JPH0452827A - Method for forming flow chart - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To express codes in a flow chart by uniform size, to make it possible to easily observe the whole flow chart and to display many flow chart codes in a restricted display area by finding out correspondence relation between a physical screen to be practically displayed, and displaying a part of the flow chart in a flow chart which can not be displayed on one screen. CONSTITUTION:When the sort of a flow chart code and its function description are inputted, the information is added to a function describing table 31, a code-sorted table 32 and a connection relation table 33. Simultaneously, a code chart corresponding to the sort of the flow chart code is displayed on the display screen of a display device 1, its number is inserted and displayed into/on the code chart and function description having the same number is displayed. Respective numbers are automatically applied by a flow chart control mechanism 22 successively from '1'. An area occupied by the flow code on the display screen is restricted and automatically arranged, a linear code is automatically set up between plural flow chart codes, and the flow chart part and the function description part are individually displayed. Then, the flow chart part and the function description part are respectively moved in the horizontal and vertical directions and in vertical direction and displayed to control the positional information of the flow chart code on the logical screen.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a program flow and a description of knowledge possessed by an expert stored in a knowledge base of a knowledge processing system, and a method of expressing the program flow and knowledge. .

[Prior art]

Information processing flowchart specified by JIS (JIS
0121) is composed of data symbols, processing symbols, line symbols, and special symbols. The contents of symbols other than line symbols (hereinafter referred to as "flowchart symbols") are written in the flowchart symbols as functional descriptions.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, since the functional description includes sentences, program instructions, etc., the size of the flowchart symbols may be uneven, and if there is a large amount of description, annotations may be added and the contents may be written in another location. There was a problem that the flowchart lacked consistency due to the description.

Furthermore, after inserting a flowchart symbol in the middle of a flowchart or deleting a flowchart symbol, it is necessary to format the flowchart, but since the flowchart is irregular, the flowchart symbols must be rearranged manually. Furthermore, these problems make it difficult to realize flowchart generation and editing functions on a computer.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique that allows flowchart symbols to be expressed in a uniform size.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique that allows not only automatic generation of flowchart symbols and line symbols but also automatic arrangement thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique that allows a user to work while viewing a flowchart displayed on a display screen.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique that can separate a graphic screen that displays connections between flowchart symbols and a character screen that displays function descriptions.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for creating a flowchart used to describe the flow of a program and the knowledge possessed by an expert stored in the knowledge base of a knowledge processing system. Function descriptions written in flowcharts are managed separately while maintaining the correspondence between the two, and the area occupied by flow symbols on the display screen is automatically limited and line symbols are automatically placed between flowchart symbols. The flowchart section and function description section are displayed separately, and the flowchart section can be moved vertically and horizontally, and the function description section can be displayed up and down. The main feature is that it can display a part of a flowchart that does not fit on one screen by managing the position information of the screen and establishing a correspondence with the physical screen that is actually displayed.

[Effect]

According to the above-mentioned method, the function description in the flowchart symbol is completely separated from the flowchart symbol and the line symbol representing the connection relationship between them, and the correspondence relationship is established between the number written in the flowchart symbol and the number assigned to the function description. By automatically arranging flowchart symbols by limiting the area that they occupy on the display screen, and automatically setting line symbols between flowchart symbols, flowchart symbols can be expressed in a uniform size, making it easier to use flowcharts. It is easier to see the body, and many flowchart symbols can be displayed in a limited display area.

In addition, flowchart symbols and line symbols are not only automatically generated but also automatically arranged, allowing you to concentrate on creating flowcharts.

Additionally, since you can work while looking at the flowchart displayed on the display screen, debugging and editing the flowchart becomes easier.

Furthermore, since the graphic screen that displays connections between flowchart symbols and the character screen that displays function descriptions are separated, screen management and screen control can be simplified.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a display device on which a flowchart is displayed under the control of a control device 2, and 3 is a storage device that stores information for managing or displaying the flowchart. 4 is an input device for inputting data necessary for creating a flowchart.

The control device 2 includes a screen display mechanism 21 and a flowchart management mechanism 2.
It consists of 2.

The storage device 3 stores a function description table 3 that stores function descriptions.
1. Symbol type table 32 that stores the types of flowchart symbols used in flowcharts. A connection relationship table 33 for storing connection relationships between flowchart symbols, a symbol display table 34 for displaying flowchart symbols, and 31, 32, 3
3 and a flowchart management table 35 that manages the correspondence between 3 and flowcharts.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a conventional flowchart conforming to JIS is managed by the information in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

2, 3, and 4 respectively show the function description table 31 of FIG. 1. This is a detailed example of the symbol type table 32 and the connection relationship table 33, which are associated with each other by number columns.

FIG. 5 shows a detailed example of the symbol display data 34 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is associated with FIG. 5 by the flowchart symbol type column. This symbol display data is created in advance. Since the size differs in both the vertical and horizontal directions depending on the flow chart,
One flowchart may not fit on the display screen of the display device 4 of FIG. 1.

For this reason, the flowchart is managed by dividing it into screens that display it logically (referred to as logical screens and screens that physically display it (referred to as physical screens)).

The position information in FIG. 4 represents the position on this logical screen.

FIG. 7 is an example of a logic screen, with one flowchart symbol in each box. The left number in parentheses represents the vertical position, and the right number represents the horizontal position, and the pair of these two numbers determines the position on the logical screen.

The physical screen is a part of the logical screen, and by managing the position of the frame on the logical screen that corresponds to the upper left frame on the physical screen, a part of the logical screen can be cut out and displayed on the physical screen. I can do it.

The line symbols represent the connection relationships between flowchart symbols, and are managed by the front and rear numbers in FIG. 4. It is assumed that the flowchart symbol at the entrance of the flowchart is located after the 0th virtual flowchart symbol, and the flowchart symbol at the end of the flowchart is located before the E-th virtual flowchart symbol.

FIG. 6 is an example of the flowchart management table 35 shown in FIG. The flowcharts registered in the flowchart management table 35 are as follows:
Each of them has tables shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, and is associated with flowchart numbers.

When trying to create a flowchart from the input device W4 in Figure 1,
The flowchart management mechanism 22 creates flowchart management information, and at the same time, the screen display mechanism 21 displays the flowchart on the display screen of the display device 1. An example of the displayed screen is shown in FIG.

In Fig. 8, the flowchart part and the function description part are separated, and the former is shown in the vertical and horizontal directions.

In the latter case, the display contents can be moved and displayed separately in the vertical direction.

[Step 1].

The flowchart number is registered in the flowchart management table 35, and a function description table 31, a symbol type table 32, and a connection relationship table 33 are created.

[Step 2] When the type of flowchart symbol and its function description are input, the information is added to the function description table 31, symbol type table 32, and connection relationship table 33. At the same time, a symbol diagram corresponding to the type of flowchart symbol is displayed on the display screen of the display device 1 in FIG. The flowchart management mechanism 22 of FIG. 1 automatically assigns the numbers in order starting from 1.

[Step 3] A line symbol, which is a vertical line segment, is displayed below the flowchart symbol displayed in step 2, and preparations are made to display the next flowchart symbol below it.

[If you want to continue creating the flowchart after Step 4, return to Step 2. If you do not want to continue, delete the line symbol displayed in step 3,
E is stored in the rear number of the connection relationship table 33. If there is a flowchart symbol from which a plurality of line symbols emerge from the flowchart symbol, such as judgment, and there is a route for which no flowchart symbol is displayed yet under the flowchart symbol, the process returns to step 3. If there is no such route, the process will end.

Next, if you want to edit a flowchart that has already been created,
This is done in the following steps.

[Step a] Display the flowchart management table 35 on the display device 1. When the user selects a flowchart to be edited, a screen as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed based on the function description table 31, symbol type table 32, and connection relationship table 33 corresponding to the flowchart number.

[Step b] (1) When changing the function description Specify the number displayed within the corresponding flowchart symbol and change its contents. When the change is completed, the corresponding part of the function description table 31 is updated, and the display device 1 is updated.
Also displayed.

(2) When adding a flowchart symbol to the end of the flowchart route: If you specify the number displayed in the flowchart symbol directly above the flowchart symbol that you want to add, steps 2 to 4 of the flowchart creation process will be completed. Perform the same process as the process. The number assigned to the flowchart symbol is, for example, the largest number among the numbers in the function description table 31 plus one. The last number of the route is E.
Rekaru from being.

(3) When inserting a flowchart symbol in the middle of a flowchart If you specify the number displayed in the flowchart symbol directly above the flowchart symbol to be added, the connection relation table 33 is modified and the flowchart is created. Processing similar to step 3 is performed.

Note that when inserting at the beginning of the flowchart, specify O. For example, when inserting a flowchart symbol below the flowchart symbol 2 in FIG. 7, the connection relationship table 33 is modified in the following procedure. In other words, number 5 is added to the connection relationship table.
column is added, and based on the number 3 after number 2, the position information and previous number of number 3 are set as the position information and previous number of number 5. Next, in the position information of number 3, 1 is placed in the vertical position.
and set 5 to the previous number. Set the number after number 2 to 5. Regarding the location information of the number after number 3, number 3
However, in this example, since it is the last of the route, the modification of the connection relationship table 33 is completed. As described above, the flowchart is rearranged. When the type of function description and flowchart symbol to be added is specified, the contents are stored in the function description table 33 and symbol type table 32.

(4) When deleting a flowchart symbol When the number displayed in the flowchart symbol to be deleted is specified, the column of that number is deleted from the function description table 31 and symbol type table 32.

Next, the connection relationship table 33 is modified. For example, if you delete the flowchart symbol 2 in Figure 8, the connection relation table 3
Based on the number 3 after number 2 in 3, the connection relation table 33 is modified by replacing the position information and previous number of number 3 with the position information and previous number of number 2, and deleting the column of number 2. conduct. When deleting the last flowchart symbol of the route of the flowchart, such as number 3, change the number after the number before number 3 to E and erase the column for number 3. As described above, the flowchart is rearranged.

The present invention has been specifically explained above based on examples, but
It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit thereof.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, (1) flowchart symbols can be expressed in a uniform size, making it easier to see the flowchart group, and allowing many flowchart symbols to be displayed in a limited display area.

(2) Flowchart symbols and line symbols are not only automatically generated but also automatically placed, allowing you to concentrate on creating flowcharts.

(3) Since you can work while looking at the flowchart displayed on the display screen, debugging and editing the flowchart becomes easier.

(4) Screen management and screen control can be simplified because the graphic screen that displays connections between flowchart symbols and the character screen that displays function descriptions are separated.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are the function description table and symbols of FIG. 1, respectively. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a detailed example of a type table, connection relationship table, symbol display table, and flowchart management table; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a logical screen for virtually managing flowcharts; FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 is applied to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional flowchart. In the figure, 1...display device, 2...control device, 3...
Storage device, 4... Input device, 21... Screen display mechanism, 22... Flowchart management mechanism, 31... Function description table, 32... Flowchart symbol type table, 33...
・Connection relation table, 34... Symbol display table,
35...Flowchart management table.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a flowchart creation method used to describe the flow of a program or the knowledge possessed by an expert stored in the knowledge base of a knowledge processing system, both symbols for describing the flowchart and function descriptions described in the flowchart are used. are managed separately while maintaining the correspondence relationship, and the area occupied by flow symbols on the display screen is automatically limited and line symbols are automatically set between flow diagram symbols. It has a function that allows the flowchart section to be moved vertically and horizontally, and the function description section to be displayed up and down, and to manage the position information of the flowchart symbols on the logical screen, and to display the flowchart symbols when they are actually displayed. A flowchart creation method characterized by displaying a part of a flowchart that does not fit on one screen by establishing a correspondence relationship with a physical screen.