JP5414615B2 - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus that uses laid-out character strings and image data.

  Conventionally, processing of information such as characters and images used for publishing books, magazines, catalogs, and the like is performed by software called desktop publishing (hereinafter referred to as DTP) (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1) However, it has been performed using a DTP device or system that can realize the same processing.

  For example, in such DTP software or the like, a frame of a desired size called a frame or box for arranging characters or images at a desired position on each page in advance according to the content of information to be edited or the like. After setting, the layout is performed by placing objects such as characters and images in the frame. In this way, after determining the design of the layout of characters and images, etc., by arranging the characters and images, the entire information is organized and presented, or multiple pieces of information are presented with a sense of unity. It is possible to clarify and present the relevance between information in a planned and efficient manner, and it is possible to create a product that is easy to view and has excellent information transmission.

  In particular, in recent DTP devices and the like, it is possible to read tagged data such as XML format data and arrange it in a frame on a page. By arranging such tagged data, data managed in the database, data used in other devices can be used in DTP devices, etc., and data used in DTP devices can be used. It can be reused in other devices and databases. Accordingly, it is possible to increase the utility value of the data and reduce the trouble of preparing the data.

“ADOBE INDESIGN CS4 User Guide”, p. 13-616 [online], Adobe Systems Incorporated, [Search May 10, 2010], Internet <URL: http://help.adobe.com/en_JP/InDesign/6.0/indesign_cs4_help.pdf>

  However, in the conventional information processing apparatus, a tag corresponding to the arrangement of this object in the layout area is acquired from an object already arranged in the layout area such as a page, and the acquired tag is output in association with the object. There was a problem that it was not possible. For this reason, it is difficult to extract an existing laid-out object as information on the tagged object and reuse it for other purposes.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes at least one arrangement having an object having at least one of a character string or an image and object arrangement information that is information indicating the arrangement of the object in a layout area in which the object can be laid out An arrangement management information storage unit that stores management information, partial area definition information that defines a partial area that is one or more areas in the layout area, and one or more tags that are associated with the partial area definition information The area tag management information storage unit storing one or more area tag management information, the object arrangement information, and the partial area definition information are compared to detect a partial area in which an object corresponding to the object arrangement information is arranged. Tag corresponding to the partial area where the partial area detector and the object detected by the partial area detector are placed Acquired from the region tag management information is an information processing apparatus having an output unit for outputting in association with objects.

  With this configuration, a tag corresponding to the arrangement of the object arranged in the layout area can be acquired and output in association with the object.

  In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the area tag management information storage unit includes a partial area definition information and a limited area that is a partial area defined by the partial area definition information. 1 or more area tag management information having one tag is stored, and the partial area detection unit includes object placement information, partial area definition information, and a limited area. Compared with the definition information, the limited area in the partial area where the object indicated by the object arrangement information is arranged is detected, and the output unit is the limited area in the partial area where the object detected by the partial area detection unit is arranged. Is an information processing apparatus that obtains a tag corresponding to the item from area tag management information and outputs the tag in association with an object.

  With such a configuration, a tag corresponding to a more detailed arrangement of an object arranged in the layout area can be acquired and output in association with the object.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes an attribute value acquisition unit that acquires an attribute value of an object included in the arrangement management information in the information processing apparatus, and the region tag management information storage unit includes the partial region definition information. And one or more area tag management information having an object attribute value and one tag are stored, and the partial area detection unit compares the object arrangement information with the partial area definition information, The partial area in which the object indicated by the information is arranged is detected, and the output unit tags corresponding to the partial area in which the object detected by the partial area detection unit is arranged and the attribute value of the object acquired by the attribute value acquisition unit Is obtained from the area tag management information, and is output in association with the object.

  With this configuration, it is possible to acquire a tag corresponding to the arrangement of the object arranged in the layout area and its attribute, and output the tag in association with the object.

  In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, when the output unit includes a plurality of partial areas in which the objects detected by the partial area detection unit are arranged, the tags corresponding to the partial areas are displayed as area tags. It is an information processing apparatus that obtains each from management information and outputs it in association with an object.

  With this configuration, it is possible to acquire tags according to the arrangement of objects without omission.

  In the information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the area tag management information storage unit includes two partial areas located on the front cover of the book, one partial area located on the back cover, and a back cover. This is an information processing apparatus in which area tag management information respectively corresponding to two partial areas located at is stored.

  With this configuration, a tag appropriately associated with an object can be acquired from a cover having high similarity between books. Thereby, for example, an object associated with a common tag can be acquired from a plurality of books.

  According to the information processing apparatus and the like according to the present invention, it is possible to acquire a tag corresponding to the arrangement of the object arranged in the layout area, and output the tag in association with the object.

Block diagram of an information processing apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention Flowchart for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment The figure which shows the arrangement | positioning management information for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment The figure which shows the area tag management information for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment The schematic diagram which shows the arrangement | positioning of the object which arrangement | positioning management information shows, the partial area | region and limited area which area tag management information shows for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment The figure which shows the tag output management information for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment The figure which shows the example of an output of the tag for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment The figure which shows the area tag management information for demonstrating operation | movement of the modification of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment The schematic diagram which shows the arrangement | positioning of the object which arrangement | positioning management information shows, the partial area | region and limited area which area tag management information shows for demonstrating operation | movement of the modification of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment The schematic diagram which shows the arrangement | positioning of the object which arrangement | positioning management information shows, the partial area | region and limited area which area tag management information shows for demonstrating operation | movement of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the computer which implement | achieves the information processing apparatus in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of a structure of the computer which implement | achieves the information processing apparatus in the embodiment

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an information processing apparatus and the like will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, since the component which attached | subjected the same code | symbol in embodiment performs the same operation | movement, description may be abbreviate | omitted again.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment.
The information processing apparatus 1 includes an arrangement management information storage unit 101, an area tag management information storage unit 102, a partial area detection unit 103, an attribute value acquisition unit 104, an output unit 105, and a tag output storage unit 106.

  The arrangement management information storage unit 101 stores one or more pieces of arrangement management information. The arrangement management information includes an object having at least one of a character string and an image, and object arrangement information that is information indicating the arrangement of the object in a layout area in which the object can be laid out.

  The object is, for example, a component of information edited by the information processing apparatus 1 and is data including at least one of a character string or an image composed of one or more characters. The character string included in the object may have font attribute values such as font, font size, and font color. The image included in the object may be a moving image or a still image. The image may be bitmap data or vector data, and the file format or the like is not limited to TIFF, JPEG, SVG or the like.

  The object arranged in the layout area is an object used for publication or the like, for example. The publication described here may be a publication that prints and outputs information on a physical medium such as paper, or a publication that displays information on a monitor or the like, such as an electronic publication. Any media or means of publishing can be used. However, the object may be used other than publication. For example, it may be an object used for output such as a WEB page or an object placed on a slide of presentation software. That is, the information to be processed by the information processing apparatus 1 may be information for publishing, or information for uses other than publishing such as information for outputting a WEB page or a slide for presentation. Also good.

  The layout area is, for example, a page or mount area where objects are arranged. The layout area may be considered as an outputable area where a placed object or the like is output or a printable area. However, the layout area itself may or may not exist, and information defining the layout area may or may not be stored in a storage medium (not shown) or the like. For example, when information defining a layout area is not stored, an area having a predesignated shape such as a rectangle including an area where one or more objects are arranged, or one or more partial area definition information described later are defined. An area where one or more areas are arranged may be considered as a layout area.

  The object arrangement information is information that can indicate, for example, the position, position and size, position, and shape of an object arranged in the layout area. The object arrangement information is information including information indicating the position of the object in the layout area, for example. The position of the object may be considered as, for example, the position of one or more points (for example, the center of the object or one or more of the four corners) specified in the object. The position of the object is represented by coordinates with respect to the layout area, for example. The object arrangement information may be represented by information indicating relative coordinates with respect to the position of another object, a distance between objects, and a positional relationship between objects. The object arrangement information may include information indicating the size of the object in the layout area. The size of the object is represented by a combination of the width and height of the object. For example, the object arrangement information is represented by a combination of the coordinates of one point designated in advance in the object and the width and height of the object. Further, the object arrangement information may include information that defines the outline of the area where the object is arranged (for example, vector data or coordinates of a plurality of points that define the outline). For example, the object arrangement information is represented by a combination of vector data defining an outline and coordinates of one or more points on the vector data. The object arrangement information may be considered as information indicating an area on the layout area occupied by the arranged object.

  When the object is arranged in an area for arranging an object such as a so-called frame or box, information indicating the arrangement of the area such as a frame or box in which the object is arranged may be used as the object arrangement information. .

  The arrangement management information may include information such as object identification information and attribute values included in the arrangement management information.

  Each information included in the arrangement management information, for example, the object and the object arrangement information may be the information itself, or may be information that can specify the information. In the latter case, the object or the like included in the arrangement management information may be, for example, a pointer or address indicating an area where the object or the like is stored, or may be object identification information. This is the same for other management information.

  There is no limitation on the process in which the arrangement management information is stored in the arrangement management information storage unit 101. For example, the arrangement management information may be accumulated in the arrangement management information storage unit 101 via a recording medium, and the arrangement management information transmitted via a communication line or the like is accumulated in the arrangement management information storage unit 101. Alternatively, the arrangement information input via the input device may be accumulated in the arrangement management information storage unit 101. This also applies to the area tag management information storage unit 102 described later.

  The arrangement management information storage unit 101 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The area tag management information storage unit 102 stores one or more area tag management information. The area tag management information includes partial area definition information that defines a partial area that is one or more areas in the layout area, and one or more tags that are associated with the partial area definition information.

  The partial area definition information may be information that can specify the position and size of the partial area, for example. Alternatively, the partial region definition information may be information that can specify the position and shape of the partial region. For example, the partial region definition information is information having the coordinates of one or more points specified in advance in the partial region, the size of the region (for example, height and width), and the like. When the partial area is a rectangle, the partial area definition information may be information having diagonal coordinates of the partial area. When the partial area is a polygon, the partial area definition information may be information having the coordinates of the vertices of the partial area. The partial area definition information may be vector data indicating the outline of the partial area or the coordinates of a plurality of points on the outline. When there are a plurality of partial area definition information, the partial area definition information may overlap each other.

  A tag is information used as a marker for giving additional information to data, for example. The tag here is a tag used in so-called XML or the like. The tag here may have a tag attribute, an attribute value, and the like.

  The area tag management information storage unit 102 includes partial area definition information, limited area definition information that is information defining a limited area that is a partial area within the partial area defined by the partial area definition information, and One or more area tag management information having the tag may be stored. The limited area definition information can use the same information as the partial area definition information (for example, information that can specify the position, size, etc.) except that it is information that defines a partial area within the partial area. is there. In addition, it is preferable that the coordinate which shows the position in this case is a relative coordinate with respect to a partial region. In addition, not limited to information such as position and size, the limited area definition information is information that designates the area above (or below) the center of the partial area, the area on the right (or left) from the center, etc. as the limited area. There may be. Note that one partial region may include a plurality of limited regions. Further, at least a part of the limited areas may be overlapped.

  The area tag management information storage unit 102 may store one or more area tag management information including partial area definition information, an object attribute value, and one tag. The attribute value of the object is, for example, the value of the attribute of the object. The object attributes include, for example, a data type indicating whether the object is a character string or an image, the encoding format and file format of the object that is an image, the resolution of the object that is an image, and the like. Also, the character code of the object that is a character string, the font of the character, the font size, the font color, and the like. The attribute value is, for example, information indicating that the data type is a character string (or an image), information indicating a resolution value or a range of values, or information indicating that a character code is Unicode. Or the character font is a serif or sans serif, the font name of the character, the number of points of the font size, or information indicating the range of the font size value. The attribute value of the object may include an attribute name that is the name of the attribute of the object. The attribute value of the object included in the area tag management information may be considered as information that specifies the attribute value of the object, for example. Here, the attribute value of the object included in the area tag management information is referred to as a designated object attribute value. The specified object attribute value may be considered as information for specifying a condition for the object attribute.

  For example, the area tag management information storage unit 102 includes area tags respectively corresponding to two partial areas located on the front cover of the book, one partial area located on the back cover, and two partial areas located on the back cover. Management information may be stored. The layout area in this case is an area of a book cover. The two partial areas located on the cover of the book are, for example, two partial areas arranged in the left-right direction (or vertical direction) of the cover. The two partial areas located on the back cover of the book are, for example, two partial areas arranged in the left-right direction (or vertical direction) of the back cover.

  The area tag management information storage unit 102 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The partial area detection unit 103 compares the object arrangement information included in the arrangement management information with the partial area definition information included in the area tag management information, and detects a partial area in which the object corresponding to the object arrangement information is arranged To do. For example, the partial area detection unit 103 sequentially reads object arrangement information included in one or more arrangement management information, and sequentially compares the read object arrangement information with partial area definition information included in one or more area tag management information. Thus, a partial area in which an object corresponding to the read object arrangement information is arranged is detected. The partial area in which the object detected by the partial area detection unit 103 is arranged may be a partial area in which at least a part of the object is arranged, or a partial area in which the entire object is arranged. Note that detecting a partial area may be considered as detecting partial area definition information that defines a partial area in which an object is arranged.

  For example, when the position where the object corresponding to the one object arrangement information is arranged is included in the area indicated by the one partial area definition information, the partial area detection unit 103 defines the part defined by the partial area definition information The area is determined to be a partial area in which an object corresponding to one object arrangement information (that is, an object included in the same arrangement management information as the one object arrangement information) is arranged. For example, the partial area detection unit 103 acquires coordinate information indicated by one center point of the object or one point on the outer periphery of the object as information indicating the position of the object using one object arrangement information. It is determined whether or not the coordinates are within the area indicated by the area definition information. If this coordinate information is the coordinates in the area indicated by the one partial area definition information, the object corresponding to the one object arrangement information is arranged in the partial area defined by this one partial area definition information. Detect as a partial area.

  In addition, the partial area detection unit 103, for example, if this partial area is included when at least a part of the area where the object corresponding to one object arrangement information is arranged is included in the area indicated by the one partial area definition information The partial area defined by the definition information is determined to be a partial area in which an object corresponding to one object arrangement information (that is, an object included in the same arrangement management information as the one object arrangement information) is arranged. Whether or not part of the object arrangement information is included in the area indicated by the partial area definition information is, for example, whether or not the outer circumference of the area indicated by the object arrangement information intersects with the outer circumference of the area indicated by the partial area definition information This can be realized by appropriately combining processing, determination processing for determining whether the center of the area indicated by the object arrangement information is within the area indicated by the partial area definition information, or the like. When the entire area indicated by one object arrangement information is included in the area indicated by one partial area definition information, the partial area defined by the partial area definition information corresponds to the one object arrangement information. You may judge that it is a partial area | region where an object is arrange | positioned. In this case, for example, the process of determining whether or not the outer periphery of the region indicated by the object placement information intersects the outer periphery of the region indicated by the partial region definition information, and the center of the region indicated by the object placement information is the partial region definition information If the outer periphery does not intersect and the center of the area indicated by the object placement information is determined to be within the area indicated by the partial area definition information, the object is What is necessary is just to judge that it is the partial area | region where the object corresponding to arrangement | positioning information is arrange | positioned.

  When the area tag management information includes partial area definition information and limited area definition information, the partial area detection unit 103 converts the object arrangement information included in the arrangement management information into the partial area included in the area tag management information. The definition information and the limited area definition information included in the area tag management information are respectively compared, and the limited area in the partial area where the object indicated by the object arrangement information is arranged is detected. For example, as described above, it is determined whether or not the partial area defined by the partial area definition information included in the one area tag management information is a partial area in which the object corresponding to the one object arrangement information is arranged. When it is determined that the area is the area where the object is arranged, it is further determined whether or not the limited area defined by the limited area definition information included in the one area tag management information is the limited area where the object is arranged. The determination process is the same as the determination process for the partial area. When the coordinate value defining the limited area of the limited area definition information is a coordinate value or the like for the partial area including the limited area, the coordinate value for the entire layout area is appropriately determined from the relative coordinate value for the partial area. What is necessary is just to convert into a coordinate value and to compare the coordinate of the position of an object, etc. In addition, when the limited area definition information is information that designates an area above (or below, right, left) from the center of the partial area of the corresponding partial area definition information, the partial area definition information It is only necessary to acquire information indicating the position and size of the limited area and determine whether or not the object is placed in the area indicated by the information. The partial area detection unit 103 omits the determination of whether or not an object is included in the partial area when the partial area definition information and the limited area definition information are included in the area tag management information. It may be determined whether the object is included in the limited area indicated by the limited area definition information included in the information. Note that, here, detecting a limited area within a partial area may be considered as detecting partial area definition information that defines a partial area in which an object is placed and limited area definition information in which an object is placed. good.

  The partial area detection unit 103 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the partial area detection unit 103 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The attribute value acquisition unit 104 acquires the attribute value of the object included in the arrangement management information. For example, the attribute value acquisition unit 104 may acquire in advance an attribute value for one or more attributes specified in advance from an object included in the arrangement management information. The one or more attributes here are attribute values of attributes that can be used as one of the designated object attribute values included in the area tag management information. The attribute value acquisition unit 104 may acquire the attribute value of the object from the arrangement management information. Further, the attribute value acquisition unit 104 arranges an attribute value having the same attribute as the specified object attribute value included in the region tag management information corresponding to the partial region detected by the partial region detection unit 103 in this partial region. It may be acquired from an object in which is detected or from arrangement management information corresponding to the object. For example, the partial region detection unit 103 acquires the attribute value of the object from the header of the object.

  The attribute value acquisition unit 104 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the attribute value acquisition unit 104 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The output unit 105 acquires a tag corresponding to the partial region where the object detected by the partial region detection unit 103 is arranged from the region tag management information, and outputs the tag in association with the object. For example, the output unit 105 acquires, from the region tag management information, a tag associated with partial region definition information that defines a partial region in which one object detected by the partial region detection unit 103 is arranged. Here, the tag associated with the partial area definition information is, for example, a tag included in the same area tag management information as the partial area definition information. Then, this tag is output in association with one object. Output in association with an object is, for example, output of tag management information that is management information having an object and an acquired tag. Alternatively, it is possible to output information in which a tag is attached to an object. In this embodiment, a case where tag management information is accumulated in a tag output storage unit 106 to be described later will be described as an example.

  Further, when the area tag management information includes partial area definition information and limited area definition information, the output unit 105 corresponds to the limited area in the partial area where the object detected by the partial area detection unit 103 is arranged. The tag to be acquired may be acquired from the area tag management information and output in association with the object. For example, the output unit 105 defines partial region definition information that defines a partial region in which one object detected by the partial region detection unit 103 is disposed, and a limited region in which one object in the partial region is disposed. A tag associated with the limited area definition information is acquired from the area tag management information. Here, the tag corresponding to the partial region definition information and the limited region definition information is, for example, a tag included in the region tag management information including the partial region definition information and the limited region definition information detected by the partial region detection unit 103. is there. Then, the acquired tag is output in association with one object.

  Further, when the area tag management information includes the partial area definition information and the attribute value of the object (that is, the specified object attribute value), the output unit 105 arranges the one object detected by the partial area detection unit 103. And a tag corresponding to the attribute value of the one object acquired by the attribute value acquisition unit 104 may be acquired from the area tag management information and output in association with the one object.

  For example, the output unit 105 obtains the attribute value (designated object attribute value) of the object corresponding to the partial region definition information that defines the partial region where the one object detected by the partial region detection unit 103 is arranged from the region tag management information. get. Here, the designated object attribute value corresponding to the partial region definition information is, for example, a designated object attribute value included in the region tag management information including the partial region definition information. Then, the output unit 105 acquires the attribute value of the attribute that matches the attribute of the acquired specified object attribute value from the attribute values acquired by the attribute value acquisition unit 104 for one object, and the acquired attribute value is It is determined whether or not the specified object attribute value acquired from the area tag management information is met. Alternatively, the attribute value acquisition unit 104 acquires an attribute value having the same attribute as the specified object attribute value acquired by the output unit 105 from one object, and the acquired attribute value matches the specified object attribute value. It may be determined whether or not. Matching may be that the attribute values of the same attribute match, or the attribute value indicated by the specified object attribute value acquired from the area tag management information matches the attribute value acquired from one object It is good also as a value to be included. Further, when the specified object attribute value included in the area tag management information is used as a condition regarding the value of one or more attributes of the object, the attribute value of the attribute indicated by this condition of the object included in the arrangement management information is the condition It may be determined that satisfying If it is determined that the acquired attribute value matches the attribute value of the object acquired from the area tag management information, the output unit 105 acquires the tag included in the area tag management information, and Output in association with the object.

  For example, it is assumed that the specified object attribute value included in the area tag management information is an attribute value “resolution> 300 dpi” indicating that the resolution of the image object is greater than 300 dpi. In this case, when one object is arranged in the partial area indicated by the partial area definition information of the area tag management information and the resolution value of the one object acquired by the attribute value acquisition unit 104 is larger than 300 dpi. Thus, it is determined that the attribute value of the object included in the arrangement management information matches the specified object attribute value included in the area tag management information.

  For example, it is assumed that the specified object attribute value included in the area tag management information is an attribute value “font size> 12 points” indicating that the font size of the character string object is larger than 12 points. In this case, one object is arranged in the partial area indicated by the partial area definition information of this area tag management information, and the font size value of the object of one character string acquired by the attribute value acquisition unit 104 is 12 points or more. Only when it is larger, it is determined that the attribute value of the object included in the arrangement management information matches the specified object attribute value included in the area tag management information.

  When there are a plurality of partial areas in which one object detected by the partial area detection unit 103 is arranged, the output unit 105 acquires a tag corresponding to each partial area from the area tag management information, and corresponds to the object. You may make it output with attaching.

  The output described here is a concept including display on a display, printing on a printer, transmission to an external device, accumulation in a recording medium, delivery of processing results to another processing device or another program, etc. is there. The output unit 105 may be considered as including or not including an output device such as a display. The output unit 105 includes driver software for storing tags and the like acquired in a recording medium such as the tag output storage unit 106, communication means and driver for transmitting the acquired tags, driver software for output devices, It can be realized by an output device or the like.

  The tag output storage unit 106 stores a tag associated with the object output from the output unit 105. The tag associated with the object may be management information including the object and the tag. The storage here is a concept including temporary storage. The tag output storage unit 106 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  (Step S201) The partial region detection unit 103 substitutes 1 for a counter n.

  (Step S202) The partial area detection unit 103 determines whether or not the nth arrangement management information is stored in the arrangement management information storage unit 101. If stored, the process proceeds to step S203. If not stored, the process ends.

  (Step S203) The partial area detection unit 103 acquires object arrangement information from the nth arrangement management information. Here, this object arrangement information is referred to as nth object arrangement information.

  (Step S204) The partial area detection unit 103 substitutes 1 for the counter m.

  (Step S205) The partial area detection unit 103 determines whether or not the m-th area tag management information is stored in the area tag management information storage unit 102. If stored, the process proceeds to step S206. If not stored, the process proceeds to step S219.

  (Step S206) The partial region detection unit 103 acquires partial region definition information from the m-th region tag management information. Here, this partial area definition information is referred to as m-th partial area definition information. Note that the mth partial region definition information described here is partial region definition information included in the mth region tag management information to the last, for example, the sth partial region definition information and the tth partial region. The definition information may be the same partial area definition information. However, s and t are assumed to be possible values for m. The same applies to the following m-th partial region, limited region, limited region definition information, and the like.

  (Step S207) The partial area detection unit 103 uses the nth object arrangement information acquired in step S203 and the mth partial area definition information acquired in step S206, and is included in the nth arrangement information management information. Whether the nth object, which is an object to be generated, is arranged in the mth partial area, which is the partial area defined by the mth partial area definition information, which is the partial area definition information included in the mth area tag management information Judge whether or not. For example, it is determined whether or not the coordinates (for example, the coordinates of the center point of the object) indicating the position of the object included in the nth object arrangement information are coordinates in the partial area defined by the mth partial area definition information. If it is determined that the coordinates are in the partial area, it is determined that the nth object is arranged in the mth partial area. If the coordinates are not in the partial area, the nth object is the mth partial area. It is determined that it is not placed in. If it is determined that it is arranged, the process proceeds to step S208. If it is determined that it is not arranged, the process proceeds to step S218.

  (Step S208) The partial region detection unit 103 detects the mth partial region as a region where the nth object is arranged.

  (Step S209) The partial region detection unit 103 determines whether or not limited region definition information is included in the m-th region tag management information. The limited area definition information included in the mth area tag management information is referred to herein as the mth limited area definition information. If included, the process proceeds to step S210, and if not included, the process proceeds to step S213.

  (Step S210) The partial area detection unit 103 acquires the mth limited area definition information from the mth area tag management information.

  (Step S211) The partial area detection unit 103 uses the nth object arrangement information acquired in step S203 and the mth limited area definition information acquired in step S210 to determine that the nth object is the mth object. It is determined whether or not it is arranged in the mth limited area that is the limited area defined by the limited area definition information. This determination process is the same as the process of step S207. If it is determined that it is arranged, the process proceeds to step S212. If it is determined that it is not arranged, the process proceeds to step S218.

  (Step S212) The partial region detection unit 103 detects the mth limited region as a region where the nth object is arranged.

  (Step S213) The output unit 105 determines whether or not an attribute value of the object is included in the mth area tag management information. If included, the process proceeds to step S214. If not included, the process proceeds to step S217.

  (Step S214) The output unit 105 acquires a designated object attribute value that is an attribute value of an object included in the m-th area tag management information. Here, the designated object attribute value included in the mth area tag management information is referred to as the mth designated object attribute value.

  (Step S215) The attribute value acquisition unit 104 acquires an attribute value corresponding to the mth designated object attribute value acquired in step S214 from the nth object. Specifically, an attribute value having the same attribute as the mth designated object attribute value acquired in step S214 is acquired from the nth object. This attribute value is referred to herein as the nth object attribute value.

  (Step S216) The output unit 105 determines whether or not the nth object attribute value acquired in step S215 matches the mth designated object attribute value acquired in step S214. For example, it is determined whether or not the value indicated by the nth object attribute value is included in the range of the value indicated by the mth specified object attribute value. Judge that it does not fit. If it is determined that it matches, the process proceeds to step S217, and if it is determined that it does not match, the process proceeds to step S218.

  (Step S217) The output unit 105 acquires a tag included in the nth arrangement management information. The acquired tag is temporarily stored in a storage medium (not shown). If one or more tags have already been temporarily stored, the acquired tag is added.

  (Step S218) The partial region detection unit 103 increments the value of the counter m by 1. Then, the process returns to step S205.

  (Step S219) In step S217, the output unit 105 determines whether one or more tags have been acquired. If acquired, the process proceeds to step S220. If not acquired, the process proceeds to step S221.

  (Step S220) The output unit 105 outputs the one or more tags acquired in step S217 in association with the nth object. For example, one or more tags are stored in the tag output storage unit 106 in association with the nth object. Then, the one or more tags temporarily stored in step S217 are discarded.

  (Step S221) The partial region detection unit 103 increments the value of the counter n by 1. Then, the process returns to step S202.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation of the information processing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment will be described with an example.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the arrangement management information stored in advance in the arrangement management information storage unit 101. This arrangement management information is arrangement management information for managing the arrangement of objects arranged in a layout area (output area) for outputting a cover composed of a front cover, a back cover, and a back cover of a book. Suppose that In addition, a book is a concept including a catalog etc. here. The arrangement management information includes items such as “object ID”, “object”, “coordinate (x, y)”, “size (w, h)”, “data type”, “font”, and the like. Here, it is assumed that “coordinates (x, y)” and “size (w, h)” are object arrangement information. “Object ID” is identification information of an object to be arranged, and can also be used as identification information for managing each arrangement management information. Here, for example, it is assumed that a record in one line is one arrangement management information. “Object” is an object arranged in the layout area. Here, when the object to be arranged is an image object, it is assumed that the “object” has a path including the file name of the object. “Coordinates (x, y)” are the coordinates of the center of the object. In this coordinate, the upper left corner of the layout area is (0, 0), and the value corresponds to millimeters. “Size (w, h)” is a value indicating the height (h) and width (w) of the object, and the value indicates millimeter. “Data type” is the data type of the object, “Image” indicates that “Object” is an image, and “Text” indicates that “Object” is a character string. “Font” indicates a font name which is one of the attributes of the character string object. In addition, the arrangement management information may include information such as font size, image file format, and resolution.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing area tag management information stored in advance in the area tag management information storage unit 102. Here, this area tag management information is a partial area or a limited area set on a cover composed of a front cover, a back cover, and a back cover of a book in which an object managed by the above arrangement management information is arranged. It is assumed that it is area tag management information regarding. The area tag management information has items of “area tag management ID”, “partial area”, “limited area”, “designated object attribute value”, and “tag”. Furthermore, “partial area” has items of “partial area ID”, “coordinate (x, y)”, and “size (w, h)”, and “limited area” is “limited area ID”, “coordinate ( x, y) ”and“ size (w, h) ”. The “area tag management ID” is identification information for managing area tag management information. Here, it is assumed that the record in one line is the area tag management information. “Partial area” is partial area setting information. “Limited area” is limited area setting information. The “specified object attribute value” is an attribute value of the object, and is represented by “attribute name = attribute value” as an example here. “Tag” is a tag. Here, as an example, an XML start tag is shown. When associating a tag with an object, an end tag may be created from this start tag and associated. “Partial region ID”, “coordinate (x, y)”, and “size (w, h)” of “partial region” are identification information for managing the partial region, coordinates indicating the position of the partial region, and partial region Width and height size. The coordinates of the partial area are coordinates in which the upper left corner of the layout area is set to the origin (0, 0). The coordinates of the partial area indicate the coordinates of the upper left corner of the partial area. “Limited area ID”, “Coordinates (x, y)”, and “Size (w, h)” of “Limited area” are identification information for managing the limited area, coordinates indicating the position of the limited area, and the limited area. Width and height size. The coordinates of the limited area are coordinates in which the upper left corner of the partial area where the limited area is arranged is set to the origin (0, 0). The coordinates of the limited area indicate the coordinates of the upper left corner of the limited area.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the object indicated by the arrangement management information shown in FIG. 3 on the layout area 50 and the partial area and the limited area shown by the area tag management information shown in FIG. Here, a value of “object ID” is given to each object. A value of “partial area ID” and a value of “limited area ID” are assigned to each area. In this case, an area including a partial area whose “partial area ID” is “A1” (hereinafter referred to as a partial area A1 and the same applies to other partial areas) and the partial area A2 is a table of books. It shall be the same as the cover layout area. Further, it is assumed that the partial area A3 matches the layout area of the spine of the book. In addition, it is assumed that the area including the partial area A4 and the partial area A5 matches the layout area of the back cover of the book.

  First, for example, it is assumed that the user gives an instruction to acquire a tag for an object arranged in the layout area to the information processing apparatus 1 via an input device (not shown).

  The partial area detection unit 103 first uses the first object arrangement information from the first arrangement management information (that is, the record whose “object ID” is “OBJ1”) in the arrangement management information shown in FIG. A value of a certain “coordinate (x, y)” is read. Specifically, the coordinates (20, 140) are read out. The read value is temporarily stored in a storage medium such as a memory (not shown).

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 determines the first part from the first area tag management information (that is, the record whose “area tag management ID” is “001”) shown in FIG. The values of “coordinate (x, y)” and “size (w, h)” that are region definition information are read. Specifically, the coordinates (0, 0) and the size (40, 170) are read out. The read value is temporarily stored in a storage medium such as a memory (not shown).

  In the partial area detection unit 103, the coordinates (20, 140) as the object arrangement information of the first object are indicated by the coordinates (0, 0) and the size (40, 170) as the first partial area definition information. It is determined whether or not it is located within the area. Here, it is determined to be included in the area indicated by the first partial area definition information. Therefore, the partial area detection unit 103 detects the area indicated by the first partial area definition information, that is, the partial area A1 whose “partial area ID” is “A1” as the area where the first object is arranged. .

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 determines whether there is a value of “limited area ID” of the first area tag management information whose “area tag management ID” is “001”. Here, it is determined that this value is not present.

  Therefore, the output unit 105 determines whether there is a value of “designated object attribute value” of the first area tag management information. Here, since there is no such value, the output unit 105 acquires “<frontcoverauthor>” which is the value of the “tag” of the first area tag management information whose “area tag management ID” is “001”. , Temporarily stored in a storage medium such as a memory (not shown).

  Further, the partial area detection unit 103 performs processing for detecting a partial area in which the first object as described above is arranged for the second and subsequent area tag management information. Here, it is assumed that the partial area indicated by the second and subsequent area tag management information is not detected as the partial area in which the first object is arranged.

  The output unit 105 stores “<frontcoverauthor>”, which is a tag acquired from the first area tag management information, in the tag output storage unit 106 in association with the first object. Specifically, the acquired tag “<frontcoverauthor>”, “OBJ1” that is “object ID” of the first arrangement management information, and “art research group” that is “object” of the first arrangement management information Is stored in the tag output storage unit 106.

  Next, the coordinates (98, 55) as the second object arrangement information from the second arrangement management information (that is, the record whose “object ID” is “OBJ2”) in the arrangement management information shown in FIG. ).

  Further, the partial area detection unit 103 obtains the first partial area from the first area tag management information (that is, the record whose “area tag management ID” is “001”) shown in FIG. The coordinates (0, 0) and size (40, 170) as definition information are read.

  Then, the partial area detection unit 103 sets the coordinates (98, 55) as the object arrangement information of the second object to the coordinates (0, 0) and the size (40, 170) as the first partial area definition information. It is determined whether or not it is located within the area indicated by. Here, it is determined that the area is not included in the area indicated by the first partial area definition information. For this reason, the output unit 105 does not acquire a tag from the first area tag management information.

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 determines the second part from the second area tag management information (that is, the record whose “area tag management ID” is “002”) of the area tag management information shown in FIG. The coordinates (40, 0) and size (80, 170) as the area definition information are read out.

  Then, the partial area detection unit 103 sets the coordinates (98, 55) as the object arrangement information of the second object to the coordinates (50, 0) and the size (80, 170) as the second partial area definition information. It is determined whether or not it is located within the area indicated by. Here, it is determined to be included in the area indicated by the second partial area definition information. For this reason, the partial region detection unit 103 detects the partial region A2 indicated by the second partial region definition information as a region where the second object is arranged.

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 determines whether there is a value of “limited area ID” of the second area tag management information whose “area tag management ID” is “002”. Here, it is determined that this value is not present.

  Therefore, the output unit 105 determines whether there is a value of “designated object attribute value” of the second area tag management information. Here, since there is this value, the output unit 105 acquires “type = text” that is the value of the “specified object attribute value”. The output unit 105 passes the “type” that is the attribute name included in the acquired “specified object attribute value” to the attribute value acquisition unit 104.

  Next, using the “type” that is the attribute name passed from the output unit 105, the attribute value acquisition unit 104 acquires the value of the attribute whose attribute name is “type”. Here, in the arrangement management information shown in FIG. 3, an item whose item name matches “type” is detected, and the value of this item is acquired from the first record of the arrangement management information. Here, “image”, which is the value of the “type” item of the first record of the arrangement management information, is acquired as the attribute value of the “type” attribute of the first object.

  Then, the output unit 105 acquires “text” that is “attribute value” from “type = text” that is “designated object attribute value” acquired from the second area tag management information. It is determined whether or not the value acquisition unit 104 matches the “image” that is the attribute value of the “type” attribute acquired from the second record of the arrangement management information. Here, this match is a complete match here, but may be a partial match. Here, since it is determined that they do not match, the output unit 105 does not acquire a “tag” from the second area tag management information.

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 determines the third part from the third area tag management information (that is, the record whose “area tag management ID” is “003”) of the area tag management information shown in FIG. The coordinates (40, 0) and size (80, 170) as the area definition information are read, and the coordinates (98, 55) as the object arrangement information of the second object are the coordinates as the third partial area definition information. It is determined whether or not it is located within the area indicated by (50, 0) and size (80, 170). Here, it is determined that it is located in the area indicated by the third partial area definition information, and the partial area detection unit 103 sets the partial area A2 indicated by the third partial area definition information as the area where the second object is arranged. To detect.

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 determines whether there is a value of “limited area ID” of the second area tag management information whose “area tag management ID” is “002”. Here, it is determined that this value is not present.

  Therefore, the output unit 105 determines whether there is a value of “designated object attribute value” of the third area tag management information. Here, since there is this value, the output unit 105 acquires “type = image” that is the value of the “specified object attribute value”. The output unit 105 passes the “type” that is the attribute name included in the acquired “specified object attribute value” to the attribute value acquisition unit 104.

  Next, the attribute value acquisition unit 104 uses the “type” that is the attribute name passed from the output unit 105 to acquire “the image that is the value of the type attribute” of the second object in the same manner as described above. .

  Then, the output unit 105 acquires “image” that is “attribute value” from “type = image” that is “specified object attribute value” acquired from the third area tag management information, and this value is attribute It is determined whether or not the value acquisition unit 104 matches the “image” that is the attribute value of the “type” attribute acquired from the second record of the arrangement management information. Here, since it is determined that they match, the output unit 105 acquires “<fronttitlepicture>” which is the value of the “tag” of the second area tag management information.

  Further, the partial area detection unit 103 performs processing for detecting a partial area in which the second object similar to the above is arranged for the fourth and subsequent area tag management information. Here, it is assumed that the partial area indicated by the fourth and subsequent area tag management information is not detected as the partial area in which the second object is arranged.

  Therefore, the output unit 105 accumulates the tag acquired from the second area tag management information in the tag output storage unit 106 in association with the second object in the same manner as described above.

  Next, from the third arrangement management information (that is, the record whose “object ID” is “OBJ3”) in the arrangement management information shown in FIG. ).

  Then, in the same manner as described above, the partial area detection unit 103 determines whether the third object is arranged in the areas indicated by the first to third area tag management information shown in FIG. The judgment of whether or not is performed sequentially. In any of these cases, it is assumed that the third object is determined not to be arranged in the areas indicated by the first to third area tag management information.

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 obtains the third part from the fourth area tag management information (that is, the record whose “area tag management ID” is “004”) of the area tag management information shown in FIG. The coordinates (120, 0) and size (20, 170) as the area definition information are read, and the coordinates (130, 44) as the object arrangement information of the third object are the coordinates as the fourth partial area definition information. It is determined whether or not it is located in an area indicated by (120, 0) and size (20, 170). Here, it is determined that it is located in the area indicated by the fourth partial area definition information, and the partial area detection unit 103 sets the partial area A3 indicated by the third partial area definition information as the area where the third object is arranged. To detect.

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 determines whether there is a value of “limited area ID” of the fourth area tag management information whose “area tag management ID” is “004”. Here, it is determined that this value exists.

  Therefore, the partial area detection unit 103 reads the coordinates (0, 0) and the size (20, 120), which are limited area definition information, of the fourth area tag management information. For this coordinate, the coordinate (120, 0) of the partial area definition information of the fourth area tag management information is acquired, and the values of the x coordinate and the y coordinate are set to the coordinates (0, 0) is added to the values of the x coordinate and y coordinate, respectively, to convert the coordinates of the limited area from the coordinates relative to the partial area to the coordinates relative to the layout area.

  Then, the partial area detecting unit 103 uses the limited area definition information (that is, the limited area definition information of the limited area whose “limited area ID” is “A31”) as the coordinates (130, 44) of the third object arrangement information. It is determined whether or not it is located in the area indicated by. The coordinates of the vertices of the area indicated by the limited area definition information are (120, 0), (140, 0), (120, 120), and (140, 120). In this area, the coordinates (130, 44) are Judge whether it is included. Here, it is determined to be located within the limited area.

  Next, the output unit 105 determines whether there is a value of “designated object attribute value” of the fourth area tag management information. Here, since it is determined that there is no, the output unit 105 acquires “<spinetite>” which is the value of the “tag” of the fourth area tag management information, and stores it in the tag output storage unit 106 as described above. accumulate.

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 performs the same process as described above for the fifth area tag management information, but the third object is included in the area indicated by the limited area definition information of the fifth area tag management information. Since the coordinates indicated by the object arrangement information are not located, the tag is not acquired from the fifth area tag management information.

  Further, it is assumed that the same processing as described above is repeated for the sixth and subsequent area tag management information, and no tag is acquired in any of them.

  The output unit 105 accumulates the tag “<spinettle>” acquired above in the tag output storage unit 106 in association with the third object in the same manner as described above.

  Next, the information processing apparatus 1 performs the same process as described above for the fourth object, and determines that the fourth object is placed in the limited area indicated by the fifth area tag management information. The tag included in the area tag management information is acquired and stored in the output unit 105 in association with the fourth object.

  Next, from the fifth arrangement management information (that is, the record whose “object ID” is “OBJ5”) in the arrangement management information shown in FIG. ).

  Then, as described above, the partial area detection unit 103 determines whether or not the fifth object is placed in the area indicated by the first to sixth area tag management information shown in FIG. Judgment is made sequentially. In either case, it is determined that the fifth object is not placed in the area indicated by the first to sixth area tag management information.

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 reads the seventh part from the seventh area tag management information (that is, the record whose “area tag management ID” is “007”) of the area tag management information shown in FIG. The coordinates (140, 0) and size (80, 170) as the area definition information are read, and the coordinates (175, 150) as the object arrangement information of the fifth object are the coordinates as the seventh partial area definition information. It is determined whether or not it is located in an area indicated by (120, 0) and size (20, 170). Here, it is determined that it is located in the area indicated by the seventh partial area definition information, and the partial area detection unit 103 sets the partial area A4 indicated by the fifth partial area definition information as the area where the third object is arranged. To detect.

  Next, the partial area detection unit 103 determines whether or not there is a value of “limited area ID” of the seventh area tag management information whose “area tag management ID” is “007”. Here, it is determined that this value exists.

  Therefore, the partial area detection unit 103 reads the coordinates (0, 120) and the size (80, 50), which are limited area definition information, of the seventh area tag management information. As for the coordinates, the coordinates (140, 0) of the partial area definition information of the seventh area tag management information are acquired, and the values of the x coordinate and the y coordinate are set to the coordinates (0, 0) of the limited area definition information. 120), the coordinates of the limited area are converted from the coordinates relative to the partial area to the coordinates relative to the layout area.

  Then, the partial area detecting unit 103 uses the limited area definition information (that is, the limited area definition information of the limited area whose “limited area ID” is “A42”) as the coordinates (175, 150) of the fifth object arrangement information. It is determined whether or not it is located in the area indicated by. Here, it is determined to be located within the limited area.

  Next, the output unit 105 determines whether there is a value of “designated object attribute value” of the seventh area tag management information. Here, it is determined that there is. Therefore, the output unit 105 acquires “font = gothic” which is the value of the “specified object attribute value”. The output unit 105 passes “font”, which is an attribute name included in the acquired “specified object attribute value”, to the attribute value acquisition unit 104.

  Next, using the “font” that is the attribute name passed from the output unit 105, the attribute value acquisition unit 104 acquires the value of the attribute whose attribute name is “font”. Here, in the arrangement management information shown in FIG. 3, an item whose item name matches “font” is detected, and the value of this item is acquired from the fifth record of the arrangement management information. Here, “Mincho”, which is the value of the “font” item in the first record of the arrangement management information, is acquired as the attribute value of the “font” attribute of the fifth object. The attribute value may be acquired from an object included in the arrangement management information.

  Then, the output unit 105 acquires “Gothic” that is “Attribute value” from “Font = Gothic” that is “Specified object attribute value” acquired from the seventh area tag management information, and this value is It is determined whether or not the attribute value acquisition unit 104 matches “Mincho”, which is the attribute value of the “phone and” attribute acquired from the fifth record of the arrangement management information. Here, since it is determined that they do not match, the output unit 105 does not acquire the “tag” from the seventh area tag management information.

  Next, similarly to the above, it is determined that the coordinates indicated by the fifth object arrangement information are located in the partial area indicated by the partial area definition information of the eighth area tag management information, and the limitation of the eighth area tag management information is performed. Assume that it is determined that the coordinates indicated by the fifth object arrangement information are located in the limited area indicated by the area definition information.

  Then, the output unit 105 determines whether there is a value of “designated object attribute value” of the eighth area tag management information. Here, it is determined that there is. For this reason, the output unit 105 acquires “font = Mincho style” which is the value of the “specified object attribute value”. The output unit 105 passes “font”, which is an attribute name included in the acquired “specified object attribute value”, to the attribute value acquisition unit 104.

  Next, the attribute value acquisition unit 104 uses the “font” that is the attribute name passed from the output unit 105, and uses the “font” attribute value of the fifth object as “Mincho” as described above. To get to.

  Then, the output unit 105 acquires the “attribute value” “Mincho” from “phone and = Mincho” that is the “designated object attribute value” acquired from the eighth area tag management information, It is determined whether or not this value matches “Mincho” that is the attribute value of the “font” attribute acquired from the fifth record of the arrangement management information by the attribute value acquisition unit 104. Here, since it is determined that they match, the output unit 105 acquires “<publisher>” which is the value of the “tag” of the eighth area tag management information.

  Further, the partial area detection unit 103 also performs processing for detecting a partial area in which the fifth object similar to the above is arranged for the ninth area tag management information. Here, it is assumed that the partial area indicated by the ninth area tag management information is not detected as the partial area in which the second object is arranged.

  For this reason, the output unit 105 accumulates the tag acquired from the eighth area tag management information in the tag output storage unit 106 in association with the fifth object as described above.

  Thereafter, the same processing as described above is repeated for the sixth and subsequent arrangement management information, that is, the sixth and subsequent objects, and the acquired tags are stored in the tag output storage unit 106 in association with the objects.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing tag output management information accumulated in the tag output storage unit 106 by the output unit 105. The tag output management information has items of “object ID”, “object”, and “tag”.

  Note that the output unit 105 may output the output management information as illustrated in FIG. 6 to an external device or the like. Further, instead of outputting the output management information as shown in FIG. 6, the output unit 105 may output information such as XML in which the tag acquired by the output unit 105 is assigned to the corresponding object. .

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of information in which a tag output by the output unit 105 is assigned to an object.

Here, a modification of the above specific example will be described.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing area tag management information stored in the area tag management information storage unit 102. This area management information is obtained by adding area management information whose “area tag management ID” is “010” to the area management information shown in FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the object indicated by the arrangement management information shown in FIG. 3 on the layout area 50 and the partial area and the limited area shown by the area tag management information shown in FIG. As shown in this schematic diagram, the area tag management information shown in FIG. 8 is obtained by adding area tag management information of the partial area A6 that overlaps the partial areas A1 and A2.

  For example, when performing the process of acquiring the tag for the second arrangement management information, as described above, the output unit 105 causes the “area tag management ID” of the area tag management information illustrated in FIG. 8 to be “003”. The tag “<fronttitlepicture>” is acquired from the third area tag management information, and is temporarily stored in a memory or the like.

  Here, when the area tag management information shown in FIG. 8 is used, the area indicated by the coordinates (0, 0) and the size (120, 110), which are partial area definition information acquired from the tenth area tag management information. Is also detected as a region where the coordinates indicated by the object arrangement information indicated by the second arrangement management information are located. Therefore, the output unit 105 acquires the tag “<frontcovertop>” also from the tenth area tag management information. Then, the output unit 105 stores all the acquired tags in the tag output storage unit 106 in association with the second object.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating tags output by the output unit 105 in association with objects. As described above, for objects arranged in overlapping partial areas, tags corresponding to the respective partial areas are acquired, and all the acquired tags are accumulated in association with the objects. Thereby, the tag according to the arrangement | positioning of an object can be acquired without omission.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a tag corresponding to the arrangement of an object arranged in the layout area can be acquired and output in association with the object. As a result, for example, an object can be extracted in association with a tag from data such as an already laid-out publication, etc., so that the object can be easily reused and the availability of the arranged object can be expanded. it can.

  In the above embodiment, each process (each function) may be realized by centralized processing by a single device (system), or by distributed processing by a plurality of devices. May be.

  In the above embodiment, it goes without saying that two or more communication means (such as an information transmission unit) existing in one apparatus may be physically realized by one medium.

  In the above embodiment, information related to processing executed by each component, for example, information received, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, and received by each component. In addition, information such as threshold values, mathematical formulas, addresses, etc. used by each component in processing is retained temporarily or over a long period of time on a recording medium (not shown) even when not explicitly stated in the above description. It may be. Further, the storage of information in the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a storage unit (not shown). Further, reading of information from the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a reading unit (not shown).

  Moreover, although the case where the information processing apparatus is a stand-alone has been described in the above embodiment, the information processing apparatus may be a stand-alone apparatus or a server apparatus in a server / client system. In the latter case, the accepting unit and the output unit accept input through a communication line or output a screen.

  In the above embodiment, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.

  Note that the software that realizes the information processing apparatus in the above embodiment is the following program. That is, this program is information indicating the arrangement of an object in a layout area, which is an area in which the object can be laid out, and an object having at least one of a character string or an image stored in the arrangement management information storage unit. Object arrangement information included in one or more arrangement management information having object arrangement information, partial area definition information for defining a partial area that is one or more areas in the layout area stored in the area tag management information storage unit, and The partial area in which the object corresponding to the object arrangement information is arranged by comparing with the partial area definition information included in the one or more area tag management information having one or more tags associated with the partial area definition information The partial area detection unit that detects Tags corresponding to the partial area is acquired from the region tag management information, a program to function as an output unit for outputting in association with objects.

  In the program, the functions realized by the program do not include functions that can be realized only by hardware. For example, a function that can be realized only by hardware such as a modem or an interface card in an acquisition unit that acquires information or an output unit that outputs information is not included in the function realized by the program.

  Further, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the external appearance of a computer that executes the program and realizes the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. The above-described embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed on the computer hardware.

  11, a computer system 900 includes a computer 901 including a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) drive 905 and an FD (Floppy (registered trademark) Disk) drive 906, a keyboard 902, a mouse 903, a monitor 904, and the like. Is provided.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the computer system 900. In FIG. 12, in addition to the CD-ROM drive 905 and the FD drive 906, a computer 901 is connected to an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 for storing a program such as a bootup program, and the MPU 911. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 913 that temporarily stores program instructions and provides a temporary storage space, a hard disk 914 that stores application programs, system programs, and data, and an MPU 911 and a ROM 912 are interconnected. And a bus 915. The computer 901 may include a network card (not shown) that provides connection to the LAN.

  A program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the information processing apparatus and the like according to the above embodiment is stored in the CD-ROM 921 or the FD 922, inserted into the CD-ROM drive 905 or the FD drive 906, and stored in the hard disk 914. May be forwarded. Instead, the program may be transmitted to the computer 901 via a network (not shown) and stored in the hard disk 914. The program is loaded into the RAM 913 when executed. The program may be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 921, the FD 922, or the network.

The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third-party program that causes the computer 901 to execute the functions of the information processing apparatus according to the above-described embodiment. The program may include only a part of an instruction that calls an appropriate function (module) in a controlled manner and obtains a desired result. How the computer system 900 operates is well known and will not be described in detail.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is suitable as an apparatus for processing information including a laid out object, and is particularly useful as an apparatus for acquiring a tag for a laid out object.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus 101 Arrangement management information storage part 102 Area tag management information storage part 103 Partial area detection part 104 Attribute value acquisition part 105 Output part 106 Tag output storage part

Claims (7)

One or more arrangement management information including an object having at least one of a character string or an image and object arrangement information that is information indicating the arrangement of the object in a layout area in which the object can be laid out is stored. An arrangement management information storage unit;
One or more area tag management information having partial area definition information that defines a partial area that is one or more areas in the layout area and one or more tags associated with the partial area definition information is stored. An area tag management information storage unit;
A partial area detection unit that compares the object arrangement information with the partial area definition information and detects the partial area in which an object corresponding to the object arrangement information is arranged;
An information processing apparatus comprising: an output unit that acquires a tag corresponding to a partial region in which the object detected by the partial region detection unit is arranged from the region tag management information and outputs the tag in association with the object. The area tag management information storage unit includes the partial area definition information, limited area definition information that is information defining a limited area that is a partial area within the partial area defined by the partial area definition information, One or more area tag management information having a tag of
The partial area detection unit compares the object arrangement information, the partial area definition information, and the limited area definition information to determine a limited area in the partial area where the object indicated by the object arrangement information is arranged. Detect
The said output part acquires the tag corresponding to the limited area | region in the partial area | region where the said object detected by the said partial area detection part is arrange | positioned from the said area tag management information, It matches with the said object and outputs it. The information processing apparatus described. An attribute value acquisition unit that acquires an attribute value of the object included in the arrangement management information;
The area tag management information storage unit stores one or more area tag management information having the partial area definition information, the attribute value of the object, and one tag.
The partial area detection unit compares the object arrangement information with the partial area definition information, detects the partial area where the object indicated by the object arrangement information is arranged,
The output unit acquires, from the region tag management information, a tag corresponding to the partial region where the object detected by the partial region detection unit is arranged and the attribute value of the object acquired by the attribute value acquisition unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus outputs the data in association with the object. When there are a plurality of partial areas in which the object detected by the partial area detection unit is arranged, the output unit acquires a tag corresponding to each partial area from the area tag management information, and corresponds to the object. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus outputs the information. The area tag management information storage unit includes area tag management information respectively corresponding to two partial areas located on the front cover of the book, one partial area located on the back cover, and two partial areas located on the back cover. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: is stored. One or more arrangement management information including an object having at least one of a character string or an image and object arrangement information that is information indicating the arrangement of the object in a layout area in which the object can be laid out is stored. One or more areas having an arrangement management information storage unit, partial area definition information that defines a partial area that is one or more areas in the layout area, and one or more tags associated with the partial area definition information An information processing method performed using an area tag management information storage unit in which tag management information is stored, a partial area detection unit, and an output unit,
A partial region detection step in which the partial region detection unit detects the partial region in which an object corresponding to the object placement information is placed by comparing the object placement information with the partial region definition information;
Information including an output step in which the output unit acquires a tag corresponding to the partial area in which the object detected in the partial area detection step is arranged from the area tag management information, and outputs the tag in association with the object. Processing method. Computer
1 having an object having at least one of a character string and an image stored in the arrangement management information storage unit, and object arrangement information which is information indicating the arrangement of the object in a layout area where the object can be laid out The object arrangement information included in the arrangement management information described above, partial area definition information for defining a partial area that is one or more areas in the layout area stored in the area tag management information storage unit, and the partial area definition The partial area in which the object corresponding to the object arrangement information is arranged is compared with the partial area definition information included in one or more area tag management information having one or more tags associated with the information. A partial area detection unit to detect;
A program for obtaining a tag corresponding to a partial area in which the object detected by the partial area detection unit is arranged from the area tag management information, and functioning as an output unit that outputs the tag in association with the object.

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