JPH10207969A - General form generation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dynamically change the output condition of data in accordance with user's preference by extracting data meeting the output condition set by an output condition setting means from a prescribed data base and outputting a document where extracted data is printed in accordance with a form layout. SOLUTION: When a user uses an input unit 12 to start a data extraction information processing part 24, a CPU 10 performs a data extraction information processing in accordance with a corresponding program, and data extraction information is stored in a data extraction information register part 206. Next, a print definition information processing part 26 is started, and the CPU performs a print definition information processing in accordance with a corresponding program. Information of an inputted form layout and output condition inquiry information are stored in a print definition information register part 22. When a print execution processing part 28 is started by the user furthermore, the CPU 10 performs a print execution processing in accordance with a corresponding program. Thus, the output condition can be determined independently of the form layout.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for creating various forms by using an office computer or a personal computer, and more particularly, to a general-purpose form creation apparatus capable of arbitrarily changing data output conditions and printing out the form. About the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a form creation system having a function of creating a form layout. In this system,
The conditions for outputting data to a form (data output conditions) are statically included in the layout conditions of the form. Therefore, when a form printout command is issued, data of predetermined conditions is extracted from the database, and a form in which the data is arranged in accordance with the layout conditions is printed out. For example, if the output conditions are the names, affiliations, genders, ages, etc. of all the employees, an employee list in which the names, affiliations, genders, ages, etc. of all the employees are arranged according to the layout conditions is printed out as a form. You.

[0003]

However, even when the output condition of the data is changed without changing the formal data layout, the layout condition is reset so as to include the changed data output condition. Must be done. For example, when changing from the condition of all employees to the condition of employees belonging to a predetermined section, the layout conditions including such output conditions must be reset.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to create a general-purpose form that can dynamically change data output conditions according to the user's preference at the time of printing a form, without re-setting layout conditions of the form. Is to provide a system.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a general-purpose form creation system for printing data in accordance with a form layout to create a form. Display the output condition consisting of multiple items that determine the data to be displayed on the display unit, inquire the output condition from the user, and use the condition represented by the value input from the input unit for each displayed item as the output condition. Output condition setting means for setting, data extraction means for extracting data matching the output conditions set by the output condition setting means from a predetermined database, and printing the data extracted by the data extraction means according to a form layout And a form output means for outputting the completed form.

In such a system, first, the output condition setting means causes the display unit to display an output condition composed of a plurality of items. When the user inputs the value of each item displayed using the input unit, the output condition setting means sets a condition represented by the input value of each item as an output condition. As described above, when the output condition that determines the data to be printed is set, data meeting the condition is extracted from the database, and a form in which the extracted data is printed according to the form layout is output.

In such a system, it is possible to arbitrarily set output conditions (each item) suitable for a form layout. The form layout may be predetermined and fixed, or may be variously changed based on information provided by the user.

Further, in the system having the function of inquiring the user about the items of the output condition as described above, the present invention is intended to provide a mechanism for extracting data to be printed on a form in a concrete manner. The data extraction means includes extraction information storage means for storing a data item name to be printed on a form input by the input unit and a data file name including the data item, and a display unit A data file having a data item to be printed, which is included in the output condition item displayed in, is searched from the extraction information storage means, and a data file input for the output condition item from the data file in the database is searched. It is configured to extract data of the represented condition.

Further, in order to set data items to be printed as output conditions and to make them cheaper, according to the present invention, the output condition setting means is stored in the extraction information storage means. There is provided a means for displaying the data items on the display unit, so that a data item to be printed can be selected from the displayed data items.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A form creation system according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured, for example, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, this system includes a CPU 1
0, an input unit 12, a data storage unit 13, a display unit 14, a program storage unit 15, a printing unit (printer) 18, and a data file storage unit 30 (database). These units 12, 13, 14, 15, 18 and 30 are connected to the CPU 10 via a bus.

The CPU 10 controls the entire system and executes processing related to form creation according to each program (described later) stored in the program storage unit 15. The input unit 12 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and is used by a user to input information necessary for creating a form. Data storage unit 13
Has a data extraction information registration unit 20 and a print definition information registration unit 22 for storing data extraction information and print definition information, respectively, which will be described later.

The display unit 14 displays a window for inputting various data described later, data input from the input unit 12, and the like under the control of the CPU 10. The program storage unit 15 includes the CPU 10
Stores various programs to be executed. Especially,
The program storage unit 15 includes a data extraction information processing unit 24, a print definition information processing unit 26, and a print execution processing unit 28.

The data extraction information processing section 24 corresponds to a program for inputting a data file name of data to be printed on a form, an item name (extracted item) in the data file, and the like to the system. Such information is stored in the data extraction information registration unit 20. The information stored in the data extraction information registration unit 20 is specifically composed of a data file name, an item name, an item attribute (item type, item size) and the like.

The print definition information processing unit 26 corresponds to a program for creating a form layout and inputting information (output condition item inquiry information) for inquiring a user about output condition items to be described later to the system. I do. Information on the created form layout (item name,
The coordinates, character attributes, data file item names, etc.) and output condition inquiry information are stored in the print definition information registration unit 22 as print definition information.

The print execution processing unit 28 prints a form on the print unit 18 based on information stored in the data extraction information registration unit 20 and the print definition information registration unit 22 and information input by a user as described later. It corresponds to the program to be made. Data file storage unit 30
Stores a file consisting of records containing data of various items. One of the data files stored in the data file storage unit 30 has, for example, a structure as shown in FIG. That is, the item names of the data file include “record number”, “name”, and “gender”, and there are five records. The collection of records is a data file. In this case, the name of the data file is, for example, “employee data file”.

In the above system, the CPU 1
0 performs processing related to form printing (printout) in accordance with the procedure shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, when the user activates the data extraction information processing unit 24 using the input unit 12, the CPU 10 executes the data extraction information processing (S1) according to a corresponding program. In the data processing (S1), the following processing is performed.

A list of data file names stored in the data file storage unit 30 is displayed on the display unit 14. When the user looks at the list and selects a data file name using the input unit 12, the data items of the selected data file are displayed on the display unit 14. Further, when the user selects a data item to be printed on the form using the input unit 12, the selected data item is used as an extraction item in the data extraction information registration unit 20.
Is stored in This extraction item becomes a part of the data extraction information.

The selected data file is, for example, the "employee data file" shown in FIG. 3, and the data items "name" and "sex" of the "employee data file" are selected as the extraction items. The data extraction information is stored in the data extraction registration unit 20 in a format as shown in FIG. That is, the data extraction information is divided into a command part and an operand part, and represents a command to "select" the data item "name" of the "employee data file" and the data item "sex" of the "employee data file".

Further, control information as to whether or not to automatically display an extraction item on the output condition setting screen displayed on the display unit 14 when printing a form can be included in the data extraction information. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 4, the control information of "automatically display" for both data items "name" and "sex" is registered as data extraction information.

As described above, the data extraction information is stored in the data extraction information registration unit 20, and when the data extraction information processing (S1) is completed, the print definition information processing unit 26 is started, and the CPU 10 is executed according to the corresponding program. Is
The print definition information processing (S2) is executed. In the print definition information processing (S2), the following processing is performed.

A form layout design screen is displayed on the display unit 14. According to the contents of the design screen, the user uses the input unit 12 to input information relating to the form layout (item names, coordinates, character attributes, data file item names, etc.).
Enter For example, in the case of printing a form representing information of each employee as shown in FIG. 5, the characters "name" and the character "sex" which are fixedly printed, the layout position thereof, and data of the name from the data file are displayed. And the layout position of a “sex print area 52” for printing gender data are input as data relating to the form layout. Further, the user inputs control information (output condition item inquiry information) for inquiring the user about output condition items when printing the form.

The information on the form layout and the output condition inquiry information thus input are stored in the print definition information registration unit 22. Then, when the printing operation is performed by the user (activation of the print execution processing unit 28), the CPU 10 performs the print execution process according to the corresponding program (S3). This print execution process is performed as follows.

First, based on the output condition inquiry information stored in the print definition information registration unit 22, an output condition setting screen for inquiring the user about the output conditions as shown in FIG. Is done. In the case of this example, "item name",
“Comparator”, “comparison value”, and “connector” are defined. That is, the output condition is determined using “item name”, “comparator”, “comparison value”, and “connector”. "Comparator"
Is control information indicating a relationship with the "comparison value". For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, six types of relationships are prepared in the system. “Connector” is control information indicating a relationship between a condition determined by “item name”, “comparator”, and “comparison value” and the next condition. For example, as shown in FIG.
Two types of relationships are provided in the system.

When the output condition setting screen as described above is displayed, the data extraction information (see FIG. 4) stored in the data extraction information registration unit 20 is referred to, and the control information "automatic display" is included. If it is, a list of the extracted items related to the control information is automatically displayed on the display unit 14. In this case, since the control information “automatic display” is defined for the data items “name” and “gender”, for example, as shown in FIG.
“Sex” is automatically displayed on the display unit 14.

In the state where the output condition setting screen is displayed on the display unit 14 in this manner, the user operates the input unit 12.
Are used to set the values of “item name”, “comparator”, “comparison value”, and “connector”. First, in the case of "item name", when each automatically displayed data item (see FIG. 6B) is selected, the selected data item ("name", "sex") is entered in the "item name" column. Is set to The value of “item name” can be directly input using a keyboard (input unit 12).

In the case of “comparator”, “=” (equal) is set for one of the six pieces of information shown in FIG. 7A, for example, for both items “name” and “gender”. You. The “comparison value” is set as a reference condition, for example, “Saka *” is set for the item “Name”, and “Male” is set for the item “Gender”. Note that * is a control symbol representing initial letter designation. Further, in the case of “connector”, FIG.
“AND” (and) is set for one of the two pieces of information shown in (b), for example, the item “name”.

When each condition is set as shown in FIG. 6 (a), it represents an output condition of "a male employee with an acronym attached to the first name." After the output conditions are set as described above, when the user performs a start operation of the printing unit 18 (printer) using the input unit 12, the values "name", "name", "item name" of the set output conditions are set. From the information (see FIG. 4) stored in the data extraction information registration unit 20 based on “sex”, a data file including the item, that is, an employee data file is specified. Then, from the employee data file (see FIG. 3) in the data file storage unit 30, the set output condition, that is, “male employee with a suffix in the first letter of the name” is searched.

As a result, the name "Sakata Tsutomu" and the gender "male" are extracted. Then, the print definition information registration unit 22
Is merged with the extracted information stored in the form unit, and the printing unit 1 is
8 prints (prints out) the form. That is, in the case of this example, as shown in FIG. 5, a form in which "Sakata Tsutomu" is printed in "Name printing area 51" and "Male" is printed in "Gender printing area 52" is output from the printing unit 18.

Further, on the output condition setting screen, for example, output conditions can be set as shown in FIG. In this example, two “names” and “sex” are set as the values of the “item names”. The values of “comparator”, “comparison value”, and “connector” corresponding to the first item “name” are “=” (equal), “saka *”, and “O”.
R ”are set respectively, and“ = ”(equal),“ Sai * ”, and“ AND ”are the values of“ comparator ”,“ comparison value ”, and“ connector ”corresponding to the second item“ name ”. Each is set. Furthermore, “=” (equal) and “male” are set as the values of “comparator” and “comparison value” corresponding to the third item “sex”.

When such output conditions are set,
It represents an output condition that “a first letter of the name has Saka or Rhino and a male employee”. When the form is printed according to such output conditions, as shown in FIG. 9, the employee with the name “Sakakibara Ichiro”, the gender “male”, the name “Sakata Ttom”, Data of gender "male" employees, name "Saito Koichi" and gender "male" employees are extracted. Then, the extracted information and the form layout information are merged, and a form printed based on the information is output from the printing unit 18. That is, in the format shown in FIG. 5, a form with the name "Sakakibara Ichiro" and gender "male", a form with the name "Sakata Tsutomu" and gender "male", and a form with the name "Saito Koichi" and gender "male" The form is printed by the printing unit 18.

According to the system as described above, since the output conditions can be set independently of the form layout, the form can be printed under the user's favorite output conditions in accordance with the predetermined form layout. Therefore, the output condition for a predetermined form layout can be changed according to the user's preference without resetting the form layout.

In the above example, a part of the functions of the print definition information processing part 26 and a part of the functions of the print execution processing part 28 shown in FIG. 1 correspond to the output condition setting means. The function of the information processing unit 24 and a part of the function of the print execution processing unit 28 correspond to the data extracting unit, and the function of the part of the print execution processing unit 28 and the printing unit 28 correspond to the form output unit.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention described in each claim, the output condition can be determined independently of the form layout. The data output condition can be dynamically changed according to the user's preference when printing the form without setting.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of a data file.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of data extraction information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a form layout.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output condition setting screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of possible values of a comparator and a connector.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output condition setting screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of data extracted from a data file based on set output conditions.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 CPU 12 input unit 13 data storage unit 14 display unit 15 program storage unit 18 printing unit 20 data extraction information registration unit 22 print definition information registration unit 24 data extraction information processing unit 26 print definition information processing unit 28 print execution processing unit 30 data File unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hideaki Fukuda 2081-27, Tahara, Masuki-cho, Kamimashiki-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture Inside System Engineering, Fujitsu Minami-Kyushu Co., Ltd. 2081-27 Fujitsu Minamikyushu System Engineering Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a general-purpose form creation system for printing data in accordance with a form layout to create a form, an output condition including a plurality of items for determining data to be printed is displayed on a display unit, and a user is inquired about the output condition. An output condition setting means for setting a condition represented by a value input from the input unit for each displayed item as an output condition, and data matching the output condition set by the output condition setting means are specified. A general-purpose form creation system, comprising: a data extraction unit that extracts data from the database of claim 1; and a form output unit that outputs a form in which the data extracted by the data extraction unit is printed according to a form layout. 2. The general-purpose form creation system according to claim 1, wherein the data extracting means stores a data item name to be printed on the form input by the input unit and a data file name including the data item. A data file having a data item to be printed, which is input as a value for the output condition item displayed on the display unit, from the extracted information storage means, and outputs the data file from the data file in the database. A general-purpose form creation device configured to extract condition data represented by a value input for each condition item. 3. The general-purpose form creation device according to claim 2, wherein said output condition setting means has means for displaying a data item stored in said extraction information storage means on a display unit, and wherein said displayed data item is displayed. A general-purpose form creation device that allows a user to select a data item to be printed from a printer.