JPH02267620A - Input mode display device applying cursor attribute - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To show a double input mode by giving plural attributes to a cursor set on a display screen in response to the input modes. CONSTITUTION:The characters handled by an English word processor are roughly divided into the normal English letters, the graphic characters, and the code characters. At the same time, each word processor is always provided with two input modes for insertion and superscription regardless of the type of the handling language. Then an input mode can be identified with change of the form of a cursor consisting of dots. Meanwhile an input state of a specific type of characters is shown by the change of the blinking speed of the cursor. Thus three different blinking speeds are set for the normal letters, graphic characters, and code characters respectively. Thus the input modes are displayed by changing the attribute of the cursor and without using any special parts nor occupying the display area of a screen.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides a means for displaying the selection state of an input mode in a device such as a computer or a word processor that has an input section and a display section and can set several input modes. Regarding.

[Conventional technology]

When using a device such as a personal computer or a word processor, one of several input modes may be selected and operated. For example, [Romaji input] and [Hiragana input] in a word processor. As a method of indicating the selection status of the input mode, a key switch with a locking mechanism is arranged on the keyboard and the key switch is determined based on the locked state. Alternatively, a light emitting diode indicating the input mode is attached to the key top or the main body, or the input mode is displayed on the display screen.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, a key switch with a locking mechanism or an LED
The use of parts such as these increases manufacturing costs.

Furthermore, when the input mode is displayed on the screen, one line or a partial area of the display is used for this purpose, which is inconvenient especially in small devices because the working area of the screen becomes narrow.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes a device that indicates the type of input mode by the attributes of a cursor appearing on the screen. Since a cursor indicating the input position is always displayed on the display screen of a computer or the like, the type of input mode can be displayed by changing attributes such as the cursor shape and plink speed. Changes in cursor attributes are made by hardware or software.

[Effect]

Not only can an input mode be expressed by the cursor shape and plink speed, but by combining these, it is possible to express dual input modes. Examples in word processors include [insert hiragana input] and [overwrite hiragana input].

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below using an English word processor as an example. The characters handled by this English word processor are roughly divided into three types: normal English characters, graphic characters, and code characters. Further, no matter what language the word processor handles, it is always equipped with two input modes: [insert/overwrite], and the same applies to this embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), the above input modes are differentiated and shown by changing the shape of the dot-configured cursor. (a) is in insert mode, (b)
) is in overwrite mode. On the other hand, the type of character input state is expressed by a change in the blinking speed of the cursor. As shown in FIGS. 2(a), 2(b), and 2(c), three types of blinking speeds are provided to correspond to the above-mentioned normal characters, graphic characters, and code characters. In this embodiment, the plink period is 0.4.0.2.0.1 m5ec, which is a ratio that allows a human to visually distinguish the difference, but the selection of the period is of course arbitrary.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, by changing the attributes of the cursor, the input mode can be displayed without using special parts or occupying the display area of the screen. In addition, in such devices, since the user almost always pays attention to the cursor, operability is improved by being able to determine the input mode using the cursor.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device having a plurality of input modes, wherein a cursor on a display screen has a plurality of attributes corresponding to the input mode, and the device displays an input mode using a cursor attribute.