JPH04259056A - Data presenting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To present the similar candidates to a user integrally among those generated layout candidates. CONSTITUTION:The element date serving as the component elements of date are inputted through an input part 1 together with the date and each element data. A layout candidate generating part 2 generates the layout candidates that are allocated to the spaces corresponding to both element and space data based on the input relation data. At the same time, these layout candidates are allocated to the spaces and these allocation results are shown at a display part 5. An instruction input part 6 can select the desired one of those layout candidates shown at the part 5. Then a similarity calculation part 4 calculates the similarity among those layout candidates generated at the part 2. At the same time, the showing way of each layout candidate is decided to the part 5 in response to the calculated similarity.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a material presentation device that arranges a plurality of element data constituting materials based on their relationships.

0002

[Background Art] In recent years, there has been an increase in demand for systems that automatically allocate multiple objects in space, and even in systems that provide information to users, it is important to consider how to arrange multiple pieces of information in order to make it easier to understand. The important question is whether to do so.

[0003] However, in reality, these placement decisions are performed through a complicated process of trial and error, so a system is required to have a function to support layout.

For example, in a document formatting system, when allocating text, diagrams, image data, etc. to each page of a document, the ease of understanding of the document is taken into consideration. In particular, charts and images need to be placed near related text, so each time the content of the text is edited or the format is changed to a different format, the user must consider and give instructions on the optimal placement of the charts. It was a time-consuming task for him.

[0005] As a solution to the complexity of such work, a system (for example, JP-A-61 -21570) has been proposed. Similarly, automatic layout systems have been used in various fields such as interior design and integrated circuits.

[0006] As described above, most of the conventional systems generate only one optimal layout.

However, as a practical matter, users' needs are diverse, and as a result, there is often no optimal layout for all users. This means that
In the case of the system that generates the document layout mentioned above, the optimal placement of diagrams and tables varies depending on the user's preferences and sense of balance, so if the system uniquely determines the layout, the user can It becomes necessary to make changes to comply with the above, and this change work becomes troublesome for the user.

[0008] As a solution to this problem, a document formatting device having a so-called proposal-type interface can be considered, which generates a plurality of valid layout candidates, presents the candidates in order to the user, and allows the user to select the one that suits his/her intention. ing. In the future, as computer capabilities improve, it is thought that such proposed interfaces will become widespread in automatic layout systems in many fields.

[0009] However, such an interface requires intellectual work for the user to evaluate and compare multiple layouts and select the one he/she intends to use.
If the total number of presented candidates is too large, selection will take time.

[0010]Furthermore, even if the generation process is different, multiple similar layouts may result, so if slightly different layouts are presented without context, it is difficult for the user to recognize the difference, and the same candidate It is easy to misunderstand that something has appeared again. Furthermore, even if the difference is known, if the difference has no meaning to the user, the number of candidates will be increased unnecessarily. In short, the conventional proposal-type system was not the most suitable presentation method for a user to compare and select multiple layout candidates.

[0011]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in the conventional material presentation device, the system uniquely determines the optimal layout, so it cannot respond to the differences in the needs, tastes, and sense of balance of each user, and in the end, There is a problem in that the user has to modify the generated layout, making the operation complicated.

[0012] Furthermore, in the case of a system that has a proposal-type interface in which a plurality of reasonable layout candidates are presented and the user selects from the candidates, this presentation method is not suitable for comparing and selecting candidates. Such candidates are presented without any context, making it difficult for the user to distinguish between them, and the selection process takes a long time due to the number of candidates presented being too large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a material presentation device that can present a plurality of layout candidates in a way that makes it easy to compare and select them, and that can reduce the burden on the user in layout work. The purpose is to provide

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The material presentation device of the present invention includes a data input means for inputting element data constituting the material, spatial data for allocating these element data, and relational data of each element data; Layout candidate generating means for generating layout candidates for allocating the element data to the spaces corresponding to the spatial data based on the relational data inputted by the means; The apparatus has an output means for displaying an output, and an instruction input means for selecting and instructing a desired layout candidate from among the layout candidates presented on the output means, and the degree of similarity between each layout candidate generated by the layout candidate generation means. The present invention is configured to determine the presentation method of each layout candidate to the output means in accordance with the determined degree of similarity.

[0015]

[Operation] The present invention can collectively present similar candidates among a plurality of layout candidates generated by the layout candidate generation means to the user, so that by comparing the presented candidates, it is possible to This simplifies tasks such as selecting a layout that suits the user's needs, and reduces the burden on the user in layout work.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the same embodiment. In the figure, 1 is a data input section, and this data input section 1 consists of a keyboard, a mouse, an image scanner and other storage devices, a communication device, etc., and includes character data, diagram data, which are elemental data that constitutes a document, In addition to inputting image data, spatial data such as the size and position of pages and text frames to which element data is to be allocated, and relational data representing the relationship between element data and spatial data are input. Here, relational data includes, for example, in the case of technical documents, logical relationships such as titles, chapters, sections, etc.
There are reference relationships between charts and tables. In addition, this relationship data is
Possible data may be data specified by the user in advance or data automatically analyzed.

Input data from the data input section 1 is sent to a layout candidate generation section 2 . This layout candidate generation section 2 generates layout candidates using input relational data, and arranges each element data in spatial data.

The output of the layout candidate generation section 2 is sent to the candidate presentation section 3. The candidate presentation section 3 is for presenting the generated candidates to the user, and when a plurality of candidates are generated, candidate data is sent to the similarity calculation section 4.

[0020] The similarity calculation section 4 calculates the degree of similarity between each candidate and sends the value back to the candidate presentation section 3. Then, the candidate presentation unit 3 determines a method for presenting the candidates using the degree of similarity between the candidates, and displays the candidates to be presented to the user on the display unit 5.

[0021] Further, an instruction such as selection of a candidate is input from an instruction input section 6 to the candidates displayed on the display section 5. That is, this instruction input section 6 is operated by the user, and as a result of comparing and evaluating the candidates presented on the display section 5, an instruction such as selecting a candidate is input.

[0022] The user's instructions on the instruction input unit 6 instruct the candidate presentation unit 3 to present another candidate, and also instruct the layout candidate generation unit 2 to, for example, move to another space. Instruct actions such as reallocation. Through such interaction, candidate generation and presentation are repeated until the user obtains the desired layout.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be explained.

It is now assumed that the element data inputted from the data input section 1 is composed of text data 11 and diagram data 12 as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b). In this case, the text data 11 includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, logical attributes 13 representing logical relationships between each sentence, such as title, author, affiliation, chapter heading, chapter paragraph, etc. There is also a reference relationship 14 from the text data 11 to each chart data 12. These relational data are obtained through automatic structural analysis processing or user designation, and are input in the same way as the element data.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2(c), for example, the spatial data to which element data is allocated include area data 1.
5, the position and size of the page frame are defined for each page of the formatted document. Furthermore, in addition to the position and size of the text frame on each page, the logical attributes of sentences to be inserted, their formats, and the order in which they are inserted are also defined.

In this state, the layout candidate generation section 2 generates layout candidates while pouring text data into each text frame in accordance with the definition of the input spatial data. This layout candidate generation is performed as follows.

First, FIG. 4(a) shows an intermediate result of shaping. In this case, in the first text frame #T1 on the first page,
Sentences with the logical attributes (title) (author) (affiliation) in order,
For example, (title) is written in Mincho 20-point typeface, centering, and other formats. The main text, such as chapter headings, chapter paragraphs, etc., are poured into the second text frame #T2 and the third text frame #T3.

In this case, in FIG. 4(a), since the character string that refers to "Figure 1" on the first page is poured into the third text frame #T3, "Figure 1" is placed on the same page as the reference character string. It is necessary to assign it to Therefore, a plurality of allocation position candidates shown in "FIG. 1" are generated by the algorithm shown in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 5, in step 501, candidates for allocation within the page frame are generated. In this case, for example, the size of the page and the size of the chart are compared using the layout rules for page frames as shown in FIG. 6, and several candidates are generated accordingly.

In the example of FIG. 2, both the vertical and horizontal sizes of "FIG. 1" are less than half of the page size, so condition P1 is met, and FIGS. As shown in (
Four candidates are obtained: (upper left of the page) (upper right of the page) (lower left of the page) (lower right of the page). Then, in step 502, it is determined whether there is a text frame that includes the reference character string, but here, YES is selected.
Therefore, the process proceeds to step 503.

In step 503, candidates for allocation to the third text frame #T3 are generated. As shown in Figure 6, the rules for assignment to text frames are the same as the rules for assignment to page frames.
Compare the size of the text frame and the size of the diagram to be allocated,
Specify candidates.

[0032] In the example of Fig. 2, the width of ``Fig. 1'' corresponds to ``half to the same'' of the third text frame #T3, so the condition T is satisfied.
2, two candidates (upper center of the text frame) and (lower center of the text frame) for the third text frame #T3 as shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) are obtained. Then, in step 504, it is determined whether the next text frame is on the same page, but since the determination is NO here, the process advances to step 505. Then, in step 505, search for other figures and tables allocated within the same page,
If there is another chart, candidates are generated near that chart in step 596 until the determination is NO in step 506, but since this is not the case, the process ends.

In this way, the actual allocation position of each candidate is calculated, and candidate information as shown in FIG. 9 is obtained. Also,
Check the validity of each candidate, for example, as shown in Fig. 7(a).
Candidates that overlap with the first text frame #T1 to which the title section is assigned, such as the candidates shown in FIG. 7(b), are deleted.

Each candidate information generated by the layout candidate generation section 2 is sent to the candidate presentation section 3. The candidate presentation unit 3 determines a method for presenting each layout candidate to the user.

The candidate presentation unit 3 determines the similarity relationship between candidates according to the flow shown in FIG. In this case, in step 1001, candidates are connected in a line as shown in FIG. 11(a), for example. The concatenation order at this time is determined by evaluating the candidates and determining the priority order. Here, it is assumed that they are arranged in the following order: (lower center of the text frame) → (upper center of the text frame) → (lower left of the page frame) → (lower right of the page frame). In step 1002, a pointer to the first candidate in the candidate string is set in pointer p. In step 1003, check whether there is an entity of p,
The process ends when the end of the candidate string is reached.

[0036] Here, the answer is YES, so step 100
Proceeding to step 4, the pointer next is set to the next candidate after p, that is, the pointer of the second candidate. And step 1
At step 005, it is checked whether there is an entity of next. In this case, the answer is YES, so proceed to step 1006, and n
The pointer of the next candidate (in this case, the third candidate) of ext is set to n-next.

Next, the process proceeds to step 1007, where the pointers p and next are passed to the similarity calculation unit 4, and the result is, for example,
The similarity between the two candidates is calculated using the algorithm shown in FIG.

Here, the degree of overlap of diagram positions is taken as the degree of similarity. That is, first, the layout rectangle information r1 and r2 of each candidate diagram is extracted (step 1301), and the rectangle information r of the overlapping portion of these r1 and r2 is obtained (step 1302). Then, the areas of r and r1 are calculated (step 1303), and the similarity sim is calculated as the proportion of the original rectangle (step 130).
4). These conditions are illustrated in FIG. 14.

Next, in step 1008, it is determined whether the similarity sim at this time is greater than or equal to a certain boundary value border. Here, if YES, go to step 1009, NO
If so, proceed to step 1010.

[0040] In this case, the first candidate and the second candidate have different layout positions in the charts, so the degree of similarity is 0%. Here, for example, if the boundary value border is 95%,
The process advances to step 1010, advances the next pointer to the third candidate, and returns to step 1005 (see FIG. 11(b)). Then, since the similarity between the first candidate and the third candidate is also 0%, next is advanced to the fourth candidate. Since the chart layout positions of the first candidate and the fourth candidate overlap as shown in FIG. 13, the degree of similarity becomes positive. For example, if sim=96%, the process advances to step 1009.

In step 1009, the fourth candidate is separated from the third candidate (see FIG. 12(a)), and the first candidate su
Set to b. If a candidate is already connected to the first candidate sub, it is set to next as the next candidate. Further, the pointer of the first candidate is set in the fourth candidate super. Since n-next is empty, go to step 1011 and set p's next to p.
t, that is, the pointer of the second candidate, is set, and a candidate similar to the second candidate is searched. In this way, in the example of FIG. 2, a similarity relationship between candidates is finally obtained, for example, as shown in FIG. 12(b).

Next, the candidate presentation section 3 determines a method for presenting the candidates based on this similarity relationship, and sends the method to the display section 5. In this case, candidates having a similar relationship are presented together. For example, when presenting candidates in sequence, a candidate at the parent's level is presented to the user as a representative candidate of a group of candidates at the child's level. The representative candidates here are the relationship between the element data and the spatial data input from the data input means 1, and the similarity calculation unit 4.
It is determined by any combination of the feature amount of each candidate and the degree of similarity between each candidate.

In the example of FIG. 2, an example of the screen for presenting the first candidate is shown in FIG. 4(b). In this state, the user's instructions are input from the instruction input section 6. In this case, commands, menu selections, voice, etc. may be used as input instructions from the user, but here, a menu as shown in FIG. 15(a) is used.

[0044] If the user does not like the first candidate or wants to compare it with another candidate, he or she selects the item representing the "next candidate" from among the menu items. Then, the candidate presentation unit 3 presents the second candidate, which is the next candidate. Also,"
When the item representing "Similar Candidate" is selected, a candidate similar to the currently presented candidate, a fourth candidate in this example, is presented. The "next candidate" and "similar candidate" may be replaced with words or symbols having similar meanings.

In addition, in FIG. 15(b), "distant candidate" and "
15(c), "distant candidate" and "nearby candidate", and FIG. 15(d), "different candidate" and "similar candidate". Further, instead of "candidate", a word such as "arrangement" as shown in FIG. 15(e) may be used. Of course, only instructions such as "far" and "near" may be used. Note that when there are multiple charts and tables, it is not possible to tell just by ``similarity'' or ``closeness'', so a submenu will be provided that gives instructions such as ``what is similar'' and ``which is close to''.

[0046] In addition, when showing a list of candidates to the user,
Candidates with similar relationships are arranged and presented together. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, each candidate is represented by a reduced image or simplified symbol, and the priority and similarity are represented by the arrangement thereof. In FIG. 16, candidates are arranged horizontally in order of priority, and candidates with high similarity are arranged vertically.

On the other hand, when a user's instruction is input from the instruction input section 6, the layout candidate generating section 2 also accepts the user's instruction at this time and performs an operation such as reallocating to another space, for example. Through such interaction, candidate generation and presentation are repeated until the user obtains the desired layout. If the user is satisfied with the presented candidates, the user completes the operation by inputting an instruction such as selecting "Confirm" from the menu items in FIG. 15, for example.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be implemented with appropriate modifications without changing the gist. For example, in the above explanation, the similarity sim was numerically determined by comparing physical feature amounts such as layout positions in diagrams, but it is possible to use more complex feature amounts or non-physical feature amounts. For example, physical features such as the degree of dispersion of figures and tables and the position of the center of gravity of the entire page, and logical features such as whether reference terms are placed above or next to figures and tables, and where chapter headings are located. It is also possible to use amounts.

[0049] Furthermore, it is also possible to determine the degree of similarity by combining several feature quantities. For example, a means for making it possible to set and change a sequence of weight values for each similarity between candidates determined from feature quantities extracted during similarity calculation, and a means for storing weight value sequences in association with users. It is also possible to prepare a means and use a weight value string for each user to calculate the overall similarity by multiplying the similarity for each feature amount between candidates by a weight value and adding them. in this way,
By allowing the weight values to be replaced, it becomes possible to change the feature quantity to be focused on for each user in each situation, and it is possible to apply a degree of similarity that is more suited to the situation.

Furthermore, it is also possible to provide a similarity relationship for each feature quantity. For example, similarity relationships are given types (corresponding physical or logical feature quantity names) and strengths (similarities), and candidates are connected by multiple types of similarity relationship paths. If you do this, if you receive an instruction such as "I want to see candidates with similar dispersion" or "I want to see candidates with similar dispersion" or "I want to leave Figure 1 as is, but in a different position in Figure 2," you can select similar candidates for each feature. can be presented immediately.

[0051]Although the above-mentioned embodiments have consistently described the layout of documents, similar methods can also be applied to CAD systems that support various layouts in addition to indoor layouts and circuit drawings of LSI etc. It is possible to apply it in

[0052]

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, similar candidates among a plurality of layout candidates generated by the layout candidate generating means can be presented to the user at once, so that the user's intellectual ability to compare and select candidates can be improved. Since the layout work is supported, the layout work becomes easier, and the user can easily select the layout of his/her preference.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of input data in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a logical structure and a reference structure representing the relationship between input data in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying intermediate results of layout and layout candidates of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the flow of allocation position candidate generation processing in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an allocation rule used in the allocation position candidate generation process of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an allocation candidate for a page frame obtained as a result of the allocation position candidate generation process of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

8 is a diagram showing an example of an allocation candidate for a text frame obtained as a result of the allocation position candidate generation process of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a list of candidate information for each candidate obtained as a result of the allocation position candidate generation process of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the flow of processing for determining similarity relationships among candidates in the candidate presentation unit of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

11 is a diagram illustrating a process in which candidates are related based on similarity based on the algorithm of FIG. 10 in the candidate presentation unit of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

12 is a diagram illustrating a process in which candidates are related based on similarity based on the algorithm of FIG. 10 in the candidate presentation unit of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an algorithm for calculating the similarity between candidates in the similarity calculation unit of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the order in which the similarity between candidates is calculated by the similarity calculation unit of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

15 is a diagram showing a candidate selection menu used in the instruction input section of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a candidate list screen of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Data input part, 2... Layout candidate generation part, 3... Candidate presentation part, 4... Similarity calculation part, 5... Display part, 6... Instruction input part.

Claims (5)

[Claims] Claim 1: A data input means for inputting element data constituting a material, spatial data for allocating these element data, and relational data of each element data; a layout candidate generating means for generating a layout candidate for allocating data to a space corresponding to the spatial data; an output means for presenting a result of allocating each of the element data to the space according to the layout candidate; In a material presentation device having an instruction input means for selecting and instructing a desired candidate from among layout candidates, a similarity calculation means for calculating a degree of similarity between each layout candidate generated by the layout candidate generation means; A material presentation device comprising candidate presentation means for determining a presentation method of each layout candidate to the output means according to the degree of similarity determined by the calculation means. 2. The similarity calculation means extracts physical or logical features of each layout candidate generated by the layout candidate generation means, and calculates the similarity between each layout candidate using these features. The material presentation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 3. The similarity calculation means includes means for allowing a user to set and change a sequence of weight values for each similarity between candidates determined from feature amounts extracted during similarity calculation; The system is equipped with a means for storing weight value sequences in association with each other, and uses the weight value sequence for each user to calculate the overall similarity by multiplying and adding the similarity of each candidate by the weight value. The data presentation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 4. The candidate presentation means determines a representative candidate from the group of candidates having a similar relationship calculated by the similarity calculation means, and presents the representative candidate to the output means before other similar candidates. The material presentation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The candidate presentation means is configured to calculate the relationship between each element data and the spatial data inputted from the data input means, the feature amount of each candidate calculated by the similarity calculation means, and the similarity between each candidate. 5. The material presentation device according to claim 4, wherein the representative candidates are determined by a combination.