JP2010122974A - Information processing device, and control method and program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide information processing device, control method therefor, electronic catalog system and program, capable of improving utility and visibility of a new electronic catalog generated from a plurality of electronic catalogs. <P>SOLUTION: From the plurality of electronic catalogs, an operation screen including a catalog selection section for selecting arbitrary electronic catalogs and a page selection section for selecting arbitrary pages from the pages that compose the electronic catalogs, selected by the catalog selection section, is generated and transmitted to a terminal unit. For each electronic catalog selected through the operation screen displayed on the terminal unit, identification information proper to the electronic catalog composed of the selected page group is generated. From the selected electronic catalogs, a page data for table of contents, including the identification information of each electronic catalog, composed of the selected page group, and a thumbnail image of each electronic catalog, is generated. From the selected electronic catalogs, the integrated new electronic catalog is generated by the combination of each electronic catalog, composed of the selected page group, with the page data for the table of contents. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that generates an electronic catalog, a control method thereof, and a program.

  As information is transmitted using the Internet / in-house network, there is a need for a means of transmitting information easily and easily. In particular, in recent years, distribution of large-capacity content (electronic files) has been active due to the widespread use of ADSL and optical fibers, and there are various methods.

Among such techniques, there is a technique for browsing a catalog on a browser in a pseudo manner and downloading a file (PDF file) obtained by combining only specified pages (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-267555 A

  By selecting a desired page from a plurality of electronic catalogs and creating a new electronic catalog, it is difficult to clarify where and what information is written when comparing and examining similar products. Therefore, there is a demand for improved convenience and visibility when a new electronic catalog is created from a plurality of electronic catalogs.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and is an information processing apparatus capable of improving the convenience and visibility of a new electronic catalog created from a plurality of electronic catalogs, a control method therefor, and a program The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
An information processing apparatus that provides a service for generating an electronic catalog to a terminal connected via a network,
An operation screen including a catalog selection unit for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs, and a page selection unit for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit is generated. , Operation screen generation means to be provided to the terminal;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit via the operation screen displayed on the terminal, identification information generating means for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog composed of the page group selected by the page selection unit When,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog including the page group selected by the page selection unit and thumbnail images of the electronic catalogs is generated. Table of contents page generation means,
In each of the electronic catalogs selected by the catalog selection unit, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and the table of contents page data And generating means.

  Preferably, the integration includes a display order selection unit that selects a display order of each electronic catalog including the page group selected by the page selection unit, and an identification information selection unit that selects the unique identification information. Electronic catalog creation screen generation means for generating an electronic catalog creation screen for creating an electronic catalog and providing it to the terminal is further provided.

  Preferably, the electronic catalog creation screen further includes a cover page selection unit for selecting a cover page of the integrated electronic catalog and an input unit for inputting a character string to be inserted into the cover page. .

  Preferably, the table of contents page generation unit further generates table of contents page data including a start page number of a page group of each electronic catalog as the table of contents page data.

  Preferably, when one of the two pages constituting the spread page is selected by the page selection unit, the electronic catalog generation means further combines the other page with the integrated page. Select the page of the electronic catalog to be combined with the electronic catalog.

Preferably, storage means for storing the plurality of electronic catalogs each assigned security setting information;
Transmission means for transmitting the integrated electronic catalog to the terminal;
The transmitting means transmits the integrated electronic catalog to the terminal by changing the output setting of the integrated electronic catalog based on security setting information of each electronic catalog constituting the integrated electronic catalog.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
An information processing apparatus for generating an electronic catalog,
Catalog selection means for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs;
Page selection means for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection means;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selecting means, identification information generating means for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selecting means;
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and a thumbnail image of each electronic catalog is generated. Table of contents page generation means,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection means, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of a page group selected by the page selection means and the table of contents page data And generating means.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus that provides a service for generating an electronic catalog to a terminal connected via a network,
An operation screen including a catalog selection unit for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs, and a page selection unit for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit is generated. , An operation screen generation step to be provided to the terminal;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit via the operation screen displayed on the terminal, an identification information generation step of generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog composed of the page group selected by the page selection unit When,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog including the page group selected by the page selection unit and thumbnail images of the electronic catalogs is generated. Table of contents page generation process,
In each of the electronic catalogs selected by the catalog selection unit, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and the table of contents page data A generating step.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A method of controlling an information processing apparatus that generates an electronic catalog,
A catalog selection process for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs;
A page selection step of selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection step;
In the electronic catalog selected in the catalog selection step, an identification information generation step for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected in the page selection step;
In each electronic catalog selected in the catalog selection step, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected in the page selection step and a thumbnail image of each electronic catalog is generated. Table of contents page generation process,
In each of the electronic catalogs selected in the catalog selection step, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected in the page selection step and the table of contents page data A generating step.

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A program for causing a computer to control an information processing apparatus that provides a service for generating an electronic catalog to a terminal connected via a network,
The computer,
An operation screen including a catalog selection unit for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs, and a page selection unit for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit is generated. , Operation screen generation means to be provided to the terminal;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit via the operation screen displayed on the terminal, identification information generating means for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog composed of the page group selected by the page selection unit When,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog including the page group selected by the page selection unit and thumbnail images of the electronic catalogs is generated. Table of contents page generation means,
In each of the electronic catalogs selected by the catalog selection unit, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and the table of contents page data It functions as a generation means.

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A program for causing a computer to execute control of an information processing apparatus that generates an electronic catalog,
Catalog selecting means for selecting any electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs;
Page selection means for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection means;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selecting means, identification information generating means for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selecting means;
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and a thumbnail image of each electronic catalog is generated. Table of contents page generation means,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection means, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of a page group selected by the page selection means and the table of contents page data It functions as a generation means.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information processing apparatus which can aim at the improvement of the convenience and visibility of the new electronic catalog created from a some electronic catalog, its control method, an electronic catalog system, and a program can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example for realizing an electronic catalog system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic catalog system has a configuration in which a server 102 and a client terminal 101 are connected via a network 103.

  The client terminal 101 is installed with browser software (for example, Microsoft Internet Explorer) for connecting to the network 103 such as the Internet / intranet. The client terminal 101 is installed with browsing software (for example, Flash from Adobe Systems) that displays a thumbnail image of the catalog in a pseudo manner.

  The server 102 stores electronic data related to catalogs and the like. In response to a request from the client terminal 101, the server 102 processes the electronic data by performing processing such as searching and editing the electronic data such as the catalog, and returns the electronic data to the client terminal 101.

  In particular, in this embodiment, the server 102 provides a service for generating an electronic catalog to the client terminal 101 connected via the network 103. In providing this service, the server 102 has an operation screen generation function for generating various operation screens for generating an electronic catalog, an identification information generation function for identifying an electronic catalog, an electronic catalog creation function, and the like. .

  Next, the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus that implements the server 102 and the client terminal 101 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of this invention.

  The CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204. The ROM 202 or the external memory 211 stores a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) and an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS) which are control programs of the CPU 201. In addition, the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 stores various programs to be described later that are necessary for realizing the functions executed by the server 102 or the client terminal 101.

  The RAM 203 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201. The CPU 201 implements various operations by loading a program necessary for execution of processing into the RAM 203 and executing the program.

  The input controller 205 controls input from a keyboard (KB) 209 and a pointing device (not shown) such as a mouse. The video controller 206 controls display on a display device such as a CRT display (CRT) 210. The display device may be a liquid crystal display as well as a CRT.

  A memory controller (MC) 207 controls access to an external memory 211 that stores a boot program, browser software, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like.

  The external memory 211 includes a hard disk (HD), a floppy disk (registered trademark FD), a compact flash (registered trademark) memory connected to a PCMCIA card slot via an adapter, and the like.

  The communication I / F controller 208 is connected to and communicates with an external device via the network 103, and executes communication control processing in the network 103. For example, Internet communication using TCP / IP is possible.

  Note that the CPU 201 enables display on the CRT 210 by, for example, executing outline font rasterization processing on a display information area in the RAM 203. In addition, the CPU 201 enables a user instruction with an indicator such as a mouse cursor on the CRT 210.

  The electronic catalog generation program for realizing the present invention is stored in the external memory 211 of the server 102 and is executed by the CPU 201 by being loaded into the RAM 203 as necessary. Furthermore, the definition file and various information tables used by the electronic catalog generation program are stored in the external memory 211, and detailed description thereof will be described later.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a processing flow using the electronic catalog system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  (1) A user requests electronic data relating to a catalog (hereinafter referred to as an electronic catalog) from the client terminal 101 to the server 102. Next, the client terminal 101 displays the electronic catalog received from the server 102 on the CRT 210.

  The user opens the electronic catalog displayed on the CRT 210, selects a page that needs to be printed, and executes a print request for the selected page to the server 102.

  (2) A print request from the client terminal 101 is transferred to the server 102 via the network.

  (3) The server 102 receives a print request relating to the page selected by the user, and extracts page data corresponding to the page from the electronic catalog stored in the server 102. The extracted page data is combined to create a file in a specified file format (for example, PDF format).

  (4) The server 102 transmits the created file to the client terminal 101. If a storage location of a PDF file is specified when a print request is executed from the client terminal 101, the PDF file created at this storage location is transferred.

  (5) The user can refer to the PDF file transferred from the server 102 using the client terminal 101 via the CRT 210.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of processing for creating a PDF file on the server after the user of the embodiment of the present invention selects a page that needs to be printed from the electronic catalog and executes a print request.

  In this example, pages 3 to 4 of the electronic catalog A are set so as to be spread, and are configured with a front cover first and a back cover last. In addition, when adding a clause such as terms and conditions for printing, it is configured to print on the front page of the back cover.

  In FIG. 4, the user selects the third page and the fifth page for the electronic catalog A displayed via the CRT 210 of the client terminal 101, and executes a print request for the selected page to the server 102. To do.

  The server 102 receives the print request from the client terminal 101, extracts page data related to the selected page from the electronic catalog A stored in the server 102, and combines the extracted page data to create a PDF format file. Since three pages with the spread setting are specified this time, four pages with the same spread setting are also automatically printed.

  When it is necessary to print a clause such as a clause, data related to the clause stored in the server 102 itself is extracted and combined with the page data extracted from the electronic catalog A to create a PDF file.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen generated by an electronic catalog generation program for browsing and creating an electronic catalog according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  This operation screen (print page selection screen 500) is displayed via the CRT 210 of the client terminal 101. The user can use this print page selection screen 500 to display an electronic catalog and input instructions for processing and the like for the displayed electronic catalog.

  In the print page selection screen 500, first, a list of electronic catalogs of a plurality of types is shown, and a tab 501 (catalog selection unit) for selecting a desired electronic catalog from the list is configured. When the user selects a tab of the electronic catalog to be processed from the list displayed by the tab 501, the selected electronic catalog page is displayed in the display area 502.

  In the display area 502, the image information posted on this page is displayed for every two pages of the selected electronic catalog. In this example, catalog B is selected and the eighth and ninth pages of catalog B are displayed.

  The user can instruct the selection of the “right page” portion and the “left page” portion of the page selection tool 503 (page selection unit) via the keyboard 209 or a pointing device. If both left and right are selected, both pages will be processed. By operating the page selection tool 503, the page currently displayed in the display area 502 can be selected as a processing target.

  Then, thumbnail images of image information of pages selected by the page selection tool 503 are sequentially displayed in the processing target page display area 504 as processing target pages. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the user selects the “left page” portion of the page selection tool 503, the thumbnail image of the left page of the display area 502 (here, 8 pages of catalog B) is displayed as the processing target page. It is displayed in area 504.

  As a result, the page selected by the user can be set as a page to be processed (print target).

  Next, when the user presses the “print selected page” button 505, a print request is issued to the server 102 as a page to be printed with a page group corresponding to the thumbnail image group displayed in the processing target page display area 504. Execute.

  In addition, by operating the page switching button 506, the two pages displayed in the display area 502 are switched to the display of the two previous pages or the two subsequent pages according to the operation. be able to.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a printing method executed via the print page selection screen according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 6, the user selects a page to be printed from a plurality of electronic catalogs via the print page selection screen 500 and executes a print request to the server 102, so that the server 102 responds to the print request. An example of creating a PDF file is shown.

  Here, the user selects the electronic catalog A from the list of a plurality of electronic catalogs displayed on the print page selection screen 500, and selects the third page and the fifth page of the selected electronic catalog A. Thereafter, the electronic catalog B is selected from the list of electronic catalogs, and the second, eighth and ninth pages of the electronic catalog B are selected. Next, the electronic catalog C is selected from the list of electronic catalogs, and the fourth and seventh pages of the electronic catalog C are selected.

  Thereafter, the print request for these seven selected pages is transmitted to the server 102 by operating the “print selected page” button 505. The server 102 extracts the page data stored in itself corresponding to the print request, and combines the extracted page data to create an integrated electronic catalog made up of PDF files.

  Through the above processing, it is possible to select an electronic catalog page to be printed from a list of a plurality of electronic catalogs and print an integrated electronic catalog obtained by combining them.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an electronic catalog creation screen for newly creating an integrated electronic catalog based on the selected electronic catalog according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The electronic catalog creation screen 700 is displayed via the CRT 210 of the client terminal 101. The electronic catalog creation screen 700 includes a cover field 701 and a catalog field 702 as setting items relating to printing of the electronic catalog.

  The cover field 701 includes a radio button (cover page selection section) for selecting an arbitrary one from a plurality of types of cover page patterns, and an input field (input section) for inputting a character string to be inserted into the cover page. I have.

  Here, a radio button for selecting one of the cover patterns A to C is configured as the radio button. In addition, an input field for inputting “Title 1” and “Title 2” is provided as an input field.

  The cover pattern is a cover output pattern defined in advance by the electronic catalog generation program. Also, as input examples of the input field, for example, “Title 1” includes “Catalog for Mr. XX”, “Title 2” includes “October 2008 XX Day”, and the like.

  In the catalog field 702, thumbnail images corresponding to the number of selected electronic catalogs are displayed vertically. The initial display at this time is in the order of the selected electronic catalog. Next to each thumbnail image, a pull-down menu in which a display order value is set is configured, and the initial value is a value according to the catalog display order. On the right side of the pull-down menu for display order, radio buttons 1 to 9 are displayed, and color names are set for the respective buttons. The initial value is selected according to the display order.

  By operating these pull-down menus (display order selection part) and radio buttons (identification information selection part), the display order of electronic catalogs and the color of the band color assigned to each electronic catalog can be selected and specified. Can do.

  However, the electronic catalog creation screen 700 is controlled so that the same “display order” is not set between a plurality of electronic catalogs. Further, the electronic catalog creation screen 700 is controlled so that the same “band color” is not set in a plurality of electronic catalogs. Thus, the band color functions as unique identification information for the electronic catalog.

  Then, by pressing a “print” button 703, the catalog ID uniquely assigned to the electronic catalog, the selected display order, and the color information of the selected band color are determined, and the determined display order, color Printing according to the information is executed. Specifically, a print request including these setting information is transmitted to the server 102, and the server 102 extracts page data corresponding to the print request. At the same time, the server 102 creates cover data and table of contents data, combines these data, and creates a PDF format file to create a new integrated electronic catalog.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic catalog newly created in the setting state on the electronic catalog creation screen 700 of FIG. 7 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 8, at the left end, the cover page selected in “Pattern” in FIG. 7 is formed as the first page (P01). On the second and third pages (P02, P03), the thumbnail image of the electronic catalog A and the page of the electronic catalog A are started from the fourth page (P04) (starting page) and selected. A table of contents page showing the color of the color type is displayed. The same applies to the electronic catalog B and the electronic catalog C.

  In addition, after the fourth page (P04), the page selected for the electronic catalog is displayed for each selected electronic catalog.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an electronic catalog table related to information on the electronic catalog stored in the server according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The electronic catalog table 900 includes a catalog information table 901, a data / file relation table 902, a content information table 903, a setting table 904, and a cover table 905.

  The catalog information related to the electronic catalog managed by the catalog information table 901 is linked with N (N: natural number) contents, and one content corresponds to one page of the electronic catalog. For one content, a page-format PDF file and a thumbnail image of the page are managed in an image storage folder.

  In the catalog information table 901, catalog information such as a catalog name and an issue date is managed for a catalog ID (data / file relation table 902) that uniquely identifies an electronic catalog. The catalog information is associated with a content ID that uniquely identifies content related to the catalog ID. The content information table 903 manages file size, file storage location, file name, information indicating whether the page is a spread page, and the like for one content ID.

  A setting table 904 manages settings for indicating the presence or absence of security settings for catalog information.

  As a cover page pattern, a cover name, a cover storage location, and the like are managed in the cover table 905 for a unique identification ID. Cover data relating to each cover page is managed in a cover storage folder.

  It is assumed that when a PDF file is registered in the server 102, a mechanism for generating thumbnail images after dividing each page is already implemented.

  Processing in the electronic catalog system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  First, the client terminal 101 displays a catalog search screen 1000 on the CRT 210 in order to make a request to display a list of electronic catalogs. The user transmits a request for displaying a list of electronic catalogs to the server 102 via the catalog search screen 1000.

  Here, an example of the catalog search screen 1000 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a catalog search screen according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The catalog search screen 1000 includes an input field 1001 for inputting various search conditions necessary for searching an electronic catalog. Here, the catalog ID, catalog name, direction, departure place, and comment are used as search conditions. As for the direction, a plurality of directions can be selected together.

  A reset button 1002 is pressed to reset the contents input in the input field 1001. When the execute button 1003 is pressed, a request for displaying a list of electronic catalogs using the setting value input in the input field 1001 as a search condition is transmitted from the client terminal 101 to the server 102.

  The server 102 that has received the request searches the electronic catalog corresponding to the search condition included in the request, and from the list of catalog information including the thumbnail image, catalog ID, and catalog name for identifying the corresponding electronic catalog. The search result list screen 1100 is returned to the client terminal 101. Needless to say, the catalog information is obtained from the catalog information table 901, the data / file relation table 902, the content information table 903, and the image storage folder shown in FIG. However, the content ID is set in advance so that an ID representing a thumbnail image can be identified.

  Here, an example of the search result list screen 1100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search result list screen according to the embodiment of this invention.

  The search result list screen 1100 includes a re-search button 1101, an arrangement order switching button 1102, a page switching button 1103, a search result list display area 1104, and a page selection button 1105.

  The re-search button 1101 is a button for displaying the catalog search screen 1000 again and re-entering the search conditions to search for an electronic catalog that matches the new search conditions.

  The arrangement order switching button 1102 is a button for rearranging the arrangement of the search result list displayed in the search result list display area 1104 under a specified condition. This includes, for example, rearranging catalog IDs in ascending / descending order.

  The page switching button 1103 is a button for switching to a search result list page configured before and after all search results cannot be displayed in the search result list display area 1104.

  The search result list display area 1104 is an area for displaying a search result list. Here, thumbnail images, catalog IDs, catalog names, and the like of the electronic catalog are displayed. In addition, a check box is prepared for the thumbnail image of each electronic catalog, and the electronic catalog to be processed can be selected by checking this check box.

  The page selection button 1105 is a button for displaying a print page selection screen 500 (FIG. 5) for generating a new integrated electronic catalog based on a plurality of selected electronic catalogs.

  Hereinafter, a processing flow after displaying the search result list screen will be described.

  12A to 12D are flowcharts showing processing in the electronic catalog system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In step S1201 of FIG. 12A, the client terminal 101 displays the returned search result list screen 1100 on the CRT 210. In step S <b> 1202, when the electronic catalog is selected via the search result list screen 1100 and the page selection button 1105 is pressed, the client terminal 101 requests the print page selection screen 500 to the server 102. When making a request, information including the catalog ID of the selected electronic catalog is transmitted to the server 102.

  In step S1203, the server 102 generates a print page selection screen 500 (FIG. 5) in response to the request, acquires a thumbnail image corresponding to the content ID corresponding to the transmitted catalog ID from the image storage folder, Reply to the client terminal 101.

  In step S1204, the client terminal 101 displays the received print page selection screen 500 on the CRT 210. In step S <b> 1205, the client terminal 101 selects a page to be processed by an operation on the print page selection screen 500. Here, the page transition process is performed at the time of selection. However, a decrease in processing speed is avoided by internally acquiring two pages before and after displaying at the timing of turning the page and displaying them as a cache.

  After the page selection on the displayed print page selection screen 500 is completed, the client terminal 101 selects the server 102 when the “print selected page” button 505 on the print page selection screen 500 is pressed in step S1206. Send page information.

Here, the selected page information is
・ Catalog ID (unique number for each electronic catalog)
-Selected page number (not the content ID but the selected page number)
The server 102 holds the selected page information.

  When selecting a page from a plurality of electronic catalogs, a tab 501 different from the currently selected tab 501 may be selected on the print page selection screen 500 returned from the server 102. At this time, thumbnail images of other electronic catalog pages that have already been selected are displayed in the processing target page display area 504.

  In step S1207 of FIG. 12B, the server 102 receives the selected page information. In step 1208, the cover data of the cover page to be inserted into the electronic catalog is acquired with reference to the cover table 905. In step S1209, the server 102 acquires the content ID corresponding to the catalog ID included in the selected page information from the data / file association table 902, and refers to the content information table 903 for the file storage location corresponding to the acquired content ID. Get. Then, the thumbnail image stored in the acquired file storage location is acquired. In step S1210, the server 102 generates an electronic catalog creation screen 700 (FIG. 7) based on the acquired cover data and the acquired thumbnail image, and transmits it to the client terminal 101.

  In step S1211, the client terminal 101 displays the received electronic catalog creation screen 700 on the CRT 210.

  In step S <b> 1212, the client terminal 101 detects selection and input to the radio button and input field in the cover field 701 in response to an operation on the electronic catalog creation screen 700, and temporarily stores the selected setting information in the RAM 203. To do. Further, the client terminal 101 detects the setting of the value indicating the display order and band color in the catalog field 702 and temporarily stores the setting value in the RAM 203.

  In step S 1213, when the “print” button 703 is pressed, the client terminal 101 transmits a print request including the catalog ID, the selected display order, and the selected band color setting information to the server 102. At that time, the following check is performed when the “print” button 703 is pressed.

An error occurs if the same “display order” exists in multiple catalogs. • An error occurs if the same “band color” exists in multiple catalogs. In step S1214, the server 102 issues a print request from the client terminal 101. Receive.

  In step S1215, the server 102 acquires “Title 1”, “Title 2”, and “Pattern” of the cover from the setting information included in the received print request, and covers the PDF file that has already been created. Perform page overlay processing. The generated PDF format file is stored in the RAM 203 as a temporary area as cover page information (display page data).

  Next, in step S1216, the server 102 executes page combination processing for the selected page for the selected catalog ID that has the smallest display order, generates a PDF file, and stores it in the RAM 203 as a temporary area. At this time, whether or not the spread setting exists in the selected page is checked with reference to the content information table 903 of the electronic catalog table 900. If the spread setting exists, the page is added with the target page added. Execute join processing.

  Details of the page combining process in step S1216 in FIG. 12C will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing details of the page combining process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In step S300, the server 102 acquires a catalog ID from the setting information included in the print request received from the client terminal 101, and acquires a value such as a selected page from the selected page information corresponding to the acquired catalog ID.

  In step S301, the server 102 sets the first page of the selected page as a processing page in order to process the selected pages in order.

  In step S302, the server 102 refers to the data / file relation table 902 for “processing page” and identifies the content ID of the processing page. Thereafter, the server 102 refers to the content information table 903 and determines whether or not a spread page is set for the processing page based on the presence or absence of the spread setting.

  If a spread page is set (YES in step S302), the process proceeds to step S303. On the other hand, if the spread page is not set (NO in step S302), the process proceeds to step S310.

  In step S303, the server 102 compares the content ID of the spread page acquired from the content information table 903 with the content ID of the processing page. Based on the comparison, it is determined whether or not the page set as the spread page is smaller than the processing page.

  If the page set to spread is smaller than the processing page (YES in step S303), the process proceeds to step S304. In this case, the server 102 determines that the page that is set to spread is to be combined before the processing page because the page is set to the left page of the spread.

  In step S304, the server 102 refers to the content information table 903 from the content IDs of the spread page and the processing page, acquires the corresponding page file, and executes the page combination processing. In the case of this embodiment, this page combining process executes a PDF file combining process. In this case, the server 102 combines the spread pages before the processing page to create a PDF file. The server 102 also stores the PDF file generated by the page combination process in the temporary area.

  On the other hand, if the page set for spread is larger than the processing page (NO in step S303), the process proceeds to step S305. In this case, the server 102 determines that the page that is set to spread is to be combined after the processing page because it is the right page of the spread.

  In step S305, the server 102 refers to the content information table 903 from the content IDs of the spread page and the processing page, acquires the corresponding page file, and executes the page combination processing. In the case of this embodiment, this page combining process executes a PDF file combining process. In this case, the server 102 creates a PDF file by combining the spread pages after the processing page. The server 102 also stores the PDF file generated by the page combination process in the temporary area.

  In step S306, it is determined whether or not the end page flag stored in the RAM 203 is zero. Here, the end page flag indicates whether or not the processing page is a page for which processing has been completed. If the value is “0”, it indicates that the processing has been completed. "Indicates that the page has not been processed.

  If it is 0 (YES in step S306), it is determined that the page is an end page, and the process proceeds to step S312. On the other hand, if it is not 0 (NO in step S306), that is, if 1, it proceeds to step S307.

  In step S <b> 307, the server 102 performs page combination processing on the PDF file including the PDF file of the blank page and the page data stored in the temporary area, and replaces the file with the temporary area file. Further, the server 102 sets 0 to the end page flag. Here, the reason for executing the page combination process with the blank page is that the blank page needs to be inserted before the spread page in the PDF file stored in the temporary area in order to maintain the spread configuration. Because there is.

  Note that the PDF file of the blank page is stored in the server 102 in advance.

  In step S310, the server 102 refers to the content information table 903, acquires a PDF format file including page data of the processing page, and stores the file in the temporary area. Further, the server 102 sets 0 to the end page flag.

  In step S312, a page combination process for combining a PDF file related to page data stored in the temporary area at the end of the PDF file related to the electronic catalog stored in the temporary area is executed. Then, the obtained file is replaced with a file in PDF format related to the electronic catalog in the temporary area.

  In step S313, it is determined whether or not the “processing page” is the last page in the electronic catalog. If it is not the last page (NO in step S313), the process proceeds to step S314. In step S314, the server 102 sets the next page of the processing page to “processing page”, and returns to step S301. In step S305, the page combination process for each electronic catalog is completed. On the other hand, if it is the last page (YES in step S313), the process ends.

  Returning to FIG. 12C, in step S1217, overlay processing is executed on the PDF file stored in each temporary area using the band color selected by the client terminal 101. Then, the obtained PDF file is replaced with the PDF file related to the electronic catalog stored in the temporary area and stored. At this time, the number of pages of the PDF format file stored in the temporary area is recorded in the RAM 203.

  In step S1218, the server 102 determines whether the processes in steps S1216 and S1217 have been completed for the number of selected electronic catalogs (the number of catalog IDs). If not completed (NO in step S1218), the process returns to step S1216. On the other hand, if completed (YES in step S1218), the flow advances to step S1219.

  In step S1219, the server 102 reads table of contents form data for creating a table of contents of the electronic catalog. In step S1220, the server 102 adds the cover page (1 page) and the table of contents page (2 pages) to the number of pages for each electronic catalog stored in the RAM 203. Further, the server 102 calculates a start page number for each electronic catalog. Then, the server 102 stores the information regarding the total number of pages of the obtained electronic catalog and the start page number for each electronic catalog in the RAM 203 as setting information.

  In step S1221, the server 102 acquires band color information of the electronic catalog from the setting information included in the print request.

  In step S1222, the server 102 determines whether or not the processing in steps S1220 and S1221 has been completed for the number of selected electronic catalogs (the number of catalog IDs). If not completed (NO in step S1222), the process returns to step S1220. On the other hand, if it has been completed (YES in step S1222), the process proceeds to step S1222.

  In step S1223, the server 102 generates table of contents page information to be a table of contents page based on the table of contents form data.

  Specifically, first, the server 102 acquires the content ID linked in the data / file relation table 902 based on the catalog ID of the electronic catalog that appears. Next, the server 102 acquires the thumbnail image stored in the file storage location from the content information table 903 from the acquired content ID from the image storage folder. The server 102 executes this process for the selected number of electronic catalogs. Then, the server 102 performs overlay processing on the table of contents page for the acquired thumbnail image, the band color and the starting page number of each acquired electronic catalog, and displays the table of contents page (two pages of spread pages) as table of contents page information (table of contents page). Data) in the temporary area.

  In step S1224, the server 102 combines the cover page information, the table of contents page information, and the page information obtained by adding processing such as band color to the output target page selected by the user in the temporary area, and stores the catalog state file. Is generated as integrated electronic catalog information. The server 102 stores the integrated electronic catalog information in the temporary area.

  As described above, the server 102 generates a final integrated electronic catalog by combining the cover page, the table of contents page (2 pages), and each electronic catalog in this order.

  In step S <b> 1225, the server 102 reads the security setting information with reference to the setting table 904 for the electronic catalog constituting the integrated electronic catalog. In step 1226, the server 102 determines whether or not to give a security setting based on the security setting information of each electronic catalog constituting the read integrated electronic catalog.

  If any of the security setting information of each electronic catalog constituting the integrated electronic catalog has a security setting (YES in step S1226), it is determined that the security setting is to be added, and the process proceeds to step S1227. On the other hand, if there is no security setting in any of the security setting information of each electronic catalog that constitutes the integrated electronic catalog (NO in step S1226), it is determined that no security setting is given, and the process proceeds to step S1228.

  When the value of the security setting information is “0”, there is no security setting, and when the value of the security setting information is “1”, there is a security setting. In the present embodiment, when there is no security setting, a PDF file (electronic catalog) already stored in the temporary area is returned to the client terminal 101. On the other hand, in the case of the security setting, the print prohibition is set for the PDF file stored in the temporary area and replaced with the PDF file stored in the temporary area.

  In step S1227, the server 102 sets printing prohibition for the PDF file (integrated electronic catalog information) stored in the temporary area, and the PDF file (integrated electronic catalog) stored in the temporary area. Information).

  In step S1228, the server 102 transmits the integrated electronic catalog information stored in the temporary area to the client terminal 101.

  In step S1229, the client terminal 101 receives the PDF file (integrated electronic catalog information) received from the server 102, and displays the electronic catalog on the CRT 210 based on the received file.

  In the above-described embodiment, it is determined that the security setting is given when any of the security setting information of each of the electronic catalogs constituting the integrated electronic catalog has a security setting. However, the present invention is not limited to this. . Of course, different output settings may be made so that security settings are assigned to each electronic catalog constituting the integrated electronic catalog according to the security setting information of each electronic catalog constituting the integrated electronic catalog. .

  Here, the output settings include various output settings such as copy prohibition, edit prohibition, and mail attachment prohibition, in addition to the above-described print prohibition.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to generate an integrated electronic catalog with information such as a table of contents page and an arbitrary name after combining pages selected from a plurality of electronic catalogs. An electronic catalog with high visibility can be generated.

  In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the electronic catalog is generated between the client terminal and the server has been described. However, the present invention can be realized with a single client terminal by mounting all the functions realized by the server on the client terminal. Is also possible.

  Although the embodiment has been described in detail above, the present invention can take an embodiment as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or storage medium. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

  In the present invention, a software program (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in the drawing) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is directly or remotely supplied to a system or apparatus. In addition, this includes a case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, or the like.

  Examples of the recording medium for supplying the program include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, and an optical disk. Further, as a recording medium, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R), etc. is there.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. Then, the computer program of the present invention itself or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from a homepage of the connection destination to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. Further, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can be realized by the processing.

  Further, the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration example which implement | achieves the electronic catalog system of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the processing flow using the electronic catalog system of embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of processing for creating a PDF file on the server after the user of the embodiment of the present invention selects a page that needs to be printed from an electronic catalog and executes a print request. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation screen produced | generated by the electronic catalog production | generation program for browsing and producing the electronic catalog of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the printing method performed via the print page selection screen of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the electronic catalog creation screen for creating a new integrated electronic catalog based on the selected electronic catalog of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the electronic catalog newly produced in the setting state in the electronic catalog creation screen 700 of FIG. 7 of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the electronic catalog table regarding the information of the electronic catalog stored in the server of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the catalog search screen of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the search result list screen of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process in the electronic catalog system of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process in the electronic catalog system of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process in the electronic catalog system of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process in the electronic catalog system of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the page combination process of embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101 Client terminal 102 Server 103 Network

Claims (11)

An information processing apparatus that provides a service for generating an electronic catalog to a terminal connected via a network,
An operation screen including a catalog selection unit for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs, and a page selection unit for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit is generated. , Operation screen generation means to be provided to the terminal;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit via the operation screen displayed on the terminal, identification information generating means for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog composed of the page group selected by the page selection unit When,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog including the page group selected by the page selection unit and thumbnail images of the electronic catalogs is generated. Table of contents page generation means,
In each of the electronic catalogs selected by the catalog selection unit, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and the table of contents page data An information processing apparatus comprising: generating means. The integrated electronic catalog is created including a display order selecting unit that selects a display order of each electronic catalog including the page group selected by the page selecting unit, and an identification information selecting unit that selects the unique identification information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising electronic catalog creation screen generation means for generating an electronic catalog creation screen for providing the terminal to the terminal. The electronic catalog creation screen further includes a cover page selection unit for selecting a cover page of the integrated electronic catalog and an input unit for inputting a character string to be inserted into the cover page. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the table of contents page generation unit further generates table of contents page data including a start page number of a page group of each electronic catalog as the table of contents page data. When one of the two pages constituting the spread page is selected by the page selection unit, the electronic catalog generation means further combines the other page with the integrated electronic catalog. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is selected as a page of an electronic catalog. Storage means for storing the plurality of electronic catalogs each assigned security setting information;
Transmission means for transmitting the integrated electronic catalog to the terminal;
The transmitting means transmits the integrated electronic catalog to the terminal by changing the output setting of the integrated electronic catalog based on security setting information of each electronic catalog constituting the integrated electronic catalog. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. An information processing apparatus for generating an electronic catalog,
Catalog selection means for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs;
Page selection means for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection means;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selecting means, identification information generating means for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selecting means;
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and a thumbnail image of each electronic catalog is generated. Table of contents page generation means,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection means, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of a page group selected by the page selection means and the table of contents page data An information processing apparatus comprising: generating means. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus that provides a service for generating an electronic catalog to a terminal connected via a network,
An operation screen including a catalog selection unit for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs, and a page selection unit for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit is generated. , An operation screen generation step to be provided to the terminal;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit via the operation screen displayed on the terminal, an identification information generation step of generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog composed of the page group selected by the page selection unit When,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog including the page group selected by the page selection unit and thumbnail images of the electronic catalogs is generated. Table of contents page generation process,
In each of the electronic catalogs selected by the catalog selection unit, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and the table of contents page data An information processing apparatus control method comprising: a generation step. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus that generates an electronic catalog,
A catalog selection process for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs;
A page selection step of selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection step;
In the electronic catalog selected in the catalog selection step, an identification information generation step for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected in the page selection step;
In each electronic catalog selected in the catalog selection step, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected in the page selection step and a thumbnail image of each electronic catalog is generated. Table of contents page generation process,
In each of the electronic catalogs selected in the catalog selection step, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected in the page selection step and the table of contents page data An information processing apparatus control method comprising: a generation step. A program for causing a computer to control an information processing apparatus that provides a service for generating an electronic catalog to a terminal connected via a network,
The computer,
An operation screen including a catalog selection unit for selecting an arbitrary electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs, and a page selection unit for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit is generated. , Operation screen generation means to be provided to the terminal;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit via the operation screen displayed on the terminal, identification information generating means for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog composed of the page group selected by the page selection unit When,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog including the page group selected by the page selection unit and thumbnail images of the electronic catalogs is generated. Table of contents page generation means,
In each of the electronic catalogs selected by the catalog selection unit, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and the table of contents page data A program characterized by functioning as a generation means. A program for causing a computer to execute control of an information processing apparatus that generates an electronic catalog,
Catalog selecting means for selecting any electronic catalog from a plurality of electronic catalogs;
Page selection means for selecting an arbitrary page from pages constituting the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection means;
In the electronic catalog selected by the catalog selecting means, identification information generating means for generating unique identification information for the electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selecting means;
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection unit, table-of-contents page data including the identification information for each electronic catalog consisting of the page group selected by the page selection unit and a thumbnail image of each electronic catalog is generated. Table of contents page generation means,
In each electronic catalog selected by the catalog selection means, an electronic catalog for generating a new integrated electronic catalog by combining each electronic catalog consisting of a page group selected by the page selection means and the table of contents page data A program characterized by functioning as a generation means.

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