JPH09231022A - Document accumulator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To fast read the print image of an electronic document in a network and at the same time to offer the print data of high quality to a user. SOLUTION: A document storage means 2b of a document accumulator 2 stores a document of plural pages produced by a document producer 5 in the form that is held by the set of reading data divided into every page and also the print data. When a reading request including the display of a print image or the instruction of the print condition is issued by a document reader 1, the requested electronic document is acquired from the means 2b. Then a document processing means 2c extracts the reading data on a designated page against a display request and the print data on all pages or a designated page against a print request respectively. A document transmission means 2e sends the reading data of high resolution to the reader 1, i.e., a requester and also sends the print data of high quality to a designated printer 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document storage device of a remote printing system, and in particular, provides a user with a document stored according to a browsing request from a document browsing device before printing, and displays a print image on the document browsing device. (Print preview)
The present invention relates to a document storage device of a remote printing system capable of designating printing conditions based on the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, systems for browsing simple documents in a network environment have become widespread. For example, there is an information browsing environment called "Internet" or "World Wide Web (WWW)" which has been recently talked about. In this browsing system, "WWW server"
And "WWW browser" between "HTTP (Hyper
It is a protocol called "Text Transfer Protocol", which is "HTML (Hyper Te
xt Markup-Language) ”is used to exchange a data format.

This system, like hypertext, mainly uses character information and image information in a predetermined format as a card (a single sheet without the concept of page) in a simple format in a markup language. It is becoming popular in the general market as a system for exchanging and browsing. The technology related to the Internet is described in detail in ISBN 4-900718-12-2 "Internet User's Guide".

On this infrastructure, there is an increasing demand of users who want to construct a system for exchanging and browsing electronic documents and printing the browsed documents both inside and outside the company.

[0005]

However, when the above-mentioned network environment is used for document browsing / printing, there are the following problems and a satisfactory system cannot be realized. That is, since the format of the document is a simple text-based grammar, the trade-off is that the types of documents that can be expressed are limited. In addition, since a document is created with a specific grammar, it is not possible to create the document as it is with the word processor used by oneself, a unique document creation technique is required, or conversion to a specific format called HTML or You must use a word processor that has the ability to output.

On the other hand, for the purpose of exchanging documents, there is a method in which individual documents are acquired at respective locations using a file transfer protocol and exchanged as a data file of a word processing document. This method also has the following reason. Therefore, a satisfactory system cannot be realized. In other words, since the word processing data must acquire all pages, even if it is the first page, the document contents cannot be viewed immediately, and when viewing a document with a large number of pages, only certain pages can be viewed. Even if you want to browse, it takes time to transfer all page documents, so the responsiveness until browsing is poor. Moreover,
To support browsing of various word processing data on the user side,
Since it is necessary to prepare application software such as each word processor, it is impossible to assume that all viewers prepare all application software necessary for browsing.

In order to improve these problems, it is conceivable to convert the file format on the file server side into the document format requested by the user side and send it, but since the conversion of word processing data cannot be completely compatible. , It can be converted only in a limited range, and there will always be a discrepancy with the original. In addition, since there are many formats of word processing data and version upgrades are frequently repeated, the method of converting to all formats cannot be realized originally. Therefore, in general,
At present, exchange is not possible except for the format of commonly used typical application software.

Further, in the case of printing the browsed data, if the document used at the time of browsing has a limit of expressive power, high quality printing of a plurality of pages, which is formatted by using various charts and the like Is difficult, and if you want a high quality document, you will need a time consuming document for browsing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above point, and the document to be browsed / printed from the user side is a document that does not depend on specific application software, and the amount of transfer information for a browse request is reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document storage device in a remote printing system that achieves both improved response performance and high quality remote printing of viewed pages.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of a remote printing system. In this figure, the remote printing system includes a document browsing device 1, a document storage device 2, and a printing device 3.
And a communication path 4 connecting them. The document browsing device 1 transmits a browsing request designated by the input unit 1a to the document storage device 2 and transmits a browsing request transmission unit 1b.
And a document receiving unit 1d that receives the document transmitted in response to the browsing request and outputs the document to the display unit 1c. The document storage device 2 receives a browsing request sent from the document browsing device 1 via the communication path 4 and analyzes the browsing request, and a set of browsing image data divided into page units. And a document storage unit 2 for storing an electronic document holding image data for printing
b and the document storage means 2b requested by the document browsing apparatus 1
A document processing unit 2c for processing an electronic document in the image data into browsing and printing image data in accordance with a specified request, and reference information for preceding and subsequent pages is added to the browsing image data processed by the document processing unit 2c. The response data generating means 2d for generating the response data for browsing and the response data generated by the response data generating means 2d are transmitted to the document browsing apparatus 1 which issued the browsing request, and are processed by the document processing means 2c. And a document transmitting unit 2e for transferring the print image data to the designated printing device 3 requested by the document browsing device 1.

Further, the remote printing system includes a document creating device 5
The document creating apparatus 5 receives the print control command issued by the application software 5a having a print function on a paper medium at the time of print processing, and the image data for browsing in page units in a predetermined image format and page units or An electronic document creating means 56 is provided which processes the entire document into image data for printing, collects the image data, and outputs the image data in a predetermined document format.

According to the remote printing system having the above-described structure, first, in the document creating apparatus 5, a document consisting of a plurality of pages created by the application software 5a is divided into page images by the electronic document creating means 5b for viewing image data. Is processed and stored in the document storage device 2 as an electronic document that is held by the image data for printing and the image data for printing.

The basic browsing mechanism for performing the print preview is as follows. First, the document browsing apparatus 1 uses the browsing request transmitting means 1b.
Issue a browsing request through. Then, the document storage device 2
On the side of, the browsing request receiving / analyzing means 2a receives the transmitted browsing request. The electronic document requested to be browsed is acquired from the document storage unit 2b, the image processing unit 2c processes the browsing image data into a format according to the content of the browsing request, and the response data generation unit 2d converts the response data. prepare. At this time, the response data generation means 2d uses the image data for browsing so that when the document browsing device 1 issues a browsing request by the browsing request transmission means 1b, not only the designation of the electronic document but also the page designation is issued. Response data in which reference information is embedded in advance is generated. The response data thus generated is transmitted from the document transmitting means 2e. The response data transmitted through the communication path 4 is received by the document receiving means 1d of the document browsing apparatus 1 and displayed by the display means 1
It is sent to c and displayed.

On the other hand, when the page of the viewed document or the entire viewed document is printed by the printing device 3, the document viewing device 1 issues a viewing request including a print instruction. In the document storage device 2, the browsing request receiving / analyzing means 2a receives the browsing request, the document processing means 2c prepares printing image data according to the contents of the browsing request, and the document transmitting means 2e prepares the printing image. The data is transmitted to the printing device 3. The printing device 3 receives the printing image data and executes printing.

Therefore, since the response data for browsing in response to the browsing request from the document browsing apparatus 1 becomes image information in page units, the transmission data transmitted / received via the communication path 4 by one browsing request is at most. The image data amount for one page can be suppressed, and the response time from the page display request operation to the display of the actual page on the display unit 1c of the document browsing apparatus 1 can be shortened and the browsing response efficiency can be improved. . Further, by issuing a print request for the browsed document, the document storage device 2 prepares image data for printing and transfers this to the designated printing device 3, so that high quality printing is performed. be able to. In other words, the user
Before the actual printing, the page contents of the document in the document storage device 2 can be previewed at high speed and checked.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, the outline of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of a remote printing system.

In FIG. 1, the remote printing system comprises a document browsing device 1, a document storage device 2, a printing device 3 and a communication path 4 connecting them, and further stored in the document storage device 2. A document creation device 5 for creating an electronic document for browsing is provided.

The document browsing device 1 transmits a browsing request input / instructed by the input unit 1a to the document storage device 2 and a document storage device 2 in response to the browsing request. Document reception means 1d for receiving the response data and outputting it to the display means 1c. Further, the document storage device 2 receives a browsing request transmitted from the document browsing device 1 via the communication path 4 and analyzes the content of the browsing request, and a browsing request receiving / analyzing means 2a.
A document storage unit 2b for storing a set of browsing image data created by the document creating apparatus 5 divided into page units and an electronic document holding print image data; and a request from the document browsing apparatus 1 Document storage means 2
Document processing means 2c for processing the electronic document in b into viewing and printing image data according to a specified request, and reference information for designating an adjacent page in the viewing image data processed by this document processing means 2c. Is added to generate response data for browsing, and the response data for browsing generated by the response data generating unit 2d is transmitted to the document browsing apparatus 1 that issued the browsing request,
It has a document transmission unit 2e for transferring the printing image data processed by the document processing unit 2c to the designated printing device 3 requested by the document browsing device 1. Document creation device 5
Is an application software 5a such as a word processor having a print function on a paper medium, and image data for browsing in page units and page units in a predetermined image format in response to a print control command issued by the application software 5a during print processing. Alternatively, the document storage device 2 processes the print image data of the entire document and collects the image data into an electronic document of a predetermined document format.
Electronic document creation means 5 having a pseudo printing mechanism for outputting to
b.

According to the remote printing system having the above configuration, first, the electronic document is created by the application software 5a in the document creating device 5. The application software 5a is word processing software, spreadsheet software, drawing software, database software, or the like, and is strictly software having a function of printing on paper. A document composed of a plurality of pages created by the application software 5a is passed to the electronic document creating means 5b, and is converted into an electronic document held by image data for browsing in page units and image data for printing in page units or the entire document. Is processed. The processed electronic document is transferred to the document storage device 2 and stored in the document storage means 2b.

When browsing the stored electronic document for printing, the browsing request input through the input unit 1a is first sent to the communication path 4 by the browsing request transmitting unit 1b of the document browsing apparatus 1. The transmitted browsing request is received by the browsing request reception / analysis 2a of the document storage device 2,
Request contents are analyzed. Next, the electronic document requested to be browsed is acquired from the document storage means 2b, and the document processing means 2 is acquired.
In c, the electronic document is processed into a page format according to the content of the browsing request. Here, processing such as extraction of a designated page and conversion into a designated image format is performed. After that, the response data is generated by the response data generating means 2d. At this time, the response data generation unit 2d allows the image browsing apparatus 1 to issue not only the electronic document designation but also the page designation when the document browsing apparatus 1 issues a browsing request by the browsing request transmission unit 1b. The response data for browsing in which the reference information is embedded in the format of is generated. The browsing response data thus generated is transmitted from the document transmitting means 2e. The browsing response data transmitted through the communication path 4 is received by the document receiving means 1d of the document browsing apparatus 1 and sent to the display means 1c for display. Here, by operating the reference information of the displayed page data by the input means 1a, a browsing request specifying the electronic document and the page number linked to the reference information is issued to the document storage device 2. publish.

As described above, when printing the electronic document whose contents have been confirmed by the document browsing apparatus 1, the document browsing apparatus 1 issues a browsing request including a print instruction. In the document storage device 2, the browsing request is received by the browsing request receiving / analyzing means 2
a is received, and the document processing unit 2c prepares printing image data according to the contents of the browsing request. Here, when the print page is designated, the print image data of the designated page is extracted from the electronic document, and when the whole electronic document is printed, the print image data of the entire document is extracted. The image data for printing is sent to the printing device 3 by the document transmission means 2e.
Sent to The printing device 3 receives the printing image data and executes printing.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the response data for browsing in response to the browsing request from the document browsing apparatus 1 is image information in page units, the transfer transmitted / received via the communication path 4 in one browsing request. Since the image data corresponds to at most one page, the response time from the page display request operation to the actual display of the designated page on the display unit 1c of the document browsing apparatus 1 is shortened, and the response efficiency of the print preview in the remote printing system is reduced. It becomes possible to raise. Further, by issuing a print request for the browsed document, the document storage device 2 prepares high-quality image data for printing and transfers it to the designated printing device 3, which results in high quality. Can be printed. That is, the user can preview the page content of the document in the document storage device 2 at high speed with an image of low resolution and confirm the content before actually performing high-quality printing.

Further, in general, compared with the image data for browsing,
Although the amount of information and the load of print processing increase dramatically for high-quality print image data, the actual print processing (image processing, data transfer, etc.) does not go through the document browsing device 1 of each user, Since it can be directly transferred from the document storage device 2 to the printing device 3, the high-load processing can be processed in the back end in the document storage device 2 and the printing device 3 which are configured by a high performance machine. There is no load on the terminal device.

Next, a case where the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a system in which a plurality of users can browse a document composed of a plurality of pages stored in a server on the network will be described as an example.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server client system. The illustrated server client system includes a client 10, which is a user terminal,
The file server 20, the print server 30, and a LAN (Local Area Network) connecting them.
rk), WAN (Wide Area Network)
network 40 called k). The client 10 functions as a document browsing device, and although there are a plurality of clients on the network, only one is shown in the illustrated example.

The client 10 comprises a browsing request transmission unit 11 and a document reception unit 12, and the browsing request transmission unit 11
An input device 13 including a pointing device such as a keyboard or a mouse is connected to the document reception unit 12
A display device 14 is connected to the. The browsing request transmission unit 11 and the document reception unit 12 are each connected to the network 40.

The file server 20 is a network 40.
A browsing request receiving unit 21, a browsing target discriminating unit 22 that analyzes the received browsing request, a document acquiring unit 23 that acquires the discriminated browsing target, and a previously created electronic document is stored. The file storage unit 24, the document processing unit 25 that processes the acquired document into the specified format analyzed by the browsing target determination unit 22, and the adjacent page based on the page information analyzed by the browsing target determination unit 22. And a response format synthesis unit 27 that creates response data in which the reference information generated by the reference information generation unit 26 is embedded in the document data processed by the document processing unit 25. , A destination determination unit 28 that determines the destination of the response data from the address information determined by the browsing target determination unit 22, and a document transmission that transmits the response data to the determined destination. And a 29 Metropolitan. The browsing target determination unit 22 further includes a location extraction unit 22a that extracts the location information of the target file from the browsing request, and an extension unit extraction unit 22b that extracts an extended portion instructing the processing content requested from the browsing request. There is. File server 20
Is also provided with a facsimile transmission unit 50 for receiving the image data processed by the document processing unit 25, the output of which is connected to the public line 45. The file server 20 is further provided with a document creation unit 60 including general application software 61 and a pseudo printer driver 62. Although the case where the document creating unit 60 is installed in the file server 20 is illustrated, the document creating unit 60 may be provided in any client on the network 40 as long as the general application software 61 operates in the environment.

The print server 30 includes a network 40.
The print information receiving unit 31 is connected to and receives the print image data transferred. This print information receiving unit 31
Is connected to output the received image data for printing to the printer 32.

The client 10 is specifically, for example, a personal computer or a workstation equipped with document browsing software (WWW browser) capable of accessing a WWW server on the Internet. In this client 10, the user activates the software and
TTP (Hyper Text TransferPr
protocol), FTP (File Transfer)
U in a specified protocol called Protocol
RL (Uniform Resource Locato)
When the location identification name called r) is sent to the file server 20 which is a WWW server, the data returned as a response is displayed, and by operating the reference information, the location identification name can be sent to the file server again. It is possible to repeatedly browse and obtain information on many file servers connected to the Internet.

The reference information is included in a part of the display data received by the client 10, and is provided with information for specifying a character range or area and information necessary for issuing a browsing request (adjacent page information in this example). When the input device 13 indicates the specific display area, a browsing request is issued based on the information contained therein. This reference information is WWW
In HTML grammatical terms, it is an "anchor tag containing a URL".

The browsing request is a communication protocol that can be interpreted by the browsing request transmitting unit 11 and the browsing request receiving unit 21.
For example, in the case of WWW, the content to be exchanged is called a URL, and is a character string that combines the protocol type, the WWW server name (network address) designation, and the location designation of the file to be browsed, for example, "http: //www.fx. .co.jp / dir1 / dir2 / index.htm "is replaced.

The file server 20 is a document storage device that points to a mechanism called a WWW server on the Internet, and is a general Unix (X / Open Co., L
td. (Registered trademark in the United States and other countries), Windows, Windows NT
It operates as a resident program on an operating system having a directory type file system (such as the registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, USA) and a network communication function. When the access request arrives from the client 10, the specified file is sent back to the client 10 that has made the request from the HTML format data files stored in the predetermined directory of the file storage unit 24.

The facsimile transmission unit 50 does not transfer the document whose print image has been confirmed by the client 10 to the print server 30, but uses M for the facsimile for the G3 standard in the document processing unit 25.
MR (modified modifiedrea)
d) Used when transmitting image data converted into a compressed raster image to the facsimile receiver through the public line 45.

In the document creating unit 60 in the file server 20, the general application software 61 is a general term for application software that is generally available on the market, and GDI (Graphic De) for printing on paper.
It is intended for various application software such as word processors, editors, spreadsheets, databases, and drawings that have a print function via the Vice Interface.

The pseudo printer driver 62 receives a print control command issued by the general application software 61 at the time of print processing, collects the command page by page to create one or more kinds of image data, and collects the image data into a page. It is a device that composes records, collects pages, and outputs them in a specific format described later. That is, the pseudo printer driver 62 receives the GDI command (drawing function) issued by the general application software 61 in the print processing through the driver interface, and converts the information into, for example, PDL (page description language) or general image format information. Converted,
It has a function of converting it into a file and storing it as an electronic document in the file storage unit 24, instead of the process of the normal printer driver transmitting it to the printer. The pseudo printer driver 62 is, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 7-117733.
The document processing device described in the specification can be used. This document processing apparatus creates an electronic compound document as if paper documents were pasted together, and the created compound document can be handled electronically as a paper medium document. Data dependent on application software and document creation Data for display independent of application software and relational data relating to the composition position between each document element are created and stored in a storage unit as a set of plural types of image data in page units. To do.

The print server 30 has a network 40.
It is a device that has a function of receiving a print command sent through and printing on paper. For example, print server 30 comprises a computer connected to printer 32,
P received by the print information receiving section 31 of this computer
This is a device that spools DL files, registers them in a print queue, sends the queued PDL files to the printer 32 in order, and executes printing.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the document browsing function of the client. When a document is browsed in the client 10, the coordinates designated by the input device 13 are determined (step S1). It is determined whether the input instruction includes a remote printing instruction (step S2),
If there is a print instruction, the print server address is determined here (step S3). This judgment is HTML
In the case of, it can be realized by using the <Form> tag. A browsing request is determined based on the designated coordinates and the determined print server address (step S4). next,
The process of transmitting the determined browsing request is performed (step S
5). In this process, the browsing request is sent to the browsing request transmission unit 1
Passed to 1.

On the other hand, when the document receiving unit 12 receives the response to the browsing request, it performs a page image receiving process (step S6). The received page image is passed to the display device 14 and displayed on the display device 14 (step S7). Finally, it is determined whether or not the document browsing is finished. If it is not finished, the process returns to step S1. If it is finished, the document browsing is finished (step S8).

Details of the browsing request transmitting process of step S5 and the page image receiving process of step S6 will be described below. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the browsing request transmission process.

The browsing request transmission unit 11 determines the communication protocol from the determined browsing request (step S11).
For example, the browsing request (URL) is "http://www.fx.co.jp/A.mp?p1" or "http://www.fx.co.jp/A.mp?r-print". @ 129.300.xxx.xx
If “x” is set, the communication protocol is determined to be “http”. Next, the network address of the browsing request receiving unit 21 is determined from the browsing request (step S12). In the above example, the destination “www.f” described in the browsing request
x. co. jp ”, for example,“ 129.249.y
yy. a network address such as "yyy". Then, the browsing request is transmitted to the designated address by the designated protocol (step S13).

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the flow of the page image receiving process. In the document receiving unit 12, first,
A reception waiting state is set (step S21). Here, it is determined whether or not the document image has been received (step S22). If not, the process returns to the reception standby, and if there is, the file transferred from the document transmitting unit 29 is received (step S22).
23). Then, it is judged whether or not the reception is completed (step S24). If the reception is not completed, the process returns to the reception waiting, and if the reception is completed, the page image receiving process is ended.

Next, the operation of the file server 20 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the file server. In the file server 20, first, there is a browsing request receiving process in the browsing request receiving unit 21. That is, the browsing request receiving unit 21 is in a state of waiting for the browsing request (step S31), and it is determined whether or not the browsing request is received (step S32).

When the browse request is received, the process for each protocol is branched (step S33), and the process proceeds to the browse target discriminating process in the browse target discriminating unit 22 (step S34). When the determination process is completed, it is determined whether the file to be browsed is an electronic document file in the format of the document creation unit 40 (step S35). If the browsing target is not the electronic document file by the document creation unit 60, general information transmission processing, that is, the HTML transmission processing as in the related art is performed (step S36), and if the browsing target is the electronic document file by the document creation unit 60, The transmission information processing process is performed (step S37), and the process result transmission process is performed (step S38). As described above, the target of the browsing request is not the electronic document file by the document creating unit 60, but the upward compatibility can be maintained even for the existing distribution format. When the transmission process of step S36 or S38 ends, the process returns to the browsing request reception process.

Next, details of the browsing object discrimination processing in step S34 and the electronic document transmission information processing processing in step S37 will be described below. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of the browsing target discrimination process.

In the browsing target discrimination processing by the browsing target discriminating unit 22, first, the location extracting unit 22a extracts the location information from the browsing request (step S41). For example, the browsing request is "http://www.fx.co.jp/A.mp?p1" or "http://www.fx.co.jp/A.mp?r-print@129.300". .xxx.xx
If “x”, then “A.mp?p1” or “A.mp?r-print” after the description specifying the destination as the location information
@ "Print server address""is extracted. next,
It is checked whether the file is stored in the corresponding location (step S42). Here, if the file is not stored in the corresponding location, the location information path is cut by one element (step S43). That is, the extension "? P1" or "@" print server address "" is cut from the location information. Based on the cut location information of the extended portion, it is again determined whether or not the file is stored in the relevant location. If the file is stored, it is determined whether the stored file is an electronic document in the format of the document creating unit 60 (step S4).
4). If it is determined that the file is an electronic document in the format of the document creating unit 60, the stored file is determined to be an "electronic document" (step S45). If it is not an electronic document in step S44, step S4
It is determined whether or not the path element has been cut by 3 (step S46).
The file is discriminated as a normal file (step S4)
7) If it is cut, it is determined that there is an error (step S48).

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the flow of electronic document transmission information processing. The document processing unit 25 acquires, from the extension extraction unit 22b, the extension portion of the location information cut by the browsing target determination processing (step S51). That is, in the above example, the extended part "p
1 ”or the extended part“ r-print @ ”when printing is instructed
Obtain the print server address "". Next, the process branches depending on the contents of this extended portion (step S5).
2). For example, if the extension is "p
If it is "1", this is an extended portion indicating the page designation, and therefore the designated page image extraction processing is performed (step S).
53). Other branches include designated format image data extraction processing (step S54), display area designation processing for preparing image data of a designated area of a specific page (step S55), and image data of designated resolution or designated magnification. Display magnification designation processing for preparation (step S
56), data file acquisition processing for preparing native data by general application software (step S57), remote printing processing for sending to the print server 30 (step S58), facsimile for preparing facsimile image data There are a transmission process (step S59) and a local printing process (step S60) for preparing print image data to be sent to the printer provided in the client 10. Next, the reference information generation unit 26 performs a process of creating reference information for preceding and subsequent pages (step S61), and finally, the response format synthesis unit 27 processes the data format for response (step S62).

Next, the details of each process after step S53 will be described. Before that, the electronic document created by the document creating unit 60 and stored in the file storage unit 24 will be described first. deep.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data format of an electronic document output by the document creating apparatus. In this figure,
The electronic document includes a profile section 71, a page section 72,
And a document data section 73. Profile section 7
1 describes attributes common to all pages, such as index information and page number attribute. The page section 72 is composed of records for each page. Further, the page portion 72 can store a plurality of image data PDs in a plurality of image formats. Where P
D1-x, PD2-x, PD3-x (x is 1, 2, 3 ...
・ ・) Indicates the image data record of each page. Also,
PDy-z (y is the number of pages, z is 1, 2, 3 ...) z indicates the type of image format,
Specifically, for example, in the raster image system, there are images for paint software, images for G3 fax exchange which are MMR compressed images, scan images generated by image scanners and digital copiers, etc. As the image, the standard bitmap format in HTML,
There are many formats that can be handled in the Windows environment. In the vector image system (a set of character codes, graphic elements, images, and drawing attributes), WMF (W
Windows Meta File) and EWMF (Enh
anced WMF), mainly Macintosh (Mac
Intosh is Apple Computer I in the United States
nc. PICT of the graphic exchange standard format used in, for example, CGM (C which is the ISO standard for graphic exchange)
computer Graphic Metafill
e), a viewer "A" advocated by Adobe Systems, Inc.
PDF of the format for "crobat", EPSF (E
ncapsulated PostScript Fo
rmat) etc. Further, in the description language system for printer printing, there is a representative PDL PostScript (trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated) defined by Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States. Image data for browsing and image data for printing in page units are stored in the page section 72 in a format selected from the standard formats typified by the above. In the document data section 73, print image data including print commands for all pages and a data file in a format specified by the application software that created this electronic document are stored as document records.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the flow of designated page image extraction processing. In the designated page image extraction processing, the browsing request page is determined from the extension part extracted by the extension part extraction part 22b (step S).
71). For example, if the browsing request is "A.mp?p3", the browsing request page is 3 from the extension "? P3".
Determined as the page. Next, the electronic document file “A.mp” to be browsed is opened (step S72), and the index information of the profile part of the electronic document file is read (step S73). Based on this index information, the page 3 record in the page portion of the electronic document file is read (step S74), and the browsing image data PD in the browsing image format is read (step S75).

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the flow of designated format image data extraction processing. In the designated format image data extraction processing, first, the extension extraction unit 22
The browsing request page is determined from the expanded portion extracted from b (step S81). For example, the browsing request is "A.
mp? "p3 + wmf", the browse request page is the third page from the extension, and the designated format is "wm
f ”is determined. Next, the electronic document file "A.mp" to be browsed is opened (step S82), and the index information of the profile part of the electronic document file is read (step S83). Based on this index information, the page 3 record is read from the page section of the electronic document file (step S84). Here, it is determined whether the image data of the designated format is stored (step S85). If the image data of the designated format is stored, the image data PD of the designated format is read (step S86). If the image data of the designated format is not stored, the high quality image data PD is read from the image data PD group stored in the page 3 record (step S8).
7). Then, the read high-quality image data PD is converted into the image data PD of the designated format (step S88).

As described above, when the browsing request is made, the type of the image data PD is designated for the same page image, so that the image data PD in the designated format can be transferred. Therefore, the image data P
As D, the document can be sent in an image format that can be received and displayed by the popular browsing software, so that a wide user can browse the document. In addition, you can select the type of data that can be handled by the clients to be exchanged, such as standard images, high compression ratio images, and high quality images. For example, you can browse in monochrome binary compressed images that usually have a small amount of data. However, if you request a color image as needed, or if the network is not available or the network is close, and there is enough data transfer capacity, request an image that emphasizes quality, and transfer it if it is congested or distant. If the condition is bad, a transfer method can be selected according to the condition, such as requesting an image with emphasis on data amount reduction.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the flow of display area designation processing, display magnification designation processing, and data file acquisition processing. In the display area designation processing, the display magnification designation processing, and the data file acquisition processing, the extension extraction unit 22
The browsing request page and the processing request content are determined from the expanded portion extracted from b (step S91). Next, the electronic document file to be browsed is opened (step S9
2) Read the index information of the profile portion of the electronic document file (step S93). Based on this index information, the page 3 record of the page section of the electronic document file is read (step S94). Here, the processing for each image data processing request is performed.

If it is determined in step S91 that the display area designation processing is determined as the processing request content, the image data for browsing is read (step S95), and an image of the designated area is created from the image data for browsing (step S95). S96). In this way, the processing contents in which the necessary display area of the image data PD is specified in the browsing request is displayed, for example, "http://www.fx.co.jp/A.mp?(20,30)-(150x400 ) ”, It is possible to exchange image data with even higher transmission efficiency. This is particularly advantageous when reducing the amount of data transmitted. In addition, when reading a document of a large paper size, the amount of data and the transfer time can be reduced even when the original is divided into partial areas and transferred.

If it is determined in step S91 that the display magnification designation processing is determined as the processing request content, the high resolution image data is read (step S97), and the image of the designated resolution is created from the read high resolution image data. Yes (step S98). In this way, by defining the contents that specify the display magnification of the required image data PD in the browsing request, more detailed image data can be exchanged. For example, "http://www.fx.co.jp/A.mp?75dpi""http://www.fx.co.jp/A.mp?100dpi" or "http: // It can be defined in a format that includes a scaling factor such as "www.fx.co.jp/A.mp?100%" or "http://www.fx.co.jp/A.mp?200%".
This will increase the resolution of the transmitted image,
Detailed documents can be browsed, and if the resolution of an image to be transmitted is lowered, a document with a large print can be viewed at high speed and the document can be browsed according to the purpose.

Here, since the browsing request can be defined to acquire not only the browsing image but also the native data file of the general application software, it is judged whether or not there is a data file acquisition request ( Step S99). If there is an acquisition request, the document record in the document data section is read (step S100). With this, when it is desired to obtain word processing data from the viewed image, for example, for editing, the word processing data can be acquired by issuing a data acquisition request through continuous operations.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of remote printing processing. If the browsing request includes a remote printing request, for example, if the browsing request specifies "r-print" together with the print server address, the electronic document file to be browsed is opened (step S111). The print image data PD of the entire document in the document data section is read (step S112). Normally, printing of all pages is requested in many cases, so image data of the entire document (for example, Po
Read PDL data by stScript),
When printing of a specific page or page range is requested, the print image data of the corresponding page stored here is read from the page section of the electronic document. If necessary, it is possible to specify the print quality such as color, resolution, format, etc. in the browsing request. In that case, the image data of the entire read document or the designated page is processed according to the request. Next, the print image data PD is transmitted to the print information receiving unit in the print server having the print server address specified in the browse request (step S113). Then, the response document data for notifying the client of the result of permission / inhibition of transmission is created (step S114).

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the flow of facsimile transmission processing. If the browse request includes a facsimile transmission request, for example, the browse request is "htt
If there is a facsimile transmission instruction such as "p: //www.fx.co.jp/A.mp? send-FAX @ 03-zzzz-zzzz", first open the electronic document file to be viewed ( Step S12
1) The print image data PD of the entire document in the document data section is read (step S122). The read print image data PD is processed into facsimile transmission data (step S123). The print image data is, for example, PostS.
If it is PDL data by script, PostScr
Conversion from ipt to MMR compressed data is performed. After that, the facsimile transmission unit 50 transmits the facsimile transmission data to the facsimile receiving apparatus having the facsimile number specified in the browsing request (step S12).
4). Finally, the response document data for notifying the client of the result of permission / inhibition of transmission is created (step S125).

Next, in the case of local printing, as a browse request, for example, "?
L-print "is designated. The processing for this local printing is different except that the destination is the client.
This is the same as the case of the remote printing process.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing the flow of the preceding and following page reference information creation processing. In the preceding and subsequent page reference information creation processing in the reference information generation unit 26, first, the browse request page is determined from the extended portion extracted by the extended portion extraction unit 22b (step S131). Next, the electronic document file to be browsed is opened (step S13
2) Read the page number attribute from the profile section of the electronic document file and check how many pages of records exist in the electronic document file (step S13).
3). Here, it is determined whether the page requested to be browsed is the first page (step S134). If it is the first page, there is no previous page, so the current page and the page next to the current page are determined as the page number of the anchor to be embedded as reference information (step S135). That is, if the browsing request page is n, the previous page = n and the subsequent page = n + 1. If the page is not the top page, it is determined whether the page requested to be browsed is the final page (step S13).
6). If it is the final page, there is no page after this, so the previous page = n−1 and the subsequent page = n (step S137), and if it is the intermediate page, the previous page = n−.
1, 1st page = n + 1 (step S138).

After that, the response format synthesizing section 27 processes the data format for the response. This process creates a general-purpose exchange format that can be interpreted by the client from the designation of the browsing image file and the reference information for the previous and next pages.

For example, in the document processing section 25, a specified page image extraction process is performed on the browsing request "A.mp?p3+JPG", and "A.MP-p3.JP" is executed.
The image data of the page image in the bitmap format "G" is created, while the reference information generation unit 26 determines the previous page (n = 2) and the subsequent page (n = 4), and the response format synthesis unit 27 respectively. Entered in. The response format synthesizing unit 27 generates, for example, the following predetermined general-purpose exchange format based on the input information.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of generating a response data format. The illustrated response data format is an example described in the WWW HTML grammar, and is generated as a text file. According to this text file, the tags <TITLE> and </ TITL>
It indicates that the character string enclosed by E> is displayed in the title column of the browsing window on the display device 14 of the client 10. Tags <BODY> and <//
The portion enclosed by BODY> is the description of the text, and first, the page image processed and generated in response to the browsing request,
That is, it indicates that the image in the bitmap format of the third page of the designated document file “A.MP” is displayed. The next two lines are the part where the reference information is embedded, and are described in the format of <A HREF="reference destination"> display character string </A>. When the above description is executed by the document browsing apparatus, the reference content “reference destination” is referred by designating the displayed “display character string”. Therefore, on the client side, when the character string “previous page” is displayed and the character string is designated by the input device 13, the browsing is performed by designating the document file “A.MP” and the page number (second page). Request is issued. In addition, the character string "next page" is displayed, and the character string is input device 1
If the instruction is 3, the browse request specifying the document file "A.MP" and the page number (4th page) is issued.

In realizing the above-described environment, the client configuration on the user side is made to correspond to the file server side without any modification to the mechanism (= WWW browser) already on the market. Achieve a satisfactory print preview and document printing environment. In addition, since it is possible to define a browsing request to print (facsimile transmission) as a facsimile image through a facsimile line, substitute a facsimile device when a load is expected to be transferred on the LAN line or when there is no printer nearby. It can also be used as a printer. This technology also uses the "FAX B
It can also be applied to "OX system". That is, it is possible to realize a service in which the contents of a document are confirmed on the screen and a facsimile transmission is requested for a required document.

[0064]

As described above, in the present invention, when the document storage device stores a document composed of a plurality of pages created by general application software, the document storage device collects the image data for browsing divided into page units and prints it. Image data is stored in the form of an electronic document. As a result, when the electronic document is browsed for the print preview, the browsing image data is sent and received in page units, and the response to the print preview display request operation of the page can be made faster. In the case of remote printing instructions, the document storage device acquires image data for printing from the browsed document and transfers it to the printing device at another address on the network, so high-quality printing can be performed. it can. That is, it is possible to achieve both high-speed browsing response speed on the electronic screen and high-quality printing.

Further, in general, high-quality printing image data causes a dramatic increase in information amount and print processing load as compared with low-resolution viewing image data. Since the image data is directly transferred from the document storage device to the printing device without passing through the document browsing device of each user, the document browsing device is not overloaded.

Further, the document processing means uses not only all pages of the browsed document as the print information to be transferred to the printing device,
Specific pages and page ranges can be specified, print qualities such as color, resolution, format, etc. can be specified, and fine print settings can be set according to the purpose. Since the document storage device has the facsimile transmission means, the facsimile device can be used as a printing device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of a remote printing system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a server client system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of a document browsing function of a client.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of a browse request transmission process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of page image reception processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the file server.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of a browsing target determination process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of electronic document transmission information processing processing.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data format of an electronic document output by the document creation device.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of designated page image extraction processing.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of designated format image data extraction processing.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of display area designation processing, display magnification designation processing, and data file acquisition processing.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of remote printing processing.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a flow of facsimile transmission processing.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a flow of previous and subsequent page reference information creation processing.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of generating a response data format.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Document Browsing Device 1a Input Means 1b Browsing Request Sending Means 1c Displaying Means 1d Document Receiving Means 2 Document Storage Device 2a Browsing Request Receiving / Analyzing Means 2b Document Storage Means 2c Document Processing Means 2d Response Data Generating Means 2e Document Sending Means 3 Printing Devices 4 Communication Path 5 Document Creating Device 5a Application Software 5b Electronic Document Creating Means 10 Client 11 Browsing Request Transmitting Section 12 Document Receiving Section 13 Input Device 14 Display Device 20 File Server 21 Browsing Request Receiving Section 22 Browse Target Discriminating Section 22a Location Extracting Section 22b Extended section extraction section 23 Document acquisition section 24 File storage section 25 Document processing section 26 Reference information generation section 27 Response format composition section 28 Destination determination section 29 Document transmission section 30 Print server 31 Print information reception section 32 Printer 40 Network 4 Public line 50 facsimile transmission unit 60 document creating unit 61 general application software 62 pseudo printer driver

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location H04N 1/00 107 H04N 1/32 Z 1/32 1/387 1/387 G06F 15/20 566D

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A browsing request transmitting means for transmitting a browsing request including display of a print image and an instruction of a printing condition, and a document receiving means for receiving browsing response data transmitted in response to the browsing request. A document browsing device for displaying the received browsing response data and for creating and transmitting a browsing request based on the designated reference information when the reference information of the displayed browsing response data is designated; In a document storage device that is combined with a printing device that prints data to form a remote printing system, a browsing request receiving / analyzing unit that receives the browsing request issued from the document browsing device and analyzes the request content, and a page Document storage means for storing an electronic document composed of browsing data held in units and printing data held in pages A document extracting unit that extracts the corresponding page of the browsing data and the printing data according to the browsing request; and reference information for preceding and following pages according to the browsing request, and the browsing data extracted by the document extracting unit. Browsing response data generation means for generating the browsing response data by synthesizing the reference information on a page; and transmitting the generated browsing response data to the document browsing device that issued the browsing request, A document storage device comprising: a document transmission unit for transmitting to a printing device. 2. The document storage device according to claim 1, wherein the document extraction means processes the extracted page of the browsing data and the entire sentence of the printing data or the extracted page according to the browsing request. . 3. The document storage means receives a print command issued by application software at the time of print processing, and processes the print command into a page-based browsing data and a full-text / page-based printing data in a predetermined image format. And storing electronic documents created by an electronic document creation device having electronic document creation means for collecting browsing data and printing data in page units and full text and outputting the data in a predetermined document format. 1. The document storage device according to 1. 4. A facsimile transmission means for transmitting the printing data extracted from the electronic document into the facsimile transmission data by the document processing means to the transmission partner designated by the browsing request. The document storage device according to claim 1.