JP3443255B2 - Electronic document management apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic document management apparatus for displaying a display object such as an icon (pictogram) representing a document in a predetermined display area, and combining and dividing the documents by operating the display object. Regarding the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When searching a document to find a target file, it is costly to load all of the files to be displayed into an interactive editor. Also, since the size of the display screen is limited, the number of documents that can be displayed in a list is also limited. For this reason, a method of arranging icons of document files on the display when listing documents is generally used.

[0003] already file search control method in JP 62-3427 8 discloses an information processing apparatus of JP-A-1-276347 discloses as a related technology to this method,
An information processing apparatus disclosed in JP-A-6-4258 and a document processing apparatus disclosed in JP-A-8-171561 are proposed.

Regarding the representation of the icon of the document file,
File search control method of JP-A-62-3427 8 JP is the icon by reducing the cover of the image file. The search efficiency is improved by making it possible to put together a set of reduced images on the screen. The information processing apparatus disclosed in JP-A-1-276347 is disclosed in JP-A-62-162.
The file search control method of Japanese Patent No. 34272 is improved to select not only a cover page but an appropriate page as a reduced image icon, and the reduced image icons are arranged on the screen.

Certainly, according to these methods, it becomes easier to select the file as compared with the case of using the icon only indicating the existence of the file. But that is not enough. For example, consider the work of selecting appropriate pages from a group of documents and combining them into a single document. In this process, when I opened the document in the editor, there was only one page. in this case,
The effort to open the document was unnecessary. That is,
If it cannot be discriminated from the state of the icon whether a certain document is composed of only one page or is composed of a plurality of pages, the user spends unnecessary effort. Moreover, the cost of launching an interactive editor (calculation time, amount of memory, etc.) is usually quite large,
Since the processing waiting time of the computer is lengthened, the psychological burden imposed on the user by the constraint that the editor must be started is large.

Further, according to the information processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-4258, the icon display is changed according to the attribute of the file to help the user in selecting the file. If you use this to set the number of pages contained in a file as an attribute and change the icon display according to this attribute, you may be able to solve the problem of one or more pages, but the information that can be known only by the attribute is limited. , It's just a hint in finding the file. The file attribute can be effectively used as additional information when the whole of the file information is known. Absolutely Sho 62-3427 and 8 of JP-file search control method, there since the contents of the file as seen necessary that specifically showing the information processing apparatus of JP-A-1-276347 JP.

Furthermore, if the contents and attributes of a file are displayed as icons, it is also desirable that operations corresponding to the display can be performed with the icons as they are. For example, if it is clear from the icon that the document consists of multiple pages, it should be possible to perform page turning, deleting, etc. operations without even launching the document editor interactively.

The document processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-171561 is the above-described interactive document editor, which can efficiently perform operations such as page turning and page replacement, and has a function of combining with an overwrite image.

By the way, there are the following problems with the techniques proposed above.

(1) Extensive information, which is not merely a hint in selecting files, is extracted from both file attributes and file contents and presented to the user as an icon.

(2) The user is made to understand possible actions from the shape of the icon, and the user's file operation is guided / assisted.

(3) Actions that can be sufficiently operated even in the icon state can be executed as they are without activating an interactive editor for file editing.

In addition to the above problems, when the document has a plurality of pages, it can be easily known even in the icon state, and the document is easily divided in the icon state to configure a page or the like. It is also desired that the element can be displayed as an icon as a new document so that not only the composition for each document but also the composition for each component of the document can be performed in the icon state.

[0014]

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and a display object such as an icon representing a document is displayed in a predetermined display area, and the document is displayed by operating the display object. In an electronic document management device that performs combination, division, etc., a display object is displayed to the user as to whether the document displayed as a display object consists of multiple pages or a single page, and a display indicating that the document consists of multiple pages The object of the present invention is to divide a document into constituent elements by performing a predetermined operation on the object and newly display the display object for each constituent element.

[0015]

According to one aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a document management apparatus includes a reduced image of a predetermined page of a document for each document to be managed. Means for displaying the first display object, means for displaying the second display object in association with the first display object when the document is composed of a plurality of pages, and a means for displaying the second display object. A unit that divides the document including the plurality of pages into each page when the operation is performed, and generates a plurality of documents to be managed; and a predetermined operation performed on the second display object, Instead of the first display object representing a document composed of a plurality of pages, the plurality of first display objects representing a plurality of newly generated documents, respectively. And it is provided with a means for displaying the door.

With this structure, when the document has a plurality of pages, it can be easily known by the second display object, and the page can be easily divided in the state of the display object to compose the document. It is possible to display the constituent elements of (1) as a new document in a display object, and not only the composition for each document but also the composition for the constituent elements of the document can be performed in the state of the display object.

Further, in this configuration, the first display object may be displayed in a size corresponding to the paper size of the corresponding document. Further, the reduced image may be generated by reducing a page formed by overwriting the original page with overwritten contents and comments. Further, a character pattern representing the attribute of the document may be displayed so as to be superimposed on the reduced image. In this case, the attribute of the document may be an attribute of overwrite prohibition, editing, or no display page. Further, a means for changing the predetermined page may be provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in the document management method, for each of the documents to be managed, a first image including a reduced image of a predetermined page of the document is included. performing a step of displaying a display object, and displaying a second display object in relation to said first display object when the document consists of multiple pages, a predetermined operation on said second display objects When a plurality of pages are divided into pages, a plurality of managed documents are generated, and when the predetermined operation is performed on the second display object, the plurality of pages are displayed. In place of the first display object representing a document consisting of, the plurality of first tables representing a plurality of newly generated documents, respectively. And the step of displaying the object
I 'm trying to do.

Also in this structure, when the document has a plurality of pages, it can be easily known by the second display object, and the page can be easily divided in the state of the display object to compose the document. It is possible to display the constituent elements of (1) as a new document in a display object, and not only the composition for each document but also the composition for the constituent elements of the document can be performed in the state of the display object.

Further , according to still another aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the document processing apparatus includes a reduced image of a predetermined page of a document to be managed.
Means for displaying the display object, document editing means for executing an editing process for changing the contents of the document, and a predetermined operation for the first display object .
Sometimes a means for activating the document editing means for a document corresponding to the first display object and a second display in association with the first display object when the document consists of a plurality of pages. means for displaying an object, a predetermined operation on said second display objects
When I went, each page of the document consisting of a plurality of page
Means for generating a document of a plurality of managed divided into di,
Performing a predetermined operation with respect to the upper Symbol second display object
And a means for displaying a plurality of the first display objects respectively representing a plurality of newly generated documents, instead of the first display object representing the document including the plurality of pages. I am trying to provide it .

Also in this configuration, when the document has a plurality of pages, it can be easily known by the second display object, and the page can be easily divided in the state of the display object to compose the document. It is possible to display the constituent elements of (1) as a new document in a display object, and not only the composition for each document but also the composition for the constituent elements of the document can be performed in the state of the display object.

The above aspects of the present invention and other aspects of the present invention
Aspects of the invention are described in the claims, and the examples below are used.
Will be described in detail.

[0023]

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. [Embodiment] <Overall Configuration / Operation> FIG. 1 shows a document management apparatus 10 of this embodiment together with a document editing / creating apparatus 100.
0 and the document editing / creating apparatus 100 are realized as software of a personal computer, for example. The document management device 10 handles a document file having a page structure described below (hereinafter referred to as a metapaper file), displays icons of the metapaper file in an array on a so-called desktop-like screen, and selects from them. The document editing / creating apparatus (editing program) 100 is called for the created metapaper file. In addition to that, it is possible to operate the metapaper file through the icon.

In FIG. 1, the document management device 10 includes a storage device 11, an object management unit 12, a display device 13, an input device 14, an image reduction unit 15, a display information creation unit 16,
The input processing unit 17 is included.

The data of the metapaper file used by the document management device 10 is stored in the storage device 11 and exists as one file on the file system, like a normal document file. The object management unit 12 reinterprets the metapaper file as an object such as a page, an attribute, or a document and provides the system with the metapaper file.
This object can be used by both the document management apparatus 10 and the document editing / creating apparatus 100 in the same manner, whereby the operations are standardized. That is, the document management apparatus 1
The data of 0 can be read from the desktop (= document management device 10) or the editor (= document editing / creating device 100).
Treated as the same model.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of this document model, and the document management structure holds each information of page arrangement, current page and file attribute. The data structure of the metapaper file can have a plurality of pages, and further has information such as the attributes of the entire file and the current page.

In FIG. 1, a display device 13 and an input device 1
Reference numeral 4 is also commonly used by the document management apparatus 10 and the document editing / creating apparatus 100. Generally, the input device 14 is a keyboard and a mouse, and the display device 13 is a CRT or a printer.

Looking inside the document management apparatus 10, there are an image reduction unit 15, a display information creation unit 16 and an input processing unit 17. The display information creation unit 16 creates an image in which icons are lined up from the attribute information and page images obtained from the object management unit 12 for all metapaper files to be listed. Image reduction unit 15
Reduces the page image from the object management unit 12, converts it into a small bitmap for an icon, and provides it to the display information creation unit 16. The input processing unit 17 processes the input from the user and updates the data of the object management unit 12 as necessary. Object management unit 1
Since the data update of No. 2 leads to the update of the image created by the display information creating unit 16 as a result, the input by the user is supposed to immediately affect the display.

Display information creation unit 16 in this system
Creates icons by combining page content information and attribute information, and is devising ways to give the icons a distinctive expression. If an event (such as double-clicking of the mouse on the icon) that prompts the document editing / creating apparatus 100 to start is generated among the input processing events,
The input processing unit 17 passes the file corresponding to the specified icon to the document editing / creating apparatus 100.

<Structure of Object Management Unit 12> The document editing / creating apparatus 100 can edit all the contents and attributes of the loaded document, but the document management apparatus 10 edits up to the contents of pages included in the document. Can not. This is shown in FIG. 3, which is a detailed view of the inside of the object management unit 12 in FIG. 3, the object management unit 12 has a storage input / output unit 21, a page reading unit 22, an attribute reading unit 23, an attribute writing unit 24, and a page writing unit 25, and the page writing unit 25 is the document editing / creating apparatus 100. Only used. Unlike the document editing / creating apparatus 100, the document management apparatus 10 does not use the page writing unit 25.

<Operation of Display Information Creating Unit 16> The display information creating unit 16 creates an image that the user sees on the display screen forming the work area (or desktop) for the document management apparatus 10.

FIG. 4 shows an outline of the processing of the display information creating section 16. In this figure, when the document management device 10 is started, the number of files in the storage device 11 is checked. After that, the files are sequentially taken out and the "document icon display process" is executed. That is, the first file to the last file are sequentially specified as target files (S10, S11,
S15), document icon display processing is performed based on the content of the file specified as the target file (S13, S1).
4). When all files have been processed, user input processing is accepted (S12).

Document Icon Display Processing FIG. 5 shows the document icon display processing. In this figure, first, additional attribute data of a document is acquired from a document file (S21). The current display page number P is acquired from the attribute data (S22). The page image of the current display page P is taken out, "icon image creation processing" is performed, and stored in the image data I (S2).
3). "Icon image processing" is applied to the icon image I and stored in the image data I '(S2
4). The display position L on the screen is extracted from the attribute data, and I'is displayed at the position L (S25, S26).

□ Icon image creation processing In the document management apparatus 10, a page image can be changed by placing an object such as a sticky note or text on the page image. FIG. 6 shows an outline of a data structure of a page which enables such a change of the page image, and the data structure of the page is composed of object array, page image and page attribute information. The object array holds information about pasted objects. Since such an object is also displayed as an icon image, not only the page image is reduced but also the image of the object above is reduced and combined.

FIG. 7 shows the process of creating the icon image of the Pth page of the document file. In this figure, the page image of the designated page P is taken out and stored in the image data M (S31). Use index K to count the number of overwrites. The following processing is performed while incrementing the index K one by one (S32, S36). The Kth overwrite image is acquired and stored in the image data N (S34). Image data M to image data N
Are synthesized (S35). When the index K exceeds the number of overwrites on the display page P, the process ends (S33). When all the page P page images are overlaid with the page P overwrite images, a predetermined scale (for example, 1
/ 8) for reduction (S37). As a result, all overwrites are combined and reduced to create a page image. At this time, the image reducing unit 15 reduces the image.

Since the display icons of all the document files on the storage device 11 are created by reducing all the page images at a predetermined reduction scale, the icon size corresponding to the paper size of the page is completed.

□ Icon Image Processing Processing FIG. 8 shows processing processing of the created icon image. In this processing, the additional attribute of the file is read with respect to the input image (the page image that has been completely overwritten and reduced), and a corresponding pattern is synthesized according to the following attributes. That is, in FIG. 8, if the document is a document having a plurality of pages, a pattern representing "a plurality of pages" is combined with the icon image (S41, S4).
4). For any document, a character string corresponding to the document "current page number / total number of pages" is created, and the pattern is combined with the icon image (S42). For any document, a character string corresponding to the document having the "document file name" is created, and the pattern is combined with the icon image (S43).

<Operation of Input Processing Unit> In addition to directly processing the document icon with the mouse, the user processes the icon with the menu issued by the mouse. The process of interpreting the mouse event and obtaining the user's request is shown in FIG.
Is. In FIG. 9, the user request to be interpreted is a document synthesis request, a page turning request, an editing request, a document disassembly request, and an icon drag. If the event is button up, dragging, there is an icon I at the mouse position, and the icon being dragged is the same as the icon I at the mouse position, select icon I and the page-turning mark at the mouse position. If there is, it is interpreted as a page turning request (S51 to S57). Further, in step 54, the icon being dragged is the icon I at the mouse position.
If not, it is further confirmed whether there is an icon being dragged, and it is interpreted as a document synthesis request (S58, S5).
9). If the event is not button up but button down and the icon I is at the mouse position, it is interpreted as a drag request for the icon I (S51, S60-).
S62). Further, if the event is a double click instead of a button up or button down, there is an icon I at the mouse position, and there is a click at the mouse position, it is interpreted as a document disassembly request (S51, S60, S63 to S6).
6). Furthermore, in step S65, if the icon at the mouse position is not a clip, it is interpreted as an edit request (S67).

□ Outline of Processing of Input Processing Unit FIG. 10 shows an outline of processing of the input processing unit. In FIG. 10, the input processing unit 17 continues until the user issues a termination request.
The process according to the user's request is performed, and the document icon display update process is repeated. If the processing request is an end request, the processing of the document management apparatus is completed. That is, the event is accepted and interpreted (S71, S71), and then it is determined whether it is a termination request. If it is a termination request, termination processing is performed (S73, S74). When it is not the end request, it is sequentially determined whether it is a previous page request, a subsequent page request, a document edit request, a document disassembly request, or a document synthesis request (S75 to S79).
Processing according to the determination is performed (S80 to S84).

Next Page Display Processing FIG. 11 shows the next page display processing. In the document processing device,
Since the document icon is displayed based on the document file attribute, the current page number is increased by 1 and saved as the document attribute, and the display process is performed to create an icon with the page image of the next page. To be done. That is, in FIG. 11, the file at the mouse position is specified (S91). Next, the current page number of the specified file is retrieved (S92). The current page is incremented by 1 (S93). If the incremented result is larger than the total number of pages, the previous page is the last page, and the process is terminated (S94). If the incremented result is equal to or smaller than the total number of pages, the incremented result is written as the attribute of the current page and the document file display process is performed (S95, S9).
6).

□ Previous Page Display Processing FIG. 12 shows the previous page display processing. Similar to the next page display process, the current page number is decremented by 1 and saved in the file attribute, and an icon having the page image of the previous page is created (S101 to S106).

□ Document Division Processing FIG. 13 shows the document division processing. Save each page of a document consisting of multiple pages as a separate file, and create icons for the divided files by slightly shifting them from the position where the original file was. That is, in FIG. 13, first, the current icon position is substituted into the variable POS, the index C is initialized to 1, and the total number of pages is substituted into the variable T (S111 to S113).
After that, the following processing is performed while the index C is less than the total number of pages T. First, the C-th page is extracted and made into a file, an icon corresponding to the file is created, and the icon is displayed at the position POS (S115 to S11).
7). Further, the position POS is shifted by ΔX and ΔY (S1
18). When the T-th page ends, the original file is deleted (S119) □ Document editing process Document editing process shown in FIG. 10 (step S82)
That is, the document editing / creating apparatus 100 is activated to start editing the file selected by the user using the document management apparatus 10.

□ Document composition processing When dragging is started from the position of the document icon and another document icon is located at the mouse position at the end of dragging,
The document file indicated by the drag start position icon is joined to the end of the document file indicated by the drag end position icon, and the document file indicated by the drag start position icon is deleted (FIG. 14). That is, in FIG. 14, the document file corresponding to the document icon at the drag start position is stored as File1 (S121), and the document file corresponding to the document icon at the drag end position is saved as File1.
2 is stored (S122), and File1 is replaced with File2.
Is added to the end of (S123). After that, File1 is deleted and an icon is displayed based on File2 (S
124, S125).

FIG. 15 shows an example of document composition. In this example, the drag process is performed from the icon of the document-3 to the icon of the document "blank", and the document-3 is combined after the document "blank".

□ Document position moving process If the control key is not pressed, the current mouse position is saved as the attribute of the document file corresponding to the document icon at the drag start point, and the document icon display process is performed for that file. I do.

When the document copy process control key is pressed, the document file corresponding to the document icon at the drag start point is duplicated on the storage device, and the document icon display process is performed on the file.

<Appearance of System> FIG. 16 shows a state in which the document management apparatus of this embodiment is displaying the document icons of various pages and mixed documents of various sizes. The shape of the document icon changes depending on the page turning. FIG. 17 shows how document-1 in FIG. 16 changes according to page turning. In this document, the first page is A4 portrait, the second page is B4 portrait, and the third page is A4 landscape.

Since the icon is displayed at a fixed scale with the original page image reduced, the display size of the icon changes depending on each page by turning. The user is
You can know the original size based on this icon image. The page thickness is also expressed using a display pattern (upper left clip) that can be recognized as such (Fig. 1
8).

FIG. 19 shows the correspondence between the original document having the overwrite information and the display image on the document management apparatus 10. The original document is overwritten with the free-form curve tool, and the comment "Change!" Is written with the commenting tool. The reduced image is displayed as an icon with the overwriting.

<Effect of Embodiment> According to the document management apparatus of this embodiment, it is possible to immediately recognize that the page is a single page or a plurality of pages, and understand the possibility of page turning.

The operations that can be performed by operating only the icons naturally represent the work performed by humans on a set of many papers on a computer. That is, the user is given an operational feeling of an actual collection of paper such as flipping over or moving the storage place, and as a result, comfortable operation is possible.

Information necessary for document management can be presented to the user in an easy-to-understand format.

Further, the features and effects of this embodiment will be described. This embodiment has the following features.

1. The icon reflects the contents and attributes of a specific document. Along with a concrete document image reduced, additional attributes are also displayed as icons. Specifically, the paper size of the electronic document,
The icon size is changed according to the image size of the scanned document. In a multi-page document, the page number viewed last time is also stored as an additional attribute, and the page viewed last time is displayed as a display page when the document management apparatus is activated.

2. We devised an icon to make it easier for the user to understand that there are multiple pages and what can be done when there are multiple pages. That is, the actions that a user can perform in a file are shown in a concrete, visible form, that is, an object on the screen.

For example, if a clip-like object is attached to the side of the icon of a certain file, it can be understood that this file consists of multiple pages, and at the same time, it can be used only for multi-page documents such as page turning and page disassembly. Allowed operations can be performed through this clip-like object.

3. Without launching the document editor
File and page attributes can be manipulated only by using icons. For example, in a multi-page document, the page to be displayed can be turned over and the page image of the icon can be changed without changing the document file to the edit state.

4. As additional information of the document, the overwrite or comment made on the document is reflected in the icon display. Overwrites and comments made on the page image of the original document are reduced at the same ratio as the scale of the page image,
Overlay the page image of the icon.

With the above features, the following effects are realized in this embodiment.

1. In addition to the reduced image of the page image of the document, various paper sizes such as A4 portrait and B4 landscape, the number of pages constituting the document, and overwrite information are displayed by reflecting the document on the icon shape of the screen. From the electronic document management device that manages documents, more information can be used for the user to visually find the desired electronic document.

2. If the format of the object on the screen is natural, the operation method can be provided in a manner that is intuitive to the user.

3. It is possible to reduce the chance of starting the document editor that can be edited with the icon, and reduce the stress on the user.

4. The commenting function of metapaper can also be applied to icons. If you add a comment to the metapaper and use it as a landmark, it will also become a landmark in the icon.

[Modification] Next, a modification of the embodiment will be described.

(1) Turn pages without displaying arrows. In FIG. 18, the page turning request is made by clicking the arrow beside the clip-like object, but for example, clicking on the clip advances the page, clicking the clip while pressing the shift key moves the page backward, You may do so. There are many ways to prevent unrealistic objects such as arrows from appearing on the screen.

(2) Removal of the object prompts page disassembly processing. Windows (trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States) is that objects can be selected by mouse click and can be moved by dragging them.
It has already been approved as an operation of a general window system such as Macintosh or Macintosh (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., USA). Therefore, it is possible to select a clip as an object on the icon and bring it outside the icon using the mouse. In this case, in addition to the document disassembling process described in the embodiment, the process of deleting the clip object is required.

(3) The same symbol as the object can be used as the document synthesizing icon. Make the shape of a clip-like object available for general work of organizing documents, not a symbol that is valid only on an icon.

For example, the following GUI (graphical user interface) configuration is adopted. The same image as the clip image used to show a plurality of documents also exists on the command bar, and when the mouse is clicked on it, the shape of the mouse cursor also becomes the shape of a clip. In this state, right-click on the document icon to collect the documents. Finally, by clicking in the place where there is no document, a document icon with multiple pages at the click position is created.

As described above, the shape of the clip appears in the icon, the command bar, and the cursor, and any of them has the meaning of collecting a plurality of documents.

(4) The shape further changes depending on the number of sheets.
The shape of the clip-like object is changed to, for example, a zem-clip shape when the number of pages is 10 or less, a binder shape when the number of pages is 100 or more.

(5) Support for 0 pages. A clip-like object (FIG. 20) that cannot be seen on page 1 can be displayed on page 0 so that only the clip can be seen . As shown in Figure 20, 0
Page, it may be displayed in black.

(6) Icon display of information of "outside" document.
In the embodiment, the fact that the document file has a plurality of pages is represented by using a pattern for combining with the icon. In addition to the information contained in these document files, the additional information of the document is displayed as a normal icon depending on the state in which the document is currently opened for editing or the state in which changing the content is prohibited. Change. Specifically, a color pattern is displayed as an overlay on the icon. In this case, the display information creation unit 16 creates an appropriate icon image based on the error output from the object management unit 12.

FIG. 21 shows a pattern to be overlay-combined when the document file is being edited or when the document file is in the overwrite-prohibited state, and a display in which the above-mentioned overlay image is superimposed on the page image. .

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of an icon image processing process for implementing this modification. In FIG. 22, the additional attributes of the file are read for the input image (page image that is combined with all overwrites and reduced),
The corresponding patterns are synthesized according to the following attributes. First, if the document has the overwrite prohibition attribute, the pattern of "overwrite prohibition", if the document has the attribute being edited,
The "editing" pattern is combined with the icon image (S131, S135, S132, S136). Also,
If the document does not have a display page and has only additional attributes, a pattern of "no display page" is combined with the icon image (S133, S137). Further, if the document is a document having a plurality of pages, a pattern representing "a plurality of pages" is combined with the icon image (S134, S13).
8).

In addition, for any document, a character string corresponding to the document "current page number / total number of pages" is created and the pattern is combined with the icon image (S1).
39). In addition, for any document, a character string corresponding to the document having the “document file name” is created, and the pattern is combined with the icon image (S140).

(7) A menu is adopted in addition to the clip-shaped object. In the embodiment, by clicking a part of the plural display patterns of the document with the mouse, the display request of the previous page and the next page can be substituted by the pop-up menu or the pull-down menu.

A pop-up menu is displayed by buttoning down the mouse at the display position of the document icon, and the display request of the previous page / next page can be received by the menu. The menu executes the process for the document file specified by the selected document icon described below (FIG. 23).

(8) Move / copy the current page by dragging and dropping. In the embodiment, all the pages in the document are moved and copied. In this modified example, taking advantage of the fact that the page of a document can be operated with the shape of the document icon, drag and drop,
An example of moving and duplicating and combining only the current display page will be shown.

In this embodiment, the alternative key (ALT key) is pressed at the time of starting dragging on the document icon.

□ Drag display page moving process When dragging is started with the alternative key pressed on the document icon, the process of separating (extracting) the display page of the document icon is performed at the end of the drag.

If the control key is not pressed at the end of dragging, the page data corresponding to the display page is extracted from the document file corresponding to the document icon at the drag start point, and the new page including the display page is stored in the storage device. A simple document file. The current mouse position is saved as an attribute of the document file, and the document icon display processing described above is performed for that file. The document icon display process described above is also performed for the document file at the start of dragging (FIG. 24).

The user is provided with an operation of separating the display page of the document icon at the start of dragging and extracting it at the drag end position.

□ Drag display page copy processing When dragging is started with the alternative key pressed on the document icon, the copy processing of extracting the display page of the document icon is performed at the end of the drag.

If the control key is pressed at the end of dragging, the page data corresponding to the display page is copied from the document file corresponding to the document icon at the drag start point, and the new page including the display page is stored in the storage device. A simple document file. The current mouse position is saved as an attribute of the document file, and the document icon display processing described above is performed for that file. The document icon display processing described above is also performed for the document file at the start of dragging (FIG. 25).

The user is provided with an operation of copying only the display page of the document icon at the start of dragging and extracting it at the drag end position.

□ Drag Displayed Page Extraction / Combining Process If the dragging is started while the alternative key is pressed on the document icon, or if another document file exists at the end of the dragging, the extraction and combining process of the display page of the document icon is performed.

The operation of extracting the display page at that time from the document file at the time of starting the drag is the same as that of the drag display page moving process or the drag display page copying process described above. Furthermore, if there is a document icon at the mouse position, the document file containing only the display page at the start of dragging, which is newly created by the icon at the drag start position, is linked to the end of the document file by the drag end position icon. Delete the newly created document file that contains only the displayed page.

Thereafter, icon display processing of the document file corresponding to the icon at the drag end position is performed (FIG. 2).
6).

For the user, only the display page of the document icon at the start of dragging is cut off, or
It looks as if it was copied and added to the last page of the document icon at the drag end position.

(9) Hierarchical storage device. In the embodiment, all files are displayed as icons. As shown in the example of FIG. 27, a directory hierarchy for collectively managing files is provided in the storage device, and this is displayed in the left window portion of FIG. 27.
However, only the document files within the hierarchy designated by the window on the left may be displayed in the main display window portion of the document management apparatus.

When one of the directory hierarchies on the left side of the screen is designated by the mouse, only the icon of the document file in that directory is displayed.

(10) Attachment of the document which is the source of the page image. A document having a page structure, which is described in the embodiment, is attached to a metapaper (FIG. 28). The attached document is an electronic document (referred to as an original document) that is the source of the page image.
Today, most documents are created through a word processor or the like, and can be re-edited with an original document and its editing application. In addition, the original document is more convenient for reuse using a document usage application such as character string search.

If this original document is attached for a user who may edit or reuse it at the time of distributing the document, it is better to make the same file so that the original document and the image document are not scattered. Therefore,
Make a small mark on the reduced image. In FIG. 29,
Here is an example of holding a small piece of paper with a pin. Since the attached document does not exist in the document read by the scanner, the form is as shown on the right, which is the same as that described in the embodiment. The process of creating such an image is shown in FIG.
It is 0. Following the conventional image generation process, that is, the reduced image creation process (S141) and the image processing process (S142), if there is an attached document, a pin-shaped mark is added (S143, S14).
4).

Regarding event processing for a document with such a mark, double-clicking with a mouse on the mark is added to the conventional one (FIG. 31). There is no change in the processing for other events. In other words, if the event is not a double click, a request for other processing is issued (S151, S).
152). Also, even if the event is a double click,
If the position is not on the reduced image, other processing is performed (S153, S154). If the double-click position is on the reduced image and is on the pinned image, the image edit is requested, and if not, the original document reedit is requested (S155 to S15
7).

FIG. 32 shows the flow of the re-editing process of the original document. In FIG. 32, re-editing cannot be performed only when the original document exists. That is, when the application that created the original document cannot be started, the user is warned (S161 to S16).
3). Even if the original document is changed, if the changes are discarded, the contents are not reflected on the metapaper (S161 to S167). When the user understands the change, the meta paper is created from the changed document and replaced with the old version (S168 to S173).

<Effects of Modification> (1) Turning pages without displaying arrows. Only the clip-like object appears on the screen, which prevents the user from being confused by the unrealistic object. Since the click is effective in a wider range than the small arrow area, operation mistakes can be reduced.

(2) Removal of the object prompts page disassembly processing. The usage of the clip is closer to that of the actual clip than in the example,
Easy for users to understand.

(3) An object can be used as an icon for organizing a document. Since the symbols that combine paper are the same as the symbols for commands that combine paper,
A sensible user will be able to operate without being taught.

(4) The shape further changes depending on the number of sheets.
In the case of a document with an extremely large number of pages, even if page division is possible, the user needs to be prepared to do the work when the workspace becomes full. Less regret after operating.

(5) Support for 0 pages. The user can understand the existence of the clip itself.

(6) Icon display of information of "outside" document.

[0103] A trouble which cannot be recognized until an attempt is made to open a file, for example, a violation of sharing of a file, a situation other than the attribute which the file has internally can be reflected in the document icon, and at the same time, editing can be prohibited. , This also avoids starting the document editor.

(7) A menu is adopted in addition to the clip-shaped object. Providing operations that can be performed using a menu allows the user to provide more operations and group them for different uses, unlike those provided only by mouse operations. By utilizing the feature of this document management apparatus that the document can be operated even with the document icon, more functions can be realized in this modification. This is particularly advantageous when it is difficult to express the operating guidelines graphically.

In many cases, the menu selection can be performed by the keyboard, so that a user who has become accustomed can operate at high speed.

(8) Move / copy the current page by dragging and dropping. There are more items that can be operated only by the document management device than in the embodiment.

(9) Hierarchization of storage devices. Since the user can store the files with meanings in the directory, it is possible to organize and save the files when the number of files managed by the document management device becomes huge.

(10) Attachment of the document which is the source of the page image. The noticeable mark on the reduced image clearly shows to the user that the original document is attached. Further, by double-clicking the pin-shaped mark on the screen, the operation of editing the original document can be easily instructed.

[0109]

As described above, according to the present invention, the second display indicating that the document has a plurality of pages is associated with the first display object that displays the document having a plurality of pages. The object is displayed, and the document can be divided according to the operation on the second display object. Therefore, when the document has a plurality of pages, it can be easily known even in the icon state, and the document can be easily divided in the icon state. Also, since the size of the first object representing the document changes according to the paper size of the original page, the paper size of each page can be recognized in the icon state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of metapaper.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment in detail inside the object management unit 12.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a display process by the display information creation unit 16.

5 is a flowchart showing a document icon display process of step 14 in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a page.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an icon image creating process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an icon image processing process.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an event interpretation process.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an input process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a next page display process.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a previous page display process.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a document decomposition process.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a document synthesizing process.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of document composition performed by drag and drop.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an appearance of a screen of the document management apparatus.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a change in icon display of a document including a set of three sheets of paper of different sizes.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating functions of a clip and arrows on both sides.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining the correspondence between the document management device and the document edit creation device.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating 0-page expression.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an overlay and an icon image overlaid.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing icon processing processing when using information outside a document.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a pop-up menu used to update a page.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of moving a display page by dragging and dropping.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of copying a display page by dragging and dropping.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of extracting and combining display pages by dragging and dropping.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing hierarchization of storage devices.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a structure of metapaper when an attached document is attached.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a representation of a reduced image with an attached document.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing a reduced image creation process when an attached document is attached.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing double-click processing on a reduced image with attached document.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing a reediting process of an original document.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Document management device 11 Storage device 12 Object Management Department 13 Display 14 Input device 15 Image reduction unit 16 Display information creation section 17 Input processing unit 22 page reading section 23 Attribute reading section 24 Attribute writing section

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI G06T 1/00 200 G06T 1/00 200D (72) Inventor Hiroaki Maezawa 3-2-1, Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-7-200222 (JP, A) JP-A-6-28145 (JP, A) JP-A-3-232028 (JP, A) JP-A-3-232028 (JP, A) 1-284963 (JP, A) JP-A-7-182320 (JP, A) JP-A-8-137859 (JP, A) JP-A-3-105560 (JP, A)

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. A means for displaying a first display object including a reduced image of a predetermined page of the document for each of the documents to be managed, and the first display object when the document has a plurality of pages. Related to the means for displaying the second display object, and when a predetermined operation is performed on the second display object, the document composed of the plurality of pages is divided into pages and a plurality of pages are divided. means for generating a document managed, when performing on SL predetermined operation, instead of the first display object representation documents consisting of the plurality of pages, a plurality of newly generated from the document And a means for displaying a plurality of the first display objects each representing a document. 2. The electronic document management device according to claim 1, wherein the first display object is displayed in a size corresponding to the paper size of the corresponding document. 3. The electronic document management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reduced image is generated by reducing a page formed by overwriting original pages with overwritten contents and comments. 4. The electronic document management apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein a character pattern representing an attribute of the document is displayed by being superimposed on the reduced image. 5. The electronic document management apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the attribute of the document is an attribute of overwrite prohibition, editing, or no display page. 6. The electronic document management device according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing the predetermined page. 7. A step of displaying a first display object including a reduced image of a predetermined page of the document for each of the documents to be managed, and the step of displaying the first display object when the document has a plurality of pages. Related to the step of displaying the second display object, and when a predetermined operation is performed on the second display object, the document composed of the plurality of pages is divided into pages and a plurality of pages are divided. generating a document managed, when performing on SL predetermined operation, instead of the first display object representation documents consisting of the plurality of pages, a plurality of newly generated from the document And a step of displaying a plurality of the first display objects each of which represents a document. 8. A means for displaying a first display object including a reduced image of a predetermined page of a document to be managed, a document editing means for executing an editing process for changing the contents of the document, and the first Means for activating the document editing means for the document corresponding to the first display object when a predetermined operation is performed on the display object, and the first display when the document has a plurality of pages. A means for displaying a second display object in association with the object, and a document consisting of the plurality of pages is divided into pages when a predetermined operation is performed on the second display object. means for generating a document of a plurality of managed, when performing the predetermined operation on said second display object, representing at documents consisting of the plurality of pages Instead of the serial first display object, wherein the this <br/> having means for displaying a plurality of said first display object representation a plurality of documents newly generated from the document, respectively Electronic document processing device. 9. A step of displaying a first display object including a reduced image of a predetermined page of a document to be managed; a document editing step of executing an editing process for changing the content of the document; When a predetermined operation is performed on the display object, the step of activating the document editing step for the document corresponding to the first display object; and the first display when the document has a plurality of pages. Performing a step of displaying a second display object in association with the object, and performing a predetermined operation on the second display object
When a document composed of the plurality of pages is divided into pages and a plurality of documents to be managed are generated, and when the predetermined operation is performed on the second display object , Yes and displaying in place of the first display object representation documents consisting of the plurality of pages, a plurality of the first display object representation a plurality of documents newly generated from the document, respectively You
Electronic document processing method characterized by that.