Information processing apparatus, control method, and computer-readable medium

• US 8,370,738 B2
• Filed: 10/18/2007
• Issued: 02/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Osaka, Hitoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Paula, Cesar
• Assistant Examiner(s): Blackwell, James H
• Application Number:
  US11/874,354
• Publication Number:
  US 20080120536A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,937 Days
• Field of Search: 715/209, 715/212, 715/227, 715243-253, 715/700, 715/788, 715800-801, 715/240, 382/112, 358/1.13, 358/1.18, 345/660
• US Class Current: 715/243
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/114 Pagination
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]

Abstract

Automatic layout processing includes determining an area size based on a vertical size of sub-templates aligned in a row direction and a horizontal size of sub-templates aligned in a column direction, and locating each sub-template in a corresponding area.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus configured to store a template having a flow area where extraction conditions to extract contents data from a database is set and determine a layout by using the flow area including sub-templates in which extracted content data can be located, the information processing apparatus comprising:

at least one processor coupled via a bus to a memory, the processor being programmed to control one or more of;

an acquiring unit configured to acquire content data satisfying the extraction conditions from the database;

a first determination unit configured to determine an area size of each cell area constituting the flow area based on a vertical sub-template size in each row and a horizontal sub-template size in each column, wherein the content data acquired by the acquiring unit are inserted in a plurality of sub-templates, the vertical sub-template size in each row is selected from a plurality of sub-templates aligned in a row direction representing a horizontal direction, and the horizontal sub-template size in each column is selected from a plurality of sub-templates aligned in a column direction representing a vertical direction;

a second determination unit configured to determine a first difference of a total value of a length in a vertical direction of a plurality of cell regions which are arranged in the column direction calculated based on the area size of each cell area determined by the first determination unit and a length in the vertical direction of the flow area and to determine a second difference of a total value of a length in a horizontal direction of a plurality of cell regions which are arranged in the row direction calculated based on the area size of each cell area determined by the first determination unit and a length in the horizontal direction of the flow area;

a third determination unit configured to determine a first dividing value of the first difference and a second dividing value of the second difference such that a reducing value of the each cell area is same;

a reducing unit configured to reduce the length in the vertical direction of the area size of the each cell area determined by the first determination unit by using the first dividing value and the length in the horizontal direction of the area size of the each cell area determined by the first determination unit by using the second dividing value; and

a locating unit configured to determine a size of each sub-template so that the sub-templates are included in the plurality of cell areas reduced by the reducing unit, and insert the content data in the sub-templates.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first determination unit equalizes a horizontal size of each cell area aligned in the column direction representing a vertical direction and equalizes a vertical size of each cell area aligned in the row direction representing the horizontal direction.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first determination unit extracts a sub-template having a maximum vertical size from the plurality of sub-templates aligned in the row direction, determines a vertical size of a cell area in each row based on the extracted vertical sub-template size in each row and a vertical size of the flow area, extracts a sub-template having a maximum horizontal size from the plurality of sub-templates aligned in each column, determines a horizontal size of a cell area in each column based on the extracted horizontal sub-template size in each column and a horizontal size of the flow area, and the first determination unit determines the area size of each cell area based on the determined vertical and horizontal sizes.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when arbitrary sub-templates are located in arbitrary areas, the locating unit changes a size of each arbitrary sub-template so that a size of each arbitrary sub-template accords with a size of a corresponding arbitrary area and locates the arbitrary sub-templates in the arbitrary areas.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the locating unit changes the size of each arbitrary sub-template so that the size of each arbitrary sub-template accords with the size of a corresponding arbitrary area, the locating unit changes the size of the sub-template without holding its aspect ratio and changes the size of the sub-template while holding an aspect ratio of image data of a partial area for the image data included in the sub-template.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine whether a layout of a record including plural content data obtained by the acquiring unit requires two or more cell areas, wherein when the determination unit determines that the layout requires two or more cells, the locating unit locates a sub-template using a required number of plural cell areas.

7. A method for an information processing apparatus configured to store a template having a flow area where extraction conditions to extract contents data from a database is set and determine a layout by using the flow area including sub-templates in which extracted content data can be located, the method comprising:

obtaining content data satisfying the extraction conditions from the database;

determining, by a first determination unit, an area size of each cell area constituting the flow area based on a vertical sub-template size in each row and a horizontal sub-template size in each column, wherein obtained content data are inserted in a plurality of sub-templates, the vertical sub-template size in each row is selected from a plurality of sub-templates aligned in a row direction representing a horizontal direction, and the horizontal sub-template size in each column is selected from a plurality of sub-templates aligned in a column direction representing a vertical direction;

determining, by a second determination unit, a first difference of a total value of a length in a vertical direction of a plurality of cell regions which are arranged in the column direction calculated based on the area size of each cell area determined by the first determination unit and a length in the vertical direction of the flow area and to determine a second difference of a total value of a length in a horizontal direction of a plurality of cell regions which are arranged in the row direction calculated based on the area size of each cell area determined by the first determination unit and a length in the horizontal direction of the flow area;

determining, by a third determination unit, a first dividing value of the first difference and a second dividing value of the second difference such that a reducing value of the each cell area is same;

reducing, by a reducing unit, the length in the vertical direction of the area size of the each cell area determined by the first determination unit by using the first dividing value and the length in the horizontal direction of the area size of the each cell area determined by the first determination unit by using the second dividing value;

determining a size of each sub-template so that the sub-templates are included in the cell areas having the determined area size; and

inserting the content data in the sub-templates.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising equalizing a horizontal size of each cell area aligned in the vertical column direction and equalizing a vertical size of each cell area aligned in the horizontal row direction.

9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising extracting a sub-template having a maximum vertical size from the plurality of sub-templates aligned in the row direction, determining a vertical size of a cell area in each row based on the extracted vertical sub-template size in each row and a vertical size of the flow area, extracting a sub-template having a maximum horizontal size from the plurality of sub-templates aligned in each column, determining a horizontal size of a cell area in each column based on the extracted horizontal sub-template size in each column and a horizontal size of the flow area, and determining the area size of each cell area based on the determined vertical and horizontal sizes.

10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising changing the size of each sub-template so that the sub-template is included in a corresponding cell area having the determined area size and locating the sub-templates in the cell areas.

11. The method according to claim 7, further comprising changing a size of each arbitrary sub-template when arbitrary sub-templates are located in arbitrary areas so that a size of each arbitrary sub-template accords with a size of a corresponding arbitrary area, and locating the arbitrary sub-templates in the arbitrary areas.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein when the size of each arbitrary sub-template is changed so that the size of each arbitrary sub-template accords with the size of a corresponding arbitrary area, further comprising changing the size of the sub-template without holding an aspect ratio and changing the size of the sub-template while holding an aspect ratio of the partial area for image data included in the sub-template.

13. The method according to claim 7, further comprising determining whether a layout of a record including plural content data requires two or more cell areas, and locating a sub-template using a required number of plural cell areas when it is determined that the layout requires two or more cells.

14. The method according to claim 7, further comprising determining a size of a partial area of the sub-template according to a required size of the content data to be located in the partial area, and determining a size of a sub- template according to the determined size of the partial area.

15. The method according to claim 7, further comprising dividing the flow area into a plurality of cell areas with reference to the determined area size of each cell area.

16. The method according to claim 7, further comprising determining sub-templates in which the obtained content data is located, and locating similar sub-templates in a same row or a same column when the sub-templates have a plurality of types.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for controlling an information processing apparatus configured to store a template having a flow area where an extraction conditions to extract contents data from a database is set and determine a layout by using the flow area including sub-templates in which extracted content data can be located, the medium comprising:

computer-executable instructions for obtaining content data satisfying the extraction conditions from the database;

computer-executable instructions for determining, by a first determination unit, an area size of each cell area constituting the flow area based on a vertical sub-template size in each row and a horizontal sub-template size in each column, wherein obtained content data are inserted in a plurality of sub- templates, the vertical sub-template size in each row is selected from a plurality of sub-templates aligned in a row direction representing a horizontal direction, and the horizontal sub-template size in each column is selected from a plurality of sub-templates aligned in a column direction representing a vertical direction;

computer-executable instructions for determining, by a second determination unit, a first difference of a total value of a length in a vertical direction of a plurality of cell regions which are arranged in the column direction calculated based on the area size of each cell area determined by the first determination unit and a length in the vertical direction of the flow area and to determine a second difference of a total value of a length in a horizontal direction of a plurality of cell regions which are arranged in the row direction calculated based on the area size of each cell area determined by the first determination unit and a length in the horizontal direction of the flow area;

computer-executable instructions for determining, by a third determination unit, a first dividing value of the first difference and a second dividing value of the second difference such that a reducing value of the each cell area is same;

computer-executable instructions for reducing, by a reducing unit, the length in the vertical direction of the area size of the each cell area determined by the first determination unit by using the first dividing value and the length in the horizontal direction of the area size of the each cell area determined by the first determination unit by using the second dividing value;

computer-executable instructions for determining a size of each sub-template so that the sub-templates are included in the cell areas having the determined area size; and

computer-executable instructions for inserting the content data in the sub-templates.

18. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, further comprising computer-executable instructions for equalizing a horizontal size of each cell area aligned in the vertical column direction and equalizing a vertical size of each cell area aligned in the horizontal row direction.

19. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, further comprising computer-executable instructions for extracting a sub-template having a maximum vertical size from the plurality of sub-templates aligned in the row direction, determining a vertical size of a cell area in each row based on the extracted vertical sub-template size in each row and a vertical size of the flow area, extracting a sub-template having a maximum horizontal size from the plurality of sub-templates aligned in each column, determining a horizontal size of a cell area in each column based on the extracted horizontal sub-template size in each column and a horizontal size of the flow area, and determining the area size of each cell area based on the determined vertical and horizontal sizes.

20. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, further comprising computer-executable instructions for changing a size of each arbitrary sub-template when arbitrary sub-templates are located in arbitrary areas so that a size of each arbitrary sub-template accords with a size of a corresponding arbitrary area and locating the arbitrary sub-templates in the arbitrary areas.

21. The computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein when the size of each arbitrary sub-template is changed so that the size of each arbitrary sub-template accords with the size of a corresponding arbitrary area, further comprising computer-executable instructions for changing the size of the sub-template without holding an aspect ratio, and changing the size of the sub- template while holding an aspect ratio of the partial area for image data included in the sub-template.

22. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, further comprising computer-executable instructions for determining whether a layout of a record including plural content data requires two or more cell areas, and locating a sub-template using a required number of plural cell areas when it is determined that the layout requires two or more cells.

23. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, further comprising computer-executable instructions for determining a size of a partial area of the sub-template according to a required size of the content data to be located in the partial area, and determining a size of a sub-template according to the determined size of the partial area.

24. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, further comprising computer-executable instructions for dividing the flow area into a plurality of cell areas with reference to the determined area size of each cell area.

25. The computer-readable medium according to claim 17, further comprising computer-executable instructions for determining sub-templates in which the obtained content data is located, and locating similar sub-templates in a same row or a same column when the sub-templates have a plurality of types.