JPH0652232A - Image filing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To constitute the device so that one item data length can be set extremely large, and also, incidental information of every image data can all be stored in a relational data base system, even in the case there are plural item data corresponding to a certain attribute, in the incidental information of the image data. CONSTITUTION:The device is provided with an image storage device 8, a relational data base system 10 for handling data by a two-dimensional format, a means 20 for storing incidental information of image data at every attribute in the corresponding column in an area of the two-dimensional format, and a display part 6 for retrieving and displaying an image, based on the incidental information, and in the incidental information of every image data, plural item data having the same attribute are stored extending over plural rows in the same column in the area of the two-dimensional format, and in the other column of these plural rows, the same item data is stored at every column, and plural rows can be handled as one row.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image filing apparatus for searching desired image data from the image data to which the additional information is added, by using the additional information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional image filing apparatus, a relational database system is searched using associated information attached to image data as a search condition, and the corresponding image data is displayed. At this time, the incidental information of each image data is classified into individual item data according to its attribute, and individually stored in each column in one row of a two-dimensional storage area including rows and columns of the relational database system. It Also, since the maximum length of the byte length of the accompanying information is known in advance, the maximum byte length of the item data is secured as the byte length of each column of the two-dimensional storage area.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional item data storage method. As shown in FIG. 7A,
The incidental information of certain image data is 123, Taro Yamada, and General Affairs Department. The attributes of the accompanying information are employee number, name, and affiliation, and the item data of each attribute is 123, Taro Yamada, and General Affairs Department. Also, since it is known in advance that the maximum byte length of item data is 8 bytes, 16 bytes, and 10 bytes, respectively, the length of the two-dimensional storage area of the relational database system is 8 bytes and 16 bytes, respectively. 10 bytes are reserved.

[0004]

However, there are cases where it is desired to store a plurality of item data in one column of a two-dimensional format storage area. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 7B, the incidental information of the image data is 123, Taro Yamada, General Affairs Department, ski, tennis, and the attributes of this incidental information are the employee number, name, and
Affiliation and hobby are 4, and item data of employee number is 12
3. The name item data is Taro Yamada, the belonging item data is the General Affairs Department, and the hobby item data is skiing and tennis. In such a case, conventionally, the length of each column in one row of the two-dimensional storage area is secured in advance and the item data is stored within the length.
For example, in the example shown in FIG. 7C, the length of the hobby column is 18 bytes, which is three times the maximum data length of the hobby of 6 bytes. However, with this method, the item data can be registered only within the predetermined column length limit, and all the associated information necessary for the image data cannot be stored in the relational database system. was there. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an image filing device,
Even if there is a plurality of item data corresponding to a certain attribute in the incidental information of the image data, one item data length can be set extremely large and all the incidental information of each image data can be stored in the relational database system. An object is to provide an image filing device that can be stored.

[0005]

According to the image filing apparatus of the present invention, when a plurality of item data are stored in a column having a two-dimensional storage area of a relational database system,
Prepare the same number of rows as the number of item data, and store one item data in each row in the column that stores multiple item data.
In the other columns, the same item data is stored overlappingly in a plurality of rows, and the plurality of rows are treated in the same manner as one row when performing a conditional search. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method of storing incidental information in the relational database system in the image filing apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the item data in the columns of employee number, name, and affiliation are duplicated in two lines, and in the hobby column in which two item data of ski and tennis are registered, one item data is included in each line. Each is stored. Further, 6 bytes, which is the maximum data length of the hobby, is assigned as the data length of the hobby column. Further, the image filing device of the present invention corresponds to the plurality of attributes in the area of the two-dimensional format when the plurality of attributes have a plurality of item data in the accompanying information for each image data. Each item data is stored in a plurality of rows in each column, the same item data is stored in columns other than the columns corresponding to the plurality of attributes, and the plurality of rows are treated as one row. To do.

[0006]

By storing the incidental information added to the image data in a plurality of rows of the two-dimensional storage area of the relational database system, there is almost no limit to the size of the incidental information added to the image data. , Can store all necessary information.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image filing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of the image filing apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 3, an image filed in this apparatus is read by the scanner 1 and converted into image data. The scanner 1 and the hard disk devices 7 and 8 are connected to an external input / output unit 2 that interfaces with an external device. The image data captured by the scanner 1 is stored in the hard disk device 8, and the accompanying information of the image data is stored in the hard disk device 7. The input unit 3 has a keyboard KB
Or mouse is connected. The hard disk devices 7 and 8 may share one hard disk device.

In FIG. 3, the keyboard KB and the mouse are used to instruct image capture, input incidental information of image data, and set search conditions. Input data, image data, arithmetic processing data, etc. are stored and held in the memory 4. The arithmetic unit 5 performs arithmetic processing based on the input data, and the result is temporarily stored and held in the memory 4. Image data, search conditions, etc. are input to the display unit 6, and these are C
Displayed on RT. In FIG. 3, the scanner 1 is an image capturing unit that captures an image by converting it into image data, and the captured image data is stored in an image storage device including a hard disk device 8.

On the other hand, a relational database system that stores data in a two-dimensional format consisting of rows and columns and handles the data in this format by means of an incidental information storage device comprising a computing unit 5, a memory 4, an external input / output unit 2 and a hard disk device 7. 10
And associated information storage means 20 for storing associated information added to the image data in corresponding columns of the two-dimensional area. Further, there is provided a display unit 6 for searching the image data stored in the hard disk device 8 using the accompanying information as a search condition and displaying the image data on a CRT display.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of associated information and its database in the apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the incidental information of the image data is incidental information A, incidental information B, incidental information C, and incidental information D. The contents of each of the four accompanying information are as shown in the figure. In the two-dimensional storage area of the relational database system, there are M columns from column 1 to column M. When the accompanying information is classified into attributes and stored in the two-dimensional storage area,
The item data in each column is as follows for each associated information. That is, in the incidental information A, the item data in column 1 is A1, column 2
Item data is A2, column 3 item data is A3, column 4 item data is A4, and column M item data is AM.

In the accompanying information B, the item data in column 1 is B1, the item data in column 2 is B2, the item data in column 3 is B3, and the item data in column 4 is B41, B42, ...
.., B4N, ..., The item data of column M is BM. In the incidental information C, the item data in column 1 is C
Item data in column 1 and column 2 is C2, item data in column 3 is C
3, the item data in column 4 is C41, C42, ..., And the item data in column M is CM.

Further, in the accompanying information D, the item data in column 1 is D1, the item data in column 2 is D2, the item data in column 3 is D3, the item data in column 4 is D4, ... The item data of is DM. The number of item data in column 4 of the incidental information B is N, and the number of item data in column 4 of the incidental information C is 2. Here, a process when the item data of the incidental information is stored in the two-dimensional storage area will be described. When the number of item data items of all attributes is 1 as in the incidental information A and the incidental information D shown in FIG. 1, the item data corresponding to each column is stored in one row of the two-dimensional storage area. It

On the other hand, a plurality of item data of a certain attribute (W
If the number of the item data items is W, the W item data items are stored using the same number of lines as the number W of the item data items in the two-dimensional storage area. At this time, in the column corresponding to the attribute in which the number of item data is 1, the one item data is overlapped and stored for W rows. In the case of an attribute having a plurality of item data numbers, such as the incidental information B and the incidental information C shown in the figure, individual item data is stored in each row of the corresponding column.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of storing the employee list in the relational database system in the apparatus of the present invention. First, a face photograph of an employee is taken in as image data by the scanner 1, and as the incidental information of the image data, the employee number, name, affiliation, and hobby are stored in the relational database system 10 shown in FIG.
Is stored in the storage area of the two-dimensional format. The image number is a number indicating the correspondence with the image data. In this example, the facial photographs of four people, Yamada, Sato, Saito, and Hashimoto are taken in, the employee numbers of each are 101, 102, 103, 104, and their affiliations are general affairs, general affairs, design, and technology. , The respective image numbers are 1, 2, 3, and 4.

In FIG. 4, Yamada's hobbies are tennis, skiing, and golf, Sato's hobby is skiing, Saito's hobby is golfing, tennis, and Hashimoto's hobby is golfing.
Is one. The accompanying information of Sato and Hashimoto, which has only one hobby item data, is stored in a separate line in the employee list. The accompanying information of Yamada and Saito, which has a plurality of hobby item data, is stored in three lines and two lines of the employee list, respectively. The same data is redundantly stored in columns other than hobby. For example, the employee number of Yamada stores 101 in three lines.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views showing an example of the result of the condition search for the employee list shown in FIG. The description of the search condition is shown by an example in SQL (Structure Query Language) which is a standard access language for databases. DISTINCT in this SQL specifies an operation to combine duplicate data into one data. In FIG. 5, (a) is an example of a case where a face photograph of an employee whose affiliation is general affairs is retrieved from the employee list shown in FIG. The search results in this case are image numbers 1 and 2, that is, Yamada and Sato.

In FIG. 4, (b) shows an example in which a face photograph of an employee whose affiliation is designed is retrieved from the employee list shown in FIG. The search result in this case is image number 3, that is, Saito. Further, (c) shows an example of a case where a face photograph of an employee whose hobby is skiing is searched from the employee list shown in FIG. The search results in this case are image numbers 1 and 2, that is, Yamada and Sato. Further, in FIG. 6, (d) shows an example of a case where a face photograph of an employee whose hobby is golf is retrieved from the employee list shown in FIG. The search results in this case are image numbers 1, 3, and 4.
That is, Yamada, Saito, and Hashimoto.

Further, FIG. 6E shows an example of a case where a face photograph of an employee whose hobby is tennis is retrieved from the employee list of FIG. The search results in this case are image numbers 1 and 3, that is, Yamada and Saito. By using the search conditions as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the accompanying information stored in one line of the two-dimensional storage area and the accompanying information stored in a plurality of rows of the two-dimensional storage area Can be treated the same.

In the accompanying information for each image data, when a plurality of attributes have a plurality of item data respectively, as shown in an example in FIG. 8, in the area of the two-dimensional format. Each item data is stored in a plurality of rows in each column corresponding to the plurality of attributes, and the same item data is stored in the remaining columns except the columns corresponding to the plurality of attributes, whereby one line is stored. The stored accompanying information and the accompanying information stored in a plurality of rows of the two-dimensional storage area can be treated in the same manner. That is, the plurality of lines can be treated as one line.

[0020]

According to the image filing apparatus of the present invention, incidental information added to image data can be stored in the relational database system with almost no limitation on its length, and the incidental information can be efficiently stored. Further, even when the relational database system is searched by using the incidental information as a search condition, it is possible to treat one item data and a plurality of item data corresponding to a certain attribute of the incidental information as the same.
Images can be searched efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of incidental information and its database in the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method of storing incidental information in a relational database system in the image filing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of an image filing device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of storing an employee list in a relational database system in the device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a result of a condition search for the employee list shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a result of a condition search for the employee list shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a method of storing item data according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a method of storing item data according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Scanner (image capturing means) 2 ... External input / output unit 3 ... Input unit 4 ... Memory 5 ... Calculation unit 6 ... Display unit 7 ... Hard disk device (accompanying information storage device) 8 ... Hard disk device (image storage device) 10 ... Relational database system 20 ... Accompanying information storage means KB ... Keyboard CRT ... Cathode ray tube display device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A relationship in which an image capturing means for converting an image into image data and capturing the image data, an image storage device for storing the image data, data is stored in a two-dimensional format consisting of rows and columns, and the data is handled in this format. A database system, an incidental information storage unit that stores incidental information added to the image data in corresponding columns of the two-dimensional area, and the image data is searched and displayed using the incidental information as a search condition. And a plurality of item data having the same attribute in the incidental information for each image data.
Store multiple rows in the same column of a dimensional format area,
An image filing apparatus characterized in that the same item data is stored for each column in the other columns of the plurality of rows and the plurality of rows are treated as one row. 2. A relationship in which image capturing means for capturing an image by converting it into image data, an image storage device for storing the image data, data is stored in a two-dimensional format consisting of rows and columns, and the data is handled in this format. A database system, an incidental information storage unit that stores incidental information added to the image data in corresponding columns of the two-dimensional area, and the image data is searched and displayed using the incidental information as a search condition. And a plurality of attributes in the accompanying information for each of the image data, each of which has a plurality of item data, the two-dimensional area corresponding to each of the plurality of attributes. Each item data is stored in a plurality of rows in a column, the same item data is stored in the remaining columns except the column corresponding to the plurality of attributes, and the plurality of rows are regarded as one row. Image filing apparatus characterized by handle.