JPS6263374A - Picture information retrieving network system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute the editing processing work of a picture in a page efficiently and rapidly by displaying and outputting partially the picture in a picture buffer in the page and displaying a part output area. CONSTITUTION:The picture data of a image system equivalent to the retrieving conditions designated from the input device 29 of a picture retrieving terminal 2 are read in advance by three pages including the designated page from the optical disk driving unit 16 of a picture filing device 1 and filed through a communicating line LAN 4 to an image file 31. After the picture data of the page, which come to be the output object, are reserved in the memory 22 of the picture retrieving terminal 2 to execute the starting of the picture retrieving, the picture data for one screen, which comes to be the displaying object, are extended and processed by an image processing device 5, the restoring processing of the image is executed, development is executed on a bit map memory 25 under the control of a bit mover 26, and thereafter, displaying is executed at a CRT displaying part 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical Field of the Invention 1] The present invention relates to an image information retrieval network I-work system in which an image filing device using an optical disk as a recording medium is shared by a plurality of image retrieval terminals via a communication line. Regarding.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems] In recent years, image filing devices using optical disks as recording media have become widely popular and used.

This type of image filing device has a so-called stand-alone configuration in which each device is used independently because the purpose is to store a large amount of images and search and output them at high speed. Therefore, in cases where the above devices are used frequently in relatively distant locations, such as in an office, it is necessary to place the above devices separately in each location, which reduces installation space, cost, and operational costs. Various problems arise in terms of efficiency, etc.

[Purpose of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to share a single image filing device with image search terminals placed in multiple locations, and to use a single image filing device in multiple relatively distant locations. Each of the above image search terminals can commonly receive the search and supply of images filed in the image filing device, and the frequency of access of each of the image search terminals to the image filing device can be minimized to ensure smooth image supply. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image information retrieval network system that can be secured and efficiently and quickly execute editing processing of images within a page.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention connects an image filing device using an optical disk as a recording medium and a terminal control I device through a communication line,
The terminal control device includes an image processing device that compresses/decompresses images transmitted and received on the communication line, and a correspondence between image search conditions specified by the terminal device and image numbers that manage file images of the image filing device. the terminal control device is equipped with an image directory to take
-Refer to the image number 1q of the image filing device, obtain image information from the image filing device using the same image number, process the image information with the image processing device, and output it to the corresponding terminal device. Image information search net 1
~A work system, wherein the terminal control device has an image buffer with a capacity of multiple pages, and the terminal device has a page buffer that stores an image of an output target page among the images stored in the image buffer? and a means for displaying a region of the display output image cutout part in the same page buffer in a predetermined display form, and partially displaying and outputting the image in the image buffer within the page, The configuration is such that a partial output area is displayed.This allows a single image filing S device to be shared by image search terminals placed in multiple locations, and a single image filing S device can be used in multiple relatively distant locations. Each of the above image search terminals can commonly receive the search and supply of images filed in the image filing device, and the frequency of access of each of the image search terminals to the image filing device can be minimized to ensure smooth image supply. In addition, the editing process for images within a page can be executed efficiently and quickly.

[Embodiments of the invention] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image information retrieval network system according to the present invention.

In Figure 1, 1 is an image filing device (IFD) shared by multiple image search terminals, which stores registered images (image data) on an optical disk and stores search information for each image on a magnetic disk. . 2, 2, . . . are a plurality of high-performance workstations (AWS) that share the image filing device 1, and are herein referred to as image search terminals. 3.3... is the same image search terminal 2, 2...
・A distributed processing computer (DP) that controls the DP, and is herein referred to as a terminal control device. 4 is an image search terminal 2.2.
... and the image file 11. Communication circuit I that connects the communication device 1! J
(LAN).

5 is an image processing device (IIP) provided in a predetermined specific terminal control unit 3, and 6 is a file directory (FID); The configuration is shared.

Here, the configuration of each of the above parts will be explained.

The image filing device 1 includes a controller (CTL) 11 that controls the entire device, a CRT display 12 that is used for image display/operation guidance/trouble display, etc., numeric keys and cursor keys for inputting various data, and image keys. Keyboard (K
B) 13. Scanner to read the original to be filed (
SCN) 14, a printer that prints out the image list (
PRT) 15, an optical disk drive unit 1G for recording images, and a magnetic disk device ff for storing search information of images registered in this optical disk drive unit 16.
(DISK>17, and further consists of optical disc storage dust, etc. for storing optical discs.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image search terminal 2 includes a microprocessor (μCPU) 21 that controls the internal terminal device,
A memory 22 that stores image data of a specified page to be output.
, CR7 display section 23, microprocessor 21 and CR7
A graphic display controller (GDC) 24 configured with an LSI <for example, μPD 7284 manufactured by NEC Corporation, which controls the interface with the display unit 23, and a CR under the lb control of the graphic display controller 24.
7. A bitmap memory (BMM) 25 that stores display image data for one screen (partial area within a page) displayed on the display screen of the display unit 23; A bit mover (BMV) controls high-speed transfer to the bitmap memory 25.
) 26, an arithmetic circuit 27 for performing dot operations on image data on the bitmap memory 25, and a bitmap memory 25
A parallel-to-serial conversion circuit (P/5) 28 that converts the image data read from the image data into a bit-serial video signal.
, and further comprises components such as an input bag N29 consisting of an operation tV input unit such as a keyboard (KB) and a mouse, and its controller (KBC).

The terminal control device 3 receives input from the corresponding image search terminal 2 (
A plurality of pages of image data is read out from the image filing device 1 using the specified image search nesting data (data to be a keyword or data corresponding to a keyword) as a parameter, and an image described later is read out via the communication line (LAN) 4. It is in charge of a series of controls that are imported into a file, and here it is configured by a distributed processing computer (for example, DPlo). Each of the terminal control devices 3 includes an image file section (IF; hereinafter referred to as an image file) 31 that stores multiple pages of image data read out from the image filing device 1, and various displays for search processing. It has an external storage (for example, a magnetic disk) having a code system file section (CF: hereinafter referred to as screen information file) 32 that stores screen information, etc., and an image file 31 of the external storage or a memory in the image search terminal 2. It has an image printer (GP) 33 that prints out the image data stored in the image search terminals 2. An image data file area for three pages (the page to be output processed and the pages before and after it) is provided for each page. Each terminal control device 3.3-... is a communication system m+ device (E (:, p: etherne
tcommunication processor>
It is connected to a communication line (LAN) 4 via. In addition, the specific terminal control device 3 has each terminal control I\i setting 3.3...
an image processing unit (IIP) 5 shared by
and a file directory (FID) 6.

The above image processing device! ! (IIP) 5 is processing processing of the output image portion of the output target image data that is read out from the image filling device W11, stored in the image file 31 of the terminal control device 3, and then stored in the memory 22 of the image search terminal 2. In this case, the communication line (LAN)
It is shared by each image search terminal 2, 2, . . . connected to image search terminal 4. This image processing device 5 compresses and/or compresses image data.
An encoding/compounding processing mechanism that performs decompression processing, a density conversion mechanism that converts dot density, an enlargement/reduction processing mechanism that performs image enlargement/reduction processing, and a cropping mechanism that arbitrarily extracts images.
ht, and further includes an image buffer etc. for storing image data processed by each of the above mechanical units,
The specific structure and use for cloth are disclosed in the patent Ift (No. 59-228528 and Japanese Patent Application No. 59-228530 "Image Data Processing Apparatus") filed by the same applicant as the present invention. The detailed explanation will be omitted here.This image data processing device includes an image data tW unit that expands input compressed image data into uncompressed image data, and a density of this expanded image data (uncompressed image data). An input image data converting section including a conversion control section that performs conversion, enlargement, and reduction processing, an image cutting section that performs cutting processing of a specified range of the converted image data, and processing of cutting out the image of the specified range. an image cutting section that performs the image extraction, a conversion control section that performs density conversion, enlargement, and reduction processing of the extracted image, an image data encoding section that compresses the image data subjected to the conversion processing in a predetermined compression format, etc. It has an image data conversion unit and a character and figure generation unit that patterns code information including kanji codes, and performs expansion/compression processing of input/output image data and output target images (expanded on the bitmap memory 25). Performs various data processing processes such as cutting out/enlarging/reducing the image).

The file directory (FID) 6 has a table structure that corresponds to image search conditions specified by the image search terminal 2 and image numbers for managing file images in the image filing device 1. Various search conditions (category designation,
This may be any of item specification, date specification, screen specification, etc. (specific examples will be described later), and obtains image number information for multiple pages or a single page, and transmits this to a terminal corresponding to the image search terminal 2. It is sent to the control device 3.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the components of the image search terminal 2 described above, and since each component has already been described in detail, its explanation will be omitted here.

Figure 3 shows the processing status in the above example! 9 is an explanatory diagram.

Here, the image program is the main program and two
The system is divided into three phases consisting of two subprograms (immediate refile driver and print driver), and processes from image data reading to output are executed simultaneously in parallel to speed up image processing. That is, of the two subprograms mentioned above, the file driver (
FILE DRIVER) aims to shorten the processing time by importing the output target page and the pages before and after it (total of 3 pages) into the image file 31 during the initial display period of the main program. Also, print driver (PRINT
DRIVER> aims to improve the efficiency of reimage output processing by performing print output in parallel while image processing is being executed. These two subprograms allow smooth image processing.

FIG. 4 shows a function selection menu 5 displayed at a fixed position on the screen of the CRT display section 23 of the image search terminal 2 (in this case, at the right end of the screen).
1, and a diagram showing display point guidance 52,
Here, the corresponding function key (PFI) is selected based on the display contents of the function selection menu 51.

PF2. ), you can select any one of 12 functions with a single touch.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the display of the display point guidance 52 and its in-page display area. Here, the display surface of the display point guidance 52 is divided into three sections (nine sections) vertically and horizontally as shown by broken lines in the figure, and the current image data of one page of image data stored in the memory 22 of the image search terminal 2 is displayed. The display position within the page (the shaded area in the figure) is simply and clearly expressed in black (the shaded area in the figure).

FIG. 6 shows a specific screen-based processing flow for explaining the image search processing procedure in the above embodiment.
A) to (G) are shown.

Of this 7fI screens (A) to (G), (A) to (E
) is a screen developed based on the code-based display screen data read from the screen information file 32 of the terminal control device 3, and (F) and (G) are the screens developed from the optical disk drive unit 16 of the image filing device 1. This screen is an overlapping frame based on the read image-based drawing data and the code-based display screen data read from the screen information file 32. To give an overview of these screen displays, image-based image data that corresponds to the search conditions specified by the input device 29 of the image search terminal 2 is retrieved from the specified page from the optical disk drive unit 16 of the image filing device 1. A total of 3 pages including the first page (first page and next page in total) are read in advance and filed in the image file 31 via the communication line (LAN > 4), of which the page to be output is read in advance. After the image data is stored in the memory 22 of the image search terminal 2 (the image on which the image search is started), the image data for one screen to be displayed is stored in the image processing device 5.
The image is decompressed and restored, expanded on the bitmap memory 25 under the control of the bit mover 26, and then displayed on the CRT display section 23.

Also, under the control of the terminal control device 3, a screen information file 32 is created.
The code-based display screen data including the character code read from is converted into an image in the image processing bag @5, and then developed (overlaid) on the bitmap memory 25 under υIIa of the pin 1-mover 26. Ru.

Here, the image search processing operation of the above embodiment will be explained according to the screen processing flow shown in FIG.

A menu selection screen as shown in FIG. 6 (A>) is displayed as an initial screen on the CRT display unit 23 of the image search terminal 2.2. That is, the terminal control fI18ff!3
After system start-up processing, the menu selection display screen data is read out from the code system display screen data blocks stored in the screen information file 32 as the initial screen display, and the same screen data is input to the image processing device 5. It performs code/image conversion and sends the image data to the image search terminals 2.2, . . . to be controlled. When the microprocessor 21 of the image search terminal 2 receives the display screen data, it passes control to the bit mover 26, and under the control of the focus mover 26, the microprocessor 21 of the image search terminal 2 develops an image according to the display screen data on the bitmap memory 25. The image data developed on the map memory 25 is transferred to the CRT display section 23 via a parallel-serial conversion circuit 28 under the control of the graphic display controller 24.
supplied to As a result, CR7 of the CRT display section 23
A menu selection screen as shown in FIG. 6(A) is displayed on the screen as an initial screen.

This menu selection screen here consists of a selection item for search classification and a selection item for processing selection. It will be done. That is, by operating the return key on the input device 29 after selecting the search classification item, the next item selection for processing selection becomes possible, and by specifying the item selection for processing, the message at the bottom of the screen is displayed. The message shown in the diagram will be displayed in the display area, prompting you to move to the next screen according to the message [Yes
By selecting (yes), the next screen is displayed on the CR7 screen. At this time, if the item "Special/Actual Publication Publication J" is selected in the search category item selection, "Direct Search" can be specified in the next performance search item selection, and the search category item selection ``Special/Real Publication Abstracts''
When the item is selected, it becomes possible to specify "direct search" or function search in the next function search item selection.

If the ``Direct Search'' item is selected here, a message prompting the user to specify the public notice number will be displayed, and if the ``Rinou Search'' item is selected, a message will be displayed prompting the user to set the search conditions.
The ``1 Function Search Specification Item'' screen shown in Figure (B) is displayed.

Furthermore, for example, when a technical term (AAB in the figure) is set by an input operation on the input device 29 on the "Function search specification item" screen in FIG. 6(B), the message shown in the message display area is displayed. A message will be displayed prompting you to proceed to the next screen [By selecting yes, the list of publications corresponding to the designated technology term (AAB) as shown in Figure 6 (C) will be displayed as CR7. displayed on the screen.

At this time, if you wish to refer to the list of technical terms, applicants, etc., select the technical term designation or applicant designation item and then press the help key (HELP) on the input device 29. A list of technical terms as shown in Figure (D>) or a list of applicant codes as shown in Figure (E) are CR
displayed on the T screen. The display screen data reading and image development processing at this time are the same as the above-mentioned menu selection screen display processing, so the explanation thereof will be omitted here.

When the sequence number (SEQ) corresponding to the desired technical term is specified from the input device 29 of the image search terminal 2 and the return key is operated in the screen display state shown in FIG. 6(C) above, the third The image program shown in the figure is activated and image search processing is started. In this image search process, the terminal control IT device 3 first refers to the file directory 6, uses a designated sequence number (SEQ) as a search key, and searches for the corresponding file registered in the optical disk drive unit 16 of the image filing device 1. The image number of the image is searched, and the optical disk drive unit 16 of the image filing device 1 is accessed based on the image number information, and the registered image data corresponding to the image number is read out.

In this case, when the specified material (that is, the patent publication according to the specified sequence number here) is displayed on the screen for the first time, the first page of the material (page 1) and the next page (page 1) are displayed first. 2 pages) in total are read out uniquely. Here, an abstract page is added to each publication that should be the original material, and this is used as the first page of the material, so first the image data of the abstract on the first page is read, and then the second The image data of the page publication is read out.

Further, while the image filing device 1 is reading image data, a message 1-Image reading in progress is displayed in the message display area of the CR7 display section 23 of the image search terminal 2.

As described above, image data read out from the optical disk drive unit 16 of the image filing device 1 is input to the terminal control device 3 via the communication line (LAN) 4.
It is stored in the image file 31 under the control of the terminal control device 3.

Of the two pages worth of image data stored in this image file 31, the image data of the first page is first sent to the image search terminal 2 that initiated the image search, that is, issued the image search instruction. , are stored in the memory 22 under the control of the microprocessor 21 of the image search terminal 2.

Furthermore, the image data stored in the memory 22 is read out under the control of the microprocessor 21 in a cutout area of one screen with the upper left corner of the page as a reference, and is read out under the control of the terminal system 1111 device 3. The compressed image data is inputted to the image processing device 5, decompressed, and then temporarily stored in an image buffer in the image processing device 5.

During the decompression process of the compressed data by the image processing device 5, a message "II IP processing in progress" is displayed in the message display area of the CRT display section 23 of the image search terminal 2.

When the image processing device 5 finishes expanding the image data for one screen, the image data stored on the image buffer in the image processing device 5 is sent back to the image search terminal 2. The microprocessor 21 of the image search terminal 2 uses a bit mover 26 to receive the image data decompressed by the image processing device 5.
Pass control to. Thereafter, the image data is developed on the bitmap memory 25 under the control of the bit mover 26.

When this image data development processing is completed, the display screen data of the function selection menu 51 and point guidance 52 shown in FIG. 4 are read out from the screen information file 32 by the terminal control device 3 and converted into image data by the image processing device 5. After that, the image data (here, abstract image data) on the bitmap memory 25 is overwritten (or written). The image data developed on the bitmap memory 25 is displayed on the CR7 display section 23 under the control of the graphic display controller 24.

As a result, the CR7 display section 23 displays the abstract as shown in FIG. 6(F), the function selection menu 51 shown in FIG.
and guidance 52 to point 1 is displayed. On this occasion,
The point guidance 52 includes image data of one page area stored in the memory 22 of the image search terminal 2 and the screen to be outputted, that is, the CR7 of the image search terminal 2.
It shows the positional relationship with the area for one screen displayed on the display unit 23, and a specific example of the display is shown in FIG. Here, the display surface of the display point guidance 52 is divided vertically and horizontally into three sections as shown by broken lines in the figure, and the current display position within the page (the diagonally shaded part in the figure) of one page of image data stored in the memory 22 is shown. It is expressed concisely and clearly by blacking out (hatched areas in the figure).

In this way, image data corresponding to the search conditions specified by the input device 29 of the image search terminal 2 is stored in the optical disk drive unit 16 of the image filing device 1.
A plurality of pages including the specified page (in this case, 2 pages for the first time and 3 pages thereafter) are read in advance and filed in the image file 31 via the communication line (LAN) 4, and the page to be output is read in advance. After the image data is stored in the memory 22 of the image search terminal 2 that started the image search, the image data for one screen to be displayed is decompressed by the image processing device 5, and the image is restored. After being developed on the bitmap memory 25 under the control of the bit mover 26, it is displayed on the CR7 display section 23. Further, code-based display screen data including character codes read from the screen information file 32 under the control of the terminal control device 3 is converted into an image by the image processor yIHB 5, and then converted into a bit image under the control of the mover 26. The map is developed on the map memory 25 and displayed on the CR7 display section 23.

Furthermore, on the screen shown in FIG. 6(F), in order to refer to the displayed function selection menu 51 and retrieve the publication corresponding to the abstract displayed at the same time, press the function key
13) is operated, the display screen of the CR7 display unit 23 is switched from the screen shown in FIG. 6(F) to the screen shown in FIG. 6(G).

That is, at this time, under the control of the terminal control device 3, the next page (second
page) image data (R's first publication image data) is read out, the same data is transferred to the image search terminal 2, and the image data for one page stored in the memory 22 in the image search terminal 2 is read out. Image data is rewritten. That is, the page to be processed is updated. Furthermore, part of the image data of the page to be processed on the updated memory 22 is cut out (here, unless the screen position, enlargement/reduction, etc. are specified, the image data is predetermined based on the upper left corner of the page). 1 display screen area>, the extracted image data is processed by the image processing device W5.
The image is input into the image and decompression processing is performed. Then, the decompressed one screen worth of gazette image data is stored in the bitmap memory 25 under the control of the bit mover 26 in the same manner as above.
The image is developed above and displayed on the CR7 display section 23 under the control of the graphic display controller 24.

Furthermore, at this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the image file 31 is updated in parallel with the display process, and here, for the page to be processed (page 2),
The image data of the next page (third page) is read out from the optical disk drive unit 16 of the image filing device 1, and is sent to an image file 31 under the control of the terminal control device 3.
can be stored in

That is, at this time, under the control of the terminal control device 3, the optical disk drive unit 16 of the image filing device 1 is accessed and the page (second page) currently being output is accessed.
The image data of the next page (third page) of the image data (Sada) is read out, received by the terminal control device 3 via the communication line (LAN) 4, and then pre-read into the image file 31. As a result, the image file 31 stores image data of the page to be processed and a total of three pages before and after it for each image search terminal.

In addition, when the function key (PF3) for specifying the next page is operated from the displayed function selection menu 51 on the publication display screen shown in FIG. The image data of the next page (third page) that has been prefetched in the file 31 is read out, the same data is transferred to the image search terminal 2, and the same data is transferred to the output target stored in the memory 22 in the image search terminal 2. The image data for one page is rewritten, and the page to be processed is updated. Furthermore, a part of the image data of the page to be processed on the updated memory 22 is cut out (for example, one display double-sided area based on the upper left corner as described above), and the cut out image data is subjected to image processing. The image is input to the device 5 and the image is expanded. Then, the decompressed one-screen publication image data is developed as an image on the bitmap memory 25 under the control of the bit mover 26 in the same manner as described above, and is displayed on the CRT display section 23 under the control of the graphic display controller 24. Is displayed.

Furthermore, in this case as well, as shown in FIG. 3, the image file 31 is updated in parallel with the screen display process.
page), the image data of the next page (fourth page) is transferred to the optical disk drive unit i of the image filing device 1.
1G and stored in the image file 31 under the control of the terminal control 4HII3.

In this way, image data for the page to be processed and a total of three pages before and after it are always stored in the image file 31 for each image search terminal, excluding the first image data file, and uniform data is always placed first. By reading and reading, it becomes possible to simultaneously process the display screen 98 and image file processing.

Image search processing as described above is performed at each image search terminal 2.
2... are independently executed while sharing the image processing device 5 and file directory 6.

In addition, the screen displayed on the CRT display section 23 can be enlarged, reduced,
To change the cutting position (top, bottom, left, right), etc., refer to the function selection menu 51 displayed at the fixed position of the CRT screen (in this case, the right edge of the screen) and press the function key ( PFl.

PF2. ...) is executed by selectively operating. That is, you can use the function key (PFl) to enlarge or reduce the screen, change the cropping position, etc.

PF2. ...), the image data to be processed stored in the memory 22 is subjected to image processing in the image processing device 5 according to the instruction input, and the image processed data is transferred to the bit mover 26. The image is developed on the bitmap memory 25 under control,
It is displayed on the CRT display section 23. Incidentally, various display forms of the in-page display area of the point guidance 52 accompanying the screen switching at this time are shown in FIG.

Further, when printing is designated by referring to the function selection menu 51 displayed on the CRT screen, the CRT display section 23
A print processing selection screen is displayed, and the image of each page or part of it is displayed on the image printer 3 according to the selection.
3 is printed out. As shown in FIG. 3, the print processing at this time is performed by the print driver independently of the image processing and double-sided display processing.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, a plurality of image search terminals 2, 2, . However, each terminal control device 3 may have one or both of them.

Further, in the above embodiment, an image data area of three pages is secured for each image search terminal 2 in the image file 31, and one page is stored in the memory 22 of the image search terminal 2. It can be set arbitrarily in page units considering the overall memory capacity, etc.Furthermore, in the above embodiment, image data before restoration (that is, compressed data before decompression processing) is stored in the memory 22 of the image search terminal 2. However, if the memory capacity allows, it may be configured to store page-by-page image data (expanded image data) of the restored model.

Further, in the above embodiment, the CRT of the image search terminal 2
Although the searched image, the function selection menu 51, and the display point guidance 52 are displayed simultaneously on the display screen of the display unit 23, the present invention is not limited to this, and the function selection menu 51 and the display point guidance 5
2 or either one of them may be displayed on a separate display body, and the display area of the searched image may be made as wide as possible.

Further, in the above embodiment, the image file 31 and the screen information file 32 are provided separately in each terminal system 611 device 3, but the image file 3
1 and the screen information file 32, or either one thereof, to a plurality of terminal control devices 3.3. It is also possible to have a configuration in which it is shared by ....

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the image information retrieval network system of the present invention, an image filing device using an optical disk as a recording medium and a terminal control device are connected via a communication line, and the terminal control device is connected by a communication line. The device includes an image processing device that compresses/decompresses images transmitted and received on the communication line, and an image directory that makes correspondence between image search conditions specified by the terminal device and image numbers that manage file images of the image filing device. The terminal control device refers to the image directory to obtain an image number of the image filing device, obtains both edge information from the image filing device based on the image number, and transfers the image information to the image filing device. An image information retrieval network system that processes images and outputs them to a corresponding terminal device, wherein the terminal control device has an image buffer with a capacity of multiple pages, and the terminal device has an image buffer that stores images in the image buffer. In addition to a page buffer for storing an image of the output target page on the back side of the output image, the display output image (the region of the cutout part) in the same page buffer is provided with a means for displaying the area of the cutout part in a predetermined display form. Displays the image in the image buffer partially within the page, and
By adopting a configuration that displays the partial output area, a single image filling device can be shared by image search terminals located at multiple locations, allowing users to access images from relatively distant locations. ! Each of the above-mentioned image search terminals can commonly receive the search and supply of images filed in one image filing device in several locations, and the above-mentioned images of each of the above-mentioned image search terminals can be commonly searched and supplied to one image filing device. Smooth image supply can be ensured by minimizing access time, and editing processing of images within a page can be performed efficiently and quickly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image search terminal in the above embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a processing state in the above embodiment. An explanatory diagram, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing display examples of the sightseeing selection menu and point guidance in the above embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining various display forms of point guidance in the above embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the processing flow on a screen basis in the above embodiment. 1... Image filing device (IFD), 2... Image search terminal (AWS), 3... Terminal control device (DP)
>, 4... Communication line (LAN), 5... Image processing device (IIP>, 6... File directory (F
ID), 11... Controller (C-rL), 12.
...CRT display, 13...Keyboard (KB
, ), 14... Scanner (SCN), 15... Printer (PRT), 1G... Optical disk drive unit, 17... Magnetic disk device (DISK>, 21
...Microprocessor (μCP[J), 22...
Memory, 23...CRT display section, 24...Graphic display controller]~○-ra (GDC), 25...
・Bit map memory (BMM), 26... Bit mover (BMV), 27... Arithmetic circuit, 28... Parallel-serial conversion circuit (P/S), 29... Input device, 31... - Image file, 32...Screen information file, 33...Image printer, 51...Function selection menu, 52...Display point guidance. Applicant's representative Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A communication line connects an image filing device using an optical disk as a recording medium and a terminal control device, and the terminal control device compresses/receives images transmitted and received on the communication line.
The terminal control device includes an image processing device that performs decompression processing, and an image directory that makes correspondence between image search conditions specified by the terminal device and image numbers for managing file images in the image filing device on a page-by-page basis. Obtain the image number of the image filing device by referring to the image directory, obtain image information from the image filing device based on the image number, process the image information with the image processing device, and send it to the corresponding terminal device. An image information retrieval network system for outputting, wherein the terminal control device has an image buffer with a capacity of multiple pages, and the terminal device receives an image of a page to be outputted from among the images stored in the image buffer. It has a page buffer for storing the image, and also has a means for displaying an area of the display output image cutout part in the same page buffer in a predetermined display format, so that the image in the image buffer can be partially displayed within the page. An image information retrieval network system characterized by displaying output and displaying a partial output area thereof. (2) The image information retrieval network system according to claim 1, wherein the area display pattern of the display output image cutout portion and the display output image are displayed simultaneously on the same display screen in separate display areas. (3) The image information retrieval network according to claim 2, wherein the area display pattern has a rectangular shape, and the area is divided vertically and horizontally, and the cutout portion of the display output image is displayed in units of divided areas. system. (4) The image information retrieval network system according to claim 1, wherein the area display pattern of the display output image cutout portion and the display output image are each displayed on separate display bodies.