JPH0797351B2 - Image data filing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a file mechanism of an image editing apparatus. In particular, it relates to a file device for image data suitable for transfer speed, storage capacity, re-editing, and file management.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as described in "Nikkei Bytes" magazine, April 1987 issue, P117-P119, when a single document image is filed, a text file that encodes and stores the character portion of the document image and the document If three types of image files are created, one of which is an image file that stores the image data portion of the image as a bit image and the other is an attribute file that stores the attributes of related files.
A general method is to create as many image files as there are image data portions.

This conventional method mainly uses a text file, and when the image data portion does not exist on the document image, the document image can be saved by creating a text file and an attribute file. When the data portion exists, many files correspond to one document image, and many operations are required to save and read the files.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned related art, the image data is managed as the same as the character information or as additional information of the character information, and the nature of the image data having a large amount of data is not taken into consideration.

For example, when the number of files increases, the number of accesses increases when saving / reading. As an example, the number of file opens and file closes increases. Further, a management header is added to each file, and an increase in the number of files leads to an increase in the amount of data. Also, as an example, FAT (file allocation table)
It is also a waste of such areas.

Even in file management, it is preferable to manage one document image with one file rather than one document image corresponding to a plurality of files.

As described above, in the conventional method, it cannot be said that the image data is sufficiently considered in terms of transfer speed, storage capacity, re-editing, and file management, and there are many conditions that are disadvantageous in terms of performance.

An object of the present invention is to provide a file device for image data managed by one file of one document image and solve the above problems.

[Means for solving problems]

To achieve the above object, the image data filing apparatus according to the present invention includes a data memory for storing one document image as a set of a plurality of image parts constituting the document image, and management information for the document image. And an information memory for storing editing information, an external storage device for filing the contents of the document image, and a data transfer means for writing the contents of the data memory and the information memory into the external storage device. All the transferred contents related to the document image of are stored and managed as a single file.

The management information includes, for example, the number of parts of the image parts, the part number, the storage destination start address in the data memory, the size, the vertical size, the horizontal size, and the like. Further, the editing information is, for example, information configured by a layout process indicating how the image parts configure the document image, an editing process such as partial deletion, movement, and enlargement / reduction.

The data transfer means preferably writes the management information and the editing information in the information memory to the external storage device as a header of a file, and then continuously writes the contents of the data memory without distinction for each image component. Write to the area following the header of the file.

[Action]

In the image editing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, from the document image to be edited, the image parts constituting it are extracted,
Store in data memory. Also, management information and editing information corresponding to the document image are stored in the information memory. Next, the contents of the above two types of memories are continuously transferred to an external storage device and stored as a single file. Therefore, it is not necessary to access a plurality of files when saving / reading files. Further, at the time of data transfer, the data buffer is used as a unit of the transfer amount, but since the probability of generating an unnecessary area in the data buffer is low in the data buffer unit transfer, the transfer speed is improved. Further, the required header and label for each file can be omitted, and the probability that an unnecessary area will occur in the sector of the storage unit of the external storage device is low, so the storage capacity can be reduced. Further, even in the case of re-editing, the labor of accessing a plurality of files can be saved and the processing speed can be improved. Moreover,
In file management, since one document image corresponds to one file, it is relatively easy and the total number of files is reduced.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The filing function of the image editing apparatus according to the present invention is realized by the following hardware configuration.

That is, a data memory 101 for storing image data in a bit image, a data bus 102 for exchanging data between individual elements, a CPU 103, an address bus 109 for addressing individual elements and memory areas, and a program memory for storing system programs. 104 (information memory for managing management information for managing image data and editing information indicating an editing process is a program memory 104
Area), a DMA controller 108 for sampling image data input / output, an image scanner 110 for reading a document and converting it into image data, and an interface circuit 111 for transferring this image data to the DMA controller 108. To be done.

Of the above components, the main ones will be described in more detail.

The data memory 101 has a large storage capacity of, for example, 2 megabytes, is accessible from the DMA controller 108, and can transfer memory contents at high speed. The program memory 104 has, for example, a storage capacity of 0.6 megabytes, and when the image input device is started, the hard disk device 106 of the external storage device,
Alternatively, it is a part for storing a system program loaded from the floppy disk device 107. Further, the information memory is provided with a buffer area in software in the program memory 104, which is defined as an information memory. DMA controller 108
Controls DMA transfer between the area of the data memory 101, the image input units 110 and 111, and the external storage devices 106 and 107.
The image input image scanner 110 is, for example, a CCD image sensor, scans an A4 size document, and has a resolution of 16 (dots).
/ mm) to convert to image data and read.

Next, the filing operation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Prior to this, the process of creating / editing an image as a filing target in the image editing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

When the image editing apparatus is started, an external storage device that stores the system program, that is, the hard disk device 10
6 or a predetermined system program is loaded from the floppy disk device 107 into the program memory 104. Next, the user inputs a necessary command and edits an image including image input according to a request of the system program. Here, FIG. 2 shows an example of a concrete image editing process.
Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The image data obtained by image input is written in the data memory 101 as the current image. In FIG. 2, this operation corresponds to the process of cutting out the necessary portions 204, 205, 206 from the three leftmost originals 201, 202, 203 to make the original 207. Here, the image input is normally performed a plurality of times because the required number of image components are input to the completed document. In accordance with this image input, the number of parts, the part number, the start address in the data memory 101, the size, the vertical size, the horizontal size, etc. are stored in the information memory area of the program memory 104 as the management information of the image parts. It In the example of FIG. 2, the number of parts is 3, and the part number is defined as 1, 2, 3 from the top of the original manuscript 201, 202, 203 at the left end, and size information and the like are given to each part number.

In the editing process of the image editing apparatus, editing such as layout, partial deletion, movement, and enlargement / reduction of each image component is performed. In FIG. 2, the manuscripts 208, 209, 210, 211 show an example of the editing process, the manuscripts 208, 209, 210, 211 show an example of the editing process. Manuscript 2
Between 10 and 211, enlargement is similarly performed, and the process until the finished product of the manuscript 211 to be filing is made is schematically shown. During this editing process, the data memory 101
The original image inside is not processed in real time, but the number of layouts of image parts, the layout of each image part, layout coordinates, deletion area, enlargement ratio, etc. are calculated from the editing process.
It is written as edit information in the information memory area in the program memory 104.

When printing an image, the image is processed and developed based on the management information and the editing information, and then printed. The image printing process will be described with reference to FIG.
The image parts laid out on 07 are stored. Based on the management information and the editing information, it is processed / developed like the document 211 and printed.

Next, the operation of filing according to the present invention will be described. When filing image data, first, in the external storage device of either the hard disk device 106 or the floppy disk device 107, the management information and the editing information of the area of the information memory in the program memory 104 are written as a file header, Then data memory 101
The original image inside is DMA-transferred in the above-mentioned data buffer unit without distinguishing each part. As a result, a plurality of image parts that form one document image are managed by the image part management information,
Contained in a single file with editing information.

The above-described operation of the filing apparatus of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3 while observing an actual data flow.

First, the contents of FIG. 3 will be briefly described. Here, FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram of the hardware configuration of FIG. 1 focusing on the data flow. In FIG. 3, the memory 31
Is the data memory 101 and the program memory 1 in FIG.
This is a memory that summarizes 04, and the lower diagonal line is the area where the system program is loaded. A horizontally long blank area in the area of this system program is an area of the information memory for storing the management information and the editing information. Further, the areas divided at equal intervals shown from the middle to the upper portion of the memory 31 are the data memory 10
The area of the data memory 101 corresponding to 1 is virtually divided by the storage capacity of the data buffer 33 as a unit. The data buffer 33 has a storage capacity of 64 kilobytes in one example, and is controlled by the DMA controller 108 of FIG. The external storage unit 35 is an external storage medium that collectively includes the hard disk device 106 and the floppy disk device 107 shown in FIG.

Next, the actual data flow during the image filing operation will be described. First, all the contents of the information memory in which the management information and the editing information are written are latched in the data buffer 33. Next, the portion of the contents of the data buffer written by the above latch operation is written as a header in the head area of the designated file in the external storage unit 35. Only in the writing operation at this time, the transfer amount differs depending on the storage capacity of the data buffer 33, and is approximately 500 bytes in one example. Next, the image data in the data memory 101 in the memory 31 is continuously written to the external storage unit 35 in the unit of the data buffer 33 without distinguishing each image component, and this operation is performed.
Repeat until the data in is empty. When the writing of the data to the external storage unit 35 is completed, the transferred contents are saved as a single file.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, an example of the relationship between actual image data and files will be described. The document image 41 shows the layout state of the image component 44 of the manuscript being edited or completed. The file 43 shows one file, and the contents thereof are schematically shown. The shaded area in the upper part is a header section in which the management information and the editing information are written. In an actual filing operation, like the data stream 42, each image component 44 is continuously written to a single file.

The operation of the file mechanism of the image editing apparatus has been described above regarding the saving of the image file. Next, reading of the image file will be described. The operation of reading the image file is the reverse of the operation of saving the image file. Specifically, referring to FIG. 1, the external storage device 106,
When reading the image file stored in 107, first, the management information and the editing information corresponding to the header of the image file are read by DMA transfer into the information memory area in the program memory 104, and then the image file is read. The image data following the header of is transferred to the data memory 101 by DMA in data buffer units. By the above operation, the document image is reproduced on the image editing device, and the re-editing can be performed immediately.

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the image data filing apparatus according to the present invention can store the plurality of image components that form the document image in a single file, file management can be performed in comparison with the case where the document image is stored in a plurality of files. It is easy and the storage capacity and transfer time can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, a document image of a document including an image component that is an image obtained by editing an original image on a document is defined by image data of the original image and information indicating the editing content of the image component. Therefore, re-editing such as layout change can be easily performed only by changing the information indicating the edited content. In addition, for example, if an image component that has been reduced and edited from the original image is enlarged by re-editing, the information deteriorates as compared with the case where the original image is enlarged and edited directly. The output can be performed by editing the image data of the image component of the original image with the content indicated by the information indicating the final edited content of the image component. No information deterioration occurs. That is, for example, even if the original image is once reduced and edited and then enlarged and edited, the output of this image component directly enlarges the image data of the original image at the final enlargement ratio. It can be performed by applying.

Furthermore, since the image data of the original image is included in the file of the completed document image, the image data of the original image before and after the editing is different from the case of saving the image data of the original image and the image data of the edited image part together. It is possible to prevent deterioration of storage efficiency due to double storage of similar images. Also, for example,
When it is desired to use the image data of the original image corresponding to the image part used for a certain specific document for another document, it is necessary to retrieve the image data of this original image. Since this image data is included in the file of the specific document, its location can be easily recognized and the search efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration and a data flow of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an editing process of an image editing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the characteristic points of the operation at the time of filing, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the internal structure of the file corresponding to the image parts on the document image of this embodiment. 101 …… Data memory, 102 …… Data bus, 103 …… CPU, 1
04 …… Program memory, 105 …… Data line, 106 ……
Hard disk drive, 107 ... Floppy disk drive, 1
08 …… DMA controller, 109 …… Address bus, 110 ……
Image scanner, 111 …… Image scanner interface circuit, 201, 202, 203 …… Original manuscript, 204, 20
5,206 …… Image parts, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, …… Document image, 31 …… Memory, 32 …… Data flow, 33 …… Data buffer, 34 …… Data line, 35 …… External storage unit, 41…
… Document image, 42 …… Data flow, 43 …… File, 4
4 …… Image parts.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP 62-57076 (JP, A) JP 62-229476 (JP, A) JP 59-214959 (JP, A) JP 62- 212773 (JP, A)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A file device for image data, which stores information of a document image including an image part which is an image obtained by editing an original image on a document, wherein an image of the original image corresponding to the image part included in the document image. A data memory for storing data, management information for managing the image data of the original image corresponding to the image part included in the document image, and the image part included in the document image as the original information corresponding to the image part. An information memory that stores editing information that represents the content of editing for obtaining from an image, an external storage device that files the content of the document image, and the contents of the data memory and the information memory as the content of a single file. A file device for image data, comprising a data transfer means for writing to the external storage device. Place 2. A file device for image data according to claim 1, wherein the editing information is applied to the document image on the original image to obtain the image component. A file device for image data, which is information indicating the content of editing including at least one of layout, movement, enlargement, reduction, and partial deletion of the image. 3. The image data filing device according to claim 1, wherein the management information includes the number of the image parts included in the document image, the number of the image parts, and the image parts. An image data file device including at least one of the address of the image data of the corresponding original image on the data memory and the size information of the image data of the original image corresponding to the image component. . 4. A file device for image data according to claim 1, wherein said data transfer means stores said management information and edit information in said information memory in said external storage device as a file header. And then continuously writing the contents of the data memory to an area following the header in the file.