JPH07104876B2 - Design support method and design support apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention uses a computer interactively to target a design drawing such as a logic diagram or a system diagram and to establish a logical connection relation of the constituent elements of the diagram. The present invention relates to a design support method and apparatus for advancing a design from a planned design to a detailed design while constructing data to be described.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in order to manage data such as a logic diagram and a system diagram by interactively using a computer, as a data input means, a position is designated on a graphic display screen and a component and A data creation technique is used in which line segments that connect these elements are arranged to describe the logical connection relationship of the constituent elements. In particular, as a design support apparatus suitable for designing a logic circuit using semiconductor integration technology,
Some are described in the I / O company's STRIDE system manual. According to the present device, the internal structure of a logical circuit drawing, such as a processor, a clock, and a register, is used as a unit to develop the internal structure in a hierarchical manner in stages, and a more detailed design is made for the expanded drawing. You can consider and proceed with the design. For example, it is possible to create, display, register, and modify a design drawing showing the details of the latches, flip-flops, and gates that compose the registers of the constituent parts.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-described conventional example, since hierarchical design is performed for each component forming a design drawing and the detail drawing is developed, when parts of the same type appear, a lower detailed drawing for each type. It is expanded to, and it is commonly quoted at each appearance position. Although this is suitable for layering a design object unique to the design of a logic circuit using semiconductor integration technology, it has a problem that it cannot be directly applied to layering a control system design drawing.

In the control system design diagram, details are included up to the stage of determining the electronic circuit configuration by hardware or the arithmetic processing procedure configuration by software, which is hierarchical with the part that includes the multiple arithmetic elements that make up the drawing and are connected as a unit. Advanced design. In the drawing of the control system design drawing, the part to be hierarchized is a rectangular area obtained by dividing the upper drawing, and it is said that the upper drawing is constructed by connecting the plurality of lower drawings obtained after the division. There are features.

The conventional design support system does not systematically manage the connection information between the lower drawings after division, and changes the connection relationship of the components and the dividing position to the lower drawings in the upper drawings. In this case, it is necessary to correct the connection relation information of the constituent elements that affect each level of the design drawing, which deteriorates the efficiency of creating the drawing.

For example, in the electronic drawing editing method of a CAD system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-41073, the electronic drawing is recognized by recognizing the connection relation of each constituent element over a plurality of pages and the position information of each page connection end. The inter-page connection information including the destination page and the position of the connection line across the other pages above is output and displayed.
Specifically, in order to output and display, the same connection end information is searched, whether or not there is a connection between pages is recognized depending on whether the pages to which it belongs are the same, and the information between pages is added to the conventional display control processing. Then, the display / editing device is controlled to display the electronic drawing to which the information between pages is added.

However, in this conventional example, there is an explanation that the information describing the electronic drawing is corrected based on the created connection information, and further that the information of the correction result is stored in one of the storage devices. There is no.

Therefore, it is necessary to repeat the search process of the connection information every time the electronic drawing display is switched, and display it on the screen based on the result. With such a method, it is difficult to secure the performance such as high-speed display necessary for a CAD device or the like that handles a huge number of design drawing information.

An object of the present invention is to provide a design support method and an apparatus therefor capable of creating graphic information capable of easily recognizing a relationship between divided drawings.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for designing a design process, which adopts a process in which graphic information is detailed step by step. Divide the design figure information including the element figure into multiple drawing areas,
Generates connection information indicating the connection relationship between the elements in the divided drawing area and the elements in other drawing areas, and adds it to the element information of the corresponding connection partner to create divided figure information corresponding to each drawing area. However, the present invention proposes a design support method for storing the divided graphic information in the storage means.

More specifically, the connection information in the divided graphic information is first identification information indicating a connection relationship between elements that are arranged in a drawing area and another drawing area and are interconnected, and an element of a connection partner is arranged. And second identification information representing the drawing area.

When the connecting direction is defined in the connecting line between the elements arranged and connected in the divided drawing area and the other drawing area, the divided graphic information should also include the identification information indicating the connecting direction. .

In any case, when design modification including addition, modification, deletion of elements across multiple drawing areas and modification of connection relationship between elements is necessary, the type and connection relationship of each element are determined and logical processing is performed. It includes a procedure for updating the connection information across each area.

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, design drawing system information including a display device, an input device, a storage device, and graphics of a plurality of elements displayed on the display device is input from the input device. A means for dividing the drawing area into a plurality of drawing areas based on the division information, and connection information indicating a connection relationship between an element in the divided drawing area and an element in another drawing area is generated and the element information of the corresponding connection partner is generated. The present invention proposes a design support apparatus including means for additionally creating divided graphic information corresponding to each drawing area and means for storing the divided graphic information in a storage device.

[Operation] According to the present invention, in a design support method for a design process that adopts a process of gradually refining graphic information, design graphic information including graphics of a plurality of elements is divided into a plurality of drawing areas, and subordinate design drawings are processed. When managing the data, in order to manage the data of each of the divided drawing areas, the connection information indicating the connection relationship between the elements in the divided drawing areas and the elements in other drawing areas is generated and handled. When the divided figure information corresponding to each drawing area is created in addition to the element information of the connection partner, the divided figure information is stored in the storage means, and when the information is displayed in the lower drawing, the divided figure information is added to each division point. In order to visually identify the connection relationship of individual dividing points between the following design drawings.

The connection information in the divided graphic information includes the first identification information indicating the connection relationship between the elements arranged in the drawing area and other drawing areas and interconnected, and the drawing area in which the element of the connection partner is arranged. In the case of the second identification information that is represented, more detailed connection information can be provided.

Also, when the connecting direction between the elements arranged and connected in the divided drawing area and another drawing area is defined, if the identification information indicating the connecting direction is included in the divided graphic information, , It is possible to clearly recognize the direction such as the master-slave relationship between each element and the flow.

Furthermore, when design modifications are made including additions, changes, and deletions of elements across multiple drawing areas, and changes in connection relationships between elements, the type and connection relationship of each element is determined, and the connection information is logically processed. Is automatically updated over each area, improving design efficiency.

[Embodiment] Next, a design support method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described in Japanese Patent Application No.
An embodiment adopted in the control system logic diagram designing device described in No. 55-71390 will be described. In the present embodiment, in particular, when the operator uses the control system logic diagram designing apparatus to design the control system logic stepwise from the planned design to the detailed design, the operator arbitrarily selects the control system logic diagram created as the upper design drawing. The configuration and the operation when the present invention is used for the processing of dividing the drawing into the plurality of drawing areas which are the sub-design drawings for the detailed design and are the units of the control software processing will be described.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the design support apparatus according to the present invention.

The arithmetic processing unit 5 includes an arithmetic unit 5a, a processing procedure storage unit 5b, an input unit 5c, an image data output unit 5d, a logic diagram data search code output unit 5e, a logic diagram data input / output unit 5f, and a drawing area data search code output unit. 5g, drawing area data input / output unit 5h,
The intermediate data storage unit 5i. The calculation unit 5a sequentially calls and executes the processing procedure according to the data management method of the logic diagram stored in the processing procedure storage unit 5b. The image data storage device 3 stores the coordinate data of the display area which is the image data output from the arithmetic processing device 5 and the character data which is the display content. The image display control device 2 reads the coordinate data and the character data of the display area to be displayed from the image data storage device 3, and causes the display device 1 to display the character and the image. The processing as the control system logic diagram designing apparatus is fetched from the processing program storage unit 7 and stored in the processing procedure storage unit 5b, and is sequentially called and executed by the arithmetic unit 5a. The logic diagram is configured based on the information input by the operator from the input device 4 by the processing as the control system logic diagram designing device. The result is displayed on the display device 1 and further stored in the logic diagram data storage device 6.

An embodiment of the design support method of the present invention executed by the arithmetic processing unit 5 is shown in FIG.

First, step 80 is a process of setting the position at which the logic diagram created by the operator according to the control system logic diagram design procedure and displayed on the display device 1 is divided based on the information instructed by the operator from the input device 4. Hereinafter, step 90 is a process of creating data regarding the connection direction of the connection line between the elements of the logic diagram divided by division, step 100 is the name of the divided multiple drawing areas of the logic diagram and the divided logic diagram A process of setting names of connection line end points between elements and adding them to data of elements that connect between drawing areas, step 110 is processing of storing data of divided drawing areas, and step 120 is divided The process of displaying the drawing area on the display device, step 130, the process of determining the necessity of design modification, step 1
Reference numeral 40 is a process for correcting the design according to the instruction of the operator.

FIG. 3 shows a display example of the logic diagram displayed on the display device 1 of the present design support device. Logic Diagram Element 13
Are connected to other elements by connection lines 14. In this figure, for example, the element A is connected to the element B and the element F, and their relationship is graphically expressed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data storage format relating to the elements of the logic diagram. In this example, each element included in the logic diagram shown in FIG. 3 is stored in association with another element to be connected. For example, element A is connected to element B and element F, and element B is connected to element C, element D, and element H.

Now, in step 80, the logic diagram is divided into a plurality of drawings at the position on the connection line whose coordinates are designated by the input device 4 in the displayed logic diagram. At this time, the position on the connection line can be designated by a cursor appearing on the display screen using a coordinate designating device such as a mouse. Figure 5 shows the third
For the display example of the logic diagram shown in the figure,
This is an example in which 6, and 17 are instructed to divide one logic diagram into three drawing areas 18, 19, and 20.

Next, in step 90, data regarding the connecting direction of the connecting line between the elements of the logic diagram divided by the division is created, and the data storing device 6 is formed in the data storing format shown in FIG.
It is added to the connection information of each element stored in. FIG. 6 is an example of a storage format in which data relating to the connection direction of the connecting line and the division position is added to the connection information of each element in the storage format of FIG. 4 of the logic diagram divided as a result of the division shown in FIG. Is shown.

Below, the elements to which data is added as the logic diagram is divided
Only the storage formats of A, B, D, F, and H data will be described. In this example, the value of the data item "connection direction" is set to 0 or 1 only for a set of elements in which the connection direction of the connection line is defined.
I am trying. The value 0 indicates the case where the element of the connection element name is the connection destination, and the value 1 indicates the case where the element of the connection element name is the connection source. As a result of the division by the operator shown in FIG. 5, for example, the element B has no "connection direction" defined with the element A, while the element F has a connection from the element A. The destination connection direction is defined. Furthermore, regarding the division position of the connection line, the value of the item “division position” of the data is set to 1 for the set of elements that are the connection source and connection destination of the divided connection line, and the value is set every time a new division is provided. Is incremented by 1 and defined. In this example, division positions are defined between the elements A and F, between the elements B and D, and between the elements b and H, respectively.

In step 100, the names of the divided drawing areas and the end points of the connecting lines are set and added to the data of the elements that connect between the drawing areas.

In the processing in the first half of step 100, first, the drawing number (1 to 3 in this case) of the drawing area corresponding to the division of the logic diagram specified in step 80 is defined. Next, select an element whose data item "division position" has a value of 1 or more, and select "connecting terminal name" for the connecting element with a "connection direction" value of 1.
The value (name) of is defined using the value of "division position". FIG. 7 shows an example of a data storage format in which the divided drawing areas and the names of the end points of the connecting lines are added to the element data.
For example, the element A is included in a drawing area having a "drawing number" of 1, and is a connection source of a connection line connecting to the element F across the drawing area, and its "connection terminal name" is T1. On this occasion,
The "connection terminal name" T1 is a name created using the value 1 of the "division position" of the element A in FIG. Similarly,
"Connecting terminal names" T2 and T3 are created from "dividing positions" 2 and 3, respectively.

In the latter half of step 100, the drawing number and connection terminal name are added to the element data. First, the same "connecting terminal name" is defined for the connecting element in which the connecting terminal is defined. Next, for the element whose "connection direction" is 1, the "drawing number" which is the same as the "drawing number" of the connection element is defined, and for the connecting element whose "connection direction" is 0, the "drawing number" of the element is " The same "source drawing number" as the "drawing number" is defined. FIG. 8 shows an example of a storage format of data added to the element data as a result of the latter half of step 100. For example, the "connection terminal name" T1 of the element A is defined as the "connection terminal name" of the "connection element name" F, and the element A
"Drawing number" 1 of is defined as the "connection source drawing number" of the "connection element name" F. Similarly, in the "connection destination drawing number" of the element A, the "drawing number" 3 of the "connection element name" F is defined.

Through the above processing of steps 80, 90, and 100, the information of the connecting line between a plurality of screen areas, which is the result of the operator arbitrarily dividing the logic diagram, is added to the element data.

Further, in step 110, the element data created by the processing in steps 80, 90 and 100 are stored in the drawing area data storage device 6. At this time, the element data may be classified and stored for each drawing area.

In step 120, the element data stored in the drawing area data storage device 6 is read and displayed on the display device 1. An example of a display screen of the drawing area displayed on the display device 1 is shown in FIG. First, among the elements included in the drawing area, for those having a connection terminal, a connection line is drawn from the figure indicating the element, and a figure (circle mark) indicating the connection terminal is displayed at the end thereof. At this time, for a connection terminal whose connection direction is 0, a connection line is drawn from the left side of the element and is displayed as a graphic showing the connection direction from the connection terminal to the element.
On the other hand, for a connection terminal having a connection direction of 1, a connection line is drawn from the right side of the element and is displayed as a graphic showing the connection direction from the element to the connection terminal. Next, in the vicinity of the connection terminal,
The data of "connection terminal name" and "connection destination drawing number" or "connection source drawing number" is displayed as entry information. 9th
In the example shown in the figure, the entry information 21 indicates the drawing number. Similarly, the entry information 22 indicates the connection terminal name, and the entry information 23 indicates the connection destination drawing number. For example, it is indicated that the connection terminal T1 from the element A is a connection terminal to the drawing number 3. Further, element data may be read from the drawing area data storage device 6 for a plurality of drawing areas and the plurality of drawing areas may be simultaneously displayed on the display device as shown in FIG.

In step 130, it is determined whether or not the design modification is necessary according to the instruction of the operator.

Further, in step 140, the design modification is executed in accordance with the instruction of the operator when the design modification is required due to the addition, modification, deletion of the element and the connection modification between the elements. FIG. 11 shows an example in which the contents of the drawing area shown in FIG. 9 are design-corrected by inputting the element addition and connection change information instructed by the operator. In this example, element A1 and element A and terminal
It is shown that it is inserted between T1 and T1, a branch is provided in the connection line from the element B to the element C, the element C1 is added, and the element C2 is additionally connected to the element C.

In step 140, the input information for design modification designated by the operator is displayed on the display screen displaying the drawing by the input means of the design device shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 55-71390.
It can be input by designating the position of the element using the position pointing device and further designating the start and end positions of the connecting line.

As a result of the processing in step 140 above, the element data is the first
2 Changed as shown in Figure. FIG. 12 shows only the data of changed elements.

After completing the processing in step 140, the process returns to step 110 to
Using the data of the elements shown in the figure, the design modification result is reflected, and the data of each figure is updated and stored.

Steps 110-140 are repeatedly executed until there is no design correction request from the operator.

In the above explanation, from the control system diagram which is the upper design drawing,
The step of dividing and developing into a plurality of control logic diagrams, which are lower-level design drawings, is shown.

Further, at the stage of obtaining the soft logic diagram which is the lower diagram which is the unit of the control software processing by dividing the control logic diagram into the upper diagram and expanding it, the procedure of steps 80 to 140 is similarly applied. it can.

In addition, the step of the operator instructing the division position on the connecting line inside the element for dividing the logic diagram displayed on the display device is performed by the vertex of the polygon surrounding the part in the diagram corresponding to the drawing area after the division. It may be a processing procedure in which the operator indicates the position and the division position is obtained from the intersection of the side of the polygon and the connecting line.

If it is possible for the operator to input the handwritten logic diagram from the optical reader and create the connection information between the elements in the step of indicating the division position on the connection line between the elements for dividing the logic diagram, It is also possible to use a process of reading a symbol written on the connection line between the elements and determining the division position.

Although the above embodiment illustrates the case where the design modification is required in the same drawing area, the design modification is addition, modification, deletion of elements over a plurality of drawing areas, and modification of connection relation between elements. At this time, it goes without saying that a procedure for determining the type and connection relationship of each element and updating the connection information over each area by logical processing is included.

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, for each drawing area in which the operator arbitrarily divides and expands the control system logic diagram, it is possible to quickly create data representing the connection relationship of the elements that connect to each other across a plurality of drawing areas. Further, when the data is displayed on the drawing, it is possible to easily visually determine the connection partner of the end point by the information written together at each end point.

According to this embodiment, when designing a control system or the like from the planned design to the detailed design in stages, the connection information of the constituent elements having the connection relationship between the plurality of lower design drawings obtained by dividing the upper design drawing and developing it is obtained. It can be created automatically, and because the information on the drawing can be used to easily identify the connection partner of the end point visually, it is possible to systematically manage the information of the elements that make up the drawing at any design stage. .

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, when the design graphic information including the graphics of a plurality of elements is divided into a plurality of graphic areas to form the data of the lower design drawing, the first graphic in the divided graphic areas is formed. The divided graphic information corresponding to the divided graphic area including the first element is created and has the combined information indicating the combination of the element with the second element in the other graphic area, and the divided graphic information is stored. Since it can be stored in the means, a design support method and its device capable of creating graphic information by which the relationship between divided drawings can be easily recognized can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a design support apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the design support method of the present invention to be executed by the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a logic diagram, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data storage format relating to the elements of the logic diagram, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of division of the logic diagram, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data storage format related to elements of the logic diagram, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data storage format related to elements of the logic diagram of FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is related to components of the logic diagram of FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a data storage format, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a drawing surface of a drawing area by the device of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a simultaneous display drawing surface of a drawing region by the device of the present invention. Figure 11 is drawing drawing area of logic diagram with design modification FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a surface, and FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a data storage format after design modification. 1 ... Display device, 2 ... Image display control device, 3 ... Image data storage device, 4 ... Input device, 5 ... Arithmetic processing device, 6 ... Data storage device, 7 ... Processing program storage device, 13 …… Element, 14 …… Connecting line, 15-17 …… Division position, 18-20 …… Drawing area, 21-23 …… Entered information, 25-29 …… Element.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A design support method for a design process, which employs a process of gradually refining graphic information, wherein design graphic information including graphics of a plurality of elements displayed on a display means is divided into a plurality of drawing areas. , Generates connection information that indicates the connection relationship between the elements in the divided drawing area and the elements in other drawing areas, adds it to the element information of the corresponding connection partner, and adds the divided figure information corresponding to each drawing area. A design support method which is characterized by creating and storing the divided figure information in a storage means. 2. The design support method according to claim 1, wherein the connection information in the divided graphic information represents a connection relationship between the elements arranged in the drawing area and another drawing area and interconnected with each other. A design support method comprising love 1 identification information and second identification information indicating a drawing area in which an element of a connection partner is arranged. 3. The design support method according to claim 1, wherein a connecting direction is defined in a connecting line between elements arranged and connected in the divided drawing area and another drawing area. In this case, the divided figure information also includes identification information indicating the connection direction. 4. The design support method according to claim 1, 2, or 3, which requires design modification including addition, modification, and deletion of elements across a plurality of the drawing areas, and modification of connection relationship between elements. At this time, a design support method comprising the steps of determining the type and connection relationship of each element, and updating the connection information over each area by logical processing. 5. A display device, an input device, a storage device, and a plurality of drawings based on division information input from the input device, including design graphic information including graphics of a plurality of elements displayed on the display device. A method of dividing into areas and connection information indicating the connection relationship between the elements in the divided drawing areas and the elements in other drawing areas is generated and added to the element information of the corresponding connection partner and added to each drawing area. A design support apparatus comprising: means for creating corresponding divided graphic information; and means for storing the divided graphic information in the storage device.