JP3737629B2 - Document editing system, method, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

【００４３】
いて、この黒く塗りつぶされた四角は“（黒四角）”と置き換えて表記する。）は任意の領域の終了を示すパターンとして定義されている。
但し、ここで、〔＠＠−終了〕は必須でなく、〔＠＠〕に該当する文字列の次に更に〔＠＠〕に該当する別の文字列があれば、２つ目の〔＠＠〕の直前までが１つ目の〔＠＠〕に関する領域の抽出範囲となる。また、＠＠とは、任意の文字数の文字列を示し、一対の文字列パターンにおける〔＠＠〕と〔＠＠−終了〕内の＠＠は同一の文字列である。なお、＠＠に該当する文字列は、後述する図５の文書構造情報の各領域名（構成要素の名称）と一致するべきものである。
【００４４】
図２の次のステップＳ１１において、文書抽出部１１３は文書構造・レイアウト情報１２２を読み込む。文書構造・レイアウト情報１２２は、予めユーザが文書構造・レイアウト情報登録部１１２を用いて登録したものである。ステップＳ１１で使用されるのは、この文書構造・レイアウト情報１２２のうち、文書１２４の中の各領域の領域名、階層構造（包含関係）、出現順序、繰り返しの有無及び省略の可否などを定義した文書構造情報のみである。この実施の形態では、文書構造・レイアウト情報１２２は一体として定義されており、後で図１０に関して詳述する。ここでは、説明を簡略化するため、前記文書構造情報の例を概念的に示す図５を用いて説明する。
【００４５】
図５に示された文書構造情報は、プログラムの仕様書に関する文書構造を規定した例であり、主として文書２００の階層構造（包含関係）を示している。最下位の階層のブロック（即ち、見出し、関数名、処理概要、呼出形式、インタフェース、及び注意）が文書内の領域の実体を示している。文書２００は、見出し２１０と処理仕様２２０から成っている。見出し２１０は１つ存在する。処理仕様２２０は繰り返しありと記述されており、複数存在する可能性がある。処理仕様２２０は、関数名２２１、処理概要２２２、呼出形式２２３、インタフェース２２４、及び注意２２５を含んでいるという包含関係を規定する。処理仕様２２０は前記各要素の集合を規定するのみで、文書２００の実体領域に対応しない。インタフェース２２４は繰り返しありと記述されていることから、１つの処理仕様の中に複数存在する可能性があり、注意２２５は省略可であり、存在しない場合がある。
【００４６】
逆に、見出し２１０、関数名２２１、処理概要２２２、呼出形式２２３、及び少なくとも１つのインタフェース２２４は、文書２００内に必須のものであり、これがない場合は、後述の図２のステップＳ１２において、該当文書に関して所定のタイミングでエラーメッセージを表示したりする対応が考えられる。
【００４７】
次に図２のステップＳ１２では、文書抽出部１１３が、ユーザの指定した少なくとも１つの文書１２４を読み込み、図４の領域定義情報１２１と図５の文書構造情報に基づいて、各文書１２４から少なくとも１つの領域を抽出する。前述のように、図５に示された文書構造情報の各領域名（構成要素の名称）が、図４の領域定義情報１２１のパターンに記載された＠＠に該当する文字列に対応している。即ち文書抽出部１１３は、既に読み取った図４の領域定義情報１２１と図５の文書構造情報から、ユーザより指定された前記各文書１２４が、少なくとも〔見出し〕〜〔見出し−終了〕の領域、〔関数名〕〜〔関数名−終了〕の領域、〔処理概要〕〜〔処理概要−終了〕の領域、〔呼出形式〕〜〔呼出形式−終了〕の領域、〔インタフェース〕〜〔インタフェース−終了〕の領域、及び〔注意〕〜〔注意−終了〕の領域をこの順序で有し、更に〔関数名〕〜〔関数名−終了〕の領域から〔注意〕〜〔注意−終了〕の領域までは、同じ順序で繰り返される可能性があるものとして解釈する。
【００４８】
但し、前述のように、〔見出し−終了〕、〔関数名−終了〕、〔処理概要−終了〕、〔呼出形式−終了〕、〔インタフェース−終了〕、及び〔注意−終了〕といった領域の終了を判定する文字列は文書１２４中で省略される場合があり、次の領域の開始を判定する文字列または（黒四角）などの所定の文字列の出現により領域の終了が判定される。
【００４９】
こうした抽出の例を、図６に示される文書１２４の例で考えてみる。前述の説明から、文書１２４では、見出し２１０に関する領域は必須となっているが、ここでは省略する。文書抽出部１１３が図６の文書１２４を読み込むと、最初に「〔関数名〕」という文字列を検出し、その後「〔関数名−終了〕」という文字列を検出する。これは、図４の領域定義情報１２１のパターンに合致し、図５の文書構造情報における関数名２２１の出現順序に合致するため（前述の通り、ここでは見出し２１０はないものと考え、関数名２２１が最初に現れる有効な領域である）、「〔関数名〕」〜「〔関数名−終了〕」の間の文字列「ＺａｉｋｏＨｉｋｉａｔｅ」が「関数名」という領域名と関連付けて抽出される。
【００５０】
次に、文書抽出部１１３が読み込みを続けると、「★この行は抽出されません★」という文字列が抽出されるが、この文字列は、図４の領域定義情報１２１で定義されたパターンで挟まれておらず、またそのようなパターンで始まっていないため、抽出されない。
【００５１】
次に、文書抽出部１１３は、「〔処理概要〕」という文字列を検出し、その後「〔呼出形式〕」という文字列を検出する。ここで、「〔処理概要〕」という文字列は図４の領域定義情報１２１のパターンに合致し、図５の文書構造情報において、関数名２２１の次に出現する領域名が処理概要２２２であることから出現順序の条件も満たし、「〔処理概要〕」〜「〔呼出形式〕」の間の文字列「（改行）与えられた商品コードと受注数量を基に、在庫が引き当て可能かどうか（改行）を判断する。」が、「処理概要」という領域名と関連付けて抽出される。この場合、「〔処理概要−終了〕」という、領域の終了を示す文字列はないが、次の妥当な領域「呼出形式」の開始を示す「〔呼出形式〕」という文字列が出現したため前記文字列「〔処理概要−終了〕」が省略されているものと判断される。また、ここで抽出される文字列の内容には、抽出元の内容を忠実に再現すべく、文字情報の他に改行や改ページに関する制御情報も抽出される。前記処理概要の例では、改行に関する制御情報が、抽出文字列内に「（改行）」として抽出されている。
【００５２】
以降、同様の処理を繰り返すと、その後、以下のような文字列が各領域名に関連付けて抽出される。

【００５３】
ここで、処理仕様２２０の繰り返しはないがインタフェース２２４は３回繰り返されており、このような場合、領域名には、前述のようにインタフェースの後に（１）〜（３）が付加される。これは、繰り返しの要素を固有に識別可能にするためであって、他の様々な方法を用いることもできる。
【００５４】
図７には、領域定義情報１２１の第２の例が示されている。この例では、ある程度規則的な文字列のパターンを有する文書１２４内の文字列から開始される領域が抽出されるように定義されている。例えば、抽出する領域の直前の文字列は＾［０−９］＋￥．＠＠＄であり、領域の直後の文字列を示すパターンはない。＾［０−９］＋￥．＠＠＄は、行頭から少なくとも１つの数字の並び、１つのピリオド、領域名に対応する任意の数の文字列、及び改行からなる文字列を示している。任意の領域の終了を示すパターンは、 外２ である。ここで、＾＄は改
【００５５】
【外２】

【００５６】
行のみの行を示している。従って、改行のみの行または文字列（黒四角）が現れた場合に任意の領域が終了する。前述のように＠＠は、文書構造情報の各領域名（構成要素の名称）と同じものである。
【００５７】
図７の領域定義情報１２１に基づいた抽出の例を、図８に示す第２の文書１２４の例で考えてみる。また、ここでは、図５に示したような文書構造情報が省略されているが、階層構造、及び繰り返しを持たない「発明の名称」、「特許請求の範囲」、及び「発明の詳細な説明」の各領域が、この順で並んでいる単純な文書構造を仮定する。
【００５８】
文書抽出部１１３が図８の文書１２４を読み込むと、最初に「１．発明の名称」という文字列を検出し、その後改行のみの行を検出する。ここで、図７の領域定義情報１２１から、＠＠に対応するのは「発明の名称」であり、前記仮定した文書構造情報において文書内で最初にあるべき領域「発明の名称」に合致するため、「１．発明の名称」〜改行のみの行の間にある文字列「（改行）電子ファイル編集装置（改行）」を「発明の名称」という領域名に関連付けて抽出する。以降同様に抽出を繰り返すと、その後、以下のような文字列が各領域名に関連付けて抽出される。
【００５９】
領域名：特許請求の範囲＝「（改行）電子ファイルの領域を指定するためのルールと、その領域をレイアウトする情報を定義することにより、電子ファイルを再構成し、編集する装置（改行）」、
領域名：発明の詳細な説明＝「（改行）本発明は、複数．．．（改行）は不定になる。」。
【００６０】
図９には、領域定義情報１２１の第３の例が示されている。この例では、ある程度固定的な文字列のパターンを有する文書１２４内の文字列に挟まれた領域が抽出されるように定義されている。例えば、「１．発明の名称」という文字列と、＾＄（改行のみの行）、または（黒四角）との間の文字列は、発明名称という領域名で抽出され、「２．特許請求の範囲」という文字列と、＾＄または（黒四角）との間の文字列は、請求範囲という領域名で抽出され、「３．発明の詳細な説明」という文字列と、＾＄または（黒四角）との間の文字列は、詳細説明という領域名で抽出される。ここで、＾＄は改行のみの行を示している。
【００６１】
図４または図７に示した領域定義情報の例では、文書中のパターンの中の一部分（＠＠に対応する部分）が領域名に対応していたが、この第３の例では、パターン毎に固定的に設定されている。また、この例でも、文書構造情報が省略されているが、階層構造、及び繰り返しを持たない「発明名称」、「請求範囲」、及び「詳細説明」の各領域が、この順で並んでいる単純な文書構造を仮定する。ここでは、各領域の名称が前記領域定義情報１２１内の各抽出パターンに対応して設定されており、図８の説明で仮定した文書構造情報における領域名とは異なっていることに注意すべきである。
【００６２】
図９の領域定義情報１２１を用いて、再び図８の文書１２４からの抽出を行うと、文書抽出部１１３は最初に「１．発明の名称」という文字列を検出し、その後改行のみの行を検出する。ここで、図９の領域定義情報１２１から、対応する領域名は「発明名称」であり、前記仮定した文書構造情報において文書内で最初にあるべき領域「発明名称」に合致するため、「１．発明の名称」〜改行のみの行までの文字列「（改行）電子ファイル編集装置（改行）」を「発明名称」という領域名に関連付けて抽出する。以降同様に抽出を繰り返すと、その後、以下のような文字列が各領域名に関連付けて抽出される。
【００６３】
領域名：請求範囲＝「（改行）電子ファイルの領域を指定するためのルールと、その領域をレイアウトする情報を定義することにより、電子ファイルを再構成し、編集する装置（改行）」、
領域名：詳細説明＝「（改行）本発明は、複数．．．（改行）は不定になる。」。
【００６４】
図２のステップＳ１２で、文書抽出部１１３が文書１２４から抽出対象の領域を抽出する方法を以上に示したが、文書抽出部１１３は、この抽出と共に、抽出元の文書１２４のどこからどこまでの領域を抽出したかを対応づける情報を、記憶装置１２０内の領域−文書構造対応情報１２３に出力する。図１０は、前記領域−文書構造対応情報１２３の内容の一例を示す図である。
【００６５】
領域−文書構造対応情報１２３は、前記文書構造情報における領域名毎に、その領域が抽出元の文書１２４のどの位置に対応するかを示す抽出元文書情報を有している。ここで、図５に示す文書構造情報を有する文書１２４を仮定すると、「見出し」に対応する抽出元文書情報は、「”Ｃ：￥文書￥ｓｏｕｒｃｅ−１．ｃ”， Ｆｒｏｍ（２，１０）， Ｔｏ（２，２０）」であり、これは、抽出元の文書が、記憶装置１２０内のＣドライブ内の「文書」というディレクトリ内の「ｓｏｕｒｃｅ−１．ｃ」というファイルであり、抽出された「見出し」の領域をその文書の２行目の１０カラム〜２行目の２０カラムの位置から抽出したということを示している。他の領域も同様であるが、図１０では、処理仕様及びインタフェースに繰り返しがあり、領域名においては、それぞれ繰り返し要素が括弧内に表されている。また、その繰り返し要素と階層関係（包含関係）を表すために、前記領域名は、例えば「処理仕様（２）．インタフェース（１）」といった連結された表記となっている。
【００６６】
この例では、抽出された領域の抽出元の文書１２４における位置を、各領域の開始行とカラム、及び終了行とカラムを保持することによって記憶するようにしているが、各領域名、即ち検索パターン毎の抽出順（この場合は、書き戻す際に、文書１２４に対して前記文書抽出部１１３による抽出処理と同様のパターン検索処理が必要）や、抽出元の文書１２４における開始アドレス位置と抽出された領域のサイズを保持することによって、前記抽出された領域の抽出元の文書１２４における位置を記憶してもよい。
【００６７】
こうして、抽出された各領域の抽出元の文書１２４における位置が記憶されることによって、即ち、領域−文書構造対応情報１２３を保持することによって、前記文書抽出部１１３によって抽出された領域が、抽出元の文書１２４と独立して編集された場合でも、文書１２４内の抽出されていない他の領域との整合性を保ちつつ、前記抽出され編集された領域を文書１２４に反映することが可能となる。
【００６８】
再び図２のステップＳ１３に戻ると、ここでは前記文書再構成部１１４が、前記文書抽出部１１３が文書１２４から抽出した領域の情報を読み込み、文書構造・レイアウト情報１２２に基づいて、表示装置１４０上に、それらの領域の情報を再構成して表示する。
【００６９】
図１１に文書構造・レイアウト情報１２２の例を示す。この文書構造・レイアウト情報１２２は、図５に示した概念的な文書構造情報と、前記再構成のために使用されるレイアウト情報を同時に定義するための方法を示したものである。前述したように、文書構造情報とレイアウト情報は、個別に定義されていても良い。
【００７０】
この例では、マイクロソフト社のワープロＷｏｒｄを使用して、各領域に関して、その領域の表示位置、フォント・スタイル、フォント・サイズ、文字列の配置、及び文字色等のレイアウト情報と、領域名、包含関係、繰り返しの有無、及び省略の可否を示す文書構造情報を定義し、その他囲み線や区切り線などのワープロによる修飾を付加している。これらの情報のうち、フォント・スタイル、フォント・サイズ、文字列の配置、及び文字色等のレイアウト情報と、領域名、繰り返しの有無、及び省略の可否を示す文書構造情報は、各領域毎にＷｏｒｄのブックマークの機能を利用して設定している。
【００７１】
しかし、このように、各領域に対して、レイアウト情報及び文書構造情報を定義可能であり、その情報をコンピュータによって制御（入出力を含む）できれば、他のどのような手段を用いても構わない。また、マイクロソフト社のＷｏｒｄを用いた本発明の例は、単に例示のためのものに過ぎず、こうした具体的な手段のみに制限されるものではない。
【００７２】
図１１に示す文書構造・レイアウト情報１２２は、まず可視部分と不可視部分に大別される。可視部分は更に、ユーザによる編集が禁止される固定部分と、抽出された領域が表示される、ユーザによる編集が可能な編集部分に分類される。区切り線３２６、固定タイトル３２７、３２８、３２９、及び３２Ａ、及び各領域を囲む囲み線は固定部分である。領域３１０、３２１、３２２、３２３、３２４、及び３２５は、それぞれ見出し、関数名、処理概要、呼出形式、インタフェース、及び注意の各領域名称に対応する編集部分である。
【００７３】
前述のように、文書抽出部１１３は、前記文書１２４から抽出した領域をそれぞれ見出しや関数名といった領域名と関連付けて、抽出された領域の情報として出力する。前記文書再構成部１１４は、文書抽出部１１３から受け取った抽出された領域の情報を、対応する領域名を有する図１１に示された領域の位置に出力する。この領域は、ユーザによる編集が可能で、前記編集制御部１１５によって、表示された内容の削除、変更、追加を行うことができる。前記編集制御部１１５は、その他の領域のユーザによる編集を禁止する。所定の領域のみ編集を有効にすることは、従来のワープロの機能を使用して容易に達成することができるが、特別なアプリケーションを用意して、ワープロ上に組み込むこともできるし、全く独立した別のアプリケーションとして作成することもできる。
【００７４】
不可視部分には、上位階層の領域である処理仕様に対応する領域３２０と、各領域に関してレイアウト情報、及び文書構造情報を定義する定義部分３３０、３３１、３３２、３３３、３３４、３３５、及び３３６がある（この定義内容は、Ｗｏｒｄのブックマーク機能によって設定されている）。領域３２０は、図５の文書構造情報に示す処理仕様２２０に対応するものであり、前記編集領域３２１、３２２、３２３、３２４、及び３２５の集合を含むように示されている。このことによって、前記各領域３２０及び３２１〜３２５の階層構造（包含関係）が分かり、これも１つの文書構造情報である。この領域３２０の定義をしているのが定義部分３３６である。ここでは、この領域３２０が処理仕様という領域名称を有し、繰り返し有りであることが定義されている。領域３２０が、各領域３２１から３２５を包含しているということは、各領域３２１から３２５を全て含むように領域３２０が設定されていることで示されている。
【００７５】
その他の定義部分３３０、３３１、３３２、３３３、３３４、及び３３５は、それぞれ編集領域３１０、３２１、３２２、３２３、３２４、及び３２５に関するものであり、表示される編集対象の文字列に関するレイアウト情報及び文章構造情報を含んでいる。
【００７６】
例えば、定義部分３３０領域３１０に対応し、表示される文字列のフォント・スタイルは明朝体、フォント・サイズは２２ポイント、文字修飾はＢＯＬＤ（太字）とし、文字列の配置は中央揃え（センタリング）、色は黒で、対応する領域３１０の領域名称が「見出し」であることを示している。
【００７７】
また、領域３２４に対応する定義部分３３４は、領域３２４の領域名称がインタフェースであり、繰り返し有りであることを示している。領域３２５に対応する定義部分３３５は、領域３２５の領域名称が注意であり、省略可であることを示している。
【００７８】
文書再構成部１１４が、このようにして文書抽出部１１３から抽出された領域の情報を再構成して表示画面１４０上に表示した表示例４００を図１２に示す。図１２の表示例４００は、図６に示した文書１２４を、図４に示す領域定義情報１２１、及び図１１に示す文書情報・レイアウト情報１２２に基づいて抽出し、再構成し、表示したものである（但し、図６の文書１２４では、見出し「Ａプロジェクト−関数定義仕様書」は省略してある）。
【００７９】
この表示例４００では、１つの文書から複数の領域が抽出された場合を示している。複数の文書から領域が抽出された場合は、この表示の下に追加されるか、または別のウインドウ内の表示として提供される。このことによって、ユーザは、例えば、複数のプログラムの仕様書の処理概要や呼出形式等の内容を同じ様式で一覧表示させる事ができる。
【００８０】
図３には、文書編集結果反映部１１６による文書編集結果反映処理の流れが示されている。図３は、左１／３の欄が再構成処理及びユーザの編集により作成された情報を示し、中央１／３の欄が文書編集結果反映処理の流れを示し、右１／３の欄がユーザが予め定義した情報を示している。
【００８１】
ユーザが編集結果を抽出元の文書１２４に反映させるよう指示すると、図３の最初のステップＳ２０において、文書編集結果反映部１１６が文書構造情報・レイアウト情報１２２を読み込む。これは、各編集領域の領域名等を取得するためであり、この実施の形態では、前述のように文書構造情報・レイアウト情報１２２の保存及び編集にＷｏｒｄの機能が使用されているため、Ｗｏｒｄの関係ファイルまたはメモリから読み込まれる。
【００８２】
次に、ステップＳ２１において、文書編集結果反映部１１６は、文書抽出部１１３によって出力された領域−文書構造対応情報１２３を読み込み、ユーザによって編集された表示装置１４０上の各領域の内容を、抽出元の文書１２４のどの位置に反映させるかを判定する。
【００８３】
次に、ステップＳ２２において、文書編集結果反映部１１６は、ユーザによって編集された表示装置１４０上の各領域の内容を、抽出元の文書１２４の対応する位置に反映させる。ユーザが表示装置１４０上のある領域に対して任意の文字数だけ削除を行った場合は、その領域を抽出元の文書１２４に反映させた時にその領域の最終位置となるアドレスＡが、領域−文書構造対応情報１２３に保持されているその領域の抽出時における最終位置のアドレスＢより小さいので、その領域を抽出元の文書１２４に反映させた後、両者のアドレスの差だけ、抽出元の文書１２４のアドレスＢ以降の内容をアドレスＡの後に移動させる必要がある。
【００８４】
ユーザが表示装置１４０上のある領域に対して任意の文字数だけ追加を行った場合は、その領域を抽出元の文書１２４に反映させた時にその領域の最終位置となるアドレスＡが、領域−文書構造対応情報１２３に保持されているその領域の抽出時における最終位置のアドレスＢより大きいので、その領域を抽出元の文書１２４に反映させる前に、両者のアドレスの差だけ、抽出元の文書１２４のアドレスＢ以降の内容をアドレスＡの後に移動させておく必要がある。
【００８５】
ユーザが表示装置１４０上のある領域に対して編集を行わなかったかまたは、編集を行ったものの結果的に文字数に変動がなかった場合は、その領域を抽出元の文書１２４に反映させた時にその領域の最終位置となるアドレスＡと、領域−文書構造対応情報１２３に保持されているその領域の抽出時における最終位置のアドレスＢは等しいので、その領域を抽出元の文書１２４の元の位置に反映させるだけでよい。
【００８６】
前記アドレスＡやアドレスＢは、図１０に例示した領域−文書構造対応情報１２３に示すように、文書１２４における行とカラムで把握することができるが、文書１２４の先頭からの論理アドレスとして把握する事も可能である。
【００８７】
次に、図１３から図２０を参照して、本発明の文書編集システムの一連の操作をより具体的に説明する。また、領域定義情報１２１は図４に示したもの、文書構成・レイアウト情報１２２は図１１に示したものが使用される。
【００８８】
図１３には、抽出元の文書１２４の読み込みを指定する画面４１０が示されている。このように、本発明の文書編集システムは、例えばマイクロソフト社のワープロＷｏｒｄなどに本発明の独自の機能を組み込むことによって達成することができるが、新たに作成してもよく、また任意の方法で既存のアプリケーションと組み合わせて実現することも可能である。
【００８９】
画面の表示例４１０のメニューで「表示（Ｖ）」をマウスのクリックやキーボド等によって選択すると、図示するようなサブメニュー４１１が表示される。そこで、このサブメニュー４１１から「抽出ファイル指定（Ｓ）」を選択すると、図１４に示すような抽出元の文書１２４を選択する画面４２１が表示される。
【００９０】
図１４は、抽出元の文書１２４を選択する画面４２１を示している。画面４２１は画面４２０からのポップアップ・ウインドウとして表示される。この例では、Ｔｉｔｌｅ．ｔｘｔ（４２２）、ＺａｉｋｏＨｉｋｉａｔｅ．ｃ（４２３）、及びＺａｉｋｏＫｏｕｓｉｎ．ｃ（４２４）の３ファイルが選択されている。これらのファイルはいずれもテキスト・ファイルである。本発明が抽出元の文書１２４に関して文字列のパターン検索を行い、抽出結果の編集を可能にするシステムであることから、ここでテキスト情報を有しないバイナリ・ファイルなどを指定することに意味はない。この画面４２１で抽出の対象となる抽出元の文書１２４を選択した後「開く（Ｏ）」ボタンを選択すると、図１５に示すように、選択された抽出元の文書１２４の内容を表示する画面４３０が表示される。
【００９１】
図１５は、選択された抽出元の文書１２４の内容を表示する画面４３０を示している。指定された文書１２４の内容がそれぞれ１つのウインドウ内に表示されている。ウインドウ４３１には、ＺａｉｋｏＫｏｕｓｉｎ．ｃの内容が、ウインドウ４３２には、ＺａｉｋｏＨｉｋｉａｔｅ．ｃの内容が、ウインドウ４３３にはＴｉｔｌｅ．ｔｘｔの内容がそれぞれ表示されている。
【００９２】
図１６は、図１５の状態から再構成処理を指示する画面４４０を示している。画面４４０のメニューで「表示（Ｖ）」を選択すると、図示するようなサブメニュー４４４が表示される。そこで、このサブメニュー４４４から「ソース→仕様（Ｓ）」を選択すると、選択された全ての文書１２４に関して再構成処理が開始される。設計によっては、図１５の内容表示画面を省略することも可能である。
【００９３】
図１７は、図１６で再構成の指定がされた場合に、再構成結果を表示する画面４５０を示している。画面４５０の再構成結果は１ウインドウとして表示され、抽出元の文書１２４の区切りはページ区切りで表される。例えば、ＺａｉｋｏＨｉｋｉａｔｅ．ｃから抽出され再構成された内容は、領域４５１に示され、ＺａｉｋｏＫｏｕｓｉｎ．ｃから抽出され再構成された内容は、領域４５２に示されている。このように、抽出元の文書１２４の区切りをページ区切りによって表すのに代えて、抽出元の文書１２４毎に別のウインドウで表示するような態様も可能である。この画面４５０においては、図１１に示す領域３１０、３２１、３２２、３２３、３２４、及び３２５に対応する部分に関して、ユーザはワープロと同様の方法で自由に編集作業を行うことができ、それ以外の領域にはカーソルが移動せず、ユーザによる編集ができないように制御されている。
【００９４】
図１８は、図１７で示された再構成結果の表示画面４５０において、ＺａｉｋｏＨｉｋｉａｔｅ．ｃから抽出され再構成された内容を編集している画面４６０を示している。ここでの編集は、処理概要に関する記述内容を付加するものである。ユーザの編集によって加えられた部分４６１は、それが再構成された後に編集されたものであることを明示するために、この例のように反転表示されているのが望ましい。
【００９５】
図１９は、編集結果を抽出元の文書１２４に反映させる指示を行う画面４７０を示している。画面４７０のメニューで「表示（Ｖ）」を選択すると、図示するようなサブメニュー４７２が表示される。そこで、このサブメニュー４７２から「仕様→ソース（Ｄ）」を選択すると、元の文書１２４に対してその編集結果が反映される。この例では、抽出元の文書ＺａｉｋｏＨｉｋｉａｔｅ．ｃに対して、実質的に内容が追加された部分（反転領域４７１）が反映される。
【００９６】
図２０は、編集結果が反映された抽出元の文書１２４の内容を示す画面４８０を示している。図１９に示す画面４７０の操作で編集結果が反映された文書ＺａｉｋｏＨｉｋｉａｔｅ．ｃを再び表示させてみると、ウインドウ４８１に示すように、処理概要の内容に、「その際．．．チェックする。」という文が追加されている。また、図３のステップＳ２２において、文書編集結果反映部１１６が、ユーザによる編集結果を抽出元の文書１２４に反映させた時に、その編集された部分が最終的に抽出元の文書１２４のどの位置に反映されたかを記憶しておけば、ウインドウ４８１に示すように、ユーザによって追加等された領域を反転表示させることも可能である。
【００９７】
図２１は、上述した文書編集システム１００を構築するために使用されるコンピュータ６００のハードウエア構成の一例を示している。該コンピュータ６００は、それぞれバス６８０に接続されたＣＰＵ６１０、記憶部６２０、メモリ部６３０、表示部６４０、入力部６５０、印刷部６６０、及びネットワーク・インタフェース部６７０からなる。
【００９８】
ＣＰＵ６１０は、図１の文書編集システム１００の処理装置１１０に対応し、領域定義情報登録部１１１、文書構造・レイアウト情報登録部１１２、文書抽出部１１３、文書再構成部１１４、文書編集制御部１１５、及び文書編集結果反映部１１６の各部分を実行する。
【００９９】
記憶部６２０は、図１の文書編集システム１００の記憶装置１２０に対応し、ＣＰＵ６１０によって実行される前記各機能を実現するプログラム、及び領域定義情報１２１、文書構造・レイアウト情報１２２、領域−文書構造対応情報１２３、及び複数の抽出元となる文書１２４を格納する
メモリ部６３０には、ＣＰＵ６１０によって実行される前記各部分を実現するプログラムがロードされ、また必要に応じてユーザの編集内容などを含む表示部６４０に表示されている内容や、記憶部６２０内の各種情報の内容がロードされる。
【０１００】
表示部６４０は、図１の文書編集システム１００の表示装置１４０に対応し、再構成結果を表示し、それをユーザが編集する際に必要とされ、通常はＣＲＴやＬＣＤ等のディスプレイ装置である。
【０１０１】
入力部６５０は、図１の文書編集システム１００の入力装置１３０に対応し、前記表示部６４０に表示された画面に沿って入力や指示を行うために使用される装置であり、通常キーボード、マウス等から成る入力装置やタッチパネル、音声入力装置等で構成される。
【０１０２】
印刷部６６０は、ユーザ等の指示に従って、前記記憶部６２０またはメモリ部６３０に格納されているデータ等を印刷する、レーザプリンタ等の印刷装置である。前記印刷部６６０は、前記文書編集システム１００の実施に関して必須の構成要件ではない。
【０１０３】
ネットワーク・インタフェース部６７０は、主に、リモートにある記憶部６２０との接続、または他のＣＰＵとの接続を実現するよう機能する。前記文書編集システム１００を単一のコンピュータで実施する場合には必要とされない。
【０１０４】
バス６８０は、前記各構成要素６１０〜６７０間でデータ、指令等の送受信を行うための共通伝送経路である。
【０１０５】
【発明の効果】
本発明の文書編集システムによれば、汎用的な開始パターン及び終了パターンからなる一対のパターンと、文書の構造を定義する文書構造情報を用いて、複数の文書から前記開始パターンに該当する個所と終了パターンに該当する個所との間の領域がそれぞれ抽出され、その抽出結果が、前記文書構造情報とレイアウト情報に従って集約して再構成され、ユーザが編集可能な状態で表示される。この結果、複数の文書の情報を、ユーザが最も見やすいレイアウトで表示させたまま編集作業を行うことができ、複数の文書から必要な領域を検索して直接編集作業を行うことに比べて格段に編集作業が効率化された。
【０１０６】
また、抽出対象を文字列の一致などではなく、抽出領域の開始、終了を示す文字列パターンを用いて指定することにより、複数の文を含む広い領域を指定することができる。文字列の一致などの方法では、抽出元の文書を少し変えただけでも抽出結果が大きく変化するのに対し、本発明のシステムでは開始や終了パターンに該当する部分が変更されない限り、抽出される領域自体に変化はない。この結果、常にユーザの意図した抽出結果を得ることができ、安定した再構成結果を表示させることができる。
【０１０７】
更に本発明によって、編集可能な状態で再構成され表示された領域がユーザに編集された後、その編集された領域が抽出元の文書に、その文書の他の領域と矛盾することなく書き戻される。
【０１０８】
また更に本発明によって、前記文書構造情報と前記レイアウト情報が一体として登録、保持され、前記文書構造情報には前記文書内の各領域の領域名、階層構造（包含関係）、出現順序、繰り返しの有無、及び省略の可否などの文書構造に関する情報が含まれ、前記レイアウト情報には、前記各領域の表示位置、フォント・スタイル、フォント・サイズ、文字列の配置、及び文字色等のレイアウト情報が含まれる。従来は両方の前記情報を突き合わせながら、両者が矛盾しないように注意深く作成していたが、本発明により、両者を矛盾なく一体化して容易に作成できるようになった。
【図面の簡単な説明】
【図１】本発明の文書編集システムの一実施の形態のシステム構成を示すブロック図である。
【図２】文書抽出及び再構成処理の流れを示す図である。
【図３】文書編集結果反映処理の流れを示す図である。
【図４】領域定義情報の例を示す図である。
【図５】文書構造情報の例を概念的に示す図である。
【図６】抽出元の文書の例を示す図である。
【図７】領域定義情報の第２の例を示す図である。
【図８】抽出元の文書の第２の例を示す図である。
【図９】領域定義情報の第３の例を示す図である。
【図１０】領域−文書構造対応情報の例を示す図である。
【図１１】文書構造・レイアウト情報の例を示す図である。
【図１２】再構成結果の表示例を示す図である。
【図１３】抽出元の文書の読み込みを指定する画面の例を示す図である。
【図１４】抽出元の文書を選択する画面の例を示す図である。
【図１５】選択された抽出元の文書の内容を表示する画面の例を示す図である。
【図１６】再構成処理を指示する画面の例を示す図である。
【図１７】再構成結果を表示する画面の例を示す図である。
【図１８】表示された再構成結果に対して編集を行った画面の例を示す図である。
【図１９】編集結果を抽出元の文書に出力するよう指示する画面の例を示す図である。
【図２０】編集結果が反映された抽出元の文書の内容を示す画面の例を示す図である。
【図２１】文書編集システムを実行するコンピュータのハードウエア構成を示す図である。
【符号の説明】
１００ 文書編集システム
１１０ 処理装置
１１１ 領域定義情報登録部
１１２ 文書構造・レイアウト情報登録部
１１３ 文書抽出部
１１４ 文書再構成部
１１５ 文書編集制御部
１１６ 文書編集結果反映部
１２０ 記憶装置
１２１ 領域定義情報
１２２ 文書構造・レイアウト情報
１２３ 領域−文書構造対応情報
１２４ 文書
１３０ 入力装置
１４０ 表示装置[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for editing a document, and more specifically, extracts a region belonging to a similar pattern from a plurality of documents, reconstructs each extracted region, and displays it on a display device in an editable manner. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a document editing system for reflecting each edited area in an extraction source document.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) is widely known as a technique for efficiently displaying or printing a document with a certain rule. With SGML, the user can preset the document type definition that defines the structure of the document and the document layout definition that is used for the display layout or print layout. Documents can be reconstructed according to rules and displayed or printed. The document type definition is called DTD (Document Type Definition). For example, when a document is composed of a plurality of regions, the document type definition has information on the hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship), appearance order, repetition, and the like of each region. Each area is associated with an arbitrary pair of tags (identifiers).
[0003]
When the user creates a document, a part corresponding to the area defined by the DTD is created so as to be sandwiched between a pair of tags associated with the area. For example, a title area of a sentence is associated with a pair of tags “title” and “/ title”, and the user inserts a character string to be displayed as a title between the pair of tags. Tags may not be specified in pairs in some cases.
[0004]
The document layout definition is set corresponding to a pair of tags defined by DTD. For example, what font style or font size is used to output an area in a document sandwiched between the pair of tags. Etc. This document layout definition is usually held by output software called a formatter, etc., and when the formatter processes a document, each area sandwiched between a pair of tags appearing in the document is displayed in the document layout definition by the formatter. Displayed or printed according to the content defined for the tag. For example, an area between a pair of tags “title” and “/ title” in a document is displayed in a 12-point Gothic font.
[0005]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-98708 discloses a document processing system that selects a document or a part of the document as intended by a user and reconstructs and displays the contents. Is disclosed. In this document processing system, when a user inputs a request such as “I want to read a document useful for recognition technology” in a sentence, the intention is analyzed, and at least one document (material) that matches the intention is selected. Further, all or a part of the document is reconstructed and processed into a user-readable state, and then displayed. In order to select a document or a part of a document that matches the user's intention, a plurality of keywords in the sentence input by the user or synonyms of the keywords are used.
[0006]
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-202711 “Document Editing Operation Electronic Device” detects a specific character pattern from a range to be edited first designated by a user, and has a similar pattern in the same document. If there is a device, an apparatus for automatically registering that portion as an editing target is disclosed. The apparatus is intended to collectively select headlines, title parts, annotations, etc. scattered in one document as editing targets. When the user first selects one range to be edited, the device determines whether or not there is a specific symbol such as “•” or “§” that is frequently used in a headline, and the like. If any of the symbols exists, the symbol and the display column position of the symbol are registered as a pattern. Next, the apparatus detects a part having the same pattern as the registered pattern in the document, that is, a part having a symbol such as “•” or “§” at the same column position, and sets all of them as edit targets. Select automatically.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the first prior art SGML described above, in order to extract and reconstruct a part of a document, it is necessary to consciously embed a pair of tags in the document. It is a great thing. As a result, tags that are not directly related to the contents of the document are scattered in the document, and the overall appearance is deteriorated. In some cases, the tag is misunderstood as the document contents. A tag is a fixed character string, and these cannot be patterned and associated with a document layout definition used for display or printing.
[0008]
Furthermore, SGML allows partial extraction and reconstruction of a single document, but each region that is sandwiched between character strings of similar patterns is extracted from a plurality of documents and aggregated in a list. And cannot be reconfigured. SGML mainly performs layout based on a certain rule in display or printing. The contents of the reconstructed document can be edited, and the edited contents are written back to the original document. There is no function.
[0009]
In SGML, the DTD that defines the document structure and the layout definition held in the formatter must be set. This is a very complicated task for the user. Furthermore, tag names and the like must be matched between these definitions, and tag names and structural inconsistencies are likely to occur when they are created separately.
[0010]
In the second prior art described above, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-98708, “Document Processing System and Method”, a part of a document is extracted from a sentence inputted as a user's request and reconstructed. A character string search is performed using a keyword or a synonym of the keyword. In such a character string search, if the extraction source document is changed even a little, the portion will not be extracted, and the search result will change greatly. In addition, since keyword synonyms are also searched, the search results may be enormous in some cases, and there may be cases where the search results are not practical. Furthermore, since the user inputs the request in a sentence or the like, it is not possible to perform extraction using a predetermined patterned character string or the like.
[0011]
Furthermore, in this technique, it is possible to extract a plurality of documents. However, since the selection of a plurality of documents itself uses a keyword or the like analyzed from a user input, a document to be actually selected is selected in advance. Cannot be fixed. Further, there is no function for editing the contents of the reconstructed document and writing the edited result back to the original document.
[0012]
In the above-described third prior art, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-202711 “Document Editing Operation Electronic Device”, in order to extract and reconstruct a part of a document, it has the same pattern as the range initially selected by the user. The part is searched, but the pattern is a specific character string and its display column that are frequently used for heading parts such as “·” and “§”, and it is not possible to search using a general-purpose pattern .
[0013]
Furthermore, in this technique, a plurality of parts in one document are targeted, and only a sentence having the pattern is selected for editing. Further, there is no function for reconstructing a sentence selected as an edit target using layout information or the like.
[0014]
An object of the present invention is to use a pair of general-purpose start patterns and end patterns, and document structure information that defines the structure of a document, so that a location corresponding to the start pattern and the end pattern are determined from a plurality of documents. An object is to provide a document editing system that extracts areas between corresponding portions, aggregates and extracts the extraction results according to the document structure information and layout information, and displays them in a state that can be edited by the user. .
[0015]
Furthermore, the problem of the present invention is that after a user edits an area that is reconstructed and displayed in an editable state, the edited area is written back to the extraction source document, and the user's editing result is returned to the extraction source document. It is to provide a document editing system to be reflected in.
[0016]
Still further, the problem of the present invention is that the document structure information and the layout information can be registered and held together, and the document structure information includes an area name, a hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship), an appearance order of each area in the document, Defines document structure information such as the presence or absence of repetition and whether or not it can be omitted, and the layout information includes layout information such as the display position, font style, font size, character string arrangement, and character color of each area. It is to provide a document editing system to be defined.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To solve the above-mentioned problems of the present invention Sentence of A document editing system is a document editing system that extracts an arbitrary area from at least one document and displays the extracted area in an editable state, and is used to extract a desired area from each document. Area definition information registration means for registering the area definition information as a pattern, document structure information relating to the structure of the area in each document, and document structure for registering layout information used for reconstructing each area Layout information registration means; in front Using the area definition information registered by the area definition registration means and the document structure information registered by the document structure / layout information registration means Determine the start and end points of the area A document extracting means for extracting an area between the two locations, and at least one extracted using the document structure information and the layout information registered by the document structure / layout information registering means. It is configured to have document reconstruction means for reconstructing and displaying the area. As a result, a stable region extraction using the extraction pattern is performed, and the contents of each region extracted from at least one document can be aggregated and displayed in an easy-to-view format.
[0018]
In addition, The document editing system includes a document editing control unit that controls to edit at least one of the reconfigured and displayed areas. can do . As a result, the contents of each region extracted from at least one document are aggregated and displayed in an easy-to-view manner, and editing can be performed in that state.
[0019]
In addition, The document editing system is configured such that the document editing control means further controls the editing function related to the at least one area displayed in the reconfiguration to be limited only to the contents of the area extracted from the document. can do . As a result, when trying to edit the contents of each extracted area, editing modification parts other than the contents of each area are not erroneously edited, and editing operability is improved.
[0020]
In addition, The document editing system includes a document editing result reflecting means for reflecting the editing result in the extraction source document of the area when the extracted at least one area is edited. can do . As a result, it is not necessary to individually search for similar parts of a plurality of documents and perform editing operations, respectively, and the related parts of the plurality of documents can be collectively edited.
[0021]
In addition, In the document editing system, the document structure information relating to the structure of the area in each document and the layout information used for reconstructing each area are integrally registered by the document structure / layout information registration unit. Configured to be can do . As a result, the document structure information and the layout information are registered and held together, and can be easily created by integrating both without contradiction.
[0022]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Examples of embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals or symbols are assigned to the same or similar elements for explanation.
[0023]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of a document editing system 100 of the present invention. The document editing system 100 includes a processing device 110, a storage device 120, an input device 130, and a display device 140. The processing device 110 reads necessary data stored in the storage device 120, performs processing based on information obtained from the data, displays the processing result on the display device 140, and displays the processing as necessary. The contents are written to related data stored in the storage device 120.
[0024]
The storage device 120 is a secondary storage device such as a normal hard disk or floppy disk, and is necessary for the document editing system 100. Area definition information 121, document structure / layout information 122, and area-document structure correspondence information, which will be described in detail later. 123, and a plurality of extraction source documents 124 are stored. However, these data can be read from a storage device of another computer via a network and written in the reverse path. In this case, the data needs to be stored in the storage device 120. There is no.
[0025]
The input device 130 is an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard for inputting / changing data stored in the storage device 120 as necessary. The input device 130 is used by the user to edit the reconstruction result displayed on the display device 140. Here, editing refers to adding, changing, or deleting an object such as a character string displayed on the display device 140 using the input device 130.
[0026]
The display device 140 is a display device such as a CRT display for displaying the data stored in the storage device 120 and the contents of the processing result in the processing device 110. The reconstruction result processed by the processing device 110 is first displayed on the display device 140. In addition, a printing apparatus can be provided for printing the reconstruction result, the result of editing the reconstruction result, and the like.
[0027]
The configuration of these devices is common in personal computers, UNIX workstations, and the like. Therefore, the document editing system 100 of the present invention can also be implemented by a single general personal computer or the like.
[0028]
The processing apparatus 110 further includes an area definition information registration unit 111, a document structure / layout information registration unit 112, a document extraction unit 113, a document reconstruction unit 114, a document editing control unit 115, and a document editing result reflection unit 116.
[0029]
The area definition information registration unit 111 provides a function of registering a pair of patterns including a start pattern and an end pattern for extracting a document area to be reconstructed from each of a plurality of documents to be processed by the user. To do. The registration result is stored as area definition information 121 in the storage device 120. Since the area definition information 121 may be text information, the area definition information registration unit 111 can be realized by an arbitrary text editor, but is achieved by a specific application having a predetermined input area and a check function. Is desirable.
[0030]
The document structure / layout information registration unit 112 performs region name, hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship), appearance order, presence / absence of repetition, and omission for each region corresponding to the extraction pattern registered by the region definition information registration unit 111. A function for registering document structure information such as whether or not possible, and layout information such as the display position of each area at the time of reconstruction, font style, font size, character string arrangement, and character color is provided. The registration result is stored as document structure / layout information 122 in the storage device 120. In this embodiment, since the document structure information and the layout information are registered as a unit, the registration mechanism is also shown as an integrated unit. However, the document structure information and the layout information registration unit are configured as separate mechanisms. You can also In this case, the document structure / layout information 122 in the storage device 120 can also be stored separately as document structure information and layout.
[0031]
The document extraction unit 113 reads at least one document 124 in the storage device 120 specified by the user, and is registered by the region definition information 121 registered by the region definition information registration unit 111 and the document structure / layout information registration unit 112. A desired area of the document 124 is extracted using the document structure / layout information 122. The document extraction unit 113 determines each portion of the read document 124 that matches a pair of extraction patterns composed of a start pattern and an end pattern registered in the area definition information 121, and further determines those locations. The area sandwiched between places is the area name, hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship), appearance order, presence / absence of repetition, omissibility of omission, etc. for each area defined in the document structure / layout information 122 When it is determined that there is no contradiction with the document structure information, the area is extracted. Further, at the time of this extraction, information associating where the extracted area of the original document 124 is extracted is output to the area-document structure correspondence information 123 in the storage device 120. This is because there is a possibility that the length of each extracted area is changed by the document editing control unit 115 described later, and the length of the area is changed. This is to prevent other areas not extracted in the document 124 from being updated when individually reflected in the extraction source document 124.
[0032]
In addition, when the user designates a document 124, the document extraction unit 113 displays the contents of each document 124 in one window, and then sets to instruct extraction. However, the extraction may be designated without displaying the contents of each document 124.
[0033]
The document reconstruction unit 114 registers each region in the document 124 extracted by the document extraction unit 113 by the region definition information 121 registered by the region definition information registration unit 111 and the document structure / layout information registration unit 112. The document structure / layout information 122 is used to reconstruct on the display device 140. The extracted area is given a name (area name) corresponding to the extracted pattern from which the extracted pattern is extracted, and the contents in the document structure / layout information 122 corresponding to the area name correspond to the respective areas. Used for reconstruction. In this reconstruction, a fixed character string such as a headline that is not included in the extracted area, or a modification such as a surrounding line or an underline is added according to the layout information, so that the reconstruction is easy for the user to see. The
[0034]
The document reconstruction unit 114 can also output the region-document structure correspondence information 123 in place of the document extraction unit 113. In that case, in addition to the contents of the extraction target area, the document extraction unit 113 converts the intermediate information indicating where the area corresponds to the content of the extraction source document 124 from the document reconstruction. It is necessary to output to the unit 114.
[0035]
As the reconstruction result, at least one area extracted for a plurality of documents is displayed as one window according to the layout information. In this embodiment, for example, a word processor Word is operated on a multi-window system such as Microsoft Windows 95, and the reconstruction result is displayed in one of the windows. The reconstruction result may be configured such that at least one area extracted for one document is displayed as one window according to the layout information, and is displayed in one window for each document.
[0036]
The document editing control unit 115 controls editing in the window displayed on the display device 140 by the document reconstruction unit 114. As described above, the reconstructed results for a plurality of documents are displayed in the window, but the extracted area and information such as a headline newly added by the layout information are mixed. Therefore, the document editing control unit 115 can edit only the extracted area in this window, and prohibits editing of a modification area such as a heading added by layout information. The editing here may be editing that changes the length of the region extracted as a result.
[0037]
When the user instructs to reflect the editing result on the extraction source document 124, the document editing result reflection unit 116 follows the corresponding information stored in the area-document structure correspondence information 123 in the storage device 120, and extracts the source of the extraction. The content of the document 124 is updated to the edited content. Of course, what is reflected is an area extracted and edited from a plurality of documents, and information such as a headline newly added by the layout information is excluded.
[0038]
1 has been described above, the illustrated configuration is merely a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and is not limited to such a configuration. For example, each part in the processing device 110 can be distributed among a plurality of computers. Further, the storage device 120, the input device 130, and the display device 140 can be connected to one or more processing devices 110 via a network, and the user can remotely operate the document editing system 100 of the present invention. Is possible.
[0039]
Next, the processing flow of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the flow of document extraction and reconstruction processing by the document extraction unit 113 and the document reconstruction unit 114. In FIG. 2, the left 1/3 column indicates information created by document extraction and reconstruction processing, the central 1/3 column indicates the flow of document extraction and reconstruction processing, and the right 1/3 column indicates the flow. It shows information predefined by the user.
[0040]
In the first step S 10 in FIG. 2, the document extraction unit 113 reads the area definition information 121. The area definition information 121 is registered in advance by the user using the area definition information registration unit 111.
[0041]
FIG. 4 shows an example of the area definition information 121 registered by the user. In addition, the black brackets described in the drawings are replaced with “[]” brackets in the text. In this example, it is defined to extract an area in the document 124 that is sandwiched between character strings corresponding to a certain pair of character string patterns (start pattern and end pattern). For example, the character string pattern (start pattern) indicating immediately before the area to be extracted is [@@], the character string pattern (end pattern) indicating immediately after is [@@-end], and corresponds to [@@] And an area between the character string corresponding to [@@-End] is extracted. Outside 1 (Hereafter, in the text
[0042]
[Outside 1]

[0043]
In this case, the black square is replaced with “(black square)”. ) Is defined as a pattern indicating the end of an arbitrary area.
However, here, [@@-End] is not essential. If there is another character string corresponding to [@@] after the character string corresponding to [@@], the second [@@ The area up to immediately before @] is the extraction range of the first area related to [@@]. Further, @@ indicates a character string having an arbitrary number of characters, and @@ in [@@] and [@@-end] in a pair of character string patterns is the same character string. Note that the character string corresponding to @@ should match each area name (component name) in the document structure information of FIG.
[0044]
In step S11 in FIG. 2, the document extraction unit 113 reads the document structure / layout information 122. The document structure / layout information 122 is registered in advance by the user using the document structure / layout information registration unit 112. In step S11, the document structure / layout information 122 defines the area name of each area in the document 124, the hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship), the order of appearance, the presence / absence of repetition, and the possibility of omission. Only document structure information. In this embodiment, the document structure / layout information 122 is defined as a unit, and will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. Here, in order to simplify the description, a description will be given using FIG. 5 conceptually showing an example of the document structure information.
[0045]
The document structure information shown in FIG. 5 is an example in which the document structure related to the specification of the program is defined, and mainly shows the hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship) of the document 200. Blocks at the lowest level (i.e., headings, function names, processing outlines, call formats, interfaces, and notes) indicate the substance of the area in the document. The document 200 includes a heading 210 and a processing specification 220. There is one heading 210. The processing specification 220 is described as being repeated, and there may be a plurality of processing specifications. The process specification 220 defines an inclusive relationship that includes a function name 221, a process outline 222, a call format 223, an interface 224, and a note 225. The processing specification 220 only defines the set of the elements, and does not correspond to the actual area of the document 200. Since the interface 224 is described as being repeated, there is a possibility that a plurality of interfaces exist in one processing specification, and the note 225 may be omitted and may not exist.
[0046]
On the contrary, the heading 210, the function name 221, the processing outline 222, the call format 223, and the at least one interface 224 are essential in the document 200. If there is no heading 210, in step S12 of FIG. It is conceivable that an error message is displayed at a predetermined timing for the document.
[0047]
Next, in step S12 of FIG. 2, the document extraction unit 113 reads at least one document 124 designated by the user, and at least from each document 124 based on the area definition information 121 of FIG. 4 and the document structure information of FIG. One area is extracted. As described above, each area name (component name) in the document structure information shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to the character string corresponding to @@ described in the pattern of the area definition information 121 in FIG. Yes. That is, the document extraction unit 113 reads at least each of the documents 124 designated by the user from the area definition information 121 of FIG. 4 and the document structure information of FIG. [Function name]-[Function name-End] area, [Process overview]-[Process overview-End] area, [Call format]-[Call format-End] area, [Interface]-[Interface-End] ] And [Caution]-[Caution-End] areas in this order, and from [Function Name]-[Function Name-End] area to [Caution]-[Caution-End] area. Are interpreted as possible repetitions in the same order.
[0048]
However, as described above, the end of areas such as [Heading-End], [Function Name-End], [Process Outline-End], [Call Format-End], [Interface-End], and [Caution-End] The character string for determining the end of the area may be omitted in the document 124, and the end of the area is determined by the appearance of a character string for determining the start of the next area or a predetermined character string such as (black square).
[0049]
An example of such extraction is considered in the example of the document 124 shown in FIG. From the above description, in the document 124, the area related to the heading 210 is essential, but is omitted here. When the document extraction unit 113 reads the document 124 of FIG. 6, the character string “[function name]” is first detected, and then the character string “[function name−end]” is detected. This matches the pattern of the area definition information 121 in FIG. 4 and matches the appearance order of the function names 221 in the document structure information in FIG. 5 (as described above, it is assumed that there is no heading 210, and the function name 221 is a valid area that appears first), and the character string “ZaikouWiki” between “[function name]” and “[function name-end]” is extracted in association with the area name “function name”.
[0050]
Next, when the document extraction unit 113 continues reading, a character string “★ This line is not extracted ★” is extracted. This character string is a pattern defined in the area definition information 121 of FIG. It is not extracted because it is not sandwiched between and does not start with such a pattern.
[0051]
Next, the document extraction unit 113 detects a character string “[processing outline]” and then detects a character string “[call format]”. Here, the character string “[processing outline]” matches the pattern of the area definition information 121 in FIG. 4, and the area name that appears next to the function name 221 in the document structure information in FIG. 5 is the processing outline 222. Therefore, the condition of the appearance order is also satisfied, and whether or not the stock can be allocated based on the product code and the order quantity given to the character string “(new line) between“ [Process Overview] ”to“ [Call Format] ”( Is determined in association with the area name “processing outline”. In this case, there is no character string indicating the end of the area called “[Processing Outline-End]”, but the character string “[Call Format]” indicating the start of the next valid area “Call Format” appears. It is determined that the character string “[processing outline-end]” is omitted. In addition to the character information, control information regarding line breaks and page breaks is also extracted from the contents of the character string extracted here in order to faithfully reproduce the contents of the extraction source. In the example of the processing outline, the control information related to the line feed is extracted as “(line feed)” in the extracted character string.
[0052]
Thereafter, when the same processing is repeated, the following character string is extracted in association with each area name.

[0053]
Here, although the processing specification 220 is not repeated, the interface 224 is repeated three times. In such a case, (1) to (3) are added to the area name after the interface as described above. This is to make the repetitive elements uniquely identifiable, and various other methods can be used.
[0054]
FIG. 7 shows a second example of the area definition information 121. In this example, it is defined that an area starting from a character string in the document 124 having a somewhat regular character string pattern is extracted. For example, the character string immediately before the area to be extracted is ^ [0-9] + ¥. @@ $ and there is no pattern indicating the character string immediately after the area. ^ [0-9] + ¥. @@ $ indicates a character string composed of a sequence of at least one number from the beginning of the line, one period, an arbitrary number of character strings corresponding to the area name, and a line feed. The pattern indicating the end of an arbitrary area is 2. Where ^ $ is a break
[0055]
[Outside 2]

[0056]
A line with only lines is shown. Therefore, an arbitrary area ends when a line or a character string (black square) with only a line feed appears. As described above, @@ is the same as each region name (component name) in the document structure information.
[0057]
Consider an example of extraction based on the area definition information 121 of FIG. 7 in the example of the second document 124 shown in FIG. In addition, here, the document structure information as shown in FIG. 5 is omitted, but the hierarchical structure and “invention name”, “claims”, and “detailed description of the invention” that do not have repetitions. Is assumed to be a simple document structure in which the regions are arranged in this order.
[0058]
When the document extraction unit 113 reads the document 124 shown in FIG. 8, the character string “1. Invention name” is first detected, and then only a line feed is detected. Here, from the area definition information 121 in FIG. 7, the “@invention name” corresponds to @@, which matches the first “invention name” in the document in the assumed document structure information. Therefore, the character string “(line feed) electronic file editing device (line feed)” between “1. invention name” to line with only a line feed is extracted in association with the area name “invention name”. Thereafter, when extraction is repeated in the same manner, the following character string is extracted in association with each area name.
[0059]
Area name: Claim = “(Line feed) Device for reconfiguring and editing an electronic file (line feed) by defining rules for specifying the area of the electronic file and information for laying out the area” ,
Area name: Detailed description of the invention = “(line feed) In the present invention, a plurality of ... (line feed) is undefined”.
[0060]
FIG. 9 shows a third example of the area definition information 121. In this example, it is defined that an area sandwiched between character strings in the document 124 having a character string pattern fixed to some extent is extracted. For example, a character string between the character string “1. Invention name” and ^ $ (line with line feed only) or (black square) is extracted with an area name “invention name”, and “2. The character string between the character string “range of” and ^ $ or (black square) is extracted with the area name of claim range, and the character string “3. Detailed Description of the Invention” and ^ $ or ( Character strings between the black squares) are extracted by area names called detailed descriptions. Here, ^ $ indicates a line with only a line feed.
[0061]
In the example of the area definition information shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 7, a part of the pattern in the document (the part corresponding to @@) corresponds to the area name. Is fixedly set. Also in this example, the document structure information is omitted, but the hierarchical structure and the “invention name”, “claim”, and “detailed description” areas that are not repeated are arranged in this order. Assume a simple document structure. Here, it should be noted that the name of each area is set corresponding to each extraction pattern in the area definition information 121 and is different from the area name in the document structure information assumed in the description of FIG. It is.
[0062]
When the extraction from the document 124 of FIG. 8 is performed again using the area definition information 121 of FIG. 9, the document extraction unit 113 first detects the character string “1. Invention name”, and then only the line feed Is detected. Here, from the area definition information 121 of FIG. 9, the corresponding area name is “invention name”, which matches the area “invention name” that should be first in the document in the assumed document structure information. The character string “(line feed) electronic file editing device (line feed)” from the “name of invention” to the line containing only a line feed is extracted in association with the area name “invention name”. Thereafter, when extraction is repeated in the same manner, the following character string is extracted in association with each area name.
[0063]
Area name: claim range = “(line feed) device for reconfiguring and editing an electronic file (line feed) by defining rules for specifying the area of the electronic file and information for laying out the area”
Area name: Detailed description = “(Line feed) In the present invention, a plurality of ... (line feed) is undefined”.
[0064]
The method of extracting the extraction target region from the document 124 by the document extraction unit 113 in step S12 of FIG. 2 has been described above. The document extraction unit 113, together with this extraction, includes a region from where to where in the extraction source document 124. Is output to region-document structure correspondence information 123 in the storage device 120. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the area-document structure correspondence information 123.
[0065]
The area-document structure correspondence information 123 has extraction source document information indicating for each area name in the document structure information, which position of the extraction source document 124 the area corresponds to. Assuming that the document 124 having the document structure information shown in FIG. 5 is assumed, the extraction source document information corresponding to “Heading” is “C: ¥ document ¥ source-1. c ″, From (2, 10), To (2, 20) ”. This is because the source document is“ source-1 ”in the directory“ document ”in the C drive in the storage device 120. The file “c” indicates that the extracted “headline” area is extracted from the position of the 10th column of the second row to the 20th column of the second row of the document. The same applies to other areas, but in FIG. 10, there are repetitions in processing specifications and interfaces, and in the area names, each repetition element is represented in parentheses. In addition, in order to represent a hierarchical relationship (inclusion relationship) with the repetitive element, the area name has a connected notation such as “processing specification (2). Interface (1)”.
[0066]
In this example, the position of the extracted area in the extraction source document 124 is stored by holding the start line and column and the end line and column of each area. The extraction order for each pattern (in this case, when writing back, the document 124 needs to be subjected to pattern search processing similar to the extraction processing by the document extraction unit 113), and the start address position and extraction in the extraction source document 124 By holding the size of the extracted area, the position of the extracted area in the extraction source document 124 may be stored.
[0067]
Thus, by storing the position of each extracted region in the extraction source document 124, that is, by holding the region-document structure correspondence information 123, the region extracted by the document extracting unit 113 is extracted. Even when edited independently of the original document 124, the extracted and edited area can be reflected in the document 124 while maintaining consistency with other areas not extracted in the document 124. Become.
[0068]
Returning to step S13 in FIG. 2 again, here, the document reconstruction unit 114 reads the information of the area extracted from the document 124 by the document extraction unit 113, and displays the display device 140 based on the document structure / layout information 122. Above, information on those areas is reconstructed and displayed.
[0069]
FIG. 11 shows an example of the document structure / layout information 122. The document structure / layout information 122 shows a method for simultaneously defining the conceptual document structure information shown in FIG. 5 and the layout information used for the reconstruction. As described above, the document structure information and the layout information may be defined individually.
[0070]
In this example, using Microsoft's word processor Word, for each area, layout information such as the display position, font style, font size, character string arrangement, and character color of the area, area name, and inclusion Document structure information indicating the relationship, presence / absence of repetition, and omission / non-execution is defined, and other word processor modifications such as a surrounding line and a dividing line are added. Among these pieces of information, layout information such as font style, font size, character string arrangement, and character color, and document structure information indicating region names, presence / absence of repetition, and omission / absence of each region. It is set using the bookmark function of Word.
[0071]
However, any other means may be used as long as layout information and document structure information can be defined for each area and the information can be controlled (including input / output) by a computer. . In addition, the example of the present invention using Microsoft's Word is merely illustrative and is not limited to such specific means.
[0072]
The document structure / layout information 122 shown in FIG. 11 is roughly divided into a visible part and an invisible part. The visible portion is further classified into a fixed portion in which editing by the user is prohibited and an editing portion in which the extracted area is displayed and can be edited by the user. The delimiter line 326, the fixed titles 327, 328, 329, and 32A, and the enclosing line surrounding each area are fixed portions. Areas 310, 321, 322, 323, 324, and 325 are edit portions corresponding to the respective area names of heading, function name, processing outline, call format, interface, and caution.
[0073]
As described above, the document extraction unit 113 associates each area extracted from the document 124 with an area name such as a heading or a function name, and outputs the extracted area information. The document reconstruction unit 114 outputs the extracted area information received from the document extraction unit 113 to the position of the area shown in FIG. 11 having the corresponding area name. This area can be edited by the user, and the editing control unit 115 can delete, change, or add the displayed contents. The editing control unit 115 prohibits editing by other users in other areas. Enabling editing only in a specific area can be easily achieved using the functions of a conventional word processor, but a special application can be prepared and embedded in the word processor or completely independent. It can also be created as a separate application.
[0074]
The invisible part includes an area 320 corresponding to a processing specification that is an upper layer area, and definition parts 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, and 336 that define layout information and document structure information for each area. Yes (this definition is set by the bookmark function of Word). An area 320 corresponds to the processing specification 220 shown in the document structure information of FIG. 5 and is shown to include a set of the editing areas 321, 322, 323, 324, and 325. Thus, the hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship) of each of the areas 320 and 321 to 325 is known, and this is also one document structure information. It is a definition portion 336 that defines the area 320. Here, it is defined that this area 320 has an area name of processing specification and is repeatedly present. The fact that the area 320 includes the areas 321 to 325 is indicated by the fact that the area 320 is set to include all the areas 321 to 325.
[0075]
The other definition parts 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, and 335 relate to the editing areas 310, 321, 322, 323, 324, and 325, respectively, and layout information about the displayed character strings to be edited and Contains sentence structure information.
[0076]
For example, corresponding to the definition portion 330 area 310, the font style of the displayed character string is Mincho, the font size is 22 points, the character modification is BOLD (bold), and the character string is centered (centering) ), The color is black, and the area name of the corresponding area 310 is “heading”.
[0077]
The definition portion 334 corresponding to the area 324 indicates that the area name of the area 324 is an interface and that there is repetition. The definition portion 335 corresponding to the region 325 indicates that the region name of the region 325 is a caution and can be omitted.
[0078]
FIG. 12 shows a display example 400 in which the document reconstruction unit 114 reconstructs the area information extracted from the document extraction unit 113 in this way and displays it on the display screen 140. A display example 400 in FIG. 12 is obtained by extracting, reconstructing, and displaying the document 124 shown in FIG. 6 based on the area definition information 121 shown in FIG. 4 and the document information / layout information 122 shown in FIG. (However, in the document 124 in FIG. 6, the heading “A project-function definition specification” is omitted).
[0079]
This display example 400 shows a case where a plurality of regions are extracted from one document. If an area is extracted from multiple documents, it is added below this display or provided as a display in a separate window. As a result, the user can display, for example, a list of processing outlines and call formats of specifications of a plurality of programs in the same format.
[0080]
FIG. 3 shows the flow of document editing result reflection processing by the document editing result reflection unit 116. In FIG. 3, the left 1/3 column shows information created by the reconstruction process and user editing, the central 1/3 column shows the flow of document editing result reflection processing, and the right 1/3 column shows the flow. It shows information predefined by the user.
[0081]
When the user gives an instruction to reflect the editing result in the extraction source document 124, the document editing result reflecting unit 116 reads the document structure information / layout information 122 in the first step S20 of FIG. This is for acquiring the area name and the like of each editing area. In this embodiment, since the Word function is used for storing and editing the document structure information / layout information 122 as described above, the Word is used. Read from the relationship file or memory.
[0082]
In step S21, the document editing result reflection unit 116 reads the region-document structure correspondence information 123 output by the document extraction unit 113, and extracts the contents of each region on the display device 140 edited by the user. It is determined in which position of the original document 124 it is reflected.
[0083]
Next, in step S <b> 22, the document editing result reflecting unit 116 reflects the contents of each area on the display device 140 edited by the user in the corresponding position of the extraction source document 124. If the user deletes an arbitrary number of characters from a certain area on the display device 140, the address A that is the final position of the area when the area is reflected in the extraction source document 124 is the area-document. Since it is smaller than the address B of the final position at the time of extraction of the area held in the structure correspondence information 123, the area is reflected in the extraction source document 124, and then the extraction source document 124 is equal to the difference between the addresses. It is necessary to move the contents after address B to address A.
[0084]
When the user adds an arbitrary number of characters to a certain area on the display device 140, the address A that is the final position of the area when the area is reflected in the extraction source document 124 is the area-document. Since it is larger than the address B of the final position at the time of extraction of the area held in the structure correspondence information 123, before the area is reflected in the extraction source document 124, the difference between the addresses is the extraction source document 124. The contents after address B must be moved after address A.
[0085]
If the user did not edit a certain area on the display device 140 or if the number of characters did not change as a result of editing, the area is reflected when the area is reflected in the extraction source document 124. Since the address A which is the final position of the area and the address B of the final position at the time of extraction of the area held in the area-document structure correspondence information 123 are equal, the area is set to the original position of the document 124 of the extraction source. Just reflect.
[0086]
The address A and the address B can be grasped as a row and a column in the document 124 as shown in the area-document structure correspondence information 123 illustrated in FIG. Things are also possible.
[0087]
Next, a series of operations of the document editing system of the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to FIGS. Further, the area definition information 121 shown in FIG. 4 is used, and the document configuration / layout information 122 shown in FIG. 11 is used.
[0088]
FIG. 13 shows a screen 410 for designating reading of the extraction source document 124. As described above, the document editing system of the present invention can be achieved by, for example, incorporating the unique function of the present invention into a Microsoft word processor Word or the like. It can also be realized in combination with existing applications.
[0089]
When “display (V)” is selected by a mouse click, keyboard, or the like in the menu of the screen display example 410, a submenu 411 as shown is displayed. Therefore, when “extracted file designation (S)” is selected from the submenu 411, a screen 421 for selecting an extraction source document 124 as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed.
[0090]
FIG. 14 shows a screen 421 for selecting an extraction source document 124. Screen 421 is displayed as a pop-up window from screen 420. In this example, Title. txt (422), Zaiko Wiki. c (423), and Zaiko Kousin. Three files c (424) are selected. These files are all text files. Since the present invention is a system that performs a character string pattern search on the extraction source document 124 and enables editing of the extraction result, it does not make sense to specify a binary file or the like that does not have text information here. . When an “Open (O)” button is selected after selecting an extraction source document 124 to be extracted on this screen 421, a screen for displaying the contents of the selected extraction source document 124 as shown in FIG. 430 is displayed.
[0091]
FIG. 15 shows a screen 430 that displays the content of the selected extraction source document 124. Each content of the designated document 124 is displayed in one window. In window 431, Zaiko Kousin. c is displayed in the window 432, Zaiko Wiki. c, the window 433 displays Title. The contents of txt are displayed respectively.
[0092]
FIG. 16 shows a screen 440 for instructing reconstruction processing from the state of FIG. When “display (V)” is selected from the menu on the screen 440, a submenu 444 as shown is displayed. Therefore, when “source → specification (S)” is selected from the submenu 444, the reconstruction process is started for all the selected documents 124. Depending on the design, the content display screen of FIG. 15 can be omitted.
[0093]
FIG. 17 shows a screen 450 that displays the reconstruction result when the reconstruction is designated in FIG. The reconstruction result of the screen 450 is displayed as one window, and the separation of the extraction source document 124 is represented by a page separation. For example, Zaiko Wiki. The content extracted and reconstructed from c is shown in a region 451 and ZaikoKousin. The content extracted from c and reconstructed is shown in region 452. In this way, instead of representing the separation of the extraction source document 124 by page separation, a mode in which each extraction source document 124 is displayed in a separate window is also possible. In this screen 450, the user can freely edit the parts corresponding to the areas 310, 321, 322, 323, 324, and 325 shown in FIG. The area is controlled so that the cursor does not move and editing by the user is not possible.
[0094]
FIG. 18 illustrates a display screen 450 of the reconstruction result shown in FIG. A screen 460 for editing the content extracted from c and reconstructed is shown. The editing here is to add description contents regarding the processing outline. The portion 461 added by user editing is preferably highlighted as in this example to clearly indicate that it was edited after being reconstructed.
[0095]
FIG. 19 shows a screen 470 for giving an instruction to reflect the editing result in the extraction source document 124. When “display (V)” is selected from the menu on the screen 470, a submenu 472 as shown in the figure is displayed. Therefore, when “specification → source (D)” is selected from the submenu 472, the editing result is reflected in the original document 124. In this example, the extraction source document ZaikoHikeate. A portion (inverted region 471) to which content is substantially added is reflected on c.
[0096]
FIG. 20 shows a screen 480 showing the contents of the extraction source document 124 in which the editing result is reflected. A document Zaiko Wiki. In which the editing result is reflected by the operation of the screen 470 shown in FIG. When c is displayed again, as shown in a window 481, a sentence “Check at that time” is added to the contents of the processing outline. In addition, when the document editing result reflecting unit 116 reflects the editing result by the user on the extraction source document 124 in step S22 of FIG. If it is stored in the window 481, the area added by the user can be highlighted as shown in the window 481.
[0097]
FIG. 21 shows an example of a hardware configuration of a computer 600 used for constructing the document editing system 100 described above. The computer 600 includes a CPU 610, a storage unit 620, a memory unit 630, a display unit 640, an input unit 650, a printing unit 660, and a network interface unit 670 connected to a bus 680.
[0098]
The CPU 610 corresponds to the processing device 110 of the document editing system 100 in FIG. 1, and includes an area definition information registration unit 111, a document structure / layout information registration unit 112, a document extraction unit 113, a document reconstruction unit 114, and a document editing control unit 115. , And each part of the document editing result reflection unit 116 is executed.
[0099]
The storage unit 620 corresponds to the storage device 120 of the document editing system 100 in FIG. 1, and programs for realizing the functions executed by the CPU 610, area definition information 121, document structure / layout information 122, area-document structure. Correspondence information 123 and a plurality of extraction source documents 124 are stored.
The memory unit 630 is loaded with a program that implements each of the parts executed by the CPU 610, and the contents displayed on the display unit 640 including the user's editing contents as necessary, and the contents in the storage unit 620 The contents of various information are loaded.
[0100]
The display unit 640 corresponds to the display device 140 of the document editing system 100 of FIG. 1 and is necessary for displaying the reconstruction result and editing it by the user, and is usually a display device such as a CRT or LCD. .
[0101]
The input unit 650 corresponds to the input device 130 of the document editing system 100 in FIG. 1 and is a device used for inputting and giving instructions along the screen displayed on the display unit 640. Usually, a keyboard and a mouse are used. And the like, and a touch panel, a voice input device, and the like.
[0102]
The printing unit 660 is a printing device such as a laser printer that prints data stored in the storage unit 620 or the memory unit 630 in accordance with an instruction from a user or the like. The printing unit 660 is not an essential component for the implementation of the document editing system 100.
[0103]
The network interface unit 670 mainly functions to realize connection with a remote storage unit 620 or connection with another CPU. This is not necessary when the document editing system 100 is implemented on a single computer.
[0104]
The bus 680 is a common transmission path for transmitting and receiving data, commands, and the like between the components 610 to 670.
[0105]
【The invention's effect】
According to the document editing system of the present invention, using a pair of general-purpose start patterns and end patterns and document structure information that defines the structure of the document, a portion corresponding to the start pattern from a plurality of documents, and Areas between the portions corresponding to the end pattern are extracted, and the extraction results are aggregated and reconfigured according to the document structure information and layout information, and displayed in a state that can be edited by the user. As a result, it is possible to perform editing operations while displaying the information of multiple documents in the layout that is most easily viewable by the user, which is much more efficient than searching for necessary areas from multiple documents and performing direct editing operations. Editing work has been streamlined.
[0106]
In addition, by designating the extraction target using a character string pattern indicating the start and end of the extraction area instead of matching the character strings, a wide area including a plurality of sentences can be designated. In a method such as matching character strings, the extraction result changes greatly even if the extraction source document is slightly changed. In the system of the present invention, the extraction is performed unless the part corresponding to the start and end patterns is changed. There is no change in the area itself. As a result, an extraction result intended by the user can always be obtained, and a stable reconstruction result can be displayed.
[0107]
Further, according to the present invention, after the area reconstructed and displayed in an editable state is edited by the user, the edited area is written back to the extraction source document without conflicting with other areas of the document. It is.
[0108]
Further, according to the present invention, the document structure information and the layout information are registered and held as a unit, and the document structure information includes the region name, hierarchical structure (inclusion relationship), appearance order, and repetition of each region in the document. Information on document structure such as presence / absence and omission / non-existence is included, and the layout information includes layout information such as display position, font style, font size, character string arrangement, and character color of each area. included. Conventionally, the two pieces of information have been carefully matched so as not to contradict each other. However, according to the present invention, both can be easily integrated and made consistent.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of a document editing system of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a flow of document extraction and reconstruction processing.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a document editing result reflection process.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of region definition information.
FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of document structure information.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an extraction source document.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a second example of area definition information.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a second example of an extraction source document;
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a third example of area definition information.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of region-document structure correspondence information.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of document structure / layout information.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a reconstruction result.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for designating reading of an extraction source document.
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for selecting an extraction source document;
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen that displays the contents of a selected extraction source document;
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for instructing a reconstruction process.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen that displays a reconstruction result.
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen obtained by editing the displayed reconstruction result.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for instructing to output an editing result to an extraction source document.
FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen showing the contents of an extraction source document in which an editing result is reflected.
FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a computer that executes a document editing system.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 Document editing system
110 processor
111 Area definition information registration part
112 Document structure / layout information registration section
113 Document extraction unit
114 Document reconstruction unit
115 Document editing control unit
116 Document editing result reflection part
120 storage device
121 Area definition information
122 Document structure / layout information
123 Area-document structure correspondence information
124 documents
130 Input device
140 Display device

Claims (8)

A document editing system that extracts an arbitrary area from at least one document and displays the extracted area in an editable state.
Area definition information registration means for registering area definition information that is used to extract a desired area from each document and includes a first pattern that identifies a location immediately before the desired area;
Document structure / layout information for registering area structure in each document, document structure information including the area name of each area in the document, and layout information used to reconstruct each area Registration means;
When a location in the document corresponds to the first pattern obtained from the region definition information and the region name corresponding to the location satisfies the appearance condition of the same region name obtained from the document structure information, When the location is determined as the start location of the area, and the location corresponds to the same or different pattern as the first pattern, and there is no location corresponding to any pattern between the start location and the location A document extracting means for determining the location as the end location of the region, and extracting the region between the start location and the end location in association with the region name obtained from the document structure information;
Document reconstruction means for reconstructing and displaying the extracted at least one area using the document structure information and the layout information registered by the document structure / layout information registration means;
A document editing system characterized by comprising: A document editing system that extracts an arbitrary area from at least one document and displays the extracted area in an editable state.
Information used for extracting a desired area from each document, a first pattern for specifying a position immediately before the desired area, and a second pattern for specifying a position immediately after the desired area Area definition information registration means for registering area definition information including a pattern;
Document structure / layout information for registering area structure in each document, document structure information including the area name of each area in the document, and layout information used to reconstruct each area Registration means;
When a location in the document corresponds to the first pattern obtained from the region definition information and the region name corresponding to the location satisfies the appearance condition of the same region name obtained from the document structure information, A location is determined as the first location, and the location corresponding to the second pattern after the first location is applicable to any pattern between the first location and the location. If there is no location, the location is determined as the second location, and an area between the first location and the second location is associated with the region name obtained from the document structure information. A document extracting means for extracting;
Document reconstruction means for reconstructing and displaying the extracted at least one area using the document structure information and the layout information registered by the document structure / layout information registration means;
A document editing system characterized by comprising: A document editing system that extracts an arbitrary area from at least one document and displays the extracted area in an editable state.
An area for registering area definition information including one or more sets of a character string pattern at the start of the area and a pattern at the end of the area, which is information used for extracting a desired area from each document Definition information registration means;
Document structure / layout information for registering area structure in each document, document structure information including the area name of each area in the document, and layout information used to reconstruct each area Registration means;
When a certain point in the document corresponds to the pattern of the starting character string obtained from the region definition information, and the region name corresponding to the portion satisfies the appearance condition of the same region name obtained from the document structure information The part is determined to be the start part of the region, and the part corresponds to the pattern of the end character string, and there is no part corresponding to an arbitrary pattern between the start part and the part. A document extracting means for determining a location as an end location of a region, and extracting a region between the start location and the end location in association with the region name obtained from the document structure information;
Document reconstruction means for reconstructing and displaying the extracted at least one area using the document structure information and the layout information registered by the document structure / layout information registration means;
A document editing system characterized by comprising:   4. The document editing system according to claim 1, further comprising document editing control means for controlling the at least one area displayed by reconfiguration so as to be edited.   5. The document editing control means further controls to limit an editing function relating to the at least one area displayed by reconfiguration to only contents of the area extracted from the document. Document editing system described in 1.   5. The document editing system according to claim 4, further comprising: a document editing result reflecting means for reflecting the editing result in the extraction source document of the area when the extracted at least one area is edited. . The pattern is defined by a combination of a fixed character string and an arbitrary number of arbitrary characters;
The document editing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The document structure information relating to the structure of the area in each document, and the layout information used for reconstructing each area are integrally registered by the document structure / layout information registration means;
The document editing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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