JP4085599B2 - Form output system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a system for outputting a form when a CASE tool is applied, and a system for browsing data and a database recorded in a storage device of a computer at the time of debugging and printing out the contents for confirmation. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-96103, data file record information storing data files and information relating to the data files and printer output format information are provided, and the contents of the data file are converted into a form based on these information. There has been shown an invention in which an input record from a data file is edited into a form format by a form data creation means and is output to an output form.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this conventional example, no consideration is given to changing the position of each data item in the printer output layout, and adding / deleting data items. In addition, when multiple record specifications are mixed, when outputting the record to a form, an individual program in a computer language is used to define an output layout according to each record and switch to an appropriate output layout when the form is output. It was necessary to control the judgment of the record specification and switching of the output layout by the program at the time of record input.
[0004]
The present invention aims to solve the above-described problems and improve work efficiency, reliability, and flexibility regarding form output.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the present invention, when a new form is output, first, in order to define an output layout, a record specification is input to generate output layout information, and if necessary, output layout information is changed by an editor and output. Save layout information as print parameters. Next, in order to output a form, the print parameter and the data file are read, the record is edited according to the output layout recorded in the print parameter, and the form is output in the order of the record read from the data file.
[0006]
Also, when changing the output layout defined in the past, the output layout information recorded in the print parameter is read by reading the print parameter, the output layout information is changed by the editor, and saved as a new print parameter.
If the record specification is changed, such as adding or deleting data items, the difference is reflected in the output layout, corrected if necessary in the editor, and saved as a new print parameter.
Since an output layout is generated by inputting a record specification, it is not specified as a tabular database recording format, and it corresponds to a case where it is not normalized to a tabular database recording format. In addition, since the form is printed according to the input order from the data file, the order of the data can be guaranteed.
[0007]
Usually, in data item design, a word representing the characteristics of the data item such as “date” or “amount” is often set at the end. By predetermining the editing method corresponding to the last part of the data item and saving it as the editing condition initial information, the data items registered in the editing condition initial information at the time of output layout generation are individually set to the editing conditions by hand. Appropriate editing conditions can be set without requiring definition. For example, in the case of a data item having the end of “zip code”, an editing condition of XXX-XXXX can be set. In addition, editing conditions can be changed manually.
[0008]
In the case of data files whose record specifications are changed for each record, such as computer log data and data exchanged with a magnetic medium with an external organization, the storage format (record specification) of the part where the record specifications are usually variable can be identified. Has an identifier. For example, log data of computer processing includes a log message identifier (log message ID), and a log message format is defined for each log message ID. In the example of data exchanged with an external organization, there is always an identifier (record format ID) that uniquely identifies a record format at a fixed position, and the format of data to be read is specified based on this record format ID. In such a case, first, an output layout is defined for each record specification corresponding to the record format ID, and a print parameter is registered. When a form is output, by specifying the position and length of the record format ID at the same time as the execution instruction for the form output, the appropriate print parameters are read according to the contents of the record format ID when the record is read. Data can be edited in a suitable output layout and output to a form.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention yesterday. 101 is a control means for performing meta generation with pudding. Reference numeral 102 denotes control means for performing general-purpose print output. The apparatuses for realizing the means 101 and 102 may be the same apparatus or different apparatuses. Reference numeral 103 denotes a vault that stores record specifications. Reference numeral 104 denotes a repository that stores initial values of editing conditions such as comma editing of numeric items and Western calendar Japanese calendar editing of date items as editing condition initial information. Reference numeral 105 denotes a print parameter storage in which output layout information is recorded. A storage 106 stores data files to be output on the form. Reference numeral 107 denotes a form created by editing a data file according to the output layout information defined in the print parameters.
[0010]
The print parameter generation unit 101 includes a layout generation unit 108 that converts the contents of the record specifications into output layout information, a layout editing unit 109 that changes the position and editing conditions of the output items, and a parameter generation that writes the output layout information to the print parameters. Means 110, layout reverse generation means 111 for generating output layout information from print parameters, difference fetch means 112 for extracting the difference between the new record specification and the old record specification when the record specification is changed, and reflecting the output layout information, and output It consists of an internal table 113 that stores layout information.
[0011]
Reference numerals 114 and 115 are terminal devices for giving a user an operation command to the print parameter generation means 101 and the general-purpose print output means 102. Reference numeral 114 is also used as an editor for performing the layout editing function 109. 114 and 115 may be the same device or different devices.
[0012]
The outline of the operation will be described below with reference to FIGS.
The function of the print parameter generation unit 101 will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 12 is an input / output diagram of the layout generation means 108. FIG. 13 is an input / output diagram of the layout editing means 109. FIG. 14 is an input / output diagram of the parameter generation means 110. FIG. 15 is an input / output diagram of the layout reverse generation means 111. FIG. 16 is an input / output diagram of the difference fetching means 112.
FIG. 17 is an input / output diagram of the general-purpose print output means 102. FIG. 18 is a function related diagram of FIGS.
[0013]
When a new print parameter is generated from the record specification, the layout generation means 108 is activated (FIG. 12). When the user inputs a record specification ID, which is an identifier for uniquely identifying the record specification, from the terminal device 114, the layout generation means 108 of the print parameter generation unit 101 uses the editing condition initial information library as the editing condition initial information library. Read from 104, record specification with the input record specification ID is read from the record specification library 103, output layout information is generated from the definition contents of the record specification, output layout information is stored in the internal table 113, The output layout information of the internal table 113 is displayed on the terminal device 114. The print parameter generation will be described later with reference to FIG.
A state in which the output layout information is displayed on the terminal device 114 is referred to as an output layout.
[0014]
When changing the output layout displayed on the terminal device 114, the layout editing means 109 is activated (FIG. 13). When the user changes the output layout displayed on the terminal device 114 from the input device provided in the terminal device 114 such as a mouse, the layout editing means 109 updates the output layout information stored in the internal table 113, The output layout of the terminal device 114 is updated. Layout editing will be described later with reference to FIG.
[0015]
When saving the output layout information as a print parameter, the parameter generation means 110 is activated (FIG. 14). When the user inputs an execution instruction of the parameter generation unit 110 from the terminal device 114, the parameter generation unit 110 of the print parameter generation unit 101 outputs the output layout information held in the internal table 113 to the print parameter library 105 as a print parameter. Output. The parameter generation will be described later with reference to FIG.
[0016]
When changing an output layout that has already been defined, the layout reverse generation unit 111 is activated (FIG. 15). When the user inputs the target print parameter ID from the terminal device 114, the layout reverse generation unit 111 of the print parameter generation unit 101 reads the print parameter corresponding to the input print parameter ID from the print parameter library 105, The output layout information recorded in the print parameters is expanded in the internal table 113, and the output layout is displayed on the terminal device 114. The reverse layout generation will be described later with reference to FIG.
[0017]
When the print parameter is changed when there is a change such as addition or deletion in the record specification, the difference fetching means 112 is activated (FIG. 16). When the user inputs the execution instruction of the difference capture function and the old and new record specification IDs from the terminal device 114, the difference capture unit 112 records the record specifications corresponding to the input old and new record specification IDs. Read from the library 103, edit condition initial information is read from the edit condition initial information library 104, print parameters corresponding to the old record specification ID are read from the print parameter library 105 and expanded in the internal table 113, and difference information between the old and new record specifications , The editing condition is set for the difference information by the editing condition initial information, the output layout information on the internal table 113 is updated with the difference information, and the output layout is displayed on the terminal device 114. The difference capture will be described later with reference to FIG.
[0018]
When outputting a form in accordance with the print parameters registered in the print parameter library 105, the general-purpose print output means 102 is activated (FIG. 17). A data file ID and print parameter ID for uniquely identifying the execution command of the general-purpose print output means and the data file from the terminal device 115, and an identifier for uniquely identifying the record format that can be changed as necessary to switch the output layout By inputting the position on the record storing (variable part print parameter ID), the general-purpose print output means is activated. At this time, the method for starting the general-purpose print output means may be started interactively from the terminal device 115, or may be started as a batch process using the data file ID and the print parameter ID as arguments. The activated general-purpose print output unit 102 reads the data file 106 corresponding to the data file ID, reads the input print parameter ID and the print parameter corresponding to the variable part print parameter ID extracted from the record from the print parameter library 105, and prints Edit according to the output layout information defined in the parameters, and output to the form 107. The general-purpose print output means will be described later with reference to FIG.
[0019]
In the function-related diagram of FIG. 18, for example, a state in which the layout generation unit 108 shown in FIG. 12 can be executed is shown as a state 108, and after execution of the state 108, a process that can be executed as the next stage process is indicated by an arrow.
When a new form is output, print parameters are generated using the layout generation unit 108, the parameter generation unit 110, and the layout editing unit 109 as necessary. In order to output a form, general-purpose print output means 102 is used. When the output layout already defined is changed and a form is output, the layout reverse generation unit 111, the parameter generation unit 110, and the layout editing unit 109 as necessary, and the general-purpose print output unit 102 are used. When outputting a form reflecting a change such as addition or deletion of a record specification, the general-purpose print output unit 102 is used by using the difference fetch unit 112, the parameter generation unit 110, and the layout editing unit 109 as necessary.
[0020]
The details of the operations corresponding to the input / output diagrams 12 to 17 will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0021]
The operation of the layout generation means 108 will be described with reference to FIG. 1901 accepts a record specification ID. In 1902, the record specification corresponding to the record specification ID received in 1901 is read from the record specification library 103.
[0022]
FIG. 2 is an example of a record specification. One line in FIG. 2 is called data item information. One data item is defined by one data item information. 210 is a record specification ID, which is the same as the print parameter ID. 220 is the record length of the data file 106. Reference numeral 230 denotes a data item Japanese name representing the contents of the data. 240 is a data item symbolic name used in program coding. 250 is a level for identifying group items and basic items. When the level number of a data item α is smaller than the level number of the data item in the next row, the data item α is called a group item. Otherwise, the data item α is called a basic item. 260 is an attribute of the data item. For example, “G” is a group item, items other than “G” are basic items, “X” is a (half-width) alphanumeric item, “N” is a (full-width) Japanese item, and “9” is a numeric item. 270 is the number of digits in the data item. Reference numeral 280 denotes the number of repetitions when the data item is a repetition item.
[0023]
1903 reads the editing condition initial information from the editing condition initial information library 104.
[0024]
FIG. 3 is an example of editing condition initial information stored in the editing condition initial information library (104). 310 is the domain of the data item symbol name 204. The domain refers to the part after the first hyphen “-” from the end of the data item symbol name. 320 is an editing condition corresponding to the domain. The corresponding editing conditions (321, 322,..., 327) are automatically applied to data items having domains (311, 312,..., 317) defined in the editing condition initial information. The editing conditions can be changed by the layout editing function (109).
[0025]
1904 generates output layout information in accordance with the record specifications read in 1902 and 1903 and the editing condition initial information. The generated output layout information is stored in the internal table 113 as output layout information.
[0026]
FIG. 6 shows output layout information generated from FIGS. 2 and 3 and stored in the internal table 113. One line in FIG. 6 is called object information. FIG. 6 will be described later.
[0027]
In 1905, the output layout information stored in the internal table 113 of 1904 is displayed.
[0028]
FIG. 4 is an output layout generated from FIGS. The basic units (401, 402,..., 416) of headings and data put out on a form are called objects. One object is defined by one object information.
[0029]
The layout generation means that an object is arranged and the internal table 113 is updated, and the attribute of the object has a one-to-one correspondence with the object information of the internal table 113. That is, the attributes of FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 are the same. A set of objects is called output layout, and a set of object information is called output layout information.
[0030]
Hereinafter, FIGS. 4 and 6 will be described.
[0031]
First, FIG. 4 will be described. The object consists of a heading item object and a data item object. When the definition content of the record specification shown in Fig. 2 is placed on the output layout, the heading item object and data item object are extracted from the data item information of the record specification, and one line of the output layout is extracted according to the raster scan method. Arrange them in order so as not to exceed the display digits. However, the arrangement order is not limited to the raster scan method. In Fig. 4, the display frame of one line is 59 digits.
[0032]
A method for arranging objects will be described.
[0033]
For group items, only heading item objects are arranged. For group items, only one heading item object is placed at the left end of the line, and it is not placed on the right side. The length of the group item heading item object is the length of the data item Japanese name 230. The data item Japanese name 230 is displayed in the heading item object. In FIG. 4, the group item heading item objects are 401 and 402.
[0034]
As the basic item, a heading item object and a data item object are arranged. The heading item object of the basic item has a length obtained by adding a colon “:” to the data item Japanese name 230 and displays the data item Japanese name 230 and the colon. In FIG. 4, the heading item objects of the basic items are 403, 405, 407, 409, 411, and 415.
[0035]
Next, the data item object of the basic item follows. In FIG. 4, the data item objects of the basic items are 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 413, 414, and 416. For the data item object to which the editing condition of the initial condition editing information is not applied, the required length is determined by the attribute 260 and the number of digits 270. For example, a Japanese item has a length of 2 bytes, and a half-width alphanumeric item has 1 The character is 1 byte long. In FIG. 4, the data item objects to which the editing condition of the editing condition initial information is not applied are 404, 410, 412, 413, 414, and 416.
In the case of a data item object to which the editing condition of the editing condition initial information is applied, the length is edited according to the editing condition. In FIG. 4, the editing conditions of 313, 323 for 406 and 315,325 for 408 are applied. Edit conditions are displayed in the data item object. For the data item object corresponding to the editing condition initial information, the editing condition applied from the editing condition initial information is displayed, and for the data item object which is not so, the content of the attribute 260 is displayed with its length of 270 minutes ( If the attribute is N and the number of digits is 4, it is “NNNN”). Arrange multiple basic items in order not to exceed the display digits of one line.
[0036]
Repeat items are arranged in a range that does not exceed the display frame of the first item to the first line of the repeat item. Do not place anything other than repeated items on the line where repeated items are displayed. In other words, when an object is placed following a repeated item, the object is placed after a line feed. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 411 denotes a heading item object of a repeated item, and reference numerals 412, 413, and 414 denote data item objects of the repeated item.
[0037]
Next, FIG. 6 will be described. 601 sets a print parameter ID corresponding to the record specification ID 210. A field 605 sets the number of lines from the top of the page. A field 606 sets the number of columns from the beginning of the row of the object. Reference numeral 607 denotes a flag that sets 1 when the page is changed after the object is actually printed, and sets 0 when the page is not changed. The layout generation means 108 sets 1 to the final object. If the object is a heading item object, 608 sets the heading content. When the object is a data item object, 609 sets editing conditions for character editing, date editing, and number editing. For the data item having the domain defined in the editing condition initial information, the layout generation means 108 applies the editing condition from the editing condition initial information. When the object is a data item object, 610 sets the start position from the beginning of the record in bytes. Set to 0 for heading item objects. The file editing start position 610 of a certain basic item β is calculated by adding the number of bytes of all the basic items preceding the basic item β from the attribute 260 and the number of digits 270 of the record specification. Reference numeral 613 denotes a repeat flag for distinguishing that the object is a repeat item when the object is a data item object. The data item that is not a repeat item is set to 0, and if it is a repeat item, the order is set. 614 sets the number of digits after the decimal point when the object is a data item object and the decimal point is edited with a numeric item. Otherwise 0 is set. A data item symbol name 240 is set in 615 when the object is a data item object.
[0038]
The operation of the layout editing unit 109 will be described with reference to FIG. In 2001, an object to be edited is selected by selecting an object in the output layout using an input device such as a mouse included in the terminal device 114. 2002 branches to 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2009 by four types of editing operations performed by the user on an object specified from an input device such as a mouse included in the terminal device 114.
[0039]
First, in the case of the movement of the object, the process branches to 2003. When the moved object overlaps (interfers with) another object, an error is displayed (2005), and the object is returned to the position before the movement. If there is no error, the line 605 and the column 606 in the internal table 113 are updated to the values after movement (2004). FIG. 5 shows an example in which the output layout of FIG. 509, 510, 512, 513, 515, 517, 519 moved the objects of 409, 410, 415, 416, 412, 413, 414, respectively.
[0040]
Secondly, in the case of deleting an object, the process branches to 2006 and the corresponding object information in the internal table 113 is deleted. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the object 411 is deleted.
[0041]
Third, in the case of adding a heading item object, branch to 2007 and input the heading content (608). This object does not interfere with other objects by adding it to the line after the last line of the output layout. In 2008, this object information is added to the internal table 113. Reference numerals 511, 514, 516, and 518 are examples in which heading item objects are added and moved after being added.
[0042]
Fourth, the editing condition of the object (heading item object header content (608), data item object editing classification 609 changes branch to 2009. If the editing condition is changed, the editing condition corresponding to the object in 2010 If the editing condition is not correct, an error is displayed (2011), and the editing condition before the change is displayed, for example, if the data item object is a numeric item and an editing condition for character editing is entered, an error occurs. If it is not an error, it is next determined whether or not the object edited in 2012 interferes with another object.If there is an object interference, an error is displayed (2013), and the editing conditions before the change are restored. If it is not an error, the heading content 608 or the edit section 609 of the internal table 113 is updated (2014).
[0043]
501 and 502 in FIG. 5 are examples in which the heading contents of the heading item objects 401 and 402 are changed. 510 is an example in which 410 is changed, and 513 is an example in which the edit classification of the data item object 416 is changed.
[0044]
In any editing operation, the output layout information of the internal table 113 is displayed on the terminal device 114 in 2015. FIG. 9 shows the output layout information of FIG.
[0045]
The operation of the parameter generation means (110) will be described with reference to FIG. When the user inputs an execution command from the terminal device (114), 2101 outputs the output layout information held in the internal table 113 to the print parameter library 105 as a print parameter. In the output layout of FIG. 5, the output layout information of FIG. 9 is output to the parameter library (105) as a print parameter.
[0046]
The operation of the layout reverse generation means (111) will be described with reference to FIG. 2301 accepts a print parameter ID from the terminal device (114). 2302 reads the print parameter corresponding to the print parameter ID received in 2301 from the print parameter library 105. In 2303, the print parameters read in 2302 are developed in the internal table 113. 2304 displays an output layout on the terminal device 114 according to the object information of the internal table 113. An example of reverse layout generation from the print parameters of FIG. 9 is shown in FIG.
[0047]
The operation of the difference capturing function 112 will be described with reference to FIG. 2401 accepts old and new record specification IDs from the terminal device (114). 2402 reads out the record specification corresponding to the record specification ID received in 2401 from the record specification library 103. 2403 reads the editing condition initial information from the editing condition initial information library 104. Reference numeral 2404 denotes a print parameter 2402 which reads out the print parameters corresponding to the old record specification from the print parameter library 105 and stores them in the internal table 113. 2405 extracts data item information (difference) added, deleted, or changed in the new record specification from the old record specification read in 2402. The difference extraction algorithm does not matter. In step 2406, the difference data item information extracted in step 2404 is set as follows according to the type of difference of addition, deletion, and change. The added data item information adds a new object. The deleted data item information deletes the old object. In the changed data item information, the old object before the change is deleted, and the object after the change is newly added. The algorithm for adding and deleting objects is the same as that for adding and deleting layout editing means 109. For the data item to which the editing condition initial information is applied, the editing condition initial information is applied and the internal table 113 is updated. In 2407, the output layout is displayed on the terminal device 114 in accordance with the object information in the internal table 113 updated in 2406. Figure 2 shows the old record specification, Figure 10 shows the new record specification (adds "name code"), and Figure 9 shows the print parameters generated from the old record specification. 1101 and 1102 in FIG.
[0048]
In the above description, both the object on the output layout and the internal table 113 exist. However, the present invention can be implemented using only the object on the output layout or the internal table 113 alone.
[0049]
The general-purpose print output unit 102 will be described. When the output layout is not switched for each record, that is, when the same output layout is used for all records in the data file, the operation of the general-purpose print output means 102 is shown for one record of the data file 106, and the output layout is shown in FIG. 5. An example in which the output layout information is shown in FIG. 9 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0050]
In 2201, the user inputs a data file ID and a print parameter ID. Further, 2201 may be input interactively from the terminal device 115 or may be input as an activation argument for batch processing. In 2202, the print parameter corresponding to the print parameter ID received in 2201 is read from the print parameter library 105. 2203 reads one record from the data file corresponding to the data file ID received in 2201. 2204 edits the record 2203 in accordance with the print parameter output layout information read in 2202, and outputs it to the form (107). FIG. 8 shows an example in which 2202 print parameters corresponding to FIGS. 5 and 9 are read in 2202, the record in FIG. 7 is read in 2203, edited in 2204, and output to a form. For the heading item object, the heading content 608 is printed from the position of the line 605 and the column 606. 801, 802, 803, 805, 807, 809, 811, 812, 814, 816, 818 are examples output according to 501, 502, 503, 505, 507, 509, 511, 512, 514, 516, 518, respectively. is there. For the data item object, the number of bytes according to the number of digits 611 and the attribute 612 is read from the record from the file editing start position 610, and the result of editing under the editing conditions of the editing section 609 is printed at the position of the line 605 and column 606. Reference numeral 804 denotes an example in which 20 bytes from the first byte of FIG. 7 are printed by editing the editing category 609 “NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN” from the file editing start position 610 according to the number of digits 611 “10” and the attribute 612 “N”. Similarly, 806 is an example in which 8 bytes from the 21st byte in FIG. 7 are printed by editing “yyyy.mm.dd”. 808 is an example in which 7 bytes from the 29th byte in FIG. 7 are printed by “XXX-XXXX” editing. 810 is an example in which 9 bytes from the 36th byte in FIG. 7 are printed by editing “ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZ9”. 813 is an example in which 5 bytes from the 60th byte in FIG. 7 are printed by “ZZ9.99” editing. 815 is an example in which 5 bytes from the 45th byte in FIG. 7 are printed by “XXXXX” editing. 817 is an example in which 5 bytes from the 50th byte in FIG. 7 are printed by “XXXXX” editing. 819 is an example in which 5 bytes from the 55th byte in FIG. 7 are printed by “XXXXX” editing.
[0051]
In 2205, information such as the storage location of the variable part print parameter ID specified when switching the output layout is not input in 2201, and therefore “None”. The description when switching the output layout will be described later. Step 2208 repeats steps 2203 to 2205 until there are no more data files.
[0052]
Next, with regard to the operation of the general-purpose print output means 102 when the output layout is switched for each record, FIG. 29 shows two records (record 1, record 2) of the data file 106, and FIG. 25 shows the record specifications of the common part. The output layout information of this section will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this example, the record is composed of a common part that uses the same output layout for all records and a variable part that can switch the output layout for each record. Further, a data item for storing an identifier (variable part print parameter ID) for uniquely identifying an output layout applied in the variable part is defined in the common part.
[0053]
In 2201, the position and length of the data item storing the data file ID input by the user, the common part print parameter ID, the common part length, and the variable part print parameter ID are received. In the case of FIG. 25, the length of the common part is 28 bytes, the position of the data storing the variable part print parameter ID is from the 21st byte, and the length is 8 bytes. Further, 2201 may be input interactively from the terminal device 115 or may be input as an activation argument for batch processing.
[0054]
In 2202, the print parameter corresponding to the print parameter ID of the fixed part received in 2201 is read from the print parameter library 105. In the case of the record specification in FIG. 25, the print parameters corresponding to FIG. 26 are read out. 2203 reads one record from the data file corresponding to the data file ID received in 2201. In the example of FIG. 29, it is assumed that record 1 and record 2 are read in the order, and record 1 is read first. 2204 edits the common part of record 1 read in 2203 according to the print parameter output layout information read in 2202 (the 28 bytes specified in 2201 from the beginning of record 1 are the common parts) and outputs it to the form 107 To do. Editing and form output are the same as when the same output layout is used for all records in the data file. The lines indicated by 3001 and 3002 in the form 1 in FIG. 30 are examples of the result of outputting the common part of the record 1 in FIG. 29 as a form.
[0055]
In 2205, since the position of the variable part print parameter ID is specified in 2201, "Yes" is set. In 2206, the data corresponding to the position and length of the data item storing the variable part print parameter ID input in 2201 is extracted from the record 1 in FIG. 29 read in 2203, and the print parameter is set as the variable part print parameter ID. Read from library 105. In 2201, when the common part length is 28 bytes, the position of the data storing the variable part print parameter ID is specified from the 21st byte, and the length is 8 bytes, the example of record 1 in FIG. 29 is “DAB00002. "Is the variable part print parameter ID. FIG. 27 shows an example of output layout information defined by a print parameter having a variable part print parameter ID “DAB00002”. In 2207, the variable part of the record read in 2203 is edited and output to the form 107 in accordance with the output layout information of the variable part print parameter read in 2206. The lines indicated by 3003, 3004, and 3005 in the form 1 in FIG. 30 are examples of the result of editing the variable part of the record 1 in FIG. 29 according to the output layout information in FIG. 27 and outputting it to the form. Editing and form output are the same as when the same output layout is used for all records in the data file. Step 2208 repeats steps 2203 to 2207 until there are no more data files.
[0056]
Similarly, the form 2 in FIG. 30 is an example of the result of editing the record 2 in FIG. 29 according to the output layout information of the common part shown in FIG. 26 and the output layout information shown in FIG. 28, and outputting the form. The lines indicated by 3006 and 3007 are examples of the result of outputting the common part, and the lines indicated by 3008 and 3009 are the results of outputting the variable part.
[0057]
In addition, although the above description assumed that there was a common part, there may not be a common part. If there is no common part, the length of the common part specified in 2201 is zero, and 2202 and 2204 do nothing. Further, although the variable part print parameter ID has been described in the example in the common part, it may be in either the common part or the variable part.
[0058]
As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the editing condition required for each data item is set in advance by registering an editing method corresponding to the end part of the data item name, and for each data item. By automatically setting, it is possible to automatically set fine editing conditions according to the characteristics of the data items, and improve work efficiency and reliability related to form creation by reducing the amount of work when setting data item editing conditions Can be expected.
[0059]
In a data file with multiple record specifications, register an output layout corresponding to multiple record specifications in advance, determine the appropriate output layout for each record when outputting a form, and switch the output layout to program It eliminates the need for creation and program testing, and can be expected to improve work efficiency and reliability during form creation.
[0060]
【The invention's effect】
By parameterizing information necessary for the output of the form and automatically generating the parameters, it is possible to eliminate the need for program creation and program testing, and to improve work efficiency and reliability related to form creation.
[0061]
When changing the record specification or output layout of a form input file, program modification and program testing are not required, and the parameters are modified by changing the output layout in the editor to support the change. Improvement in work efficiency and reliability can be expected.
[0062]
Since the output specification is automatically generated by inputting the record specification, it is not specified in the tabular database recording format, and even when it is not normalized to the tabular database recording format, work efficiency and reliability related to form creation The improvement of sex can be expected. In addition, since the form is printed according to the input order from the data file, the order of the data can be guaranteed, so that improvement in the form creation reliability can be expected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram of a general-purpose print parameter form output system.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a record specification (old version).
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing editing condition initial information.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an output layout at the time of layout generation.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an output layout after layout editing.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing output layout information at the time of layout generation.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data file corresponding to a record specification (old version).
FIG. 8 is a view showing a form output result corresponding to a record specification (old version).
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing output layout information after layout editing.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a record specification (new edition).
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an output layout after taking in differences from an old version and a new version of the record specifications.
12 is a diagram showing input / output of the layout generation means 108. FIG.
13 is a diagram showing input / output of the layout editing means 109. FIG.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing input / output of parameter generation means 110;
15 is a diagram showing input / output of a layout reverse generation unit 111. FIG.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing input / output of the difference fetch unit 112;
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing input / output of general-purpose print output means.
18 is a function related diagram of the print parameter generation unit 101 and general-purpose print output means (FIGS. 12 to 17).
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a flow of layout generation.
FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the flow of layout editing.
FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the flow of parameter generation.
FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the flow of general-purpose print output.
FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a flow of layout reverse generation.
FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the flow of difference acquisition.
FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a record specification of a common part.
FIG. 26 is a diagram showing output layout information of a common unit.
FIG. 27 is a diagram showing output layout information corresponding to the variable part of record 1;
FIG. 28 is a diagram showing output layout information corresponding to the variable part of record 2;
FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a data file for switching the output layout.
FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a form output result after output layout switching.
[Explanation of symbols]
101: Print parameter generation unit, 102: General-purpose print output means, 103: Record specification library, 104: Edit condition initial information library, 105: Print parameter library,
106: data file, 107: form created by editing the data file according to the output layout information defined in the print parameters, 108: layout generation means for converting the contents of the record specification into output layout information, 109: position of the output item Layout editing means for changing editing conditions, etc. 110: Parameter generation means for writing output layout information to print parameters,
111: Layout reverse generation means for generating output layout information from print parameters;
112: Difference fetching means for extracting the difference between the new record specification and the old record specification and reflecting it in the output layout information when the record specification is changed, 113: Internal table for storing the output layout information, 114, 115: Print parameter generation unit A terminal device for giving operation instructions to 101 and the general-purpose print output means 102.

Claims (3)

It is stored in the storage means, based on the editing condition information corresponding to the characteristics of a plurality of records specification information and said data item defines the storage format of the data items to be output to the form, the data for each of the plurality of records Specifications Creating an output layout information of an item , and storing the created output layout information in the storage means ;
Layout editing means for updating the output layout information stored in the storage means based on output layout change information from the terminal ;
Parameter generation means for reading the output layout information from the storage means, and storing the read output layout information as print parameters in the storage means ;
Print parameter reverse generation means for generating the output layout information from the print parameters stored in the storage means ;
In accordance with the output layout information defined in the Print parameter stored in said storage means, the form output, characterized in that it has a, and print outputting means for outputting a form output data stored in said storage means in the form System . Means for extracting a difference between old and new record specification information defining a storage format of the data item to be output to the form stored in the storage means;
2. The form output system according to claim 1, further comprising means for updating the output layout information stored in the storage means based on the difference information. The form output system according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the output layout information stored in the storage means.

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