JP4589599B2 - Keyword assigning device, keyword assigning system, and program - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a keyword assignment device, a keyword assignment system, and a program for assigning keywords to a file.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a scanner, a file management server, a client terminal, and the like are connected to a network, and an image of a document such as a document read by the scanner is stored in the file management server, and the image is retrieved from the client terminal and used. File management systems are widespread.
[0003]
In such a file management system, in general, a keyword is assigned to an image and management is performed in order to increase search efficiency. As a method for assigning a keyword to an image, when saving an image, for example, a first method of manually inputting and registering a keyword that the user considers appropriate from the operation unit of the image management server or the like, or a document is a document or the like In this case, a second method (for example, refer to Patent Document 1) in which a character string most frequently included in the document is extracted as a keyword from image recognition and the image is stored in a folder associated with the keyword. It is used.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-282328
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the file management system using the conventional keyword assignment method has a problem that it is not convenient for the user.
That is, the first method is troublesome because it is necessary for the user to manually input the keyword every time when saving the image. On the other hand, in the second method, since keywords are automatically extracted, it seems that there is no trouble at all. However, in practice, keywords that are not considered by the user are assigned to the image and managed. On the contrary, the search efficiency may deteriorate.
[0006]
In order to avoid this, the user must eventually go to the file management server separately, start a dedicated application for keyword confirmation, modification, etc., and perform work such as modification. It will not disappear at all. In addition, when the user is busy with other tasks, such troublesome work may be postponed and forgotten.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a keyword assignment device, a keyword assignment system, and a program that can further improve user convenience.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to achieve the above object, a keyword assigning apparatus according to the present invention is a keyword assigning apparatus that assigns a keyword to a file, analyzes the content of the data in the file, and generates keyword candidates for the file from the analysis result Keyword candidate generation means to perform,An ID for identifying the file;Keyword candidates generated by the keyword candidate generating meansWhenAn e-mail creating means for creating an e-mail with a destination as an external terminal having an e-mail transmission / reception function connected via a network, and an e-mail for sending an e-mail created by the e-mail creating means As a result of transmitting the e-mail, e-mail receiving means for receiving the e-mail transmitted from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device, and the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving means,Extracting the ID that identifies the file contained in the emailKeyword extracting means for extracting a keyword included as a keyword to be given to the file in the email;Means for identifying the file based on the extracted ID and assigning the extracted keyword to the identified file;It is characterized by providing.
[0009]
  In addition, the image forming apparatus includes thumbnail generation means for generating data for displaying thumbnails of the contents of the file, and the e-mail transmission means transmits the data generated by the thumbnail generation means as an attachment to the e-mail. And
  Furthermore, the file is a file composed of text data or image data.
  In the external terminal, a keyword that is not included in the keyword candidate can be included in the e-mail and transmitted to the keyword adding device, and the keyword adding device can select a keyword that is not included in the keyword candidate. Inquiry about whether or not to be attached to the file, creating an inquiry e-mail addressed to the external terminal and sending it to the external terminal, and from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device for the inquiry e-mail Based on the reply e-mail transmitted to the address, it is determined whether or not to assign the extracted keyword to the file.
  Further, when a keyword not included in the keyword candidate includes at least a part of a character string constituting the keyword candidate, the keyword is added to the file without transmitting the inquiry e-mail. Features.
[0010]
  The keyword assigning device according to the present invention includes an image reading device, a keyword assigning device, and an external terminal having an e-mail transmission / reception function connected via a network. The image reading device reads an image of a document. Reading means for generating image data, receiving means for receiving input of address information indicating an e-mail address of the external terminal, image data generated by the reading means, and address information received by the receiving means for assigning the keyword A first transmission means for transmitting to the apparatus, wherein the keyword assigning apparatus receives the image data and address information transmitted by the first transmission means, and the first reception means. Analyzes the content of the received image data, and based on the analysis result, the key for the file consisting of the image data And the keyword candidate generating means for generating an over-de-candidate,An ID for identifying the file;Keyword candidates generated by the keyword candidate generating meansWhenAn e-mail creating means for creating an e-mail addressed to the e-mail address indicated in the address information, an e-mail sending means for sending an e-mail created by the e-mail creating means, and sending the e-mail As a result, an email receiving means for receiving an email sent from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device, and an email received by the email receiving means,Extracting the ID that identifies the file contained in the emailKeyword extracting means for extracting a keyword included as a keyword to be given to the file in the email;Means for identifying the file based on the extracted ID and assigning the extracted keyword to the identified file;It is characterized by providing.
  Further, in the external terminal, a keyword that is not included in the keyword candidate can be included in the e-mail and transmitted by the keyword adding device, and the keyword adding device can include a keyword that is not included in the keyword candidate. Inquiry about whether or not to be attached to the file, creating an inquiry e-mail addressed to the external terminal and sending it to the external terminal, and from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device for the inquiry e-mail Based on the reply e-mail transmitted to the address, it is determined whether or not to assign the extracted keyword to the file.
  Further, the keyword assigning device may send the inquiry file to the file without sending the inquiry e-mail when the keyword not included in the keyword candidate includes at least a part of the character string constituting the keyword candidate. It is characterized by giving a keyword.
[0011]
  The program according to the present invention includes a keyword candidate generation process for analyzing the content of data in the file and generating a keyword candidate for the file from the analysis result in a keyword adding device that assigns a keyword to the file;An ID for identifying the file;Keyword candidates generated by the keyword candidate generation processWhenAn e-mail creating process for creating an e-mail with a destination as an external terminal having an e-mail transmission / reception function connected via a network, and an e-mail for sending an e-mail created by the e-mail creating process As a result of transmitting the e-mail, the e-mail receiving process for receiving the e-mail transmitted from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device, and the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving process,Extracting the ID that identifies the file contained in the emailA keyword extraction process for extracting a keyword included as a keyword to be given to the file in the email;Identifying the file based on the extracted ID and assigning the extracted keyword to the identified file;It is characterized by executing a process including
  In the external terminal, a keyword that is not included in the keyword candidate can be included in the e-mail and transmitted to the keyword adding device, and a keyword that is not included in the keyword candidate can be transmitted to the keyword adding device. Inquiry about whether or not to be attached to the file, creating an inquiry e-mail addressed to the external terminal and sending it to the external terminal, and from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device for the inquiry e-mail Based on a reply e-mail transmitted to the address, a process for determining whether or not to assign the extracted keyword to the file is executed.
  Further, when the keyword not included in the keyword candidate includes at least a part of the character string constituting the keyword candidate in the keyword assigning device, the file is sent to the file without sending the inquiry e-mail. A process for assigning a keyword is executed.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of a keyword assigning apparatus and the like according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(1) Overall system configuration
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a system 1 including a keyword assigning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0013]
As shown in the figure, the system 1 includes an image forming apparatus 100, a file management apparatus 200, client terminals 300, 400,... Via a network, here a LAN (Local Area Network) 10, TCP / IP. (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) is used for connection, and various data can be exchanged.
[0014]
The image forming apparatus 100 is a multi-function digital copier (Multiple Function Peripheral). The image forming apparatus 100 scans an image of a set document and obtains image data. The copy function prints a document image based on the image data. It has various functions such as an image transmission function for transmitting image data to the file management apparatus 200 for storage and management.
[0015]
The file management apparatus 200 has a function of receiving image data and the like of a document read by the image forming apparatus 100, assigning a keyword to each file including the received image data and storing and managing the file. When there is a keyword search request for an image or the like from the client terminal 300 or the like, an image or the like corresponding to the keyword is searched and the search result or the like is notified. Further, it has a function as a mail server, and also manages transmission / reception of electronic mail (hereinafter referred to as “mail”) whose source is the client terminal 300 on the LAN 10 or whose destination is the destination.
[0016]
The client terminal 300 is a terminal device composed of a personal computer (PC) having a mail transmission / reception function and the like, and is used by the user A. The client terminals 400... Are devices having basically the same functions as the client terminal 300.
Hereinafter, each device will be described in detail. Since the client terminal 300 and the like are the same, the configuration of 300 is described here, and the description of the other 400 and the like is omitted.
[0017]
(2) Functional configuration
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functional configurations of the image forming apparatus 100, the file management apparatus 200, and the client terminal 300 in the system 1.
(2-1) Image forming apparatus 100
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a control unit 101, a scanner unit 102, a printer unit 103, an operation panel 104, and a communication interface (I / F) unit 105 as main components.
[0018]
The communication I / F unit 105 is an interface for connecting to the LAN 10 such as a LAN card or a LAN board.
The scanner unit 102 is a known device that obtains image data by reading an image of a set original. The printer unit 103 is a device that prints an image on a sheet based on image data of a document read by the scanner unit 102 by a known electrophotographic method.
[0019]
Although not shown here, the operation panel 104 is provided with a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel laminated on the surface in addition to a copy start button and a numeric keypad for setting the number of copies. Further, in response to an instruction from the control unit 101, a user selects a mode selection screen (not shown) or the like for selecting an operation mode such as image transmission. The user can select and execute image transmission or the like by pressing (touching) a predetermined button on the screen displayed on the liquid crystal display unit.
[0020]
The control unit 101 is mainly composed of a CPU, reads a necessary program from a built-in ROM (not shown), displays a mode selection screen on the liquid crystal display unit of the operation panel 104, and receives input information thereof. In addition, the operation timing of each unit is uniformly controlled to realize a smooth copy operation.
Further, when image transmission is selected by the user, the control unit 101 executes image transmission processing. Here, an input reception screen (not shown) of the mail address of the client terminal used by the user is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit. When a mail address is input by the user (hereinafter, a case where the user A inputs the mail address of his / her client terminal 300 will be described as an example), the scanner unit 102 is instructed and the document set is set. An image is read, a header portion including information (address information) indicating the mail address is added to the read image data, and the image data is transmitted to the file management apparatus 200 via the communication I / F portion 105.
[0021]
(2-2) File management apparatus 200
The file management device 200 includes a communication I / F unit 201, a keyword assignment unit 202 as a keyword assignment device, a file management unit 203, a storage unit 204, and a management table 205 as main components.
The communication I / F unit 201 is an interface for connecting to the LAN 10 such as a LAN card or a LAN board, similar to the communication I / F unit 105.
[0022]
The storage unit 204 includes a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk.
The management table 205 is composed of a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM, and as shown in FIG. 3, an image ID column, an address column, and a keyword column are provided. Writing of data to each column is performed by the keyword assigning unit 202.
The keyword assignment unit 202 includes an image data reception unit 211, an image feature amount extraction unit 212, a keyword candidate generation unit 213, an email creation unit 214, a thumbnail image generation unit 215, an email transmission / reception unit 216, and a keyword extraction unit 217, which will be described later. A keyword is added to the image by performing keyword assignment processing.
[0023]
When the image data receiving unit 211 receives the image data transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100, the image data receiving unit 211 creates a file of the image data and stores it in a predetermined storage area of the storage unit 204. Also, an image ID for identifying the image (here, a 4-digit numerical value as shown in FIG. 3) is generated, and the generated image ID is associated with the address of the area where the image data is stored. Are written in the image ID column and address column of the management table 205, respectively.
[0024]
Further, character string data indicating a mail address (mail address of the client terminal 300) included in the header portion of the received image data is extracted, and the extracted data is transmitted to the mail creating unit 214.
When the image ID is generated, the image feature amount extraction unit 212 reads the image data from the storage unit 204 with reference to the image ID, and stores the feature amount of the image, for example, edge information, color information, texture information, and the like. Information extracted (feature amount information) indicating the extracted feature amount is transmitted to the keyword candidate generation unit 213.
[0025]
When the keyword candidate generation unit 213 receives the feature amount information transmitted from the image feature amount extraction unit 212, the keyword candidate generation unit 213 creates at least one keyword candidate to be used for searching the image from the feature amount. As a method for generating keyword candidates, for example, for various images that are supposed to be registered, a table in which a feature amount such as texture information of each image is associated with a keyword candidate corresponding to the feature amount is prepared in advance. The keyword candidate related to the extracted feature amount is read by referring to the table. Note that image feature extraction and keyword candidate creation methods are not limited to those described above, and other methods such as JP-A-11-66310, JP-A-11-96368, and JP-A-10-320401. The method described in the gazette etc. can be used.
[0026]
The keyword candidate generating unit 213 transmits information indicating the generated keyword candidates (keyword candidate information) to the mail creating unit 214.
Upon receiving the keyword candidate information transmitted from the keyword candidate generation unit 213, the mail creation unit 214 receives a keyword in which the keyword indicated by the keyword candidate information is described as a character string in the body part (hereinafter, “keyword candidate mail”). Create).
[0027]
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the content of a keyword candidate mail message.
As shown in the figure, e-mail messages are divided into a header part and a body part according to the standard RFC (Request For Comments) for IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) e-mail messages. Describes information such as a destination, and keyword candidates are described in the body portion.
[0028]
In the “from” field of the header part, the mail address of the file management apparatus 200 is described, and in the “To” field, the address indicated by the address information received from the image data receiving unit 211, in this case, the mail of the client terminal 300 An address is described. Further, in the “Subject” field, content indicating that it is a keyword candidate mail (here, Keyword candidacy mail) is described.
[0029]
On the other hand, the body part is composed of an explanation column 241 and a keyword candidate column 242. The explanation column 241 indicates a character string indicating a predetermined explanation for indicating to the user that the keyword candidate is an email. Is described. The keyword candidate column 242 describes the generated image ID and the created keyword candidates, here, character strings indicating a plurality of candidates.
[0030]
Returning to FIG. 2, the thumbnail image generation unit 215 reads out the image data from the storage unit 204 with reference to the image ID, and publicizes thumbnail image data for displaying the thumbnail of the image from the read image data. And the generated data is transmitted to the mail creation unit 214.
The mail creation unit 214 associates these thumbnail image data with the keyword candidate mail attached file data so that the thumbnail image data is associated with the keyword candidate mail, and is stored in the storage unit 204 that functions as a so-called mailbox. The keyword candidate mail is temporarily stored in the area portion assigned in correspondence with the destination (client terminal 300) of the keyword candidate mail.
[0031]
The mail transmission / reception unit 216 transmits / receives mail to / from the client terminal 300 or the like via the communication I / F unit 201. For mail transmission / reception, well-known SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) are used. For example, when receiving a mail reception request from the client terminal 300, the mail transmission / reception unit 216 transmits to the client terminal 300 the keyword candidate mail stored in the mailbox with the thumbnail image data attached as an attached file. To do.
[0032]
The keyword extraction unit 217 transmits the keyword candidate mail, and as a result of sending the keyword candidate mail, the keyword described in the mail (reply mail: described later) sent from the client terminal 300 to the file management apparatus 200 (the keyword to be assigned to the image by the user) And the extracted keyword is written in the keyword column of the management table 205 as a keyword to be assigned to the image. A specific example of the keyword extraction unit 217 will be described later.
[0033]
The file management unit 203 stores and manages image files and the like, and when there is a keyword search request from the client terminal 300 or the like, the file management unit 203 refers to the management table 205 and selects an image or the like to be searched from the keyword. Search and send the search result to the requester.
(2-3) Client terminal 300
The client terminal 300 includes a control unit 301, a communication I / F unit 302, a mail transmission / reception unit 303, a mail editing unit 304, a reply mail creation unit 305, a display 306, an operation unit 307, and a storage unit 308 as main components. ing.
[0034]
The communication I / F unit 302 is an interface for connecting to the LAN 10 such as a LAN card or a LAN board, similar to the communication I / F unit 105 or the like.
A mail transmission / reception unit 303, a mail editing unit 304, and a reply mail creation unit 305 realize the same functions as known mail transmission / reception, mail editing, reply mail creation, etc. in a so-called mailer (for example, Outlook Express: a registered trademark of Microsoft US). .
[0035]
The mail transmission / reception unit 303 transmits / receives mail to / from the file management apparatus 200 or the like via the communication I / F unit 302 using the SMTP and POP3.
The storage unit 308 includes a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk, and stores received data such as mail.
The mail editing unit 304 displays a screen for displaying the content of the mail (for example, if it is Outlook Express, it corresponds to an “inbox” screen) and instructs the user A to open the keyword candidate mail. Accept. When the instruction is received via the keyboard of the operation unit 307 or the like, the keyword candidate mail data is read from the storage unit 308 and the content is displayed on the display 306. When an instruction to open the attached file is received, the thumbnail image data included in the attached file is read and the thumbnail image is displayed on the display 306. By viewing the thumbnail image, the user A can confirm to which original image the displayed keyword candidate is generated.
[0036]
When the reply mail creation unit 305 receives a message reply instruction for the keyword candidate mail from the user A (for example, when a “reply” button is pressed), the reply mail creation unit 305 creates a reply message.
Specifically, in the reply message, for example, the contents of the “From” and “To” fields are the reverse of the keyword candidate mail. Here, the mail address of the client terminal 300 is described in the “From” field, and the mail address of the file management apparatus 200 is described in the “To” field. Further, the content of the “Subject” field is a content in which “Re:” is added to the head of the content described in the field of the keyword candidate mail (here, “Re: Keyword candidacy mail”). Further, the contents of the body part of the keyword candidate mail are described as they are in the body part.
[0037]
The reply mail creation unit 305 displays the created reply message on the display 306. From the display screen, the user A can select a candidate he / she wants to give (register) to the image as a keyword among the keyword candidates described in the body part. As will be described later, the keyword selected here is registered in the file management apparatus 200 as a keyword for the image.
[0038]
For example, if it is desired to use keyword candidate 1 “patent-related material” as a keyword in the contents of FIG. 4, characters after keyword candidate 2 “image processing” are used on the reply mail creation screen using the keyboard of the operation unit 307. Just delete all the columns and leave only 'patent-related materials'. It is also possible to leave a plurality. Further, when there is no candidate to be used as a keyword, the keyword desired by the user can be manually input (rewritten). In that case, all the displayed keyword candidates may be deleted, and the character string to be used as a keyword may be rewritten using a keyboard or the like so that the character string is sandwiched between the symbols'.
[0039]
When the reply mail creation unit 305 receives a reply message transmission instruction from the user A (when the “send” button is pressed on the reply message display screen), the reply mail creation unit 305 determines that the input is completed and includes the input content. A reply mail (thumbnail image data is not attached) is transmitted (reply) to the file management apparatus 200 via the mail transmission / reception unit 303 and the communication I / F unit 302.
[0040]
In the file management apparatus 200, the mail transmission / reception unit 216 refers to the header part of the received mail, the mail address of the client terminal 300 is described in the “From” field, and “Re: Keyword candidacy mail” in the “Subject” field. ”Is described, it is determined that the received mail is a reply mail transmitted from the client terminal 300 to the file management apparatus 200 as a result of the transmission of the keyword candidate mail, and the data is subjected to keyword extraction. To the unit 217.
[0041]
The keyword extraction unit 217 extracts an image ID and a keyword described in the body part of the mail. The extraction of the image ID and the keyword here is performed by recognizing the character string between the character strings described in the body part as the image ID and identifying the character string between the symbol “” as the keyword. It is done by recognizing. Then, the extracted keyword is written in the portion corresponding to the extracted image ID in the keyword column of the management table 205. As a result, the image ID, the storage address of the image data, and the keyword confirmed and selected by the user are stored in association with each other, that is, the keyword is assigned to the image.
[0042]
In the above description, “” is used as a symbol for specifying a keyword or the like. However, the symbol is not limited to the above as long as the image ID and the keyword can be recognized. For example, a symbol such as / or ¥ is used. You can also Further, the present invention is not limited to the configuration in which symbols are arranged before and after the keyword. For example, a predetermined different symbol is arranged at the end of each row in which the keyword and image ID are described, and the symbol is described in the row in which each symbol is arranged. It is also possible to adopt a configuration for recognizing a character string as a keyword or an image ID. That is, the relationship between keywords, image IDs, and symbols for distinguishing these from other character strings is determined in advance, and the client terminal 300 creates a response message according to the agreement, and the file management device 200 Then, a character string that becomes a keyword and an image ID may be extracted according to the agreement.
[0043]
(3) Contents of overall processing of system 1
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the overall processing in the system 1.
As shown in the figure, the image forming apparatus 100 reads an image of the document of the user A (C1), and transmits the image data of the read document to the file management apparatus 200 (C2).
[0044]
The file management apparatus 200 saves the received image data in a file (K1), generates keyword candidates for use in searching for the image from the feature amount of the image (K2), includes the generated keyword candidates, Is created as a keyword candidate mail with the client terminal 300 (K3).
The client terminal 300 requests the file management apparatus 200 to receive a mail addressed to itself according to an instruction from the user A (M1).
[0045]
When receiving the request, the file management apparatus 200 transmits a keyword candidate mail to the client terminal 300 (K4).
When the client terminal 300 receives an instruction to display the keyword candidate mail from the user A, the client terminal 300 displays the content on the display (M2). Thereby, the user A can visually confirm keyword candidates automatically generated by the file management apparatus 200 with respect to the image read by the image forming apparatus 100.
[0046]
When the client terminal 300 receives an instruction to create a reply mail for the keyword candidate mail by the user A, the client terminal 300 creates a reply mail (M3), receives a selection input of the keyword from the user A, and the like. If there is, this is transmitted to the file management apparatus 200 (M4).
Upon receiving the reply mail, the file management apparatus 200 extracts the keyword included in the mail (K5), stores it in association with the image (that is, assigns it to the image), and manages it (K6). .
[0047]
As a result, the user A confirms the keyword automatically generated by the file management apparatus 200 at his / her convenience in the mail transmission / reception process frequently used in the business or the like in the client terminal 300 of the user A himself / herself. And so on.
(4) Processing contents of image forming apparatus 100
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the content of image transmission processing in the image forming apparatus 100.
[0048]
As shown in the figure, when image transmission is selected by the user, the image forming apparatus 100 first displays an input acceptance screen for the mail address of the client terminal used by the user and accepts the input (step S11). When the mail address is input by the user A, the image of the set document is read (step S12), and a head part including address information indicating the received mail address is added to the read image data, thereby managing the file. It transmits to the apparatus 200 (step S13), and the said process is complete | finished.
[0049]
(5) Processing contents of file management apparatus 200
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the contents of keyword assignment processing in the keyword assignment unit 202 of the file management apparatus 200.
As shown in the figure, the keyword assigning unit 202 determines whether image data from the image forming apparatus 100 has been received (step S21).
[0050]
If it is determined that the image data has been received (“Y” in step S21), it is stored in the storage unit 204 (step S22). At that time, an image ID corresponding to the storage file name is generated (step S23), and the image ID and the address of the area where the image file is stored are written in the image ID column of the management table 205 (step S24). Further, the address information (mail address) included in the header part is extracted (step S25).
[0051]
And the feature-value of the received image is extracted (step S26), and the keyword candidate of the said image is produced | generated from the extracted feature-value (step S27). Subsequently, the thumbnail image data of the image is generated (step S28).
Create a keyword candidate email that includes the generated keyword candidate and image ID in the body part and has the destination as the extracted email address, with the thumbnail image data attached as an attached file, and stores this in the mailbox Temporarily save (step S29), then move to step S30.
[0052]
In step S30, when it is determined that a mail reception request from the client terminal 300 or the like has been received, the mail stored in the mailbox is transmitted to the request source (step S31).
In step S32, it is determined whether or not a reply mail transmitted from the transmission destination to the file management apparatus 200 has been received as a result of transmitting the keyword candidate mail.
[0053]
When it is determined that the reply mail has been received (“Y” in step S32), the keyword described in the body part of the reply mail and the character string indicating the image ID are extracted (step S33), and the extracted keyword is used as the keyword. Write to the keyword column of the management table 205 so that the image ID corresponds (step S34).
If it is determined in step S21 that no image data has been received, the process proceeds to step S30. If it is determined in step S30 that a reception request has not been accepted, the process proceeds to step S32. If it is determined in step S32 that a reply mail has not been received, the process returns to step S21.
[0054]
(6) Processing contents of the client terminal 300
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing contents such as a keyword candidate mail reception request in the client terminal 300.
As shown in the figure, when there is an instruction from the user, the client terminal 300 transmits a mail reception request addressed to itself to the file management apparatus 200 (step S51).
[0055]
The client terminal 300 receives the mail transmitted in response to the request (step S52) and stores the data in the storage unit 308. When there is a mail display instruction from the user A (“Y” in step S53), the content is displayed on the display 306 (step S54).
When there is an instruction to reply to the keyword candidate mail (“Y” in step S55), a reply message is created (step S56), and a reply mail composed of the created message is sent to the file management apparatus 200 (step S56). S57), the process ends.
[0056]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the file management apparatus 200 includes the keyword candidates for image search generated by itself in a mail and transmits them to the client terminal, and is included in the mail at the client terminal. If the keyword candidate is replied after being confirmed by the user, the keyword included in the reply mail is assigned as the keyword of the image. As a result, the user can check the automatically generated keyword candidates if he / she performs mail reception work normally used for business or the like in his / her terminal device.
[0057]
Therefore, it is not necessary to go to the file management apparatus as in the past, and to start up dedicated application software for confirmation and the like that are not normally used in the apparatus and to perform confirmation.
In addition, if a user makes an email reception request, he / she can check keyword candidate emails along with other general emails addressed to himself / herself. This will prevent you from forgetting and forgetting it later, and it will be easier to use. Furthermore, since the mail terminal is used, the system 1 can be used if the client terminal 300 includes an existing mailer. Therefore, when using the system 1, it is not necessary to install new software on the client terminal 300, and the user is not burdened.
[0058]
The present invention is not limited to the keyword assignment device, and may be a keyword assignment method and a program for realizing the method by a computer. The program according to the present invention includes a magnetic disk such as a magnetic tape and a flexible disk, an optical recording medium such as DVD, CD-ROM, CD-R, MO, and PD, and a flash memory system such as Smart Media (registered trademark). It can be recorded on various computer-readable recording media such as a recording medium, and may be produced, transferred, etc. in the form of the recording medium, and various wired and wireless types including the Internet in the form of a program. In some cases, the data is transmitted and supplied via a network, broadcast, telecommunication line, satellite communication, or the like.
[0059]
Further, the program according to the present invention does not have to include all modules for causing the computer to execute the processing described above. For example, a separate information process such as a communication program or a program included in an operating system (OS) is performed. You may make it make a computer perform each process of this invention using the various general purpose programs which can be installed in an apparatus. Accordingly, it is not always necessary to record all the modules on the recording medium of the present invention, and it is not always necessary to transmit all the modules. Further, there are cases where predetermined processing can be executed using dedicated hardware.
[0060]
(7) Modification
As described above, the present invention has been described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the following modifications may be considered.
(7-1) In the above-described embodiment, the thumbnail image data is attached to the keyword candidate mail. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the thumbnail image data may not be attached.
[0061]
For example, when image transmission is performed in the image forming apparatus 100, an identification number for identifying the image is attached to the read document image, and the identification number is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit and output to the user. Inform. In addition, information indicating the identification number is included in a header portion added to image data, for example, and transmitted to the file management apparatus 200. The file management apparatus 200 uses the received identification number as the image ID of the image, and describes this in the body portion of the keyword candidate mail.
[0062]
In this way, the user can know the identification number of the image when the image of the document is read in the image forming apparatus 100, and the image ID (described above) described in the keyword candidate mail at the client terminal. By looking at the (identification number), it is possible to know which image the keyword candidate is for. As the identification number, a reading order number, a numerical value indicating a reading time, or the like can be used. It should be noted that the keyword candidate mail may not include the image ID and the thumbnail image. Even in this case, for example, when only one original image is read, the user determines which image the keyword candidate belongs to even if the keyword ID does not include an image ID or the like. it can.
[0063]
Further, the image data itself may be transmitted as an attached file instead of the thumbnail image. Although the amount of data to be transmitted increases, processing such as thumbnail image generation becomes unnecessary, and the configuration of the file management apparatus 200 can be simplified.
(7-2) In the above embodiment, the file management apparatus 200 generates keyword candidates based on the contents of image data (image feature amounts), but the method for generating keyword candidates is not limited to this. . For example, the received image data can be subjected to a known character recognition process such as pattern matching, the recognized character portion is converted into text data, and keyword candidates can be generated from the contents (text information) of the text data.
[0064]
A method of generating keyword candidates from text information is a known technique, and for example, a method disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-282328 can be used. In summary, a keyword that is included most in the character portion among a plurality of keywords registered in advance is used as a keyword candidate. In this way, keyword candidates can be generated based on the contents of file data consisting of text data, image data, and the like.
[0065]
(7-3) In the above embodiment, when image transmission is performed from the image forming apparatus 100, the user inputs the mail address of his / her client terminal on the mail address input acceptance screen displayed on the operation panel 104. However, it is not limited to this. For example, after the image transmission, when the user moves to a terminal device different from his own and uses it, the mail address of the other terminal device may be input. The user can receive the keyword candidate mail at the other terminal device. In addition, if the mail addresses (destinations) of a plurality of terminal devices are input, it is possible to receive keyword candidate mails at any of the terminal devices. If the mail address of each user's client terminal is registered in advance in the image forming apparatus 100 and the user selects a desired destination from the input reception screen, the trouble of inputting the address can be reduced. Convenient to save.
[0066]
(7-4) In the above embodiment, when the keyword candidate described in the keyword candidate mail is not the one desired by the user, the user can rewrite the keyword candidate desired by the user. Is registered in the file management apparatus 200. However, for example, the following configuration may be used.
[0067]
That is, the file management apparatus 200 creates a mail (inquiry mail) for inquiring whether or not the keyword extracted from the reply mail is a keyword to be added to the image, and transmits the created inquiry mail to the client terminal side. To do. On the client terminal side, the user opens the inquiry mail, creates a mail describing whether it is good or bad (for example, a reply mail to the inquiry mail), and transmits the mail to the file management apparatus 200. . The file management apparatus 200 receives the mail (the mail sent from the client terminal as a result of sending the inquiry mail), and determines whether or not to give the mail based on the pass / fail result described in the mail. It is a decision. If it is described that the keyword is good as a keyword in the mail, the extracted keyword is used as a keyword. If it is not good, the keyword candidate mail is retransmitted. Can do.
[0068]
In this way, for example, when a user mistakes a keyword for another image and rewrites it, it is possible to prevent such an incorrect keyword from being assigned. As a condition for the inquiry, for example, a case where all keyword candidates are not adopted (only new keywords are written by the user) can be considered.
[0069]
Even when only a new keyword is written, for example, even one (or several) characters in the keyword candidate character string generated from the image feature amount are included in the keyword character string. In such a case, an inquiry may not be made, and an inquiry may be made if the inquiry is not made. The keyword in the case where the user misunderstood another image and the generated keyword candidate are considered to have different characters. If so, even one character in the automatically generated keyword is included. This is because it can be assumed that this is not a misunderstanding.
[0070]
(7-5) In the above embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 and the file management apparatus 200 are separated. However, these are integrated, for example, the image forming apparatus includes a file management apparatus (keyword assigning unit). As an alternative, keyword assignment processing such as keyword candidate generation may be performed in the image forming apparatus.
Further, the file management apparatus 200 is configured to also serve as a mail server, but is not limited to this configuration. The file management apparatus 200 may have only a mail transmission / reception function and another mail server may be arranged on the LAN 10. In this case, the file management apparatus 200, the client terminal 300, and the like transmit and receive each mail such as a keyword candidate mail and a reply mail via the mail server.
[0071]
Furthermore, the configuration is not limited to the configuration using the image forming apparatus and the file management apparatus, and the image reading apparatus that executes the same process as the image transmission process in the image forming apparatus, and the apparatus that executes the same process as the keyword adding unit 202 A system that connects the (keyword assigning apparatus) and the client terminal 300 or the like to the network and executes the entire process of assigning a keyword to an image as described above can be configured as a keyword assigning system. Note that the network is not limited to the LAN, and the Internet, WAN, or the like can be used as long as mail can be transmitted and received.
[0072]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the keyword assigning device of the present invention generates keyword candidates for a file, transmits the generated keyword candidates to an external terminal by e-mail, and transmits the e-mail as a result of the keyword from the external terminal. It is configured to receive an e-mail transmitted to the assigning device and extract a keyword included in the e-mail to be assigned to the file.
[0073]
As a result, the user can check and correct the keyword candidates that are automatically generated on the keyword assigning device side simply by receiving and replying to e-mails that are normally used in business or the like at his / her terminal device. it can. Therefore, it is not necessary to go to the management device as in the past, and to start up dedicated application software for confirmation, etc., which is not normally used in the device, and perform operations such as confirmation. In addition, since the keyword candidate mail can be confirmed together with other general e-mails addressed to itself, it is possible to prevent forgetting work such as confirmation.
[0074]
In addition, if the configuration is such that the data for displaying the contents of the file as a thumbnail is attached to the e-mail, the user can determine which file the keyword candidates included in the keyword candidate mail are for. It can be confirmed visually by the image and is convenient.
Furthermore, if the file is a file composed of text data or image data, for example, a keyword can be assigned to the file composed of image data read by an image reading apparatus.
[0075]
In the keyword assignment system of the present invention, an image reading device, a keyword assignment device, and an external terminal having an e-mail transmission / reception function are connected via a network, and the image reading device includes image data and the external device. Address information indicating the mail address of the terminal is transmitted to the keyword assigning device, the keyword assigning device generates keyword candidates for the file composed of the image data, includes the generated keyword candidates, and the destination is the email address. A keyword that should be attached to the file included in the e-mail by receiving an e-mail sent from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device as a result of sending the e-mail to the destination Is configured to extract.
[0076]
As a result, after the user scans the original image with the image reading device, the user automatically receives the e-mail that is normally used in business or the like at the terminal device, and automatically generates it on the keyword adding device side. It is possible to confirm, modify, etc. the keyword candidates that have been entered. Therefore, it is not necessary to go to the management device as in the past, and to start up dedicated application software for confirmation, etc., which is not normally used in the device, and perform operations such as confirmation. In addition, since the keyword candidate mail can be confirmed together with other general e-mails addressed to itself, it is possible to prevent forgetting work such as confirmation.
[0077]
The program of the present invention generates keyword candidates for a file, transmits the generated keyword candidates to an external terminal by e-mail, and as a result of transmission of the e-mail, the e-mail transmitted from the external terminal to the keyword adding device Upon receiving the mail, the keyword assigning apparatus is caused to execute a process including a process of extracting a keyword to be attached to the file included in the electronic mail.
[0078]
As a result, the user can check and correct the keyword candidates that are automatically generated on the keyword assigning device side simply by receiving and replying to e-mails that are normally used in business or the like at his / her terminal device. it can. Therefore, it is not necessary to go to the management device as in the past, and to start up dedicated application software for confirmation, etc., which is not normally used in the device, and perform operations such as confirmation. In addition, since the keyword candidate mail can be confirmed together with other general e-mails addressed to itself, it is possible to prevent forgetting work such as confirmation.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a system 1;
2 is a block diagram illustrating functional configurations of an image forming apparatus 100, a file management apparatus 200, and a client terminal 300 in the system 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of a management table 205;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the content of a keyword candidate mail message.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the contents of overall processing in the system 1;
6 is a flowchart showing the content of image transmission processing in the image forming apparatus 100. FIG.
7 is a flowchart showing the contents of keyword assignment processing in the keyword assignment unit 202 of the file management apparatus 200. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing contents such as a keyword candidate mail reception request in the client terminal 300;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Keyword assignment system
100 Image forming apparatus
101, 301 Control unit
102 Scanner section
104 Operation panel
105, 201, 302 Communication interface unit
200 File management device
202 Keyword assignment section
204, 308 Storage unit
205 Management table
211 Image data receiver
212 Image feature extraction unit
213 Keyword candidate creation section
214 Mail composer
215 Thumbnail image generator
216, 303 Mail transceiver
217 Keyword extraction unit
300, 400 client terminals
304 Mail Editor
305 Reply mail creation part

Claims (11)

A keyword assignment device for assigning keywords to a file,
Analyzing the content of the data of the file, keyword candidate generation means for generating keyword candidates for the file from the analysis result;
An electronic mail that includes an ID for identifying the file and a keyword candidate generated by the keyword candidate generating means, and whose destination is an external terminal having an electronic mail transmission / reception function connected via a network Email creation means;
An email sending means for sending an email created by the email creating means;
As a result of transmitting the e-mail, e-mail receiving means for receiving an e-mail transmitted from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device;
An ID for identifying the file included in the e-mail is extracted from the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving unit, and a keyword included as a keyword to be added to the file is extracted in the e-mail. Keyword extraction means;
Means for identifying the file based on the extracted ID and assigning the extracted keyword to the identified file;
A keyword assigning device comprising: Comprising thumbnail generation means for generating data for displaying thumbnails of the contents of the file;
The keyword assigning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the e-mail transmission unit transmits the data generated by the thumbnail generation unit as an attachment to the e-mail.   3. The keyword assigning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the file is a file made up of text data or image data. In the external terminal, a keyword that is not included in the keyword candidates can be included in the e-mail and transmitted to the keyword adding device,
The keyword assigning device includes:
Including an inquiry about whether or not a keyword not included in the keyword candidate can be given to the file, and creating an inquiry e-mail addressed to the external terminal and sending it to the external terminal,
The decision on whether or not to assign the extracted keyword to the file is made based on a reply email sent from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device in response to the inquiry email. Item 2. The keyword assigning device according to Item 1. When the keyword not included in the keyword candidate includes at least a part of a character string constituting the keyword candidate, the keyword is added to the file without transmitting the inquiry e-mail. The keyword assignment apparatus according to claim 4. An image reading device, a keyword assigning device, and an external terminal having an e-mail transmission / reception function are connected via a network,
The image reading device includes:
Reading means for reading an image of a document and generating image data;
Accepting means for accepting input of address information indicating a mail address of the external terminal;
Image data generated by the reading means, and first transmission means for transmitting the address information received by the receiving means to the keyword assigning device,
The keyword assigning device includes:
First receiving means for receiving image data and address information transmitted by the first transmitting means;
Analyzing the content of the image data received by the first receiving means, and generating keyword candidates for keyword candidates for a file made of the image data from the analysis result;
An e-mail creating unit that creates an e-mail including an ID for identifying the file and the keyword candidate generated by the keyword candidate generating unit and having a destination as an e-mail address indicated in the address information;
An email sending means for sending an email created by the email creating means;
As a result of transmitting the e-mail, e-mail receiving means for receiving an e-mail transmitted from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device;
An ID for identifying the file included in the e-mail is extracted from the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving unit, and a keyword included as a keyword to be added to the file is extracted in the e-mail. Keyword extraction means;
Means for identifying the file based on the extracted ID and assigning the extracted keyword to the identified file;
A keyword assignment system comprising:   In the external terminal, keywords that are not included in the keyword candidates can be included in the e-mail and transmitted by the keyword adding device,
  The keyword assigning device includes:
  Including an inquiry about whether or not a keyword not included in the keyword candidate can be given to the file, and creating an inquiry e-mail addressed to the external terminal and sending it to the external terminal,
  The decision on whether or not to assign the extracted keyword to the file is made based on a reply email sent from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device in response to the inquiry email. Item 7. The keyword assignment system according to Item 6.   The keyword assigning device includes:
  When the keyword not included in the keyword candidate includes at least a part of a character string constituting the keyword candidate, the keyword is added to the file without transmitting the inquiry e-mail. The keyword assignment system according to claim 7. To the keyword assignment device that assigns keywords to the file,
Analyzing the content of the data in the file, and generating a keyword candidate generation process for generating keyword candidates for the file from the analysis result;
An electronic device that creates an e-mail including an ID for identifying the file and a keyword candidate generated by the keyword candidate generating process, and whose destination is an external terminal having an e-mail transmission / reception function connected via a network Email creation process,
An email sending process for sending an email created by the email creating process;
As a result of transmitting the e-mail, an e-mail receiving process for receiving an e-mail transmitted from the external terminal to the keyword assignment device;
From the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving process, an ID for identifying the file included in the e-mail is extracted and a keyword included in the e-mail as a keyword to be added to the file is extracted. Keyword extraction processing,
Identifying the file based on the extracted ID and assigning the extracted keyword to the identified file;
A program for executing processing including   In the external terminal, a keyword that is not included in the keyword candidates can be included in the e-mail and transmitted to the keyword adding device,
In the keyword assigning device,
Including an inquiry about whether or not a keyword not included in the keyword candidate can be given to the file, and creating an inquiry e-mail addressed to the external terminal and sending it to the external terminal,
In response to the inquiry e-mail, based on a reply e-mail transmitted from the external terminal to the keyword assigning device, a process for determining whether to assign the extracted keyword to the file is executed. The program according to claim 9, wherein In the keyword assigning device,
When a keyword that is not included in the keyword candidate includes at least a part of a character string that forms the keyword candidate, a process of adding the keyword to the file is performed without transmitting the inquiry e-mail. The program according to claim 10.

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