JPH10228516A - Form document, form document processing method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a form document processing method and a device which describe prescribed items in a blank form and are practical use and easy to use. SOLUTION: An image reading part 4 reads form document 2 on which an written example is described, and a range inputting part 6 outputs the written example and range information of notices about writing to a griff pattern generating part 8. The part 8 creates a griff pattern that includes range information. A created bitmap image is outputted to an image synthesizing part 10. The part 10 synthesizes a bitmap image of the document 2 with a bitmap image of the griff pattern. An synthesized image is printed in an image printing part 12, and a form document on which a written example, etc., is described, and also on which those range information are added in griff patterns is outputted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form document in which an entry area (column) is provided at a predetermined position, and a form document processing method for filling predetermined items in a blank form while referring to an entry example. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In various businesses, in order to obtain information necessary for the business, a form document provided with a blank (blank space) for entering the information is used. FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventionally used form document. The form document shown in FIG. 5 shows a blank form in which necessary information is not yet described in the blank. Fillers who fill out the blank form are usually required to fill in the blank form with reference to a sample form document that has been prepared by the blank form submitter, and has printed entry examples and notes on filling. Fill out.
FIG. 6 shows a form document in which an entry example and notes on entry are described. The format of the form document shown in FIG.
Is the same as the form document of the blank form shown in FIG. 1, an entry example is printed in a blank, and notes on entry are printed in a blank portion.

[0006] Instead of using an entry sample as shown in FIG. 6, an entry procedure describing only an entry example and precautions for entry is provided on a separate sheet, or a predetermined area of a blank form, for example, a lower row outside the margin of the blank form is set. It is also possible to use a dedicated area only for the entry procedure. However, a sample form document printed in the same format as the blank form is more convenient for the entry person because the required entries can be easily grasped visually. Therefore, a form document of an entry sample as shown in FIG. 6 is often used.

However, there is no problem in filling a blank form using such a sample form document. For example, if a blank area with only the entry procedure is provided in the lower part of the margin of the blank form and the entry example and notes on entry are printed there, it is sufficient for the submitter to prepare only the blank form. In contrast, when preparing a completed sample form document, the printing cost of the completed sample form document will be extra, and the installation location and storage location of the completed sample form document will be required Is disadvantageous.
Also, even if the filler receives two sheets, a blank form and a sample form document, if they lose one, they will have to apply again for the form. This is disadvantageous in that management becomes complicated.

In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-2
It is conceivable to use the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 95958. According to the technology described in this publication, first, specific information that requires secrecy is obtained as an image, converted into a barcode, and recorded in a desired document. For example, the part of the model answer is converted into a bar code and recorded together with the question on the question paper. This document (question paper) is read later by a scanner or the like, and the barcode portion is restored and synthesized at a specified position in the document. In this way, for example, a model answer can be displayed beside the answer entered by the examinee.

When the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-295958 is applied to a form document, information on an entry example and notes on entry can be converted into a bar code, added to a blank form, and distributed to the creator. Can be considered. The writer reads one distributed blank form with a scanner or the like, restores the barcode portion, and combines the barcode portion with a predetermined entry area of the blank form. By doing this,
You can obtain a sample form document with the entry examples and notes on entry.

[0007]

However, this method also has a problem. Initially, a sample is required when there are a large number of blanks in the blank form, a large number of entries, or when the precautions for entry require detailed explanation. There are many. Even if you try to barcode such a large amount of entry examples or information on precautions and add it to a blank form, the amount of information representing the document contents of the entry examples and precautions and the information on their placement positions are Because of the large size, the barcode pattern also becomes large, and the barcode pattern may occupy a wide area of the blank form paper. Although it is conceivable to reduce the barcode pattern, the resolution of a reading device such as a scanner is limited and is not practical.

Further, even if it is assumed that the amount of information is not so large, the barcode must be arranged outside the margin of the blank form, and the area of the blank form is eventually reduced within the limited paper size. In other words, since the contents cannot be grasped directly from the barcode, the usability is further deteriorated as compared with the previous example in which the lower part of the margin of the blank form is a dedicated area only for the entry procedure.

[0009] Furthermore, even if the barcode is added to the blank form by the above method when the amount of information of the entry example and the precautionary information is extremely small, the entrant does not need to print the form document of the entry sample. Could easily fill in the blanks, and the barcodes in the blank form could just be a visual obstruction.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a form document that is practical, easy to use, economical, and easy to install and store. Another object of the present invention is to provide a form document processing method and apparatus which are practical and easy to use when a filler fills in a blank form.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a form document in which an entry area is provided at a predetermined position, wherein the data described in the entry area and a code in which information of a data existence range is embedded. This is achieved by a form document characterized by having:

It is another object of the present invention to specify an existing range of data from a form document in which data is described in an entry area at a predetermined position, encode the information of the existing range to generate encoded data, and generate encoded data in the form document. Embedded in the form document processing method.

Further, the object is to read a form document in which data is written in an entry area at a predetermined position and to which a code embedded with information on the existence range of the data is added, and decode the code to obtain the information on the existence range. This is achieved by a document processing method characterized in that a blank form is created by acquiring and filling in the data existence range based on the existence range information.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a code data generating apparatus for designating an existing range of data from a form document in which data is described in an entry area at a predetermined position and encoding information of the existing range to generate encoded data. And a code embedding unit for embedding code data in the form document.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a document reading means for reading a form document in which data is written in an entry area at a predetermined position and to which a code in which information on the existence range of the data is embedded is added, and that the read code is decoded. Decoding means for acquiring the information of the existence range, filling means for filling the inside of the existence range of the data based on the information of the existence range, and output means for outputting a blank form filled with the data. This is achieved by a form document processing device.

According to the present invention, for example, data such as an entry example is not encoded, and only the existence range of the entry example is encoded to reduce the amount of information to be embedded in a form document. doing. Since less information needs to be embedded,
The embedding area of the code pattern in the form document can be reduced.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A form document and a form document processing method and apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a form document processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, in which an existing range of an entry example is specified from a form document in which an entry example is described in an entry area at a predetermined position, and information of the existing range is encoded. FIG. 1 shows a form document processing apparatus having a code data generation unit for generating code data by using a code embedding unit for embedding code data in a form document. The purpose of the form document processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is to create a form document in which range information of the entry example is added as code data from the form document in which the entry example is described. In order to distinguish it from the form document processing device shown hereafter, it will be referred to as an information adding device hereinafter.

The form document 2 is a form document in which an example of entry and precautions for entry as shown in FIG. 6 are described, and is pre-printed on a sheet. In FIG. 1, the information adding apparatus has an image reading unit 4 that reads a form document 2 in which an example of entry is described.
The image reading unit 4 is, for example, a scanner. The bitmap image data of the form document 2 read by the image reading unit 4 is input to the range input unit 6 and the image synthesizing unit 10.

The range input section 6 has a display device (not shown) for displaying a bitmap image of the form document 2. The user who uses this information adding device is required to enter the range input unit 6
While viewing the form document 2 displayed on the display device, the user can designate a range in which an example of entry of the form document 2 on the display device and notes on the entry are displayed using a pointing device such as a mouse. It has become. The range is specified by, for example, clicking on the upper left and lower right vertices of a rectangle surrounding the display position of the entry example on the display screen.

The range information of the entry example and the precautionary notes on the entry, input by the range input unit 6, is output to the glyph pattern generation unit 8. Before describing the glyph pattern generation unit 8,
The glyph pattern will be described. The glyph pattern is
This is a type of code data embedded in a document. There are several methods for embedding desired data in a document by using an embedding code, such as a two-dimensional barcode. In the present embodiment, a data glyph (trademark of Xerox Corporation of the United States) developed by Xerox Corporation of the United States is used. The data glyph is represented by, for example, information "0" and "1" by small diagonal lines "/" and "$", and one diagonal line represents one-bit information. By arranging the data glyphs one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally, various information can be embedded in a medium such as paper. A one-dimensional or two-dimensional arrangement of the data glyphs is called a glyph pattern. FIG. 12 shows an example of the glyph pattern.

The glyph pattern generation unit 8 receives the range information from the range input unit 6 and generates a glyph pattern including the range information. The generated glyph pattern bitmap image is output to the image synthesis unit 10.

The image synthesizing unit 10 synthesizes the bitmap image of the form document 2 containing the entry example received from the image reading unit 4 and the glyph pattern bitmap image input from the glyph pattern generation unit 8. Since the glyph pattern can be pasted in halftone, the combination position in the form document is not particularly limited.

In the form document according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the print area of the characters "bank transfer designation", "starting month", and "reason" are set in the frame where the characters are printed. The glyph pattern is embedded so as to avoid it. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, a glyph pattern may be embedded in a blank area in a form document. Thus, the form document according to the present embodiment is
A form document in which an entry area is provided at a predetermined position, which is characterized by having an entry example described in the entry area and a code in which information on the existence range of the entry example is embedded.

The embedding area of such a glyph pattern can be specified by the user using the range input unit 6, or the image synthesizing unit 10 can automatically allocate the embedding area. There is no particular limitation in the present embodiment.

The bitmap image of the form document 2 in which the glyph pattern has been synthesized by the image synthesizing unit 10 is input to the image printing unit 12, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. The form document 14 to which range information indicating the existence range of is added in a glyph pattern is printed out. The above is the outline of the configuration and functions of the information adding device according to the present embodiment.

Next, the flow of processing using the information adding device will be described with reference to FIG. First, an image reading unit 4 such as a scanner reads a form document 2 in which an entry example and precautions for entry are described, and sends the bitmap image to the image combining unit 10 and the range input unit 6 (step S).
1). In the range input unit 6, while the user (user) looks at the form document 2 displayed on the display device of the range input unit 6, an entry example of the form document 2 on the display device and notes on the entry are displayed. The range is specified using a pointing device such as a mouse.

On the display device of the range input section 6, the form document 2 may be displayed as it is as shown in FIG. 6, or, as shown in FIG. May be displayed. Further, the existence range such as an entry example may be displayed by a broken line in FIG. The user designates a range for a desired entry example or the like based on these displays.

The range input unit 6 stores, for example, the coordinates of the upper left and lower right vertices of the rectangle surrounding the display position of the entry example on the display screen as range information, based on the range specification specified by the user (step). S2). The processing in step S2 is
The process is repeated until the user completes the desired range designation (step S3). When the range specification is completed, in the example of the flow of this processing, the user is caused to specify in which position of the output form document 14 the glyph pattern is to be embedded. The embedding position of the glyph pattern in the form document is stored as embedding position information (step S4).

Next, the range input unit 6 collectively encodes the stored range information as a data glyph to generate a glyph pattern (step S5). The generated glyph pattern and the embedding position information of the glyph pattern are output to the image synthesizing unit 10. The image synthesizing unit 10 synthesizes the bitmap image of the glyph pattern into the bitmap image of the form document 2 based on the embedding position information. (Step S6). The synthesized bitmap image is sent to the image printing unit 12.
Is completed, and the form document 14 with the entry example in which the glyph pattern is added at a predetermined position is completed (step S7).

As described above, according to the information adding apparatus according to the present embodiment, instead of encoding the entry examples and the notes on entry, only the existing range of the entry examples and the notes on entry is converted into the glyph code. Since the information is to be encoded, the data amount of the code data to be embedded in the form document can be significantly reduced as compared with the data amount in the case where the entry example and the notes on entry are encoded. . For example, if the entry example and the entry range and contents of the entry precautions as shown in FIG. 7 are encoded on the blank form shown in FIG. 5, the information amount is about 620 bytes.
However, full-width characters are 2 bytes and half-width characters are 1 byte.
The X coordinate and the Y coordinate of one vertex of the rectangle indicating the existence range of the entry example in the inside are calculated as 2 bytes.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, if only the existing range of the entry example is encoded, the information amount is only 256 bytes. In FIG. 8, the number of rectangles indicating the existence range in the form document is 32, and the existence range can be determined only by knowing the coordinates of the upper left and lower right vertices of the rectangle. Since the X and Y coordinates of one vertex are 2 × 2 = 4 bytes as described above, eight bytes for two vertices of a rectangle are sufficient to represent one existing range. Therefore, 8 (bytes) × 32 (pieces) = 256 bytes.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, the amount of information to be encoded in this embodiment is about 40% of the information amount in comparison with the case of encoding the entry example and notes on entry. Will be. As the number of characters in examples and notes increases,
Naturally, the efficiency of reducing the amount of information increases. Therefore, the greater the number of characters such as an entry example described in a form document, the greater the advantage of using the form document processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a form document processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, in which an entry example is described in an entry area at a predetermined position, and a code embedding information on the existence range of the entry example is added. Document reading means for reading a form document, decoding means for decoding the read code to obtain information on the existence range, filling means for filling the inside of the entry range of the entry example based on the information on the existence range, and entry example And an output unit for outputting a blank form filled with the form document. The purpose of the form document processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is to create a blank form in which a specified range is filled from a form document in which range information is added in a glyph pattern. Hereinafter, in order to distinguish it from the processing device, it will be referred to as an image processing device.

In FIG. 2, the image processing apparatus has an image reading unit 16 for reading a form document 14 in which a glyph pattern in which an entry example or the like is described and the range of the entry example or the like is range information is added. . Image reading unit 16
Is the same as that of the image reading unit 4 of the information adding device, and can be shared by the image reading unit 4 of the information adding device. The bitmap image data of the form document 14 read by the image reading unit 16 is input to the glyph pattern recognition unit 18 and the designated range filling unit 20.

The glyph pattern recognition section 18 recognizes a glyph pattern from the bitmap image data from the image reading section 16. The glyph pattern recognizing unit 18 decodes the recognized glyph pattern to obtain range information indicating a description example or a writing position of a precautionary note in the writing. The obtained range information is output to the specified range painting unit 20.

The designated range filling unit 20 performs a predetermined region on the bitmap image of the form document 14 in which the entry example received from the image reading unit 16 is described based on the range information input from the glyph pattern recognition unit 18. Paint. The fill color may be the background color of the form document or a different color from the background color. Since the filled area is a blank area of the blank form finally output, any color may be used as long as the color does not cause discomfort when the writer fills out.

The bitmap image of the form document 14 whose predetermined range is filled by the specified range filling unit 20 is
The blank form 24 is input to the image printing unit 22, and the blank form 24 from which the entry example and the notes on the entry are deleted as shown in FIG. 11 is printed out. The glyph code is left as it is on the blank form shown in FIG. If a blank form in which no glyph code is embedded as shown in FIG. 5 is required, the glyph code is embedded in a blank area as shown in FIG. The glyph pattern existence area may be specified in the range at the specification stage.

The above is the outline of the configuration and functions of the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Next, the flow of processing using the image processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. First, an image reading unit 16 such as a scanner reads a form document 14 in which an entry example and notes on entry are described and a glyph pattern is embedded, and the bitmap image is used as a designated range filling unit 20 and a glyph pattern recognition unit. Part 18
(Step S10). Next, the glyph pattern recognition unit 18 recognizes a glyph pattern from the bitmap image data from the image reading unit 16 (Step S).
11). The glyph pattern recognizing unit 18 decodes the recognized glyph pattern, extracts the range information (the coordinates of the upper left and lower right vertexes of the rectangle) indicating the entry position of the entry example and the notes on entry, and The data is output to the specified range painting unit 20 (step S12).

Next, the designated range painting section 20 paints the corresponding rectangular area of the bitmap image of the form document with, for example, the background color of the form document (step S13). All range information is specified range filling part 2
0 and the steps S12 and S13 are repeated until the painting of the area is completed (step S1).
4). The bitmap image of the completed form document is sent to the image printing unit 22 and printed, and a blank form as shown in FIG. 11 is completed (step S1).
5).

As described above, the form document processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can be broadly divided into an information adding apparatus for embedding a code in a form document and an image processing apparatus for reading the embedded code and processing the form document image. Separated.
These may be combined to form one device, or they may be separated according to the purpose of the user, and may have only one function.

An overall flow using the form document and the form document processing method and apparatus according to the present embodiment will be briefly described. First, one form document is created, and an entry example and notes on the entry are printed on the form document. Next, the information adding device according to the present embodiment adds the information indicating the entry example and the information indicating the existence range of the precautionary notes on the entry to the form document and prints it.
Distribute this printed form document to fillers. The creator inputs the form document into the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image processing apparatus recognizes and decodes the glyph pattern to obtain the entry example and the existence range of notes on entry. Based on the existence range, the corresponding range of the form document is painted out and printed to create a blank form.

According to the present embodiment, the entry example and notes on entry can be encoded into a glyph pattern and added to the form document in a non-obtrusive manner. Easy and economical document processing can be performed.

Further, according to the present embodiment, when the submitter distributes the form document to the supplicant, only the sample form document is passed to the writer, and there is no need to pass the blank form. It saves labor and is economical. The creator also has the advantage that the form is bulky and easy to manage because it only receives the form document in which the entry example is described. In addition, since the writer can put out any unfilled form document (blank form) simply by putting it on a reading device (scanner), there is no need to fear entry errors.

Further, according to the present embodiment, since the amount of information is small, the glyph pattern can be used as a part of the form design or can be arranged in a narrow gap.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified. For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention was applied on the premise that a form document is output on paper, but the present invention is not particularly limited to this.
The present invention can be applied even when a form document is displayed on a display device on a computer. In that case, the other processing devices and processing methods are the same except that the image reading unit 4 is not required.

In the above embodiment, a glyph pattern is used as a code pattern. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to a case where a two-dimensional barcode or a one-dimensional barcode is used as a code pattern. be able to. However, these barcode patterns cannot be embedded efficiently like glyph patterns.
This is effective when the amount of information is small.

In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a case where an entry example and precautions for entry are described in an entry column, and information indicating an existing range of the entry example and the like is used as a glyph pattern as a form document. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, information indicating the existence range of the entry column may be encoded as a glyph pattern and added to the form document. In this way, a blank form can be generated from a form document that has already been entered in the entry field.

Further, information indicating the existence range of all the character strings in the document may be added instead of the existence range of the entry example. Then, if the image processing apparatus cuts out the range instead of painting it, it is possible to extract an image of only the character string portion, so that it can be used as preprocessing for OCR or handwritten character recognition. .

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, a form document that is practical, easy to use, economical, and easy to install and store can be obtained. Further, it is possible to realize a practical and easy-to-use form document processing when a writer fills out a blank form.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information adding device as a form document processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing device as a form document processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow in an information adding device as a form document processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of processing in an image processing device as a form document processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a blank form.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a form document in which an entry example and notes on entry are described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of entry described in a form document and notes on entry.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an entry described in a form document and a range of notes on the entry.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a form document according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a form document according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a blank form output by an image processing device as a form document processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a glyph pattern.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Form document 4, 16 Image reading unit 6 Range input unit 8 Glyph pattern generation unit 10 Image synthesis unit 12, 22 Image printing unit 14 Form document with range information added 18 Glyph pattern recognition unit 20 Specified range filling unit 24 Blank form

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FIG06F 15/62 325R (72) Inventor Shigeo Inmu 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Joe Sato 3-2-1, Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A form document in which an entry area is provided at a predetermined position, wherein the form document has data described in the entry area and a code in which information of an existence range of the data is embedded. Form document to be created. 2. A code document is generated by designating an existence range of the data from a form document in which data is described in an entry area at a predetermined position, encoding the information of the existence range, and generating the code data in the form document. A form document processing method characterized by embedding a URL. 3. The data is described in an entry area at a predetermined position,
The form document to which the code embedded with the information of the existence range of the data is added is read, and the code is decoded to obtain the information of the existence range. A blank form by filling in a document. 4. A code data generating unit for designating an existence range of the data from a form document in which data is described in an entry area at a predetermined position, and encoding the information of the existence range to generate code data; A code document embedding unit for embedding the code data in a form document. 5. The data is described in an entry area at a predetermined position,
A document reading unit that reads a form document to which a code embedded with the information of the existence range of the data is added; a decoding unit that decodes the read code to obtain the information of the existence range; A form document processing apparatus, comprising: a filling unit that fills an area within which data exists based on information; and an output unit that outputs a blank form filled with the data.