JP2000056927A - Keyboard display device and its display method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change languages immediately at any place by selecting a key top object included in a displayed keyboard object according to user's operation and outputting information of the number, characters, or symbol assigned to the selected keyboard object. SOLUTION: A 1st selecting means of a CPU 5 selects data held in a ROM 7 through user's operation, and a message is displayed by making use of the selected message data or a keyboard object is displayed on a liquid crystal display by using selected keyboard array data 9 and 10. A key top object included in the displayed keyboard object is selected by a 2nd selecting means of the CPU 5 according to user's operation and the information of the number, characters, or symbol assigned to the selected keyboard object is outputted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard display device and a display method therefor, and more particularly, to a virtual keyboard displayed on a display. It can be unnecessary or supplement its function. For example, a general-purpose computer or an industrial computer, an electronic organizer, a portable information terminal, a game (game) device, or a GPS (Glob)
The present invention relates to a keyboard display device suitable for use in a computer-applied device such as an al positioning system and a display method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An input device is an indispensable component for computer-applied equipment, not to mention a personal computer as an example. In particular, a keyboard inherited from the typewriter era is one of the indispensable input devices. It is. Generally, keyboards are divided into a type that is separated from the computer main body and a type that is not separated (built-in), but the latter type can be further divided into a type with a physical entity and a virtual type displayed on a display. it can. The present invention relates to the last "virtual type keyboard". Hereinafter, this type of keyboard is referred to as a virtual keyboard.

A virtual keyboard is an image object drawn on a display in a software manner. The image object further has a predetermined key arrangement (for example, “QW”).
ERTY array ": has a number of key top objects of alphanumeric characters and symbols in accordance with details. The CPU in the computer detects the touch coordinates of the touch panel superimposed on the display, highlights the keytop object located at the coordinates, and displays the alphanumeric characters or symbols defined in the keytop object. And recognize it as input information by the user. In this way, the virtual keyboard replaces the actual keyboard, greatly contributing to the reduction in size and weight of computer-applied devices, and also allows the user to perform input operations without taking his eyes off the screen. This is an excellent input device in that many advantages such as avoiding input errors and improving operability can be obtained even when used together with the accompanying keyboard.

[0004] By the way, computers born in the English-speaking world are now spreading across the world beyond language barriers.
Considering the fact that its users are also expanding to the general public who has not received specialized training, there is a strong demand for the market introduction of keyboards other than English notation. Requires a keytop to be manufactured for each language, which is unavoidable in terms of cost. In this regard, the virtual keyboard is advantageous in terms of cost because it is sufficient to replace language data (for example, language font) of each country and does not require a mechanical manufacturing process such as casting. Prepare a font ROM,
By replacing the ROM, a product group for each language zone is prepared.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned prior art only realizes multi-language correspondence by exchanging font ROMs.
In order to be able to obtain M anywhere, font ROMs of each language must be held in large quantities as spare parts, and there is a problem in that inventory and distribution are costly. Inevitably increases the structural cost. Even if it can be obtained, there is a problem in that it requires troublesome replacement, which is troublesome, and the font ROM may be broken due to careless handling.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a keyboard display device and a display method thereof that can immediately switch languages at any place without incurring an increase in inventory, distribution and structural costs, and without causing a failure. For the purpose of providing.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a keyboard display device comprising: first holding means for holding message data for each language; second holding means for holding a plurality of keyboard array data; First selecting means for selecting data held in each of the holding means in accordance with a user operation; displaying a message using message data selected by the first selecting means; Display control means for displaying a keyboard object on a display means using the keyboard arrangement data selected by the means; and a second for selecting a keytop object included in the keyboard object displayed on the display means in accordance with a user operation. And the number assigned to the keyboard object selected by the second selecting means , Characterized by comprising output means for outputting information of the character or symbol, a. A keyboard display device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the keyboard display device according to the first aspect, wherein the first selecting means holds keyboard array data narrowed down to only special characters necessary for each language. The data held in each of the holding units including the holding unit is selected according to a user operation. The keyboard display method according to claim 3 is
A first step of selecting message data for each language and a plurality of keyboard layout data stored in advance according to a user operation, and displaying a message using the message data selected in the first step And / or a second step of displaying a keyboard object on display means using the keyboard layout data selected in the first step, and a key top object included in the keyboard object displayed on the display means. A third step of selecting in response to a user operation, and a number assigned to the keyboard object selected by the third step;
Outputting a character or symbol information. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the keyboard display method according to the third aspect, the second step corresponds to message data for each language, a plurality of keyboard layout data, and each language which are stored in advance. Then, keyboard arrangement data narrowed down to only necessary special characters is selected according to a user operation. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium storing a program for implementing the first selecting means, the display control means, the second selecting means, and the output means according to the first aspect.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking an electronic notebook having a touch panel as an example. In FIG. 1, 1 is a touch panel, 2
Denotes a liquid crystal display (abbreviation: LC) as display means
D), 3 is a touch panel control unit, 4 is an LCD drive unit, 5
Is a CPU as a first selection unit, a second selection unit, a display control unit and an output unit, 6 is a RAM, and 7 is an RO as a first holding unit, a second holding unit and a third holding unit.
M, and these parts are housed in a notebook-sized housing (case) not shown. Note that, in addition to the above units, a communication control unit that transmits and receives information to and from an external personal computer or the like may be provided. The touch panel 1 has a large number of electrode wirings arranged in an intersecting manner between transparent laminated panels, and by applying pressure (referred to as touch) with a pen tip or a finger tip from above the laminated panel, the touch panel 1 is directly under the pressing point. The vertical electrode wiring and the horizontal electrode wiring are in contact with each other.
Then, the coordinate information of the touch position is specified from the combination of the numbers of the contact wirings, and the information is output to the CPU 5.

The liquid crystal display 2 has a display screen of an n × m pixel configuration having an area approximately equal to or slightly smaller than the effective touch area of the touch panel 1.
By changing the transmittance of each pixel in response to the drive voltage from the D drive unit 4 and adjusting the transmitted light of the backlight and the reflected light of the external light, gradation display according to the display data is performed. is there. The CPU 5 selectively loads the program 11 stored in the ROM 7 into the user area 6c of the RAM 6 and executes the program, thereby realizing required functions as software. The program 11 includes an operating system 11f, a memo pad In addition to an electronic organizer main program 11a including functions and a sub-program 11b for displaying a virtual keyboard necessary for character input, in the present embodiment,
Further, a sub-program 11c for selecting a language to be used, a sub-program 11d for selecting a keyboard layout, a sub-program 11e for inputting characters for obtaining numbers, characters or symbols on a virtual keyboard by using information on the touch panel 1 are provided. ing. The RAM 6 is backed up by a battery so as to retain the stored data even after the power switch is turned off. In addition to the above-described user area 6c, an area 6a that retains at least language setting information (hereinafter, “language setting area”) ) And an area 6b (hereinafter, referred to as a “keyboard arrangement setting area”) for holding the keyboard arrangement setting information on the first surface. The keyboard layout on the first side is a keyboard layout normally used, and the keyboard layout on the second side is a special character input displayed by operating a specific key on the keyboard layout on the first side. Keyboard layout.

The information held in the language setting area 6a is a code representing a typical one-byte language, for example, "German", "English", "Spanish", "French" and "Italian". The information held in the keyboard layout setting area 6b is also a typical keyboard layout, for example, “QWERTZ layout”, “QWERZ layout”.
A code representing each of the "TY array" and the "AZERTY array", and the relationship between these codes and information in the present embodiment is as follows.

Here, the QWERTY layout is a keyboard layout used in English. As shown in FIG. 2, the arrangement of the left six keys in the second row from the top is "Q", "W",
The array is so called because it is "E", "R", "T" and "Y". Also, AZER
The TY layout is a keyboard layout used in French, and as shown in FIG.
The sequence is so called because it is "Z", "E", "R", "T" and "Y". Further, the QWERTZ layout is a keyboard layout used in German, and as shown in FIG.
The array is so called because it is "Q", "W", "E", "R", "T" and "Z". In FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the upper part is “CA
The figure which shows the arrangement state when the "PS" key is turned off,
The lower part is a diagram showing an arrangement state when the “CAPS” key is turned on. These arrangement states are the same as the states when displayed on the liquid crystal display 2 as a virtual keyboard. That is, the overall image of each of the keyboards shown in FIGS.
Above, and the image object further has a number of key top objects having a linguistic notation and an arrangement order according to each keyboard layout.

The ROM 7 stores the program 11 (11
a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 11e...), and in the present embodiment, message data 8 for each language, keyboard layout data 9 on the first side, and keyboard layout data 9 on the second side 10 is held. further,
The message data 8 for each language includes message data 8a for English, message data 8b for Spanish, message data 8c for German, message data 8d for French, and message data 8e for Italian. Also, the keyboard layout data 9 on the first surface includes the layout data 9a for QWERTY,
It has the array data 9b for Y and the array data 9c for QWERTZ, and the keyboard array data 10 on the second surface is the array data 10a for English, the array data 10b for Spanish, and the array data 10b for German. Sequence data 10c,
It has sequence data 10d for French and sequence data 10e for Italian. Here, the message data 8 is a help message, an information message, a status message, an error message, a menu message, and the like necessary for executing the program 11. FIG. 5 is an example of message data 8a for English, FIG.
7 shows an example of message data 8b for Spanish, FIG. 7 shows an example of message data 8c for German, FIG. 8 shows an example of message data 8d for French, and FIG. 9 shows an example of message data 8e for Italian. For example, when attention is paid to the 16th identification code (ID) common to each figure, a term meaning "delete" in Japanese notation is stored in each language.

The keyboard layout data 9 on the first side has appropriate data that can reproduce the same layout state as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 as a virtual keyboard on the liquid crystal display 2, and is particularly limited. Not include, but include the data of the drawing start position and the length and width of the background object (hatched part in each figure) of the keyboard layout, the drawing start position and the length and width of each keytop object, and each keytop object Includes skeleton data. A skeleton is a skeleton such as an event, a property, and a method in object-oriented programming. For example, a number, a character, or a symbol described in a keytop object is the content of a text property of the keytop object. It is itself. Alternatively, when an arbitrary keytop object is touched via the touch panel 1, the number, character, or symbol described in the keytop object is displayed in reverse video. -This is because the reverse display property of the object is turned on / off.

The keyboard layout data 9 on the second side is basically the same as the keyboard layout data 9 on the first side. That is, the drawing start point position and the vertical and horizontal lengths of the background object (hatched portion in each figure) of the keyboard layout are reproduced on the liquid crystal display 2 as a virtual keyboard of the second surface for the special characters shown in FIGS. In addition to the data of the drawing start point and the length and width of each key-top object and the data of the skeleton of each key-top object, the same as the keyboard layout data 9 on the first surface, They differ in the number and layout of keytop objects. As mentioned,
The keyboard layout data 9 on the second side is data for each language, that is, layout data 10a for English, layout data 10b for Spanish, and layout data 10 for German.
c, sequence data 10d for French and sequence data 10e for Italian, FIG. 10 (a) is for German, FIG. 10 (b) is for English, and FIG. 10 (c) is for Spanish FIG. 11 (a) is for French, FIG.
(B) is for Italian. A special feature of these special character keyboard layouts is that only special characters that may be used in each language are displayed, and the text property of the extra keytop object is emptied ( By assigning a blank or zero-length character string) and turning off (disabling) the usable property, the keytop object is completely excluded from the operation target and the desired special character can be easily found. On the point.

Next, the operation will be described. (A) Procedure of Language Selection FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the subprogram 11c for selecting a language to be used. This flowchart is composed of the “System” menu 21 of the menu bar 20 shown in FIG.
Is executed when the position is touched from above the touch panel 1 (hereinafter, this touch operation is simply referred to as “selection”). That is, when the “System” menu 21 is selected, a pull-down list 22 is displayed, and “Language” in the pull-down list 22 is selected (FIG. 1).
3 indicates a state immediately after the selection), the language selection window 23 shown in FIG. 14 is displayed (S1). In this language selection window 23, German,
Five option buttons 24 to 28 each having a notation of English, Spanish, French, and Italian are arranged, and these option buttons 24 to 28 are grouped. That is, when one button is selected (checked), the other buttons are unchecked.

In the current language selection window 23, the German option button 24 is checked. For example, if this state is a state immediately after opening the language selection window 23, the current language used is "German". Is set to "." Now, language selection window 23
For example, assume that the English option button 25 is selected. By this selection (S2), the option button 24 for German is unchecked, and a new option button 25 for English is checked, but this is not reflected in the system settings. System language setting (R
To update the value of the language setting area 6a of AM6), select “Se
"t" button 29 must be selected (S3). Alternatively, if not updated, the "Esc" button 30 must be selected (S4).

That is, in FIG. 12, when the "Set" button is selected (S3), it is determined which of the option buttons 24-28 is checked at that time, and the selected language is selected according to the result of the determination. Code is RAM
6 are stored in the language setting area 6a and the keyboard layout setting area 6b (S5). For example, when German is selected, "02" is entered in the language setting area 6a, and "02" is entered in the keyboard layout setting area 6b. When English is selected, "00" is entered in the language setting area 6a. Area 6
If "b" is set to "00" and Spanish is selected, "01" is set in the language setting area 6a, and the keyboard layout setting area 6 is set.
When "00" is entered in "b" and French is selected, "03" is entered in the language setting area 6a, and the keyboard layout setting area 6 is entered.
If "b" is set to "01" and Italian is selected, "04" is set in the language setting area 6a, and the keyboard layout setting area 6 is set.
“00” enters “b”.

Here, the language setting area 6a is an area for storing a code of the language used, and the keyboard layout setting area 6b is an area for storing a keyboard layout code. Since the relationship between the code and the language used and the relationship between the code and the keyboard layout are as described in (1) and (2) above, the language selection window 23 of FIG. 14 is opened, and the check button of the desired language is selected. By selecting the "Set" button 29, a desired language code and a keyboard layout code corresponding to the language can be stored in the language setting area 6a and the keyboard layout setting area 6b of the RAM 6 as system setting values. is there.

(B) Procedure for Changing Keyboard Layout By the way, "QWERTZ" of the keyboard layout is often used in German, "QWERTY" is often used in English, and "Azerty" is often used in French, but it is not necessary to fix the keyboard to these uses. It is more flexible in terms of usability to be able to select freely regardless of the language used. FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the keyboard arrangement selection subprogram 11d. This flowchart is executed when the "System" menu 21 on the menu bar 20 shown in FIG. 16 is selected. That is, when the “System” menu 21 is selected, a pull-down list 22 shown is displayed. When “Format” in the pull-down list 22 is selected (FIG. 16 shows a state immediately after the selection), the menu shown in FIG. The format list window 31 is displayed (S10). In the format list window 31, in order from the top, a setting box 32 for a date (DATE), a setting box 33 for a time (TIME), a setting box 34 for a start day of the week (START OF WEEK), and a keyboard layout (KEYBOARD) The selection boxes 35 are arranged side by side, and in each box, the candidate data is displayed in order for each selection. For example, the keyboard layout selection box 35 is selected (S1
1, S12), if the current value is "QWERTY", "AZERTY" is displayed (see FIG. 17), or if "AZERTY", "QWERTZ" is displayed (see FIG. 18), or In the case of “QWERTZ”, “QWERTY” is displayed (see FIG. 19) (S13). In short, every time the selection box 35 of the keyboard layout is selected, “QWERTY” is displayed.
→ "Azerty" → "Qwertz" → "Qwert"
Y "and cyclically. Therefore, when the desired keyboard layout is displayed,
If the "Set" key 36 is selected (S14), the code corresponding to the keyboard layout being displayed is stored in the keyboard layout setting area 6b of the RAM 6 (S15). If you do not update the keyboard layout,
The "Esc" key 37 may be selected (S16).

(C) Character Input Procedure FIG. 20 is a flowchart of the character input subprogram 11e. This flowchart is automatically executed in various situations where character input is required. When this program is executed, first, the language setting area 6 of the RAM 6
a, The language and the keyboard layout data corresponding to the code stored in the keyboard layout setting area 6b are taken out of the ROM 7, and the liquid crystal display 2 displays the first-side keyboard having the keyboard layout (S20). For example,
If the codes stored in the language setting area 6a and the area 6b of the RAM 6 are both "00", a keyboard on the first side (see FIG. 2) having an array of "QWERTY" is displayed, and various messages are displayed. English (see FIG. 5) is adopted as the language.

When the touch panel 1 is touched while the keyboard shown in FIG. 2A is displayed on the liquid crystal display 2 (S21), the touched coordinates are inspected and a key top object exists at the coordinate position. It is determined whether or not (S22). And if it exists, its key top
The number, character, or symbol set in the text property of the object is obtained and put into an input buffer to perform display processing (S23, S24). These processes use the first keyboard for normal character input. In some cases, however, it may be necessary to enter special characters that are not on the first keyboard. In this case, a “CODE” key (for example, a “CODE” key 40 in FIG. 2) on the first keyboard is selected (S2).
5) As a result, a keyboard on the second surface for inputting special characters is displayed (S26). On the keyboard of the second page, a keyboard corresponding to the current language setting is displayed. For example, as shown in FIG. Special characters are available, but for other languages,
10 (a), 10 (c), 11 (a) and 11
As shown in (b), only special characters used in each language can be used.

In FIG. 20, steps S27 to S30
Is a portion for performing character input processing for the keyboard on the second surface, and these perform the same processing as in S21 to S24. Steps S31 to S36 are executed when it is desired to use all the special characters when the second-face keyboard other than English is used. The "ALL CODE" key 41 of the keyboard of the second page, for example, the keyboard of the second page for German shown in FIG. 10A may be selected (S31). A second page keyboard for English in which all special characters are available is displayed (S32).

FIG. 21, FIG. 22, FIG. 23 and FIG.
It is a figure which shows the example which adds a new record to a telephone directory using the keyboard of the 1st page of a "QWERTY" arrangement, and using English. First, a telephone directory list as shown in FIG. 21 is opened, and a “New” key 42 is selected. FIG. 22 shows a state in which the “New” key 42 is highlighted by the selection operation. FIG. 23 is a new registration screen, and a text input section 43 including a name column identified by a doll icon, an address column identified by a house shape icon, a telephone number column identified by a phone icon, and the like; It has a keyboard part 44 on the first surface in a “QWERTY” arrangement displayed thereunder.

The user touches a desired key-top object on the keyboard section 44 via the touch panel 1 with a pen tip or a fingertip, and the key-top object is touched.
A number, a character, or a symbol set in the text property of the object can be input to any selected column of the text input unit 43. After inputting necessary data, if the "Save" key 45 is selected, it can be additionally registered in the telephone directory as a new record. FIG.
Is a display screen after additional registration.

(D) Summary As described above, according to the present embodiment, the message data 8 for each language and the QW
EERY, AZERTY, and QWERTZ keyboard layout data 9 and keyboard layout data 10 narrowed down to only special characters necessary for each language are stored, and these data are displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display 2 during use. Is configured so that the language can be freely selected, so that it is possible to realize a true multilingual keyboard display device in which the language can be instantly switched at any place and at any time.

Also, of course, the replacement font RO
It is no longer necessary to carry or distribute M as a spare part, so that inventory and distribution costs can be greatly reduced, and font ROMs do not have to be replaceable. Therefore, even if a large-capacity ROM 7 for storing a large amount of data as in the present embodiment is used, that is, even if the cost of the ROM alone is taken into account, the cost can be reduced. A significant cost reduction effect can be expected, and as a result, an industrially beneficial effect of reducing the price of the electronic device itself can be obtained.

In this embodiment, the keyboard display device used in combination with the touch panel has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to a device without a touch panel, that is, a keyboard display device that responds to a click event of a pointing device such as a mouse. Pointing can freely move the position of the cursor displayed on the display, and can generate a click event by pressing the click button after placing the cursor on any object (called on focus). In addition, a double-click event can be generated by pressing the button twice. However, if these events are used instead of the coordinate information from the touch panel, the same operation as in the above-described embodiment can be achieved. This is because an effect can be obtained.

[0028]

According to the keyboard display device of the first aspect or the keyboard display method of the third aspect, message data for each language and a plurality of keyboard arrangement data can be freely displayed on the screen of the display means during use. Can be selected. Therefore, it is possible to switch languages and keyboard arrangements at any time and in any place, thereby realizing a true multi-language keyboard display device, eliminating the need for a replacement font ROM, and reducing inventory and distribution. In addition, it is possible to avoid an increase in structural cost and also to avoid a failure due to replacement. According to the keyboard display device of the second aspect or the keyboard display method of the fourth aspect, a keyboard narrowed down to only special characters necessary for each language can be displayed, so that a desired special character can be easily found. The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a keyboard object diagram of a QWERTY layout.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a keyboard object having an AZERTY layout.

FIG. 4 is a keyboard object diagram of a QWERTZ layout.

FIG. 5 is a message data storage diagram for English.

FIG. 6 is a message data storage diagram for Spanish.

FIG. 7 is a message data storage diagram for German.

FIG. 8 is a message data storage diagram for French.

FIG. 9 is a message data storage diagram for Italian.

FIG. 10 is a special character input keyboard object diagram for German, English and Spanish.

FIG. 11 is a special character input keyboard object diagram for French and Italian.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a language-selecting subprogram.

FIG. 13 is a display screen diagram (part 1) during selection of a language to be used.

FIG. 14 is a diagram (2) of a display screen during use language selection.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a keyboard arrangement selection subprogram.

FIG. 16 is a display screen diagram (part 1) during keyboard layout selection.

FIG. 17 is a display screen diagram (part 2) during keyboard layout selection.

FIG. 18 is a display screen diagram (part 3) during keyboard layout selection.

FIG. 19 is a display screen diagram (part 4) during keyboard layout selection.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a character input subprogram.

FIG. 21 is a diagram (1) of a display screen during character input.

FIG. 22 is a diagram (2) of a display screen during character input.

FIG. 23 is a display screen diagram (part 3) during character input.

FIG. 24 is a display screen diagram (part 4) during character input.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Liquid crystal display (display means) 5 CPU (first selection means, second selection means, display control means, output means) 7 ROM (first storage means, second storage means, third storage means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] A first storage unit for storing message data for each language; a second storage unit for storing a plurality of keyboard array data; A first selection unit for selecting a corresponding object; displaying a message using the message data selected by the first selection unit; and / or displaying a keyboard object using the keyboard layout data selected by the selection unit. A display control unit to be displayed on a display unit; a second selection unit for selecting a keytop object included in the keyboard object displayed on the display unit in accordance with a user operation; and a selection unit selected by the second selection unit. Output means for outputting numerical, character, or symbol information assigned to the keyboard object. A keyboard display device characterized by the following. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first selection unit includes a third storage unit that stores keyboard layout data narrowed down to only special characters necessary for each language. 2. The keyboard display device according to claim 1, wherein the user selects one of the keys according to a user operation. 3. A first step of selecting message data for each language and a plurality of keyboard layout data stored in advance in accordance with a user operation, and using the message data selected in the first step. Displaying a message and / or displaying a keyboard object on a display means using the keyboard layout data selected in the first step.
A step of selecting a keytop object included in the keyboard object displayed on the display means in accordance with a user operation; and a step of assigning the keytop object to the keyboard object selected in the third step. A fourth step of outputting numerical, character, or symbol information. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second step is a step of converting the message data and a plurality of keyboard layout data for each language, and the keyboard layout data narrowed down to only special characters necessary for each language, stored in advance. 4. The keyboard display method according to claim 3, wherein the selection is made according to an operation. 5. A recording medium storing a program for realizing the first selection means, the display control means, the second selection means, and the output means according to claim 1.