JPH10334182A - Read position information correction system and recording medium recording program for making computer function as read position information correction system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need of measuring a slip by a scale and to reduce read defects at the time of an operation by setting errors by preparing read position information to be used based on a slip image displayed on a screen. SOLUTION: An OCR communication control part 23 transfers data prepared in a simple slip parameter preparation part 22 to an OCR device 1. Also, the OCR communication control part 23 starts the read of the slip and takes over a read result and slip image data. The taken-over data are transferred to a read information correction part 24. In the read information correction part 24, the read result and the slip image are displayed on the display of a control terminal equipment 2 first. At the time, the slip image is reduced or magnified as needed and then, displayed on the screen. That is, after size correction is performed so as to match a display resolution on a display screen and the read resolution of the OCR device 1, the slip image is displayed on the screen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a reading position information correcting system, and more particularly to a reading position information correcting system for correcting reading position information used in an optical character reader.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an optical character reader (hereinafter referred to as O) is used.
CR device) reads handwritten characters and printed characters written at predetermined positions on the form surface as image data, performs character recognition processing based on the read image, and performs character code data corresponding to the characters. Is a device that outputs In order to perform reading with this optical character reader, it is necessary to prepare in advance reading position information indicating a position where a character is written on the form surface, that is, a position to be cut out as image data.

FIG. 9 shows a conventional environment for creating read information. In the figure, the OCR device 1
Is a device that reads a character written on the surface of a form as described above, and performs character recognition on the read result. Further, the control terminal device 2 is also configured to include a read information creating unit 21 for creating read information.
The read information created by the read information creating section 21 includes parameters such as a character font, a character pitch, and a character type, in addition to the above-described read position information.

The data of the reading position information created by the reading information creating section 21 of the conventional device is a value obtained by measuring a form by a user using a scale (ruler).
This data is input by the user using a keyboard. Check if this data is correct data by OC
This is performed by actually reading the form using the R device 1. This form is read by data entry software 25 for controlling the OCR device 1 and editing the read result.
This is done using

The data entry software 25 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, first, from the control terminal device 2 to the OCR device 1,
Various parameters are transferred (S101). Then OC
When a reading start instruction is issued to the R apparatus 1 (S102), the OCR apparatus 1 performs reading in response to this instruction (S10).
3).

When the reading is completed, the control terminal 2
Receives the read data from the OCR device 1 (S10
4), the acquired read data is corrected (S
105). Then, the corrected read data is stored (S106).

[0007] Further, it is determined whether or not to read the next form (S107).
Instruct the CR device 1 to start reading (S107 → S10)
2). If the next form is not read, the process ends (S107 → S108).

[0008]

The preparation of the read information data in the above-mentioned prior art is performed by an independent operation on the control terminal device side. For this reason, as the configuration (the number of lines and the number of fields) of a form on which characters are described becomes more complicated, it is more difficult to confirm the created read information data, and there is a disadvantage that reading errors due to setting errors are more likely to occur.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 23491/1990 discloses that the form is divided into a plurality of blocks, and character recognition processing is performed based on independent format control information for each block, thereby improving the efficiency of reading work. A technique for reducing the work load of an operator is described. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-264964 discloses that, in addition to the creation of a form format, not only a modification of some control parameters with reference to a similar format but also a modification of the form format, There is described a technique for extracting and modifying a document format to improve the efficiency of creation / update of a form format.

However, the techniques described in these publications cannot solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reading position information correcting system which can create reading position information more efficiently and can easily confirm the created information. To provide.

[0012]

A reading position information correcting system according to the present invention outputs reading position information necessary for reading characters to an optical character reading device for reading and recognizing characters written on the surface of a form. A reading position information correcting system for correcting the reading position information based on a character reading recognition result in the apparatus, wherein a display means for displaying image data of the form; and the reading position information in response to an external input. And display control means for displaying, on a display screen of the display means, a result of character reading recognition performed by the optical character reading device in accordance with the corrected reading position information.

According to the recording medium of the present invention, the computer outputs the reading position information necessary for the character reading to an optical character reading device for reading and recognizing the characters written on the surface of the form, and reads the characters in the device. A recording medium storing a program for operating as a reading position information correction system for correcting the reading position information based on a recognition result, comprising: a display unit for displaying image data of the form; Functioning as correction means for correcting the reading position information in accordance with the above, and display control means for displaying the result of character reading recognition performed by the optical character reading device on the display screen of the display means in accordance with the corrected reading position information. A program for recording the program.

In short, in the present system, since the reading position information can be created based on the form image, there is no need to measure the form on a scale. In addition, since the checking operation of the created reading position information can be performed in real time, reading errors during operation due to setting errors can be reduced.

[0015]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a reading position information correcting system according to the present invention. In this figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description of those parts will be omitted.

In this figure, the present system is obtained by providing a conventional control terminal device with a communication function with the OCR device 1. Here, the read information creation unit 21 has a function equivalent to that of a conventional one. In particular, when it is not necessary to use the OCR apparatus 1, for example, when the form is simple, the read information can be created only by the read information creating unit 21. When the read information data is set using the OCR device 1, the simple form parameter creation unit 22 is called from the read information creation unit 21. The simple form parameter creation unit 22 automatically creates the minimum parameters (form size, form image area, character font, pitch, character type, and reading position) required by the OCR apparatus 1. In the case of newly creating, dummy data is created for the font, pitch, character type, and reading position in the first field of each row.

FIG. 3 shows simplified form parameters.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Referring to FIG.
The difference between the operation time and the confirmation time of the read information data transferred to the CR device is shown. Data relating to a plurality of types of forms can be registered in one piece of read information data. Then, an ID number is added to each data relating to each form. By adding the ID number in this manner, the OCR device 1 can identify each data.

A system parameter 30 in FIG. 1 is information common to all ID numbers. These system parameters are data that must be used in this apparatus. Among the system parameters, information included in one corresponding to one ID number includes information used by data entry software and information used by an OCR device. In operation, all information is OCR
Transferred to device.

Here, there is no need to transfer information that is not actually used by the OCR device. However, at the time of operation, only one transfer is required, and there is not much effect on the performance of the apparatus. Therefore, all information is transferred in this way.

On the other hand, in the current generation of the read information data, the data transfer to the OCR device must be minimized because of the frequent nature of the data transfer. For this reason, information that is not necessary for the reading and recognition processing is not transferred. That is, in the present system, only the parameters necessary for character reading and character recognition of the form are transferred to the OCR device.

Here, in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a group of parameters required as read information data, such as a form size, a character type, and a read position. This parameter is an essential parameter for reading and recognizing a form, and exists in one-to-one correspondence with each ID number.

The check parameters 32 are a group of parameters for determining whether the read character data or the characters described in the form are correct. For example, when each column of unit price, number, and total is present in the form, the characters actually written or the read character data are expressed as “unit price × number =
This is a parameter for confirming whether or not the relationship of “sum” is satisfied and correcting the relationship. This parameter is not an essential parameter for reading and recognizing a form, but is set in a one-to-one correspondence with each ID number as needed.

The output editing parameters 33 are a group of parameters for editing the read character data into an arbitrary format and then writing the data as file data in a storage device. For example, it is a parameter used when outputting data of 80 characters separated by a line feed code every 10 characters. These parameters are also not essential for reading and recognizing a form, but are set in a one-to-one correspondence with each ID number as needed.

The screen editing parameters 34 are a group of parameters for displaying the read character data on the screen in an arbitrary layout when confirming and correcting the read character data on the screen.
These parameters are also not essential for reading and recognizing the form, but are set in a one-to-one correspondence with each ID number as needed.

The “operation” shown in FIG.
This is a production operation in which a form is read using the final form parameters whose reading position information has been corrected. At the time of this operation, the characters written on the form must be able to be read correctly.

The "confirmation" shown in FIG.
This is an operation for confirming or correcting the data in a state where the reading position information has not been verified whether it is correct or not.

Returning to FIG. 2, the OCR communication control unit 23 converts the data created by the simple form parameter
Transfer to device 1. Further, the OCR communication control unit 23 starts reading the form, and collects the read result and the form image data. The received data is transferred to the read information correction unit 24.

The read information correction unit 24 first displays the read result and the form image on a display (not shown) of the control terminal device 2. FIG. 4 shows an example of this display screen. In the figure, a form image 400 is displayed on a screen after being reduced or enlarged as necessary. In other words, the form image is displayed on the screen after the size correction is performed so that the display resolution on the display screen and the reading resolution of the OCR device 1 match.

The user checks the reading result by visually checking this screen. When a correct reading result is not obtained, the position can be corrected by using the form image 400. Hereinafter, the procedure will be described.

First, in the display portion of the form image 400, a cursor of a horizontal line L indicating a line position from the top of the form and a cursor of a vertical line F indicating a field position from the right end of the form (indicating the head position of the field) Shall be displayed). The positions of the cursors of these lines L and F can be moved by pressing a cursor key (not shown). That is,
When the up and down cursor keys (not shown) are pressed, the horizontal line L
Cursor moves up and down. Further, when the left and right cursor keys (not shown) are pressed, the cursor of the vertical line F moves right and left. In this case, the movement may be performed by a pointing operation such as a mouse.

At this time, a value representing the current row position and a value representing the field position are displayed on the screen in conjunction with the movement of the cursor on each of the lines L and F. A display value L1 and a display value F1 in the figure are values representing those positions.
The user can confirm the position information by looking at the display values L1 and F1 displayed on the screen with the naked eye instead of measuring the form with the scale.

As shown in the display 43, the result of reading the form is "read result 123456", "one line and two fields", "font: handwriting", "character type: N", "number of characters:
6 "etc. are displayed on the screen.

The end of the position correction is executed by pressing the end key 40. When the position correction is completed, information indicating the position of the line and the field at that time is notified to the simple form parameter creation unit 22 as read position information.

When it is desired to confirm a plurality of fields and lines collectively to some extent, the following operation is performed. That is, first, by pressing the continuation key 42, the setting for adding the next field or the next line is performed. Next, the confirmation key 41 is pressed. By repeating the above operation, the data created so far can be checked together.

Here, the correction of the read information is performed by the procedure shown in FIG. 1 for each field. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a correction operation for reading position information in the reading position information correction system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, first, read information on a field to be corrected is set (S11). next,
The read result corresponding to the first field is displayed (S1
2) The form image of that portion is displayed in the center of the screen as shown in FIG. 4 described above (S13).

The positions of the lines and fields on the displayed form image are calculated based on the read position information (S14). A vertical line and a horizontal line are displayed at the calculated position or the position moved by the user (S15). If the position of the line has moved from the previous position, the movement is added to the value of the reading position (S16), and the value after the addition is displayed (S17). Immediately after the reading information is set, the moving amount is zero. In this display state, the user waits for input from the keyboard or mouse (S18).

If there is a line movement or a change in font or number of characters due to an input from the user, the process is repeated from the calculation of the reading position (S18 → S19 → S14...).

On the other hand, when the continuation is designated by pressing the continuation key, the correction target is changed to the next field,
The above processing is repeated (S18 → S19 → S20 → S11)
…). If there is an end specification by pressing the end key or a confirmation specification by pressing the confirmation key, the read information is updated with the information corrected so far, and all the processing ends (S
18 → S19 → S20 → S21).

Returning to FIG. 2, a simple form parameter creation unit 2
2 receives the correction value and the end state (end or confirmation) from the read information correction unit 24. Then, in the case of termination, the parameters created up to that point in the read information creation unit 21 are transferred. On the other hand, in the case of data confirmation, the simple parameters are created again. The above processing is repeated until all the correction of the read information is completed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the above series of operations. As shown in the figure, first, simple form parameters are created (S51). Next, reading is performed by the OCR device 1 using the created parameters (S52). According to the read result, a correction screen for the read information (FIG. 4 described above) is displayed (S5).
3).

The user confirms and corrects the position by referring to the contents displayed on the screen (S54). After the confirmation and correction, if the processing is to be continued, a parameter is added (S55 → S56), and the user performs position confirmation / correction again (S56 → S54).

If the process is not to be continued, it is determined whether to check the data (S55 → S57). When confirming the created data, a simple form parameter is created again (S51), and the same processing as described above is repeated (S51).
→ S52 ...).

When confirming the created data, the parameters are saved, and a series of processing ends (S57 → S5).
8).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the simplified form parameter creation unit 22 in FIG. In the figure, a simplified form parameter creation unit 22 creates read information necessary for reading by the OCR apparatus 1 at a minimum. If there is no correction data from the read information correcting unit 24, read information is created with a preset value (S61).
→ S64). Thereafter, the reading position information is updated according to the correction data from the reading information correcting unit 24 (S61 → S
62). The created read information and the updated contents of the read position information are output to the OCR communication control unit 23 (S62 → S
63, S64 → S63). When the correction work or the like is completed, the read information creation unit 21 is notified (S61 → S6)
5).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the OCR communication control unit 23 in FIG. In the figure, OCR
The communication control unit 23 notifies the OCR device 1 of the read information (S71), and further outputs a read start instruction (S7).
2).

If the reading is performed normally, the read data is collected (S73 → S74), and the form image is further collected (S75). Then, the OCR communication control unit 23 outputs a reading end instruction to the OCR device 1 (S76), and notifies the reading information correcting unit 24 of the end of the communication process (S7).
7).

On the other hand, when reading is not performed normally,
After performing the error processing (S73 → S78), the end of the communication processing is notified to the read information correction unit 24 (S79).

As described above, the OCR communication control unit 23
The operation control of the OCR device 1 and the receipt of character data and a form image used by the read information correction unit 24 are performed.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the read information correction unit 24 in FIG. In the figure, the read information correction unit 24 displays the read result from the OCR communication control unit 23 and the form image on the display screen (S8).
1). When the user looks at this display screen,
By using the keyboard to move the vertical and horizontal lines displayed on the screen, the reading position information is corrected (S
82).

Thereafter, the screen display and the correction of the reading position information are continued (S83 → S81 → S82...). When the correction is completed, the simple form parameter creation unit 22 is notified (S84), and the correction end processing and the confirmation processing are performed.

As described above, in the present system, since the reading position information can be created based on the form image, there is no need to measure the form on a scale. In addition, since the created read information can be checked in real time, read errors during operation due to setting errors can be reduced.

Further, since only the parameters necessary for character reading and character recognition of the form are transferred to the OCR device, the transfer time is shortened, and the confirmation processing using the corrected reading position information can be performed at high speed. It is.

By the way, if a recording medium storing a program for realizing the processing of FIG. 1 described above is prepared and the computer is controlled by using the recording medium, the same processing for generating the reading position information as described above can be performed. What you can do is obvious. As this recording medium, various recording media can be used in addition to the semiconductor memory and the magnetic disk device not shown in FIG.

The present invention can also take the following aspects in connection with the description of the claims.

(1) A program for causing a computer to further operate as transfer means for transferring only parameters necessary for character reading and character recognition of the form to the optical character reading device is recorded. 4. The recording medium according to 4.

(2) The correction means includes a cursor display means for displaying a cursor over the image data displayed on the display screen in response to an external input, and a calculation for calculating a position at which the cursor is displayed. 5. The recording medium according to claim 4, wherein said read position information is corrected based on the calculation result.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention, the reading position information used in the optical character reading apparatus is created based on the form image displayed on the screen, so that the form can be measured on a scale. In addition, since the read operation can be performed on the created read position information in real time, it is possible to reduce read errors during operation due to setting errors.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a correction operation for reading position information in a reading position information correction system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a reading position information correcting system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between simplified form parameters and other parameters.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of a display.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of showing a series of operations by the reading position information correcting system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of a simplified form parameter creation unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an OCR communication control unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of a read information correction unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional creation environment for read information used in an OCR apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the data entry software in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 OCR device 2 control terminal device 21 read information creation unit 22 simple form parameter creation unit 23 OCR communication control unit 24 read information correction unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An optical character reading device for reading and recognizing characters written on the surface of a form, outputs reading position information necessary for reading the characters, and reads the reading position based on the character reading recognition result in the device. A reading position information correcting system for correcting information, a display means for displaying image data of the form, a correcting means for correcting the reading position information in response to an external input, and a read position information after the correction A display control means for displaying a result of character reading recognition performed by the optical character reading apparatus on a display screen of the display means in accordance with the following. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transfer unit configured to transfer only parameters necessary for character reading and character recognition of the form to the optical character reading device.
The described reading position information correction system. 3. A cursor display means for displaying a cursor over the image data displayed on the display screen in response to an external input, and a calculation means for calculating a position at which the cursor is displayed. 3. The reading position information correcting system according to claim 1, wherein the reading position information is corrected based on the calculation result. 4. A computer outputs reading position information necessary for character reading to an optical character reading device for reading and recognizing characters written on the surface of a form, and based on the character reading recognition result in the device. A recording medium storing a program for operating as a reading position information correction system for correcting the reading position information, comprising: a computer for displaying image data of the form; Recorded is a program for functioning as correction means for correcting position information, and display control means for displaying, on a display screen of the display means, a result of character reading recognition performed by the optical character reading device according to the corrected reading position information. A recording medium characterized in that: