Abstract:
An application generating method includes steps of a) acquiring multimedia information that includes at least two of video data, audio data, image data, and text data and that is described with a language for structuring information, b) acquiring a style sheet that includes a definition relating to a data display format of the multimedia information and a definition relating to data processing of the multimedia information, and c) generating an application of manipulating data of the multimedia information by processing the multimedia information with the style sheet. An application generating apparatus, system, and machine readable medium can implement the application generating method.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS  
         [0001]    The present document claims priority on and contains subject matter related to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-072685 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Mar. 15, 2000, and the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for structuring multimedia information and generating an application of the multimedia information.  
           [0004]    2. Discussion of the Background  
           [0005]    In recent years, the quantity of audio/visual information used on the Internet has increased with accelerated velocity, and demand for technology for efficiently managing and processing audio/visual information has increased more than ever. For efficiently managing and processing audio/visual information, the audio/visual information needs to be expressed in a proper manner so that the information can be referenced, retrieved, or processed accurately and promptly.  
           [0006]    MPEG-7 is known as a method of expressing audio/image information. In a process of standardization of MPEG-7, one object was to enable describing the meaning of data by marking the data with a tag. DDL (Description Definition Language) of MPEG-7 is a description language that can describe the meaning of data of audio/image information in such a way.  
           [0007]    HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is also known as a representative language in which data is marked by a tag. However, HTML does not have a capability of expressing audio/image information in a descriptive manner.  
           [0008]    XML (Extensible Markup Language) promoted by W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) has its object to enable SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) to be used in the Internet as HTML is used, and greatly differs from HTML in that the user can define a tag. That is, in XML, by enclosing both ends of information with a tag defining a specific meaning in a document, the information is correlated to the specific meaning.  
           [0009]    XML is a powerful language applicable to audio/image information also. DDL of MPEG-7 and XML are almost identical except that DDL provides a more plentiful variety of expanding sets.  
           [0010]    DDL and XML are the languages that structure information. When displaying a structured document described with DDL or XML on a screen, for defining a style of displaying the document on the screen, a style sheet describing a display setting can be used. DSSSL (Document Style Semantics and Specification Language) of ISO standard 10179 and XSL (Extensible Style-sheet Language) of W3C are known as examples of the style sheet.  
           [0011]    When displaying a document described with XML in a style set by XSL, a description of information contents and a display setting for the description of information contents are provided in separate files. That is, two kinds of files, (1) an XML description file describing information contents with XML and attaching a tag to the information contents to describe the meaning of the information contents and (2) an XSL file defining a display rule, are provided. Thereby, without changing the XML file, which includes information contents, itself, the XSL file defining a display rule can be overwritten.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    Conventionally, a style sheet as represented by XSL has been related only to a display layout for text data. However, the present inventors have recognized that for expressing audio/image information with DDL or XML so that the information can be efficiently managed and processed, it is desired that the concept of a style sheet is extended so that the style sheet can be also applied to audio/image information.  
           [0013]    The present invention has been made in view of the above-discussed and other problems and addresses the above-discussed and other problems.  
           [0014]    According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an application generating method includes steps of a) acquiring multimedia information that includes at least two of video data, audio data, image data, and text data and that is described with a language for structuring information, b) acquiring a style sheet that includes a definition relating to a data display format of the multimedia information and a definition relating to data processing of the multimedia information, and c) generating an application of manipulating data of the multimedia information by processing the multimedia information with the style sheet.  
           [0015]    Thus, in the present invention, an application of manipulating data of multimedia information is generated according to a style sheet that includes a definition relating to a display format for data of the multimedia information and a definition relating to processing of data of the multimedia information. Accordingly, contents of the multimedia information, and processing and a displaying format of the multimedia information, can be separately managed from each other, such that even when changing the application by necessity, the change can be realized only by changing the style sheet that defines processing and a displaying format for the multimedia information as necessary without changing a file containing the contents of the multimedia information. By thus expanding the concept of a style sheet to displaying and processing of multimedia information, efficient generation of an application of multimedia information is realized, and thereby efficient management and processing of multimedia information can be realized.  
           [0016]    In the above-described method, the steps of a), b), and c) may generate a plurality of applications of manipulating data of multimedia information for a plurality of combinations of multimedia information and style sheets. In this case, the method further includes receiving a user request, and selecting an application based on the user request among from the plurality of applications.  
           [0017]    By thus processing multiple combinations of multimedia information and style sheets in advance, a user request can be quickly responded.  
           [0018]    The above-described method may alternatively include receiving a user request, and in the steps of a) and b), multimedia information and a style sheet based on the user request may be respectively acquired.  
           [0019]    Thus, in the present invention, multimedia information and a style sheet can be acquired one by one according to a user request, such that the multimedia information and the style sheet can be managed while maintaining separation of the multimedia information and the style sheet, and thereby efficient management and processing of the multimedia information can be realized  
           [0020]    Further, in the above-described method, the step of b) may include searching for a style sheet based on a user request, and generating a new style sheet when the style sheet based on the user request is not found.  
           [0021]    Therefore, in the present invention, when a style sheet is not found in response to a user request, a new style sheet is generated, such that accumulation of style sheets is realized and thereby plentiful applications can be accumulated.  
           [0022]    Furthermore, the above-described method may include displaying the application in a browser used by a user, and executing the data processing defined by the style sheet in based on an operation by the user relative to the application.  
           [0023]    Therefore, in the present invention, an application generated according to a style sheet can be provided to a user so as to be immediately executed by the user.  
           [0024]    According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an application generating apparatus includes a multimedia information acquiring mechanism configured to acquire multimedia information that includes at least two of video data, audio data, image data, and text data and that is described with a language for structuring information, a style sheet acquiring mechanism configured to acquire a style sheet that includes a definition relating to a data display format of the multimedia information and a definition relating to data processing of the multimedia information, and an application generating mechanism configured to generate an application of manipulating data of the multimedia information by processing the multimedia information with the style sheet.  
           [0025]    In the above-described apparatus, the multimedia information acquiring mechanism, the style sheet acquiring mechanism, and the application generating mechanism may be configured so as to generate a plurality of applications of manipulating data of multimedia information for a plurality of combinations of multimedia information and style sheets. In this case, the apparatus further includes a user request receiving mechanism configured to receive a user request, and an application selection mechanism configured to select an application based on the user request from among the plurality of applications.  
           [0026]    The above-described apparatus may alternatively be configured so as to include a user request receiving mechanism configured to receive a user request and such that the multimedia information acquiring mechanism and the style sheet acquiring mechanism acquire multimedia information and a style sheet based on the user request.  
           [0027]    Further, in the above-described apparatus, the style sheet acquiring mechanism may include a style sheet searching mechanism configured to search for a style sheet based on a user request, and a new style sheet generating mechanism configured to generate a new style sheet when the style sheet based on the user request is not found.  
           [0028]    The above-described apparatus may further include a displaying mechanism configured to display the application in a browser used by a user, and a data processing executing mechanism configured to execute the data processing defined by the style sheet based on an operation by the user relative to the application.  
           [0029]    According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system includes a server configured to acquire multimedia information that includes at least two of video data, audio data, image data, and text data and that is described with a language for structuring information and a style sheet that includes a definition relating to a data display format of the multimedia information and a definition relating to data processing of the multimedia information, and a client configured to send a request to the server and to display an application of manipulating data of the multimedia information received from the server in accordance with data received from the server in response to the request. The application is generated by processing the multimedia information with the style sheet.  
           [0030]    In the above-described system, the server may generate the application by processing the multimedia information with the style sheet, and send the application to the client.  
           [0031]    Alternatively, the above-described system may be configured such that the client receives the multimedia information from the server and the style sheet and then processes the multimedia information with the style sheet.  
           [0032]    Further, the above-described system may be configured such that the server receives the multimedia information from a remote server.  
           [0033]    According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an information structuring method includes recording a style sheet for multimedia information including at least two of video data, audio data, image data, and text data and described with a language for structuring information. The style sheet includes a definition relating to a data display format of the multimedia information and a definition relating to data processing of the multimedia information.  
           [0034]    According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an information structuring apparatus includes a unit configured to record a style sheet for multimedia information including at least two of video data, audio data, image data, and text data and described with a language for structuring information. The style sheet includes a definition relating to a data display format of the multimedia information and a definition relating to data processing of the multimedia information.  
           [0035]    According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a machine readable recording medium records therein a program controlling a computer to execute steps of acquiring multimedia information that includes at least two of video data, audio data, image data, and text data and that is described with a language for structuring information, acquiring a style sheet that includes a definition relating to a data display format of the multimedia information and a definition relating to data processing of the multimedia information, and generating an application of manipulating data of the multimedia information by processing the multimedia information with the style sheet.  
           [0036]    According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a machine readable recording medium records therein a style sheet that controls a computer to generate an application by executing steps of setting a data display format of multimedia information including at least two of video data, audio data, image data, and text data and described with a language for structuring information, and setting data processing of the multimedia information. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0037]    A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0038]    FIG  1  a diagram illustrating a client/server system using an audio/visual style sheet of the present invention;  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an operation of providing an audio/visual contents description application by processing an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet;  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the client server system of FIG. 1;  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another operation of the client server system of FIG. 1;  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of generating an audio/visual contents description application by a combination of an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet;  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of generating an audio/visual contents description application by a combination of an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet;  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an audio/visual contents description application generated by a combination of an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet;  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another example of generating an audio/visual contents description application by a combination of an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet, in particular illustrating an image retrieval application capable of performing an image retrieval operation illustrated in FIG. 7;  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an operation of setting a title by manipulating a search options button;  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating concrete examples of an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet;  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating another example of an operation of the client server system; and  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a construction of an apparatus that executes a process of generating an audio/visual contents description application. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0050]    Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described.  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 1 a diagram illustrating a client/server system using an audio/visual style sheet of the present invention.  
         [0052]    The client server system includes servers  10 , a web server  11 , and clients  12 . Each server  10  stores audio/visual contents data  17 . The audio/visual contents data  17  is stored as raw video, audio, or image data or as an audio/visual contents description document described with XML (or another markup language). That is, the audio/visual contents data  17  can be information contents itself. Audio/visual contents or information as used in this document includes not only still images but also video images, movies, etc.  
         [0053]    The web server  11  receives a request from the servers  10  so as to communicate with the servers  10 . In this configuration, the clients  12  need not to directly communicate with the servers  10 , so that unnecessary wait times waiting for a response from the servers  10  are avoided. The web server  11  receives from the servers  10  data requested by a user and stores the data. Once the data is stored by the web server  11 , a subsequent user request is executed to the data stored by the web server  11 . The present invention does not require that the servers  10  and the web server  11  are separately provided as described above, and functions of the servers  10  and the web server  11  can be realized by a single server unit.  
         [0054]    When data received from the servers  10  is processed, the web server  11  sends the processed data to a client  12 . The received data is, for example, displayed by a browser of the user of the client  12 . If the user issues additional requests in a dialoguing manner, the requests are either executed locally by the client  12  or by the web server  11 .  
         [0055]    The web server  11  stores an audio/visual contents description document  15  and an audio/visual style sheet  16 . An audio/visual contents description document  15  includes information contents, data expressing constructional characteristics of the information contents, and descriptive information relating to a data set by the creator of the information contents or the user. An audio/visual style sheet  16  is, for example, a template that defines a process and operation executed when the user issues a specific request.  
         [0056]    For example, when retrieving data using an image as a retrieving key, the web server  11  checks, upon receiving a request from a user, if an audio/visual style sheet  16  as a template for use in an image retrieving application exists in its own memory. When the audio/visual style sheet  16  exists, the web server  11  processes and operates an audio/visual contents description document  15  received from the server  10 , according to a definition of the audio/visual style sheet  16 . The audio/visual contents description document  15  and the audio/visual style sheet  16  are stored in a memory or a cache memory of the web server  11 .  
         [0057]    Each client  12  stores in its own memory tools and applications that can be used in conjunction with an audio/visual contents description application. The tools and applications are described with such languages as C, C++, Java, etc., and are called via the audio/visual contents description application displayed in a display of the client  12 .  
         [0058]    When a user sends a request for data retrieval using an image as a retrieving key, the web server  11  processes in response to the request an appropriate audio/visual contents description document  15  and an appropriate audio/visual style sheet  16 , and sends processed data (i.e., the audio/visual contents description document  15  and the audio/visual style sheet  16 ) to a browser of the client  12 . The browser uses an interface of a window system of the client  12  for displaying the received data on a display. The displayed data can be manipulated using the tools provided in the client  12 . The audio/visual contents description application has a link to the tools to call an appropriate one of them according to user manipulation of buttons.  
         [0059]    [0059]FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an operation of providing an audio/visual contents description application by processing an audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  and an audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 .  
         [0060]    As illustrated in FIG. 2, the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  includes information for processing and the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16  includes information defining a display setting and a processing content for the information for processing. The web server  11  generates an XML or HTML document by processing the audio/visual style description document  15  with the audio/visual style sheet  16  and sends the generated document to a browser  22  of the client  12 . The browser  22  displays the received document and provides an audio/visual contents description application  23  to the user.  
         [0061]    More specifically, the audio/visual contents description document  15  includes metadata for explaining audio/visual contents (e.g., the title, the author, etc. of the audio/visual contents) and a structural description describing a structural aspect of the audio/visual contents. Here, the audio/visual contents description document  15  includes video information. For example, scene information describing a goal scene in a soccer match can be structured as an audio/visual contents describing document  15 . The audio/visual style sheet  16  includes a design layout for displaying in a browser information of the audio/visual contents description document  15  with an audio/visual contents description application and a definition of processing contents for the information for processing, i.e, the information of the audio/visual contents description document  15 . For example, when the audio/visual contents description application  23  is an image retrieving application, a retrieval button linked to a tool for performing retrieval of an image database is provided in the audio/visual contents description application  23 . The tool may be one that performs, for example, checking of edges of an image in an image retrieval operation and is a program code read out from a server or a client computer to be executed.  
         [0062]    [0062]FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the client server system of FIG. 1.  
         [0063]    In step S 1 , a user issues a request from the client  12 . For example, the user issues a request for retrieving data using an image as a retrieval key.  
         [0064]    In step S 2 , the web server  11  receives the request and analyzes contents of the request so as to recognize the contents of the request. For example, the web server  11  recognizes the contents of the request as data retrieval using an image as a retrieval key.  
         [0065]    In step S 3 , the web server  11  searches for a database based on the contents of the request. For example, when a retrieval subject is an image of a marine animal, the web server  11  searches the server  10  connected with the web server  11  for an image database of marine animals.  
         [0066]    In step S 4 , the web server  11  sends the request to the database found in step S 3 .  
         [0067]    In step S 5 , the server  10 , upon receiving the request from the web server  11 , sends a corresponding audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 , for example a visual contents description document of the marine animals database, to the web server  11 .  
         [0068]    In step S 6 , the web server  11  receives the requested audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 .  
         [0069]    In step S 7 , the web server  11  searches for an audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16  based on the contents of the request and selects an appropriate audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 . For example, when the contents of the request is to retrieve data using a sketch image as a retrieval key, the web server  11  searches for an audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16  that generates an image retrieval application based on the contents of the request within a memory of the web server  11 , so as to select an appropriate audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 .  
         [0070]    In step S 8 , the web server  11  processes the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  with the selected audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 . A result of the processing is obtained for example in a form of an XML or HTML document.  
         [0071]    In step S 9 , the web server  11  sends the processed data, such as an XML or HTML document, to the client  12 .  
         [0072]    In step S 10 , the client  12  receives the processed data from the web server  11 .  
         [0073]    In step S 11 , the client  12  displays the received data in a browser so as to provide to the user an audio/visual contents description application  23  (AVA).  
         [0074]    In step S 12 , the user manipulates the audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23  displayed in the browser. Thus, the operation of acquiring a desired audio/visual contents description application (AVA) by sending a request ends.  
         [0075]    In the above-described operation, the web server  11  is configured to retrieve an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet when a request is received from a user, according to contents of the request from the user, and to perform a processing to a combination of the audio/visual contents description document and the audio/visual style sheet which have been obtained. Here, alternatively, the web server  11  can be configured such that all possible combinations of audio/visual contents description documents and audio/visual style sheets are processed, and that processed data is stored in the web server  11  in advance.  
         [0076]    Further, the present invention does not require the servers  10  and the web server  11  to be separate as illustrated in FIG. 3, and functions of the servers  10  and the web server  11  can be realized by a single server apparatus.  
         [0077]    [0077]FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another operation of the client server system of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 4, a construction and an operation to process in advance all possible combinations of audio/visual contents description documents and audio/visual style sheets are described.  
         [0078]    In operation S 21 , the web server  11  accesses and acquires an audio/visual contents description document  15  (AVC) of the servers  10 . In operation S 22 , the web server  11  acquires an audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16  applicable to the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  acquired in step S 21 . In operation S 23 , the web server  11  sends the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  and the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16  to a style sheet processing unit  20 . In operation S 24 , the style sheet processing unit  20  processes the received audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  and an audio/visual sheet (AVS)  16 , so as to output an HTML document. The output document can be described in any other formats than the HTML format.  
         [0079]    The above-described processing is executed for every possible combination of an audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  and an audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 , such that corresponding HTML documents are stored in the web server  11 .  
         [0080]    In operation S 25 , a client  12  requests from the web server  11  an audio/visual contents description application such as an image retrieval application. Upon recognizing that the request is for an image retrieval application, the web server  11  retrieves a corresponding HTML document.  
         [0081]    In operation S 26 , the web server  11  sends the retrieved HTML document to the client  12 . The client  12  displays the received HTML document by a browser so as to provide an audio/visual contents description application to the user.  
         [0082]    By thus processing every possible combination of audio/visual contents description document  15  and audio/visual style sheet  16  in advance, the response speed for requests from the client  12  to the web server  11  can be enhanced.  
         [0083]    In FIGS. 3 and 4, the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  is processed according to the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16  at the web server  11 . However, in the client server system configured as illustrated in FIG. 1, the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  and the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16  can be sent to the client  12  without being processed at the web server  11 , so that the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15  is processed according to the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16  at the client  12 .  
         [0084]    [0084]FIG. 5 is diagram illustrating an example of generating an audio/visual contents description application by a combination of an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet.  
         [0085]    [0085]FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a video editing application. In FIG. 5, an audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 A defines each display layout in a browser of a digital object model control, a video editing control, a source control, and a script control, and each processing of the controls as well. An audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 A includes a video object  15 A 1 , a script object  15 A 2 , a digital object model object  15 A 3 , and a source object  15 A 4 . In an audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 A, the audio/visual contents description document components  15 A 1 - 15 A 4  are respectively displayed according to a layout defined by the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 A. When a user manipulates the audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 A by, for example, clicking a mouse, a process defined by the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 A is executed.  
         [0086]    As illustrated in FIG. 5, the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 A is provided as a separate data file from the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 A. Accordingly, when changing contents of an application according to a situation, the contents can be changed by only changing the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 A without changing the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 A. Thereby, productivity in changing contents of an application is increased.  
         [0087]    [0087]FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of generating an audio/visual contents description application by a combination of an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet.  
         [0088]    [0088]FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an office document retrieval application. An audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 B defines each display layout in a browser of a script control, a global location environment (GLE) control, a video control, an e-mail control, a PPT control, an image control, and an additional script control, and each processing of the controls as well. The audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 B includes a video object  15 B 1 , a script object  15 B 2 , another script object  15 B 3 , an e-mail object  15 B 4 , a PPT object  15 B 5 , an image object  15 B 6 , and a GLE object  15 B 7 . In an audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 , the audio/visual contents description document (AVC) components  15 B 1 - 15 B 7  are respectively displayed according to a layout defined by the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 B. When the user manipulates the audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 B, for example by clicking a mouse, a process defined by the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 B is executed.  
         [0089]    Now, a method of generating an application by use of an audio/visual style sheet is described using a concrete example.  
         [0090]    [0090]FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an audio/visual contents description application generated by a combination of an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet, according to the present invention.  
         [0091]    [0091]FIG. 7 illustrates an application user interface  30 . The user can obtain a desired application by selecting an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet that are suitable for a need of the user via manipulation of the application interface  30 .  
         [0092]    For example, the user opens a query sketch window  31  by sequentially selecting options from menu bars of the application interface  30 . In the query sketch window  31 , a sketch window  32 , a drawing button  33 , an eraser button  34 , a start search button  35 , a query results display window  36 , and a search options button  37  are provided.  
         [0093]    The user draws a sketch image  40  in the sketch window  32  by using drawing tools which are activated when the drawing button  33  is clicked. For erasing a drawn image as necessary, the eraser button  34  is provided. By clicking the eraser button  34 , erasing tools are activated. After completing drawing of the sketch image  40 , by clicking the start search button  35 , the user can search for an image similar to the sketch image  40  over a network. When a similar image is obtained, the obtained image is displayed in the query result display window  36 .  
         [0094]    A process of generating an image retrieval application capable of operating as described above by using an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet is next described.  
         [0095]    [0095]FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another example of generating an audio/visual contents description application by a combination of an audio/visual contents description document and an audio/visual style sheet, and illustrates an image retrieval application capable of performing an image retrieval operation as illustrated in FIG. 7.  
         [0096]    An audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 C corresponds to the sketch query window  31 . The audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 C is generated by processing an audio/visual description document (AVC)  15 C with an audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C.  
         [0097]    In the audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 C of FIG. 8, the sketch window  32  corresponds to an image object  15 C 1  of the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C and an image control  16 C 1  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C. The drawing button  33  corresponds to a tool control  15 C 5  of the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C and a tool control  16 C 5  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C. The eraser button  34  corresponds to another tool control  15 C 6  of the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C and another tool control  16 C 6  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C. The search start button  35  corresponds to an event control  15 C 2  of the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C and an event control  16 C 2  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C. The query result display window  36  corresponds to an image object  15 C 4  of the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C and an image control  16 C 4  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C. The search options button  37  corresponds to another event control  15 C 3  of the audio/visual contents description document (AVS)  15 C and another event control  16 C 3  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C.  
         [0098]    The image control  16 C 1  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C defines the window  32  where a sketch image used for retrieval is displayed. The image control  16 C 4  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C defines the query results window  36  where an image obtained as a result of the retrieval is displayed.  
         [0099]    The event control  16 C 2  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C defines an event button. The event button is linked to image characteristics provided in the standards such as MPEG-7 etc. by the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 . The image characteristics defined by MPEG-7 include, for example, edge characteristics. Generally, description data of image characteristics includes metadata relating to information on the title, the author, the type of an image, etc., and numerical data describing structural aspects of the image, such as an edge, a color histogram, etc. of the image.  
         [0100]    Before sending the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C and the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C to a client  12 , the web server  11  (FIG. 1) checks if visual descriptors, such as edge, color, and texture descriptors, are included in the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C. When any of these visual descriptors exist in the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C, the web server  11  relates the visual descriptor to a corresponding button displayed in a display by an audio/visual contents description application  23 C (AVA).  
         [0101]    In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, an edge descriptor is related to the start search button  35 . When the start search button  35  is depressed, the edge descriptor of the sketch image  40  (FIG. 7) and the edge descriptor of an image included in the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C are compared.  
         [0102]    MPEG-7 describes physical and logical characteristics of audio/visual contents with a scheme called a Description Scheme (DS). A Segment DS, one kind of the Description Scheme, expresses a part of audio/visual contents. The Segment DS is classified into an AudioSegment DS for describing an audio information segment of audio/visual contents, a StillRegion DS for describing a still picture segment of visual contents, a MovingRegion DS for describing a moving picture segment of visual contents, and a VideoSegment DS for describing a set of video sequence frames. The StillRegion DS is suitable for image retrieval as illustrated in FIG. 7. To the StillRegion DS, three descriptors can be related, a Homogeneous Texture Descriptor describing structural characteristics of an image, such as direction, coarseness, and regularity of a pattern, a Texture Browsing Descriptor describing texture characteristics, and an Edge Histogram Descriptor describing a spatial distribution of four directional edges and one non-directional edge of an image.  
         [0103]    Accordingly, when MPEG-7 is a linking object, the audio/visual style sheet  16 C relates the above-described Edge Histogram Descriptor defined by MPEG-7 to the start search button  35  and defines each step necessary for comparing the Edge Histogram Descriptor between images to be related to the start search button  35 . Thereby, in response to a button operation on the start search button  35 , a process of comparing an edge descriptor of a sketch image as a retrieval key an d an edge included in an audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C can be started, so that an image retrieval is executed. When an image database is not one of audio/visual contents description documents that are described with an XML language including an edge descriptor calculated in advance, it is necessary to perform calculation of an Edge Histogram Description for each of the audio/visual contents description documents one by one during a retrieval process.  
         [0104]    The event control  16 C 3  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C defines an event button in which retrieval options can be set. For example, when a user desires to retrieve a marine animal similar to a manually drawn sketch image, the user can set an appropriate retrieval condition by using the event button. When the sketch image is one of a whale, by designating the title of an image as a marine animal or whale, retrieval is performed by combining retrieval according to visual characteristics of the sketch image (e.g., retrieval according to edge characteristics) and retrieval by metadata (e.g., retrieval by the title).  
         [0105]    In MPEG-7, a title is defined with one of metadata descriptors. More specifically, information relating to generating data contents is described with a Creation Description Scheme, in which “Title” describes a title of audio/visual contents, “CreationDescription” describes information relating to what are the contents of data, where, when, why, and how the data was created, and who created the data, “Creator” describes an author of the data (an individual, a party, a group, etc.), “CreationLocation” describes a place where the data was created, “CreationDate” describes the date of creation, and “CreationMaterial” describes an apparatus used for creating the data.  
         [0106]    [0106]FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an operation of setting a title by manipulating the search options button  37 .  
         [0107]    As illustrated in FIG. 9, by manipulating the search options button  37 , a user opens a menu, selects “Meta” (metadata) in the menu, and then selects “Title” in “Creation Description Scheme”, to open a title input window  42 . The user inputs in the title input window  42  a title, such as, a whale, to set the title of a retrieval object.  
         [0108]    Setting of search options is not limited to “Meta” (metadata). For example, by selecting, for example, “Visual” in the menu, visual characteristics of a retrieval object can be set. In this example, because retrieval is based on a sketch image, the default setting can be set such that retrieval is based on edge characteristics.  
         [0109]    The tool control  16 C 5  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C defines a drawing tool. That is, the audio/visual style sheet  16 C (AVS) is described such that the drawing button  33  corresponding to the tool control  16 C 5  is linked to a program of the drawing tool. Thereby, for example, in response to a button click of the drawing button  33 , the drawing tool program can be executed.  
         [0110]    The tool control  16 C 6  of the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C defines an eraser tool. That is, the audio/visual style sheet  16 C (AVS) is described such that the eraser button  34  corresponding to the tool control  16 C 6  is related to an eraser tool program. Thereby, for example, in response to a button click of the eraser button  34 , the eraser tool program can be executed.  
         [0111]    The above-described tools can be provided locally in a client apparatus and can be described with such languages as C, C++, Java, etc.  
         [0112]    Further, designation with respect to a window tool used for displaying an audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 C may be included in an audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C. For example, when an audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C includes designation to use a Java tool kit, a browser interprets the designation when constructing an audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 C, to display the audio/visual contents description application (AVA)  23 C using the Java tool kit provided in a client apparatus  12 .  
         [0113]    [0113]FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating concrete examples of the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C and the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C.  
         [0114]    The audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C includes data relating to title and edge descriptors. The audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C includes a definition of a process of executing retrieval in accordance with a title specified by a user. Specifically, by executing “search-method”, a web server searches for an image under the condition that the title is specified, for example, as a whale. Further, a process of executing retrieval using an edge descriptor is defined in the audio/visual style sheet (AVS)  16 C. That is, by comparing “EdgeHistogram” of images of the audio/visual contents description document (AVC)  15 C and that of a sketch image, a closest image is displayed by “drawimage” in the query results display window (“Result Window”)  36 .  
         [0115]    [0115]FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating another example of an operation of a client server system according to the present invention.  
         [0116]    An audio/visual contents description application as illustrated in FIG. 7 may be generated in accordance with the process of FIG. 3 or a process of FIG. 11.  
         [0117]    In step S 31  of FIG. 11, a user issues a request from the client  12 . In step S 32 , the web server  11  receives and analyzes the request to recognize contents of the request. In step S 33 , the web server  11  searches for a database based on the contents of the request. In step S 34 , the web server  11  sends the request to the database found in step S 33 . In step S 35 , the server  10  receives the request from the web server  11 , and then sends a corresponding audio/visual contents description document (AVC) to the web server  11 . In step S 36 , the web server  11  receives the requested audio/visual contents description document (AVC).  
         [0118]    In step S 37 , the web server  11  sends the audio/visual contents description document (AVC) to the client  12 . In step S 38 , the client  12  receives the audio/visual contents description document (AVC). In step S 39 , the web server  11  searches an audio/visual style sheet (AVS). When an audio/visual style sheet (AVS) based on the contents of the request is found, the process proceeds to step S 40 . When the audio/visual style sheet (AVS) is not found, the process proceeds to step S 41 .  
         [0119]    In step S 40 , the web server  11  sends the audio/visual style sheet (AVS) to the client  12 . In step S 41 , the client  12  determines whether to create a new audio/visual style sheet (AVS). For example, the client  12  asks the user whether to create a new audio/visual style sheet (AVS). When it is determined not to create a new audio/visual style sheet (AVS), the process ends. When it is determined to create a new audio/visual style sheet (AVS), the process proceeds to step S 42 .  
         [0120]    In step S 42 , the user creates a new audio/visual style sheet (AVS) with the client  12 . In step S 43 , the client  12  processes the audio/visual contents description document (AVC) with the audio/visual style sheet (AVS). The result of the processing is obtained in a form of an XML or HTML document.  
         [0121]    In step S 44 , the client  12  displays processed data in a browser, so as to provide to the user an audio/visual contents description application (AVA). In step S 45 , the user operates the audio/visual contents description application (AVA) displayed in the browser. Thereby, an operation of acquiring a desired audio/visual contents description application (AVA) by sending a request ends.  
         [0122]    The process illustrated in FIG. 11 differs from that of FIG. 3 in that an option is available to create a new audio/visual style sheet (AVS) when an appropriate style sheet (AVS) is not found and that the process of applying an audio/visual style sheet (AVS) to an audio/visual contents description document (AVC) is executed at the client  12  instead of the web server  11 .  
         [0123]    The place and timing to execute necessary processes, such as, in which apparatuses processing of an audio/visual contents description document (ADC) and an audio/visual style sheet (AVS) should be performed, and whether to previously perform the processing for every possible combination of the audio/visual contents description document (AVC) and the audio/visual style sheet (AVS) or to perform the processing in response to a user request, are not limited to those described above, and can be otherwise than as described above.  
         [0124]    [0124]FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a construction of an apparatus that executes a process of generating an audio/visual contents description application according to the present invention.  
         [0125]    As illustrated in FIG. 12, an apparatus that executes an operation of generating an audio/visual contents description application according to the present invention can be realized by a computer such as a personal computer or an engineering workstation. The apparatus illustrated in FIG. 12 serves as the web server  11  or a client  12  of FIG. 1, and generates an audio/visual contents description application.  
         [0126]    The apparatus of FIG. 12 includes a computer  510 , a display apparatus  520  connected with the computer  510 , a communication apparatus  523 , and an input apparatus. The input apparatus includes, for example, a keyboard  521  and a mouse  522 . The computer  510  includes a CPU  511 , a RAM  512 , a ROM  513 , a secondary storage device  514  such as a hard disc, a changeable media storage device  515 , and an interface  516 .  
         [0127]    The keyboard  521  and the mouse  522  provide a user interface and input various kinds of commands for operating the computer  510  and user responses relative to requested data. The display apparatus  520  displays results of processes by the computer  510  and various data for enabling an interaction with a user when the user operates the computer  510 . The communication apparatus  523  communicates with a remote place and includes, for example, a modem and a network interface.  
         [0128]    A process of generating an audio/visual contents description application of the present invention can be provided as a computer program that can be executed by the computer  510 . The computer program is stored in a storage medium M that can be attached to the changeable media storage device  515 , and is loaded from the storage medium M to the RAM  512  or the secondary storage device  514  via the changeable media storage device  515 . Alternatively, the computer program can be stored in a remote storage medium (not shown), and is loaded to the RAM  512  or the secondary storage device  514  via the communication apparatus  523  and the interface  516 .  
         [0129]    When the user inputs a program execution instruction via the keyboard  521  and/or mouse  522 , the CPU  511  loads the program from the storage medium M, the remote storage medium, or the secondary storage device  514  to the RAM  512 . The CPU  511  executes the program loaded to the RAM  512  using an unused storage area of the RAM  512  as a work area, and performs processing while interacting with the user as necessary. The ROM  513  stores a control program for controlling a basic operation of the computer  510 .  
         [0130]    The above-described computer program realizes, as illustrated in FIG. 3 or FIG. 11, retrieving and acquiring an audio/visual contents description document in response to a user request, retrieving and acquiring or creating an audio/visual style sheet, and processing the audio/visual contents description document with the audio/visual style sheet, so as to create an audio/visual contents description application. The style sheet processing unit  20  of FIG. 4 is realized as the above-described computer program.  
         [0131]    An audio/visual style sheet is stored in the storage medium M that can be attached to the changeable storage media device  515  of FIG. 12, and is downloaded from the storage medium M onto the RAM  512  or the secondary storage medium  514  via the changeable storage media device  515 . Alternatively, the audio/visual style sheet is stored in a remote storage medium (not shown), and is downloaded from the remote storage medium onto the RAM  512  or the secondary storage medium  514  via the communication apparatus  523  and the interface  516 . The audio/visual style sheet may be created by the apparatus of FIG. 12 using the display apparatus  520 , the keyboard  521 , and the mouse  522  as necessary, so as to be stored in the secondary storage device  514  etc.  
         [0132]    As described above, in the present invention, an application of manipulating data of multimedia information is generated according to a style sheet that includes a definition relating to a display format for data of multimedia information and a definition relating to processing of data of multimedia information. Accordingly, contents of the multimedia information and a processing and displaying format for the multimedia information can be separately managed from each other, such that even when changing the application by necessity, the application can be changed by only changing the style sheet that defines a processing and displaying format as necessary without changing a file containing the contents. By thus expanding the concept of a style sheet to displaying and processing of multimedia information, efficient generation of an application of manipulating data of multimedia information is realized, so that efficient management and processing of multimedia information can be realized.  
         [0133]    Further, in the present invention, by processing multiple combinations of multimedia information and style sheets in advance, a user request can be quickly responded.  
         [0134]    Furthermore, in the present invention, multimedia information and a style sheet can be acquired one by one according to a user request. In this case, multimedia information and a style sheet can be managed while maintaining separation of the multimedia information and the style sheet.  
         [0135]    Further, in the present invention, when a style sheet is not found in response to a user request, by creating a new style sheet, accumulation of style sheets can be realized, so that plentiful applications can be accumulated.  
         [0136]    Obviously, numerous additional modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the present invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.