Form processing apparatus, form processing method, recording medium and program

• US 7,200,811 B1
• Filed: 07/28/2003
• Issued: 04/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Takashima, Keiichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Herndon; Heather R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Blackwell; James H
• Application Number:
  US10/627,614
• Time in Patent Office: 1,345 Days
• Field of Search: 715/517, 715/513, 715/507, 715/505, 715/501.1, 715/506, 715/508, 715/523, 715/524, 707/10, 709/245, 709/238, 709/229
• US Class Current: 715/210
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging

Abstract

There is provided a form processing method enabling overlaying of field data without processing the field data, in form processing for overlaying field data onto a field in a form. In particular, the form processing method includes a step of setting an input picture for each of the fields as field attribute information, the input picture being composed of characters indicating a format of field data to be overlaid. In the method, picture words are cut (step S305) based on the input picture and field data words are cut (step S306), and the field data is overlaid onto a field (step S312).

Claims

1. A form processing apparatus for overlaying received data from a database file onto a field in a form, the form processing apparatus comprising:

setting means for accepting a user'"'"'s input of a character string, and for setting the accepted character string for the field, wherein the character string is composed of type specification characters, which indicate a format of data which the form processing apparatus is able to receive, and wherein the number of the type specification characters indicates the length of the data;

determining means for determining the kind of each type specification character in order from the top of the type specification characters composing the set character string;

first getting means for getting plural words which are composed of the type specification characters on the basis of the determined kind of each type specification character, by determining whether the type specification character is composing a same word which is composed of the previous type specification character if the determined kind of the type specification character is same as the kind of the previous type specification character, and also by determining whether the type specification character is composing a different word from the word which is composed of the previous type specification character if the kind of the determined type specification character is different from the kind of the previous type specification character;

counting means for counting the number of type specification characters composing each gotten word;

second getting means for getting plural data by dividing the received data into the plural data in order from the top of the received data so that the length of k^th gotten data is the same as the number of the type specification character composing the k^th word gotten by the first getting means; and

,

overlaying means for overlaying each data gotten by said second getting means onto a position in which each corresponding word is set in the field.

2. A form processing method of overlaying received data from a database file onto a field in a form, the form processing method comprising:

a setting step of accepting a user'"'"'s input of a character string, and setting the accepted character string for the field, wherein the character string is composed of type specification characters, which indicate a format of data which the form processing apparatus is able to receive, and wherein the number of the type specification characters indicates the length of the data;

a determining step of determining the kind of each type specification character in order from the top of the type specification characters composing the set character string;

a first getting step of getting plural words which are composed of the type specification characters on the basis of the determined kind of each type specification character, by determining whether the type specification character is composing a same word which is composed of the previous type specification character if the determined kind of the type specification character is same as the kind of the previous type specification character, and also by determining whether the type specification character is composing a different word from the word which is composed of the previous type specification character if the kind of the determined type specification character is different from the kind of the previous type specification character;

counting step of counting the number of type specification characters composing each gotten word;

a second getting step of getting plural data by dividing the received data into the plural data in order from the top of the received data so that the length of k^th gotten data is same as the number of the type specification character composing the k^th word gotten in the first getting step; and

,

an overlaying step of overlaying each data gotten in said second getting step onto a position in which each corresponding word is set in the field.