JPH0348928A - Display control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the user's waiting time by storing the picture element data produced based on the saving drawing data at every saving instruction into a 2nd storing means and performing the display based on the stored picture element data in response to a cancel request. CONSTITUTION:A drawing means 111 produces the picture element data for display based on the input drawing data and supplies the produced data to a write control means 116. At the same time, the produced picture element data is held by a holding means 112 and inputted to the means 111 as the saving drawing data at every saving instruction. Then the saving drawing data is supplied to the means 116. The means 116 decides whether the received data is used for display or saving and stores the display data to a 1st store means 114 and the saving data to a 2nd store means 115 respectively. A selection means 117 usually selects the means 114 and displays the picture element data on a display means 101. Meanwhile the means 117 selects the means 115 in response to a cancel request and displays the picture element data on the means 101.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] 〔table of contents〕 overview Industrial applications Conventional technology Problems that the invention aims to solve Means to solve problems action Example 1. Correspondence between the example and Figure 1 ■, Structure of the example ■, Operation of the example (i) Display processing (ii) Redraw processing (ji) BMM switching process ■Summary of examples ■Variation of 0 invention Effect of the invention 〔overview] Characters, symbols based on input drawing data.

Regarding the display control method that generates and displays pixel data representing figures, etc., the purpose of reducing user waiting time is to retain the input drawing data and, in response to evacuation instructions, to display this data. A storage means that outputs the drawing data that was input before the evacuation instruction is supplied as the evacuation drawing data and clears its own contents, and generates pixel data for display based on the input drawing data. , a drawing means that generates pixel data for saving based on the drawing data for saving supplied from the holding means, first storage means and second storage means that store the pixel data generated by the drawing means, and an evacuation instruction. Based on this, it is determined whether the pixel data supplied from the drawing means is for display or for saving, and the pixel data for display is stored in the first storage means, and the pixel data for saving is stored in the second storage means.
write control means for storing in the storage means; selection means for normally selecting the first storage means and selecting the second storage means in response to a cancellation request; and the first storage means selected by the selection means, the second storage means and display means for performing display based on pixel data stored in any of the storage means.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a display control method for a display device of a workstation or a personal computer, and in particular, a display control system that generates and displays pixel data representing characters, symbols, figures, etc. based on input drawing data. It is related to the method.

For example, when a user is running an application that edits newspapers or other articles on a workstation, the user inserts an image that corresponds to a new article, or instructs the user to move or rotate the image. Afterwards, there is a desire to restore the screen to the state before performing these operations.

In order to respond to such requests, we have created a function (hereinafter referred to as "cancel") that allows the user to cancel the last input operation and restore the previous screen by pressing the cancel key etc. functions) have been realized.

This cancellation function is particularly important as an interface between the user and a system such as a workstation when performing work that involves a lot of trial and error, such as in the above-mentioned newspaper editing application.

[Conventional technology]

The above-mentioned cancellation function is realized in conventional workstations and the like by the following two methods.

■Method A series of operations (for example, drawing a figure and moving one figure)
Each time the process is completed, an evacuation instruction is supplied from the user or an application, and in response to this evacuation instruction, the pixel data stored in the bitmap memory is saved to the main storage device or the like.

When the user presses the cancel key to request cancellation, the pixel data saved in the main storage device is transferred to the bitmap memory, and the saved image is displayed on the bitmap display.

(2) Method Drawing data (described later) input by the user after the start of image creation is sequentially saved in the main storage device or the like.

Here, drawing data refers to instructions (commands) and instructions supplied to drawing hardware (such as a graphics processor) that generates pixel data in order to perform operations such as drawing figures and moving images 9 times. It is data. Furthermore, generating pixel data based on this drawing data is called bit expansion.

In this method, when the user presses the cancel key to request cancellation, the graphics processor again performs bit expansion (redrawing) based on the drawing data saved in the main memory. ). This results in
The process from the start of image creation to the checkpoint specified by the user or application is reproduced, and the image at this checkpoint is restored.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the conventional method (2) mentioned above, when the bitmap display becomes high-resolution and the amount of pixel data stored in the bitmap memory increases, the contents of the bitmap memory are stored in the main memory. There is a problem in that it takes time to save the data to the bitmap memory and restore it from the main memory to the bitmap memory, resulting in waiting time for the user.

In particular, when an application issues an evacuation instruction in accordance with method (2), there will be a waiting time due to evacuation of the contents of the bitmap memory as described above, regardless of whether the user intends to issue a cancellation request or not. This caused dissatisfaction among users who had no intention of making requests.

In addition, in the conventional method (2) mentioned above, since the drawing data is saved, there is no waiting time for data saving while the image is being created. Since redrawing is performed from the start of the image, it takes time to reproduce a complex image, and there is a problem that there is a long waiting time from when a cancellation request is made until the image is restored.

The present invention was created in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a display control method that reduces the waiting time for users.

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the display control method of the present invention.

In the diagram, characters,
The holding means 112 in a display control system that generates and displays pixel data representing symbol 2 figures, etc.
It holds the input drawing data, and in response to a save instruction, outputs the drawing data that was input before the save instruction is supplied as save drawing data, and clears its own contents.

The drawing means 111, based on the input drawing data,
In addition to generating pixel data for display, the holding means 11
Pixel data for saving is generated based on the drawing data for saving supplied from 2.

First storage means 114. The second storage means 115 stores the pixel data generated by the drawing means 111.

The write control means 116 determines whether the pixel data supplied from the drawing means 111 is for display or evacuation based on the evacuation instruction, and stores the pixel data for display in the first storage means 114. The pixel data for saving is stored in the second storage means 115.
Store in.

The selection means 117 normally selects the first storage means 114, and selects the second storage means 115 in response to a cancellation request.

The display means 101 displays the first storage means 114 . selected by the selection means 117 . Display is performed based on pixel data stored in any of the second storage means 115.

[For production]

Based on the input drawing data, the drawing means 111 generates pixel data for display, and the writing control means 116 generates pixel data for display.
supplied to

Further, the above-mentioned drawing data is input to the holding means 112 and held, and in response to an evacuation instruction, the drawing data that was input to and held in the holding means 112 before this evacuation instruction is outputted as evacuation drawing data. , are supplied to the drawing means 111. At this time, the holding means 112 clears its own contents.

For example, if the above-mentioned evacuation instruction is supplied every time a predetermined amount of drawing data is input, each time the evacuation instruction is supplied, the drawing data input between the previous evacuation instruction and The holding unit 112 outputs the save drawing data, and based on this save drawing data, the drawing unit 111 generates save pixel data and supplies it to the write control unit 116.

Based on the above-mentioned save instruction, the write control means 116 determines whether the pixel data supplied from the drawing means 111 is for display or for save, and the pixel data for display is sent to the write control means. 116, the pixel data for saving is stored in the first storage means 114, and the pixel data for saving is stored in the second storage means 115.

Since pixel data for display is generated every time drawing data is input, pixel data generated based on all input drawing data is stored in the first storage means 114.

On the other hand, pixel data for evacuation is generated every time an evacuation instruction is supplied, so the pixel data generated based on the drawing data input earlier than the most recently supplied evacuation instruction is stored in the second storage means. 115. Therefore,
The pixel data stored in the second storage means 115 corresponds to the pixel data stored in the first storage means 114 when the evacuation instruction was recently supplied, and the drawing data input after the evacuation instruction described above. does not contain pixel data corresponding to .

Normally, the first storage means 114 is selected by the selection means 117, and the display means 101 performs display based on pixel data generated based on all the input drawing data.

On the other hand, in response to the cancellation request, the second storage means 115 is selected by the selection means 117, and the pixel data generated based on the drawing data supplied before the evacuation instruction most recently supplied by the display means 101 is selected. Display is performed.

In the present invention, display is performed based on the input drawing data, and pixel data for saving is generated based on the drawing data for saving, and is stored in the second storage means 115. As a result, the pixel data corresponding to the image when the evacuation instruction was recently supplied is reproduced, and in response to the cancellation request, the selection means 117
By selecting 15, an image before being changed according to drawing data input after the most recently supplied evacuation instruction is displayed.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a workstation that uses a display control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, the correspondence between the embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 1 will be shown.

Display means 101 corresponds to bitmap display 201.

The drawing means 111 corresponds to a central processing unit (CPU) 211 and a graphics processor (GP) 213.

The holding means 112 corresponds to the memory 212.

First storage means 114. The second storage means 115 corresponds to bitmap memories (BMM) 214a and 214b.

The write control means 116 corresponds to the BMM control circuit 216.

The selection means 117 corresponds to the display control circuit 217.

Examples of the present invention will be described below assuming that the correspondence relationship as described above exists.

211 is a central processing unit (C
PU), 212 is a memory, 213 is a graphics processor (CP), 214a and 214b are bitmap memories (BMM), 216 is a BMM control circuit, 217
Reference numeral 201 indicates a display control circuit, and 201 indicates a bitmap display.

Further, 202 is an input device control circuit, and the keyboard 2
21 and mouse 222.

An external storage control circuit 203 controls data exchange between an external storage device (not shown) such as a floppy disk device and the work stage.

The CPU 211 described above. Memory 212. CP213.2
8MM214a, 214b, BMM control control circuit 2
1 Mugi 1 The control circuit 202 and the external storage control circuit 203 are connected to each other via a bus.
The line connecting 14b and the bus is omitted.

Here, at the workstation shown in Figure 2,
An application that creates shapes is running and C
It is assumed that PU2 1 1 operates according to this application program.

By operating the keyboard 221 and mouse 222, the user can issue drawing commands and characters. Data such as numerical values and coordinate data are supplied to the input device control circuit 202 and stored in the memory 212 via the bus.

Below are the commands and characters for drawing mentioned above.

Numerical data, coordinate data, etc. are called drawing data.

In addition, the memory 212 has a drawing data save area for saving part of the above-mentioned drawing data, and saves display attributes indicating types of lines and fill patterns, presence or absence of highlighting, etc. in accordance with instructions from the CPU 211. A display attribute save area is provided for this purpose.

The GP 213 reads out the drawing data stored in the memory 212 according to instructions from the CPU 211,
Based on this drawing data, pixel data representing characters, symbols, 2 figures, etc. is generated and supplied to the BMM control circuit 216.

This BMM control circuit 216 stores the pixel data supplied from the above-mentioned CP 213 in either one of the two 8MMs 214a, 214b according to instructions from the CPU 211, and
is configured to copy the contents of one to the other.

The display control circuit 217 selects one of the two 8MMs 214a and 214b in response to instructions from the CPU 211, and controls the display on the bitmap display 201 based on the pixel data stored in the corresponding 8MM 214. It is supposed to be done.

Hereinafter, the BMM selected by the display control circuit 217 and used for display will be referred to as a display BMM, and the other one will be referred to as a save BMM (described later).

By the way, after a user instructs a series of operations and the displayed image changes in accordance with the instructions, there is a desire to cancel the series of operations and restore the image before any processing was performed.

Therefore, when the user presses the cancel key to request cancellation, the image displayed on the bitmap display 201 at the pre-specified check point is restored (see below). , such a function is called a cancel function).

The above-mentioned check points are specified from the application side, for example, each time the drawing process of one figure (line segment, polygon, one circle, etc.) is completed.

1 piece in row f FIG. 3 shows a flowchart representing the operation of the embodiment.

Further, FIG. 4 shows an explanatory diagram of the operation of the embodiment.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the operations of redrawing processing and BMM switching processing for realizing display processing and cancellation functions in a workstation to which the display control method according to the embodiment is applied will be described.

Here, in the initial state, the 8MM214a is used as the display BMM, and the 8MM214b is used as the save BMM where pixel data corresponding to the image at the check point is restored.
Let's say MM.

Further, in the initial state, the drawing data save area provided in the memory 212 is cleared, and the display attribute save area stores predetermined implicit values as shown in Table 1.

Through the input device control circuit 202 in Table 1, the keyboard 221,
The drawing data input by the user using the mouse 222 is C.
It is supplied to the PU 211 (step 301).

Based on the drawing data supplied in step 301, the GP 213 performs bit expansion to generate pixel data, which is supplied to the BMM control circuit 216 (step 302).

For example, in step 301, if data such as the command ``Draw a circle r'', the command ``Change radius R, position (X+, 'j'+), and r filling pattern'', and the code indicating ``grid'' are input, Through the bit expansion in step 302, pixel data corresponding to an image (see FIG. 4(a)) representing the inside of a circle of radius R centered at the coordinates (X,,Y,) filled with a grid pattern is obtained. generated.

At this time, the CPU 211 supplies the BMM control circuit 216 with an instruction to store pixel data in the r display BMM, and also supplies the display control circuit 217 with an instruction to select the display BMM.

In response to this instruction, the pixel data generated in step 302 by the 11 BMMI 111 circuit 216 is transferred to the display BMM.
is stored in Further, in response to the above-mentioned instruction, a display BMM is selected by the display control circuit 217, and a display is performed on the bitmap display 201 based on the pixel data stored in this display BMM.

Next, the CPU 211 saves the drawing data input in step 301 to a drawing data save area provided in the memory 212 (step 303).

As a result, the drawing data as shown in Table 2, for example,
It is saved to the drawing data save area.

In step 304 of Table 2, it is determined whether or not the cancel key has been pressed by the user. If the determination in step 304 is negative, in step 305, the CPU
At step 211, it is determined whether or not a checkpoint is specified.

If no checkpoint is specified, step 3
A negative determination is made in step 05, and the step 301 described above is
~Repeat step 305. In this case, normal display processing as described above (see steps 301 to 302) is performed, and drawing data input one after another by the user is sequentially stored in the drawing data save area.

In this way, the drawing data input after the previously specified check point is accumulated in the drawing data save area.

On the other hand, if a check point is specified from the application side and an affirmative determination is made in step 305, the drawing data accumulated in the above-mentioned drawing data save area and the display attribute save area are stored. The displayed attributes are GP21
3. The GP 213 performs redrawing based on these and sends the generated pixel data to the BMM control circuit 216.
(step 306).

At this time, the CPU 211 supplies the BMM control circuit 216 with an instruction to "store the pixel data in the r save BMM," and in response to this instruction, the BMM control circuit 216 stores the pixel data generated in step 306 in the save BMM. It is stored in the 8MM 214b which has become the BMM.

Next, the CPU 211 saves the display attributes at the time when the redrawing of the drawing data in the drawing data saving area is completed to the display attribute saving area (step 307), and clears the contents of the drawing data saving area (step 308).

For example, if the CPU 211 determines that a series of processes are completed at the time when the circle with radius R described above is filled in, and designates this point as a check point, the drawing data saved in the drawing data save area of the memory 212 (
Pixel data is generated by the CP 213 based on the data (see Table 2), and the pixel data representing a circle filled with a grid pattern is stored in the save BMM (8MM 214 b).

Furthermore, in step 307, by saving the display attributes to the display attribute save area according to the above-mentioned drawing data, for example, the fill pattern in Table 1 is changed to ``grid''. The same display attributes as those at the checkpoint are stored in the display attribute save area.

Steps 301 to 308 described above are repeated until it is determined in step 309 that all drawing instructions have been completed.

In this way, each time a checkpoint is specified by an application, the above-mentioned redrawing process (step 3) is performed.
By performing steps 06 to 308), the pixel data corresponding to the image displayed on the bitmap display 201 at the time of the last specified check point is restored and saved in the save BMM (8MM2).
14 b).

iii In the BMM, as new drawing data in the state 301, for example, draw an r line command, coordinate data indicating the start and end points of the line segment, and change the color of rvA" command, and the changed color is "blue". When data specifying is supplied, bit expansion is performed in step 302 based on the drawing data described above, and the bitmap display 201 displays, in addition to the previously displayed circle filled with the grid pattern, A blue line segment is displayed as shown in FIG. 4(b).

After these processes are performed, if the user presses the cancellation key to request cancellation, an affirmative determination is made in step 304. In this case, the CPU 211 instructs the display control circuit 2 to select the r evacuation BMM.
17. In response, the display control circuit 217
As a result, an evacuation BMM (for example, 8MM214b) is selected (step 310).

As described above, the contents of the display BMM at the last designated checkpoint are restored in the save BMM. Therefore, in step 310, the display control circuit 217 selects the evacuation BMM, and this evacuation BM
By supplying the pixel data stored in the bitmap display 201 to the bitmap display 201, the image displayed at the time of the last specified checkpoint (Fig. 4(a)
) is displayed on the bitmap display 201.

Also, at this time, the CPU 211 clears the drawing data save area in the memory 212 (step 311);
The CPU 211 causes the BMM control circuit 216 to control the r evacuation BMM.
supplies an instruction to copy the contents of to the display BMM,
In response, the BMM control circuit 216 controls the evacuation BMM.
The pixel data stored in the display BMM (for example, 8MM214b) is copied to the display BMM (for example, 8MM214a) (step 312).

At this time, the display BMM and the evacuation BMM are switched, and from now on, for example, 8MM214b is used as the display BMM,
The BMM 214a becomes the evacuation BMM.

After the above-described BMM switching process is completed, step 309
Until it is determined that all drawing work has been completed,
The drawing processing in steps 301 to 303 and the saving processing in steps 306 to 308 described above are performed.

■ Stop of Two 8MM214a as described above.

214b as BMM for display and the other as BMM for evacuation.
MM, the drawing data input after the previously specified check point is stored in the drawing data save area, and the display attribute at the previously specified check point is stored in the display attribute save area.

Each time a checkpoint is specified, the contents of the display BMM at the time of the last checkpoint specified in the save BMM are restored by performing the redrawing process of steps 306 to 308 described above.

Therefore, when the user presses the cancel key to request cancellation, the bitmap display 201 performs steps 310 to 312 described above to switch between the display BMM and the save BMM. The image at the time of the last designated checkpoint is displayed.

Since this switching process can be executed in a short time, it is possible to immediately respond to a cancellation request from a user.

The application also performs a series of drawing processes (for example, drawing a circle and filling it with a grid pattern.

Since a checkpoint is specified each time a line segment is drawn (or other processing), the amount of drawing data saved in the drawing data save area is small, and the time required to bit-expand this drawing data is also reduced. considered to be short.

On the other hand, it is thought that there is a predetermined time between when the user inputs a series of drawing data and when the user inputs the next drawing data, and the drawings that are saved in the drawing data save area within this predetermined time are It is possible to perform bit expansion of data. Therefore, the redrawing process (
By performing steps 306 to 308), there is no waiting time for the user.

Note that in the embodiment of the present invention described above, a case was considered in which checkpoints were specified by the application, but checkpoints may also be specified by the user.

In addition, in rl, the correspondence J between the example and FIG. 1,
Although the correspondence between the present invention and the embodiments has been described, those skilled in the art will easily assume that the present invention is not limited to this and that there are various modifications.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, each time an evacuation instruction is supplied, the pixel data generated based on the evacuation drawing data is stored in the second storage means. The pixel data corresponding to the drawing data input before the evacuation instruction was supplied. Therefore, by selecting this second storage means in response to a cancellation request by the selection means and performing display based on the pixel data stored in this second storage means, it is possible to immediately respond to the cancellation request. This is extremely useful in practical terms because it can shorten the waiting time for users.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a principle block diagram of the display control method of the present invention, Figure 2
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a workstation to which a display control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the embodiment. In the figure, 101 is a display means, 111 is a drawing means, 112 is a holding means, 114 is a first storage means, 115 is a second storage means, 116 is a write control means, 117 is a selection means, and 201 is a bitmap display. , 202 is an input device control circuit, 203 is an external storage control circuit, 211 is a central processing unit, 212 is a memory, 213 is a graphics processor (GP), 214 is a bitmap memory (BMM), 216 is a BMM control circuit, 217 is a A display control circuit, 221 is a keyboard, and 222 is a mouse.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Based on the input drawing data, characters, symbols,
In a display control method that generates and displays pixel data representing figures, etc., the inputted drawing data is held, and in response to an evacuation instruction, the drawing that was input before the evacuation instruction was supplied is a holding means (112) that outputs data as save drawing data and clears its own contents; and a holding means (112) that generates pixel data for display based on the inputted drawing data, and that generates pixel data from the holding means (112). a drawing device (111) that generates pixel data for saving based on the supplied drawing data for saving; a first storage device (114) that stores the pixel data generated by the drawing device (111); 2 storage means (1
15) Based on the evacuation instruction, it is determined whether the pixel data supplied from the drawing means (111) is for display or evacuation, and the pixel data for display is stored in the first storage means (15). 1
14), the pixel data for saving is stored in the second storage means (115).
); and selection means (117) for normally selecting the first storage means (114) and selecting the second storage means (115) in response to the cancellation request. , display means (101) that performs display based on pixel data stored in either the first storage means (114) or the second storage means (115) selected by the selection means (117); A display control method comprising: