Document reference apparatus and method for displaying documents page by page and storage medium storing program used for realizing the apparatus and method

Claim 2

A document reference apparatus for displaying display images of documents at a high speed in a manner in which a user feels as if flicking through the documents, helping the user search for a desired document, the document reference apparatus comprising: a document storage means for storing a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document is composed of one or more blocks, each block including one or more display attributes; an instruction receiving means for receiving a reference start instruction, a reference end instruction, and a reference range instruction input by the user; a reading means for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from the document storage means, wherein the reading means starts reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference start instruction and ends reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference end instruction; a display attribute converting means for converting display attributes of the read documents into predetermined display attributes, wherein the predetermined display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a high speed; an image generating means for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; and a displaying means for sequentially displaying the generated display images.

Claim 3

The document reference apparatus of claims 1, wherein: each of the plurality of documents stored in the document storage means includes one or more character row blocks which each are composed of characters, each character being composed of a character code and one or more character attributes being display attributes, wherein; the reading means reads each document block by block, the document reference apparatus further comprising: a data conversion controlling means for judging whether a read block is a character row block, wherein the display attribute converting means includes: a character attribute storage unit for storing a list of predetermined character attributes, as predetermined display attributes, which correspond to all character attributes; and a character attribute converting unit for converting character attributes include in the read block to corresponding predetermined character attributes stored in the character attribute storage unit when the data conversion controlling means judges that the read block is a character row block.

Claim 4

The document reference apparatus of claim 2, wherein each character row block includes a plurality of fonts being character attributes, wherein the character attribute storage unit stores one predetermined font corresponding to the plurality of fonts.

Claim 5

The document reference apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of documents stored in the document storage means includes display position attribute information which indicates display positions of document elements, wherein the display attribute converting means includes: a relative position converting unit for deleting the display position attribute information from the read documents, wherein the image generating means generating display images of the read documents from which the display position attribute information has been deleted.

Claim 6

The document reference apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of documents stored in the document storage means includes one or more graphic image blocks which each are composed of graphic images, each graphic image including one or more graphic image attributes and feature point coordinate information and both being display attributes, wherein the reading means reads each document block by block, the document reference apparatus further comprising: a data conversion controlling means for judging whether a read block is a graphic image block, wherein the display attribute converting means includes: a graphic image attribute storage unit for storing a list of predetermined graphic image attributes, as predetermined display attributes, which correspond to all graphic image attributes; a graphic image attribute converting unit for converting graphic image attributes included in the read block to corresponding predetermined graphic image attributes stored in the graphic image attribute storage unit when the data conversion controlling means judges that thread block is a graphic image block; a feature point coordinate deleting unit for rounding off the feature point coordinate information included in the read block.

Claim 7

The document reference apparatus of claim 5, wherein the feature point coordinate deleting unit deletes a certain number of low-order bits from the feature pint coordinate information included in the read block.

Claim 8

The document reference apparatus of claim 5, wherein each graphic image attribute includes a plurality of line types, wherein the graphic image attribute storage unit stores one predetermined line type corresponding to the plurality of line types.

Claim 9

The document reference apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of documents stored in the document storage means includes one or more bit map image blocks which each are composed of a bit map image and occupied area information being display attributes, the occupied area information specifying an area occupied by the bit map image of its own in a document, and wherein the reading means reads each document block by block, the document reference apparatus further comprising: a data conversion controlling means for judging whether a read block is a bit map image block, wherein the display attribute converting means includes: an image replacing unit for replacing the bit map image of the read block by an outline of the area occupied by the bit map image.

Claim 10

A document reference apparatus for displaying display images of documents at a high speed in a manner in which a user feels as if flicking through the documents, helping the user search for a desired document, the document reference apparatus comprising: a document storage means for storing a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document is composed of one or more blocks, each block including one or more display attributes; an instruction receiving means for receiving a reference start instruction, a reference end instruction, a reference range instruction, and a display speed instruction input by the user; a display speed judging means for judging whether a display speed specified in the display speed instruction received by the instruction receiving means exceed a predetermined speed; a reading means for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from the document storage means, wherein the reading means starts reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference start instruction and ends reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference end instruction; a display attribute converting means for converting display attributes of the read documents into predetermined display attributes when the display speed judging means judges that the display speed specified in the display speed instruction exceeds the predetermined speed, wherein the predetermined display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a high speed; a first image generating means for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; a second image generating means for generating display images of the read documents when the display speed judging means judges that the display speed specified in the display speed instruction fails to exceed the predetermined speed; and a displaying means for sequentially displaying the display images generated by the first image generating means and the second image generating means.

Claim 11

A document reference apparatus for displaying display images of documents at a high speed in a manner in which a user feels as if flicking through the documents, helping the user search for a desired document, the document reference apparatus comprising: a document storage means for storing a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document is composed of one or more blocks, each block including one or more display attributes; an instruction receiving means for receiving a reference start instruction, a reference end instruction, a reference range instruction, and a display speed instruction input by the user; a display speed judging means for judging whether a display speed specified in the display speed instruction received by the instruction receiving means exceed a predetermined speed; a reading means for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from the document storage means, wherein the reading means starts reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference start instruction and ends reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference end instruction; a display attribute converting means for converting display attributes of the read documents into predetermined display attributes when the display speed judging means judges that the display speed specified in the display speed instruction exceeds the predetermined speed, wherein the predetermined display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a high speed; a first image generating means for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; a second image generating means for generating display images of the read documents when the display speed judging means judges that the display speed specified in the display speed instruction fails to exceed the predetermined speed; and a displaying means for sequentially displaying the display images generated by the first image generating means and the second image generating means.

Claim 12

A document reference apparatus for displaying display images of documents at a high speed in a manner in which a user feels as if flicking through the documents, helping the user search for a desired document, the document reference apparatus comprising: a document storage means for storing a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document is composed of one or more blocks, each block including one or more display attributes; an instruction receiving means for receiving a reference start instruction, a reference end instruction, a reference range instruction, and a display speed instruction input by the user; a reading means for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from the document storage means, wherein the reading means starts reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference start instruction and ends reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference end instruction; a data amount judging means for judging whether an amount of data of the documents read by the reading means exceeds a predetermined data amount; a display attribute converting means for converting display attributes of the read documents into predetermined display attributes when the data amount judging means judges that the amount of data of the documents read by the reading means exceeds the predetermined data amount, wherein the predetermined display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a high speed; a first image generating means for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; a second image generating means for generating display images of the read documents when the data amount judging means judges that the amount of data of the documents read by the reading means fails to exceed the predetermined data amount; and a displaying means for sequentially displaying the display images generated by the first image generating means and the second image generating means.

Claim 13

A document reference apparatus for displaying display images of documents at a high speed in a manner in which a user feels as if flicking through the documents, helping the user search for a desired document, the document reference apparatus comprising: a document storage means for storing a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document is composed of one or more blocks, each block including one or more display attributes; an instruction receiving means for receiving a reference start instruction, a reference end instruction, a reference range instruction, and a display speed instruction input by the user; a reading means for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from the document storage means, wherein the reading means starts reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference start instruction and ends reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference end instruction; a data amount judging means for judging whether an amount of data of the documents read by the reading means exceeds a predetermined data amount; a display attribute converting means for converting display attributes of the read documents into predetermined display attributes when the data amount judging means judges that the amount of data of the documents read by the reading means exceeds the predetermined data amount, wherein the predetermined display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a high speed; a first image generating means for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; a second image generating means for generating display images of the read documents when the data amount judging means judges that the amount of data of the documents read by the reading means fails to exceed the predetermined data amount; and a displaying means for sequentially displaying the display images generated by the first image generating means and the second image generating means.

Claim 14

A document reference method for displaying display images of documents at a high speed in a manner in which a user feels as if flicking through the documents, helping the user search for a desired document, the document reference method comprising: an instruction receiving step for receiving a reference start instruction and a reference range instruction input by the user; a reading step for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from a document storage unit, wherein the document storage unit stores a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document is composed of one or more blocks, each block including one or more display attributes; a display attribute converting step for converting display attributes of the read documents into predetermined display attributes, wherein the predetermined display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a high speed; an image generating step for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; a displaying step for sequentially displaying the generated display images; and a reference end instruction receiving step for receiving a reference end instruction input by the user, and allowing the reading documents to be ended in the reading step when receiving the reference end instruction.

Claim 15

A document reference method for displaying display images of documents at a high speed in a manner in which a user feels as if flicking through the documents, helping the user search for a desired document, the document reference method comprising: an instruction receiving step for receiving a reference start instruction and a reference range instruction input by the user; a reading step for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from a document storage unit, wherein the document storage unit stores a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document is composed of one or more blocks, each block including one or more display attributes; a display attribute converting step for converting display attributes of the read documents into predetermined display attributes, wherein the predetermined display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a high speed; an image generating step for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; a displaying step for sequentially displaying the generated display images; and a reference end instruction receiving step for receiving a reference end instruction input by the user, and allowing the reading documents to be ended in the reading step when receiving the reference end instruction.

Claim 16

A recording medium recording a computer-readable program which achieves a document reference apparatus for displaying display images of document at a high speed in a manner in which a user feels as if flicking through the documents, helping the user search for a desired document, the computer-readable program comprising: an instruction receiving step for receiving a reference start instruction and a reference range instruction input by the user; a reading step for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from a document storage unit, wherein the document storage unit stores a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document is composed of one or more blocks, each block including one or more display attributes; a display attribute converting step for converting display attributes of the read documents into predetermined display attributes, wherein the predetermined display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a high speed; an image generating step for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; a displaying step for sequentially displaying the generated display images; and a reference end instruction receiving step for receiving a reference end instruction input by the user, and allowing the reading documents to be ended in the reading step when receiving the reference end instruction.

Claim 17

A recording medium recording a computer-readable program which achieves a document reference apparatus for displaying display images of document at a high speed in a manner in which a user feels as if flicking through the documents, helping the user search for a desired document, the computer-readable program comprising: an instruction receiving step for receiving a reference start instruction and a reference range instruction input by the user; a reading step for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from a document storage unit, wherein the document storage unit stores a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document is composed of one or more blocks, each block including one or more display attributes; a display attribute converting step for converting display attributes of the read documents into predetermined display attributes, wherein the predetermined display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a high speed; an image generating step for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; a displaying step for sequentially displaying the generated display images; and a reference end instruction receiving step for receiving a reference end instruction input by the user, and allowing the reading documents to be ended in the reading step when receiving the reference end instruction.

Claim 18

A document reference apparatus for electronically displaying images of documents at high speed to help the user search for a desired document, the document reference apparatus comprising: a document storage means for storing a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document includes one or more first display attributes; an instruction receiving means for receiving a reference start instruction, a reference end instruction, and a reference range instruction input by the user; a reading means for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from the document storage means, wherein the reading means starts reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference start instruction and ends reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference end instruction; a display attribute converting means for converting the first display attributes of the read documents into predetermined second display attributes of a different format than the respective first display attributes, wherein the predetermined second display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a higher speed than the first display attributes would permit; an image generating means for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; and a displaying means for sequentially displaying the generated display images.

Claim 19

A document reference apparatus for electronically displaying images of documents at high speed to help the user search for a desired document, the document reference apparatus comprising: a document storage means for storing a plurality of documents which are to be referred to by the user, wherein each document includes one or more first display attributes; an instruction receiving means for receiving a reference start instruction, a reference end instruction, and a reference range instruction input by the user; a reading means for sequentially reading documents which are in a range specified by the reference range instruction from the document storage means, wherein the reading means starts reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference start instruction and ends reading documents when the instruction receiving means receives the reference end instruction; a display attribute converting means for converting the first display attributes of the read documents into predetermined second display attributes of a different format than the respective first display attributes, wherein the predetermined second display attributes enable the display images to be generated at a higher speed than the first display attributes would permit; an image generating means for generating display images of the read documents which include the predetermined display attributes; and a displaying means for sequentially displaying the generated display images.