JPH09218773A - System for displaying multimedia information into high dimension - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To express multidimensional information on a plane display based on the description of logic structure mentioned in multimedia information and to improve the list ability of whole information. SOLUTION: The description of logic structure in multimedia information is identified in a structure text analysis part 12 and is converted into internal structure in an information structure decision part 15. Content information on multimedia information are arranged in an area which is set in accordance with logic structure on pages that are previously designated for plural pages if information are massive. A display structure selection part 16 analyzes description where the multidimensional display of a claw header in logic structure is executed and makes a page where information for executing the display of claw header exists correspond to one of the pages on content information. A book information interface part 18 calculates/displays the thickness of a book on the periphery of content information to be transmitted in accordance with a reference page and display an element by which the user of the claw header can survey the structure of information on the position on thickness of the existing page.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention presents multimedia information to a user in a system for storing and retrieving multimedia information according to the capability and purpose of the device for displaying and processing the information. The present invention relates to a system that performs data conversion of multimedia information in order to change the display of the structure when doing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional system for converting multimedia document data, for example, tex for performing data conversion of printing document data whose structure is described as text information on a single plane display medium called paper, , A system for displaying document data in which a structure is similarly described as text information on a computer display in a hypertext manner, for example, World Wide W
An eb server or the like, or a system that converts document data in which the structure is described as text information into several indexes on the computer and provides the information as associated information by indexing (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2490/1990).
There are systems such as No. 23).

[0003] In these systems, in order to control the elements for expressing planar information such as enlarging the titles of chapters and sections on paper when printing or displaying a textual description of the structure on a screen. It has been used to create relationships such as the next section in the same chapter when used or displayed on the screen.

[0004]

In a multimedia system, particularly a system for expressing a structured information format in the real world such as a book on a computer,
It is necessary to convert the document data in which the logical structure is described as text information into a format that directly expresses the thickness of books and the structure of information such as nail headings.

[0005] This problem is to display information, which is multidimensional in the real world like a book, on a computer display, as opposed to the conventional system for printing page by page or flat display. In addition to controlling the elements of the planar expression of the information of the structure expressed in text and controlling the relationship between the information, it also controls the position of the information expression for expressing the information in a multidimensional manner. Will be required.

According to the present invention, in order to improve the listability of information as a whole for a user who uses multimedia document data, multidimensional information is expressed from a structure expressed in a plane. It is an issue.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first invention of the present invention is a method for planarizing multimedia information such as texts and images in which a logical structure of a document is described by texts. Is a system for listing as three-dimensional or more multidimensional information on a simple display, and converting the information described by the text into an internal structure by means of interpreting the text that describes the logical structure. However, there is a means to set the area for multimedia information such as text or image that describes the information to be transmitted according to the information of the logical structure on a previously designated page, and a plurality of information of the content to be transmitted in the area. By means of arranging over pages, for example, a large amount of information that does not fit on a single page when displayed in book form is automatically divided into multiple pages However, in order to let the user recognize the position where information such as a chapter that expresses the structure of the entire document is arranged in the entire information by a multidimensional display element such as a nail heading, a logical structure From the page of the information of the content to be transmitted, the means for giving the information for performing the multidimensional display to the predetermined page and the page where the information for performing the multidimensional display such as the nail heading exists. The page referred to in the whole information around the information of the content to be transmitted in order to display the whole information in a multidimensional manner when displaying it to the user and the means to associate with one. Corresponding to, a means for calculating and displaying the thickness of the book for displaying the position for the whole information, and a display element that allows the user to overview the structure of the information such as a nail heading or a sticky note for the thickness of the book The position above the existing page thickness Multimedia information high dimensional system having means for displaying in correspondence, and means for the resolution.

In the first aspect of the invention, the multimedia information to be displayed is expanded and arranged in a preset area over a plurality of pages, the thickness of the book is calculated, and a nail heading, a sticky note or the like is placed at the corresponding page position. A user who uses images and document data of multimedia information by arranging and displaying the dimensional display elements at the position on the thickness of the book of the page where the multidimensional display information determined from the logical structure exists. To improve the list of information as a whole.

The second invention of the present invention is based on the first invention.
In the multimedia information high-dimensional display system of the invention of claim 1, means for giving information for multidimensional display from the logical structure to a predetermined page is interpreted by interpreting the description for multidimensional display in the logical structure. This is a means to add information for multi-dimensional display to the relevant page, and an efficient system is constructed when there is a description of multi-dimensional display information such as nail headings in the logical structure of multimedia information. It is preferable in that it can be done.

Further, a third invention of the present invention is the above-mentioned second invention.
In place of, or in addition to, means for interpreting the description for performing multidimensional display in the logical structure of the multimedia information high-dimensional display system of the invention described above and providing information for performing multidimensional display on the corresponding page. , Especially when the description of a logical structure does not include a description such as a nail heading that performs multidimensional display and only a logical structure such as a simple chapter or section is described, a chapter or section included in the logical structure Each chapter, section, etc. to automatically display a multi-dimensional display such as a nail heading, etc. based on the description of the document structure and the amount of information contained in each structure to be transmitted. When the information is constructed as a book by means of measuring the amount of information of the content to be transmitted in the logical structure unit, it is highly likely that important information is included in the area with a large amount of description. From the value of the amount of measured information, By categorizing the structures, by selecting blocks such as chapters and sections in which the main information is described, the candidates for elements that outline the structure of information such as nail headings are determined, and the selected chapters or sections, etc. A multimedia information high-dimensional display system having a means for adding information for performing a multidimensional display such as a nail heading to the first page and the like is used as a solution.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the description of the logical structure does not include a description for multidimensional display such as a nail heading, only the logical structure such as a chapter or a section is described. From the description of the document structure such as chapters and sections included in the structure and the amount of information of the content to be transmitted included in each structure, by automatically performing multidimensional display such as nail heading Even if the creator of the information describes the logical structure without describing the nail heading, etc., the information can be automatically displayed in a multidimensional manner and the list of the structure of the entire information is improved.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
This will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment 1] First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a multidimensional representation of an information structure using a book in the real world according to this embodiment.
It is an example expressed on a flat computer display. In the following description of the example embodiments, the case of expressing the structure of this book is described as an example, but not limited to the book, a system that provides information in a structured expression in the real world such as a binder, When expressed on a computer display, the same effect can be obtained.

As an example of how to represent a book in the real world on a computer display, in FIG. 1, by displaying a book frame 1, an area in which the contents of the book are displayed, a nail heading 2, a sticky note 3, etc. It separates from the area where the structure for searching the contents of is displayed. In the area where the structure for searching the content is displayed, for example, as the nail heading 2, a large item provided by the author or a mark for an important item is displayed in the vertical direction on the left and right of the main frame 1. On the contrary, by displaying the marks required by the user laterally above the main frame 1 like the sticky note 3, the structure of the mark created by the author and the structure of the mark created by the user are separated. further,
By the information of the thickness 4 of the book displayed on the left and right sides and the bottom of the frame 1, by pasting the current position information in the information expressed as one book and the nail heading 2 at the position of the corresponding thickness, The amount of each piece of information classified by the nail index 2 can be displayed externally as a list.

In this way, the separation of the area for displaying information,
By combining with a display for expressing the structure of information, it is possible to express the multidimensional structure of a book in the real world on a flat display. In this embodiment, a method of creating such a representation of the structure of information on a computer display from a logical description of information in text will be described.

The system configuration of this embodiment is shown in FIG. The multimedia information high-dimensional display system in the present embodiment is structured text data for inputting to the system information in which structured information is described as text information and information of contents to be transmitted to the user is mixed. An input unit 11, a structural text analysis unit 12 for separating information describing a structure and information describing contents contained in text data, a structure information storage unit 13 for sequentially storing structure information, and a separation unit. The content information analysis unit 14 that determines the size and position of the area for expanding the information of the obtained content in the content display area, the position information obtained by the content information analysis unit 14, and the structure information storage unit 13 are stored. The information structure determining unit 15 that determines the structure when the information is expressed as one book by associating the information structure with the existing structure, and the information that is explicitly displayed as a nail heading in the information structure. A display structure selection unit 16 for selecting, an information storage unit 17 for storing information expressed as one book, and an information storage unit 17 which is connected to the user to display the shape of the book on computer data and display the information. And a layout information storage unit 19 for storing layout information to be expressed as book information in the case of the present embodiment.

Information structured and described as text information is, for example, SG standardized in ISO.
ML or T that describes the expression structure when creating a print document
Description formats called eX and LaTeX, HTML that specifies the display structure when browsing information on a computer display in the form of a paper wrapper, and the like may be used, but in the present embodiment, book information is displayed on the computer display in particular. A description will be given using a language called BMDL that describes expressions for browsing information. The language system and description method of BMDL required in the description of the embodiment of the present invention are as follows.

(1) Main management function (description group for creating data of this format) a) Main control function A series of input main data must always start with <BOOK> and end with </ BOOK>. To do. This does not always represent one book, and may be partial data of the book.

<BOOK>[<COVER> ......... <//
COVER>] [<BODY> ......... </ BODY>]
[<BACKCOVER> ......... // BACKCOVER
R>] <// BOOK> b) Cover area control function This is a function for designating data to be pasted on the cover page. As content, only image data is pasted.

<COVER> ... </ COVER> c) Back cover area control function This is a function for designating the data to be pasted on the back cover page. As content, only image data is pasted.

<BACKCOVER> ......... </ BAC
KCOVER> d) Content area control function Describe the function to paste the content of the book. ……,
The following functions can be described.

<BODY> ......... </ BODY> (2) Page generation and control function (function of creating functional page such as table of contents) a) Table of contents page generation <TOH1 SIZE = Value FONT = nam
e color = Value STYLE = Value
> B) Tag page generation (generation of nail heading) <DUGPAGE SIZE = Value FONT =
name color = Value STYLE = Va
lue LABEL = name> c) Index page generation <INDEX SIZE = Value FONT = na
me color = Value STYLE = Value
e> (3) Page object generation function (display function of information to be transmitted) a) Chapter title generation <Chapter SIZE = Value FONT =
name color = Value STYLE = Va
lue POSX = Value POSY = Value
WIDTH = Value Height = Value
> Text </ Chapter> b) Section title generation <Section SIZE = Value FONT =
name color = Value STYLE = Va
lue POSX = Value POSY = Value
WIDTH = Value Height = Value
> Text </ Section> c) Item title generation <Subsection SIZE = Value FO
NT = name color = Value STYLE
= Value POSX = Value POSY = Va
lue WIDTH = Value Height = Va
ueu> text </ subsection> d) Body generation <Contents SIZE = Value FONT
= Name color = Value STYLE = V
value POSX = Value POSY = Value
e WIDTH = Value Height = Value
e> text </ contents> e) Image generation <Graphic POSX = Value POSY =
Value WIDTH = Value Zoom = On
/ Off border = On / Off Resize
= On / Off>{<IMG SRC = filename
e SOUND = filename Interval
= Seconds>. . } </ Graphic> (4) Other layout assisting functions <PAGEBREAK> Move to the next page The book information interface 18 displays the structure of a book on a flat computer display as shown in FIG. This system is intended to simulate an operation method, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-
No. 274396, a method for searching and displaying book information and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
A system for displaying book information shown in the information retrieval processing device and method of -78168 may be used.

According to the method for searching and displaying book information disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-274396, book information and its book information are accumulated in a system in which a plurality of devices for searching and displaying book information are connected via a network. When the user inputs the search data of the book information from the book information search operation input unit on the device, the book information corresponding to the search data is stored in the book information storage unit. The book information search discrimination control unit checks whether or not the book information is stored, and if not stored, the table in which the book information corresponding to the search data is stored is checked by referring to the table, and the data is passed through the search data transmission unit. The search data is transmitted to the device in which the corresponding book information is stored. Other devices that have received the search data in the search data receiving unit,
The corresponding book information stored in the book information storage unit is transmitted to the device that is the transmission source of the search data. In the device of the transmitting user, the transmitted book information is received by the book information receiving unit, and is sent to the book synthesizing unit. The book combining unit combines the book information with the book graphic, displays the combined information, and provides the combined information to the user.

In the information retrieval processing apparatus and method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-78168, first, a plurality of keywords stored in the keyword storage means are displayed by the keyword display means, and the user displays the keywords displayed by the keyword selection means. When a desired keyword is selected from, the book information search means searches the book information storage means for book information corresponding to the selected keyword. Next, the book information searched by the book information searching means, the tag information and the keyword attached to the book information are combined by the book information combining means, and the combined book information is displayed by the display means and provided to the user. To do. In this way, the book information is searched by the keyword selected by the user, and the searched book information and
By generating the display information by synthesizing the tags and keywords attached to the book information and displaying it in the display format included in the book information, the user does not recognize the location information of the information corresponding to the keyword. At the same time, when the user searches the displayed information, he or she can obtain desired information by browsing after inputting a keyword.

The process of the present invention in this embodiment is shown in the flowchart of FIG. The process of the process in the present embodiment will be described in detail using this.

First, in step 21, data with structure information described in the BMDL language is input from the structure text data input unit 11.

As described above, in the BMDL language, the structure information has a description enclosed in <> like SGML, and can be identified by performing a character string analysis. Therefore, in the structural text analysis unit 12, in step 22, the structural information enclosed in <> is
Identification is performed by comparing character strings, and the identified structure information is stored in the structure information storage unit 13 together with the identifier. BMD
A description example in the L language will be described later with reference to FIG. The content information is sent to the content information analysis unit 14 together with the display modification information such as the character size information in displaying in the BMDL language and the structure information identifier.

Next, in order to arrange the text in the content information and data such as images in the content display area, step 2
As 3, the rules for displaying images and texts stored in the layout information storage unit 19 are extracted according to the type of data, and the size of the area required to display data such as character strings and images is set. calculate.

As an example of the calculation of the size of the area, when displaying text information, the width of the character attached to the information of the font given together with the content information and the layout information storage unit 19 are used. Depending on the size of the page width of the book that can be displayed, the number of characters that can be displayed in one line on the screen book is determined by dividing the page width by the character width, and the number of characters of the sent text is displayed in one line Calculate the number of lines required for the text by dividing by the number of possible characters. The required area on the screen can be calculated by multiplying the required number of lines and the height of the character.

Similarly, in the case of image data, the vertical and horizontal size information given to the image data itself and the horizontal size of the page of the book that can be displayed and is stored in the layout information storage section 19 are displayed. By comparing with the vertical length information, if either the vertical or horizontal length of the image data exceeds the size of the page area, the exceeding value is set to the horizontal or horizontal value of the page. Alternatively, the value is made the same as the corresponding vertical value, and the other is contracted so as to maintain the same ratio. If both the vertical and horizontal values exceed the area of the page, the values that greatly exceed the area of the page are adjusted to the values of the area of the corresponding page. When neither the vertical value nor the horizontal value of the image data exceeds the area, the vertical and horizontal values of the image data are set to the size of the area when displayed on the book. The simplest method for contracting an image can be achieved by thinning out image data at regular intervals.

The resulting text data with the size of the display area on the book, the image data, and the data of the identifier to the information structure are sent to the information structure determination unit 15. In the case of displaying the shape of a book as shown in FIG. 1 in the information structure determination unit 15, the area in which information can be displayed changes depending on the page opened due to the influence of the thickness of the book, as in the case of a physical book. In order to arrange text and image data as the shape of a book, in step 24, the value of the displayable area of the content information of the first page to be displayed is acquired from the layout information storage unit 19, and the upper left coordinate point is acquired. Is stored as the next arrangement position.

For the data with the area sent from the content information analysis unit 14, in step 25, the area is secured from the upper left of the displayable area, and the data is arranged from the size of the area and the next arrangement position. The bottom of the display area in the vertical direction is compared to determine whether the data fits within the page.

If the result of the determination is that it fits in the display area,
In step 26, the data is set as the data of the corresponding page, and the value of the next layout position is set to the value at the lower end of the data or the value obtained by adding a predetermined value to the lower end. For example, when the data is arranged, the coordinates of the next arrangement position are 40 dots in the horizontal direction and 100 dots in the vertical direction, and the vertical size of the area required by the data is 200 dots,
Assuming that the value of the displayable area in the page is 680 dots in the vertical direction, the value of the next arrangement position when the data is arranged is 40 dots in the horizontal direction and 300 dots in the vertical direction. At this time, for example, if the image data area and the text area are very close to each other, it becomes difficult for the user to see. Therefore, for example, the vertical size of the page display area is 6
If it is 80 dots, if 1% space of 6 or 7 dots is opened and the next arrangement position is 307 dots, the separation of the data is expressed, so that it is easy to see.

If the result of determination in step 25 is that the page does not fit in the display area, step 27
, It is determined whether it is image data or text data.

When the image data is divided, the meaning of the data may be lost. However, in the case of text data, the area can be divided and arranged in a plurality of pages. The vertical length from the next arrangement position to the lower end is calculated.

Next, in step 29, in order to obtain the number of lines of text that can be displayed in the display area, step 2
The vertical length obtained in 8 is divided by the vertical size of the area required for display obtained in step 23 to obtain the number of lines that can be displayed, and the number of characters that can be displayed in one line is multiplied to obtain the number of lines in the display area. Determines the range of text that can be displayed in.

Next, in step 30, the text data is divided into two pieces of text data by dividing it in the range obtained in step 29. The previous data when the division is performed becomes the data displayed as the data displayed in the area in step 26, and the subsequent data becomes the data arranged in the next area.

Next, with the structure information stored in the structure information storage unit 13 in association with the data of the area determined in step 26, for example, the structure information indicating a chapter, the nail index is found on the corresponding page. In step 31, the information structure selecting unit 16 searches the structure information storage unit 13 by the identifier attached to the data of the area and acquires the corresponding structure information.

Next, in step 32, the relationship between the structural information and the expression elements such as the nail headings is referred to, and the display structure selection unit 16 adds the information of the expression elements such as the nail headings to the corresponding page. .

Next, in step 33, the information of the expression element, the information of the contents arranged on each page, and the page number are paired and stored in the information storage unit 17 for each page.

The image determined not to fit in the corresponding page in step 27 and the latter half of the text data divided in step 30 are processed in step 34 to send one page to the page in the information storage unit 17. The counter is incremented by 1 and the displayed data is returned to step 24 to display the information from the beginning of the next page.

As a result, the information to be expressed on the book described in BMDL is automatically divided into information for each page. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, if the book thickness 4 is given when the shape of the book is displayed on the display, the value of the page counter in the information storage unit 17 is set to the book thickness 4. Corresponding and increasing the dimension of expression when displaying information on a flat display by changing the picture of thickness 4 of the book according to the ratio of each page to the page counter when browsing Is possible.

A user who browses the data in the book format browses the information stored in the information storage unit 17 page by page from the book information interface unit 18 as the information in the book format as shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a process of increasing the dimension of information when the user of this system browses the information in this format.

As a basic method of browsing the information of the user in the present embodiment, first, in step 41, the information storage unit 1 is used by referring to the page number obtained from the user.
7, the information of the corresponding page is obtained, and in step 42, the thickness of the book corresponding to the current reference page for the corresponding book, the ratio of the current page to the pages of the entire book, and the entire book Calculate the total page thickness from the number of pages. As step 43, the book information interface unit 1
The picture representing the book stored in 8 is displayed on the screen, and the picture of the thickness calculated in step 42 is displayed around.

Next, in step 44, the information storage unit 1
The page number of the nail index and the character string of the nail index stored in 7 are searched. The number of pages of the retrieved nail heading and the number of pages currently referred to are compared in step 45, and for information having a number of pages smaller than the current page, the thickness of the left side surface of the book image is determined. On the image, as a step 46, the ratio of the number of pages of the information of the nail heading to the current page is calculated, and the arrangement position of the nail heading with respect to the thickness of the left side surface is determined.

Similarly, as 47, as a result of the comparison in step 45, for information having a page number larger than the current page, on the image of the thickness on the right side of the book image,
The ratio of the number of pages of the information of the nail heading to the current page is calculated, and the arrangement position of the nail heading with respect to the thickness is determined.

For example, assuming that the total number of pages of the book is 100 and the current reference page is 40, the size of the region of the thickness of the left and right sides of the book of 100 pages stored in the book information interface unit 18 is set. Each has 2 on the left
5 dots, 35 dots on the right, and nail headings given to pages 3, 7, 20, 50, 80, and 95, 3 pages are 3/40 * 25 dots. 2 dots on the left, 7
Page is 4 dots on the left, page 20 is 13 dots on the left,
50 pages are (50-40) pages / 60 pages * 35
6 dots on the right side, 23 dots on page 80, 95
The page has 32 dots and are arranged in the thickness direction as shown in FIG.

Next, at step 48, in the book information interface section 18, the nail index 2 can be listed without overlapping with respect to the thickness area as shown in FIG.
The area of each nail index is sequentially arranged from the upper end of the image of the thickness of the left side surface, and then the right side surface is also arranged from the lower edge of the nail index arranged on the left side surface. For example, in the above example, assuming that the vertical size capable of displaying the nail index is 600 dots, the vertical size of the nail index on page 3 is 70 dots, the page 7 is 150 dots, and the page 20 is 70 dots. , 50 pages are 70 dots, 80 pages are 70 dots, and 95 pages are 70 dots, and if the area where the nail index can be arranged is 15 dots from the upper end of the image of the book thickness, 3 pages are 15 dots, 7 pages are 15 + 70 dots, 85 dots, 20 pages are 235 dots, 50 pages are 305 dots, 80 dots
Pages are 375 dots and 95 pages are 445 dots, and are arranged in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. At this time, if a space of about 1% of the image of the vertical thickness is provided between each nail heading, it becomes easier to see.

Next, at step 49, information such as a still image or text of the page retrieved from the information storage unit 17 is displayed on the image of the book.

Next, in step 50, if the book information interface section 18 holds the information that a sticky note is attached to the book data, the sticky note is converted into an image of the book. Place horizontally on top.

In the case of the page referred to at this time,
By displaying a part of the sticky note on the image of the text and displaying it as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to make it easier to understand that the sticky note is pasted on the corresponding page.

As a result, the list of information structures described in the book, which was achieved because the book printed on paper had a three-dimensional shape, was reproduced on a flat display. it can.

The information described by BMDL in one embodiment is represented as shown in FIG. 6, and is displayed as shown in the lower part of FIG. 6 in this format. In one example embodiment, chapter title, body text, and graphic display elements are used. Section for each expression element of information
, Information is written in Gothic from the top of the page, and text and still images are placed on the page.

As an example of the data structure in the structure information storage unit 13, as shown in FIG. 7, a unique identifier assigned to each content information such as one picture or text of one phrase, and the data structure The type is stored. The type of the data structure may be any element as long as it is an element of the structure necessary for expressing the information of this form in the present invention. In the BMDL shown above, chapters, sections, sections, and diagrams are provided, and as an example of an embodiment, for example, a table of contents can be created by collecting all elements of chapters and sections. You can do it.

An example of the storage format of the data divided into page units in the information storage unit 17 is as follows:
As shown in FIG. 8, page-by-page data such as a nail heading and page number and multimedia data such as text and images arranged in each page are stored for each page. As shown in FIG. 8, the content data is composed of the coordinate position on each page, the information type of the content to be displayed, and the actual state of the data. For example, in the case of holding multiple data such as moving image data transmitted to the user and information such as still images and icons displayed on each page on the book like a moving image, In addition to the coordinate position of the data at the time of arrangement, the coordinate position of the area for transmitting information to the user and the data thereof are stored. Which data is the data is controlled by the type of information of the content attached to each data.

As an example of the layout information in the layout information storage unit 19, as shown in FIG. 9, at least the type of structure of information to be displayed is, for example, a spread book or a single-open book. It is composed of data indicating a display structure, a layout type indicating a layout type when displaying, and data expressing a size of a region required for each layout type.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram in the present embodiment example.

In this embodiment, for example, in order to automatically select the information to be added with the nail index, after all the information described in the structured description language is input from the structural text data input unit 11, The system of FIG. 2 is provided with the present structure generation unit 51 that searches the information storage unit 17 and extracts elements such as chapters and sections to which nail headings are added.
The other components of the system are similar to those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 and can be easily inferred, so the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows the process of processing in this embodiment.
It is shown by the flowchart of 1. As a process of processing in this embodiment, the information expressed in the structured description language is constructed in the information storage unit 17 as book-shaped data divided for each page, and the first embodiment is used. Since it is similar to the above and can be easily analogized, the description thereof is omitted.

When all the information constituting one book has been input and stored in the information storage unit 17, the structure text data input unit 11 proceeds to step 61 as the book structure generation unit 5.
Request 1 is generated to generate a nail index. The structure generation unit 51 searches the information storage unit 17 in order to extract nail heading candidates, and searches for data of elements arranged in the table of contents such as chapters and sections, and page numbers where the corresponding information exists. . When the information has two or more chapters, the information about the chapter is searched, and when the information has only one chapter or less, the information about the section is searched.

The retrieved information and page number are stored in the page data storage section in the structure generating section 51, and in step 62, the difference between the page number of one chapter and the page number of the next chapter is calculated, Calculate the number of pages for each chapter and section.

Since there is a high possibility that the main part of one book is described in the area having a large number of pages for each chapter or section, step 63 is performed in the descending order of the number of pages for each chapter or section. Rearrange.

Next, at step 64, information on chapters or sections arranged in descending order of the number of pages by a predetermined threshold value is selected.

In order to add a nail index to the selected information, in step 65, the chapter or section number is stored as the name of the nail index in the information of each corresponding page of the information storage unit 17.

By the above processing, a nail heading can be automatically added to a chapter or a section in which important information is likely to be described.

As another example of the embodiment for selecting the nail heading, for example, creating a table of contents in BMDL,
If the information such as the index creation is provided to the structural text data input unit 11, the information of the nail heading is selected in step 64 so that the table of contents and the position of the index in the book can always be listed. In doing so, the threshold value given in advance minus 2 pieces of information is selected, and step 65
As a result, by adding a nail heading to the top of the page of the table of contents and index of the information storage unit 17, it is possible to always show the position of the table of contents and index information, which is a guide of the information described in the book, to the user. It will be possible.

An example of the embodiment of the structure of the page data storage unit in the present structure generation unit 51 is, as shown in FIG. 12, at least the name of a chapter or section, the page number, and the space between the next chapter and section. The difference in the number of pages is stored.

[0068]

As described above, in the present invention,
It is possible to display a multidimensional structure such as the thickness of a book on a flat display by automatically converting the information in which the structure of the information is described in text into the information of the structure of the book. Therefore, the list of the structure of the entire information is improved for users who browse the information.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the description for improving the list of the structure of the entire information is not given in the description of the multimedia information, the information of the logical structure such as the chapter or the section is given. It is possible to improve the viewability of the structure of the entire information for the viewer of the information only by the author giving.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example in which information is three-dimensionally displayed on a flat display according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of a multimedia information high-dimensional display system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of registering data in the multimedia information high-dimensional display system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of displaying information in a high-dimensional manner when a user browses the information in the multimedia information high-dimensionalizing display system in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method of determining a coordinate position when displaying information in a high dimensional manner such as a nail index in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship when information of contents to be transmitted described in the BMDL language in the first embodiment is converted into information of this format.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure in a structure information storage unit in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure in an information storage unit in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure in a layout information storage unit in the first embodiment example.

FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram of a multimedia information high-dimensional display system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a process of a process of determining information to which a nail index is added in the multimedia information high-dimensional display system in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a page data storage unit in the present structure generation unit in the second embodiment example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main frame 2 ... Nail heading 3 ... Sticky note 4 ... Book thickness 11 ... Structural text data input part 12 ... Structural text analysis part 13 ... Structural information storage part 14 ... Content information analysis part 15 ... Information structure determination part 16 ... Display structure selection unit 17 ... Information storage unit 18 ... Book information interface unit 19 ... Layout information storage unit 51 ... Book structure generation unit

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Hamada 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A system for listing multimedia information in which a logical structure of a document is described by text as multidimensional information of three or more dimensions on a two-dimensional display, and means for interpreting the logical structure from the text. And means for setting an area for multimedia information to be displayed according to the interpreted logical structure on a predetermined page, and arranging the multimedia information to be displayed in the set area over a plurality of pages. In order to make the user recognize the means and the arrangement position of the document in the whole multimedia information by the multidimensional display element for multidimensional display such as a nail heading or a sticky note, the information expressing the structure of the document. , Means for giving information for performing multidimensional display to a predetermined page from the logical structure, and information for performing the multidimensional display, And one of the pages of the contents to be displayed as a page that standing and associating means, multimedia information when displayed in the form of opened book,
Means for calculating and displaying the thickness of the book for displaying the position corresponding to the entire multimedia information around the information to be displayed corresponding to the page currently referred to in the entire multimedia information; A multi-dimensional information high-dimensional display system comprising: means for displaying the multi-dimensional display element at a position on the thickness of the book of a page where information for three-dimensional display is present. 2. A means for adding information for performing multidimensional display from the logical structure to a predetermined page interprets the description for performing multidimensional display in the logical structure and performs multidimensional display on the corresponding page. The multimedia information high-dimensional display system according to claim 1, which is means for giving information. 3. The means for adding information for multidimensional display from the logical structure to a predetermined page interprets the description for multidimensional display in the logical structure and performs multidimensional display on the corresponding page. In place of or in addition to the means for giving information, when the description of the logical structure does not include the description for multidimensional display, the information expressing the structure of the document included in the logical structure and the information to be displayed. Means for measuring the amount of information to be displayed in the document composition unit in order to automatically perform multi-dimensional display from the amount of information, and the structure of the document in which the main information is described from the measured amount of information Means for selecting a unit, and for the first page of the constituent units of the selected document,
3. A multimedia information high-dimensional display system according to claim 2, further comprising: a means for giving information for performing multi-dimensional display.