JPH07114610A - Input device of information processing system and input method of information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Taking full advantage of the mark sheet method,
In addition, the layout of the information processing system is flexible, and the input device of the information processing system and the input method of the information processing system, in which setting and changing of check boxes and explanations are easy, are provided. (Claim 1) Output request of instruction document 91 for entry from user by DTMF or the like → instruction document form information 12 of the instruction document is read out, developed into a visible image, and output from a designated FAX or the like. At the same time, analysis information 13 (positions of check boxes, information such as definitions assigned thereto) is extracted from this instruction document form information. The user checks and writes in the check box 93 and the like of the output instruction document 91 and the like, and the FAX.
Sending → Analyzing the positions of check boxes, etc. by referring to the analysis information, checking the presence of checks, reading definitions, etc. → Supplying the analysis results as input to the information processing system.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input device of an information processing system and an input method of the information processing system. The present invention relates to an input device of a system and an input method of an information processing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A mark sheet method is one form of input method for an information processing system. This method has advantages over the full keyboard and mouse, and it is still used for collecting questionnaires, scoring tests, and collecting orders. As an advantage of the mark sheet method, for example, the user does not have to remember each command,
Users can express desired items and instructions with a single pencil, and there is no need for each user to have a full keyboard or display device.Check boxes are filled in with check symbols and filled in. Can be used as input to the information processing system, can be stored in stacks, can be transported, etc. (Note that a check box is an area for filling check marks and filling areas. Note that "filling in check marks, filling, etc." is "check" below.
Express). This method can also be utilized as a general input method for information processing systems. JP-A-57-60
456, JP-A-63-8889, and JP-A-6.
No. 3-242060, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-183771, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-291767, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-408.
An example of an input method using this mark sheet is shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62 and the like.

By the way, the work performed by using the information processing system includes an immediate work and a work performed at a time interval. As an example of the former, there is something like viewing a screen on the spot and operating it with a keyboard or mouse as in the case of creating a document. There is a method in which after inputting a keyword, when the search result comes out, printing it out on a paper, spending a certain amount of time examining the contents, and then accessing it again to obtain more detailed materials. The mark sheet method is suitable for the latter work. That is, since the former work is carried out while confirming the display, the mark sheet method takes time rather. However, in the latter case, it is often more efficient to work by moving to the place where the material is placed, and in such a case, there is a feature that the work can proceed even without a full keyboard, display device, etc. A certain mark sheet method is more suitable. Even in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the mark sheet method is applied to such a field. In particular, JP-A-63-
No. 242060, JP-A No. 1-183771,
And in the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-291767, F
Mark sheets are transmitted using AX (facsimile). In recent years, FAX has spread as much as telephones, and in this respect, the mark sheet method using the FAX can fully utilize the advantages of the mark sheet method.

[0004]

However, the conventional mark sheet method has a functionally insufficient point as an input method of a general information processing system. The first is that the layout is not flexible. That is, in the conventional mark sheet, the timing mark is provided on one side or both sides of the top and bottom, and this is used as a mark for reading, and the check box can be placed only at a position aligned with the mark (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 2). -291767 gazette FIG.2c
See 56 and others). Therefore, it is difficult to lay out the mark sheet in a form that is easy for the user to understand. For example, assume a case where a list of files stored in a hierarchical structure is taken by the "DIR" command and a desired file is read from the list. In this case, it is preferable that the list be in a tree format from the viewpoint of readability. Also, it is preferable to place check boxes for selection, explanations, etc. beside each file name. However, in the conventional mark sheet format, the position of the check box is limited. For this reason, it has been difficult to freely arrange the check boxes and the explanations so that the tree format is adopted, the user can easily understand, or the balance is maintained.

Secondly, conventionally, the processing related to the output, reading, analysis, etc. of the mark sheet has been individually developed for each application software, which is, so to speak, integrated with the application software ("application software" will be referred to as " Application "). Therefore, even if an attempt is made to set or change the layout and display contents of the mark sheet depending on the output scene, application, etc., it takes a lot of man-hours to develop and change each software, and it is difficult to realize.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above drawbacks of the prior art, and to fully utilize the advantages of the mark sheet method.
Moreover, it is to provide an input device of an information processing system and an input method of the information processing system, the layout of which is flexible and in which check boxes and explanations can be easily set and changed.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, in the invention of claim 1, the instruction document output means for expanding the instruction document form information and outputting the instruction document for user entry, and the instruction document form information. Extraction means for extracting analysis information for analyzing the instruction document after the user has entered,
The information processing apparatus further comprises: a holding unit that holds the extracted analysis information; and an analysis unit that analyzes the received instruction document information after the user's entry by referring to the analysis information, and receives the instruction document information after the user entry. , The information obtained by the analysis of the information is input to the information processing system. In the invention of claim 2, an instruction instruction document output procedure for expanding instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user entry, and analysis information for analyzing the instruction document after user entry from the instruction document form information. And a holding procedure for holding the analysis information extracted by the extraction means in a holding means, and an analysis procedure for analyzing the information of the received instruction document after the user's entry by referring to the analysis information. The information of the instruction document after the user's entry is accepted, and the information obtained by the analysis of the information is input to the information processing system.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, an instruction instruction document output means for expanding instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user entry, and an instruction document after user entry is analyzed from the instruction document form information. The extraction means for extracting the analysis information, the holding means for holding the extracted analysis information in association with the form identification information attached to the output instruction document, and the form identification information of the received instruction document after the user input. A recognition unit for recognizing; and an analysis unit for accessing the holding unit and referring to the analysis information corresponding to the recognized form identification information to analyze the information of the received instruction document filled in by the user, The information of the instruction document after the user's entry is accepted, and the information obtained by the analysis of the information is input to the information processing system. In the invention of claim 4, an instruction instruction document output procedure for expanding instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user entry, and analysis information for analyzing the instruction document after user entry from the instruction document form information. The extraction procedure for extracting the extracted analysis information, the holding procedure for holding the extracted analysis information in the holding means in association with the form identification information attached to the output instruction document, and the form identification information of the received instruction document after the user input. The recognition procedure includes a recognition procedure for recognizing, and an analysis procedure for accessing the holding means and referring to analysis information corresponding to the recognized form identification information to analyze information of the received instruction document after the user has entered, The information of the filled-in instruction document is accepted, and the information obtained by the analysis of the information is input to the information processing system.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, for editing the instruction document output means for expanding the instruction document form information and outputting the instruction document for user editing, and for analyzing the instruction document after the user editing from the instruction document form information. An extracting unit for extracting the analysis information, a holding unit for holding the extracted analysis information, and an analyzing unit for analyzing the information of the received instruction document after the user editing with reference to the analysis information, Information of the instruction document after user editing is accepted, and the information obtained as a result of the analysis of the information is input to the information processing system. In the invention of claim 6, an editing instruction document output procedure for expanding the instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user editing, and analysis information for analyzing the instruction document after user editing from the instruction document form information. Including an extraction procedure for extracting the extracted analysis information, a holding procedure for holding the extracted analysis information in a holding unit, and an analysis procedure for analyzing the information of the received instruction document after user editing with reference to the analysis information, The information of the edited instruction document is accepted, and the information obtained as a result of the analysis of the information is input to the information processing system.

According to the invention of claim 7, extraction means for extracting analysis information for analyzing the instruction document after the user has entered from the instruction document form information, and form identification information for generating form identification information for identifying the instruction document. Generating means,
Holding means for holding the extracted analysis information in association with the form identification information attached to the output instruction document, and expanding the form information of the instruction document requested to be output, for user entry including the identification code. Instruction input document output means for outputting an instruction document, recognition means for recognizing the form identification information of the received instruction document after user input, and analysis information corresponding to the recognized form identification information by accessing the holding means. And analyzing means for analyzing the information of the received instruction document after the user's entry and supplying the result as input data to the information processing system, and the information processing system executed for the supplied input data. Form information generating means for generating form information of a new instruction document for notifying the user of the result of the predetermined processing, It said respective means to newly execute processing each for over beam information. According to the invention of claim 8, a procedure for extracting analysis information for analyzing the instruction document after the user has entered from the instruction document form information, a procedure for generating form identification information for identifying the instruction document, and the extracted analysis. A procedure for holding information in correspondence with the form identification information attached to the output instruction document, and expanding the form information of the instruction document requested to be output, and outputting the instruction document for user entry including the identification code. The procedure, the procedure of recognizing the form identification information of the received instruction document after the user has entered, and the analysis information corresponding to the recognized form identification information by accessing the holding procedure are referred to A procedure for analyzing the information in the instruction document and supplying the result as input data to the information processing system,
A step of generating form information of a new instruction document for notifying a user of a result of a predetermined process executed by the information processing system with respect to the supplied input data. Perform each procedure anew.

[0011]

A visible image of various instruction documents (dot images representing characters, figures, etc.) used in each application, for example, a visible image of an instruction document as shown in FIG. 2 is generated by a word processor or the like, and its contents are It is expressed in PDL (Page Description Language) or the like. This content is stored in the hard disk or the like as instruction document form information. In the present specification, what corresponds to the conventional “mark sheet” is referred to as “instruction document”. That is, the layout of the conventional mark sheet is limited. However, the present invention does not have this. Also, you can freely include explanations. Therefore, in order to emphasize that it is different from the conventional mark sheet, the name "document" is used. Information such as definitions assigned to the check boxes is added to the instruction document form information representing the content of the instruction document in a format that is not printed out. (Format that is not printed out: Arguments of PDL macro commands, etc. Definition: Various things that should be passed to the information processing system as input (commands, character strings, numerical values, etc.))

According to the first or second aspect of the present invention, for example, when the user issues a request to output a fill-in instruction document, the instruction document form information for the specified instruction document is read out and developed into a visible image. . This visible image is output from the designated FAX or the like. At this time, analysis information, that is, the position of the check box, information such as the definition assigned thereto, and the like are extracted from the instruction document form information. This information is used to analyze the content of processing such as checking performed by the user on the instruction document. Specifically, the position and size of the check box are extracted from the script portion of the PDL, etc., and the definition is extracted from the argument of the macro definition and the comment sentence portion. The extracted analysis information is held in a hard disk or other holding means.

With respect to the output instruction document for output, for example, the instruction document shown in FIG. 2, the user checks the check boxes of “store”, “technology”, and “server 1”, for example, and prints by FAX. It is assumed that the data is transmitted to the device according to the invention. The content analysis of the received instruction document is performed with reference to the analysis information of the instruction document stored in the storage unit. With this, for example, each check for “store”, “technology”, and “server 1” is supported, and the command or character string assigned to that check, for example, “comman”
d = store "," category = techno "
Commands and character strings such as “logy” and “server = # 1” are supplied to the application. The application performs processing corresponding to this input. As a result of this processing, if there is an input instruction document to be output to the user, the application requests the apparatus according to the present invention to output the input document.

According to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, the form identification information managed by the apparatus according to the present invention is added to the output of the entry instruction document. The same form identification information is attached to the analysis information extracted from this instruction document form information. (Hereafter, "form identification information" is "form I
Also referred to as “D” and “FormID”. This is also shown in the figure). When a user-entered instruction document is input, the analysis information is read out based on the form identification information attached to the instruction document. The contents written by the user are analyzed with reference to this. In the invention of claim 5 or 6, the content of the instruction document is displayed on the screen of the workstation or the like. Instead of checking with a writing instrument, a user operates a mouse or a keyboard to enter a check mark or a character in a check box or a character entry area that is displayed. After this, for example, the function key of "completion" is pressed. The contents of editing on this screen are analyzed, and the definitions assigned to the respective check boxes are passed to the application as input data.

Also in the invention of claim 7 or 8, the entry instruction document is managed by the form identification information. When a user-entered instruction document is input, the content written by the user is analyzed based on this form identification information. Then, the result is supplied as input data to the information processing system, and in order to notify the user of the result of the predetermined processing executed by the information processing system, further form information of the new instruction document is generated. Then, with respect to this new form information, each procedure is newly re-executed, such as extraction of new analysis information, addition of new form identification information, output of a new entry instruction document via FAX, etc. .

[0016]

The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. The configuration of the embodiment is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a LAN
(Local area network), through which workstations 4 and 6 (denoted as “W / S” in the figure), a personal computer 3 (denoted as “PC” in the figure), file servers 1 and 2 (reference numeral 2, 5) Others are connected. It should be noted that parts that can be understood without a reference sign are omitted as appropriate from the front-back relationship. An input unit 7 is composed of a full keyboard, a mouse and the like. 8 is a display device, CR
It is composed of T, LCD and the like. An image scanner 9 is used for locally inputting an instruction document (instruction document after entry by the user) checked by the user and entered characters. A printer 10 is used to locally output a fill-in instruction document from the workstation 6. Reference numeral 11 is a hard disk, which is instruction document form information 1
2 and analysis information 13 are held. 14 is a fax modem,
A public line (ISDN) 15 is used for transmitting and receiving FAX data between the FAX 16 and the workstation 6.

The workstation 6 comprises an application 21 and an input / output control unit 22. Input / output control unit 2
2 is a command receiving unit 31, an instruction document output unit 32,
The analysis information extraction unit 33, the received document analysis unit 34, and the editing content detection unit 35 are provided. The command reception unit 31 is FA
A voice response corresponding to a user's call by a push button of X16, a key of the input unit 7 or a mouse operation, reception of an input instruction document number, supply of the number to the instruction document output unit 32, and the like are performed. The instruction document output unit 32
The instruction document form information 12 of the requested instruction document is read from the hard disk 11. Then, after adding form identification information to this, it is developed into a dot image (visible image). The developed image data is stored in the printer 10
It is output from the or FAX 16 as an instruction document for entry.
The image may be output to the display unit 8 in the form of an image. The analysis information extraction unit 33 extracts the analysis information 13 from the instruction document form information 12 output at this time. The extracted analysis information 13 is added with the same form identification information as the entry instruction document and is stored in the hard disk 11.

For the instruction document output from the FAX 16 and the printer 10, the user writes check marks, writes characters, and the like. The instruction document that has been filled in and written (instruction document after user entry) is FAX1.
6 or from the image scanner 9. The reception document analysis unit 34 detects the form identification information from the identification pattern 41 (FIG. 2) of the image data of the instruction document after user entry. Then, the analysis information 13 having the same form identification information as this is read from the hard disk 11. With reference to this, first, the positions of the check box 42 (FIG. 2) and the character entry area 83 (FIG. 9) of the completed instruction document input at that time are determined. (Note that if the same name (the one with the same reference numeral, for example, check box 42) needs to be indicated individually, a number is added after the reference numeral.) Checked box 42 or character Based on the position of the writing area 83, the check whether or not the check mark is written in them, the extraction of the image data, and the like are performed. Then, for the check box 42 in which the check mark is written, the definition assigned to the check box is read from the analysis information, and these are supplied to the corresponding application as the input data by the post-user instruction document at this time. .

Regarding the entry instruction document output to the display unit 8 in the form of screen display, the user writes a check symbol, enters characters, etc. on the display unit 8 by operating the mouse or keyboard of the input unit 7. Edit the instruction document for entry). Since this operation is executed on the workstation 6, it is easy to detect which check box is entered by the user in the check box and what is written in the character entry area 83. The edit content detection unit 35 collates the detection result with the analysis information of the instruction document stored in the hard disk 11 at this time, and supplies the definition assigned thereto to the corresponding application as the input at that time.

An example 40 of the entry instruction document is shown in FIG.
The instruction document 40 is generated for image data registration in the image data database (image filing system). In the figure, 4
Registration marks 3-1 to 43-4 are used as a reference for the coordinates of the instruction document 40. Based on this, the correction of the distortion of the image data of the input post-writing instruction document, the detection of the positions of the check boxes 42-1 to 42-8, and the like are performed. Reference numeral 44 indicates the title of the instruction document, which is displayed as "format paper example" in FIG. An identification pattern 41 following this represents the form identification information attached to this instruction document. The form identification information is FAX1
6. When outputting from the printer 10, the instruction document output unit 32
Is given by. In this embodiment, the form identification information is represented by four hexadecimal digits (16 bits). Considering the convenience of handling,
For example, a range of form identification information may be assigned to each application, such as “1000 series” for application 1 and “2000 series” for application 2.

The display form of the form identification information is arbitrary. A bar code, OCR characters, or any other display format may be used. In this embodiment, the white and filled squares are associated with the values "0" and "1" of each bit, and the "form I
The squares are arranged after the title character "D" to form the identification pattern 41, and the form identification information is displayed. However, in FIG. 2, simple filling and white outline are alternately arranged. The display 45 shows the content of the processing executed by the instruction document 40. Here, check box 42
It is displayed that the "store process (image data registration process)" is executed by entering a check mark in -1. Each display following the display of << Store option >> shows items (options) that can be selected in relation to this "store" process. Here, the category (classification)
And, you can select the file server that stores the image. The layout of the instruction document 40 is not limited to this example. Moreover, what is not limited is a big feature of the present invention.

An example 51 of the instruction document form information is shown in FIG. The instruction document form information 51 describes the contents of the instruction document for writing 40 in FIG. 2 and represents a visible image of the instruction document 40. This instruction document form information 51
Is of the same nature as a normal word processor document file. Therefore, the entry instruction document 40 can also be created with the same configuration as a normal word processor or DTP software. That is, on the screens of these devices, a check box 42 is placed at a desired position and a descriptive character (“technology”, “plan”, etc.) or a heading (“category”) is placed near the desired position in the same procedure as when creating a normal document. ""file server"
Etc.) with the full key, for example, the instruction document 4
Create a visible image of 0 and store it as a document file. This file can now be the directing document form information. It should be noted that it is efficient to define a command for setting a symbol or figure commonly used in each instruction document, such as the registration mark 43 or the check box 42, by a macro instruction or the like. For example, check box 42 and registration mark 43
For example, place the cursor at the desired position and
It is advisable to input a command such as "ckbox" so that a check box is set there.

In the instruction document form information 51,
The definition assigned to each check box 42 is incorporated. This integration can also be realized by the conventional method. For example, if the instruction document creating apparatus is configured so that the check box can be set by the command input of "checkbox" as in the above example, when this command is input, the definition of "allocation definition?" Such an inquiry message may be displayed on the screen, and the data input at this time may be fetched as the definition assigned to the check box 42. It should be noted that this definition refers to what should be supplied to the application as input data corresponding to the check state of the check box as described above. Therefore, like “technology” or “plan” attached to each check box 42 in FIG.
The content is different from the visible image for explaining the processing content to the user. However, both may be common. Therefore, this definition is incorporated in the instruction document form information in a format such as a comment sentence that is not printed out on paper.

In this embodiment, the data format (description language) is Postscript (US Ado).
be company)) is used. Other PDLs such as Inte
You may use rpress, HPGL, PCL5,
The data format of each company's word processor may be used. Of course, a unique data format may be used. In this embodiment, the registration mark 43, the identification pattern 41, and the check boxes 42 are also included.
Commonly used in each instruction document such as "Re
"gistration Mark""FormID"
Collect in macro command format such as "Checkbox",
It is stored in the file "formlib.ps" in the directory / usr / imgui / lib / ps. In the present embodiment, the definition assigned to each check box 42 is included in the instruction document form information in the form of the argument of this macro instruction (for example, the macro instruction “C in FIG. 2”.
"(CATEGORY)" and "(Te
(Chical) ”). (Note that the configuration of each macro instruction is omitted. These are commands defined in respective languages if the specifications of the processing content, the registration mark 43, the identification pattern 41, the check boxes 42, etc. of the visible image are defined. Can be easily realized by the combination of.

An example 61 of analysis information is shown in FIG. This analysis information 61 is of the instruction document 40 shown in FIG.
When this instruction document is output from X16 or the like, the analysis information extraction unit 33 extracts it from the instruction document form information shown in FIG. 3 and outputs the form identification information (Form ID = aa).
aa) is added and stored in the hard disk 11. In the case of the example 61 of FIG. 4, the fourth and subsequent lines are direct analysis information. Here, "^" is used as a separator and each parameter is described in order. Note that each parameter is shown in FIG.
Are described in the order shown in the second to third lines. Hereinafter, these contents will be described in order. “Item” indicates the type of area in which the user writes a check mark or writes a character. As a type, "check box",
There are "numerical value input area" and "handwritten image input area". Examples of these are shown in FIG. In the figure, 81 is a "check box", which is the same as 42 in FIG.
This is indicated by "CB" at the beginning of the fourth and following lines in FIG. Note that the check boxes 81-2, 81-5 and the like are filled in here to indicate an example of the instruction document after the entry. Reference numeral 82 is a “numerical value input area” in which the FAX number and the like are handwritten by tracing the six points of the mark. This number is image analyzed and supplied as numerical data to the corresponding application. In the analysis information, this is represented as "NUM" (not shown in FIG. 4, because there is no such area in the instruction document 40 in FIG. 2). Reference numeral 83 is an image format input area, and the written characters and figures are supplied to the application as its image data.
The usage of the image data on the application side is arbitrary, but for example, in the instruction document 80 of FIG. 9, the title of the image data to be stored in the database is written here. In the analysis information 61, this information is "IMA
GE ”(not shown in FIG. 4 because there is no such area in the instruction document 40 in FIG. 2).

In the second line of FIG. 4, the two parameters <x1> and <y1> following <item> are the coordinates (absolute coordinates from the origin, unit) of these user input areas 81, 82 and 83. "Point"). In order to facilitate the creation of the fill-in instruction documents 40, 80, etc., in this embodiment,
It defines a relative address similar to a tab. The following two parameters <x2> and <y2> are the same user input area 8
The positions 1, 82 and 83 are represented by this relative address. The parameters <xl> and <yl> represent the sizes of the user input areas 81, 82, 83, etc. in the X and Y directions (unit “point”). The parameter <func> is the definition (command,
Name). The next <value> represents the value (argument) of this definition.

Each parameter <uid>, <pid>, <
gid> is a parameter provided for the purpose of facilitating various processes on the application side, and is defined as follows, respectively. First, <uid> is unique identification information (unique identification information).
In n), different values are given so that each user input area can be distinguished. In the example of FIG. 4, serial numbers “1” to “8” are given to the check boxes CB (representing 42-1 to 42-8 in FIG. 2) on and after the fourth line. <Pid> is the parent input area identification information (parent
For identification, the value "0" is entered here for the parent, and the individual identification information <uid> of the parent's input area is described here for the child. In the example of FIG. 4, the check box CB (42-1 in FIG. 2) in the fourth row is a parent, and the check boxes CB (42-2 to 42-8 in FIG. 2) in the fifth row and below are its parents. . <Gid> is the group identification information (group
identification), the same value is given to user input areas belonging to the same group. In the example of FIG. 4, the fourth line to the ninth line (42-2 to 42-6 in FIG. 2)
To the 10th and 11th lines (Fig. 2).
42-7 to 42-8) are assigned the same value.

The overall operation will be described with reference to FIGS. The system shown here uses the instruction document according to the present invention to remotely access the database DB via the FAX 16. The database DB shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 is the workstation 6 of FIG.
It is assumed to include the input system (the input / output control unit 22, the hard disk 11 and each device connected to the input / output control unit 22) realized according to the present invention. (1) Registration of image data (FIG. 5). (A) First, call the database DB using the FAX 16 shown in FIG. 1 (71). In response to this call, the command reception unit 31 in FIG. 1 sends an appropriate voice message to the FAX 16 (for example, "This is a patent image database. Please enter your PIN and instruction document number." ). (B) Correspondingly, the previously registered personal identification number and the number representing the writing instruction document 91 for image data registration are input by DTMF (also 71. DTMF).
= Dual Tone Multi Frequency
y = touch-tone button). For example, if the entry instruction document 91 is provided with a number "1", then this "1" and the personal identification number "xxxx" are entered. A "#" symbol or the like is sandwiched between the two as a separator.

(C) The command receiving unit 31 supplies this input data to the instruction document output unit 32. In response to this, the instruction document output unit 32 calls the instruction document form information 12 for image registration from the hard disk 11, and attaches the form identification information IDn1 to it. As described above, the form identification information is assigned by assigning a certain range to each application. Here, "1000 series" for image data registration, "2000 series" for image data list request, image It is assumed that the form identification information in the "3000s" is attached to the search item. (D) The instruction document output unit 32 substitutes this form identification information into the variable <aaa> (the 14th line in the example of FIG. 3) of the instruction document form information 12 to make this image registration instruction document form information a visible image. expand. This variable <a
aaa> is an argument of the macro instruction “FormID”,
With this macro instruction, for example, the identification pattern 41 of FIG. 2 is generated. (E) The generated image data is supplied to the FAX 16 via the FAX modem 14, and is output as the entry instruction document 91 (72). The check box 93 and the character entry area 94 of the entry instruction document 91 are, of course, blank when output, but since the state after entry is also shown,
In FIG. 5, filling and character entry are performed (the same reference numeral 91 is used for both the “for writing (before entry)” instruction document and the “after entry” instruction document). The same applies to other figures. The analysis information extraction unit 33 extracts the analysis information 13 from the instruction document form information 12 at this time, stores it in the hard disk 11 with the same identification number IDn1.

(F) Here, "I" in the database DB
Image data (document) 92 is registered as “NAME = report 1” in the category “NDEX = technology 2”. Check box 93-2 of “Technology 2” of “INDEX” and “NAME” of the filling instruction document 91
Check box 93-13 is filled in, and "Report 1" is entered in the character entry area 94. (G) The written instruction document 91 is placed on the image data 92 to be registered and transmitted by the FAX 16. (H) The reception document analysis unit 34 analyzes whether or not the received image data of the instruction document (information of the instruction document after the entry) has the identification pattern 41. If there is a pattern, it is some kind of instruction document, so the form identification information is calculated from the filled state of each square. Here, the form identification information is IDn1. The reception document analysis unit 34 reads the analysis information 13 to which the identification information IDn1 is attached from the hard disk 11. Based on this, the image data of the post-filling instruction document 91 input at this time is analyzed, and which of the check boxes 93 is checked is determined.

(I) Next, the definition assigned to the checked check box 93 is read from the analysis information 13. If the "NAME" check box is checked, the image data of the character entry area 94 is cut out. (J) The reception document analysis unit 34 supplies these to the image registration application 95 as input data at this time. (K) The image registration application 95 executes processing corresponding to this input data. Here, the instruction document 9
1 instructs the “image data registration process”. The image registration application 95 uses the image data 92 transmitted subsequently to the instruction document 91.
Is stored in the category of “technology 2” of the storage device of the database DB together with the image data of the character entry area 93. As the storage device, the hard disk 11, the file server 1 (reference numeral 2), the file server 2 (reference numeral 5), etc. of FIG. 1 are used. There is a certain limit to the length of the file name when it is stored in the storage device. The image data of "report 1" written in the character writing area 94 is usually quite large and therefore unsuitable for use as a file name. Therefore, the image registration application 95 gives the file of the image data stored in the storage device of the database DB a file name according to its own rule, for example, a file name such as “REPORT1.IMG”. (L) If the data transmitted from the FAX 16 has an error (for example, the order or contents of the image data is incorrect), the received document analysis unit 34 executes a predetermined error process. For example, there is no first instruction document,
If there is no target image data after the image registration instruction document, the reception document analysis unit 34 issues an error message such as "the input order is incorrect". This error message is output on the FAX16 receiving sheet.

(2) Calling of image data (FIG. 6). The registered image data can be called by the following procedure. (A) Similar to the case of request image data registration of the category designation instruction document 101, the database DB
The user makes a telephone call and inputs the personal identification number and the number of the category designation instruction document, for example, "2" (102). (B) The command reception unit 31 supplies this input data to the instruction document output unit 32. In response to this, the instruction document output unit 32 calls the instruction document form information 12 of the category designation instruction document 101 from the hard disk 11, and attaches it to the free identification number IDn2 in the "2000 series", for example. (C) The instruction document output unit 32 substitutes this identification number IDn2 into the variable <aaa> of the instruction document form information 12 of the category designation instruction document 101 at this time, and develops this instruction document form information into a visible image. . (D) The generated visible image is supplied to the FAX 16 via the FAX modem 14 and output as the category designation instruction document 101 (103). Further, the analysis information extraction unit 33 extracts the analysis information 13 from the instruction document form information 12 of the category designation instruction document 101 output at this time, stores it in the hard disk 11 with the same identification number IDn2.

(E) Here, in the above example, "NAME
= Report 1 ”image data 92 is called. This image data 92 is registered in the category of “INDEX = technology 2”. The check box 105 of "Technology 2" in the "INDEX" field of the category designation instruction document 101 is filled in and transmitted by FAX 16 (104). (F) The reception document analysis unit 34 adds the identification pattern 41 to the received image data as in the case of image data registration.
Analyze whether there is. If there is a pattern, it is an instruction document. Identification information IDn2 from the filled state of each square
Figure out. The reception document analysis unit 34 uses the identification information ID
The analysis information 13 with n2 is added to the hard disk 11
Read from. Based on this, as in the case of image data registration, the checked check box 105
, And read the definition assigned to it. (G) Here, the output of the image data list 111 registered in “Technology 2” is requested. The reception document analysis unit 34 supplies the command having such contents to the image list application 106 as input data.

(H) Image list application 1
06 executes processing corresponding to this input data. That is, for each image data registered in the category “technology 2”, the image data written in each character entry area 94 is read from the database DB and supplied to the instruction document output unit 32 to list the image data. Request the output of the instruction document 111. (I) The instruction document output unit 32 calls the instruction document form information 12 of the specified image data list 111 from the hard disk 11 and gives it an identification number IDn3 that is vacant in the “3000 series”. Substitute for the variable <aaaa> of the instruction document form information 12 at the time. Then, this instruction document form information 12 is developed into a visible image, and the image data written in each character writing area 94 is converted into each image output area 112-1.
~ 112-8 to fit. Increase the number of pages when the number of registered image data is large. (J) The generated visible image is supplied to the FAX 16 via the FAX modem 14. This outputs the image data list 111 (121). Further, the analysis information extraction unit 33 extracts the analysis information 13 from the instruction document form information 12 of the image data list 111 output at this time, stores it in the hard disk 11 with the identification number IDn3. Each check box 113-
The analysis information for 1 to 113-8 is a file name given to each image data file by the image registration application 95 at the time of registration.

(K) Here, the document 92 of "NAME = report 1" is to be retrieved. The user fills in the check box 112-5 of "NAME = report 1" of the image list instruction document B161, and FAX
16 to send (122). (F) The reception document analysis unit 34 adds the identification pattern 41 to the received image data as in the case of image data registration.
Analyze whether there is. If there is a pattern, it is an instruction document. The format identification information IDn3 is calculated from the filled state of each square. The reception document analysis unit 34 reads the analysis information 13 to which the format identification information IDn3 is attached from the hard disk 11. Based on this,
As in the case of image data registration, the checked check box 113-5 is indexed and the definition assigned to it is read out. (G) "REPORT1.IMG file output" is assigned as a definition to the check box 113-5. The reception document analysis unit 34 uses the file name as input data for the image output application 107.
Supply to. (H) The image output application 107 outputs the registered image data 92 corresponding to this input data (131 in FIG. 8).

In the above description, input / output of the instruction document (40, 80, etc.) by the FAX 16 is taken as an example. The instruction document may be input and output by the image scanner 9 and the printer 10. Also, a mixture of these, such as the printer 1
An embodiment is also conceivable in which the input instruction document (40, 80, etc.) output at 0 is taken to a destination and is input by FAX from the destination. Further, the following embodiment without using paper is also conceivable. That is, first, the instruction document (40, 80, etc.)
Contents of the display device, for example, the display unit 8 of the workstation 6 in which the database DB is operating, LA
It is displayed on a display unit (not shown) such as another workstation 4 or personal computer 3 connected to N1. The check symbols and the characters are written in the displayed instruction documents (40, 80, etc.) by the respective input units 7.
Etc. are operated on this display device in the form of editing these instruction document form information. Then, this is supplied to the editing content detection unit 35, and the analysis processing is performed in the same manner as when it is transmitted by FAX. “Processing information on instruction document form and adding instruction content” in claims 5 and 6 refers to such an embodiment. It is also conceivable to mix input / output by the display unit 8 and input / output by paper.

Next, automatic generation of the instruction document will be described. Here, an example in which the present invention is applied to the input / output portion of the file system will be described (file system = system for performing file search, store, list, etc.). Here, a case where a stored file is searched will be further exemplified. When performing this processing, first, an instruction document requesting display (list) of a directory having a file system is input from an image input device (FAX 16, image scanner 9, etc.). The input / output control unit 22 analyzes this instruction document by image processing, accesses the file system, and takes a list of directories requested by the user. The embodiment system generates a new instruction document 141 based on the contents of this list and outputs it from the designated output device (FAX 16, printer 10).

Newly output instruction documents 141, 1
51 is shown in FIGS. Note that instruction documents 141 and 1
Since 51 is different only in the display contents of the icons 142 and 152, common parts will be explained and assigned only to the instruction document 141. The “icon” often refers to what is displayed on the display, but here, it includes both the one that is printed out on the paper of the instruction document and the one that is displayed on the display. The instruction document 141 includes a check area 143 for specifying the contents of the operation (processing), a check area 144 for specifying the output destination, and a desktop area 145 for displaying the result of the list.

In the desktop area 145, icons 14 representing files stored in the file system are displayed.
2 is displayed (reference numeral 142 is attached only to some icons). These icons 142 are displayed two-dimensionally with X and Y coordinates, and the values of the coordinates are stored inside the file system as an attribute of the file. The user
By designating these two-dimensional icons 142, the instruction document 141 can be used to continue desired processing (retrieval, file open, etc.) on files stored in the file system. I can. 142D is an icon representing a document,
F is an icon representing a folder, 146 is an example of a check added by a user, 147 is an area for writing an output FAX number, 148 is an area for handwriting a headline when storing a file, 149 is a reference, and 150 is handwritten input. It is an example of a title image.

FIG. 12 shows a system configuration for automatically generating the instruction documents 141, 151 and the like. The same reference numerals are given to the parts corresponding to those in FIG. The details of each part will be described below. a. Structure analysis part Analyzes the results (file contents requested by the user) listed by the file system for automatic generation of the instruction document. b. Output File Creation Unit The contents of the instruction document 141 or 151 are output as a file described in PDL. The output file creation unit b creates this output file. Specifically, the specified header file and Taylor file are read. In addition, the new form ID obtained from the form ID server h is embedded in it (for example, this is the form ID
It is displayed as 140 on the instruction document 141. ).

C. Desktop display unit The description in PDL for displaying the desktop 145 is incorporated in the output file. On the desktop 145, a total of 30 icons can be displayed, 5 vertically and 6 horizontally. On the desktop 145, as shown, the contents of the directory requested by the user can be displayed in characters or images. d. Icon display section The icon 142 is displayed on the desktop 145. The shape of the icon 142 changes depending on the attribute of the file. The file name is displayed as a character string or image. The filename represented by a character string is called "title text", and the filename represented by an image is called "title image".

E. TLI Communication Unit The TLI connects to the form ID server and obtains a new form ID (TLI = transport layer interface). f. Header / tailor import section Reads the header file / tailor file for the output file. g. Image capture area (1) Title image display area Displays the icon file name (if any) as a title image. The title image shall be retained as an attribute when the file is stored in the file system.

(2) Title text display section If there is no title image in the above (1), the title text is displayed here. The title text shall be retained as an attribute when the file is stored. (3) Desktop title image display section c. If there is a title image on the desktop, display processing is performed here. (4) SunRaster to PostScript converter Bitmap image file (SunRaste
r) is converted into PostScript and captured. h. Form ID server The form ID management file i is searched to obtain a new form ID.

The desktop form automatic generation unit 161 constituted by these, when the information (list) of the directory desired by the user is returned from the file system 21, analyzes this list information. Then, the directory is regarded as the desktop, and the file name of the directory is used as the desktop name. As described above, the files included in the directory are represented by icons in the desktop 145. Desktop 14
5, the name (“SCD” in the figure), the title image, the title text, etc., or the X and Y coordinates of the icon,
As mentioned above, the files are attached when they are stored, held as their attributes in the file system, and embedded in the desktop 145.

Details of the form ID server h shown in FIG. 12 are shown in FIG. The form ID of the instruction document is collectively managed by this form ID server h. The form ID server h has the following functions. (Function 1) When a new instruction document is generated, an unused form ID is assigned to the instruction document. (Function 2) The system (reception document analysis unit 34) is replied to which application 21 the form ID acquired by the image analysis of the input document after the user input is the image ID. As a result, the system (input / output control unit 22) outputs instruction documents of a plurality of applications,
The form ID can be centrally managed. (Function 3) Form IDs in the range set for each application are assigned. The setting range can be changed dynamically (rewriting the form ID management file). (Function 4) An analysis information file corresponding to the instruction document on a one-to-one basis is managed. At the arbitrarily specified time, the server deletes this analysis information file. As a result, the form ID corresponding to the analysis information file can be reused.

Each part of FIG. 13 will be described.・ Form ID creation unit (162) ◆ ha. TLI communication unit Communicates with the application 21 and the system. Communication is performed by TLI (transport layer interface). ◆ hb. Application / form ID acquisition / creation section A form ID or application name to be returned is created based on the information obtained from the form ID management file i and the analysis information file directory search section hd. ◆ hc. Application / Form ID Range Acquisition Unit Searches the form ID management file i to acquire information on the application / form ID range. ◆ hd. Analysis information file directory search unit Searches the directory in which the analysis information file is stored in order to check the used form ID. ◆ he. Erase File Reading / Writing Section In order to erase the analysis information file, the analysis information file to be erased is registered in the form ID deletion registration file j, or is searched at regular intervals. You can specify the time to delete and the search period in seconds. ◆ hf. System time acquisition unit Obtains the system time for the erase file read / write unit he.

Form ID management file A file mapping the application name and the range of form IDs that can be used by the application.
Gets the range of form IDs that can be used. By rewriting this file, the range of form IDs to be assigned can be changed. Therefore, even if the range of form ID is changed, the system does not need to be changed. The contents of the file are as follows. AP_SAVE 0001 0001 AP_LIST 0002 0002 AP_RETDEL 1000 1500 AP_S21 2000 2999 AP_DFR RETEDL 3000 3200 AP_DESKTOP 4000 4999

In the above file, the first character string is the application name, and the range of form IDs used by this application is represented by the second number (minimum value) and the third number (maximum value). . The form ID server h acquires the range of form IDs from this file and returns the following values to the application. When the minimum and maximum values are the same, the minimum value is returned. When the minimum value is greater than the maximum value, the minimum value is returned. The minimum value is 0 or less. NULL is returned. The maximum value is 9999 or more.

In cases other than the above, that is, in the normal case, the form ID server h searches the analysis information file management directory and returns the smallest value between the minimum value and the maximum value in the unused form ID. When all the form IDs in the range specified in the form ID management file have been used up, the maximum value in that range is continuously returned. -Form ID deletion registration file A file in which the analysis information file to be deleted is registered with the time to delete. The time can be specified in seconds.

The function of the form ID server h in the case of the function (1) will be described. Application 21
When the user attempts to output the result of the processing as a new instruction document, the application sends its application name to the form ID server h. Form ID
The server h first searches the form ID management file for the application name and obtains the range of the form ID. The form ID server h further looks up the directory in which the analysis information file is stored and searches for the currently used form ID. The smallest form ID other than the used form ID and within the range is returned to the application. Then, the analysis information file corresponding to the form ID is registered in the form ID deletion registration file j so as to be deleted after a specified time. Form I
The range of D can be changed dynamically regardless of the system.

Form ID server h for function (2)
The function of is explained. One instruction document is the system (2
2), the system performs image processing and the like to obtain the form ID of the instruction document. The system sends the form ID to the form ID server h. Contrary to the function (1), the form ID server h searches the form ID management file for the application name corresponding to the form ID and returns the application name to the system. The system launches the application with that name.

The function of the form ID server in the case of the function (3) will be described. First, the mapping between the form ID and the application name is described in the form ID management file. The form ID server h refers to this file. Therefore, by rewriting this, the mapping of the form ID range and the application name can be dynamically changed.

The function of the form ID server in the case of the function (4) will be described. In order to delete the analysis information file registered by the function (1), the form ID server h searches the form ID deletion registration file at regular intervals. When the form ID registered there exceeds the specified time, the form ID server h deletes the analysis information file corresponding to the form ID. As a result, the form ID is reused when another instruction document is output. The form IDs used in such an input system operating on each device connected to the LAN 1 may be centrally managed as a whole.

Another example 171 of the instruction document is shown in FIG.
This instruction document 171 is used when the file system is accessed and the result of the processing is automatically generated as a new instruction document, the reduced image 172 of the file stored in the file system, the image file name 173, the creation date and time, the creator. The file attributes such as 175 are displayed. The advantages of this style of instructional document are: -The file type can be displayed as an icon. The shape of the icon changes depending on the file, such as the document shape (176) for text files, the folder shape (177) for directories, and the book shape (not shown) for multiple text files. Can recognize the format of. This makes it possible to easily display a file system having a hierarchical structure. A reduced image 172 of the file can be displayed. This makes it easy to understand the contents of the file. If not only the image data but also the code data 174 is displayed as the reduced image, the image when output from a printer or the like can be expressed. -The handwritten image file name 173 of the file can be displayed. Displays the image as it is written by the user when the file is stored. This allows the user to easily distinguish the file when searching. In addition to the attribute display of the file illustrated above, an arbitrary attribute designated by the user may be displayed.

Next, an example of the two-dimensional arrangement of icons will be described with reference to FIGS. In this way, by moving the icons, files of the same type viewed from the user can be organized by the location of the icon. Also, the overall shape (arrangement) makes it easy to see which directory is being displayed in comparison with the user's memory. A case where it is applied to a file system as in the previous example will be described. Image input device (F
Suppose that an instruction document is input from AX16 or the like) and a list of a certain directory is requested. In this example, the instruction document 181 as shown in FIG. 15 is output.

The contents of the instruction document 181 will be described. Registration mark It is a mark for skew correction and for identifying whether or not the inputted one is the instruction document of this system. Form title part This is the part that describes the title of the instruction document. The character string displayed here can be arbitrarily specified by the user.
Further, information such as the output date and time can be added. Form ID part This is a part showing a form ID for identifying / managing the instruction document. Display as a 4-digit decimal number. The ID has a one-to-one correspondence with the instruction document. This allows instruction documents for various applications to be managed by one system. Operation key part This is a part where the dots and number input areas checked by the user, the handwriting input area, operation keys for specifying various processes, output keys for specifying the output destination, etc. are arranged.
The display form is the same as that shown in FIG. 11, FIG. 12, FIG. 20, etc., but it is omitted in FIG. A user can perform a desired operation or select a file by marking a dot (check dot) on each key. A description of representative keys is given below.

◆ Display of contents (Open) ・ Opening of drawers and folders. -Open (retrieve) of files.・ Move to upper directory (from folder screen to drawer screen, desktop screen). ◆ Return (Home) ・ Return to the desktop screen (described later). ◆ Move-Move folders and files. ◆ Store ・ File data store.
The index becomes the file name. . ◆ Copy ・ Copy of drawers, folders and files. You cannot have the same index. ◆ Change (Rename) -Change the index of drawers, folders, and files. ◆ Drawer creation (NewDrawer) ・ Create a new drawer. ◆ Create Folder (NewFolder) -Create a new folder. ◆ Output destination (OUTPUT) ・ Specify the output destination of the instruction document or input image. You can specify more than one. The keys are arranged as many as the number of output destinations (for example, Prin
4 ters, 1 fax). As an option, there is a synthesis option (4 sheets, 9 sheets).

Processing result display area Here, a processing result reflecting the previous processing result, for example,
The resulting file is displayed in a two-dimensional form in the form of an icon by a list or search process. The processing result display section displays a basic drawer screen, a drawer screen when the drawer folder is opened, and a folder screen. The explanation of each screen is shown below. It should be noted that the “screen” mentioned here includes both a screen printed out on the instruction document and a screen electronically displayed on the display unit 9. It is a little strange that the "screen" is what is printed out on paper, but there is no other suitable word, and in the present invention, the content of the instruction document is, so to speak, a display, Since it changes flexibly according to the processing result of the information processing system, in consideration of this point, what is intentionally printed out on paper is also called "screen". -Desktop screen (Fig. 16) Drawer icons, folder icons, and file icons can be displayed on this screen. -Drawer screen (Fig. 17) Folder icons and file icons can be created on this screen. -Folder screen (Fig. 18) File icons can be created on this screen.

The operation examples in each scene are shown below (however,
[] Brackets are optional). See FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 for operation keys. 1 Operation on the desktop screen (Fig. 16) (1) Creating a new drawer Check the drawer generation key Enter the title image in the handwriting input area. Check the drawer generation destination key [Check the output destination] When the output destination is specified (checked), the processed instruction document is output there. (2) Creating a new folder Check the folder creation key Enter the title image in the handwriting input area. Check the folder creation destination key [Check the output destination key] When the output destination is specified, the processed instruction document is output there.

(3) Creation of file Check the registration key Enter the title image in the handwriting input area. Check the file generation destination key [Check the output destination key] When data is attached after the instruction document and the output destination is specified, the processed instruction document is output there. If the destination is specified as a folder or drawer, it will be created in that. The X and Y coordinates are automatically added. (4) Display the contents of the drawer or folder (open) Check the contents display key Check the drawers or folders you want to display the contents (multiple specifications are possible) Check the output destination key (5) Search for files (retrieve) Check the search key Check files, drawers or folders (multiple specifications possible) Check output destination key

(6) Deletion of Drawer / Folder / File Delete key is checked Delete file, drawer or folder to be deleted is checked (Multiple designations are possible) [Check output destination key] When output destination is specified, the processed instruction document Output to. (8) Move folder / file Check move key Check the file, drawer, or folder you want to move (two move source and move destinations) [Check output destination key]

2 Operation on the drawer screen (Fig. 17) (1) Creating a new folder (2) Creating a file (3) Displaying the contents of the folder (4) Searching for a file Same as 1 (5) Closing the drawer (Desktop Check the content display key Check the desktop screen key Check the output destination key (6) Delete folder / file (7) Move folder / file Same as 1

3 Operations on the folder screen (FIG. 18) (1) File creation (2) File search Same as 1 (3) Folder close (drawer screen or desktop screen) Check contents display key Desktop screen Or check the drawer screen Check the output destination key (4) Delete file (5) Move file Same as 2

As described above, various operations can be executed by the instruction document having the same format. Next, the icon will be described. As described above, any one of the file name, the image file name, and the reduced image can be displayed inside the icon. The file name is described by a code (ASCII or EUC).
The image file name is a reduction of an image (character, figure) handwritten by the user in the handwriting input area when the file is stored. The reduced image is a reduced image of the file when it is output. These are files whose code system (ASCII, E
UC, PostScript, etc., image system (Sun
Raster, ppm, jpeg, etc.) When the file is a folder, a reduced image of the first or the first file in the folder is displayed. FIG. 19 shows an example of icon form and file name display.

Next, FIG. 20 shows an example 191 of another display form of the registration mark. When the registration mark has such a form, there are advantages as described below. (1) The registration mark is used to identify whether or not it is an instruction document. However, the registration mark 43 in FIG. 2 has a rather general shape, so that it should be a non-instruction document. There is a possibility that the document is mistakenly recognized as an instruction document. Like this registration mark 191, one logo mark (191-
1), three solid squares (191-2 to 191-
With the configuration of 4), such an error is unlikely to occur. (2) Registration mark 43 shown in FIG.
In order to recognize -1 to 43-4, it is necessary to extract / recognize four images, so the processing takes time, but the registration mark 191 of this example does not require such trouble. , Processing becomes faster. (3) Furthermore, the registration mark 43-1 in FIG.
Nos. 43 to 43-4 are also used for the instruction document skew correction and the enlargement / reduction correction after being identified as the instruction document, but each of the four corners has a different shape, and thus is different from each other. The recognition algorithm must be applied and the processing is complicated. In the case of FIG. 20 (191), there is no such complexity. In this example, a dedicated logo as shown in FIG. 20 is used, and it is determined whether or not it is an instruction document. Therefore, the time required for instruction document determination can be reduced. (4) Furthermore, since the same registration marks 191-2 to 191-4 are used in this example, the processing is simplified and the time required for image correction can be shortened.

Such a registration mark 19
The analysis of the instruction document 192 using 1 is performed as follows. That is, first, the upper left or lower right image on the instruction document is cut out, and it is determined whether or not there is the logo mark 191-1. If there is a logo mark, it is an instruction document. If it is not an instruction document, the system is notified of the fact and the processing ends. In the case of the instruction document, four corners are detected from the logo mark 191-1 and the registration marks 191-2 to 192-4, and the logo mark is determined to be the upper left corner, and coordinate data for position correction is generated. Further, the correction amount is obtained according to the coordinate data and the image data is corrected. Here, the correction means rotation, parallel movement, enlargement / reduction, etc. of the image.
Further, based on the corrected image, the number area to be the form ID is recognized, the number is recognized, and the form ID is generated.

Regarding the form ID, the display form is different between that shown in FIG. 2 (41) and that shown in FIG. 20 (193). Since the space of the instruction document 192 and the like is limited, when the display form such as 193 is used, the paper surface can be used more effectively than the instruction document 40 of FIG. Command / instruction / information can be included (the amount of information to the user increases).

Next, an example in which the instruction document is applied to business management is shown in FIGS. FIG. 21 shows the instruction document 2 before writing
Represents 01. In the figure, A is a title of the instruction document, B is a form ID, C is a check dot, and one is arranged in front of the four store names here. D is a numerical frame, and four are arranged as shown in the figure. A rectangular area of E represents a handwritten area, F represents a registration mark, and G represents a directory name of a storage destination of data written in the instruction document. FIG. 22 is an example of handwritten entry of the instruction document 201. FIG. 23 shows an example of information about an image analysis item called instruction document item information. This example is instruction document 2
The instruction document item information of No. 01 is identified by the item ID. Information on item type, position, and size is used in image analysis. Since the content of the title is used in the attribute search, it is used to register the checked check dots. The group ID is used to identify a group of items as described above. The number of digits specifies the number of numeric frames in the numeric frame area. The unit of position and size is the number of rows and columns.
Items 1 to 4 having item IDs correspond to C in FIG. Item IDs 5 to 8 are D in FIG. 21.
Equivalent to. The item ID 9 corresponds to E in FIG.

FIG. 24 shows an example of a language for describing the information of the instruction document item of FIG. 23, which is similar to the analysis information shown in FIG. In this language, the form ID is specified in the declaration of formsheet. In this example, form ID = 6001. The name of the instruction document is described in FormName. FormGroup is a directory name. When the instruction document sheet filled in by the user is stored in the image file, it is stored in the position of this directory. ItemID is the item ID, GroupI
Group ID is described in D. ItemType is described in ItemKind. The position is described in Position. A title character string is described in Title.

Next, examples in which the instruction document is applied to the questionnaire totalization system are shown in FIGS. The application software that realizes this system uses the I
It is composed of two parts, a NIT part and an EXEC part for executing a command. The INIT portion prepares for interpretation and processing of the instruction document, and the EXEC portion actually executes processing of the image data passed from the input / output control unit 22 (FIG. 2).
5). The INIT portion is activated by the input / output control unit 22 and understands the meaning of the check or the like entered by the user according to the data of the delivered instruction document, form ID, and check box. At that time, the input / output control unit recognizes the meaning of the check box of the instruction document and issues a scanning request or a request for changing the scanning resolution, gradation, and other settings according to the user's request content entered in the instruction document. Ask 22. Further, when the numeral input area or the image input area exists in the instruction document, the processing is executed through the numeral symbol recognition unit and the image cut-out processing unit.
The EXEC part is also activated from the input / output control unit 22,
Process the delivered image data. The processing at this time follows the processing determined by the INIT portion, and is executed by using the common library and the input / output interface.

The details of the INIT portion are as follows. First, when the data of the instruction document is supplied, the information of the instruction document for questionnaire is taken out from the form ID and each image analysis item in the instruction document is analyzed. These processes are executed by the following units. -Form type determination processing unit Performs determination of form ID. Extract the form ID from the image. Retrieve the list of item information in the instruction document. Item ID determination processing unit Performs processing for extracting the ID of the image analysis item in the instruction document. Then, the position is acquired in the storage device to be stored in the ID. -Item type determination processing part The process is branched for each item type by referring to the list of item information. -Handwritten area registration processing unit When the image analysis item is a handwritten area, it is called by the item type determination processing unit to acquire the position of the area and extract the image of only that area. There are two methods of taking out, a method of taking out as a secondary image of the entire image of the instruction document and a method of newly generating an image of the area itself. -OCR processing call processing unit When the image analysis item is a handwritten area, it is called by the item type determination processing unit and the list is referred to.
Invokes the OCR function. Since the image read by the OCR function is stored in the file, the data is retained in the memory. -OCR function Converts images in which numbers and alphabetic characters are written by hand into character strings of codes. -Check dot processing unit When the image analysis item is a check dot, it is called by the item type determination processing unit and determines whether or not there is a check by the user. Since the judgment result is stored in the file, the data is retained in the memory.

[Data total part] The total result is saved as a file. The counting method will be described below. First, the numerical data is held in an array, and the numerical values entered in each questionnaire are entered in the elements of the array. If the check dot is filled with the user's check, the count number of the record corresponding to the ID of the check dot is increased by one. The image of the handwritten area is cut out and saved as an image file with a unique file name using the questionnaire processing sequence number and item ID.

"EXEC portion" Here, the image information stored in the memory in the INIT portion is stored in the storage device. This process is executed in the following parts. -Aggregation result extraction processing unit If there is already aggregated data, it will be extracted and processed by the aggregation accumulation processing unit.・ Aggregation processing part When each check dot in the instruction document is checked,
The integer value of the total data corresponding to the check dot is incremented by 1. -Cumulative processing unit Stores the numbers in the handwritten number area. Prepare an array of numbers in the file and increment the count of the position of the number entered by the user. -Individual cumulative processing part For data that cannot be converted into general data, such as handwritten areas, save all individual answer results.

FIG. 26 shows an example 21 of the questionnaire instruction document.
1 is shown. In this instruction document 211, three questions are printed on A4 paper. In the figure, is the form ID,
Is a check box, is a handwriting area, and is a numeral entry area. Is a registration mark and is used for determining the direction of the designated document and the scaling. In FIG. 27, the instruction document 21
An example of entry 1 is shown. In this example, the user circles the check dots of “other” in question 1 and “just right” in question 2. The answer is also written in the handwritten area. The letter "3" is entered in the number box of Question 3. FIG. 28 shows an example of an instruction document for printing out the questionnaire totalization result. Is the form ID. Is a numerical area for entering the form ID of the questionnaire requesting print output, is a check dot for specifying the print layout, is a check dot for specifying whether the output is a facsimile or a local printer Is. Is a numeric area, and if the output destination is designated as a facsimile in, the facsimile number of the destination is entered here. FIG. 29 shows an example of a report document output as a result of sending the print request instruction document of FIG. Represents the form ID, represents the total number of check dots in Q1 and Q2, and represents the numerical data. FIG. 30 is a flowchart of the questionnaire processing program. FIG. 31 shows a record structure of a file for totaling each answer of the questionnaire.

<Processing Flow in Questionnaire System> Here, it is assumed that the user has an input instruction document as shown in FIG. 26 and has entered it as shown in FIG. The user transmits this to the input / output control unit 22 via the FAX 16 or the like. The information is analyzed and processed, and the result is stored in the hard disk 11 for each item ID of the form ID. Subsequently, it is assumed that the user transmits the print request instruction document of FIG. Here, in this print request instruction document, “print request form ID” = “6001”, “print format” = “enumeration format”, “output destination” = “facsimile”, and the “facsimile number” indicates the user's It is assumed that the facsimile number has been entered. this,
Send it as you would a survey. This is analyzed, and as a result, the instruction document at this time is determined to be the print request instruction document. Therefore, in response to this, the output document of FIG. 29 is transmitted to the FAX of the relevant number.

Next, in order to help understanding of the contents of the present invention, FIGS. 32 to 37 show various schematic diagrams relating to the present invention. Note that some of the notations in the figure are different from the terms used so far. Annotate only the main ones. "I
“Mage U / I” corresponds to the device of the present invention. "Pencil I
"/ F" corresponds to the instruction document. The "form sheet" corresponds to the instruction document. “PS file” is an abbreviation for “Postscript file” and corresponds to instruction document form information. FIG. 32 shows the output of the filled-in instruction document and the analysis of the filled-in instruction document.
Represents the processing described above. FIG. 33 shows a state where the same processing is performed on the display (with a PS editor), and also represents the processing described in paragraphs 0012 and 0016. Note that these FIG. 32 and FIG.
The “information file” of corresponds to analysis information. The PS editor is an abbreviation for PostScript file editor.

FIG. 34 shows the definition assigned to each check box of the instruction document, that is, the user input to be input to the information processing system, from the button operation etc. performed by the user with respect to the instruction document displayed on the display. , And the process described in paragraphs 0013 and 0017. FIG. 35 shows the flow of processing between the blocks and represents the processing described in paragraph 0028. FIG. 36 shows a mechanism of managing image data in the image file system. FIG. 37 shows the flow of data between the modules.

Finally, the correspondence relationship between the structure of the embodiment and the structure of the claims will be described. Note that the same names are excluded. The database DB, the file system, etc. correspond to the information processing system. The instruction document output unit 32 corresponds to an instruction document output unit for writing. The analysis information extraction unit 33 corresponds to extraction means. The hard disk 11 corresponds to the holding means. The reception document analysis unit 34 corresponds to an analysis unit and a recognition unit. The input / output control unit 22 and the peripheral devices 7 to 16 connected thereto correspond to the input device of the information processing system. The display unit 8 corresponds to the editing instruction document output unit.

[0079]

As described above, according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the requested instruction document is output based on the previously prepared instruction document form information, and the user checks or writes the instruction document. The analysis information for analyzing is stored from the instruction document form information, and when the user inputs the checked or written instruction document, the analysis information is referred to and the content is analyzed. Then, the information obtained as a result is input to a database or other information processing system. Further, in the invention of claim 3 or 4, the analysis information is extracted from the information related to the instruction document form, and the extracted analysis information and the form identification information of the instruction document are held in association with each other so that the user can check or write. When the specified instruction document is input, the form identification information is recognized, the instruction document is analyzed by referring to the analysis information corresponding to the held form identification information, and the information obtained as a result is the information described above. It is supposed to be input to the processing system. Also, in the invention of claim 5 or 6, the instruction document is output to a display device or the like, and the user checks or writes in the image of the document edit on the display device using a keyboard or a mouse. In the same form as document data, it is supplied to the input system directly or via a network.
Also in the invention of claim 7 or claim 8, the entry instruction document is managed by the form identification information. When a user-entered instruction document is input, the content written by the user is analyzed based on this form identification information. Then, the result is supplied as input data to the information processing system, and the user is notified of the result of a predetermined process executed by the information processing system, for example, a list of files stored in a certain directory of the file system. For,
Form information of a new instruction document including the name of the file, reduced image, and other contents is newly generated, and analysis information is extracted, form identification information is added, and FAX is added to the new form information. Each procedure is newly executed such as output of a fill-in instruction document. Therefore, the user can carry out a desired process from a remote location by interacting with the information processing system by using the FAX or the like with the same simple operation as with the mark sheet.

Therefore, according to each invention of the present application, the position of the check box, the position of the explanation therefor, and the like are
There is no layout limitation like the conventional mark sheet,
You can get a flexible instruction document. Therefore, it is possible to realize the input device of the information processing system or the input method of the information processing system in which the advantages of the mark sheet method are fully utilized. Further, the information regarding the layout of the instruction document and the definition of the check box can be made independent from the application in the form of instruction document form information, and the user interface can be shared. Therefore, even when an application is added or changed, it is sufficient to add or change the corresponding instruction document form information, which reduces the development man-hours as compared with the conventional case where a user interface is provided for each application. It can be greatly reduced.

Further, as in the invention of claim 3 or claim 4, if the input system adds the form identification information only to the output of the instruction document to be output, it may be an individual application, for example, another application. It does not matter if the same identification information as that used in the above is used, or it becomes possible to manage such as deleting the analysis information held after a certain time has elapsed since the output. . For example, assuming that there are 8 check boxes uniformly and that there are 2 types of definitions assigned to each check box, considering these combinations, there are 256 types of instruction documents even if this is the 8th power. With the conventional method, it was necessary to simply manage all of these. According to the method of claim 3 or claim 4,
It becomes necessary to manage only the instruction document actually output in that, the processing for this becomes simple, and the management and operation of these information become easy. Further, according to the invention of claim 5 or 6, the system can be used from a workstation or a personal computer with the same user interface as on paper. Therefore, even if the medium to be used is changed, the system can perform the processing desired by the user with the same operation, and a user-friendly (usable) system can be constructed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a visible image of an instruction document.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of instruction document form information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of analysis information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a registration procedure of image data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing output and input of a category designation instruction document.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing output and input of a list of image data.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the output of registered image data.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an example of a visible image of an instruction document.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a newly output instruction document.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a newly output instruction document.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a system configuration for automatically generating an instruction document.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing details of a form ID server h.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing another example of the instruction document.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an instruction document.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a desktop screen of an instruction document.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a drawer screen of an instruction document.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a folder screen of an instruction document.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of icon forms and file name display.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing another example of the instruction document.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of an instruction document before writing.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of handwriting of an instruction document.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of information about items for image analysis.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a language for describing the information of the instruction document item of FIG. 23.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a questionnaire application.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a questionnaire instruction document.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of entry of an instruction document.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of a questionnaire instruction document.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a report document output in response to transmission of a print request instruction document.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing a procedure of questionnaire processing.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a record structure of a file for totaling questionnaire answers.

FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram showing the state of outputting an instruction document for writing and analyzing the instruction document after writing.

FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram showing how the same processing as in FIG. 32 is performed on the display.

FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a definition assigned to each check box of an instruction document is directly retrieved from a button operation performed by a user on the instruction document displayed on the display.

FIG. 35 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of processing between blocks.

FIG. 36 is a diagram showing a mechanism of managing image data in the image file system.

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing the flow of data between modules.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DB information processing system 8 edit instruction document output means 11 holding means 22, 7 to 16 input device of information processing system 32 entry instruction document output means 33 extraction means 34 analysis means and recognition means 161 form information generation means 162 form identification information Generation means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Eiichi Yamauchi 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Shigeru Yamada Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture 3-2-1 Sakado KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An input device of an information processing system for performing processing based on an input, an instruction instruction document output means for expanding instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user entry, and a user from the instruction document form information. Extraction means for extracting analysis information for analyzing the filled-in instruction document, holding means for holding the extracted analysis information, and analyzing the received instruction document information after the user's entry with reference to the analysis information Inputting the information processing system, which receives the information of the instruction document after the user has entered, and inputs the information obtained by the analysis of the information to the information processing system. apparatus. 2. An input method of an information processing system for performing processing based on input, an instruction instruction document output procedure for expanding instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user entry, and a user from the instruction document form information. The extraction procedure for extracting the analysis information for analyzing the filled-in instruction document, the holding procedure for holding the analysis information extracted by the extracting means in the holding means, and the analysis of the received instruction document information after the user's entry And an analysis procedure for analyzing the information with reference to the information, wherein the information of the instruction document after the user entry is accepted, and the information obtained by the analysis of the information is input to the information processing system. Information processing system input method. 3. An input device of an information processing system for performing processing based on an input, an input instruction document output means for expanding instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user input, and a user from the instruction document form information. Extraction means for extracting analysis information for analyzing the filled-in instruction document; holding means for holding the extracted analysis information in association with the form identification information attached to the output instruction document; Recognizing means for recognizing the form identification information of the subsequent instruction document, and accessing the holding means to refer to the analysis information corresponding to the recognized form identification information to analyze the information of the accepted instruction document after the user entry. And analyzing the information obtained by the analysis of the information. An input device for an information processing system, which is an input to the information processing system. 4. An input method of an information processing system for performing processing based on input, an instruction instruction document output procedure for expanding instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user entry, and a user from the instruction document form information. An extraction procedure for extracting analysis information for analyzing the filled-in instruction document; a holding procedure for holding the extracted analysis information in the holding means in association with the form identification information attached to the output instruction document; The recognition procedure for recognizing the form identification information of the instruction document after the user's entry and the analysis information corresponding to the recognized form identification information by accessing the holding means are referred to for the received instruction document after the user's entry. And an analysis procedure for analyzing the information, accepting the information of the instruction document filled in by the user, and acquiring the information by the analysis of the information. The input method of the information processing system, wherein the input information is input to the information processing system. 5. An input device of an information processing system for performing processing based on an input, an editing instruction document output means for expanding instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user editing, and a user from the instruction document form information. Extraction means for extracting analysis information for analyzing the edited instruction document, holding means for holding the extracted analysis information, and analyzing the received information of the user-edited instruction document with reference to the analysis information. An information processing unit for receiving the information of the instruction document after the user editing, and inputting the information acquired as a result of the analysis of the information to the information processing system. Input device. 6. An input method of an information processing system for performing processing based on an input, an editing instruction document output procedure for expanding instruction document form information and outputting an instruction document for user editing, and a user from the instruction document form information. Refer to the analysis information for the extraction procedure for extracting the analysis information for analyzing the edited instruction document, the holding procedure for holding the extracted analysis information in the holding unit, and the received information of the user-edited instruction document And an analysis procedure for analyzing the information, the information of the instruction document after the user editing is accepted, and the information obtained as a result of the analysis of the information is input to the information processing system. System input method. 7. An input device of an information processing system for performing processing based on an input, and an extracting unit for extracting analysis information for analyzing an instruction document filled in by a user from the instruction document form information, and identifying the instruction document. Form identification information generation means for generating form identification information, holding means for holding the extracted analysis information in association with the form identification information attached to the output instruction document, and form information of the instruction document requested to be output And an instruction instruction document output means for outputting an instruction document for user entry including the identification code, a recognition means for recognizing the form identification information of the accepted instruction document after user entry, and access to the holding means. Then, referring to the analysis information corresponding to the recognized form identification information, the information of the received instruction document after the user entry is analyzed, Analysis means for supplying the result to the information processing system as input data, and form information of a new instruction document for notifying the user of the result of the predetermined processing executed by the information processing system on the supplied input data. An input device of an information processing system, comprising: a form information generating unit that generates a new form information, and each of the units newly executes a respective process for the new form information. 8. An input method of an information processing system for performing processing based on input, a procedure for extracting analysis information for analyzing an instruction document after user input from instruction document form information, and a form for identifying the instruction document. A procedure for generating identification information, a procedure for holding the extracted analysis information in correspondence with the form identification information attached to the output instruction document, a process for expanding the form information of the instruction document requested to be output, and the identification A procedure of outputting a user-specified instruction document including a code, a step of recognizing the form identification information of the received user-specified instruction document, and an analysis corresponding to the recognized form identification information by accessing the holding procedure. The information of the received instruction document after the user's entry is analyzed with reference to the information, and the result is supplied to the information processing system as input data. And a procedure for generating form information of a new instruction document for notifying the user of the result of the predetermined processing executed by the information processing system on the supplied input data. An input method of an information processing system, characterized in that each of the above procedures is newly executed for form information.