet the needs of each customer and support operations for customers, it is necessary to mail direct mail with different contents for each customer. Variable printing systems that can print different contents are used.

  In the variable printing system, layout data of printed matter such as direct mail is generated using an authoring device in which DTP (Desktop publishing) software is installed. After the printer control code for the variable printer is generated from this layout data, Variable data different for each customer is incorporated into this layout data, and a printed matter such as direct mail is output by the variable printer.

  All variable printers need only have the same printer control code specification. Actually, the variable printer has a different printer control code specification for each model (for example, manufacturer). Accordingly, in a printing company having a plurality of variable printers of different models, it is very inefficient to generate layout data for each variable printer. An apparatus is disclosed that can convert general-purpose layout definition data, which is layout data that can be used for general purposes, into individual printer control codes for each variable printer.

By using the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a printing company having a plurality of variable printers of different models does not need to create and manage layout data for each variable printer. It becomes possible to divide items into a plurality of variable printers and print them, thereby improving work efficiency.
JP 2007-148845 A

  As described above, in the variable printing system, different variable data is used for each customer. Therefore, in addition to the authoring device and the device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the input data submitted by the customer is used as the layout of the printed matter. An input data conversion device for converting to a format suitable for the printing company is installed at the printing company.

  However, the format of the submission data submitted by customers is not fixed. For example, there are cases where the submission data is submitted in the spreadsheet software file format, or even in the same spreadsheet software file format. The arrangement order of is different.

  Therefore, a printing company creates a conversion program, which is a computer program that converts input data submitted in various file formats into a format that matches the layout, and converts the created conversion program into input data conversion. Used by mounting on the device.

  When creating a conversion program that converts the input data into a format that matches the layout, you must refer to the layout specifications. However, the layout specifications are complex, and the layout specifications are required to generate the conversion program. Not only did it take a long time to reliably grasp the document, but there were also cases where a printing error occurred in a variable printer due to a misinterpretation of the layout specification.

  In view of the above-described problems, the present invention provides an authoring device that can output information for converting the submitted data submitted by the customer into a format suitable for the layout without reading the layout specification. With the goal.

  A first invention for solving the above-described problem is an authoring apparatus used for editing a layout of a printed matter, the layout editing means for editing the layout of the printed matter, and the layout edited by the layout editing means. Extracting an object including variable data into which variable data is substituted for each printed matter from among the data, and generating data conversion specification file including syntax data describing the items of the variable data included in the extracted object A conversion specification file generating means is provided.

  A second invention is the authoring device according to the first invention, wherein the data conversion specification file generation means provided in the authoring device uses an empty element tag whose element name is the name of the variable data. The syntax data is described.

  A third invention is the authoring device according to the first invention or the second invention, wherein the syntax data is generated in the data conversion specification file generated by the data conversion specification file generating means provided in the authoring device. In addition, according to a defined scheme, format definition data describing a format of the variable data is included.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an authoring apparatus that can output information for converting the input data input from the customer into a format suitable for the layout without reading the layout specification.

  In other words, since the syntax data included in the data specification file generated by the authoring device indicates the variable data items included in the object on which the printed material is arranged, if the data conversion program is created so as to refer to the syntax data, Thus, it is possible to check an item specification error, item omission, and item arrangement order error corresponding to variable data included in the layout of the printed matter.

  In addition, since the format of the variable data is described in the format data included in the data specification file, if the data conversion program is created so as to check the data included in the print data by referring to the format data, the input data can be changed. At the stage of conversion according to the contents of the layout, it becomes possible to check for errors occurring in the input data.

  From here, the authoring apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration and data flow of a variable printing system 1 in which an authoring device 10 is arranged. The variable printing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a system similar to the system disclosed in Patent Document 1. is there.

  The variable printing system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a general-purpose layout that is output from an authoring device 10, a variable printer 12, and an authoring device 10 that are computers installed with DTP (DTP: Desktop Publishing) software for publishing. The layout conversion apparatus 11 having a function of converting the general-purpose layout definition file 32, which is a file, into printer control data 34 corresponding to the variable printer 12, and the input data 31 such as text data and image data are suitable for the variable printer 12. And at least a manuscript data conversion device 13 for converting the data into a data format.

  The layout design document 30 to be input to the authoring apparatus 10 includes a printing lot number and a layout diagram of the printed matter. With reference to this layout chart, the operator of the authoring apparatus 10 can edit text data, image data, and the like. The layout of the printed material is determined by arranging the objects.

  When the operator of the authoring apparatus 10 finishes the layout work of the printed matter, the authoring apparatus 10 instructs the authoring apparatus 10 to output the general-purpose layout definition file 32. The authoring apparatus 10 uses the general-purpose layout definition described in the markup language using XML. The file 32 is transmitted to the layout conversion apparatus 11, and the layout conversion apparatus 11 stores the general-purpose layout definition file 32 output from the authoring apparatus 10.

  The layout conversion apparatus 11 illustrated in FIG. 1 stores a conversion template for converting the general-purpose layout definition file 32 into printer control data for each variable printer 12, and the variable printer 12 is designated by the operator of the layout conversion apparatus 11. The conversion template of the designated variable printer 12 is selected, and the selected general-purpose layout definition file 32 is converted into printer control data 34 corresponding to the designated variable printer 12.

  When the authored device 10 includes variable data to which the data of the submitted data 31 submitted from the customer is substituted in the object laid out on the printed matter, the submitted data conversion device before printing with the variable printer 12 13 is required to convert the submitted data 31 into the print data 35 that can be received by the variable printer 12.

  If the specifications of the submitted data 31 submitted from the customer are the same for each printed matter, a computer program 33 (hereinafter referred to as “data conversion program 33”) for converting the submitted data 31 into the printing data 35 is described. ) Is sufficient for each variable printer 12, but the format of the submission data 31 submitted from the customer varies depending on the item, so that it matches the format of the submission data 31 for each item of the printed matter. Thus, it is necessary to create the data conversion program 33 and install the created data conversion program 33 in the submitted data conversion apparatus 13.

  Therefore, the authoring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a function of generating the data conversion specification file 20 that is referred to when the data conversion program 33 is created in addition to the function of editing the layout of the printed matter.

  From here, the function which produces | generates the data conversion specification file 20 with which the authoring apparatus 10 was equipped is demonstrated in detail. FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of the authoring apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the authoring device 10 is a computer-implemented device, and the authoring device 10 includes a central processing unit 11 (CPU: Central Processing Unit), a random access memory 12 (RAM: Random Access Memory), A large-capacity storage device 16 (for example, a hard disk), a display 13, a mouse 14, a keyboard 15 and the like are provided.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the authoring apparatus 10. In order to realize the present invention, the authoring apparatus 10 includes a layout editing unit 100 that edits the layout of printed matter, and a data conversion specification that generates and outputs a data conversion specification file 20 based on the layout edited by the layout editing unit 100. In addition to the file generation unit 101, in addition to the variable print system 1, a general-purpose layout definition file generation unit 102 that generates and outputs a general-purpose layout definition file 32 based on the layout edited by the layout editing unit 100 is provided. .

  The layout editing means 100 of the authoring apparatus 10 is a means realized by DTP software installed in the authoring apparatus 10 and has a function of editing the layout of the printed matter on the layout screen displayed on the display 13 of the authoring apparatus 10. ing.

  As the layout editing means 100 of the authoring apparatus 10, the DTP software installed in the authoring apparatus 10 may be commercially available software, and “Adobe InDesign (registered trademark)” manufactured by Adobe Systems Inc. can be used as the DTP software.

  The data conversion specification file generation unit 101 of the authoring device 10 is a unit realized by a plug-in of DTP software installed in the authoring device 10.

  First, the data conversion specification file 20 generated by the data conversion specification file generation unit 101 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the data conversion specification file 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the data conversion specification file 20 includes syntax data 21 that describes the syntax of variable data included in the objects arranged in the layout of the printed matter, and a format that describes the format of the variable data. Data 22 is included.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the syntax data 21 included in the data conversion specification file 20. As shown in FIG. 5, the syntax data 21 is structured text described using tags, and the <system name> tag of the syntax data 21 is a tag indicating the item name of the printed matter, and < The “file name> tag is a tag indicating the paper name in the item indicated by the <system name> tag.

  In the syntax data 21, the syntax of the variable data is described between the <record> tags, and each variable data included in the object arranged in the layout of the printed material has an empty element tag whose element name is the name of the variable data. Is described using.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the format data 22 included in the data conversion specification file 20. In the format data 22, the format (data format, number of characters, etc.) of each variable data included in the object arranged in the layout of the printed matter is described using a schema language such as XML.

  In the format data 22, all variable data formats are described between <element> tags 22 a whose name attribute is “record”, and the format set for each variable data includes the name of the variable data as the name attribute. The <element> tags 22b and 22f are included.

  In variable data to which text data is assigned, the data format and the maximum number of characters are described as the variable data format, the data format of the text data is “string” (fixed), and the number of characters in the text data is assigned to the text data. This is the number of characters set in the text frame, which is an object that defines the variable data, or the maximum number of characters that can be displayed in the text frame.

  Since the format of the variable data to which the text data is substituted includes the data format and the maximum number of characters, <xsd: between the <element> tags 22b having the name of the variable data to which the text data is substituted in the name attribute. The restriction> tag 22c is described, and the base attribute of the <xsd: restriction> 22c tag indicates the data format of the text data, and its value is “string”.

  When the maximum number of characters of text data is a restriction, an <xsd: maxlength> tag 22d is described between the <xsd: restriction> tag 22c as a tag for restricting the maximum number of characters of text data. <Xsd: length> tag 22e is described.

  In the variable data to which the image data is substituted, the data format of the image data is described as the format of the image data, and the type attribute of the <element> tag 22f having the name of the variable data to which the image data is substituted in the name attribute, The data format of the image data is described, and the data format described in the type attribute is a data format set in an image frame that is an object that defines variable data to which the image data is substituted.

  As described above, it is meaningful to include two data of the syntax data 21 and the format data 22 in the data conversion specification file 20. Since the syntax data 21 indicates the syntax of the variable data included in the object in which the printed material is arranged, if the data conversion program 33 is created so as to refer to the syntax data 21, the variable data included in the layout of the printed material can be changed. It becomes possible to check an item specification error, an item omission, and an item arrangement order error in the corresponding submitted data 31.

  In addition, since the format of the variable data is described in the format data 22, if the data conversion program 33 is created so as to check the data included in the print data by referring to the format data 22, the submission data 31 is printed. At the stage of conversion to the production data 35, it becomes possible to check for errors occurring in the submitted data 31.

  From here, the above-mentioned content is demonstrated in detail, illustrating a specific example. First, the layout editing screen displayed on the display 13 of the authoring apparatus 10 when the layout editing means 100 of the authoring apparatus 10 is activated will be described.

  FIG. 7 is an example of the layout editing screen 40 of the authoring apparatus 10. In the layout editing screen 40 of FIG. 7, a tool bar 41 for displaying a menu for layout editing work, a tool box 42 for displaying tool icons used for the layout editing work, and a layout of printed matter (here, a postcard) are displayed. A layout area 43 is provided.

  The toolbar 41 in FIG. 7 outputs a general layout definition file menu 41b for outputting the general layout definition file 32 and the data conversion specification file 20 in addition to a file menu 41a for displaying layout reading and saving. The data conversion specification file menu 41c for this is illustrated.

  Further, in the tool box 42 of FIG. 7, a tool icon 42a for selecting an object, a tool icon 42b for returning an operation, a tool icon 42c for cutting the selected object, and an object which is text data are defined. A tool icon 42d for setting a text frame, a tool icon 42e for setting an image frame defining an object which is image data, and a tool icon 42f for drawing a line are illustrated.

  When the tool icon 42d for setting the text frame is clicked, the text frame can be set in the layout of the printed matter. By clicking the set text frame, the font of characters displayed in the text frame, A text setting palette for setting the size etc. is displayed.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the text setting palette 50. In the text setting palette 50 shown in FIG. 8, in order to set the text data to be displayed in the text frame, an edit box 51 for inputting the name of the text frame and the input data as the name of the variable data to be used. A list box 52a for selecting 31 item names and an edit box 53 for inputting a text data body to be displayed in the text frame are provided.

  When the text setting palette 50 is displayed, the text data body can be entered in the edit box 53, and the item name of the submitted data 31 used for the text data is inserted into the edit box 53 using the list box 52a. Is done.

  When the list box 52a is clicked, a list of item names of the submission data 31 used in the printed material is displayed in the list box 52a, and the item name of one submission data 31 included in the list is clicked. After the item name of one input data 31 is selected, when the add button 52b is clicked, the item name of the clicked input data 31 is displayed in the edit box 53 for inputting the text data body. Inserted in double brackets. In FIG. 8, “zip code” which is the item name of the submitted data 31 is selected in the list box 52 a, and [[zip code]] is inserted in the edit box 53.

  The text setting palette 50 further includes a list box 54a for selecting a font of text data to be displayed in the text frame, a list box 54b for selecting a font size, and a vertical magnification and a horizontal magnification of the font. , Two spin boxes 58a and 58b for setting each, a check box 54d checked when the number of characters of text data displayed in the text frame is fixed, an edit box 54e for inputting a fixed number of characters, and text An area 54c for displaying the number of characters that can be displayed in the frame is provided.

  If the check box 54d is checked, the layout editing unit 100 displays the numerical value input in the edit box 54e in the area 54c. If the check box 54d is not checked, the layout editing unit 100 displays the font and font size of the text data. Calculate the font size of one character from the setting values of the vertical magnification and horizontal magnification of the font, and calculate the maximum number of characters that can be displayed in the text frame by comparing with the size of the text frame. Is displayed in the area 54c.

  Further, the text setting palette 50 shown in FIG. 8 includes an area 55 for displaying the rotation angle of the text frame set on the layout screen 40 of FIG. 7, cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). And four list boxes 56a to 56d for setting halftone dot percentages for black and black (K), and an area 56e for displaying a color uniquely determined by the contents set in the four list boxes 56a to 56d, Four check boxes 57a to 57d for setting character alignment in the text frame are provided.

  The text frame properties set by the tool as described above are stored in association with the text frame when the OK button 59a of the text setting palette is clicked, and when the cancel button 59b is clicked, the text frame properties are stored. Is not remembered.

  In the layout editing screen 40 illustrated in FIG. 7, as a text frame including variable data, a text frame in which the item name of the submission data 31 is “zip code” and an item name of the submission data 31 is “address”. A text frame, a text frame in which the item name of the submission data 31 is “last name”, a text frame in which the item name of the submission data 31 is “name”, and an item name of the submission data 31 is “phone number”. A text frame is set, and a text frame that does not include variable data is a text frame in which the fixed text data is “bargain sale”, and a fixed text data is “bargain sale date (December 01, 2007). -December 07, 2007) "is set.

  When the tool icon 42e for setting an image frame is clicked on the layout editing screen 40 in FIG. 7, the image frame can be set in the layout of the printed matter. By clicking the set image frame, the image frame is set. An image setting palette for setting the file name and data format of image data to be displayed is displayed.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the image setting palette 60. In the image setting palette 60 shown in FIG. 9, in order to set image data to be displayed in the image frame, an edit box 61 for inputting the name of the image frame, and image data to be displayed in the image frame are displayed. A check box 62 that is checked when the data is read from the storage device 16 of the authoring apparatus 10 and used, a check box 63 that is checked when variable data is used for the image data displayed in the image frame, and setting of the image frame is completed There are provided an OK button 64a that is clicked when the image frame is set and a cancel button 64b that is clicked when the image frame setting is canceled.

  When the check box 62 is checked, an open button 62b for reading image data to be displayed in the image frame and an edit box 62a for displaying the file name of the read image data are enabled. Further, when the check box 63 is checked, the edit box 63a for inputting the name of the variable data used as the image data (here, the item name of the submitted data 31) becomes valid, and the item name of the submitted data 31 is enabled. Is enclosed in double parentheses and described in the edit box.

  When the content of the image data is set in the image setting palette, the layout editing unit 100 of the authoring apparatus 10 stores the content of the image setting palette 60 in association with the image frame.

  In the layout editing screen 40 illustrated in FIG. 7, an image frame having an item name “image” of the submitted data 31 is set as an image frame including variable data.

  The mouse 14 provided in the authoring apparatus 10 selects a menu for outputting the general-purpose layout definition file 32 from the menus described in the general-purpose layout definition file menu 41b of the layout editing screen 40 illustrated in FIG. Then, the general-purpose layout definition file generation unit 102 of the authoring apparatus 10 operates to output general-purpose layout definition data describing the contents of the layout of the printed material displayed on the layout editing screen to the storage device 16.

  When the menu for outputting the data conversion specification file 20 is selected from the menus described in the data conversion specification file menu 41c of the layout editing screen 40 shown in FIG. 7 by the mouse 14 of the authoring apparatus 10. Then, the data conversion specification file generation unit 101 of the authoring apparatus 10 operates, and the data conversion specification file generation unit 101 generates the data conversion specification file 20 according to the contents of the layout of the printed matter displayed on the layout editing screen 40, The generated data conversion specification file 20 is output to the storage device 16.

  When the data conversion specification file 20 is generated, the data conversion specification file generation unit 101 of the authoring apparatus 10 extracts an object including variable data from the objects included in the layout. For example, the data conversion specification file 20 extracts a text frame in which text data enclosed in double parentheses are described from objects defined by the text frame as an object including variable data, and outputs an image frame. The image frame checked to use the variable data is extracted from the objects defined by the above as an object including the variable data.

  When the data conversion specification file generation unit 101 extracts an object including variable data, the data conversion specification file generation unit 101 uses an empty element tag whose element name is the name of the variable data included in the extracted object, that is, text data enclosed in double parentheses. To generate the syntax data 21.

  Further, the data conversion specification file generation unit 101 generates format data 22 describing the format of variable data included in the extracted object. For variable data included in an object defined in a text frame, the variable data is stored using the fixed number of characters or the maximum number of characters stored in association with the text frame and “string” indicating that the character is a character. The name of the variable data to be assigned to is set as the value of the name attribute, and the <element> tag 22b as illustrated in FIG.

  For variable data included in an object defined in an image frame, an <element> tag 22f as illustrated in FIG. 6 is used as format data by using a data format stored in association with the image frame. 22 describes.

  When the data conversion specification file generating unit 101 generates the syntax data 21 and the format data 22, the data conversion specification file 20 including the generated files is output to the storage device 16 of the authoring apparatus 10.

  10 is a diagram for explaining the syntax data 210 generated from the layout editing screen 40 in FIG. 7, and FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the format data 220 generated from the layout editing screen 40 in FIG.

  The syntax data 210 illustrated in FIG. 10 includes an empty element tag 212a whose element name is “zip code” as an empty element tag corresponding to variable data included in an object defined in a text frame, and an element name “ An empty element tag 212b whose address is "address", an empty element tag 212c whose element name is "last name", an empty element tag 212d whose element name is "name", and an empty element tag whose element name is "phone number" 212e and an empty element tag 212f whose element name is “image” are described between <record> tags 211 as empty element tags corresponding to the variable data included in the object defined in the image frame.

  Further, the format data 220 shown in FIG. 11 includes a variable whose name is “zip code” as the format of the variable data included in the object defined in the text frame in the layout editing screen 40 shown in FIG. Data format, variable data format with name “address”, variable data format with name “surname”, variable data format with name “name”, variable variable with name “phone number” Each data format is described using an <element> tag 221.

  Between the <element> tag 221 that describes the format of the variable data included in the object defined in the text frame, the value of the base attribute of the <xsd: restriction> tag 221a indicates “string”. ”Is described, and the <xsd: length> tag 221b is described between the <xsd: restriction> tags 221a when the check box of FIG. 8 is checked, and <xsd: maxlength> otherwise. A tag 221c is described.

  The value of the Value attribute of the <xsd: length> tag 221b describes the fixed number of characters stored in association with the text frame, and the value of the <xsd: maxlength> tag 221c is associated with the text frame. Describes the maximum number of characters stored.

  Furthermore, in the format data 220 shown in FIG. 11, as the format of the variable data included in the object defined by the image frame, the format of the variable data defined by the image frame whose name is “image”. Is described using the <element> tag 222, and the data format of the image data (here, “base64Binary”) is described in the value of the type attribute.

  When creating the data conversion program 33, the syntax data 21 and the format data 22 included in the data conversion specification file 20 can be used. When the data conversion program 33 is created, the empty element name described in the syntax data 21 is associated with the item name of the submitted data 31, and the item name data of the submitted data 31 is associated with the corresponding empty element name element Substitute as the value of.

  In addition, when substituting the item name data of the input data 31 as the value of the corresponding element of the empty element name, the input data 31 is checked by checking the data of the input data 31 to be assigned according to the contents of the format data 22. A mistake occurring in the data 31 can be checked.

  For example, according to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the data to be assigned to the empty element tag whose element name is “zip code” has the data format “string” and the number of characters is 8 characters (required). Is checked.

The figure explaining the structure and data flow of a variable printing system. The circuit block diagram of an authoring apparatus. Functional block diagram of the authoring device. The figure explaining the structure of a data conversion specification file. The figure explaining the syntax data contained in a data conversion specification file. The figure explaining the format data contained in a data conversion specification file. The figure which showed an example of the layout edit screen of an authoring apparatus. The figure explaining a text setting palette. The figure explaining an image setting palette. The figure explaining the syntax data produced | generated from the layout edit screen of FIG. The figure explaining the format data produced | generated from the layout edit screen of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Variable printing system 10 Authoring apparatus 12 Variable printer 13 Submission data conversion apparatus 20 Data conversion specification file 21 Syntax file 22 Format data 30 Layout design document 31 Submission data 32 General-purpose layout definition file 34 Printer control data 35 Printing data 100 Layout Editing means 101 Data conversion specification file generation means 102 General-purpose layout definition file generation means

Claims (3)

  An authoring apparatus used for editing a layout of a printed matter, wherein variable data is assigned to each printed matter from a layout editing means for editing the layout of the printed matter and the layout edited by the layout editing means. A data conversion specification file generating means for extracting an object including the variable data to be generated and generating a data conversion specification file including the syntax data describing the items of the variable data included in the extracted object. Authoring device.   2. The authoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data conversion specification file generation means provided in the authoring apparatus describes the syntax data using an empty element tag whose element name is the name of the variable data. An authoring device. The authoring device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the data conversion specification file generated by the data conversion specification file generation means provided in the authoring device includes a predetermined scheme in addition to the syntax data. The authoring apparatus includes format definition data describing a format of the variable data.

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