JPH1011236A - Document visualizing processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily replace a printing attribute with another one even when the printing attribute is written in a document file decreased by a postscript, etc. SOLUTION: When a new attribute is designated from the outside, the new attribute is validated and visualized. PC 4 receiving the document file of a postscript is provided with a printing instructing panel 10 to designate the printing attribute. The designated attribute and an original document file are sent to a print server 20. A decomposer 28 finds the decription of the attribute indication buried in the document file and replaces is with the attribute designated by the printing instruction panel 10 of PC 4. After replacing, visualizing processing such as printing is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for visualizing a document file, and more particularly to a method for visualizing a document file described in a document description language capable of describing the attributes of the processing together with the contents of the document. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, data is frequently exchanged via various networks. For example, if you distribute a document created in the United States to an unspecified number of people in other countries,
A document file by PostScript may be adopted as a format of a document to be sent. Postscript is a page description language PDL (Page Description L
anguage), which can describe not only the contents of a document but also various settings for the printer that prints it. Hereinafter, description by the post script will be described.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a document file described in PostScript. The numbers at the left end of FIG. 9 are line numbers. This document file draws straight lines and character strings on A4 paper. The meaning of each line from the first line, which is the start line, is as follows.

2nd line: A4 is specified as the paper size. 3rd line: Double-sided printing is specified. 4th line: The current position of the processing is set to (100, 100). 5th and 6th lines: The current state of the processing. From the position (200, 20
Draw a straight line up to 0) ・ Line 7… Search for Helvetica as font ・ Line 8… Set character size to 12 points ・ Line 9… Set Helvetica as font ・ Line 10… Set the current position of processing to (50 , 300) ・ Line 11… draws “This is a sample program.” ・ Line 12… Sends the page image to the printer Of these lines, the second and third lines are printed by the printer. This is the line for setting for. There are several language levels in PostScript, for example, at level 2,
An operator "setpagedevice" can set a printer, that is, specify a print processing mode. In “setpagedevice”, “pagedevice” indicates an output device, that is, a printer, and the setting for this output device is represented by “set”. Items that can be set include paper size, double-sided / single-sided printing, and finishing such as staple, which is a finishing process.

[0005] Lines 2 and 3 in FIG. 9 each have a description in the form of <<... >> before setpagedevice. <<…>
> Are called arrays or dictionaries, respectively, and the contents of setpagedevice are defined in an arbitrary number of these.
In other words, it can be considered that setpagedevice has a series of <<<<>> as a dictionary, and sets the instruction content described in the dictionary to the printer. PageSize described in the << line in the second line is called a key, and serves as an index in the dictionary. Guided by PageSize [59
5842] is called a value and is a numerical value that determines the content of the key. Here, the unit of the numerical value is point,
[595 842] indicates the width and length of the sheet. This value corresponds to A4.

In the above example, a document is sent from the United States to Japan as a file as shown in FIG. Here, the process of creating this document file on the United States side is roughly as follows.

[0007] 1. Create the contents of the document using a word processing program or the like.

[0008] 2. After creating the document, the printer driver corresponding to the PostScript is started.

3. On the user interface screen provided by the printer driver, print attributes such as paper size and document attributes (hereinafter simply referred to as “attributes”) are specified.

[0010] 4. The printer driver creates a document file including the specified attribute. In particular,
As shown in the second and third lines of FIG. 9, a document file is created while embedding a description for registering attributes in setpagedevice in the document file.

The document file created through these processes may be transmitted via a network. As you can see from this procedure, the attributes specified by the user on the printer driver side are
Treated as settings for output devices.

[0012]

When a document is sent in the form of a PostScript file, the settings of the printer may be described in advance in the file as shown in FIG. In this case, for example, if "letter size" widely used in the United States is specified as the paper size, a problem may occur when outputting the same to a printer in Japan. Because letter size is rarely used in Japan, there is often no paper, and in that case printing is not possible.

To cope with such a situation, there is no effective means other than actually rewriting the contents of the PostScript file with an editor, for example, changing the paper size to B4. However, as is clear from FIG. 9, the contents of the document file described in PostScript are the programs themselves, and can be dealt with only by those who are familiar with the PostScript language.

[0014]

In the following, the numerals given as (n) represent the reference numerals of the components for performing the corresponding processes in the later embodiments. It is used only to help understanding.

[1] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problem, and a first object is to provide a method for setting an attribute to a document file which has already been created when the attribute is newly designated from the outside. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of performing a predetermined visualization process after recreating a document file so as to make use of.

In order to achieve this object, a visualization processing method according to the present invention provides a method for visualizing an original document from a document file described in a document description language capable of describing attributes of the processing together with the contents of the document. A new attribute is specified from outside the document file, a conversion step (46) of converting the new attribute into a description in the document description language, and a conversion step (46) described in the document file. Attribute replacing step (5) of invalidating the attribute of interest corresponding to the new attribute among the existing attributes, and validating the new attribute using the converted description.
0, 74) and a visualization step (54, 70) of visualizing the original document by interpreting the document file with the attributes replaced.

Here, as an example of the “document description language”, the aforementioned PD
L, and examples of “visualization” include printing, copying, and displaying on a screen.

In this configuration, when a new attribute is designated from outside the document file, the new attribute is converted into a description in the document description language by a conversion step. "From outside the document file" means a document file that has already been described in a document description language.
It is the meaning of later. In the example of FIG. 9, when the user specifies "B4" as the paper size, the specification of this attribute is converted into a document description language such as << PageSize [729 1032] >> setpagedevice.

Subsequently, the attribute of interest is invalidated in the attribute replacing step, and the new attribute is validated using the converted description. The “attention attribute” refers to an attribute corresponding to the new attribute among the attributes described in the document file. In FIG. 9, “A4” corresponds to the attention attribute. That is, in the attribute replacement step, the designation of A4 as the paper size becomes invalid, and the designation of B4 becomes valid instead.

Thereafter, in the visualization step, the document file is interpreted in a state where the attributes are replaced, that is, in a state where B4 is designated as the paper size despite the original description, and the original document is subjected to the visualization processing. Is done. "Interpretation" refers to the interpretation of the description content of the document description language.

[2] At this time, in one embodiment of the present invention, the document description language includes an operator for instructing a processing mode in the visualization processing, and an attribute described in the document file is provided to the operator. It is assumed that the attribute is specified in a registered form. On this premise, the attribute replacement step (50, 74) includes: 1. Description for introducing a new operator different from the original operator existing in the document file and registering the new attribute to this operator. For the noted attribute, at least two types of descriptions for redefining the original operator so that the new operator becomes effective instead of the original operator existing in the document file are added to the document file. .

As a result, when the document file is interpreted in the visualization step, a new operator becomes effective instead of the original operator for the specified attribute,
A new attribute registered with the new operator is specified. Therefore, attribute replacement is realized.

[3] In another aspect of the present invention, the document description language has the same premise as in [2], but the attribute replacement step (50, 74) includes the following steps: 1. Detect a description location where the noted attribute is registered by the operator, and delete this description from the document file; A description for adding the new attribute to the operator is added to the document file. As a result, the attribute can be replaced.

[4] In the case of [3] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the document files are sequentially read in order to perform the visualization step (54, 70), the detection is performed using the reading operation. Will be That is, in the visualization process, the document file will be read in order to interpret the document file, and the detection is performed at the same time.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 [Configuration] FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the system first has a plurality of PCs (personal computers) 4, 6, and 8 connected to a network 2. One of the PCs 4 has a print instruction panel 10 for the user to instruct a new attribute to a document file sent from another location via the network 2 as shown by an arrow a in the figure. . The print instruction panel 10 provides a user interface similar to the user interface provided by, for example, a Windows (registered trademark) printer driver.
Instructions for attributes such as double-sided / single-sided printing, number of copies, enlargement / reduction, collation, finishing, and print margin are received. The user does not need to be aware of what attributes have been specified in the original document file, but may specify the attributes he or she desires. Hereinafter, an attribute specified later on the document file, that is, from outside the document file, is referred to as “external attribute”. The print instruction panel 10
The external attribute is sent to the network 2 as indicated by the arrow b in the state where it is added to the outside of the document file. Hereinafter, a document file to which an external attribute is added is referred to as a “processing target document file”.
Call it.

A print server 20 is connected to the network 2. The print server 20 receives the document file to be processed sent from the PC 4, creates printable data, and sends it to the printer 30. The print server 20 includes a communication control unit 22 that receives various files and data from the network 2 and transmits them to a subsequent stage, a spooler 24 that receives an output of the communication control unit 22 and performs spool processing for a printer, Spooler 2
A decomposer 28 that receives a print job from the printer 4 and controls the printer 30; a decomposer 28 that receives a document file to be processed from the print controller 26 and converts it into a data form printable by the printer 30; A redirector 32 transfers the print job to another printer (not shown) via a network when printing cannot be performed. The visualization processing method of the present embodiment is used inside the decomposer 28.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the decomposer 28. As shown in the figure, the decomposer 28 first includes an input unit 40 that receives a document file to be processed from the print controller 26. The input unit 40 further includes an external attribute receiving unit 42 that receives an external attribute of the document file to be processed.
And a document file receiving unit 44 for receiving the document file. The external attribute received by the external attribute receiving unit 42 is sent to the description converting unit 46, where it is converted into a description in PDL. The description conversion unit 46 has a correspondence table 48 for holding the correspondence of conversion. In this correspondence table, for example, in response to an input of “external attribute: paper size B4”, “PDL description: << PageSize [729 1032] >>> setp
The output "agedevice" is associated.

The converted description contents and the document file received by the document file receiving unit 44 are stored in the attribute replacing unit 50.
Sent to The attribute replacement unit 50 is an operator redefinition unit 52
The setpagedevice is redefined here as described below. At this time, among the attributes described in the document file from the beginning, those that are inconsistent with the external attributes, that is, for the attribute of interest, the attribute of interest is invalidated and the external attribute is enabled so that The operator is redefined as follows.

As a result of the operator redefinition, the user
The external attribute specified on the print processing panel 10 is reflected inside the document file to be processed. In this state, this file (hereinafter referred to as “document file after attribute replacement”) is sent to the visualization processing unit 54. The document file after the attribute replacement is first sent to the PDL interpreting unit 56, where the postscript is interpreted, and a necessary drawing command is sent to the buffer drawing unit 58. The buffer drawing section 58 receives the drawing command and draws in the page buffer. This image data is sent to the printer 30 every time drawing of one page is completed, and the printer 30 prints a document.

[Operation] In the above configuration, it is assumed that a document file described in the postscript is transmitted to the user's PC 4 following the arrow a in FIG. Here, the paper size described in the document file is A4,
On the other hand, the user wants to output this document in B4.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a series of processes from the designation of an external attribute to the visualization process. As shown in the figure, the user first specifies the paper size B4 through the user interface screen provided by the print instruction panel 10 (S10). At this time, the user does not need to know that the attribute described in the document file is A4. For example, even if the paper size described in the document file is B4, the user only needs to activate the print instruction panel 10 and specify “paper size: B4”. The external attribute B4 becomes valid.

When the designation of the external attribute is completed, the user takes an action such as pressing an "OK" button on the print instruction panel 10, and ends the processing by the print instruction panel 10. At this stage, a processing target document file is created (S12).

The processing target document file is stored in the network 2
Is transmitted to the print server 20 of FIG. The processing target document file received by the print server 20 is
The data is sent to the decomposer 28 via the communication control unit 22, the spooler 24, and the print controller 26. As shown in FIG. 2, the processing target document file is received by the input unit 40 of the decomposer 28, and the external attribute is sent from the external attribute receiving unit 42 to the description converting unit 46.

The description conversion unit 46 scans the correspondence table 48 using the external attribute “paper size B4” as an index, and describes the corresponding PDL description “<< / PageSize [729 103].
2] >> setpagedevice "is obtained (S14). This is passed to the attribute replacement unit 50.

On the other hand, the document file itself is sent from the document file receiving section 44 directly to the attribute replacing section 50. In the attribute replacement unit 50, the operator redefinition unit 52 redefines the operator based on the document file and the description converted into the PDL (S16). As a result, a document file after the attribute replacement is created (S18). ).

FIG. 4 shows a document file after attribute replacement.
FIG. 9 shows a document file in which only the paper size is changed from A4 to B4 among the attributes described in advance in the document file of FIG. In FIG. 4, the same row number is given to the row corresponding to FIG. 9, and 10 is assigned to the newly added row.
Line numbers from 0 to 107 are assigned. According to the present embodiment, the first to first constituents of the original document file are
The feature is that a new line is added to the previous part without touching the two lines. Hereinafter, the meaning of the new line will be described.

Line 100: Copy the setpagedevice operator to orig_setpagedevice.
Line 106: Redefine setpagedevice. The if in line 104 refers to the condition in line 102. If there is a key called PageSize in the dictionary of setpagedevice, the key is set to the first.
Return to undefined state by undef operator at line 03. This is invalidation. Then, at line 105, the original s
Call orig _setpagedevice corresponding to etpagedevice to continue processing. On the other hand, if there is no PageSize key in the dictionary of setpagedevice,
If there are keys other than ize, those keys
Caused by orig _setpagedevice in the line. As a result, of the arbitrary number of keys registered in the dictionary associated with the setpagedevice operator,
Only the key geSize is invalidated, and the rest of the keys retain the terms of the original page device dictionary.

Line 107: A paper size B4 as an external attribute is registered in orig_setpagedevice.

As a result, even if setpagedevice appears in the portion corresponding to the original document file (first line and below), the PageSize key is invalidated as far as the operator concerned is concerned, and the paper size can be specified by setpagedevice. Disappears. On the other hand, in line 107 orig _setpa
The paper size B4 is registered in gedevice,
By redefining ~ 106 lines, about PageSize key
Since the setting by orig _setpagedevice is effective,
As a result, only the specification of the paper size is changed from A4 to B4. Although setpagedevice appears on the second line of FIG. 4, this operator does not actually do anything because the operator cannot specify the paper size. Setpagede on line 3
The vice operator appears, but the key in this dictionary is PageSi
Since it is not ze, Duplex (double-sided printing) is effective as in FIG. Subsequent rows are the same as in FIG.

The above is the redefinition of the operator (S1 in FIG. 3).
6) and creation of a document file after attribute replacement (S18). The feature of S16 is that the redefinition is performed irrespective of what attribute is described in the original document file. That is, if a paper size is specified in the original document file, it is only necessary to invalidate the specification and add a description at which a new specification is made to the head of the file. For this reason, the operator redefinition unit 52 of FIG.
Are simply added to the head of the original document file. Of course, the key to be invalidated changes depending on what external attribute is specified, but this has been taken into account when the description is converted by the description conversion unit 46.

After S18, the document file after attribute replacement is sent to the visualization processing unit 54. Here, first, the document file after the attribute replacement is interpreted by the PDL interpreter 56 by a known method. As a result of the interpretation, the buffer drawing unit 58
Is sent, and the buffer drawing unit 58 performs drawing in the page buffer. When the rendering of one page is completed, the image data is sent to the printer 30, and
Visualization of the document by 0, that is, printing is performed.

The above is the description of the present embodiment. Note that the present embodiment may have the following modifications.

1. In the present embodiment, a system including a network is considered.
C and one printer can also be realized. In this case, the present invention may be used inside a PC or a printer.

2. Similarly, the present invention provides a print server 20
Inside, it can be used at a place other than the decomposer 28. For example, when printing is performed by another printer, the present invention may be implemented by the redirector 32 of FIG.

3. In the present embodiment, the description conversion unit 46 and the correspondence table 48 are provided inside the decomposer 28, but there are considerable degrees of freedom as to where to put them. For example, the processing target document file may be provided in the PC 4 and after the description is converted after the processing by the print instruction panel 10 is completed, the document file to be processed may be sent to the print server 20.

4. In this embodiment, P is used as the document description language.
Although the DL, especially the PostScript language has been described, any other language that can be redefined by the operator can be used regardless of the type.

5. Here, printing has been described as an example of the visualization processing, but this may naturally be other processing such as copying or screen display.

Embodiment 2 In the first embodiment, the replacement of the attribute is performed by redefining the operator. In this embodiment,
A method of replacing an attribute by deleting and adding an operator will be described.

[Configuration] Also in this embodiment, attribute replacement is performed inside the decomposer. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the attribute replacement unit 50 included in the decomposer of the present embodiment, and the other parts are the same as in FIG. Hereinafter, portions different from the first embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, the attribute replacing section 50 includes a document file scanning section 60 for scanning the entire document file passed from the document file receiving section 44, and an operator deleting section for deleting an operator to be invalidated from the document file. 62
And an operator adding section 64 for adding an operator to be newly enabled in the document file.

[Operation] As in the first embodiment, it is assumed that “paper size B4” is designated as an external attribute for the document file shown in FIG. First, the description conversion unit 46
The description of L << PageSize [729 1032] >> setpagedevice is obtained, and is passed to the document file scanning unit 60 of the attribute replacement unit 50.

The document file scanning section 60 scans the entire document file based on the description of the PDL, and searches for a location where PageSize is registered in setpagedevice in the document file. If a corresponding location is found, the original description is deleted by the operator deleting unit 62, and the PDL description is added to the same location by the operator adding unit 64. As a result, the external attribute is registered in setpagedevice.

FIG. 6 shows a document file after attribute replacement. In this figure, the same line as in FIG. 9 is given the same line number, and the newly added line is given the line number 200. As can be seen from this figure, the document file scanning unit 60 has found that the second line of the original document file has a description to be invalidated, and this is deleted. Instead, a description for enabling the external attribute is added to this line as line 200. As a result, B4 is selected as the paper size in the subsequent visualization processing, and the intended purpose is achieved.

Although the first embodiment is directed to a language in which the operator can be redefined, in the present embodiment, the operator is not redefined, so that the present invention can be widely applied to all document description languages. Further, the modified example is the same as the first embodiment.

Embodiment 3 FIG . In the second embodiment, a document file is scanned for attribute replacement. However, when the subsequent visualization processing is performed, the PDL interpreter must still read the document file. In the third embodiment,
An example will be described in which the reading operation is designed so as to also perform scanning for attribute replacement.

[Configuration] FIG. 7 is an internal configuration diagram of the decomposer 28 according to the third embodiment. 2 are given the same reference numerals.

The difference between the decomposer 28 of the present embodiment and that of the first embodiment is that the visualization processing unit of the present embodiment includes an attribute replacement unit in terms of configuration. That is, the visualization processing unit 70 includes a sequential reading unit 72 that reads the document file passed from the document file receiving unit 44 from the beginning, for example, line by line. A PDL interpreter 76 exists. In the present embodiment, an attribute replacing unit 74 and a PDL interpreting unit 76 are provided side by side in response to a request for a processing flow described later. In addition,
The attribute replacement unit 74 has the same configuration as the attribute replacement unit of the second embodiment.
Shall have an effect.

[Operation] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sequential reading section 72. The sequential reading section 72 first reads the first line of the document file (S30). Subsequently, the attribute replacement unit 74 determines whether or not there is a description relating to the attribute to be invalidated in this line (S32), and if it exists, replaces the attribute, that is, deletes the description to be invalidated and validates the external attribute. Is added (S34). On the other hand, if there is no description to be invalidated in the read line, the processing related to attribute replacement is skipped.

After the necessary replacement is completed, the PDL interpreter 76 interprets the description of the same line (S36). After that, it is confirmed whether or not there is a line to be read in the document file (S
38), a series of processing is read as long as the line remains (S)
Repeat from 30).

The above is the operation of the third embodiment. According to this embodiment, attribute replacement and PDL interpretation are performed in parallel, and when replacement is necessary, P
The interpretation of the DL follows. In this embodiment, the PDL
Since attribute replacement is performed using a reading operation for interpretation, it is useful in terms of processing efficiency. The modification is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0062]

According to the document visualization processing method of the present invention, another attribute can be specified later on a document file once completed, and this can be reflected in the visualization processing. For this reason, there is no need for a user who is familiar with the document description language to edit the document file by himself as in the related art.

When the attribute is replaced by the operator redefinition, the purpose can be achieved without making any change to the original document file. Also,
For example, it is only necessary to add a necessary description to the head of the document file, so that it is not necessary to scan the entire document file.

On the other hand, when the attribute is replaced by deleting and adding an operator, the present invention can be applied to a document description language in which the operator cannot be redefined. In this case, if the reading operation of the document file is used for detecting the description to be invalidated, the processing efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of a decomposer according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a series of processing from designation of an external attribute to visualization processing according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a document file after attribute replacement according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an attribute replacement unit included in the decomposer according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a document file after attribute replacement according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an internal configuration diagram of a decomposer according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a sequential reading unit according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document file described in PostScript.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 network, 4, 6, 8 PC, 10 print instruction panel, 20 print server, 22 communication control unit, 2
4 spooler, 26 print controller, 28 decomposer, 30 printer, 32 redirector, 4
0 input unit, 42 external attribute receiving unit, 44 document file receiving unit, 46 description conversion unit, 48 correspondence table, 5
0,74 Attribute replacement unit, 52 Operator redefinition unit, 5
4,70 visualization processor, 56,76 PDL interpreter, 5
8 Buffer drawing unit, 60 Document file scanning unit, 62
Operator deletion unit, 64 operator addition unit, 72 sequential reading unit.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Toyowa Uda 3-2-1, Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa KSP R & D Business Park Building Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takaaki Hiramatsu, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 3-2-1 Sakado KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Ikuo Ebe 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for visualizing an original document from a document file described in a document description language capable of describing the attributes of the processing together with the contents of the document. When a new attribute is specified, a conversion step of converting the new attribute into a description in the document description language; and invalidating a noted attribute corresponding to the new attribute among attributes described in the document file. Along with
An attribute replacement step of validating the new attribute using the converted description; and a visualization step of visualizing the original document by interpreting the document file with the attribute replaced. A document visualization processing method characterized by the following. 2. The document visualization processing method according to claim 1, wherein the document description language includes an operator instructing a processing mode in the visualization processing, and the attribute described in the document file is an operator. The attribute replacement step introduces a new operator different from the operator existing in the document file, and the new attribute is registered in this operator. And a description for
For the noted attribute, a description for redefining the original operator so that the new operator becomes effective instead of the original operator existing in the document file is added to the document file. Visualization processing method. 3. The document visualization processing method according to claim 1, wherein the document description language includes an operator instructing a mode of the visualization process, and the attribute described in the document file is an operator. Is registered in the form of registering the attribute. In the attribute replacement step, a description location where the attribute of interest is registered by the operator is detected in the document file, and the description is deleted. A visualization processing method characterized by adding a description for registering a new attribute to the operator. 4. The document visualization processing method according to claim 3, wherein when the document files are sequentially read in order to perform the visualization step, the detection is performed using the reading operation. Visualization processing method.