JPH06301675A - Document preparation supporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a document preparation supporting device capable of easily preparing documents suitable for various conveying purposes and formats by a user from information expressing the logical contents of the documents. CONSTITUTION:A conversion processing part 6 receives designation from an in tion part 3, settles both information expressing the logical contents of a document to be an object of conversion which is stored in a document logical information storing part 1 and a conversion format stored in a conversion format storing part 4 based upon the received designation and inputs the conversion format. While referring to the contents of the storing parts 1, based on the read conversion format, by referring to a conversion rule storing part 2, the processing part 6 interprets a conversion rule in the read conversion format and executes the substitution, insertion, etc., of character strings. Then the processing part 6 interprets a conversion rule relating to a layout style, generates a layout made document and stores the generated document in a layout finished document storing part 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document creation support device for creating a document laid out from logical content information of the document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In business activities, it is required to create a document having matters according to the purpose of communication, such as proposals and notifications. At the same time, the document is required to have a form of communication, that is, the development and layout of logic according to the place of communication and the other party. In response to this request, in a conventional word processor or the like, a prepared document (hereinafter referred to as a form) having blanks for describing matters is prepared, or various communication situations are assumed,
A method has been used in which a fixed phrase that matches this is prepared.

In business activities, even if the purpose of communication is the same, communication may be carried out multiple times in different formats. For example, when a proposal for a certain project is considered, the plan contents may be summarized as a form of a plan document to be distributed to the related parties, or may be an OHP manuscript for oral presentation to the related parties. Furthermore, the format changes depending on whether it is for internal or external use, whether it is for professionals or not, and whether it is communication with superiors.

In the conventional method, even if the purpose of transmission is the same, if the format is different, it is necessary to recreate the document from the beginning. Every time the form changed, the user had to find a form or boilerplate of the required form and refine the draft. This work takes a lot of man-hours and significantly reduces the efficiency of document creation.

For example, in the system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-288960 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-63758, the type of document to be created is designated first, and the support for creating the designated document is provided. The system, for example, presents fixed phrases and corrects styles. However, no consideration is given to generating the created document as another type of document.

On the other hand, there is also a function of generating several different types of documents from one document. One of them is the plug-in function found in word processors. With this function, the page layout such as the position of the merge field and the number of pages is determined in advance, and the sentence is merged according to this page layout to generate the document.
With this insertion function, the page layout of the template (form) is determined in advance, so only the data of the determined internal capacity can be supported. In addition, since the data structure of the contents to be inserted is designed depending on the merge fields existing in the template, there is a problem that the same document cannot be applied to the templates having different field orders and existing fields.

Further, in systems such as TeX and LaTeX, it is possible to generate documents of several formats from documents of the same contents by changing the designation of formats. However, in these systems, since information about the format is embedded in the document, in order to change the format,
The document itself has to be changed.

In recent years, ODA (ISO8613: Info
direction Processing-Text
and Office Systems-Ope
nDocument Architecture an
d Interchange Format (198
9)) has come to be used. In this ODA, the logical structure and layout structure of a document are defined separately. For example, JP-A-4-52855 and JP-A-4-52855.
As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52856,
Has developed a system for generating a document according to the definition of the logical structure and layout structure of the document. In ODA, since the layout structure can be defined separately from the logical structure of the document, it is possible to generate a document in another format by changing the definition of the layout structure. However, according to the ODA standard, the objects in the logical structure must be laid out according to their logical order, and it is not possible to lay out in a document having a different logical order. Also, if the layout process cannot completely lay out the contents of the logical structure, the layout process will have failed, so take out a part of the document or lay out unnecessary parts. Without it, the document cannot be generated.

As described above, in the conventional system, the function for using one document as a document of various formats is limited, and the degree of freedom is small.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and a user can obtain a document suitable for various purposes and formats of transmission from information representing the logical contents of the document. An object is to provide a document creation support device that can be created easily.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in a document creation support apparatus for creating a document laid out from logical content information of a document, conversion rule storage means for storing conversion rules of the document, and a document to be created. Conversion format accumulating means for accumulating the conversion format of the document, and information for expressing the logical contents of the document is input, and the document conversion processing is performed in accordance with the conversion rule accumulated in the conversion rule accumulating means. It is characterized in that it has a document generating means for generating a document laid out in accordance with the stored conversion format. When a document laid out by the document generation unit is generated, a sentence according to the conversion format may be added or changed in the document by the conversion rule stored in the conversion rule storage unit. it can. Further, the document generation means can perform conversion processing according to the purpose of the designated document based on the conversion rules stored in the conversion rule storage means.

[0012]

According to the present invention, in addition to the information representing the logical contents of the input document, various conversion formats are stored in the conversion format storage means, and the document generation means stores the format of the generated document. According to the above, one of the conversion formats stored in the conversion format storage means can be selected and used to generate a laid-out document. At the same time, based on the conversion rules stored in the conversion rule storage means according to the purpose of the document,
It is possible to convert the content of a sentence and the like to generate a document according to the purpose. When generating a laid-out document, it is possible to supplement the input document information, such as adding a sentence according to the conversion format, to generate a target document. When a document in another format is generated, it is only necessary to select another conversion format from the conversion formats stored in the conversion format storage means, and it is not necessary to change the input document information. Further, the layout may be such that the logical order of the input document information is changed, and further, it is possible to generate a document in a conversion format that selects input document information.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a document creation support device of the present invention. In the drawing, 1 is a document logical information storage unit, 2 is a conversion rule storage unit, 3 is an instruction unit, 4 is a conversion format storage unit, 5 is a layout document storage unit, and 6 is a conversion processing unit. The solid line shows the flow of data, and the alternate long and short dash line shows the flow of control signals.

The document logical information storage unit 1 stores information indicating the logical contents of a document. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of information stored in the document logical information storage unit 1. The information to be stored is structured in units of requirements. For example, it can be stored as a file for each message. One message consists of multiple items. One item has “item name” and “item content” as attributes. The attributes "item name" and "item content" take character strings as attribute values. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, one message is shown and it is composed of five items. The attribute “item name” of the first item is “title”, and the attribute “item content” is “proposal to start new research”. The same applies to the second to fifth items. As described above, the information stored in the document logical information storage unit 1 represents the logical content of the document and can be described regardless of the purpose or layout of the document. In addition to the logical content information of the document, other information such as the creator's name, affiliation, creation date and time can be stored. The logical content information of the document stored in the document logical information storage unit 1 may have a configuration corresponding to a document described in another format such as the ODA format in addition to the above example.

The conversion rule storage unit 2 stores conversion rules. The conversion rule can be expressed by a function that takes a character string as an argument. For example, an operation of adding another character string to the character string given as an argument or changing a part of the character string given as an argument can be defined. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of conversion rules stored in the conversion rule storage unit 2. For example, the function Name () shown in the first line in FIG. 3 indicates that when this function is interpreted, it becomes a character string “Patent Taro”. The function Domain () in the second line is also the same. In this way, it is possible to insert a sentence at a required place. In addition, the function Intro (bakkgnd, subjec on the third and subsequent lines
t, communicate) is, for example, an argument bac
When “background explanation” is given as kgnd, “theme” is given as an argument subject, and “explanation” is given as an argument communicate, when this function is interpreted, “background explanation Rtn describes the subject. Rtn”
It becomes the character string. Here, Rtn indicates a line feed character.
In this way, the text can be converted. Such an operation for changing the style of a sentence is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-59.
It can be realized using known techniques such as those described in JP-A-197965, JP-A-62-78674 and JP-A-62-298869.
The above-mentioned conversion rule is described in the conversion format accumulated by the conversion format accumulating unit 4, and is interpreted when the conversion processing unit 6 executes the conversion process.

The instruction unit 3 has a function for allowing the user to specify information to be converted and a conversion format to the conversion processing unit 6. The information to be converted is designated by inputting what value is selected for the attribute "item name" or "item content" of the message.
The input description can use a query language such as SQL, for example. The conversion format is designated by inputting a character string that matches the value of the attribute "format name" of the conversion format.

The conversion format storage unit 4 stores a conversion format for converting the information stored in the document logical information storage unit 1 into a laid-out document. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of conversion formats stored in the conversion format storage unit 4. The stored conversion format has “format name” and “conversion instruction” as attributes. The attributes "format name" and "conversion instruction" take character strings as attribute values. The attribute value of the attribute “conversion instruction” defines how to convert the information stored in the document logical information storage unit 1, and is interpreted when the conversion processing unit 6 executes the conversion process. . For example, FIG. 4A shows a conversion format used when creating a standard proposal document. As the information described as the attribute value of the attribute “conversion instruction”, the conversion rule stored in the conversion rule storage unit B is used. First, assign <title> to the center,
State your name and affiliation. Then, a summary consisting of <proposed problem>, <proposed solution>, and <expected> is assigned. After that, it is instructed to allocate the introduction, the main body, and the conclusion to compose the document. Further, FIG. 4 (B) shows a conversion format used when creating the priority precedent type proposal document, and the assignment of the conclusion and the main thesis is reversed as compared with the standard form shown in FIG. 4 (A). Have been instructed to. Figure 4
(C) shows the conversion format used when creating a proposal document for the boss. In this case, after converting each sentence into a gradual tone, generate the priority precedent proposal document. Is instructing. The part enclosed by [] in this conversion instruction indicates that it is a format name of another conversion format. In addition to the conversion of such a sentence structure, the layout can be described using the conversion rules described above. For example, the centering Cn used in FIG.
It is possible to describe a complicated layout such as a multi-column set from t () and right alignment.

The laid-out document storage unit 5 stores the laid-out document generated by the conversion processing unit 6.

According to the instruction from the instruction unit 3, the conversion processing unit 6 reads out the message necessary for generating the document from the document logical information storage unit 1 and reads out the instructed conversion format from the conversion format storage unit 4. Then, the conversion process is executed while using the conversion rules stored in the conversion rule storage unit 2. The layout-completed document generated by the conversion process is output to the layout-completed document storage unit 5.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining an example of conversion processing in the conversion processing unit 6. In the following description, the description method of the conversion format shown in FIG. 4 will be described as an example. First, in S11, a designation is received from the instruction unit 3. In step S12, based on the designation from the instruction unit 3, the requirement to be converted stored in the document logical information storage unit 1 and the conversion format stored in the conversion format storage unit 4 are determined. Read the value of the conversion format attribute "conversion instruction". Here, a format name of another conversion format may be specified for the value. This is the conversion format of the format name "for proposal boss" shown in FIG. 4 (C). In such a case, the conversion instruction is further read from the conversion format storage unit 4. In S13, the document logical information storage unit 1 is referred to, and the portion enclosed by <> in the conversion instruction read in S12 is replaced with the content held by the message determined in S11. That is, when the character string enclosed in <> and the attribute “item name” of the item of the message have the same value, the part enclosed in <> is replaced with the value of the attribute “item content” of the item. . Then, referring to the conversion rule storage unit 2, the conversion rule in the conversion instruction is interpreted and replaced with a character string. In S14, the result of S13 is converted into a laid-out document, that is, layout-formatted data. The layout-formatted data to be converted may be a DVI file, a page description language, or the like. At this time,
A line feed character Rtn indicating a line feed, or Cn indicating center alignment
A conversion rule regarding a layout style such as t () is interpreted to determine the arrangement of the character string on the page. S15
At step S14, the result of S14 is stored in the laid-out document storage unit 5, and the process ends.

In this way, the document editing apparatus of the present invention can automatically generate and arrange the contents of a document according to the document format specified by the user.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the document creation support apparatus of the present invention. Reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG. As in FIG. 1, the instruction unit 3 has a function for the user to specify the conversion target information and the conversion format to the conversion processing unit 6. In this embodiment, at the time of these designations, the information that can be designated and is stored in the document logical information storage unit 1 and the conversion format stored in the conversion format storage unit 4 are displayed. It has a function. Thus, the user can confirm the selectable conversion target information and the conversion format on the display, and select from the displayed information to specify.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the information to be converted is stored in the document logical information storage unit 1.
It may be configured to be directly input from other means, or may be configured to be input from another system via a communication line or the like. Further, the generated layout-completed document may be output to the output device or output to another processing unit without being stored in the layout-document storage unit 5.

The various conversion rules described as the conversion format have been described by taking the case of description in the function format as an example in the above description, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be described in another format such as SQL. You can also do it. Further, the conversion rule storage unit 2 may be formed of a knowledge base or the like, and intelligent processing may be performed to simplify the description of the conversion format to some extent. Furthermore, it is possible to add a preview function for displaying the outline of the document generated in the conversion format on the display device of the instruction unit 3 in the example of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the document creation support apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 21 is a keyboard, 2
2 is CRT, 23 is mouse, 24 is memory, 25 is CP
U. The document editing device of the present invention includes, for example, a keyboard 21 for inputting characters, a display device such as a CRT 22 for displaying a document on a screen, and a mouse 23 for designating a position on the screen and selecting a command or the like. Such as a pointing device, a memory 24 for holding a program according to the document creation support method of the present invention, a document file, and variables at the time of program execution, and a program stored in the memory 24 is read to execute the program. Can be configured by the CPU 25 for. Figure 1
In the embodiment shown in FIG.
The conversion rule storage unit 2, the conversion format storage unit 4, and the laid-out document storage unit 5 are configured by the memory 24, the conversion processing unit 6 is configured by the memory 24 and the CPU 25, and the instruction unit 3 is configured by the keyboard 21, the CRT 22, the mouse 23, and the like. It can be configured by the CPU 25.

In the above-described specific example, the part realized by software can be realized by hardware or firmware. Further, as the input device such as the keyboard 21 and the mouse 23, any device such as a pad, a touch panel, and a pen can be used as long as it can input characters and select commands.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an input screen display example.
In the figure, 31 is a cursor, 32 is a command area, 33 is a work area, 34 is an annotation area, 35 is a lower scroll designation area, 36 is an upper scroll designation area, 37 is a user registration designation area, 38 is a target selection designation area, Reference numeral 39 is a format selection designation area, 40 is a definition designation area, and 41 is an edit end designation area. In the embodiment of the document creation support device of the present invention,
The logical content information of the document stored in the document logical information storage unit 1, the conversion format stored in the conversion format storage unit 4, and the function of the instruction unit 3 are as follows according to the display of the CRT 22.
It can be input with the mouse 23 or the keyboard 21. FIG. 8 shows a display example of the CRT 22 at this time.

A cursor 31 is displayed on the screen. The cursor moves in association with the mouse 23 and is used for selecting an area. The screen is roughly divided into three. The command area 32 at the top of the screen is used to specify an edit command. The work area 33 on the lower left side of the screen is used for presentation of a logical template, definition of the template, and description of document contents. This part can be scrolled. The annotation area 34 on the lower right side of the screen is used for displaying the purpose name of the template presented in the work area 33 and for defining the purpose name, and at the same time, for displaying related matters in describing the template item. Used for. As shown in FIG. 8, when the display area or the character string input area is scrollable,
A scroll bar appears on the right side of the area. The scroll bar has an area for scrolling the display of that area. When the cursor 31 is placed in the upward scroll designation area 36 and the mouse button is continuously pressed, the entire area is scrolled upward. Downward scroll designation area 35
If the same operation is performed with, the entire area scrolls downward.

The rectangular area included in the command area 32 is
This is an area for activating different editing commands. In FIG. 8, the edit command areas include a user registration designation area 37, a purpose selection designation area 38, a format selection designation area 39, a definition designation area 40, and an edit end designation area 41. When the cursor 31 is placed in the area and the mouse button is clicked, the edit command for each area is activated.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a screen display for user registration designation. In the figure, 42 is a name registration area, 43 is an affiliation registration area, and 44 is an inputtable area. In FIG. 8, when a cursor is put in the user registration designation area 37 in the command area 32 and the mouse button is clicked, a name registration area 42 for registering the user's name in the work area 33 and a affiliation for registering the affiliation The registration area 43 is displayed. An inputable portion 44 for inputting a character string exists in the name registration area and the belonging registration area. When a cursor is put in the inputtable portion of the name registration area 42 and a character string is input from the keyboard 21, a conversion rule for giving a name that becomes the character string when interpreted by the conversion processing unit 6 (in the example of FIG. 3). Name ()) is defined and stored in the memory 24 of the device as a conversion rule stored in the conversion rule storage unit 2. Similarly, the affiliation registration area 43 is also held in the memory 24 of the device as a conversion rule for giving affiliation. In addition, in FIG. 9, the downward left arrow indicates a line feed character.

10 and 11 show the document logical information storage unit 1.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a screen display for inputting logical content information of a document stored in the document. When the cursor 31 is placed in the purpose selection designation area 38 and the mouse button is pressed, a pull-down menu for selecting the purpose of transmission is displayed as shown in FIG. The type of communication purpose is displayed in the menu. In FIG. 10, three types of purposes are displayed. When the cursor 31 is moved to a menu item while the mouse button is being pressed, the menu item is underlined to indicate the selected state. If you stop pressing the mouse button in this state, the menu item is selected. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, a logical template of the document corresponding to the selected menu item is displayed in the work area 33. Figure 1
1 shows an example of a screen display when “proposal” is selected as the purpose of communication. In this example, in the work area 33,
As a logical template for the “proposal” document, five items of “title”, “proposed question”, “proposed answer”, “expectation”, and “topics” are displayed. In addition, in the annotation area 34, it is displayed that the purpose of communication is a proposal, and when describing the contents of the template item, related matters such as a cautionary note are displayed. The displayed contents are associated with each model item and are stored in the memory 24. If you put the cursor 31 in the area for describing the content of the item, the related item display area on the lower right side of the screen
The contents of the corresponding related items are displayed. In the example of FIG. 11, a cursor exists in the area for describing the content of the item “proposed question”, and a hint for describing “proposed question” is displayed in the related item display area. Information can be written in each item of the template using, for example, the keyboard 21. By thus describing the document information along the template, the logical content information of the document can be easily input.

A document whose contents are described in a template can be held in the memory 24 as a document different from the original template. As a result, the document logical information can be stored in the memory 24 as the document logical information stored in the document logical information storage unit 1. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a storage operation in the document logical information storage unit 1. When the cursor 31 is placed in the edit end designation area 41 and the mouse button is pressed, a pull-down menu for selecting whether to save the model edited up to the present is displayed as shown in FIG. There are two menu items, "save" and "discard". When the menu item "save" is selected, the model data is copied and held in the memory 24 as a newly defined model. When the template shown in FIG. 12 is saved, as shown in FIG. 2, it is stored in the document logical information storage unit 1 as the message information having the item name and the item content. An identifier "revX" is added to the target name of the stored document information in order to identify that it is different from the original template. However, X shows a numerical value. For example, if “Save” is selected in the state of FIG. 12, the purpose name of this new template becomes “Proposal rev1”. Further, when this is changed and held, the changed one becomes the “proposition rev2”. The newly saved document information can be selected from the "purpose selection" menu, as with the original template. The "purpose selection" menu item is created by checking the stored template and document information. Therefore, when the document information is saved, the menu item is automatically updated with the purpose name of the document information.

It is also possible to give a new purpose name to the document information to be saved. In such a case, it can be done by the "purpose definition" of the subordinate menu item of "definition" in the menu item. The cursor 3 in the definition designation area 40
Enter 1 and press the mouse button to display the pull-down menu. Menu items are "purpose definition",
These are "item definition" and "format definition". If the menu item "purpose definition" is selected from these, the area displaying the purpose of the annotation area 34 can be input. When the purpose name is described here and a line feed character is input, the described content is held in the memory 24 in association with the document information.

FIGS. 13 to 16 are explanatory views showing an example of the definition of each item of the template used for inputting the document information. When the cursor 31 is placed in the definition designation area 40 and the mouse button is pressed, a pull-down menu is displayed, and the menu item "item definition" is selected from the menu. As shown in FIG. 13, the menu changes to define items that form a template. There are three menus after the change: "one line" for adding items to the template of the document logic being defined, "scroll", and "confirm" selected after the template definition is confirmed. When the menu item "1 line" is selected, as shown in FIG. 14, an item having a descriptable area for the contents of 1 line is added below the item defined up to that point. When the menu item "scroll" is selected, similarly, an item having a scrollable descriptable area is added. A new template in which items are added to the template being defined is held in the memory 24 in accordance with the selection by the menu. The data described in each item is held in the memory 24, and the data is copied and added to the template data being defined in accordance with the selection.

The item name and related items of the added item can be defined by the following procedure. Insert the cursor 31 in the display area of the item for which you want to define the item name or related items, and click the mouse button. Then, as shown in FIG.
The work area 33 is further divided into two, and areas for defining item names and related matters are displayed. When these contents are already defined, the contents are displayed in the descriptable part indicated by the bold line. When the content is described in the item name and the descriptionable part of the related matter, the content is stored in the memory 24 in association with the item, and is displayed in the area of the item and the display area of the related matter as described above. Insert the cursor again in the display area of the item you want to define and click the mouse button to erase the display in that area.

When the menu item "fix" is selected from the menu item "item definition", the model item definition is completed. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 16, the menu of the definition designation area 40 is changed to the original “definition”. By such an operation, a template for inputting logical content information of a document can be edited.

FIGS. 17 and 18 are explanatory views of the display screen when the conversion format stored in the conversion format storage unit 4 is input. The cursor 31 is placed in the definition designation area 40, the mouse button is pressed, and the menu item "format definition" is selected from the pull-down menu. Then, the menu changes to define the conversion format of the displayed template.
As shown in FIG. 17, the menu items are, for example, items indicating document formats such as “document” and “OHP” and “confirm”.

The menu items "Document" and "OHP" are used to start the definition of the conversion format for converting the template into that format. If you choose one of these items,
As shown in FIG. 18, the work area 33 is divided into two, and an area for defining the conversion format is displayed. Further, the menu item “set” is used to end the definition of each format.

The area for defining the conversion format is shown in FIG.
As described above, the conversion format is described by the format description language using the conversion rule. The formal description language is a language for describing in what order the contents of a template item are arranged on a page. An example of the conversion format shown in FIG. 18 will be described. <X> indicates that the part is replaced with the content of the template item x. “Y” indicates that Y is written on the page as it is. Rtn is the insertion of one line feed character, Drt is the line feed character 1 immediately before it.
Indicates that one is to be deleted. Cnt (Z) indicates that Z is arranged by centering. Rgt (P) indicates that P is right aligned. Cnt (Z) or Rgt
If (P) is not specified, left alignment is performed. Nm
b (Q) is a bullet list of the contents of Q,
The number is given to the head. In addition to the one shown in FIG. 18, Pbk that specifies page change, the contents contained in parentheses are itemized for each line feed character, and a bullet is put on the head Itn
(R), Ibp (S), and the like, in which contents included in parentheses are arranged on separate pages for each line feed character. A conversion format as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 18 is described using these conversion rules. The described conversion format is held in the memory 24 as information accumulated in the conversion format accumulating unit 4 by selecting the menu item “confirm”. At this time, a new conversion format can be defined, and at that time, the name of the new conversion format can be registered. Further, if a preview function for displaying what kind of document is generated according to the input conversion rule is added, the user can easily obtain the intermediate result, and the burden on the user is reduced.

In the above definition of the conversion format, there is no guide to the placement of each item. However, by defining the semantic connection between each item in advance, possible arrangements can be automatically reflected in the format definition or presented to the user who describes the conversion format. It may be configured as follows.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a conversion instruction to the conversion processing unit 6, and FIGS. 20 to 23 are explanatory diagrams of an example of a laid-out document. The contents described in each item of the template are automatically arranged in the generated document by selecting the conversion format. The template used to generate the document is called in advance and displayed on the screen. Alternatively, it may be a template in the description displayed on the screen. As the conversion format, the one defined in FIGS. 17 and 18 described above can be used. When the cursor 31 is placed in the format selection designation area 39 and the mouse button is pressed, a pull-down menu for selecting a conversion format is displayed as shown in FIG. On the menu, the types of conversion formats stored in the conversion format storage unit 4 are displayed. Although FIG. 19 shows only two types of conversion formats that can be selected, “document” and “OHP”, more formats may be used. As the conversion format, one prepared in advance may be used, or, as shown in FIG.
7. The conversion format definition shown in FIG. 18 may be defined by the user. In Figure 19, "Document" and "O"
It was classified according to the expression media such as “HP”, but was classified into various uses such as classification for managers, general use, internal use, external use, or classification for specific individuals or companies. A conversion format can be used.

When the menu item is selected, a document file in which the logical content information of the document displayed on the screen is arranged according to the conversion format corresponding to the selected item is generated. Then, this file is held in the memory 24 as information stored in the laid-out document storage unit 5.

For example, as shown in FIG. 19, when the document information described in each item of the template is selected as the conversion format of the proposed document priority preceding type shown in FIG.
A document as shown in 0 is generated. In this example, the content of each item of the document information “proposal” and the value of the conversion rule defined by user registration are arranged in the following order in the logical configuration according to the conversion format. 1. "Title" 2. "Name" 3. "Affiliation" 4. "Proposal" 5. "Proposal for answer" 6. "Expectations" 7. "Proposal" 8. "Proposal for answer" 9. "Expectations" 10. "Topics"

At the time of this arrangement, as shown in FIG. 20, sentences are supplemented between the values of each item. This allows
The heading section is composed of 1 to 3, the document summary is composed of 4 to 6, the introduction is composed of 7, the conclusion is composed of 8 and 9, and the main body is composed of 10. After the text is supplemented, as shown in FIG. 20, a layout such as a line code or the like is inserted, centering, right-justification, etc. are performed so that the layout is such that the logical structure is easy to understand.

OH is used as a conversion format using the same document information.
When the P document format is selected, for example, FIG. 21 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, document information is arranged in each OHP document. In this example, the contents of each item of the document information "proposal",
The values of the attributes "name" and "belonging" input by user registration are arranged in the following order in the logical configuration according to the conversion format. 1. "Title" 2. "Name" 3. "Affiliation" 4. "Proposal" 5. "Topics" 6. "Topics" 7. "Proposal for answer" 8. "Expectations"

In this arrangement, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, sentences are supplemented between each item. As a result, the first OHP original document having the title as shown in FIG.
A second OHP manuscript showing the purpose of the presentation as shown in (B) is generated, and a third OHP manuscript showing the outline of the presentation as shown in FIG. 22. The 4th to 7th OHP manuscripts, which are the contents of the announcement, are generated from 6 of the same content as shown in FIG. 22, and further the 8th OHP manuscript which summarizes the announcement is generated by 7 and 8.

As another example, when the document information is described using the model of the proceedings transmission defined in FIG. 17 and the conversion processing is performed using the conversion format defined in FIG. It is possible to generate a notification document as shown in.

In the above display examples, the pull-down menu is used for various selections, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a pop-up method menu, a hierarchical menu, or another software method such as a button on the screen, or a hardware method such as simultaneous pressing of function keys or a plurality of keys may be used. In other words, if any of the options is presented, any configuration may be used as long as it can be selected.

In the above-mentioned display example, the selected items are distinguished by the underline display, but, for example, the change of the font, the change of the size of the information, the reverse display, the high brightness display,
Any means may be used as long as it is known which of the options is selected, such as marking the item and changing the color.

Further, in the above-described display example, the related information for each item of the template is displayed on the screen in a specific area. However, such a pop-up method is used so that the display area is not always reserved and is displayed when necessary. can do.

In the above-mentioned display example, the contents description for each item and the input of various commands can be always reflected in the memory. At this time, in order to prevent erroneous operation by the user, for example, the format is selected without selecting the purpose,
When the conditions are not satisfied, such as when necessary items are not described, a warning may be presented or an approval request to the user may be made.

24 to 29 are flowcharts for explaining the processing operation based on each display example. When the process is started, it is determined in S51, S61, S71, S73, S77 which command in the command area 32 has been selected by the user. When the button of the mouse 23 is not pressed, the processing of each of these steps is only repeated. When the mouse button is pressed, each determination step determines which command is selected, and processing of the selected command is started.

If it is determined in S51 of FIG. 24 that the editing end command has been selected, the editing end processing of S52 to S55 is performed. The display screen at this time is shown in FIG.
It was shown to. In S52, a pull-down menu for ending editing is displayed, and the menu item is selected according to the position of the cursor 31. An underline can be displayed on the selected menu item, for example, as shown in FIG. In S53, it is confirmed that the mouse button has been released. This means that the menu that was selected when the mouse button was released is selected. In S54, it is determined whether or not the menu item "save" is selected, and if it is selected, the document information described in the template is saved in the memory 24 in S55.

When it is determined in S61 of FIG. 25 that the command for selecting a target has been selected, the target selecting process of S62 to S69 is performed. The display screen at this time is as shown in FIG.
0, shown in FIG. In S62, a pull-down menu for selecting a purpose is displayed, and the menu item is selected according to the position of the cursor 31. In S63, it is confirmed that the mouse button has been released. This means that the menu that was selected when the mouse button was released is selected. In S64, the selected target template or document information is displayed in the work area 33, and the annotation area 34 is displayed.
Display the desired name on.

The processes of S65 to S69 are processes of inputting and editing document information in the template. These processes are repeated while the document information is being input and edited. In S65, it is determined whether the cursor 31 is in the command area 32 and the mouse button has been pressed. In this case, it means that the processing of another command has been designated, so that the target selection processing is ended and the processing of the designated command is performed, so that the processing returns to S51 of FIG.
In S66, the cursor 31 is in the upper scroll designation area 36 or the lower scroll designation area 37, and
Determine if the mouse button was pressed. If this condition is met, scroll processing is performed in S67. That is, the display area on the left side of the scroll bar including the designated scroll designated area is scrolled in the designated direction up or down. If the condition of S66 is not satisfied, it is determined in S68 whether or not the cursor 31 is in the inputtable portion of the model item, and if the cursor 31 is in the inputable portion, S69.
At, the related items of a certain item of the cursor 31 are displayed in the annotation area 34, and the input character string is held in the memory 24 as the contents of the certain item of the cursor 31. And S6
Return to 5 and continue processing.

When it is determined in S71 of FIG. 26 that the user registration command has been selected, the user registration process of S72 is performed. The display screen at this time is shown in FIG. In S72, an area for user registration is displayed in the work area 33, and character strings such as name and affiliation, which are input to the inputtable area of this area, are stored in the memory, and the user registration processing ends.

If it is determined in S73 that the format selection command has been selected, the format selection processing of S74 to S76 is performed. The display screen at this time is shown in FIG. In step S74, a pull-down menu for format selection is displayed, and the menu item is selected according to the position of the cursor 31. In S75, it is confirmed that the mouse button has been released. This means that the menu that was selected when the mouse button was released is selected. S7
In step 6, a layout-completed document in which the contents described in the displayed template are arranged is generated in accordance with the selected conversion format, the document is saved in the memory 24, and the format selection process is terminated. The process performed in generating the laid-out document is as described above with reference to FIG.

If it is determined in S77 that the definition command has been selected, the definition process from S78 is performed. As described above, there are three types of definition processing: purpose definition, item definition, and format definition. During these processes, each process item is displayed in the definition designation area 40. In S78, it is determined whether none of the three definition processes is selected. If any processing is selected, the process proceeds to S91 in FIG. If none of them is selected, a definition pull-down menu is displayed in S79, and a menu item is selected according to the position of the cursor 31. In S80, it is confirmed that the mouse button has been released. This means that the menu that was selected when the mouse button was released is selected. If the selected definition process is the target definition in S81, the target display area of the annotation area 34 can be input in S82, and the input character string is stored in the memory as the template or the target name of the document information. Then, the purpose definition process ends. If the selected definition process is other than the target definition, in S83, the menu display of the definition designation area 40 is changed according to the selected definition process. When performing the item definition and format definition processing, the definition designation area 40 of the command area 32 is clicked again.

If this command area is selected when the definition designation area 40 is changed to the item definition or the format definition, the condition of S78 of FIG. 26 is not satisfied, and S9 of FIG. 27 is not satisfied.
Go to 1. In S91, it is determined whether the menu of the definition designation area 40 is the item definition. If it is an item definition,
The item definition processing of S92 to S95 and FIG. 28 is performed.
If it is a format definition, the process advances to step S111 of FIG. 29 to proceed to conversion format definition processing.

The display screens for the item definition are shown in FIGS. 13 to 16. In S92, a pull-down menu for item definition is displayed, and the menu item is selected according to the position of the cursor 31. In S93, it is confirmed that the mouse button has been released. This means that the menu that was selected when the mouse button was released is selected. In S94, it is determined whether or not the selected menu item is "confirmed". If "confirmed", in S95, the menu display in the definition designation area 40 is changed to "definition" as shown in FIG. The definition process ends.

If it is determined in S94 that a value other than "confirm" is selected, the process proceeds to S101 in FIG. In S101, a template item is added to the template being defined in accordance with the selected menu item, and the display of the work area is updated. For example, when the menu item "one line" is selected as shown in FIG. 13, the item for one line is added to the template as shown in FIG. S102 to S108
Is a process of inputting a model item name and related items. S
At 102, it is determined whether the mouse button has been pressed. When the mouse button is pressed, in S103,
The position of the cursor 31 is determined, and if it is within the definition designation area 40, the process proceeds to S92 in FIG. 27, and the item definition menu is selected. If it is determined in S104 that the cursor 31 is in the scroll designation area, S1
In 05, the display area on the left side of the scroll bar including the designated scroll designation area is scrolled in the designated direction. When it is determined in S106 that the cursor 31 is in the template item, the work area is divided into two and an area for defining the item name and related items is displayed in S107 as shown in FIG. Until the cursor 31 moves to the display area of this item and the mouse is double-clicked, the contents described in this portion are held in the memory in association with the item. As a result, it is possible to input information on the item name and related items corresponding to the designated template item. When the input of the item name and related items is completed and, for example, the mouse is double-clicked, the display of the work area is restored in S108. S
If none of the conditions of 103, S104 and S106 is satisfied, nothing is done and the process waits for the mouse button to be pressed again in S102. The item definition ends by pressing the mouse button in S102 and selecting "confirm" from the item definition menu in S92 to S93.

When it is determined in S91 of FIG. 27 that the format definition has been selected, the process proceeds to S111 of FIG.
The format definition display screen is shown in FIGS. 17 and 18. S1
In 11, the pull-down menu of the format definition is displayed, and the menu item is selected according to the position of the cursor 31. In S112, it is confirmed that the mouse button has been released. This means that the menu that was selected when the mouse button was released is selected. In S113, it is determined whether or not the selected menu item is “confirmed”. If “confirmed”, in S114, the menu display of the definition designation area 40 is changed to “definition” as shown in FIG. The definition process ends.

If it is determined in S114 that a value other than "confirm" is selected, in S115, the process shown in FIG.
As described above, the work area 33 is divided into two, and the area for defining the conversion format is displayed. S116 to S121 are conversion format input processing. In S116, it is determined whether or not the mouse button has been pressed. When the mouse button is pressed, the position of the cursor 31 is determined in S117, and if it is within the definition designation area 40, the process moves to S111 to select a format definition menu. S118
When it is determined that the cursor 31 is in the scroll designated area, the display area on the left side of the scroll bar including the designated scroll designated area is scrolled in the designated direction in S119. S120
When it is determined that the cursor 31 is in the area for defining the conversion format in step S121, the content described in this area is selected in S121 from the displayed purpose and the format definition menu. It is stored in memory in association with the format name. This allows the conversion format to be input.

As described above, the user performs user registration, definition of template items, description of document information using the template, definition of conversion format, and selection of defined conversion format. As a result, the document information can be converted according to the conversion format to obtain the laid-out document.

In the above-described embodiments, an environment in which an individual creates a document has been described, but an environment in which a plurality of users using a network share the environment may be used. That is, the document information and the conversion format may be made available to a plurality of users. Further, at this time, document information or conversion format that can be used only by a specific individual or group may be defined.

[0066]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to select from the structural content information of the document created by the user only by selecting the conversion format corresponding to the desired transmission format. Based on the converted format, the document contents are automatically converted and arranged, and a desired document can be obtained.
Therefore, it is possible to automatically obtain a document according to various transmission formats without changing the structural content information of the document created by the user, and conventionally, the document has been recreated according to the format. Compared with the above, there is an effect that the burden on the user can be significantly reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a document creation support device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of information stored in a document logical information storage unit 1.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of conversion rules stored in a conversion rule storage unit 2.

4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of conversion formats stored in a conversion format storage unit 4. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example of conversion processing in the conversion processing unit 6.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the document creation support apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a document creation support device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an input screen display example.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a screen display for user registration designation.

10 is an explanatory diagram of a screen display for inputting logical content information of a document stored in the document logical information storage unit 1. FIG.

11 is an explanatory diagram of a screen display for inputting logical content information of a document stored in the document logical information storage unit 1. FIG.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a storage operation to the document logical information storage unit 1.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of definitions of respective items of a template used for inputting document information.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of definitions of respective items of a template used for inputting document information.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of definition of each item of a template used for inputting document information.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of definitions of respective items of a template used for inputting document information.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of a display screen when a conversion format stored in the conversion format storage unit 4 is input.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of a display screen when a conversion format stored in the conversion format storage unit 4 is input.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a conversion instruction to the conversion processing unit 6.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a laid-out document.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a laid-out document.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a laid-out document.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a laid-out document.

FIG. 24 is a part of a flowchart illustrating a processing operation based on each display example.

FIG. 25 is a part of a flowchart illustrating a processing operation based on each display example.

FIG. 26 is a part of a flowchart illustrating a processing operation based on each display example.

FIG. 27 is a part of a flowchart illustrating a processing operation based on each display example.

FIG. 28 is a part of a flowchart illustrating a processing operation based on each display example.

FIG. 29 is a part of a flowchart illustrating a processing operation based on each display example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 document logical information storage unit, 2 conversion rule storage unit, 3 instruction unit, 4 conversion format storage unit, 5 layout document storage unit, 6 conversion processing unit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A document creation support apparatus for creating a document laid out from logical content information of a document, a conversion rule storage unit for storing conversion rules of a document, and a conversion format for storing a conversion format of the created document. The storage means and the information indicating the logical contents of the document are input, the conversion processing of the document is performed in accordance with the conversion rule stored in the conversion rule storage means, and the layout is laid out according to the conversion format stored in the conversion format storage means. A document creation support apparatus having a document creation unit for creating a created document. 2. When generating a document laid out by the document generating means, a sentence according to the conversion format is added to or changed in the document by the conversion rule accumulated in the conversion rule accumulating means. Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.
The document creation support device described in. 3. The document generation means performs conversion processing according to the purpose of a designated document based on the conversion rules stored in the conversion rule storage means. Document creation support device described.