JPH087781B2 - Document processor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application] The present invention recognizes a document in which characters and graphics are mixed,
The present invention relates to a document processing device that stores character code data and image data in a mix mode to construct a document database.

〔Overview〕

According to the present invention, in a document processing apparatus for recognizing a document in which characters and graphics are mixed and storing it in a mix mode to construct a document database, image information that cannot be character coded is stored as it is together with the layout information. Then
By storing together with the coded character information, the database construction of the document in which the image information is mixed is simplified and the amount of data at the time of saving is reduced.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as a method of storing an existing document and forming a database, there is a method of saving the image information as it is. This method is a method for storing a document including drawings, such as a patent publication, on an optical disc without changing the image information, and this method has a feature that a large amount of documents can be stored. However, in order to use the information stored on this optical disc as a database, the character information is stored without being encoded, so the amount of stored information becomes enormous. There is a problem with the property, and particularly, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to perform a search for the entire text of the document.

Therefore, as a method of converting an existing document into a database, the read document image is divided into a character area and an image area, the character area is converted into a character code and stored as code data, and the image area is stored as the image data as it is. A so-called mix mode document database has been considered and studied.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, for example, when trying to make a database of papers, etc., since the character areas in such papers usually contain mathematical formulas and special characters also exist, this part is always recognized as a character and coded. Therefore, when recognizing a character area, it is necessary to intervene to change the code into the code that cannot be coded by a person. In particular, special unreadable characters that cannot be recognized by the character recognition device have to be converted into character codes one by one, so there is a problem that it takes a lot of manpower to create a document database.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a document processing device capable of storing a document in which characters and images are mixed in a database in a mix mode without human intervention.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention relates to a scanning device that optically scans a document and converts it into document image data, an information processing device that has means for processing the document image data read by this scanning device and converting it into a character code, and The information processing apparatus includes a file device that stores a document processed by the information processing apparatus in a form in which character code data and image data are mixed, and the information processing apparatus includes the document information read in page units by the scanning device in a character area. Area designation means for separately designating an image area, a means for recognizing characters in the character area and converting into a character code, and layout information including position information added to the data converted into the character code. Data of the character area by storing means in the file device and adding layout information including position information using image data in the image area as image data In a document processing apparatus having both means for storing in the file device, a file device together with layout information including position information of the image data in units of character lines as image data for a portion that cannot be converted into a character code in the character area. It is characterized in that it is provided with a means for storing in.

It should be noted that it is preferable to collectively store, in the file device, character lines including characters that cannot be converted into character codes as image data. Further, the information processing apparatus is provided with an output unit for outputting a document, and the information processing device edits the character code data into a character pattern and the converted character pattern and image data into one document according to the layout information. Means for outputting to the output means may be included.

[Action]

A document input in page units is divided by designating a character area and an image area. In the character area, characters are cut out to form a character code for each character and stored in a file together with layout information such as the character position. Unreadable characters or mathematical expressions that cannot be coded are treated as image information and stored in a file together with layout information such as position in the document. Similarly, the image area is stored in a file together with the layout information.

In this way, one document is saved as document data in a form in which character code data and image data are mixed to construct a database.

Further, when outputting a document, the character information and the image information are combined based on the layout information and edited to form one document which is displayed or printed out.

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a document processing apparatus for converting document data into a database according to the present invention. This document processing apparatus scans a document to be made into a database page by page, converts it into document image data and reads it, and processes the document image data scanned and read by this scanner 1 to process characters. An information processing apparatus 2 for storing in a file 3 data in which code data and image data are mixed, and editing document information separately stored in the file 3 for character code data and image data.
A CRT 4 for displaying a processing result or an output result in the information processing device 2, a printer 5 for outputting a document edited by the information processing device 2, an operation keyboard 6 for the information processing device 2, and a mouse 7.

The information processing apparatus 2 stores the input document information in the file 3 in the mix mode as a means for storing the input document image data into a character area and an image area. Character cutting means 22 for cutting data, character coding means 23 for character coding the cut character data, character code storing means for storing the character coded character code data in the file 3 together with other layout information. twenty four,
In the form of image code storage means 25 for storing unreadable character data such as mathematical expressions which could not be coded in the character area and image data in the image area in the file 3 together with other layout information, character code data and image data The document editing means 26 is provided which converts the document information stored in the file 3 into one document image data and outputs it to the CRT 4 or the printer 5.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the document to be filed is scanned page by page by the scanner 1 and converted into document image data (step S1). Then, the converted document image data is divided into a character area and an image area (step S2). This character area and image area can be specified by, for example, CR
It is displayed on T4, which is viewed by the operator and designated by the keyboard 6 or mouse 7 on the CRT 4. Further, in the information processing device 2, it is also possible to perform the work of cutting out the entire page, and to specify the area in which the characters are present at a constant ratio as the character area and the other area as the image area without the intervention of the operator.

As in step S2, the document image data is designated in the character area and the image area in the case where a drawing such as a research paper or a photograph is printed in a form in which characters are mixed in one page. Apply to. For a document in which drawings and text are not mixed and divided into pages, the character recognition operation for the document image data can be started without specifying this area.

Then, the area in which the character area is designated is cut out for each character, character recognition is performed, and the character code is converted (step S4). Then, data is added to the converted character code data with respect to the line start point, the character size, the character spacing, and the vertical and horizontal character arrangement directions (step S
6). It should be noted that, when cutting out a character string, a character with a large character spacing is treated as a different line and not treated as the same line.

Then, the above-mentioned data is added to the converted character code data and stored in the character code data storage area of the file (step S7).

For unreadable characters that cannot be recognized in the character area, treat the unreadable characters as an image, insert the information indicating that the unreadable characters should be treated as image data, and store them in the character area file. Layout information such as position information is added to the image data, and the image data is stored in an image data storage area different from the character code data of the file (step S8).

This example will be described. For example, assume that the following mathematical formula is included in the sentence.

Since this formula cannot recognize ordinary characters, the part of this formula is processed as image data line by line.
The data indicating where the certain position of this image data is located in the recognized character is stored together with the file storing the character coded data, and the character code data is added to the image data as the image data. Store in a file separately from. Further, when there is a certain proportion or more of unrecognizable characters in the character string of one line, it is preferable to treat the entire line as a character code that cannot be encoded and store the entire line as image data. This is because the document image data is given as raster scan data, so that it is easy to process, for example, a horizontally written document line by line in terms of image processing.

It is also possible to perform character encoding on a line-by-line basis and to collectively treat lines including characters that cannot be encoded as image data. Treating each line as image data in this way is effective when a printed document such as a paper containing mathematical formulas is made into a document database.

Finally, layout information such as position information is added to the image data of the area designated as the image area, and the image data is stored in the image data storage area of the file (step
S9, S7).

When the processing for one page is completed, the next page is scanned and the document processing for the next page is started (step S10).

The inventors read a paper containing mathematical formulas in drawings and texts, process document image data, and process input document image data in one page of 1974Kbytes as image data (image area) 404Kbytes and character area. Unreadable character data 16Kbyt which is unreadable character inside and processed as image data
e, character code data of character code 5.2Kbyte, total 4
It could be compressed to 25Kbyte.

Next time you output the document stored in file 3,
The document editing means 26 reads the character code data and image data for one page stored in each area of the file 3, and converts the character code data into a character pattern. Then, according to the layout information added to the respective data, image data is inserted into the character for the character area, and the character area and the image area are combined and edited into a one-page document. The edited one-page document is output to the CRT 4 or printed out to the printer 5.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the present invention reads character data in a document, treats unreadable characters such as mathematical expressions in the character as image data without human intervention, and processes them as image data separately from the character code data. Since it can be stored in a file as a file, unrecognizable character data can be processed without human intervention.
Therefore, it is possible to save labor in converting an existing document into an electronic file, and to easily construct a document database.

Further, since the document information stored separately for the character code data and the image data is edited and displayed as one document, the process for searching the document database becomes easy.

Further, in the present invention, the unread characters in the character area are handled as image data in units of one character line, so image processing is simple, and in particular, character lines including unread characters are collectively handled as image data. In this case, since the mathematical formulas in the character area can be collectively handled as image data line by line, it is easy to process the papers in which the mathematical formulas appear in the sentence as a document database.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment. 1 ... Scanner, 2 ... Information processing device, 3 ... File, 4 ... CRT, 5 ... Printer, 6 ... Keyboard,
7 ... Mouse.

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A 64-70882 (JP, A) JP-A 58-125180 (JP, A) JP-A 63-212985 (JP, A) JP-A 62-281072 (JP , A) JP 63-197266 (JP, A) JP 63-291162 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A scanning device for optically scanning a document to convert it into document image data, and an information processing device provided with means for processing the document image data read by this scanning device to convert it into a character code. The information processing apparatus includes a file device for storing a document processed by the information processing apparatus in a form in which character code data and image data are mixed, and the information processing apparatus stores the document information read in page units by the scanning device as characters. Area specification means that specifies the area and image area separately, means that recognizes the characters in the character area and converts them into character codes, and layout information that includes position information is added to the data converted into character codes. A means for storing in the file device, and layout information including position information using the image data in the image area as image data are added to the character area of the character area. In the document processing device having means for storing the data in the file device together with the data, a portion of the character area that cannot be converted into a character code is stored as image data in a character line unit together with layout information including position information of the image data. A document processing device comprising means for storing in a device. 2. A document processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein character lines containing characters that cannot be converted into character codes are collectively stored as image data in a file device. 3. An output device for outputting a document, wherein the information processing device converts the character code data stored in the file device into a character pattern into a character pattern.
3. The document processing device according to claim 1, further comprising means for editing the converted character pattern and image data into one document according to layout information and outputting the document to the output device.