Image data communication system, server system, method of controlling operation of same, and recording medium storing program for control of server system

• US 20050088690A1
• Filed: 11/19/2004
• Published: 04/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ohta, Yoshinori, Tanaka, Keisuke, Haneda, Norihisa
• Granted Patent: US 7,408,668 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.150
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

Original images, large images, medium images and thumbnail images are registered with a server system. An original-image file is transmitted from a client computer to the server system. The server system converts the format of the original-image file to generate a large-image file, generates a medium-image file, in which the quantity of data is less than that of the large-image file, from the large-image file, and generates a thumbnail-image file, in which the quantity of data is less than that of the medium-image file, from the medium-image file. The original-image file, large-image file, medium-image file and thumbnail-image file are placed on one folder and stored in an image file unit. After the folder containing the original-image file, etc., has been stored in the image file unit, the user of a client computer having access privileges is capable of accessing files such as the large-image file.

Claims

1-14. -14. (canceled)

15. An image database registration system comprising:

an image file input unit for inputting an image file which includes an additional-information recording area in which additional information has been recorded and an image-data recording area in which image data representing an image has been recorded;

an additional-information reading unit for reading the additional information that has been recorded in the additional-information recording area included in the image file input from said image file input unit;

an image data reading unit for reading the image data that has been recorded in the image-data recording area included in the image file input from said image file input unit; and

a storage control unit for storing the additional information that has been read by said additional-information reading unit and the image data that has been read by said image data reading unit in a storage unit in association with each other.

16. An image database search system comprising:

a storage unit in which additional information, which has been recorded in an additional-information recording area of an image file, and image data, which has been recorded in an image-data recording area of the image file, are stored in association with each other;

an additional-information input unit for inputting additional information;

a search unit which, on the basis of the additional information that has been input from said additional-information input unit, retrieves the corresponding image data from said storage unit; and

an image data output unit for outputting image data that has been found by the search conducted by said search unit.

17. (canceled)

18. An image database registration method comprising the steps of:

inputting an image file which includes an additional-information recording area in which additional information has been recorded and an image-data recording area in which image data representing an image has been recorded;

reading the additional information that has been recorded in the additional-information recording area included in the image file that has been input;

reading the image data that has been recorded in the image-data recording area included in the image file that has been input; and

storing the additional information that has been read and the image data that has been read in a storage unit in association with each other.

19. An image database search method comprising the steps of:

storing additional information, which has been recorded in an additional-information recording area of an image file, and image data, which has been recorded in an image-data recording area of the image file, in a storage unit in association with each other;

inputting additional information;

on the basis of the additional information that has been input, retrieving the corresponding image data from said storage unit; and

outputting image data that has been found by retrieval.

20. (canceled)

21. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for registering image data in an image database, said program controlling a computer of the image database so as to:

input an image file which includes an additional-information recording area in which additional information has been recorded and an image-data recording area in which image data representing an image has been recorded;

read the additional information that has been recorded in the additional-information recording area included in the image file that has been input;

read the image data that has been recorded in the image-data recording area included in the image file that has been input; and

store the additional information that has been read and the image data that has been read in a storage unit in association with each other.

22. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for searching image data that has been registered in an image database, said program controlling a computer of the image database so as to:

input additional information;

on the basis of the additional information that has been input, retrieve the corresponding image data from a storage unit in which additional information, which has been recorded in an additional-information recording area of an image file, and image data, which has been recorded in an image-data recording area of the image file, have been stored in association with each other; and

output image data that has been found by retrieval.