JPH03182971A - Attribute setting system in conversational graphic processing - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] This invention relates to an attribute setting method in interactive graphic processing that inputs attributes of a graphic currently being created or changes attributes of a graphic that has already been input in an interactive graphic processing system that performs pick input. A graphic element specifying means for specifying a graphic element displayed on a display device when performing interactive graphic processing, and one or more graphics elements displayed on a display device, for the purpose of simplifying attribute setting operations. When setting the attributes of the figure of interest, a figure already displayed on the display device is specified by the figure element specifying means, and the specified figure is and attribute setting means for setting an attribute stored in the display information storage means as a new attribute of the figure of interest.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an attribute setting method in an interactive graphic processing system that performs pick input, in which attributes of a graphic currently being created are manually changed or attributes of a graphic that has already been input are changed.

In recent years, with advances in computer graphics capabilities,
Interactive graphics processing systems, such as CAD systems, in which an operator directly manipulates the creation/update of graphics, are becoming popular, and an operation method that is easy to operate and reduces input errors is desired.

[Conventional technology]

In an interactive processing system, an input device that is operated by an operator and a display device that displays a screen that is referred to during the input operation are essential. Keyboards are common as human-powered devices, but recently, pick-up devices such as light pens, input tablets, and mice that can easily specify any position on the screen have become widely used. In addition to cathode ray tubes (CRTs), liquid crystal display panels and the like have recently been widely used as display devices.

When displaying a figure such as characters or graphics in the above-mentioned interactive processing system, it is necessary to input information such as the shape and coordinates of the display element as well as the attributes of the figure. Here, the attribute refers to, for example, information such as line type and line width in one color in the case of a line drawing, and information such as character type and two colors in the case of text.

Conventionally, setting attributes of display figures or changing attributes that have already been set was done by displaying an attribute setting menu on the display device and inputting values into the attribute value setting area provided within the menu. was. Therefore, when creating a new figure manually, first set the attributes of the figure using this attribute setting menu, and then manually input information such as the shape of the figure (in the case of a straight line figure, the coordinates of both ends). A graphic having the specified attributes is displayed. Also, when changing the attributes of a shape that is already displayed, first specify the target shape and then input the changed attributes using the attribute setting menu, so that the shape with the changed attributes can be displayed. be exposed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the conventional method described above, attributes are set using the attribute setting menu, so when changing an attribute value, it is necessary to input the attribute value itself each time, making the attribute setting operation complicated. There was a problem. For example, if you manually create multiple shapes with the same attribute value in succession, you may be able to input the attribute values only once, but you can change the attribute value of one of them and restore it again. In this case, it is necessary to re-enter the attribute value each time, and it is also necessary to memorize the attribute value before the change by writing it down on a piece of paper, which makes the operation complicated.

The present invention was created in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an attribute setting method in interactive graphic processing that simplifies attribute setting operations.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of an attribute setting method in interactive graphic processing according to the present invention.

In the figure, graphic element specifying means 121 specifies a graphic element displayed on display device 111 when performing interactive graphic processing.

The display information storage unit 131 stores display information including attributes for each of one or more graphics displayed on the display device 111.

When setting the attributes of a figure of interest, the attribute setting means 141 specifies a figure already displayed on the display device 111 using the figure element specifying means 121, and the display information storage means 131 corresponds to the specified figure. The attributes stored in are set as new attributes of the figure of interest.

Therefore, as a whole, the system is designed so that new attributes of the target figure can be set by specifying the already displayed figure.

[For production]

When setting attributes for a given figure of interest, a graphic element having the attribute to be set and already displayed on the display device 111 is specified by the graphic element specifying means 121. The attribute setting means 141 sets the attribute stored in the display information storage means 131 corresponding to the figure specified by the graphic element specifying means 121 as a new attribute of the figure of interest.

In the present invention, the already displayed figure is specified by the figure element specifying means 121, and the attribute of this specified figure is set as a new attribute of the figure of interest, without inputting the attribute value itself. Attributes are being set.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an embodiment to which the attribute setting method in interactive graphic processing of the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 2, 211 is a display section, 213 is a display control section, 221 is a pick manual section, 223 is an instruction manual section, 231 is an attribute management table storage section, 233 is an element management table storage section, Reference numeral 241 indicates an attribute setting section, 243 a management table, 251 an input/output control section, and 261 a data processing section.

The pick input unit 221 includes a light pen, an input tablet,
It is composed of a mouse or the like, and allows arbitrary coordinates within the display screen of the display unit 211 to be specified with a simple operation.

The instruction input unit 223 is used to manually input operation instructions and various data through key operations. For example, it is also possible to input numerical values for the horizontal and vertical coordinates of arbitrary coordinates within the display screen described above. The display control unit 213 controls the display unit 21
1, and draws on the display screen based on the coordinate values and attributes of the displayed figure.

The attribute management table storage unit 231 stores attribute information of figures displayed on the display unit 211 as an attribute management table for each type of figure.

Table 1 shows a specific example of an attribute management table regarding linear elements.

The first table element management table storage section 233 stores element information of the graphics displayed on the display section 211 as an element management table for each type of graphics.

A specific example of the element management table regarding linear elements is shown in Table 2.

Table 2 In Table 2, "Element name" is an identification code for correspondence with each graphical element (linear element) displayed on the screen.
``Coordinate value'' indicates the coordinate values of both ends of the linear figure, and ``Attribute number'' indicates a number for specifying the attribute that the figure has. Table 1.

The element names and attribute numbers in the second table are both information managed within the system, and are used to associate tables with each other or between tables and display graphics.

The attribute setting section 241 sets the attributes of the target figure in response to attribute setting instructions or change instructions from the instruction input section 223, and sets the attributes in the attribute management table storage section 231 and the element management table storage section in response to these instructions. The section 233 is searched and attributes are set, and the results are updated and stored in each table as necessary. Further, the attribute setting unit 241 internally has a management table 241 that stores the storage positions of each table in order to search each of these tables. The management table 241 has storage addresses for element management tables and attribute management tables for each type of figure, and a specific example thereof is shown in Table 3.

The third table human output control unit 251 controls the input and output of data and instructions between each component. For example, attribute setting instructions input manually from the instruction input unit 223 are sent via this human output control unit 251. The information is sent to the attribute setting section 241. In addition, an element management table storage section 233 and an attribute management table storage section 231
The stored information (element information and corresponding attribute information) is read out and sent to the display control section 213 via the input/output control section 251, so that the figure is displayed on the screen of the display section 211.

The data processing unit 261 performs predetermined arithmetic processing on input data or enlarges or reduces displayed figures.

It performs various graphic processing such as movement, and the results of this processing are displayed on the display section 211 via the display control section 213.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention described above will be explained.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a graphical display in accordance with the element management table shown in Table 1 and the attribute management table shown in Table 2. In the figure, the symbols ■ to ■ represent correspondences with element names in the element management table, and do not appear on the actual display screen. Further, FIG. 4 shows the operating procedure of the embodiment.

Now, let us consider the case where four straight line figures, graphic elements (2) to (2), are displayed on the display screen, and a new graphic element (2) with the same attributes as the graphic element is to be created.

First, the state is set to create a straight line figure (step 411).
). The operator manually instructs graphic creation by operating the instruction input section 223. Alternatively, the user moves the cursor on the display screen using the pick input unit 221 and picks the area where drawing is to be instructed.

Next, an instruction for attribute setting is given, and an existing display figure having the same attributes as the newly created figure is designated (step 412). If the attribute of the graphic element ■ is to be the same as the attribute of the graphic element ■, the pick input section 221 is operated to manually pick the graphic element displayed on the screen.

When the pick input of the graphic element ■ is made, the attribute setting section 24
Step 1 is to search the element management table storage section 233 based on the linear element management table address in the management table 243, and search for element information corresponding to the graphic element that was input by pick (step 413), corresponding to the graphic element. The attribute number "
1'' (step 414).

Further, the attribute setting unit 241 sets the attribute management table storage unit 2 based on the attribute management table address in the management table 243.
31 and the attribute number "1" obtained in step 414
The attribute information specified in step 41 is read out (step 41).
5).

Next, the coordinates of both ends of the straight line figure of the graphic element (3) are inputted, and the graphic element (2) is displayed on the screen based on these coordinate values and the attribute values read out in step 415. The coordinate values may be input directly by manually pressing keys on the instruction input section 223, or by operating the pick input section 221 to directly pick the display position. Further, the attribute setting unit 241 stores various information regarding the graphic element ■ in the element management table storage unit 233, and sets "l", the same as that of the graphic element, in the attribute number column (step 416
) In this way, when setting the attribute value of a graphic element, the displayed figure is input by pick input in the pick input section 221, and the attribute value of the existing figure input by pick input is set as the attribute value of the new figure element. Therefore, it is not necessary to input the line type, line width, and line color by operating the instruction input section 223 each time, and the attribute setting operation becomes easy. Additionally, in the past, when matching an attribute with an existing display figure, the details of the attribute had to be displayed on the screen or written down on paper and then input again. 4 also has the effect of making it easier to match multiple attributes.

In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which a new figure is created and attribute values are set, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where existing attribute values are changed. In this case, if a graphic having the attribute to be changed is already displayed, the graphic is entered with a big input, and the attribute number in the element management table is changed.

Furthermore, although straight line figures have been described in the embodiments, the present invention can also be applied to cases where attributes of character strings or marker strings are changed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, a figure that is already displayed is specified by the figure element specifying means, and the attribute of the specified figure is set as a new attribute of the figure of interest, and the attribute value itself is input. This is extremely useful in practical terms because the attribute setting operation can be simplified without having to do so.

5

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the attribute setting method in the conversational graphic processing of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment that uses the attribute setting method in the conversational graphic processing of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the display screen of the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of one embodiment. In the figure, III is a display device, 121 is a graphic element specifying means, 131 is a display information storage means, 141 is an attribute setting means, 211 is a display section, 213 is a display control section, 221 is a pick input section, 223 is an instruction input section , 231 is an attribute management table storage section, 233 is an element management table storage section, 241 is an attribute setting section, 243 is a management table, 251 is a human output control section, and 261 is a data processing section. Figure 1 of JP-A-3-1829'/1 (b) Display of the 5bf row of Ichina

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Graphic element specifying means (1) for specifying graphic elements displayed on the display device (111) when performing interactive graphic processing.
21); display information storage means (131) for storing display information including attributes for each of the one or more figures displayed on the display device (111); and when setting the attributes of the figure of interest; A graphic already displayed on the display device (111) is specified by the graphic element specifying means (121), and an attribute stored in the display information storage means (131) corresponding to the specified graphic is specified. An attribute setting method in conversational graphic processing, comprising: an attribute setting means (141) for setting a new attribute of the target graphic.