JP2000047789A - Image processing apparatus and image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make easily performable a retrieving process by describing information contents which are registered as a marker more in detail by additionally registering not only characters, but also a displayed image as index information on a bookmark, etc., of the internet and retrieving the source data according to the index information. SOLUTION: Not only the characters, but also the displayed image are added and registered as the index information on the bookmark, etc., of the internet and the source data are retrieved according to the index information. When this bookmark registration is performed, the title and URL of the homepage are stored in a character area 8d first. Then, the contents displayed on an LCD 3 are taken out of a VRAM 4 and stored in a work area 8a. Then the bit map in the work area 8a is reduced to a size matching a thumbnail image and then stored in an image area 8e. Then, the storage addresses of the characters and image are registered in a table 8c. Consequently, data on the title, URL, and screen of the internet can be registered as a bookmark.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method capable of adding not only character information but also other accompanying information to a bookmark or an index.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a homepage is displayed on the Internet or the like, and the URL (Uniform Reso
There is a bookmark function to record urce location).

[0003]

The bookmark usually contains a URL.
Character information such as titles and titles is registered. However, as the number of bookmarks increases, there is a problem that it is difficult to determine what kind of homepage screen was from these characters.

[0004] In addition, although the encyclopedia of CDROM has an indexing function, in this case, it is usually only characters, and it is not usually known what kind of screen is constituted.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing apparatus capable of simplifying a search process and improving work efficiency by describing information contents registered as a bookmarker in more detail. It is to provide a method.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an input means for inputting image information, a storage means for storing the image information, a display means for displaying the image information, and creating index information from the image information. An image processing apparatus is provided by including a creating unit that registers the created index information and a registering unit that registers the created index information.

Further, the present invention provides a step of inputting image information, a step of storing the image information in storage means, a step of displaying the image information, a step of creating index information from the image information, Registering the created index information to provide an image processing method.

Further, the present invention provides a computer
A medium storing a program for controlling image processing, wherein the control program causes a computer to input image information, store the input image information in a storage unit, and store the stored image information in a storage unit. A medium in which an image processing control program is recorded is provided by displaying, creating index information from the displayed image information, and registering the created index information.

Here, the index information may be image information of a predetermined area in the image information and additional information attached to the image information.

The image information of the predetermined area constituting the index information may be a reduced image obtained by reducing the original image information.

[0011] The image processing apparatus may further include a retrieval unit for retrieving the original image information from the index information registered by the registration unit, and a display unit for displaying the retrieved original image information.

[0012] When retrieving the index information, the information processing apparatus may further include index display means for simultaneously displaying the image information of the predetermined area and the additional information constituting the index information.

[0013] When searching the index information, the information processing apparatus may further include search selecting means for selecting information to be searched from the index information.

The input means can input the image information from a homepage on the Internet.

The input means can input the image information from a removable storage means.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Outline) The present invention is characterized in that it has a function of registering not only characters but also an image displayed on a screen in an index of a database such as a bookmark on the Internet or a CDROM.

That is, when bookmarking an Internet homepage, a process of reducing the screen displayed together with the character information as image data and registering the reduced image together with the character information as index information is performed.

In this case, the character information and the reduced image as the index information can be formed as variable length databases, respectively, and these information can be individually managed by the addresses in the table.

Further, the present invention is characterized by having a function of displaying an original image by searching registered characters and a reduced image using the address of the table.

Hereinafter, a specific example will be described.

(First Example) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The present embodiment relates to the processing of a bookmark on a homepage on the Internet. Here, a case will be described in which characters and images are registered as bookmarks.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a character management device in an image processing system according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU (central processing unit). The CPU 1 is connected to various devices described below via a bus line 6 and controls the various devices.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a keyboard (KB). The keyboard 2 includes control keys for instructing and executing various controls and character keys for inputting characters.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a color liquid crystal display (LCD) as a display device.

4 is a display write-only memory (VRA).
M). The character data written in the VRAM 4 is displayed on the LCD 3 as a font pattern described later.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a hard disk (HD) as an external self-storage device. Image information such as a photograph is stored.

7 is a ROM as a read-only memory
It is. The ROM 7 stores a program area 7a storing a program for executing character processing, a control program according to the present invention (see flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 described later), and font patterns such as characters, symbols, and ruled lines. And a font area 7b in which information such as the information is stored.
The control program according to the present invention may be separately stored in a storage medium such as a floppy disk.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a RAM as a writable memory. The RAM 8 stores character information and image information, and is used as a temporary work area and a save area when executing a program, and is divided into the following areas 8a to 8e.

Reference numeral 8a denotes a work area (WORK) temporarily used for operating the program.

Reference numeral 8b denotes a text area (TEXT) for storing characters, images, and the like.

Reference numeral 8c denotes a table (TBL) for managing bookmarked characters and image addresses.

Reference numeral 8d denotes a character area (MARK) for storing character information such as a bookmark or an index.

Reference numeral 8e denotes an image area (IMG) for storing image information such as a reduced image.

9 is a modem (MD) used for transmission and reception.
EM).

(Memory Contents) FIG. 2 shows the correspondence between the table 8c, the character area 8d, and the image area 8e.

A plurality of images 24 are stored in the image area 8e. Each image 24 includes IMG1, IMG2,
・ ・ Are indicated and numbered. In this case, each image 24 may or may not be compressed and stored, and the size of each image 24 is different.

In the character area 8d, character information is stored as a character code. Numeral 23 denotes character information corresponding to each image 24. Similar to the image, MARK1 and MA
RK2... And are numbered.

The table 22 stores the start address of each image 24 in the image area 8e and the start address of character information in the character area 8d.

(Display Screen) FIG. 3 shows a display example of the display device 3.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a display screen of the display device 3. Here, a bookmark, that is, a “bookmark list” 32 as index information is displayed on a part of the display screen 31. In the bookmark list 32, character information 33 and image information 34 are displayed in pairs.

(Operation of the present apparatus) Next, the operation of the present apparatus will be described.
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 4 shows a process of registering index information (process A).

Here, a description will be given of a process when data from the Internet is stored in the text 8b via the modem 9 and bookmark registration is performed.

In step S1, the title and URL of the home page are stored in the character area 8d.

In step S2, the contents displayed on the LCD 3 are taken out of the VRAM 4 and stored in the work area 8a.

In step S3, the bit map of the work area 8a is reduced to a size suitable for a thumbnail image and stored in the image area 8e.

In step S4, the storage addresses of the characters and images are registered in the table 8c.

Through the above processing, the data of the Internet title, URL and screen can be registered as a bookmark.

FIG. 5 shows a display process (process B) of the index information.

In step S11, the address of the table 8c is searched.

In step S12, character information is extracted from the character area 8d in the form of a character code and stored in the work area 8a.

In step S13, image information is extracted from the image area 8e in the form of a bit map, and
Once.

In step S14, it is determined whether or not all the data of the bookmark has been extracted. If the retrieval of all data has not been completed, the process returns to step S11, and if completed, the process proceeds to step S15.

In step S15, the character code is patterned by searching and extracting the font in the font area 7b from the character code in the work area 8a.

In step S16, the pattern-formed character information and the bit-mapped image information are
The data is written in the RAM 4 and displayed on the display device 3.

With the above processing, a bookmark list can be displayed as shown in FIG.

(Second Example) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the first
The description of the same parts as those of the embodiment is omitted, and the same reference numerals are given.

In the first example described above, a case has been described in which a character and a reduced image are registered together as a bookmark, and the registered content is searched and displayed.

This example relates to the processing of a bookmark on a homepage on the Internet. Here, a case will be described in which characters and images registered as bookmarks are selected and displayed.

FIG. 6 shows a process (process C) for selecting and displaying any one of "text", "image", and "text and image" for a bookmark.

Now, it is assumed that the display of the bookmark is instructed. In addition,
The instruction may be given from a keyboard, a touch panel, or the like, and is not particularly limited.

Then, in step S20, what is to be displayed is selected. If only characters are to be displayed, the process proceeds to step S21. If only images are to be displayed, the process proceeds to step S31. If only characters and images are to be displayed, the process proceeds to the above-described process B (see FIG. 5).

If the display of only characters is instructed, the process proceeds to step S21.

In step S21, the address of the table 8c is searched.

In step S22, character information is extracted from the character area 8d in the form of a character code and transferred to the work area 8a.

In step S23, it is determined whether or not all the character information in the character area 8d has been extracted. If all character information has not been extracted yet, step S21
Returning to step S24, when the processing is completed, the process proceeds to step S24.

In step S24, the character code is patterned by searching and extracting the font in the font area 7b from the character code in the work area 8a.

In step S25, the patterned character information is written in the VRAM 4 and displayed on the display device 3.

On the other hand, if only an image has been designated, the flow advances to step S31.

In step S31, the address of the table 8c is searched.

In step S32, image information is extracted from the image area 8e in the form of a bit map,
Once.

In the step S33, it is determined whether or not all the data of the bookmark has been extracted. If the retrieval of all data has not been completed, the process returns to step S31, and if completed, the process proceeds to step S25.

In step S25, the bit-mapped image information is written into the VRAM 4 and displayed on the display device 3.

When a character and an image are selected, the above-described processing B of FIG. 5 is performed.

With the above processing, only characters, only images,
Either a character or an image can be selected and displayed as a bookmark.

(Third Example) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The description of the same parts as those of the first and second embodiments is omitted, and the same reference numerals are given.

This example relates to the processing of a database such as an encyclopedia or a picture book of a CDROM. Here, a case where index information is created from a picture book stored in the hard disk 5 will be described.

In general, not only the CDROM but also the hard disk 5 in the present apparatus can store photograph data and the like, and can perform processing for creating index information when viewing the stored photograph data. .

Therefore, first, a plurality of pieces of photographic data are stored in the hard disk 5. The picture data stored in the hard disk 5 is displayed on the display screen 31.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the displayed photograph data. The display screen 31 displays a photographic image area 71, a page area 72, and an area 73 for various functions. In this example, the photograph data of the third page is displayed.

Then, from the display contents of the photograph data,
The registration processing as in the above-described example is executed. In this case, the reduced photographic image and its page are registered as index information. After this registration, the index information is searched and the display screen 31 is displayed.
To be displayed.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the index information is displayed on the display screen 31. On the display screen 31, a bookmark list 80 as index information is displayed in pairs of a page number 81 and a reduced photographic image 82.

In the above example, a hard disk is used as the external storage device, but it may be configured using a storage medium such as a CDROM. Although the LCD is used as the display device, the display device may be configured using a CRT.

The present invention can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, and a printer).
The present invention may be applied to an apparatus including two devices (for example, a copying machine and a facsimile machine).

Further, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus. Then, a storage medium storing a program represented by software for achieving the present invention is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or M) of the system or the apparatus is supplied.
PU) can read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium, so that the effects of the present invention can be enjoyed.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

Examples of a storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, and CD.
-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM
(A mask ROM, a flash EEPROM, or the like) can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a function expansion port inserted into the computer or a memory provided in a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0093]

As described above, according to the present invention,
As the index information of an index of a database such as an Internet bookmark or a CDROM, not only characters but also a displayed image are added and registered, and the original data is searched based on the registered index information. You can easily find the original image or page from the or index,
As a result, processing such as search becomes convenient, and work efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a memory.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen on which index information is displayed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating registration processing of index information.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating search and display processing of index information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of selecting index information according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing photographic data displayed on a display screen according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which index information is created from photograph data.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 3 Display device 5 Hard disk 7 ROM 8 RAM 9 Modem 32,80 Index information

Claims (22)

[Claims] An input unit configured to input image information; a storage unit configured to store the image information; a display unit configured to display the image information; a creation unit configured to create index information from the image information; An image processing apparatus comprising: a registration unit for registering index information. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the index information includes image information of a predetermined area in the image information, and additional information attached to the image information. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image information of the predetermined area constituting the index information is a reduced image obtained by reducing original image information. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a search unit for searching for the original image information from the index information registered by said registration unit; and a display unit for displaying said searched original image information. Item 4. The image processing device according to any one of Items 1 to 3. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: an index display unit for simultaneously displaying the image information of the predetermined area and the additional information constituting the index information when searching the index information. Image processing device. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a search selection unit that selects information to be searched from the index information when searching for the index information. 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input unit inputs the image information from a homepage on the Internet. 8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input unit inputs the image information from a removable storage unit. 9. a step of inputting image information; a step of storing the image information in a storage unit; a step of displaying the image information; a step of creating index information from the image information; Registering information. 10. The image processing method according to claim 9, wherein the index information includes image information of a predetermined area in the image information, and additional information attached to the image information. 11. The image processing method according to claim 10, wherein the image information of the predetermined area forming the index information is a reduced image obtained by reducing original image information. 12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: searching for the original image information from the registered index information; and displaying the searched original image information. The image processing method according to any one of the above. 13. The image according to claim 12, further comprising a step of displaying, when retrieving the index information, the image information of the predetermined area constituting the index information and the additional information at the same time. Processing method. 14. The image processing method according to claim 12, further comprising, when retrieving the index information, selecting information to be retrieved from the index information. 15. The image processing method according to claim 9, wherein the image information is input from a homepage on the Internet. 16. The image processing method according to claim 9, wherein the image information is input from a removable storage unit. 17. A medium recording a program for controlling image processing by a computer, wherein the control program causes the computer to input image information, and stores the input image information in storage means. A medium in which an image processing control program is recorded, wherein the stored image information is displayed, index information is created from the displayed image information, and the created index information is registered. 18. The image processing control program according to claim 17, wherein the index information includes image information of a predetermined area in the image information and additional information attached to the image information. Medium. 19. The medium according to claim 18, wherein the image information of the predetermined area forming the index information is a reduced image obtained by reducing original image information. 20. The image processing control according to claim 17, wherein original image information is searched for from the registered index information, and the searched original image information is displayed. Medium on which program is recorded. 21. The image processing control program according to claim 20, wherein, when the index information is searched, the image information of the predetermined area and the additional information constituting the index information are displayed simultaneously. Medium. 22. The medium according to claim 20, wherein when the index information is searched, information to be searched is selected from the index information.