JPH0399362A - Message display system for electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily and surely select work without executing complex operation by displaying formed and stored messages on a part of the initial screen while scrolling them. CONSTITUTION:When a power supply is turned on, a work selection menu stored in a menu storage part 12 is displayed on a CRT display 9 under the control of a processing part 2 through a video RAM 10 or the like. The messages formed and stored in a message memory 6 are simultaneously displayed on a part of the display 9 while being scrolled. Thereby, a required menu can be easily and surely selected from the menus displayed on the display 9 while referring the messages without executing complex operation. After ending the selection, the messages are fixedly displayed on the display 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to an electronic device such as a word processor that displays a menu screen for selecting multiple tasks as an initial screen, and relates to a message display method in the device. Regarding.

(b) Conventional technology In general, word processors are used to create documents, print documents,
A plurality of jobs called auxiliary functions can be executed, and a menu screen for selecting these jobs is displayed as an initial screen when the power is turned on or after completing each job.

In addition, in recent years, products have become more multifunctional, and in addition to creating and printing regular documents, products that can perform even more tasks such as creating address books and managing card-type data have been developed. In modern products, it has become possible to display a menu screen using icons etc. as the initial screen.

On the other hand, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-247453, in consideration of the case where a word processor is shared by a large number of people, it is equipped with a message board function that allows users to send messages to other users. More and more things are being proposed.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The message board function disclosed in the above-mentioned publication is designed to provide a special system key that forcibly interrupts a certain task while it is being executed. In response to the press, a message entry window is displayed on the interrupted screen, a message is input into the area from an input means such as a keyboard, and the input message is statically displayed on the window screen.

Therefore, when another user performs some work, he or she must first cancel the message board function, and if that user is not the person to whom the message is sent, the user must cancel the message board function after completing the work. It is necessary to perform an operation to redisplay the message that was displayed before starting the program, and these operations are troublesome.

Furthermore, if you forget to redisplay the message, the message may not be conveyed to the other party, so it is not very reliable.

Furthermore, since the message is displayed in a static manner on a window screen similar to the operation guide, there is a problem in that the degree of alertness is weak.

(2) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides an electronic device equipped with a display means and displaying a menu screen for selecting a plurality of tasks as an initial screen. a storage means for storing a message created based on characters inputted by the means; a message display area is provided in a part of the initial screen, and when displaying the menu, the message stored in the storage means The above-mentioned problem is solved by reading the message and displaying it scrolling in the message display area.

(e) Effect In the present invention, a created message is displayed on the initial screen together with a menu for selecting multiple tasks, so other users can immediately select the task they wish to perform. Furthermore, if the user returns to the initial screen after completing the task, the message will be automatically displayed, so there is no need to perform an operation to re-display the message.

In addition, since the message is scrolled and displayed on the initial screen, it is a strong reminder to the person to whom the message is sent.

(F) Embodiment FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a word processor as an embodiment of the present invention, in which (1) is a keyboard as an input means, (2) a fleeting Kanji converter (3) and an editor. 5) is a document memory for storing normal documents in character codes; (6> is a message memory for storing messages in character codes;
) is an external storage device for storing created documents and messages, (8) is a font memory that stores dot patterns for character codes, (9) is a CRT display as a display device, and (10) is a display device. A video RAM (hereinafter referred to as VRAM) that stores dot pattern data; (11) a display control unit that controls display; (12) a display control unit that controls display;
) is a menu storage unit that stores initial menu screen information for selecting multiple jobs.

In addition, the initial screen when the power is turned on and after each task is completed is the initial menu display area (13), as shown in Figure 3.
) and a message display area (14).

The initial menu includes, for example, a menu screen where you can select one of six tasks: document creation, auxiliary functions, address book creation, calendar function, bulletin board function, and extension function, as shown in Figure 4. Is displayed.

Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 1 and 5.

First, when the power is turned on, on the initial screen of the display (9), the initial menu shown in FIG. 4 read out from the menu storage section (12) is displayed in the initial menu display area (13), and a message is displayed Nothing is displayed in the area (14).If you select the "Bulletin board" function using the keyboard (1) to create a message to be displayed, the display (9) will appear as shown in the flowchart in Figure 5. ), the screen shown in Figure 6 (Rino-like Message Entry Canilia (15)) is displayed. Then, enter characters from the keyboard (1) and operate the edit keys as necessary to create kana-kanji. Conversion department (3) and editing department (4
) operates, the message to be displayed is stored in the message memory (6), and as shown in FIG.
Displayed as Canilia (15).

Next, when you press the display setting key (16) on the keyboard (1), a message display setting screen will be displayed in a window on the display (9) screen, as shown in Figure 6 (c). , If you select "Display 10", the display flag FR will be turned on, and if you select "Display r2929", the display flag FR will be turned off. Then, when you press the end key (17), the display (9 )
The screen returns to the initial screen.

On the initial screen, as described above, the initial menu is displayed in the initial menu display area (13), but at the same time, the processing unit (2) checks whether the display flag FR is on or off and sets the display flag PR. When on,
The created message is read from the message memory (6), and scrolled and displayed in the message display area (14) of the initial screen. During the scroll display, the processing unit <2) monitors the key force for menu selection, and when any job is selected,
Suspends the scrolling display and moves on to processing the selected task. When the task is finished, the screen returns to the initial screen and the initial menu display and message scroll display are repeated.

Therefore, if you select "Bulletin Board", create a message here, and set the message display once, you can select other menus such as "Create Document" or "Address Book" to edit these messages. Even if the task is executed, once the task is completed, the screen will return to the initial screen and the created message will be displayed. In checking the flag, when the flag FR is off, the scroll display is not performed and the key wait state for menu selection is maintained.

By the way, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the number of display lines in the message display area (14) is one line, and the message flows along this line from the right edge of the screen to the left edge of the screen, like a telop display. This scrolling display is realized as follows.

That is, basically, the character code representing the message read from the message memory (6) is stored in the font memory (6).
8) into a dot pattern, which is then stored in the VRAM (10) corresponding to the message display area (14).
It is written in the upper (7) area <10a). More specifically, first, in the 8-dot row area at the right end of the VRAM area <108>, numbers O to 7 of the first character "O" of the message are written.
Write the dot pattern in the 8 columns on the left side of the column (Fig. 7 (a)). Next, the dot pattern data in the VRAM area (10a) is shifted to the left by 8 dot rows in total, and the 8th to 15th dots of the first character "O" are placed in the vacant 8 dot row area at the right end of the area (10a). Write the dot pattern in the middle 8th column (FIG. 7(b)). Next, in the same way, the dot pattern data in the VRAM area (10a) is shifted to the left by 8 dot rows as a whole, and the area (tOa> the empty 8 dot row area at the right end is filled with the first character "O"). 16N Write the dot pattern in the 8 columns to the right of the 23rd column (Figure 7 (c))
. Then, while sequentially reading out the characters after the second character of the message, the entire data in the area (10a) is shifted by 8 dots and the empty dot row area is filled with continuous message data. The entire message from the first line to the last line is scrolled and displayed.Furthermore, when the process of the last line is completed, it returns to the first line and repeats the same process.

In this example, the dot pattern of one character is θ~23
The number of shifted dots is 8, but the number of shifted dots is of course not limited to this.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, it becomes possible to reliably transmit a message to the other party, and also to strongly urge the other party to be careful. Furthermore, once the message display is set, or other users not involved in message display can perform other work-related operations without being aware of the message display function, There is no need for cumbersome operations such as canceling the message or resetting the message display.

Therefore, an electronic device adopting the method of the present invention can be easily used as a communication tool between parents and children at home, and as an advertising tool in a store.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing the display method in the embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the initial screen configuration of the embodiment, and Fig. 4 is the initial menu. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a message creation process in the embodiment; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example when creating a message in the embodiment; FIG. 7 is a scrolling display of a message in the embodiment. FIG. (1)...Keyboard, (2)...Processing unit, (
6)...Message memory, (9)...CRT display, (10)-VRAM1 (13)--Initial menu display area, (14)...Message display area, (17)...End Key

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an electronic device that is equipped with a display means and displays a menu screen for selecting multiple tasks as an initial screen, an input means for inputting characters and a screen created based on the characters input from the means are provided. a storage means for storing messages, and a message display area in a part of the initial screen, and when displaying the menu, the message stored in the storage means is read out and displayed in the message display area. A message display method for electronic devices characterized by scrolling display.