JPH0458053B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a coordinate input control method for a multi-window system, and particularly to a coordinate input control method for a multi-window system suitable for tablet input.

[Conventional technology]

The display screen on a conventional display device is divided into multiple window areas and managed, and display data such as graphic data, text, and image data of multiple business programs (called processes) is displayed in each window area. In a coordinate input control method for a possible multi-window system, data input from a tablet is generally distributed according to the position of the cursor on the tablet and passed to the corresponding process.

FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a conventional multi-window system. In FIG. 10, the conventional multi-window system is composed of a CPU (central processing unit) 21, a display device (display screen) 2, a tablet (device) 3, etc., and on the CPU 21, multiple business programs (processes) 1a , 1b, 1c are operated, and the display screen 2 of the display device has a plurality of window areas 5.
The window areas 5a, 5b, and 5c display graphic data and the like of the business programs 1a, 1b, and 1c, respectively. The pen 8 of the tablet 3 inputs coordinates (x, y) on the tablet 3.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional coordinate input control method for a multi-window system. 1st
In Figure 1, 1a, 1b, 1c are multiple business programs (processes) that share the display screen of the same display device, 2 is the display screen of the display device, 3 is a tablet (device), 5a, 5b,
5c is a plurality of window areas provided on the display screen 2; 6 is each window area 5a, 5b, 5c
position on display screen 2 and process 1a, 1
Management information such as the correspondence relationship with window No. 1, 1c, etc.
This is a window management table that is stored with numbers 2 and 3 attached. 7, 7a, 7b, 7c are the cursors of the tablet 3, 8, 8a, 8b, 8c are the cursors of the tablet 3
9 is an output control processing program that performs display processing on the display screen 2 from the business programs 1a to 1c, and 10 is an output control processing program that performs display processing on the display screen 2 from the business programs 1a to 1c; an echo control processing program or device that moves the cursors 7a to 7c of
11 is an input control processing program that edits input data from the tablet 3; 13 is a window manager that updates and manages the window management table 6;

In the coordinate input control method of the conventional system configured as shown in FIG. 11, the fixed area 3a of the tablet 3 corresponds to the entire area of the display screen 2.
areas 30a, 3 like the pens 8a, 8b, 8c of
When moving to a position ~ within 0b, 30c, the echo control processing 10 moves the cursor 7a, 7b, 7c.
are the window areas 5a, 5b, 5 on the display screen 2
When the tablet 3 is pen down, the tablet coordinates at the time of the pen down are determined, window areas 5a to 5c that include the cursors 7a to 7c are found, and the window areas 5a, 5b, and 5c are A common method is to pass input data to the corresponding processes 1a, 1b, and 1c by the input control processing 11.

Furthermore, from another point of view, the tablet coordinate input control method of the conventional multi-window system described above performs input control using a concept similar to that of a mouse, and the purpose of this method is to select the input window and perform the actual input processing. This can be said to improve the operability of the operator by performing the operation once by the operator, for example, by pressing down the pen of the tablet. Incidentally, examples related to this type of conventional multi-window system include Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 184935-1982 and 114586-1986.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the above conventional technology, the data input from the mouse is the relative movement of the mouse, and the data input from the tablet is absolute coordinate values on the tablet's own coordinate system, and the usage from the business program is different. There was no consideration given to the issue of the situation, and the following problems arose.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the problems of the prior art when arranging a menu sheet on the tablet of FIG. 11. In Figure 12, tablet 3
There is a business program 1a on which a menu sheet 41 is arranged, and the business program 1a
If the user uses the window area 5a of the display screen 2, there is a problem in that input data outside the area 40a on the tablet 3 corresponding to the window area 5a is not passed to the business program 1a. Furthermore, even if the menu sheet 41 is made small enough to fit into the area 40a, it is common in multi-window systems to allow the operator to freely move the window area and change the size of the window area. It is expected that the operability will deteriorate, such as the need to rearrange the menu sheet 41, and in reality, it is impossible to execute business programs using the menu sheet on the tablet 3.

Further, FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the problems of the prior art when drawings, etc. are placed on the tablet of FIG. 11. In FIG. 13, depending on the business program 1a, drawings 51 etc. are placed on the tablet 3,
Coordinate input processing is often performed from the operator's tablet 3 in correspondence with the fixed area 52 within the window area 5a on the display screen 2, and the same problem as in FIG. 12 occurs in this case as well.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a system that can operate without reducing operator operability in a multi-window environment.
Business programs that use tablets have a function that allows them to use menus, sheets, drawings, etc. on the tablet, taking advantage of the tablet's properties as a coordinate input device, and also allows multiple business programs to share the tablet device. The present invention provides a coordinate input control method for a multi-window system.

[Means for solving problems]

The above purpose is to provide a coordinate input control method for a multi-window system in which the display screen of a display device is managed by dividing it into multiple window areas, and the display data of multiple business programs can be displayed simultaneously on the same screen. One of the multiple existing windows is stored as an input window, a means for changing the input window is provided, and all data input from the tablet at a certain point is passed to the business program using the input window. This is achieved by the coordinate input control method for a multi-window system.

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram illustrating a coordinate input control method for a multi-window system according to the present invention.
In Fig. 1, in contrast to the conventional method shown in Fig. 11,
Multiple window areas 5 existing on the display screen 2
An input window field 4 for storing one of a to 5c as an input window and an input window switching program 12 for changing the input window are added, and all the data input from the tablet 3 at a certain point is added. Pass the above input window to the business program using it.

[Effect]

According to the above coordinate input control method for a multi-window system, the input window currently stored in the input window field 4 is window 2 of window No. 2 in the window management table 6 (window area 5b on the display screen 2), and Open the above window 2 as business program 1b (process 2)
is in use, the positions of the pens 8a and 8b of the tablet 3 in the echo control process 10,
The positions of cursors 7a and 7b relative to the movement of
The movement is performed so that the fixed area 3a on the tablet 3 corresponds to the window area 5b of the window 2, and in the input control process 11, it is determined where in the fixed area 3a of the tablet 3 the pen position is moved and the pen is moved down. All business programs 1b
Since the input data is passed to (process 2), it is possible to use the menus, sheets, drawings, etc. on the tablet mentioned above by taking advantage of the properties of the tablet 3 as a coordinate input device, and it is also possible to share the tablet device from multiple business programs. enable.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9.

FIG. 2 is an input control configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the coordinate input control method for a multi-window system according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, an input control processing program 11, an echo control program 10,
The window management table 6 and the input window field 4 are arranged in the operating system 80, and the following information is managed in the window management table 6 for each window 5a, 5b, 5c, etc. on the display screen 2.

(1) Window No.: Window identification number.

(2) Process ID: Identification name of the business program (process) that uses the window.

(3) Position of the window on the display screen: The coordinates of the lower left point and the upper right point of the rectangular area of the window, for example, in the case of the window area 5a, the coordinates of points 83 and 84 are stored in the screen coordinate system.

(4) Tablet effective area and lock port area: Manages the correspondence between the tablet specified by the business program and the display screen area, and both are stored as the coordinates of the lower left point and upper right point of a rectangular area. For example, the tablet effective area 51 Points 81 and 82 are in the tablet device coordinate system, and are located in the lock port area 52.
points 85 and 86 are stored in the screen coordinate system.

(5) Tablet input request flag: Flag indicating that the business program is requesting input to the window (1: requesting, 0: not requesting).
Originally, various attributes for each input request to the tablet 3, such as designation of the presence or absence of a cursor, information on the shape of the cursor, etc., are required, but the description will be omitted so as not to lose the generality of the content of the present invention. . Furthermore, when a plurality of window areas 5a to 5c overlap on the display screen 2, it is necessary to manage the overlapping state between the windows on the screen, but this will also be omitted for the same reason.

Figure 3 shows input window field 4 in Figure 2.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the command syntax of an input window switching command. In FIG. 3, as an example of the input window switching program 12 (FIG. 1) which is a means for changing the input window stored in the input window field 4, a command syntax is shown in the case where the changing means is by inputting a command from a keyboard. , 60 is the command name POP,
61 is the input window you want to switch to
This is a parameter that specifies the number.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating subroutine specifications of the input processing program when the business program of FIG. 2 performs input processing from a tablet.
In Figure 4, the business program takes as parameters for the read subroutine a parameter dev for the device name that specifies devices such as a tablet, mouse, keyboard, etc., a parameter wdno for the window number to perform input processing, and input data. Specify the parameters data etc. of the data area to be returned.

Figure 5 shows the input processing program (read
This is a flowchart of the subroutine. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the interrupt processing program (echo control processing and input control processing program) of the tablet shown in FIG. Next, the operations of each process shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 will be sequentially explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the input processing program (read subroutine) (FIG. 5), the tablet input request flag in the window management table 6 of the window number of the specified input window field 4 is set as input requesting (=1) (step 501). ), read
The business program (process) that issued the is placed in a waiting state for input processing to be completed (step 502). Next, the input data from the tablet 3 is edited (step 503), the input data is passed to the business program (process) that issued the read, and at this point the wait state of the process is released (step 503).
504).

In the tablet interrupt processing program (6th
Figure), from Tablet 3, the CPU
21 is interrupted, and accordingly tablet 3
tablet device coordinates (x, y) of the current pen position of
is input (step 601). The echo control processing program 10 is started at the timing of an interrupt from the tablet 3, refers to the contents of the current input window field 4, obtains the window number of the input window, and calculates the input window number tablet in the window management table 6. It is determined whether the input request flag is 1 (step 602), and if the flag is 1, the tablet valid area 51 and lock port area 52 are matched by referring to the tablet valid area information and lock port area information of the input window number. The cursor positions are calculated (step 603), and the cursors 7a and 7b on the display screen 2 are moved according to the movement of the pens 8a and 8b on the tablet 3 so that the tablet effective area 51 and the lock port area 52 correspond to each other. position, and update the display of the cursor position (step
604).

Next, the input control processing program determines whether the pen state of the tablet 3 has changed (step 605), and if the pen state of the tablet 3 has changed, edits the input data (step 605).
606), refers to the input window field 4 to obtain the input window number, refers to the window management table 6, and if the tablet input request flag of the input window number is 1, indicates that the input window is in the input completion waiting state. Business program (process)
The input data is passed to the input window and the tablet input request flag is set to 0 (step 607), and then the waiting state of the process that was issuing the input request (read) to the input window is released (step 608).

Next, the input window switching processing program (POP command) is input window field 4.
change the input window.

In the above embodiment, a case where the input window is changed only by inputting an input window switching command (POP command) by the operator is shown, but as another embodiment, the following coordinate input control method for a multi-window system is possible. It is.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of tablet input processing (read subroutine) from a business program showing another embodiment of the coordinate input control method for a multi-window system according to the present invention. FIG. 8 is also an explanatory diagram of the processing method of the input control processing program 11.

In a normal multi-window system,
Systems that are equipped with a keyboard in addition to a tablet device are common, and from the viewpoint of uniformity of operator operations, a processing method has been developed in which all input data from the keyboard is passed to the business program that uses the window specified by the POP command. Can be adopted. In this case, the business program does not necessarily use a tablet, and in such a case, the input data from the tablet can be passed to a system program such as the window manager 13, so that the business program that is not used on the tablet can be transferred to the operator. When the user is operating the tablet 3, the tablet 3 can be used to change the window position and window size on the display screen 2, making it possible to create a system with better operability.

Specifically, in this case, the business program can read the tablet input process as shown in Figure 7.
(Tablet) Subroutine (step 702)
OPEN (tablet) subroutine (step
701) and the CLOSE (tablet) subroutine (step 703), and each business program (process) uses the tablet within the system.
Remembers whether it is open or not. and tablet 3
As shown in FIG.
If the input window is being opened, it is passed to the process 1a that uses the input window, and if the tablet 3 is not being opened by the process that is using the input window, it is passed to the window manager 13. In this way, a system with better operability can be realized.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a processing method of an input control processing program showing still another embodiment of a coordinate input control method for a multi-window system according to the present invention. In FIG. 9, a system common area 131 is provided on the tablet 3, and the common area 131
For example, a possible operational form may be in which a menu sheet for operations common to multiple tasks is arranged. In this case, the entire area of the tablet 3 is divided into a system common area 131 and a user area 132, and if the position of the pen 8a at the time of tablet input is within the user area 132, Pass the input data to process 1a, which uses the input window as in
If the location is input processing in the system common area 131, a system program such as a window manager or a program 1 common to multiple tasks
By adding a determination processing program to the input control processing program 11 to pass it to the input control processing program 30,
A more versatile coordinate input control method can be realized.

Furthermore, in yet another embodiment of the coordinate input control method for a multi-window system according to the present invention, the process of distributing input data from the tablet to processes in the previous embodiment is performed in a subroutine common to each process or within the operating system. In contrast, all input data from Tablet 3 is passed to a system program such as a window manager or a common processing program for multiple business programs, and the inter-process communication provided as standard by the operating system is used. An input control method that uses functions to allocate input data to each business program is also possible.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, in a multi-window environment, without reducing operator operability,
Coordinate input control that has a function that allows a business program that uses a coordinate input device such as a tablet to operate in a manner that takes advantage of the characteristics of a coordinate input device such as a tablet, and that allows multiple business programs to share a tablet device, etc. There are effects that the method can provide.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram showing a coordinate input control method for a multi-window system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the coordinate input control method for a multi-window system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2
4 is an explanatory diagram of the input processing program specifications of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the input processing program of FIG. 2, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the tablet input processing showing another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the input control processing, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the tablet input processing according to the present invention. An explanatory diagram of input control processing showing still another embodiment,
Fig. 10 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a conventional multi-window system, Fig. 11 is a configuration diagram illustrating a coordinate input control method of a conventional multi-window system, and Fig. 12 shows a menu sheet on the tablet shown in Fig. 11. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of problems when placing drawings etc. on the tablet shown in FIG. 11. 1a to 1c...Business program (process),
2... Display device (display screen), 3... Tablet, 4... Input window field, 5
a-5c...window area, 6...window management table, 7a-7c...tablet cursor, 8a-8c...tablet pen, 9...
Output control processing program, 10...Echo processing program, 11...Input control processing program, 1
2... Input window switching program, 13...
...Window manager, 21...CPU, 51
...Tablet effective area, 52...Lock port area, 131...User area on tablet, 1
32... System common area on the tablet.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a multi-window system in which multiple windows are opened on one screen and coordinate data is input into each window from one coordinate input device, one window is selected from among the multiple windows as an input window. All data output from the fixed area set as the input area of the coordinate input device are input into the input window, and when the input window is switched to another window, all data output from the fixed area is input to the input window. A coordinate input control method for a multi-window system, characterized by inputting data into an input window after switching. 2 The device coordinate area of the coordinate input device is divided into a fixed area and a common area between multiple business programs, and all data input from the common area between multiple business programs of the coordinate input device at a certain point is transferred to the common program of multiple business programs. 2. A coordinate input control method for a multi-window system according to claim 1, wherein