JP2003323580A - Field information creation program, field information creation method, and electronic form creation device for form screen - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] A field information creation method used in a conventional form screen electronic form creation apparatus has a function of automatically generating field information corresponding to an underlined character entry area on a paper form. And the field information creation efficiency is poor. SOLUTION: An independent horizontal line segment extracting step of extracting an independent horizontal line segment based on a character string / ruled line database storing information corresponding to a character string and a ruled line on a paper form, and the extracted independent horizontal line A field corresponding to the underlined character entry area on the paper form by a field information generating method having a field candidate generating step of generating a field candidate in which the lower left coordinate of the field and the field width are determined based on the minute Information can be automatically generated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form screen electronic form creating technique for creating a form screen electronic form which is form definition data for causing a computer to execute information processing related to a form, and more particularly to a character entry area. The present invention relates to a field information creating technique for creating field information corresponding to the character entry area on a form screen imitating an existing paper form having the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Due to the progress of IT technology, electronic form systems that handle form screens from terminals instead of conventional paper forms in many fields including companies and companies, as well as in administration and consumers, will be available. It has become necessary. The designer of such a system designs a form screen electronic form, which is form definition data for causing a computer to execute information processing related to a form. At this time, from the viewpoint of design efficiency, From the user's point of view, it is desirable to have a form screen with the same design as the existing paper form as much as possible.

In creating such an electronic form for a form screen, bitmap image data of an unfilled paper form is used to correspond to the character entry area on the form screen imitating an existing paper form having a character entry area. There is a conventional technique for automatically generating field information to be used. For example, patent 3028
In the 833 patent publication, there is a technique for automatically generating field information corresponding to a character entry area by extracting a rectangular area or a preprinted character string having at least three sides surrounded by a line pattern from the bitmap image data. It is disclosed.

Based on this publicly known example, a conventional form screen electronic form creating apparatus and field information will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9A shows an example of the configuration of a conventional form screen electronic form creation apparatus. Character string / ruled line extraction means 1
Recognizes character strings and ruled lines from the blank paper form image data file image, and displays the character string value, position, font size, ruled line thickness, type, position, length, etc.
Store in the ruled line database MKDB. The conventional field candidate generating means 2'extracts field information mf based on this character string / ruled line database MKDB.

The field information mf is information corresponding to the character entry area on a form screen imitating an existing paper form having a character entry area, and its data structure example is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), it consists of a field ID fid, field lower left bottom coordinates (x, y), field width w, field height h, and the like. The conventional field candidate generating means 2'has a keyword representing an entry area in an existing paper form as a keyword database kwDB, and the entry area is assumed to be a rectangle or a blank near this keyword. For example, the rectangular area extracting means 22 'of the field candidate generating means 2'is
A rectangular area a81 is extracted from the character string / ruled line database MKDB based on the blank paper form image data file image having the image of (a). Further, the keyword matching means 24 'of the field candidate generation means 2'uses the character string / ruled line database MKDB for "year""month""day""address""prefecture".
"City" and "ward" are keyword databases kwDB
Extract as a keyword that matches The character string interval determining means 23 'determines the interval between the character strings in the rectangle extracted by the rectangular area extracting means 22', and in the case of FIG. 8A, generates field information mf corresponding to four character string intervals. To do. This corresponds to b85 to b88 in the form screen of FIG. 8 (b). As a result, the rectangular area extracting means 22 'corresponds to the field information mf (field ID fid2') corresponding to the character input area b81 in FIG. 8B, and the character string interval determining means 23 'corresponds to the character input areas b85 to b88. The four field information mf (field ID fid3 ') and the keyword collating means 24' are three field information corresponding to the character input areas b82 to b84.
Generate mf (field ID fid3 '). Here, these field information mf are the field lower left coordinates (x, y), field width w, field height h corresponding to each character input area.
Are determined by the field candidate generating means 2 '. Then, the overlap organizing means 3 ′ deletes the field information mf corresponding to the overlapping character input area b81 from the field left lower end coordinates (x, y) and the field width w of these field information mf. , These field information mf the first field information database
Fill in FDB1 '.

Other areas filled in by the user on the paper form include an option area and a photo attachment area. For example, FIG. 8 (a)
"Prefectures" in the paper form of is an option to attach a circle to the corresponding item. In the example of the form screen of FIG. 8B, this is realized as the scroll option object so. In the electronic form generation means 6, the first field information database FDB
The 1'field information mf is modified, the above-mentioned choice object so is set, and the image area object io such as a photograph or a sign is set interactively with the designer. At this time, the image of the logo or decoration preprinted on the paper form is imported from the blank paper form image data file image, and the preprinted character strings and ruled lines are imported from the character string / ruled line database MKDB to obtain the final form screen. Complete electronic form E-form for use.

[0007]

In the above-mentioned conventional electronic form creating apparatus for a form screen, the field information mf is set based on the rectangular area and the keyword. However, with a paper form for which keywords are not pre-registered or a paper form for which entry is not based on a rectangle, there is a problem that the field information mf cannot be accurately generated by the conventional form screen electronic form creation device. . Further, even when the character string / ruled line extracting means 1 fails to extract the character string and the keyword cannot be obtained, the field information mf to be set cannot be generated unless there is a clue other than the rectangle. For example, in the case of a paper form using a lot of underlines as shown in FIG. 7, the field information mf is not set in the parts other than the part A in the drawing, which are not registered in the keyword database kwDB. Further, even if Which is registered as a keyword as in the part B, b1 to b9 cannot be generated as the field information mf at such positions. In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a field information creating method and a form screen electronic form creating apparatus capable of efficiently designing a form screen imitating a paper form in which a character entry area is designated by an underline. And

[0008]

As shown in the operation flow chart of FIG. 2, the above problem is solved by the above-mentioned character on a form screen imitating an existing paper form having a character entry area in a form screen electronic form creating apparatus. A field information creating method for creating field information corresponding to a writing area, which is an independent horizontal line segment based on a character string / ruled line database MKDB that stores information corresponding to character strings and ruled lines on the paper form. Independent horizontal line segment extraction step (step S in FIG. 2)
202) and a field candidate generation step (step of FIG. 2) for creating a field candidate (field IDfid1) in which the field lower left corner coordinates (x1, y1) and the field width w1 are determined based on the extracted independent horizontal line segment. S202)
And a field information creating method having:

That is, for example, a character string obtained from a blank paper form image data file image as shown in FIG.
In the ruled line database MKDB, ruled lines that are blank near both ends and have the same y-coordinates at both ends are extracted as independent horizontal line segments, and most of these are character entry areas. The field information mf corresponding to the part B of FIG. 7 which cannot be obtained by the electronic form creating apparatus for use can be created.

Further, the above problem is that the field lower left coordinates (x1, y) of the field candidate (field ID fid1) are
1) and a character string interval determination step (step S203 of FIG. 2) for determining that a plurality of character strings are present in an area determined by the field width w1 at an interval of a predetermined value or more, and a lower left field corresponding to the determined interval. A field candidate (field IDfi that determines the edge coordinates (x3, y3 = y2) and the field width w3)
d3) is generated by the field candidate generation step (step S203 in FIG. 2).

That is, in the character string interval determination step, FIG.
Underlined string like Date C, Date, Offense, Court, Dis
Since it is detected that a plurality of character strings are arranged at intervals such as position, the field information mf corresponding to c1 to c4 can be accurately created. Further, the above-mentioned problem is the upper blank judgment step (step S2 in FIG. 2) of judging the height of the blank area above the independent horizontal line segment (each field ID fid of the first field information database FDB1).
10) and a field height setting step (step S210 of FIG. 2) of setting the field height h of the field candidate based on the determined blank height. .

That is, in the field information mf creation by underlining, unlike the case of the rectangular area, a reference for determining the field height h is necessary, and generally, if the height is set by the upper blank, it does not overlap with the preprinted portion. The field information mf can be created accurately. Furthermore, the above-mentioned problem is that the character strings existing in a predetermined range on the left and right of the area determined by the field lower left corner coordinates (x, y) and the field width w of the field candidate (each field IDfid of the first field information database FDB1). A left and right character string determination step of determining height (step S210 of FIG. 2),
A field height setting step (step S210 of FIG. 2) of setting the field height h of the field candidate based on the determined height of the character string is solved by the field information creating method. That is, depending on the situation of the character entry area, even if the upper space is high, there are cases where the character entry area is planned to match the height of the left and right preprinted character fonts. The field information mf with the correct field height h can be created.

Further, the above-mentioned problem is to compare the field heights h of a plurality of field candidates having the same field lower end coordinates y of the field candidates (each field IDfid of the second field information database FDB2). A field height adjusting step of aligning the field heights of the field candidates to the same value (step S211 in FIG. 2)
Is solved by the method for creating field information having

That is, the upper blank is large in the part of b7 to b9 in the part B of FIG. 7 and the upper blank is small in the part of b1 to b3, but the character writing areas of the part B are all the same height. It is considered to be expected. In such a case, the field heights h of the plurality of field candidates can be accurately adjusted to the same value based on the distribution of the field heights h in each field height adjustment stage.

Further, the above problem is that the field left lower end coordinates (x, y) and the field width of the generated field candidate (field IDfid3 obtained in step S206 and field IDfid4 obtained in step S208 of FIG. 2). An overlap sorting step of determining and deleting overlapping field candidates based on w (step S20 in FIG. 2).
This is solved by the field information creating method having 9).

That is, for example, when the character string Date is registered in the keyword database kwDB of FIG. 1, the character entry area c1 in the part C of FIG. 7 stores the field information mf by both step S203 and step S208. To generate. In such a case, it is detected in the overlapping arrangement stage, and one is accurately selected by a predetermined selection logic.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a field information creating method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The computer processing in the present invention is executed by a computer program loaded on the main storage device of the computer.
Starting with the auxiliary storage device connected to the computer,
It is provided by being stored in each recording medium such as a portable storage device such as a CD-ROM, a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device of another computer connected to a network, and the computer is executed when the computer program is executed. Is loaded and executed in the main storage device of.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of a form screen electronic form creation apparatus of the present invention. In this example, elements having the same functions are shown with the same numbers so as to be compared with the conventional electronic form creating apparatus for form screens of FIG. As can be seen by comparing FIG. 1 and FIG. 9, in the present invention, in addition to the conventional field candidate generating means 2 ′, the field candidate generating means 2 corresponding to the overlap organizing means 3 ′, and the overlap organizing means 3, the field height is increased. A height setting means 4 and a field height adjusting means 5 are added. Further, comparing the field candidate generating means 2 with the conventional field candidate generating means 2 ', an independent horizontal line segment extracting means 21 is newly added, and a rectangular area extracting means 22, a character string interval determining means 23,
The keyword matching means 24 has the same function as the conventional one (although it is slightly different). That is, in the conventional field candidate generating means 2'of FIG. 9, as already described, the field information mf is the field ID fid 'and the field lower left coordinate.
Although the field height h is determined in addition to (x, y) and the field width w, the field height h is not determined in the field candidate generating means 2. And field height
h is determined by the field height setting means 4 and the field height adjusting means 5.

Explaining the parts in FIG. 1 not explained in FIG. 9, the independent horizontal line segment extracting means 21 of the field candidate generating means 2 extracts the independent horizontal line segment from the character string / ruled line database MKDB, and its field IDfid1, The lower left corner coordinates (x1, y1) of the field and the field width w1 are given to the character string interval determining means 23. The character string interval determining means 23 receives the field information mf from the independent horizontal line segment extracting means 21 and the rectangular area extracting means 22, determines the character string interval, and newly determines the field IDfid3, the field lower left coordinate (x3, y3) field width. The field information mf consisting of w3 is given to the overlapping organizing means 3. The overlap organizing means 3 is the field ID fid4 from the keyword collating means 24 and the lower left corner coordinates (x4, y4) of the field.
, And the field information mf having the field width w4 is mixed and arranged, and the result is stored in the first field information database FDB1. At this point, unlike the conventional first field information database FDB1 ', the first field information database FDB1 stores the field information mf lacking the information of the field height h.

The field height setting means 4 comprises an upper blank judging means 41 and a left and right character string judging means 42. Both of these means are the first field information database FDB1
The field height h is set for each field ID fid of, and stored in the second field information database FDB2. The field height adjusting means 5 is for each field ID fid obtained in the second field information database FDB2.
The field height h is adjusted for the third field information database as the final field information mf.
Store this in FDB3. As a result, a third field information database FDB3 equivalent to the conventional first field information database FDB1 'can be obtained, and the electronic form generating means 6 can generate the electronic form E for the form screen based on these as in the conventional case. To generate.

Next, the operation of the electronic form creating apparatus for a form screen according to the present invention will be described with reference to the operation flow of FIG. First, in step S201, the character string / ruled line extraction means 1
Is the blank paper form image data file image, the preprinted character string / ruled line of the original paper form is extracted and the character string /
Store in the ruled line database MKDB. This is the same as the conventional electronic form creating apparatus for form screens. FIG. 3 shows an example of the data structure of the character string / ruled line database MKDB. Figure 3
(a) is an example of a character string, the position of each character string, the horizontal width,
Stores the height (displayed as h) corresponding to the font size. FIG. 3B is an example of a ruled line, and the position of the ruled line and the width in the left-right direction are obtained. Regarding the method of extracting these character strings and ruled lines, the technique shown in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent No. 3028833 and similar methods are known.

Returning to FIG. 2, next, in step S202, the independent horizontal line segment extraction means 21 of the field candidate generation means 2 extracts the independent horizontal line segment from the character string / ruled line database MKDB to obtain the field IDfid1, the lower left corner coordinates of the field. Set (x1, y1) and field width w1. An independent horizontal line segment is a ruled line that has no intersections with other ruled lines at its both ends and has the same y coordinate at both ends (no slope), and the details of the extraction method will be described later with reference to FIG. Will be described in detail.

Field information corresponding to the extracted line segment
The independent horizontal line segment extraction means 21 uses the field ID as an mf candidate.
The fid1 is issued, the field lower left coordinates (x1, y1) determined by this line segment and the field width w1 are set in the buffer, and the character string interval determination means 23 is activated. The field bottom left coordinates (x1, y1) and field width w1 are not the value of the ruled line segment itself, but the character feed pitch (x direction) on the form screen.
px: y direction py) may be taken as a normalized value, and the method is the same as that of the above-mentioned Japanese Patent No. 3028833.

Next, in step S203 of FIG. 2, the character string interval determination means 23 determines the field ID on the buffer.
For fid1, the interval is determined for character strings in the range of a predetermined search height (for example, twice the upper pitch py of the target ruled line), the field ID fid3, the field lower left coordinate (x3, y
3) Set the field width w3. That is, the character string interval determination means 23 is a character string / ruled line database as shown in FIG.
It is checked whether the character string area determined by the position coordinates of each character string in MKDB and the character string width and height has a part that overlaps the area (x1, y1)-(x1 + w1, y1 + py). When a plurality of character strings are obtained by such an inspection, a plurality of fields divided by the plurality of character strings are set in this ruled line. In this case, it is necessary to know the criteria for setting the field according to the size of the character string spacing value and whether the field is the left or right side of the character string, but these techniques are also related to the patent No. 3028833. The method shown in the publication can be used. In this way, the character string interval determining means 23, like the conventional character string interval determining means 23 ', includes a plurality of fields I.
The field information mf having Dfid3 is moved to step S204 on the buffer. In this case, y3 is generally
= y1.

In step S204, the field candidate generation means 2 monitors whether or not step S203 has been performed for all the field IDfid1s in the buffer, and if there is a remaining field, it determines the next field IDfid1 as the character string interval determination means.
23 and loop to step S203. When all the field IDs fid1 are completed, the field candidate generating means 2 activates the rectangular area extracting means 22 similar to the conventional rectangular area extracting means 22 'in step S205 to extract the rectangular area from the character string / ruled line database MKDB. To extract the field ID fid2, field bottom left coordinates (x2, y
2), the field width w2 is set in the buffer, and the character string interval determination means 23 is activated.

The character string interval determination means 23 is step S206.
In, the character string interval is determined for the field ID fid2, and the field ID fid3, the lower left corner coordinate (x3,
y3), and set the field width w3 on the buffer. In this step and step S207, the target is the field ID.
The same operation as steps S203 and S204 is performed only by changing to fid2. In this case, generally y3 = y2.

As a result, when all fields IDfid2 have been completed in step S207, the plural field information mf of the field IDfid3 exists in the buffer. In this state, the field candidate generating means 2 performs step S
Moving to 208, the keyword matching means 24 is started, and the character string / ruled line database MKDB is changed to the keyword database.
The keyword registered in kwDB is collated to set the field ID fid4, the field lower left coordinate (x4, y4), and the field width w4. For details of this, the conventional keyword matching means 24 '
The method described in the above Japanese Patent No. 3028833 can be used. As a result, the plural field information mf of the field IDfid3 and the field IDfid4 exists in the buffer.

Next, the overlap organizing means 3 performs step S2.
09, the lower left field coordinates (x3, y3) of the field IDfid3 and the field IDfid4 on the buffer (x4, y4,
y4), and if these are equal in some tolerance range,
One is given priority and the other is discarded, and the result is stored in the first field information database FDB1. The details are the same as those of the conventional overlapping arrangement means 3 ', and the above-mentioned Patent No. 30
The method shown in the 28833 patent publication can be used.

Based on the first field information database FDB1 obtained as described above, the field height setting means 4 first activates the upper blank determination means 41 in step S210 to make the first field. For each field Idfid of the information database FDB1, the upper space of the field lower end (x, y)-(x + w, y) is determined and the field height h is set. The details will be described later with reference to FIG. Next, the field height setting means 4 activates the left and right character string determination means 42, and if there is a character string on the left and right of the field IDfid, the height is taken into consideration.
Set h. The details will be described later with reference to FIG. In this way, the field height setting means 4 sets the field height h for each field IDfid by the upper blank determination means 41 or the left and right character string determination means 42. At this time, if both the upper blank determination means 41 and the left and right character string determination means 42 give different field heights h, the field height h which gives a smaller value is adopted in this embodiment.

As described above, the field information mf for which the field height h has been determined in step S210 is created, and the field height setting means 4 stores this in the second field information database FDB2. Next, in step S211, the field height adjusting means 5 sorts each field Idfid in this second field information database FDB2 by the lower left corner y coordinate y of the field, and the same y
Adjust the field height h for multiple fields Idfid of. This is because the originally expected field height h is the same between the same y-coordinate field IDfid as in the case of the field information b1 to b9 of the same y-coordinate where the heights of the upper blanks are different as in the part B of FIG. Fulfill the assumption that Therefore, the field height adjusting means 5 adopts a value that gives the smallest field height h and applies it to all the corresponding field IDfid. Then, the correction result is stored in the third field information database FDB3.

As described above, the first field information database FDB1 'of the conventional electronic form creating apparatus for form screens
A third field information database FDB3, which is equivalent to The third field information database FDB3 incorporates field information mf derived from an independent horizontal line segment which is not contained in the conventional first field information database FDB1 '. In the last step S212, the electronic form generating means 6 is similar to the conventional electronic form creating device for form screens, the blank paper form image data file image, the character string / ruled line database MKD.
B. Based on the third field information database FDB3, the field information mf is interactively modified, the choice object so is set, and the image area object io is set to complete the form screen electronic form E-form.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, independent horizontal line segment extraction means
The operation of 21 will be described. Left edge coordinates (Lxs, Lys), right edge coordinates (L
Considering a ruled line having (xe, Lye) as a rectangular area having a width and a length, the ruled line data information obtained from the image data can be represented in the following format. (Lxs, Lys)-(Lxe, Lye) FIG. 4A is an example of ruled line information.

First, it is evaluated whether or not the direction of the ruled line is horizontal (evaluation means 1). There are various evaluation means, but the following two are typical. Evaluation means 1-1 Lye-Lys ≤ Lydif Evaluation means 1-2 abs (atan ((Lye-Lys + 1) / (Lxe-Lys + 1))) <Lt can be used. Where Lydif
And Lt are parameters that can be specified in advance.
Is the allowable Y coordinate difference, and Lt is the allowable horizontal inclination. Also, abs (X) represents the absolute value of X, and atan (X) is X
Represents the arc tangent of. The above is the first condition.

Next, it is evaluated whether or not the ruled line is an independent line segment that does not form a figure such as a rectangle (evaluation means 2). The following two means are representative of this evaluation method. Evaluation means 2-1 The shaded area in Fig. 4 (b) is an example of the survey area at the left end of the ruled line. The surroundings of the left and right end points of the ruled line are examined, and if the amount of black pixels is less than a certain value, it is determined as an independent line segment. For example, mgn
If thre and thre are parameters that can be set in advance, rectangular area (Lxs-mgn, Lys-mgn)-(Lxs + mgn
n, Lye + mgn), the rectangular area (Lxs, Lys)-(Lxs + mgn, L
If the number of black pixels in the area excluding (yes) is Bleft, it is determined that this endpoint is not connected to another ruled line if Bleft ≤ thre is satisfied.

Similarly, a rectangular area (Lxe-mgn, Lys-mgn)
-From (Lxe + mgn, Lye + mgn), the rectangular area (Lxe-mgn, L
ys)-The number of black pixels in the area excluding (Lxe, Lye) is Bright
Then, if Bright ≦ thre is satisfied, it is determined that this endpoint is not connected to another ruled line. From the above, if it is determined that neither end point is connected, it is determined as an independent line segment.

Evaluation means 2-2 Those which do not intersect with other ruled lines are judged as independent line segments. If the ruled line does not intersect with other ruled lines, it can be said that it is an independent line segment. Therefore, when there is a line segment OP and a line segment AB as shown in Fig. 4 (c), the outer product of the vector OA and the vector OB is P_AB. , P_A is the cross product of the vector OP and the vector OA, and P_B is the cross product of the vector OP and the vector OB, P _A and P _B have the same sign and abs (P_AB) <
If abs (P_B-P_A) holds, line segment OP and line segment AB
Makes a judgment by performing the same evaluation calculation using the known fact that crosses.

The second condition is that any one of the above evaluations is performed. A ruled line that satisfies the first condition as a horizontal line and that meets the second condition as an independent line segment is selected as an underline field candidate. Next, with reference to FIG. 5, an operation example of the upper blank determination means 41 will be described. As shown in Fig. 5 (a), the underline (Lxs, Lys)-(Lxe, Lye) and the search range (Lxs, Lys-Sh)-which is a presettable parameter and represents the upward search distance (Lxs, Lys-Sh)- For (Lxe, Lys), investigate whether there is a figure other than characters. If a figure other than a character exists, the position of the bottom edge is detected and that position is set to L1. In the example of FIG. 5A, only characters are detected. Next, check whether there is a character string in the search range (Lxs, Lys-Sh2)-(Lxe, Lye), which is the underline and a parameter that can be separately set in advance, and is calculated by Sh2 that represents the upward search distance. To do. If there is a character string, the position of the bottom end is detected and that position is set to L2.

Next, the upper end position Fys of the field is set as follows. Fys = min (Lys-Fh, min (L1, L2)) where, Fh is a presettable parameter that indicates to what extent the field area is inside the ruled line, and min (A, B)
Takes the smaller value of A and B. As a result, it is possible to realize the field generation of an appropriate size without overlapping the figure such as the upper character string. The set height is used as the default field height when there is no figure to be overlaid above. FIG. 5B is an example of the set field height h.

Explaining the reason why the non-character figure and the character are separated when detecting the lower end position of the upper figure, a character string or the like may exist as its own item name immediately above the underline. In order to avoid accidentally setting your own item name character string as shown in Fig. 5 (c), a survey range is separately set by Sh2 that satisfies Sh2 <Sh, and the item name character string is the upper limit. This is to prevent the calculation of the value calculation from being affected.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, left and right character string determination means 42
The operation of will be described. As shown in FIG. 6A, it is assumed that there are Sleft, which represents the left search distance, and Sright, which represents the right search distance, as parameters that can be set in advance. In addition, the underline
xs, Lys)-(Lxe, Lye). The left and right character string determination means 42 first investigates the left rectangular range (Lxs-Sleft, Lys-Sh3)-(Lxs, Lys) and detects all characters that partially overlap the range. When characters are detected here, the top position of those characters is set to TitleTopY. Figure 6 (a) shows the survey area on the left and the detected characters.

When a character string is detected on the left side, the top end position TitleTopY of the character string is obtained, and if the preset parameter is Ymgn representing a margin distance value, the default height of the field is , Fh = Lys-(TitleTopY-Ymgn) to update dynamically. If the character string cannot be detected on the left side, the default height uses a preset value. Next, the result of investigating the right side as well as the left side,
Used in combination with the left side. FIG. 6B is an example of a field set in consideration of the character string on the left side.

(Supplementary Note 1) In a form screen electronic form creating apparatus, information processing for creating field information corresponding to the character entry area on the form screen imitating an existing paper form having a character entry area is executed by a computer. A field information creating program for extracting an independent horizontal line segment based on a character string / ruled line database storing information corresponding to the character string and the ruled line on the paper form; A field information creating program for causing a computer to execute a field candidate creating step of creating a field candidate in which field position coordinates and field width are determined based on the extracted independent horizontal line segment.

(Supplementary Note 2) Further, a character string interval determination step of determining that a plurality of character strings exist at intervals of a predetermined value or more in an area determined by the field position coordinates and field width of the field candidate, and the determination is made. The field information creating program according to appendix 1, further comprising: a computer executing a field candidate generating step of generating a field candidate in which a field position coordinate and a field width corresponding to an interval are determined.

(Supplementary Note 3) Further, an upper blank judgment step of judging the height of the blank area above the independent horizontal line segment,
A field height setting step of setting a field height of the field candidate based on the determined blank height;
The field information creation program according to appendix 1 or 2, wherein the program is executed by a computer.

(Supplementary Note 4) Further, a left and right character string determination step of determining the height of a character string existing in a predetermined range on the left and right of the area determined by the field position coordinates of the field candidate and the field width, and the determination. 3. The field information creation program according to appendix 1 or 2, further comprising a field height setting step of setting the field height of the field candidate based on the height of a character string.

(Supplementary Note 5) Furthermore, the field heights of the plurality of field candidates having the same field lower end coordinates are compared with each other, and the field heights of the plurality of field candidates are adjusted to the same value. The field information creation program according to note 3 or note 4, wherein the program is executed by a computer.

(Supplementary Note 6) Further, the computer is caused to execute an overlap organizing step of judging and deleting overlapping field candidates based on the field position coordinates and field widths of the generated field candidates. The field information creation program according to supplementary note 1 or supplementary note 2.

(Supplementary Note 7) This is a field information creating method for creating field information corresponding to the character entry area on the form screen imitating an existing paper form having a character entry area in the electronic form creating apparatus for a form screen. An independent horizontal line segment extraction step of extracting an independent horizontal line segment based on a character string / ruled line database that stores information corresponding to the character strings and ruled lines on the paper form, and the extracted independent horizontal line segment. And a field candidate generation step of creating a field candidate whose field position coordinates and field width are determined based on the above.

(Supplementary Note 8) A form screen electronic form creating apparatus for creating a form screen electronic form, which is form definition data for causing a computer to execute information processing related to a form, and a character string of an unfilled paper form. Independent horizontal line segment extraction means for extracting an independent horizontal line segment based on a character string / ruled line database storing information corresponding to ruled lines, and field position coordinates and field widths based on the extracted independent horizontal line segment And a field candidate generating unit that creates a field candidate that has been determined to be the electronic form creating apparatus for a form screen.

[0050]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, an independent horizontal line segment is created based on a character string / ruled line database that stores information corresponding to character strings and ruled lines on a paper form. A horizontal line segment extracting step for extracting a horizontal line segment and a field candidate generating step for generating a field candidate whose field position coordinate and field width are determined based on the extracted horizontal horizontal line segment. There is an effect that the field information corresponding to the underlined character entry area on the form can be automatically generated. In addition, a character string interval determination step of determining that a plurality of character strings exist at intervals of a predetermined value or more, a left and right character string determination step of determining the height of character strings existing in a predetermined left and right range, and an independent horizontal line. The upper blank determination step of determining the height of the blank area above the minute, and the field heights of a plurality of field candidates having the same field bottom end coordinates are compared to determine the field heights of the plurality of field candidates. More appropriate field information can be obtained by further including a field height adjustment step of aligning to the same value and an overlap arrangement step of determining and deleting overlapping field candidates based on the field position coordinates and field widths of the field candidates. The effect is that it can be automatically generated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic form creation device for a form screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flow chart of the electronic form creating apparatus for a form screen according to the present invention.

[Figure 3] Example of data structure of character string / ruled line database MKDB

FIG. 4 is an operation example of the independent horizontal line segment extracting means 21.

[FIG. 5] Example of operation of upper blank determination means 41

FIG. 6 is an operation example of left and right character string determination means 42.

[Figure 7] Paper form example

[Figure 8] Comparison between paper form and form screen

[FIG. 9] Example of conventional electronic form creation device for form screen and example of data structure of field information mf

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Character string / ruled line extraction means 2 Field candidate generation means 3 overlapping arrangement means 4 field height setting means 5 Field height adjustment means 6 Electronic Form Generation Means 21 Independent horizontal line segment extraction means 22 Rectangular area extraction means 23 Character string interval determination means 24 Keyword matching means 41 Upper blank judgment means 42 Left and right character string determination means image Blank paper form image data file MKDB Character string / ruled line database FDB1 First field information database FDB2 Second field information database FDB3 Third Field Information Database E-form Electronic form for form screen fid field ID (x, y) field bottom left coordinate w field width h field height mf field information so choice object io image area object

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Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A field for causing a computer to execute information processing for creating field information corresponding to the character entry area on a form screen imitating an existing paper form having a character entry area in an electronic form creating apparatus for a form screen. An information creating program, an independent horizontal line segment extracting step of extracting an independent horizontal line segment based on a character string / ruled line database storing information corresponding to the character strings and ruled lines on the paper form, and the extraction. A field information creating program, which causes a computer to execute a field candidate creating step of creating a field candidate whose field position coordinates and field width are determined based on the created independent horizontal line segment. 2. A character string interval determination step of determining that a plurality of character strings are present at an interval of a predetermined value or more in an area determined by the field position coordinates of the field candidate and the field width, and The field information creating program according to claim 1, further comprising: a field candidate creating step of creating a field candidate in which corresponding field position coordinates and field widths are determined. 3. An upper blank determination step of determining a height of a blank area above the independent horizontal line segment, and a field for setting a field height of the field candidate based on the determined blank height. Height setting stage,
The computer is caused to execute the following.
Alternatively, the field information creating program according to claim 2. 4. A field information creating method for creating a field information corresponding to the character entry area on a form screen imitating an existing paper form having a character entry area in an electronic form creating apparatus for a form screen. An independent horizontal line segment extraction step of extracting an independent horizontal line segment based on a character string / ruled line database storing information corresponding to the character strings and ruled lines on the paper form, and based on the extracted independent horizontal line segment And a field candidate generating step of creating a field candidate whose field position coordinates and field width are determined. 5. A form screen electronic form creating apparatus for creating a form screen electronic form, which is form definition data for causing a computer to execute information processing related to a form, comprising: Independent horizontal line segment extraction means for extracting an independent horizontal line segment based on a character string / ruled line database storing corresponding information, and field position coordinates and field widths based on the extracted independent horizontal line segment. An electronic form creating apparatus for a form screen, comprising: a field candidate generating unit that creates the determined field candidate.