JPWO2014061081A1 - Form creation support device, form creation support method, and form creation support program - Google Patents

Abstract

In the form creation support device, among the plurality of data items included in the tabular data, a repeated item extracting unit that extracts continuous data items with the same content in a predetermined direction, and the continuous data extracted by the repeated item extracting unit A form definition output unit that outputs form definition information to which an attribute indicating that the item is a repetitive item is added.

Description

  The present invention relates to a form creation support apparatus, a form creation support method, and a form creation support program.

  Form creation software for creating forms used for personnel management, business management, manufacturing management, and the like is known. The form creation software completes the form by allowing the user to input or import desired data for a predetermined data item based on a form defined in advance as a form definition.

  If the form layout is directly created using the form creation software, the work may be difficult. On the other hand, there is known an automatic form creation system that automatically creates a form using a form layout created by word processing software or spreadsheet software. This automatic form creation system creates forms using data placement identification information that includes information such as item names and data formats, corresponding to identifiers placed in the layout of forms created with word processing software or spreadsheet software. .

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-24021

  The form definition that defines the form format includes, for example, an attribute indicating whether each data item included in the form is a fixed item or a variable item. A fixed item is a data item that is assumed not to be edited by the user in principle. For example, the fixed item includes a heading of the entire form, a header corresponding to a variable item, and the like. The variable item is a data item assumed to be edited by the user. For example, if the header is “member”, data such as the name of each member is included.

  These attributes are not automatically given to the layout of forms created by general-purpose software such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, and presentation software. For this reason, the user needs to manually assign an attribute to each data item in the layout of the form created by general-purpose software, or to activate the form creation software to give the attribute. Since these operations are complicated, some sort of automated processing is desired.

  The above-described automatic form creation system does not have a mechanism for automatically creating “identifiers arranged in the form layout” or “data arrangement identification information including information such as item names and data formats”. For this reason, the user may need to perform complicated input operations.

  In one aspect, an object is to give an appropriate attribute to a data item without causing a user to perform complicated input operations.

  A form creation support device according to one aspect includes a repeated item extraction unit that extracts continuous data items with the same content in a predetermined direction among a plurality of data items included in tabular data, and the repeated item extraction unit extracts the data items A form definition output unit that outputs form definition information to which an attribute indicating that the data item is a repetitive item is assigned to continuous data items.

  According to one aspect, an appropriate attribute can be given to a data item without causing the user to perform a complicated input operation.

It is the figure where the form preparation assistance apparatus 1 which concerns on one Example was connected to the other computer. It is the figure which contrasted the file created with spreadsheet software and the form definition which the form creation assistance apparatus 1 of a present Example produces. 2 is a hardware configuration example of a form creation support apparatus 1; 2 is a software configuration example of a form creation support apparatus 1; 2 is a functional configuration example of a form creation support apparatus 1; It is an example of the flowchart which shows the flow of the whole process performed by the form creation assistance apparatus. 4 is an example of a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by a ruled line region extraction unit 41. FIG. 8 is a diagram (No. 1) illustrating a state in which ruled line regions are extracted from various forms of tables according to the flowchart of FIG. 7. FIG. 8 is a diagram (part 2) illustrating a state in which ruled line regions are extracted from various forms of tables according to the flowchart of FIG. 7. FIG. 8 is a diagram (part 3) illustrating a state in which ruled line regions are extracted from various forms of tables according to the flowchart of FIG. 7; It is an example of a ruled line area start / end position recording table 16A. It is the figure which illustrated the relationship between a repetition item and a fixed item. 6 is an example of a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by a repeated item extraction unit. It is an example of start position table data for each column 16B. It is an example of a repetition item table 16C. It is a figure which shows typically a mode that a repetition item is extracted by the process shown by the flowchart of FIG. It is FIG. (1) which shows the format of various files from which a repetition item is extracted. It is FIG. (2) which shows the format of the various files from which a repetition item is extracted. It is FIG. (3) which shows the format of the various files from which a repetition item is extracted. It is FIG. (4) which shows the format of the various files from which a repetition item is extracted. It is an example of data included in a form specification created by a form definition output unit 44.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a form creation support apparatus, a form creation support method, and a form creation support program will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration]
FIG. 1 is a diagram in which a form creation support apparatus 1 according to an embodiment is connected to another computer. The form creation support apparatus 1 is connected to the original data creation terminal 50 and the form output server 60 via a network, for example.

  In the original data creation terminal 50, for example, general-purpose software such as spreadsheet software, word processor software, and presentation software is activated, and a user operates the general-purpose software to create a form layout. The form output server 60 creates and outputs a form based on the form definition and input data created by the form creation support apparatus 1.

  Note that the form creation support device 1, the original data creation terminal 50, and the form output server 60 do not have to be separate computers, and these may be functional units of an integrated computer. That is, the integrated computer may include general-purpose software, the function of the form creation support apparatus 1 described below, and the form output function.

  In the following description, it is assumed that the file on which the form definition is created is a file created by spreadsheet software such as Excel (registered trademark). FIG. 2 is a diagram comparing the file created by the spreadsheet software with the form definition created by the form creation support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. The lower part in FIG. 2 shows an example of a file (table format data) created by spreadsheet software, and the upper part in FIG. 2 shows an example of a form definition created by the form creation support apparatus 1 based on the file shown in the lower part. .

  Note that “9” shown in FIG. 2 means that numerical data (0 to 9) is displayed for the number of digits displayed in FIG. For example, “999999” in the “name” item means that a six-digit name code (for example, “012345”) or the like is displayed. Similarly, “M” shown in FIG. 2 means that character data is displayed. Furthermore, “Z” means not displaying when the numerical value is 0 (Zero Suppress). For example, “ZZ 9.99” in the item “monthly total” is displayed as “5.50”.

  In this embodiment, the repeated items frequently used in the form are automatically identified from the form template file shown in the lower part of FIG. 2, and the fixed items such as overlay characters are separated from the repeated items. Generate a form definition with the attribute of. In the example of FIG. 2, a form example of “individual employment performance” is shown, but the type of form applicable to the present embodiment, items in the form, and the like are not limited thereto.

  FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration example of the form creation support apparatus 1. The form creation support apparatus 1 includes, for example, a CPU 10, a drive device 12, a memory device 16, a storage device 18, a network board 20, a video board 22, and an input device 24 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  The CPU 10 is a processor having, for example, a program counter, an instruction decoder, various arithmetic units, an LSU (Load Store Unit), a general-purpose register, and the like. The drive device 12 is a device that can read a program and data from the recording medium 14. When the recording medium 14 on which the program is recorded is loaded into the drive device 12, the program is installed from the recording medium 14 to the storage device 18 via the drive device 12. The recording medium 14 is a portable recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. In addition to using the recording medium 14, the program can be installed by the network board 20 being downloaded from another computer via the network and installed in the storage device 18. The program executed in the form creation support apparatus 1 may be stored in advance in the storage device 18, ROM, or the like when the form creation support apparatus 1 is shipped.

  The memory device 16 is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the storage device 18 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive). The network board 20 accesses a network such as the Internet. The video board 22 generates an image to be displayed on a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or an organic EL (Electroluminescence).

  FIG. 4 is a software configuration example of the form creation support apparatus 1. In the form creation support apparatus 1, the form creation support application 34 operates on the OS / middleware layer including the operating system 30, the driver 31, the library 32, and the like. The form creation support application 34 includes a file I / O processing unit 34A, a memory I / O processing unit 34B, a keyboard input processing unit 34C, a GUI output processing unit 34D, and a mouse input processing unit 34E. The file I / O processing unit 34 </ b> A manages data input / output with respect to the storage device 18. The memory I / O processing unit 34B manages data input / output with respect to the memory device 16. The keyboard input processing unit 34C converts a keyboard input operation into a predetermined signal and provides it to each functional unit of the form creation support application 34. The GUI output processing unit 34 </ b> D generates a display image based on the processing result by each functional unit of the form creation support application 34 and outputs the display image to the video board 22. The mouse input processing unit 34E converts the input operation with the mouse into a predetermined signal and provides it to each functional unit of the form creation support application 34.

[Function configuration, overall flowchart]
FIG. 5 is a functional configuration example of the form creation support apparatus 1. The form creation support device 1 includes a file reading unit 40, a ruled line region extraction unit 41, a repetitive item extraction unit 42, and a fixed block as functional blocks that function when the CPU 10 executes a program stored in the storage device 18 or the like. An item extraction unit 43 and a form definition output unit 44 are provided. Note that these functional blocks do not need to be realized by a clearly separated program, and may be called by other programs as subroutines or functions. Further, a part of the functional blocks may be hardware means such as an LSI (Large Scale Integrated circuit), an IC (Integrated Circuit), or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

  FIG. 6 is an example of a flowchart showing the overall processing flow executed by the form creation support apparatus 1. In addition, the order in which each process is performed in the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 and the like can be changed in any way as long as a similar process result is obtained.

  First, the file reading unit 40 is created by the original data creation terminal 50 and is created by a spreadsheet software (for example, as shown in the lower part of FIG. The file (table format data) is read and stored in the memory device 16 (S100).

  Next, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 extracts a region (hereinafter referred to as a ruled line region) whose four sides are surrounded by ruled lines in the file from which the form definition is created (S110). For example, a file created by spreadsheet software has a structure in which data is described in “cells”. In a general form layout created by general-purpose software, one or a plurality of cells are surrounded by ruled lines, and a unit of data items is often stored in a ruled line area surrounded by the ruled lines. Therefore, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 recognizes the arrangement of ruled lines in the file and identifies the ruled line region.

  Next, in order for the repeated item extraction unit 42 to assign an attribute indicating whether the item is a fixed item or a variable item to a plurality of data items, the same content in the vertical direction among the data items in the ruled line region The continuous data items are extracted at (S120). In addition, the item extracted by the process of S120 is a repetition item. In the process of S120, the data in the ruled line area obtained in S110 is handled as a unit data item.

  Next, the fixed item extraction unit 43 extracts items other than the items extracted as repeated items as fixed items (S130).

  Next, the form definition output unit 44 converts the file created in the form of spreadsheet software read by the file reading unit 40 into a form specification, and outputs the converted form definition information (S140). In the process of S140, by converting a file created in a form such as spreadsheet software into a form specification, for example, from cell position information (for example, cell coordinates such as (1, A)) included in the file. , Conversion to a preset coordinate value can be performed. The preset coordinate value may be, for example, a relative coordinate value from the paper origin, or a coordinate value based on the upper left absolute coordinate and the lower right absolute coordinate of the form area. .

  In the process of S140, for each data item included in the tabular data, an attribute indicating that it is a repeated item extracted in the process of S120, or a fixed item extracted in the process of S130. Form definition information with attributes can be output.

  In the present embodiment, only the attribute indicating that it is a repetitive item or only the attribute indicating that it is a fixed item may be added to the form definition information to be output, It may be given.

[Rule area extraction]
FIG. 7 is an example of a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the ruled line region extraction unit 41. FIGS. 8 to 10 are diagrams (No. 1 to No. 3) showing how ruled line regions are extracted from tables of various forms by the flowchart of FIG. 8 to 10, “◯” indicates the position of the start cell of the ruled line area, “Δ” indicates the position of the end cell, and the arrow indicates the moving direction when extracting the ruled line area.

  First, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 refers to a print range or the like in a file created by spreadsheet software or the like (hereinafter simply referred to as a file) and sets the maximum row and maximum column of the region for which the form definition is created. (S200). The ruled line region extraction unit 41 is not limited to setting the maximum row and the maximum column with reference to the print range. For example, when only blank cells continue after the y-th row, the y-1 row is set as the maximum row. In the case where only blank cells continue after the x-th column, the x-1 row may be the maximum column.

  Next, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 sets the initial value of the row and column (that is, the coordinates) of the target cell to be subjected to the subsequent determination, the flag J1, and the parameter J2 (S202). Here, the initial values of the rows and columns may be arbitrarily set. For example, the coordinates [1, A], that is, the rows and columns of the cells in the upper left corner may be set to the initial values (the coordinate in the row direction is 1). , 2, 3..., And the coordinates in the column direction are represented by letters A, B, C,..., Y, Z, AA, AB,. The initial values of the flag J1 and the parameter J2 are set to “No” and “A”, respectively.

  Next, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 determines whether or not the row of the target cell exceeds the maximum row (S204). When the row of the target cell exceeds the maximum row (Yes in S204), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 ends one routine of this flowchart.

  If the target cell row does not exceed the maximum row (No in S204), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 then determines whether the target cell column exceeds the maximum column (S206). When the column of the target cell exceeds the maximum column (Yes in S206), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 adds the 1 to the current target cell row and targets the cell located at the coordinates where the column is returned to the initial value. The cell is selected (S208), and the process returns to S204. This is processing that is performed to wrap to the leftmost cell in one row when the file is manipulated in the horizontal direction and processed to the maximum column (for example, “ * ").

  When the column of the target cell does not exceed the maximum column (No in S206), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 determines whether or not ruled lines exist on the left side and the upper side of the target cell (S210). When there is no ruled line on the left and upper sides of the target cell (No in S210), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 sets the cell located at the coordinate obtained by adding 1 to the column of the target cell as the target cell (S212), Return. Note that “add 1 to the target cell column” means a process of changing to B if the column is A, changing to C if the column is B, and so on. To do.

  When there are ruled lines on the left and upper sides of the target cell, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 stores the row and column of the target cell in the memory device 16 or the like as the start position of the ruled line region (S214). It is assumed that the ruled line area in this embodiment is a rectangle. Therefore, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 specifies a cell having a ruled line on the left side and the upper side as the upper left end (start position) and later specifies a cell having a ruled line on the right side and the lower side as a lower right end (end position). Thus, the ruled line area is uniquely determined. FIG. 11 is an example of a ruled line region start / end position recording table 16A showing the start and end positions of the ruled line region. In this embodiment, as shown in the ruled area start / end position recording table 16A in FIG. 11, by specifying the start position and end position, one or more ruled line areas included in the form can be acquired. . The ruled line area start / end position recording table 16A is stored in the memory device 16 or the like.

  Next, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 determines whether a ruled line exists on the right side of the target cell (S216). When there is no ruled line on the right side of the target cell (No in S216), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 sets the cell located at the coordinate obtained by adding 1 to the column of the target cell as the target cell (S218), and returns to S216.

  When a ruled line exists on the right side of the target cell (Yes in S216), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 determines whether a ruled line exists below the target cell (S220). When there is no ruled line below the target cell (No in S220), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 sets the cell located at the coordinate obtained by adding 1 to the row of the target cell as the target cell (S222), and returns to S220. .

  When a ruled line exists below the target cell (Yes in S220), the ruled line exists on the right side and the lower side of the target cell from the relationship with S216. Therefore, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 stores the row and column of the target cell in the memory device 16 or the like as the end position of the ruled line region (S224).

  Next, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 determines whether or not the flag J1 is “Yes” (S226). When the flag J1 is “Yes” (Yes in S226), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 stores a value obtained by adding 1 to the column of the target cell in the parameter J2 (S228). Note that when the flag J1 is “Yes”, an area that is larger in the vertical direction than the surrounding area is extracted as shown by an area A1 in FIG. This is a flag value indicating that the return processing (for example, “**” shown in FIG. 9) to the area immediately to the right of the area is not performed. The parameter J2 is data that stores a column to be returned when performing the folding process.

  Next, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 determines whether a ruled line exists below the cell located on the right side of the target cell (S230). When there is a ruled line below the cell located on the right side of the target cell (Yes in S230), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 reads the row of the cell start position (see S214) stored most recently and the target cell A cell whose coordinates are a column obtained by adding 1 to the column is set as a target cell (S234).

  Next, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 determines whether or not ruled lines exist on the left and upper sides of the target cell set in S234 (S236). When ruled lines are present on the left and upper sides of the target cell set in S234 (Yes in S236), the ruled line area extraction unit 41 returns to S214, and starts the ruled line area with the row and column of the target cell set in S234. The position is stored in the memory device 16 or the like.

  If no ruled line exists on the left and upper sides of the target cell set in S234 (No in S236), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 sets the cell located at the coordinate obtained by adding 1 to the row of the target cell as the target cell. (S238). Then, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 determines whether or not ruled lines exist on the left and upper sides of the target cell set in S238 (S240). If there are no ruled lines on the left side and the upper side (No in S240), the process returns to S238. That is, the ruled line region extraction unit 41 repeatedly executes the processes of S238 and S240 until ruled lines exist on the left and upper sides of the target cell.

  When there are ruled lines on the left and upper sides of the target cell (Yes in S240), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 sets the flag J1 to “Yes” (S242), returns to S214, and finally the target cell set in S238. The row and column are stored in the memory device 16 or the like as the start position of the ruled line area.

  When it is determined in S230 described above that no ruled line exists below the cell located on the right side of the target cell (No in S230), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 is located below the target cell. It is determined whether a ruled line exists on the right side of the cell (S232). When there is no ruled line on the right side of the cell located below the target cell (No in S232), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 returns to S208.

  If a ruled line exists on the right side of the cell located below the target cell (Yes in S232), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 determines whether the flag J1 is “Yes” (S244). . When the flag J1 is “Yes” (Yes in S244), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 sets a cell obtained by adding 1 to the row of the target cell as a row and the parameter J2 as a column as the target cell. The flag J1 is set to “No” (S246), and the process returns to S204.

  When the flag J1 is not “Yes” (No in S244), the ruled line region extraction unit 41 sets the value obtained by adding 1 to the row of the target cell as a row, and sets the minimum column stored as the start position as a column. Is set as the target cell (S248). Return to S204.

  By the process shown in FIG. 7, even if the ruled line distribution is not uniform, the area surrounded by the ruled line can be extracted. In the processing shown in FIG. 7 described above, various types of information stored in the memory device 16 may be stored in the storage device 18 or the like.

[Repeated item extraction]
The repeated item extracting unit 42 is continuous with the same content in the vertical direction among the data items in the ruled line region in order to give an attribute indicating whether it is a fixed item or a repeated item to a plurality of data items. Extract data items. As described above, the form definition output unit 44 assigns an attribute indicating that the data item is continuous to the data item that has the same content in the vertical direction.

  As described above, a fixed item is a data item that is assumed not to be edited by the user in principle, and includes a heading of the entire form, a header corresponding to a repeated item, and the like. The repetitive item is a data item assumed to be edited by the user. For example, if the header is “member”, data such as the name of each member is included.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the repetition item and the fixed item. Note that the repeated item extraction unit 42 processes only the items in the ruled line area extracted by the process of the ruled line area extraction unit 41, and therefore the header information not surrounded by the ruled lines in FIG. Removed automatically. For each fixed item or repetitive item, the type (fixed item or repetitive item), paper origin is determined by the processing of the repetitive item extraction unit 42, fixed item extraction unit 43, and form definition output unit 44 of this embodiment. Information such as relative coordinate values, character string data, font name, font size, etc. are added.

  For example, in the example of FIG. 12, “employee affiliation information”, “name”, “affiliation”, “part code” indicate overlay characters (fixed items (header information)), and “MMM...”, “999”. "..." indicates a variable character string (repeated item), but is not limited thereto.

  Next, the flow of processing executed by the repeated item extraction unit 42 will be described. FIG. 13 is an example of a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the repeated item extraction unit 42.

  First, the repeated item extraction unit 42 creates column-by-column start position table data 16B in which the start positions are arranged for each column from the ruled line region start / end position recording table 16A (S300). Next, the repeated item extraction unit 42 sets the initial value of the coordinates (X, Y) of the target area selected from the areas stored in the column-by-column start position table data 16B (S302). The initial value of the coordinates (X, Y) is set to (1, 1), for example. Here, FIG. 14 is an example of the start position table data 16B for each column. In the example of FIG. 14, the coordinates (1, 1) correspond to the area indicated by (1, A), the coordinates (2, 1) correspond to the area indicated by (3, A), and the coordinates (2, 2) corresponds to the region indicated by (3, C). The start position table data 16B for each column is stored in the memory device 16 or the like.

  Next, the repeated item extraction unit 42 determines whether or not the content of the item stored in the area (X, Y) matches the content of the item stored in the area (X, Y + 1) (S304). . When the content of the item stored in the area (X, Y) does not match the content of the item stored in the area (X, Y + 1) (No in S304), the repeated item extraction unit 42 proceeds to S312.

  When the content of the item stored in the area (X, Y) matches the content of the item stored in the area (X, Y + 1) (Yes in S304), the repeated item extraction unit 42 is the first in the column. It is determined whether or not they match (S306).

  When matching is first performed in the column (Yes in S306), the repeated item extraction unit 42 stores the region (X, Y) and the region (X, Y + 1) in the memory device 16 or the like (S308). On the other hand, if it is not the first match in the column (No in S306), the repeated item extraction unit 42 stores the region (X, Y) in the memory device 16 or the like (S310). The storage of the areas in S308 and S310 is performed for each column, for example.

  Here, FIG. 15 is an example of the repeated item table 16C stored in the memory device 16 or the like by the processing of S308 and S310. In the example of FIG. 15, one or a plurality of repeated item areas (X, Y) are stored for each column. For example, the example of FIG. 15 indicates that there are regions (3, A), (5, A), (7, A),.

  Next, the repeated item extraction unit 42 increments Y by 1 (S312), and determines whether Y exceeds the maximum row (S314). For the maximum row and the maximum column described later, for example, those set in S200 of FIG. 7 may be used. If Y does not exceed the maximum line (No in S314), the repeated item extraction unit 42 returns to S304.

  If Y exceeds the maximum row (Yes in S314), the repeated item extraction unit 42 increments X by 1 (S316) and determines whether X exceeds the maximum column (S318). When X does not exceed the maximum column (No in S318), the repeated item extraction unit 42 returns Y to the initial value (S320), and returns to S304.

  If X exceeds the maximum column (Yes in S318), one routine of the flowchart of FIG. 13 ends. In the processing shown in FIG. 13 described above, various types of information stored in the memory device 16 may be stored in the storage device 18 or the like.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram schematically showing how the repeated items are extracted by the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. FIGS. 17 to 20 are diagrams (Nos. 1 to 4) showing various file formats from which repetition items are extracted.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, cells that are continuous in the vertical direction are extracted, and the number of repeated items (start line to end line) is acquired ((1) → (2) in FIG. 16). Similarly, cell groups that are continuous in the column direction are searched (FIG. 16 (2) → (3)), and cell groups that constitute repetitive items are extracted.

  FIG. 17 shows an example in which each repetition item of “employee number”, “name”, “affiliation”, “department code”, and “remarks” is configured in units of one line. FIG. 18 shows an example in which each repeated item is configured in units of two lines.

  FIG. 19 shows an example in which each repeated item is configured in units of two lines and is centered in the vertical direction. Specifically, in the example of FIG. 19, two rows of “employee number”, “name”, and “department code” are combined into one row and centered vertically. FIG. 20 shows an example in which some of the repeated items have a two-line configuration. In the example of FIG. 20, “affiliation” and “remarks” indicate a two-line configuration.

  Here, the repetitive items in the present embodiment may be configured not only in units of two rows as shown in FIGS. 18 to 20 described above but also in units of a plurality of rows of three or more rows.

  The form creation support apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can handle the items stored in the ruled line area extracted by the ruled line area extraction unit 41 as one unit item by the above-described processing. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 18 to FIG. 20 and the like, even if a part of the ruled line region is a combination of a plurality of lines, repeated items can be extracted appropriately.

  In addition, since the process of extracting the repeated item is executed as an automatic process, an appropriate attribute can be given to the data item without causing the user to perform a complicated input operation such as specifying the repeated item in advance. it can.

  The fixed item extraction unit 43 extracts items stored in ruled line regions other than the ruled line region stored in the repeated item table 16C by the repeated item extraction unit 42 and items located in places other than the ruled line region. These items are given attributes indicating that they are fixed items by the form definition output unit 44.

The form definition output unit 44 converts a file format created by spreadsheet software or the like into a form specification format, and outputs the converted form definition information. Here, the conversion to the form specification format means that, for example, information such as paper information and enlargement / reduction is converted from various setting information for the file to the form specification format, or fixed for a plurality of data items existing in the file. Attributes of items and repeated items are given. Thereby, for example, in the spreadsheet software, the area defined as the cell coordinates such as (1, A) is expressed by the upper left absolute coordinates and the lower right absolute coordinates in the form definition information. be able to. Note that the coordinate conversion and the attribute assignment to the fixed item or the repeated item are performed based on the information obtained from the column-by-column start position table data 16B, the repeated item table 16C, etc., for example, but are not limited thereto. It is not something.
Also, it indicates whether the item is fixed or repeated for information such as cell width, page size, page margin, etc. obtained from a file created by spreadsheet software, and information such as crew number and name displayed on the form. Attributes can be assigned automatically.

  FIG. 21 is an example of data included in the form specification created by the form definition output unit 44. The form specification shown in FIG. 21 includes information such as form name (for example, “test”), form format, function version number, creation date, last update date, number of items, and the like. Further, as shown in FIG. 21, the form specification includes information such as paper information, enlargement / reduction, barcode information, XML information, and prohibition processing. Furthermore, in this embodiment, in addition to the information shown in FIG. 21, there is an attribute indicating whether it is a fixed item or a repeated item for a plurality of data items included in a file (table format data) created by spreadsheet software or the like. Is granted.

  According to the form creation support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment described above, it is possible to assign appropriate attributes to data items without causing the user to perform complicated input operations.

  As mentioned above, although the form for implementing a form creation support apparatus etc. was demonstrated using the Example, this invention is not limited to such an Example at all, and various within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention. Variations and substitutions can be added.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the item repeated in the vertical direction is extracted as the repeated item, but the item repeated in the horizontal direction may be extracted as the repeated item. In this case, all the rows and columns and X and Y in the embodiment may be exchanged.

  The present invention can be used in the computer software industry and the like.

1 Form creation support device 10 CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Drive apparatus 14 Recording medium 16 Memory apparatus 18 Storage apparatus 20 Network board 22 Video board 24 Input device 30 Operating system 31 Driver 32 Library 34 Form creation support application 40 File reading part 41 Ruled line area extraction part 42 Repeat item extraction part 43 Fixed item Extraction unit 44 Form definition output unit 50 Original data creation terminal 60 Form output server

A form creation support device according to one aspect includes a repeated item extraction unit that extracts continuous data items with a same item value in a predetermined direction from a plurality of data items included in tabular data, and the repeated item extraction unit extracts the data items. A form definition output unit that outputs form definition information to which an attribute indicating that it is a repeated item is given to the continuous data items.

Claims (9)

Among a plurality of data items included in tabular data, a repeated item extraction unit that extracts consecutive data items with the same content in a predetermined direction;
A form creation support device comprising: a form definition output unit that outputs form definition information to which attributes indicating repetitive items are added to continuous data items extracted by the repetitive item extraction unit . A ruled line region extraction unit for extracting a region surrounded by ruled lines in the tabular data;
The form creation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the repetitive item extraction unit treats data in the region extracted by the ruled line region extraction unit as a unit data item. Of the plurality of data items included in the tabular data, comprising a fixed item extraction unit for extracting data items other than the data items extracted by the repeated item extraction unit,
The said form definition output part outputs the form definition information which provided the attribute which shows that it is a fixed item with respect to the data item extracted by the said fixed item extraction part, The Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Form creation support device. A repeated item extraction step of extracting data items that are continuous in the predetermined direction with the same content among a plurality of data items included in the tabular data;
A form creation support method, comprising: a form definition output step for outputting form definition information to which an attribute indicating that the continuous data item extracted by the repeat item extraction step is a repeat item is provided. . A ruled line region extraction step for extracting a region surrounded by ruled lines in the tabular data;
5. The form creation support method according to claim 4, wherein the repetitive item extracting step treats the data in the area extracted by the ruled line area extracting step as a unit of data item. A fixed item extraction step of extracting data items other than the data items extracted by the repeated item extraction step among the plurality of data items included in the tabular data;
6. The form definition output step of outputting form definition information to which an attribute indicating a fixed item is added to the data item extracted by the fixed item extraction step. Form creation support method. Of the plurality of data items included in the tabular data, extract data items that continue in the same direction with the same content,
A form creation support program for causing a computer to execute a process of outputting form definition information to which an attribute indicating that it is a repeated item is output with respect to extracted continuous data items. Extract the area surrounded by ruled lines in the tabular data,
8. The form creation support program according to claim 7, wherein the data in the extracted area is handled as a unit of data item. Of the plurality of data items included in the tabular data, extract data items other than the repeated items,
9. The form creation support program according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the form definition information added with an attribute indicating that the extracted data item is a fixed item is output.

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