JPH01278174A - Image transfer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To handle plural image frames with different descriptive formats by converting each file comprising a transmission image to an intermediate file, generating a synthetic bit image from each intermediate image, and transmitting it to an opponent. CONSTITUTION:Prescribed processings are applied on a bit image file 11, a character code text file 13, and a primitive expression format file 12 forming the transmission image, and the intermediate file obtained respectively is managed at a meta file managing part 21a. And a frame image corresponding to each file is arranged at a real frame control part 21b, and the size or the number of pages of the transmission image is controlled by a page control part 21a, and the synthetic bit image with size decided by an image developing part 21d can be generated by using the intermediate file. And the synthetic bit image is transmitted to an opposite facsimile equipment in a page unit by a modem control part 22. In such a way, it is possible to handle the image frames with different descriptive formats.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an image transmission system, and in particular, transmits an image as a bit image from a host computer that can handle various image files and text files with different description formats to a destination facsimile machine. The present invention relates to an image transmission method for transmitting images to, etc.

<Prior art> Conventionally, for multimedia information systems, IEE
E Computer, Com18-9162
(1985), pages 92 to 103, the focus has been on electronic conference systems using proprietary or specialized transmission formats.

Regarding image transmission, image transmission using the Fuji E IJ format is being pursued in the direction of digitizing facsimile communication itself, but it is not intended as a gateway (mutual access) between computer systems and existing facsimile equipment. There wasn't.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> Image frames can be roughly divided into two types based on their description method: bit image frames and primitive representation format frames.
Divided into two. Therefore, depending on the system configuration,
(i) It is necessary to convert a primitive representation format frame into a bit image frame and transmit it, or (11) convert a primitive representation format frame to a destination IPJ1 representation format frame and transmit it. arise.

However, as a method for converting a (il primitive representation format frame into a bit image frame), only a local conversion method has been realized, and (11)
In the transmission method, it is necessary to convert one primitive representation format frame to another primitive representation format frame, but since there are various incompatible primitive representation formats, there is a problem that conversion is impossible during transmission. be.

For this reason, in the past, it was not possible to handle image frames with different description formats, and of course it was not possible to combine image frames with different description formats and transmit it to the destination facsimile machine.

From the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image transmission method that can handle image frames with different description formats, and can also combine these frames and transmit them as bit images to a destination device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image transmission method that can arrange and transmit several image frames into real frames based on arrangement information.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image transmission method that allows a bit image to be transmitted to be edited to any size (for example, actual size) and then transmitted.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a wide area computer electronic mail, electronic conference system and facsimile network gateway.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an image transmission system that can realize (mutual access).

Means for Solving the Problems> FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image transmission system according to the present invention.

11 is a bit image file, 12 is a primitive expression format file, 13 is a character code file, 15 is a parser part, 18 is an interpreter part, 21 is a metafiler part, 21a is a metafile management part, and 21b is a real frame control part. 21C is a page control section, 21d is an image development section, and 22 is a modem control section.

Function> Bit image file 11 forming the image to be transmitted
The metafile management unit 21a manages intermediate files obtained by performing coordinate conversion processing on the character code text file 13, text formatting processing on the character code text file 13, and syntax analysis/translation processing on the primitive expression format file 12.

Then, the actual frame control unit 21b arranges frame images corresponding to each file in appropriate positions based on the arrangement information, and the page control unit 21c controls the size of the image and the number of pages to be transmitted based on the page information, Image development section 21
5. Generating a composite bit image of the determined size using an intermediate file while maintaining the arrangement relationship in step d;
The modem control unit 22 transmits the combined pit image page by page to the destination facsimile machine.

<Embodiment> FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system to which the method of the present invention can be applied.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a computer system that implements an image transmission method according to the present invention, which will be described later. In this computer system, IA is a host computer, IB, IC is a workstation, and ID.

IE is the bitmap input/output console of each workstation, IF to IG are various modem devices, and each workstation IB, 1. C and host computer IA
are capable of exchanging data with each other via a local network (LAN).

2 is a wide area communication network, which includes a public communication line network, a general subscriber telephone network, a high-speed fuse 6+) private line network, etc. 3
is a conventional single-function Fuji E') machine (communication target A), 4
5 is a high-performance Fatsuji E') machine (communication target B) equipped with multiple functions such as telephone function, print function, word processing document transmission function, etc. 5 is a PC facsimile machine (communication target B) consisting of a personal computer, modem device, and software
Target C), 6 is a computer system (target D)
It is.

The computer system 6, like the computer system 1, includes a host computer 6A, a workstation 6B, a bitmap input/output console 6C, and a modem device 6Dje.
The host and workstation are connected by a LAN.

We will now explain the case where the computer system 1 receives an image from a predetermined communication target and the case where the computer system 1 transmits an image to a predetermined communication target.

fa) Reception processing FIG. 3 shows the reception function of the computer system 1 in blocks, 51 is a modem control section, 52 is a page information management section, 53 is a real frame control section, 54 is an image pure such as a CRT, etc. 55 is a mail handler, 56 is a file management unit, and 57 is a received file. Modem control section 5
1 controls the received data and passes the received data to the page information management section at the next stage. The page information management unit 52 discriminates between frame area information including sender data such as headers and footers and real page data, and
Converts compressed real page data to normal bit image format. At this time, if the actual page contains pattern information that has been determined in advance by both parties, it is possible to interpret the symbols and extract digital data using a pattern matching method. Note that the page information management unit 52 also performs retransmission request processing when reception fails, processing when trouble occurs, etc.

The real frame control section 53 converts the image data input from the page information management section 52 into the attributes of the receiving side bit image terminal device, and draws the received image on the image pure 54 such as a display terminal device. Note that if the destination of the received image is determined, the real frame control unit 53 controls the mail handler 55 to transmit the received image to a predetermined workstation via the computer network (LAN), and sends the received image to the workstation. Output it from the bit image output device that comes with Tijon.

The received image that has undergone the above processing is stored as a file in a hard disk or the like along with the reception time, sender information, etc. in the file management section 56, and is used later as necessary.

The above is the process at the time of image reception, but next, the image transmission process will be explained.

Figure 1 shows the image transmission function of computer system 1 (Figure 2) in blocks, and can be roughly divided into the system's original file OFL and various files that undergo prescribed preprocessing. Briprocessor PPR and Metafile System Department MF
It consists of a communication control unit NTW and a communication control unit NTW.

The description formats of the system source file OFL include (il bit image format, (iil GKS, Ph i gs, etc.), (iil PoScript, InterPress
A page description language file format represented by 60-dot marking, TeX, a dot macro description file format which is a format control method used in 5cribe, etc. A simple 1-byte text file expressed in a simple 1-byte character code. There is a multi-byte text file format that is expressed using round multi-byte character codes. The bit image format (1) is a method of expressing an image by assigning, for example, 1 bit to one pixel (picture element), and the vector description format (ii) is a method of expressing an image by linear approximation. , a method of expressing an image using the start and end points of each line segment. The page description language file format (2) is a method that describes multiple basic shapes, such as rLineJ for a straight line, rcircleJ for a circle, and rRecJ for a rectangle. The Gvl dot macro description file format, which is a method of preparing languages and expressing images using these languages, uses format control commands such as r, ceJ (centering),
A method of expressing a text file by expressing it as a dot "," macro such as "PP", r, AuJ, etc., and placing a character string after each dot macro. (V) Simple 1-byte file.
A text file format is a method in which a maximum of 2s characters, such as alphabets and numbers, are expressed in 1 byte to form a text file. - A multi-byte text file format is a method in which a maximum of 2s characters, such as alphabets and numbers, are expressed in 1 byte. - A multi-byte text file format is a method in which characters ( It is a method of composing a text file by expressing kanji (kanji, etc.).
), (iil to 6-cut formats are called "primitive expression formats," and (■) to-- formats are called "character code text formats."

The preprocessor unit PPR handles files in various formats within the system (bit image files, character code text format files, primitive expression format files) mutually and multiplexed, interprets the file structure of these various formats, and creates a board layout. Convert to object-oriented structured document data (intermediate file) that can be edited.

The metafile system part MFS is the briprocessor part P.
The output (intermediate file) obtained from PR is rearranged, redeployed into a structured document with a hierarchical structure, and temporarily restricted and managed before it is sent out as a bit image.

The iftilJ Hikaribe NTW adds necessary header information to the bit image frame data and transmits it to the other party.

In the system source file OFL, 11 is a bit image file, 12 is a primitive expression format file, 13 is a character code text file, and the primitive expression format file 12 is a vector description file 1.
2a, a page description language file 12b, and a dot macro description method file. Also, the character code text file 13 is a simple 1-byte text file 13a.
and a multi-byte text file 13b.

In the pre-processor unit PPR, 14 is D for converting the data of the bit image file 11 into the device coordinate system.
C conversion unit, 15 is a parser part that parses the primitive expression format file, 16 is a grammar file provided with the grammar of each inverted primitive expression format, 17 is a maintenance subsystem that updates the grammar file as appropriate;
18 is an interpreter unit that translates a file in a primitive expression format into an intermediate file based on the result of syntax analysis; 19 is a font table; and 20 is a text formatter that formats a character code text file to a frame size.

FIG. 4 (This is a flowchart of syntax analysis processing by the parser part 15. When the parser part 15 receives a file in the primitive expression format, it samples the first 10 lines of the file. Steps 101 and 102) Check if it is a description method file (step 103
).

If it is a dot macro description file, there are various grammatical formats for the dot macro description format, so it is determined which grammatical format the dot macro is in. That is, sample the dot macro from the input file,
The grammar format of the input dot macro description file is determined by comparing the dot macro with each subversive format dot macro stored in the grammar file 16 (steps 104 to 106), and the format analysis information is added to the file data of the dot macro description format. (grammar format) and output to the next stage interpreter section 18 (step 107)
.

If the input file is a vector description file or a page description language file in the determination at step 103,
These description systems include various grammatical formats, so it is similarly determined which grammatical format the file has. That is, the step of sampling a character string from an input file and comparing the character string with character strings of various grammatical formats stored in the grammar file 16 to determine the grammatical format of the input vector or page description file. 108 to 110), format analysis information (grammar format) is attached to the input file data and output to the next-stage interleater section 18 (Sterap 107)
.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of interpreter processing by the interleater unit 18.

When format analysis information and file data are input from the parser section 15), the interleater section 18 processes the file data into a fair copy output format based on the format analysis information (steps 201 and 202).

Next, check whether a bit image font is required (step 203), and if necessary, create the font table 19.
is expanded into a bit image using . . . to generate an intermediate cleanup output (step 204).

However, if a bit image font is not required, an outline font is checked (step 205).

Note that an outline font is a font in which the outlines of characters (black and white boundaries) are expressed in vector format.

Now, if it is an outline font, information for developing the font into a bit image (font automatic loader information) is attached, and if it is not an outline font, nothing is attached.

When the above processing is completed, the interleater section 18 adjusts the frame size and performs other intermediate formatting processing to generate an intermediate file (metafile) and outputs it to the next stage metafile management section ( Step 207.20
8).

Returning to FIG. 1, in the metafile system MFS, 21 is a metafile section, 21a is a metafile management section, 21b is a real frame control section, 21c is a page control section, 21d is an image development section, and 21e is a font database. Department.

The metafile section 21a hierarchically manages each intermediate file (metafile) processed by the pre-processor section PPR in a structure as shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, a data fork is a storage destination for real files, and corresponding attribute information is established and managed as a system fork.

The real frame control unit 21b arranges a frame image corresponding to each metafile in the real frame based on the arrangement information specified by the image requester (image recipient), and the page control unit 21c arranges the page information (recipient device). The size of images and number of pages to be transmitted are controlled based on the attributes of images, high resolution requirements, size requirements, urgency, etc.). The image development section 21d develops a plurality of metafiles (forks) to be output into bit image format frames based on the processing results of the real frame control section and the page control section. If the system fork has font specification information, the font data is extracted from the font database section 21e (consisting of various characters and fonts, symbols for optical reading devices, etc.) and developed into a frame. These developed frames are given a top frame attribute by the real frame control unit 21b, are configured into a real page as shown in FIG. 7, and wait for modification or output to the communication control unit NTW.

In Fig. 7, HFO is a header frame (indicating ID information etc. in a facsimile network) expressed as a simple 1-byte text file, IFO is an index frame (heading part of the main text) expressed as a bit image file, BFO to BF5 are body frames, each expressed as a pit image file, multi-byte text file, vector description format file, simple 1-byte file, multi-byte text file, and simple-byte text file, and FFO is a pit image. This is a footer frame expressed as a file.

In the communication control unit NTW, 22 is a modem control unit, 23
24 is a dialing information database unit that stores dialing information of various destinations; 25 is a network protocol creation unit; and 26 is a mailer. .

Note that if the recipient of the image is a facsimile device, the image is transmitted via the modem controller 22, but if the recipient is not a facsimile device but a work station in a computer system, the image is transmitted via the network protocol controller 25, mailer -26, the image data is transmitted to a predetermined work site in the form of e-mail or news.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of image transmission processing. The overall operation of FIG. 1 will be explained below according to this flowchart.

When there is a request for an output page frame from a communication target, the request is taken into the system via the communication control unit NTW (step 301). Note that the request for an output page frame is made by, for example, writing necessary data using a special code description form, transmitting it by facsimile, and reading it by the computer system.

When there is a request for an output page frame, the metafile system MFS searches for the corresponding predetermined file from the system source file OFL (step 302).

If a file is retrieved, file attributes are determined (step 303). That is, it checks whether the file is a pit image file, a primitive expression format file, or a character code text file.

If the searched file is pit image text, the briprocessor PPR performs device coordinate transformation, if it is a primitive representation format file, it performs syntax analysis and interpreter processing, and if it is a character code text file, it performs formatting processing. to create an intermediate file (metafile) (step 304).

Metafile System [MFS Metafile Management Department 2
1a classifies the metafiles obtained by the pre-processor unit PPR into data forks and system forks and stores them hierarchically (Step 305), and thereafter performs the processing at Step 302 until the search for all target source files is completed. is repeated (step 306).

When the search for all target files is completed, the real frame control unit 21b performs layout processing of the frame image according to each metafile based on the arrangement information from the request source or the fixed arrangement pattern information, and determines its position ( Step 307).

After that, or in parallel with the above, the page control unit 21c
controls the size of the image to be transmitted and the number of pages based on page information (attributes of the destination device, high resolution request, size request, urgency, etc.) (step 308). For example, if high-resolution output is required, such as in electronic publishing,
The actual frame in Figure 7 is divided into four parts and transmitted four times (quadrupled) so that a relatively high resolution output can be obtained on the receiving side, or conversely, if high resolution is required, If there is no real frame, 8 pages of actual frame are compressed into 1 page and transmitted.
Alternatively, the data is transmitted according to the required actual dimensions of the receiving device.

Next, the image development section 21d develops and synthesizes each metafile into a pit image format frame based on the processing results (layout, size, etc.) of the real frame control section and the page control section (step 309). If the system fork has font specification information, the font data is extracted from the font database section 21e, expanded into a frame, and synthesized (step 310).

Then, these expanded frames are given top frame attributes by the real frame control section 21b and output to the communication control section. The communication control unit NTW adds necessary header information to the received page data, and transmits it to the destination facsimile device via the modem system @ 22 by referring to the sending light information extracted from the dialing information database unit 24 ( Step 311).

Incidentally, when developing the pit image, the image developing section 21d
Since the output is basically binary data, gradation cannot be expressed. Therefore, in order to perform analog expressions such as photographs, calligraphy brushes, and ink paintings that require 1llfrlJ expression, the page control unit 2
1c is configured to enable multi-value correction. This allows grayscale and halftones to be expressed clearly, and original data with a rough sampling ratio to be smoothly processed and transmitted.

In addition, the communication control unit NTW performs control to output the same file to multiple recipients in a format optimized for each recipient at a predetermined time (
Broadcasting function) is possible, and direct mail using facsimile, electronic newspapers, etc. are also possible by applying such broadcasting function.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the present invention, it is possible to handle a plurality of image frames with different description formats, to combine them and transmit them to the other party, and to change the image to be transmitted as necessary. It is possible to collect data in any size (for example, actual size) and transmit it.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to extremely efficiently connect (gateway) a single-function type FAXE') terminal device, a facsimile-dedicated communication network, and a computer-dedicated network.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to handle still image files in e-mail and electronic conference systems without major changes to existing systems.

Further, according to the present invention, a special code writing form is used in a facsimile machine so that it can be read out by a receiving computer, so that the facsimile machine can be used as a computer access terminal, or conversely, a bit image output device can be used as a facsimile version of direct mail. The computer system can be used on a large scale, and it can be used for drawings, electronic publications, etc. that take advantage of the high-resolution output system.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to inexpensively configure electronic mail not only with symbols for optical devices such as barcodes and OCR, but also with non-universal character languages such as Chinese, Arabic, and Hebrew.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the image transmission function according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram of a hardware system to which the method of the present invention can be applied, Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of image reception, and Figure 4 is a syntax analysis process. 5 is a flowchart of interpreter processing, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of metafile management status, FIG. 7 is a diagram of the actual frame structure, and FIG. 8 is an overall flowchart of image transmission processing. 11...Pit image file, 12...Primitive expression format file, 13...Character code text file, 15...Part of parser, 18...Part of interpreter, 21a...Metafile management section, 21b...Real frame Control unit, 21c...Page control unit, 21d...Image development unit, 22...Modem control unit Patent applicant: Atin Institute Co., Ltd. Patent attorney Chiki Saito Figure 3 Figure 5 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image transmission method for transmitting an image to a destination in the form of a bit image, comprising: a verser/interpreter unit that analyzes the syntax of a file in a primitive expression format, translates it, and converts it into an intermediate file; a metafile management unit that manages intermediate files obtained by performing predetermined processing on intermediate files, bit image files, and character code text files; a real frame control unit that controls the size of the image to be transmitted and the number of pages based on the page information; and a page control unit that controls the size of the image to be transmitted and the number of pages based on the page information, and synthesizes the determined size while maintaining the arrangement relationship of the frame images. It has a composite image development section that generates a bit image image using intermediate files, and a transmission control section that transmits the composite bit image image page by page to the destination, and converts each file that makes up the image to be transmitted into an intermediate file. An image transmission method is characterized in that a composite bit image is generated from each intermediate file and transmitted to a destination.