JPH0756940A - Image information management system and image retrieval method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the retrieval processing of image information efficient by displaying index data which is easily identified in the image information management system of a system retrieving image information by means of index data. CONSTITUTION:Index source data which is a part of image data and has a prescribed form and mask data of a designated form are stored in an external storage device 5 for respective pieces of image data besides image data in a page unit. CPU 1 generates index data for respective pages, which are formed from common data of index source data having the external form of mask data and mask data based on index source data and mask data. A display device 3 displays the list display picture of index data for the respective pages, which are generated. CPU 1 obtains position information corresponding to index data designated from the list display screen from the access table of a main memory 6. Image data corresponding to index data designated by position information is retrieved from the external storage device 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image information management system in which image information is stored in a large-capacity file device and heading data is used when searching for specified image information from this file device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image information management system has been developed in which image information of a document or a graphic is stored in an external storage device (file device) and desired image information is searched as needed. The external storage device is usually a large-capacity optical disk device or hard disk device.

The image information management system normally manages image information page by page and treats it as a kind of document consisting of many pages. When such image information is searched in page units, there is a method of cutting out a part of the image information of each page as heading data and specifying the heading data to obtain desired image information. The headline data is usually rectangular image data of a certain size.

The image information management system displays the index data in a list format on the display screen in the search mode, and searches the image information of the page corresponding to the index data selected from the display screen.

[0005]

In the conventional image information management system, in the search mode, rectangular heading data of a certain size is displayed in a list format on the display screen, and the heading data selected from this display screen is dealt with. The method of searching the image information of the page is adopted. However, since all the headline data in the list format are rectangular with a fixed size, they are uniformly displayed on the display screen.
Therefore, when the user selects the heading data corresponding to the desired image information from the display screen, it becomes difficult to identify the heading data, especially when similar heading data exists.

An object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of image information search processing by displaying headline data that is easy to identify in an image information management system that searches image information using headline data. is there.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an image storing means for storing image information including image data, headline original data and mask data of a specified shape, and an outer shape of the headline original data based on the mask data. In an image information management system including heading data generation means for generating heading data obtained by transforming the heading, display means for displaying the heading data on a display screen, and image retrieval means for retrieving the image data corresponding to the heading data from the image storage means. is there.

A second aspect of the present invention is image storage means for storing image information in page units including image data, headline source data and mask data of a specified shape, and having the outer shape of the mask data, the header source data and the mask data. Heading data generation means for generating heading data for each page formed from common data, display means for displaying a list display screen of heading data for each page, access table means for storing access information of each image data, and The image information management system is provided with an image search unit that searches the image storage unit for the image data corresponding to the index data specified by the access information.

[0009]

In the first aspect of the present invention, the image storage means stores, in addition to the image data, the heading source data having a predetermined shape and a part of the image data, and the mask data of the specified shape. The headline data generating means generates headline data in which the outer shape of the headline source data is modified based on the mask data. The display means displays the generated headline data on the display screen. The image search means searches the image storage means for image data corresponding to the headline data according to the designation of the headline data displayed on the display screen.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the image data in page units, the image storing means stores a part of the image data for each image data and the heading source data having a predetermined shape and the mask data of the specified shape. Is stored. The heading data generation means generates heading data for each page formed from the common data of the heading source data and the mask data, based on the heading source data and the mask data. The display means displays a list display screen of the generated heading data for each page. The image retrieval means obtains access information corresponding to the headline data designated from the list display screen from the access table means, and retrieves image data corresponding to the headline data designated by the access information from the image storage means.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of an image information management system according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the contents stored in an external storage device according to the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an operation of the embodiment. And FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

This system comprises a control unit (CPU) 1 which is a central processing unit of the system, an input unit 2, a display unit 3, a printing unit 4, an external storage unit 5 and a main memory 6 which is an internal storage unit. . The CPU 1 is a device that controls each device and executes management processing such as storage and retrieval of image information.
S (operating system). Input device 2
Is a device for inputting various commands and data necessary for image information management, and is specifically a keyboard, a pointing device (mouse, etc.), and an image reading device.

The display device 3 and the printing device 4 are output units of the system. The display device 3 displays, for example, a list display screen of headline data or searched image data, such as CR.
It is a T display device. The printing device 4 is a printer that prints the retrieved image data.

The external storage device 5 is a file device including, for example, a large-capacity optical disk device or a hard disk device, and stores image data, an image management table and the like. The main memory 6 stores the image data retrieved by the CPU 1 from the external storage device 5, creates list display screen data of heading data, and stores an access table for accessing the external storage device 5. Is the memory of.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described. (Basic Operation) In this system, the CPU 1 stores the created image data or the read image data in the external storage device 5 based on the input operation of the input device 2. Image data is image information such as a document or a figure.
As shown in FIG. 2, the external storage device 5 stores image management data, header source data, and mask data together with the image data. Here, these are collectively referred to as image information.

The image information is usually managed on a page-by-page basis, and the storage areas 5a to 5a designated by the position information.
5d, respectively. The position information is a physical address for accessing a disk (optical disk or magnetic disk) which is a storage medium of the storage device 5,
It corresponds to the logical address from the CPU 1.

The image management data stored in the storage area 5a constitutes a management table including position information and size of the image data of each page. The image data of each page is stored in the storage area 5b designated by the position information. The image data of each page has individual management data in addition to the actual data of the image. As shown in FIG. 2, the individual management data, which is a part of the image data, has position information of the rectangular original source data SD having a predetermined size and position information of the mask data MD.

The heading source data SD is partial image data cut out from the image data of each page into a rectangular shape of a predetermined size. The mask data MD is pattern data having an arbitrary shape designated by the user and for determining the outer shape when the headline data is created from the headline original data. That is, in the present system, when the image data is stored, the headline source data SD and the mask data MD of the designated shape cut out from the designated area of the image data of each page are stored together with the image data. CPU1
Manages the stored image information using image management data and individual management data. (Search Operation) The operation of searching for desired image data from the stored image information in such a system will be described. First, when the search mode is instructed from the input device 2, the CPU 1 executes a process for setting a selection mode using the index data in order to specify a search target from the image data stored in the storage device 5. .
Specifically, the CPU 1 creates heading data corresponding to each saved image data and performs a process of displaying a list display screen on the display device 3.

Under the control of the CPU 1, the storage device 5 extracts the position information of the image data of a predetermined page from the image management data stored in the storage area 5a, as shown in step S1 of FIG. The image information storage area 5b is accessed based on the extracted position information, and individual management data is extracted. With this individual management data,
As shown in FIG. 2, the headline source data SD and the mask data MD corresponding to the image data of a predetermined page are accessed (step S2).

The CPU 1 stores the heading source data SD and the mask data MD accessed from the storage device 5 in the main memory 6 and executes bitwise AND processing of both data SD and MD, as shown in FIG. As shown, headline data AD is created (step S3). This heading data AD is the outer shape of the mask data MD and both data SD,
The image data is composed of common data of MD, and the outer shape of the headline original data SD is modified according to the outer shape of the mask data MD. Here, the rectangular heading source data SD
Is a specified shape, for example, elliptical mask data MD
This means that the outer shape has been deformed.

The CPU 1 stores the created headline data AD in the list display area 6a of the main memory 6 (step S4). Further, the CPU 1 sets the position information (address of the storage area 5b) of the image data corresponding to the headline data AD in the access table 6c prepared in the main memory 6 (step S5). Such processing (steps S1 to S5) is repeated until the extraction of the position information of the image data managed by the image management data is completed (step S6). Here, it is assumed that the image data in page units is managed as a document file for each file name in units of, for example, several tens of sheets. The CPU 1 repeats the process until the index data corresponding to the image data of all pages of the designated document file is stored in the list display area 6a.

Next, when the preparation for displaying the list of the headline data is completed, the CPU 1 executes the selection mode (step S7). That is, the CPU 1 displays each heading data stored in the list display area 6a on the display screen of the display device 3 (step S8). Here, as shown in FIG. 3, position information of image data corresponding to each heading data displayed on the display device 3 is set in the access table 6c.

From the display screen of the display device 3, the user selects the heading data (A in this case) corresponding to the desired image data.
Select D), and specify on the display screen with the input device 2. The CPU 1 obtains the position information A1 corresponding to the specified headline data AD from the access table 6c (step S9). Based on this position information A1, the CPU
1 accesses image data from the storage area 5b of the storage device 5 and expands it in a predetermined area 6b of the main memory 6 (step 10). The CPU 1 displays the image data expanded in the main memory 6 on the screen of the display device 3.

The user uses the display screen of the display device 3 to
It will be confirmed whether or not desired image data is retrieved. Then, according to the input operation of the input device 2, the CPU
1 executes an editing process on the retrieved image data. Further, the printing device 4 is controlled to print the image data displayed on the display screen of the display device 3 or the edited image data (step S11).

In this way, the heading source data SD and the mask data MD are prepared when the image data is stored in the storage device 5, and the heading source data SD is set in the search mode.
Using the mask data MD and the mask data MD, the headline data AD corresponding to the image data is created. This heading data AD
Is the heading source data SD having a fixed shape, for example, a rectangular shape.
Is the image data transformed by the mask data MD. Therefore, when the list of the headline data corresponding to the image data of each page is displayed, it is possible to prevent each headline data from having a uniform display with the same shape.

Therefore, the user can easily identify the index data corresponding to the desired image data from the display screen, and as a result, the efficiency of the search process can be improved. Further, not only the deformation of the shape but also the size of the heading data is changed by the mask data MD, so that the identification effect can be further enhanced. For example, if the headline data corresponding to the image data that is frequently searched is created with a characteristic shape and a relatively large size,
The retrieval efficiency of the image data can be improved.
Further, if the shape of the headline data is set according to the content of the image data, it is possible to enhance the identification effect rather than simple deformation. Furthermore, when each headline data is stored in the list display area 6a and displayed on the display screen, the headline data corresponding to the image data that is frequently searched can be arranged at a position that is easy to see on the screen.

[0027]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in the image information management system of the type in which the image information is searched by the index data, the index data corresponding to each image information is displayed in a list format on the display screen. Sometimes, the heading data can be displayed in different shapes. Therefore, since it is not a uniform display having the same shape as in the conventional art, it is possible to enhance the effect of identifying the found data corresponding to the desired image data. As a result, it becomes possible to efficiently search the image data by the index data.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of an image information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining stored contents of an external storage device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Control device (CPU), 2 ... Input device, 3 ... Display device, 4 ... Printing device, 5 ... External storage device, 6 ... Main memory

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Image storage means for storing image data, image information including part of the image data, heading source data having a predetermined shape, and mask data of a specified shape, and the image storage means for storing the image information based on the mask data. Heading data generation means for generating heading data in which the outer shape of the heading source data is modified, display means for displaying the heading data generated by the heading data generation means on a display screen, and the heading displayed on the display screen An image information management system comprising: an image search unit that searches the image storage unit for the image data corresponding to the headline data according to designation of data. 2. Image data, image storage means for storing page-by-page image information including heading source data of a predetermined shape and mask data of a specified shape, which is a part of this image data, and the above-mentioned for each page. Based on the heading source data corresponding to the image data and the mask data, heading data for each page having the outer shape of the mask data and formed from common data of the heading source data and the mask data is generated. Heading data generation means, display means for displaying a list display screen of the heading data for each page generated by the heading data generation means, and of each image data corresponding to each heading data of the list display screen Access table means for storing access information, and the headline data specified from the list display screen Image search means for obtaining the corresponding access information from the access table means and searching the image storage means for the image data corresponding to the headline data specified by the access information. Image information management system. 3. An image information management system having image storage means for storing image data, image data in a page unit including a part of the image data, heading source data of a predetermined shape, and mask data of a specified shape. Is formed from common data of the heading source data and the mask data by performing an AND process on the heading source data corresponding to the image data of each page and the mask data, and having an outer shape of the mask data. A step of generating heading data for each page, a step of displaying a list display screen of the generated heading data for each page, of the image data corresponding to each heading data of the list display screen. A step of setting access information in the access table means, and specifying from the list display screen. Obtaining the access information corresponding to the headline data from the access table means, and retrieving the image data corresponding to the headline data designated by the access information from the image storage means. Characteristic image retrieval method.