Abstract: One system to which the present invention is applied obtains the digitized form image of a form, recognizes a character string existing in the obtained form image, extracts a headline wording being a predetermined character string from the recognized character strings, determines a table structure existing in the form image, on the basis of the extracted headline wording and the arrangement of headline wordings in the form image and specifies a correspondence relationship between a headline wording and a character string other than the headline wording that is recognized, using the determination result.

Abstract: An objective is to eliminate dotted lines in a character box in image data to increase the character recognition rate. There are some cases in which a dotted line candidate cannot be extracted due to many overlapping parts of dotted lines and characters or due to a blurry part in a dotted line. In such cases, the position of a dotted line candidate is estimated referring to features such as the interval, length, width, etc. of a dotted line candidate in the same character box (or in a character box for another relevant item), and image data of the estimated position and image data of a previously extracted dotted line (or a reference dotted line) are compared to determine whether or not they are an identical dotted line.

Abstract: The present invention firstly roughly classifies an analysis range specified by the operator in the color image data of a form into background, a character frame and a character, precisely specifies a character frame on the basis of the classification result, eliminates the character from the color image data from which the background is eliminated and recognizes the remaining character.

Abstract: An objective is to eliminate dotted lines in a character box in image data to increase the character recognition rate. There are some cases in which a dotted line candidate cannot be extracted due to many overlapping parts of dotted lines and characters or due to a blurry part in a dotted line. In such cases, the position of a dotted line candidate is estimated referring to features such as the interval, length, width, etc. of a dotted line candidate in the same character box (or in a character box for another relevant item), and image data of the estimated position and image data of a previously extracted dotted line (or a reference dotted line) are compared to determine whether or not they are an identical dotted line.

Abstract: A screen plug extracts screen image data of a display screen from a target application and acquired data to be linked from the screen image data. The acquired data is output to a linkage application. Thus the screen plug realizes data linkage between the linkage application and the target application.

Abstract: A method for identifying payment forms accurately identifies types of forms without adding special form identification data. A payment form discrimination method for discriminating payment forms which state a payee account number and a payment amount includes a step of acquiring an image of the form, a step of making a search for the payee account number in the image in accordance with an account number searching rule, and a step of discriminating the type of form based on the searched payee account number. Types of forms can be identified accurately and fast without adding special form identification data, because the form identification is performed using easily searchable account numbers.

Abstract: One system to which the present invention is applied obtains the digitized form image of a form, recognizes a character string existing in the obtained form image, extracts a headline wording being a predetermined character string from the recognized character strings, determines a table structure existing in the form image, on the basis of the extracted headline wording and the arrangement of headline wordings in the form image and specifies a correspondence relationship between a headline wording and a character string other than the headline wording that is recognized, using the determination result.

Abstract: The present invention firstly roughly classifies an analysis range specified by the operator in the color image data of a form into background, a character frame and a character, precisely specifies a character frame on the basis of the classification result, eliminates the character from the color image data from which the background is eliminated and recognizes the remaining character.

Abstract: An apparatus has a temporary registration unit which extracts candidate information, which can be data medium discrimination information, about a data medium from image data, relates it to the data medium, and register them in a registration candidate database when the data medium discrimination information about the data medium is not retained in a data medium discrimination information database, and a registration unit which relates the candidate information to the kind of the data medium, and registers them as the data medium discrimination information in the data medium discrimination information database. The data medium discrimination information database retaining a pair of the kind of data medium and data medium discrimination information about the data medium used to discriminate the data medium can be automatically kept in the optimal state according to a distribution frequency of the data medium, whereby an excellent rate of document discrimination is attained.

Abstract: Collation can be carried out at a high speed without reducing the accuracy thereof, whereby processing of identifying documents is accurately performed at a high speed. To this end, characteristic data of a predetermined pattern is registered in advance. Characteristic data in a first area greater than an area of the predetermined pattern registered in advance in an image to be identified is compared and collated with characteristic data of the predetermined pattern. A second area smaller than the first area is cut out from the first area based on the result of comparison, so that characteristic data of an image in the second area is compared and collated with the characteristic data of the predetermined pattern, thus making it possible to identify the predetermined pattern contained in the image based on the result of comparison.

Abstract: A screen plug extracts screen image data of a display screen from a target APL and acquired data to be linked from the screen image data. The acquired data is output to a linkage APL. Thus the screen plug realizes data linkage between the linkage APL and the target APL.

Abstract: A data sheet identification device of the invention includes: a character/graphics extracting section, an identical shape deciding section, a graphics collating section, an identification code/data sheet ID identifying section for collating characters that have been decided to have the same shape with an identification code/data sheet ID database in which a plurality of characters showing features of a plurality of data sheets respectively have been registered, and an identifying section for uniquely identifying the data sheet based on a result of the collation by the graphics collating section and a result of the collation by the identification code/data sheet ID identifying section.

Abstract: An image collating apparatus and an image collating method, in which a document larger than an image reader can be collated using a preregistered image even in the case where the document is read by the image reader, are disclosed. The image of the document read by the image reader is collated sequentially with the document images of different sizes preregistered in a data base. The document size is determined from the document image input from the image reader. In the case where the document size is smaller than the preregistered image size, the preregistered image is retrieved in accordance with the document size, so that the document features are extracted and matched between the read document image and the registered image set in size to each other, thereby collating the read image with the preregistered image.

Abstract: A method for identifying payment forms accurately identifies types of forms without adding special form identification data. A payment form discrimination method for discriminating payment forms which state a payee account number (50) and a payment amount (51) includes a step of acquiring an image of the form, a step of making a search for the payee account number in the image in accordance with an account number searching rule, and a step of discriminating the type of form based on the searched payee account number. Types of forms can be identified accurately and fast without adding special form identification data, because the form identification is performed using easily searchable account numbers.

Abstract: Disclosed is a format recognition method, apparatus and its storage medium for automatically recognizing the format of a form, whereby the format is automatically determined by examining the arrangement of the smallest rectangles. According to the present invention, the smallest rectangles are extracted from a form, and the positional relationship of these rectangles is obtained. The attribute of the smallest rectangle is determined from the positional relationship. In accordance with the attribute, the smallest rectangles are sorted into a headline portion and a data portion, and a character string in the data portion is recognized.

Abstract: A data medium handling apparatus and a data medium handling method suitable for use for handling of documents, for example, in a financial organ. The data medium handling apparatus (30) for recognizing, based on an image (19) read from a data medium on which information is described in an arbitrary format, the information, is constructed such that it comprises means (2) for extracting characteristics unique to the data medium including the format from the read image data (19) and specifying, from the characteristics, a position at which information to be recognized is present, and image recognition means (3) for recognizing the image (19) at the position specified by the is preceding means (2) to discriminate the information, so that the data medium handling apparatus (30) can handle documents having various formats such as private slips.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method of and an apparatus for extracting a dotted line from an binary image of a document, and a storage medium thereof. The isolated points are extracted from the binary image. The isolated points configuring a candidate of the dotted line are extracted based on a positional relationship between the extracted isolated points. A validity of the isolated points configuring the candidate of the dotted line is checked. The dotted line from a positional relationship between groups of the extracted isolated points of the candidate of the dotted line. The dotted line can be thereby precisely extracted even if some isolated points are lost due to an. under-density of the image etc.

Abstract: Characters of data on a document are recognized by automatically determining the definitions of characters of the data from the arrangement of character strings of the data. Character strings on the document are extracted by reading the document, and headers and data on the document are distinguished from each other by determining the positional relationship between the character strings. Character attributes of the data are determined by recognizing characters of the character strings of the headers using a header recognition dictionary. Characters of the character strings of the data are recognized according to the determined character attributes of the data. Since character attributes of the data are determined from recognized characters of the headers after the headers and the data are distinguished from each other from the layout on the document, it is possible to enter automatically the character attributes of the data.

Abstract: Collation can be carried out at a high speed without reducing the accuracy thereof, whereby processing of identifying documents is accurately performed at a high speed. To this end, characteristic data of a predetermined pattern is registered in advance. Characteristic data in a first area greater than an area of the predetermined pattern registered in advance in an image to be identified is compared and collated with characteristic data of the predetermined pattern. A second area smaller than the first area is cut out from the first area based on the result of comparison, so that characteristic data of an image in the second area is compared and collated with the characteristic data of the predetermined pattern, thus making it possible to identify the predetermined pattern contained in the image based on the result of comparison.

Abstract: A character recognition apparatus, in which a type of each of accounts, a type of each of marks, and characteristic data indicating a string of characters recognized when any of the marks is written in each account are previously registered for each group of the types of accounts in correlation to each other in an account-type database; a mark is estimated according to a result of verification between the account-type database and a result of ordinary character recognition according to a character recognizing program; and a type of account having the estimated mark is determined as a selected account name according to a result of recognizing characters in accounts other than the account having the mark.