JPH06282616A - Plex structure display editing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately prepare and delete relation between the objects of a plex structure with few processes and to reduce the burdens of an operator by making the object at one end of a connection line unspecified and providing a specifying means for specifying it. CONSTITUTION:At the time of connecting a certain object to the other object, the operator operates a mouse 5 to prepare the connection line whose starting point is the object and a terminating point is unspecified by a connection means 13 and to specify the terminating point of the connection line whose terminating point is unspecified for the selected object. The specification is performed, no more connection line whose one end is unspecified is present and the desired connection line is prepared. Plural connection lines whose one end is unspecified can be simultaneously prepared. Also, by turning the selected object to the starting point and also the terminating point, bidirectionally directed connection lines can be prepared as well. Thus, the plural connection lines can be prepared while referring to the menu screen of a display means 8 with few operations compared to the number of the connection lines to be prepared and intellectual labor can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Industrial field of use] Recently, a device capable of displaying large-scale network structure data such as human-organization relationship diagrams and software interdependence diagrams in an easy-to-understand manner for efficient and easy editing. Is being sought.

The present invention relates to an improvement in a network structure display / editing apparatus comprising a plurality of objects displayed on the screen of a display means and undirected lines and / or directed lines connecting the objects.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a network structure has been used to express a dependency relationship between objects that are complicatedly related to each other. That is, the object is a node, and the dependency relationship is expressed by a line connecting the nodes. By the way, the network structure display / editing device is a device for displaying a network structure on a screen using an electronic computer, and interactively creating / deleting objects in the network and creating / deleting relationships between objects. .

In such a network structure display / editing apparatus,
In the past, the following operations were performed when creating a relationship between two objects.

First, one of the objects for which a relationship is to be created is selected, and then the other object is selected to create a relationship between the two objects (see Inspiration, a product of Ceres Software).

Further, in such a network structure display / editing apparatus, conventionally, when deleting the relationship between two objects, the following operation was performed.

First, a connecting line representing the relationship between two objects is selected. Then specify a delete operation for it (see Ceres Software product Inspiration).

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-described creation operation, when creating a single relationship that connects two objects, it is necessary to select the objects twice, and to When creating relationships with many other objects, you must select objects twice as many times as you create relationships, even though you create relationships with common objects. Also, when creating a relationship between one object and multiple objects that have been specified in another method, you must select objects twice as many times as the number of relationships to create. . Creating such a one-to-many relationship is not a few in editing the network structure, and dividing this into multiple operations is
It is an extra burden to continue intellectual work.

In addition, in the above-described deletion operation, a connecting line representing the relationship between two objects must be selected on the display device, and many objects are intricately related. In a large scale net structure, it is difficult to select the connecting line on the display device. In addition, it is not possible to delete the relationship between a certain object and many related objects at once, and the object must be selected twice as many times as the number of relationships to be deleted. Is an extra burden to continue intellectual work.

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and it is possible to realize the creation / deletion of relationships between objects of a network structure accurately with a small number of steps, and to reduce the burden on the operator. An object is to provide a display editing device.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 edits a network structure composed of a plurality of objects displayed on the screen of the display means and a line connecting the objects. In the network structure display / editing device, a storage unit that stores network structure information to be displayed on the screen of the display unit and one or more objects from the objects on the screen of the display unit are newly created. And a display means for displaying that one of the one or more objects on the screen of the display means is not specified at the other end of the connecting line having that end as one end, Of the objects on the screen of the display means, a designation means for designating an undesignated end as an object to be connected is provided.

Regarding the designating means for designating the end of the connecting line, if the connecting line is an undirected line, it is designated as the end, and if the connecting line is a directed line, its source or its destination. Alternatively, it can be added to the designation means so that it can be designated as both.

A display means for displaying whether or not one or more objects of interest at that time can be selected as an object of a connecting line having an unspecified end at that time is also provided. You can also

[0014] Further, the designating means, when the object at one end of the connecting line has already been defined, but when the other end is not defined, when the object at the undetermined end is designated, the connecting line The type and direction of the may be changed.

Further, the designating means, if the connecting line designated by designating the objects at both ends of the connecting line whose both ends have already been determined is an undirected line, turns it into a directional line. If it is a line, it may be changed to an undirected line or a directed line in the opposite direction.

Further, it is possible to provide a designation means for designating one or a plurality of objects from the objects on the screen of the display means as the ends of the connection line to be newly deleted.

[0017]

The operation of each invention having the above-mentioned structure will be described below. The network structure display editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an object is connected to another object based on a network structure which is currently composed of a plurality of objects displayed on the screen of the display means and a connecting line connecting the objects. In doing so, the operator operates the operation means and inputs operation information that means selection, separation, movement, and connection to other objects of each object on the screen of the display means. The network structure editing means edits network structure information related to selection, separation, movement, and connection to other objects of each object corresponding to the operation information from the operation means. The storage means stores the network structure information and the operation by the operator. The display driving means includes an editing status of the network structure editing means, for example, a state when selected, a state when separated, a state when an object at one end of a connection line is unspecified, and a connection to another object. A display pattern is created in accordance with the state at that time and provided for display on the display means. Further, the display of the display means by the display drive means may display the editing status in real time based on the input information instructed by the operator. The menu display means creates an operation menu based on the network structure information stored in the storage means and the past operation by the operator and provides it for display on the display means.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The network structure display editing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 includes a program memory 2 storing an operation program of the entire network structure display editing apparatus 1 and a control unit 3 for controlling the entire operation based on the operation program. The control unit 4 is provided with a keyboard 6 and an operating unit 7 including a mouse 5 which is one of pointing devices. The mouse 5 includes an operation button 5a for selecting an object, an additional button 5b for adding an object to be selected, and a menu button 5c for displaying a menu. Note that instead of the mouse 5, a tablet,
It is of course possible to use a trackball, eye tracker, stylus pen or the like.

The network structure display / editing apparatus 1 further comprises a display means 8 selected from a CRT display, a liquid crystal display or the like for displaying a network structure image. The control unit 3 of the network structure display / editing apparatus 1 uses the display drive unit 1 for displaying the image of the network structure and the operation information of the mouse 5 on the display unit 8.
0, a menu display unit 11 for displaying an operation menu showing a list of creation, connection, and deletion of connecting lines for objects, selection of each object corresponding to operation information from the mouse 5, and designation in the operation menu The network structure editing means 12 for executing the operation described above and the unspecified end of the connecting line and the index P indicating the coordinate position on the screen of the mouse 5 when one end of the connecting line is not specified. The connecting means 13 is provided.

The operation of the network structure display / editing apparatus 1 described above will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3 to 16. Initially, the screen of the display means 8 has six objects 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 as shown in FIG.
Are connected by a directional connecting line 30 to form a net structure, and an index P on the screen of the mouse 5 is displayed.

From this state, object 22 to object 24 and object 25 to object 24
The following description will be made by taking as an example the case of creating a directed connection line to.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, the mouse 5 is operated to move the index P to the position of the object 22 and press the selection button 5a. By this pressing, the network structure editing means detects in which object the selection button 5a has been pressed based on the positions and sizes of all the objects, and displays the object 22 as another selected object. Redisplay so that you can distinguish it from the missing objects. In Fig. 4, the frame is thickened to make it distinguishable from other objects.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, by depressing the menu button 5c of the mouse 5, the operation display menu of the object selected at that time is displayed by the menu display means 11. menu button
At the time of pressing 5c, there are two operations available: creating a connecting line with the object 22 as the starting point or creating a connecting line with the ending point.There is a connecting line with one end unspecified at this point. Object 22 because not
Cannot be connected as a start point or an end point. Therefore, the fields of operations that cannot be executed or operations that are meaningless are displayed differently so that they cannot be specified on the menu.

Of course, it is also possible to add the names of other operations to this menu or delete the names of operations that are rarely used.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the mouse 5 is operated to move the index P to a position where the operation name to be executed on the menu is displayed, and then the selection button 5a is pressed. By this operation, the item designated on the menu is selected, and the network structure editing means 12 and the control unit 3 create a connecting line 31 having the object 22 as the starting point and the end point unspecified. In FIG. 7, the created connecting line 31 is the connecting means 13
Indicates that the index P is displayed as if it is the end point. As the index P moves as the mouse 5 is operated, the connecting line 31 is updated and displayed as if the index P were the end point.

Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the mouse 25 and the selection button 5a are operated to select the object 25. Figure 10 is similar to the description above for Figure 5,
The operation menu for the object 25 has just been displayed. At this point, a connecting line with one end unspecified
Because there is 31, the displayed operation menu is
Unlike that of the object, the unspecified end of the connecting line 31 is an object
It shows that it is possible to connect 25 as a termination.

FIG. 11 shows that the operation for creating a connecting line starting from the object 25 is selected in the displayed operation menu. With this choice,
As shown in FIG. 12, a connecting line 32 having an object 25 as a starting point and an unspecified end point is created.

Next, by operating the mouse 5 and the selection button 5a, the object 24 is selected in the same manner as described above. FIG. 13 shows the object 24 selected.

By depressing the menu button 5c, a menu for the selected object 24 is displayed as shown in FIG. Furthermore, FIG.
As shown in, by operating the mouse 5 and the mouse button 5a, the end points of the connecting lines 31 and 32 whose end points are unspecified at this point are selected.
Specified as 24. By doing this, there is no connecting line whose one end is not specified.Comparing with Fig. 3, the connecting line of the object 22 is the starting point, the connecting line of the object 24 is the ending point, and the connecting line of the object 25 is the starting point and the object 24 is the ending point. It has been created.

In this embodiment, two connecting lines are created, but the selection of objects and the operation on the operation menu need to be performed only three times in the order of the objects 22, 25 and 24. As shown in the flowchart in Figure 2, when the operation is specified in S4 and S5, only the specified operation is executed, and then the connecting line whose one end is not specified by S12 is used as the unspecified end. Since P is displayed in real time as if it were an end point and the process returns to the event (operation input) waiting loop in S13, multiple connecting lines with one end unspecified are created.
This is because it can be operated.

The network structure display / editing device is already equipped with the mouse 5, the select button 5a and the select / add button 5b, or by searching for an object corresponding to the condition designated by the operator. By using the ability to select multiple objects
As shown in FIG. 17, a plurality of objects can be simultaneously selected in the network structure being edited.

In such a state, as shown in FIG. 18, by pressing the menu button 5c, displaying the operation menu and selecting the operation name, the connecting line whose one end is not specified is You can create multiple books. Figure 19
Indicates that the objects 23, 24, and 25 are used as starting points, and three connecting lines whose end points are unspecified are created.

Here, by selecting the object 20 as shown in FIG. 20 and designating the end point of the connecting line whose end point is unspecified at this point as the object 20, as shown in FIG. As shown in 22, the starting point is the connecting line of the object 23, the ending point is the connecting line of the object 20, the starting point is the connecting line of the object 24, the ending point is the connecting line of the object 20, the starting point is the connecting line of the object 25, and the ending point is the connecting line of the object 20. It has been created. In order to create these three connecting lines, the operation menu is displayed and the operation name is selected only twice.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to create a plurality of connecting lines with fewer operations than the number of connecting lines to be created and while referring to the menu screen. Labor can be reduced. Further, in the present embodiment, the operations that can be executed and the operations that cannot be executed are displayed differently at each point in time, but depending on the menu display means 11, the operations are displayed in exactly the same manner and It is of course possible to change the way the menu is displayed, such as displaying a separate warning that the selected operation cannot be executed or not displaying the operation that cannot be executed in the operation menu at all. .

Even when there is a connecting line whose one end is not specified, by selecting S8 in FIG. 2, it is possible to perform other processing than the connecting line creation / connection.

Also regarding the deletion of the connecting line, by using the same method as the above-mentioned method of creating the connecting line as a method of designating both ends of the connecting line, it is possible to delete a plurality of connecting lines with less operation. Is possible. Furthermore, the above-mentioned designation means, regarding the connecting line whose both ends have already been determined,
If the connecting line specified by specifying the objects at both ends is an undirected line, it is a directional line (2 in both directions).
Book, or one of the specified direction), if it is a directed line that can be changed to an undirected line or a reverse directed line, change it after connecting. It is also possible to do so.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist thereof, and the function of the conventionally known network structure display / editing device can be realized. It is possible to combine them. For example, it is possible to create a directional connecting line in two directions by adding an operation of creating a connecting line having the selected object as a starting point and an ending point to the operation menu.
Also, depending on whether the specified end is the start point or the end point for the connecting line whose one end is not specified, when the object of the unspecified end is specified, the end point or the end point is specified without waiting for the operator's judgment. It is also possible to execute it as having been designated as the starting point. Alternatively, when the designation means designates an object at one end of the connecting line, but does not designate the other end of the connecting line, when designating an object at an undetermined end, the type of connecting line If the orientation can be changed, for example, when creating a connecting line from objects A to B, first specify A, then instruct "Draw an undirected line from here", and then B Is specified and "connect as a directed line to here" is instructed, a directed line from A to B is drawn. In other words, there are two types of directional lines / undirected lines, which are determined when the first end of the connecting line is designated or when the second end is designated.

[0038]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, since it has the above-mentioned structure, the following effects can be obtained. Claim 1
According to the invention described, it is possible to connect to a target object with a small number of operations while observing the edit screen, and it is also possible to confirm a list of operations that can be executed at each time point from a menu. It is possible to provide a network structure display editing apparatus capable of reducing the physical labor.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is displayed whether or not the object of current interest can be selected as the end of the connecting line having an unspecified end at that time. It is possible to provide a network structure display / editing device that facilitates selection of objects as described above and can reduce intellectual labor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network structure display editing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of the display means before selecting an object in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a selection state of one object on the display unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a display state of an operation menu for one selected object on the display unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a menu item on the operation menu for one selected object of the display means in the embodiment is selected.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where one object is a starting point and one connecting line whose end point is unspecified is present on the display means in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an attempt to newly select one object in the state where there is one connecting line whose starting point is one object and whose end point is unspecified on the display means in the embodiment. FIG.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a selection state of one object in a state where there is one connecting line whose starting point is one object and whose end point is unspecified on the display means in the embodiment. is there.

FIG. 10 is a view showing an operation menu for one selected object in a state where one object is a starting point and one connecting line whose end point is unspecified exists on the display means of the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows a display state.

FIG. 11 shows an operation menu for one selected object in a state where one object is a starting point and one connecting line whose end point is unspecified is present on the display means in the embodiment. It is an explanatory view showing a state where the menu item of is selected.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where one object is a start point and two connecting lines whose end points are unspecified are present on the display means in the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing a selection state of a new object in a state where there are two connecting lines having one object as a start point and an unspecified end point on the display means in the embodiment. It is a figure.

FIG. 14 is a view showing an operation menu for one selected object in the state where there are two connecting lines whose starting point is one object and whose end point is unspecified, of the display means in the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows a display state.

FIG. 15 is a view showing an operation menu for one selected object in a state where there are two connecting lines whose start point is one object and whose end point is unspecified on the display means in the embodiment. It is an explanatory view showing a state where the menu item of is selected.

16 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which two new connecting lines are created with respect to FIG. 3;

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a selection state of three objects on the display unit in the example.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a display state of an operation menu for three selected objects on the display means in the example.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which one object is a starting point and three connecting lines whose end points are unspecified are present on the display means in the embodiment.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory view showing a newly selected state of one object in a state where there are three connecting lines having one object as a start point and an unspecified end point on the display means in the embodiment. It is a figure.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an operation menu for one selected object in a state where one object is a starting point and three connecting lines whose end points are unspecified are present in the display means in the embodiment. It is an explanatory view showing a state where the menu item of is selected.

22 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which three new connecting lines are created with respect to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Network Structure Display Editing Device 2 Program Memory 3 Control Unit 4 Control Means 5 Mouse 5a Mouse Select Button 5b Mouse Select Add Button 5c Mouse Menu Button 6 Keyboard 7 Operating Means 8 Display Means 9 Storage Means 10 Display Driving Means 11 Menu Display means 12 Network structure editing means 13 Connecting means 20 to 25 Object displayed on the display means 30 Connection line connecting the objects displayed on the display means P Mouse index M displayed on the display means Operation menu displayed on the display means 31, 32 Connection lines displayed on the display means in which only one end object is designated

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A network for editing a network structure consisting of a plurality of objects displayed on the screen of the display means and corresponding undirected lines and / or directed lines connecting the objects in correspondence with operation information from the operation means. In a network structure display / editing apparatus comprising structure editing means, one or more objects are newly added from a storage means storing network structure information to be displayed on the screen of the display means and an object on the screen of the display means. Designating means for designating as the source of the connecting line to be created or the destination of the connecting line, and selecting the object as the unspecified end of the connecting line in which the object at one end of the objects on the screen of the display means is not specified And, of one or more objects on the screen of the display means, the other end of the connection line from or to the connection line A network structure display / editing apparatus comprising: a display driving unit that displays that an object is unspecified. 2. If the connecting line is an undirected line, the specifying means for specifying the end of the connecting line specifies it as the end, and if the connecting line is a directed line, its source or its destination. The network structure display editing apparatus according to claim 1, which can be designated as one or both of them. 3. The menu display means for displaying whether or not the object of interest at present can be selected as an object of an unspecified edge by the specifying means, according to claim 1 or 2. Network structure display editing device. 4. The specifying means, when the object at one end of the connecting line has already been defined, but when the other end is not specified, the connecting line is specified when the object at the undetermined end is specified. The network structure display editing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the type and orientation of the network structure can be changed. 5. The specifying means directs a connecting line whose both ends are already determined to a directed line if the connecting line specified by specifying the objects at both ends is an undirected line. The line can be changed to an undirected line or a directed line in the opposite direction.
Alternatively, the network structure display / editing device described in 4. 6. The network structure display / editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said designating means is further capable of designating an object as an end of a connection line to be newly deleted.