Patent Publication Number: US-6336144-B1

Title: Apparatus and method for executing a plurality of processes in parallel, and storage medium storing a program for implementing the method

Description:
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/901,132, filed on Jul. 28, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,779, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/578,056, filed Dec. 22, 1995, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/138,087, filed Oct. 20, 1993, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to an image processing apparatus for storing a received image. 
     2. Related Background Art 
     There is a facsimile apparatus for preserving image data received via a facsimile to a hard disk without recording onto a paper. 
     Such a facsimile apparatus is used to save papers or to preserve the received image data to a medium other than the paper. 
     However, in such a facsimile apparatus, when the image data preserved in the hard disk is searched, there is a way nothing but the image data is searched by using the telephone number on the transmission side as a key word, so that it is difficult to search desired image data. In order to input the image data into a filing apparatus in which the image data can be easily searched, the image data preserved in the hard disk is once read out from the facsimile apparatus and is recorded onto the papers and the recording papers must be read into the filing apparatus, so that those operations are very troublesome. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to provide an image receiving apparatus which can solve the above problem. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide an image receiving apparatus which can improve a using efficiency of the user. 
     To accomplish the above objects, according to the invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: receiving means for receiving data; first and second memory means for storing the data; and processing means for processing a plurality of data in parallel, wherein while said processing means is processing one data, when the receiving means receives another data, the processing means continues the process of the data that is being processed and allows another data from the receiving means to be stored into the first memory means and, further, allows the another data stored in the first memory means to be stored into the second memory means. 
     According to the invention, there is also provided image processing apparatus comprising: receiving means for receiving data; first and second memory means for storing the data; control means for storing the data from the receiving means into the first memory means; and third memory means for storing additional information, wherein the control means adds the additional information stored in the third memory means to the data stored in the first memory means and allows the resultant data to be stored into the second memory means. 
     According to the invention, there is also provided an image processing apparatus comprising: receiving means for receiving data; first and second memory means for storing the data; instructing means for instructing so as to store the data stored in the first memory means into the second memory means; control means for executing a control in either one of a first mode in which after the data from the receiving means was stored into the first memory means, the data stored in the first memory means is stored into the second memory means irrespective of an instruction from the instructing means and a second mode in which after the data from the receiving means was stored into the first memory means, the data stored in the first memory means is stored into the second memory means in accordance with an instruction from the instructing means; and selecting means for selecting either one of the first and second modes. 
     According to the invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: receiving means for receiving data; first and second memory means for storing data; third memory means for storing a plurality of additional information; and control means for allowing the data from the receiving means to be stored into the first memory means, wherein the control means selects either one of a first mode in which the additional information selected before the receiving means receives the data from among the plurality of additional information stored in the third memory means is added to the data stored in the first memory means and the resultant data is stored into the second memory means and a second mode in which the additional information selected after r the receiving means finished the data reception from among the plurality of additional information stored in the third memory means is added to the data stored in the first memory means and the resultant data is stored into the second memory means, and the control m means subsequently executes a control in the select ed mode. 
     The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become e apparent from the e following detailed description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an internal constructional diagram of an image receiving apparatus; 
     FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a multitask operation; 
     FIG. 3 is a flowchart for control of a background task; 
     FIG. 4 is a flowchart for control of a background task; 
     FIG. 5 is a flowchart for control of a background task; 
     FIG. 6 is a flowchart for control of a background task; 
     FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the screen to select a processing mode; 
     FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the display of a history file; 
     FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an image file apparatus  400 ; 
     FIG. 10 is an internal perspective view of the image file apparatus  400 ; 
     FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the image file apparatus  400 ; 
     FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display image upon registration of an index; 
     FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display image upon index search; 
     FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an index image data file; 
     FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the content of a document management file; 
     FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the content of a page management file; 
     FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the content of a node table; 
     FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a memory area in a medium of a magnetooptic disk  35 ; 
     FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the correspondence between a logical address and a physical address; and 
     FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an address management table. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 is an internal constructional diagram of an image receiving apparatus. 
     An image receiving apparatus  300  is controlled by executing a program stored in an ROM  317  by a CPU  316 . 
     The following component elements are connected to a system bus  324 : namely, an image reception unit  301  comprising a well-known NCU (Network Control Unit)  302 , a well-known demodulation unit  303 , and a buffer  304 ; a disk interface  306  as an interface to a magnetic disk  305 ; a mouse interface  307  to input from a mouse  308  as a well-known pointing device; a keyboard interface  310  connected to a keyboard  309 ; a timer circuit  311  to interrupt the CPU  316  at a predetermined period; a clocking circuit  312  to read out the time and date; a printer interface  314  as an interface to a printer  315  such as an LBP (Laser Beam Printer), a thermal printer, or the like; a display interface  320  as an interface to the display  5  such as a CRT, a liquid crystal display, or the like; a display memory  319  to store display information to the display  5 ; an external interface  313  as an interface to a communication interface  17  of an external image file apparatus  400 ; an RAM  318  into which a general program and data on the processing are stored; and the like. 
     The image file apparatus  400  is an apparatus for reading an image of an original  1  and storing image information to a medium such as a magnetooptic disk  35  or the like or searching the image information. 
     After the image data received from a facsimile apparatus  322  on the transmission side through a public telephone circuit  321  was stored to the disk  305 , the image data is read out from the disk  305  and index information is added to the image data. After that, the resultant data is preserved into the image file apparatus  400  through the external interface  313 . 
     FIG. 9 is an external view of the image file apparatus  400 . FIG. 10 is an internal perspective view of the image file apparatus  400 . FIG. 11 is a block constructional diagram of the image file apparatus  400 . 
     In FIG. 9, reference numeral  1  denotes the original whose image which is set in order to record image information to the magnetooptic disk;  2  an original supporting plate;  3   a  and  3   b  restricting plates to restrict the conveyance of the original;  4  a paper delivery section;  5  a screen (display) to display image information, an operation instruction, or the like;  6  an inserting port to insert the magnetooptic disk; and  7  a keyboard to input a key word or the like via a keyboard interface  16  when an image is searched. 
     When image information is recorded, as shown in FIG. 9, the operator puts the original  1  onto the original supporting plate  2  and gives an instruction for the reading operation by the keyboard  7  or the like, so that the conveyance of the original is started. 
     First, a feed roller  102  shown in FIG. 10 rotates in the direction shown by an arrow and the original is fed to a separating section. The separating section comprises a paper feed roller  103  and a separating roller  104  and respectively rotate counterclockwise. The original (original locating at the top position) in the surface layer portion of the originals stacked is first fed. The originals other than the top original are remained by the interval between the paper feed roller  103  and the separating roller  104  and by a frictional force between the original and the separating roller  104 . 
     The original  1  which was fed first is subsequently conveyed to a reading section R by conveying rollers  105   a  and  105   b.    
     In the reading section R, the image of the original illuminated by an illuminating lamp  106  is reflected by mirrors  107  to  109  and is led to a lens  110  and is converged by the lens  110  and is read by a CCD  111  (the suffix a or b in each reference numeral is omitted here). 
     In FIG. 10, a section comprising the component elements  106   a  to  111   a  and a section comprising the component elements  106   b  to  111   b  have the same construction and can simultaneously read the images on both sides of one original. 
     The original which passed through the reading section R is stacked onto a paper delivery tray  113  by paper delivery rollers  112   a  and  112   b.    
     The above series of operations are continuously executed and are continued until the absence of the original on an original supporting-plate  101  is detected by an original sensor  120 . 
     A drive system  19  shown in FIG. 11 comprises the original sensor  120  and motors (not shown) to drive the conveying rollers  102  to  105 ,  112 , and the like. The above conveying operations are executed by controlling the drive system  19  by a CPU  10  through the drive system interface  18 . 
     Image signals obtained by the CCD  111   a  for the front surface and the CCD  111   b  for the back surface are supplied to a synthesizing unit  36  through amplifiers  20   a  and  20   b , respectively. 
     The synthesizing unit  36  has a function such that when the data of one main scan is supplied from the CCD  111   a  for the front side to the next stage, an internal switching device is switched and the image data of one main scan is subsequently supplied from the CCD  111   b  for the back side to the next stage. 
     The image data on the front and back sides are converted into the serial data on a main scan unit basis and sent to a compression unit at the next stage. 
     The above operations have been described with respect to the reading mode of two sides. In the case where the reading mode of one side is designated, the above switching operation is not performed but the image data is always sent from the CCD  111   a  for the front side to the next stage. 
     After the image signal from the synthesizing unit  36  was quantized by an A/D converting unit  21 , an image process such as an edge emphasis or the like is executed by an image processing unit  22  and is converted into the binary image data of 1/0 by a binarization unit  23 . 
     The binary image data is stored into a graphics RAM  13  and is subjected to a well-known image information compression based on the MH, MR, MMR, or the like by a compressing unit  24 . After that, the compressed image data is stored into either one of data buffers  33   a  and  33   b.    
     The graphic RAM  13  is constructed in a manner such that the data to be stored is drawn on the display by an output data flow controller  30 . The binary image data stored in the graphic RAM  13  as mentioned above is displayed on the display  5 . A text RAM  14  is a memory for storing character and the like as character data to be displayed. The character data is displayed on the display  5 . An ROM  11  is a memory into which a control program is stored. An RAM  12  is a memory into which a general program and data on the processing are stored. 
     The compressed image data stored in the compressed data buffer  33   a  or  33   b  is sent to a magnetooptic disk drive  115  through a disk interface  27  and written to a magnetooptic disk  35 . 
     The reason why there are two compressed data buffers  33   a  and  33   b  is because, for example, even while the compressed image data in the compressed data buffer  33   a  is being written to the magnetooptic disk  35 , the next original is scanned and its compressed image data is stored into the compressed data buffer  33   b.    
     Consequently, the restriction such that until the writing operation of the image data of the preceding original into the magnetooptic disk  35  is finished, the apparatus must wait for the scan of the next original is avoided. A recording speed of the original is improved. 
     The operation in case of displaying the recorded image will now be described. 
     After the desired compressed image data on the magnetooptic disk was specified in accordance with a procedure, which will be explained hereinlater, the CPU  10  controls the disk interface  27 , so that the compressed image data is read out by the magnetooptic disk drive  115 . 
     In this instance, the apparatus is in a state in which it functions in a manner such that a disk data flow controller  26  sends the compressed image data from the disk interface  27  to an expanding unit  25  under the control of the CPU  10 . 
     In this instance, the CPU  10  gives an instruction to an output data flow controller  30  so as to store the image data from the expanding unit  25  into the graphic RAM  13  and to display the image data in the graphic RAM  13  onto the display  5  in a manner similar to the case of recording of the image. 
     The compressed image data recorded on the magnetooptic disk  35  is displayed as mentioned above. 
     When the image is printed, in a state in which the image is displayed on the display  5  as mentioned above, the CPU  10  gives an instruction to the output data flow controller  30  so as to send the image data in the graphic RAM  13  to an LBP  31 . 
     As a display  5 , a well-known liquid crystal display or a CRT (cathode ray tube) or the like can be used. As an LBP, it is possible to use a well-known laser beam printer such that a toner is deposited onto a photosensitive drum by irradiating a laser beam to the photosensitive drum and the toner is transferred onto the paper, thereby obtaining a print. 
     The internal operation regarding the recording and search of the image will now be described. 
     First, prior to actually recording the original image, a symbolic image called an index image to search the original to be recorded in future are previously recorded onto the magnetooptic disk  35 . 
     The above recording operation is executed in a manner similar to the recording of the original image mentioned above. An instruction such that the index image including a character image of, for example, “PARTS” in FIG. 12 is subsequently displayed at the left upper position is designated by using function keys  34  arranged in a line in the lateral direction each time one index image is recorded. 
     For example, by depressing the leftmost function key (key locating below a character “1”) twice, the second position from the leftmost top position can be designated. 
     When a plurality of index images are recorded as mentioned above, an index image data file is generated on the magnetooptic disk  35  as shown in FIG.  14 . 
     When the original image is recorded, an image is first displayed as shown in FIG. 13 prior to actually recording the original. 
     The operator selects the index image to search the original to be recorded from now on by using the function keys  34 . 
     For example, in case of recording the original of a parts drawing, it is sufficient to select the index images of (a) and (e). 
     By selecting the index images (a) and (e), an image index pattern in which “1” is set to the bit positions corresponding to the selected index images are produced as shown in FIG.  14 . 
     Or, a key word or a key No. to search the original to be recorded from now on can be also inputted to the columns of (g) and (h) in FIG. 13 by the keyboard  7 . 
     After the index image, key word, or key No. as mentioned above was inputted, the foregoing recording operation of the original is executed. 
     At a time point of the end of the recording of the original, the data to search the original existing on the magnetooptic disk  35  and recorded in a document management file shown in FIG. 15 has been produced. 
     For instance, in case of the example of “PARTS DRAWING” mentioned above, a record including “100010. . . ” indicative of the image index pattern, “PARTS DRAWING” indicative of the key word, “150” indicative of the key No., and the like is produced at the second stage in FIG.  15 . 
     In addition to them, the time and date of the formation of such a record (recording time and date), the total number of pages, and the like obtained by a clocking unit  15  in FIG. 11 are written. 
     The information regarding each page of the recorded original is written in a page management file in FIG.  16 . “PAGE FILE POINTER” in a document management file in FIG. 15 denotes that which number of record in the page management file in FIG. 16 relates to the first page of the original recorded at that time. 
     The front/back mode, namely, information regarding whether the page has been read in the both-side mode or one-side mode as mentioned above is also recorded in the page management file. 
     In the above example, the position on the disk of the image data on the magnetooptic disk  35 , that is, the foregoing compressed image data is managed by allowing a data table called a node table shown in FIG. 17 to be held on the magnetooptic disk  35 . 
     An FAT entry in the node table in FIG. 17 will be described hereinbelow. 
     FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a storage area in the medium of the magnetooptic disk  35 . 
     As is well known, a memory area of such a disk is divided by physical segments called tracks and sectors. Such a physical segment is hereinafter called a physical address. 
     The magnetooptic disk drive  115  in FIG. 11 accesses the area on the magnetooptic disk  35  into/from which information is stored or read out on the basis of the physical address designated from the outside of the disk drive  115 . On the other hand, in the CPU, the area is managed by a logical area segment called a well-known cluster. The position information of the logical area segment is hereinafter called a logical address. 
     In such a system, the correspondence between the logical address and the physical address has unconditionally been determined as shown in an example of FIG.  19 . The determination of the logical address is equivalent to the determination of the physical address. 
     A management table indicative of “UNUSED”/“USED”/“ERASED” of the area that is designated by the logical address has been stored on the specified physical address in the medium. 
     In the example, in the case where the cluster is unused, FFFF is written. In the case where the cluster was erased, FFFE is written. In the case where the cluster is a final cluster of the file, 0000 is written. Further, in the case where there is a cluster which continues to the cluster, the logical address of the continuous cluster is written. 
     There is the following difference between “ERASED” and “UNUSED”. “UNUSED” denotes a state in which no meaning information exists at a position designated by the logical address. “ERASED” denotes a state in which after the file was erased, information appears, namely, a state in which the information still exists at the position designated by the logical address. 
     Such a management table is ordinarily called an FAT (File Allocation Table) or the like and is shown in FIG.  20 . 
     The upper stage in FIG. 20 shows the logical addresses. Information indicating that the logical address shows “UNUSED” or “USED” or “ERASED” is written in the lower stage. 
     FIG. 20 shows a state in which the logical addresses  62 B 0  to  62 BA have been used and the logical address  62 BB and subsequent logical addresses are unused. 
     The logical addresses  62 AD to  62 AF show that although such a portion had been a part of the effective file, it was erased later. 
     The foregoing node table is a table in which the FAT entry ( 62 B 0  in the above example) indicating which position in the FAT relates to the compressed image file of the page and the size (the number of bytes) of the compressed image data are set into one record. An amount indicative of which number of record in the node table is called “node” and is written every page in the page management file in FIG. 16 mentioned above. 
     As mentioned above, the compressed image data is written to the magnetooptic disk  35  and the record is added to each of the node table, page management file, and document management file, so that the recording operation of the original is finished. 
     The internal operation upon searching of the image will now be described. 
     In the searching, an image as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the display  5  and the operator selects the image index by using the function key  34 . Or, the operator inputs the key word or key No. by the keyboard  7  into the areas of (g) and (h) in FIG.  13 . 
     The CPU  10  subsequently examines the document management file one record by one and selects the record which coincides with the image index pattern, key word, or key No. which was selected or inputted. 
     Now, assuming that the selected index image is, for instance, only the index image of (a) including the character image of “PARTS” in FIG. 13, the image index including the character image of “DRAWING” is not selected, so that the image index pattern differs from that in FIG.  14  and the bit corresponding to (e) is equal to 0. 
     When the record in the document management file in FIG. 15 is examined, however, all of the records having the image index patterns in which “1” has been set to the same position as the bit position at which “1” had been set in the image index pattern inputted upon searching are selected. Therefore, in the above example, the top item “PARTS CATALOG”, the second item “PARTS DRAWING”, and the fourth item “PARTS DRAWING” in FIG. 15 are selected. 
     When “150” has already been inputted as a key No., only the second item “PARTS DRAWING” is obviously selected. When “PARTS DRAWING” has been inputted as a key word, the second item “PARTS DRAWING” and the fourth item “PARTS DRAWING” are selected. 
     In the case where a plurality of originals were searched, the operator again selects either one of them by using the keyboard  7  as mentioned above. 
     When one original is finally selected, on the basis of the page management file in FIG. 16, the record of the first page of the original is selected by the page file pointer of the record and, further, the node is designated, so that the FAT entry of the first page is obtained from the node table. 
     By tracing the FAT in FIG. 20, accordingly, the logical address train is obtained, the compressed image data on the magnetooptic disk  35  is sequentially read out from the disk drive  115 , and the image of the first page is displayed on the display  5  along the path of the data mentioned above. 
     The erasing operation of the recorded image information will now be described. 
     First, after the image was searched as mentioned above, in case of erasing the image, such a request is instructed to the CPU  10  by the keyboard  7 . 
     Thus, “0” is recorded in the term of “DELETION” in which “1” has been stored so far in the document management file in FIG.  15 . 
     Similarly, “0” is also written to the item of “DELETION” in the page management file in FIG.  16 . 
     Further, by tracing the node, the FAT corresponding to the cluster constructing each page included in the original image is rewritten from the “USED” state so far (namely, since the logical address of the next cluster has been written) to the “ERASED” state. 
     As mentioned above, since the very large image data as an information amount itself is not rewritten in the erasure, its operation is promptly finished. 
     The condensing operation will now be described. 
     As will be obviously understood from FIG. 20, in the recording operation of the image, the writing operation of the compressed image data is executed for the cluster having the continuous logical addresses in order to perform the recording operation at a high speed. 
     By continuing the recording operation, a state in which the unused cluster train having the continuous logical addresses have completely been used is obtained. As mentioned above, however, since there is a possibility such that the erasing operation has been performed, by shortening the clusters in the erased state, for instance, the portions of  62 AD to  62 AF in case of the example of FIG. 20, the continuous logical addresses are newly obtained. 
     Such a “shortening” operation is called a “condense”. 
     For example, as for the FAT, in case of FIG. 20, the condensing operation is executed by moving the areas  62 B 0  to  62 BA to the areas starting from  62 AD and by shortening the clusters in the erasing state existing in  62 AD to  62 AF. 
     Consequently, the unused areas on the right side are enlarged in the left direction by only the amount of such a movement in case of the example of FIG.  20 . 
     Upon movement of the clusters, the FAT entries in the node table in FIG. 17 are also rewritten to those after completion of the movement. 
     With respect to the document management file in FIG.  15  and the page management file in FIG. 16, the records in which the item of “DELETION” is set to “0” are shortened and the page file pointers are also written to the pointers according to the page management file after the records were shortened. 
     The condensing operation is executed as mentioned above. 
     The image receiving apparatus  300  is not used only for the image reception but is also used for other objects. Therefore, the image receiving apparatus is constructed in a manner such that even in another arbitrary operation, for example, even in the case where an image is arbitrarily received during the execution of a calculating process or the like, while the calculating process or the like is continued, the received image information can be stored to the magnetic disk  305  in the image receiving apparatus  300  or to the image file apparatus  400  connected to the outside via the external interface  313 . 
     FIG. 7 shows the screen to preset a processing mode when an image is received during the execution of another arbitrary operation. 
     The operator can set a mode, a preserving destination side, a deleting mode, an automatic print mode, or the like by using the mouse  308 . 
     A program to perform such a setting operation has been stored in the ROM  317  and is executed by the CPU  316  before the execution of another arbitrary program such as a calculating process or the like or the reception of an image. 
     The operation when an image is received in accordance with the mode set on the screen is executed as follows. 
     Mode: AUTOMATIC 
     When an image is received, even during the execution of another program, a process to store the image information to the image file apparatus  400  connected to the outside via the external interface  313  is executed. 
     Mode: MANUAL 
     When an image is received, the image information is stored to the disk  305  in the image receiving apparatus  300 . 
     Preserving destination: AUTOMATIC 
     When the image information is stored into the image file apparatus  400 , the index image to search-the image has been predetermined in the image file apparatus  400  mentioned above and the determined index image is added to the image information and the resultant data is stored into the image file apparatus  400 . 
     Preserving destination: DESIGNATED 
     When the image information is stored into the image file apparatus  400 , the index image to search the image in the image file apparatus mentioned above is determined by the selecting operation of the operator each time and the determined index image is added to the image information and the resultant data is stored into the image file apparatus  400 . 
     Deletion: YES 
     Just after the image information was stored into the image file apparatus  400 , the image information in the disk  305  of the image receiving apparatus  300  on the transfer side is deleted. 
     Deletion: NO 
     Even after the image information is stored into the image file apparatus  400 , the image information in the disk  305  of the image receiving apparatus  300  on the transfer side is preserved. 
     Automatic print: YES 
     When an image is received, the image is supplied to the printer  315 . 
     Automatic print: NO 
     Even when an image is received, the image is not supplied to the printer  315 . 
     The above results of the selections are stored as a set file into the disk  305 . 
     The image signal which was subjected to a well-known modulation and was transmitted by the well-known facsimile apparatus  322  is transmitted through the well-known public telephone network  321  to the image reception unit  301  of the image receiving apparatus  300 . In the image reception unit  301 , the transmitted image signal is supplied from the well-known NCU (Network Control Unit)  302  to the well-known demodulation unit  303 , so that the binary signal is obtained and written into the buffer  304 . 
     The CPU  316  executes the program stored in the ROM  317  by a multitask method. 
     An outline of the multitask method will now be described. 
     FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the multitask operation. 
     The multitask method is a method of executing the time-divisional operations to a plurality of programs on a microtime unit basis, thereby falsely performing the operations in parallel. 
     The program in the multitask method is mainly constructed by an interruption processing section and a plurality of task programs. 
     FIG. 2 shows an example of the case where the task program allows four tasks ( 1 ) to ( 4 ) to be operated in parallel. Reference numeral  501  denotes an interruption processing section and  502  to  505  denote task programs. 
     The timer circuit  311  in FIG. 1 is a well-known timer circuit for generating a pulse waveform every microtime (5 msec is used in the present embodiment) mentioned above. The pulse signal is given to the CPU  316  as an interruption signal which is included in the system bus  324  in FIG.  1 . Therefore, the CPU  316  executes the interruption processing program every 5 msec. 
     In FIG. 2, it is now assumed that the program of the task  1  is executed and, at a time point of the end of the execution up to a command I ml , an interruption signal from the timer circuit  311  is given to the CPU  316 . The CPU  316  executes the well-known interrupting operation and its control is shifted from the task  1  to the interruption processing section. In the interruption processing section, an address A nl  of a command I nl  to be subsequently executed by the task  1  is preserved into an entry address storing area  506  for the task  1 . An address A n2  which has previously been stored in an entry address storing area  507  for the task  2  by the operation similar to the preceding time, that is, the address A n2  of the next command I n2  of a command I m2  which was finished precedingly in the task  2  is taken out and the process is jumped to the address A n2 . 
     The similar processes are repeated and in case of the interruption which occurs during the execution of the task  4 , the entry address A nl  for the task  1  which has already been preserved before is taken out and the execution of the task program is started from the command I nl  of the task  1 . 
     By the above method, the time-divisional operations are executed to a plurality of task programs on a microtime unit basis, so that the task programs are falsely operated in parallel. 
     By the above multitask method, in the apparatus, for example, the program for automatic image reception corresponds to the task  2  in FIG.  2 . Therefore, for instance, even when the program such as calculating process, word processing, or the like is being executed by the task  1  in FIG. 2, the image information can be automatically received. 
     The task  2  is, hereinafter, referred to as a background task for automatic image reception and the task  1  is referred to as an arbitrary foreground task. 
     FIGS. 3,  4 ,  5 , and  6  are flowcharts showing the program of the background task which is executed by the CPU  316 . 
     In step  1 , the apparatus waits for the start of the image reception by checking the demodulation unit  303  connected to the system bus  324 . When the start of the image reception is detected in step  1 , step  2  follows and the current time and data are obtained by reading the clocking circuit  312 . In step  3 , a file in which the current time and date are set to a file name (hereinafter, such a file is called a “time and data file”) is opened in the disk  305 . In step  4 , a check is made to see if the image reception has been finished or not by examining the demodulation unit  303 . When the reception is continued, a check is made in step  5  to see if the image data generated from the demodulation unit  303  exists in the buffer  304  or not. If YES, in step  6 , the image data is added into the time and data file. 
     Although the demodulation unit  303  sequentially writes the received data into the buffer  304 , since the data in the buffer  304  is sequentially transferred to the time and date file, the buffer  304  does not need a large memory size. 
     After completion of the image reception as mentioned above, the processing routine advances from step  4  to step  7  and the time and date file is closed. 
     In step  8 , a history file is formed on the disk  305  and the file name of the time and date file is written as a reception history into the history file. In step  9 , by examining the foregoing set file, a check is made to see if the automatic print mode has been set to “YES” or not. If YES, in step  10 , the image data of the time and date file is supplied to the printer  315 . In this instance, the image data is expanded from the well-known MH or MR compressed image data as a format of the received image information and the image is outputted to the printer  315  in a visible format. 
     By checking the set file in step  11 , if the automatic mode has been set, step  12  follows. However, when the manual mode has been set, the processing routine is returned to step  1  and the apparatus prepares for the next reception. In case of the manual mode, nothing is written into the area to store the information indicating whether the history file has already been preserved or not. Due to this, as will be explained hereinlater, on the basis of the history file displayed on the display  5 , whether the file has been preserved in the image file apparatus  400  or not can be known. 
     In step  12 , a check is made to see if the image file apparatus  400  can store the image via the external interface  313  or not, that is, whether the power source has been turned on and the magnetooptic disk  35  has been set or not or the like. When the image cannot be stored, a mark [?] indicative of “unpreserved” is written into the history file in step  13 . The processing routine is returned to step  1 . When the image file apparatus  400  can store the image, in step  14 , the set file is checked to see if the preserving destination side has been set into the automatic mode or not. When it has been set into the automatic mode, the automatic image index number which has previously been selected is read out from the set file and is set into the image index No. that is transmitted to the image file apparatus  400  at present. In step  16 , the time and date used in the time and date file are set to a key word that is transmitted to the image file apparatus  400  at present. The processing routine advances to step  25 . 
     In step  14 , in the case where the preserving desgination side has been set to the designated mode, step  17  follows and the timer circuit  311  is stopped. Therefore, although the foreground task is interrupted until the timer circuit  311  is again activated, this is because it is intended to allow the operator to execute the designating operations of the index image in steps  19  to  22 . Step  18  relates to a process to return the display of the display  5  to the state at the interruption time point when the state of the interrupted foreground task is restarted later. Namely, step  18  relates to a process to preserve the contents in the display memory  319  to the disk  305 . 
     In step  19 , the index image is obtained via the external interface  313  from the image file apparatus  400  connected to the outside. In step  20 , the index image is displayed onto the display  5 . At the same time, in step  21 , the image received at present, namely, the time and date file is expanded as mentioned above and, after that, the expanded image is displayed on the display  5 . 
     In step  22 , the index image number and the key word which are inputted by the operator are accepted. The index image number is a number which is unconditionally allocated to the index image stored in the image file apparatus  400 . By supplying such an inputted number to the image file apparatus  400 , the index image can be designated. 
     After completion of the index designating operation, in step  23 , the contents in the display memory preserved in step  18  are read out from the disk  305  and returned to the display memory  319 . In step  24 , the timer circuit  311  is again activated. Consequently, the foreground task is restarted from this time point. 
     In steps  25  and  26 , the index image number and key work which were determined as results of the above processes are transmitted to the image file apparatus  400 . In step  27 , the time and date file is transmitted. In this instance, in the case where the image storing format of the image file apparatus  400  relates to the MH or MR compression mentioned above, the image data can be transmitted in the format as it is. However, in case of another format, the image of the time and data file is again converted into the image in such a format and, after that, the converted image data is transmitted. 
     In step  28 , a preserved mark [*] indicating that the current time and date file has been transmitted to the image file apparatus  400  is written into the history file. 
     In step  29 , the set file is checked and in the case where the deletion mode has been set to “YES”, the time and date file on the disk  305  is deleted in step  30 . After the image information received was processed, the processing routine is returned to step  1  and the apparatus prepares for the next reception. 
     FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the display of the history file formed by the control as mentioned above. Thus, the operator can know the history of the file received. 
     [] denotes that in the storage into the image file apparatus  400 , the file received in the manual mode is not yet preserved in the image file apparatus  400 . [*] denotes that the file received in the automatic mode has completely been preserved in the image file apparatus  400 . [?] denotes that the file received in the automatic mode cannot be preserved because the image file apparatus  400  is not in the standby state. 
     Although the foregoing program has been stored in the ROM in the embodiment, it is also possible to construct in a manner such that the program stored in a medium such as a floppy disk or the like is read out from the FDD (not shown) and stored into the RAM and the program is executed. 
     As described above, after the received data was stored into the first memory means, the data stored in the first memory means is stored into the second memory means. Therefore, the image can be freely searched or the like in the second memory means and the using efficiency is improved.