JPH04191972A - Editing system for character attribute - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve conveniency by changing the display attribute of a character while indicating the specified position in the display area of the character by means of an input device against the displayed character. CONSTITUTION:A pointing input device (mouse) 12, a coordinate conversion processing part 13, an attribute change processing part 14, and a character font storage device 15 are provided. The attribute change is indicated by pointing (designating) the specified position by means of the input device such as the mouse 12 against the display area of the character itself for change in the attribute change of the character. As the attribute, there are size change, rotation, face change, line type change, etc. The selection of the attribute can be performed not only by the designation of the specified position but by the operation method (for example, the way of moving the mouse 12) of the input device after that. Since the number of the indicatable specified position in the character display area is limited, the number of selectable attribures can be increased by using the operation method together to the specified position, further, the degree of attribute change is changed according to the amount of operation of input. Thus, the conveniency is improved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to document editing processing in a computer, and in particular,
This invention relates to a character attribute editing method that allows character display attributes to be changed depending on the specified position of an input device and the operating method.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in document editing processing, when attempting to change attributes such as character font and size for a character string or figure in document data or figure data, first, the target area is The user had to specify the attribute and then select the command from the menu of the desired attribute. In addition, the thickness of the letters (number of dots), etc., was selected from preset sizes.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned conventional technology, when attempting to change an attribute, it takes many operational steps such as specifying the target area and selecting a command from the attribute menu, which is not necessarily easy to use. The problem was that it wasn't good.

Also, when changing the line thickness, which is one of the attributes of a figure, etc., you can only specify a few line thicknesses prepared in advance, and you cannot change the line thickness arbitrarily.
There was also the problem of lack of functionality.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a character attribute editing method according to the present invention is a character attribute editing method in a document editing process that edits a document on a display screen of a display device. , the display attribute of the displayed character is changed by specifying a specific position within the display area of the displayed character using an input device.

In this method, the specific position within the display area of the character is, for example, an edge or a small area at the center of the display area of the character.

The character display area may be divided into a plurality of small areas, and a display attribute that can be specified may be assigned to each of the small areas.

It is also possible to select a display attribute to be changed depending on how the input device is operated after specifying the specific position.

Preferably, the degree of change of the display attribute is determined according to the amount of movement operation of the input device.

The specific position and operation method to be assigned to the attribute may be registered.

Note that in this specification, unless otherwise specified, "characters" also include figures and symbols.

[Operation] In the character attribute editing method according to the present invention, character attributes are changed by pointing (designating) a specific position in the display area of the character itself to be changed using an input device such as a mouse. This allows instructions to change attributes. Attributes include character size change, rotation, font change, line type change, etc.

Attributes can be selected not only by specifying a specific position but also by the subsequent operation method of the input device (for example, by moving the mouse). Since the number of specific positions that can be designated within the character display area is limited, it is possible to increase the number of selectable attributes by also using an operating method for the specific positions. Furthermore, since the degree of attribute change can be changed according to the amount of operation of the input device, usability is improved.

The specific position and operation method can be registered in order to provide flexibility, so they can be set in advance for ease of use by the user.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration and flow of control data when the present invention is applied to a computer-based document (graphic) editing processing device.

In the figure, reference numeral 12 denotes a pointing input device for specifying a specific position to be changed in attributes, which is a mouse in this embodiment. Reference numeral 13 denotes a coordinate conversion processing unit for determining a function for changing attributes of input coordinate data. Reference numeral 14 denotes an attribute change processing unit that processes various attributes in attribute change.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a character font storage device 15 for acquiring data to be processed by the attribute change processing unit 14 when the object of attribute conversion is a character.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the document editing processing device shown in FIG. 1. This device has a main unit, a central processing unit (CPU) 70. A main memory N71 that stores programs and data executed by the CPU, a display device 72 that displays edited documents, etc., and a printer 73 that prints edited documents, etc. It consists of an external storage device 74 for storing programs, data, etc., a keyboard 75 and a mouse 76 for inputting characters, instructions, etc.

The screen display bag W11 in FIG. 1 corresponds to the display device 72, and the input device 12 corresponds to the mouse 76. Further, the coordinate transformation processing unit 13 and attribute change processing unit 14 in FIG.
This corresponds to 70 functions. The character font storage device 15 is
It corresponds to the main storage device 71 and/or the external storage device 74.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a mouse operation method for changing the display attributes of characters and the like in this embodiment, and the corresponding functions. In FIG. 2(a), the user points the edge of a certain character with the mouse and presses a button), and then, while holding down the button, moves (drags) the character in a straight line to an arbitrary size. As a result, the size of characters, etc. is determined by the amount of mouse operation (
amount of movement). Actually, it is a small area within the display area of the character etc. (in this example, the small areas at the four corners)
When you specify , it is recognized that the edge of the character, etc. has been specified. When it approaches the center of the character display area, it is enlarged, and when it moves away, it is reduced. The origin of enlargement/reduction is the first specified edge.

FIG. 2(b) shows another operation method for changing the size of characters, etc. The area for characters, etc. is designated as a rectangle using the mouse, and the size is changed by moving the edge of the rectangle from point 1 onwards, while holding down the button.

Figures 2 (c) and (d) show that by pointing the mouse at a part other than the end of the line segment of the character, etc. whose attributes are to be changed,
Then, while holding down the button, the object moves straight in a direction perpendicular to that line segment by an arbitrary amount. the result,
The thickness of the line segment of the part you point at, such as a character, changes depending on the amount of mouse movement.

Figure 2(e) shows the mouse operation to obtain italicized characters, etc., by pointing the mouse at a small area at the upper right corner of the characters, etc., and then drawing an arc while holding down the button. It moves the mouse like this. The degree of inclination of characters, etc. is changed according to the amount of mouse movement. Of course, it is also possible to obtain italic characters with a predetermined slope regardless of the amount of mouse movement.

Next, a processing flow for realizing the above attribute change will be explained.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart in the coordinate transformation processing section. There is data input from the mouse as input, first,
It is determined whether the first pointed position is the predetermined edge of a character, etc. that is subject to attribute change (101
). If the pointed position is at the edge, then it is determined whether the mouse movement trajectory after the point is a straight line (1
02).

If the movement trajectory is a straight line, in this case, the process is to enlarge or reduce characters, etc., so set the processing flag (
103), if the movement trajectory is not a straight line, it is a process of rotating characters, etc., and a flag for that process is set (10
4). In step 101, the first point is
If it is not the end of the character, etc. that is the target of attribute change, the process is to change the style (thickness) of the character, so a flag for that process is set (107). After setting the flag for each attribute change process in this case, the amount of mouse movement used to process the data is calculated (105
). Whether or not the mouse movement trajectory is a straight line can be determined, for example, by checking whether the three points of the mouse movement trajectory, the starting point, the end point, and the center point, are within a parallel line of a constant width. I can do it.

Figure 4 (a), (b), (c), (d)
is the attribute change processing unit 14 that performs the process of changing the attributes of one character, etc.
(This is a flowchart in FIG. 1). In the process shown in FIG. 1(a), the aforementioned coordinate transformation processing unit 13 first determines the flag classified into the type of change attribute (201). If the target processing flag is enlargement or reduction of characters, etc., it is determined whether it is a character or not (2
02). If it is a character, a font is acquired for data processing (203). In this case, in the font.

Considering processing speed and quality after processing, it is preferable to prepare vector fonts.

Then, the text and graphic data are enlarged and reduced (2
04). If the target processing flag is rotation processing of characters, etc., it is determined whether or not it is a character (205
). If it is a character, a font is acquired for data processing (206).

Then, data such as characters is rotated (207).

When the target processing flag is a process for changing the style (thickness) of characters, etc., a process for changing the thickness of a line segment corresponding to the amount of movement of an input device such as a mouse is performed (208).

FIG. 5(a) is for explaining mouse operations for changing attributes in the second embodiment of the present invention. The character display area is divided into four small areas (cells) 51 to 54, and different attributes are assigned to each cell. In this example,
Changes in character size (enlargement/reduction) are assigned to cell 51, character rotation is assigned to cell 52, character font is assigned to cell 53, and character line type is assigned to cell 54.

By pointing the mouse at a desired cell, you can select a process to change its attributes.

When the character size change cell 51 is pointed at, eight dots ``■'' to ``■'' are displayed around the character display area, as shown in FIG. 5(b). In this example, we start with point l−
This point becomes the origin for changing the character size, and when you move the mouse from the origin to the inside of the character (in the example shown, from point/work to illumination), the point (τ in the same figure (c)
), the image is enlarged according to the amount of mouse movement. Conversely, when the mouse is moved from the point cl) toward the outside of the character, the character is reduced with the point cl) as the origin. The same applies to other points. Note that when dragging between adjacent corner points such as from point ■ to point ■, it is also possible to change the size only in the axial direction to which the pixel belongs.

For example, dragging from point ■ to point ■ enlarges the character only in the X-axis direction with the point as the origin.

Another method for changing the size is to display an arrow in the direction in which you want to change the size at the origin, as shown in FIG. 5 (cl). This arrow moves in sequence by 8 each time the mouse button is pressed.
Change to point in one direction. After selecting the direction, each time the other mouse button is pressed, the font size changes by a fixed amount. As described above, any of the eight points can be selected as the origin. In addition, Figure 5 (
Including the case of b), the point serving as the origin may include the center point of the character area.

When you point to cell 52 where you want to rotate characters, the fifth
As shown in figure (f), first, the points on the left and right of the display area,
[Engineer] is displayed. This point is used to specify the direction of rotation. Pointing at the point on the left will rotate the character left, and pointing at the point (X') on the right will rotate the character clockwise. An arrow will appear in the center of the
Each press of the mouse button rotates the direction of the arrow by 45 degrees. When you press the other mouse button at the desired angle, the character rotated by the angle of the arrow at that time is displayed (5th
Figure (h)). Note that the origin of rotation is the center of the character display area. The angle increments are not limited to 45°.

After pointing to cell 53 for selecting the font of the characters (Fig. 5 (i)
), and each time the mouse button is pressed, the font of the characters changes sequentially to Mincho, Gothic, etc. (FIG. 5(j)). Character fonts for each typeface are prepared in advance.

When you point to the cell 54 where you select the line type of the text (see Figure 5),
k), ), the character line changes sequentially from a dotted line to a -dotted chain line, and to multiple types of line thickness (FIG. 5 (1)).

Next, the processing flow of the second embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 6(a), it is determined which cell the area pointed to by the mouse is.

When the cell 51 is pointed to, the character size is enlarged as shown in FIG. 6(b). In this case, first, eight points are displayed around the character display area (601
). Next, it waits for the user's points and stores which point out of the eight points was pointed (602). moreover,
After determining the amount of mouse movement from the coordinates of the start and end points of the point (603), it is determined whether the direction of mouse movement is inward (positive) or outward (negative) from the origin of the character (60
4). If it is positive, enlarged display is performed by the amount of mouse movement (605), and if negative, reduced display is performed by the amount of mouse movement (606).

If the pointed area is cell 52, as shown in FIG. 6(c), first display the upper right and upper left points of the character display area (611), wait for the user to point, and Remembers whether the pointed point is on the right or left (
612). Next, display an arrow in the center of the cell and rotate the arrow in increments of angle each time the mouse button is pressed (6
1.3).

If the other mouse button is pressed when the arrow is at the desired angle (614), the coordinates of the new character are calculated from the angle and left/right information of the selected arrow (615).

As a result, characters rotated by this angle are displayed (6
16).

If the area pointed to was cell 53, as shown in FIG.
22), the next font is displayed (623
). Display of another mouse button confirms display of the font for that typeface (624).

If the area pointed to was cell 54, as shown in FIG.
632), characters are displayed using the following line type (633). When another mouse button is displayed, the character display for that line type is determined (634).

In this embodiment, it is also possible to enable the RB to change the attribute assignment for each cell. Although the number of cells is four, it may be any other number.

However, when the character display area is small, if the number of cells is 5 or more, it becomes difficult to determine the position of the cell, so the number of cells is preferably 4 or less.

If there are five or more types of character attributes, any four may be selected and registered.

Although only the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above,
Various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, when it is desired to change attributes such as the size and shape of characters, it is possible to specify a specific position in the display area for the object of attribute change using an input device such as a mouse. Various attributes can be selected by the user or by the method of operating the input device after specifying a specific position.

Therefore, there is no need to select commands from the menu each time, improving usability.

Further, by having the user register the specified position and the operation method of the input device for changing the attribute, the degree of freedom in the operation for changing the attribute is increased.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a document editing processing device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a first embodiment of a character attribute editing method according to the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the second embodiment of the character attribute editing method according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the process for realizing the method of the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. 11...Screen display device, 12...Input device, 13.
Coordinate conversion processing, 14... Attribute change processing, 15... Character font storage device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A character attribute editing method in document editing processing for editing a document on a display screen of a display device, which method includes specifying a displayed character within a display area using an input device. A character attribute editing method characterized by changing the display attributes of the character by specifying the position of the character. 2. The character attribute editing method according to claim 1, wherein the specific position within the character display area is an edge or a central small area within the character display area. 3. The character attribute editing method according to claim 1, wherein the character display area is divided into a plurality of small areas, and a display attribute that can be specified is assigned to each of the small areas. 4. The character attribute editing method according to claim 1, wherein the display attribute to be changed is selected in accordance with the operating method of the input device after the specific position is designated. 5. The character attribute editing method according to claim 1, wherein the degree of change of the display attribute is determined according to the amount of movement operation of the input device. 6. The character attribute editing method according to claim 4, wherein the specific position and operation method to be assigned to the attribute can be registered.