Icon display device and icon display program

Abstract

To enable an OA equipment worker who is assigned a specific role to quickly grasp the attribute of a data file in light of a specific reference corresponding to the role.SOLUTION: The icon displaying device 100 includes (I) a storage section 4 that stores a file 3 containing attribution information 1 and two-dimension visual information 2 to be displayed on the monitoring device 101, (ii) an icon assignment section 8 that assigns, to the file 3, an icon 7 that partially or entirely has a pattern 6 (excluding the two-dimension visual information 2 itself and a pattern obtained by reducing the two-dimension visual information 2) corresponding to a text string 5 contained in the two-dimension visual information 2 in the file 3, and (iii) a display section 9 that displays the icon 7 assigned by the icon assignment section 8.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention according to this application relates to an icon display device and an icon display program.

Background Art

[0002] Data files handled on a computer are generally displayed as icons on the monitor screen connected to the computer. For example, icon technologies as shown in the following Patent Documents 1 to 12 are known.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Patent Document 4

Patent Document 5

Patent Document 6

Patent Document 7

Patent Document 8

Patent Document 9

Patent Document 10

Patent Document 11

Patent Document 12

Summary of the Invention

[0004] Many conventional icon technologies involve overlaying a scaled-down image of the two-dimensional visual information contained in the data file onto the icon; these are often considered preview-type technologies. If a scaled-down image of the two-dimensional image contained in the data file is displayed, the contents of the data file can be estimated to a certain extent from the appearance of the icon.

[0005] However, those working with office automation equipment handle hundreds of data files a day, and it is difficult to quickly grasp the contents of a data file using only icon-based preview functions. In order to confirm its contents with certainty, it is often necessary to open the data file and visually examine the text and other contents, which is very time-consuming.

[0006] This invention was made with the understanding that for those working with office automation equipment, the points they need to check are limited depending on their assigned role, and they only want to quickly grasp the attributes of the data file that match specific criteria according to their role, out of the two-dimensional visual information contained in the data file. They do not want to grasp all the information through icons that include reduced-size images (previews) of the two-dimensional visual information contained in the data file.

[0007] For example, an office automation (OA) equipment user at a customer support center, responsible for managing deadlines for online customer complaints, wants to quickly locate complaint document files with deadlines within the next three days using icons, rather than understanding the content of the complaint document files themselves. Similarly, an OA equipment user responsible for sending out report document files to customers wants to quickly identify the customer's name listed in the report document file using icons to avoid sending it to the wrong address, rather than understanding the content or overall structure of the report document file.

[0008] The present invention aims to enable office automation equipment operators assigned specific roles to quickly grasp the attributes of data files in accordance with specific criteria corresponding to those roles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The measures taken to address the above issues are as follows [1] to

[14] . [1] An icon display device comprising: a storage unit for storing a data file having attribute information and two-dimensional visual information to be displayed on a monitor device; an icon assignment unit for assigning icons to the data file that have a pattern (excluding those in which part or all of the two-dimensional visual information is used as the pattern) corresponding to a string contained in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file, in part or in whole; and a display unit for displaying the icons assigned by the icon assignment unit.

[0010] [2] The icon-assigning unit assigns an icon to the data file which has a specific pattern in part or in whole that corresponds to a specific string contained in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file, the icon display device according to [1].

[0011] [3] The icon display device according to [2], wherein the icon assigning unit has a specific string input unit that allows the user to set the specific string.

[0012] [4] The icon display device according to [2] or [3], wherein the icon assigning unit has a specific symbol designation unit that allows the user to select the specific symbol.

[0013] [5] The icon assigning unit is configured to output an icon using a learning model that has been trained to output an icon having a specific pattern corresponding to the two-dimensional visual information when part or all of the two-dimensional visual information of a data file is input. The icon display device according to any one of [1] to [4].

[0014] [6] The icon adding unit is the icon display device according to any one of [1] to [5], which adds an icon having a specific symbol corresponding to the company name included in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file to the data file, either partially or entirely.

[0015] [7] The icon adding unit is the icon display device according to [6], which adds an icon having a company logo corresponding to the company name, either partially or entirely.

[0016] [8] The icon adding unit has a logo acquisition unit that acquires the company logo corresponding to the company name from the Internet, and is the icon display device according to [7], which adds an icon having the acquired logo, either partially or entirely, to the data file.

[0017] [9] The icon adding unit is configured to output an icon using a learning model learned to output an icon having a specific symbol corresponding to the company, either partially or entirely, when an alphanumeric string conforming to a predetermined rule corresponding to the company of the company name is input, and is the icon display device according to any one of [1] to [8].

[0018]

[10] An icon display program for controlling an icon display device including a storage unit that stores a data file having attribute information and two-dimensional visual information to be displayed on a monitor device, an icon adding unit that adds an icon corresponding to the two-dimensional visual information to the data file, and a display unit that displays the icon added by the icon adding unit. The program has a first step of adding an icon having a symbol corresponding to the character string included in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file (excluding those using a part or all of the two-dimensional visual information as a symbol), either partially or entirely, to the data file, and a second step of displaying the added icon.

[0019]

[11] The icon display program according to

[10] , wherein the first step is to assign to the data file an icon having, in part or in whole, a specific symbol corresponding to a specific character string included in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file.

[0020]

[12] The icon display program according to

[11] , wherein an icon having, in part or in whole, a specific symbol corresponding to a specific company name which is the specific character string is assigned to the data file.

[0021]

[13] The icon display program according to any one of

[10] to

[12] , wherein the icon assigning unit is configured to output an icon having, in part or in whole, a specific symbol corresponding to the two-dimensional visual information by using a learning model learned to output an icon having, in part or in whole, a specific symbol corresponding to the two-dimensional visual information when part or all of the two-dimensional visual information of the data file is input.

[0022]

[14] The icon display program according to any one of

[10] to

[13] , wherein the first step is configured to output an icon including both a part or all of a first symbol corresponding to a first character string included in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file (excluding those obtained by taking part or all of the two-dimensional visual information as a symbol) and a part or all of a second symbol corresponding to a second character string included in the two-dimensional visual information (excluding those obtained by taking part or all of the two-dimensional visual information as a symbol).

Effect of the Invention

[0023] According to the present invention, an OA device worker assigned a specific role can quickly grasp the attributes of a data file (attributes in light of specific criteria corresponding to the role).

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024] [Figure 1] It shows an icon display device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a flowchart of an icon display program according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] This shows another icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] This shows yet another icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] These are examples of icons that have been used conventionally. [Figure 6] This is an example of an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] This is an example of an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] This is an example of an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 9] This is an example of an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] This is an example of an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] This is an example of an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 12] This is an example of an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 13] This is an example of an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment. [Figure 14] This is an example of an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0025] The present invention will be described in more detail below based on the embodiments described below. However, the present invention is not limited by the embodiments described below, and it is certainly possible to implement modifications within the scope that is consistent with the spirit of the preceding and following descriptions, and all such modifications are included within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 1 shows an icon display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the icon display device 100 includes a storage unit 4 that stores attribute information 1 and a data file 3 having two-dimensional visual information 2 to be displayed on a monitor device 101, an icon assignment unit 8 that assigns icons 7 to the data file 2 that have a pattern 6 (excluding those that use part or all of the two-dimensional visual information as a pattern) corresponding to a string 5 contained in the two-dimensional visual information 2 of the data file 3, and a display unit 9 that displays the icons 7 assigned by the icon assignment unit 8. The reason for excluding those that use part or all of the two-dimensional visual information as a pattern among the candidates for the pattern 6 that can be associated is to exclude icon displays that include only preview patterns.

[0027] Figure 2 is a flowchart of an icon display program according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, first, as a preparation step, a data file 3 having attribute information 1 and two-dimensional visual information 2 for display on a monitor is stored in the storage unit 4.

[0028] Next, as the start of the icon display program according to the embodiment of the present invention, a first step is performed in which an icon 7 having part or all of a pattern 6 (excluding those in which part or all of the two-dimensional visual information is used as the pattern) corresponding to a string 5 contained in the two-dimensional visual information 2 of the data file 3 is assigned to the data file 3. Furthermore, a second step is performed in which the assigned icon 7 is displayed on the monitor device 101.

[0029] In the embodiment of the present invention, attribute information 1 is referred to as file properties and is bibliographic attribute information about the file, such as the capacity of the data file 3, the type of application, the directory on the computer, the creator, the creation date, the update date, etc.

[0030] In the embodiment of the present invention, the two-dimensional visual information 2, unlike the attribute information 1, is information that the user can directly view and edit by opening the data file 3, and is normally displayed on the monitor device 101 when the data file 3 is opened.

[0031] The two-dimensional visual information 2 contains strings 5 ​​of varying lengths. The selection of strings 5 ​​can be, for example, specified by an office automation equipment worker based on criteria according to their role in the work. For example, if an office automation equipment worker is in charge of shipping data files 3 to customers, their concern is which customer the two-dimensional visual information 2 is addressed to, and they can specify a string stored in the address field within the two-dimensional visual information 2 as a specific string 5. As shown in Figure 3, it is preferable that the icon assignment unit 8 includes a specific string input unit 8a to facilitate the user's specification of string 5. Furthermore, the method of specifying string 5 is not limited to the user specifying a string stored in the address field; the icon assignment unit 8 may be configured to search for a string corresponding to a company name within the entire two-dimensional visual information 2 (the user may specify, for example, that they should search by company name) and automatically specify it as string 5.

[0032] The icon assignment unit 8 is configured to output a graphic 6 corresponding to the string 5 based on the characteristics of the string 5, and to assign an icon 7 that partially or entirely incorporates the graphic 6 to the data file 3, as shown in Figure 1. The correspondence between the string 5 and the graphic 6 can also be set in advance by the user. For example, if the user has set the corporate logo of a company as the graphic 6 corresponding to the string 5 representing the company name, the corporate logo linked to the company name information contained in the two-dimensional visual information 2 will be generated as the graphic 6, and an icon 7 that partially incorporates the graphic 6 will be output, as shown in Figure 1.

[0033] As described above, the user may specify the design 6 in advance, but as shown in Figure 4, the icon assignment unit 8 can connect to the internet cloud 8b and obtain the company's logo as design 6 from the company name included in the two-dimensional visual information 2 using the logo acquisition unit 8c.

[0034] The design 6 is generated or selected from some or all of the information contained in the two-dimensional visual information 2, not just the company name. For example, the two-dimensional visual information 2 may include part names or part numbers that are ordered only by a specific company, specific technical terms where technological development is active at a particular company, or alphanumeric strings that conform to prescribed rules corresponding to the company (for example, order code sequences characteristic of a particular company). The alphanumeric string is a sequence of letters or numbers and does not contain "kanji," "hiragana," "katakana," or "punctuation marks."

[0035] Based on the information described above, even if the company name is not included in the two-dimensional visual information 2, it is easy to associate the design 6, which is the corporate logo of a specific company, with part or all of the two-dimensional visual information 2. For example, (1) part or all of the two-dimensional visual information 2 in data file 3, and (2) the corporate logo of the destination company in the relevant data file 3 can be used as training data to create a learning model that is trained to output the corporate logo of the destination company from part or all of the two-dimensional visual information 2 in data file 3, and the icon assignment unit 8 can be configured to output the icon 7 using the learning model.

[0036] Figure 5 shows an example of a conventional icon. The appearance of the icon only indicates the type of application; it is impossible to tell which customer the data file 3 represented by this icon was created for. Even if an icon is displayed with a scaled-down image (preview) of two-dimensional visual information 2 superimposed, customer information cannot be obtained from that image.

[0037] In contrast, Figures 6-9 show icons output by the icon display device according to the embodiment, illustrating icons that include the corporate logos of specific companies described in the two-dimensional visual information 2 (both company names and corporate logos are fictitious). The icon shown in Figure 6 is icon 7 including the corporate logo (design 6) of "Ichiboshi Shoes Co., Ltd.", the icon shown in Figure 7 is icon 7 including the corporate logo (design 6) of "Inazuma Electric Co., Ltd.", the icon shown in Figure 8 is icon 7 including the corporate logo (design 6) of "Kameda Chemical Co., Ltd.", and the icon shown in Figure 9 is icon 7 including the corporate logo (design 6) of "Shibishi Cosmetics Co., Ltd.". The icons shown in Figures 6-9 are not distinguishable by employees whose job scope does not include confirming the recipient company name, but for employees whose job objective is to confirm the recipient company name, this configuration dramatically improves the time required for the confirmation process.

[0038] Figure 10 also shows an icon output by the icon display device according to the embodiment, illustrating an icon that includes the corporate logo of a specific company described in the two-dimensional visual information 2. However, in the case where the two-dimensional visual information 2 contains information from both the first string 5a (not shown), "Inazuma Electric Co., Ltd." and the second string 5b (not shown), "Kameda Chemical Co., Ltd.," the displayed icon shows both the corporate logo of the first design 6a, "Inazuma Electric Co., Ltd." and the corporate logo of the second design 6b, "Kameda Chemical Co., Ltd." An office automation equipment worker who discovers this can instantly recognize that information about different companies is mixed in the two-dimensional visual information 2.

[0039] Figures 11-14 show icons output by the icon display device according to the embodiment, illustrating icons that include a pattern indicating the remaining days until the deadline for action to be taken, as described in the two-dimensional visual information 2. The icons shown in Figures 11-14 may not be very meaningful to those who are not responsible for managing deadlines for online customer complaints, but for office automation equipment personnel who are responsible for deadline management, they dramatically improve the time spent visually selecting items that require action.

[0040] As described above, the icon display device and icon display program according to the embodiment allow an office automation equipment operator assigned a specific role to quickly grasp the attributes of a data file (attributes that conform to specific criteria corresponding to that role). [Explanation of Symbols]

[0041] 1 Attribute information 2. Two-dimensional visual information 3. Data files 4 Storage section 5 strings 5a 1st string 5b Second string 6 Designs 6a First design 6b Second design 7 icons 8. Icon assignment section 8a Specific string input section 8b Internet Cloud 8c Logo Acquisition Section 9 Display section 100 Icon Display Device 101 Monitoring device

Claims

1. An icon display device comprising: a storage unit for storing a data file having attribute information and two-dimensional visual information to be displayed on a monitor device by opening the data file; an icon assignment unit for assigning icons to the data file that have a pattern (excluding those in which part or all of the two-dimensional visual information is used as the pattern) corresponding to a string contained in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file, in part or in whole; and a display unit for displaying the icons assigned by the icon assignment unit.

2. The icon display device according to claim 1, wherein the icon assignment unit assigns an icon to the data file having a specific pattern in part or in whole that corresponds to a specific string contained in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file.

3. The icon display device according to claim 2, wherein the icon assignment unit has a specific string input unit that allows the user to set the specific string.

4. The icon display device according to claim 2, wherein the icon assigning unit has a specific symbol designating unit that allows the user to select the specific symbol.

5. The icon display device according to claim 1, wherein the icon assignment unit is configured to output an icon using a learning model that has been trained to output an icon having a specific pattern corresponding to the two-dimensional visual information when a part or all of the two-dimensional visual information of the data file is input.

6. The icon display device according to claim 1, wherein the icon assignment unit assigns an icon to the data file that has part or all of a specific design corresponding to a company name contained in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file.

7. The icon display device according to claim 6, wherein the icon assigning unit assigns an icon having part or all of the company logo corresponding to the company name.

8. The icon display device according to claim 7, wherein the icon assignment unit has a logo acquisition unit that acquires a company logo corresponding to the company name from an internet cloud, and assigns an icon having part or all of the acquired logo to the data file.

9. The icon display device according to claim 6, wherein the icon assigning unit is configured to output an icon using a learning model that has been trained to output an icon having part or all of a specific design corresponding to a company when an alphanumeric string corresponding to a company in accordance with a predetermined rule for the company name is input.

10. A program for controlling an icon display device comprising: a storage unit for storing a data file having attribute information and two-dimensional visual information to be displayed on a monitor device by opening the data file; an icon assignment unit for assigning icons corresponding to the two-dimensional visual information to the data file; and a display unit for displaying the icons assigned by the icon assignment unit, An icon display program having a first step of assigning an icon to the data file that has a pattern (excluding those in which part or all of the two-dimensional visual information is used as the pattern) corresponding to a string contained in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file, and a second step of displaying the assigned icon.

11. The icon display program according to claim 10, wherein the first step is to assign to the data file an icon having part or all of a specific pattern corresponding to a specific string contained in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file.

12. The icon display program according to claim 11, which adds an icon to the data file having a specific pattern that corresponds to a specific company name, which is the specific string mentioned above, in part or in whole.

13. The icon display program according to claim 10, wherein the icon assignment unit is configured to output an icon using a learning model that has been trained to output an icon having a specific pattern corresponding to the two-dimensional visual information when a part or all of the two-dimensional visual information of the data file is input.

14. The icon display program according to claim 10, wherein the first step is configured to output an icon that includes both a part or all of a first pattern (excluding those that use part or all of the two-dimensional visual information as a pattern) corresponding to a first string contained in the two-dimensional visual information of the data file, and a part or all of a second pattern (excluding those that use part or all of the two-dimensional visual information as a pattern) corresponding to a second string contained in the two-dimensional visual information.

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