JPH0677261B2 - Document image information search method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Use of the Invention] The present application relates to an information retrieval system, and more particularly to a retrieval system for information of document images.

[Background of the Invention]

In recent years, document image files using large-capacity optical disks
Systems are gaining attention as a new document management tool. Since the optical disk has a large capacity and can record image data, it is possible to store forms, design drawings, contracts and other document information. However, as a search method, a relatively simple one has been developed by specifying a document name, classification code, keyword, etc. (for example,
Since “Nikkei Computer” 1983.12.26, pp. 62-64), there is still a problem in terms of operability.

For example, in the patent publication, the drawing is posted on a page different from the document description page. In general, the description of one page may incorporate the description of another page. In such cases, it is desirable to have the function of comparing and referencing one page and other pages associated with it, but in conventional systems, since each puge is only displayed individually, those pages are frequently displayed. There was a hassle to switch to and display.

[Object of the Invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a document image information retrieval system,
Contrast a page with other pages associated with it
It is to make the reference easy.

[Outline of Invention]

According to the present invention, a page specified by a search command and other related pages (for example, a page of a description sentence and a page of a reference drawing) are searched together from document image information accumulated in a file, and the pages are searched for The above problem is solved by displaying the plurality of windows of one display or the plurality of windows individually in synchronization with each other. The first search for the related page may be automatically performed, and the remaining related pages may be searched after waiting for an external command. In addition to the table for normal search, prepare a table for related page search linked to it,
When the desired table is found on the former table, it is advantageous to refer to the latter table linked to it to retrieve the related page.

Example of Invention

First, the outline of the processing according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b). FIG. 2A is an example of the document image information stored in the file, and the document name is assumed to be "seal stamp verification". This document contains pages 1,2,
... and drawing pages 10, 11, ..., referring to "Figure 1" on page 1 and "Figure 2" on page 2
, The description page and the drawing page are associated with each other. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the present invention automatically searches and displays the page 10 of the reference drawing "FIG. 1" when searching the description text of page 1, for example. Similarly, if the descriptive text of page 2 is searched, the page of the drawing "FIG. 2" to which it refers is also automatically searched and displayed.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Examples. FIG. 1 shows an example of a document image information retrieval system to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 1 is a microprocessor (CP).
U), 2 is main memory (MM), 3 is keyboard (KB), 4
Is the image scanner (IS), 5 is the file device (F
D), 6 is a bit map memory (BM), 7 is an image processor (IP), 8 is a display control unit (DC),
9 is a CRT display.

The document information stored in the file device 5 is shown in FIG.
As shown in, it consists of pages of description text and pages of drawings. A table showing the correspondence between these descriptive texts and the reference drawing is prepared, and this will be referred to as a reference table. This reference table is created for each document when the document information is registered in the file device 5, and is stored in the file device 5. Further, a file management table is prepared in order to manage the document information stored in the file device 5. As shown in FIG. 3, the file management table 10 includes a document name of each document information, the number of pages, a storage start address (A ₁ , A ₂ , ...) Of each page, and a data length (D ₁ , D ₂ ,. ), Etc., and stores the storage start address of the reference table 11 of the document information. The file management table 10 is also stored in a predetermined area of the file device 5. The reference table 11 holds, for each page of the description sentence, the number of pages of the referenced drawing and each page. In this example, the following condition is assumed for convenience of explanation, but the present invention can be applied to the case of handling other general document information that does not satisfy this condition. The above-mentioned assumed conditions are as follows.

(1) The document information consists of a description page and a drawing page, all of which are represented by dot pattern images.

(2) The width and length (the number of dots) of each page are constant.

(3) Each page of the descriptive text refers to a drawing of up to M pages. However, drawings of other document information are not referred to.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the document information having the document name "COMPUTER" consists of 8 pages, the description of page 1 refers to the drawings of page 4 and page 5, and the description of page 2 does not have a reference drawing. , The description on page 3 refers to the drawings on pages 6, 7, and 8.

Next, a procedure for registering the document information in the file device 5 will be described. FIG. 4 shows a processing flow of the microprocessor 1 in this registration processing, and the processing contents are as follows.

a) Process 110: The document name and the number of pages of the document information to be registered are displayed on the keyboard 3
To reset the page counter (PC) to zero.

b) Process 120: Update the page counter (that is, PC ← PC + 1).
Then, the image data of the page is input from the scanner 4 and stored in the bit map memory 6.

c) Process 130: The storage address of the page is determined based on the empty area information of the file device 5. Then, the image data of the page existing on the bit map memory 6 is converted into an image.
Data is compressed by the processor 7 and stored in the file device 5. Further, the head address and the data length in which the image data of the page is stored are registered in the file management table.

d) Process 140: If the page counter matches the total number of pages of the document information, the process proceeds to process 150. If they do not match, the process returns to step 120.

e) Process 150: A reference table is created by inputting the reference relationship between the page of the description text of the document information and the page of the drawing from the keyboard 3. The created reference table is stored in the file device 5, and its storage address is registered in the file management table.

FIG. 5 shows a processing flow of the microprocessor 1 in the search processing. The processing content will be described below.

a) Process 210: Input the document name of the document information to be searched from the keyboard 3. Also, both the page counter (PC) and figure counter (FC) are initialized to 1.

b) Process 220: Obtain the storage address and the data length of the image of one page indicated by the page counter (PC) in the document information. This process is performed by referring to the file management table. Then, this one-page image is read from the file device 4, the data is decompressed by the image processor 7, and the data is stored in the bit map memory 6.

c) Process 230: By checking the contents of the reference table, it is checked whether or not there is a drawing to be referred to on the page. When the reference drawing exists, the process 240 is performed. When the reference drawing does not exist, the process 250 is performed.

d) Process 240: Obtain the storage address and the data length of the page of the reference drawing in the order indicated by the figure counter (FC) on the page. This processing is performed by referring to the reference table and the file management table. Next, the image of this reference drawing is transferred to the file device 5.
Read out, decompress the data with the image processor 7,
Reduce at a given ratio. The image of this reduced reference drawing
It is combined with the image on the bit map memory 6 generated in the process 220. That is, as shown in FIG. 2B, an image in which the page of the description sentence and the page of the reference drawing are combined is formed on the bit map memory 6.

e) Process 250: The image on the bit map memory 6 is displayed on the display 9.

f) Process 260: Input the next command from the keyboard 3. The command accepted here is a command for displaying the next reference drawing for the page of the description text, a command for displaying the previous reference drawing for the page of the description text, a command for displaying the description text of the next page, the previous The command is to display the description text of the page, the command to request the end of the search process, and the like. In case of the command, FC ← FC + 1
In the case of the command of and, the figure counter (FC) is updated as in FC ← FC-1. In addition, in the case of the command, PC ← PC + 1, and in the case of the command, PC ←
The page counter (PC) is updated like PC-1.

g) Process 270: If the command input in process 260 is a command for displaying the next or previous reference drawing, the process proceeds to process 240. For other commands, the process proceeds to process 280.

h) Process 280: When the command input in process 260 is a command for displaying the next or previous description sentence, the process proceeds to process 220. For other commands, the search process is terminated.

The process 240 is a screen compositing process for realizing the multi-window screen shown in FIG. 2 (b). Generally, in a multi-window screen, a part of an image to be displayed (descriptive text and reference drawing in this embodiment) is often cut out as a window, and reduced or enlarged for composite display. Scrolling and zooming are possible by changing the cutout position and the reduction / enlargement ratio. It is also possible to control the size and position of each window on the display screen, and the vertical relationship of overlapping. The method of realizing these display control functions is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-91492 (control system of image display device) relating to the invention of the present inventors, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

Also, another display method different from the above-described method of synthesizing images on the bit map memory is possible. For example,
The method shown in FIG. 6 is based on the area A1 on the bit map memory.
The images of the page of the description sentence and the page of the reference drawing are stored in 2 and B13 respectively, and the read address of the bit map memory is switched between the areas A and B during the raster scanning for the refresh of the display 9. Thus, the descriptive text and the reference drawing are combined and displayed. That is, only when the raster scanning point is in the shaded area 16 in FIG.
The shaded area 17 on the area B13 of the bit map memory is read, and at other times, the area A1 of the bit map memory is read.
It controls the read address of the bit map memory so that 2 is read.

As yet another method, as shown in FIG. 7, it is also possible to apply a video signal processing technique to perform composite display. This method uses a wipe function and a mix function that are often used in special effect devices for TV images. In FIG. 7, 21 is a keyboard (KB), 22 is a microprocessor, 23 and 24 are video files (VF), 25 is a video signal generator (SG), 26 is a video mixer, 27 is a display, 3
1, 32 are synchronization signals, 33, 34 are control signals for the video files 23, 24, 35 is a control signal for the video mixer 26, 36, 3
Reference numeral 7 is video information output by the video files 23 and 24.
In the figure, video files 23 and 24 store video information of a description sentence page and a drawing page, respectively. In response to the search request input from the keyboard 21, the microprocessor 22 reads the video information of the corresponding descriptive text from the video file 23. Also, the video information of the corresponding reference drawing is read from the video file 24. Video information 36 to 37 (for example, NTSC format signals or RGB signals) from these video files are combined by the video mixer 26 and displayed on the display 27. The video mixer 26 has a wipe function and a mix function, and the selection of these functions, the designation of the video synthesis area, the designation of the synthesis ratio, etc. are controlled by the signal 35 from the microprocessor 22. Video information 36 and 37
It is also possible to combine by changing the color tone and brightness. The video signal generator 25 in the figure generates horizontal / vertical synchronizing signals, sub-carriers, etc., and sends them to the video files 23, 24 and the video mixer 26. In this method as well, an image scanner, a main memory, etc. are provided, but since they are the same as in the case described above, they are omitted in the figure.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, various modifications different from the above embodiments are possible.

(1) A plurality of display devices may be used to display the page of the description sentence and the page of the reference drawing on different displays.

(2) The target document image information is not limited to the dot pattern image, and encoded data such as a character code and a graphic vector may be mixed.

(3) In the description page, when referring to other description page or its partial area, or added comment data, etc., in addition to the drawing, the same applies to the reference between drawings. Can be processed.

(4) The same applies when there is a correspondence relationship in which different pieces of document information refer to each other.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously view a page with document information and other pages related to it (for example, descriptive text and reference drawing), so that those pages are frequently switched and displayed. As a result of not being bothersome, the operability is improved and the comparison examination is easy.
Search efficiency is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an information retrieval system to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the outline of processing in the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a table used in the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of registration processing, FIG. 5 is a flow chart of search processing, FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of screen synthesis processing, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a screen synthesis processing apparatus. . 1 ... Microprocessor, 2 ... Main memory, 3 ... Keyboard, 4 ... Image scanner, 5 ... File device, 6 ... Bitmap memory, 7 ... Image
Processor, 8 ... Display control unit, 9 ... Display, 12 ... Bit map memory description area, 13
…… Reference drawing area of the Bitmap memory, 15 …… Composite display screen.

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masatoshi Hino 1099, Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi, Ltd. System Development Laboratory (72) Inventor, Norihiro Nomura 1099, Ozen-ji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa (56) Reference JP-A-59-178567 (JP, A) JP-A-59-183458 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A file device for storing document image information,
A device for retrieving information stored in the file device;
In an information retrieval device having at least one display, a designated portion of document image information is retrieved from the file device in response to a retrieval command given from the outside, and the retrieved portion has related information. Sometimes at least a portion of this relevant information is retrieved from the file device and the contents of these retrieved portions are synchronously displayed individually in a plurality of windows of the display or in a plurality of the displays. Retrieval method for document image information that is characteristic. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first retrieval of the relevant information is automatically performed, and at least a part of the remaining relevant information is retrieved in response to an external command. Retrieval method for document image information that is characteristic. 3. A second table shown in claim 1 or 2, wherein a part specified by the search command is searched based on a first table, and the related information is searched for by a second table. A method for retrieving document image information, which is performed based on.