JPH03211671A - Picture information retrieving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify procedure for obtaining desired picture information by constituting retrieving data by arranging it in the order of the address information and the control information of the picture information and the address information of the next picture information in series. CONSTITUTION:A picture file device 1 which stores many pieces of the picture information together with the address information and an auxiliary storage device 2 which stores the retrieving data to show the logical relation between each picture information and another by using the address information of the picture file device 1 are provided. Then, the retrieving data is made the constitu tion in which the address information and the control information of each pic ture information and the address information of the next picture information are arranged in series, and further, a keyword corresponding to the address information of each picture information is stored beforehand in the auxiliary storage device 2. Thus, since at the time of retrieving the picture information, both the picture file device 1 and the auxiliary storage device 2 can be accessed at a time, processing time can be shortened. Besides, since the keyword of each picture information can be displayed, a user is easy to recognize each picture information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image information search device for searching desired information from a large amount of accumulated image information.

[Conventional technology]

As described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 56-22174, a conventional device includes an image file device that stores image information and an address for distinguishing the image information from other image information, and a device that searches among the image information. The image forming apparatus is equipped with a rewritable auxiliary storage device that stores keywords and addresses of each desired piece of image information, and keywords indicating logical relationships between pieces of image information. Therefore, even if there is a change in the logical relationship between the image information desired to be searched, the image file device itself will not be affected. Therefore, by simply storing a search algorithm in the auxiliary storage device according to the purpose, image information can be searched by inputting a keyword.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above conventional technology inputs a keyword to obtain desired image information, searches next screen data based on this keyword, and then searches for desired image information based on the address of the next screen in the next screen data. This procedure is not efficient.

An object of the present invention is to provide means for simplifying the procedure for obtaining desired image information.

Is the image t even easier for users to use? I! The purpose is to provide a search device.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above purpose is to convert the search data into address information for each image,
This is achieved by creating a structure in which the control information and the address information tK of the next screen image information are arranged in series, and further storing the keyword corresponding to the address information of each image information in the auxiliary storage device in advance. be done.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of an image information retrieval device. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an image file device that stores a large amount of image information together with address information, and for example, an optical disk storage device is used. Reference numeral 2 stores search data representing the logical relationship between each piece of image information using the address information of the image file device=1.

Here, the search data will be explained in detail. For example, assume that some image information has a tree structure as shown in FIG. Here 7.8,9. io+12.13 are addresses rAJ and rB□, respectively.

'BzJ,'B3J,'C3J,'D1. In the still image information stored in J, 11 and 14 are moving image information obtained by continuously reproducing addresses "C1" to "C2" and "B2" to "D," respectively.

In order to express the logical relationship between image information having the tree structure as described above, search data having a structure as shown in FIG. 1, for example, is used. That is, first, the address where each image information is stored (in the case of a moving image, the first address) information, then the control information indicating whether the image information is a still image or a moving image, and then the information one level below the above image information. Addresses (in the case of moving images, end addresses) at which level image information is stored are arranged in series.

Reference numeral 3 denotes an information input device for generating the address information and other commands, such as a keyboard. Reference numeral 4 denotes a control device that controls the entire image information retrieval device, and uses, for example, a personal computer. The control device 4 obtains image information of the address of the corresponding next screen from the image file device 1 based on the input data from the information input device 3, and further reads the search data of the next screen from the auxiliary storage device 2. be. 5 is a display device such as a CRT display that visually displays the image information, and 6 is a printing device that prints out (hard copy) the image information as required.

In the image information search device configured as described above, it is assumed that, for example, still image information 7 is being reproduced and it is desired to obtain moving image information 11. The search data at this time is shown in FIG. 4(a). Here, when input data corresponding to the next screen address "B engineering" is input from the information input device = 3, the image file device 1 is accessed using the address "B□" and at the same time, the still image information 8 is obtained. Auxiliary storage device 2 is accessed and address “B” is accessed.
The search data shown in FIG. 4(b) corresponding to "□" is read out.

Here, a method for inputting data from the information input device 3 will be described in detail. When the user selects the next screen, the easiest method is to input the address of the next screen from the information input device 3, but this has drawbacks such as not knowing what the image information of the next screen is. . Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, an appropriate keyword corresponding to each address is input in advance and stored in the auxiliary storage device 2. For example, when playing still image information 7, the next screen address "B"
The keywords "Totsuka-ku", "Midori-ku", and "Kohoku-ku" corresponding to "1", "B2j," and "B," respectively are stored in the auxiliary storage device 2.
Read more. ! The device 4 assigns a number to the read keyword, for example, "1: Totsuka-ku," and displays it on the display device 5 at the same time as the still image information 7 by means of superimposition or the like. When the user looks at the display device 5 and inputs "1" from the information input device 3, the control device 4 determines that the address of the next screen is "B1" and displays the image file device 1.
can be accessed to obtain still image information 8.

control'! After reading the search data shown in FIG. 1(b), A position 1 reads the next screen address 'C+j,
The keywords 1 corresponding to 'CaJ are read from the auxiliary storage device 2 and displayed on the display device 5. For example, when the user inputs data corresponding to the next screen address "C1" from the information input device 3, the control device 1 accesses the address "C" of the image file device 1 and simultaneously accesses the auxiliary storage device 2. , reads the search data shown in FIG. 4(C). Here, since the control information part of the search data contains information that it is a video, the control device 4
sends a command to the image file device 1 to continuously reproduce addresses "C0" to "C2".

In this way, the video information 11 can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, still image/video information is used as the control information for the search data shown in FIG. If you do this, you can easily return to the previous screen. In this way, various information can be stored as control information, and various image information retrieval devices can be realized without changing the device configuration.

[Effect]

As mentioned above, by arranging the address information, control information, and address information of the next screen information in series to write the structure of the search data, it is possible to access the image file device and the auxiliary storage device at the same time. .

Further, by storing keywords corresponding to the address information of each image information in the auxiliary storage device in advance, the contents of the image information can be displayed on the display device.

Furthermore, by assigning numbers to the keywords when they are displayed on the display device, image information can be searched by inputting the numbers.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since the image file device and the auxiliary storage device can be accessed simultaneously when searching for image information, processing time can be reduced.

Furthermore, since the keywords of each image information can be displayed, the user can easily recognize each image information.

Furthermore, when displaying keywords, numbers are assigned and image information can be searched by inputting the numbers, improving operability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a structural diagram of search data according to an embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is a block diagram showing an example of an image information retrieval device, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the logical relationship between search target image information in the device of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an image of the image information of FIG. FIG. 5 is a data structure diagram showing an example of a search data group necessary for searching for information, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the correspondence between addresses and keywords. 1... Image file device, 2... Auxiliary storage device, 4...
-Control device, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12.13...Still image information, 11. L4...Video information. Shut down

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image file device (1) that stores image information as well as address information for distinguishing the image information from other image information, and search data for searching for each piece of image information desired to be searched among the image information. an auxiliary storage device (2) that stores information, an information input device (3) that inputs various data, a display device (5) that displays image information, etc., and a control device (4) that controls each of the devices. In the image information retrieval device, the structure of the search data is such that address information of each image information, control information, and address information of each image information having a logical relationship with each of the image information are arranged in series. Information retrieval device.