JPH08255255A - Document information layout device and document information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a document information display device arranging document information including characters, drawings and pictures, etc., within the limited area of a display device so that contents may be easy to be recognized and displaying the document information. CONSTITUTION: In an importance detection part 210, the importance of each element composing a document is determined. In an element width calculation part 220, the height of each element is conformed to the height of a rectangular area, the width of each element according to the height is calculated and the width of a sentence element is adjusted so that the lengths of all the elements may be matched with the lengths of all rectangular areas. In an element temporary arranging part 230, each element is successively arranged on the column of a prescribed rectangular area in order. In an arrangement adjusting part 240, the element arranged in each rectangular area is adjusted so that the element may be properly stored in each rectangular area by selecting an element for adjustment from the elements arranged in each rectangular area and performing adjustments by eliminating/deleting/dividing/reducing the part of the width of the element for adjustment, based on the importance for each element. Normally, the element with low importance is selected as the element for adjustment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document information layout apparatus capable of appropriately arranging and displaying visually recognizable information such as characters, drawings and photographs in a limited area, and the arrangement thereof. The present invention relates to a document information display device that displays detailed document information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The development of so-called multimedia systems capable of handling information by combining media such as characters, figures, voices, and images has been rapidly progressing. As an application example of the multimedia system, various accumulated information is searched, and the search result is output by any suitable method / medium such as characters, figures, voices, images, etc., and the information can be clearly and intuitively recognized. Such a system is beginning to be realized.
Then, if various existing information is made into a format that can be handled by such a multimedia system, it is possible to efficiently search and transmit the information, and it is very effective in terms of utilizing the information. is there.

The existing information includes newspapers, magazines, papers,
Information that is visibly recorded on a paper such as a book can be said to be the most basic information, and the amount thereof is enormous. Therefore, it is very effective if such information can be used in the multimedia system as described above. In other words, it is essential to be able to handle such existing information in order to effectively utilize the multimedia system.

By the way, in articles such as newspapers and magazines, rectangular columns are intertwined with each other on the surface of the paper on which headings, photographs, etc. are effectively laid out, and the text is written in each column. Has been done. Then, between the sentences of the text, drawings, photographs, etc., which supplement a specific portion of the text, are incorporated. The data of such an article is displayed in the same layout on a rectangular display device because the article itself is not contained in the rectangular area on the original paper and the number of characters is large. Not suitable for.

In consideration of the above-mentioned conditions and the above-mentioned method of using the multimedia system, as a method of displaying articles such as newspapers and magazines on the display device, for example, first, a headline and a photo or It is desirable to display rough data such as a synopsis and display more detailed data such as the main text when the user is interested in the article or a necessary article. At the stage of displaying the first rough data, detailed data such as the main text may be partially omitted due to the limitation of the display screen, but the heading, photos, drawings, etc. are reproduced as they are on the original page. Although it is not necessary to do so, if a newspaper article is arranged like a newspaper article, it is easier for the user to operate and grasp information.

As described above, when an article of a newspaper / magazine is to be displayed, it is necessary to add layout information for display to the already input data of the article. A method of adding the layout information will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an apparatus for displaying information consisting of a document and a figure at a predetermined position on the display apparatus. The layout input device 900 has a layout editing device 960 and an editing terminal 920. The layout editing device 960 displays the text data 930 and the graphic data 940 on the editing terminal 920, and generates layout information 970 for the displayed data according to an instruction from the editing terminal 920. As described above, in such input of layout information up to now, an operator inputs data while checking individual article information using an input device as shown in FIG.

[0007]

However, a method of adding layout information so that the data of articles such as newspapers and magazines supplied as text data and graphic data can be displayed on a display device is a human-readable method. Since I checked and entered each article one by one, there was a problem that it took a very long time. In particular, there was a problem that the work of arranging the synopsis, text, and figures in the text was inefficient. The number of headlines, photos, figures, etc. related to the entire article is small, and it can be arranged at any position in the blank display area, so that it is relatively easy. However, it is a trial-and-error process to place outlines and texts in appropriate rectangular spaces in multiple rectangular areas that are separated by intricate white spaces in the remaining areas where headings, photos, and figures are arranged. The process was repeated, which was very time-consuming and inefficient.
Therefore, it is possible to automatically and appropriately arrange a sentence such as a synopsis and a text, and a figure such as a drawing and a photograph attached to the sentence in a limited area including a plurality of rectangular areas. There was a demand for a device that can.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily grasp the document information composed of visually recognizable characters, drawings, photographs, etc. in a limited predetermined area. It is to provide a document information layout device that can be arranged in the. Another object of the present invention is to provide document information that can be appropriately arranged and displayed by the document information layout device as described above in a limited area of a display device such as a display device. It is to provide a display device.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To solve the above problems, first, in order to display information in a limited area, the importance of each information element (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a block) is determined. , The less important ones are omitted so that they can be displayed.
Further, based on the property of each information element, information is appropriately displayed in a limited area of a predetermined shape in consideration of the deformability and the dividability of the element.

Therefore, the document information layout apparatus of the present invention arranges the document information composed of a plurality of ordered blocks each having a sentence and a graphic such as a drawing / photograph related to the sentence in a predetermined rectangular area. A document information layout device, comprising: importance detecting means for determining the importance of each block; block arranging means for arranging the ordered blocks in the rectangular area; and arranging the ordered blocks in the rectangular areas. From the block, an adjustment block selecting means for selecting an adjustment block based on the obtained importance, and a length of the selected adjustment block in the direction in which the block is arranged are adjusted to form a rectangular area. And an adjusting means for adjusting the arrangement of the blocks so that the blocks are properly arranged. Placed row of the rectangular area.

Preferably, the adjusting means shortens the length of the adjusting block in the direction in which the blocks are arranged by omitting a part of the adjusting blocks, and the tail portion of the arrangement of the blocks. To match the end of the rectangular area.

Further preferably, the document information layout apparatus of the present invention further comprises shape change possibility detecting means for obtaining the shape change possibility of each block, and the adjustment block selecting means is further required for the change. The adjustment block is selected based on the possibility of changing the shape, and the adjustment unit reduces the adjustment block in the direction in which the block is arranged, and the end portion of the arrangement of the blocks is the end of the rectangular area. Adjust to match.

More preferably, the document information layout apparatus of the present invention further comprises a dividability detecting means for determining the divisible potential of each of the blocks, and the adjustment block selecting means further includes the detected division. The adjustment block is selected based on a possibility, and the adjustment unit is arranged when the adjustment block is arranged in a state of traversing a boundary between the rectangular area and the next rectangular area continuous to the rectangular area. By dividing the adjustment block at the delimiter and arranging each of the divided blocks in the rectangular area and the next rectangular area, the end of the arrangement of the blocks matches the end of the rectangular area. To adjust.

Specifically, the importance degree detecting means obtains the importance degree so that a block composed of figures such as drawings and photographs is relatively higher in importance than a block composed of sentences. .

Preferably, the document information layout apparatus of the present invention is a rectangular area in which the adjustment block cannot be selected because there is no block satisfying the condition selected as the adjustment block by the adjustment block selection means. When the block is arranged so as to cross the delimiter between the rectangular area and the next rectangular area continuous to the rectangular area, the adjusting unit arranges the block existing in the delimiter in the next rectangular area. However, the block is prevented from crossing the delimiter of the rectangular area.

Further, the document information display device of the present invention comprises the document information layout device of the present invention and display means for displaying an array of rectangular areas in which respective blocks constituting the document information are appropriately arranged.

[0017]

According to the document information layout apparatus of the present invention, the importance detecting means obtains the importance of each block forming a document for each block. Further, the block arranging unit sequentially arranges the given blocks in a column of a predetermined rectangular area in the order. And
The adjustment block selecting means selects an adjustment block from the blocks arranged in each rectangular area based on the importance of each block obtained by the importance detecting means. Normally, this block of low importance is selected as the block for adjustment. And
The adjusting means adjusts the width of the adjusting block so that the blocks arranged in the respective rectangular areas are properly contained in the respective rectangular areas.

Normally, the adjusting means shortens the length of the adjusting block by omitting / deleting a part of the adjusting block so that the end of the array of blocks coincides with the end of the rectangular area. To do so.

Further, in the document information layout apparatus of the present invention further including the shape change possibility detecting means, the shape change possibility detecting means uses the shape change possibility of each block, that is, the shape of the block (vertical and horizontal). It is determined whether or not the ratio) can be changed. Then, the adjustment block selection means preferentially selects the block whose shape may be changed as the adjustment block. Thus, in the adjusting means, the width of each block is adjusted by appropriately reducing the adjustment block in the width direction so that the blocks arranged in each rectangular area can be properly fit in each rectangular area.

Further, in the document information layout apparatus of the present invention further having the dividability detecting means, the dividability detecting means can divide the respective blocks, that is, whether the blocks can be divided. Determine whether or not. Then, the adjustment block selection means preferentially selects the block that may be divided as the adjustment block. Thereby, in the adjusting means, when the adjustment block is arranged in the division part between the rectangular areas, the adjustment block is divided at the division part and each of the divided blocks is divided into the rectangular area and the next area. In the rectangular area, and the end of the rectangular area matches the end of the block.

In the importance detecting means, if the importance is calculated so that the block composed of figures such as drawings and photographs is relatively higher in importance than the block composed of sentences, the rectangular area In addition, all the figures are laid out, and the text blocks are transformed and arranged in a shape that matches the remaining area in which the figures are laid out.

In the document information display device of the present invention, the document information layout device appropriately arranges and displays the document information in a predetermined display area limited according to the display means and other display information. Display on the means.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the document information display device of the present invention is shown in FIG.
~ It demonstrates with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the document information display device of the present invention. The document information display device 200 includes an importance calculation section 210 and an element width calculation section 22.
0, element temporary placement unit 230, placement adjustment unit 240, and
It has a display unit 250. Document information display device 2 of this embodiment
00 is, for example, a sentence extracted from an article such as a newspaper and a graphic / photo associated with it (hereinafter referred to as a graphic)
Is a display device for displaying the following data in a predetermined area of the display device.

Therefore, the document information display device 200 receives a text element and a graphic element associated with it.
The text element is not limited to its own size and shape, and can be divided and arranged in an arbitrary number of areas. On the other hand, the graphic element cannot be divided into a plurality of elements. The order of reading by human beings is uniquely determined between the elements of these sentences and figures. Further, the document information display device 200 also inputs information indicating an area for displaying information. This area is provided as a row of rectangular areas each having a predetermined length in one direction. That is, these areas are all provided as rectangular areas of the same height when the text is written vertically, and are provided as rectangular areas of the same width when the text is written horizontally. The order in which the information elements are embedded is uniquely determined between these rectangles.

The configuration of each part of the document information display device 200 will be described below. The importance calculator 210 calculates the relative importance of each element. In this embodiment,
It is assumed that graphic elements are more important than text elements. Also,
When there are multiple sentence elements, the importance of the sentence elements is proportional to the length of the sentence. That is, the longer the sentence, the higher the importance.

The element width calculation unit 220 calculates the size of each information element. The element width calculation unit 220 first calculates the size of the graphic element. The height of each graphic element is matched with the height of the rectangle, and the width is proportionally determined according to the height so as to maintain the shape of the original graphic. As a result, it is possible to know how much area is occupied by the graphic elements in the entire rectangular area sequence. The remaining area obtained by subtracting the area occupied by the graphic element from the entire rectangular area sequence is the area for arranging the text element. Then, the width of the rectangular area in which the text element can be arranged is distributed in proportion to the importance of each text element.
This determines the size of the text element.

The element temporary placement section 230 is provided with an element width calculation section 22.
Each element having the size calculated by 0 is provisionally arranged in the column of the rectangular area in order. At this time, the column of elements is made to correspond to the arrangement of the rectangles without considering the division between the respective rectangular areas. Since the element size is adjusted in the element width calculation unit 220, the length of the entire rectangular area is equal to the length of the associated element row.

FIG. 2 shows the columns of the rectangular areas and the columns of the information elements that are provisionally arranged by the element temporary arrangement unit 230. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a row of rectangular areas and a row of elements that are provisionally arranged in the element provisional arrangement unit 230.
FIG. 3B is a diagram showing columns of a rectangular area, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing columns of elements. The rectangular areas input to the document information display device 200 are supplied as three rectangular areas 61 to 63. The information elements are three graphic elements 64, 66, 6
8 and two sentence elements 65 and 68 are 6 as shown.
4 to 68 are ordered and input. Each element is
The element width calculation unit 220 adjusts the size of each element so that they have the same height, and the sentence elements 65 and 68 have their widths adjusted so that the entire element row has the same length as the row of the rectangular area. ing.

The arrangement adjusting unit 240 is a temporary element arrangement unit 230.
Further, the width of each element is adjusted with respect to the result of the temporary arrangement according to, so that the delimiter portion of the rectangular area becomes the element delimiter. First, the arrangement adjustment unit 240 selects, as an adjustment element, an element whose importance calculated by the importance calculation unit 210 is a predetermined value or less and which is the lowest among the elements related to each rectangular area. Then, after that, the adjustment element is targeted for partial deletion and division so that the end portion of the rectangular area coincides with the end of the element row related to the rectangular area. Adjust the length.

The arrangement of each element and the adjusting method of the element width will be specifically described with reference to FIG.
3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a method of arranging elements in a rectangular area, FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating adjustment elements, and FIGS.
(E) is a figure which shows the adjustment method with respect to how each part protrudes from a rectangular area. FIG. 3A shows the temporary element placement unit 230.
In this case, each element row is sequentially arranged in each rectangular row, and the rectangle 6
This is a state in which the sentence element 76 having the lowest degree of importance in No. 4 is selected as the adjustment element.

The adjustment method will be described below. First,
As shown in FIG. 3B, in the case where only the graphic element whose importance is high and whose width cannot be changed exists in the rectangular area 64 and the graphic element 77 is outside the rectangular area, the graphic element 77 which is outside the rectangular area 64 is projected. Is moved to the next rectangular area 65. Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, when the graphic element 78 extends beyond the rectangular area 64, but a text element 79 having a width larger than the projection length of the graphic element exists in the rectangular area 64, the projection occurs. The width of the text element 79 is reduced by a length corresponding to (79a). That is, graphic element 7
The adjustment element, which is the text element, is cut so that 8 is exactly arranged in the rectangular area.

Further, when the text element which is the adjustment element is out of the rectangular area and the width of the text element in the rectangular area 64 is small as shown in FIG. Text element 80 as it is in the next rectangular area 65
Move to. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3E, when the width of the text element in the rectangular area is a considerable length, the text element 81, that is, the adjustment element is divided into two text elements. , The first half of the text element 81a is in the original rectangular area 64, and the latter half of the text element 8 that does not fit in the rectangular area 64
1b is arranged in the next rectangular area 65.

By making such adjustments, the delimiters of the columns of each rectangular area become the delimiters of the elements. Further, since the elements partially omitted or divided by this adjustment are elements of low importance, it does not affect the general understanding of the information as a whole from the viewpoint of the information as a whole.

The display section 250 is a display means for displaying the information elements appropriately arranged in the element temporary arrangement section 230 on a display device such as a CRT.

As described above, according to the document information display device 200 of the present embodiment, information consisting of a sentence and a graphic attached to the sentence can be arranged in a limited predetermined area.

The document information display device of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications can be made.
For example, in the present embodiment, the document information display device of the present invention is realized by a device composed of dedicated means as shown in FIG. However, the document information display device of the present invention can be realized by using a general-purpose computer device or the like. The processing procedure in that case is shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a case where the document information display device of the present invention is realized by a computer device.
It is a flow chart which shows a processing procedure.

According to this processing procedure, first, in step S
At 21, the element importance is calculated for each element of the input information elements. Next, in step S22, the size of each information element, that is, the width of each information element when the height is adjusted to the height of the rectangular area is calculated based on the input data of the rectangular area. Then, in step S23, each information element is arranged in each rectangular area. That is, after each information element is tentatively arranged right-justified in each rectangular area, the elements having higher importance are preferentially arranged at appropriate positions in the rectangular area, and the spaces between them are filled with elements having lower importance. Such a process similar to the above-described process of the temporary element placement unit 230 is performed. As a result, layout information in which information elements are appropriately arranged in a predetermined limited area can be obtained. As described above, even if the present invention is realized by using a general-purpose computer device such as a personal computer or a workstation, the information elements can be arranged in exactly the same manner as in this embodiment.

The method of calculating the degree of importance in the degree-of-importance calculating section 210 and the method of adjusting the elements in the arrangement adjusting section 240 are not limited to the methods and rules described above. It may be changed appropriately according to the type and content of the sentence.

Further, in the present embodiment, the adjusting element selecting method is the method of selecting the shortest sentence element. However, in addition, the deformability or the dividability of the element may be obtained and the adjustment element may be selected based on the information. For example, it is possible to change the aspect ratio, etc., and for elements in the drawing that may be slightly deformed and distorted from the original image, it is possible to reduce the element width to adjust the element width. is there. Therefore, if the deformability of each element is obtained and the adjustment element is selected in consideration of this, it is possible to reduce / enlarge such an element and adjust the length of the row of the element. . Similarly, there is also a method of obtaining the dividability of elements other than the sentence (the sentence element is exemplified in this embodiment) and selecting the adjustment element in consideration of this. With this, it is possible to adjust the length of the column of the element by dividing the element, so that more flexible adjustment can be performed.

[0040]

According to the document information layout apparatus of the present invention, information composed of visually recognizable characters, figures, photographs, etc. can be easily grasped in a limited predetermined area. It can be properly arranged as possible. Further, according to the document information display device of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately arrange and display the document information in the limited area of the display device such as a display device by the document information layout device as described above. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a document information display device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a row of elements and a row of a rectangular area which are input to the document information display device shown in FIG.
FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a column of elements, and FIG. 7B is a diagram showing a column of a rectangular area.

3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a method of arranging elements in a rectangular area in an element arranging unit of the document information display device illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating adjustment elements, and FIGS. E)
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an adjustment method for a protruding manner from each rectangular area.

4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the document information display device shown in FIG. 1 is realized by a computer device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a device for displaying information including a document and a graphic at a predetermined position on the display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference numeral 200 ... Document information display device 210 ... Importance degree calculation part 220 ... Element width calculation part 230 ... Element temporary placement part 240 ... Layout adjustment part 250 ... Display part 900 ... Layout input device 910 ... Logical structure editing device 920 ... Editing terminal 930 ... Text data 940 ... Graphic data 960 ... Layout editing device 970 ... Layout information

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A document information layout device for arranging document information composed of a plurality of ordered blocks, each of which has a sentence and a graphic such as a drawing / photograph related to the sentence, in a predetermined rectangular area, Importance detection means for obtaining the importance of each block, block arrangement means for arranging the ordered blocks in the rectangular area, and the obtained importance from the blocks arranged in the rectangular areas Adjusting block selecting means for selecting an adjusting block based on, and adjusting the length of the selected adjusting block in the direction in which the block is arranged, so that the arrangement of the blocks is properly arranged in the rectangular area. A document information layout for arranging the blocks constituting the document information in an array of a limited rectangular area. Device. 2. The adjusting means shortens the length of the adjusting block in the direction in which the blocks are arranged by omitting a part of the adjusting blocks so that the end portion of the arrangement of the blocks is the same. 2. The document information layout device according to claim 1, wherein the document information layout device is adjusted so as to match the end of the rectangular area. 3. A shape change possibility detecting means for obtaining a shape change possibility of each block, wherein the adjustment block selecting means further has the adjustment block based on the obtained shape change possibility. 3. The adjustment unit reduces the adjustment block in the direction in which the blocks are arranged, and adjusts the tail portion of the arrangement of the blocks so that the tail portion matches the tail of the rectangular area. Document information layout device described. 4. A division possibility detecting means for obtaining a division possibility of each block is further provided, and the adjustment block selecting means further selects the adjustment block based on the detected division possibility. The adjusting unit divides the adjustment block at the delimiter when the adjustment block is arranged in a state of traversing the delimiter between the rectangular area and the next rectangular area continuous to the rectangular area. , By arranging each divided block in the rectangular area and the next rectangular area,
4. The document information layout device according to claim 1, wherein adjustment is made so that the end portion of the arrangement of the blocks matches the end of the rectangular area. 5. The degree of importance detection means obtains the degree of importance so that a block formed by a graphic such as a drawing or a photograph has a higher degree of importance than a block formed by a sentence. The document information layout device according to any one of 4 to 4. 6. A rectangular area in which the adjustment block cannot be selected because there is no block satisfying the condition to be selected as the adjustment block in the adjustment block selecting means, and the rectangular area and the next continuous area to the rectangular area are selected. When the block is arranged in a state of crossing the delimiter with the rectangular area, the adjusting means arranges the block existing in the delimiter in the next rectangular area, and the block crosses the delimiter of the rectangular area. The document information layout device according to claim 1, which prevents the occurrence of the above-mentioned problem. 7. A document information display device comprising: the document information layout device according to any one of claims 1 to 6; and display means for displaying an array of rectangular areas in which respective blocks forming the document information are appropriately arranged.