JP2014039202A - Information transmission apparatus and information transmission method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information transmission apparatus and an information transmission method in which a work for checking an error of a transmission destination can be performed efficiently.SOLUTION: The information transmission apparatus has: an input section for inputting address information; a storage section for storing comparison target information to be compared with the address information; a comparison target extraction section for calculating visual similarity degree between the address information and the comparison target information, and extracts the comparison target information which is similar to the address information among the comparison target information on the basis of the calculated visual similarity degree; and an address information comparison section for comparing the address information and the comparison target information extracted by the comparison target extraction section to extract differences.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an information transmission apparatus and an information transmission method.

There is an information transmission device that transmits predetermined information to a specified destination. Examples of the information transmission apparatus include a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) having a mail transmission function, and an image forming apparatus (MFP, fax, etc.) having an image information transmission function such as a fax transmission function and a read image mail transmission function. ).

As a method for specifying a transmission destination in such an information transmission device, for example, a method in which a user manually inputs destination information such as an email address or a fax number from an input device (touch panel, keyboard, etc.), or a plurality of destinations are registered. There is a method of selecting one or a plurality of destinations from the address book.

At this time, there is a problem that an input error of the transmission destination occurs. To solve this problem, there is a method of reducing a transmission destination designation error by confirming a confirmation item set in advance when the user designates a transmission destination.

In such a method, by increasing the number of confirmation items of the user, the possibility of making a transmission destination designation error due to forgetting confirmation or confirmation leakage can be further reduced. However,
There is a problem that increasing the number of confirmation items increases the amount of work for the user.

JP 2008-70982 A

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an information transmitting apparatus and an information transmitting method that make it possible to efficiently perform an operation of confirming a transmission destination error.

The information transmission apparatus according to the embodiment calculates an input unit that inputs destination information, a storage unit that stores comparison target information to be compared with the destination information, and a visual similarity between the destination information and the comparison target information. The comparison target extraction unit that extracts the comparison target information similar to the destination information out of the comparison target information based on the visual similarity is compared with the comparison target information extracted by the comparison target extraction unit and the destination information.
A destination information comparison unit that extracts a different part.

The figure which shows an example of the basic composition which concerns on the information transmitter of embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the function structure which concerns on the information transmitter of embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the comparison object information which concerns on the information transmitter of embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the information transmission process which concerns on the information transmission apparatus of embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the destination information which concerns on the information transmitter of embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the comparison object information extraction process which concerns on the information transmitter of embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the different character extraction process which concerns on the information transmitter of embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the visual similarity calculation process which concerns on the information transmitter of embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the output result which concerns on the information transmitter of embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the output result which concerns on the information transmitter of embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an information transmission apparatus according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a basic configuration of an information transmission device 10 and peripheral devices according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the information transmission device 10 is connected to the input device 20, the image output device 30, and the network 40, and communicates with other devices via the network 40. The information transmission device 10 operates based on information input by the user using the input device 20, and outputs an operation result to the image output device 30. The information communication apparatus 10 is configured by, for example, a general personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC).

  Next, the functional configuration of the information transmission apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information transmission apparatus 10 includes a communication unit 11, an input unit 12, an information transmission unit 13, an information storage unit 14, a comparison target extraction unit 15, a destination information comparison unit 16, a display information generation unit 17, and an image. The output unit 18 is configured.

  The communication unit 11 communicates with other devices via the network 40.

  The input unit 12 receives various information input by the user using the input device 20.

The information transmission unit 13 transmits information to other devices via the communication unit 11. The information is, for example, an electronic mail (hereinafter referred to as e-mail). Further, the information transmission unit 13 is based on instruction information such as destination information (hereinafter referred to as destination information) received from the input unit 12.
Sends various information that exists within. That is, the information transmission unit 13 sets the destination information received by the input unit 12 as an information transmission destination. Note that description of the function for storing the information to be transmitted is omitted here.

The information storage unit 14 includes address information of an information transmission destination and a transmission source, and a comparison target extraction unit 1 described later.
5 stores destination information to be compared (hereinafter referred to as comparison target information).
The address information of this embodiment includes a mail address and a display name of the mail address.
The display name of the mail address is a name of the mail address set in advance. For example, the name of the owner of the mail address, the organization to which the owner belongs, the company name, the title, etc. are set.

The comparison target information is, for example, transmitted address information transmitted by the information transmitting apparatus 10 in the past,
This is address information of a sender that has been received in the past, address information registered in advance, and the like.
The information storage unit 14 also stores usage frequencies such as transmission frequency and reception frequency associated with the comparison target information as necessary.

Here, FIG. 3 shows an example of the comparison target information table 140 that stores the comparison target information of this embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the comparison target information table 140 of this embodiment stores an address 141 included in the comparison target information, a display name 142 of the address, and an importance 143.

The address 141 is transmitted destination information transmitted by the information transmitting apparatus 10 in the past, address information of a transmission source received in the past, and previously registered address information.

The display name 142 is the owner name of the address information stored in the address 141, the company name to which it belongs, and the business department to which it belongs.

The importance level 143 is an importance level that expresses the degree to which the user who has input the address frequently uses or the familiar depth as a numerical value, and the numerical value stored in the importance level 143 is transmitted to the address 141 in the past. Alternatively, it is calculated based on the number of times received in the past from the address 141, the frequency, the time elapsed since the last transmission / reception time, the group information designated by the user, and the like. The importance 143 increases as the number and frequency increase, and the importance 143 increases as the time elapsed from the last transmission / reception time decreases. Since a technique for assigning such importance 143 is common, it will not be described in detail.

When the input unit 12 receives the destination information, the comparison target extraction unit 15 extracts the comparison target information most similar to the destination information from the information storage unit 14 using the destination information as a search key. As a method of extracting comparison target information, for example, there is a method of extracting comparison target information visually similar to the search key destination information from the comparison target information stored in the information storage unit 14. The comparison target information that is visually similar is extracted by visual similarity calculation processing described later in this embodiment.

In the visual similarity calculation process, the comparison target extraction unit 15 uses the information storage unit based on the visual similarity between each comparison target information stored in the information storage unit 14 and the destination information input from the input unit 12. The comparison target information is extracted from 14. Note that the comparison target extraction unit 15 of the present embodiment may extract the comparison target information having a high degree of visual similarity and the importance level 143 associated with the comparison target information. The comparison target information having both high importance 143 and visual similarity is, for example, importance 14
The comparison target information has the highest product of 3 and visual similarity.

The visual similarity is a value indicating how much the received destination information and the comparison target information are as data, and not only the character match but also the visual similarity (for example, “C” and “G” are similar) ) Is also a similarity that takes into account. As a technique for calculating such visual similarity, it is conceivable to use a technique described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-85556.

As a method for comparing the similarity of character strings such as visual similarity, there is a method such as “DP matching”. In this method, the degree of similarity is highest when the character strings are completely matched, and the degree of similarity decreases as the number of characters between different characters, missing characters, or different characters increases. That is, in DP matching, the similarity is lowest when all characters are different.

The destination information comparison unit 16 compares the comparison target information similar to the destination information extracted by the comparison target extraction unit 15 with the destination information set in the information transmission unit 13, and compares different characters (hereinafter,
Extract the difference character).

The display information generation unit 17 highlights the destination information set in the information transmitted by the information transmission unit 13 and highlights the difference characters from the comparison target information extracted by the destination information comparison unit 16 (hereinafter, emphasized). Display destination information). The highlighting is realized, for example, by changing the background color of the corresponding character, performing reverse display, changing the size, font or thickness of the character, or drawing an underline.

The image output unit 18 is connected to the image output device 30 and outputs the highlighted display destination information generated by the display information generation unit 17 as an image. That is, the image output unit 18 receives the destination information comparison unit 1.
The destination information in which the different characters extracted by 6 are highlighted is displayed on the image output device 30.

  With reference to FIGS. 4 to 10, the operation of the information transmitting apparatus 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of information transmission processing in the information transmission apparatus 10.
Note that the flowchart in FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation from the input of destination information to the information transmission process until it is highlighted, and the information transmission operation is not illustrated.

First, the destination information input by the user using the input device 20 is input to the input unit 1 of the information transmission device 10.
2 receives (step S10). FIG. 5 shows an example of the destination information 121 received by the input unit 12.

As shown in FIG. 5, the destination information 121 input in this embodiment includes an address 122 and a display name 123. The address 122 is “ee@xy.co.jp” and the display name 12
3 is “Saburo Ebetsu xxx Co., Ltd. △ part”.

The comparison target extraction unit 15 is based on the destination information 121 received by the input unit 12.
4, the comparison target information most similar to the destination information 121 is extracted (step S20). The process of step S20 is hereinafter referred to as a comparison target extraction process.

Specifically, a visual similarity calculation process for calculating the visual similarity between the comparison target information stored in the comparison target information table 140 of the information storage unit 14 and the destination information 121 received from the input unit 12 is performed. The comparison target information with the highest visual similarity is extracted as comparison target information that is most similar to the destination information.

Here, with reference to FIG. 6, the comparison object information extraction process by the comparison object extraction unit 15 in the present embodiment will be described.

The comparison target extraction process of the present embodiment starts when the comparison target extraction unit 15 receives the destination information 121 from the input unit 12. In addition, the display name 142 stored in the comparison target information table 140 and the destination information 12 received from the input unit 12 in the comparison target extraction process of the present embodiment.
The visual similarity is calculated by comparing with one display name 123. The display name 123 of the destination information 121 received from the input unit 12 may be input together with the address information 122 from the input device 20, or the address stored in the information storage unit 14 based on the address information 122 of the destination information 121. Information 141 is searched, and display name 1 associated with address information 141 of the search result
42 may be used.

First, the comparison target extraction unit 15 includes a comparison target information table 14 stored in the information storage unit 14.
If unacquired comparison target information is included in step S22 described later (No in step S21), one unacquired comparison target information is acquired from the information storage unit (step S22).

The comparison target extraction unit 15 performs a different character extraction process on the extracted comparison target information (step S23).

  With reference to FIG. 7, the different character extraction process in this embodiment is demonstrated.

As shown in FIG. 7, the comparison target extraction unit 15 initializes the variable i by substituting 1 into 1 (step S51). The comparison target extraction unit 15 determines whether the i-th character included in the display name 123 of the destination information 121 is included in the display name 142 of the comparison target information extracted in step S22 (step S52). ).

When the i-th character included in the display name 123 is not included in the display name 142 of the comparison target information acquired in step S <b> 22 (No in step S <b> 52), the comparison target extraction unit 15 sets the display name 123. The i-th character included is added to the “difference character list A (hereinafter referred to as list A)” (step S53). On the other hand, when the i-th character included in the display name 123 is included in the display name 142 acquired in step S22 (Yes in step S52).
s) The comparison target extraction unit 15 does not perform the process of step S53, and proceeds to step S54.

When the number of characters included in the display name 123 is not i characters (No in step S54), the comparison target extraction unit 15 increments the number assigned to i by 1 (step S55), and then step S5.
Return to 2 and repeat the process.

When the number of characters included in the display name 123 is i characters (step S54 is Yes), the comparison target extraction unit 15 substitutes 1 for i and initializes it (step S56). Subsequently, the comparison target extraction unit 15 determines whether the i-th character of the display name 142 included in the acquired comparison target information is included in the display name 123 of the destination information 121 (step S57). .

When the i-th character included in the display name 142 is not included in the display name 123 of the destination information 121 (No in step S57), the comparison target extraction unit 15 determines that the i-th character included in the display name 142. The character is added to the “difference character list B (hereinafter referred to as list B)” (step S58). On the other hand, when the i-th character included in the display name 142 is included in the display name 123 of the destination information 121 (Yes in step S57), the comparison target extraction unit 15 does not perform the process of step S58, Proceed to S59.

When the number of characters included in the display name 142 is not i characters (No in Step S59), the comparison target extraction unit 15 increases the number assigned to i by 1 (Step S60), and then Step S5.
Return to 7 and repeat the process.

When the number of characters included in the display name 142 is i characters (Yes in step S59), the comparison target extraction unit 15 ends the different character extraction process. That is, the list A and the list B are created in the different character extraction process of the present embodiment. The list A stores characters that are different from the characters of the display name 142 of the comparison target information among the characters included in the display name 123 of the destination information.
The list B includes the display name 12 of the destination information among the characters included in the display name 142 of the comparison target information.
Characters different from the character 3 are stored.

For example, when the display name 142 of the comparison target information is “Iirou Jiro xxx accounting department” shown in the second line of FIG. 3, the list A contains “catch, picture, three, y, stock, formula, association, Nine characters “△, ●” are stored, and list B stores five characters “I, I, II, Kyo, Sei”.

Returning to the description of FIG. Based on the difference character extraction result, the comparison target extraction unit 15 uses the destination information 12
It is determined whether or not the number of different characters between the display name 123 of 1 and the display 142 of the comparison target information acquired in step S22 is 0 (step S24).

When the number of different characters is 0 (Yes in step S24), the comparison target extraction unit 15 calculates an edit distance between the display name 123 of the destination information 121 and the display name 142 of the comparison target information acquired in step S22 ( Step S25). The edit distance is a numerical value indicating how different two character strings are.

The comparison target extraction unit 15 sets the reciprocal of the edit distance of the calculation result as the visual similarity between the destination information 121 and the comparison target information acquired in step S22 (step S26).
If the number of different characters is not 0 (No in step S24), that is, if there are different characters in the display name 123 of the destination information 121 and the display name 142 of the comparison target information acquired in step S22, the comparison target extraction unit 15 Then, visual similarity calculation processing is performed (step S27).

Here, an example of the visual similarity calculation process of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, the number of characters stored in the list A is α, and the number of characters stored in the list B is β.

First, the comparison target extraction unit 15 checks whether or not the number of characters α included in the list A is 0 (step S71). When the number of characters α included in the list A is 0 (Yes in step S71), the comparison target extraction unit 15 determines (1−number of characters β in list B / display name 1 of comparison target information).
42) is calculated as the visual similarity (step S72), and the visual similarity calculation process is terminated.

If the number of characters α included in the list A is not 0 (No in step S71), the comparison target extraction unit 15 checks whether the number of characters β included in the list B is 0 (step S73).
.

When the number of characters β included in the list B is 0 (Yes in step S73), the comparison target extraction unit 15 uses (1−number of characters α of list A / number of characters of display name 123 of destination information) as the visual similarity. Calculation (step S74), and the visual similarity calculation process is terminated.

When the number of characters β included in the list B is not 0 (No in step S73), the comparison target extraction unit 15 sets i = 1, j = 1, and s = for each of the variables i, j, s, d, sa, and da. 1, d =
1, sa = 0 and da = 0 are substituted (step S75).

Subsequently, the comparison target extraction unit 15 calculates the total number of pixels of each pixel number of the i-th character image of the list A and the j-th character image of the list B (step S76). ).
Further, the comparison target extraction unit 15 calculates the number of different pixels between the image of the i-th character in the list A and the image of the j-th character in the list B (step S77). The calculation of the number of different pixels is performed by, for example, determining a pixel having a difference in pixel value of a pixel at a corresponding position in the character image of the i-th character in list A and the character image of the j-th character in list B as a different pixel. Determination is made and the number of different pixels is calculated. Note that the processing order of steps S76 and S77 can be switched.

The comparison target extraction unit 15 compares the ratio of the number of different pixels to the calculated total number of pixels (that is, the number of different pixels / the total number of pixels) and d / s (step S78).

When the number of different pixels / the total number of pixels is smaller than d / s (Yes in step S78), the comparison target extraction unit 15 substitutes the number of different pixels for d and the total number of pixels for s (step S79).
If the number of different pixels / the total number of pixels is equal to or greater than d / s (No in step S78), the comparison target extraction unit 15 does not perform step S79 but proceeds to step S80. As a result, i in list A
The degree of difference between the character image and the character in the list B that is most similar to the character image is calculated.

If j is not equal to the number β of characters in list B (No in step S80), the comparison target extraction unit 15 sets j = j + 1 (step S82), returns to step S76, and repeats the process.

If j is equal to the number of characters β in list B in step S80 (Yes in step S80)
The comparison target extraction unit 15 sets sa = sa + s and da = da + d (step S81).
As a result, for each character in the list A, it is possible to obtain a cumulative total of the degree of difference from the most similar character in the list B.

The comparison target extraction unit 15 determines whether the number of characters α in the list A is i (step S83).
.

If i is not equal to the number of characters α in the list A (No in step S83), the comparison target extraction unit 15 sets j = 1 and i = i + 1 (step S84). Then, it returns to step S76 and repeats a process.

When i is equal to the number of characters α in the list A (Yes in step S83), the comparison target extraction unit 1
5 calculates {1- (da / sa)} as the visual similarity (step S85), and ends the visual similarity calculation processing.

Returning to the description of FIG. When the visual similarity calculation process in step S26 ends, the comparison target extraction unit 15 returns to step S22 and repeats the process.

When the comparison target extraction unit 15 has already acquired all the comparison target information in the comparison target information table 140 stored in the information storage unit 14 (Yes in step S22), the comparison target visual similarity is calculated. Among them, the comparison target information having the highest visual similarity is extracted (step S2
9) The comparison target extraction process ends. At this time, if there is comparison target information having the same visual similarity, the comparison target information having the highest product with the importance 143 included in the comparison target information is selected.

Returning to the description of FIG. When the comparison target extraction process in step S20 ends, the destination information comparison unit 16 makes a difference between the display name 123 of the destination information 121 and the display name 142 of the comparison target information most similar to the destination information 121 extracted in step S20. Extract characters (step S
30). Specifically, the destination information comparison unit 16 includes characters included in the list A created using the destination information 121 input in the above-described different character extraction process and the comparison target information most similar to the destination information 121. Are extracted as different characters. At this time, not only the list A but also characters included in the list B may be extracted.

The display information generation unit 17 generates highlighted display destination information in which the different characters extracted by the destination information comparison unit 16 are highlighted (Step S40). Thereafter, the image output unit 18 outputs the generated highlighted display destination information to the image output device 30 (step S50).

The image output device 30 displays the highlighted display destination information output by the image output unit 18 of the information transmission device 10. FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show an example of highlighted display destination information output by the image output unit 18.

9 is different from the display name 142 of the comparison target information that is most similar to the destination information 121 among the characters included in the display name 123 of the destination information 121 when the input destination information 121 is displayed on the image output apparatus 30. An example when the character is highlighted is shown. That is, in FIG. 9, characters extracted from the list A created in the above-described different character extraction process using the destination information 121 and the comparison target information most similar to the destination information 121 are emphasized. Here, the different characters are bolded and highlighted by highlighting them.

In FIG. 10, the input destination information 121 and comparison target information most similar to the destination information 121 are displayed. In the destination information 121, among the characters included in the display name 123,
Different characters from the display name 142 of the displayed comparison target information are highlighted, and among the characters included in the display name 142, different characters from the destination information 121 are highlighted in the displayed comparison target information. The That is, in the destination information 121, among the characters included in the display name 123, the characters included in the list A created in the above-described different character extraction process using the comparison target information most similar to the destination information 121 are highlighted. In the comparison target information most similar to the destination information 121, characters included in the list B created in the different character extraction process among the characters included in the display name 142 are highlighted.

When a screen as shown in FIG. 9 or FIG. 10 is output to the image output device 30, the user checks the highlighted destination information to determine whether the input destination information is correct. Thereafter, the information transmission unit 13 transmits information. Thereby, the information transmission process of this embodiment is complete | finished.

As described above, the information transmitting apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment only needs to confirm the highlighted portion when confirming the destination information, so that it is possible to efficiently confirm the destination error. That is, the information transmitting apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment does not increase the number of confirmation items, but limits the items to be confirmed to the parts different from the comparison target information, thereby preventing the confirmation work from being formed and reducing input mistakes. be able to.

In addition, although embodiment of this invention was described, this embodiment is shown as an example,
It is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. This embodiment and its modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

For example, the information transmitting apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment compares display names in the different character extraction process, but it is also possible to compare address information. Further, instead of performing the character-by-character processing in the different character extraction processing, the destination information 121 and the comparison target information may be divided into partial character strings, and differences may be extracted for each character string.

At this time, the method of dividing into partial character strings is not only a method of using a delimiter, but also a method of performing morphological analysis or a method of adding metadata to character strings in advance and comparing partial character strings of the same attribute There is also. In addition to selecting a partial character string to be compared with the one with the highest character similarity, a method for comparing information of the same attribute using meta information,
There is also a method of comparing in the order in which they are simply arranged.

Further, the comparison target extraction unit 15 may perform the comparison target information extraction process by changing the font of the comparison target information to be the same as the font of the destination information 121. This makes it possible to calculate a more accurate similarity in the similarity calculation process.

Further, the comparison target extraction unit 15 may calculate the visual similarity between the information transmission destination and the transmission source address information stored in advance in the information storage unit 14 and the comparison target information. In this case, the address information, the comparison target information, and the visual similarity are associated and stored in the information storage unit 14 or an external storage device. The user selects address information stored in the information storage unit 14 using the input device 20 and inputs the address information to the input unit 12. At this time, since the comparison target extraction unit 15 only needs to extract the comparison target information having the highest visual similarity from the comparison target information associated with the address information, the processing efficiency can be improved. Similarly, the comparison target information extraction process and the different character extraction process may be performed in advance.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Information transmitter, 11 ... Communication part, 12 ... Input part, 13 ... Information transmission part, 14 ... Information storage part, 15 ... Comparison object extraction part, 16 ... Destination information comparison part, 17 ... Display information generation part, 18 ... Image output unit, 20 ... Input device, 30 ... Image output device, 40 ... Network

Claims (7)

An input unit for inputting destination information;
A storage unit that stores comparison target information to be compared with the destination information;
A comparison target extraction unit that calculates a visual similarity between the destination information and the comparison target information, and extracts comparison target information similar to the destination information from the comparison target information based on the calculated visual similarity. When,
A destination information comparison unit that compares the comparison target information extracted by the comparison target extraction unit with the destination information and extracts a different portion;
An information transmission device comprising: The information transmission apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an output unit that highlights the extracted difference portion. 3. The information transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the comparison target extraction unit calculates the visual similarity based on an image of the destination information and an image of the comparison target information. . The storage unit stores the importance of the comparison target information,
The information transmission device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the comparison target extraction unit extracts comparison target information similar to the destination information based on the visual similarity and the importance. . The storage unit stores destination information in advance,
The comparison target extraction unit calculates a visual similarity between the destination information stored in the storage unit and the comparison target information, and the comparison target similar to the destination information based on the calculated visual similarity Associate and store information,
The information transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input unit selects the destination information stored in the storage unit. The information transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the comparison target extraction unit changes a font of the comparison target information to be the same as a font of the destination information. An information transmission method of an information transmission device including a storage unit that stores comparison target information to be compared with destination information,
Entering destination information;
Calculating a visual similarity between the destination information and the comparison target information;
Extracting comparison target information similar to the destination information from the comparison target information based on the calculated visual similarity,
Comparing the extracted information to be compared with the destination information and extracting a different portion.

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