Abstract:
Disclosed is a selective document processing system and method. The selective document processing system includes a digital document analyzer configured to determine a number of regions on a digital document and a data type for each of the regions, the data type for each region being one of a number of predefined data types. The system also includes a first user interface to display the analyzed digital document and to allow the user to perform various functions relative to the displayed digital document including selecting desired regions, deleting regions, etc. The system also includes a selection interface activated from the first user interface for identifying at least one of the predefined data types that are displayed on the first user interface and that are further processed in predetermined processing pipelines.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention is generally related to document processing and, more particularly, is related to a selective document processing system and method to selectively control the processing of information on documents and the like. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     More and more documents are generated using word processors and the like and are stored on memory devices, such as hard drives, floppy disks, compact disks and other mass storage media. Nonetheless, paper and other similar media will continue to be used far into the future. Consequently, there will continually be a need to scan the substance portrayed on such media so that such information may be manipulated on a computer or other like device. 
     However, the scanning of paper documents to make the content thereon available in a digital environment may be time consuming and costly. In particular, one problem is that the processing of various regions of scanned documents may take a long time requiring the user to wait for the processing of a whole document. Oftentimes, a user may only want to access a portion of the text, artwork, or other region of the scanned document, rather than the entire document such as cases where specific paragraphs of text are sought from a document. However, current users are often forced to wait while scan converter technology analyzes an entire document to determine the specific types of the various regions that may then be processed by various processing pipelines such as optical character recognition pipelines, etc. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To address the above stated problems, the present invention provides for a selective document processing system and method. In one embodiment, the selective document processing system includes a digital document analyzer configured to determine a number of regions on a digital document and a data type for each of the regions, the data type for each region being one of a number of predefined data types. The system also includes a first user interface to display the analyzed digital document and to allow the user to perform various functions relative to the displayed digital document including selecting desired regions, deleting regions, etc. The system also includes a selection interface activated from the first user interface for identifying at least one of the predefined data types that are displayed on the first user interface for viewing and further processing in predetermined processing pipelines. 
     The present invention can also be viewed as providing a method for controlling document region analysis. In this regard, the method can be broadly summarized by the following steps: analyzing a digital document to determine a number of regions thereon and a data type for each of the regions, the data type for each region being one of a number of predefined data types; and, identifying at least one of the predefined data types for further processing. 
     The present invention includes various advantages such as providing the user with more efficient document processing as unwanted data types need not be manually eliminated by simply selecting only desired data types in the selection interface or by manually deleting unwanted data types. This is especially the case for mass document processing in which only specific data types are sought from a number of documents that are consecutively processed. Also, the user is spared the difficulty of viewing a digital document on the first user interface that may be cluttered with unwanted data types. The present invention is also simple in design, user friendly, robust, reliable, and efficient in operation, and easily implemented for mass commercial production. 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional features and advantages be included herein within the scope of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a selective document processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a drawing of a first user interface shown on a display screen of the selective document processing system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a drawing of a selection interface shown on the display screen of the selective document processing system of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart of selective processing logic stored and executed by the selective document processing system of FIG.  1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , shown is a block diagram of a document processing system  100  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The selective document processing system  100  includes a computer system  103  which comprises a processor  106 , and a volatile/nonvolatile memory  113 , both of which are coupled to a local interface  116 . The local interface  116  comprises, for example, a data bus and a control bus, or other like structure. The computer system  103  further comprises a video interface  119 , a number of input interfaces  123 , a modem  126 , a number of output interfaces  129 , and a mobile data storage device  133 , all of which are also coupled to the local interface  116 . The memory  113  may include, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a hard drive, and other like devices, or any combination of these devices. Note that the term volatile refers to memory devices that generally lose data stored therein upon loss of power, and nonvolatile refers to memory devices that do not lose data upon loss of power. 
     The selective document processing system  100  also includes a display device  136  that is coupled to the local interface  116  via the video interface  119 . The display device may be, for example, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), or other similar display device. The system  100  also includes several input devices, namely, a keyboard  139 , a mouse  143 , a microphone  146 , and a scanner  149  that are all coupled to the local interface  116  via the various input interfaces  123 . In addition, the modem  126  is coupled to an external network  153  thus allowing the computer system to send and receive data via the external network  153 . The external network  153  may be, for example, the Internet, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or other similar network. 
     The selective document processing system  100  may further include audio speakers  156 , a printer  159 , or other output devices that are coupled to the local interface  116  via the output interfaces  129 . The mobile data storage device  133  may be one of several such devices that allow storage of data on a mobile platform such as a floppy disk drive, compact disc drive, mobile hard drive, mobile fixed memory, or other similar data storage device. 
     The selective document processing system  100  also includes selective processing logic  170  that is generally stored on the memory  113  along with data  176 . In one embodiment of the present invention, the memory  113  comprises a combination of RAM, ROM, and a hard drive, although other combinations may be used. In one embodiment, the selective processing logic  170  is software that is stored on the hard drive and the data  176  is also stored on the hard drive. When the selective document processing system  100  is operational, pertinent portions of the selective processing logic  170  are loaded into the RAM and are executed by the processor  106 . During operation of the selective document processing system  100 , the selective processing logic  170  may access pertinent portions of the data  176  stored on the hard drive, loading them into the RAM for various purposes. For example, the data  176  may comprise a digital document such as a bit map image of a scanned document received from the scanner  149 . The data  176  may also be accessed via the mobile data storage  133  or the external network  153 . 
     The display device  136  is employed to display any one of a number of user interfaces  181  that are viewed by the user. The user may also interface with the computer system  103  via the input devices such as the keyboard  139 , mouse  143 , microphone  146 , or other input devices. The user receives audio output from the audio speakers  156  and the computer system  103  may print out various documents created on the printer  159 . 
     Note that although the above implementation of the present invention is discussed in terms of a processor circuit and software, it is understood that other embodiments of the present invention include a dedicated logical circuit that accomplishes the functionality of the selective processing logic  170 , or a combination circuit which includes a processor circuit with software and specific dedicated circuits. It is understood that all such permutations of various implementations are included herein. 
     The selective document processing system  100  advantageously provides a flexible system for processing digital documents received via the scanner  149 , external network  153 , mobile data storage  133 , or stored in the memory  113 . In processing the digital documents, the system  100  identifies one or more regions on the digital document that comprise uniform information such as a specific text, artwork, or a photo, etc. Thereafter, the regions are applied to appropriate processing pipelines according to specific criteria discussed later in detail. The processing pipelines may comprise, for example, optical character recognition or photo processing algorithms. The resulting processed regions are then recombined and dumped into a desired destination application that may be, for example, a word processor, or other similar application. 
     Referring then, to  FIG. 2 , shown is a first user interface  181   a . The first user interface  181   a  includes a menu bar  203  from which a number of pulldown menus  206  may be accessed. The pulldown menus  206  include File, Edit, View, Settings, Select, Clear, and Help menus, although others may be employed. Each pulldown menu  206  may be accessed by positioning a mouse pointer  209  thereon and “clicking” the mouse  143  (FIG.  1 ). The term “clicking” the mouse  143  refers to the action of pressing an appropriate button on the mouse  143 , thereby providing an input signal to the computer system  103 . The simultaneous actions of positioning the mouse pointer  209  on an item on the user interface  181   a  and clicking the mouse  143  is generally called “clicking on” that item. Note the pulldown menus  206  may be accessed by pressing appropriate buttons on the keyboard  139  ( FIG. 1 ) as well, although generally the use of the mouse  143  is often preferred. In addition, voice commands may be employed to replace the functions of the mouse  143  and keyboard  139  by using predetermined voice commands. Although there may be several options for the user to pursue in each of the pulldown menus  206 , only those pertinent to the present invention are discussed herein. 
     The first user interface  181   a  also includes a destination application indicator  213 . The destination application indicator  213  includes a picklist (not shown) of a number of destination applications that can be accessed by clicking on a picklist button  216  associated with the destination application indicator  213 . The destination applications are those software and/or hardware applications with which the selective document processing system  100  interfaces. That is to say, these software and/or hardware applications are the applications to which the information in each of the before identified regions is applied. These may include a word processor, a photo processor, a drawing package, an email package, a publishing package, a document creator, a forms package, a web page maker, databases, operating system clipboards, or other applications. Note that the destination application may also include storage as a file, printing on a printer, transmission by facsimile, or printing via a copier as well. To give a specific example, the text in a region an identified digital document may be applied to a word processor or the like. 
     The first user interface  181   a  also displays a digital document  219  that includes at least one region  223 . The digital document  219  displayed is that which is identified by the user and is thereafter analyzed and displayed accordingly. The total number of regions  223  shown in  FIG. 2  is five, although a greater or lesser number of regions  223  may exist. Note that the regions  223  are numbered from one to five, although in the preferred embodiment, the actual text, artwork, or photos in each region is shown. The regions  223  are identified by performing a document analysis on a specified digital document received from the scanner  149 , the external network  153 , the mobile data storage  133 , or the memory  113 . The document analysis identifies the regions  223  by examining the information on the digital document  219  and detecting specific data types thereon. The regions  223  are formed encompassing each area in which the information is of a single data type. There are several data types that can be identified such as, for example, true color photos, grayscale photos, color logos, black &amp; white logos, tables, spot color art, text, page headers, page footers, titles, indexes, tables of contents, and other data types. 
     The first user interface  181   a  also includes a region selection button  226  that controls the access to the regions  223 . When depressed, the region selection button  226  allows the user to highlight or choose any one or more of the regions  223  by clicking thereon. A highlighted region may be, for example, deleted or altered by the user using the keyboard  139  or the mouse  143 . If a region is double clicked, then that region is immediately processed by the processing pipelines as stated previously. The user may also click on the magnify button  229  or the demagnify button  233  in order to zoom in and out on the digital document  223  or a particular region  223  thereon. 
     The first user interface  18   la  also includes an accept button  236 , a cancel button  239 , and a help button  243 . The accept button  236  allows the user to apply all highlighted regions  223  to the appropriate processing pipelines. Note the same can be done for a specific region  223  by double clicking on that region  223 . When the user clicks on the cancel button  239 , the function of the selective document processing system  100  ceases. Clicking on a help button  243  brings forth a help menu to provide aid and operating the selective document processing system  100 . 
     Turning then, to  FIG. 3 , shown is a selection interface  181   b  according to another embodiment of the present invention. To the selection interface  181   b  is displayed on the display device  136  by the clicking a menu item on the settings menu called “page elements”. The selection interface  181   b  provides a list of the various data types  283  that can be identified by the selective document processing system  100 . Beside each of the data types  283  is a selection indicator  286 . The selection indicator  286  may also be considered a toggle mechanism. As shown, the data types  283  comprise true color photo, grayscale photo, color logo, black and white logo, table, spot color art, text, page header, page footer, titles, index, and table of contents. Note that this list is not intended to be all-inclusive as other nonlisted data types may be included as well. The selection indicator  286  shows a check mark when they particular data type is selected and is blank when they particular data type is not selected. The user can toggle between the selected and not selected states by clicking on the appropriate selection indicator  286  with the mouse  143  (FIG.  1 ). 
     The selection interface  181   b  controls the specific data types  283  that appear in the digital document  219  in the first user interface  181   a  in that only selected data types  283  appear. In addition, only those selected data types  283  undergo further processing in the processing pipelines and are ultimately applied to a destination application. Thus, the selection interface  181   b  provides a distinct advantage in that a user can focus on predetermined data types  283  when processing documents on a mass scale by selecting only certain desired data types  283  in the selection interface  181   b . The user can thereby minimize the time spent to manually manipulate the digital documents  219  by, for example, selecting multiple regions of the desired data type  283  to be applied individually to the processing pipelines, or collectively applying multiple regions  223  by pressing the accept key  236  (FIG.  2 ). According to the present invention, a default setting for the selection interface  181   b  is stored in the memory  113  ( FIG. 1 ) and the selection interface  181   b  features this setting at startup of the selective document processing system  100 . 
     Reference is now made to  FIG. 4  in which a flow chart of the selective processing logic  170  a shown. Beginning with block  303 , the digital document  219  ( FIG. 2 ) that is to be processed is identified. This digital document  219  may be identified simply by scanning the document with the scanner  149  which automatically triggers the activation of the selective document processing system  100  for the document scanned. The digital document  219  may also be chosen using a picklist or “open file” option from the file menu (FIG.  1 ). Once the digital document  219  is identified, the logic  170  progresses to block  306  in which the digital document  219  is analyzed and the various data types  283  thereon are identified and the various regions  223  ( FIG. 2 ) formed by the data types  283  are isolated. Thereafter, the logic  170  progresses to block  309  in which the digital document  219  is displayed including the regions  223  on the first user interface  181   a  (FIG.  2 ). As previously mentioned, only the regions  223  that have been selected based on the selection interface  181   b  ( FIG. 3 ) are displayed on the first user face  181   a.    
     Next, in block  313 , the logic  170  determines whether the selection interface  181   b  has been selected by the user from the settings menu. If the selection interface  181   b  is selected, then the logic  170  moves to block  316  in which the selection interface  181   b  is displayed on the display device  136  (FIG.  1 ). Thereafter the logic  170  progresses to block  319  in which the various data types  283  are selected or deselected based upon the user manipulation of the selection indicators  286  ( FIG. 3 ) as was previously discussed. 
     However, if in block  313 , the selection interface  181   b  has not been selected by the user from the settings menu, then the logic  170  progresses to block  323  in which it is determined whether the accept button  236  has been depressed (assuming desired regions  223  have been highlighted by clicking thereon), or whether the user has double-clicked on a particular region. If not, the logic  170  reverts back to block  313 . If so, then the logic  170  progresses to block  326 . In block  326 , the appropriate processing pipelines are identified based upon the selected data types in the selection interface  181   b  and the selected destination application identified in the destination application indicator  213 . The pipelines may include, for example, optical character recognition algorithms, raster to vector conversions, processing for color photos, processing for grayscale photos, processing for tables. Thereafter, the logic  170  progresses to block  329  where the selected regions  223  are applied to the identified processing pipelines and processed accordingly. The results are then combined and provided to the identified destination application for further manipulation by the user. 
     The present invention provides several distinct advantages to the user in analyzing documents. For example, the present invention provides a user with faster and more efficient document processing as unwanted data types need not be examined or manually eliminated by simply selecting only desired data types in the selection interface  181   b . This is especially the case for mass document processing in which only specific data types are sought from a number of documents that are consecutively processed. Also, the user is spared the difficulty of viewing a digital document on the first user interface  181   b  that may be cluttered with unwanted data types. The present invention also allows the user to prevent the creation of data types the destination application will not process such as, for example, unwanted “tables” which may be sent to a photo editor and stored as a photo and not as tables. 
     In addition, the flow charts of  FIG. 4  show the architecture, functionality, and operation of a possible implementation of the selective processing logic  170  (FIG.  1 ). In this regard, each block represents a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in FIG.  4 . For example, two blocks shown in succession in  FIG. 4  may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved, as will be further clarified hereinbelow. 
     The selective processing logic  170 , which preferably comprises an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions, can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection (electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM) (magnetic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) (magnetic), an optical fiber (optical), and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that the computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. 
     Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention.