JP4735128B2 - Document processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a document processing apparatus that processes a document including document elements such as images.

In recent years, a document to be printed is electronically created using, for example, a word processor and is subjected to printing processing. Here, in recent years, for example, product image data has been generally pasted to a document such as a catalog generated using a word processor.
JP 2002-197101 A

  However, in the above conventional technique, for example, when it is desired to replace image data of a product, it is necessary to re-edit the original document using an application program or the like that created the document, which is not convenient.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228688 discloses a system that performs document generation management and enables printing of the newest document for a document designated by a user.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a document processing apparatus that can replace document elements included in a document by a simple procedure and improve convenience.

  The present invention for solving the problems of the above conventional example is a document processing apparatus, which issues a unique identification information for each of the document elements with a document including at least one document element as a processing target. In response to the instruction for outputting the identification information from the user, the means for associating and holding the issued identification information with the content and arrangement position of the target document element, and for each document element included in the document And means for generating and outputting an identification information display document in which identification information held in association with the document element is described at the arrangement position.

  Further, the present invention for solving the problems of the above conventional example is a document processing apparatus, in which a document including at least one document element is processed, and each piece of document element has unique identification information. Means for associating and holding the issued identification information, the content and arrangement position of the target document element, and the specification of the identification information and the content of the alternative document element related to the specified identification information. Means for accepting information to represent and replacing the original document element associated with the specified identification information among the document elements included in the document to be processed with the alternative document element, At the time of the replacement, the size of the alternative document element is the original document If different, size adjustment processing designated or predetermined warning processing is executed, it is characterized in that.

  Furthermore, the document processing method according to one aspect of the present invention uses a computer to issue a document including at least one document element as a processing target, issues unique identification information for each of the document elements, and issues the issue The identification information, the content and arrangement position of the target document element in association with each other, and the instruction to output the identification information from the user, in response to each document element included in the document And a step of generating and outputting an identification information display document in which identification information held in association is described at the arrangement position.

  Furthermore, a program according to another aspect of the present invention issues, to a computer, a document including at least one document element, issues unique identification information for each of the document elements, and issues the issued identification information. And a procedure for associating and holding the content and arrangement position of the target document element, and receiving an instruction to output identification information from the user, and holding each document element in the document in association with the document element And a procedure for generating and outputting an identification information display document in which the identification information described is described at the arrangement position.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The document processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is, for example, a printer server, and is connected to a client side apparatus 2 and a printer 3 as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the printer server 1 as the document processing apparatus of the present embodiment includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a storage unit 13, a communication unit 14, an interface unit 15, The operation unit 16 and the display unit 17 are included.

  The control unit 11 is a CPU or the like, and operates according to a program stored in the storage unit 12. The control unit 11 issues unique identification information for each document element included in the document, generates a document (identification information display document) describing the issued identification information, and outputs the document to the printer 3. Then, a process of replacing the document element according to the designation from the user is executed. The specific processing contents of the control unit 11 will be described in detail later.

  The storage unit 12 includes a storage element such as a RAM or a ROM. The storage unit 12 holds a program executed by the control unit 11. The storage unit 12 also operates as a work memory for the control unit 11.

  The storage unit 13 is a hard disk or the like, for example, and holds information according to an instruction input from the control unit 11. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 13 holds, for each document element such as an image included in the document, the identification information correspondingly issued and associated with the content and arrangement position of the document element.

  The communication unit 14 is a network interface or the like, and is connected to the client side device 2 via a network. The communication unit 14 outputs data received from the client device 2 via the network to the control unit 11. Further, the communication unit 14 transmits the instructed data to the client device 2 and the like in accordance with the instruction input from the control unit 11.

  The interface unit 15 is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface, for example, and is connected to the printer 3. The interface unit 15 sends data to the printer 3 in accordance with an instruction input from the control unit 11.

  The operation unit 16 is a keyboard, a touch panel, or the like, accepts a user's instruction operation, and outputs the content of the instruction operation to the control unit 11. The display unit 17 is a display or the like, and displays information according to an instruction input from the control unit 11.

  The client side device 2 is, for example, a general personal computer, and accepts a user's instruction operation, and transmits data of a document to be printed to the printer server 1 via the network. Further, the client side device 2 transmits an instruction to the printer server 1 to print a document representing the identification information in accordance with the user's instruction. The printer 3 prints out the instructed image on paper in accordance with the instruction input from the printer server 1.

  In the present embodiment, in a document to be printed that is output from the client side device 2, characters and designs can be mixed, and each character portion and design portion are included as document elements. It shall be. For example, this document is a PDF (Portable Document Format) document of Adobe Corporation, and each document element is identified as an object.

  When the control unit 11 of the printer server 1 receives the document, it issues a document identifier unique to the received document. Also, unique identification information is issued for each document element included in the received document. This identification information is unique among document elements included in other documents. For example, a value that can be regarded as substantially unique may be generated using a hash value related to the content of the document element or a device identifier uniquely assigned to the printer server 1 in advance, and the value may be used as identification information.

  The control unit 11 inserts identification information corresponding to each object in the document as a comment or a header. Then, the document after the identification information is inserted is stored in the storage unit 13 in association with the document identifier. As a result, the issued identification information is held in association with the content and arrangement position of the target document element.

  In addition, the control unit 11 generates an element database in which a list of identification information of document elements included in the document identified by the document identifier is associated with the document identifier, and stores the element database in the storage unit 13 (FIG. 2).

  For example, when the document element is a PDF object, the control unit 11 issues unique identification information for each object included in the received document. This may be issued as, for example, a number representing the order of appearance of each object in the document.

[Identification Information Display Document]
Upon receiving an instruction from the user to print out the document representing the identification information, the control unit 11 displays and outputs a list of documents stored in the storage unit 13 on the display unit 17. Then, the control unit 11 reads the document selected by the user via the operation unit 16 from the displayed list from the storage unit 13.

  Then, the control unit 11 processes the data of the document, describes the identification information issued corresponding to the document element instead of the data representing the original content, and represents the outer periphery of the object. Command data for drawing a line segment is generated and inserted to generate an identification information display document.

  And the control part 11 performs the process (RIP) which produces | generates the raster image based on this identification information display document. As a result, the generated raster image is an image in which identification information is drawn at the arrangement position of each object, for example, as shown in FIG. The control unit 11 sends this image to the printer 3, and the printer 3 prints out the image illustrated in FIG.

[Replacement printing]
The control unit 11 also receives information indicating the content of the alternative document element to be inserted in place of the document element identified by the identification information together with the identification information of the document element from the user, and becomes a processing target. A replacement document is generated by replacing the document element associated with the received identification information among the document elements included in the existing document with an alternative document element.

  For example, when the control unit 11 receives an instruction from the user via the operation unit 16 to start generation of a replacement document, the control unit 11 inputs an alternative document element and identification information of the document element to be replaced. A screen to be displayed is displayed on the display unit 17.

  Then, the control unit 11 receives input of image data serving as a substitute document element from, for example, a scanner (not shown), and performs a display requesting the user to input identification information of a document element to be substituted. If the user generates an identification information display document, the identification information can be input while referring to the identification information display document when inputting the identification information, which is highly convenient.

  When the user inputs identification information using the operation unit 16 or the like, the control unit 11 associates the image data serving as the substitute document element with the identification information of the document element to be substituted, and stores it as substitute instruction data. Stored in the unit 13. The user repeatedly executes input of image data and input of identification information by the number of document elements to be replaced, and thereafter, the operation unit 16 or the like is notified that input of image data to be replaced document elements is completed. Input through.

  When the control unit 11 receives an input to the effect that the input of image data that is an alternative document element has been completed, the control unit 11 refers to the element database stored in the storage unit 13 and associates it with identification information input as an alternative target. Get the document identifier Then, the document identified by the acquired document identifier is read from the storage unit 13 as a document to be processed.

  Next, among the objects that are document elements included in the read document, the data of the object related to the identification information designated as the substitution target is associated with the identification information of the object as the substitution instruction data in the storage unit 13. Replace with image data stored in. When the image data is read from the scanner, information necessary as object data is added in advance.

  When the replacement process is completed for the objects related to each piece of identification information designated as the replacement target, the control unit 11 executes a process (RIP) for generating a raster image based on the document (replacement document) after the replacement process. . As a result, the generated raster image is an image in which the image data input in association with the specified identification information is drawn at the position where the object corresponding to the identification information specified as the replacement target is arranged. It becomes. The control unit 11 sends this image to the printer 3, and the printer 3 prints out the image.

[Process when size is different]
In addition, when the size of the image is different between the original document element to be replaced and the alternative document element that is replaced with the original document element, if the replaced document element is placed as it is, a blank space is generated ( When the size of the substitute document element is smaller than the original document element) or overlaps with another document element (when the size of the substitute document element is larger than the original document element).

  Therefore, when the user inputs an alternative document element and the identification information of the original document element that is replaced by the alternative document element, the control unit 11 determines the size (W0, H0) of the original document element. And the size (W, H) of the alternative document element.

  When the difference between the sizes is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value, the control unit 11 displays a warning message on the display unit 17 and asks the user whether or not to enlarge or reduce the size. When the user gives an instruction to enlarge / reduce, the input image data is stored in the storage unit 12 by W0 / W times in the width direction and H0 / H times in the height direction. Further, in the case of enlarging / reducing while maintaining the aspect ratio, an image obtained by multiplying R both in the width direction and the height direction by using the smaller ratio value R of W0 / W and H0 / H. Data is stored in the storage unit 12.

[Modification]
In the description so far, an instruction to replace a document element or the like is input on the document processing apparatus side, and an alternative document element is input on the document processing apparatus side. May be transmitted from the client device 2 or the like, for example, by transmitting to the document processing apparatus 1 in association with the identification information of the document element to be replaced.

  In addition, in response to an instruction from the user that a replacement document should be generated and output together with information specifying the document, the document element included in the specified document is replaced with the specified alternative document element. A replacement document may be generated and output. In this case, for example, the control unit 11 acquires the document identifier of the document selected from the list, and further acquires identification information of the document element associated with the document identifier in the element database. In addition, the document identified by the document identifier is read out, and then the data of the object related to the identification information designated as the replacement target among the objects that are document elements included in the read document is retrieved from the object. The image data stored in the storage unit 13 as replacement instruction data is output in association with the identification information.

  In this case, when the substitute instruction data is stored in the storage unit 13, an identifier may be associated with each substitute instruction data and held. In this case, for example, when a plurality of substitute instruction data is found for one document, a list of the substitute instruction data is displayed and selected, and stored in the storage unit 13 as the selected substitute instruction data. A replacement document may be generated using existing image data.

  According to the present embodiment, for example, a document in which document elements are replaced by a simple procedure can be generated by inputting identification information of a document element to be replaced and data after replacement, without specifying the document. It is possible to improve convenience.

It is a block diagram showing an example of a document processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the content of the element database recorded in the example of the document processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of the identification information display document which the document processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention produces | generates.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Document processing apparatus, 2 Client apparatuses, 3 Printer, 11 Control part, 12 Storage part, 13 Storage part, 14 Communication part, 15 Interface part, 16 Operation part, 17 Display part

Claims (2)

A document including at least one document element is processed, unique identification information is issued for each of the document elements, and the issued identification information is associated with the content and arrangement position of the target document element. Means to hold and
Along with the designation of identification information, information indicating the contents of the alternative document element related to the designated identification information is accepted and associated with the designated identification information among the document elements included in the document to be processed. Means for replacing the original document element provided with the alternative document element;
In the replacement, when the difference between the size of the substitute document element and the size of the original document element is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold, each of the substitute document element and the original document element Using the ratio of the size ratio in the height direction and the ratio of the size in the width direction, whichever is smaller, double the value of the ratio in the width direction and the height direction, and execute the size adjustment process Means to
Document processing apparatus which comprises a. The computer,
A document including at least one document element is processed, unique identification information is issued for each of the document elements, and the issued identification information is associated with the content and arrangement position of the target document element. Means to hold and
Along with the designation of identification information, information indicating the contents of the alternative document element related to the designated identification information is accepted and associated with the designated identification information among the document elements included in the document to be processed. Means for replacing the original document element provided with the alternative document element;
In the replacement, when the difference between the size of the substitute document element and the size of the original document element is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold, each of the substitute document element and the original document element Using the ratio of the size ratio in the height direction and the ratio of the size in the width direction, whichever is smaller, double the value of the ratio in the width direction and the height direction, and execute the size adjustment process Means to
A program characterized by functioning as

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