JP4961875B2 - Document management apparatus, document management method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a document management apparatus that manages document data, and more particularly to a document management apparatus that has functions such as creation, storage, and editing of document data.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are apparatuses and software that manage document data such as data read by a scanner or a document created by an application on a personal computer (PC). For example, document handling software such as DocuWorks (trademark) provided by the applicant (Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.) and Adobe Acrobat (trademark) of Adobe Systems is typical. For example, in this document work, paper documents read by a scanner can be digitized and managed, and even document data created by different applications can be managed as a single document. In addition, in this DocumentWorks, editing operations such as drawing a marker, putting a comment, sticking a sticky note, and pressing a stamp are possible even though it is an electronic document.

  Furthermore, this DocuWorks has a function called a Desk window for managing files and folders. In the Desk window, a plurality of application files, image files, and the like can be managed together, and so-called “thumbnail images” are used. This thumbnail image is an image that has been reduced to display a large number of images as a list. For example, when the number of document files increases, it is difficult to determine only by information such as file names. Therefore, it can be said that the thumbnail image used to roughly understand the picture is very convenient in managing the document file.

For example, a document file can be easily searched by using a thumbnail image. That is, conventionally, text data for identification given to each document file, for example, document names and creation / update dates / times, etc. are displayed in a list form, and the user interprets the contents of the text data indirectly. The document was identified and grasped. However, by displaying the image of each document file in a list form of thumbnail images in the Desk window, the user can directly grasp the contents of each document file as a visual (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).
Therefore, the user can check the contents of each document file without performing the operation of opening and viewing the contents of each page in the file or folder one by one, so that a desired page can be easily opened. Thus, it is possible to perform an efficient search operation and the like.

  Furthermore, this DocuWorks has an editing function for bundling a plurality of documents into one document from thumbnail images on the Desk window, or for disassembling one document into a plurality of documents. For example, a plurality of documents can be bundled by dragging and dropping another thumbnail image onto one thumbnail image displayed on the Desk window using a mouse. Further, for example, by clicking a “document decomposition button” from the toolbar, it is possible to decompose the thumbnail image of the selected document into thumbnail images of the document in units of one page (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Thus, the user can organize documents according to the purpose of use by combining a plurality of documents into one or disassembling one document.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-269053 (page 5-7) JP-A-10-124489 (page 6-7)

  However, in the conventional document management apparatus as described in Patent Document 2 described above, when a plurality of original documents are bundled into one, the thumbnail images displayed on the Desk window have a plurality of bundled original documents. (For example, document A and document B) are completely merged as one document. For this reason, it is difficult to edit a bundled document in units of original documents using thumbnail images, and there is a certain limit to improving the efficiency of editing work.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the technical problems as described above, and an object of the present invention is to perform an editing process in units of original documents on a document in which a plurality of original documents are bundled. It is possible to easily carry out from an image.

For this purpose, the document management apparatus of the present invention is a document management apparatus for managing document data, and bundles a plurality of document data stored in the storage means and a storage means for storing a plurality of document data. A document bundling unit configured to generate a bundled document; and a thumbnail generation unit configured to generate a thumbnail image of the bundled document generated by the document bundling unit. The thumbnail generation unit includes a plurality of pieces of document data bundled in the bundled document. A feature is that a sticky note to be distinguished is added to a thumbnail image.
The document data here includes data related to images and graphics, and text data such as a page description language such as PostScript.

  Here, the thumbnail generating means can display the name of the document data on each tag. In addition, the thumbnail generation means may add a sticky note without overlapping each other on one side of the thumbnail image. Further, the thumbnail generation means may set the length of the thumbnail image of the tag in the vertical direction according to the number of pages of the document data. In particular, the thumbnail generation means may be characterized in that all of the tags added to the thumbnail image are arranged so as to be within one side in the vertical direction of the thumbnail image. Further, the thumbnail generating means may be characterized in that different colors are attached to the respective sticky notes.

In addition, the thumbnail generation means may be characterized in that the sticky note is deleted after a predetermined period has elapsed.
Furthermore, a display unit having a display screen on which the thumbnail image generated by the thumbnail generation unit is displayed, an input unit for receiving an operation input by the user for the tag attached to the thumbnail image displayed on the display screen, and a tag And a document separating unit that separates the bundled document generated by the document bundling unit into the original document data based on a predetermined operation input received by the input unit.
In addition, a display unit including a display screen on which the thumbnail image generated by the thumbnail generation unit is displayed, an input unit that receives an operation input by a user with respect to a tag attached to the thumbnail image displayed on the display screen, and a tag And a document rearranging unit that changes the arrangement of the original document data constituting the bundled document generated by the document bundling unit based on a predetermined operation input received by the input unit. it can.

  Further, the present invention is regarded as a document management method, and the document management method of the present invention is a document management method for managing document data, and a step of generating a bundled document by bundling a plurality of document data stored in a storage unit And generating a thumbnail image of the generated bundled document, and adding a sticky note for distinguishing each of the plurality of document data bundled in the bundled document to the thumbnail image.

Here, the bundled document is separated into the original document data based on a step of displaying a thumbnail image with a tag attached on the display screen and a predetermined input by a pointing device performed on the tag displayed on the display screen. The method may further include the step of: In particular, the method may further include a step of deleting the tag from the separated document data.
Further, a step of displaying a thumbnail image to which a tag is added on the display screen, and the original document data constituting the bundled document based on a predetermined input by a pointing device performed on the tag displayed on the display screen. And a step of changing the arrangement.

  Further, the present invention is regarded as a program, and the program of the present invention is a program used when a computer executes document editing processing, and generates a bundled document by bundling a plurality of document data stored in a storage unit. And a function for generating a thumbnail image of the generated bundled document and adding a tag for distinguishing each of a plurality of document data bundled in the bundled document to the thumbnail image. Yes.

Here, such a program is based on a function for displaying a thumbnail image to which a tag is added on the display screen and a predetermined input by a pointing device performed on the tag displayed on the display screen. And a function of separating into document data.
Also, based on a function for displaying a thumbnail image with a tag attached on the display screen and a predetermined input by a pointing device performed on the tag displayed on the display screen, the original document data constituting the bundled document And a function of changing the arrangement.

  Note that this program may be executed by loading a program stored in a reserved area such as a hard disk into the RAM, for example. In addition, there is a form that is executed by the CPU in a state stored in the ROM in advance. Further, when a rewritable ROM such as an EEPROM is provided, only a program may be provided and installed in the ROM after the device is assembled. In providing this program, it is also conceivable that the program is transmitted to a computer having a data recording device via a network such as the Internet and installed in a ROM of the data recording device.

  According to the present invention, editing processing in units of original documents can be easily performed on a bundled document from thumbnail images, so that document editing can be performed more efficiently.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a document management apparatus to which the exemplary embodiment is applied. A document management apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a data processing unit 10 that executes digital arithmetic processing according to a predetermined processing program for document management, a pointing device such as a mouse, a track pad, and a tablet that accepts an operation input by a user, and a keyboard An input unit (input unit) 20 including a secondary storage unit 30 as an example of a storage unit realized by, for example, a hard disk (HDD) in which a document file or the like is recorded, and a display such as a liquid crystal display that displays an image A display unit (display unit) 40 realized by the apparatus, a communication unit 50 including a LAN (Local Area Network) card for controlling communication with a network, a modem, and the like, prints document data on a medium such as recording paper, for example, electronic An output unit 60 realized by a photographic printer is included.
Here, the input unit 20, the secondary storage unit 30, the display unit 40, the communication unit 50, and the output unit 60 are connected to the data processing unit 10.

The data processing unit 10 includes a CPU 11 that controls the entire document management apparatus 1, a RAM 12 that is used as a working memory for the CPU 11, a ROM 13 that stores a document management processing program executed by the CPU 11, and is rewritable and power supply is interrupted. Interface unit for controlling data input / output to / from each unit such as a non-volatile memory 14 such as an SRAM or flash memory backed up by a battery and an input unit 20 connected to the data processing unit 10. 15 is provided.
The secondary storage unit 30 stores a document management processing program executed by the data processing unit 10, and the data processing unit 10 reads the document management processing program when the document management apparatus 1 is started up. Each process of the document management apparatus 1 of this embodiment is executed.

The display unit 40 includes a display screen including a main screen 401 and a sub screen 402 as illustrated in FIG. 2 (a diagram illustrating an example of a screen configuration of the display unit 40). The main screen 401 displays the contents of the document (image) file stored in the secondary storage unit 30 in units of pages, changes the page order, headings / page numbering, pasting annotations such as sticky notes, etc. This is an area where the editing process is performed in units of pages. The sub screen 402 displays thumbnail images generated by the reduced image generation unit 105 and the display information generation unit 106 in the subsequent stage, and performs various processes such as bundling (compositing), duplicating, organizing, and storing documents using the thumbnail images. Is a workspace where The sub screen 402 is arranged in the upper end area (may be the right end area, the left end area, or the lower end area) of the main screen 401. The main screen 401 and the sub screen 402 are provided with scroll bars for scrolling displayed images.
In addition to the screen configuration of the display unit 40 shown in FIG. 2, the main screen 401 and the sub screen 402 may be configured in a so-called multi-window format that displays them on separate screens. In that case, by selecting a thumbnail image on the sub-screen 402 and double-clicking the selected thumbnail image with, for example, the mouse constituting the input unit 20, the contents of the document corresponding to the selected thumbnail image are displayed. A main screen 401 to be displayed is configured to be activated.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the document management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the document management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is realized by the data processing unit 10 shown in FIG. 1, and includes a document data reading unit 101, an attribute data reading unit 102, and an attribute data writing unit. 103, a page writing unit 104, a reduced image generation unit 105, a display information creation unit 106, and a document editing / creation unit 107. FIG. 3 shows a configuration related to a function for editing / creating document data stored in the secondary storage unit 30, and a configuration for causing the communication unit 50 and the output unit 60 to function is omitted.

The document data reading unit 101 takes in document data (image data) from a document file or image folder recorded in the secondary storage unit 30 and outputs it to the reduced image generation unit 105 and the document editing / creation unit 107.
The attribute reading unit 102 takes in the attribute data of the document (image) object from the document file or image folder recorded in the secondary storage unit 30 and outputs it to the display information creation unit 106 and the document editing / creation unit 107.

The reduced image generation unit 105 generates a page image of a document (image) object using the document data (image data) acquired from the document data reading unit 101, and reduces the thumbnail image (hereinafter simply referred to as a thumbnail). ).
The display information creation unit 106 uses the attribute data acquired from the attribute data reading unit 102 to provide information such as a document name (name) such as a document file, a creator name, date information such as a creation date, an update date, and a storage deadline Various kinds of additional information such as specific marks and sticky notes, and separator sticky notes to be described later are generated. These are added to each thumbnail image created by the reduced image generation unit 105. Further, each thumbnail image to which various additional information is added by the display information creation unit 106 is sent to the display unit 40. In the display unit 40, the thumbnail image from the display information creation unit 106 is displayed on the sub screen 402.

The attribute data writing unit 103 rewrites attribute data for a document (image) object such as a document file or an image folder recorded in the secondary storage unit 30 based on the editing process in the document editing / creation unit 107. .
The page writing unit 104 is configured to edit the document file 301 or the image recorded in the secondary storage unit 30 based on the editing process in the document editing / creation unit 107 for the document data (image data) acquired from the document data reading unit 101. Document data rewriting processing is performed on a document (image) object such as the folder 302.
The document editing / creating unit 107 is a functional unit that performs various editing processes on a document (image) object. The document editing / creating unit 107 performs editing processing such as page order change, heading / page numbering, and pasting of annotations such as sticky notes on the main screen 401 on which the contents of the document (image) object are displayed in units of pages. Execute. In addition, on the sub-screen (also referred to as “work space”) 402 on which thumbnail images are displayed, various processes such as bundling (compositing), duplicating, organizing, and storing documents using the thumbnail images are executed.

Next, editing processing using thumbnail images displayed in the workspace 402 in the document management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.
First, an input operation from the user by the input unit 20 and an edit command generated correspondingly will be described. Here, a case where a mouse is used as the input unit 20 is shown.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for interpreting a mouse event and generating an edit command requested by the user. In the processing flow in FIG. 4, first, the document editing / creating unit 107 of the data processing unit 10 identifies an event input (mouse event) from the mouse configuring the input unit 20 (S100). Here, there are three types of mouse events: mouse button up (UP), down (DOWN), and double click.

If the mouse event in step 100 is a double click and there is a thumbnail at the mouse position, it is interpreted as a request for a document editing command on the main screen 401 (S100 → S113 to S115).
If the mouse event in step 100 is a button down and there is a thumbnail at the mouse position, it is interpreted that the dragging of the thumbnail has started (S100 → S110 to S112).

When the mouse event in step 100 is a button up, it is either a “page turning command” or a “document bundling (compositing) command”. In this case, if the mouse is being dragged, the thumbnail is at the mouse position, and the icon being dragged is the same as the thumbnail at the mouse position, select the thumbnail, and if there is a page turning mark at the mouse position, the page turning command (S100 to S107). The page turning mark in this case is, for example, the symbols (“<” shown on the left and right of the clip icon displayed at the top of the thumbnail in the sub-screen of FIG. 2 and indicating that the document is composed of a plurality of pages. "Or">").
In step 104, if the dragged icon is not a thumbnail at the mouse position, it is further confirmed whether there is a thumbnail being dragged, and is interpreted as a request for a document bundling (compositing) command (S100 to S104 → S108). To S109).

Next, document bundling (synthesizing) processing using thumbnail images displayed on the sub-screen (workspace) 402 will be described.
In the document management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when a plurality of documents are bundled using thumbnails on the workspace 402, a sticky note for distinguishing each document is automatically inserted between the documents to be bundled. Processed to be. This sticky note (hereinafter referred to as a “separator sticky note” to distinguish it from a normal sticky note) is formed by the contents of the bundled original document and an icon representing the first page of the original document.
Thereby, in the document management apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, for example, by dragging and dropping the separator tag on the workspace 402 with a mouse, the original document with the separator tag is separated from the synthesized document. Is possible. Further, for example, by clicking a separator tag on the workspace 402 with a mouse, the original document with the separator tag can be rearranged to the top position of the synthesized document. As described above, since it is easy to edit thumbnails in units of original documents on the workspace 402, it is possible to make the user's editing work more efficient and easy.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for specifically explaining the document bundling process of the document management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 5, for example, after the document 1 (FIG. 5A) whose document name is “HomePage_first time” (page number 6), the document name is “HomePage_second time” (number of pages). 9) shows a case where the document 2 (FIG. 5B) is bundled.
Document 1 and document 2 shown in FIG. 5 are displayed on the workspace 402 as thumbnails. When the user drags and drops the thumbnail of the document 2 on the workspace 402 so that the thumbnail of the document 2 overlaps the thumbnail of the document 1, the document 2 is combined with the last page of the document 1. In this case, the bundled document shown in FIG. 5C shows thumbnails of the bundled documents.
The thumbnails of the bundled document in FIG. 5C indicate that the document 1 with the document name “HomePage edition_first” and the document 2 with the document name “HomePage edition_second” are included. Two separator tags are attached to the upper right corner of the page.

  That is, a separator tag indicating the contents of the document 1 located on the first page side of the bundled document is attached to the upper right upper side of the thumbnail of the bundled document. This separator tag indicates that the document name is “HomePage_First” as an annotation. In addition, a separator tag indicating the contents of the document 2 located on the trailing page side of the bundled document is attached to the lower right side of the page of the thumbnail of the bundled document. The separator tag indicates that the document name is “HomePage edition_second time”. Thereby, it is possible to grasp the contents of the original document constituting the bundled document on the workspace 402.

Further, these two separator tags are arranged so as not to overlap each other. As a result, it is possible to see all of the attached separator sticky notes on the workspace 402. Furthermore, a different color is set for each separator tag. Thereby, it is possible to easily distinguish between the original document 1 and the document 2. In addition, the vertical length of each separator tag is set in proportion to the number of pages of document 1 and document 2. This makes it easy to recall the contents of each original document from the page volume of the document.
In addition, the total number of pages of the bundled document (for example, 15) and the currently displayed page number (for example, 1) are displayed at the upper right end of the thumbnail of the bundled document as page number / total number of pages (in this case). Is displayed in the expression format 1/15).

Furthermore, the user moves the mouse position to the thumbnail of the bundled document generated on the workspace 402 (FIG. 5C), and double-clicks the thumbnail of the bundled document, thereby corresponding to the thumbnail of the bundled document. The contents of the document can be displayed on the main screen 401. In the case of the multi-window format, the main screen 401 that displays the contents of the document corresponding to the thumbnails of the bundled documents can be activated.
FIG. 6 is a view showing a part of the bundled document displayed on the main screen 401 (upper right corner area of the page). As shown in FIG. 6, when a bundled document is displayed on the main screen 401, the separator tag placed with a step in the thumbnail is displayed on the first page of each of the original document 1 and document 2. Arranged at the same position in the upper right corner. In this case, since the first page of the document 1 and the first page of the document 2 are close to each other, if a separator tag is placed at the same position on the upper right corner of the page, the display content of the separator tag placed behind becomes invisible. In the case of expectation, similarly to the thumbnails on the workspace 402, it is possible to perform processing so as to be shifted from each other so that the separator tags are not overlapped.

  Next, a procedure for document bundling processing in the document management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for document bundling processing. When it is determined by the processing flow in FIG. 4 that the user's input from the mouse (input unit 20) is a request for a document bundling command, the document bundling process is started. When the document bundling process is started, as shown in FIG. 7, the document editing / creation unit 107 that has received the document bundling command from the input unit 20 receives a document related to document bundling (for example, the document 1 shown in FIG. 5). It is then determined whether or not the document 2) already has a separator tag (S201).

If it is determined in step 201 that at least one of the documents related to document bundling has no separator tag, for example, in the case of FIG. 5, one or both of document 1 and document 2 is taken as an example. When it is determined that neither separator tag is attached, the document editing / creating unit 107 determines the length in the Y-axis direction (the vertical direction of the thumbnail) of the separator tag to be attached to the document without the separator tag. Set the length to a length proportional to the number of pages. Then, a separator tag with a set length is added to the upper right end of the first page of the document (S202). The length of the separator sticky note along the X axis (horizontal direction of the thumbnail) is set to a predetermined value for all documents related to document bundling.
Subsequently, the document editing / creating unit 107 performs processing for displaying the document name of the document on the separator tag (S203).
Further, the document editing / creating unit 107 selects and adds different colors to the separator tags so that the colors of the separator tags attached to the documents related to document bundling do not overlap each other (S204).

  On the other hand, in step 201, when a separator tag is attached to at least one of the documents related to document bundling, for example, one of document 1 and document 2, document editing / creating unit 107 performs separator tag For a document with “”, a color different from the color of the separator tag attached to another document is selected and added (S204).

  Here, the attribute data related to the document (image) object generated or changed by the processing by the document editing / creating unit 107 in steps 202 to 204 is sent to the attribute data writing unit 103. Then, the attribute data writing unit 103 performs attribute data rewriting processing on the document (image) object to be rewritten stored in the secondary storage unit 30.

Subsequently, the document editing / creating unit 107 executes a document bundling process related to document bundling in which attribute data has been rewritten by the processes in steps 202 to 204 (S205). That is, the document editing / creating unit 107 here functions as a document bundling unit.
In the document bundling process in step 205, the document to be bundled (for example, document 2 in FIG. 5) is inserted at a position behind the bundled document (for example, document 1 in FIG. 5). Further, when the document bundling process is set to be inserted at a position before the bundled document by using a toolbar or the like, for example, the document to be bundled is inserted at the position before the bundled document.
Further, for example, the total number of pages of the bundled document (bundled document) is obtained by calculating the number of pages of the bundled document and the number of pages of the bundled document, and the result is the total number of pages field of the bundled document. The processing such as writing to is also performed. Then, the attribute data of the document (image) object generated by document bundling with respect to the bundled document such as the total number of pages is updated.
When the document bundling process in step 205 ends, the reduced image generation unit 105 and the display information generation unit 106 display the bundled documents (bundled documents) as thumbnails on the workspace 402 (S206). That is, the reduced image generation unit 105 and the display information generation unit 106 function as thumbnail generation means.

Next, the document editing / creating unit 107 calculates the total length in the Y-axis direction of the separator tags attached to all the bundled documents, and divides by the length of the side in the Y-axis direction of the thumbnails of the bundled documents. The value (separator tag length ratio) is obtained (S207).
Then, the document editing / creating unit 107 multiplies the separator sticky note length ratio obtained in step 207 by the length in the Y-axis direction of each separator sticky note attached to the bundled document, so that all separator sticky notes are The length in the Y-axis direction of each separator tag is set so as to fit within the length of the right side of the thumbnail of the bundled document (S208).
The attribute data regarding the length in the Y-axis direction of each separator tag set in step 208 is sent from the document editing / creating unit 107 to the attribute data writing unit 103. Then, the attribute data writing unit 103 performs attribute data rewriting processing on the document (image) object to be rewritten stored in the secondary storage unit 30.

  Subsequently, the display information creation unit 106 acquires attribute data regarding the length in the Y-axis direction of each separator tag added to the thumbnail of the bundled document from the secondary storage unit 30 via the attribute data reading unit 102. Further, the display information creation unit 106 sets the size of each separator tag and the arrangement position on the right side of the thumbnail so that the separator tags do not overlap each other based on the attribute data. Then, all the separator tags are drawn on the thumbnails of the bundled documents in the workspace 402 (S209).

As described above, in the document management apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, when a plurality of document (image) objects are bundled using thumbnails, the thumbnails of the bundled original documents are included in the bundled original documents. In order to distinguish each of these, a separator tag as an icon representing the contents and the first page of the original document is automatically added. As a result, the user can immediately grasp what original document is included in the bundled document on the workspace 402. For this reason, the user can efficiently perform editing operations such as grasping and searching for the contents of the document without requiring the document to be displayed on the main screen 401.
In particular, since the document name of the original document is displayed on each separator tag, the contents of the original document can be specifically grasped. Also, by setting the color of each separator tag to be added to be different from each other, it is possible to easily distinguish each original document.

Furthermore, the length of each separator tag in the Y-axis direction is set in proportion to the number of pages of each original document. Therefore, the workspace 402 has an advantage that the contents of each original document can be easily recalled from the document volume. Thereby, it is possible to further improve the document search efficiency by the user.
At that time, even if the bundled document is a bundle of many original documents and the number of separator tags added is increased, the number of pages of the original document is displayed on the right side of the thumbnail of the bundled document. The separator tag is set to be added in a state in which the corresponding ratio of the length in the Y-axis direction is maintained. Therefore, even when a large number of original documents are bundled, the volume of each original document in the bundled document can be easily grasped.

  Also, for example, by double-clicking the thumbnail of the bundled document, when the content of the bundled document is displayed on the main screen 401, a separator tag is displayed on the first page of the original document. You can easily grasp the page.

By the way, the document management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can be configured such that the display period of the separator tag attached to the bundled document can be set freely. For example, it is convenient if a certain predetermined period can be grasped separately for each original document, but when that period has passed, there is almost no individual viewing and the bundled documents are mostly handled as a unit. Is also envisaged. In this case, if the setting can be made such that the added separator tag is deleted after a predetermined period, it is convenient for the user. That is, in such a case, for example, when a new document is bundled periodically, a separator tag is displayed only on the latest original document and the previously bundled document. Search is extremely easy.
Here, for setting the display period of the separator tag, for example, a setting menu for the display period of the separator tag is set on the toolbar provided on the main screen 401, and the user calls the display period setting menu from the toolbar, The period can be set by a predetermined input operation from the input unit 20.

  In the document management apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, it is possible to set so as not to execute the document bundling (synthesizing) process using the thumbnail images shown in FIG. For example, a tool button for designating not to execute the document bundling (compositing) process of FIG. 7 is formed. In that case, in the document bundling (synthesizing) process, as in the prior art, thumbnails of a bundled document in which all original documents are merged are generated.

Next, document extraction processing using thumbnail images displayed on the sub screen (work space) 402 will be described.
In the document management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when a desired separator tag is dragged and dropped onto the workspace 402 in the thumbnail of the bundled document to which the separator tag is added on the workspace 402, the separator tag is displayed. The added original document can be extracted from the bundled document and displayed on the workspace 402. Therefore, the original document can be easily restored on the workspace 402, and the document editing operation for each original document can be easily performed.

Here, a procedure of document extraction processing in the document management apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of document retrieval processing. When a desired separator tag is dragged from the thumbnail of a bundled document to which a separator tag is added on the workspace 402 and dropped on the workspace 402, a document retrieval command is generated at the input unit 20. Then, the document editing / creating unit 107 that has received the document retrieval command from the input unit 20 starts document retrieval processing of the original document (for example, document 1 or document 2 shown in FIG. 5) in which the separator tag is dragged and dropped. To do.
As shown in FIG. 8, first, the document editing / creating unit 107 selects, from the page with the selected separator tag, the page before the page with the next unselected separator tag, that is, the selected page. The pages before the page with the separator tag attached behind the separator tag are taken out (S301).

Then, the document editing / creating unit 107 performs (separation) processing for extracting the document between the pages (S302). That is, the document editing / creating unit 107 here functions as a document separating unit.
In the document retrieval process in step 302, the original document in which the separator tag is dragged and dropped from the bundled document (for example, FIG. 5C) is removed. In addition, a new document file is generated for the removed original document.
Further, for example, as a total number of pages of the bundled document, a process such as dragging and dropping a separator tag from the total number of pages of the bundled document and subtracting the number of pages of the original document is written in the total page number field of the bundled document. Executed. Furthermore, the update of the attribute data of the document (image) object generated by the document extraction process from the bundled document such as the change of the total number of pages is executed.

Subsequently, the document editing / creating unit 107 sets the document name attached to the separator tag as a file name in the document file newly generated in the document extraction process in step 302 (S303).
Further, the document editing / creating unit 107 determines whether or not a plurality of separator tags are attached to the document extracted by the document extracting process in step 302 (S304).
If it is determined in step 304 that the extracted document has a plurality of separator tags, the document extraction process is terminated as it is.
If it is determined in step 304 that the extracted document does not have a plurality of separator tags, that is, only one separator tag is attached, the document editing / creating unit 107 determines that the extracted document (S305), the document retrieval process is terminated.
Here, the attribute data relating to the document (image) object generated or changed by the processing by the document editing / creating unit 107 in steps 302 to 305 is sent to the attribute data writing unit 103. Then, the attribute data writing unit 103 performs attribute data rewriting processing on the document (image) object to be rewritten stored in the secondary storage unit 30.

  As described above, in the document management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, an original document can be extracted from a bundled document and displayed on the workspace 402 using the thumbnail on the sub-screen (workspace) 402. Therefore, the original document can be easily restored on the workspace 402, and the document editing operation for each original document can be easily performed.

Further, in the document management apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, an original such that, for example, by clicking a separator tag attached to a bundled document, the original document with the clicked separator tag attached is positioned at the beginning of the bundled document. It is also possible to configure so that rearrangement is performed in units of documents. In this case, the document editing / creating unit 107 performs document rearrangement processing. That is, the document editing / creating unit 107 functions as a document rearranging unit.
Furthermore, it is possible to perform a process such as displaying the first page of an original document with a separator tag attached on the main screen 401.

  As described above, in the document management apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, when a plurality of document (image) objects are bundled using thumbnails, the bundled original documents are included in the bundled original documents. In order to distinguish each of these, a separator tag as an icon representing the contents and the first page of the original document is automatically added. As a result, the user can immediately grasp what original document is included in the bundled document on the workspace 402. Therefore, the user can easily and efficiently edit a document obtained by combining a plurality of original documents in units of original documents without having to display the document on the main screen 401. .

  For example, by dragging and dropping the separator tag with the mouse on the thumbnail on the workspace 402 by the document management apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the original document with the separator tag can be easily created from the synthesized document. It becomes possible to separate. In addition, by clicking a separator tag with a mouse on the thumbnail on the workspace 402, it becomes easy to change the order of the original document with the separator tag to the top position of the synthesized document.

It is the block diagram which showed an example of the hardware constitutions of the document management apparatus of this invention. It is a figure explaining an example of the screen structure of a display part. It is a block diagram explaining the function structure of a document management apparatus. It is the flowchart which showed an example of the process which interprets a mouse event and produces | generates the edit command which a user requests | requires. FIG. 10 is a diagram specifically explaining a document bundling process of the document management apparatus. It is the figure which showed a part (upper right corner area of a page) of the bundled document displayed on the main screen. It is the flowchart which showed an example of the procedure of a document bundling process. It is the flowchart which showed an example of the procedure of a document extraction process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Document management apparatus, 10 ... Data processing part, 20 ... Input part (mouse), 30 ... Secondary storage part, 40 ... Display part, 50 ... Communication part, 60 ... Output part, 101 ... Document data reading part, 102 ... Attribute data reading unit, 103 ... Attribute data writing unit, 104 ... Page writing unit, 105 ... Reduced image generation unit, 106 ... Display information creation unit, 107 ... Document editing / creation unit, 401 ... Main screen, 402 ... Sub screen (Work space)

Claims (14)

A document management apparatus for managing document data,
Storage means for storing a plurality of document data;
A document bundling unit for bundling a plurality of the document data stored in the storage unit to generate a bundling document;
A thumbnail generating unit that generates a thumbnail image of the bundled document generated by the document binding unit, and generates a tag for distinguishing each of the plurality of document data bundled in the bundled document and adds the tag to the thumbnail image And
The document bundling means sets the length in the vertical direction of the thumbnail image of each of the sticky notes to a length proportional to the number of pages of the document data, and the length proportional to the number of pages of the document data in each of the sticky notes And calculating the total length value, dividing the calculated total value by the length of the vertical side of the thumbnail image to obtain a sticky length ratio, and calculating the number of pages of the document data in each of the sticky notes By multiplying the length proportional to the sticky note length ratio, the length in the vertical direction of the thumbnail image in each of the sticky notes when added to the thumbnail image is set,
The thumbnail generation means sets an arrangement position where the sticky notes set with the length in the vertical direction of the thumbnail image do not overlap each other on one side of the thumbnail image, and at the set arrangement position A document management apparatus that adds the tag to the thumbnail image .   The document management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thumbnail generation unit displays the name of the document data on each of the tag. The thumbnail generating unit, the document management apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that all of said tag to be added to the thumbnail images are arranged to fit in the longitudinal direction of the one side of the thumbnail image.   The document management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thumbnail generation unit adds a different color to each of the tag.   The document management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thumbnail generation unit deletes the tag after a predetermined period has elapsed. Display means comprising a display screen on which the thumbnail images generated by the thumbnail generation means are displayed;
An input means for accepting an operation input by a user for the tag added to the thumbnail image displayed on the display screen;
And a document separating unit that separates the bundled document generated by the document bundling unit into original document data based on the predetermined operation input received by the input unit for the sticky note. The document management apparatus according to claim 1. Display means comprising a display screen on which the thumbnail images generated by the thumbnail generation means are displayed;
An input means for accepting an operation input by a user for the tag added to the thumbnail image displayed on the display screen;
Document rearrangement means for changing the order of original document data constituting the bundled document generated by the document bundling means based on the predetermined operation input received by the input means for the sticky note. The document management apparatus according to claim 1. A document management method for managing document data,
Generating a bundled document by bundling a plurality of document data stored in the storage means;
Generating a thumbnail image of the generated bundled document;
When adding a sticky note for distinguishing each of the plurality of document data bundled in the bundled document to the thumbnail image, the vertical length of the thumbnail image of each sticky note is proportional to the number of pages of the document data. Set the length, calculate the total value of the length proportional to the number of pages of the document data in each of the sticky notes, and divide the calculated total value by the length of the vertical side of the thumbnail image A sticky note length ratio that is an obtained value is obtained, and by multiplying the length proportional to the number of pages of the document data in each sticky note by the sticky note length ratio, each sticky note at the time of adding to the thumbnail image Setting the vertical length of the thumbnail image;
Each of the sticky notes set with the length in the vertical direction of the thumbnail image is set to an arrangement position where one side of the thumbnail image does not overlap with each other, and the sticky note is set to the thumbnail image at the set arrangement position. A document management method comprising the steps of : Displaying the thumbnail image to which the tag is attached on a display screen;
9. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising a step of separating the bundled document into original document data based on a predetermined input by a pointing device performed on the tag displayed on the display screen. Document management method. The document management method according to claim 9 , further comprising the step of erasing the tag from the separated document data. Displaying the thumbnail image to which the tag is attached on a display screen;
The method further comprises a step of changing a sequence of original document data constituting the bundled document based on a predetermined input by a pointing device performed on the tag displayed on the display screen. Item 9. The document management method according to Item 8 . A program used to cause a computer to execute document editing processing,
A function for generating a bundled document by bundling a plurality of document data stored in a storage unit;
A function of generating a thumbnail image of the generated bundled document;
When adding a sticky note for distinguishing each of the plurality of document data bundled in the bundled document to the thumbnail image, the vertical length of the thumbnail image of each sticky note is proportional to the number of pages of the document data. Set the length, calculate the total value of the length proportional to the number of pages of the document data in each of the sticky notes, and divide the calculated total value by the length of the vertical side of the thumbnail image A sticky note length ratio that is an obtained value is obtained, and by multiplying the length proportional to the number of pages of the document data in each sticky note by the sticky note length ratio, each sticky note at the time of adding to the thumbnail image A function for setting the vertical length of the thumbnail image;
Each of the sticky notes set with the length in the vertical direction of the thumbnail image is set to an arrangement position where one side of the thumbnail image does not overlap with each other, and the sticky note is set to the thumbnail image at the set arrangement position. A program that causes a computer to realize the functions to be added to the computer. A function to display the thumbnail image with the tag attached on a display screen;
13. The function according to claim 12 , further comprising a function of separating the bundled document into original document data based on a predetermined input by a pointing device performed on the tag displayed on the display screen. program. A function to display the thumbnail image with the tag attached on a display screen;
And a function of changing a sequence of original document data constituting the bundled document based on a predetermined input by a pointing device performed on the tag displayed on the display screen. Item 13. The program according to item 12 .

Images