JP4783401B2 - Information processing apparatus and method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a program, and a recording medium, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus and method, a program, and a recording medium suitable for handling an electronic book.

  Electronic books composed of text data are becoming popular. An electronic book is a paper book (hereinafter referred to as a paper book), and information that is generally recorded as printed text is used as text data information. It is displayed as if it is in a state. An electronic book is displayed as if a paper book is expanded and the pages are being read one by one by sliding the text (image) for one page with a predetermined button.

  A conventional terminal device for an electronic book is a file related to a preset delimiter for text data for a book within a range of the maximum number of characters that the display unit can display at a time in order to perform an easy-to-read display. It has been proposed to sequentially display text data of each divided unit on the display unit based on the conditions defined in (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In addition, a conventional electronic book terminal device or a method for easily creating data handled by the terminal device has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-197088 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-52016

  The terminal device for electronic books is designed to be a size that can be carried by the user. Therefore, the size of the display unit that displays the text data of the terminal device is limited, and the size is not necessarily optimal for all users. For example, even if the same character is displayed in the same area in the same area by the user, the visibility is different.

  Therefore, in order to make the text data easy to see in a limited display area, it has been proposed that it is disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above. However, in Patent Document 1, the text data for a book within the range of the maximum number of characters that can be displayed at one time by the display unit is based on conditions defined in a file related to a preset separator. Sequential delimiters and the text data of each delimited unit are sequentially displayed on the display unit, but the size of the characters is not necessarily appropriate.

  For example, a user with good vision may be easier to read at a given character size, but a user with poor vision may find a character larger than the given character size easier to read. It is thought that. In other words, there is a problem that it is not possible to display with the size of the character preferred by the user.

  In addition, displaying with the maximum number of characters that can be displayed on the display is still good for text data that consists only of a series of characters such as novels, but still images such as newspapers and magazines Included, the content itself has a characteristic in the layout itself, only a list of characters, but something with a characteristic in the layout itself (for example, it is better to change the paragraph for each line like a script) Are not suitable.

  The same applies to Patent Document 2. The data structure disclosed in Patent Document 2 may be effective for images and the like, but for text and the like, the layout is changed, and enlargement and reduction are not performed as desired by the user. There are problems such as.

  In other words, providing the user with a layout itself composed of still images and texts is also a factor for the user to enjoy the content more, and the will of the creator who created the content can be respected. However, these are problems that cannot be solved by the methods disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and allows a user to provide characters and images of an appropriate size, provides a display of content reflecting the will of the copyright holder such as a layout, It is another object of the present invention to allow a user to easily construct a data structure that can be handled so that the user does not feel discomfort with a paper book.

An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is electronic book data, is binary content data having a configuration in which all content information is managed as an object, and objects constituting the content data are represented as trees. PageTree object for managing by structure, Page object created for each page constituting the electronic book and describing the contents of the page, Block object for managing the area in the page managed by the Page object, The Text object that manages the text described in the area managed by the Block object, the Image object that manages the image described in the area managed by the Block object, and the attributes of the Page object are described Page attribute object, attribute of the Block object Block attribute object described, Text attribute object attribute is described in the Text object, and, among the Image data object is image data necessary for rendering the images managed by the Image object, Storage means for storing content data composed of corresponding objects, and editing means for editing content data of a scrapbook composed of articles that are selected by the user and are predetermined text or images in the page The editing means, when adding an article to the scrapbook, saves the clip as an article that is displayed only when there is an instruction in a state where other articles of the scrapbook are displayed, or other Like the article, it is drawn in the format set in the scrapbook. If you set whether to save the quote and set the clip save, the article to be added is saved as the Image object, and if the quote save is set, the article specified to be added to the scrapbook is posted. The first ID of the Page object of the page, the second ID of the Block object that becomes the head of the article selected by the user, and the Block that becomes the end of the article selected by the user as the end A command for obtaining the third ID of the object, analyzing the command described in the Page object corresponding to the first ID for each line, and issuing an instruction for the command to refer to the Block object The ID of the Block object referred to by the command to be analyzed is the second ID and the second ID It is determined whether or not the ID is a number sandwiched between the IDs of the IDs. If it is determined that the ID is not sandwiched, the process proceeds to analysis of the next line in the Page object, and the ID is determined to be sandwiched. If it is determined that the Block object refers to a Text object, and if it is not a Text object, the Block object to be processed and the Block object refer to it Image object, which is an object necessary to draw the object, obtains information of the Image data object referenced by the object, and determines that it is the Text object. The drawing attribute of the Text object matches the Page attribute object included in the scrapbook. In addition, the information of the object referred to by the Text object is acquired .

An information processing method according to one aspect of the present invention is an information processing method of an information processing apparatus including a storage unit and an editing unit, wherein the storage unit is data for electronic books, and all content information is managed as an object. Binary format content data configured as described above, a PageTree object for managing objects constituting the content data in a tree structure, created for each page constituting the electronic book, and describing the contents of the page Page object, Block object that manages the area in the page managed by the Page object, Text object that manages text described in the area managed by the Block object, Area managed by the Block object Image object that manages the image described in the above, Page Page attribute object in which the attributes of the object are described, Block attribute object in which the attributes of the Block object are described, Text attribute object in which the attributes of the Text object are described, and the image managed by the Image object Stores content data composed of corresponding objects among Image data objects that are image data necessary for drawing an image, and the editing means is selected by a user, and a predetermined text or image in the page And editing the content data of a scrapbook composed of articles, and when the editing means adds an article to the scrapbook, an instruction is issued while another article of the scrapbook is displayed. A clip that is displayed only when there is an article Or if you set the save as a citation drawn in the format set in the scrapbook like other articles, and set the clip save, the article to be added is saved as the Image object, When the citation saving is set, the first ID of the Page object of the page on which the article specified to be added to the scrapbook is placed, and the Block object that is the head of the article selected by the user as the head And the third ID of the Block object at the end of the article selected as the end by the user, and the command described in the Page object corresponding to the first ID is acquired. Analyzed line by line, if the command is a command for issuing an instruction to refer to a Block object It is determined whether the ID of the Block object referred to by the command being executed is an ID of a number sandwiched between the second ID and the third ID, and when it is determined that the ID is not an sandwiched ID, When the processing shifts to analysis of the next line in the Page object and it is determined that the ID is sandwiched, it is further determined whether or not the Block object refers to a Text object, and is not a Text object. If it is determined that the object is the Block object to be processed, the Image object referenced by the Block object, the object required to draw the object, the Image data object referenced by the object If the information is acquired and it is determined that the text object, the referenced Block object and The drawing attributes of the serial Text object, change the attributes that were Page attribute object contained in the scrapbook, further comprising the step of obtaining information of the object the Text object references.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for controlling an information processing apparatus including a storage unit and an editing unit, wherein the storage unit is data for electronic books, and all content information is managed as an object. Binary format content data with a specific structure, a PageTree object for managing objects constituting the content data in a tree structure, created for each page constituting the electronic book, and describing the contents of the page A Page object, a Block object that manages the area in the page managed by the Page object, a Text object that manages text described in the area managed by the Block object, and an area managed by the Block object Image object that manages the image to be described, the Page Page attribute object in which the attributes of the object are described, Block attribute object in which the attributes of the Block object are described, Text attribute object in which the attributes of the Text object are described, and the image managed by the Image object Stores content data composed of corresponding objects among Image data objects that are image data necessary for drawing an image, and the editing means is selected by a user, and a predetermined text or image in the page And editing the content data of a scrapbook composed of articles, and when the editing means adds an article to the scrapbook, an instruction is issued while another article of the scrapbook is displayed. A clip that is displayed only when there is an article Or if you set the save as a citation drawn in the format set in the scrapbook like other articles, and set the clip save, the article to be added is saved as the Image object, When the citation saving is set, the first ID of the Page object of the page on which the article specified to be added to the scrapbook is placed, and the Block object that is the head of the article selected by the user as the head And the third ID of the Block object at the end of the article selected as the end by the user, and the command described in the Page object corresponding to the first ID is acquired. Analyzed line by line, if the command is a command for issuing an instruction to refer to a Block object It is determined whether the ID of the Block object referred to by the command being executed is an ID of a number sandwiched between the second ID and the third ID, and when it is determined that the ID is not an sandwiched ID, When the processing shifts to analysis of the next line in the Page object and it is determined that the ID is sandwiched, it is further determined whether or not the Block object refers to a Text object, and is not a Text object. If it is determined that the object is the Block object to be processed, the Image object referenced by the Block object, the object required to draw the object, the Image data object referenced by the object If the information is acquired and it is determined that the text object, the referenced Block object and A computer for executing processing including a step of changing a drawing attribute of a Text object to an attribute suitable for a Page attribute object included in a scrapbook and further acquiring information of an object referred to by the Text object A readable program .

A recording medium according to one aspect of the present invention is a computer that controls an information processing apparatus including a storage unit and an editing unit. The storage unit is data for electronic books, and all content information is managed as an object. Binary format content data configured as described above, a PageTree object for managing objects constituting the content data in a tree structure, created for each page constituting the electronic book, and describing the contents of the page Page object, Block object that manages the area in the page managed by the Page object, Text object that manages the text described in the area managed by the Block object, and the area managed by the Block object Image object that manages the image described in Page attribute object describing the attributes of the object, Block attribute object describing the attributes of the Block object, Text attribute object describing the attributes of the Text object, and the image object managed by the Image object Stores content data composed of corresponding objects among Image data objects that are image data necessary for drawing an image, and the editing means is selected by a user, and a predetermined text or image in the page And editing the content data of a scrapbook composed of articles, and when the editing means adds an article to the scrapbook, an instruction is issued while another article of the scrapbook is displayed. Clip preservation that is displayed only when there is Or if you set whether to save the quote drawn in the format set in the scrapbook like other articles, and set the clip save, the article to be added is saved as the Image object, When quoting storage is set, the first ID of the Page object of the page on which the article specified to be added to the scrapbook is posted, the Block object that is the head of the article selected by the user as the head The second ID and the third ID of the Block object that is the end of the article selected as the end by the user are acquired, and the command described in the Page object corresponding to the first ID is 1 Analyzes line by line, and if the command is a command for issuing an instruction to refer to a Block object, It is determined whether the ID of the Block object referred to by the command being specified is an ID of a number sandwiched between the second ID and the third ID, and when it is determined that the ID is not the sandwiched ID, When the processing shifts to analysis of the next line in the Page object and it is determined that the ID is sandwiched, it is further determined whether or not the Block object refers to a Text object, and is not a Text object. If it is determined that the object is the Block object to be processed, the Image object referenced by the Block object, the object required to draw the object, the Image data object referenced by the object If the information is acquired and it is determined that the text object is the Text object, A computer read for executing processing including a step of changing the drawing attribute of the Text object to an attribute suitable for the Page attribute object included in the scrapbook and further acquiring information of the object referred to by the Text object Records possible programs .

  In the information processing apparatus and method, the program, and the recording medium according to one aspect of the present invention, a predetermined article is cut out from content data including a plurality of objects, and is necessary for rendering the cut article. Only objects are extracted from the content data.

  According to the present invention, data for electronic books can be created. In addition, content can be browsed on a predetermined terminal using the created data.

  According to the present invention, the format of electronic book data is converted into an object, and the concept of a block is introduced into the layout format, thereby enhancing the expandability of the format.

  According to the present invention, since the format for the electronic book is converted into an object, it becomes easy to add new contents without changing almost the existing contents. Further, by using the fact that new contents can be easily added, the user can create his own scrapbook in the same format as the purchased electronic book.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to expand and browse the character of the content as an electronic book. By enlarging the characters, even if the layout breaks down, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the page break is not known and the expected page cannot be reached even if the page is moved at a stroke. In addition, by doing so, it becomes possible to move the page linearly.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an information processing system to which the present invention is applied. The system shown in FIG. 1 is a system that handles books converted into digital data. Here, the book converted into digital data is composed of text, images, or a combination thereof that can be viewed on a predetermined terminal on the user side that handles the digital data.

  Currently, paper-based books (paper books) are generally distributed. Such paper books are created and published by publishers 1-1 through 1-N. It is assumed that publishers 1-1 through 1-N that publish such paper books also publish digitalized books (hereinafter referred to as electronic books as appropriate).

  In the following description, when it is not necessary to individually distinguish the publishers 1-1 to 1-N, they are simply referred to as publisher 1. The other parts are described in the same manner.

  Data from each publisher 1 is supplied to a data creation device 2. The publisher 1 creates electronic book data in a data format handled by the company, and supplies the data to the data creation device 2. For this reason, the data supplied from each publisher 1 is not necessarily in the same format, so the data creation device 2 mainly converts (converts) different data formats into the same data format. ) Execute the process.

  For example, data formats supplied from each publisher 1 include HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), PDF (Portable Document Format: file format handled by Adobe Systems software Acrobat), Open eBook specification format, and the like. Therefore, there is a possibility that the data of the electronic book supplied from each publisher 1 is not in the same format, so that the data creation device 2 converts the data.

  The data created by the data creation device 2 is provided (distributed) to the user side via the market 3 or the network 4. Here, it is assumed that the package medium 5 is provided to the user side through the market 3. The package medium 5 is a recording medium such as a Memory Stick (trademark), for example, and can be handled by a user terminal.

  The network 4 is the Internet. The configuration may be wired or wireless, and is configured by a WAN (World Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), or the like. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the publisher 1 and the data creation device 2 may exchange data via the network 4. For further explanation, the data exchange between the publisher 1 and the data creation device 2 may be via a network or the like, or the data is recorded on a predetermined recording medium and sent by mail or the like. The data may be exchanged, and the data may be exchanged in any form.

  PC (Personal Computer) 6-1 and 6-2 are connected to the network 4. The PCs 6-1 and 6-2 are configured to be connected to user terminals 7-1 and 7-2 for browsing electronic books. Further, the user terminals 7-3 and 7-4 are configured to be directly connected to the network 4.

  The PC 6 normally has a function of exchanging data with another device (here, the data creation device 2) via the network 4. When the PC 6 is used, data from the data creation device 2 is received by the PC 6, supplied to the user terminal 7 via the PC 6, and stored.

  When the PC 6 is not used, data is directly supplied from the data creation device 2 to the user terminal 7 and stored.

  The user terminal 7 may be configured so as to be able to exchange data only through a route via the data creation device 2 and the PC 6, or may be configured to be able to exchange data only via a route not via the PC 6. May be. Of course, the configuration may be such that the user can select both the route via the PC 6 and the route not via the PC 6.

  Furthermore, the user terminal 7 is configured to receive supply of data from the data creation device 2 in a state where the data is recorded on the package medium 5. Details of the configuration of the user terminal 7 will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the data creation device 2. The data creation device 2 includes an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) converter unit 21, a data converter unit 22, a copyright protection processing unit 23, a distribution unit 24, and a package media creation unit 25.

  The XML converter unit 21 converts data of various formats supplied from the publisher 1 into XML format data. The data converted by the XML converter unit 21 is supplied to the data converter unit 22. The data converter unit 22 converts the supplied XML format data into data (binary data) for distribution as an electronic book. Further, when performing the conversion, the data converter unit 22 converts the data into content data composed of objects.

  XML data is also directly supplied from the publisher 1 to the data converter unit 22. That is, if the data is in the XML format, the processing by the XML converter unit 21 is not required, so that the data is directly supplied from the publisher 1 to the data converter unit 22 without going through the XML converter unit 21. Anyway.

  The data converted by the data converter unit 22 is supplied to the copyright protection processing unit 23. The copyright protection processing unit 23 is a part that performs processing for protecting the copyright relating to the electronic book. Specifically, the copyright protection processing unit 23 performs processing such as encryption on the supplied data or embeds copyright data. Sloppy. The processing by the copyright protection processing unit 23 may be performed as necessary. For example, when the data is distributed free of charge, it is not performed on data that does not require copyright protection. Also good.

  Note that, for example, the content distribution technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-163968 filed earlier by the present applicant can be applied to the information processing system. When this technology is applied, the copyright protection processing unit 23 encrypts the data converted by the data converter unit 22 to create an encrypted content, and the content identification information and digital rights management are added to the encrypted content. A content file is created by adding a header portion consisting of information, license identification information, validation key block EKB, and encrypted content key.

  The data output from the copyright protection processing unit 23 is distributed by the distribution unit 24. The distribution unit 24 has a storage unit (not shown) inside or outside, stores the supplied data in the storage unit, and stores the stored data as needed (in response to a request from the PC 6 or the user terminal 7). Data is read out and distributed via the network 4.

  The package media creation unit 25 creates package media 5 to be bought and sold in the market 4 by causing the package media 5 to record electronic book data. The data recorded on the package medium 5 is data composed of one or both of data supplied from the data converter unit 22 and data supplied from the copyright protection processing unit 23.

  For example, only data supplied from the data converter unit 22 is recorded on the package media 5 that is distributed free of charge for the purpose of advertising or the like. Further, only data from the copyright protection processing unit 23 is recorded on the package medium 5 that is distributed only to a specific user (purchased user) for sales purposes. Alternatively, even for sales purposes, for example, the first 100 pages are recorded with data from the data converter unit 22, and the remaining pages are recorded with data from the copyright protection processing unit 23. good.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the data creation device 2 is illustrated and described as one device, but each unit in the data creation device 2 shown in FIG. 2 is configured as a different device, The data creation device 2 may be a system composed of a plurality of devices.

  For example, when each unit is configured as one server, the servers are connected to each other through a predetermined network and configured to exchange data with each other. As described above, when each unit is configured as one server, when the publisher 1 supplies data other than XML format data, the publisher 1 connects to the server that configures the XML converter unit 21 and the XML format data. Is connected to the data converter unit 22.

  When the connection destinations are made different in this way (there is not necessarily the need for each unit being configured as a single server, but it may be configured as shown in FIG. 2), You may make it change with connection destinations.

  In this case, the data creation device 2 is provided separately from the publisher 1, but as an administrator who manages the data creation device 2, when providing such a service, a fee is charged in some form. Collect. First, publisher 1 can be considered as the collection destination of the fee. When the fee is collected (charged) from the publisher 1, the charge amount may be changed depending on whether the conversion by the XML converter unit 21 is necessary or not.

  In this way, it is considered that the number of connections that do not go through the XML converter unit 21, that is, the data converter unit 22 is a connection destination and supplies XML data will be set as a low charge amount. When it is determined that the XML converter unit 21 is not necessary as the number of connections increases, the XML converter unit 21 may be deleted. As a result, the cost associated with maintenance of the data creation device 2 can be reduced.

  In other words, in other words, the publisher 1 side creates data in the XML format, so that the data for the electronic book is mainly in the XML format. As a result, for the electronic book It will be possible to differentiate from the publisher that handles the data in the format other than the XML format and the company that receives the data from the publisher.

  When the data creation device 2 is constituted by one or a plurality of devices, the device constituting the data creation device 2 can be constituted by a personal computer or the like. FIG. 3 shows an internal configuration when the data creation device 2 is configured by a personal computer or the like.

  A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 41 of the data creation device 2 shown in FIG. 3 executes various processes according to a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 42. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 43 appropriately stores data and programs necessary for the CPU 41 to execute various processes. The input / output interface 45 is connected to an input unit 46 including a keyboard and a mouse, and outputs a signal input to the input unit 46 to the CPU 41. The input / output interface 45 is also connected to an output unit 47 including a display, a speaker, and the like.

  The input / output interface 45 is also connected to a storage unit 48 composed of a hard disk and a communication unit 49 that exchanges data with other devices (for example, the user terminal 7) via a network such as the Internet. ing. The drive 50 is used when data is read from or written to a recording medium such as the magnetic disk 61, the optical disk 62, the magneto-optical disk 63, and the semiconductor memory 64.

  The functional block diagram of the data creation device 2 shown in FIG. 2 and the correspondence relationship between the internal configuration example of the data creation device 2 shown in FIG. 3 are shown. The XML converter unit 21 is realized, for example, by the CPU 41 executing a process based on a program developed in the RAM 43 (or ROM 42). Similarly, the data converter unit 21 and the copyright protection processing unit 23 are realized by the CPU 41 executing processing based on a program developed in the RAM 43.

  Note that copyright information required by the copyright protection processing unit 23 is stored in the storage unit 48.

  Data from the publisher 1 is provided via the communication unit 49. Alternatively, it is recorded on a recording medium such as the magnetic disk 61, the optical disk 62, the magneto-optical disk 63, the semiconductor memory 64, and supplied by being read from the drive 50.

  The distribution unit 24 includes a storage unit 48 and a communication unit 49. The storage unit 48 stores electronic book data to be distributed to the user, and the electronic book data is read as necessary and distributed by the communication unit 49. Of course, the CPU 41 controls such processing.

  The package media creation unit 25 includes a drive 50. As described above, the recording medium (package medium 5) such as the magnetic disk 61 is inserted into the drive 50, and the data stored in the storage unit 48 is recorded on the recording medium. Is created. Of course, for mass production, a plurality of drives 50 are required, and it is preferable that the writing is performed simultaneously.

  As described above, since the data creation device 2 does not need to be configured by a single device, the device having the configuration illustrated in FIG. 3 is configured as a server having only the function as the XML converter unit 21, for example. You may make it.

  When distributed (sold) as the package medium 5, an electronic book is different from a paper book and does not require time to create it. In other words, the time required to record the electronic book data on the package medium 5 is shorter than the time required to use the same book as a paper book. Using this fact, the package media creation unit 25 may be installed as a dedicated terminal in a store such as a bookstore.

  When installed at a store such as a bookstore, when the user operates the terminal and selects a desired electronic book, the user is connected to the distribution unit 24 connected via the network 4, for example. The information of the electronic book that has been sent is transmitted. Based on the information, the data of the corresponding electronic book is transmitted to the terminal. The terminal records the transmitted data on a recording medium.

  Of course, electronic book data may be stored in a terminal installed in a bookstore or the like, and the data may be recorded on a recording medium. However, when data is distributed from the distribution unit 24 connected to the data creation device 2, the data of the electronic book can be managed centrally on the data creation device 2 side. It becomes easy to perform processing related to data update, such as adding data and deleting old data.

  Further, if the data is managed only on the data creation device 2 side, for example, it becomes easy to collect statistics on books that sell well and books that do not sell.

  When a terminal or the like is installed in a bookstore or the like, the user can tolerate a time period from when the user starts an operation in front of the terminal until obtaining a recording medium on which data of a desired electronic book is recorded. Such terminals and systems are expected to be popular because they are considered to be within range. Therefore, the manufacturing company that manufactures the terminal can also make a profit.

  In addition, if this is done, there is an advantage that the publisher 1 side can eliminate the risk of having inventory. In the case of paper media, if the book is not sold, the book will be disposed of, which leads to wasteful consumption of paper and wasteful expense for the publisher 1 side. Thus, if the package medium 5 is sold, it is possible to prevent the recording medium itself from being wasted.

  Further, if a volatile recording medium is used as the package medium 5, even if the data is pre-recorded on the package medium 5 and sold in a bookstore in the same manner as in the case of a paper book, it is not sold and is not collected. However, the recording medium itself can be reused, and it is possible to reduce the risk and the cost.

  Here, the electronic book data is supplied from the publisher 1, but the electronic book data is not necessarily supplied only from the publisher 1. For example, a mechanism may be provided in which the author directly transmits data to the data creation device 2. In this way, for example, it is called voluntary publishing, and even if the author publishes a publication with his own funds, if it is an electronic book, there is no need to make it a paper medium, paper fee, printing Costs can be reduced, and further, taking the form as described above eliminates the need to keep inventory, so that only the cost of selling is needed.

  That is, on the author side, the cost for publishing can be reduced, and on the side managing the data creation device 2, revenue can be obtained from customers other than the publisher 1. In addition, the user side generally decides, for example, that it is not possible to put a work of an unrecognized author who has not been released until now, or even a famous famous author on a commercial basis. Works that were not sold can now be purchased more easily, and works of various authors can be purchased (the range of choices is expanded).

  Next, the user terminal 7 that processes the data of the electronic book created by such a data creation device 2 and provides the user with a book composed of text, images, etc. will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an external configuration of the user terminal 7. The user terminal 7 includes a display unit 71 for displaying a text or an image as an electronic book (hereinafter referred to as content as appropriate). First, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface 72 is provided at a portion located on the side of the surface having the display unit 71.

  The USB interface 72 is provided to connect to the PC 6 (FIG. 1) and exchange data. In addition to the USB interface 72, the user terminal 7 also includes an Ethernet interface 73 for connecting to Ethernet (registered trademark). The Ethernet interface 73 is provided for exchanging data with the data creation device 2 via the network 4 (FIG. 1).

  The Ethernet interface 73 has a function that can be connected to the network 4 regardless of whether it is wireless or wired, and may have a function that can exchange data with the data creation device 2.

  The user terminal 7 has a drive 74 on its side. The package medium 5 is inserted into the drive 74. The drive 74 is configured to read electronic book data from the inserted package medium 5.

  Further, the user terminal 7 has two buttons, a feed button 75 and a return button 76 on its side. The feed button 75 and the return button 76 are operated when scrolling the content displayed on the display unit 72. As a button having the same role as the feed button 75, a feed button 77 is provided below the display unit 71. A return button 78 is also provided below the display unit 71 as a button having the same function as the return button 76.

  In this way, the buttons having the same role are arranged in different parts in consideration of user convenience. As shown in FIG. 4, the USB interface 72, the Ethernet interface 73, and the drive 74 are not necessarily provided on the side surface of the user terminal 7, but are provided at any positions. Also good. However, it is preferable that the feed button 75 and the return button 76 are provided at positions that are easy to operate when the user holds the user terminal 7 by hand.

  On the lower side of the display unit 71 of the user terminal 7, a jog dial (trademark) is provided between the feed button 77 and the return button 78, and the display unit 71 is similar to the feed button 77 and the return button 78. This is operated when scrolling the displayed content. The jog dial 79 is configured to be operated in a horizontal direction (vertical direction in the figure) with respect to the display unit 71 and may be configured to be pressed in the vertical direction. The determination may be instructed by the pressing process.

  The user terminal 7 further includes an enlarge button 80 and an enter button 81 below the display unit 71. The enlargement button 80 is operated when it is desired to enlarge the character size of the content displayed on the display unit 71. The determination button 81 is operated when making a selection, for example, when selecting a region to be scrapped to be described later.

  In the configuration of the user terminal 7 illustrated in FIG. 4, it is assumed that only the enlarge button 80 is provided, but a reduce button may be provided. As shown in FIG. 4, in the case where only the enlargement button 80 is provided, for example, when the enlargement button 80 is operated a predetermined number of times, not the enlargement process but 100% Set to display back.

  Although the user terminal 7 is configured to include such a plurality of buttons, the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4 is an example and does not indicate limitation. That is, buttons other than the buttons shown in FIG. 4 may be provided, or conversely, if not necessary (if it is not necessary to share with other buttons, for example), a deleted configuration may be used. . Further, the arrangement of the buttons and the like is not limited to the arrangement shown in FIG. 4 and can be changed as appropriate.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of the user terminal 7. The CPU 101 of the user terminal 7 illustrated in FIG. 5 executes various processes according to programs stored in the ROM 102. The RAM 103 appropriately stores data and programs necessary for the CPU 101 to execute various processes. The input / output interface 105 is connected to an input unit 106 and outputs a signal input to the input unit 106 to the CPU 101.

  The input unit 106 includes a feed button 75, a return button 76, a feed button 77, a return button 78, a jog dial 79, an enlarge button 80, and an enter button 81.

  A display unit 71 is also connected to the input / output interface 105. In addition, the input / output interface 105 is also connected to a storage unit 107 constituted by a hard disk and a communication unit 108 that exchanges data with other devices (for example, the data creation device 2). In this case, the communication unit 108 includes a USB interface 72 and an Ethernet interface 73.

  The drive 74 is used when reading data from a recording medium as the package medium 5 and writing data as necessary.

  Data provided from the data creation device 2 and received by the communication unit 108 is stored in the storage unit 107, and text and images based on the stored data are displayed on the display unit 71. Alternatively, data recorded on the package medium 5 set in the drive 74 is read, and text and an image based on the read data are displayed on the display unit 71. In the following description, text and images displayed on the display unit 71 are appropriately described as content, and data related to the content is described as content data.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of content displayed on the display unit 71. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, a title display block 111 that displays a title of content is displayed at an upper position in the display unit 71. An image display block 112 for displaying an image is displayed at the left position below the title display block 111, and a text display block 113-1 for displaying text is displayed at the right position. It is displayed.

  Further, a text display block 113-2 for displaying text is displayed at a position below the display unit 71. In the following description, the title display block 111, the image display block 112, and the text display blocks 113-1 and 43-2 are collectively referred to as blocks as appropriate.

  The content displayed on the display unit 71 illustrated in FIG. 6 is an example and does not indicate limitation. That is, the layout and the like are changed depending on the content, and for convenience of explanation, for example, the title display block 111 on which the title is displayed is displayed. However, in the content without the title, the title display block 111 is Even when the title is not displayed, the position may not be limited to the upper side of the display unit 71.

  In addition, these display blocks 111 to 113 are not areas set in advance in the display unit 71. In other words, for example, a block called the title display block 111 is not set in advance. As described above, the display position and contents of these blocks are determined based on the data stored in the storage unit 107, the data recorded on the package medium 5, and the like. It is what is done.

  Therefore, for example, when content such as a novel is displayed, only text is displayed on the display unit 71. In such a case, the text display block 113 is provided on the display unit 71, and the text is displayed in the provided text display block 113 (reserved as an area).

  Here, the type of content (book) will be described. First, it is composed of cartoon-like pictures and text, and the layout (layout) of each frame must be as intended by the author (the contents will change if the layout is changed) There are many books. Such a book must be set so that its layout is not changed even if it is enlarged.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that a book having such characteristics (for example, a book like a comic book) is handled as an image (IMAGE). Therefore, a book such as a comic is handled as the image display block 112 and displayed on the display unit 71.

  There are books that consist only of text like novels. Since it is composed of only text, even if the text (character) is enlarged or reduced, if the sequence of the character string is not changed (for example, the character string “Ah” remains “Ah”) If so, it may be enlarged or reduced).

  In the present embodiment, a book composed only of text such as a novel is treated as text data. Therefore, a book like a novel is handled as the text display block 113 and displayed on the display unit 71.

  Some books, such as magazines, consist of text and images. As in the case of novels, even if the text is enlarged or reduced, it is sufficient that the text string is not changed. Even if the image is enlarged or reduced in the same manner, it is sufficient that the ratio does not change.

  In addition, it is preferable that the layout of text and images is not changed, but if the layout is changed due to processing such as enlargement or reduction, the content may change like a cartoon. Since it is low, its layout can be changed. However, for example, it is preferable that an image related to the content indicated by the text is displayed next to the predetermined text. From this point of view, even if the layout is changed, the user can substantially It is preferable that the layout as the browsing order is not changed.

  Although various books having such different features are handled, in the present invention, even if a process such as enlargement is performed on the content, the layout intended by the creator of the content is obtained by the process such as enlargement. One feature is that it is processed so that it is not destroyed. The content data of content having such characteristics will be described. The content data is created by the data creation device 2.

  First, the data structure after the data supplied from the publisher 1 is converted by the XML converter unit 21, in other words, the data structure of the XML format data supplied to the data converter unit 22 will be described.

  In order to finally create content data to be distributed to the user terminal 6 on the user side, source data in the XML format is first created. As shown in FIG. 7, the source data includes a bibliographic information part 131, a stream data part 132, and an object data part 133. In the bibliographic information unit 131, information about contents is described.

  In the stream data portion 132, data indicating the content and flow of the main text of the content is described. The content of the main text of the content is, for example, the text in the case of a novel, and text data of the text and the flow of the text, that is, information related to the order are described in the stream data portion 132.

  The object data portion 133 describes images, sounds, and other information. The other information is information relating to the layout, for example. In the object data portion 133, value-added information is described with respect to the data described in the stream data portion 132.

  In this manner, by separating the stream data unit 132 and the object agent unit 133, it is easy to convert content data for an electronic book whose main source is character information, and a display device (here, a user) Although it is described that content is displayed on the terminal 7, layout information that changes for each display as a display device of the PC 6 or a device such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) is independent of character information. Since it can be edited (separately), it becomes easier to edit. In such a case, the character information can be shared.

  Note that the layout information that changes for each display device is different in the size of the display (not shown) of the PC 6 and the display unit 71 of the user terminal 7, for example, and the amount of data that can be displayed at one time (as a result, the number of characters Therefore, if the display is performed with the same data, the layout may be destroyed, and it is necessary to appropriately change the layout information by a device that displays the content.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, since the stream data portion 132 and the object data portion 133 are separated from each other, and by having data that will be described below, processing such as editing of layout information is performed. Can also be done easily.

  The data described in the bibliographic information unit 131 will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a title list displayed on the display unit 71 of the user terminal 7 by reproducing the data described in the bibliographic information unit 131. In the display example shown in FIG. 8, “Shingen Takeda Wind Roll”, “Shingen Takeda Forest Roll”, “Shingen Takeda Fire Roll”, and “Shingen Takeda Roll” are displayed in this order.

  In this case, in the book series “Shingen Takeda”, the first volume is “wind volume”, the second volume is “forest volume”, the third volume is “fire volume”, the fourth volume is “mountain volume” The title “Volume” is displayed. For example, if you are Japanese, you can remember the word “Fubayashi Volcano”, and you can understand that “Rin no Maki” comes after “Kaze no Maki”. Even if it is not written as “Volume 1”, “Volume 2”, etc., the context can be understood.

  However, in order for the user terminal 7 to accurately display the titles by rearranging them based on such conceptual information, processing such as inputting such conceptual information in advance to the user terminal 7 is necessary. However, it is impossible to prepare and input all information in advance.

  Generally, such rearrangement of titles and the like is performed according to, for example, the order of 50 notes. If such rearrangement is in accordance with the order of the Japanese syllabary, for example, a character code or the like can be used. Therefore, the user terminal 7 has no special processing for preparing and inputting information in advance. The rearrangement function can be realized only by the function.

  However, when reordering the titles of the series “Shingen Takeda” as shown in FIG. 8, the part “Shingen Takeda” is the same. I can't. Then, next, the “wind”, “forest”, “fire”, “mountain” part is rearranged, but when it is rearranged with the character code and the like, it is not necessarily “wind forest volcano” It is not always the order.

  If rearrangement is not performed normally, it will be difficult to see the titles for the user, and such a situation must be prevented. Therefore, in the present embodiment, an attribute “reading” is provided so that only the result of correct rearrangement is always provided to the user. The attribute “reading” is attached to a sort target. An example of data with the attribute “reading” so as to display as shown in FIG. 8 is shown below.

<Title reading = “Takeda Singen 1”> Shingen Takeda Kaze no Maki </ Title>
<Title reading = “Takeda Singen 2”> Shingen Takeda Hayashi no Maki </ Title>
<Title reading = “Takeda Singen 3”> Shingen Takeda Fire Volume </ Title>
<Title reading = “Takeda Singen 4”> Takeda Shingen Yama no aki </ Title>

  For example, a title with the attribute <Title reading = “Takeda Singen 1”> indicates “Shingen Takeda style”. Further, in the book given the reading “Takeda Singen”, it is indicated that the title is the “1” -th title when sorting is performed. In <Title reading = “Takeda Singen 1”>, the reading information “Takeda Singen” is included because it is used as information when sorting with other books (other titles). It is.

  <Title reading = “Takeda Singen 1”> is used as information for identifying content data on the user terminal 7 side and for rearranging the content data according to a predetermined rule. The subsequent information “Shingen Takeda Wind” is information used (provided) by the user to identify the content data. As described above, the data having the attribute “reading” includes information used on the user terminal 7 side and information provided to the user side for implementation.

  Further, the data related to the attribute “reading” may be included in the data provided from the publisher 1 side (the publisher 1 or the creator who created the content may add it). It may be added on the data creation device 2 side.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of data described in the bibliographic information unit 131 including data with the attribute “reading”. In FIG. 9, the data is surrounded by a line, and numbers are attached to the outside of the line. However, the lines and numbers are given for explanation, and are not attached to the data itself. Absent. In the following description, the same description (illustrated) has the same meaning.

  The version of the corresponding format is described in <? Xml version> on the first line and <Info version> on the second line. <BookInfo> on the third line indicates that bibliographic information is described in the following part. The title of the content is described in <Title reading> on the fourth line. The author name of the content is described in <Author reading> on the fifth line.

  In <BookID> on the sixth line, information that can uniquely identify the corresponding content is described, and the content is specified by the information. In the <Publisher reading> on the seventh line, the name of the publisher that publishes the content (name of the publisher 1) is described. In the <Label reading> on the 8th line, an issued trademark provided by the publisher that publishes the content is described.

  Of the data described in the first to eighth lines, the title described in <Title reading> on the fourth line, the author name described in <Author reading> on the fifth line, and <Publisher reading on the seventh line These four elements of the publisher name described in> and the label name described in <Label reading> on the 8th line have a reading attribute to give meaning because importance is placed on the expression of characters. It can be described.

  By giving the reading attribute to these four elements, the user can sort by any one (or a plurality) of title, author name, publisher name, and label name. As described above, by setting so as to be rearranged by a plurality of pieces of information, the user can easily search for the desired book when searching for the desired book.

  In addition, by using the concept of “reading”, it is possible to assign a number indicating the display order described in the “reading” part at the intention of the content creator even at the rearrangement stage. Therefore, the intention of the creator can be reflected at the stage of rearrangement.

  <Category> on the ninth line describes what genre the corresponding content belongs to, and is used as information for making it easier for the user to organize the electronic book. The <Classification> on the 10th line describes what data is included in the content.

  For example, in the case of a paper book, an appendix may be attached to a magazine. In such a case, if it is a paper book, the user can guess that the appendix is attached from the shape (bulge etc.) of the magazine. However, in the case of electronic information such as an electronic book, an expression for making a guess similar to that which can be guessed from the appearance of such a magazine cannot be made. Therefore, in this <Classification>, the information to make the user recognize what kind of data is included in the electronic book by describing the information to clearly indicate that the appendix is attached. To be set.

  The <FreeText> on the 11th line describes the outline of the content. The described information is used as information that allows the user to recognize (understand) what the content is. <DocInfo> on the 16th line indicates that the document information is described below. In the <Language> on the 17th line, the main language of the content is described in, for example, a language code defined by ISO639.

  The <Creator> on the 18th line describes the name of the creator of the content, the name of the creation studio, and the like. <CreationDate> on the 19th line describes the date and time when the content was created. Producer, producer, etc. are described in <Producer> on the 20th line. In the <Page> on the 21st line, the apparent number of pages necessary to display the content is described.

  The concept of pages cannot be clearly defined in the case of electronic books, unlike ordinary paper books. For example, in the present embodiment, as described above, the characters displayed on the display unit 71 are configured to be enlarged to a size desired by the user.

  If the content displayed at a time on the display unit 71 of the user terminal 7 is set to one page at a predetermined magnification, an enlargement instruction is issued for that page, and the result of the instruction being issued When enlarged, it may not be displayed on one page, but may be displayed on, for example, two pages. Therefore, depending on the enlargement ratio and the like, the number of pages changes even for the same content depending on the displayed state, and the number of pages also changes depending on how the concept of pages is defined. In <Page>, the apparent number of pages is described.

  In <Keyword> on the 23rd line, a word used when the user searches for content is described.

  In the bibliographic information unit 131, such data is written for each content. The data shown in FIG. 9 is an example, and other data (and other data) can be described as necessary. Conversely, if it is not necessary, it can be deleted (omitted). The same applies to the following description (other data structures).

  Next, data described in the stream data unit 132 will be described. The stream data portion 132 describes the main contents of the electronic book content in the data display order. Normally, the contents displayed by the page feed function are described in this stream data portion 132.

  As described above, paper books can be broadly divided into three types of page representation methods. Acquire a page as image data like a comic, paste it, like a magazine, place a block of characters at an appropriate position, express a page, like a novel, the flow of characters There are three types of layouts that are built around.

  Even in these different expressions, the concept of a virtual page (virtual drawing area) is introduced in the present embodiment in order to use the same format (so that the same format can be used). The virtual page treats the content described in the area in the virtual page as one page, but when it is actually displayed on the display unit 71, only the displayable area is displayed in the page. It is. With reference to FIG. 10, the virtual page will be described.

  When the displayable area 151 is an area that can be displayed on the display unit 71 at once, an area (virtual page) that should be handled as one page is necessarily displayed as one page on the displayable area (that is, displayed at one time). It does not mean. The upper diagram in FIG. 10 shows a state where the displayable area 151 and the virtual drawing area 152-1 are the same area. In the upper diagram in FIG. 10, the displayable area 151 is shown as a frame smaller than the virtual drawing area 152-1 for the sake of explanation, but it is defined to have the same size.

  The virtual drawing region 152-1 shown in the lower diagram in FIG. 10 is twice the size of the virtual drawing region 152-1 shown in the upper diagram in FIG. The user terminal 7 in the present embodiment is configured so that the user can enlarge it to a desired size when the characters displayed on the display unit 71 are small. For this reason, there is a case where the enlargement of the character displayed on the display unit 71 is instructed to be doubled by the user's instruction. In such a case, the situation shown in the upper diagram in FIG. It changes to the situation shown in the figure on the side.

  That is, in the state shown in the upper diagram in FIG. 10, the alphabet “ABCDE” is drawn in the virtual drawing area 152-1 (the alphabet “ABCDE” is drawn as one page of characters). State) and the displayable area 151 actually displayed on the display unit 71 match, and therefore the character string “ABCDE” is displayed on the display unit 71.

  In this state, when a double display is instructed, in this case, the virtual drawing area 152-2 is enlarged to double the horizontal direction. The character string “ABCDE” is also enlarged to twice the size in the virtual drawing area 152-2. However, since the displayable area 151 is limited to be equal to the size of the display unit 71, the displayable area 151 has a fixed size without changing. Therefore, in the state of the upper diagram in FIG. 10, even if all the character strings “ABCDE” are displayed on the display unit 71, “AB” is displayed in the state of the lower diagram in FIG. 10. Only about half of “C” is displayed on the display unit 71.

  By changing from the upper diagram in FIG. 10 to the lower diagram in FIG. 10, what is displayed on one page is displayed on two pages. As described above, since the electronic book data and the user terminal 7 that handles the data in the present embodiment are configured to perform the process of enlargement, the concept of a universal page cannot be used. . In other words, even if a 100-page book is set as a paper book and a 100-page book is set as an electronic book, if an enlargement process is instructed, the number of pages increases, and the page is not necessarily processed as 100 pages. It is not possible.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the concept of a virtual page is introduced. This virtual page is for handling a page set as one page as one page even if enlargement processing or the like is instructed. A region where the page is virtually expanded is a virtual drawing region 152. Of the virtual pages drawn in the virtual drawing area 152, an area that is actually displayed on the display unit 71 is a displayable area 151.

  As for the displayable area 151, the virtual drawing area 152, and the like, and the enlargement method (Blockstyle or block rule described later) when enlargement is instructed, the present applicant previously filed Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-280257. It is possible to apply the method disclosed in the issue.

  The concept will be described below using such a concept of a virtual page (virtual drawing area).

  Returning to the description of the data described in the stream data part 132, the data where the position for displaying an image or text is strictly determined like a comic is described in the stream data part 132 as image data. As described above, if the layout of a book such as a comic book is changed, the content may be changed. Even if an enlargement instruction is given, the layout will be changed. It must be set so that no major enlargement occurs.

  Therefore, a book such as a comic book whose layout change is not permitted is handled as image data. As shown in FIG. 11, a portion corresponding to one page in a paper book is set to be handled as one page in an electronic book. That is, the virtual drawing area 152 of one page is substantially the same size as the displayable area 151.

  As shown in FIG. 11, in a comic or the like, one page is composed of a plurality of frames (frames). Control is performed so that one page including the plurality of frames is displayed as one page. When enlargement is instructed for such a page, either enlargement processing is not performed or enlargement is performed at the same ratio in the vertical and horizontal directions even if there is an enlargement instruction. In any case, since the layout is not changed, the intention of the book creator is not destroyed.

  In the case as shown in FIG. 11, the screen size (displayable area 151) and the image size (virtual drawing area 152) are set to be the same size, and other information is set in the page description part (data shown in FIG. 12). Is not described, the size of the actually displayed “page” and the virtual page are the same.

  The page data (image data) as shown in FIG. 11 is configured as shown in FIG. The data configuration example shown in FIG. 12 shows the description content of one virtual page using the <Page> tag. “Objid” following the <Page> tag in the first line is information used to identify the page (image data), and is used when the page is desired to be specified.

  “Pagestyle” is a part for calling an object describing page layout information (a part where information for reading data described in the object data part 133 (FIG. 7) is described). Data relating to the margin of the data is read and determined.

  The <ImageBlock> tag on the second line describes information for setting an image to be drawn (image). “Objid” in the <ImageBlock> tag describes information for identifying the ImageBlock. This tag declares it to be handled as an image block.

  The subsequent information “x0, y0, x1, y1” indicates where the rendered image is located in the original image, and displays the cropped image in the size specified by xsize, ysize To do.

  The data example shown in FIG. 12 shows that an image is displayed with a size of 600 horizontal dots and 800 vertical dots. When the screen size on which the image is displayed is 600 dots wide and 800 dots long, the image is displayed on the entire screen. As another example, if the image size is 1000 dots wide and 1200 dots high, and the screen size is 600 dots wide and 800 dots high, the part of the entire image, which is a portion of 600 x 800 dots, The image is actually displayed and provided to the user.

  In “refobj”, the information of the original data of the image actually drawn (image data processed when the image is displayed on the display unit 71) refers to the described portion, and is shown in FIG. In this example, it means that “objid” is “201” (data) is drawn. This reference destination data is described in the object data section 133.

  In “blockstyle”, information on a block in which an image to be drawn is stored is referred to. The actual data of “blockstyle” is described in the object data portion 133. As described with reference to FIG. 6, all images (images) and text are drawn in this block, and the page layout does not depend on the contents displayed in the block, and this block Will be done.

  In the block information, information such as whether or not a block size or a frame is added is described. When an image is displayed, it is described so that the block size and the image display size are the same.

  Next, text data mainly composed of text will be described. FIG. 13 shows a configuration example of data related to text described in the stream data portion 132. As in novels, content whose page order is determined from the flow of characters (from content), as shown in FIG. 13, is placed in a large unit of text such as a chapter in an area delimited by <Page> tags. A collection is described.

  In the example shown in FIG. 13, text information indicated by a <TextBlock> tag is described in an area delimited by a <Page> tag. “Page objid” and “Pagestyle” described in the first line are the same as those of the image block described above. In “textstyle” in the <TextBlock> tag, an object describing information about the text to be drawn is called. In this object, vertical writing and horizontal writing settings, character size, and the like are specified.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the text block data is directly described as actual data. In other words, in the image block data described with reference to FIG. 12, the actual data is described in the object data portion 133 and the reference destination information is described in the stream data portion 132. In the case of text block data, the actual data itself is described in the stream data section 132, not the information of the reference destination.

  Here, the advantage of setting in this way will be described. Here, the case of a patent specification will be described as an example of an electronic book. Drawings are attached to the patent specifications as necessary. The specification is treated as text data, and the drawing is treated as image data. In the specification, some drawings are referred to many times depending on the drawings. On the other hand, the same sentence in the text of the specification is not referred to many times, even if the same sentence exists, it is in line with the content flow. Yes, not referring to the previous sentence.

  In other words, image data such as a figure may be used many times, but text data of a sentence is used only once. Therefore, the actual data of the text data is described as the data of the stream data part 132. Then, the actual data of the image data is described in the object data portion 133 so that it can be referred to many times in different scenes.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the text displayed on the display unit 71 by processing the data shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, when text based on the data shown in FIG. 13 is expanded in the virtual drawing area 152, the virtual drawing area 152 corresponds to four times the size of the displayable area 151. That is, it is provided to the user as the number of pages that are regarded as four pages at a predetermined magnification. Of course, when processing such as enlargement is instructed, the number of pages changes based on the instruction.

  Next, description will be made on data of a book mixed with images and texts such as magazines. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of data described in the stream data unit 132. Like a magazine, a block of sentences or content that has a page created by placing an image at the intended position is created by drawing multiple block objects in the area separated by <Page> tags, and the distance between them is This is realized by being specified by a <BlockSpace> tag (for example, information described in the second line in FIG. 15).

  Of the data shown in FIG. 15, the information described in the first line is the same as described above. The information of <BlockSpace> on the second and eighth lines is information for designating the relative distance between the previous Block and the subsequent Block.

  In this way, by relatively determining the position between blocks, processing such as enlargement is instructed for a predetermined block, and the layout of the entire page including the block is destroyed. Even if this happens, the block context can always be maintained. Since the context of the blocks can be maintained, it is always possible for the user to browse in the order intended by the creator who created the content. Therefore, it is possible to display again with a beautiful layout.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining an image or text displayed on the display unit 71 by processing the data shown in FIG. In FIG. 16, the horizontal direction in the figure is the X axis, and the vertical direction in the figure is the Y axis. However, the setting of this axis itself is also described as part of the data in the object data section 133 described later. Therefore, it is not necessarily set as shown in FIG.

  The text display block 113 is created from the data in the third to seventh rows shown in FIG. The position is determined by the information of <BlockSpace> on the second line. A character string “Today's weather” as text data is displayed at the determined position.

  An image display block 112 is displayed below the text display block 113. The display position is a relative position from the text display block 113, and is a position based on the <BlockSpace> information on the eighth line. is there. That is, in the 8th line, there is a description of <BlockSpace x = “20”>, but it has moved from the text display block 113 by 20 in the X direction (20 dots, 20 mm, etc.). The image display block 112 is displayed at the position.

  The actual data of the image displayed in the image display block 112 is acquired based on the information <ImageBlock objid = “122”> on the ninth line. In this case, 122 is given as objid, and the object data Data described in the section 133.

  The size of the image (the size of the image display block 112) is <x0 = “0” y0 = “0” x1 = “300” y1 = “100” xsize = “300” ysize in the ninth and tenth rows. = ”100>. Of these, the information of <x0 =” 0 ”y0 =” 0 ”x1 =” 300 ”y1 =” 100 ”> in the first half of which part of the image is acquired The information of <xsize = “300” ysize = “100> in the latter half indicates the magnification. In this case, the coordinates indicate that the area from (0, 0) to (300, 100) is displayed, and that the area is displayed as 300 × 100, that is, displayed as 1 ×. ing.

  The data structure shown in FIG. 15 shows an example in which two blocks are displayed on one page as shown in FIG. 16, but one page may be composed of a plurality of blocks (for example, In such a case, in such a case, information of a plurality of blocks is described for each block in the format shown in FIG.

  Thus, in this embodiment, processing is performed in units of blocks, and the display position of each block is defined by the relative position from the previous block. Thus, the display position being determined based on the relative position from the previous block means that the display order is determined between the blocks. That is, if the previous block is not displayed, the subsequent block whose display position is relatively determined from the display position of the block is not displayed. As a result, the display order is also defined.

  The definition of the display order means that when the content is provided to the user, the order in which the user reads the content is also specified (usually assuming that the content is read from top to bottom and from left to right). become. As a result, even when the layout is changed due to processing such as enlargement, the display order does not change, and as a result, the order in which the user reads the content is changed. It will not be.

  Such data is described in the stream data portion 132. Furthermore, since an electronic book is different from a paper medium, the following is possible, and data for realizing such a thing is also described in the stream data unit 132. First, what is possible because it is different from a paper medium will be described with reference to FIG.

  In a paper book, all pages exist continuously. In other words, in a paper book, a continuous number is allocated sequentially for each page. Here, consider the relationship between a magazine in a paper book and an appendix attached to the magazine. First, paying attention to a magazine, the magazine itself is assigned a sequential number sequentially for each page of the magazine. When attention is paid to the appendix, the appendix itself is also assigned a sequential number for each page of the appendix.

  That is, the magazine and the appendix each have their own continuous page number. In FIG. 17, a page group similar to a magazine is a continuous page group 171, and a page group similar to an appendix is an independent page group 172-1 and 172-2. In the case of paper books, when you change the page from a magazine to an appendix, you must place the magazine aside and hold the appendix, and then search for the desired page of the appendix while turning the page. The user can easily move from the continuous page group 171 to a desired page in the independent page group 172 by a function called page jump.

  Here, it is assumed that the independent page group 172 is a page group that can be browsed from the continuous page group 171 by the jump function. In addition, after a page jumps to the independent page group 172, it is possible to return to a predetermined page of the original continuous page group 171. Further, it is possible to jump from the independent page group 172-1 to the independent page group 172-2 (and vice versa).

  However, it is impossible to browse only predetermined pages of the independent page group 172 without jumping from the continuous page group 171. That is, it is configured such that only the independent page group 172 cannot be designated as content to be reproduced from the beginning. This is because a master-slave relationship is set between the continuous page group 171 and the independent page group 172.

  The independent page group 172 is not identified only by the independent page group 172 but is identified together with the continuous page group 171. The independent page group 172 provides additional information of the continuous page group 171. Therefore, even if the independent page group 172 exists separately from the continuous page group 171, the independent page group 172 may be interpreted as a collection of meaningless pages.

  What is described in each page (each block) of the independent page group 172 is not related in terms of content, and each page may exist independently. In other words, even if pages (contents) are replaced, there is no content replacement as a whole, and there is no problem. That is, the articles described in the independent page group 172 are independent articles, and each article does not necessarily have relevance or ordering.

  As another specific example, the continuous page group 171 includes, for example, a novel itself, and the independent page group 172 includes description of characters appearing in the novel, description of a background, and the like. Therefore, the description of the characters described in the independent page group 172 is different for each character, and even if it exists independently for each character (description of a specific character) Just providing it to the user), there is no problem in content.

  When a predetermined character appears in the continuous page group 171, for example, the name of the character can be clicked, and when the name is clicked, the character of the independent page group 172 is displayed. The display is switched to the part where the explanation is described.

  The user can continue browsing the contents described in the independent page group 172. You can continue to browse explanations other than the characters. Further, the user can return from the predetermined contents of the independent page group 172 to the predetermined page of the original continuous page group 171.

  Further, for example, two independent page groups 172 such as an independent page group 172-1 that summarizes only the explanation of the characters and an independent page group 172-2 that summarizes only the explanation of the background are combined into one continuous page group 171. It may also exist. In such a case, it is possible to move from the independent page group 172-1 to the independent page group 172-2. It is also possible to move from the reverse independent page group 172-2 to the independent page group 172-1.

  However, the user cannot directly browse only the independent page group 172. The user cannot browse the contents of the independent page group 172 unless the user is browsing the continuous page group 171. In other words, the content data of the independent page group 172 is set to be viewable only from the content data of the continuous page group 171.

  When having such a relationship, it can be said that the content data content of the independent page group 172 is content that provides additional information to the content data content of the continuous page group 171.

  Since the content data of the continuous page group 171 and the content data of the independent page group 172 have a master-slave relationship, it is better to distribute them together, and only the content data of the independent page group 172 is distributed. It is preferable that it is not to be done. Further, the content data of the continuous page group 171 and the content data of the independent page group 172 may be created on the publisher 1 side and provided to the data creation device 2, or on the data creation device 2 side. The data may be created based on data supplied from the publisher 1 side.

  Such an independent page group 172 can be realized without specializing the description inside the page by describing it separately from the continuous page group 171 displaying the main contents. An example of the data structure is shown in FIG.

  The first to eighth lines are data of the continuous page group 171, and the ninth to 26th lines are data of the independent page group 172. In the first to eighth lines, the data of the continuous page group 171 is described. The data includes an identifier <Page objid> for identifying the pages constituting the continuous page group 171. If <Page objid> is known, a page can be determined. Therefore, only this identifier needs to be listed as data of the continuous page group 171.

  In the 10th to 26th lines, the data of the independent page group 172 is described. First, information of <Pages objid> is described in the data, but the <Pages objid> is the independent page group. 172 is an identifier for identifying 172. In association with FIG. 17, the independent page group 172-1 is <Pages objid = “1001”> on the 10th line, and the independent page group 172-2 is <Pages objid = “1002”> on the 18th line. is there.

  In the 11th to 17th lines, identifier information of each page constituting the independent page group 172-1 is described. Referring to FIG. 18, independent page group 172-1 (a page group whose Pages objid as an identifier is “1001”) has <Page objid> from “201”, “202”, and “203”. It is shown that it is configured. As described above, the stream data section 132 describes information of pages that constitute the continuous page group 171 and the independent page group 172, respectively.

  For example, when the user wants to browse a predetermined page of the independent page group 172 while browsing a predetermined page of the continuous page group 171 on the user terminal 7, it is only necessary to operate a predetermined button. The desired page can be browsed. After that, the user can continue browsing the page of the independent page group 172, or can return to the page of the original continuous page group 171 before jumping by performing a predetermined operation. It is possible.

  Such data is also described in the stream data portion 132.

  Next, data described in the object data portion 133 (FIG. 7) will be described. In the object data portion 133, data referred to by the data described in the stream data portion 132 is described. The data includes style information for decorating the content as an electronic book. Then, there is actual data such as image data and audio data, and the data has contents that are not directly described in the stream data section 132.

  The object data section 133 also describes data about expressions unique to electronic books, such as window information and button information. The window information is information used when, for example, the meaning of a difficult word or the like in the sentence displayed on the display unit 71 is displayed on the sentence as a window. The button information is information used when, for example, displaying a button on the display unit 71 and displaying predetermined information when a predetermined operation such as clicking is performed on the button.

  An example of a button displayed on the display unit 71 is a button for displaying an image when a scrapped article is set as an image and stored in a scrapbook described later.

  The data described in the object data section 133 describes information for decorating content as an electronic book. Examples of the data type include information such as PageStyle, BlockStyle, and TextStyle. Since these pieces of information (data) are called by “stylelabel” each having as an identifier, the objects for which the same “stylelabel” is called are collectively changed by changing the style information.

  In the first line of the data of the image block shown in FIG. 12 or the first line of the data of the text block shown in FIG. 13, the block identifier “Page objid” and how the block is processed. “Pagestyle” for specifying whether to display on the display unit 71 is described. Data referred to by information described in the “Pagestyle” part is described in the object data part 133.

  First, information (style information) referred to in “Pagestyle” will be described. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a data structure example of style information described in the object data portion 133. PageStyle is described by a PageStyle tag.

  Information for identifying “PageStyle” is described in the “objid” attribute on the first line, and similarly, a label whose name can be freely changed by the user can be described in “stylelabel”. Such a user, in this case, mainly becomes an editor, but by allowing the editor to arbitrarily name the object, for example, an object of this style can be added to the electronic book being edited. Of course, when you apply an object of this style to other e-books at a later point in time, you can easily identify the object of this style by the name (label) that you gave it. Can be found.

  “Stylelabel” shown in FIG. 19 is “Honbun”, but referring to FIG. 12 or FIG. 13, “Pagestyle” in the first line of the data shown in FIG. Honbun ”is written.

  Therefore, in this case, for example, when the image block shown in FIG. 12 is drawn, the data of FIG. 19 is read (referenced) from the object data section 133 as “Pagestyle”. Further, when the text block shown in FIG. 13 is drawn, the data in FIG. 19 is referred to. Thus, one “Pagestyle” data may be referred to from a plurality of data.

  In this way, by sharing data referred to from a plurality of data, the capacity of the entire content data itself of the electronic book can be reduced. In addition, by doing this, it is possible to rewrite the display related to a plurality of blocks all at once only by rewriting the “Pagestyle” information as shown in FIG. This means that processing such as editing can be easily performed.

  Continuing the description of the data structure of “Pagestyle” shown in FIG. 19, “evenfooterid”, “evenheaderid”, “oddfooterid”, “oddheaderid” in the second to fifth lines are considered to be even pages, odd numbers in consideration of spread display. Describes the objid of the header and footer objects used on the page. Note that the page in the description of FIG. 19 is the displayable area 151 (FIG. 10), and is the case where the size of the display unit 71 is one page.

  Here, the spread display is not a display unit 71 having only one screen as in the user terminal 7 as shown in FIG. In particular, this is a display when displayed in a two-plane configuration.

  In “pageposition” on the sixth line, information for indicating on which side the page is displayed (in which position it is displayed) at the time of spread display is described. By this instruction, enlargement of characters is instructed, and as a result, even when the layout in an unenlarged state is broken, the intended page design can be maintained.

  In the “setemptyview” on the seventh line, when it is necessary to draw a blank page between the page to be displayed after the specified page due to processing such as character enlargement, a header or footer is added to the blank page. Information for instructing whether or not to draw is described. For example, when show is specified, a header or footer is drawn, and when empty is specified, a completely blank page without a header or footer is displayed.

  According to each information of “topmargin”, “headheight”, “headsep”, “oddsidemargin”, “evensidemargin”, “textheight”, “textwidth”, “footspace”, “footheight” in each of the 8th to 16th lines The internal layout (such as margins) is determined. Also, by specifying “layout” on the 17th line, it is specified whether the coordinate system in the page is a vertical writing coordinate system or a horizontal writing coordinate system.

  Next, data related to Textstyle among the data described in the object data section 133 will be described with reference to FIG. The Textstyle data shown in FIG. 20 is, for example, data that is read (referenced) based on the description of the second line in the data shown in FIG. The second line in the data shown in FIG. 13 has a description of <Textstyle = “tategaki”>. Data identified by the label “tategaki” is read from the object data section 133, In this case, the read data is data as shown in FIG.

  “TextStyle” is described by a TextStyle tag. Information for identifying “TextStyle” is described in the “objid” attribute on the first line, and a label that can be freely renamed by the user can be described in “stylelabel”. Information for designating the size of the drawn character is described in “fontsize” on the second line.

  In the “fontescapement” and “fontorientation” on the third and fourth lines, information for specifying how to rotate and advance the character to be drawn is described. These pieces of information are information depending on whether the text is vertical writing or horizontal writing. In “fontfacename” on the fifth line, information on the font face name of the character to be drawn is described. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 20, “Mincho” is designated as the font face name.

  In “textcolor” on the sixth line, information for designating the color of the drawn character is described. With this information, the user can draw characters with a favorite color. In “wordspace”, “letterspace”, and “charspace” on the 7th to 9th lines, there are information for specifying the space distance between English words, the space distance between English letters (alphabet), and the space distance between Japanese characters, respectively. Described.

  “Baselineskip” on the 10th line describes information for specifying the line spacing, and “linespace” on the 11th line describes information for specifying the minimum line and line space to be guaranteed. Is done. This “linespace” information clearly indicates a gap that is guaranteed at least even if the layout is broken, so that it can be redrawn neatly.

  Next, data related to BlockStyle among the data described in the object data section 133 will be described with reference to FIG. The BlockStyle data shown in FIG. 21 is, for example, data read (referenced) based on the description in the second row of the data shown in FIG. In the second line of the data shown in FIG. 13, there is a description of <Blockstyle = “textblock”>, but the data identified by the label “textblock” is read from the object data section 133. In this case, the read data is data as shown in FIG.

  “BlockStyle” is described by a “BlockStyle” tag. Information for identifying “BlockStyle” is described in the “objid” attribute on the first line, and similarly, a label that can be freely renamed by the user can be described in “stylelabel”. In “blockheight” on the second line, information for designating the height of a block to be secured for drawing is described.

  Here, in the data shown in FIG. 21, the height of the block is specified by “blockheight”, but the horizontal width of the block is not specified. The width of the drawn block is specified by “blockwidth”. The data shown in FIG. 21 is a case where vertically written text is described in the block (in the case of data read by the text block shown in FIG. 13). In such a case, the number of characters and the number of characters Since the horizontal width changes depending on the size, there is no meaning to specify the horizontal width of the block by “blockwidth”, and it cannot be specified. Therefore, in the data shown in FIG. 21, information specifying the horizontal width of the block is Not described.

  In “blockrule” on the third line, information for designating how to draw the block is described. This “blockrule” is mainly information relating to an enlargement method when an enlargement is instructed, and “vert-fixed” is designated in the example shown in FIG. This “vert-fixed” means that when the enlargement is instructed, the vertical size of the block is fixed and only the horizontal size is enlarged. As another rule, a rule such as enlarging the vertical direction and the horizontal direction at the same ratio is set, and a rule according to the contents (image, text) displayed in the block is set.

  In the “layout” on the fourth line, information for designating the coordinate system inside the block and the group direction is described. In the example shown in FIG. 21, “TbRl” is designated. This “TbRl” is used when instructing to draw text in vertical writing with the upper right corner of the text block as the origin. “LrTb” is used when instructing to draw text in horizontal writing with the upper left corner of the text block as the origin.

  In “topskip”, “sidemargin”, and “footskip” on the fifth to seventh lines, information for setting a layout in the block is described.

  Such data is described in the object data portion 133. Note that the data described with reference to the drawings is an example and does not indicate limitation. That is, data other than the above-mentioned data may be described as data (for example, although not shown, actual image data, etc.), and even the above-described data is applied to the data. If the data is not necessary for the content to be processed, it may be deleted (omitted).

  The change of the data is easy, that is, the data is easily edited and changed because the stream data part 132 and the object data part 133 are separated. Separating the stream data part 132 and the object data part 133 has the following advantages.

  Normally, a book manuscript is created without depending on the page layout. In order to effectively use the manuscript created by the author (creator), it is necessary to separate the part depending on the page layout from the part of the sentence. The format (that is, the above-described data) used in the present embodiment separates a sentence portion (stream data portion 132) and a layout portion (object data portion 133).

  Further, the stream data portion 132 can be described without breaking the flow of text, so that it can be used as a digital submission format. Therefore, if a document is created in the format of the present invention, it is not necessary to convert data, which is performed when creating the contents of an electronic book, and it can also be used as normal document data.

  The XML converter unit 21 (FIG. 2) converts the data supplied from the publisher 1 into data including the data described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 21 with the data structure shown in FIG. In this case, the data thus converted is data in the XML format. Further, processing for converting the binary data (binary file) to be provided to the user terminal 7 is performed in the data converter unit 22 (FIG. 2).

  Next, processing performed in the data converter unit 22 will be described. FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a file generated as a result of conversion by the data converter unit 22 (that is, data distributed to the user terminal 7). As shown in FIG. 22, the data converted by the data converter unit 22 is converted into a binary file and converted into a configuration in which all content information is managed as an object. By managing as an object, data can be accessed at high speed, and data can be used efficiently because compression and encryption can be applied to each object. It becomes like this.

  Since the data can be accessed at high speed, it is possible to prevent the user from feeling stress without recognizing the time required for processing the data as a waiting time.

  In addition, by enabling compression or encryption for each object, for example, if only a part of objects is encrypted without encrypting the entire content data, the content data is eventually obtained. The same effect as when the whole is encrypted can be obtained. Details will be described below, but the objects have a relationship of reference. If one of the referenced objects is encrypted, the other object cannot be used even if it is not encrypted. As a result, the encrypted object cannot be used. Can not.

  In this way, encryption does not have to be applied to the entire content data, it can be minimized, and the time required for encryption and decryption can be reduced, and the capacity required for this can be reduced. The remaining abilities can be assigned to other processes.

  As shown in FIG. 22, the distributed data includes a header information portion 181 in which information about the distributed data itself is described, an object information portion 182 that indicates the contents, and object table information that indicates the position of the object. The part 183 includes three parts.

  The header information portion 181 includes file format information, a flag indicating whether or not the file is encrypted, and a screen on which the content is assumed to be displayed (for example, the display portion 71 (FIG. 4) of the user terminal 7). Information such as size is described. The information on the screen size is information described in order to appropriately display the content on terminals other than the user terminal 7.

  Although included in the header information part 181 or may be configured as a different part, document information and the like are also described as appropriate. The bibliographic information is information including information described in the bibliographic information unit 131 shown in FIG. 7, and is information including information such as content titles and thumbnail image data.

  The object information section 182 handles information necessary for displaying the content details in units of objects, and describes information about these objects. The object table information unit 183 describes information necessary for accessing each object.

  Note that some data may be inserted immediately before the object information portion 182 or immediately before the object table information portion 183 for the purpose of forming a document. Also, insertion of data for molding is permitted as necessary.

  In the object table information section 183, the object number, the start address of the object data, and the size of the object data are described as a set. When an object is acquired, the number described in the object table information unit 183 is searched, its start address is acquired, and a memory area (for example, the RAM 103 of the user terminal 7 (FIG. 5) is acquired. ) Area) is secured.

  Each object has a different description method inside the object depending on the type of the object. Examples of the object type include those shown in FIG.

  “PageTree” is an object for expressing (managing) the page order in a tree structure (tree structure). “Page” is an object in which page contents are described. “Header” is an object in which the contents of the header portion of the page are described. “Footer” is an object in which the content of the footer part of the page is described. “PageAtr” (Page attribute) is an object in which attributes of a Page object are described.

  “Block” is an object in which the content of a block (text, image, etc.) arranged in the page is described. “BlockAtr” (Block attribute) is an object in which the attribute of the Block object is described. “MiniPage” is an object that designates a region with stronger layout information in the page and describes the contents in the region.

  “BlockList” is an object described when listing blocks. “Text” is an object in which the content is described when the text is displayed in the block. “TextAtr” (Text attribute) is an object in which the attribute of the object “Text” is described. “Image” is an object for displaying an image in a block. “Canvas” is an object that specifies an area that holds the layout in the page and describes the contents in the area.

  “ParagraphAtr” (paragraph attribute) is an object in which attributes of paragraph contents are described. “ImageStream” (Image data) is an object in which image data is described. “Button” is an object in which button information is described. “Window” is an object in which contents to be displayed as a window are described. “PopUpWin” is an object in which contents to be displayed in a pop-up window are described.

  “Sound” is an object in which information when a sound file is played is described. “SoundStream” (Sound data) is an object in which audio file information is described. “Font” is an object in which font information is described. “ObjectInfo” (Object information) is an object in which additional information of the calling object is described. “BookAtr” (book information) is an object for initial setting of a book. “TOC” (table of contents information) is an object in which Table Of Contents is described.

  The content of the electronic book is expressed by referring to these different types of objects. The data converter 22 (FIG. 2) converts the supplied XML format data into an object in which such contents are described. With reference to FIG. (Hereinafter, the elements constituting the XML format data will be described as XML elements as appropriate) and the objects will be described.

  Referring to the left side in FIG. 24, the XML format data supplied to the data converter unit 22 is data composed of a bibliographic information unit 131, a stream data unit 132, and an object data unit 133. The contents described in this configuration and each part are as described with reference to FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 24, the “bibliographic information” 131 describes a “title” XML element 191 and an “author name” XML element 192. These data are described in the header information unit 181 by the data converter unit 22. Setting information created by the data converter unit 22 is also written in the header information unit 181 as necessary.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 24, the “Chapter 1 text” XML element 193 and the “postscript” XML element 194 are described in the stream data portion 132. First, the “Chapter 1 text” XML element 193 is converted into a Page object 201-1, a Text object 202-1, and a Block object 203-1 in the data conversion unit 22. Similarly, the “afterword” XML element 194 is converted into a Page object 201-2, a Text object 202-2, and a Block object 203-2 in the data conversion unit 22.

  Since both the “Chapter 1 text” XML element 193 and the “afterword” XML element 194 are expressed in text, they are converted into Text objects 202-1 and 202-2. The Text objects 202-1 and 202-2 are objects described when text is displayed in the block. Information on the block on which the text is displayed is the Block object 203-1, respectively. 203-2. Further, information about the position in a predetermined page where a block based on the Block objects 203-1 and 203-2 is provided is described in the Page objects 201-1 and 201-2.

  In this way, one XML element is converted into a plurality of objects.

  In further explanation, the “illustration image data” XML element 195 described in the object data part 133 in the data supplied to the data converter part 22 is converted into a Block object 203-3 and an Image object 204. . In this case, since the “illustration image data” XML element 195 is data for referring to the image data, it is converted into the Image object 204.

  The “inserted image data” XML element 195 is data for referring to the corresponding image data, not the image data itself. The image data itself is described in the object data portion 133 as the “image data” XML element 196. Has been. The “image data” XML element 196 is converted into an image data object 205 by the data converter unit 22. In this case, an image based on the Image data object 205 is displayed in a block according to the contents described in the Image object 204 and displayed in a predetermined page according to the contents described in the Block object 203-3. Is done.

  In the example shown in FIG. 24, the object data portion 133 of the XML format data supplied to the data converter portion 22 includes a “PageStyle” XML element 197, a “TextStyle” XML element 198, and a “BlockStyle” XML element 199. Is included. These XML elements are converted into a Page attribute object 206, a Text attribute object 207, and a Block attribute object 208 by the data converter unit 22, respectively. These objects are objects referenced from the Page object 201, the Text object 202, and the Block object 203, respectively, and their attributes are described.

  In this manner, the data converter unit 22 analyzes the input XML format data and converts it into a plurality of objects based on a predetermined conversion rule. The predetermined rule is, for example, a rule that, in the case of an XML element related to the text “Chapter 1 Body” XML element 193, it is converted into three objects such as a Page object, a Text object, and a Block object.

  When converting data in XML format into an object, the data converter unit 22 also determines in which area the object (binary data) is stored. Further, at the time of this conversion, the data converter 22 identifies each object as an object number (object ID) (for example, the object ID of the Page object 201-1 in FIG. 24 is “100”). Object placement order information 212 that associates the object ID, the address of the area where the object managed by the object ID is stored, and the size of the object managed by the object ID, respectively. create.

  Then, the data converter unit 22 describes the created object arrangement order information 212 in the object table information unit 183.

  When an object is stored in the object information unit 182, the area to be stored is controlled by the data conversion unit 22 so that the same type of object is stored in an adjacent area (one controlled in this way). Is preferred). An example will be described with reference to FIG. 24. Since the Page object 201-1 and the Page object 201-2 are objects of the same type called the Page object, an adjacent area on the upper side of the object information unit 182 in the figure. It is controlled to be stored in.

  By performing such conversion and control in the data converter unit 22, binary format data having the configuration shown in FIG. 23 is created. The created binary data is data distributed to the user.

  A further explanation will be given with respect to the object. FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram when these objects are used to form a page (electronic book). In FIG. 25, one square represents one object.

  The PageTree object 221 is an object in which the page structure of a book as an electronic book is described. The page configuration indicated by the PageTree object 221 indicates that the book is composed of Page objects 222 to 225 in the example shown in FIG. The page objects 222 to 225 describe information such as how the page (layout) of the content actually displayed on the display unit 71 is configured.

  The Page object 222 refers to the Page attribute object 226, and the Page objects 223 to 225 refer to the Page attribute object 227. The page attribute objects 226 and 227 describe information such as page margins, headers, and footers, respectively. In the above description, the PageStyle information described with reference to FIG. 19 is described in the Page attribute object.

  As shown in FIG. 25, the Page attribute object may be set to be referred to by a plurality of Page objects. By making it possible to share information that can be referred to in common, the data configuration can be simplified, and the data amount of the entire content data can be reduced. Also, editing can be easily performed.

  The Page object 225 refers to the Block object 228 and the Block object 229. The Block objects 228 and 229 are arranged in the body area of the page and the like, and information for securing an area such as text and an image to be drawn inside and defining an operation when the character is enlarged is described. Yes.

  Both the Block objects 228 and 229 refer to the Block attribute object 230. The Block attribute object 230 describes a block size, a molding method when an enlargement is instructed, and the like. In the above description, the BlockStyle information described with reference to FIG. 21 is described in the Block attribute object.

  The Block object describes information related to text and images arranged in the page, but the Block object 228 shown in FIG. 25 is information for displaying text in the page. 231 is referred to. In the Text object 231, information for describing the text in the block is described.

  The Text object 231 refers to the Text attribute object 232. In this case, the Text attribute object 232 describes the attributes of the Text object 231 and describes font information, information on initial values such as line spacing, and the like. In the above description, the TextStyle information described with reference to FIG. 20 is described in the Text attribute object.

  On the other hand, since the Block object 229 shown in FIG. 25 is information for displaying an image (image) in the page, the Image object 233 is referred to. In the Image object 233, information (information such as position and size) for describing an image in the block is described.

  In the example shown in FIG. 25, when an image is drawn on a page, a Block object 229 is created, and the Block object 229 is configured to call an Image object 233. The actual image data is configured to be acquired by referring to the image data 234.

  Thus, by making data into an object, the reference relationship between the objects becomes clear and the format can be easily expanded. A specific example will be described regarding easy format expansion. In the example shown in FIG. 25, the Image object 233 is changed to a Movie object (an object for displaying a moving image) so that a movie can be handled. However, there is no need to change the Page object 225 describing the page layout.

  That is, a still image (Image) can be easily changed to a moving image (Movie). Of course, it can be replaced with another still image.

  Furthermore, since all the elements that express the predetermined content are managed as objects, it is possible to express a book using objects of other content. For example, data created for expressing a predetermined content (book) can be used as data for expressing other content (book) in the same way.

  Using this fact, it is possible to easily take out only necessary objects. Such a case will be explained with a specific example. The description so far has been processing in the data creation device 2, but here, processing on the user terminal 7 side that handles data created by the data creation device 2 will be described. As one of the processes, there is a process of creating a scrapbook.

  By describing this scrapbook creation process, the advantages of handling data as an object will be further described as described above.

  Here, the scrapbook is a book for a user to leave a favorite sentence or image in a predetermined book. For example, in the case of a paper-based newspaper, when a user cuts a favorite article from the newspaper and pastes it into a notebook for management, the notebook is referred to as a scrapbook, and the scrapbook is electronic A function that can be created as one of the books is called a scrapbook function.

  The created scrapbook can be handled in the same manner as other electronic books. As a basic operation on the user side relating to the creation of the scrapbook, a portion to be saved (a portion to be scrapped) is selected, and after the selection is completed, the portion is added (saved) to the scrapbook.

  The scrapbook will be further described with reference to FIGS. When the user is browsing the electronic book having the configuration as shown in FIG. 25 on the user terminal 7, the user wants to scrap the image displayed by processing the Image data object 234 in the electronic book. And a predetermined process (described later) for scrapping is performed.

  By performing a predetermined process, the data shown in FIG. 26 is copied (a part of the tree structure data shown in FIG. 25 is cut off). FIG. 27 shows an example of a scrapbook to which the cut branches are added. A scrapbook 250 illustrated in FIG. 27 is an electronic book described by a PageTree object 251.

  The scrapbook 250 includes Page objects 252 to 254. As the number of articles to be scrapped (scraped branches) increases, the number of pages in the scrapbook itself also increases, so a Page object is also created corresponding to the increase in the number of pages. In the example shown in FIG. 27, all the Page objects 252 to 254 are configured to refer to the Page attribute object 255.

  By doing in this way, the book provided to the user as the scrapbook 250 has a unified style for each page and is easy to see. Since the scrapbook 250 is composed of texts and images cut out from various books, when the cut-out state is maintained and pasted, for example, the vertical text is followed by the horizontal text. May be laid out.

  Such a page is a page with no unity and may be difficult for the user to see. Therefore, the style for each page is made uniform. That is, in the present embodiment, such a configuration is realized by configuring all the Page objects to refer to the same Page attribute object.

  In the example shown in FIG. 27, the Page object 254 is set to be the last page in the scrapbook 250. Therefore, the cut branch (data) shown in FIG. 26 is pasted to the Page object 254 which is the last page. As a result, the pasted branch becomes data referred to by the Page object 255.

  A technique of extracting a necessary part such as a scrapbook in an electronic book to which the present invention is not applied extracts the extracted text data in a scrapbook format. However, in this format, as described above, since all data is converted into an object, a scrapped portion can be added without changing the format. That is, according to the present invention, data can be easily clipped.

  Add more explanation about creating a scrapbook. First, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 28, a process related to selection of a portion to be scrapped performed by the user will be described. In step S <b> 11, the user displays desired content (text) on the display unit 71 of the user terminal 7. If there is a part to be scrapped in the displayed text, a predetermined operation is performed to display the menu screen on the display unit 71 (step S12).

  The predetermined operation is performed, for example, by operating a jog dial 79 (FIG. 4) constituting the input unit 106 (FIG. 5). The user selects an item “character clip” for executing scrap processing from the displayed menu. In addition, although illustration and description about the menu displayed are abbreviate | omitted, what item may be provided in the item in the menu.

  When the item “character clip” for executing the scrap processing is selected in step S13, the head frame is designated in step S14. FIG. 29 shows a state in which the top frame 270 is displayed on the text displayed on the display unit 71. The leading frame 270 is a frame indicating a range in which the first character (position) of the portion to be scrapped can be designated.

  The top frame 270 is set so that it can move only within a page (within a virtual page) defined by the Page object. Here, to describe the page again, the page is defined by the Page object, and even if the page defined by the Page object is, for example, one page, it is an actual page (temporarily a paper book). In this case, the number of pages or the number of pages displayed when the range displayed on the display unit 71 at a predetermined magnification is one page is set so as to correspond to 100 pages.

  Further, the page defined by the Page object is set as one page to be drawn in the virtual drawing area 152 (FIG. 10). Therefore, when it is grasped as one page what is displayed on the display unit 71 (drawn in the displayable area 151), even if it is displayed over several pages, it is defined by one Page object. If it is within a page, it is treated as one page.

  Therefore, when the displayable area 151 and the virtual drawing area 152 match (in the case shown in the upper diagram in FIG. 10), the top frame 270 is other than the text displayed in the display unit 71. However, if the displayable area 151 and the virtual drawing area 152 do not match (as shown in the lower diagram in FIG. 10), a plurality of There is a case where the movement is performed so that the top frame 270 can be moved over the page.

  In any case, the top frame 270 is set so as not to be moved outside the page defined by the Page object. This is because, as described above, in the present embodiment, data is handled as an object. In this case, processing is performed for one Page object, not for a plurality of Page objects.

  In this way, that is, processing (processing related to scrap) is not performed on a plurality of Page objects. For example, all the data for one book including a plurality of Page objects is processed once. It is possible to prevent the processing from being executed by scrap processing. In other words, illegal copying can be prevented in this way.

  As will be described later, the portion where scrap is instructed may not be permitted to be copied due to copyright or the like. For example, consider a case where one book is composed of a plurality of Page objects, and at least one of those Page objects is set to be non-copyable. When trying to copy all of one book, the user must repeat the scrap processing for each of a plurality of Page objects, which is troublesome. Therefore, at this point, it is considered that the user first gives up copying.

  Furthermore, even if the user does not give up repeating the scrap process, at least one Page object in the book to be copied cannot be copied, and as a result, one book cannot be copied. It is. As described above, since the copy is substantially protected in at least two stages, it is possible to prevent unauthorized copying.

  Returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 28, when the leading frame 270 is moved to a portion desired by the user in step S14, the leading character is designated in step S15. The head frame 270 is moved by operating, for example, the jog dial 79 (FIG. 4) as the input unit 106 (FIG. 5), and the position is determined by operating the determination button 81. Done. The operations related to selection of the first character and the last character described below are basically instructed to be moved by the jog dial 79 or the like, and determined by the determination button 81.

  Referring to FIG. 30, when the first character is designated, a character designation frame 271 is displayed on the display unit 71 and in the first frame 270. The character designation frame 271 is displayed when the first character (position) of the text (image) to be scrapped is designated, and can be moved vertically and horizontally within the top frame 270 by the user's operation.

  When the first character is selected (designated), the end frame (basically the same frame as the first frame 270) is designated in step S16, and the last character is designated (basically the character in step S17). The same frame as the designated frame 271 is used and designated). Since the processing of step S16 and step S17 is basically the same as the processing of step S14 and step S15, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  Here, it has been described that a frame for designating a range of characters to be selected is specified, and then a character is selected from within the frame, but a character may be directly selected. However, by using a frame for designating a selectable range, for example, when a part to be scrapped is selected from a page where an image and text are mixed, the image is selected by the presence of the frame. It may be possible to clearly indicate to the user whether the text is within the selection or the text is within the selection.

  In this way, a portion to be scraped is selected. If the selected portion is acceptable, the user determines registration in the scrapbook in step S18. In each step, the user can return to the original process, and can perform the process of a desired step at any time.

  Such processing relating to registration in the scrapbook is instructed on the user side by operating the input unit 106 (FIG. 5), and on the user terminal 7 side, the CPU 101 indicates the content indicated by the signal from the input unit 106. This is performed by executing processing such as movement of the top frame 270 based on the determination and based on the program or data developed in the RAM 103 or the like.

  Processing performed on the user terminal 7 side when processing for registration in the scrapbook is performed will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 31 to 33. In step S31, when an instruction to register a new article (text, image, etc., indicating a part of the content) in the scrapbook is given, it is determined whether or not there is a scrapbook already created. The For example, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the scrapbook 250 having the structure shown in FIG. 27 is stored in the storage unit 107 (FIG. 5).

  In addition, when the scrapbook 250 is set to be recorded on the user terminal 7 in a detachable recording medium, or is set to be able to be recorded on the recording medium, the recording medium Are set in the drive 74, the CPU 101 also refers to the data recorded in the recording medium (or the package medium 5) set in the drive 74, and executes the process in step S31.

  In any case, if it is determined in step S31 that the created scrapbook does not exist, the process proceeds to step S32. If it is determined that the scrapbook exists, the process proceeds to step S33. . If the process proceeds to step S32, that is, if it is determined that there is no scrapbook, a new scrapbook is created, and an article for which new registration is instructed is added to the first page of the scrapbook. It is set to a state where it can.

  On the other hand, when the process proceeds to step S33, that is, when it is determined that the scrapbook exists, the last page of the scrapbook determined to exist (for example, in FIG. 27, the page object 254 defines the page). Page) is set so that an article for which registration is newly instructed can be added.

  In the process of step S32 or step S33, if it is set in a state where a new article can be added to the scrapbook, the process proceeds to step S34. In step S34, it is determined whether the article instructed to be registered in the scrapbook is an article that is permitted to be registered (saved). If it is permitted to copy an article that is instructed to be saved without restriction, an unfavorable situation may occur due to copyright or the like.

  For example, the content data describes the license conditions for copying such as allowing the buyer to copy only once, allowing copying without restriction, and allowing copying if it is a part of the page (for example, 22 is included in the header information unit 181. Also, the processing in step S34 is performed by referring to the copyright protection processing unit 23 (information added by the data creation apparatus 2 (FIG. 2)) and its license conditions. Is executed.

  If it is determined in step S34 that the storage is not permitted as a result of referring to the license information, the process proceeds to step S35. If it is determined that the storage is permitted, the process proceeds to step S36. .

  In step S35, a message is displayed on the display unit 71 to allow the user to recognize that the article instructed to be registered in the scrapbook cannot be saved because copying is not permitted. Then, the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 31, that is, the process related to the scrapbook is ended.

  Thus, since an article that is not permitted to be copied cannot be saved, the subsequent processing is not performed. Therefore, the process in step S34 may be performed before step S31, and as a result, a process that becomes a wasteful process may not be performed.

  Further, for the same reason, for example, when the item “character clip” for executing the registration process to the scrapbook is selected in step S13 of the flowchart of FIG. 28, and displayed when the item is selected. If it is determined that the article (text) being displayed is a copy-prohibited article (the process in step S34 is executed at this point), the displayed article is an article that cannot be copied at that point May be displayed (the process in step S35 is executed).

  In other words, when it is determined that an article that cannot be scrapped is selected, a process for causing the user to recognize such an article may be executed. Note that the processing order of each step is not limited to the processing in step S34, and the order of the processing can be changed as necessary.

  Returning to the description of the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 31, when it is determined in step S34 that the selected article is an article permitted to be copied (saved) as a result of referring to the license condition, step S36 is executed. The process proceeds. In step S36, it is determined whether the registration to the scrapbook is clip (Clip) storage or quotation (Quotation) storage. Clip saving means saving the appearance as it is, and quotation saving means saving the data in the document as it is.

  Further, data saved as a result of selecting clip saving is set to be displayed when a button displayed on the display unit 71 is operated. The data saved as a result of the selection of citation saving is set so that drawing is performed in a standard format (drawing in a format set in the scrapbook). Clip preservation is mainly used when scraping images, and citation preservation is mainly used when scraping text.

  As described above, the two storage methods are used in the case of text. The process for displaying the text is relatively light. In addition, a plurality of texts are used as one page of the scrapbook and displayed once on the display unit 71. It is also possible to display the display, and even if so, it is considered that it should not be difficult to see.

  In the case of an image with respect to text, the process of displaying the image is relatively heavy. Therefore, when a plurality of images are displayed on the same page, it may take time to display the page. Further, in the case of images, if a plurality of images are displayed on the display unit 71 by one display, one image is considered to be small and difficult to see. Further, it is not always necessary to display the image, and it is considered that the image may be displayed as needed (when the user desires).

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, two storage methods are used so that the user can select them. Although the description here assumes that the user can select, instead of the user selecting, the clip is simply saved when it is determined that the image has been selected, and the quotation is saved when it is determined that the text has been selected. As described above, the user terminal 7 may be configured to make a determination.

  In step S36, if it is determined that the method for saving the article newly instructed to register is clip saving, the process proceeds to step S37. When clip saving is instructed, the instructed (scraped) article is stored (recorded) as an image object (Image object).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S36 that the method for saving the article for which registration is newly instructed is citation saving, the process proceeds to step S38. When citation saving is instructed, the character string of the instructed article is acquired. The acquired character string is a character string from the first character to the last character selected by the user by performing the processing described with reference to FIGS.

  When the character string is acquired, a specified object acquiring process for specifying the added character string is executed in step S39. The specified object acquisition process in step S39 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  By executing the process up to step S37 or the process up to step S39, the article designated by the user is created as an object for newly adding to the scrapbook. This is executed in step S40. The object addition processing in step S40 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S41, the scrapbook to which the object has been newly added is recorded (saved) on a recording medium (not shown) set in the storage unit 107 (FIG. 5) or the drive 74 (FIG. 5). In this way, the scrapbook is updated.

  With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 32, the designated object acquisition process in step S39 will be described. In step S61, three IDs are acquired. The first ID is an ID of a Page object related to an article designated to be additionally stored in the scrapbook. For example, referring again to FIG. 25, when the part in the text defined by the Text object 231 is designated as an article for scrapping, the ID of the Page object 225 is acquired.

  The second ID is the ID of the Block object that is the head of the article to be saved. Here, this ID is set to start_id. The third ID is the ID of the Block object that is the end of the article to be saved. Here, this ID is set to end_id. With reference to FIG. 34, start_id and end_id will be described. FIG. 34 illustrates a predetermined page and blocks included in the page.

  Page 281 is composed of three blocks 282 to 284. The user selects a predetermined character in Block 283 as the first character (selected as processing in steps S14 and 15 (FIG. 28)), and selects a predetermined character in Block 284 as the last character (processing in steps S16 and S17). The character string existing between them is the range selected as the article.

  As described with reference to FIG. 28 to FIG. 30, the user can move the frame 270 within one page. Since it is possible to select, it is possible that an article designated as scrapped may span multiple blocks.

  In the case as shown in FIG. 34, the ID of the Block object of Block 283 where the first character exists is set to start_id, and the ID of the Block object of Block 284 where the last character exists is set to end_id. Although not shown in FIG. 34, for example, when both the first character and the last character exist in the Block 283, the ID of the Block object of the Block 283 is set to both start_id and end_id.

  In addition, when Page 281 is composed of only one block (for example, Block 282), both the first character and the last character are necessarily included in the block, so start_id and end_id are: The result is the same.

  Such three IDs are acquired in step S61. When the ID is acquired, the process proceeds to step S62. In step S62, the maximum value of the object ID used in the scrapbook at that time is acquired. The maximum value of the acquired object ID is set here as Old_ID.

  Referring again to FIG. 25, it is assumed that the reference numerals (221 to 234) given to the objects shown in FIG. 25 are the IDs of the objects, and the book having the configuration shown in FIG. 25 is a scrapbook. The image object 234 is given the maximum value among the objects in the scrapbook. Therefore, in this case, Old_ID is set to “234”.

  As described above, the ID having the maximum value of the scrapbook at that time is detected by adding (saving) a new object, but it is not the same as the ID given to the added object. It is for doing so. Therefore, in step S63, an ID assigned to a new object is set. The setting is a value obtained by adding 1 to Old_ID. This ID is set as New_ID.

  When one article is selected, a plurality of objects are added. For example, as described with reference to FIG. 26, when an image based on the Image data 234 'is selected as an article to be scrapped, four objects are added to the scrapbook. Therefore, since how many objects are newly added is unknown at the time of step S63, New_ID is an ID given to one of the newly added objects. Numbers consecutive to New_ID are sequentially assigned to the objects.

  If New_id is set in step S63, the process proceeds to step S64. In step S64, analysis of the specified Page object (Page object corresponding to the first ID acquired in step S61) is started. Data described in the Page object is analyzed for each line (each processing unit).

  In step S65, it is determined whether or not the data described in the row to be analyzed is a command. In step S65, it is also determined whether or not there is an unanalyzed command in the Page object (whether or not it is the last line of data described in the Page object). Has been.

  If it is determined in step S65 that the data to be analyzed is a command, the process proceeds to step S66, and whether or not the command is a command for issuing an instruction to refer to the Block object. Is judged.

  If it is determined in step S66 that the command is not an instruction to refer to the Block object, the process returns to step S64 and the subsequent processing is repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S66 that the command is for issuing an instruction to refer to the Block object, the process proceeds to step S65. In step S65, it is determined whether or not the ID of the Block object referred to by the command to be analyzed is an ID of a number sandwiched between start_id and end_id.

  Description will be made with reference to FIG. 34 again. In FIG. 34, it is assumed that the reference numerals attached to the blocks 282 to 284 are the IDs of the block objects corresponding to the blocks 282 to 284. In the case shown in FIG. 34, the commands described in the Page object corresponding to Page 281 include commands for referring to the Block objects corresponding to Blocks 282 to 284, respectively.

  When the command to be analyzed gives an instruction to refer to the Block object corresponding to Block 282, the ID of the Block object is “282”. In this case, since start_id = 283, the number is before the start_id, and therefore NO is determined in step S67. That is, in this case, since the Block object is not related to the article to be scrapped, it is not necessary to perform the processing after Step S67, and the processing is returned to Step S64.

  On the other hand, when the command to be analyzed gives an instruction to refer to the Block object corresponding to Block 283, the ID of the Block object is “283”. When the command to be analyzed is an instruction to refer to a Block object corresponding to Block 284, the ID of the Block object is “284”.

  In such a case, since start_id = 283 and end_id = 284, the IDs “283” and “284” are sandwiched between start_id and end_id (in this case, an equal relationship holds), so in step S67 , YES is determined. That is, in this case, since it is a Block object related to the article to be scrapped, the processing after Step S67 is performed.

  If it is determined in step S67 that the ID of the Block object referred to by the command to be analyzed is not the ID of the number sandwiched between start_id and end_id, the process returns to step S64. The target is data described in the next line (data corresponding to the next processing unit).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S67 that the ID of the Block object referred to by the command to be analyzed is the ID of the number sandwiched between start_id and end_id, in other words, the ID is a scrap target. If it is determined that the ID of the Block object of the block including the article is determined, the process proceeds to step S68, and it is determined whether or not the Block object refers to the Text object.

  For example, in FIG. 34, text may be displayed in Block 283, but an image may be displayed in Block 284. Therefore, in step S68, it is determined whether or not the Block object to be processed is referred to as a Text object. If it is determined in step S68 that the Block object to be processed is not referred to as a Text object, the process proceeds to step S69.

  In step S69, information on a Block object to be processed, an object referred to by the Block object, and all objects necessary for drawing (processing) the object are acquired. The process in step S69 will be described with reference to FIG. 25 again. For example, consider a case where the Block object 229 in the Page object 225 is a processing target from a book having a structure as shown in FIG.

  The objects referred to by the Block object 229 to be processed are the Image object 233 and the Block attribute object 230. All the objects necessary for drawing the object are the image data objects 234 necessary for drawing the image of the image object 233.

  Therefore, in such a case, the information acquired in step S69 is information on the Block object 229, the Block attribute object 230, the Image object 233, and the Image data object 234. In this way, necessary object information is sequentially acquired.

  Returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 32, if it is determined in Step S68 that the Block object to be processed refers to the Text object, the process proceeds to Step S70. In step S70, the drawing attributes of the referenced Block object and Text object are changed to those for scrapbook use only.

  As described above, various articles may be scrapped in the scrapbook. Even if the article is assumed to be text only, there are vertical writing text, horizontal writing text, and various forms such as character fonts and character colors. If such various forms of articles are pasted into a single scrapbook in the same format, the scrapbook becomes difficult to see.

  Therefore, the articles pasted on the scrapbook should be easy to see by using uniform rendering attributes. Specifically, all are written in horizontal writing (or vertical writing), and the fonts and colors are the same. When such a change is completed, the process proceeds to step S71. In step S71, information on all objects referenced from the Text object is acquired.

  In this way, information regarding the object whose registration is instructed in the scrapbook is acquired. By repeating such processes from step S64 to S71, the contents of the Page object are sequentially analyzed, and information such as the Block object related to the scrapped article is acquired. When the analysis is completed for all the rows in the Page object, it is determined in step S65 that there is no unanalyzed command in the Page object, and the process proceeds to step S72.

  In step S72, an object for displaying the cited document (information identifying (showing) the document) and the date is created. In step S72, the object for displaying the cited document and date is created in order to prevent illegal copying, and to prevent illegal copying from circulating on the Internet or the like. (Even if it is distributed, keep it in a state where the copyright holder is clearly specified).

  The object created in this way is added to the scrapbook in step S40 (FIG. 31). It should be noted that the objects created in this way are sequentially assigned numbers starting with New_ID set in step S63 as IDs.

  FIG. 33 is a flowchart for describing object addition processing in step S40 (FIG. 31). In step S91, the ID of the Page object corresponding to the last page of the scrapbook at that time is acquired. For example, if the scrapbook 250 having the structure shown in FIG. 27 exists at that time, the Page object corresponding to the final page is the Page object 254, and the ID of the Page object 254 is set to the step Acquired as the processing of S91.

  When the ID of the Page object is acquired in step S91, the process proceeds to step S92, and a new block may be added to the page (final page) drawn by the Page object corresponding to the acquired ID. It is determined whether or not it can be performed. This determination may be performed by setting a condition such that only three blocks can exist in one page and determining whether or not the condition is satisfied, or a drawing area of one page May be performed by determining whether or not a new block area can be secured in the area.

  Alternatively, the determination may be made by other methods. Either method can be used, but as described above, since it is possible to add an unlimited number of blocks to the Page object, some setting is provided, and only one predetermined number of blocks is set as one Page object. Need to be controlled to be registered with. If it is determined in step S92 that a new block cannot be added to the final page, the process proceeds to step S93, and a page for adding a new block is created.

  That is, when the process proceeds to step S93, a new Page object is created. Then, an ID for identifying the newly created Page object is allocated. The allocated ID is an ID in an object constituting the scrapbook, and is a number obtained by adding 1 to the ID having the largest value. The Page object to which such a number is added as an ID is handled as the last page in the scrapbook in the processing after step S94.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S92 that a new block can be added to the last page, there is no need to create a new page, so the process of step S93 is omitted and the process proceeds to step S94. In step S94, after the last command of the Page object corresponding to the last page, the acquired Block object and the cited document and date are displayed as processing of step S72 (FIG. 32). A command is added so that each object is referred to.

  In step S95, the acquired object and the data of the object for displaying the cited document and date are added to the data of the scrapbook. Thus, since the object is added, the data (object table) regarding the added object is updated in step S96.

  In this way, an object is added. By performing such processing at the user terminal 7, the user can create a scrapbook composed of desired articles.

  Thus, in an electronic book, even if it is a time-consuming process for a paper book, the same process can be easily performed. However, for example, in the case of a paper book, the user can roughly estimate the number of days required to finish reading just by looking at the thickness of the paper book. Because there is nothing, it can be difficult to do that.

  In other words, in the case of paper books, the user grasps the size of characters by flipping pages, and estimates the number of days to complete reading by grasping the number of pages. Sometimes. Further, for example, in the case of a dictionary or the like, it is possible to grasp on which side the character to be examined is written with the sense of the number of pages.

  However, in the case of electronic books, it can be said that characters that are impossible with paper books are enlarged and displayed. For this reason, the number of pages changes depending on the enlargement ratio even for the same book. Therefore, it is difficult to turn pages and flip pages with an electronic book (continue to operate buttons), grasp the size of the text and the number of pages, and estimate the number of days to finish reading, and if the electronic book is a dictionary, It is considered difficult to grasp the number of pages with a sensation, which can be done with a paper book dictionary.

  More specifically, for example, in the paper medium dictionary, the word displayed on the 10th page is always displayed (printed) on the 10th page, so the user wants to check the word, If the user wants to know the sense of being present every 10 pages and wants to examine the same word next time, the user can examine the sense that it is per 10 pages.

  However, in the case of an electronic book, if the enlargement rate is different, even if the word examined last time exists on the 10th page, it does not always exist on the 10th page when it is examined next time. It is also difficult to look up words because it is impossible to grasp the sensation obtained by the thickness of the page or the turning speed of the page.

  In order to obtain a similar sensation in the case of a paper book that has been familiar to users for a long time, even in the case of an electronic book, the spread of an electronic book (the data of the electronic book) Of course, this means that the user terminal 7 is also included).

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the concept of anchor is introduced so that a user can obtain a sense that can be obtained by flipping pages like a paper book even in an electronic book. By realizing such a sensation, as described above, not only will the electronic book become widespread, but there is also an advantage that the concept of the page in the electronic book can be clarified.

  That is, as described above, in an electronic book, a page is variably changed due to enlargement of characters or the like. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, since one page is described by the Page object, the length of the one page is not fixed but variable. Furthermore, what is displayed on the display unit 71 of the user terminal 7 at a time cannot be said to be one page.

  For example, in the case where what is displayed on the display unit 71 is a novel, it is scrolled line by line (for example, the text displayed on the second line is scrolled on the first line, Correspondingly, the other lines are also scrolled line by line), and in such a case, it is difficult to grasp the part where the page breaks exist, because the feeling of pages cannot be obtained. It is done.

  In this way, it can be said that the concept of pages is ambiguous in electronic books. This has advantages, but there are also problems. However, by introducing the concept of anchor as described below, the concept of the page can be clarified, and the problem caused by the vague concept of the page is considered to be solved.

  An anchor having such advantages will be described. FIG. 35 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between anchors and pages. In FIG. 35, it is assumed that the pages 302-1 to 302-4 are amounts displayed on the display unit 71 at a time when 100% display is instructed. In other words, each of the pages 302-1 to 302-4 is one page drawn in the virtual drawing area 152-1 (FIG. 10), and has the same size as the displayable area 151. Suppose there is. That is, it is assumed that the state shown in the upper side of FIG.

  When an instruction for enlarging characters is issued to such pages 302-1 to 302-4 (4 pages), and here, when the enlargement ratio is double (200 percent), As shown on the lower side in FIG. 35, the configuration is changed to an 8-page configuration of pages 303-1 to 303-8. That is, when the characters are enlarged twice, the number of pages is also doubled.

  The states of pages 303-1 to 303-8 are the states shown in the lower part of FIG. The pages 303-1 to 303-8 have the same size as the displayable area 151. However, the virtual drawing area 152-2 includes, for example, the pages 303-1 and 303-2. Two pages are being drawn.

  For example, when the user is browsing with 100% display, if page feed is executed, page 301-2 is displayed after page 301-1, and page 303-3 is displayed after page 301-2. The pages are sequentially browsed as if displayed. When the user moves from the page 302-1 to 303-4, the user feels that the user should move to the page three pages ahead.

  In other words, from the letter “A” displayed on the page 302-1 (here, it means not only letters but also articles, words, etc.) “H” displayed on the page 302-4. When moving to the letter (article), the user has the target letter “H” on the page 30-1 to the page (pages 302-2, 302-3, 303-4) ahead. Know what you are doing. For example, it means the time during which a button for page turning (for example, the feed button 57 in FIG. 4) is operated.

  Alternatively, when a page such as a bar is displayed on the display unit 71 to indicate which side of the entire page is displayed, for example, a bar is displayed. By referencing, it is possible to grasp the approximate position. Recognizing the position of a page by recognizing the position of such a bar corresponds to the expression of grasping sensuously.

  Suppose the same is done while browsing at 200 percent display. That is, when moving from the letter “A” displayed on page 303-1 to the letter “H” displayed on page 303-8, the user feels the same as when 100% is displayed, If it moves 3 pages ahead, it will move to page 303-4 and will not move to page 303-8 which is a desired page.

  This is because, at each magnification, the movement process is performed with the number of pages at that magnification. Specifically, when page feed is executed in the display of 100%, page feed is performed in the order of page 302-1 → page 302-2 → page 302-3 → page 302-4. When page feed is executed, page 303-1 → page 303-2 → page 303-3 → page 303-4 → page 303-5 → page 303-6 → page 303-7 → page 303-8 in this order. Is paged.

  As shown in FIG. 35, the anchors 301-1 to 301-5 are struck at the head of each page when 100% display is performed. Specifically, the anchor 301-1 at the head of the page 302-1, the anchor 301-2 at the head of the page 302-2, the anchor 301-3 at the head of the page 302-3, and the head of the page 302-4 The anchors 301-4 are respectively struck.

  Information indicating the head of each page, such as an anchor, is used to perform page feed processing. When page feed processing is instructed when the page 303-1 is displayed at the time of 100% display, the information on the anchor is used and the page feed processing is executed. That is, since the page 303-1 is being displayed, the anchor 301-2 is read first, and the page 302-2 pointed to by the anchor 301-2 is displayed as the page destination.

  Further, if the button is continuously operated and the page feed instruction is continued, the information of the anchor 301-3 is read, and the page 302-3 pointed to by the anchor 301-3 is the next page destination. Is displayed. The page turning process using such anchor information is repeatedly performed while page turning is instructed.

  A case where 200% is displayed will be described. When page turning is instructed while page 303-1 is displayed on display unit 71, information on anchor 301-2 is read. The anchor 301-2 is information indicating the head of the page 303-3. In this way, the anchor information is information that does not depend on the display magnification (information that is based on 100% display and depends only on the display of 100%, and does not depend on other magnifications). Has been.

  Further, if the button continues to be operated and the page feed instruction is continued, the information of the anchor 301-3 is read, and the page 303-5 pointed to by the anchor 301-3 is the next page destination. Is displayed. That is, in this case, pages are sent every two pages. The page turning process using such anchor information is repeatedly performed while page turning is instructed.

  If the page feed processing using such information called anchor is executed, for example, from the letter “A” displayed on page 303-1, “H” displayed on page 303-8. When the user moves to the character “”, the user only has to indicate the movement for three pages. That is, the user can move to the same page destination by turning the page with the same feeling as in the case of 100%. Therefore, it is possible to execute the process with the same feeling regardless of the enlargement ratio.

  Although this anchor information can be read (handles a book) even if it does not exist, it can be understood how many pages the content of the corresponding electronic book is expressed. In addition, regardless of the size of the Page object, it is possible to move the page that looks linearly. Therefore, sensory handling like a paper book can be provided even with an electronic book.

  By the way, when the display of 100% as described with reference to FIG. 35 is performed, one page is displayed on the display unit 71 at a time, and one page is defined by the Page object. In other words, if the displayable area 151 and the virtual drawing area 152-1 are the same size as shown in the upper side of FIG. If processed, it is considered effective.

  However, when a page defined by one Page object is displayed on the display unit 71 at a time as one page, it may correspond to 100 pages. Such a setting is possible. Therefore, it is preferable that a plurality of anchor information is provided in a page defined by one Page object, and if it corresponds to 100 pages as much as possible, the page is set to be paged as 100 pages. .

  With reference to FIGS. 36 and 37, the anchor will be further described. 36 and 36, the virtual drawing area 152 is composed of two displayable areas 151. In FIG. 36 and FIG. 37, for the convenience of explanation, two displayable areas 151 are vertically arranged, and one side is in contact with each other. In the example shown in FIG. 36, there are four blocks 311 to 314 in the virtual drawing area 152. In other words, areas defined by the four Block objects are secured on the page defined by the Page object.

  In the situation shown in FIG. 36, Blocks 311 to 313 are included in the drawable area 151 shown in the upper row, and Block 314 is included in the drawable area 151 shown in the lower row. When the content displayed in the block is an image, it is not preferable that the image is divided in the middle. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 36, all areas of the block are included in the displayable area 151. To be controlled.

  The state shown in FIG. 36 shows an example in which the virtual drawing area 152 (virtual page) is divided between a Block object corresponding to Block 313 and a Block object corresponding to Block 314 that are referenced from the Page object. Yes.

  In the situation shown in FIG. 37, Block 321 and Block 322 are included in the drawable area 151 shown in the upper stage, but Block 323 is included in the drawable area 152 shown in the upper and lower stages. That is, Block 323 is divided. This can happen when the content displayed in the block 323 is text. The state shown in FIG. 37 shows a case where the virtual drawing area 152 is divided in the middle of the Block object that refers to the Text object.

  As described above, there are cases where the blocks are divided between different blocks and cases where the blocks are divided within the same block. In the case as shown in FIG. 36, the anchor 315 is hit at the block 311 and the anchor 316 is hit at the block 314. Similarly, in the case shown in FIG. 37, the anchor 324 is hit at the block 321, and the anchor 325 is hit in the middle of the block 323.

  If an anchor is hit in this way, the number of anchors will be the same even if the situation differs between the case of being divided between different blocks and the case of being divided within the same block. Therefore, the number of apparent pages (in this case, two pages) can be made the same.

  In the situation shown in FIG. 36 or FIG. 37, one Page object has two anchor information. Thus, one Page object can have a plurality of anchor information. As shown in FIG. 37, the anchor information does not necessarily indicate the start position of the predetermined block, but may indicate the predetermined position in the block.

  FIG. 38 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the information described in the PageTree object and the anchor information when this is taken into consideration. In the PageTree object, as shown in FIG. 38, information of the referred Page object is described. In the example shown in FIG. 38, the PageTree object refers to Page objects 1 to 6 (Pages 1 to 6). As the anchor hit information at this time, in the example shown in FIG. 38, Page1 is 1, Page2 is 5, Page3 is 3, Page4 is 3, Page5 is 2, and Page6 is 3.

  This numerical value indicates how many anchor information the page has (how many anchors have been driven into the page). For example, it is shown that one anchor is hit on Page1 and five anchors are hit on Page2.

  Since the PageTree object has the role of showing the context and grouping of each page, how many virtual pages (pages divided by anchors) each page bundled by the PageTree object has? Are managed (anchoring information as shown in FIG. 38 is managed). By doing so, even when a plurality of pages are moved, the pages can be moved linearly.

  Further, the total number of virtual pages of the electronic book can be obtained by cumulatively converting the number of pages divided by the anchor. In other words, the total number of virtual pages is the number of pages that the user wants to recognize how many books the electronic book is. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 38, 17 pages (= 1 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 3) are the number of pages that the user wants to recognize from the anchor hit information, and the number of pages when moving the page linearly.

  The PageTree object refers to anchor hit information as shown in FIG. 38, while the Page object referred to by the PageTree object refers to anchor hit information as shown in FIG. First, in the example shown in FIG. 39, Page3 (Page object) has a configuration including Blocks 1 to 5 (a configuration that refers to Block objects corresponding to Blocks 5 to 5).

  The anchor hit information referred to by Page 3 includes three anchor hit information as shown in FIG. It can be confirmed from the fact that there are three anchor hit information in this Page 3 as described in the anchor hit information referred to by the PageTree object shown in FIG.

  The first anchor hit information indicates that an anchor is hit at “Block 2”. In this case, an anchor is struck at the beginning of Block2. The second anchor hit information indicates that an anchor is hit at “Block 30x200”. In this case, an anchor is set at a position indicated by “0x200” in Block 3. For example, “0x200” may be a value indicating a predetermined coordinate indicated by the XY coordinate system, or may be expressed by the number of bytes at which character in the page is divided.

  The third anchor hit information indicates that an anchor is hit at “Block 50 × 120”. In this case, an anchor is set at a position indicated by “0x120” in Block 5.

  In this manner, anchor hitting information for indicating the division position in the page is also prepared. Since the Page object is used to manage what information is described in the Page, it is possible to manage at which Block in the Page the virtual page is divided (anchor as shown in FIG. 39). Manage the hitting information). In addition, when it is divided by a block that references Text, it is clearly indicated by the number of bytes etc. at which character in Text it is divided. By such a description, it becomes possible to know from which position in the page the drawing is performed.

  Such information on anchors is not included in the data supplied from the publisher 1 (FIG. 1) to the data creation device 2. Therefore, the anchor information is data added in the data creation device 2. You may make it charge by adding the data which is not contained in the data supplied from the publisher 1 like this. Further, by adding data, it is possible to differentiate from electronic books issued by other companies.

  The timing at which the anchor information is added is the timing at which processing by the data converter unit 22 (FIG. 2) is executed. As described above, the anchor information is information that is newly added when data for distribution to the user is created.

  Here, the anchor information is information that is not included in the source data supplied from the publisher 1, and will be described as an example of information added by the data creation device 2. However, information other than the anchor information is described. However, it goes without saying that it may be added by the data creation device 2.

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 40, the process performed in the user terminal 7 when page turning is instruct | indicated is demonstrated. When page turning is instructed, information on the concept of an anchor having the characteristics described above is used. The processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 40 is started when the feed button 75 (77) or the return button 76 (78) (both in FIG. 4) is operated as the input unit 106 (FIG. 5). When the CPU 101 (FIG. 5) determines that these buttons have been operated.

  In step S111, information on what virtual page is the page displayed on the display unit 71 when the button is operated is acquired. Referring again to FIG. 37, when the button is operated, the page displayed on the display unit 71 is, for example, a page on which blocks 321 to 323 are displayed. 37 (in the state shown in FIG. 37, it is assumed that the first page is composed of two virtual pages, the upper page is the first page, and the lower page is the second page). Information is acquired.

  In step S112, the PageTree object displayed at that time is acquired. This acquisition is performed using the information acquired in step S111. When the PageTree object is acquired by the processing in step S112, the current position is specified from the anchor information of the PageTree object in step S113. Through the processing up to step S113, the information shown in FIG. 38 is acquired.

  That is, the total number of pages is determined from the anchor hit information referred to by the PageTree object. In addition, since the information regarding the page at that time is acquired in the process of step S111, it is possible to determine which side of the total page is the page at that time. Therefore, the current position can be specified.

  In step S114, a position that is N pages ahead of the virtual page from the current position is obtained. Here, the position advanced N pages is a page located before the current position (a page with a numerically large page number) when the feed button 75 (77) is operated. When the return button 76 (78) is operated, the page is located before the current position (a page with a numerically smaller page number).

  In addition, the term “N page” is used here because it does not necessarily need to be set to move one page at a time (page advance or page return) (move for each anchor information). For example, if the book has a small number of pages, the pages may be moved one page at a time. However, if the book has a large number of pages, a plurality of pages (N pages) are included rather than the pages being moved one page at a time. It is thought that usability improves if it is moved at once.

  Therefore, here, it is assumed that N pages are moved. Although N is set in N pages, it may be set in consideration of the total number of pages of the book. For example, N may be set to 5% of the total number of pages. In addition, considering the total number of pages and the current position, the number of pages existing in the indicated direction is calculated from the current position (for example, the total number of pages is 100 pages and the current position is the 30th page. If the current direction is the feed page direction, it is calculated as 70 pages), and a number of pages (for example, 5 percent) of the calculated number of pages may be set to N. The percentage itself may be changed depending on the number of pages.

  Of course, N may be a fixed value. Note that the N page is the number of pages moved per predetermined number of seconds, for example, per second.

  N may be set using any method, but in step S114, a position moved by N pages in the designated direction from the current position is obtained. In step S115, the page object corresponding to the position obtained as the movement destination is accessed, and the anchor information corresponding to the page is acquired. For example, referring to FIG. 39, when the destination Page object is an object corresponding to Page 3, anchor hit information as shown in FIG. 39 is acquired.

  In step S116, the position from which to draw is calculated based on the information on the number of virtual pages, and the drawing from the calculated position is performed on the display unit 71. This drawing is a simple display. When the user is page-feeding with a paper book, the user does not browse each page carefully, but only browses a part of the page (such as the end part (first part) of the page). Thus, in the case of an electronic book, for example, when the displayed content is a novel or the like, it is considered that only the first few lines of each page need be displayed.

  By doing in this way, the processing capability concerning drawing can be reduced and the time taken for processing can be reduced. Therefore, the display on the display unit 71 can be switched continuously. Such simple drawing is repeatedly performed while the button is operated, that is, while a page feed (return) is instructed. Therefore, in step S117, it is determined whether or not movement is instructed continuously.

  If it is determined in step S117 that page movement is continuously instructed, the process returns to step S113, and the subsequent processes are repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S117 that page movement is not continuously instructed, in other words, if it is determined that the end of page movement has been instructed (button operation has been completed), The process proceeds to step S118.

  In step S118, drawing is performed in consideration of the layout and the like. This is considered that the fact that the movement of the page is completed is because the user desires to view the page of the movement destination. Therefore, in such a case, it is preferable to perform normal display, so that is done. That is, the process in step S118 is a process for displaying the page to be displayed in the normal state of the destination page.

  In this way, page feed or page return processing is performed. Users can turn pages early (if they have a large number of pages) in the same way as paper books, but they can turn pages many times at once. You can turn pages slowly (turn one page at a time). Further, the user can always perform the sensation of how much the page can be moved in the time during which the button is operated, regardless of the enlargement ratio.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the format of the electronic book content data is converted into an object, and the concept of a block is introduced into the layout format, so that the extensibility of the format can be improved.

  In addition, by making the format an object, it becomes easy to add new contents without changing the existing contents. As a result, it is possible to realize a function of creating a scrapbook in the same format as the purchased electronic book.

  Furthermore, it is assumed in advance that the layout may be broken due to character enlargement or the like, and the page can be moved linearly by using anchor information.

  The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware having respective functions, but can also be executed by software. When a series of processing is executed by software, various functions can be executed by installing a computer in which the programs that make up the software are installed in dedicated hardware, or by installing various programs. For example, it is installed from a recording medium in a general-purpose personal computer or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the recording medium is distributed to provide a program to the user separately from the personal computer (data creation device 2), and a magnetic disk 61 (including a flexible disk) on which the program is recorded. Optical disk 62 (including CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)), magneto-optical disk 63 (including MD (Mini-Disc) (registered trademark)), semiconductor memory 64, etc. In addition to a package medium, the program is configured by a ROM 42 storing a program and a hard disk including a storage unit 48 provided to a user in a state of being pre-installed in a computer.

  In this specification, the steps for describing the program provided by the medium are performed in parallel or individually in accordance with the order described, in addition to the processing performed in time series, not necessarily in time series. The process to be executed is also included.

  Further, in this specification, the system represents the entire apparatus constituted by a plurality of apparatuses.

It is a figure which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the information processing system to which this invention is applied. It is a functional block diagram of a data creation device. It is a figure which shows the internal structural example of a data preparation apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of the external appearance of a user terminal. It is a figure which shows the internal structural example of a user terminal. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on a display part. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the data produced by the data production apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on a display part. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of data. It is a figure for demonstrating an area | region. It is a figure for demonstrating an area | region. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of data. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of data. It is a figure for demonstrating an area | region. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of data. It is a figure for demonstrating a display position. It is a figure for demonstrating a continuous page group and an independent page group. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of data. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of data. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of data. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of data. It is a figure which shows the structural example of data. It is a figure for demonstrating an object. It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between the data of an XML format and the data of a binary format. It is a figure for demonstrating an object. It is a figure for demonstrating the object of the article scrapped. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a scrapbook. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process to scrap. It is a figure for demonstrating selection of an article. It is a figure for demonstrating selection of an article. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of a preservation | save of a scrap. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of acquisition of an object. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of adding an object. It is a figure for demonstrating acquisition of an object. It is a figure for demonstrating an anchor. It is a figure for demonstrating the division | segmentation of a block. It is a figure for demonstrating the division | segmentation of a block. It is a figure for demonstrating anchor hit information. It is a figure for demonstrating anchor hit information. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process regarding a movement of a page.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Publisher, 2 Data creation device, 3 Market, 4 Network, 5 Package media, 6 PC, 7 User terminal, 21 XML converter part, 22 Data converter part, 23 Copyright protection processing part, 24 Distribution part, 25 Package medium Creation section, 71 Display section, 72 USB interface, 73 Ethernet interface, 74 drive, 75 Forward button, 76 Return button, 79 Jog dial, 80 Enlarge button, 81 Enter button, 131 Bibliographic information section, 132 Stream data section, 133 Object data Part, 151 displayable area, 152 virtual drawing area, 171 continuous page group, 172 independent page group, 181 header information part, 182 object information part, 183 Object table information unit, 301 the anchor

Claims (4)

Data for electronic books, binary content data configured such that all content information is managed as objects, a PageTree object for managing objects constituting the content data in a tree structure, the electronic A Page object created for each page that makes up a book and describing the contents of the page, a Block object that manages the area in the page managed by the Page object, and a description in the area managed by the Block object Text object that manages the text to be displayed, Image object that manages the image described in the area managed by the Block object, Page attribute object that describes the attributes of the Page object, and attributes of the Block object Block attribute object A Text attribute object in which the attribute of the Text object is described, and an Image data object that is image data necessary for rendering the image managed by the Image object. Storage means for storing content data;
Editing means for editing content data of a scrapbook selected by a user and composed of articles that are predetermined text or images in the page;
The editing means includes
When adding an article to the scrapbook, save the clip as an article that is displayed only when there is an instruction in a state where other articles of the scrapbook are displayed, or scrapbook like other articles Set whether to save citations drawn in the format set in
If the clip save is set, the article to be added is saved as the Image object,
When the citation saving is set, the first ID of the Page object of the page on which the article specified to be added to the scrapbook is placed, and the Block object that is the head of the article selected by the user as the head And the third ID of the Block object which is the end of the article selected as the end by the user,
If the command described in the Page object corresponding to the first ID is analyzed for each line and the command is a command for issuing an instruction to refer to the Block object, it is an analysis target. It is determined whether the ID of the Block object referred to by the command is an ID of a number sandwiched between the second ID and the third ID,
When it is determined that the ID is not sandwiched, the process proceeds to analysis of the next line in the Page object,
When it is determined that the ID is sandwiched, it is further determined whether the Block object refers to a Text object,
If it is determined that the object is not a Text object, the Block object that is the processing target, the Image object that the Block object references, and the object that is necessary to draw the object, and that object references Get information of Image data object,
If it is determined that the object is the Text object, the drawing attribute of the referenced Block object and the Text object is changed to an attribute suitable for the Page attribute object included in the scrapbook, and the Text object refers to An information processing device that obtains information about the object that is being viewed. In an information processing method of an information processing apparatus including a storage unit and an editing unit,
The storage means is data for electronic books, is binary content data configured such that all content information is managed as objects, and is used to manage the objects constituting the content data in a tree structure A PageTree object, a Page object that is created for each page that makes up the e-book and describes the contents of the page, a Block object that manages the area within the page that is managed by the Page object, and is managed by the Block object A Text object for managing text described in the area to be described, an Image object for managing an image described in the area managed by the Block object, a Page attribute object in which attributes of the Page object are described, and the Block Bl describing object attributes From the corresponding object among the ock attribute object, the Text attribute object in which the attribute of the Text object is described, and the Image data object that is image data necessary to draw the image managed by the Image object Stores content data that is composed,
The editing means includes a step of editing content data of a scrapbook composed of an article which is selected by a user and is a predetermined text or image in the page;
The editing means is
When adding an article to the scrapbook, save the clip as an article that is displayed only when there is an instruction in a state where other articles of the scrapbook are displayed, or scrapbook like other articles Set whether to save citations drawn in the format set in
If the clip save is set, the article to be added is saved as the Image object,
When the citation saving is set, the first ID of the Page object of the page on which the article specified to be added to the scrapbook is placed, and the Block object that is the head of the article selected by the user as the head And the third ID of the Block object which is the end of the article selected as the end by the user,
If the command described in the Page object corresponding to the first ID is analyzed for each line and the command is a command for issuing an instruction to refer to the Block object, it is an analysis target. It is determined whether the ID of the Block object referred to by the command is an ID of a number sandwiched between the second ID and the third ID,
When it is determined that the ID is not sandwiched, the process proceeds to analysis of the next line in the Page object,
When it is determined that the ID is sandwiched, it is further determined whether the Block object refers to a Text object,
If it is determined that the object is not a Text object, the Block object that is the processing target, the Image object that the Block object references, and the object that is necessary to draw the object, and that object references Get information of Image data object,
If it is determined that the object is the Text object, the drawing attribute of the referenced Block object and the Text object is changed to an attribute suitable for the Page attribute object included in the scrapbook, and the Text object refers to An information processing method including a step of acquiring information on a living object. In a computer that controls an information processing apparatus including a storage unit and an editing unit,
The storage means is data for electronic books, is binary content data configured such that all content information is managed as objects, and is used to manage the objects constituting the content data in a tree structure A PageTree object, a Page object that is created for each page that makes up the e-book and describes the contents of the page, a Block object that manages the area within the page that is managed by the Page object, and is managed by the Block object A Text object for managing text described in the area to be described, an Image object for managing an image described in the area managed by the Block object, a Page attribute object in which attributes of the Page object are described, and the Block Bl describing object attributes From the corresponding object among the ock attribute object, the Text attribute object in which the attribute of the Text object is described, and the Image data object that is image data necessary to draw the image managed by the Image object Stores content data that is composed,
The editing means includes a step of editing content data of a scrapbook composed of an article which is selected by a user and is a predetermined text or image in the page;
The editing means is
When adding an article to the scrapbook, save the clip as an article that is displayed only when there is an instruction in a state where other articles of the scrapbook are displayed, or scrapbook like other articles Set whether to save citations drawn in the format set in
If the clip save is set, the article to be added is saved as the Image object,
When the citation saving is set, the first ID of the Page object of the page on which the article specified to be added to the scrapbook is placed, and the Block object that is the head of the article selected by the user as the head And the third ID of the Block object which is the end of the article selected as the end by the user,
If the command described in the Page object corresponding to the first ID is analyzed for each line and the command is a command for issuing an instruction to refer to the Block object, it is an analysis target. It is determined whether the ID of the Block object referred to by the command is an ID of a number sandwiched between the second ID and the third ID,
When it is determined that the ID is not sandwiched, the process proceeds to analysis of the next line in the Page object,
When it is determined that the ID is sandwiched, it is further determined whether the Block object refers to a Text object,
If it is determined that the object is not a Text object, the Block object that is the processing target, the Image object that the Block object references, and the object that is necessary to draw the object, and that object references Get information of Image data object,
If it is determined that the object is the Text object, the drawing attribute of the referenced Block object and the Text object is changed to an attribute suitable for the Page attribute object included in the scrapbook, and the Text object refers to A computer-readable program for executing a process including a step of acquiring information on an object. In a computer that controls an information processing apparatus including a storage unit and an editing unit,
The storage means is data for electronic books, is binary content data configured such that all content information is managed as objects, and is used to manage the objects constituting the content data in a tree structure A PageTree object, a Page object that is created for each page that makes up the e-book and describes the contents of the page, a Block object that manages the area within the page that is managed by the Page object, and is managed by the Block object A Text object for managing text described in the area to be described, an Image object for managing an image described in the area managed by the Block object, a Page attribute object in which attributes of the Page object are described, and the Block Bl describing object attributes From the corresponding object among the ock attribute object, the Text attribute object in which the attribute of the Text object is described, and the Image data object that is image data necessary to draw the image managed by the Image object Stores content data that is composed,
The editing means includes a step of editing content data of a scrapbook composed of an article which is selected by a user and is a predetermined text or image in the page;
The editing means is
When adding an article to the scrapbook, save the clip as an article that is displayed only when there is an instruction in a state where other articles of the scrapbook are displayed, or scrapbook like other articles Set whether to save citations drawn in the format set in
If the clip save is set, the article to be added is saved as the Image object,
When the citation saving is set, the first ID of the Page object of the page on which the article specified to be added to the scrapbook is placed, and the Block object that is the head of the article selected by the user as the head And the third ID of the Block object which is the end of the article selected as the end by the user,
If the command described in the Page object corresponding to the first ID is analyzed for each line and the command is a command for issuing an instruction to refer to the Block object, it is an analysis target. It is determined whether the ID of the Block object referred to by the command is an ID of a number sandwiched between the second ID and the third ID,
When it is determined that the ID is not sandwiched, the process proceeds to analysis of the next line in the Page object,
When it is determined that the ID is sandwiched, it is further determined whether the Block object refers to a Text object,
If it is determined that the object is not a Text object, the Block object that is the processing target, the Image object that the Block object references, and the object that is necessary to draw the object, and that object references Get information of Image data object,
If it is determined that the object is the Text object, the drawing attribute of the referenced Block object and the Text object is changed to an attribute suitable for the Page attribute object included in the scrapbook, and the Text object refers to A recording medium storing a computer-readable program for executing a process including a step of acquiring information on a moving object.

Images