JPH04195690A - Method and device for data extraction - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a need to convert 1st data into 2nd data as to data which are displayed once by converting the 1st data into the 2nd data and storing it only when it is decided that the 2nd data is not stored, and taking this data out. CONSTITUTION:Only when it is decided in a data presence decision step that the 2nd data is not stored, the 1st data is converted into the 2nd data. In a storage step, the 2nd data which is converted in a data conversion step is stored and in a data takeout step, the 2nd stored data is taken out. Consequently, when the 1st data needs to be displayed repeatedly on a screen by one or plural application programs, the need to convert the 1st data into the 2nd data is eliminated for 2nd and succeeding times and the time required for the display is excellently shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data retrieval method in a computer system and a data retrieval device used to implement the method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, in order to distribute the functions of application programs, processes such as data creation and data display are often performed in separate programs. In this case, multiple application programs create data and multiple general purpose programs use that data, so a common exchange data format that can be recognized by all application programs is defined. It is normal to have one. Generally, such interchange data formats have a general structure that allows them to be used by many application programs for a variety of purposes. Application programs that receive data that conforms to the exchange data format process the data according to their respective purposes before using it.

A conventional data retrieval device is comprised of a first data storage section 31 and a data retrieval section 32, as shown in FIG. The first data storage unit 31 holds first data consisting of basic graphical element strings such as character strings, figures, and images, as well as attributes and layout information of each basic graphical element. The data retrieval unit 32 is connected to the first data storage unit 3
1 to extract the first data.

In this conventional data retrieval device, when retrieving data for display purposes, the application program first requests the data retrieval unit 32 to retrieve the data by designating the identifier of the data to be retrieved. As a result, the data retrieval unit 32 retrieves the first data of the designated identifier from the first data storage unit 31 and develops it on a display memory (not shown). When displaying data retrieved by an application program on the screen, a drawing function sequence is created each time that maps the data to the screen image from the first data expanded in memory as described above, and a drawing function is used. Make a call.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the conventional data retrieval method and data retrieval device, when one or more application programs need to display the same first data on the screen many times, the data retrieval method and the data retrieval device are It was necessary to create a drawing function sequence for mapping the first data to the screen image for each time, and it took a long time to display the screen.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a data retrieval method that makes it possible to eliminate the need for the operation of converting first data into second data for data displayed in -degrees. and a data retrieval device.

Means for Solving the Problems The data retrieval method of the present invention, when retrieving data for display purposes, uses a
a data existence determination step of determining whether or not second data consisting of a drawing function sequence for mapping the data to a screen image is stored; and a determination that the second data is not stored in this data existence determination step. a data conversion step of converting the first data into second data only when the first data is converted into second data;
The second data retrieval step is characterized by executing a storage step of storing the second data, and a data retrieval step of retrieving the stored second data.

Further, the data retrieval device of the present invention includes a first data storage unit that holds first data consisting of a string of basic graphical elements such as character strings, figures, and images, and attributes and layout information of each basic graphical element; A second data storage unit that holds second data consisting of a sequence of drawing functions that map the data to a screen image.
a data storage unit; a data existence determination unit that determines whether second data corresponding to the first data in the first data storage unit exists in the second data storage unit; Only when the presence determining unit determines that the second data does not exist, the first data is extracted from the first data storage unit, converted to second data, and then stored in the second data storage unit. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a data conversion section for extracting second data from the second data storage section.

In the data retrieval method of the present invention, in the data existence determination step, first data consisting of a string of basic graphical elements such as character strings, figures, and images, and attributes and layout information of each basic graphical element is converted into a screen image. It is determined whether second data consisting of a sequence of drawing functions to be mapped is stored. Then, in the data conversion step, the first data is converted into the second data only when it is determined in the data existence determination step that the second data is not stored.

Then, in the storage step, the second data converted in the data conversion step is stored.

Then, in the data retrieval step, the stored second data is retrieved.

Further, in the data retrieval device of the present invention, the first data storage section holds first data consisting of a string of basic graphical elements such as character strings, figures, and images, and attributes and layout information of each basic graphical element. . and a second data storage section,
It holds second data consisting of a drawing function sequence that maps the first data to a screen image. Then, the data existence determination unit determines whether second data corresponding to the I-th data in the first data storage unit exists in the second data storage unit. Then, the data converting section retrieves the first data from the first data storage section and converts the second data into the second data only when the data existence determining section determines that the second data does not exist.
After converting it into data, it is stored in the second data storage section. Then, the data retrieval section retrieves the second data from the second data storage section.

Therefore, for the data displayed in - degrees, it becomes possible to eliminate the need for the operation of converting the first data into the second data thereafter.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a computer system equipped with a data retrieval device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and this computer system includes a keyboard 1 for inputting data, etc.
It is composed of a CRT 2 for displaying data etc., an I10 board 3 for input/output, a CPU 4 having arithmetic functions etc., a ROM 5 for storing programs etc., and a RAM 6 for storing data etc.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a data retrieval device according to an embodiment of the present invention, which includes a first data storage section 11, a second data storage section 12, and a data existence determination section 13. , a data converter 14, and a data extractor 15. The first data storage unit 11 holds first data consisting of basic graphical element strings such as character strings, figures, and images, as well as attributes and layout information of each basic graphical element. The second data storage unit 12 holds second data consisting of a drawing function sequence for mapping the first data to a screen image. Note that the drawing function sequence is the Display Primitive (D
isplay Pr1mltive). Data existence determination unit 13,
This is to determine whether second data corresponding to the first data in the first data storage section exists in the second data storage section 12. The data conversion unit 14 retrieves the first data from the first data storage unit 11 only when the data existence determination unit 13 determines that the second data does not exist, and converts the first data into the second data. is stored in the second data storage section 12. Data retrieval part I
5 is for taking out second data from the second data storage section 12. The first data storage unit 11 and the second data storage unit 12 are realized by the RAM 6, and the data existence determination unit 13, the data conversion unit 14, and the data extraction unit 15 are realized by software by the CPU 4. .

Next, the operation of this data retrieval device will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when retrieving data for display purposes, the application program specifies an identifier such as a file name or number of the data to be retrieved and requests retrieval of the data (step 1). Thereby, the data existence determining unit 13 determines whether or not the second data corresponding to the first data of the specified identifier existing in the first data storage unit ll exists in the second data storage unit 12. Determine (step 2). If the data existence determination unit 13 determines that the second data does not exist, the data conversion unit 14 extracts the first data with the specified identifier from the first data storage unit 1 and converts it into the second data. After the conversion, it is stored in the second data storage unit 12 (step 3). The data retrieval unit 15 then retrieves the first
The second data corresponding to the data is taken out from the second data storage unit 12 and developed on a display memory (not shown). If the data existence determination unit 13 determines that the second data exists, the data retrieval unit 15 retrieves the second data corresponding to the first data of the specified identifier from the second data storage unit 12. It is taken out and developed in memory (not shown) (step 4).

The above operation will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram showing an example of the process of extracting data. In this example, first, as shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the data "data, l" exists and the second data corresponding to "data, l" does not exist in the second data storage unit 12. First, the first application program selects "data, l".

If a request is made to retrieve data with an identifier "1" for display purposes, the data existence determination unit 13 determines whether the data exists in the first data storage unit 11 and corresponds to the first data with an identifier "data, l". It is determined whether the second data exists in the second data storage unit 12. In this case, "data."

Since the second data corresponding to "1" does not exist, the data existence determining section 13 requests the data converting section 14 to convert the data. , 1" and converts it into the corresponding second data, and then converts it to "data.

2'' in the second data storage unit 12. As a result, the contents of the storage unit become as shown in FIG. 4(B).

Next, the data retrieval unit 15 retrieves second data corresponding to the first data with the identifier “data, l” from the second data storage unit 12, and develops it on a display memory (not shown).

The first general business program then calls a function that performs the drawing described in the second data developed on the memory. As a result, the screen image represented by the data with the identifier "data, 1" is displayed on the CRT 2.

Then, the second application program "data,l"
When a request is made to retrieve the data with the identifier ``data'' for display purposes, the data existence determination unit 13 determines that the data exists in the first data storage unit II.

It is determined whether the second data corresponding to the first data with the identifier "1" exists in the second data storage unit 12. In this case, the second data corresponding to "data, l" exists. Therefore, the data existence determination unit 13 does not request the data conversion unit 14 to convert the data.The data extraction unit 15 then extracts the second data corresponding to the first data with the identifier “data, l”. The second application program 9 is taken out from the second data storage unit 12 and expanded on a display memory (not shown), and the second application program executes a function that performs drawing described in the second data expanded on the memory. Makes a call. This causes “data, l
The screen image represented by the data with the identifier “” is CRT2
will be displayed.

In this way, the first application program first
When extracting the data with the identifier ``ta, 1'', corresponding second data is created and stored in the second data storage unit 12.
Therefore, when a second application program retrieves the same data for display purposes, it uses "da".
The second data corresponding to the first data with the identifier ta, 1"
This eliminates the need to create data.

As described in detail, according to the data retrieval method of the present invention, when retrieving data for display purposes, data consisting of a string of basic graphical elements such as character strings, figures, and images, as well as attributes and layout information of each basic graphical element, can be retrieved for display purposes. a data existence determination step of determining whether or not second data consisting of a drawing function sequence for mapping the first data to a screen image is stored;
a data conversion step that converts the first data into second data only when it is determined that the second data is not stored in this data existence determination step; and a data conversion step that converts the first data into second data; Since the storage step of storing data and the data retrieval step of retrieving the stored second data are executed, it is not necessary for one or more application applications to retrieve the same first data many times and display it on the screen. In some cases, the operation of converting the first data into the second data is no longer necessary from the second time onward, and the time required for display can be favorably shortened, which is an excellent effect.

Further, according to the data retrieval device of the present invention, the first
a second data storage section that holds second data consisting of a drawing function sequence for mapping the first data to a screen image, and a second data storage section that corresponds to the first data of the first data storage section. a data existence determination unit that determines whether or not second data exists in the second data storage unit; and a data existence determination unit that determines whether the second data exists in the second data storage unit; 1 data storage section to the first
a data conversion unit that extracts the data, converts it into second data, and then stores it in the second data storage unit; and a data extraction unit that extracts the second data from the second data storage unit. Therefore, there is an excellent effect that the data retrieval method of the present invention can be effectively implemented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a computer system equipped with a data retrieval device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a data retrieval device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic data diagram for explaining the operation of the data retrieval device, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the conventional data retrieval device. 11-first data storage unit, 12-second data storage unit, 13-data existence determination unit, 1.1-data conversion unit, 1
5-Data retrieval unit. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 5 Figure 4 (A) 1 □ Figure 4 (B) 11 Figure

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) When extracting data for display purposes, it consists of a drawing function sequence that maps first data consisting of a string of basic graphical elements such as character strings, figures, and images, and attributes and layout information of each basic graphical element onto a screen image. a data existence determination step for determining whether or not the second data is stored; and only when it is determined in this data existence determination step that the second data is not stored, the first data is stored in the second data. Data retrieval characterized by executing a data conversion step of converting into data, a storage step of storing second data converted in this data conversion step, and a data retrieval step of retrieving the stored second data. Method. (2) A first data storage unit that stores first data consisting of a string of basic graphical elements such as character strings, figures, and images, and attributes and layout information of each basic graphical element, and maps the first data to a screen image. The second drawing function sequence consists of
a second data storage section that holds data; and data that determines whether second data corresponding to the first data of the first data storage section exists in the second data storage section. an existence determination unit; and only when the data existence determination unit determines that the second data does not exist, extracts the first data from the first data storage unit and converts it into second data; 1. A data retrieval device comprising: a data conversion section for storing second data in a second data storage section; and a data retrieval section for retrieving second data from the second data storage section.