JP2000348057A - Electronic book, recording medium stored with it, authoring method to its recording medium and information processor for processing recording medium stored with it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic book system by which a book is adopted as digital contents and a memo or an electronic notebook is generated. SOLUTION: The electronic book, 'book', is constituted of one book index having management information and of a plurality of chapter files. Each page of the chapter files is described through the use of a description language such as HTML. Besides, an incidental page is defined in accordance with each page of an original to enable the generation of the memo or the electronic notebook without absolutely changing the contents of the chapter files (the original pages of the electronic book) and, then, a basic document structure is defined, where a notebook index file as management information of the incidental pages and a notebook file as the collection body of the incidental pages are defined. The incidental pages and the original pages are synthesized on display in eight ways and they are superimposed to realize a memo function or sorted in left and right to be utilized as the electronic notebook. Moreover, data is efficiently accessed in a data arrangement format on a disk.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic book, a recording medium on which the electronic book is recorded, a method of authoring the electronic book on the recording medium, and an information processing apparatus for processing the recording medium on which the electronic book is recorded. More specifically, by having a structure including a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, and including a plurality of pages described in a markup language in the chapter files, The present invention relates to an electronic book or the like in which a book can be easily distributed as digital content.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, systems for handling removable disks such as magnetic disks and optical disks have been known. Generally, when a document is recorded on the removable disk, the document is recorded via a file system provided by the system. Depending on the size of the document, there is a method of handling one document as one file or one page as one file. Elements constituting one page, such as still image data, may be handled as another file.

[0003]

In the case where the read / write speed of the drive is sufficiently high, no problem occurs with any configuration method. However, when the speed of the drive is relatively slow, simply increasing the number of files increases the number of times of access to the disk, thereby affecting the practicality. For example, if one page must be divided into one or more files, the number of files becomes larger than the number of pages in the document, and a plurality of files are accessed each time "page turning" is performed. In the case of a drive having a relatively low reading speed, there is a great problem in usability.

Here, HTML (Hypertext Markup Lan)
It is assumed that an electronic book described in (guage) is authored on a removable disk. Normal,
Since the electronic book is of a nature that is not re-edited on the user side, once it becomes a finalized draft, the amount of data is fixed, so that it is often converted to a ROM (Read Only Memory). It is a digital content having a "book" structure.

[0005] H which has recently become popular in the creation of homepages
An HTML document using TML is based on the concept that there are many pages linked by a link structure. Is different from the concept of "what you do"
It is usually a file. Therefore, in this state, a file read process is always inserted in an operation across pages, which causes a reduction in speed. In addition, text, still images,
When data of various multimedia formats such as sound are mixed, according to the concept of the HTML style, all of these data are recorded and saved as separate file formats, and one page itself is read. In particular, these multiple files have to be accessed, further reducing the speed. Therefore, when considering an “HTML electronic book” composed of pages described in HTML, unnecessary access can be omitted and high-speed pre-reading can be performed.
A new HTML document structure needs to be developed.

To record such an "HTML electronic book" on a removable disk, the physical format of the recording medium, for example, a disk (eg, sector length, file allocation unit, data buffer in the drive, etc.) It is necessary to consider an optimal data arrangement method according to the characteristics of a ring, an access unit, a head seek method, and the like. Despite the fact that page data as a "book" is continuous, simply recording and authoring via the file system may cause the page and adjacent page to be written apart as recording positions on the disc, Since a seek operation of the read head is performed, it causes a reduction in speed. Therefore, it is necessary to devise a method of recording continuous pages in a continuous area as much as possible.

When reading a document or page from a recording medium on which an “electronic book” composed of pages described in HTML is recorded, the file system may not start reading until the page is specified. However, the time required for the drive access time and transfer speed is required. For example, if MD data whose reading speed is relatively low is used as a recording medium, it takes time to display a page. Therefore, the above HTM
If the L-document structure and the data arrangement on the disk are in a format that makes it easy to read ahead, and if the pre-reading process is executed in a form that makes good use of it, from an application standpoint, a sufficient speed should be obtained from the viewpoint of the application. .

[0008] In some applications, it may be desired to overwrite a memo or to make a mark on an electronic book stored in a ROM. Also,
Sometimes you want to display the contents of an e-book on the left page and create an organized note on the right page. For example, educational textbooks and reference books, and memos and electronic notebooks created in an attached form are examples of such a case. In order to allow such writing, for example, a disk as a recording medium must be a RAM (Random Access Memory) type or a hybrid type in which a ROM unit and a RAM unit are mixed. In any case, the accompanying page or data newly created on the user side must always be read out together with the original page, and must be combined and displayed on the application side. For that purpose, a total document structure including the original page and the accompanying page is required, and the arrangement on the disk must be devised accordingly.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic book in which a so-called book can be easily distributed as digital content. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic book having an HTML document structure capable of high-speed pre-reading by eliminating useless access. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium in which data is arranged so that high-speed pre-reading of the above-described electronic book page is possible. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of reading a document or a page from a recording medium on which an electronic book is recorded at a sufficient speed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic book having a document structure in which a memo can be overwritten or marked.

[0010]

An electronic book according to the present invention has a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files. It is characterized in that a plurality of described pages are stored.

In the present invention, an electronic book is composed of a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files. The chapter file contains a plurality of pages described in a markup language such as HTML. For example, the book index file may have various data that can be used in an application, in addition to the management information of a plurality of chapter files.

The chapter file has, for example, a plurality of page segments for each of a plurality of pages, and a table (PSATBL) for providing position information of the plurality of page segments in the file. Here, the page segment has, for example, at least one or more page elements including a text portion describing the page, and also displays the relative position information of the one or more page elements and the page when the page is displayed. Table that gives information such as screen size (PGS
TBL).

As the page element other than the text part, for example, multimedia components such as still image data and sound data placed in the same page as the page described in the text part can be considered. Further, the page segment has, for example, a table (LPCTBL) for giving information for referring to another page when the text portion refers to another page.

A plurality of notes corresponding to a plurality of chapter files, respectively, in order to be able to write memos on the chapter files, which are original electronic book contents, and to create accompanying electronic notes. It further includes a file and a note index file having management information of the plurality of note files, and the note file can include a plurality of accompanying pages respectively corresponding to a plurality of pages contained in the chapter file.

With the above structure, a so-called book can be easily distributed as digital content. Further, by adopting a markup language, for example, HTML for the description of a page, data compatibility between package media such as a disc and network media such as the Internet is high, and multimedia data can be easily handled.

By adopting HTML in the description of the page, the authoring side can easily create the content using the HTML editor on the personal computer as in the case of the homepage, while the reproducing side can process the present invention. By adopting the structure, HTML p
Since the arser (HTML interpretation program) can be used without any change, it becomes easy to use the browser software on the Internet and the software in common.

By adopting HTML in the description of the page, when jumping to another page depending on the contents of the page, the link mechanism of HTML can be used as it is, and the user can link in the same manner as the home page. The page can be operated, and the operability of the page as a book can be improved.

By providing an accompanying page corresponding to the page (original page) contained in the chapter file,
The user can overwrite a memo or create an electronic note using the accompanying page without altering the authored digital content (original page). As a result, it is possible to overcome the limitation of merely seeing the contents as in a conventional CD-ROM or the like, and the user can freely add his own memo like a paper book.

A recording medium according to the present invention has a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, and the plurality of chapter files described in a markup language. , Wherein the book index file and the plurality of chapter files are respectively recorded from the beginning of a predetermined recording unit.

Further, the method of authoring an electronic book on a recording medium according to the present invention comprises the steps of:
A book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, wherein the chapter file includes a plurality of pages described in a markup language. , A book index file and a plurality of chapter files are respectively recorded from the beginning of a predetermined recording unit.

In the present invention, the electronic book to be recorded is
It consists of a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files. And the chapter file contains H
A plurality of pages described in a markup language such as TML are stored. In this case, the book index file and the plurality of chapter files are respectively recorded from the beginning of a predetermined recording unit. The above recording unit is, for example, a write / read unit (eg, MD d
In the case of an ata disk, the unit is 64 KB, which is referred to as a “cluster”. Therefore, access to each file is simplified, and the reading speed of a desired page from an electronic book can be increased.

For example, a book index file is recorded using one recording unit, and a chapter file is recorded using one or a plurality of recording units. Then, the chapter file has a plurality of page segments relating to each of the plurality of pages, and a table which gives position information of the plurality of page segments in the file. The data is recorded at a continuous recording position in page order.

By recording a plurality of page segments at consecutive recording positions in page order in this way, for example, when a predetermined reproduction page is designated, a recording unit in which the page segment related to the reproduction page is recorded When reading the data of all pages recorded in
There is a high possibility that the data of the pages before and after the reproduction page are also read. If the data of the pages before and after the playback page has already been read, when the next or previous page is designated as the next playback page, there is no need to read that page, and use a drive with a slow read speed. However, it is possible to display the reproduction page at high speed.

For example, as for the next page segment recorded over a plurality of recording units when recording is continuously performed on the previous page segment, the last page of the previous page segment is recorded. It is recorded from the beginning of the next recording unit following the unit. This makes it possible to reduce the frequency of the next page segment spanning a plurality of recording units. When the recording unit is, for example, a write / read unit, the reading of page data related to the next page segment is performed. The number of clusters for
The reading speed can be increased. In this case, the page segment subsequent to the next page segment is recorded at a recording position after the last recording position of the recording unit where the last of the previous page segment is recorded, and the recording capacity is reduced. It may be used effectively.

For example, an electronic book recorded on a recording medium further includes a plurality of note files respectively corresponding to a plurality of chapter files, and a note index file having management information of the plurality of note files, The note file contains a plurality of accompanying pages respectively corresponding to the plurality of pages contained in the chapter file. The note index file and the plurality of note files are respectively recorded from the beginning of the recording unit.

By providing the accompanying page, the user can overwrite a memo or create an electronic note using the accompanying page without altering the authored digital content (original page).
The note index file and the plurality of note files are respectively recorded from the beginning of a predetermined recording unit, so that the above-mentioned recording unit is, for example, a writing / reading unit (for example, a cluster in an MDdata disc).
Then, the access to each file becomes simple, and the reading speed of a desired accompanying page from the electronic book can be increased.

The note file has a plurality of fixed-length accompanying page segments for each of the plurality of accompanying pages, and the plurality of accompanying page segments are recorded in continuous recording positions in page order. Since a plurality of accompanying page segments are recorded at consecutive recording positions in the order of pages in this manner, similarly to the pages (original pages) contained in the above-described chapter file, even if a drive having a low reading speed is used, Thus, it is possible to display the associated page at a high speed.

The information processing apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, and the plurality of chapter files described in a markup language in the chapter files. An information processing apparatus for processing a recording medium on which an electronic book containing pages is recorded, wherein reproduction page input means for specifying a predetermined page as reproduction data;
A data buffer for storing page data, and a data read for reading the data of the reproduction page from the recording medium and storing the data in the data buffer when the data of the reproduction page specified by the reproduction page input means is not in the data buffer. Means, and display means for displaying the contents of the reproduction page based on the data of the reproduction page stored in the data buffer.

In the present invention, the recording medium has a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, and stores a plurality of pages described in a markup language in the chapter files. The stored electronic book is recorded. When a reproduction page is designated by a user operation, if there is data of the reproduction page in the data buffer, the data of the reproduction page is read from the data buffer, and the page content is displayed on a screen of a liquid crystal display element or the like based on the data. To be displayed. On the other hand, if there is no data of the specified reproduction page in the data buffer, the data of the reproduction page is read from the recording medium and temporarily stored in the data buffer.
After that, the page content is displayed based on the data. In this case, the book index file and the plurality of chapter files are respectively recorded from the beginning of a predetermined recording unit. When the recording unit is a writing / reading unit, access to each file is simplified, and the electronic book is easily read. It is possible to increase the reading speed of a desired page from the URL.

The chapter file has a plurality of page segments relating to each of a plurality of pages and a table for providing position information of the plurality of page segments in the file, and the plurality of page segments are continuous in the page order following the table. When the data is recorded at the recording position, for example, when the data of the specified reproduction page is not in the data buffer, the data is recorded in a predetermined recording unit of the recording medium on which the page segment related to the specified reproduction page is recorded. The data of all the pages being read are read and stored in the data buffer. As a result, there is a high possibility that data of pages before and after the reproduction page are also read. If the data of the pages before and after the playback page has already been read, when the next or previous page is designated as the next playback page, there is no need to read that page, and use a drive with a slow read speed. However, it is possible to display the reproduction page at high speed.

When a reproduction page is designated by a user operation and there is no data of a predetermined page before and after the reproduction page in the data buffer, the data may be pre-read from the recording medium and stored in the data buffer. Further, when data of a predetermined page linked to the designated reproduction page is not in the data buffer, the data may be pre-read from the recording medium and stored in the data buffer. Thereby, the data of the pages before and after the reproduction page and the data of the link page are read in advance and stored in the page buffer. Therefore, when a page before or after the reproduction page or a link page is designated as the next reproduction page, there is no need to read the page, and even if a drive having a low reading speed is used, the reproduction page can be displayed at high speed. It is possible to do.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a plurality of chapter files; a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files;
It has a plurality of note files respectively corresponding to the plurality of chapter files and a note index file having management information of the plurality of note files, and the chapter file contains a plurality of original pages described in a markup language. The note file is an information processing apparatus that processes a recording medium that records an electronic book in which a plurality of accompanying pages respectively corresponding to the plurality of original pages are stored. Data writing means for writing the data of the associated page at the recording position, reproduction page input means for specifying both the predetermined original page or the associated page, or both the predetermined original page and the associated page corresponding thereto as the reproduction page; Attached page data A data buffer for writing, when the data of the reproduction page specified by the reproduction page input means is not in the data buffer, a data reading means for reading the data of the reproduction page from the recording medium and storing it in the data buffer; Display means for displaying the contents of the reproduced page based on the data of the reproduced page.

In the present invention, when a reproduction page (original page or accompanying page) is specified by a user operation, if there is data of the reproduction page in the data buffer, the data of the reproduction page is read from the data buffer. The page contents are displayed on a screen such as a liquid crystal display element based on the data. On the other hand, if there is no data of the designated reproduction page in the data buffer, the data of the reproduction page is read from the recording medium, temporarily stored in the data buffer, and then the page content is displayed based on the data. In this case, as the playback page, the original page and the accompanying page are individually designated as the playback pages, or both are designated as the playback pages. When both are designated as reproduction pages, for example, they are displayed alternately or displayed in a superimposed manner.

The data of the associated page can be written to the recording position of the associated page on the recording medium by a user operation. As a result, the user can use the accompanying page to overwrite a memo or create an electronic note without altering the authored digital content (original page).

[0035]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG.
Disk 20 on which "L e-book" is recorded
1 shows an information processing apparatus 10 that processes the information. This information processing apparatus 10 has a CPU (cent
ral processing unit) 11, a memory unit 12, an I / O unit 13 for connecting input / output devices (not shown) such as a keyboard, a mouse, a printer, and a scanner, and a disk drive 14 for driving a disk 20. , A display unit 15 including a liquid crystal display element and the like. The memory unit 12, the I / O unit 13, the disk drive 14, and the display unit 15 are connected to the CPU 11 via a bus 16, respectively.

In the present embodiment, an MD data disk is used as the removable disk 20. MD data discs are available from Sony Corporation's "R
ainbowBook part2 ". ROM type, RAM type, ROM part and RAM
There is a hybrid type with a part.

FIG. 17 shows a hybrid type MD dat.
3 shows the basic format structure of the disk a. In this figure, an information area is an area where digital data is recorded. Data is recorded in advance on the inner peripheral side, and a read-only ROM section is provided. The outer side is a RAM section capable of both recording (writing) and reading. In the lead-in area (lead-in area), the table of contents (TO
C: table of contents). This TOC
For example, information that can determine whether the disc is for music or data, and management information such as the start address and length of each area are recorded in the.

Immediately after the lead-in area (lead-in area), one cluster (64 KB) corresponds to a boot area.
This is the area defined as a). The remaining ROM section is
It must be controlled by a file system (hereinafter, referred to as an “MD file system”) that operates based on a logical format defined by the MD data standard.
The directory of this MD file system is VMA
(Volume management area).

Next, in the RAM section, from the start of the RAM section, a table of contents section called UTOC (50 clusters) covering the RAM section is placed, and a recordable user area (record) is recorded.
ableuser area) is the actual use area. This area also needs to be controlled by an MD file system or the like, like the ROM section, and the directory and the like for that
Placed in VMA in M section.

Here, the hybrid type MD data
In the case of a disc, the TOC and VMA area of the ROM
The information is copied to the UTOC or VMA area of the AM section, and the media management information including the ROM section can be understood simply by referring to the RAM section. Last readout area (le
ad-out area) is an unused area, and is defined as inaccessible by a function from a normal MD file system.

Incidentally, in the case of the ROM type MD data disc, there is no recordable area, and all become a pre-mastered area and a lead-out area (leaving area).
d-out area) cannot be written. RAM type MD
In the case of a data disk, the previous master area does not exist, and the entire area is a recordable area. In this case, the position of the UTOC is known from the TOC information, and one cluster after the UTOC is secured as a boot area. Normally, the UTOC starts immediately after the lead-in area.
ternate track) can be placed between the lead-in and the UTOC. The VMA is placed after that.

FIG. 18 shows the data structure of an MD data disc. In the MD data disk, the unit of writing and reading is cluster (64 KB)
It is called. There is 2252 between the lead-in area and the lead-out area.
A cluster is provided. One cluster is composed of 36 sectors. The first four sectors are sub data sectors or link sectors, and the remaining 32 sectors are main data sectors.

One sector has a recording capacity of 2352 bytes, a 12-byte synchronous data portion (SYNC) in which synchronous data is recorded, and a 4-byte header portion in which a cluster number and a sector number are recorded. (Header), an 8-byte reserved portion (reserved), a 2048-byte data portion (Data) in which user data is recorded, and an error detection code (Error Detection Code) for detecting data errors.
de) is recorded, and an error correction code (Error Correction Cod) for correcting erroneous data is stored in a 4-byte EDC unit.
e) is composed of a 276-byte ECC part in which is recorded.

In this embodiment, an "HTML electronic book" composed of pages described in HTML is recorded on the disk 20. HTML is a description language (markup language) that is becoming popular for creating homepages, and can easily express multimedia contents such as text, still images, animations, and sounds. Therefore, if this is adopted as the basic page description language of the document on the disk, it has high affinity with the document on the Internet or a network, and is very useful.

However, as described above, there is no concept such as "book" or "document" in HTML, and there is only one page in which HTML text is described. Data such as “.jpeg” and “.jpeg” which are often used in the case of a still image, respectively.
GIF "etc.), and exists as a separate file. From a text page, the files are referred to by a tag.

Therefore, if these are defined as individual files in accordance with the HTML style, one page will be composed of a plurality of files, and the reading speed will be reduced. So, first,
It is desirable that all data relating to one page be placed in one file and be placed in a continuous and close place. Moreover, it is desired to realize the basic processing module (parser) for interpreting the HTML language without any change. Because this module is usually HTML
Although it is called parser, it is a module that operates according to the HTML rules, so if it is modified on its own, it will be contrary to the HTML rules, There is a possibility that a problem may occur even with the compatibility of.

In the first place, HTML is derived from SGML and is widely used as a means for expressing home pages on the Internet, but its basic concept is to link between files. Therefore,
In various places, independently created pages are connected by linking once, and the document structure is usually formed by network-type page assembly. On the other hand, in a paper-based book, having a document structure ordered by page number is essential in terms of manipulating the book, and has been a long-standing human practice.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the disc 20 contains "HT" composed of pages described in HTML.
"ML e-book" is recorded, but this "HTML e-book"
Is based on HTML and has a page-by-page order structure. And this "HTML electronic book"
Are optimally arranged on the disk 20 so that the information processing apparatus 10 can read documents and pages at high speed.

The document structure of the “HTML electronic book and accompanying pages” in the present embodiment and the data arrangement format on the disk 20 are collectively called the BookMD format. The BookMD format is considered as one of the data formats on the application, based on the logical file structure of MD data defined in the above “Rainbow Book part2”.

Hereinafter, [1] the basic document structure of the "HTML electronic book", [2] the data arrangement of the "HTML electronic book" on the disk, [3] the high-speed prefetching method, and [4] the document of the "accompanying page" Structure, [5] Books and N on Disk
[6] Books and Note
s will be described in the order of the composition relation on the screen.

[1] Basic Document Structure of “HTML Electronic Book” FIG. 2 shows the entire basic document structure of “HTML electronic book and accompanying pages”. First, the file structure of the “HTML electronic book” will be described. Generally, "e-books (Bo
ok) "can be divided into several chapters (Chapter). Therefore, these are defined as a chapter file (Chapter file), and are treated as one file on the disc 20.
Define “BMD”. "E-book" is composed of continuous pages, but starts from the integer 1 <page #>
It is assumed that the system is referred to.

This <page #> is a reference number on the system and is distinguished from the “page number” assigned to the actual book used by the application user.
For example, the main body of a book is numbered as one page or two pages, but before and after the book there are a table of contents, a postscript, and references, and different page numbers such as i, ii, and iii are used. In some cases.

For example, if the first part before the first page, that is, the first part such as the table of contents is combined as “0.BMD” and the part such as the last postscript is used as “n.BMD”, 1 is assigned to the actual book. The page corresponds to the first <page #> of "1.BMD", and there is a correspondence that the last <page #> of "n-1.BMD" is the last page allocated to the actual book. In the following, unless otherwise specified, a page means a page on the system, and is abbreviated as page or <page>. <page #> is also abbreviated as page #. When describing a page allocated to an actual book in the application sense, it is expressed by "page" or "page number" with quotes.

Each "book" has one book index file for storing its management information. FIG. 3 shows the structure of the book index file. The book index file is written from the beginning of a cluster (MD data is divided into units called clusters every 64 KB, and reading / writing on the disk drive 14 is performed in cluster units). In the present embodiment, the book index file has a size of exactly one cluster.

The book index file includes the number of chapter files (up to 256), from 0.BMD to nB.
The total number of all pages up to the MD, and how many chapters each chapter file continues on the disk 20 (1 cluster = 64K
B) is used, or the last page # on the system of each chapter file is placed. In the present embodiment,
The total number of pages is set to 1 ≦ the total number of pages ≦ 2048, and the maximum size of each chapter file is set to 16 MB. Then, the file names of the chapter files are named by sequential numbers of integers so that continuous access is easy.

In terms of the page correspondence between the application and the system described above, the last p of Chapter filename “0”
age # + 1 means “one page” allocated as a book. The total number of pages of this chapter (that is, 1.BMD) is n1 = last page # of Chapter filename “1”.
Assuming that last page # of Chapter filename “0” is n0, the calculation is n1−n0.

Normally, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the “page number” viewed from the application and the page # on the system, but in some cases, the order of the “page number” allocated to the book May be reversed. In this case, information on the correspondence can be placed in the Data for Application & Associated Page area of the book index file.

This Data for Application & Associated
In the page area, various data that can be used by the application can be pre-recorded. For example, as will be described in [4], when editing the accompanying page, data such as a mark and a seal figure matching the electronic book can be registered in advance here.

One “electronic book” is composed of a set of files including a book index file and a chapter file, and they are collected in a directory called BookName # 1. BookName # 1 is the name of the book on the system. In the case of MD data, the directory is allowed to have a maximum data area of 2 KB. If necessary, write the creation date, creator, title name, etc. in the directory as attributes of this “e-book”. You can keep it. One disk 20 contains a plurality of “electronic books”
, But they are organized in a directory called Books. Under the Books directory is a so-called digital content portion that is not modified or updated, and is authored, for example, in the ROM portion of the disk 20.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of a chapter file. This chapter file is also written from the beginning of the cluster. This chapter file generally contains multiple pages. Management information about this page is stored in PSATBL (Page Start Address T
able) at the beginning of the file.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of PSATBL. PSATBL is used in each of the chapter files.
The position information of page is set to the start address (start address of p
age) and the page byte length. The start address is calculated from the head of the cluster where the PSATBL is located. This allows the file system to access this file without having to read the entire file,
Only the ge segment needs to be accessed, and the overhead of opening and closing files each time can be reduced. In this embodiment, page
Has a maximum size of 16 MB.

Next, the structure of the page segment will be described.
Each page segment is composed of a portion in which HTML text is written (hereinafter, tentatively referred to as “HTML Text”) and various multimedia component portions described therein. In the description in HTML Text, all of these components must be handled as a single file by the rules of HTML.
And put it at the beginning of each page segment.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the PGSTBL. Hereinafter, the elements such as the HTML text of the page and the JPEG file, GIF file, sound file, and the like referred to by the page are referred to as page elements. Page elements other than HTML Text correspond to so-called multimedia components,
In HTML Text, it is represented by a file name or a file name with a relative path. Where this file name comes from is determined by where the file of each component is placed on the personal computer when creating the electronic book contents using an HTML editor using a personal computer (personal computer) or the like.

If the file is placed under the same directory as the HTML Text, there is no relative path, and it is simply expressed by a file name. If the file is placed under another directory, the file name has a relative path. Normally, there is no problem under the condition that they are placed under the same directory. Therefore, in this embodiment, there is no relative path, and the length of the file name (filename) is also 16 bytes. At the time of authoring, the file name of each page element is written as it is in the first 16-byte area, and the subsequent 3-byte offset information can indicate the position of each component in the page. The offset is represented by the length from the beginning of PGSTBL. Further, the size of each page element can be determined from the subsequent three bytes.

The application starts with the HTML of the page
We need to look for the text, but we can't know its file name in advance, so we always put the HTML text first, compared to other components. Other components may be placed sequentially in any suitable order. this
The number of page elements on page is determined by #of
You can find out by referring to page elements. If you define 'HTML Text' as the file name as a unique name, HTML
Since the text position can also be searched as a file name,
It can be placed at any position of the PGSTBL.

In this way, the application
By referring to the STBL, this page is composed of a number of page elements, and it is possible to know where they exist as data in the page segment. Then, by performing a conversion process in accordance with the data format, the data can be displayed on a screen or the like.

In the PGSTBL, the page style (pa
The field of “ge style” specifies the screen size when the page is displayed. Various screen sizes such as 'P' for Partial page of SVGA 'F' for Full page of SVGA Can be defined in correspondence with For example, the SVGA of FIG.
(Super Video Graphics Array) display screen (800 ×
At 600 dots, the partial page (Partial pag
e) is about half screen size, full page (Full pag)
e) corresponds to the full screen size. Partial and full screen sizes are defined in relation to the hardware display screen size, and there are various standards for hardware display screens, so the page style field is defined and utilized according to those standards. .

In addition to the page style, 7-byte page parameters are reserved.
However, these can be used in the future as control information for handling pages and handling between pages. Page attribute
Is control information for handling inside the page. In the present embodiment, a page color (page color) is defined in order to specify the color of the mount of the page at the time of reproduction. Remaining 2
Nine bytes are reserved for future use.

HTML Text has a link, and another pag
If you refer to e, the page will be described in HTML Text in the form of a linked file name (Linked-filename). When creating content on a personal computer or the like, linked pages are often placed under different directories, and generally have a file name with a relative path.

If such a link file name exists, a new LPCTBL (Linked Page) shown in FIG.
It can be controlled while maintaining the correspondence by the management information called e Convert Table). LPCTBL has its link file name in the first 32 bytes, that is, the file name with a relative path, followed by the chapter file name where the page exists (Chapter filename)
(May be the same chapter) and page #.
In this way, the reference relation of the page in this format can be completely established. If there is no link file name in the page, LPCTBL does not exist. LP
The presence or absence of CTBL is determined by LP in PGSTBL (see FIG. 6).
In the field of CTBL Y / N, it is determined by 'E' existence 'X' non-existence, and LPCTB when it exists
The position of L starts immediately after PGSTBL. LPCTBL 16-byte link parameter (li
nk parameters) are reserved for future control information.

Now, a description will be given of a case where a page is reconstructed and displayed from the individual page elements thus obtained on the reproducing side. A software module that interprets HTML Text is called an HTML parser. However, given that it is used without any change (that is, adheres to the rules of HTML), outside of the parser module, page elements and What is necessary is just to make the processing of the link file name completely compatible. Specifically, in the case of a page element, the storage location in the page segment is known from PGSTBL, and in the case of a link file name, the corresponding chapter file and page are known from LPCTBL. Can be accessed through the file system. The processing diagram during this time is shown in FIG.

What is important here is that according to this processing diagram, the HTML parser is not changed at all, that is, the HTM
This means that the HTML world can be used for "e-books" without breaking L's rules. The fact that the HTML parser can be used as it is means that when creating an “e-book”, a commercially available HTML editor can be used.
Compared to setting an age structure, it is more convenient and labor-saving, and is a preferable factor for widespread use.

[2] "HTML electronic book" on disk
When the document structure of the “HTML electronic book” determined as described above is pre-recorded on the disk 20, the same MD file system must be used on the authoring side and the information processing apparatus. Then, access to directories and files under Books can be performed with consistency. Therefore, in order to realize high-speed pre-reading, the point is how to effectively arrange the contents of the file on the disk at the time of authoring. Unlike "dictionary search", "e-books" are considered to have many basic operations of looking back and forth between adjacent pages in applications, so if page data is arranged adjacently on the disk, For example, the number of unnecessary seeks can be reduced, and adjacent pages can be read at once by one reading. Then, even in the case of "page turning" or the like, since the next page has already been read and exists in the data buffer, it is possible to cover the low speed of the drive. The details of a data arrangement method at the time of authoring based on such a concept will be described below.

FIG. 10 visually represents the data arrangement of the book index file and the chapter file. The specific data arrangement method, that is, the authoring rule will be described below with reference to FIG.

(A) First, as for the BMD file (chapter file), all the BMD files are cluster (clu
ster), starting at the beginning and ending at the end of the cluster. FIG.
At 0, a thick downward arrow indicates a cluster boundary. In the MD data, as a physical format, one cluster = 64 KB is a basic unit of reading / writing, so it is efficient to set a file division according to this cluster unit. However, a 64 KB data buffer is provided inside the disk drive 14, and reading / writing in units of 2 KB is apparently possible with respect to the disk drive 14 from the MD file system (see FIG. 11). ). A book index file is one cluster, and a chapter file usually includes a plurality of clusters. Unused areas after the end of each BMD file have padding characters (“FF”)
write.

(B) Next, regarding the contents of the chapter file, first, PSATBL is placed at the top, and then a plurality of pages are placed. PSATBL and pages are written all over, but the end of PSATBL and each page must always end on a 2 KB boundary, and padding characters (“FF”) are written in fractional parts. PSATBL and
Since many of the pages are less than 64KB, MD
2K which is the read / write unit of the file system
The reason is that it is more efficient to align the boundary with B. The 2 KB boundary is indicated by a thin upward arrow in FIG.

(C) At the end of each cluster, a padding character (“FF”) is written in a portion where no page data exists. The hatched portions in FIG. 10 show the padding states in (A) and (C).

(D) As shown in FIG. 4, page data is arranged in the order of PGSTBL, LPCTBL, and page element, and the data size of each of the data is within 2 KB or 2 KB or more. , Again 64K
Some may extend beyond B and span multiple clusters. So, if you simply arrange them in page # order, 2K
In the case of pages greater than or equal to B, there is a possibility that some pages may be arranged across the cluster boundaries. Since direct read / write to the disk 20 is performed in cluster units, 64K
Despite being a page below B, two clusters (ie, 128K)
B) Reading has to be performed, and a useless reading time is required. In order to avoid this, pages of 2 KB or more and 64 KB or less, which straddle a cluster boundary, are always arranged from the beginning of the next cluster, and these pages can be always contained in one cluster (for example:
page # = k + 2).

(E) Similarly, in the case of a page of 64 KB or more, if the page is arranged in the middle of a cluster, there is a possibility that an extra cluster is straddled, and the read time may be lengthened by that amount. Always place from the beginning of the next cluster. In this way, the number of clusters at the time of reading can be minimized (for example, page # = k +
7).

(F) According to the rules (D) and (E), a page jumps to the head of the next cluster,
The back of the current cluster tends to have free space. Therefore, it is checked whether there is a subsequent page having a page size that fits in the current free space, and if there is, the page is arranged in the free space. If there is still enough free space, check the following pages and place them in the free space (eg page # = k +
2, k + 3 page # = k + 7, k + 8, k + 9 page # = k + 11, k + 1
2, k + 13, k + 14, etc. In this case, k + 12 and k + 13 are located after k + 16). The authoring system can change how far to check the following pages, but if the range to be checked is too wide, pages will be scattered, and the basics of continuous placement will be lost.

It is preferable that the range is set so as not to impair the adjacency between pages.
can be set inside and outside of ge. Pa consisting of only text
For an “electronic book” with a small ge size, increasing this value is more effective. This rule is not only for saving space, but also because the total speed is improved when as many clusters as possible are included in a single cluster-unit read. As a result, local page reverse arrangement occurs, but PSAT
Since the start address information of each page of the authoring result is managed in the BL, no problem occurs. When this rule is applied, the last page of the i.BMD file, k + j, is not always located at the end.

(G) Each chapter file is arranged continuously in the order of integer file names, but the book index file may be arranged separately from the chapter file group. The reason for arranging chapter files consecutively is that the last page # of the previous chapter and the first page # of the next chapter are often assigned “page numbers” continuously from the viewpoint of the application. This is because there is an adjacent relationship.

[3] High-speed read-ahead method The document structure in this format and the disc 2
The method of arranging data on 0 has been described. Here, a description will be given of a mechanism in which the information processing device (reproducing device) 10 prefetches the page data at high speed by making good use of these data structures. FIG. 11 shows the software block diagram.

The basic mechanism is that the application and M
Between the D file system (MD File System), a software module of page unit processing called a document manager (Document Manager) is provided, and this provides a high-speed prefetching mechanism. Document managers: 1. Cache function There are two look-ahead functions, and a high-speed look-ahead mechanism is realized as a whole by the synergistic effect of the two functions.

First, the application specifies the BookName # to be opened and reads the contents of the book index file through the MD file system. Furthermore, when a chapter to be opened is determined, PSATBL which should be at the head of the chapter is read, thereby obtaining access information to each page in the chapter file.

First, the cache function will be described. When the application requests a page # to be displayed on the screen or the like from the document manager, the request temporarily enters the queue 1 (Queue-1) via a pre-read setup (Pre-READ SetUp). The application and pre-read setup are running as multitasking,
Every time the application wants a new page, it requests the document manager, and the pre-read setup puts that page # in queue 1.

The pre-read module (Pre-READ) operates as another task or thread, always checks the queue 1, receives the read request page # in the queue 1, and receives the read request page # as the data buffer. Queue 2 (Que) to check whether the page has already been read and
Make an inquiry request to eue-2). The Buffer Manager is always running as a separate task, receiving a query request from queue 2 and
Check the list of page # s present in the page buffer, and if so, extract the page data from the page buffer (or pass the corresponding address of the page buffer) to the application. At the same time, the completion of the processing is notified to the pre-read module via the queue 2, and the pre-read module notifies the application via the queue 1 and the pre-read setup of the completion of the processing.

If the corresponding page does not exist in the page buffer, the buffer manager informs the pre-read module of the fact through the queue 2. Put out. The MD file system can read data from the buffer of the disk drive 14 in units of 2 KB.
The meaning of the data arrangement separated by the boundary of the KB comes out here.

The MD file system reads only the data of the requested page from the buffer of the disk drive 14, and the read Page data is immediately stored in the page buffer, and the buffer manager, the pre-read module, and the pre-read setup are executed. Notify the application of completion via Page data is 64KB
If the number exceeds the required number, the required number of clusters are read and similarly stored in the page buffer. At this point, the application has obtained the page and can proceed to processing such as display.

Once the data of the relevant page has been read, and all the data of the cluster including the relevant page remains in the buffer of the disk drive 14 even after the data is passed to the application, the pre-read module Continues the operation of storing all the data for the cluster in the page buffer. that way,
As explained in the section on data placement, the previous and next pages are also stored in the page buffer, so the next time the application requests the previous or next page, just pass the page data already read into the page buffer. Thus, the number of times the disk 20 is actually read anew may be reduced.

This is the operation of the cache function of the document manager, and the effect of arranging adjacent pages successively in consideration of the cluster boundary is obtained. The page buffer is managed in units of 64 KB clusters. For example, the page buffer may be in the form of a ring buffer and a time stamp (ti
me stamp), etc., to distinguish between new and old,
When the buffer becomes full, old cluster data can be deleted and used. For example, 4
If an MB Page Buffer is prepared, 64 clusters can be managed.

Next, the prefetch function will be described. The operation of the cache function alone does not guarantee that the previous and next pages exist in the page buffer. This is because the page data is not always arranged in order due to the authoring rule of the data arrangement, and it does not fit in one cluster
This is because pages also exist. Another trick is needed to ensure that the previous and next pages are read ahead. This is the look-ahead function operation described below. The pre-reading function performs two points: pre-reading the preceding and following pages, and pre-reading the linked page.

First, the prefetching of the previous and next pages will be described.
In the operation of the “e-book”, unlike the search, to go to the next page from the currently displayed page is usually performed by pressing the <Previous> or <Next> icon or operation button. Many. Therefore, the next page to be read next from the currently displayed page is almost always the previous or next page. So, from the application, a page (this is called center p
At the first stage of the document manager, the pre-read setup automatically generates the previous and next page # s and puts them in queue 1 at the same time. The range of automatically generated page # can be set parametrically. For example, center
If page # = k, 1 ≦ ku, k- (u-1), ....., k-2, k-1, k + 1, k + 2, ......, k + ( v
-1), k + v ≦ the lastpage # of the book u and v can be changed as parameters. If u = v = 1, it can be seen that only the Previous and Next pages are to be prefetched at the same time as the request for the center page. The parameters may be fixed programmatically, or such parameters may be additionally defined in the book index file so as to be variable for each “electronic book”. The order in which these automatically generated page # s are put in the queue 1 may be the u-side or the v-side first, or the u-side and the v-side may be alternately averaged. .

The pre-read modules are sequentially arranged from queue 1
Since page # is received and processed, automatically generated p
As for the age #, similarly to the cache function operation, if the page # exists in the page buffer, the processing is completed. If the page # does not exist, an actual read is requested to the MD file system, and the entire cluster including the page # Is stored in the page buffer. Since the cache function operation also works at the same time, the preceding and following pages often exist in the same cluster, and the actual number of times of reading is often smaller than the number of automatically generated pages. In any case, this prefetch function operation ensures that adjacent pages in the range defined by u and v are stored in the page buffer.

As described in the description of the cache function, the center page requested by the application is returned to the application with the highest priority anyway, and thereafter, the above-described pre-read processing (Pre-READ backgroun
d processing) is continuously executed. After the pre-reading process of the automatically generated page is completed, when the application requests to read the previous and next pages, the corresponding page data can be immediately returned from the page buffer. In other words, even when the application displays the center page and the user is watching it, the part that is likely to be turned next is prefetched by the prefetching process. This is based on the idea that a relatively low-speed drive is averaged and operated by read-ahead to cover the low-speed property.

Before all of the pre-reading of the automatically generated page # is completed, the operation button or the like may be pressed on the application side to request the next page #. In this case, the pre-read setup cancels the previous and subsequent page # s based on the past center page automatically generated by itself from the queue 1 and immediately puts a new center page in the queue 1 in order to respond to the actual request from the application. In this way, the pre-read module can immediately respond to the request of the application, and the document manager does not cause a delay in the movement of the application. The above is the look-ahead algorithm of the previous and next pages.

Next, the Linked-pa existing in the center page
The pre-reading of ge will be described. In this format, an HTML description is used as a page expression. Therefore, as a page that may move to the next page from the page currently displayed on the screen, in addition to <Previous> and <Next>, a link extension is provided. There is a page that is being used. Li from the user's point of view
The nked-page has exactly the same characteristics as the <Previous> and <Next> operation buttons. The document manager is the center page where the application is currently displaying the screen
Therefore, by referring to the LPCTBL of the page, all the linked-pages can be known. So the pre-read setup is just like the previous and next pages, Li
If the nked-page # is also put in the queue 1, the subsequent prefetch processing is performed in the same manner as the preceding and succeeding pages, and the prefetch of the Linked-page is realized. The order of input of Linked-page # to the queue 1 can be appropriately controlled in accordance with the input of previous and subsequent page #, as well as the processing order.

As described above, based on this format, a high-speed prefetching method can be realized by providing a software module called a document manager between an application and an MD file system. From the user's point of view, all pages that will jump to the previous and next pages and links that will move from the currently displayed screen will be predicted and prefetched in advance, so it will be instantaneous from the page buffer. The page data can be read, and the advantage that the low speed of the drive or medium used does not matter at all can be enjoyed.

[4] Document Structure of “Attached Page” In a ROM medium such as a CD-ROM, the content is only for viewing, and the content cannot be added or modified. A similar situation occurs in an optical disc such as MD data when the content is supplied in a ROM portion. As described above, the MD data includes the ROM type, the RAM type, the ROM unit, and the R
There is a hybrid type that has an AM part, but it is not just for reading "e-books", but for writing notes, pasting figures, organizing notes related to "e-books" pages, etc. In order to easily create a file on a medium, a document structure is needed in which the data on the ROM on which the “e-book” is placed and the data on the RAM created by the user cooperate well. Become.

First, returning to FIG. 2, a part to be newly created by the user is constructed in a directory under Notes. The NoteName directory has a one-to-one correspondence with the BookName directory.
ile) (hereinafter referred to as "note file") has a one-to-one correspondence with each chapter file. The extension of the note file is defined as ".ANT".

The page of the chapter file is called the original page, and the page of the note file is called the accompanying page.
In the case of RAM type media, it is assumed that the original pages under Books will be used without change on the user side. become. Needless to say, the MD file system can centrally manage both the ROM section and the RAM section.

There are two points in considering the document structure of the mixed ROM / RAM. One is that the data on the Books side is not changed, but the data amount on the Notes side increases or decreases according to the creation status of the user. Secondly, the notes written on the original page and the organized notebook page associated with the original page cannot be overlapped with the original page at the same time as the application screen, or displayed next to the original page. Not be. for that reason,
Basically, the corresponding Page data in the two files (chapter file and note file) must be read at high speed in the same manner, and the data arrangement of the note file must be continuous so that the high-speed read ahead mechanism can be applied. It is important that the strategic location is taken into account. This is because, even if only the original page can be read at a high speed, if the reading of the associated page is slow, the page reading as a whole will eventually be slow.

The following describes how the associated pages are defined and how they are controlled. Unlike the case of Books, all the associated pages are generated, updated, deleted, and the like on the information processing apparatus 10 side. The note index file for managing the associated page is also recorded and updated on the information processing apparatus 10 side. Therefore, some part of the software on the information processing apparatus 10 side needs to control this control. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the document structure is managed between the application and the MD file system. Because there is a document manager to do this, here is a note management module (Notes Management Module) that also controls the function of accompanying pages.

FIG. 12 shows the data structure of the associated page. First, the first point is the increase / decrease of the amount of accompanying page data. However, as is generally considered, if the method of simply creating and updating the accompanying page through the MD file system is adopted, the generality is increased. However, it is difficult to control the data arrangement on the disk 20 so as to conform to the high-speed prefetching method. The data size of the accompanying page also varies, and continuity of data arrangement is not guaranteed. In other words, each time the update is repeated, one file is distributed and arranged at various positions on the disk 20, and fragmentation occurs.

To avoid this, it can be seen that the maximum size of the accompanying page in the note file should be determined in advance, the file size should be fixed, and the recording position on the disk 20 should be fixed in advance. If the maximum size is fixed, editing and updating beyond the data amount becomes impossible.However, in this format, the accompanying page is positioned along with the original page. It is assumed that the data amount is naturally limited, such as pasting, enclosing the contents of the original page with a simple frame, or a marking function.

Therefore, if the maximum size is sufficient, generality is not lost, and there is no practical problem. Even when creating an organized note by referring to the original page, the data amount of the text is not so large, and for large data such as still images, the original page can be referred to as a pointer. In this case, the data amount of the accompanying page itself can be small. In the present embodiment, the size is set to 8 KB, and eight accompanying pages are reserved and arranged in one cluster. Depending on the application, about 4 KB may be appropriate, so that it may be possible to appropriately designate the document manager for each application.

When an associated page is generated, an associated page parameter (8B)
And associated page attrib
ute) (32B) is created as a header. The accompanying page parameter is page control information similar to that of the original page, and is mainly used for control of pages themselves and handling between pages. For example,
The page style field defines the number of vertical and horizontal pixels and the screen size of the accompanying page, as in the case of the original page. When the original page and the accompanying page are superimposed and displayed, if both the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions and the screen size are the same, natural superposition can be performed. In that case, the application can copy and set the PGSTBL (see FIG. 6) of the original page.

Conversely, there may be a case where it is desired to define a unique number of pixels or a screen size as an associated page regardless of the page style information of the original page. In this case, the application specifies the page style.How to superimpose on the original page and how to display the protruding part in relation to the original page are determined by the application. It depends.

The page separator field is defined as a field for specifying whether the accompanying page is to be used for overlaying on the original page or to be used by interleaving one page between the original pages. . To explain the latter case from a display standpoint, if the original page is full screen size, the original page and accompanying pages appear every other screen, and if the original page is partial screen size, the left half is displayed It is possible to display the original page on the screen and the accompanying page on the right half screen at the same time. This is convenient when you want to create an organized note yourself while referring to the original.

[0110] The field of the accompanying page attribute is control information inside the accompanying page, and is a portion where the attribute is specified by the application. In the present embodiment, only the note color field is defined, but this is used to determine the color of the mount when all or part of the accompanying page is displayed without overlapping the original page. It becomes the color of the mount when it becomes a so-called organized notebook or electronic notebook (for details, see [6] below). The default color of the mount that overlaps the original page is transparent. Data (dat
In part a), the application can define the data structure in a free format, and record, update, and delete it.

First, the document manager
It is necessary to initialize NoteName, note index, and note file under the directory, which is done as follows. FIG. 13 shows the structure of the note index file. The note index file has a size of one cluster, and is used by the document manager to manage the note file.
Number of note files (Total # of Associated Note F
iles) and associated page counts (Total # of Associated
pages) correspond one-to-one with the number of chapter files and the number of pages of the original page, so the corresponding fields of the book index file (see FIG. 3) may be copied.

The reserved area is reserved for use by an application or use by a system as needed. Since the attached pages are fixed length, how many of them are in each chapter file can be calculated from the last page # in the book index file. All corresponding note files are created.

The note files created in this way are continuously and fixedly reserved on the disk 20. FIG. 14 shows the situation. here,
The boundary of each ANT file is a cluster boundary (thick downward arrow), and the portion of the last cluster of each ANT file where there is no accompanying page is filled with padding characters (hatched portion). Each ANT file is laid out in the order of the integer file name. However, Books
As in the case of, the note index file is
It may be located separately from the T file group.

In the case of Books, the arrangement order may be reversed according to the size of each page due to the rules of authoring, but in the case of Notes, the pages are arranged continuously in perfect order. In this way, since the adjacency between the accompanying pages is completely maintained, the high-speed look-ahead method described in the above section [3] can be applied to the note file in exactly the same manner. , Books
High-speed read-ahead will be realized for both the data of Notes and Notes.

In the information processing apparatus 10, it is possible to mix and manage both Books and Notes data in the same page buffer, but separate page buffers may be prepared. By preparing a write buffer (not shown) for writing the accompanying page to the disk 20, a delay write (delay WRITE) such as writing all at once is performed, and the disk 2
It is possible to reduce the number of accesses to 0.

Each accompanying page is generated, updated, and deleted by the application. The management of generation and deletion is performed using a bitmap (BitMap) of the note index file.

In this embodiment, since the total number of pages is 2048, 2048 bits (256 bytes) are set as a BitMap, and each bit is turned on / off to control the active / non-active of the associated page. Since there is no entity of the associated page from the total page number to 2048, it is managed as non-active on the bitmap. The associated page parameter (Associated PageParameter) of the note index file is the associated page parameter (associated page parameter) of each associated page (see FIG. 12).
age parameter), which is 8B x 2048 = 16KB data. This is the information processing device 10
When a document manager handles an attached page, it can read the page and process it without looking at the header.

For the operation of an electronic book or an associated page, a function of opening a page with a one-touch operation by placing a bookmark, or when ending the book, setting the page number on a disc to start from the last page of the current time next time I want to record it at 20. Such page operation management information can be managed as application-controlled data of the note index file.

When a plurality of books exist on one disc 20, which book was used last may be held as the attribute of the corresponding Notes directory.
The application looks at the Notes attribute first, then looks at the book's note index file,
It is possible to automatically return to the state at the time of the previous end. Various data set by editing the accompanying page,
By recording parameters in the application control data area, user profiles and customization data can be stored.

Depending on the display mode of the application, the original page and the accompanying page may not always need to be read together. Therefore, the information processing device 1
0, the basic functions of the document manager include reading of Books only, Books and No.
It supports simultaneous reading of tes, reading of only Notes, and the like.

[5] Books and Not on Disk
Fig. 15 shows the Boo in the entire MD data disc.
The relative positional relationship between ks and Notes is shown. MD
The directory relation of data is VMA (Vo
lume Management Area). In the ROM type, the VMA area is located at the innermost circumference, and Books are recorded in advance (pre-
recorded). The shaded area is Boolean because software other than the content may be recorded in advance.
ks means that it does not necessarily have to start immediately after the VMA region. Also in the RAM type, the VMA area is located at the innermost circumference, and it is desirable to arrange the Books and Notes in this order. Normally, since the amount of data on the Books side is large, the seek is smaller on the inner circumference side. In the hybrid type, first, the ROM section is on the inner side, so Books are placed here, the VMA area is placed on the innermost periphery of the RAM section, and Notes are placed thereafter.

[6] Composition Relationship of Books and Notes on Screen Here, as described above, how each page of the note file created by the user is combined with each page of the chapter file. Then, we will explain whether one or more pages are composed, and show the usefulness of this format incorporating the concept of accompanying pages.

The accompanying pages in the note file are attached one by one to the original page in the chapter file. However, based on the information on the page style and page separator in the page parameters, there is much flexibility in the synthesizing relationship. Has been given. For example, in the present embodiment, the display screen is SVGA, but the page style on the original page side is Partial / Partial.
Two screen sizes, Full, can be defined. A full original page is displayed on the full screen, and when two partial original pages are continuous, two pages are displayed simultaneously on the screen. Along with the page style, a page separator is defined for the accompanying page.
It is decided whether to overlap or to insert the original page after the original page.

FIG. 16 shows the synthesizing relationship from the viewpoint of the display mode in the present embodiment. (1) and (3) show the case where the application requests only the original page and only the accompanying page to the document manager, respectively, and are displayed according to the page style of each page. (2) is a case where both pages are requested at the same time, and there are six possibilities depending on the specification of the page style and the page separator. Therefore, eight display modes can be realized after all.

From the user's point of view: (1) The original original page without any memo or overwrite can be displayed at any time. (A), (e) Notes and overwrites can be made on the original page. (B) An electronic note can be created on the right screen while displaying the original page on the left screen. (C) An electronic note can be created on the right screen while displaying the original with overwriting on the left screen. (D), (f) The original page and the electronic note are displayed alternately. (3) Only electronic notebooks can be displayed. Since it can be used like this, it has a wide application range from an application point of view.

Since the Books and Notes data are only combined or synthesized on the screen, the application operation buttons include only the Books display, the Books display with memos, and the Books and electronic notebook simultaneous display on one screen. By providing a display, a display of an electronic notebook only, or the like, various displays can be realized at any time without modifying the original contents of Books.

The memo writing and overwriting methods include a handwritten point sequence input using a touch panel or a tablet, a soft key input for displaying a key and inputting while designating the key, and a text using a marker pen on an original sentence. You can think of various functions, such as highlighting text, temporarily hiding text, enclosing in the original sentence frame, attaching an electronic seal, and so on. As a method of creating an electronic notebook, a so-called word processing editing function such as copying from an original page, inputting a word processing from a keyboard, drawing by a graphic, and the like can be considered.

In the above embodiment, the number of accompanying pages is one for the original page.
It goes without saying that a plurality of accompanying pages can be associated with each other and applied to a wider range of applications.

In the above-described embodiment, the recording medium on which the “electronic book” is recorded is an MDdata disk. However, the same “electronic book” format is applied to other optical disks or magnetic disks having different physical formats. Can be used to record. In this case, the same purpose can be easily achieved simply by adjusting the portion related to the physical format (mainly, that MD data consists of 64 KB in one cluster) to a form suitable for each recording medium. .

In the above-described embodiment, each page of the “e-book” is described in HTML, but the present invention is not directly related to the contents and rules of the language. The present invention can be similarly applied to an “electronic book” that describes each page using a description language having a structure of XML, Dynamic HTML, SGML, or the like.

[0131]

According to the electronic book of the present invention, a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files are provided, and a plurality of chapter files described in a markup language in the chapter files are provided. And a so-called book can be easily distributed as digital content.

In addition, a markup language,
For example, by adopting HTML, data compatibility between package media such as a disc and network media such as the Internet is high, and multimedia data can be easily handled.

Further, by carefully configuring the peripheral processing software of the HTML parser, the HTML
L rules can be used without change,
HTM on the personal computer on the authoring side
Using the L editor, content can be created as easily as on a homepage.

Also, by adopting HTML in the description of a page, when jumping to another page depending on the content of the page, the HTML link mechanism can be used as it is, and the user has the same feeling as the home page. Can operate the linked page, and the operability of the page as a book can be improved.

By providing an accompanying page corresponding to the page (original page) contained in the chapter file, the user can use the accompanying page without modifying the authored digital content (original page). You can overwrite notes and create electronic notes. As a result, it is possible to overcome the limitation of merely seeing the contents as in a conventional CD-ROM or the like, and the user can freely add his own memo like a paper book.

According to the recording medium and the method of authoring an electronic book on a recording medium according to the present invention, the book index file and the plurality of chapter files are respectively recorded from the head of a predetermined recording unit. Therefore, the recording unit is, for example, a write / read unit (for example, a cluster in an MD data disc).
In this case, the access to each file in the information processing apparatus becomes simple, and the reading speed of a desired page from the electronic book can be increased.

Further, by recording a plurality of page segments relating to a plurality of pages contained in the chapter file at recording positions continuous in the page order, for example, when a predetermined reproduction page is designated in the information processing apparatus, If the configuration is such that data of all pages recorded in the recording unit in which the page segment related to the reproduction page is recorded is read, there is a high possibility that data of pages before and after the reproduction page are also read at the same time. If the data of the pages before and after the reproduction page has already been read, it is not necessary to read the page before and after the next page is designated as the reproduction page. Even if it is used, the reproduction page can be displayed at high speed.

Further, when recording is continuously performed on the previous page segment, with respect to the next page segment recorded over a plurality of recording units, the next page segment recorded at the end of the previous page segment is recorded. By recording from the beginning of the next next recording unit, the frequency of the next page segment spanning a plurality of recording units can be reduced. Thus, when the recording unit is, for example, a write / read unit, the data read time of the page related to the next page segment is reduced, and the read speed can be increased. In this case, by recording a page segment subsequent to the next page segment at a recording position after the last recording position of the recording unit in which the last of the previous page segment is recorded, the recording capacity is increased. Can be used effectively.

Further, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the information processing apparatus has a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, and is described in a markup language in the chapter files. It processes a recording medium on which an electronic book containing a plurality of pages is recorded. When a book index file and a plurality of chapter files are respectively recorded from the beginning of a predetermined recording unit, and when the recording unit is a writing / reading unit, access to each file is simplified, and a desired file from an electronic book is obtained. Page reading speed can be increased.

Further, the chapter file has a plurality of page segments for each of a plurality of pages and a table for giving position information of the plurality of page segments in the file, and the plurality of page segments are arranged in the page order following the table. In the case where the data is recorded at a continuous recording position, for example, when the data of the designated reproduction page is not in the data buffer, a predetermined recording unit of the recording medium in which the page segment related to the designated reproduction page is recorded By reading the data of all pages recorded in the data buffer and storing the data in the data buffer, when the next or previous page is next designated as the reproduction page,
Even if a drive having a low reading speed is used, it is possible to display a reproduced page at high speed.

When a reproduction page is designated by a user operation and there is no data of a predetermined page before and after the reproduction page in the data buffer, the data is read out from the recording medium and stored in the data buffer, or the designated data is designated. When the data of the predetermined page linked to the reproduced page is not in the data buffer, the data is read out from the recording medium and stored in the data buffer, so that the pages before and after the reproduced page or the linked page become the next reproduced page. , The playback page can be displayed at a high speed even if a drive having a low reading speed is used.

According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of chapter files, a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, and a plurality of note files respectively corresponding to the plurality of chapter files are provided. And a note index file having management information of the plurality of note files,
The chapter file contains a plurality of original pages described in a markup language, and the note file contains an electronic book containing accompanying pages respectively corresponding to the plurality of original pages. Is to be processed. In this case, as the playback page, the original page and the accompanying page can be individually designated as the playback pages, or both can be designated as the playback pages simultaneously. The data of the accompanying page can be written to the recording position of the accompanying page on the recording medium by a user operation, so that the user can use the accompanying page without modifying the authored digital content (original page). You can overwrite notes and create electronic notes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing apparatus that processes a removable disk on which an “HTML electronic book” is recorded.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a basic document structure of “HTML electronic book and accompanying pages”.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a structure of a book index file.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of a chapter file.

FIG. 5 shows a page start address table (PSATB).
It is a figure showing the example of composition of L).

FIG. 6 is a page structure table (PGSTBL)
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a page style on an SVGA display screen.

FIG. 8 is a link page conversion table (LPCTB)
It is a figure showing the example of composition of L).

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a conversion scheme of a page element file name and a link fill name.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data arrangement of a book index file and a chapter file on a disc.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing software blocks for high-speed prefetching.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a data configuration of an accompanying page.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the structure of a note index file.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a data arrangement of a note index file and a note file on a disk.

FIG. 15 shows a directory on an MD data disk,
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing relative positions of files.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a composition relationship between an original page and an accompanying page as viewed from a display mode.

FIG. 17: MD data disc (hybrid type)
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a basic format structure of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a data structure of an MD data disc.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... information processing device, 11 ... CPU, 12 ...
・ Memory unit, 13 ・ ・ ・ I / O unit, 14 ・ ・ ・ Disk drive, 15 ・ ・ ・ Display unit, 20 ・ ・ ・ Removable disk

Claims (42)

[Claims] 1. A system comprising a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, wherein the chapter files include a plurality of pages described in a markup language. An electronic book characterized by that: 2. The markup language according to claim 1, wherein said markup language is a hypertext markup language.
Electronic book described in. 3. The electronic book according to claim 1, wherein the book index file has various data usable by an application, in addition to the management information of the plurality of chapter files. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the chapter file has a plurality of page segments for each of the plurality of pages, and a table for providing position information of the plurality of page segments in the file. Electronic book described in. 5. The electronic book according to claim 4, wherein the table gives position information of the page segment in the file according to a start address and a data length. 6. A page segment relating to each of the plurality of pages includes one or more page elements including at least a text portion describing the page, and stores information related to the one or more page elements. The electronic book according to claim 1, further comprising a table provided. 7. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the page element includes a multimedia component such as still image data and sound data placed in the same page as the page described in the text portion. Book. 8. The plurality of page segments relating to each of the plurality of pages, when the text portion refers to another page by a link relationship, has a table which gives information for referring to the another page. The electronic book according to claim 6, wherein: 9. The electronic book according to claim 6, wherein the table further provides information on a screen size when the page is displayed, color information as a mount, and the like. 10. The system further comprises a plurality of note files respectively corresponding to the plurality of chapter files, and a note index file having management information of the plurality of note files, wherein the note files are stored in the chapter files. 2. The electronic book according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of accompanying pages respectively corresponding to the plurality of pages are stored. 11. The electronic book according to claim 10, wherein the maximum data amount of the accompanying page is fixed. 12. An electronic book having a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, wherein the chapter files include a plurality of pages described in a markup language. A recording medium on which a book is recorded, wherein the book index file and the plurality of chapter files are respectively recorded from a head of a predetermined recording unit defined in a physical format. 13. The book index file according to claim 12, wherein the book index file is recorded using one recording unit, and the chapter file is recorded using one or a plurality of recording units. Recording medium. 14. The chapter file includes: a plurality of page segments for each of the plurality of pages;
A table giving position information of the plurality of page segments in a file, wherein the plurality of page segments are recorded in a continuous recording position substantially in the order of pages following the table. The recording medium according to claim 12. 15. When recording is continuously performed on the previous page segment, recording is performed over n + 1 recording units, even though the data amount is in n recording units (n is an integer of 1 or more). The recording medium according to claim 14, wherein the next page segment to be recorded is recorded from the beginning of the next recording unit following the recording unit in which the last of the previous page segment is recorded. . 16. The next page segment is recorded from the beginning of the next recording unit following the recording unit in which the last of the previous page segment is recorded, and the last of the previous page segment is recorded. 16. The recording medium according to claim 15, wherein a page segment subsequent to the next page segment is recorded at a recording position subsequent to the last recording position of the recorded recording unit. 17. The electronic book includes a plurality of note files respectively corresponding to the plurality of chapter files,
And a note index file having management information of the plurality of note files. The note file includes a plurality of accompanying pages respectively corresponding to the plurality of pages contained in the chapter file, 13. The recording medium according to claim 12, wherein the note index file and the plurality of note files are respectively recorded from the head of the recording unit. 18. The note index file according to claim 17, wherein the note index file is recorded using one recording unit, and the note file is recorded using one or more recording units. Recording medium. 19. The note file has a plurality of accompanying page segments relating to each of the plurality of accompanying pages, and the plurality of accompanying page segments are recorded in continuous recording positions in page order. The recording medium according to claim 18, wherein: 20. An electronic book having a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, wherein the chapter files include a plurality of pages described in a markup language. A method of authoring a book on a recording medium, wherein the book index file and the plurality of chapter files are respectively recorded from the beginning of a predetermined recording unit, and the method of authoring an electronic book on a recording medium. 21. The recording medium is a ROM type or a RAM.
21. The authoring method according to claim 20, wherein the MD data disc is a type MD data disc, and the recording unit is a cluster. 22. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the MD data disc is a hybrid type, the recording unit is a cluster, and the book index file and the plurality of chapter files are recorded in a ROM unit in advance. Authoring method of the electronic book described on the recording medium. 23. The electronic apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the book index file is recorded using one recording unit, and the chapter file is recorded using one or more recording units. Authoring method for book recording media. 24. The chapter file includes a plurality of page segments for each of the plurality of pages,
A table giving position information of the plurality of page segments in a file, wherein the plurality of page segments are recorded at successive recording positions substantially in a page order following the table. 20. The authoring method for an electronic book on a recording medium according to 20. 25. When recording is continuously performed on the previous page segment, recording is performed over n + 1 recording units, even though the data amount is in n recording units (n is an integer of 1 or more). 25. The electronic book according to claim 24, wherein, for the next page segment to be recorded, recording is started from the beginning of the next recording unit following the recording unit in which the end of the previous page segment is recorded. Authoring method for recording media. 26. When the next page segment starts recording from the beginning of the next recording unit following the recording unit where the last of the previous page segment is recorded, the last of the previous page segment is 26. The electronic book according to claim 25, wherein a page segment subsequent to the next page segment is recorded at a recording position subsequent to the last recording position of the recording unit being recorded. Authoring method. 27. The electronic book further includes a plurality of note files respectively corresponding to the plurality of chapter files, and a note index file having management information of the plurality of note files. A plurality of accompanying pages respectively corresponding to a plurality of pages contained in the chapter file, and the note index file and the plurality of note files are respectively recorded from the beginning of a predetermined recording unit. 21. The method of authoring an electronic book on a recording medium according to claim 20, wherein: 28. The recording medium is a RAM type MD da
28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the electronic book is a ta disk, and the recording unit is a cluster. 29. The recording medium is a hybrid type MD.
a data disc, wherein the recording unit is a cluster, the book index file and the plurality of chapter files are recorded in a ROM section in advance, and the note index file and the plurality of note files are recorded in a RAM section. Claim 27
Authoring method for an electronic book on a recording medium according to the above. 30. The electronic device according to claim 27, wherein the note index file is recorded using one recording unit, and the note file is recorded using one or a plurality of recording units. Authoring method for book recording media. 31. The note file has a plurality of accompanying page segments for each of the plurality of accompanying pages, and the plurality of accompanying page segments are recorded in a continuous recording position in page order. A method for authoring an electronic book on a recording medium according to claim 30. 32. An electronic book having a plurality of chapter files and a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, and storing a plurality of pages described in a markup language in the chapter files is recorded. An information processing apparatus for processing a recorded medium, comprising: a reproduction page input means for designating a predetermined page as reproduction data; a data buffer for storing page data; and a reproduction designated by the reproduction page input means. When the data of the page is not in the data buffer, data reading means for reading the data of the reproduction page from the recording medium and storing the data in the data buffer; and based on the data of the reproduction page stored in the data buffer. Display means for displaying the contents of the page. An information processing apparatus that. 33. The book index file and the plurality of chapter files, each of which starts recording from the beginning of a predetermined recording unit of the recording medium, wherein the chapter file includes a plurality of pages related to each of the plurality of pages. A page segment and a table for giving position information of the plurality of page segments in a file. The recording medium has the plurality of page segments in a continuous recording position substantially in the order of pages following the table. And when the data of the specified reproduction page is not in the data buffer, the data reading means performs a predetermined recording of the recording medium on which the page segment related to the specified reproduction page is recorded. Read the data of all pages recorded in the unit and read the data 33. The information processing apparatus according to claim 32, wherein the information is stored in a data buffer. 34. The information processing apparatus according to claim 32, wherein the recording medium is an MD data disc, and the recording unit is a cluster. 35. The data reading means further comprises:
33. The information processing apparatus according to claim 32, wherein when data of a predetermined page before and after the reproduction page is not in the data buffer, the data is pre-read from the recording medium and stored in the data buffer. 36. The data reading means further comprises:
33. The information processing method according to claim 32, wherein when data of a predetermined page linked to the reproduction page is not in the data buffer, the data is pre-read from the recording medium and stored in the data buffer. apparatus. 37. A plurality of chapter files, a book index file having management information of the plurality of chapter files, a plurality of note files respectively corresponding to the plurality of chapter files, and management information of the plurality of note files. The chapter file has a plurality of original pages described in a markup language, and the note file has a plurality of accompanying pages respectively corresponding to the plurality of original pages. What is claimed is: 1. An information processing apparatus for processing a recording medium on which a stored electronic book is recorded, comprising: a data writing unit for writing data of the accompanying page at a recording position of the accompanying page on the recording medium; Or the original origin A reproduction page input means for specifying both the page and the associated page as a reproduction page; a data buffer for writing the data of the original page and the auxiliary page; and a reproduction page data designated by the reproduction page input means. Data reading means for reading the data of the reproduction page from the recording medium when the data is not in the data buffer and storing the data in the data buffer; and contents of the page based on the data of the reproduction page stored in the data buffer. And a display unit for displaying the information. 38. The book index file, the plurality of chapter files, the note index file, and the plurality of note files are respectively recorded from a head of a predetermined recording unit of the recording medium, and the chapter file is A plurality of original page segments for each of the plurality of original pages, and a table for providing position information of the plurality of original page segments in a file, wherein the recording medium includes the plurality of original page segments in the table. Then, the note file is recorded in a continuous recording position substantially in a page order, and the note file has a plurality of fixed-length accompanying page segments relating to each of the plurality of accompanying pages,
The recording medium includes the plurality of accompanying page segments,
The data read means is recorded at a continuous recording position in the page order, and when the data of the specified reproduction page is not in the data buffer, the page segment of the specified reproduction page is recorded. The information processing apparatus according to claim 37, wherein data of all pages recorded in a recording unit of the recording medium is read and stored in the data buffer. 39. The recording medium is a ROM type or a RAM.
38. The information processing apparatus according to claim 37, wherein the information processing apparatus is a type MD data disc, and the recording unit is a cluster. 40. The recording medium is a hybrid type MD.
a data disc, wherein the recording unit is a cluster, the book index file and the plurality of chapter files are recorded in a ROM section in advance, and the note index file and the plurality of note files are recorded in a RAM section. 38. The information processing apparatus according to claim 37, wherein: 41. The data reading means further comprises:
38. The information processing apparatus according to claim 37, wherein when data of a predetermined page before and after the reproduction page is not in the data buffer, the data is read from the recording medium and stored in the data buffer. 42. The data reading means further comprises:
38. The information processing apparatus according to claim 37, wherein when data of a predetermined page linked to the reproduction page is not in the data buffer, the data is read from the recording medium and stored in the data buffer.