JPH1063657A - Layout processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] When copying a document from another document into a designated area of a document being edited, data in the area can be maintained in a proper arrangement balance. SOLUTION: A document memory 21 stores data and format information of a base document, and data and format information of a layout area. The save memory 22 saves the data of the base document at the time of importing another document. The editing work memory 23 temporarily stores data in a range specified in another document. An application program having a layout processing function is stored in the storage device 15, the portable storage medium 17, and the like.
If the data stored in the editing work memory 23 does not fit in the copy destination designation area of the base document, the format information is changed so as to fit in this area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a layout processing apparatus for laying out data within an arbitrary range on a page.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a document creation device (word processor software or the like) has a function of referring to a document other than the document being edited and copying a part of the document to the document being edited.

[0003] Such a function is that, when a certain document is specified by a predetermined key operation or the like while a certain document is being edited, for example, the display is once switched to the display of the contents of the document. Next, when the range of the portion to be copied in the document is specified, the document data in this range is saved in the work area, and the display is switched to the display of the document being edited. Then, for example, by specifying an area by a layout frame provided in a certain type of word processing software, a position and a range of a copy destination in a document being edited are specified, and a document saved in the work area in the layout frame is designated. By pasting the data, desired data can be copied from another document to a predetermined position / range of the document being edited.

The object to be copied is not limited to a character string, but a graphic or a table can be copied in a frame.

[0005]

In the above-described conventional area editing function, when another document is copied in the frame, the document to be copied may not fit in the frame. In such a case, for example, the function of the layout frame automatically expands the frame, but this changes the arrangement of characters and the like outside the frame, making it impossible to create a document of the originally intended layout. For this reason, it is necessary for the user to perform an operation to fit all the characters in the frame, for example, by changing the format setting in the frame.

Further, there is a problem that imbalance between the size of the frame and the size of the character and imbalance of the character string in the frame in the entire document occur. Furthermore, not only for character strings but also for tables and figures, the size and arrangement of tables are not automatically changed in a well-balanced manner according to the size of the layout frame at the copy destination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to copy a character string or the like from another document to an arbitrary area of a document being edited so that the document is arranged in a layout suitable for the size of the area. It is.

[0008]

A layout processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following means. The area designation means
Specify an arbitrary range on the page where the data in the file being edited is located.

[0009] The layout information storage means stores layout information for determining the arrangement of data within the range designated by the area designating means. The inter-file data copying means reads the designated data from a file other than the file being edited and copies the data within the designated range.

If the data copied by the layout information changing means and the inter-file data copying means does not fall within the specified range, the layout information is changed so as to fall within the specified range.

[0011] When the specified data is copied from another file within the specified range of the file being edited, even if the specified data does not fit within the specified range, the layout processing device may perform layout of the specified range by the layout information changing means. The information has changed and will fit.

Therefore, a user or the like can perform the copying operation without having to worry about the balance between the size of the designated range and the size of the designated data when copying data between files.

[0013]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In this specification, “document processing” means that a document is created, printed, and stored electronically using a computer. Includes drawings, tables, and the like. In addition, "format" or "format information" means information such as line, digit pitch, and character size in a sentence, and information such as the number of columns in a table, the number of rows, the row pitch, and the column width. , Figures, arrangements, pitches and the like.

Further, in the following description of the embodiment, characters will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, tables and figures may be input and edited. Further, the layout processing apparatus of the present invention will be described as using a personal computer in the following embodiments, but is not limited to this, and may be applied to, for example, a dedicated word processor.

In the following description, an explanation will be given assuming that an arbitrary area in a page is specified by a layout frame. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any area that provides a similar function (such as a text box) can be used. Anything is fine.

In the following description, "character point" is a unit representing the font size of a character. Further, “format information” is a synonym for “layout information”.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an entire apparatus including a layout processing apparatus according to an embodiment.
Here, a block diagram of the personal computer 10 is shown as an example.

In FIG. 1, a CPU 11 is a central processing unit for controlling the entire personal computer 10.
The input unit 12 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and inputs characters, numbers, and the like from the keyboard, and specifies and changes the layout frame area using the mouse.

The display unit 13 displays a base document, displays a layout frame and characters and the like in an area designated by the frame, and further displays another document selection / display screen to be described later. is there.

The printing unit 14 is a printer or the like for printing characters and the like on paper. The storage device 15 is, for example, an HDD (hard disk drive) storage device, and stores an OS (operating system) used for various controls by the CPU 11, various application programs, and the like.

The storage medium control unit 16 includes a portable storage medium 17
To read a program stored in the storage device 1 and pass the read program to the CPU 11 or
5 is performed.

The portable storage medium 17 stores at least an application program (for example, a word processor) having a layout processing function according to the present embodiment in a format readable by the storage medium control unit 16 and executable by the CPU 11. Storage media. The portable storage medium 17 is a portable storage medium independent of the computer system. Portable storage medium 1
7 is physically FD (floppy disk), MO
(A magneto-optical disk), a CD-ROM, a memory card, or the like, in which the program code of the application program is stored magnetically, optically, or electrically in a format readable by the storage medium control unit 16. Is what it is.

The application program (for example, a word processor) having the layout processing function according to the present invention may be stored in the storage device 15.

Alternatively, the communication function of the network connection device 18 or the like may read the program code of the application program of the present embodiment from the outside through, for example, personal computer communication, word processing communication, or the like, and use the program code. In this case, the application program may be stored and used in storage means such as the storage device 15 and the portable storage medium 17. For example, the connection destination of the application program may be connected via the network connection device 18. The program code of the application program stored therein may be used while being received online from a computer or the like as necessary.

The RAM 20 is a memory having storage areas such as a document memory 21, a save memory 22, an editing work memory 23, a CG 24, and a dictionary memory 25. Document memory 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes a storage area for storing document data to be created / edited, which stores a base document, or stores another document (reference document) after saving a later-described base document in the save memory 22.

The save memory 22 is a storage area where the data of the base document stored in the document memory 21 is saved when referring to or copying another document. The editing work memory 23 is a work memory area for storing intermediate results of data processing. That is, for example, this is an area for temporarily storing data (copy source data) in a specified range in other document data stored in the document memory 21.

The CG 24 is a character generator, and is an area for storing a dot pattern of each character.
The dictionary memory 25 is an area for storing dictionary data such as kanji, words, and idioms used when creating a document.

The data structure of the document stored in the storage area of the document memory 21 (or the save memory 22) is, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, it stores the document data and the format information of the document data, and the document data of the area surrounded by the layout frame, its position information, format information, and the like.

Hereinafter, details of the document memory 21 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a data structure diagram of the document memory 21. In FIG. 2A, the storage area of the document memory 21 includes storage areas for base document format information 31, layout data area 32, and base document data 33.

The storage area of the base document data 33 stores data of the base document. The storage area of the base document format information 31 stores format information such as the number of lines, the number of digits, the character size, the line pitch, and the digit pitch of the base document.

In the storage area of the layout data area 32, data such as characters and tables input to the area specified by the layout frame (if a base document exists in the specified area, a document including the base document data) Data), its position information, format information, and the like.

The layout data area 32 has, for example, a structure shown in FIG. In FIG. 2B, the layout data area 32 includes position information 34, point-linked attributes 35, format information 36, and document data 37.

The position information 34 is an area for storing information such as the start position, end position, line size, and column size of the character string of the document data 37. Point linked attribute 35
As will be described later, is a flag indicating whether or not to change the character size according to the pitch change. For example, in the case of “0”, the character size is changed in conjunction with the pitch change,
"1" indicates that no change is made. The point linkage attribute 35 is set at any time by the user, for example.

The format information 36 is an area for storing data such as the number of lines, the number of digits, the character size, the line pitch, and the digit pitch in the document data 37. The document data 37 is an area in which the document data (characters, graphics, ruled lines, etc.) of the area specified by the layout frame is stored, for example, in the same data structure as the base document.

The operation of the document creating apparatus having the above configuration will be described.
This will be described below with reference to the drawings. 3, 4, and 5
5 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are views showing an example of display on the display unit 13 by the processing shown in the flowchart.

The flowcharts of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 correspond to the storage device 15 of FIG.
A program code of an application program stored in the CPU 11 (or externally received via the network connection unit 18), read out by the CPU 11, interpreted and executed by the CPU 11, and indicate a function obtained. It is.

An embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 3, when the user inputs or selects and specifies the name of a document file to be created or modified by operating the keyboard or mouse of the input unit 12 to specify the base document (step S).
1) The contents of the base document are displayed on the display unit 13 (step S2). For example, the display screen 40 of FIG.
Is displayed as shown in FIG. At that time, "Import other document" 42, "Execute" 43, and "Cancel" 4 are displayed at the bottom of the screen.
4. A selection screen for various commands such as "Change area size" 45 and "Character input" 46 is displayed. The user designates one of the above commands (such as “import other document” 42) by operating the keyboard or mouse, and further executes “execute”.
By specifying 43, execution of each command is instructed.

Until the command to input another document is input by the command input of "load another document" 42 (step S3,
NO), a process corresponding to an instruction operation from the user such as addition, correction, or deletion of a character or the like to the base document is performed (step S4), and a process of displaying the result on the display unit 13 is repeated.

When an instruction to import another document is issued (step S
3, YES), the base document is saved in the save memory 21 (step S5). Subsequently, a display screen 50 for selecting / displaying / designating a copy range of another document as shown in FIG.
Switch to In the example of the display screen 50 shown in FIG. 6B, directory names “document 1” and “document 2” are displayed on the directory selection screen 51, and file names “layout” and “FHAOF” are displayed on the file selection screen 52. (Step S6). The currently selected directory name and file name are underlined, and FIG.
In (b), as the initial state of the display, the directory of “Document 1” and the file of “Layout” at the initial cursor position (head position) are selected. Then, the file contents of "layout" are displayed on the other document display screen 53 (step S7).

From this initial state, the user moves the cursor,
First, a directory name is selected and designated on the directory selection screen 51 by operating a mouse or the like (step S8, Y
ES), whereby the file names in the specified directory are displayed on the file selection screen 52 (step S9). Subsequently, when the user selects and specifies a desired file name from the displayed file names (step S10, YES), the document content of the specified file is displayed on the other document display screen 53 (step S1).
1). After confirming the content of the displayed document or the like, the user designates execution by selecting a command of “execution” 43 (step S12, YES). Thereby, the selection of another document is determined.

If the directory name can be the one at the initial position of the cursor (NO in step S8), the process directly proceeds to the file designation process in step S10. Similarly, if the file name may be the one at the initial position of the cursor (step S10, NO), the process proceeds to the execution designation process of step S12. Further, data of another document is stored in the document memory 21.

Hereinafter, the subsequent processing will be described with reference to FIG. When the selection of another document is determined in step S12,
Subsequently, the range of the copy source document is specified on the other document display screen 53 (step S13). This range is specified, for example, by specifying a layout frame. The operation of designating the layout frame is, for example, an operation of surrounding a predetermined area with a frame (a rectangular frame 54 shown by a dashed line in FIG. 6B) using a mouse or the like. When the range specification operation is performed in step S13 and the execution specification is performed next (step S14), the specification is performed together with the document format information (position, area size, number of lines, number of lines, character points, digit pitch, line pitch, etc.). The document data in the area is temporarily stored in the editing work memory 23 (step S15). Alternatively, the document data and format information in the designated area are transferred to the
7. The format information 36 may be stored in the storage area and used for copying.

By the above processing, in the example shown in FIG. 6B, the document data of “layout processing device”, “layout processing method”, and “layout processing method”, which are data in the area surrounded by the layout frame, It is stored in the editing work memory 23 together with the format information.

As described above, when the data to be copied to the base document is read from another document and temporarily stored, the display returns to the display of the base document again. The setting of the presence or absence of interlock is performed, and the set contents are stored in the storage area of the point interlock attribute 35 (step S16). This point-linked attribute changes the format (pitch change, etc.) according to the area size described later.
The size of the character (character points)
Also specifies whether to change.

When the saved base document is displayed on the display unit 13 (step S17), the user or the like designates a copy destination area on the base document (step S18). This is performed by, for example, a layout frame 61 as shown in FIG. In response,
Position information 3 in layout data area 32 shown in FIG.
The storage area No. 4 stores information on the start position (upper left coordinate), end position (lower right coordinate), row size, and column size of the layout frame.

Next, in step S15, the data of the copy source of another document (hereinafter, referred to as a captured document) temporarily stored in the editing work memory 23 is copied into the layout frame. At this time, it is determined whether or not the fetched document fits within the layout frame (step S19).

If the fetched document fits in the layout frame (step S19, YES), the document is copied as it is in the layout frame. If the fetched document does not fit in the layout frame (step S19, NO), the format is changed so that the fetched document is well-balanced in the layout frame. That is, for example, the layout frame 6
From the position information 34 of the line direction size and column direction size information and the format information of the number of digits and the number of lines of the captured document stored in the editing work memory 23 in step S15, the captured document is The pitch of the character string is changed so as to be arranged in a well-balanced manner in accordance with the size of the layout frame 61 (step S20). This is based on the calculation formula of (row pitch = size in row direction / number of rows) and (digit pitch = size in row direction / number of digits). This is performed by storing in the format information 36 in the layout data area 32 as format information of a later fetched document. At that time, referring to the contents of the point linkage attribute 35,
If the value is "0: linked", the character size is changed to the maximum size that fits in the calculated line pitch and digit pitch (step S20).

After that, the captured document is displayed in the designated area (layout frame) in the current format (the format after the change, or as it is when not changed) (step S2).
1) For example, a display screen 70 as shown in FIG. 7B is displayed, and the processing of “import another document” 42 is completed.

Thereafter, “area size change” 45,
When the processing of “character input” 46 is instructed, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is performed. Hereinafter, the processing will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5, it is determined whether there is an instruction such as "change area size", "character input", "end" or the like (step S22).
YES), the contents of the instruction are determined (step S23).

Although not particularly shown, if there is no particular instruction after the processing of "fetching other document" 42, the processing may return to the processing of step S2 in FIG. If it is determined in step S23 that the instruction is to change the area size, an operation of changing the area size by the user is detected.
The area size information (position information 34) in the layout data area 32 is changed from this detection result (step S2).
4). For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the size of the layout frame 61 specified in FIG. 7 is enlarged to the size of the layout frame 101 by mouse operation or the like, the end position coordinates of the position information 34 are changed accordingly. The line size and the column size of the layout frame 101 are calculated from the start position coordinates and the end position coordinates of the layout frame 101 after the change, and thereby the line size and the column size of the position information 34 are calculated. Change the information of

Subsequently, the calculated layout frame 101
From the information in the line direction size (horizontal size) and the column direction size (vertical size) of the character string in the area stored in the format information 36 and the information on the number of digits in the area. In order to arrange the character strings in a well-balanced manner according to the size, the pitch of the character strings is changed (step S25). In this case, the digit pitch and the line pitch after the change are calculated by the formulas of (digit pitch = horizontal size / number of digits) and (row pitch = vertical size / number of lines), and are stored in the format information 36. This is done by:

Next, referring to the contents of the point linkage attribute 35, it is determined whether or not the point linkage is present (step S).
26) If there is a point linkage (step S2)
6, YES), the value of the character point is changed to the maximum point that fits in the digit pitch and line pitch after the change (step S27).

Thus, the process for changing the area size is completed, and the process returns to step S22. Next, step S
If it is determined in step 23 that the instruction content is a character input, a character string of, for example, “layout processing function” is additionally input at a position where the cursor “_” is displayed on the display screen 70. The character data is stored in the document data 37 in the layout data area 32 (Step S28). Also, the input character string is
It is displayed at the input position as shown in FIG.
29). Then, the process of changing the format information so that the character string including the input characters matches the size of the layout frame 61 is performed in the processes of steps S30 to S34 described later.

With the above, the processing for character input is completed.
The process returns to step S22. Above "area size change"
The processing of “character input” may be performed independently or in combination. That is, the character may be added after the area size is changed, or conversely, the area size may be changed after the character is added.

After the above character input or "change of area size"
After the process of combining "character input", the processes of steps S30 to S34 described below are performed as a process for arranging the character strings in a well-balanced manner with respect to the size of the layout frame.

Hereinafter, a description will be given of an example of a process when a character string of the above “layout processing function” is additionally input to the layout frame 61. If it is determined that there is an “end” instruction in the determination in steps S22 and S23 after the processing in step S29, first, the number of lines of the character string in the layout frame is counted (step S30). that time,
The character string “layout processing function” is outside the layout frame on display, but is stored in the document data 37 in the layout data area 32 in step S28, and is therefore included in the line count.

Here, if the content of the instruction is only the size change of the area and no character input is performed,
Since the number of lines of the character string in the layout area has not changed, the processing in steps S31 to S33 is substantially the same as the processing in steps S25 to S27. Therefore, although not specifically shown, after it is determined in step S23 that “end” has been performed, a process of determining whether or not the instruction content is only an area size change is added. Alternatively, the process may proceed to step S34.

Next, based on the number of lines counted in step S30 and the information on the vertical size (size in the digit direction) of the layout frame stored in the position information 34, the character strings are well-balanced in the frame. The line pitch is changed so as to be arranged (step S31). This line pitch is obtained by a calculation formula of (line pitch = vertical size / number of counted lines) and stored in the storage area of the format information 36.

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the point is linked by referring to the point linked attribute 35 (step S3).
2). If it is determined that there is a point linkage (step S32, YES), the character point is changed to the maximum point that fits in the pitch (step S33).

Finally, the character string data stored in the storage area of the document data 37 in the layout data area 32 is converted into the number of lines, the number of digits, the character size (character point), According to the line pitch and column pitch,
The data is pasted and displayed in a designated area (in the layout frame) on the base document (step S34).

Thus, for example, when the area size is changed, for example, as shown in FIG. 8B, the character strings are arranged in a well-balanced manner so as to match the size of the layout frame 101 after the enlargement. . Note that FIG. 9 shows an example in which the setting of “with point linkage” is performed, and the character size is changed in accordance with the pitch change. “No point linkage”
Is set, the character size does not change even if the line and column pitch is changed.

In the case of character input, for example, FIG.
As shown in (b), the character string including the additionally input character string “layout processing function” is displayed with its line pitch and character point changed so that it fits within the layout frame 61 without changing the size of the frame. You.

In the description of the embodiment, for example, FIG.
As described above, steps S19 and S20 have been described as an example in which the captured document does not fit within the specified frame, but the present invention is not limited to this. Contrary to the case where the above-mentioned captured document does not fit within the designated frame, the layout frame is too large compared to the display size of the captured document, and the layout frame and the layout of the captured document to be copied in this frame For example, when the appearance balance is poor, the line pitch, the digit pitch, the character size, and the like may be changed so as to be arranged in a well-balanced manner.

In the description of the above-described embodiment, a character string is described as an example of a document to be copied. However, the present invention is not limited to this. it can.

[0066]

As described above in detail, according to the layout processing apparatus of the present invention, when copying data of another document in the designated area, the format of the data is set so that the copied data fits in the designated area. Since the information is changed, the user can perform the inter-document copying process without having to worry about the deterioration of the arrangement balance due to the copying of other document data.

Also, when performing an editing operation such as changing the area size of the designated area after copying, the format information of the data in the area after the change is substantially the same as the layout of the data in the area before the change. Is changed, the user can freely perform the desired editing without having to worry about the deterioration of the data arrangement balance in the area due to the area size change.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of an entire apparatus including a layout processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a data structure diagram of a document memory 21 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating a process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating a process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart (part 3) illustrating a process according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a base document and a selection designation / display example of another document.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example when a copy destination area of a base document is designated and a display example when data from another document is copied in the designated area.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example when a designated area is enlarged after copying.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example when a character string is added to a designated area after copying.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 CPU 12 Input unit 13 Display unit 14 Printing unit 15 Storage device 16 Storage medium control unit 17 Portable storage medium 18 Network connection device 20 RAM 21 Document memory 22 Evacuation memory 23 Editing work memory 24 CG 25 Dictionary memory 31 Base document format information 32 Layout data area 33 Base document data 34 Position information 35 Point linked attribute 36 Format information 37 Document data 40 Display screen 41 Base document 42 Import other document 43 Execute 44 Cancel 45 Change area size 46 Character input 50 Display screen 51 Directory selection screen 52 File selection screen 53 Other document display screen 60 Display screen 61 Layout frame 70 Display screen 80 Display screen 90 Display screen 100 Display screen 101 Layout frame 110 Display screen

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An area designating means for designating an arbitrary range on a page in which data is arranged in a file being edited, and a layout for storing layout information for defining a data layout within the range designated by the area designating means. Information storage means; read-out data specified from a file other than the file being edited; and inter-file data copy means for copying the data within the specified range; And a layout information changing unit that changes the layout information so that the data does not fall within the designated range if the data does not fall within the designated range. 2. The data layout within the specified range by changing a vertical pitch or a horizontal pitch of data, wherein the layout information changing unit changes the data layout within the specified range. Layout processing equipment. 3. The layout processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the layout information changing unit changes the character size in accordance with the pitch change when the data is character data. 4. A copy source data is read from a file other than the file being edited during the editing of an arbitrary file, a copy destination area is specified on a page where data in the file being edited is located, and a copy destination area is specified. Determines whether or not the read copy source data fits in the copy destination area. If it is determined that the read copy source data does not fit in the copy destination area, changes the layout information that determines the arrangement of data in the copy destination area. And a layout processing method. 5. A storage medium storing a computer-readable program, the function of designating an arbitrary range on a page in which data in a file being edited is arranged, and a function of designating data within the designated range. A function of storing layout information that determines the arrangement; a function of reading desired data from a file other than the file being edited and copying the data within the specified range; and a function of copying data copied from the other file into the specified file. A storage medium storing a program for causing the computer to execute the function of changing the layout information so that the layout information falls within the specified range when the layout information does not fall within the range.