JPH10340314A - Document processing system, character recognition method therefor and record medium therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately and automatically set a format definition by converting an extracted second format definition to a third format definition in correspondence relation and recognizing the character of a document image, based on the third format definition. SOLUTION: A CPU 40A inside a terminal equipment 40 reads middle and small size printer format definitions or the like to a memory 40B for work inside the terminal equipment 40. The CPU 40A successively extracts definition data relating to the format definition for character recognition from the format definitions. The format definition for the character recognition converted from the format definition for printing is stored in the work memory 40B and then, preserved in a hard disk storage device(HDD) 40C. The CPU 40A prepares the definition for the respective kinds of the format definition for the character recognition an all the required format definitions for the character recognition are prepared. The definitions for the character recognition prepared on the HDD 40C are used at the read of the image of a document original by a scanner 42 and at the recognition of the character.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form processing system for reading a form original and recognizing the read result as characters, a character recognition method and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a form processing system for reading a form original with a scanner, recognizing the read result as characters, and encoding information described in the form. A large-scale system employs a configuration in which a host computer such as a mainframe and a terminal device are connected via a LAN (local area network). This system configuration is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, a host computer 10,
A large printer 20, a disk storage device 30, and a plurality of terminal devices 40 are connected by a LAN 50.

[0006] A small-sized printer 41 and a scanner 42 are connected to the terminal device 40. The form processing system having such a configuration performs the form processing as shown in FIG. The host computer 10 creates a form to be printed according to an instruction from the terminal device 40. As a language for creating a form for printing the form, for example, OGL
(Overlay Generation Langu
Age is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation. ) Are known. The form data 101 described in the form generation language is transferred from the host computer 10 to the large printer 20, and the large printer 20 prints out the form. The form data is stored in the form of a database in the disk storage device 30, and is retrieved by the host computer 10 as needed.

The terminal device 40 can print only a form on which general information is described or a form on which no information is described (standard characters and ruled lines) by a small-sized printer 41 connected to the terminal device 40 itself. . In general, a large printer 20 used by a large computer and a small printer 41 used by a small computer such as a personal computer have a different printing format description method. Is converted into a format definition described in, for example, a page description language (reference numeral 102 in FIG. 2). If necessary, the form data 103 obtained as a result of the conversion is added to the form description information (text) 104 and printed out from the printer 41 (reference numeral 106 in FIG. 2).

Information is written with handwritten characters in a ruled line frame 204 of a form printed by the large printer 20 as shown in FIG. The form document on which information is described by handwritten characters is set on the scanner 42, and the document image is read (reference numeral 107 in FIG. 2).

The read original image (reference numeral 1 in FIG. 2)
08) is sent to the terminal device 40, and the terminal device 40 performs character recognition (109 in FIG. 2).

Usually, in the case of character recognition, it is necessary to define in advance a format such as the size of a document to be recognized, the position and size of a character area to be recognized in a document image (also called a character recognition frame). (Reference numeral 11 in FIG. 2)
0).

In the terminal device 40, the original image in the character recognition frame indicated by the format definition, that is,
A character image is extracted from the read document image and compared with a character pattern prepared in advance.
The character code of the matching character pattern is the character recognition result. By performing the character recognition in this manner, the handwritten characters described in the form document are converted into character codes and converted into the text 1
11 can be obtained. The obtained text is stored in the database of the disk storage device 30 via the host computer 10, and is retrieved as needed.

In such a form processing system, since the information described in the form original can be stored in the disk storage device 30, it is not necessary to save the form original itself, and so-called paperless office work can be performed. It can be carried out.

[0011]

As described above, at least the position and size of the recognition character frame are required for character recognition of a character image described on a form. A character recognition device that examines the pixel distribution of a document image and automatically determines the position and size of the recognized character frame has also been proposed.
When a large number of characters having irregular sizes, such as handwritten characters, are described in a document, there is a characteristic that the detection accuracy of the character frame is poor. For this reason, there are various sizes of characters, and it is not suitable for handling a form in which handwritten characters are mixed.

On the other hand, when the position of the character frame or the like is designated by a manual operation, the user's instruction operation becomes more complicated as the number of characters to be recognized increases.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a form processing system, a character recognition method and a form processing system capable of accurately and automatically setting a format definition such as a character frame for character recognition of a form image. It is to provide the recording medium.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To attain the above object, an invention according to claim 1 relates to a format for character recognition in a first format definition which defines a format for printing. A correspondence between a second format definition to be defined and a third format definition defining a format for character recognition is determined in advance, and the second format definition is extracted from the first format definition. Mutual extracting means having a characteristic, format converting means for converting the extracted second format definition into the third format definition in the correspondence, character recognition of a form image based on the converted third format definition And character recognition means for performing

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the form processing system according to the first aspect, a third format definition defining a format for character recognition is converted into the second format definition based on the correspondence. And a bidirectional mutual extracting means for extracting the first format definition from the converted second format definition.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the form processing system according to the first or second aspect, the first format definition is described in a page description language.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the form processing system according to the third aspect, wherein the fourth form described in a form generation language is used.
A host computer for processing a form based on the format definition, a terminal device connected to the host computer, and the terminal device having the bidirectional mutual extraction means;
The apparatus is characterized in that the format conversion means and the character recognition means are arranged, and the terminal device acquires the first format definition from the fourth format definition by format conversion.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the form processing system according to the first or second aspect, the first format definition is described in a form generation language.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the form processing system according to the fifth aspect, a host computer for processing the first format definition described in the form generation language, and a terminal device connected to the host computer. And
The terminal device is provided with the bidirectional mutual extraction unit, the format conversion unit, and the character recognition unit, and the terminal device acquires the first format definition from the host computer.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the form processing system according to the first or second aspect, there is further provided image reading means for reading a form original, and the form image read by the image reading means is subjected to the character recognition. The means is characterized by character recognition.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the form processing system according to the first or second aspect, the character recognizing means can recognize handwritten characters, and the first format definition includes a form. A format definition that defines the position of the ruled line is included, and a recognition frame for handwritten characters is determined from the format definition.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the form processing system according to the eighth aspect, prior to character recognition, the character recognizing means includes: Is characterized in that ruled line images are removed from.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the character recognition method of a form processing system provided with an information processing device having a character recognition function, the information processing device is configured to select a format for printing from a first format definition. A second format definition related to a format for character recognition is extracted, and a correspondence between a third format definition defining a format for character recognition and the second format definition is determined in advance. Based on the relationship, the extracted second format definition is converted into the third format definition, and character recognition of the form image is performed based on the converted third format definition.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the character recognition method of the form processing system according to the tenth or eleventh aspect, the third format definition defining a format for character recognition is defined based on the correspondence. The method is characterized in that the format conversion is performed to a second format definition, and the first format definition is extracted from the converted second format definition.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the form processing system character recognition method according to the tenth or eleventh aspect, the first format definition is described in a page description language.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the character recognition method of the form processing system according to the twelfth aspect, the form processing system has a host computer for processing the fourth format definition described in a form generation language. The information processing device is connected to the host computer as a terminal device, and the information processing device is connected to the fourth computer.
The first format definition is obtained from the format definition by format conversion.

According to a fourteenth aspect, in the character recognition method of the form processing system according to the tenth or eleventh aspect, the first format definition is described in a form generation language.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the character recognition method of the form processing system according to the fourteenth aspect, the information processing system has a host computer for processing the first format definition described in the form generation language. And
The information processing device is connected to the host computer as a terminal device, and the information processing device acquires the first format definition from the host computer.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the character recognition method of the form processing system according to the tenth or eleventh aspect, the form processing system further includes an image reading device for reading a width document. The form image read by the reading device is subjected to character recognition in the information processing device.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the character recognition method of the form processing system according to the tenth or eleventh aspect, the information processing apparatus can recognize handwritten characters, and Is characterized by including a format definition that defines the position of a ruled line described in a form, and determining a recognition frame for handwritten characters from the format definition.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the character recognition method of the form processing system according to the seventeenth aspect, the information processing apparatus performs the character recognition based on a format definition defining a ruled line position prior to character recognition. The ruled line image is removed from the form image.

The invention according to claim 19 is a recording medium for a form processing system comprising an information processing apparatus having a character recognition function and recording executable program code means read by the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus has a bidirectional step of extracting a second format definition related to a format for character recognition from a first format definition defining a format for printing; A correspondence relationship between a third format definition that defines a format for the second format definition and the second format definition is predetermined, and based on the correspondence relationship,
Converting the extracted second format definition into the third format definition;
Performing character recognition of the form image based on the format definition.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the recording medium of the form processing system according to the nineteenth aspect, the third format definition that defines a format for character recognition based on the correspondence is defined as the second format definition. And a bidirectional step of extracting the first format definition from the converted second format definition.

[0034]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, the fixed form information of the form document to be read, for example, the form name, company name, ruled lines, and the like are printed and handwritten characters are entered in the ruled line frame of the form. The inventor of the present application has noticed that a format definition for character recognition is automatically created from a format definition used for printing in a forward direction, or a format definition used for printing is created from a format definition for character recognition in a backward direction. There is a feature in doing so.

First, of the automatic creation that can be performed in the forward and reverse directions, the former method of automatically creating a format definition for character recognition will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 shows an example of a form image to be displayed or printed and a format definition for printing the form image. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 200 denotes an outer peripheral frame of a form, that is, an outer peripheral frame of printing paper. Reference numeral 201 denotes fixed character information, which is a company name in the illustrated example. Reference numeral 202 denotes fixed character information, which is described in, for example, a ruled line frame 203 in the drawing. Reference numeral 204 denotes a column for writing with handwritten characters, which is blank at the time of printing. Reference numeral 205 denotes a format definition for printing a character (generally called print data), which has an identification code indicating that the character size is defined or a numerical value indicating the character size. Reference numeral 206 denotes a format definition indicating the first character position of a character string to be printed.

Reference numeral 207 denotes a character string to be printed at the position defined by the format definition 201. 208 and 209 are line drawing commands for printing ruled lines, and line drawing commands are prepared corresponding to the ruled line positions on the form. Although the format definition shown in FIG. 3 is schematically represented for convenience of description, characters and straight lines are described for each page description language such as PostScript (a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.). A method has been established.

FIG. 4 shows a character definition or a format definition for character recognition. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 301 denotes the outer peripheral frame of the document, that is, the outer peripheral frame of the paper. Reference numeral 302 denotes a whole character recognition frame excluding a margin. The entire character recognition frame corresponds to the print area in printing.

L1 is the distance between the upper peripheral frame of the document and the entire character recognition frame 302, and corresponds to the top margin in printing.

L2 is the distance between the left outer peripheral frame of the document and the entire character recognition frame 302, and corresponds to the left margin in printing. The distance L2 may be called a print start position.

L3 is the right outer peripheral frame of the document and the entire character frame 30.
2 and corresponds to the right margin in printing. The distance L3 may be called a printable end position. The distance L4 is the distance between the character frame 303 and the outer peripheral frame of the left part of the document.

The distance L7 is the distance between the character frame 303 and the outer peripheral frame of the upper part of the document. The position of the head of the character frame string is determined by the distance L4 and the distance L7.

L5 is the width of the character frame, and L8 is the height of the character frame. In the case of printing, it is determined by the character size. Character size is sometimes called font size.

Although not shown in FIG. 4, it goes without saying that a distance between the outer peripheral frame of the original document and the entire character recognition frame 302 is prepared. In this embodiment, the distance, width, and height that determine such a format for character recognition are referred to as format definition parameters.

As described above, since the format definition for character recognition has a correspondence with the print format, the parameters of the format definition for character recognition are obtained from various parameters related to the format definition for printing or converted and converted. By automatically adding a parameter value to an identification code for character recognition, a format for character recognition is automatically created. An example of a calculation formula for calculating the parameters of the character recognition format from the print format parameters will be described below.

[0046]

## EQU1 ## Read original size = print paper size Entire character recognition frame size = print area size, and size is represented by height and width.

One character recognition frame size = font size + α (fixed value) nth character position = horizontal direction L4 + (n−1) * (L5
+ L6) n is the number of characters in a continuous character string. Vertical direction L7. There are various methods for describing the print format definition for the character position. In any of these methods, the vertical and horizontal distance from the origin position of the recording paper is used. Since (coordinates), directions, and the like can be obtained, the position of each character may be calculated according to the description method.

The coordinate position of the ruled line frame can be obtained by converting the coordinate values of the start point and the end point described in the ruled line drawing command, or can be used as it is.

In the case of the reverse direction, the calculation may be performed by following the reverse of the above calculation process.

A form processing system using such a method for creating a character recognition format definition will be described. Although the hardware configuration of the form processing system can be the same as that of the conventional example shown in FIG. 1, software (FIGS. 6 and 7) for converting into a character recognition format definition is installed in the terminal device 40. The point is different from the past.

The operation of the form processing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7. FIG. FIG. 5 shows a data conversion process. The processing procedure of FIG. 6 is described in the form of a program language that can be read and executed by the CPU 40A in the terminal device 40, and a recording medium in the terminal device 40, for example, a hard disk storage device (HDD)
It is stored in 40C. The processing procedure of FIG. 7 shows a detailed procedure for acquiring a parameter relating to the character recognition frame.

Although the processing procedures shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are expressed in terms of functions for convenience of explanation, those skilled in the art cannot easily create an actual program from the processing procedures shown in FIGS. Will get.

The user instructs the host computer 10 from the keyboard (shown in the figure) of the terminal device 40 to copy the desired print format definition (for a large printer) stored in the disk storage device 30 to the terminal device 40. To transfer. This processing is the same as the conventional one. The user sends the conversion program to the CPU
The print format definition for a large printer is converted into a print format definition for a small / medium printer by executing the processing at 40A (form data data 501 → format conversion processing 502 → form data 503 in FIG. 5).

Next, the user activates the processing program shown in FIG. 6 and converts the print format definition for a small-sized printer into a character-recognition format definition. More specifically, CPU 40A in terminal device 40 (hereinafter referred to as CPU 40A)
) Is stored in a work memory (hereinafter, abbreviated as a work memory 40B) in the terminal device 40. The small and medium printer format definitions (the character-related format definitions 205 to 206 and the ruled line-related format definitions 208 in FIG. , 209) (step S100 in FIG. 6).

The CPU 40A sequentially extracts definition data related to the character recognition format definition from the format definitions read into the work memory 40B (loop processing of steps S110 to S120).

For example, in the format definition of FIG. 3, for example, the character size definition 205 specifies a specific character string indicating the character size (the above-described identification code, FONT in the postscript language).
SIZE) and a numerical value (parameter value) indicating the size of the character are described. By detecting the specific character string and the numerical value by searching, the character size for character recognition can be extracted. Further, as a format definition relating to the recognized character frame, a coordinate position (reference numeral 206 in FIG. 3) indicating the head position of the character and a character code string (reference numeral 207 in FIG. 3) starting from the position are extracted. Using the data thus extracted, the CPU 40A creates a format definition for character recognition (step S130 in FIG. 6).

When creating a format definition of a character frame, Equations 3 and 4 are used from the values of parameters such as the character size, character spacing, leading character position, and character code string read into the work memory 40B. To calculate the size and position of the character recognition frame (steps S10 to S3 in FIG. 7).
0).

In addition, for the character recognition frame within the ruled line frame, the intersection coordinates of the ruled line are calculated, and the calculation result is set as the size and position of the character recognition frame. As described above, a character recognition format definition other than the character recognition format definition described above is also calculated from the related print format definition (step S in FIG. 7).
40).

The format definition for character recognition converted from the format definition for printing as described above is stored in the work memory 40B, and then stored in the HDD 40C (step S50).

When the CPU 40A creates the character recognition format definition for each type and creates all necessary character recognition format definitions (step S140 in FIG. 6), the CPU 40A ends the processing procedure in FIG. (Conversion processing 504 in FIG. 5 → format definition 505 for character recognition (OCR)).

Thus, the HDD 40 of the terminal device 40
The character recognition definition created on C is used when the scanner 42 reads an image of a form document and performs character recognition on the terminal device 40 (reference numerals 505 and 50 in FIG. 5).
6, 514).

For example, the format definition for the document size and the entire character recognition frame in the character recognition format definition is used when reading the image of the form document, and the character recognition format for the position and size of the character recognition frame is read. It is used when extracting a character image to be recognized from image data.

The following embodiment can be carried out in addition to the above-described embodiment.

1) In the above-described embodiment, the format for printing described in the page description language is converted into the format definition for character recognition. However, the form for the large printer used on the host computer 10 side is used. The print format definition described in the generation language may be directly converted into a format definition for character recognition. Also in this case, a conversion formula is defined for each type of format,
The related print format definition is extracted from the print data described in the form generation language, and the character recognition format definition is obtained by the above conversion formula (reference numeral 501 in FIG. 5).
→ (dotted line) reference numeral 504).

By the way, OGL which is one of the form generation languages
In the case of, the print format definition includes a page definition and a form definition. The page definition is a definition for mapping print data on a page, such as a definition of a font type, a rotation, a rotation direction, and a position designation on a page in a field unit. The format definition is a definition of a print form, and designates the number of copies, the designation of an electronic overlay, the presence or absence of double-sided printing, and the like. Since these page definitions and form definitions are described in the form of commands including parameters,
By identifying the type of command, a print format definition related to character recognition is extracted from the above-described page definition and form definition, and converted into a format definition for character recognition.

2) In the above-described embodiment, an example of setting a character recognition frame for a fixed character string in a form data for printing, that is, a so-called fixed character string is included, but it is described in a description box surrounded by ruled lines. If it is sufficient to set the character recognition frame only for the handwritten characters, the format conversion for the fixed characters can be omitted. Further, it goes without saying that only the format definition for character recognition required by the program for character recognition need be converted.

In addition, for a character recognition device or a program that sets a character recognition frame for a plurality of characters or one line, instead of a single character recognition frame, a character recognition frame of an appropriate size may be created.

If it cannot be obtained from the print format definition such as the setting of the reading resolution of the scanner 42,
What is necessary is just to set manually as usual. At this time, the automatically created character recognition format definition is displayed as a default (as an initial value), and if this format definition can be manually corrected, the form format such as contraction of the form document and the description of the actual form document Correct errors in the image.

3) In the above-described embodiment, the print format definition in the page description language form is obtained by conversion from the print format definition described in the form generation language for a large printer. The format can be obtained by conversion from format-related data in a document created by word processing software mounted on a personal computer, for example, MS WORD (registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation).

4) The print format definition described in the page description language, that is, the form data in which the handwritten character description field is blank is written in RTF (Rich Text).
The format is converted into a text with a format such as “Registered Trademark of Aldus” (reference numeral 503 → 508 → 509 in FIG. 5). It can be changed, printed, and recorded on a portable recording medium such as a floppy disk.

5) A method of inputting a print format definition in the form of a page description language to the terminal device 40 may be a method desired by the user, such as an off-line transfer using a floppy disk, a method using character input from a keyboard, etc. The form is good.

6) In the above-described embodiment, the format conversion of the character recognition frame has been mainly described. The position data of the ruled line of the form can also be used for the process of deleting the ruled line image.
More specifically, the image read from the form document includes a ruled line image. The CPU 40A executes a well-known character recognition processing program on the ruled line image and removes the image, so that the image to be recognized is only a character, thereby improving the character recognition accuracy.

7) In the above-described embodiment, character recognition is performed by executing character recognition software on the terminal device 40 side. However, the scanner and the information processing device for executing character recognition processing exclusively are integrated. The form processing system may be constituted by the character recognition device and the printer described above. Further, a form processing system in which this character recognition device is connected to the terminal device 40 having no character recognition function shown in FIG. 1 can be configured.

8) The format definition for character recognition may be described as an identification code + parameter value as in the above-described embodiment, but only parameters are stored in a dedicated area in the work memory 40B. Can be. In this case, the storage address indicates the type of the form definition.

[0075]

As described above, as described above, claims 1 and 1
According to the inventions 0 and 19, a format definition for character recognition can be automatically created from a format definition for printing.
The user does not need to manually create the format definition, and is freed from complicated operations related to character recognition. In addition, even if the form printed by the print format definition is character-recognized, since the print format definition and the character-recognition format definition are in a correspondence relationship, there is no misunderstanding caused by setting the recognition area manually in the past. And the character recognition accuracy does not deteriorate.

According to the second, eleventh and twentieth aspects of the present invention, on the contrary, the format definition for printing can be created from the format definition for character recognition, so that the user can create difficult and troublesome printing format definitions. This eliminates the need to perform such operations, and eliminates the need for complicated work related to printing. In addition, even if the form printed by the print format definition is recognized by characters, there is a correspondence between the character definition format definition and the print format definition. And the character recognition accuracy does not deteriorate.

According to the third and twelfth aspects of the present invention, a character definition format definition is created from a print format definition described in a page description language used in a small- and medium-sized computer. (Stand-alone) Character recognition can be performed on small and medium-sized computers. Conversely, the printing format definition described in the page description language used in the small and medium-sized computer is also created from the character recognition format definition, so that the terminal device connected to the LAN or an independent (stand-alone) device can be used. Printing on small and medium computers.

According to the fourth and thirteenth aspects of the present invention, the terminal device receives the format definition of the form generation language from the host computer, converts the format into the page description language, and then can create the format definition for character recognition.

According to the fifth, sixth, fourteenth, and fifteenth aspects of the present invention, a format definition for character recognition is directly created from a printing format definition of a created form language used on the host computer side. This enables character recognition by the terminal device connected to the host computer, and simplifies operation on the terminal device. Conversely, a format definition for printing in a form language used on the host computer side can be created directly from the created format definition for character recognition. Therefore, the user learns the esoteric and cumbersome language for printing and does the programming work,
It is not necessary to go to the output reception many times, receive the printed output form, check the description mistake, and create the format definition, thereby being freed from the complicated work related to printing. This enables high-precision printing by a single instruction from the terminal device connected to the host computer, and eliminates the reciprocating operation between the terminal device and the output reception (or printing device). In addition, even if the form printed by the print format definition is recognized by characters, there is a correspondence between the character definition format definition and the print format definition. And the character recognition accuracy does not deteriorate. Furthermore, due to the recent trend of downsizing, the huge legacy of the past such as the format definition for high-volume and high-speed printing created and stored by the host computer (here,
A database. ), The format definitions for small and medium sized prints, or the format definitions related to character recognition formats,
Format conversion or extraction is possible.

According to the seventh and sixteenth aspects of the present invention, by incorporating an image reading means such as a scanner into the form processing system, it is possible to automatically input the form description data from the form original. Conversely, form description data from a form document can be sent directly to the host computer, accumulated in a database, and processed in large quantities at high speed by a terminal device connected to the host computer. it can.

According to the inventions of claims 8 and 17, since the character recognition frame for the handwritten characters to be entered in the ruled line frame is created from the printing format for the ruled line, the accuracy of the position of the character recognition frame is improved. In addition, once, the format definition for character recognition is created from the created print format definition, and conversely, the created format definition for character recognition, or for character recognition that is an intermediate product. From the format definition related to the format, a printing format definition of a form language used on the host computer side can be created. Then, as described above, the user learns an esoteric and cumbersome language for printing, performs programming work, repeatedly visits the output reception, receives the printed form,
There is no need to create a format definition while checking for a description error, thereby eliminating the need for complicated work related to printing. This makes it possible to perform high-precision printing with a single instruction from a terminal device connected to the host computer, and accept output from the terminal device (or a printing device).
There is no need to go back and forth between them.

According to the ninth and eighteenth aspects, the position of the ruled line is obtained from the print format definition. Thus, it is not necessary to recognize the ruled line image in the form image as in the related art, and the character recognition processing time can be reduced. In addition, compared to a character recognition device that does not perform ruled line removal processing,
Character recognition accuracy is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a form processing system configuration.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a processing process of a conventional form processing.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a description example of a form and contents of a format definition thereof.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining parameters of a format definition.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a form processing process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of creating a character recognition format definition.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for creating a character recognition format definition.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Host computer 20 (Large-sized) printer 30 Disk storage device 40 Terminal device 40A CPU 40B Work memory 40C Hard disk storage device (HDD) 41 (Medium and small-sized) printer 42 Scanner 50 LAN

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A first format definition defining a format for printing, a second format related to a format for character recognition.
Correspondence between a format definition and a third format definition that defines a format for character recognition is determined in advance, and the bidirectionality for extracting the second format definition from the first format definition is provided. Mutual extracting means, format converting means for converting the extracted second format definition into the third format definition into the correspondence, characters for performing character recognition of a form image based on the converted third format definition A form processing system comprising recognition means. 2. The form processing system according to claim 1, wherein a third format definition defining a format for character recognition is format-converted to the second format definition based on the correspondence. From the second format definition
A form processing system comprising: a mutual extraction unit having bidirectionality for extracting a format definition. 3. The form processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first format definition is described in a page description language. 4. The form processing system according to claim 3, further comprising: a host computer for processing a form based on a fourth format definition described in a form generation language; a terminal device connected to the host computer; Wherein said mutual extracting means having bidirectionality, said format converting means and said character recognizing means are arranged, and said terminal device acquires said first format definition from said fourth format definition by format conversion. Report processing system. 5. The form processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first format definition is described in a form generation language. 6. The form processing system according to claim 5, further comprising: a host computer for processing the first format definition described in the form generation language, and a terminal device connected to the host computer. A form processing system, further comprising: a mutual extraction unit having the bidirectionality; the format conversion unit; and the character recognition unit, wherein the terminal device acquires the first format definition from the host computer. 7. The form processing system according to claim 1, further comprising image reading means for reading a form document, wherein said character recognizing means recognizes a form image read by said image reading means. A form processing system characterized by the following. 8. The form processing system according to claim 1, wherein said character recognizing means is capable of recognizing a handwritten character, and said first format definition includes a position of a ruled line described in the form. A form processing system including a format definition that defines a handwritten character recognition frame based on the format definition. 9. The form processing system according to claim 8, wherein said character recognizing means removes a ruled line image from said form image based on a format definition defining a position of said ruled line prior to character recognition. And a form processing system. 10. A character recognition method for a form processing system provided with an information processing device having a character recognition function, wherein the information processing device performs character recognition for character recognition from a first format definition defining a format for printing. A second format definition different from the format is extracted, and a correspondence between a third format definition defining a format for character recognition and the second format definition is determined in advance, and based on the correspondence, A character recognition method for a form processing system, comprising: converting the extracted second format definition into the third format definition; and performing character recognition of a form image based on the converted third format definition. 11. The character recognition method for a form processing system according to claim 10, wherein a third format definition defining a format for character recognition is converted into the second format definition based on the correspondence. From the converted second format definition,
A character recognition method for a form processing system, further comprising extracting a format definition. 12. The character recognition method for a form processing system according to claim 10, wherein the first format definition is described in a page description language. . 13. A character recognition method for a form processing system according to claim 12, wherein said form processing system has a host computer for processing a fourth format definition described in a form generation language. Wherein the information processing device is connected as a terminal device, and the information processing device acquires the first format definition from the fourth format definition by format conversion. . 14. A character recognition method for a form processing system according to claim 10, wherein said first format definition is described in a form generation language. . 15. A character recognition method for a form processing system according to claim 14, wherein said information processing system has a host computer for processing a first format definition described in said form generation language. Wherein the information processing device is connected as a terminal device, and the information processing device acquires the first format definition from the host computer. 16. The character recognition method for a form processing system according to claim 10, wherein said form processing system further comprises an image reading device for reading a form document, and wherein the form read by said image reading device. A character recognition method for a form processing system, wherein a character of an image is recognized by the information processing apparatus. 17. The character recognition method for a form processing system according to claim 10, wherein the information processing device is capable of recognizing handwritten characters, and the first format definition is described in a form. A character recognition method for a form processing system, characterized by including a format definition defining the position of the ruled line, and determining a recognition frame for handwritten characters from the format definition. 18. The form recognizing method according to claim 17, wherein the information processing apparatus selects one of the form images from the form image based on a format definition defining a position of the ruled line prior to character recognition. A character recognition method for a form processing system, wherein a ruled line image is removed. 19. A recording medium for a form processing system comprising an information processing device having a character recognition function and recording executable program code means read by the information processing device, wherein the program code means comprises: The apparatus includes a bi-directional step of extracting a second format definition related to an expression for character recognition from a first format definition that defines a format for printing, and defining a format for character recognition. A correspondence relationship between the third format definition and the second format definition is determined in advance, and converting the extracted second format definition into the third format definition based on the correspondence relationship; Performing character recognition of the form image based on the converted third format definition. Recording medium of the vote processing system. 20. The recording medium of the form processing system according to claim 19, wherein a third format definition that defines a format for character recognition is format-converted into the second format definition based on the correspondence. From the converted second format definition, the first format
And a step having an interactivity for extracting a format definition.