JP2000125087A - Method and device for reading documents - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and device for reading documents which can synthesize and transfer documents to be read to an application. SOLUTION: A document selecting means 16 selects desired documents out of documents stored in a storage means 23, a list generating means 15 generates a list of the selected documents, and a synthesizing and transfer means 14 reads the documents according to the list and do not pass the control right of a PC(personal computer) 1 to the application 17 until the read of all the documents is completed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for reading a plurality of documents, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for reading a plurality of documents which can read a plurality of documents as one document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been an increasing number of opportunities to process digitized documents using applications on a computer.
Against this background, there has been an increase in the processing capacity of computers, and the development of networks has made it possible to manage a large number of documents on a document server. Another reason is that with the advent of a scanner equipped with an ADF (automatic document feeder), a large number of documents can be read at high speed. Further, some scanners include a multifunction peripheral that can be used as a copy or a facsimile, and a document received by facsimile is also used in an application.

[0003] With this background, office documents that have been conventionally managed on a paper basis can now be managed with electronic files, and opportunities for using the electronic files with applications on computers are increasing.

However, documents read by a scanner are:
If the ADF is not mounted, one page is one document. Even if the ADF is mounted, one document is a plurality of pages up to the number of pages that the ADF can handle at a time. That is, a paper document or the like composed of many pages is not always one document, and is divided into a plurality of documents.

When an application uses such a document divided into a plurality of documents, each document is read and then synthesized on the application by a user's manual operation, which requires a great deal of trouble. become.

In addition, when synthesizing a document on an application, not only when a document is a divided document but also when it is desired to synthesize an arbitrary plurality of documents into one document. A similar problem arises not only when a document is read from a scanner but also when it is obtained from a fax or document server.

When a document read by a scanner is read by an application, one page per document or the like is caused by the application reading using a scanner driver.

Now, a conventional document reading method will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a PC and a scanner. As shown in the figure,
The PC 801 includes a scanner driver 811 and an application 815, and is connected to the scanner 802.

The scanner 802 includes a reading unit 821 for reading a document, a compression unit 822 for compressing image data obtained by reading the document by the reading unit 821, and a compression unit 82.
A storage unit 823 that stores the image data compressed in Step 2,
The image data stored in the storage unit 823 is transferred to the PC 80
1 is provided.

The scanner driver 811 receives image data transferred from the scanner 802, and transmits transfer instructions 812 for sending an instruction to acquire image data, and expansion means 813 for expanding the image data received by the transfer means 812. The means 813 comprises a transfer means 814 for transferring the decompressed image data to the application 815.

In such a configuration, the document read by the reading means 821 is compressed by the compression means 822 and stored in the storage means 8.
23, and a plurality of documents can be stored in the storage unit 823. When the documents stored in the storage unit 823 are read by an application, the storage unit 823 transfers the document to the transfer unit 824 for each document. And transfer means 8
12, the data is transferred to the application 815 via the decompression means 813 and the transfer means 814.

As described above, the conventional scanner driver has:
Only one document consisting of one page or many pages can be read at a time. As a method for improving such a problem, an image information handling apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-283896 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-307847 has been proposed. In each of these image information handling devices, a large number of images recorded on a recording medium are displayed on a screen of a driver, and a user selects a large number of desired images with a mouse from among them and selects another image on another recording medium. Copies are made in order or in the order of frame numbers.

However, in these image information handling apparatuses, the unit to be selected is one image or one frame, and cannot solve the above problem.

[0014]

As described above, when a document or the like divided into a plurality of documents is processed by the application, it is necessary to manually synthesize the document on the application side. I needed it. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-283896 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
Even when the image information handling apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 307847 is used, processing such as copying of a plurality of documents can be easily performed. However, after the document is transferred to the application, the application manually synthesizes the document. Work was needed.

Furthermore, some applications do not have a function of manually synthesizing / editing a plurality of documents. In this case, it is impossible to handle a plurality of documents as one document. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for reading a plurality of documents which can combine a plurality of documents to be read and transfer them to an application.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of documents are selected from a plurality of stored documents, and the plurality of selected documents are read by an application. In the method, the plurality of selected documents are combined into one document and transferred to the application.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, at the time of the transfer, the application is notified of the number of remaining pages of each document constituting the synthesized document. And

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, at the time of the transfer, the application is notified of a value indicating that the number of remaining pages is undefined.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the total page number of the selected plurality of documents is calculated, and the total page number calculated for the application at the time of the transfer. A value obtained by subtracting the number of transferred pages from the number of pages is notified as the number of remaining pages.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the combining is performed by transferring the plurality of selected documents in an order set by a user.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the invention, the order is one of a date and time order, a document number order, and a selection order.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the invention, the order is set by a user interface that allows a user to visually set.

According to the invention of claim 8, in the invention of any one of claims 1 to 7, the stored document is
Documents stored in a scanner, wherein the combining is performed by a scanner driver.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the multiple document reading device for selecting a plurality of documents from the stored documents and reading the selected plurality of documents into an application, a desired document is read from the stored documents. , A document reading means for reading a plurality of documents selected by the document selecting means, and a plurality of documents read by the document reading means combined into one document and transferred to the application. And combining and transferring means.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the combining and transferring means includes:
The image processing apparatus further includes a remaining page number notifying unit that notifies the application of the number of remaining pages for each of the documents constituting the combined document.

[0027] According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the combining and transferring means includes:
The information processing apparatus further includes a remaining page number notifying unit that notifies the application of a value indicating that the number of remaining pages is indefinite.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the combined transfer means calculates a total number of pages of the selected plurality of documents; And a remaining page number notifying unit for notifying the application of a value obtained by subtracting the number of transferred pages from the total number of pages calculated by the total page number calculating unit as the number of remaining pages.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the synthesizing and transferring means synthesizes by transferring a plurality of documents selected by the document selecting means in an order set by a user. It is characterized by the following.

Further, in the invention of claim 14, according to claim 13,
In the invention, the document selecting means selects and sets the order of the documents transferred by the combining and transferring means from any one of a date and time order, a document number order, and a selection order order.

[0031] According to the invention of claim 15, according to claim 13,
In the invention, the document selecting means includes a user interface that allows a user to visually set.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the ninth to fifteenth aspects, the stored document is a document stored in a scanner, and the combining and transferring means is provided in a scanner driver. It is characterized by comprising.

[0033]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a method and an apparatus for reading plural documents according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a scanner and a PC including a scanner driver employing a method and apparatus for reading a plurality of documents according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the PC 1 includes a scanner driver 11 and an application 17 and is connected to the scanner 2. The scanner driver 11 includes a transfer unit 12, a decompression unit 13, a combination transfer unit 14, a list creation unit 15,
The scanner 2 is configured to include a document selection unit 16.
It comprises a reading means 21, a compression means 22, a storage means 23 and a transfer means 24. Note that the scanner 2 has the same configuration as the above-described conventional scanner 802 (see FIG. 15), and a description thereof will be omitted.

The scanner driver 11 can read a plurality of documents desired by the user from a plurality of documents stored in the storage unit 23 of the scanner 2 and transfer these to the application 17 as one document. In order to perform such an operation, the document selecting unit 16 is a user interface for determining whether to read a document desired by the user in order of date and time, document number, selection order, or the like. The creating unit 15 generates a list of the documents selected by the document selecting unit 16 and operates the transfer unit 12 based on the list to read the documents.
The transfer means 12 reads a document from the scanner 2 and
Decompression means 13 decompresses the document read by transfer means 12. The combining and transferring unit 14 combines the plurality of documents expanded by the expanding unit 13 and transfers the synthesized documents to the application 17.

Next, details of the scanner driver 11 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of the scanner driver 11. As shown in the figure, the list creation unit 15 includes a new creation unit 151 and a list update unit 15.
2. Configuration including transfer instruction means 153, transfer means 12
Are the instruction receiving unit 121 and the file information obtaining unit 12
2. It has a file reading means 123. The combining and transferring unit 14 includes an initial value setting unit 141 and a data transferring unit 142, a page counter updating unit 143, a page counter 144, a transfer remaining counter updating unit 145,
It comprises a transfer remaining counter 146, a remaining page response unit 147, and a determination unit 148.

Here, the list creating means 15 will be described first. The list creating means 15 includes a document selecting means 16
A read list 100, which is a list of documents to be read, is created based on the instruction from
In the order of 0, the transfer unit 12 is instructed to read the document.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the list creation means 15.

When the list creation means 15 starts operation (step 201), first, the new creation means 151 creates the read list 100 based on the instruction of the document selection means 16 (step 202). Next, read list 1
It is determined whether 00 is empty (step 20).
3) Since the read list 100 is not empty here (NO in step 203), the transfer instruction means 153 extracts the document name of the document at the head of the read list 100 (step 204). Subsequently, the transfer instruction unit 153 instructs the transfer unit 12 to acquire information on the document corresponding to the document name extracted (step 205), and waits for completion of the transfer (NO in step 206).

Information on the document is transferred to the transfer instruction unit 153.
The instruction receiving means 121, which has received the instruction from the server, operates the file information obtaining means 122. When the file information obtaining means 122 obtains the information, the file information obtaining means 122 updates the list updating means via the initial value setting means 141 of the combining and transferring means 14. 1
52 is notified of the completion of the transfer (details will be described later).

When list updating means 152 receives notification of transfer completion (YES in step 206), transfer instructing means 1
53 instructs the transfer means 12 to read the document (step 207), and waits for completion of the transfer in response to the instruction (NO in step 208).

The instruction to read the document is received by the instruction receiving unit 121 of the transfer unit 12, and based on the instruction, the file reading unit 123 reads the specified document from the scanner 2 and transfers it to the combining transfer unit 14. The end of the transfer is notified to the list updating means 152 by the determining means 148 (details will be described later).

The list updating means 152 includes a discriminating means 148.
(Step 208)
YES), the first document name in the read list 100, that is, the document name of the document whose transfer has been completed is deleted (step 209).

The processes in steps 204 to 209 are repeated until the reading list 100 becomes empty, that is, until all the documents in the reading list 100 are read (NO in step 203).
When 00 becomes empty (YES in step 203), the list creation unit 15 ends the processing (step 210).

As described above, the list creating means 15 creates the read list 100, and the read list 100
The acquisition of information and the reading of documents are performed in order from the first document, but the document can be read after acquiring the information of all documents.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of the operation of the list creating means 15 when reading a document after acquiring information of all documents. When the list creation unit 15 starts operation (step 301), first, the new creation unit 151 creates the read list 100 based on the instruction of the document selection unit 16 (step 302). next,
It is determined whether or not the read list 100 is empty (step 303). Since the read list 100 is not empty here (NO in step 303), the transfer instructing unit 153 determines whether the document at the top of the read list 100 is present. Is retrieved (step 304).

Subsequently, the transfer unit 1 obtains information on the document corresponding to the document name extracted by the transfer instruction unit 153.
2 (step 305), and waits for completion of the transfer (NO in step 306).

Next, in the same manner as described above, the instruction receiving means 121 which has received the instruction from the transfer instruction means 153
Operates the file information acquisition unit 122 to acquire information about the document, and when the list update unit 152 receives the notification of the completion of the transfer (acquisition) via the initial value setting unit 141 (YES in step 306), the list Update means 152
Deletes the first document name of the read list 100, that is, the document name of the document whose information has been acquired (step 3).
07).

The processes of steps 304 to 307 are repeated until the read list 100 becomes empty, that is, until information of all the documents in the read list 100 is obtained (NO in step 303). Is empty (YES in step 303), the new creation unit 151 creates the read list 100 again based on the instruction of the document selection unit 16 (step 30).
8).

Next, it is determined whether or not the read list 100 is empty (step 309). Since the read list 100 is not empty at first (N in step 309).
O), the transfer instruction means 153 extracts the document name of the document at the head of the read list 100 (step 310).
Subsequently, the transfer instruction unit 153 instructs the transfer unit 12 to acquire information on the document corresponding to the document name extracted (step 311), and waits for completion of the transfer (step 31).
2 is NO).

The information on the document is transferred to the transfer instruction unit 153.
The instruction receiving means 121, which has received the instruction from the server, operates the file information obtaining means 122. When the file information obtaining means 122 obtains the information, the file information obtaining means 122 updates the list updating means via the initial value setting means 141 of the combining and transferring means 14. 1
52 is notified of the completion of the transfer.

When list updating means 152 receives notification of transfer completion (YES in step 312), transfer instructing means 1
53 instructs the transfer means 12 to read the document (step 313), and waits for completion of the transfer in response to this instruction (NO in step 314).

The instruction to read the document is received by the instruction receiving unit 121 of the transfer unit 12, and based on this instruction, the file reading unit 123 reads the specified document from the scanner 2 and transfers it to the combining transfer unit 14. The end of the transfer is notified to the list updating unit 152 by the determining unit 148.

The list updating means 152 includes a discriminating means 148.
(Step 314)
YES), the first document name in the read list 100, that is, the document name of the document whose transfer has been completed is deleted (step 315).

The processes in steps 310 to 315 are repeated until the read list 100 becomes empty, that is, until all the documents in the read list 100 are read (NO in step 309).
When 00 becomes empty (YES in step 309), the list creating means 15 ends the processing (step 316).

Next, the combining and transferring means 14 will be described. The combining transfer unit 14 has a role of transferring the plurality of documents selected by the document selecting unit 16 to the application 17 while combining the documents.

By the way, the existing application makes a single transfer with the scanner driver, and when this one transfer is completed, the control of the program in the scanner driver returns to the application.
Transfer cannot be performed continuously due to a request from the scanner driver.

Since the scanner driver 11 also transfers the document to the application 17 which is one of the existing applications, the transfer cannot be continued after one transfer is completed. Therefore, the composite transfer unit 14 operates so that one transfer process is not completed by transferring only one document.

Hereinafter, three operation examples of the combining and transferring means 14 will be described, and each operation example will be described.

As a first example, when notifying the application 17 of the number of remaining pages while transferring one of a plurality of selected documents, the scanner driver 11 is normally the last page. Since the application 17 needs to be notified of the remaining pages as 0 pages, the transfer process is continued by notifying the remaining pages (all pages) of the document to be transferred next. At the time of the operation in the first example, the list creating means 15 performs the operation described with reference to FIG.

Here, referring to FIG.
Will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the combining and transferring means 14 in the first example. Upon starting the operation (step 401), the combining / transferring unit 14 transfers the transfer unit 1 according to an instruction from the list creating unit 15.
Wait for the completion of the transfer of the file information of step 2 (step 402)
(NO in step 40), when the initial value setting means 141 receives a notification of transfer completion from the file information acquisition means 122 (step 40).
(YES in 2), the initial value setting means 141 sets the number of read file pages in the acquired file information in the transfer remaining counter 146 (step 403), and notifies the list updating means 152 of the completion of the processing (step 404). ).

If the application 17 inquires of the number of remaining pages (Y in step 405)
ES), the remaining page responding means 147
6 is notified to the application 17 (step 40).
6) Subsequently, the initial value setting means 141 sets the value of the page counter 144 to 1 (step 407).

Next, it is checked whether or not the value of the transfer remaining counter 146 is 0 (step 408). Since it is not 0 at first (NO in step 408), the data transfer means 1
42 transfers the page indicated by the page counter 144 to the application 17 (step 409). When the data is transferred by the data transfer means 142, the page counter updating means 143 adds 1 to the value of the page counter 144 (step 410), and the transfer remaining counter updating means 14
5 decrements the value of the transfer remaining counter 146 by 1 (step 411).

Subsequently, if the value of the transfer remaining counter 146 is not 0 (NO in step 412), the process returns to step 408 and the same processing is repeated. At this time, the application 17 inquires about the number of remaining pages. In this case (YES in step 413), the remaining page response unit 147
Notifies the application 17 of the value of the transfer remaining counter 146 (step 414).

The process after step 408 is repeated, and the value of the remaining transfer counter 146 is 0, that is, when the transfer of all pages of the document is completed (Y in step 408).
If ES or YES in step 412), the number of remaining documents in reading list 100 is not 1 (step 415).
NO), the determination means 148 notifies the list update means 152 of the completion of the processing (step 416), and step 402
And waits for the acquisition of the information of the next document in the reading list 100 (the reading list 1 is read by the list updating unit 152).
00 is deleted, so the next document is targeted).

On the other hand, if the number of remaining documents in the read list 100 is 1 when the value of the transfer remaining counter 146 becomes 0 (YES in step 415), the application 1
If there is an inquiry about the number of remaining pages from step 7 (YES in step 417), the remaining page response unit 147 notifies the application 17 of the value 0 (step 418), and the determination unit 148 sends the list update unit 152 the processing. The completion transfer is notified (step 419), and the combining / transferring unit 14 ends the processing (step 420).

Next, a second operation example of the combining and transferring means 14 will be described. As a second example, while transferring one of a plurality of selected documents, the application 1
When notifying the application 17 of the number of remaining pages, the scanner driver 11 must notify the application 17 of the last page if it is the last page. ), The transfer process is continued.
At the time of the operation in the second example, the list creating means 15 performs the operation described with reference to FIG.

Here, referring to FIG.
Will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the combining and transferring means 14 in the second example. Upon starting the operation (step 501), the combining / transfer unit 14 transfers the transfer unit 1 according to an instruction from the list creation unit 15.
Wait for the completion of the transfer of the file information of step 2 (step 502).
(NO in step 50), when the initial value setting means 141 receives the transfer completion notification from the file information acquisition means 122 (step 50).
(YES in 2), the initial value setting means 141 sets the number of read file pages in the acquired file information in the transfer remaining counter 146 (step 503), and notifies the list updating means 152 of the completion of the processing (step 504). ).

Here, when the application 17 inquires of the number of remaining pages (Y in step 505)
ES), the remaining page response unit 147 notifies the application 17 of -1 (step 506), and the initial value setting unit 141 sets the value of the page counter 144 to 1 (step 507).

Next, it is checked whether or not the value of the transfer remaining counter 146 is 0 (step 508). Since it is not 0 at first (NO in step 508), the data transfer means 1
42 transfers the page indicated by the page counter 144 to the application 17 (step 509). When the data is transferred by the data transfer unit, the page counter updating unit 143 adds 1 to the value of the page counter 144 (step 510), and the transfer remaining counter updating unit 145 subtracts 1 from the value of the transfer remaining counter 146. (Step 511).

Subsequently, if the value of the transfer remaining counter 146 is not 0 (NO in step 512), the process returns to step 508 and the same processing is repeated. At this time, the application 17 inquires about the number of remaining pages. In this case (YES in step 513), the remaining page response means 147
Notifies -1 to the application 17 (step 5).
14).

The processing after step 508 is repeated, and the value of the remaining transfer counter 146 is 0, that is, when the transfer of all pages of the document is completed (Y in step 508).
ES or YES in step 512), if the number of remaining documents in reading list 100 is not 1 (step 515)
NO), the determination means 148 notifies the list update means 152 of the completion of the processing (step 516), and the step 502
And waits for the acquisition of the information of the next document in the reading list 100 (the reading list 1 is read by the list updating unit 152).
00 is deleted, so the next document is targeted).

On the other hand, if the number of remaining documents in the read list 100 is 1 when the value of the transfer remaining counter 146 becomes 0 (YES in step 515), the application 1
7 (YES in step 517), the remaining page response unit 147 notifies the application 17 of the value 0 (step 518), and the determination unit 148 sends the list update unit 152 The completion transfer is notified (step 519), and the combining and transferring unit 14 ends the processing (step 520).

Next, a third operation example of the combining and transferring means 14 will be described. As a third example, the number of pages of each of a plurality of documents selected in advance is obtained, the total is calculated, and the number of pages remaining in the application 17 while one of the plurality of documents is being transferred is obtained. When notifying the number of pages, the transfer process is continued by notifying the application 17 of the remaining number of pages relative to the total number of pages of the entire document, not the number of remaining pages of the document. At the time of the operation in the third example, the list creating means 15 performs the operation described with reference to FIG.

The operation of the combining and transferring means 14 will now be described with reference to FIGS. In the third example, the transfer remaining counter 146 measures two values, and in the following description, it is treated as a transfer remaining counter A 146 and a transfer remaining counter B 146 (not shown in FIG. 2). FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing the flow of the operation of the combining and transferring means 14 in the third example. Synthetic transfer means 14
When the operation is started (step 601), the initial value setting means 141 initializes the value of the transfer remaining counter B 146 to 0 (step 602), and the transfer of the file information of the transfer means 12 according to the instruction of the list creation means 15 is completed. (NO in step 603). Note that the file information waiting to be acquired is file information corresponding to steps 305 and 306 in FIG.

When the initial value setting means 141 receives the transfer completion notification from the file information obtaining means 122 (step 6)
03, YES), the initial value setting means 141 adds the number of read file pages in the acquired file information to the value of the transfer remaining counter B 146 (step 604), and if the number of remaining documents in the read list 100 is not 1, (step 604). Step 60
5; NO), the initial value setting means 141
52 is notified of the completion of the process (step 606), and the process returns to step 603 to wait for the acquisition of information of the next document in the read list 100 (because the head of the read list 100 is deleted by the list updating unit 152, the next document is deleted). ), And the same processing is repeated.

On the other hand, when the number of remaining documents in the read list 100 is 1, that is, when information on all documents is obtained and the total number of pages is set in the transfer remaining counter B 146 (YES in step 605), the initial value setting means 141 Notifies the list updating means 152 of the completion of the process (step 607),
It waits for acquisition of file information (NO in step 608).
Here, the file information waiting to be acquired is the file information corresponding to steps 311 and 312 in FIG.

Upon receiving the information acquisition completion notification from the file information acquisition means 122, the initial value setting means 141 sets the number of read file pages in the acquired file information in the transfer remaining counter A146 (step 609). The completion of the processing is notified to the list updating means 152 (step 610).

Here, when the application 17 inquires of the number of remaining pages (Y in step 611)
ES), the remaining page response means 147 sets the transfer remaining counter B1.
The value of 46 is notified to the application 17 (step 6).
12) Then, the initial value setting means 141 sets the value of the page counter 144 to 1 (step 613).

Next, it is checked whether or not the value of the transfer remaining counter A 146 is 0 (step 614). Since the value is not 0 at first (NO in step 614), the data transfer means 142 indicates that the page counter 144 indicates. The page is transferred to the application 17 (step 615). When the data is transferred by the data transfer means 142, the page counter updating means 143 adds 1 to the value of the page counter 144 (step 616), and the transfer remaining counter updating means 1
45 decrements the value of the transfer remaining counter A 146 by 1 (step 617), and the transfer remaining counter updating means 145 decrements the value of the transfer remaining counter B 146 by 1 (step 6).
18).

Subsequently, the value of the transfer remaining counter A146 becomes 0
If not (NO in step 619), step 614
Then, the same processing is repeated, but at this time, if there is an inquiry about the number of remaining pages from the application 17 (YES in step 620), the remaining page response means 14
7 indicates the value of the transfer remaining counter B 146 to the application 1
7 (step 621).

When the processing of step 614 and subsequent steps is repeated and the value of the remaining transfer counter A 146 is 0, that is, when all pages of the document have been transferred (NO in step 614 or NO in step 619), the reading list 100 If the number of remaining documents is not 1 (NO in step 622), the determining means 148 notifies the list updating means 152 of the completion of the processing (step 623), and returns to step 608 to return the information of the next document in the read list 100. Wait for acquisition (read list 10 by list update means 152)
The next document is targeted because the leading zero is deleted.)

On the other hand, if the number of remaining documents in the reading list 100 is 1 when the value of the transfer remaining counter A146 becomes 0 (YES in step 622), the application 17 inquires about the number of remaining pages. (YES in step 624), the remaining page response unit 147 sets the value to 0.
Is notified to the application 17 (step 625),
The determining means 148 notifies the list updating means 152 of the completion of the processing (step 626), and the combining and transferring means 14 ends the processing (step 627).

In the above, three examples of the operation of the composite transfer means 14 have been described. In the first example, an incorrect number of remaining pages is notified during the transfer of a document. Although the number is unknown, no particular problem occurs if the user is aware of this. In the third example, the correct number of remaining pages can be confirmed from the application 17, but the time required for the process is also long.

Next, the document selecting means 16 will be described. The document selecting unit 16 is an interface for designating a document to be read by the application 17. The document selecting unit 16 uses the application 17, that is, a display, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like (not shown) of the PC 1 on which the scanner driver 11 operates. Select a document.

FIGS. 9 to 13 are views showing an example of a screen displayed on the display of the PC 1. FIG. A screen 161 shown in FIG. 9 is a screen displaying a list of documents that can be read from the scanner 2, and when a desired document is selected from the displayed documents with a mouse or the like, as shown in a screen 162 shown in FIG. The selected document is highlighted. When the reading button 163 is pressed in this manner, the information of the selected document is passed to the list creation unit 15, and reading of the document is started. Also, as shown in FIG. 11, on a screen 162 where a desired document is selected, a pop-up 165 is generated by an operation such as clicking the right mouse button.
Is displayed, and it is possible to instruct to start reading the document.

When the setting button 164 of the screen 162 shown in FIG. 10 is pressed, the screen 166 shown in FIG.
Is displayed, and the order in which the selected document is read can be instructed. As the reading order, for example, the order of date and time, the order of document numbers, and the order of selection can be specified, and further, the ascending order and the descending order can be specified for each.

Further, during reading of the document, a screen 167 showing information on the progress as shown in FIG. 13 may be displayed.

According to the configuration described above, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, a three-page document (No. 3)
And a two-page document (No. 8) and a one-page document (N
o. If document 11) is read in ascending order of document numbers, a 6-page document (No. x) can be obtained, and it is not necessary to combine documents on an application.

[0089]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of desired documents are selected from a plurality of documents, a list of the selected documents is created, and the documents are read in accordance with the list. Is configured not to pass the program control right to the application until the reading of the document is completed. Therefore, when the document is read by the scanner, the divided document or a plurality of different documents can be read as one document, and the document composition on the application can be performed. This makes it possible to save time and effort, and it is possible to handle a plurality of documents as one document even in an application having no document synthesizing function.

Also, when reading a plurality of documents, the order can be specified, so that editing such as rearrangement of pages on the application can be omitted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a scanner and a PC including a scanner driver employing a method and apparatus for reading a plurality of documents according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of a scanner driver 11;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of a list creation means 15;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the list creation unit 15 when reading a document after acquiring information on all documents.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of the operation of the combining and transferring means 14 in the first example.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the combining and transferring means 14 in the second example.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart (1) showing the flow of the operation of the combining and transferring means 14 in the third example.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart (2) showing the flow of the operation of the combining and transferring means 14 in the third example.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a display screen when a document is selected (1).

FIG. 10 is a diagram (2) showing an example of a display screen when a document is selected.

FIG. 11 is a diagram (3) showing an example of a display screen when a document is selected.

FIG. 12 is a diagram (4) showing an example of a display screen when a document is selected.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying progress information during reading of a document.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of reading a document according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional PC and scanner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 PC 2 Scanner 11 Scanner driver 12 Transfer means 13 Decompression means 14 Combination transfer means 15 List creation means 16 Document selection means 17 Application 21 Reading means 22 Compression means 23 Storage means 24 Transfer means 100 Read list 121 Instruction reception means 122 File information acquisition Means 123 File reading means 141 Initial value setting means 142 Data transfer means 143 Page counter updating means 144 Page counter 145 Transfer remaining counter updating means 146 Transfer remaining counter 147 Remaining page responding means 148 Judgment means 151 New creation means 152 List updating means 153 Transfer Instruction means 161 screen 162 screen 163 Read button 164 Setting button 165 Pop-up 166 Screen 167 Screen

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) BB07 CA01 CD05 CE04 CE10

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A multiple document reading method for selecting a plurality of documents from a stored document and reading the selected plurality of documents into an application, comprising: combining the selected plurality of documents into one document; A method for reading a plurality of documents, which comprises transferring the document. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, at the time of the transfer, the application is notified of the number of remaining pages for each of the documents constituting the combined document. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a value indicating that the number of remaining pages is indefinite is notified to the application at the time of the transfer. 4. A total page number of the selected plurality of documents is calculated, and a value obtained by subtracting a transferred page number from the calculated total page number for the application at the time of the transfer is a remaining page number. 2. The method for reading multiple documents according to claim 1, wherein the notification is made as follows. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the combining is performed by transferring the selected plurality of documents in an order set by a user. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the order is one of a date and time order, a document number order, and a selection order. 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the order is set by a user interface that allows a user to visually set the order. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the stored document is a document stored in a scanner, and the combining is performed by a scanner driver. . 9. A multi-document reading device for selecting a plurality of documents from stored documents and reading the selected plurality of documents into an application, comprising: a document selecting unit for selecting a desired document from the stored documents; A document reading unit that reads a plurality of documents selected by the document selecting unit; and a combining transfer unit that combines the plurality of documents read by the document reading unit into one document and transfers the combined document to the application. A multi-document reading device, characterized in that 10. The combined transfer unit includes a remaining page number notifying unit that notifies the application of the number of remaining pages of each document constituting the combined document at the time of the transfer. The multiple document reading device according to claim 9, wherein: 11. The method according to claim 11, wherein the combining transfer unit includes a remaining page number notifying unit that notifies the application of a value indicating that the number of remaining pages is undefined at the time of the transfer. Item 9. The multiple document reading device according to Item 9. 12. The combined transfer unit, wherein the total page number calculation unit calculates a total page number of the selected plurality of documents, and the total page number calculation unit calculates the total page number for the application during the transfer. 10. The multiple-document reading apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: a remaining page number notifying unit that notifies a value obtained by subtracting the number of transferred pages from the total number of pages obtained as the number of remaining pages. 13. The multi-document reading apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the synthesizing and transferring means synthesizes by transferring the plurality of documents selected by the document selecting means in an order set by a user. . 14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document selecting unit sets the order of the documents to be transferred by the combining and transferring unit by selecting one of a date and time order, a document number order, and a selection order order. Item 14. The multiple document reading device according to Item 13. 15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said document selecting means includes a user interface which allows a user to visually set. 16. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the stored document is a document stored in a scanner, and the composite transfer unit is configured in a scanner driver. Multiple document reading device.