JP4654528B2 - SIGNAL CONNECTION CONTROL METHOD, CONTROL DEVICE, AND RECORDING MEDIUM CONTAINING THE CONTROL PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a signal connection control method, a control apparatus, and a recording medium storing the control program. More specifically, the present invention relates to a control method and control device for a “routing switch” used in a transmission department of a television broadcasting station, and a recording medium storing the control program.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the broadcasting department of a television broadcasting station, various broadcasts such as a studio camera signal, a VTR (Video Tape Recorder) signal, or an external signal input via a satellite line or the like, particularly when a live program is transmitted. A device for switching signals is used. This device is commonly called a routing switch (or simply a router) in the sense of freely switching signal paths (routing).
[0003]
Similar devices (so-called network routers) are also used in the network field, but this network router is a route change device dedicated to packet communication, and includes destination addresses contained in subdivided data chunks (packets). Is different in principle from the above-described routing switch. Therefore, in the following description, the term “routing switch” simply refers to that used in the transmission department of a television broadcasting station.
[0004]
FIG. 9A is a conceptual configuration diagram of the routing switch. The routing switch 1 intersects the input signal lines 2a to 2e connected to each of the plurality of input terminals IN and the output signal lines 3a to 3e connected to each of the plurality of output terminals OUT, and the switching element 4 is provided at each intersection. It is provided and configured. As the switch element 4, for example, an electromagnetic relay is used, and the connection between an arbitrary input terminal and an arbitrary output terminal can be freely disconnected / connected by controlling the relay contact on / off. ing.
[0005]
Here, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), when the OFF state of the switch element 4 is represented by a white circle symbol (O) and the ON state is represented by a black circle symbol (●; also referred to as a cross point), the routing switch The routing state 1 can be expressed by a plan view as shown in FIG. In the state shown in the figure, all intersections are white circle symbols, and none of the input / output terminals IN and OUT are connected. In this state, any intersection is changed to a black circle symbol, By turning on the switch element 4 located at the intersection, the control of the routing switch 1, that is, the routing control can be performed.
[0006]
FIG. 10A is a system configuration diagram for performing routing control. The personal computer 5 operates as a routing control device, and provides a user interface imitating the above plan view to the operator. When connecting an arbitrary input terminal IN and an arbitrary output terminal OUT, the operator selects (clicks, etc.) the corresponding intersection position on the user interface screen, and changes the intersection symbol from a white circle to a black circle. (This operation is called cross point switching operation).
[0007]
Thereafter, the personal computer 5 generates cross point information and outputs the cross point information to the switching control unit 6 of the routing switch 1. The switching control unit 6 selects the switch element 4 at the corresponding intersection position based on the cross point information. The routing switch 1 is controlled to be turned on. Thereby, the connection state of the routing switch 1 can be remotely controlled from the personal computer 5.
[0008]
By the way, although the user interface using the above-described plan view is effective in that the cross point switching control can be intuitively performed, for example, an arbitrary broadcast signal is assigned to each of the input / output terminals IN and OUT. There is room for improvement in that it cannot.
[0009]
Therefore, a user interface as shown in FIG. 10B is used. This user interface 7 lays out an input terminal and its signal name display area 8 (hereinafter “input display area”) on the right side, and an output terminal and its signal name display area 9 (hereinafter “output display area”) on the left side. The layout is designed.
[0010]
In the input display area 8, a terminal number (No.) column 8a and an input terminal name column 8b are displayed in a number of lines so that an arbitrary terminal name or broadcast signal name can be freely registered in the input terminal name column 8b. It has become. In the output display area 9, a terminal number (No.) column 9a, an output terminal name column 9b, and an input terminal name column 9c are displayed in multiple lines, and an arbitrary terminal name or broadcast is displayed in the output terminal name column 9b. In addition to being able to register signal names freely, D & D (drag and drop) an arbitrary line in the input display area 8 to an arbitrary line in the input terminal name column 9c, and information on the D & D source (input terminal name) Alternatively, the input signal name) can be freely transferred to the input terminal name column 9c of the output display area 9.
[0011]
According to this, for example, as shown in FIG. 10C, an arbitrary row (No. = 5 in the figure) in the input display area 8 is dragged, and an arbitrary row (No in the figure) in the output display area 9 is dragged. .. = 5), the information of the line in the input display area 8 (“IN05” in the figure) can be transferred to the input terminal name field 9c in the output display area 9.
[0012]
Such a transfer operation corresponds to a cross-point switching operation in the plan view. Therefore, the user interface 7 can also control the routing switch 1 and can freely assign arbitrary names to the input terminal name column 8b and the output terminal name column 9b. The broadcast signal names and the like can be flexibly assigned to each of the above, and the disadvantages of the user interface using the above-described plan view can be solved.
[0013]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, although the user interface 7 is useful in that it can flexibly assign broadcast signal names to the input / output terminals IN and OUT, it is still unsatisfactory in presenting more information to the operator. There are technical issues that are sufficient and should be improved.
[0014]
In other words, there are two types of signals to be routed: video signals and audio signals, but video signals have image quality classifications such as high-definition image quality and standard image quality. Audio signals such as stereo and monaural are also included in audio signals. In addition to classification, when those signals are further classified by “level” (see the description of FIG. 11) described later, it is necessary to grasp the respective classification and level and perform reliable routing operation. In the user interface 7, the additional information (information such as classification and level) cannot be displayed at all. Therefore, the operator performs the routing operation based on limited information such as the terminal name and the signal name. There is a problem that it must be done and the possibility of an operation error cannot be denied.
[0015]
FIG. 11 is a conceptual schematic diagram of a level-structured routing switch. This routing switch is composed of a plurality of routing switch layers from level 1 to level n (n is about 7), the same terminals of each level are grouped together, and one broadcast material (video signal + audio signal) is assigned to one group. ) Is used. For example, when an image signal of a certain broadcast material is assigned to a predetermined terminal of level 1 (for convenience, it is referred to as a terminal x), and an audio signal of the same material is assigned to a terminal 2 of level 2 and grouped, the level 1 to level By switching the n terminals x at once, it is possible to efficiently perform the routing operation for each broadcast material without switching signals in units of video and audio.
[0016]
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and a problem to be solved is to make it possible to freely and accurately confirm various additional information related to an input / output signal to be routed as necessary. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a routing switch control method and control device intended to surely eliminate a routing operation error due to lack of information, and a recording medium storing the control program.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object of the present invention, the connection relationship between a plurality of input signals and a plurality of output signals is controlled. Of the present invention Signal connection control method Is Connection relationship Control An output signal object corresponding to each of the output signals. And an area obtained by dividing the output signal object into two. And In response to a predetermined user action performed on one area of the output signal object, additional information of the output signal corresponding to the output signal object is displayed, or the other of the output signal object is displayed. In response to a predetermined user action performed on the area, processing for displaying additional information of the input signal assigned to the output signal is performed.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the specific details or examples in the following description and the illustrations of numerical values, character strings, and other symbols are only for reference in order to clarify the idea of the present invention, and the present invention may be used in whole or in part. Obviously, the idea of the invention is not limited. In addition, a well-known technique, a well-known procedure, a well-known architecture, a well-known circuit configuration, and the like (hereinafter, “well-known matter”) are not described in detail, but this is also to simplify the description. Not all or part of the matter is intentionally excluded. Such well-known matters are known to those skilled in the art at the time of filing of the present invention, and are naturally included in the following description.
[0019]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual system configuration diagram for routing control in the present embodiment. In this figure, a personal computer 10 (providing means, detecting means, and displaying means) operates as a routing control device, and will be described in detail later. A graphical user interface for routing operation including characteristic elements of the present invention will be described later. (Refer to FIG. 4; hereinafter referred to as “GUI”) is generated and provided to the operator.
[0020]
However, the name of the personal computer 10 (particularly “personal” or “computer”) has no particular meaning. In short, any information processing device can be used as long as it can display a GUI described later and can catch an operator's action (user action; also referred to as an event) for each part of the GUI. For example, it may be a workstation or the like. . Realistically, a general-purpose personal computer equipped with an operating system with excellent GUI characteristics such as Windows (registered trademark) series or UNIX (registered trademark) in consideration of the ease of GUI development and an inexpensive execution environment (typical) In particular, it will be based on the DOS / V architecture).
[0021]
The switching control unit 11 includes an interface unit 11 a that controls signal input / output with the personal computer 10, an interface unit 11 b that controls signal input / output with the routing switch 12, and internal operations of the switching control unit 11. And a control unit 11c for controlling the switching element of the routing switch 12 (see reference numeral 4 in FIG. 9) based on a routing control command signal output from the personal computer 10.
[0022]
The routing switch 12 includes an interface unit 12a that controls signal input / output with the switching control unit 11, an interface unit 12b that controls signal input / output with a router setting device (not shown), and a television broadcasting system. An interface unit 12c that controls input / output of signals exchanged with other devices (for example, the remote controller 14 for switching switching) via the system bus 13, and a routing switch unit 12d (see FIG. 9 for the internal configuration) A control unit 12e for controlling the internal operation of the routing switch 12, and based on a control signal from the switching control unit 11, a plurality of input terminals IN1 to IN5 and a plurality of output terminals OUT1 to OUT5 of the routing switch unit 12d Switch the connection status between the various broadcasts , For example, a signal from the first camera 15, the second camera 16, or the VTR 17, or a signal input from the satellite line 18, the dedicated line 19, or the like, while appropriately selecting the signal through the switcher 20. Can be distributed (sent) to
[0023]
Here, signals taken out from the output terminals OUT1 to OUT5 of the routing switch 12 are also sent to a monitor device installed in a sub-studio of the broadcasting station.
[0024]
FIG. 2 is an image diagram of the sub-studio. The person in charge of transmission monitoring 21 checks whether the broadcast material having the proper contents is transmitted from the channel determined in the predetermined time zone while viewing the screen displays of the plurality of monitor devices 22 to 35 arranged on the wall surface. If an unsuitable situation is found, the switcher 20 is operated to take necessary measures such as switching between the active system and the standby system.
[0025]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the personal computer 10. The personal computer 10 includes a CPU 10a, a RAM 10b, a disk controller 10c, a disk device 10d, a display controller 10e, a display device 10f, a keyboard controller 10g, a keyboard device 10h, a pointing device device 10i, a communication control device 10j, a main bus 10k, and a bus interface 10m. And an internal bus 10n.
[0026]
The personal computer 10 loads an operating system or a required application program stored in advance in the disk device 10d to the RAM 10b and executes it on the CPU 10a, thereby displaying a GUI to be described later on the display device 10f. An action (operation action of the keyboard device 10h or the pointing device device 10i) is detected, a routing control command signal is generated, and the routing control signal can be output to the switching control unit 11.
[0027]
FIG. 4 is a preferred layout diagram of the GUI. In this figure, the GUI 30 arranges a title bar 31 and a menu bar 32 at the top, an output signal display area 34 in the upper half of the client area 33 in the form, and an input signal display area 35 in the lower half. In addition, the control area 36 is arranged in the lower right part and laid out.
[0028]
The title bar 31, menu bar 32, and client area 33 are defined member objects that constitute the GUI 30. That is, it is an element that is naturally included in a form object designed and developed under a general-purpose operating system such as the Windows (registered trademark) series, such as an output signal display area 34, an input signal display area 35, and a control area 36. Other object elements are uniquely designed to achieve the intent of the present invention. In the illustrated example, the character string “assign [monitor]” is set in the title name of the title bar 31, and “file (F)” and “editing method (C) are set in the menu items of the menu bar 32. ) "," Assign selection (A) "," Interlock (W) "," Help (H) ", etc. are set for convenience. Incidentally, the alphabet of each menu item (F, C, A, W, H; they are underlined on the screen) represents a shortcut key combined with a predetermined key. For example, if the predetermined key is the Alt key, the leftmost menu item (“file”) is selected by simultaneously pressing the Alt key and the F key.
[0029]
In the output signal display area 34, a plurality of output signal objects of any size (in the figure, one object is given a representative symbol 37 to avoid congestion in the drawing) are arranged at appropriate positions. These output signal objects 37 correspond to the output terminals (OUT1 to OUT5) of the routing switch 12 on a one-to-one basis.
[0030]
Each output signal object 37 corresponds to each of the monitor devices 22 to 35 in the sub studio, and each layout position also corresponds to an actual position of each monitor device 22 to 35. However, the number (31) of output signal objects 37 in the output signal display area 34 of FIG. 4 and the number of monitor devices 22 to 35 (14) in FIG. The layout position of the output signal object 37 does not coincide with the arrangement position of the monitor devices 22 to 35 in FIG. 2, but this is for the convenience of drawing. Actually, the number of output signal objects 37 and the number of monitor devices 22 to 35 are the same, and the layout position of the output signal objects 37 and the arrangement positions of the monitor devices 22 to 35 also match. By doing so, the selection of the output signal and the input signal at the time of the routing operation can be performed intuitively without mistakes.
[0031]
Input signal display area 35 Are arranged with a plurality of input signal objects having substantially the same size (in the figure, one object is denoted by a reference numeral 38 in order to avoid congestion in the drawing). These input signal objects 38 correspond to the input terminals (IN1 to IN5) of the routing switch 12 on a one-to-one basis.
[0032]
In the control area 36, a first editing method designation box control 39 for designating one editing method (click editing) and a second editing method designation for designating a second editing method (drag and drop editing). A box control 40, a send command button control 41, a return command button control 42, and an end command button control 43 are arranged.
[0033]
Only one of the first editing method designating box control 39 and the second editing method designating box control 40 can be selected. When the former is selected, the assignment of the output signal and the input signal is a mouse. Can be performed by a click operation according to, and when the latter is in a selected state, it can be performed by D & D. The assignment operation by clicking means an operation of selecting an arbitrary input signal object in the input signal area 35 and selecting an arbitrary output signal object in the output signal display area 34 immediately after that. Say. Also, the allocation operation by D & D means that an arbitrary input signal object is clicked in the input signal area 35, is moved (dragged) onto an arbitrary output signal object in the output signal display area 34, and is clicked. An operation to release (drop).
[0034]
The return command button control 42 is for redoing the editing (assignment) operation (also referred to as undo), the end command button control 43 is for ending the editing operation and closing the GUI 30, and the send command button control 41 is for editing. This is for generating a routing control command signal reflecting the result, that is, the routing operation result, and outputting it to the switching control unit 11.
[0035]
Therefore, the editing (assignment) operation can be redone by the return command button control 42, the GUI 30 can be closed by the end command button control 43, and the routing control reflecting the routing operation result by the transmission command button control 41. A command signal can be generated and output to the switching control unit 11 to perform on / off control of the switch element of the routing switch 12.
[0036]
As described at the beginning, the problem of the present invention is that “various additional information related to the signal to be routed can be confirmed freely and accurately as necessary, and a reliable routing operation error due to lack of information can be confirmed. It is to provide a routing switch control method and control device intended to be excluded, and a recording medium storing the control program. In the present embodiment, as a technical element for that purpose, a structural device is applied to the output signal object 37 in the output signal display area 34 of the GUI 30.
[0037]
FIG. 5 is a diagram representatively showing one of the output signal objects 37 in the output signal display area 34. The output signal object 37 has a vertically divided structure (upper region 37a and lower region 37b). Each of the upper region 37a and the lower region 37b is also an individual object, and an output signal is clearly indicated in the upper region 37a, and an input signal assigned to the output signal is clearly indicated in the lower region 37b.
[0038]
For example, in the illustrated example, “PM4” is displayed as the title of the upper area 37a, and “C1” is displayed as the title of the lower area 37b. From these displays, the operator can intuitively grasp that the input signal (or input terminal) “C1” is assigned to the output signal (or output terminal) “PM4”. Further, as described above, each of the output signal objects 37 has a one-to-one correspondence with the monitor devices 22 to 35 installed in the sub studio, so that the operator can move to the layout position of the output signal object 37. By looking at the screen display of the corresponding monitor devices 22 to 35, it is possible to definitely monitor the signals in the above allocation relationship (“PM4” and “C1”).
[0039]
The method of assigning an input signal (or input terminal) to an arbitrary output signal (or output terminal) depends on the “editing method” in the control area 36. If click editing is selected, the input signal display area 35 After clicking and selecting the target input signal object 38, the target output signal object 37 in the output signal display area 34 may be selected by clicking, or if D & D editing is selected. Input signal display area 35 It is only necessary to drag the target input signal object 38 in the above and drop it on the target output signal object 37 in the output signal display area 34. In any editing method, the title character string in the lower region 37 b of the output signal object 37 is replaced with the title character string of the input signal object 38.
[0040]
Here, in this embodiment, when the mouse pointer 37c is placed on the upper area 37a of the output signal object 37, the pop hint text 37d is displayed. Similarly, when the mouse pointer 37c is placed on the lower area 37b of the output signal object 37, the pop hint text 37e is displayed. “Pop hint text” is a balloon property setting value (usually a character string) displayed for a predetermined time in a balloon state, and is also called balloon hint text.
[0041]
In the example of FIG. 5, when the mouse pointer 37c is placed on the upper area 37a of the output signal object 37, the pop hint text 37d having the character string “name: PM4, LEVEL: 1, system: HD” is displayed. When the mouse pointer 37c is placed on the lower area 37b of the output signal object 37, the pop hint text 37e having the character string “name: C1, system: HD” is displayed.
[0042]
These character strings include additional information (LEVEL and system) of the output signal (PM4) and additional information (system) of the input signal (C1), and above the corresponding object (upper region 37a and lower region 37b). Is displayed for the first time by intentionally positioning the mouse pointer 37c. Therefore, the problem of the present invention described at the beginning, that is, “various additional information relating to signals to be routed can be confirmed freely and accurately as necessary. As a result, “reliable elimination of routing operation errors due to lack of information” can be achieved.
[0043]
In order to be able to display the pop hint text 37d and the pop hint text 37e, the GUI 30 according to the present embodiment refers to the table having the structure shown in FIG. 6 at the time of the open event. This table is composed of (a) an output signal table 50 storing additional information related to an output signal, and (b) an input signal table 51 storing additional information related to an input signal.
[0044]
The output signal table 50 includes additional information fields such as a terminal number field 50a, a name field 50b, a LEVEL field 50c, and a system field 50d. The input signal table 51 includes, for example, a terminal number field 51a and a name field. Additional information fields such as 51b and system field 51d are provided.
[0045]
The terminal number field 50a of the output signal table 50 stores the output terminal number of the routing switch 12, and the name field 50b stores the terminal name or signal name assigned to each output terminal. The LEVEL field 50c stores the LEVEL (eg, level 1, level 1, 2, etc.) of each output signal, and the system field 50c stores the system name (eg, HD or standard representing high-definition image quality). SD representing the image quality) is stored. Similarly, the terminal number field 51a of the input signal table 51 stores the input terminal number of the routing switch 12, and the name field 51b stores the terminal name or signal name assigned to each input terminal. The system field 50c stores the system name of each input signal (for example, HD representing high definition image quality, SD representing standard image quality, etc.). In addition, these additional information (LEVEL, a system | strain, etc.) is only an example. Of course, other information may be added as necessary.
[0046]
At the time of the open event, the GUI 30 reads information in these tables 50 and 51 and executes processing for setting the balloon property of the output signal object in the output signal display area 34.
[0047]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the main part of the open event procedure of the GUI 30. This flowchart representatively shows an information setting algorithm for the balloon property of each object (output signal object) in the output signal display area 34. Here, as explained earlier, “balloon property” means pop-up hint text (or balloon hint text) on or near the object when the mouse pointer is over the object. It is a property to do. An example of such a property is also known as the “ControlTipText” property in the VisualBasic development environment, for example. In this specification, this type of property is referred to as a “balloon property” for the sake of convenience, but is not limited to this property.
[0048]
When the illustrated flowchart is started, the GUI 30 is first opened (step S11). Next, an initial value is set to the loop variable maximum value imax (step S12), and further, the loop variable i is initialized (step S13). Here, the initial value of the loop variable maximum value imax is a number corresponding to the number of registered records in the output signal table 50 and the input signal table 51, and is, for example, “1024” in the illustrated example.
[0049]
Next, while sequentially counting up the loop variable i from the initial value (= 1) (step S16), the i-th output signal object 37 in the output signal display area 34 is generated (step S14), and those The operation of setting the information extracted from the i-th record of the output signal table 50 and the input signal table 51 to the balloon properties of the upper region 37a and the lower region 37b of the i-th output signal object 37 (step S15) is a loop. The process is repeatedly executed until the value of the variable i reaches the maximum value (imax) (“YES determination” in step S17).
[0050]
Assuming that the value of the loop variable i is “4” for the sake of convenience, the fourth output signal object in the output signal display area 34 (for convenience of explanation, the output signal object 37 in FIG. 5) is assumed. Generated. The information (output signal additional information; “name: PM4, LEVEL: 1, system: HD”) extracted from the fourth record 50e of the output signal table 50 is the balloon property of the upper area 37a of the output signal object 37. The information (input signal additional information “name: C1, system: HD”) extracted from the fourth record 51 d of the input signal table 51 is set as the balloon property of the lower region 37 b of the output signal object 37. Set.
[0051]
Such an operation is performed in the same manner for other output signal objects. As a result, corresponding record information (input / output signal additional information) of the output signal table 50 and the input signal table 51 is set in the balloon properties of the upper region 37a and the lower region 37b of all the output signal objects 37, respectively. It will be.
[0052]
Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following excellent effects can be obtained.
(1) In the output signal display area 34 of the GUI 30, the output signal objects 37 having the same arrangement as the monitor devices 22 to 35 of the sub studio are laid out, and the output signal name is displayed in the upper area 37a of each output signal object 37. Since the input signal name is displayed in the lower area 37b and the assignment relationship between the two is clearly shown, the assignment status of the input / output signals corresponding to the screen display of the specific monitor device can be grasped intuitively without mistakes. can do.
[0053]
(2) When changing the assignment of the input / output signals, a desired input signal (input signal object 38) is selected from the input signal display area 34 of the GUI 30, and the output signal display area of the GUI 30 is selected. 35 D & D (or click editing) may be performed on the desired output signal (output signal object 37), and the assignment can be changed with a simple operation, and the occurrence of an assignment error due to an erroneous operation can be avoided.
[0054]
(3) If it is desired to know detailed information of a specific output signal, the mouse pointer 37c may be positioned on the upper area 37a of the corresponding output signal object 37. Alternatively, if the user wants to know detailed information of the input signal assigned to the output signal, the mouse pointer 37c may be positioned on the lower area 37b of the corresponding output signal object 37. In any case, the output signal and the additional information of the input signal can be displayed on the target object (upper region 37a or lower region 37b) for a predetermined time as pop hint text 37d, 37e, Detailed information of the input signal assigned to the output signal can be easily and reliably grasped.
[0055]
(4) The output signal and additional information of the input signal are stored for each signal in a table (the output signal table 50 and the input signal table 51), and the information is stored in the balloons of the upper region 37a and the lower region 37b of the output signal object 37. Since it is set in the property, it is possible to easily add or modify additional information simply by changing the table contents, and to build a system with excellent flexibility.
[0056]
By the way, in the above embodiment, when the mouse cursor 37c is positioned on one of the upper region 37a and the lower region 37b of the output signal object 37, the pop hint texts 37d and 37e are displayed. However, since the sizes of the upper region 37a and the lower region 37b are relatively large, the mouse pointer 37c may be positioned casually or accidentally. In this case, the pop hint text 37d is used regardless of the operator's intention. , 37e are displayed, and there is a drawback that it cannot be denied.
[0057]
Therefore, in the second embodiment of the present invention described below, as shown in FIG. 8B, small dummy objects 37f and 37g (transparent) are respectively provided in the upper region 37a and the lower region 37b of the output signal object 37. When the mouse cursor 37c is positioned on the dummy objects 37f and 37g, the pop hint texts 37d and 37e are displayed.
[0058]
According to this improved example, since the size of the target objects (dummy objects 37f and 37g) for displaying the pop hint texts 37d and 37e is reduced, there is a possibility that the mouse pointer 37c may be positioned casually or accidentally. The display of unnecessary pop hint texts 37d and 37e that are not based on the operator's intention can be avoided.
[0059]
By the way, when such an improved example is applied, since the size of the target object (dummy objects 37f and 37g) for displaying the pop hint texts 37d and 37e is small, it becomes difficult to position the mouse cursor 37c thereon. As a result, there is a new drawback that the operability is deteriorated.
[0060]
In order to solve this, in this embodiment, the mouse cursor 37c is instantaneously positioned on the target object (dummy objects 37f and 37g) by using a keyboard operation.
[0061]
FIG. 8A is a flowchart of a keyboard operation detection procedure for that purpose. In this procedure, first, it is determined whether or not a specific key operation (for example, simultaneous operation of the control key and ↑ key or simultaneous operation of the control key and ↓ key) has been performed (step S21). If not, the procedure is terminated as it is. If it is, the current mouse cursor position (position coordinates on the display screen) is acquired (step S22), and the mouse cursor position is output as an output signal. It is determined whether the object is on the object 37 (step S23). If the mouse cursor is not positioned on the output signal object 37, the procedure is terminated, and if it is positioned, one of the specific key operations is a key indicating the lower area 37b (for example, ↓ key) (step S24), and the following processing is executed for each determination result.
[0062]
<↓ key>
After moving the mouse cursor onto the dummy object 37g in the lower area 37b (step S25), the procedure is terminated.
<↑ key>
After moving the mouse cursor over the dummy object 37f in the upper area 37a (step S26), the procedure is terminated.
[0063]
As described above, according to this procedure, when the mouse cursor is positioned on an arbitrary output signal object 37, a specific key operation (for example, simultaneous operation of the control key and the ↑ key, or control key and ↓ (Simultaneous operation of keys) makes it possible to move the mouse cursor on the dummy object 37g in the lower region 37b or on the dummy object 37f in the upper region 37a in an instant. Accordingly, since the mouse cursor can be surely positioned even on the dummy objects 37g and 37f that are small and transparent, unnecessary pop hint texts 37d and 37e that are not based on the user's intention are displayed. In addition to being able to avoid this, it is possible to detect a clear user intention (specific key operation) and display the pop hint texts 37d and 37e only when necessary.
[0064]
In the example shown in the figure, the dummy objects 37f and 37g are positioned at substantially the center of the upper region 37a and the lower region 37b, but this is only an example. For example, you may locate in the corner part of the upper area | region 37a and the lower area | region 37b. In particular, the upper left corner of an object graphic is generally handled as the origin coordinate of the graphic because it is a design practice, and therefore it is preferable to position the corner at the same corner portion because the procedure can be simplified.
[0065]
In the above description, an on-focus event (for example, a GoFocus event) of a mouse cursor is used, but other events can also be used. For example, when using a Click event that occurs when a mouse button is clicked or a DblClick event that occurs when a mouse button is double-clicked, the position of the mouse cursor is acquired when that event is detected, and that position is the output signal. The pop hint text 37d for the output signal is displayed if it is above the upper area 37a of the object 37, or the pop hint text 37e for the input signal is displayed if the position is above the lower area 37b. May be.
[0066]
Further, the additional information may be displayed using other than the pop hint texts 37d and 37e. For example, a message box or a dedicated form may be used. In short, it is only necessary that the operator's intention is detected by a predetermined event (such as GotFocus event, Click event or DblClick event) and additional information can be displayed when the event is detected.
[0067]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, when a predetermined user action is performed on an arbitrary output signal object, the additional information of the output signal corresponding to the output signal object or the additional information of the input signal assigned to the output signal Is displayed. Therefore, various additional information related to the input / output signals to be routed can be displayed and confirmed as necessary freely and accurately, and a routing operation error due to lack of information can be reliably eliminated.
Alternatively, the output signal object is divided into two areas, and user actions are detected for each area. For example, when a user action is detected for one area, additional information of the output signal is displayed, and for the other area If the additional information of the input signal assigned to the output signal is displayed when the user action is detected, the additional information can be displayed more finely for each input / output signal.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual system configuration diagram for routing control in the present embodiment;
FIG. 2 is an image diagram of a sub-studio.
3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a personal computer 10. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a preferred layout diagram of GUI 30;
FIG. 5 is a diagram representatively showing one of output signal objects (output signal object 37) in the output signal display area 34;
6 is a conceptual structural diagram of an output signal table 50 and an input signal table 51. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a main part of an open event procedure of the GUI 30;
FIG. 8 is a procedure and object layout diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a routing switch, an off / off state diagram of a switch element 4, and a chart showing a routing state.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a system configuration for performing routing control, a user interface diagram, and an example of an assignment operation performed using the user interface.
FIG. 11 is a conceptual schematic diagram of a level-structured routing switch.
[Explanation of symbols]
10... Personal computer (providing means, detection means, display means), 30... GUI (graphical user interface).

Claims (5)

In a signal connection control method for controlling a connection relationship between a plurality of input signals and a plurality of output signals,
A graphical user interface for controlling the connection relationship;
The graphical user interface is:
An output signal object corresponding to each of the output signals and an area obtained by dividing the output signal object into two parts;
In response to a predetermined user action performed on one area of the output signal object, additional information of the output signal corresponding to the output signal object is displayed,
Or a processing step for displaying additional information of the input signal assigned to the output signal in response to a predetermined user action performed on the other area of the output signal object. A signal connection control method. 2. The signal connection control method according to claim 1, wherein in which of the two areas a predetermined user action is performed is classified according to a key operation method. In a signal connection control device that controls a connection relationship between a plurality of input signals and a plurality of output signals,
Providing means for providing a user with a graphical user interface for controlling the connection relationship;
The graphical user interface is:
Including an output signal object corresponding to each of the output signals, and an area obtained by dividing the output signal object into two parts,
Detection means for detecting a predetermined user action performed on the output signal object for each area;
When a predetermined user action for one area is detected by the detection means, additional information of the output signal corresponding to the output signal object is displayed, or a predetermined user action for the other area is displayed by the detection means Is detected, display means for displaying additional information of the input signal assigned to the output signal,
A signal connection control device comprising: 4. The signal connection control device according to claim 3, wherein in which of the two areas a predetermined user action is performed is distinguished by a key operation method. A recording medium that records a control program for operating a signal connection control device that controls a connection relationship between a plurality of input signals and a plurality of output signals,
Providing a user with a graphical user interface for controlling the connection relationship;
In the graphical user interface:
An output signal object corresponding to each of the output signals, and a function of dividing the output signal object into two regions;
A function of detecting a predetermined user action performed on the output signal object for each region by a detection unit;
A function for displaying additional information of an output signal corresponding to the output signal object on the display means when a predetermined user action on one area is detected by the detection means;
When a predetermined user action for the other region is detected by the detection means, a function of displaying additional information of the input signal assigned to the output signal by the display means;
A recording medium storing a program for realizing the above on a computer .

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