JP2000259329A - Recording/reproducing method/device for operation procedure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To set portability to be superior and to reproduce a recorded operation procedure in a different keyboard without totally affecting an operating system and application software. SOLUTION: In the recording/reproducing method, an operation procedure recording/reproducing control part 2-2, an output part 2-3, a counter 2-4 and a recording means mounting part 2-5 are installed in a keyboard 2 in addition to a key part 2-1 similar too a general keyboard for a personal computer and a work station. A recording means (memory card, for example) superior in portability is attachably/detachably set in the recording means mounting part 2-5. An actual operation procedure in the keyboard 2 is recorded in the recording means 3. The recording medium 3 is removed from the keyboard 2 and is set in the different keyboard 2. The operation procedure recorded in the recording medium 3 is reproduced in the different keyboard 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for recording and reproducing operation procedures on a keyboard connected to a personal computer, a workstation or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the development of software for personal computers and workstations, it is essential to carry out an evaluation operation for finding a fault by performing various operations. To correct a fault, it is necessary to determine the cause of the fault, which must accurately reproduce the operating procedure leading to the occurrence of the fault. In addition, it is necessary to investigate whether the failure can be reproduced on another personal computer or workstation (hereinafter referred to as the device body), and to determine whether the failure depends on hardware.

Conventionally, a device in which a recording and reproduction function of an operation procedure is added to a keyboard, a device connected between the keyboard and the device main body for recording and reproduction, and an input from the keyboard as resident software on the device main body. Record
Reproduction methods and the like are known.

[0004]

However, an apparatus in which a recording and reproducing function of an operation procedure is added to a keyboard is
When the procedure is recorded and used by another apparatus main body, it is necessary to change the type of keyboard registered in the operating system, so that the failure reproduction condition is changed. Therefore, when performing a failure reproduction study on a plurality of apparatus bodies, it is impossible to carry out a reproduction study under the original operating conditions of each apparatus body.

[0005] Further, an apparatus connected between a keyboard and an apparatus main body for recording and reproducing is changed to registration of an apparatus connected to an operating system when used in another apparatus main body when recording a procedure. If necessary, there is a problem similar to that of the device in which the recording and reproducing functions of the above-mentioned operation procedure are added to the keyboard. Even if the registration of the device connected to the operating system does not need to be changed, the device itself must be moved and used in a different device from that used when the procedure was recorded. It is not convenient.

The method of recording and reproducing operation procedures as resident software on the apparatus main body uses a resource such as a CPU and a memory of the apparatus main body separately from software for which a failure is to be investigated. The effect on the operating conditions, such as changing the timing of the operation, is a factor that hinders accurate investigation.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable recording apparatus which has excellent portability and has no influence on an operating system or application software. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and a device for recording / reproducing an operation procedure in which the operation procedure can be reproduced with another keyboard.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a recording medium is detachably set on a keyboard, and an actual operation procedure of the keyboard is recorded on the recording medium. Set the recording medium on which the operation procedure is recorded on a keyboard different from that keyboard,
The operation procedure recorded on the set recording medium is reproduced on the separate keyboard.

According to the present invention, when the keyboard on which the recording medium is detachably set is the first keyboard, and the other keyboard on which the recording medium is detachable is the second keyboard, the actual operation procedure of the first keyboard Is recorded on the recording medium on which is set. This recording medium is removable and can be removed from the first keyboard and carried. By setting this recording medium on the second keyboard, the operation procedure of the first keyboard recorded on this recording medium can be reproduced on the second keyboard.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments. [Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a main part of a keyboard to which a method of recording and reproducing operation procedures according to the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an apparatus main body such as a personal computer or a workstation, and 2 denotes a keyboard connected to the apparatus main body 1. The keyboard 1 includes a key unit 2-1 similar to a general keyboard for a personal computer or a workstation, an operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-2, an output unit 2-3, a counter 2-4, and a recording unit. And a mounting unit 2-5. A recording means (for example, a memory card) 3 having excellent portability is detachably set in the recording means mounting section 2-5. In this embodiment, the recording means 3 is a memory card.

Hereinafter, a method of recording and reproducing the operation procedure of the keyboard will be described with the functions of the respective units. [Recording of Operation Procedure] First, when recording the operation procedure, the memory card 3 is set in the recording means mounting section 2-5. To start the recording of the operation procedure, a predetermined key operation is performed on the key section 2-1 to generate a recording start signal, which is sent to the operation procedure recording / reproduction control section 2-2.

When receiving the recording start signal, the operation procedure recording / reproduction control section 2-2 resets the counter 2-4 (FIG. 2).
Step 201), the counting by the counter 2-2 is started (Step 203). After receiving the recording start signal and confirming the key input (YES in step 202), the operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-4 returns the counter 2 at that time.
The count value at 03 is used as an input interval value, and the input interval value and a value corresponding to the key previously input (key corresponding value: for example, a key code or a character ASCII code) are set as a set, and the operation procedure is performed. It is stored in the memory card 3 (step 204).

The operating procedure recording / reproducing control unit 2-2
Resets the count value of the counter 2-4 (step 201) and prepares for the next key input. By such a processing operation, the time interval of the key input is timed, and the timed input interval value is sequentially stored in the memory card 3 as an operation procedure as a set with the key corresponding value.

A plurality of counters are prepared as the counters 2-4. When the lower digit counter reaches the upper limit value, the upper digit counter is incremented and the lower digit counter is reset to zero. For example, even if the count value becomes large, it is possible to prevent the count from becoming impossible.

To end the recording of the operation procedure, the key unit 2
At -1, a predetermined key operation is performed to generate a recording end signal, which is sent to the operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-2. Upon receiving the recording end signal, the operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-2 stops the process of storing the key corresponding value and the input interval value in the memory card 3. Further, the counting of the counter 2-4 is also stopped. At this time, the count value of the counter 2-4 may be reset.

[Reproduction of Operation Procedure] First, when reproducing the operation procedure, the memory card 3 on which the operation procedure is recorded is set in the recording means mounting section 2-5. To start the reproduction of the operation procedure, a predetermined key operation is performed on the key section 2-1 to generate a reproduction start signal, which is sent to the operation procedure recording / reproduction control section 2-2. Upon receiving the reproduction start signal, the operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-2 reads the key corresponding value and the input interval value from the memory card 3 (Step 30 shown in FIG. 3).
1).

The operation procedure recording / reproducing control unit 2-2
Sends the read key corresponding value to the output unit 2-3 (steps 302 and 303). Further, the counter 2-4 is reset (step 304), and the increment operation is started (step 305). The counter 2-4
May be decremented. In this case, the read input interval value is set in the counter 2-4 in step 304, and the decrement operation of the counter 2-4 may be started.

The operating procedure recording / reproducing control unit 2-2 monitors the counter 2-4, and when the count value of the counter 2-4 reaches the input interval value in the case of the increment operation, and in the case of the decrement operation, When the count value of the counter 2-4 becomes zero, the next key corresponding value and input interval value are read from the memory card 3 (steps 306 and 30).
1).

The operation procedure recording / reproducing control section 2-2 repeats the operations of steps 301 to 306 until all the sets of the key corresponding values and the input interval values stored in the memory card 3 are read, thereby executing the operation procedure. Reproduce.

The processing for automatically reproducing all of the series of operation procedures is as described above. Of course, the reproduction may be terminated halfway. To this end, a reproduction end signal is generated by a predetermined key operation, and the operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-2
Send to Upon receiving the reproduction end signal, the operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-2 stops reading the key corresponding value and the input interval from the memory card 3, and stops counting the time of the counter 2-4.

When the operation procedure is not reproduced, the output section 2-3 outputs the key input from the key section 2-1 as it is, and receives a reproduction start signal via the operation procedure recording / reproduction control section 2-2. Then, the key corresponding value read from the memory card 3 by the operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-2 is output to the apparatus main body 1 as an output of the keyboard 2.

Thus, in the keyboard 2,
The recording of the operation procedure and the reproduction of the operation procedure can be realized. In the present embodiment, since the memory card 3 having excellent portability is used, even in another apparatus main body 1 to which the keyboard 2 similar to the present embodiment is connected, the operating system and the application software are not affected at all. The recorded operation procedure can be reproduced without giving.

The memory card 3 storing the operation procedure
May be set on the keyboard 2 of the user to perform playback. By storing a set of frequently performed operation procedures in the memory card 3 and reproducing the operation procedures on the keyboard 2 of the user, It is also possible to reduce the burden of operation.

[Embodiment 2] In FIG. 4, a display unit 2-6 for displaying operation procedures on the keyboard 2 is provided.
The operation procedure is displayed on the display unit 2-6 at the time of recording the operation procedure and at the time of reproducing the operation procedure.

FIG. 5 shows the display status of the operation procedure on the display unit 2-6. In this case, the display unit 2-6 is a liquid crystal panel, and the characters or symbols assigned to the input keys are sequentially displayed.

When the display is performed at the time of recording the operation procedure, characters or symbols assigned to the input keys are
It is displayed on the display unit 2-6. When a special key such as a Ctrl key or an Alt key is pressed simultaneously with a character or symbol key, for example, “Ctrl + a”, “Alt +
b ". The operation procedure is long and the display unit 2-6
When the display is no longer possible, the display is scrolled, for example, and the oldest procedure is deleted.

When the display is performed during the reproduction of the operation procedure, the key corresponding value read from the memory card 3 by the operation procedure recording / reproduction control section 2-2 is displayed on the display section 2-6 by the same display method as at the time of recording. Go.

The display unit 2-6 displays a graphical user
If an interface (GUI) function is provided, the displayed operation procedure can be scrolled arbitrarily, one or more operations in a series of procedures can be selected and reproduced, and a plurality of operation procedures can be performed in a file format. It is possible to select a procedure to be reproduced when stored in the memory card 3 (FIGS. 6 and 7).

FIG. 6A shows a state in which one operation is selected, and FIG. 6B shows a state in which a plurality of operations are selected. FIG. 7 shows a scroll bar 2-6 on the display unit 2-6.
1 is provided. In FIG. 7, a reproduction key 2-62 and a stop key 2-63 are provided so that an arbitrary operation procedure can be selected to perform reproduction and stop.

[Embodiment 3] In FIG. 8, a dedicated switch for recording / reproducing (recording / reproducing switch) is provided on the keyboard 2.
2-7 are provided. That is, in the first embodiment, a predetermined key operation is performed on the key unit 2-1 to transmit a recording start signal, a recording end signal, a reproduction start signal, and a reproduction end signal to the operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-2. However, in the third embodiment, the recording / reproducing switch 2-7
Send these signals to the operation procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-2.

In this case, the recording / reproducing switch 2-7 is
The same switch can be used if the configuration is such that the recording start and the recording end of the operation procedure are instructed by the toggle operation, and the reproduction start and the reproduction end of the operation procedure are instructed by the toggle operation.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, if the keyboard on which the recording medium is detachably set is the first keyboard, and the other keyboard is the second keyboard, The actual operation procedure of the first keyboard is recorded on the set recording medium, and by setting this recording medium on the second keyboard,
Since the operation procedure of the first keyboard recorded on this recording medium can be reproduced on the second keyboard, using a highly portable recording medium, it has no effect on the operating system or application software. Instead, the recorded operation procedure can be reproduced on another keyboard.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a main part of a keyboard to which a recording / reproducing method of an operation procedure according to the present invention is applied (first embodiment).

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining processing at the time of recording an operation procedure on the keyboard.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining processing at the time of reproduction of an operation procedure on the keyboard.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a main part of a keyboard to which a recording / reproducing method of an operation procedure according to the present invention is applied (Embodiment 2).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display example (an example of sequentially displaying operations) when a GUI function is provided on a display unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example (an example of selecting and reproducing an operation) when the display unit has a GUI function.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example (an example having a scroll function, a reproduction start function, and a stop function) when the display unit has a GUI function.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing a main part of a keyboard to which a recording / reproducing method of an operation procedure according to the present invention is applied (Embodiment 3).

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Device main body, 2 ... Keyboard, 2-1 ... Key part, 2-
2. Operating procedure recording / reproduction control unit 2-3: Output unit, 2-4
... Counter, 2-5 ... Recording means mounting section, 2-6 ... Display section, 2-7 ... Recording / reproducing switch, 3 ... Recording means (memory card).

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium is detachably set on a keyboard, an actual operation procedure of the keyboard is recorded on the recording medium, and a recording medium on which the operation procedure is recorded is set on a keyboard different from the keyboard. The operation procedure recorded on the set recording medium is reproduced on the another keyboard. 2. A recording medium removably set on a keyboard, an operation procedure recording means for recording an actual operation procedure on the keyboard on the recording medium set on the keyboard, and a recording medium set on the keyboard on the recording medium set on the keyboard. An operation procedure recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: an operation procedure reproducing means for reproducing a recorded operation procedure.