Ticket processing apparatus, computer program product, and recording medium

Abstract

The present invention provides a ticket processing apparatus, a computer program product, and a recording medium, in a case where string data located in the vicinity of a previously registered item in a ticket is extracted as data associated with the item, the man-hours of a user who determines the item are reduced compared to a case where a candidate of the item associated with the data desired to be extracted is not displayed when the item is registered. A definition information production processing section in the ticket processing apparatus analyzes the ticket to produce value definition information when a frame that is a production target of keyword definition information is selected in a layout analysis setting mode. Then, when an automatic setting button is selected, characters located in the vicinity of the frame are extracted as candidates of the keyword. Furthermore, when a search direction of string data associated with the extracted characters that is determined in accordance with the position of the frame is determined, the extracted characters are produced as the keyword definition information in association with the search direction.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a ticket processing apparatus and a recording medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] In a case where character string data is to be extracted from image data of a ticket, there is a method in which data defining a position from which character string data is to be extracted from a ticket is prepared in advance, and when the ticket is read, character recognition processing is performed using the data defined in advance for the ticket to extract the character string data.

[0003] Further, there is a method in which items associated with character string data are defined in advance, and when a ticket is read, the items are extracted from the ticket, and the character string data is extracted in accordance with a relative position from the extracted items or a format pattern of the character string data.

[0004] [Related Art Documents]

[0005] [Patent Documents]

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-258706

[0007] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-208589 SUMMARY

[0008] [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

[0009] In a case where character string data in the vicinity of an item in a ticket is extracted as data associated with the item, the item must be registered in advance. However, there is a case where, although a user knows a range of character string data to be extracted, the user cannot determine an appropriate item for extracting the range, and the determination of the item is time- and labor-consuming for the user.

[0010] Therefore, an object of the present application is to reduce the working hours of a user who determines an item in a case where character string data in the vicinity of the item in a ticket is extracted as data associated with the item, as compared with a case where candidates of items associated with data to be extracted are not displayed when the item is registered.

[0011] [Technical Means for Solving the Problems]

[0012] The ticket processing apparatus of the present application includes a processor that, in a case where string data in a ticket that is located in the vicinity of a previously registered item is extracted as data associated with the item, displays a ticket that is a processing target at the time of registration of the item, accepts from a user a range in which data that is intended to be extracted is written on the ticket that is the processing target, and displays characters that are located in the vicinity of the accepted range as candidates for the item.

[0013] Further, the processor of the present application gives priority to display of the candidates for the item based on at least one of a distance or a direction of the characters relative to the range.

[0014] Further, the processor of the present application, in a case where a plurality of the ranges are designated, collectively displays the candidates for the item that correspond to the plurality of designated ranges respectively.

[0015] Further, the processor of the present application displays an identifier for each of the plurality of ranges, and displays the identifier and the candidate for the item that corresponds to the range relative to the identifier.

[0016] Further, the processor of the present application accepts editing of the candidate for the item.

[0017] Further, the processor of the present application, after the candidate for the item is displayed, appends a character that is designated by the user on the ticket that is the processing target as a candidate for a new item.

[0018] Further, the processor of the present application, in a case where a character that duplicates the candidate for the item is also written in a position other than the vicinity of the accepted range on the ticket that is the processing target, notifies the user of this intention.

[0019] Further, the processor of the present application provides a mode in which the item is accepted from the user.

[0020] Further, the processor of the present application creates definition information that indicates a positional relationship of the candidate for the item and the range.

[0021] Further, the processor of the present application provides an editing function of the definition information.

[0022] The recording medium of the present application records a program for causing a computer to realize the following functions: in a case where string data in a ticket that is located in the vicinity of a previously registered item is extracted as data associated with the item, displaying a ticket that is a processing target at the time of registration of the item; accepting from a user a range in which data that is intended to be extracted is written on the ticket that is the processing target; and displaying characters that are located in the vicinity of the accepted range as candidates for the item.

[0023] [Effects of Invention]

[0024] According to the invention of the technical solution 1, in the case of extracting the string data in the vicinity of the item that has been registered in advance from the ticket as the data associated with the item, the working hours of the user who determines the item can be reduced compared to the case where the candidate of the item associated with the data that the user wants to extract is not displayed when the item is registered.

[0025] According to the invention of the technical solution 2, the priority order can be given to the candidate of the item associated with the string data.

[0026] According to the invention of the technical solution 3, the candidates of the items associated with the string data can be displayed in summary.

[0027] According to the invention of the technical solution 4, the identifier can be displayed within the range, and the identifier and the candidate of the item corresponding to the range with respect to the identifier can be displayed in correspondence.

[0028] According to the invention of the technical solution 5, the user can edit the candidate of the item associated with the string data.

[0029] According to the invention of the technical solution 6, the user can specify the character included in the candidate of the item associated with the string data.

[0030] According to the invention of the technical solution 7, in the case where the character that is duplicated in the candidate of the item is also described in different positions of the ticket, the user can grasp the intention.

[0031] According to the invention of the technical solution 8, the mode in which the user can select the item associated with the string data under the user's guidance can be provided.

[0032] According to the invention of the technical solution 9, the string data associated with the item can be automatically extracted from the ticket.

[0033] According to the invention of the technical solution 10, the user can edit the definition information that is created.

[0034] According to the invention of the technical solution 11, in the case of extracting the string data in the vicinity of the item that has been registered in advance from the ticket as the data associated with the item, the working hours of the user who determines the item can be reduced compared to the case where the candidate of the item associated with the data that the user wants to extract is not displayed when the item is registered. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0035] Figure 1 is a block configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a ticket processing apparatus of the invention.

[0036] Figure 2A is a flowchart showing the keyword definition information production support processing in the present embodiment.

[0037] Figure 2B is a flowchart following Figure 2A

[0038] Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the ticket display screen in the present embodiment.

[0039] Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the main part of the ticket display screen when the frame fixing setting mode is run in the present embodiment.

[0040] Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the main part of the ticket display screen when the layout analysis setting mode is run in the present embodiment.

[0041] Figure 6 is a diagram showing another example of the main part of the ticket display screen when the layout analysis setting mode is run in the present embodiment.

[0042] Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of the ticket display screen in the present embodiment.

[0043] Figure 8 is a diagram showing the main part of the ticket display screen displayed when the automatic setting button is selected from the ticket display screen in the present embodiment.

[0044] Figure 9 is a diagram showing the main part of the ticket display screen in the present embodiment.

[0045] Figure 10 (a) to Figure 10 (d) of FIG. 10 are diagrams showing the transition of the keyword definition information when the manual setting is performed in the present embodiment.

[0046] Figure 11 is a diagram showing another example of the data structure of the keyword definition information in the present embodiment.

[0047] Figure 12 is a diagram showing the main part of the ticket display screen in the present embodiment.

[0048] Figure 13 is a diagram showing the keyword definition information contained in the ticket display screen in the present embodiment.

[0049] Figure 14 is a diagram showing the main part of the ticket display screen in the present embodiment.

[0050] Figure 15 ​(a) to (c) of FIG. 1 Figure 15 (c) of FIG. 1 indicates Figure 14 FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a transition of setting of keyword definition information contained in a ticket display screen.

[0051] [Explanation of Symbols]

[0052] 1: Ticket processing apparatus

[0053] 11: Ticket acquisition section

[0054] 12: Definition information production processing section

[0055] 13: User interface (UI) processing section

[0056] 14: Definition information storage section

[0057] 20: Ticket display screen

[0058] 21: Ticket display area

[0059] 22a, 22b: Check box

[0060] 23: Auto-blank extraction button

[0061] 24: Auto-setting button

[0062] 25: Box

[0063] 26, 27: Table

[0064] 28: Value definition information

[0065] 29: Auto-setting button

[0066] 30: Manual setting button

[0067] 31, 31a, 31a-1: Keyword definition information

[0068] 32, 32a, 32b, 32c, 33, 35: Box selection line

[0069] 37: Addition button

[0070] 38: Deletion button

[0071] 39: Warning message

[0072] 40: Button

[0073] 131: Operation reception section

[0074] 132: Display control section DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0075] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present application will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

[0076] The ticket processing apparatus in the present embodiment can be realized using a hardware structure of a general-purpose computer that has existed previously, such as a personal computer (PC). That is, the ticket processing apparatus has a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a storage section such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a user interface section such as a mouse or a keyboard as an input section, and a display as a display section, and a network interface as a communication section.

[0077] Figure 1 Fig. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a ticket processing apparatus 1 of the present application. The ticket processing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment has a ticket acquisition section 11, a definition information production processing section 12, a user interface (UI) processing section 13, and a definition information storage section 14. In addition, the constituent elements that are not used for the explanation of the present embodiment are omitted from the drawing.

[0078] The ticket acquisition section 11 acquires image data of a ticket. The "ticket" is a form of a document, and refers to a document that has been written in a prescribed format. The image data of the ticket is produced by reading the ticket using a scanner. In the present embodiment, the image data of the ticket will be simply referred to as a "ticket" for convenience of explanation. The definition information production processing section 12 produces definition information for each of the items of the character string data that are intended to be extracted from the ticket, and the character string data that are intended to be extracted from the ticket. The user interface processing section 13 has an operation reception section 131 and a display control section 132. The operation reception section 131 receives a user operation using a mouse or a keyboard, or the like. The display control section 132 controls the display on the display according to an instruction from the definition information production processing section 12. In the definition information storage section 14, the definition information produced by the definition information production processing section 12 is stored.

[0079] The constituent elements 11 to 13 in the ticket processing apparatus 1 are realized by a computer that forms the ticket processing apparatus 1, and the cooperative operation of a program that is run by a CPU mounted on the computer. Furthermore, the definition information storage section 14 is realized using an HDD mounted in the ticket processing apparatus 1. Alternatively, a storage section located outside can be used via a network.

[0080] Further, the program used in the present embodiment is of course provided through the communication means, and can be provided by being stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory. The program provided from the communication means or the recording medium is installed in the computer, and various processes are implemented by the CPU of the computer sequentially executing the program.

[0081] Further, as a method of automatically extracting character string data from a ticket, there is a first method of previously preparing ticket definition data that defines a range of character string data to be extracted from a ticket, and determining a position of extraction of character string data using a range of extraction of character string data of ticket definition data corresponding to the ticket when the ticket is read. Further, there is a second method of previously preparing ticket definition data that defines items associated with character string data in advance, and determining a position of extraction of character string data associated with the items by searching the items from the ticket using the items of ticket definition data corresponding to the ticket when the ticket is read.

[0082] In the former case, there is a problem that when the layout of the ticket is changed, the range of extraction of character string data is changed, and thus the ticket definition data cannot be reused. In the latter case, the problem of the former does not occur, but even if the meanings are the same, the expression method of the items differs depending on the business or the ticket, and thus the extraction accuracy of the character string data differs depending on what is defined as the item of the ticket definition data. In fact, it is not rare that the item of the ticket definition data is defined depending on the judgment of the user, and sometimes the user cannot judge what is defined as the item, and thus the extraction accuracy of the character string data is affected. In the present embodiment, the merits of the two extraction methods are effectively utilized, a candidate of the corresponding item is extracted by specifying the position of extraction of the character string data and is prompted to the user, and thus the production of the ticket definition data (corresponding to the "definition information") and particularly the item definition information described later can be supported. The "item definition information" is definition information indicating the positional relationship of the candidate of the item and the range of the character string data to be extracted.

[0083] In the present embodiment, the ticket processing apparatus 1 can operate in two kinds of setting modes, a frame-fixed setting mode and a layout analysis setting mode. The frame-fixed setting mode is a mode corresponding to the former of the two extraction methods. The layout analysis setting mode is a mode that provides support for the production of the item definition information characteristic of the present embodiment using the latter technique.

[0084] In the present embodiment, in the explanation of the layout analysis setting mode, the item recorded on the sheet is referred to as a "key" (Key). For example, in the case where the sheet is a bill, a specific character such as the item "issue date" or "bill number" recorded on the bill corresponds to the key. Also, in the sheet, a string data is usually recorded in correspondence with the key in the vicinity of the key. For example, in the vicinity of the key "issue date", a string data expressed in a date format indicating the issue date should be recorded, and in the vicinity of the key "bill number", a string data expressed in a format indicating the number should be recorded. In the present embodiment, the string data recorded in correspondence with the key is referred to as a "value" (Value). When a prescribed specific character corresponding to the key is detected from the sheet by analyzing the sheet, since the value exists in the vicinity of the key (for example, on the right side or the lower side of the key in the case of a horizontal sheet), the key and the value can be extracted from the sheet set. That is, the key and the value can be automatically extracted in a group from a read image of the sheet (corresponding to the "image data") obtained by scanning the sheet. The process of extracting the key and the value in accordance with the definition information created by the layout analysis setting mode is referred to as a "key-value extraction process".

[0085] Also, in the key-value extraction process, only the key or only the value is sometimes extracted, but unless otherwise specified, it is assumed that the key and the value are extracted from the sheet set. Also, in the present embodiment, the "character" means both a case of one character and a case of a string including a plurality of characters, unless otherwise specified.

[0086] The definition information creation process section 12 creates definition information for automatically extracting the key and the value from the sheet. Specifically, the key definition information is created for each key, and the value definition information is created for each value. In particular, in the present embodiment, a tool for supporting the user in creating the key definition information is provided. Hereinafter, the characteristic key definition information creation support process in the present embodiment performed by using the tool is explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. 10. Figure 2A 、 Figure 2B

[0087] First, the sheet acquisition section 11 acquires a sheet as a processing target (step S101). The sheet is generated, for example, by causing an image forming apparatus having a scanning function to read the sheet. The sheet acquisition section 11 acquires the sheet directly or indirectly from the image forming apparatus.

[0088] ​When the ticket is acquired, the definition information creation processing section 12 causes the display control section 132 to perform on-screen display of the ticket (step S102). Note that the display control section 132 performs display control of the display according to the instruction from the definition information creation processing section 12, but in the following description, the operation of the display control section 132 is appropriately omitted for the sake of simplicity of the description.

[0089] Figure 3 Fig. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a ticket display screen in the present embodiment. On the ticket display screen 20, a ticket display area 21, a check box 22a for mode selection, a check box 22b, an automatic blank column extraction button 23, and a summary automatic setting button 24 are provided.

[0090] As described above, in the keyword definition information creation support processing in the present embodiment, two kinds of setting modes, the frame fixed setting mode and the layout analysis setting mode, can be supported. The ticket processing apparatus 1 operates in the frame fixed setting mode when the check box 22a is selected, and operates in the layout analysis setting mode when the check box 22b is selected. When the user selects either of the check boxes 22a, 22b from the ticket display screen 20 to select the setting mode to be operated, the operation receiving section 131 receives the selected setting mode (step S103). Note that the operation of the automatic blank column extraction button 23 and the summary automatic setting button 24 when selected will be described later.

[0091] Next, the user selects a frame as a processing target from the displayed ticket. The "frame" is a range surrounded by a grid line, and corresponds to a fill-in column in which a character string data to be extracted is recorded. The range in which the character string data is recorded can be determined by the relative position of the range on the ticket (for example, coordinate data of the left corner of a rectangular range) and the size of the range. In the present embodiment, the operation of specifying a frame by the user is equivalent to the operation of specifying both the relative position and the size of the range. The operation receiving section 131 receives the specified frame (step S104). Note that in the present embodiment, the user is assumed to select a frame by moving the mouse cursor to the desired frame and selecting it by clicking. Of course, the selection operation of the frame is not limited to this operation.

[0092] Note that, as described above, some of the operations performed by the user are received by the operation receiving section 131, but in the following description, the operation of the operation receiving section 131 that receives the user's operation is appropriately omitted for the sake of simplicity of the description.

[0093] First, the operation when the user selects the frame fixed setting mode (YES in step S105) will be described.

[0094] Figure 4is a view showing the main part of the ticket display screen 20 in the present embodiment, and is a view showing an example of screen display when the user selects the frame fixing setting mode. Figure 4 In the drawing, a part of the ticket displayed in the ticket display area 21, and the part of the frame 25 selected by the user in step S104 are shown. Figure 4 In the drawing, an example in which the frame 25 in which the string data corresponding to the address is recorded is selected is shown. In the present embodiment, the information required for the explanation is extracted, and the layout on the screen, i.e., the display position of the part of the ticket or the table 26, 27 is not limited to this example. The same applies to the drawings used in the following explanation.

[0095] When the frame 25 is selected by the user, the definition information production processing section 12 performs screen display of the input setting table of the ticket definition data related to the string data, specifically, the table 26, 27 for letting the user input the read setting information and the output setting information. Figure 4 In the drawing, a state after the input by the user is shown. In the read setting information, conditions for reading the string data filled in the frame 25, etc. are set. The read setting information includes "name", "recognition character type", "character type limitation", "full-width / half-width of alphabet / number", and "rectangular coordinates". In the "name", the name is set as the information for identifying the frame 25. In the "recognition character type", the dictionary data used for the recognition of the string data input to the frame 25 is set. In the "character type limitation", the type of characters (alphabet, number, etc.) that can be used as the string data is set. In the "full-width / half-width of alphabet / number", whether the string data is read as the full-width character or the half-width character is set. The "rectangular coordinates" is information showing the range of the frame 25 on the ticket, and is shown by the coordinate data showing the relative position of the left corner of the frame 25 shown in the rectangular shape on the ticket, and the width and height of the frame 25. The rectangular coordinates are automatically set by the selection of the frame 25 by the user. In the output setting information, conditions for outputting the string data filled in the frame 25, etc. are set. The output setting information includes "header name", "column order", and "replacement character at empty column". In the "header name", the name noted when the string data is output is set. In the "column order", the order when the string data is output is set. In the "replacement character at empty column", the character or symbol, etc. to be replaced for the output when the string data cannot be extracted is set.

[0096] As described above, when the ticket definition data for one string data is produced by the definition information production processing section 12 (step S113), the definition information production processing section 12 saves it to the definition information storage section 14 according to the prescribed saving operation by the user, and then jumps to step S111. The processing after step S111 will be described later.

[0097] Next, the actions when the user selects the layout analysis setting mode ("layout analysis" in step S105) will be explained.

[0098] Figure 5 This diagram shows the main part of the ticket display screen 20 in this embodiment, and is an example of the screen display when the user selects the layout analysis setting mode. Figure 5 The text represents a portion of the ticket displayed in the ticket display area 21, and the portion of box 25 selected by the user in step S104. Figure 5 The example shown is a box 25 containing string data about a residence that has been selected.

[0099] When the user selects box 25, the definition information processing unit 12 displays a table (hereinafter referred to as "value definition information") 28 containing value-related definition information used for user input of string data. Furthermore, in the keyword value extraction processing, the position of the search keyword is used to automatically extract the string (i.e., the value) located near the searched keyword's position, thus eliminating the need for the position information (i.e., the rectangle coordinates) of box 25 obtained through ticket analysis. Therefore, Figure 5 In order to express this meaning, it is grayed out.

[0100] For the value definition information 28 in the layout analysis setting mode (corresponding to the ticket definition data reading setting information in the box fixed setting mode), there is an additional search setting item. In the search setting, there is an automatic setting button 29 for allowing the user to select automatic search keywords, and a manual setting button 30 for allowing the user to select user-specified keywords.

[0101] Here, assume the user selects the automatic setting button 29. Selection can be made via mouse operation. At this time ("automatic setting" in step S106), the definition information creation processing unit 12 automatically analyzes the ticket and identifies that there are no multiple candidate keywords (N in step S107), no multiple selection boxes are selected (N in step S108), and there are no characters that duplicate the keyword (N in step S109). It then extracts the character located to the left of box 25, in this example, "address," as a candidate keyword (item), and automatically creates keyword definition information 31 (step S110). Value definition information 28 is created and displayed when box 25 is selected, but keyword definition information 31 is initially displayed when the automatic setting button 29 within value definition information 28 is selected. Furthermore, keyword definition information 31 can refer to the information itself or to the table displaying keyword definition information; for ease of explanation, both are referred to as "keyword definition information 31."

[0102] The keyword definition information 31 includes items of "character" and "search direction". The "character" refers to a specific character that is a keyword, which is extracted by the position of the frame 25 designated. The "search direction" indicates a direction from the keyword. In the keyword value extraction processing, the specific character (i.e., keyword) on the ticket designated as the "character" is extracted by searching, and the string data from the extracted keyword in the "search direction" is automatically extracted as the value. Figure 5 The keyword definition information 31 in which only one character "address" is set as the "character" and "right side" is set as the "search direction" is shown in FIG. 10.

[0103] The definition information creation processing section 12 searches for a keyword corresponding to the frame 25 in accordance with the prescribed search condition. Further, in the case of horizontal writing like the ticket exemplified in FIG. 9, the value corresponding to the keyword is generally located on the right side or lower side of the keyword. In other words, the keyword corresponding to the value is generally located on the left side or upper side of the value. Therefore, the definition information creation processing section 12 searches in accordance with the search condition that the character is located on the left side or upper side of the frame 25. Also, the search is performed in accordance with the search condition that the nearest character or the character located within a prescribed threshold is searched. Figure 3 The keyword definition information 31 in which only one character "address" is set as the "character" and "right side" is set as the "search direction" is shown in FIG. 10. Figure 5 The example in which only "address" surrounded by the rectangular marquee 32 is extracted is shown in FIG. 10. Therefore, the definition information creation processing section 12 sets "address" as the "character". Also, the position of the frame 25 is on the right side with respect to the character "address", so "right side" is set as the "search direction". Thus, in extracting the value recorded in the frame 25, the keyword definition information 31 created as described above is referred to. That is, in the keyword value extraction processing, the character "address" is searched, and in the case of being searched, the value located on the right side of the character "address" is automatically extracted in accordance with the search direction.

[0104] In addition, in order to indicate to the user which character has been extracted, the definition information creation processing section 12 can also display the extracted character with the marquee 32 as shown in FIG. 11. Figure 5

[0105] The definition information creation processing section 12 prompts the user with the character located near the frame 25 designated by the user as described above as a candidate for the keyword. Also, the definition information creation processing section 12 saves the created keyword definition information to the definition information storage section 14 in accordance with a prescribed save operation by the user. In addition, the definition information creation processing section 12 saves the created keyword definition information and value definition information to the definition information storage section 14 in accordance with a prescribed save operation by the user or at an appropriate timing, but the processing of saving to the definition information storage section 14 is omitted in the following description.

[0106] ​The editing of keyword definition information (Y in step S111, step S119) will be described later. When the user performs the operation to end the processing (N in step S111, Y in step S112), the processing ends. If not (N in step S112), the process jumps to step S104 to process other boxes.

[0107] In use Figure 5 The example described illustrates a scenario where only the character "residence" was extracted as a candidate keyword. However, depending on the search criteria, multiple characters might be extracted as candidate keywords. This could be due to situations where the search direction could not be determined relative to box 25, or where the specified threshold was increased.

[0108] If the user selects the automatic setting button 29 ("automatic setting" in step S106), and there are multiple candidate keywords (Y in step S107), the definition information creation processing unit 12 selects a keyword from the multiple candidate keywords according to the user's operation (step S114).

[0109] Figure 6 This diagram shows the main part of the ticket display screen 20 in this embodiment, and is related to... Figure 5 The same screen is displayed as an example. Figure 6 In the text, the characters searched as keywords are enclosed by selection lines 32a, 32b, and 32c, respectively.

[0110] In this embodiment, candidate keywords are prioritized based on their relevance to the search criteria. For example, when prioritizing based on direction and distance from box 25, characters located to the left or top of box 25 have higher priority. Furthermore, the closer the distance from box 25, the higher the priority. Figure 6 In the middle, the "residence" that is closest in distance from box 25 and located to the left of box 25 is displayed with the highest priority. Figure 6 In this context, priority is indicated by the intensity of the color inside the selection lines 32a, 32b, and 32c. However, this method is not the only one that can be used. Other display methods or characters can also be used to indicate priority.

[0111] The definition information production and processing unit 12 sets the priority based on the direction and distance from the box 25, but it can also set the priority of keyword candidates and display them based on at least one of the distance or direction of the character relative to the box 25.

[0112] Here, it is assumed that the user selects "address" and "recipient" as candidates for the keyword. For example, the user performs a selection operation of clicking the inside of the frame lines 32a and 32b, and the like. In correspondence with the selection operation performed by the user, the definition information creation processing section 12 automatically creates the keyword definition information 31 that takes "address" and "recipient" as candidates for the keyword (step S115).

[0113] Thus, in the keyword value extraction processing, the characters "address" and "recipient" are extracted from the ticket in reference to the keyword definition information 31 created as above, and the value located on the right side of the character "address" and on the right side of "recipient" is automatically extracted in accordance with the search direction.

[0114] In the explanation, the user himself / herself searches for the frame 25 as the processing target from the ticket, and selects only one, but in the present embodiment, the user can be prompted to select a plurality of frames, and the user can select a plurality of frames.

[0115] Figure 7 is a drawing that shows an example of the ticket display screen in the present embodiment, and is the same screen as Figure 3 When the automatic blank extraction button 23 of the ticket display screen 20 is selected, the definition information creation processing section 12 extracts the blanks, i.e., the frames, by analyzing the ticket, and displays the selectable frames in a conspicuous manner. Figure 7 In the drawing, an example in which the blanks are colored in gray is shown. The user can select one frame from the frames colored as described above, but in the case where the user wants to perform a summary processing on a plurality of frames, the user can designate a plurality of frames by a drag and drop operation, for example. Figure 7 In the drawing, a plurality of frames designated by the frame lines 33 are shown. Here, it is assumed that the user selects the summary automatic setting button 24.

[0116] Figure 8 is a drawing that shows a main part of the ticket display screen 20 in the present embodiment, and shows a part of the ticket displayed when the user selects the summary automatic setting button 24. When the user selects the automatic setting button 29 in the value definition information 28, the definition information creation processing section 12 extracts candidates for the keyword corresponding to each frame, creates the keyword definition information 31 that summarizes a plurality of frames, and displays the same (step S116). As described above, here, a plurality of frames are selected by the user, and therefore, in the keyword definition information 31, the definition information is set for each frame. The definition information creation processing section 12 automatically assigns a frame number to each frame of the ticket as shown in Figure 8

[0117] ​Here, if the user wants to further specify keywords for the characters, they can select the corresponding box number or the corresponding box row. Figure 8 In the image, an example of keyword definition information corresponding to box number (1) is selected, and the keyword definition information 31a corresponding to box number (1) is displayed through the selection operation. Subsequently, the user selects a character from the ticket that they want to add as a candidate keyword for box number (1). For example, they select the character "1" 34 from the ticket. The definition information processing unit 12 adds the keyword to box number (1) according to the user's operation. Figure 8 The keyword definition information 31a shown represents the state after the keyword definition information 31a-1, which has been updated with the character "1" 34 through the above user operation. In the keyword value extraction process, when referring to the keyword definition information 31a, the value located below the character "Name" and to the right of the character "1" 34 will be extracted.

[0118] Thus, according to this embodiment, candidate summary keywords can be extracted for multiple boxes. Furthermore, candidate keywords can be added to the boxes.

[0119] As mentioned above, in this embodiment, when the automatic setting button 29 is selected, keyword definition information 31 is automatically generated. However, there may be cases where the automatically generated keyword definition information is insufficient. Therefore, in this embodiment, a mode for accepting keywords manually set by the user (i.e., manual setting) is provided.

[0120] Figure 9 This diagram shows the main part of the ticket display screen 20 in this embodiment. Figure 9 In the ticket shown, as indicated by selection lines 32 and 35, the character "address" is extracted from two locations on the ticket. Therefore, even though box 25 is selected, if only the character "address" is set as the keyword, the automatic keyword value extraction process may still mistakenly extract the character "address" from selection line 35 as the keyword.

[0121] If a user wants to manually set keyword definition information to eliminate this problem beforehand, they can choose manual setting. That is, after selecting box 25, the user selects the manual setting button 30 within value definition information 28. When the user selects the manual setting button 30 ("manual setting" in step S106), the definition information creation processing unit 12 displays a blank table 36 that has not yet been set with keyword definition information, allowing the user to set the keyword definition information. Thus, the definition information creation processing unit 12 creates keyword definition information by allowing the user to input the characters of the desired keyword and the search direction in the displayed table 36 (step S117).

[0122] Specifically, for the blank table 36 shown in (a) of Figure 9 the same Figure 10 , the user inputs the character to be the candidate for the key word, and the search direction with respect to the character, into the table 36 as shown in (b). The character can also be selected from the ticket. As for the search direction, since the values that can be designated (right side, lower side, etc.) are predetermined, the selectable values can also be displayed, and the user can select from among them. Figure 10

[0123] Further, in the case where the user wants to set a key word to the frame 25, the user selects the addition button 37, and a new blank line is displayed (c) of (c), and the key word definition information is newly inputted to the blank line (d) of (d). In the case where the user wants to delete the set key word definition information, the delete button 38 displayed on the side of the corresponding line is selected. Figure 10 Figure 10

[0124] Figure 11 is a diagram showing another data structure of the key word definition information 31. Figure 11 In (d), in addition to the key word definition information shown in (d), the key word definition information in which the information of the search setting is added is shown. As for the "priority within the ticket" included in the search setting, the priority of the detection position on the ticket is set. For example, the upper left, left, lower left, upper, center, lower, upper right, right, lower right, etc. are designated. Figure 10 In (d), assuming that the "priority within the ticket" is set to "upper left", the character "address" corresponding to the frame selection line 32 located at the upper left is extracted in priority to the character "address" corresponding to the frame selection line 35. As for the "search format style", the format style of the value extracted in correspondence with the character is designated. Figure 9 In the example shown in (d), the candidates of the format style of the value corresponding to the character are displayed in a list. The "format style" refers to the format of the string data filled in the frame, and the filler generally considers that the address is to be filled in the format corresponding to any one of the format styles included in the format style. The user checks the check box for the format accepted as the string data from the format list included in the format style. The string data filled in the format in which the check box is checked is easily extracted as the address. Figure 11

[0125] In this way, the key word definition information can be created by the user's own manual input. If only the aforementioned character "address" is set as the key word, in the key word value automatic extraction processing, in the case where the character "address" of the frame selection line 35 is erroneously extracted as the key word, by adding the character "recipient" as the key word, the value detected at the position of the frame 25 can be surely extracted.

[0126] ​​​​Further, in a case where there are a plurality of characters that are candidates for the keyword on the bill (S108: "Yes") Figure 9 In the keyword value automatic extraction processing, it can not be possible to correctly extract the value. At this time, as described above, the user can cope with this by selecting the manual setting. Here, a case where the user has selected the automatic setting will be described.

[0127] Figure 12 is a drawing that shows the main part of the bill display screen 20 in the present embodiment, and is the same as the screen example of Figure 9 Figure 9 In the present embodiment, it is a display screen when the user has selected the manual setting button 30, but in Figure 12 In the present embodiment, it is a display screen when the user has selected the automatic setting button 29.

[0128] After the user has selected the frame 25, the automatic setting button 29 in the value definition information 28 is selected. When the automatic setting button 29 has been selected by the user (S106: "Automatic setting"), the definition information making processing section 12 detects that the character "address" that is a candidate for the keyword corresponding to the frame 25 is repeatedly present by analyzing the bill. At this time (S109: "Yes"), a warning message 39 is displayed together with the keyword definition information 31 (S118). Further, the "repeated character" in S109 can be a character that is the same as the candidate for the keyword, or a character that is a synonym of the meaning of the candidate for the keyword (for example, for the keyword candidate "address", characters such as "residence" can be listed as synonymous characters).

[0129] When the user refers to the warning message 39, it is possible to cope with this by editing the keyword definition information 31. That is, when the user sets the priority order with respect to the detected position in the "priority order within the bill" in the keyword definition information 31, or sets the format style in the "search format style", or adds the keyword definition information as described using Figure 6

[0130] ​​As explained above, when the user selects automatic setting of keyword definition information, the definition information creation processing unit 12 automatically creates the keyword definition information. Furthermore, sometimes there are tickets that, although in ticket format, have characters different from those in box 25. In this case, simply creating different keyword definition information will suffice. However, there are situations where, although the specific characters representing the keywords are different, it is desirable to treat them as the same keyword and use the same keyword definition information. Therefore, the definition information creation processing unit 12 provides a keyword definition information editing function.

[0131] Figure 13 This diagram illustrates the keyword definition information contained in the ticket display screen 20 of this embodiment. While the description previously covered editing such as adding new records to the keyword definition information, this section provides a function for editing existing records. When the user edits an existing record (Y in step S111), the definition information creation processing unit 12 allows the user to edit the keyword definition information. Figure 13 The example shown illustrates the setting of keyword definition information. The character "dwelling" is automatically set by the keyword definition information, but the user manually edits it to add "dwelling" after the conjunction "or" (step S119). Therefore, tickets set to "dwelling" can also be handled with the same keyword definition information.

[0132] Figure 14 This diagram illustrates the main portion of the ticket display screen 20 in this embodiment. In this embodiment, processing is performed such that keyword definition information is created after the user-specified box. The box is used to specify the detection position of the value, but here, we will explain the case where, without a box, we want to determine the value based on a format style.

[0133] At this point, the user does not specify a box but instead selects the manual setting button 30 within the value definition information 28. The definition information creation and processing unit 12 displays the keyword definition information table 31 based on the user's selection. For subsequent screen transitions, the following steps are taken: Figure 15 (a) to Figure 15 Let’s explain using (c).

[0134] Figure 15 In (a), when the user selects button 40 in table 31, such as Figure 15 The input field for keyword definition information is displayed as shown in (b). The user then manually enters the keyword definition information in the input field. Figure 15 (c) indicates keyword definition information 31 after manual input. To ensure value extraction even in the absence of a frame, a standard expression is predefined regarding the value format. That is, as shown below...Figure 15 As exemplified in (c) of the above (1), in the case of indicating the year, "Anno" should be followed or directly written with a number, and the string "year" should be followed by the number. The rule regarding such a description is prescribed as a standard expression. The user describes in the keyword definition information 31 in accordance with the standard expression. In addition, Figure 15 (a) to (c) of the above (1) are omitted, the line in which the keyword definition information is input can also be increased or decreased as shown in (a) to (d) of the above (2). Figure 10 (a) to (c) of the above (1) are omitted, the line in which the keyword definition information is input can also be increased or decreased as shown in (a) to (d) of the above (2). Figure 10 (a) to (c) of the above (1) are omitted, the line in which the keyword definition information is input can also be increased or decreased as shown in (a) to (d) of the above (2). ​

[0135] In the embodiments, the processor refers to a general processor, including a general-purpose processor (for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or the like) or a special-purpose processor (for example, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a programmable logic device, or the like).

[0136] Furthermore, the actions of the processor in the embodiments can be completed not only by one processor, but also by a plurality of processors cooperatively located at physically separate positions. Furthermore, the order of the actions of the processor is not limited to the order described in the embodiments, and can be appropriately changed.​

Claims

1. A ticket processing apparatus, characterized by comprising: including a processor, the processor extracts, as data associated with the item, character string data in the ticket sheet in the vicinity of the item that has been registered in advance, when the item is registered, the ticket sheet that is a processing target is displayed, from a user, a range in which data that the user wants to extract is written on the ticket sheet that is the processing target is accepted, characters in the vicinity of the accepted range are displayed as candidates for the item, and the characters that are candidates for the item are in a vicinity of the accepted range, and the vicinity is different from the accepted range.

2. The ticket sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor preferentially displays the candidates for the item based on at least one of a distance or a direction of the characters with respect to the range.

3. The ticket sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor, when there are a plurality of the ranges that are designated, collectively displays the candidates for the item that respectively correspond to the plurality of the designated ranges.

4. The ticket sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processor displays an identifier for each of the plurality of the ranges, and the identifier and the candidate for the item that corresponds to the range with respect to the identifier are displayed in correspondence with each other.

5. The ticket sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor accepts editing of the candidate for the item.

6. The ticket sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 5, wherein the processor, after the candidate for the item is displayed, appends a character that is designated by the user on the ticket sheet that is the processing target as a new candidate for the item.

7. The ticket sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor, when the character that duplicates the candidate for the item is also written in a position other than the vicinity of the accepted range on the ticket sheet that is the processing target, notifies the user of this intention.

8. The ticket sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor provides a mode in which the item is accepted from the user.

9. The ticket sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor creates definition information that indicates a positional relationship of the candidate for the item with respect to the range.

10. The ticket sheet processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor provides an editing function of the definition information.

11. A recording medium that records a program for causing a computer to function as: in a case where character string data in a ticket sheet in the vicinity of an item that has been registered in advance is extracted as data associated with the item, when the item is registered, a ticket sheet that is a processing target is displayed, from a user, a range in which data that the user wants to extract is written on the ticket sheet that is the processing target is accepted, and characters in the vicinity of the accepted range are displayed as candidates for the item, and the characters that are candidates for the item are in a vicinity of the accepted range, and the vicinity is different from the accepted range.

12. A computer program product that includes a program for causing a computer to function as: In a case where string data located in the vicinity of a previously registered item in a ticket is extracted as data associated with the item, When the item is registered, a ticket that is a processing target is displayed; A range in which data that a user wants to extract is described on the ticket that is the processing target is accepted from the user; and Characters located in the vicinity of the accepted range are displayed as candidates for the item, wherein the characters that are candidates for the item are located in a neighboring area of the accepted range, wherein the neighboring area is different from the accepted range.

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