JPH08171589A - Electronic equipment with operation manual preparing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain an electronic equipment to which functions in which a user originally performs the operation of an equipment, the operation series specific to the user is extracted and the manual of a daily job can be prepared by the user himself are added by preparing the operation manual according to a user operation procedure from retrieved manual information and user operation procedure information. CONSTITUTION: In a first storage means 13, manual information is held. By an extraction means 10a, a user operation series is extracted from the input operation by an operation instruction part 10. A second storage means 10e temporarily holds the extracted user operation series as the user operation procedure information and a retrieval means 11a retrieves the manual information which is pertinent to the user operation series. A manual preparation means 11c prepares the operation manual according to the user operation procedure from the retrieved manual information and the user operation procedure information and outputs the manual to a printing output device 12. Thus, the operation manual specific to the user can be prepared in the constitution according to the user task procedure.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device with an operation manual creating device, and more specifically, in an electronic device having an operation panel having an operation instructing section and an operation status display section, and an electronic device having a print output device, the user is unique. The present invention relates to an electronic device with an operation manual creating device, which is provided with a function that allows a user to create a manual for daily work by operating the device and extracting a unique operation sequence for the user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many electronic devices such as copying machines / facsimile machines and multifunction machines have an operation panel equipped with a liquid crystal screen having hard button and soft button functions for operation input. The user operates the desired function equipped on the device by transmitting an operation instruction to the electronic device according to a certain procedure through the button (hard button, soft button displayed on the liquid crystal screen). Can be made. In this case, a guide message for guiding the operation of such a procedure is displayed on the liquid crystal screen. The size of the liquid crystal screen of this type of electronic device is limited, and this guide message alone is not always sufficient to accurately navigate the action of the user's operation instruction. For this reason, the readability of a paper manual that explains in detail how to operate the device has become an important issue.

The electronic manual of this kind, which is attached at the time of purchase (at the time of introduction), has a large number of operation manuals, and it is rare that an extremely thick manual is attached. Absent. Manuals are getting thicker as the functionality of the equipment becomes more sophisticated. Accordingly, it is not easy for the user to find a page necessary for understanding the operation method from the manual in order to perform the user's own daily work (hereinafter, abbreviated as a task), and the manual is difficult. Poor searchability of is a problem.

In contrast to paper manuals, in recent years, in devices having a document processing function, the device itself holds manual information, and the device itself holds the manual information when necessary or at the user's request. Some have the function of an online manual or online help to provide information for explaining the functions of. For example, UNI
X system man (Reference 1: "SunOS 5.1
Reference Manual (1992.12.1) ", pp. 1-165 to 1-168, Japan Sun Micro Systems Co., Part No.801-3407.
In (-05), the description of the required function can be quickly obtained by searching by the function name. In addition, the description of the function at each application level, rather than the description of the function of the system, is often accompanied by a document file called "READ ME" for explaining itself.

However, UNIX system man
In, the user must know all the function names necessary to accomplish his task, and it is difficult for a novice user to fully utilize the functions of the online help. On the other hand, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-108290, there is a proposal of a search device that uses a graphical display of a menu hierarchical structure in order to improve the searchability of an online manual.
Here, the menu hierarchical structure of the description (function name) to be searched is displayed graphically, so you can find the menu item you want to know and click it with the mouse to get the required description. You can According to this, even if the function name is not known accurately, the description of the desired function can be accessed by following the diagram of the menu hierarchical structure, and the search operation can be facilitated. However, if the description (function name) to be searched increases, the menu hierarchy structure displayed on the screen must be complicated, and it is necessary to search for the necessary item among many graphical menu items. Will be difficult.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-291415, a user log is used to filter necessary information, and a function frequently used or a function frequently referred to is presented with information. A method of presenting information for online help to reduce the number is proposed, but filtering based on the number of references may be effective in narrowing down the information to a certain extent, but the operation log of a user who is unfamiliar with the operation of the device. The use of can be a log of failures, and can be counterproductive, rather than a very effective way to present appropriate operational information to beginners.

Further, in the proposal of the "information search processing method" described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-257991, it is necessary to search by using a keyword and a synonym, so that it is necessary to know the function name accurately. The difficulty of the search is solved by making it possible to access the page of the detailed description. Furthermore, by using a metaphor of a paper book as a display form, it is attempted to solve the difficulty of reading a manual due to becoming electronic.

Further, as another example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3206/1993
As in the "operation manual creation device" proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 15-28274 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-282743, the function requested by the operator is determined, and the explanation data of the operation is freely combined for each processing step, There is a technique of creating an operation manual. In order to achieve a certain function as a task, there are multiple process steps and multiple paths (process flow paths are different).
Therefore, in the operation manual creation device, it is necessary for the system to determine a specific path from the processing flow in response to a request from the user, retrieve an explanatory text along the path, and edit the manual.

[0009]

By the way, in the past, as a factor of difficulty in searching for a manual, along with a quantitative problem of a large amount of information, a user performs one task in performing his / her daily work. There is a structural problem that the description of the information necessary for doing so exists in a distributed manner. For example, in a conventional manual of a facsimile machine, in order to perform a task of "broadcast communication", in addition to the description of the section "broadcast communication" of the manual, there is described in another section. You must refer to the description in the section "Specifying Multiple Addresses", and the user must search through the pages of the distributed description in the manual before completing one task. .

On the other hand, as in the "operation manual creating device" proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 3-220615 and 4-282743, a method of creating an operating manual by searching is used to Although there is a proposal to create a manual dynamically instead of a general structure, however, even if the processing flow for realizing a certain function is assumed to some extent, there is one way for the user to perform his or her daily routine. It is difficult to predetermine the processing flow for accomplishing the task.

Further, although a conventional operation manual often describes a series of procedures for achieving a certain function, in reality, in order for a user to achieve one task, a plurality of procedures are required. For users who are unfamiliar with tasks, it is not possible to know how to accomplish the tasks, and it is described focusing on the structure (hardware) of the functions of the current electronic device. The manual is difficult to understand.

Further, the description contents of the manual are often abstract, and even if the manual is referred to, it is often difficult to understand specifically what value should be input. For example, in the description of the conventional type manual, in a field where a value unique to the user is set, a description such as “Please set as needed.” Has been made in many cases. In such a description, a user who is a beginner, in particular, does not know what to specifically input.

As described above, it is desired to have a manual of an operation procedure for assisting a user who is not accustomed to a device, but a user who is not accustomed to a task. No manual is provided. For example, if an experienced user can make his / her daily operating procedure into a manual, the generated manual is provided to a user who is unfamiliar with the task, and the inexperienced user manually describes the operating procedure of the expert. You can learn from Alternatively, a user who is unfamiliar with the operation can review the inefficiency of his / her operating procedure by creating a manual according to his / her procedure. As described above, it is desired to create a manual of a customized operation procedure in accordance with a task unique to the user, but up to now, no electronic device having such a manual creating function has been provided.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an operation panel having an operation instruction section and an operation status display section, and an electronic apparatus having a print output device. In order to provide an electronic device with a function that allows the user to operate the device independently, extract a unique operation sequence for the user, and create a manual for daily work by the user himself / herself. .

[0015]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electronic device with an operation manual creating device, which is a first feature of the present invention, includes an operation panel having an operation instruction section and an operation state display section. In an electronic device having a print output device, a first storage unit that holds manual information, an extraction unit that extracts a user operation sequence from an input operation by an operation instruction unit, and an operation sequence of the extracted user operation sequence A second storage unit that temporarily holds the information, a search unit that searches for manual information corresponding to the user's operation sequence, and an operation manual that follows the user's operation procedure from the searched manual information and user operation procedure information. And a manual creating unit for creating a printout and outputting the printout to a print output device.

Further, the electronic equipment with an operation manual creating device, which is the second feature of the present invention, further comprises a unique data extracting means for extracting input data unique to the user, and the manual creating means is the user's The feature is that personal information is added to the manual.

Further, the third aspect of the present invention is an electronic device with an operation manual creating device, further comprising operation screen extracting means for extracting, as image data, a screen image showing the operation state displayed on the operation state display section. And a third storage unit for storing the extracted image data, wherein the manual creating unit adds the operation state of the user to the manual as a screen image.

The electronic device with an operation manual creating device, which is the fourth feature of the present invention, further has a fourth storage means for holding information regarding an output format, a selection means for selecting the output format, and a selected means. A layout means for selecting information to be manually output and laying out the selected information in accordance with the description of the output format, and a filter means for filtering the manual layout and the output information according to the application Is characterized by.

Furthermore, in the electronic device with an operation manual creating device, which is the fifth feature of the present invention, the manual information has a text including a variable, and the searching means searches the value of the variable from the user operating procedure information. However, the manual creating means synthesizes a new manual text from the retrieved value and the text data, and generates an appropriate explanation sentence suitable for the operation situation of each user.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device with an operation manual creating device, and an electronic device having an operation panel having an operation instructing section and an operation state display section and a print output device, such as a copying machine, In a facsimile device and an electronic device of the composite device, manual information is held in the first storage means, and the extraction means extracts the operation sequence of the user from the input operation by the operation instruction unit. The second storage unit temporarily holds the extracted user operation sequence as user operation procedure information, and the search unit searches for manual information corresponding to the user operation sequence. Then, the manual creating means creates an operation manual in accordance with the operation procedure of the user from the retrieved manual information and user operation procedure information, and outputs it to the print output device.

Thus, a user-specific operation manual having a structure according to the user's task procedure, including all information necessary for accomplishing the task, and not including unnecessary information is created. it can. Therefore, when the user uses the created operation manual, the user can perform the operation without being bothered with searching for a large amount of information as in the conventional manual, and the operation time can be shortened.

Further, in the electronic device with an operation manual creating device, which is the second feature of the present invention, when the unique data extracting means extracts the input data unique to the user, the manual creating means causes the manual creating means to display the user's personal information. Add information to the manual. In this way, the input data unique to the user is extracted from the input information of the user, and in addition to the corresponding operation sequence in the user operation procedure information in which the related operation procedure is recorded, the manual in which the input data is described To generate. By reflecting the personal information of each user in the manual, the description about the input data, which is described only in an abstract manner, is embodied in the general-purpose manual, and the intelligibility of the manual is improved.

In the third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device with an operation manual creating device, the operation screen extracting means further extracts, as image data, a screen image showing the operation state displayed on the operation state display section. . The extracted image data is stored in the third storage means, and the manual creating means adds the operation state of the user to the manual as a screen image.

Thus, the screen image showing the operation state displayed on the operation state display section is extracted as image data, converted into an image data file, stored in the storage area, and related to the user operation procedure information. The data is related to the image data file. And in manual generation, in addition to the operation series, the manual creation means
Generate a manual that describes the screen image in the manual. As a result, since the actual screen state at the time of the user's operation is reflected in the manual, it becomes easy to confirm the correctness of the procedure at the time of operation, and it is possible to reduce operation mistakes. Further, the screen information can help the user understand the manual and improve the learning effect of the operation procedure.

In addition, in the electronic device with the operation manual creating device, which is the fourth feature of the present invention, the fourth storage means holds information regarding the output format, and when the selecting means selects the output format, The layout means, according to the description of the selected output format,
Select the information to be output to the manual and lay out the selected information. Further, the filter means filters the layout of the manual and the information to be output according to the purpose.

As described above, the information regarding the definition of the output format is held in the storage area, the corresponding output format is selected based on the output format selection information of the user, and is described in the manual according to the description of the selected output format. The information of the explanation is selectively retrieved from the data of the user operation procedure information, the screen information, and the manual information. Then, in the manual generation, the manual is generated by reflecting these pieces of information in the layout according to the instructed format. This allows you to change the output information and layout, and select the appropriate form of manual according to the purpose of using the manual, that is, whether you want to operate efficiently or learn the operating procedure. It is possible to make a selection according to the skill level of the user.

Further, in the electronic device with an operation manual creating device, which is the fifth feature of the present invention, the manual information has a text including a variable, and the searching means uses the value of the variable as the user operation procedure information. Then, the manual creating means synthesizes a new manual text from the searched value and the text data, and generates an appropriate explanation sentence suitable for the operation situation of each user.

Here, the manual information has a text including a variable, the value of the variable is retrieved from the user operation procedure information, and a new manual text is synthesized from the retrieved value and the text data. As a result, it is possible to generate a manual in which an appropriate description that is suitable for the operation status of each user is described. In addition, by customizing the explanatory text of the manual so as to include information unique to the user, it is possible to provide the explanatory text that suits the operating condition of the user, and it is easy to understand the explanatory text of the manual.

As described above, according to the electronic device with the operation manual creating device of the present invention, only the necessary part of the manual created here can be referred to without searching for an unnecessary manual at the time of operation. Moreover, since it is configured according to the task of the user and the context information of the user's operation can be added, the manual is easy to understand and the manual of the customized operation procedure can be easily learned to operate the device.

[0030]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall system configuration of an electronic device with an operation manual creating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is an electronic device such as a copying machine, a facsimile device, or a composite device thereof, 2 is an operation panel, 3 is a hard button of an operation instruction unit, 4 is a liquid crystal display device of an operation state display unit, and 5 is a user interface. Control unit, 5a display screen control unit, 5b user operation monitoring unit, 6 operation procedure information storage unit, 7 manual information storage unit, 8 screen information storage unit, 9 output format storage unit, 10 user operation A procedure information management unit, 10a is a user operation procedure information extraction unit, 10b is an operation sequence extraction unit, 10
c is an input data extraction unit, 10d is a screen data extraction unit, 1
0e is a user operation procedure information generation unit, 11 is a customized file management unit, 11a is a data file search unit, 11
b is a text data synthesis unit, 11c is a customized manual generation unit, 12 is a printing device, 13 is a main storage device, and 1
Reference numeral 4 is a control device.

This electronic device with an operation manual creating device is an electronic device having a function of creating an operation manual for operating its own device with respect to the electronic device such as a copying machine, a facsimile device, or a composite device thereof. Equipment. In order to have such a function, the element of the storage area and the element of the data processing function are used, and these hardware mechanisms are the hardware that the electronic device 1 has in order to have the original function. Use the mechanism as it is.
Therefore, although the area of the main storage device 13 is additionally used,
Since the data processing function of the control device 14 is used,
No new hardware configuration is needed.

Therefore, in the electronic device 1, a means for the user to transmit an operation instruction to the electronic device 1 is provided by the hard button 3 of the operation instruction section. This means also includes hard buttons 3 arranged on the operation panel 2 and soft buttons such as menu input when sensor input is added to the liquid crystal display device 4. The liquid crystal display device 4 displays menu items indicating the contents of operation instructions to the electronic device 1, the device state of the electronic device 1, a message of an action to the user, and the like.

The user interface control section 5 controls the entire operation panel. The user operation monitoring unit 5b monitors the operation performed by the user via the operation panel. The display screen control unit 5a controls the screen displayed on the liquid crystal display device 4 according to the user's input operation and the current state of the device, and guides the user's button operation action.

The main storage device 13 is a storage area for storing a plurality of files. Here, the operation procedure information storage unit 6
Is a storage area that stores a data file of user operation procedure information that holds information related to an operation sequence instructed by the user via the operation panel. Manual information storage unit 7
Is a storage area that stores a data file of manual information that holds data related to manual description information such as explanatory text related to each function corresponding to the operation instruction to the electronic device 1. The screen information storage unit 8 is a storage area that stores a data file of screen information that holds, as image data, a snapshot of the screen state of the liquid crystal display device 4 indicating the operation state. The output format storage unit 9
It is a storage area for storing a data file of output format information that holds information output to a manual and a description about a print format.

The user operation procedure information management unit 10 manages extraction and recording of user operation procedure information.
The user operation procedure information extraction unit 10a extracts various user information from the information transmitted from the user operation monitoring unit 5b. This is composed of three processing modules: an operation sequence extraction unit 10b, an input data extraction unit 10c, and a screen data extraction unit 10d. The operation sequence extraction unit 10b
The user operation sequence is extracted. Input data extraction unit 10c
Extracts user input data values. The screen data extraction unit 10d extracts the screen state of the liquid crystal display device 4 as image data. The user operation procedure information generation unit 10e generates a data file of operation procedure information and a data file of screen information, and records and stores the extracted operation sequence, user information, screen data, and the like in a file.

The customization manual management unit 11 manages generation of a customization operation manual.
The data file search unit 11a stores the information necessary for generating the customized operation manual in the main storage device 13
Search from each file stored in. The text data synthesizing unit 11b uses the text of the function description stored in the manual information data file of the manual information storage unit 7 and the user input data value of the data file of the operation procedure information, etc. according to the operation status of the user. Synthesize the appropriate operation text. Customization manual generator 11
The c lays out the retrieved data and the synthesized text in accordance with the output format information, and generates a document file of the customized operation manual.

The printing device 12 is a printing mechanism unit for printing the document file of the customization operation manual generated by the customization manual generation unit 11c of the customization manual management unit 11 on paper.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for specifically explaining the configuration of the operation panel on which the user performs an input operation. As shown in FIG. 2, on the operation panel 2, around the liquid crystal display device 4, a right arrow button 20, a left arrow button 21, a set button 22,
Shortening button 23, specialized button 24, numeric keypad button 25
Hard buttons such as are provided. Right arrow button 2
The 0 and left arrow buttons 21 are used to control selection of menu items on the liquid crystal display device 4, and the like. The set button 22 is used to confirm the selected menu item or input information and move to the next screen. The shortening button 23, the specialized button 24, and the like are buttons for instructing to activate the function of the operation target device. The ten-key button 25 is used by the user to input a numerical value.

Next, by operating these hard buttons,
A user interface when a user gives an operation instruction will be specifically described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen of the liquid crystal display device. In the example of the operation screen shown in FIG. 3, only the liquid crystal display device 4 such as a liquid crystal display panel and the right arrow button 20 and the left arrow button 21 are shown. A plurality of menu items 26 are displayed on the operation screen 28 displayed on the liquid crystal display device 4, and the shaded menu item is the currently selected menu item 27. By operating the right arrow button 20 or the left arrow button 21, the user can move the shade state up, down, left or right to the position of the menu item to be selected on the right side or the left side, and select any menu item. When the set button (22: FIG. 2) is pressed in this screen state, the user operation procedure information extraction unit 10a causes
The operation procedure information is extracted, and in addition to the button operation sequence, the “shortened registration” of the user's selection item is extracted.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the operation screen of the liquid crystal display device. The example of the operation screen shown in FIG. 4 shows the input screen in the state where the user is inputting the setting of the telephone number by the abbreviated registration. The user operates the numeric keys on the ten-key button 25 to arbitrarily input the numeric value of the telephone number. In this example, a state in which the telephone number is input by the user is shown. When the set button 22 is pressed in the state of the telephone number setting screen 29, the user operation procedure information extraction unit 10a displays "0", "-", "1", "2", as the operation sequence of the buttons.
"3", "-", "4", "5", "6""are taken in, and" 0-123-45 "of the input data field 30 is stored as" user input data of shortened No. 001 "here.
6 ”is extracted, and“ operation end ”is extracted as the selected menu item 31.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the data structure of the operation procedure information and screen information extracted and recorded by the user operation procedure information management unit 10 and the relationship between them. Information regarding the user's operation procedure is stored in the operation procedure information data file stored in the operation procedure information storage unit 6. As shown in FIG. 5, the data structure of the operation procedure information data file 50 is the step number field 5
1, operation series field 52, input data field 5
3, a selection item field 54, and a screen information data pointer field 55.

The step number field 51 stores a sequential number assigned to each step of the operation. The step here indicates one unit of a series of operation instruction sequences executed by the user. In addition, a series of operation procedures operated on the same screen displayed on the liquid crystal display device 4 is defined as one unit. The operation data of one step is recorded in one record of the operation procedure information data file 50.

The operation series field 52 holds a list of operation series instructed by the user by button operation in each step. For example,
In the data example of step number “5”, when the user operates the numeric keypad to input the numerical data “015” and performs the confirm operation (operation of the “set” button), the data of this operation series is It is extracted by the operation sequence extraction unit 10b. In other words, "0" of the numeric keypad operated here
Three key operations of the key, the "1" key, and the "5" key and the operation of the "set" button are extracted as an operation sequence.

The input data field 53 holds the value of the data input by the user in the step. Similar to the case described above, the data example of the step number “5” will be described. Ten-key operation of “0”, “1”, “5”,
The input data value "015" is extracted by the input data extraction unit 10c from the operation sequence of the subsequent operation of the "set" button. Incidentally, in the case of an operation having no special input data value, "nil" is stored as the input data value of this input data field 53.

The selection item field 54 stores the value of the menu item selected by the user from the menu items on the screen displayed on the liquid crystal display device 4 in the step. For example, in the case of the data example of the step number “4”, when the screen is changed from the operation end of the step number “3”, the menu item “clock correction” is selected, and this is the initial screen. Because,
On the other hand, when the user operates the "left arrow" button,
When you execute the operation sequence of "Set" button operation,
As a result, "shortened registration" is selected from the menu items, and this value is extracted as the selected menu item.

Pointer field 5 to screen information data
In 5, a pointer to the corresponding screen information data of the data file stored in the screen information storage unit 8 is held.
The data file of screen information data holds image data of a snapshot of the screen displayed on the liquid crystal display device 4 on the operation panel. The screen information data file 59 is composed of a data number field 56 and a screen data field 57. Data number field 5
6 stores the data number of the pointer designated by the pointer field 55 of the operation procedure information data file 50. Further, in the screen data field 57,
Image data showing the final state of the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 4 for each step is stored. This image data is
Before transitioning to the next screen, the screen data extraction unit 10d takes a snapshot of the screen, and the user operation procedure information generation unit 10e records the screen snapshot in a data file of the screen information data. For example, the screen data 58 of the data number “4” is the image data of the display screen in the final state of the step number “4”. As shown in the figure, the image data 58 is stored in the data file of the screen information data, and the pointer is connected to the record data of the corresponding step number of the data file 50 of the operation procedure information.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the data structure of the data file of the manual information holding the manual description information regarding each function of the copying machine, the facsimile machine, the multifunction machine, and the like of the electronic equipment to be operated by the user. The manual information data file 60 is stored in the manual information storage unit 7. As shown in FIG. 6, the manual information data file 60 includes a function name field 61, an attribute field 62, an appearance data field 63, and a function description field 64.

The function name data stored in the function name field 61 is label data expressing each function. The attribute field 62 stores attribute data indicating the attribute of the function of the record data. The attribute data here is "button", "function", "oth".
The appearance data field 63 stores appearance data. For example, when the attribute of the function is a button (the attribute data is “but”).
image data 65 of the shape of the button)
Becomes This image data 65 is
Used to visualize the operation sequence.

The function explanation text field 64 stores data of the function explanation text. The data of the function description is text information that explains the function and behavior of each function. The description content of the text differs depending on the value of the attribute data in the attribute field 62. For example, the attribute data is “butt”.
When the attribute data is "on", the text information describes the behavior of the button. When the attribute data is "function", the text information describes the function. When the attribute data is "others". , Text information that explains other input data and screen transitions.

The data of this function description is basically text information data, but the attribute data is "other".
In the case of “rs”, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, <#selection is included in the text information whose description content differs depending on the user's input or operation status.
item>, <#input data>, <#dis
A variable 66 for text information such as play> may be included. These variables 66 are used when the customization operation manual file is generated.
By b, the data value of the appropriate text information is embedded, and the explanatory text of the content according to the operation status of each user is generated.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of the data structure of the output format data holding the information about the output format and the framework of the format description. The output format here specifies the display format of the manual when the created manual is output, but by specifying various output formats as output format information, necessary information is filtered and It is possible to change the level of detail and appearance of the output format when output as an operation manual.

The output format information data file 70 is stored in the output format storage unit 9. The data file of the output format information holds the description regarding the output format of the customization operation manual. Therefore, the data structure is as shown in FIG.
Number field 71, format name field 72,
It is composed of an argument name field 73 and a pointer field 74 to the format description. The number field 71 stores data of a number which is a format number. The format name field 72 stores a format name that is name data representing an output format. When designating the output format, the user specifies the format number in the number field 71 or the format name in the format name field 72. In particular, when the user does not instruct the format information, the "1.sequential" format having the format number "1" is used as a default.

The argument name field 73 stores the data of the argument name. This argument name data is a list of information names used in each format. One element of the data list of the argument name, for example, "operatio"
n "is the" operation sequence "of the data file of the operation procedure information
Means that the data value of the field is used during manual generation. This argument name is "operatio"
These operation sequences are visualized in the customized operation manual document created here by "n". In the “sequential” format, as shown in FIG. 7, in addition to the operation series data, the user input data (input data) and screen information (display) are displayed.
data) and the manual description (text) are used.

On the other hand, in the format of “2. Quick reference type” whose format number is “2” and the format of “3. Reference type” whose format number is “3”, the operation sequence (operation) and user's Input data (input data), manual description (te
xt) three pieces of information are used.

In the pointer to format description field 74, a pointer to a format description statement describing the framework of the output format is stored. This pointer data is pointer data for linking from the output format data file 70 to the format description sentence corresponding to each format as shown in FIG. 7. For example, as shown in the lower side of FIG. Is linked to the format description sentence (format frame) 75. The format description sentence 75 is composed of a frame forming the format and layout information of the frame. The frame forming the format is further composed of a plurality of frames. In the example of this format frame, the title frame 76
And a date frame 77 is placed.

1 of each step forming a series of operation sequences
The display form of one step is represented by each step frame (“step frame (n)”) 78, 79. For example, one step frame 78 is an operation frame (“operation frame (operativity)
on) ”) 78a, text frame (“ text frame ”
e (text) ”) 78b, image display frame (“ display ”)
ay frame (display data) ”) 7
It is composed of three frames 8c.

In one step frame, the operation frame (op
The "eration frame" 78a receives "operation" as an argument, and the visualized information of the operation sequence of the user is arranged in this frame.
Similarly, the text synthesized by the text data synthesis unit 11b is laid out in the text frame (textframe) 78b. In addition, the image display frame (dis
Data of screen information is laid out in the play frame) 78c. When the layout display of one step frame is completed, the layout display of the next step frame is performed, and further, according to the operation procedure until the task of the user is completed, the step frame (step fr
The layout display of (ame) is repeated.

Next, a manual creating process in the electronic device with the customized operation manual device configured as described above will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the overall processing flow of the manual creation processing.
The process flow of the manual generation process will be described with reference to FIG. When the process is started, first, in step 101, the user operation monitoring unit 5b monitors the user operation. Next, in step 102, it is determined whether or not the operation instruction input from the user is a user operation log start instruction input. If there is no input of the start instruction input, the process returns to step 101 and step 1
The processing from 01 is repeated. The processes of steps 101 and 102 are repeated to monitor the user operation, and if there is a user operation log start instruction input, then in the process of step 103, information necessary for user operation information is extracted. Performs user operation information extraction processing.

Next, in order to appropriately record the information extracted by the user operation information extraction process in the data file, the user operation information generation process is performed in the next step 104. Then, in the next step 105, it is determined whether or not a user operation log end instruction is input. If the user operation log end instruction has not been input, the process returns to step 103 and the processing from step 103 is repeated. In this way, Step 103 to Step 10
The processes up to 5 are repeated until the "end instruction" of the user operation log is input. When the user inputs the "end instruction" of the user operation log, the processing of the operation log ends.

Next, at step 106, it is judged whether or not there is a customization manual generation instruction from the user. If there is no manual generation instruction, the user determines that the manual generation is not performed for this operation log, and then proceeds to step 107, where the related data file of the user operation log (data file of operation procedure information and screen information). Data file) is deleted and the process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 106 that the customization manual generation instruction has been input,
Next, the process proceeds to step 108, and a process of generating a customized operation manual is performed based on the related data file of the user operation log recorded so far. Then, in the next step 109, output processing of the generated customization operation manual document file is performed, and the printing apparatus 1
Output by 2. Then, the processing here is ended.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the processing flow for creating the related data file of the user operation log. The flow of processing for extracting user operation information and creating a related data file of the user operation log will be described with reference to FIG. 9. When the process is started, first, in step 201, the user operation monitoring unit 5b monitors the user operation. Next, in step 202, it is determined whether or not the user has input an operation instruction using the operation instruction unit 3. If there is no operation instruction input from the user, the process returns to step 201 and the processing from step 201 is repeated. As a result, if there is an operation instruction input from the user, this is discriminated, and the process proceeds to step 203, in which the operation instruction input of the user is changed to the variable "user input
t ”, that is, the user operation monitoring unit 5
Since the information of the user's operation instruction input is transmitted to the user operation procedure information management unit 10b, step 20
In 3, the value is assigned to the variable "user input".

Since the process of extracting the information of the user operation instruction input differs depending on the type of the operation instruction from the user, next, at step 204, the variable “user” is extracted.
The value assigned to "input" is "operatio"
n "or data input is determined, and the process branches depending on the determination. When the operation instruction input from the user is determined to be" operation ", in the next step 205, Operation sequence extraction unit 1
0b is a variable "use" that holds a user's operation instruction.
The value of "r input" is added to a list variable called "operations".
The list variable "s" holds the operation sequence of the user as a list. Here, "operatio"
“N” means a command (operation command) requesting the electronic device 1 as an operation target to execute some behavior.

On the other hand, when the operation instruction input is data input, the operation sequence extraction unit 10b advances the value to the variable "user input" holding the operation instruction of the user by the operation sequence extraction unit 10b, as in step 205. operator
After the process of adding to the list variable "ations" is performed, it is determined in the next step 207 whether or not the user's input is completed, and if the input is continued, the next step 208 is performed. In step 1, the input instruction from the user is received again, the information of the operation instruction input by the user is substituted into the variable “user input”, the process returns to step 206, and the process from step 206 is continued. Steps 206 to 208 are repeated until the input is completed.
In 9, the value of the user's data input is calculated from the operation sequence input by the input data extraction unit 10c, and the value is substituted for the variable "input data".

Next, it is judged whether or not the operation instruction input of one step is completed by the series of operation sequences of the user. The determination of the end of one step is step 210
At, the display screen control unit 5a determines whether or not the screen transitions according to the operation instruction. If the screen transition does not occur, it is determined that the series of operation instruction input steps has not been completed, the process returns to step 201, and the processing up to this point is repeated. When a screen transition occurs and it is determined that one step of the operation sequence has ended, then in step 211, the screen data extraction unit 10d takes a snapshot of the screen of the display device before the screen transition, Substituted in a variable called "display data".

Next, at step 212, it is judged whether or not the menu item is selected before the transition to the next screen. If there is a selected item, the value of the selected item corresponding to the selected menu item is substituted into the variable "selection" in step 213, and then the process proceeds to step 214.

By the processing up to this point, the processing of extracting the operation instruction input of the user in one step, which is one unit of the operation procedure of the user, is completed, and the required user operation procedure information, screen information, etc. are extracted. To be done. Then, next, in step 214, the data file generation unit 10e of the user operation procedure information records this information in a file. That is, the variable "operations",
The data of "input data" and "selection" are written in the data file of the operation procedure information,
The data of the variable "display data" is written to the screen information data file.

Next, the flow of processing for generating a customized operation manual will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the customization operation manual generation process. A procedure of processing for creating an operation manual from various information data files stored in the main storage device in accordance with user's operation procedure information will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step 301, an input for selecting a manual format for creating a manual is received from the user. The selection input of the manual format selected by the user is assigned to the variable "selection". If the value of the selection input of "selection" is other than the existing defined format, or if there is no specification of the selection input of the format,
As described above, the default value "1. recursive type" is substituted. Next, in step 302, the user inputs the name of the customized operation manual,
Substitute for the variable "Title". If no name is entered here, the default value is Title.

Next, in step 303, the data file 70 (FIG. 7) of the output format information is searched using the value of the data of the input variable "selection" as a key. Then, the data value of the argument name field 73 is read and substituted into the variable args. This data value holds a list of information that is passed as an argument to the output format when the customized operation manual is generated. Further, in the processing of this step 303, the pointer to the format description is traced, and the data value of the pointer to the corresponding format description 75 is set to the variable “desc”.
substitution ”.

In accordance with the user operation procedure, the processing from the next step 304 to step 313 is repeated for each operation series data of one step. In this iterative processing for each operation series data of one step, first, in step 304, one record corresponding to the operation series data of one step is read from the data file of the user operation procedure information, and the variable “step” is read. To "". Then, in step 305, the variable “s
Whether or not the procedure to be processed is completed is determined by whether or not the data value of “tep” is “nil.” When there are no records to be read, it is determined that the process of expanding to the manual format is completed here. Therefore, the process proceeds to step 314, and a manual document creation process is performed.

On the other hand, in step 305, the variable "s"
If the data value of “tep” is not “nil”, the process proceeds to step 306, and the process from step 306 is a process for generating manual data for each argument held in the variable “args”. First, in step 306, one argument name is extracted from the variable “args” and assigned to the variable “arg.” Then, in step 307, the data value of the argument of the variable “arg” is determined. Then, the process proceeds to an appropriate process (step 308, step 311, step 312, step 313) depending on the type of the argument. When all the processes for the argument data to be processed are completed, the process passes through the paths of step 304 and step 305. Then, in order to lay out these data, the process proceeds to step 314.

That is, the variable "arg" in step 307
In the determination of the data value of the argument of, the argument is "opera
If it is determined to be “action”, the next step 308
In, the list variable "op" in the variable "step"
One operation is taken out from the data in the operation series of "erations" and assigned to the variable op. Next, in step 309, it should be processed depending on whether the data value of the variable "op" is "nil". It is determined whether or not the data of the operation series has ended.

If the data value of the variable "op" is not "nil" and the data of the operation sequence to be processed has not ended, the process proceeds to step 310, and the variable "op" is set for the data file of the manual information. The data value of is searched as a key, the appearance data for visualizing the data is read, and the appearance data is added to the variable “opList” holding the visualization information of the operation series as a list. This process is repeated for all data of a series of operation series operations. When the data value of the variable "op" is determined to be "nil" in the determination of step 309 and the data of the operation sequence to be processed is completed, the process returns to step 306 to perform the process for the next argument.

On the other hand, in the determination of the data value of the argument of the variable "arg" in step 307, the data value is "tex".
In the case of t ", the process proceeds to step 311, and the manual explanation sentence synthesizing process is performed (FIGS. 11 to 16). By the manual explanation sentence synthesizing process, the synthesized text is substituted into the variable" txList ". , In the determination of step 307, the data value of the argument is “input dat
In the case of “a”, the process proceeds to step 312 and the variable “ste”
User input data is extracted from p "and variable" user "
Similarly, in the determination of step 307, the data value of the argument is “display data”.
If it is “a”, the process proceeds to step 313 and the variable “ste” is set.
The pointer to the screen information data is taken out from p ", and the corresponding screen information data is read by tracing the pointer, and the screen information data is assigned to the variable" dspData ". Then, the process returns to step 306 and is processed. These processes are repeated corresponding to the data value of each argument until the data of the power sequence is completed.

When the above process is completed for all steps in the operation sequence of each step of the operation procedure log (when the data value of the variable "step" is "ni").
Then, the process proceeds to step 314 to perform a process for laying out these pieces of information as a document file.
variable Title, variable opL according to the description of the section
The information data held in the ist, the variable txList, the variable userData, and the variable dspData is poured into the corresponding framework, layout is performed, and the customized operation manual document file is generated. Then, in the next step 315, the information regarding the user operation log that has been stored until then is erased, and the series of processes here is ended. That is, by the process of step 315, the data file of the user operation procedure information and the data file of the screen information data are deleted.

Next, the flow of the manual explanation sentence synthesizing process performed by the process of step 311 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a flow chart for explaining the general flow of the manual explanation sentence synthesizing process. Figure 11
First, an outline of the entire process of the manual explanatory sentence synthesizing process will be described with reference to. In this manual explanation sentence synthesizing process, the flow of the synthesizing process differs depending on the type of output format.
At 1, the type of output format is determined according to the format number. When the format number is "1", the process proceeds to step 402, and the sequential manual explanation sentence synthesizing process is performed based on the sequential data of the output format type. If the format number is "2", the process proceeds to step 403, and the quick reference table type manual explanatory sentence synthesizing process is performed based on the quick reference table type data of the output format type. If the format number is "3", the process proceeds to step 404, and reference type manual description sentence synthesis processing is performed based on the reference type data of the output format type.

12 to 14 are flowcharts for explaining the flow of the sequential manual explanatory sentence synthesizing process.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the main flow of the sequential manual explanatory note combining process, and FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the sub-flow of the selection item process in the sequential manual explanatory note combining process. Further, FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a sub-flow of the input data processing in the sequential manual explanatory sentence synthesis processing.

First, with reference to FIG. 12, the main flow of the sequential manual explanation sentence synthesizing process will be described. When the processing is started, in step 501, the processing is sequentially performed here [step. x], one operation is extracted from the operation sequence of the record data, and the variable “o
Then, in step 502, it is determined whether or not the operation sequence to be processed has ended by determining whether or not the data value of the variable “op” is “nil”. If the data value of “op” is not “nil” and the operation sequence to be processed has not ended, in the next step 503, the variable “o” of the operation taken out.
It is determined whether or not the attribute of "p" is "function".
Since only the function description of the operation having the "function" attribute is extracted, the description related to the behavior such as the "button" attribute in the operation of the operation series is excluded. Therefore, the attribute of the variable “op” is “f
If it is not "unction", the process returns to step 501,
Step 50 for retrieving the next operation sequence operation
The process from 1 is repeated.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 503 that the attribute of the variable “op” is “function”,
Next, in step 504, the data file of the manual information is searched using the value of the variable "op" (function name of the operation) as a key, the text of the function description is read, and is substituted into the variable "text". Next, step 5
In 05, the text of the function explanation sentence of the retrieved variable “text” is added to the list variable “sList” holding the explanation sentence information for one step. This step 5
The processing from 01 to step 505 is repeated for each operation of the operation series of all users. As a result of this processing, the text for explaining the function of each operation of the user's operation sequence can be collected by searching the manual information data file. When the operation data in the operation sequence selected by the user is completed, this is determined by the determination processing in step 502,
Since the post-processing is to be performed, the process proceeds to step 506.

Subsequently, by the processing from step 506, processing for generating an explanatory note regarding the user information is performed.
In step 506, the currently processing [step.
x], it is determined whether or not there is a selection item. If there is a selection item, the process proceeds to step 507 and the selection item process (FIG. 13) is performed. Next, in step 508, similarly, the current processing [step. x], it is determined whether there is input data. If the input data exists, then in step 509,
Input data processing (FIG. 14) is performed.

Finally, the text relating to the screen transition is synthesized. Therefore, in the next step 510, the data file of the manual information is searched using "screen transition" as a keyword, and the searched function explanation is substituted for the variable "text". When the variable <#display> is included in the read function description text,
The value of this variable <#display> corresponds to the screen name to be changed next, and is obtained from the display screen control unit 5a that controls the screen transition. Then, step 511
In step 2, the transition screen name acquired from the display screen control unit 5a is embedded in the variable <#display>, and the explanatory text is combined to reflect the flow of the user's operation, and the variable “n” is displayed.
ew text ”and the next step 5
In 12, the text of the explanatory text synthesized from the variable “new text” is added to the list variable “sList”. As a result, the one-step sequential text synthesizing process is completed.
ep. The data of the list variable “sList” that holds the explanation sentence information for one step of [x] is added to the list variable “txList” that holds the function explanation sentence information, and the series of processes is ended.

Next, the selection item processing of step 507 in the sequential manual explanatory sentence synthesis processing will be described with reference to FIG. In the selection item processing here, first, in step 521, the data file of the manual information is searched using the value of the selection item as a key, the function description is read and substituted into the variable “text”. As a result, the text data of the function description corresponding to the menu item selected by the user can be obtained. For example, the value of the selection item in the record data of the step number "4" in FIG. 5 described above is "abbreviated registration", and in that case, the function explanation sentence explaining the function of the abbreviated registration is retrieved.

Next, in step 522, the text data of the variable "text" of the retrieved function explanation sentence is added to the list variable "sList". Next, step 5
In 23, the manual information data file is searched using "selection item" as a keyword, the function explanation is read out, and is substituted into the variable "text". This variable "tex
The text data of the function description assigned to “t” includes a variable <#selection item>. This variable <#selection item> is a variable corresponding to the selection item of the data file of the user operation procedure information. Therefore, in the next step 524, the [s
step. The value of the selection item of the record data of [x] is embedded, the text data of the functional explanation text reflecting the selection item of the user is synthesized, and is substituted into the variable “new text”. Next, in step 525, the variable “new t
The text data of "ext" is the list variable "sList"
, And ends the selection item processing here.

Next, with reference to FIG. 14, the input data processing of step 509 in the sequential manual explanatory sentence synthesis processing will be described. In the input data processing here, when the processing is started, in step 531, the manual information data file is searched using "input data" as a keyword, the function description is read and substituted into the variable "text". In this case, the text data of the variable "text" includes the variable <#input data>.
Since this variable <#input data> is a variable corresponding to the input data of the data file of the user operation procedure information, in the next step 532, the [step
p. The value of the input data of the record data of [x] is embedded, the function explanation text in which the input value of the user is reflected is synthesized, and is substituted for the variable “newtext”. Then, in step 533, the text data of the variable "new text" is added to the list variable "sList", and the input data processing here is terminated.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for explaining the flow of the quick guide type manual explanation sentence synthesizing process. The quick reference type manual explanation sentence synthesizing process will be described with reference to FIG. In the quick reference table type manual explanatory sentence synthesizing process here, first, in step 601, the process is currently being performed [step. The screen name in [x] is acquired from the display screen control unit 5b and is assigned to the variable “display”. This screen name is the operation sequence [step. x] is used as a label. In the quick reference table-type manual explanation sentence, the process of synthesizing the explanation sentence regarding the function is omitted, and only the explanation sentence regarding the user information is synthesized. Therefore, in the next step 602, the [ste
p. x] determines whether there is a selection item,
If there is a selection item, in the next step 603, selection item processing (FIG. 13) is performed. Similarly, in the next step 604, the [step. x], it is determined whether there is input data. If it is determined by this determination that input data exists, input data processing (FIG. 14) is performed in the next step 605.
Finally, in step 610, the variable “di
The screen name of "sply" and the explanatory text of the variable "sList" are added to the list variable "txList", and the processing here is terminated.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart for explaining the flow of the reference type manual explanation sentence synthesizing process. The reference type manual description sentence synthesizing process will be described with reference to FIG. The reference-type manual description is in the form of a reference manual attached to the quick reference table-type manual description. Therefore, in the reference-type manual explanatory note synthesizing process, first, a process for collecting reference functional explanatory notes by searching is performed.

First, in step 701, processing is performed [step. x], one operation is extracted from the operation sequence and assigned to the variable “op”. Next, step 7
In 02, it is determined whether the operation sequence has ended by determining whether the data of the variable “op” is “nil”. If the operation sequence has not ended, it is further determined in the next step 703 whether or not the data of the variable “op” overlaps with the data already searched. If the result of determination is that there is an overlap, the process returns to step 701 and the processing from step 701 is repeated. Also, step 70
In the determination of 3, if the data of the variable “op” does not overlap with the already searched data, the process proceeds to the next step 704.

In step 704, the variable "op" is set.
The data file of the manual information is searched using the data of the key as the key, the corresponding function description is read, and the variable "t"
ext ”. Next, in step 705, the content of the attribute (operation attribute) of the variable“ op ”is determined, and according to the value of this attribute, the process branches to step 706, step 707, and step 708. , Perform each processing.

If the attribute is "button" in the attribute determination processing of step 705, step 70
6 and in step 706, the list variable “B
A description of the text data of the variable "text" is added to "List". When the attribute is "function", the process branches to step 707, and in step 707, the text data of the variable "text" is added to the list variable "FList". Is added, and the attribute is "bu.
If "ton &function", step 7
In step 708, the description of the text data of the variable “text” is added to the list variable “B & FList”. Then, the process returns to step 701 and the processing from step 701 is repeated.

When the explanatory texts regarding the operations of all the operation series are collected, this is judged by the judgment processing in step 702 where the data of the variable “op” is “nil”, and then the processing advances to step 709. Then, in step 709, the list variable “BList”, the list variable “FList”, and the list variable “B & FList” holding the text information are changed to the list variable “sList.
t ”is added. Since the processing relating to the reference portion is completed by the processing so far, step 71
In 0, the explanation sentence synthesis processing similar to the quick reference table type is performed,
The process here is terminated.

As described above, according to the type of the output format designated by the user, the data file of the manual information is searched based on the record data of the operation sequence of the user, and the sequential type, the quick reference type, and the reference type are searched. Create and output a customized user operation manual for each type. Next, an output example of the operation manual document printed out by the operation manual creating apparatus will be described.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a sequential operation manual document. As shown in FIG. 17, in the sequential operation manual document 80, the operation sequence of the user is expressed by being distinguished by the framework for each step. The operation sequence in which each button is pressed is described in the sequence by the picture of the button, and the picture of the image of the state of the display screen showing the final state of the operation sequence is shown. In addition, the text of the explanation text indicates the description of the function instructed by the user, what kind of input has been made, what item has been selected, what kind of screen is to be changed next, etc. The description is written according to the operation procedure performed by.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a quick reference table type operation manual document. As shown in FIG. 18, also in the quick reference table type operation manual document 81, basically, similarly to the sequential type, the operation sequence of the user is expressed by being distinguished into a framework for each step. The operation content of each step is a description labeled by the screen name. In this quick reference table type operation manual document 81, the operation sequence is visualized as a picture of a button for each step, and the information regarding the user's input information and the selection items is displayed as an explanatory note.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a reference type operation manual document. As shown in FIG. 19, also in the reference-type operation manual document 82, the operation sequence of the user is similarly expressed by being distinguished into a framework for each step. In the case of the reference type operation manual document 82, the first half portion (upper side of FIG. 19) has the same description form as the quick reference type. In the latter half part (lower side of FIG. 19), the functional description of each content expressed in the first half is attached. That is, in the functional description of “Button”, the description of the behavior when the button is pressed is described together with the picture of each button. In the function description of "Function", a description of each function and a description of the behavior when the function is selected are described. See also "Button & Funct
In the function description of “ion”, in addition to the description of the behavior when the button is pressed, the description of the function associated with the button is described. In this operation manual document, the operation types are classified by type, but the classification is not always necessary and may be expressed in a list form in the order in which the user's operation sequence appears. The sorting result using the items as keys may be expressed in a list form.

[0095]

As described above, according to the electronic device with the operation manual creating device of the present invention, the customized operation manual created by the operation manual creating device has a daily life meaning to each user. It is an operation manual that follows the user's operating procedure for each task in business. According to this operation manual, only necessary parts are extracted from a general-purpose manual, and it is not necessary to search for a necessary part related to daily work from a conventional manual containing a large amount of information. Furthermore, by providing a customized operation manual for the structure of the document contents edited according to the user's task, one manual task can be performed, and therefore, the manual can be distributed over the entire manual like a conventional manual. The inconvenience of many existing items that need to be referred to is eliminated, and usage efficiency is improved.

Also in the output form of the operation manual, the input data corresponding to the personal information of the user and the detail required by the user according to each type of the sequential type, the quick reference type, and the reference type, By adding a screen image corresponding to the context information at the time of operation to the manual, the function explanation can be generated as the explanation according to the operation situation of the user. As a result, not only the structure of the document content of the manual document but also the description content is customized, and the easiness of understanding the manual is increased and the operability is improved.

Further, since various kinds of various information at the time of actual operation are manually added together with the text of the function explanation, not only as a manual to be referred at the time of operation but also by reviewing the operation procedure of oneself, It can be improved so that it can be done efficiently, and the learning efficiency can be improved for beginners. Further, since the created operation manual is shared by the business groups, know-how about the operation method can be accumulated and transmitted, and the knowledge of the operation of the business as the business group can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall system configuration of an electronic device with an operation manual creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a diagram specifically illustrating a configuration of an operation panel on which a user performs an input operation;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen of a liquid crystal display device,

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the operation screen of the liquid crystal display device,

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of operation procedure information and screen information extracted and recorded by a user operation procedure information management unit and a relationship between them;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a data structure of a manual information data file that holds manual description information regarding each function of a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a multifunction machine, etc. of an electronic device to be operated by a user;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of output format data holding information about an output format and a framework of a format description;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an overall processing flow of manual creation processing;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing flow for creating a related data file of a user operation log,

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a customization operation manual generation process,

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an outline flow of a manual explanatory sentence combining process;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a main flow of a sequential manual explanatory sentence synthesizing process,

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a sub-flow of selection item processing in the sequential manual explanatory sentence synthesis processing,

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a sub-flow of input data processing in the sequential manual explanatory sentence synthesis processing;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of a quick reference table type manual explanation sentence synthesizing process;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of reference-type manual explanatory sentence synthesis processing;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a sequential operation manual document,

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a quick reference type operation manual document;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a reference-type operation manual document.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Electronic device, 2 ... Operation panel, 3 ... Hard button, 4
... Liquid crystal display device, 5 ... User interface control unit, 5
a ... Display screen control unit, 5b ... User operation monitoring unit, 6 ... Operation procedure information storage unit, 7 ... Manual information storage unit, 8 ... Screen information storage unit, 9 ... Output format storage unit, 10 ... User operation procedure information management Section, 10a ... User operation procedure information extracting section, 10b ... Operation sequence extracting section, 10c
Input data extraction unit, 10d Screen data extraction unit, 10
e ... User operation procedure information generation unit, 11 ... Customized file management unit, 11a ... Data file search unit, 11b
... text data synthesizing unit, 11c ... customized manual generating unit, 12 ... printing device, 13 ... main storage device, 14
... control device, 20 ... right arrow button, 21 ... left arrow button, 22 ... set button, 23 ... shortening button, 24 ... specialty button, 25 ... ten key button, 26 ... menu item, 27 ... menu item, 28 ... operation screen , 30 ... Input data field, 31 ... Menu item, 50 ... Operation procedure information data file, 51 ... Step number field, 52 ... Operation series field, 53 ... Input data field, 54 ... Selection item field, 55 ... Screen information data Pointer field to 60, data file of manual information, 61 ... function name field, 62 ... attribute field, 63 ... appearance data field, 64 ... function description field.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An operation panel having an operation instruction section and an operation state display section, an electronic device having a print output device, first storage means for holding manual information, and an operation sequence of a user from an input operation by the operation instruction section. Extracting means for extracting the operation sequence, second storage means for temporarily holding the extracted operation sequence of the user as user operation procedure information, search means for searching for manual information corresponding to the operation sequence of the user, and searched An electronic device with an operation manual creation device, comprising: an operation manual creation device that creates an operation manual in accordance with a user's operation procedure from the manual information and user operation procedure information and outputs the operation manual to a print output device. 2. The electronic device with an operation manual creating device according to claim 1, further comprising an individual data extracting means for extracting input data unique to the user, wherein the manual creating means stores the personal information of the user. An electronic device with an operation manual creation device characterized by being added to a manual. 3. The electronic device with an operation manual creation device according to claim 1, further comprising an operation screen extraction means for extracting, as image data, a screen image showing the operation state displayed on the operation state display section. An electronic device with an operation manual creation device, comprising: a third storage means for storing image data, wherein the manual creation means adds a user operation state as a screen image to the manual. 4. The electronic device with an operation manual creating device according to claim 1, further comprising a fourth storage means for holding information regarding an output format, a selection means for selecting an output format, and a selected output format. According to the description, a layout means for selecting information to be output to a manual and laying out the selected information, and a filter means for filtering the layout of the manual and the information to be output according to the purpose are provided. Electronic device with operation manual creation device. 5. The electronic device with an operation manual creation device according to claim 1, wherein the manual information has a text including a variable, and the search means searches the value of the variable from the user operation procedure information to create the manual. An electronic device with an operation manual creating device, characterized in that the means synthesizes a new manual text from the retrieved value and the text data, and generates an appropriate explanation that suits the operation situation of each user.