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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to an optical character reader
(hereafter simply referred to as OCR), and in particular to a dictionary
creating method adapted to the OCR, for creating a dictionary which is
used for recognizing an inputted unknown character.
Currently, various OCRs have been developed. In general, the OCR optically
scans a document by use of an image scanner, and reads an image
information from the document as image data. The image data may include
printed or handwritten characters. Then, the OCR recognizes the unknown
characters from the image data. Finally, the image data corresponding to
the recognized characters are converted into character code data.
The OCR makes it possible to considerably improve efficiency in entering
character information in the systems, as compared with a keyboard.
Therefore, the OCR is suitable for input means for entering character
information in character processing systems. For example, the OCR may be
suitably applied to word processing systems, automatic translating
systems, data sheet totalling systems and systems for producing data
files. Also, the OCR may be suitably applied to communication systems such
as data communication systems which transmit character data.
The OCR has a dictionary used for recognizing the inputted unknown
character. In the dictionary, image data of each of known (reference)
characters are pre-registered as reference image information. Image data
of the unknown character is compared with image data of the reference
characters registered in the dictionary. One reference character having
the image data which matches with the image data of the unknown character
is found. Then, the unknown character is identified as that reference
character. Finally, the image data corresponding to the recognized or
identified character is converted into character code data.
In general, many kinds of designs of type characters, or many kinds of
character fonts are used. For this reason, the dictionary must be provided
for each of the character fonts.
However, to create the dictionary or carry out maintenance of the created
dictionary such as modifications or variations, it is necessary to use a
tool specifically designed for creating and modifying or varying the
dictionary. In other words, the OCR itself does not have such functions.
For this reason, the creation and maintenance of the dictionary is very
cumbersome.
In addition, the creation and maintenance of the dictionary for recognizing
the handwritten characters is more cumbersome and complex due to many
limitations regarding the dictionary creation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, a general object of the present invention is to provide a
novel and useful method of creating a dictionary for character recognition
in which the disadvantages have been eliminated.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a method of
creating a dictionary for character recognition which can be implemented
by a character recognition apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of creating
a dictionary for character recognition which makes it possible to easily
create the dictionary, even a dictionary for recognizing handwritten
character.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of
creating a dictionary for character recognition capable of easily
modifying or varying the dictionary.
The above objects of the present invention can be achieved by a method of
creating a dictionary comprising the steps of optically scanning a
document on which identical characters are aligned in a scanning direction
and a mark indicating a size of a character line including the characters
is positioned in the vicinity of the aligned characters; extracting image
data of each of the characters within the line defined by the mark;
carrying out a predetermined image processing for dot patterns formed by
the image data of the characters to produce one dot pattern; entering a
character code data corresponding to the produced dot pattern data; and
registering the dot pattern and the character code data in a storage
region for a dictionary file for character recognition.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent
from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the
following drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a processing system having a function of
character recognition to which the present invention is applicable;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the processing system shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a character recognition process in the processing
system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a file header added to an image data;
FIGS. 5A and 5B are views for explaining a reading dot density at the time
of scanning;
FIG. 6 is a view for explaining extraction of character lines;
FIG. 7 is a view for explaining discrimination of handwritten characters;
FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a process for designating one optimum font
dictionary;
FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a process for a pattern matching;
FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a process for creation and maintenance
showing a dictionary;
FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing a process for creation and maintenance of a
font dictionary;
FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing a process for registration of a file name;
FIGS. 13A and 13B are flow charts showing a process for registration and
addition of a type character;
FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing a process for deletion of a type character;
FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing a process for printing out a list of
registered type character;
FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing a process for creation and maintenance of a
multi-font dictionary;
FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing a process for registration of a multi-font
dictionary file name;
FIG. 18 is a flow chart showing a process for registration of a font
dictionary file name;
FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing a process for deletion of a font dictionary
name;
FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing a process for printing out registered
characters in a font dictionary forming the multi-font dictionary;
FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing a process for addition of a font dictionary
to the multi-font dictionary;
FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing a process for interchanging the dictionary
file name;
FIG. 23 is a flow chart showing a process for displaying a dictionary file
list;
FIG. 24 is a flow chart showing a process for creation and maintenance of a
handwritten character dictionary;
FIG. 25 is a flow chart showing a process for registration of a handwritten
character dictionary file name;
FIGS. 26A and 26B are flow charts showing a process for registration and
addition of a character into a handwritten character dictionary;
FIG. 27 is a flow chart showing a process for deletion of a character from
a handwritten character dictionary;
FIG. 28 is a flow chart showing a process for outputting a list of
characters in a handwritten character dictionary;
FIG. 29 is a flow chart showing a general process for a method of creating
a dictionary according to the present invention;
FIG. 30 is a view for explaining a conventional horizontal projection
method;
FIG. 31 is a view for explaining an extraction method of one character
line;
FIG. 32 is a flow chart of a detailed process for creating a dictionary
according to the present invention; and
FIG. 33 is a view showing an image data to be registered in a dictionary.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Firstly, a description will be given on a processing system which has a
function as the OCR and implements a dictionary creating method of the
present invention.
Referring to FIG. 1, a processing system has a keyboard 11 and an image
scanner 12 as data input means. The keyboard 11 has character keys such as
alphameric character keys and "kana (Japanese alphabets)" keys, cursor
keys, a number of function keys and the like. The image scanner 12
optically scans a document and produces image information as image data.
As data output means, the system has a cathode ray tube display unit
(hereafter simply referred to as CRT unit) 13 and a printer 14. The CRT
unit 13 displays various images and characters including guidance to an
operator. The printer 14 is used to print out various information
processed in the system. A laser printer may be used for the printer 14.
A main processing unit 15 of the system contains a flopy disc drive unit
(hereafter simply referred to as FDD) 16 and a hard disc drive unit
(hereafter simply referred to as HDD) 17. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2,
the main processing unit 15 comprises a controller (hereafter simply
referred to as CPU) 20, a read only memory (hereafter simply referred to
as ROM) 21, a random access memory (hereafter simply referred to as RAM)
22, a keyboard interface 23, a scanner interface 24, a CRT controller 25,
a FDD controller 26, a HDD controller 27, and a printer controller 28.
The CPU 20 systematically controls the whole system in accordance with flow
charts which will be described layer. The CPU 20 may be made up of a
microcomputer. The RAM 22 is used to temporarily store the image data from
the image scanner 12 and the dictionary read out from the FDD 16 or HDD
17.
The FDD 16 or HDD 17 is used to store various dictionaries and to
temporarily store the image data from the scanner 12. In this example, the
dictionaries are classified into two categories; one of which is
associated with font dictionaries and the other is associated with
handwritten character dictionaries. The font dictionaries are used to
recognize the type characters each having a peculiar font, whereas the
handwritten character dictionaries are used to recognize handwritten
characters. A plurality of font dictionaries are provided for each of the
fonts (various kinds of character designs). The font dictionaries provided
for one font depend on a reading dot density at the time of the scanning.
Likewise, a plurality of handwritten character dictionaries are provided
depending on the reading dot density. Each of these dictionaries is stored
as a dictionary file in the FDD 16 or HDD 17. Each file has a file header
used to store various information such as a file number, a file name and
so on. Further, all of the dictionary files are managed by a file
directory storing various information such as the file name, a file
address, a file size and so on.
Image data of the document read by the image scanner 12 is passed through
the scanner controller 24 and is supplied to the main processing unit 15.
The read image data may be directly transferred into the RAM 22 or once
stored in an image data file which is formed in the FDD 16 or the HDD 17.
Upon the character recognition, the image data read by the scanner 12 is
transferred from the FDD 16 or HDD 17 in the RAM 22.
Before explaining the dictionary creating method of the present invention,
basic functions of the system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are described to
ensure the better understanding of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 3 showing a basic process for recognizing the unknown
character, when the image data read by the scanning is directly
transferred into the RAM 22 and the character recognition is carried out
therefor, a sequence of steps 101 to 103 is carried out. First of all, the
system discriminates tone of the character on the document (step 101), and
decides an optimum brightness of a fluorescence lamp for lighting up the
document to be scanned in accordance with a discriminated result at step
101 (step 102). The tone of the character on the document may be manually
designated by the operator through the keyboard 11, or may be
automatically designated by partially scanning the document and detecting
a level of the tone. The brightness of the lamp is made relatively dark in
the case where the character on the document is relatively heavily written
or printed, whereas the brightness is made relatively bright in the case
where the document is relatively faintly written or printed. This
brightness adjustment is aimed at accurately obtaining the image data of
the characters on the document. Then, the scanner 12 optically scans the
document with a designated reading dot density and provides the RAM 22
with the image data (step 103). The reading dot density will be explained
in detail later.
On the other hand, when carrying out the character recognition for the
image data of the unknown characters stored in the FDD 16 or HDD 17, the
image data is transferred therefrom into the RAM 22 (step 104). Of course,
the image data stored therein is image data which is read by the scanner
12 and transferred. As shown in FIG. 4, the transferred image data is
stored in an image data storing region of the image data file formed in
the FDD 16 or the HDD 17. At this time, the following information is
written into respective file header regions. That is, the reading dot
density, a length of the document in the main (transverse) direction along
which characters are written or printed, and a length of the document in
the sub-scanning (longitudinal) direction are registered into header parts
31, 32 and 33, respectively. The reasons are explained later.
Subsequent to step 103 or 104, a sequence of steps 105 to 107 is carried
out. Step 105 automatically extracts each of character lines from the
image data stored in the RAM 22, and step 106 automatically extracts each
of characters from each of the extracted character lines.
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the image data scanned by the scanner 12 is
successively stored into the image storage region formed in the RAM 22 by
one bite. Therefore, the length information of the document is necessary
to extract each of the character lines and further each of the characters
included in each of the extracted lines. In addition, the density of the
image data is necessary to designate a dictionary having the reading dot
density which is the same as that at the time of the scanning. FIG. 5A
shows image data which is read with the reading dot density equal to 200
dpi (dots per inch), and FIG. 5B shows image data which is read with the
reading density equal to 300 dpi. As can be seen from these figures, the
size of the image data (dot pattern) of one character (height and width)
depends on the reading dot density.
The character line extracting process at step 105 is carried out in
accordance with a conventional horizontal projection method. This method
detects a space between two adjacent lines and an area sandwiched between
two neighboring spaces is determined to be one character line in which
characters are aligned in the main direction. In this process, if the
document is somewhat obliquely set to the image scanner 12, there is a
possibility that the character line could not be extracted correctly. For
example, the space between the adjacent two lines becomes narrower towards
the right-hand side direction, and finally disappears. To eliminate this
problem, one character line is divided into a plurality of line blocks so
that the space separating two adjacent character lines can be ensured.
Subsequent to step 106, a character type is detected at step 107. That is,
it is checked whether the unknown characters are the handwritten character
or the type character having the peculiar font. This discrimination may be
carried out by predetermining fields on a document within which only the
handwritten characters are acceptable. In other words, a document which
has fixed fields for the handwritten characters is used. Of course, the
system must have information regarding such document beforehand. For this
purpose, as shown in FIG. 7, a length of each field is pre-registered in
the FDD 16 or HDD 17. Preferably, a specific kind of handwritten
characters are assigned to respective fields. In the illustrated example,
the first, second and third fields accept Roman alphabets, Arabic figures
and various symbols. Thereby, it is possible to improve the recognition
rate of the handwritten characters and the recognition speed.
Subsequent to step 107, either step 108 or 109 is carried out depending on
the character type. When the unknown character is the type character, step
108 is executed. At step 108, the the font of the unknown character is
discriminated in order to designate the optimum dictionary. As mentioned
previously, various font dictionaries are prepared depending on the font
and the reading dot density. Thereafter, a character code corresponding to
the recognized character is decided by use of the designated font
dictionary (step 112). This process will be explained in detail later.
On the other hand, when the unknown character is found to be the
handwritten character at step 107, the process proceeds to step 109 at
which a smoothing process is carried out for the image data. The smoothing
process intends to compensate a rough contour of the dot pattern of the
handwritten character. Then, at step 110, a normalization process for
making the size of the dot pattern uniform is carried out. Thereafter, at
step 111, the kind of the handwritten character is discriminated by use of
the information of the length of each field and relative kind of the
handwritten character. If the handwritten character is the Roman alphabet,
the relative handwritten character dictionary is selected. Then, the
matching process is carried out and the character code corresponding to
the recognized handwritten character is decided (step 112). Finally, it is
checked whether or not the character recognition process is completed. If
the discrimination result is affirmative, the process for one character
line is completed. Alternatively, if not, the process returns to step 105
and the character recognition process for the next character line is
carried out in the manner mentioned above.
An explanation of steps 108 and 112 in FIG. 3 is given in more detail, by
referring to FIGS. 8 and 9.
FIG. 8 shows a detailed sequence of the character font discriminating
process at step 108. As described previously, the font dictionaries are
provided for each of the character fonts. And the font dictionaries for
the same font are provided depending on the reading dot density.
Therefore, with respect to the unknown type characters to be recognized,
it is necessary to designate the optimum dictionary. The designation may
be manually made or automatically made. In order to achieve the automatic
dictionary designation, the priority is assigned to the font dictionaries.
It is now assumed that the three different font dictionaries #A, #B and #C
having the same reading dot density are provided and variable priority
levels are assigned to these dictionaries, as shown in TABLE-I.
TABLE 1
______________________________________
#A #B #C
______________________________________
1st matching
1 2 3
2nd matching
3 1 2
3rd matching
2 3 1
______________________________________
The optimum font dictionary is designated as follows. Firstly, the matching
at step 112 is made with the dictionary of the highest priority level. In
the above example, the font dictionary #A is selected. If a matching
result is less than a predetermined threshold level, the dictionary #A is
found to be unsuitable for the unknown characters to be registered. This
means that the font of the dictionary #A matches with that of the unknown
characters. Adversely, if the matching result exceeds the threshold level,
the dictionary #A is concluded to be the unsuitable dictionary, and the
priority levels assigned to the dictionaries #B and #C which are lower
than the priority of the dictionary #A upon the first matching are
respectively advanced by 1 as shown in the above table. At this time, the
lowest priority level is assigned to the dictionary #A. Thereafter,
matching with the dictionary #B which is the highest priority level at the
time of the second matching is made. In this manner, the matching is
repeated until the optimum dictionary is found. However, if all of the
matching results are less than the threshold level, one dictionary having
the best matching result is designated.
Generally, one document is printed with the the same character font.
Therefore, once the optimum font dictionary is automatically designated by
use of the priority, the subsequent matching process can be made at an
extremely high speed.
A more detailed description of the character font discriminating process at
step 108 is given with reference to FIG. 8. Firstly, the dictionary having
the highest priority level (dictionary #A in the above example) is read
from the RAM 22 (step 121) and a first unknown character positioned at the
beginning of the character line is read from the RAM 22 (step 122). Next,
the pattern matching (or feature matching) therebetween is made (step
123). If the matching is successful and the first unknown character can be
identified (step 124), a predetermined constant value .alpha. is
subtracted from a value X in a register provided in the CPU 20, for
example (step 125). A value 0 in the register is initially set in the
register. The value X in the register is reset to 0 every time the
character at the beginning of one character line is read at step 122. If
the matching is found to be unsuccessful at step 124, a predetermined
constant value .beta. is added to the value X in the register (step 126).
Then, it is checked whether or not the current unknown character is the
last character of the character line (step 127). If the discrimination
result at step 127 is negative, the next unknown character is selected
(step 128) and the process returns to step 123, so that the same sequence
is repeated. Adversely, if the current unknown character is found to be
the last character of the line (step 127), the current value X in the
register is stored in a storage area formed in the CPU 20 (step 129).
Then, it is checked whether or not the value X is smaller than a threshold
value 0 (step 130). If the result at step 130 is negative, it is checked
whether or not there is any dictionary which has not been yet used (step
132). If the result at step 132 is affirmative, the priority assigned to
the dictionaries are reorganized (step 133). In the above example, the
priority levels at the second matching shown in TABLE-I are assigned.
Then, the process returns to step 121, at which the dictionary of the
highest priority (dictionary #B in the above example) is selected. Then,
the matching with the characters of the same line is made again. After the
matching of the last character with the current dictionary (dictionary #B)
is made, if the value X stored at step 129 is smaller than 0 at step 130,
this dictionary is designated as the optimum dictionary (step 131).
Alternatively, if the result at step 130 is negative again, it is checked
whether or not there is still any dictionary which has not been yet used
for the matching (step 132). If the result at step 132 is affirmative, the
priority is reorganized again (step 133). In the above example, the
priority levels are altered as in the third matching process shown in
TABLE-I. Then, the dictionary of the highest priority (dictionary #C)is
selected (step 121), and the same matching process is repeated. Then, if
the result at step 130 is negative again and it is found that there is no
dictionary which has not been yet used. Thus, the dictionary having the
smallest X value is designated (step 134).
A more detailed explanation of the character code deciding process at step
112 in FIG. 3 is given by referring to FIG. 9.
Firstly, the dictionary designated by the character font discrimination
process at step 108 in FIG. 3 is read out from the HDD 17 and transferred
into the RAM 22 (step 141 in FIG. 9). In this case, when the result at
step 130 in FIG. 8 is affirmative and the optimum dictionary is designated
at step 131, this optimum dictionary has been already stored in the RAM
22. Therefore, step 141 in FIG. 9 is omitted.
Next, the first unknown character of one character line is read from the
RAM 22 (step 142). Then, the pattern matching is carried out (step 143) in
accordance with a predetermined pattern matching method (a 24-dimensional
mathcing method, for example). If the matching is successful and the
corresponding character code can be decided (step 144), the character code
is outputted (step 145). Adversely, if the pattern matching is concluded
to be unsuccessful (step 144), the process proceeds to step 146, at which
the matching is made in accordance with other pattern matching methods. In
this example, there are provided a 4.times.4.times.8 dimensional matching
method, a 3.times.3.times.8 dimensional matching method and a matching
method based on multi-layer directional histogram. Thereafter, it is
checked whether or not the character code can be found (step 147). If the
result at step 147 is affirmative, the corresponding character code is
outputted (step 145). Alternatively, if the result at step 147 is
negative, a rejection code is produced (step 148). This code indicates
that the identification of the unknown character is impossible. Then, step
149 is carried out, at which it is checked whether or not the unknown
character designated at step 142 is the last character of the same line
(step 149). If the result at step 149 is affirmative, the character code
deciding process for one character line is completed. Alternatively, if
not, the process proceeds to step 150, at which the next character is read
out from the RAM 22. Then, the same process is repeated.
In this manner, the character font discriminating process and the character
code deciding process are carried out per character line. Then, the
recognized characters are displayed on the CRT display unit 13 or printed
out by the printer 14. The rejection for the character which could not be
recognized is displayed or printed out by a special symbol.
As described above, the character font cn be automatically found and the
optimum font dictionary can be automatically designated. Hereafter, this
function is referred to as "multi-font".
On the other hand, the step of discriminating the kind of the handwritten
characters and the step of deciding the character code may be carried out
in a similar way to the processes for the type character. However, in this
case, the information relating to the length of the fields and the kind of
the handwritten characters in the fields, which are described with
reference to FIG. 7, is used.
A description will be given on a dictionary creating process and a
dictionary maintenance process of the present invention.
When the dictionary creating and maintenance process is designated through
the keyboard 11, the system begins a process for selecting utilities
(modes) shown in FIG. 10. Firstly, a main menu indicating the kinds of the
processes which are prepared as utilities is displayed on the CRT unit 13
(step 151 in FIG. 10). Then, when the operator selects any one of the
display processes (step 152), the selected process is discriminated (step
153) and carried out. In this example, there are prepared the following
four utilities: "creation and maintenance of font dictionary", "creation
and maintenance of multi-font dictionary", "outputting list of dictionary
file name", and "creation and maintenance of handwritten character
dictionary".
A description will be given on the utility of "creation and maintenance of
font dictionary".
As described in the foregoing, the font dictionary is prepared for each of
the character fonts and each of the dot densities. In the above example
shown in TABLE-I, three font dictionaries #A, #B and #C are prepared for
different fonts. These dictionaries are associated with the same dot
density. The utility of "creation and maintenance of font dictionary" is
used for creating and modifying or varying the font dictionaries.
This utility has the following four sub-mode as shown in FIG. 11:
"registration of file name", "registration and addition of character",
"deletion of character", and "printing out list of registered character".
When the utility of "creation and maintenance of font dictionary" is
selected at step 152 in FIG. 10, a menu of this utility is displayed (step
161). Next when any one of the processes is designated by the key input
(step 162), the selected process is discriminated (step 163).
The process 164 of "registration of file name" is shown in FIG. 12.
Firstly, a menu of this mode is displayed (step 171). Then, a font
dictionary file name is entered by the operator (step 172). Subsequently,
a number corresponding to a relative reading dot density and a number
corresponding to a relative dictionary type are entered (steps 173 and
174). The dictionary type number depends on the fonts. Thereafter, it is
checked whether or not the designated file name exists in the system (step
175). If the result at step 175 is affirmative, it is checked whether or
not the font dictionary file designated by the entered file name is
permitted to be deleted (step 176). If the deletion is not permitted, the
process ends. Alternatively, if the deletion is permitted, it is checked
whether or not the creation of the dictionary is permitted (step 177). If
the result at step 177 is negative, the process ends. If the creation of
the dictionary is permitted, the entered file name is registered in the
file directory (step 178). Then, the storage region for storing the font
dictionary file is assigned and the file header which is used to store
control information such as addresses of the assigned storage region and
the like is produced (step 179).
FIGS. 13A and 13B are flow charts showing the "registration and addition of
character" mode (process 165 in FIG. 11).
At the commencement of this process, it is checked whether or not the
addition of the character is designated (step 181). If the addition of the
character is designated, a menu of the character addition is displayed
(step 183). If not, a menu of the character registration is displayed
(step 182). Then, a file name is inputted by the key input (step 184).
Then it is checked whether or not the entered file name is correct (step
185). If the file name is incorrect, an error message is outputted (step
186) and the process ends. Adversely, if the file name is correct, the
reading dot density and the dictionary type relating to the dictionary
designated by the entered file name are read out from the file and
displayed (step 187). Then, the number of characters which are the
identical characters and aligned in the main (transverse) direction is
entered (step 188). As decribed in detail later, the aligned identical
characters are the character which the operator intends to register in the
dictionary file. Subsequent to step 188, the tone of the characters is
entered through the keyboard (step 189). Thereafter, it is checked whether
or not the scanning is ready (step 190). If the result is negative, the
process ends. Alternatively, if the result is affirmative, the document
having the aligned identical characters is held in place (step 191). Then,
the scanning of the document starts (step 192). Subsequently, it is
checked whether or not the scanner 12 is in the time-out (step 193). If
the result is affirmative, it is further checked whether or not the
process should be continued (step 195). If the result is negative, the
process ends. Alternatively, if the result at step 195 is affirmative, the
process returns to step 191. On the other hand, if the result at step 193
is negative, it is checked whether or not the reading of the document has
been finished (step 194). If the result is affirmative, the process
proceeds to step 195. Adversely, if the result at step 194 is negative,
the process proceeds to step 196.
At this time, the CPU 20 carries out an image processing for the dot
pattern of each of the characters to produce one dot pattern to be
registered in the font dictionary. The image processing will be described
in more detail later. Then, the dot pattern produced by the image
processing is displayed on the CRT unit 13. Instead, the dot pattern of
any one of the extracted characters may be displayed. Then, the character
corresponding to the displayed character pattern is entered through the
keyboard 11 (step 196). Then, the system requests the confirmation of the
operation at step 196 (step 197). If the operation at step 196 is
confirmed to be correct, the font dictionary file is made open (step 198).
Then, the image data produced by the above image processing and the
corresponding character code entered at step 196 are written in the font
dictionary file (step 199). Then, the file is closed (step 200).
FIG. 14 is a flow chart of the process 166 (FIG. 11) of deleting the
character in the font dictionary file. Firstly, a menu for the deletion of
the character is displayed on the CRT unit 13 (step 201). Next, the file
name in which a character to be deleted exists is entered (step 202). The
system asks the operator whether or not the enetered file name is correct
through the CRT unit 13 (step 203). If the result at step 203 is negative,
an error message is outputted (step 204) and the character deleting
process ends. Alternatively, if the result at step 203 is affirmative, the
reading dot density and the dictionary type is read out from the file
(step 205). Then, these data are displayed on the CRT 13 unit (step 205).
Thereafter, the character to be deleted is entered through the keyboard 11
(step 206). Then it is checked whether or not the entered character exists
in the designated file (step 207). If the result at step 207 is negative,
an error message is outputted (step 208) and the character deleting
process ends. On the other hand, if the character to be deleted exists, it
is checked whether or not the deletion is permitted (step 209). If the
result at step 209 is negative, the process ends. Adversely if the result
at step 209 is affirmative, the file is made open and a table in which the
reference characters are registered are read and transferred in the RAM 22
(step 211). In this embodiment, 128 characters may be registered in the
table. The 128 characters are sequentially read out and displayed. Every
time one character is read out, it is checked whether or not the read
character is the character to be deleted (step 213). If the result at step
213 is affirmative, the character in the RAM 22 is deleted (step 214).
Thereafter, the address of the table is incremented (step 215) and the
next character is checked. In this manner, the character designated at
step 206 is deleted. Then, if all the characters in the table are checked
(step 211), the contents of the RAM 22 is transferred to the HDD 17 and
the table is revised. Then the process ends (step 212).
FIG. 15 is a flow chart of the process 167 (FIG. 11) for printing out a
list of the characters registered in the font dictionary. First of all, a
menu of this process is displayed (step 221). Next, the file name is
entered (step 222). Then, it is checked whether or not the entered filed
name is correct (step 223). If the result at this step is negative, an
error message is outputted (step 224) and the process ends. Adversely, if
the result at step 223 is affirmative, the relative reading dot density
and dictionary type is read out from the HDD 17 and displayed (step 225).
Then, when printing means for outputting the list is designated (steps 225
and 226), the file is made open and the table is read out and transferred
in the RAM (step 227). Then, when the CRT unit 13 is designated, the list
is displayed (steps 228 and 229). When the printer 13 is designated, the
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