JP2001014102A - Plotting device and plotting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilize the area of a display input part for performing plotting and to provide high operability. SOLUTION: This plotting device is provided with integrally constituted display part 28 and tablet input part 29, an input control part 23 for detecting an input position in the tablet input part 29 and a control part 21 for counting the time when there is input continuously without changing the position, changing and setting an input condition in the tablet input part 29 at the point of time of becoming a fixed value and displaying the changed and set input condition in the display part 28.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a PDA (Pers)
online Digital Assistants, electronic organizers and PCs (Personal Computer)
r) and other input methods using a pointing device used in many information processing apparatuses, for example, a drawing apparatus that performs drawing using a pen input unit integrated with a display unit or a pointing device such as a mouse; and The present invention relates to a drawing method applied to the drawing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In most types of information processing apparatuses intended for portable use, such as PDAs and electronic organizers, there is provided a function capable of drawing by performing handwriting input with a pen input unit integrated with a display unit. It is installed.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a general operation procedure of this kind of pen input function. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a display input unit which is a tablet integrated with a liquid crystal display panel, for example. Reference numeral 12 denotes a stylus pen for performing handwriting input on the display input unit 11.

A display input unit 11 includes a drawing area 11a for actually drawing and a menu area 1 for selecting and specifying the type, thickness, and color of a line to be drawn from a display menu.
1b, an arbitrary menu item is selected and designated from the menu area 11b with the stylus pen 12, and then a handwriting input is performed in the drawing area 11a, whereby a corresponding drawing display is performed.

[0005] For example, some applications such as PCs use a mouse to draw an image or a figure. However, the application is basically the same as the above-described pen input method such as a PDA. If you draw using the mouse etc. after selecting and specifying the type, thickness, color, etc. from the display menu, you can draw images or figures with the line type, thickness, color, etc. selected from the display menu .

[0006]

However, if the display input unit 11 is set to be divided into the drawing area 11a and the menu area 11b as described above, the drawing area 11a actually used in the drawing is changed to the display input unit. This is an area obtained by subtracting the area of the menu area 11b from the original area of the display 11, and the display input unit 11 cannot be used effectively.

Further, especially when it is desired to change the type or color of a line at a high frequency for drawing, the stylus pen 12 is frequently moved to the drawing area 11a and the menu area 11b.
, And the operation is very complicated and difficult to handle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to use a pointing device having high operability while effectively utilizing the area of a display input unit for drawing. And a drawing method applied to the drawing device.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In a drawing apparatus that draws with a pointing device, a detection unit that detects an input position by the pointing device, and a time counting unit that counts a continuation time when there is continuous input without changing a position by the detection unit, Selecting means for selecting a drawing condition when the count value of the timing means reaches a predetermined value, wherein drawing is performed according to the drawing condition selected by the selecting means.

With this configuration, it is not necessary to provide an area for displaying a menu item for designating drawing conditions, so that the area of a portion for drawing can be effectively utilized, and the input of the image can be effectively performed. Since the drawing conditions can be changed without moving the pointing device away from the input position on the way, there is no waste in the operation required for the operation,
Very high operability can be realized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the selecting means has a notifying means for notifying the drawing condition, and selects the drawing condition notified by the notifying means. It is characterized by.

With this configuration, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reliably change the drawing conditions while checking the notification contents.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the drawing condition is a color of a line to be drawn and displayed.

With such a configuration, in addition to the operation of the first or second aspect of the present invention, the color of a line to be drawn can be easily changed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the drawing condition is a thickness of a line to be drawn and displayed.

With such a configuration, in addition to the effect of the first or second aspect of the invention, the thickness of a line to be drawn can be easily changed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the drawing condition is a type of a line to be drawn and displayed.

According to such a configuration, in addition to the operation of the first or second aspect of the present invention, in particular, it is possible to easily change and set the type of a line to be drawn.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the notifying means displays the drawing conditions in a pop-up window.

With such a configuration, in addition to the effect of the second aspect of the present invention, a pop-up window is displayed only when necessary, for example, in correspondence with the input position.
An easier-to-use user interface environment can be realized.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the second or sixth aspect of the present invention, the notifying unit automatically switches the drawing conditions at a predetermined timing to notify the user.

With such a configuration, in addition to the effect of the second or sixth aspect of the present invention, the time required for changing the input conditions can be reduced, and a more user-friendly user interface environment can be realized.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drawing method for drawing with a pointing device, comprising:
A detecting step of detecting a state of the pointing device; a condition displaying step of displaying a selectable drawing condition when the position of the pointing device is not changed in the detecting step; And a selecting step of selecting a predetermined drawing condition from the drawing conditions displayed by the step (b), and performing drawing according to the drawing condition selected in the selecting step.

According to such a method, it is not necessary to provide an area for displaying menu items for designating drawing conditions, so that the area of a portion to be drawn can be effectively utilized, and the input of the drawing can be effectively performed. Since the drawing conditions can be changed without moving the pointing device from the input position on the way, there is no waste in the operation required for the operation,
Very high operability can be realized.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a handheld personal computer will be described below with reference to the drawings. A pen input device is applied as a pointing device.

FIG. 1 shows a circuit configuration of the apparatus, in which a display controller 22, an input controller 23, a keyboard 24, a memory 25, a hard disk drive (HDD) 26, Interface (I /
F) 27 is connected.

The display control unit 22 drives the display unit 28 composed of, for example, a color TFT liquid crystal panel with a backlight based on the display data sent from the control unit 21.

The input control unit 23 calculates the input coordinate position when the handwriting input is performed by the stylus pen 30 with the tablet input unit 29 integrally formed on the display unit 28, and sends the input coordinate position to the control unit 21. Send out.

The memory 25 stores the application program stored in the hard disk device 26 into the control unit 2.
1 includes a main storage memory, a flash ROM, a cache memory, and the like for storing various data at the time of execution. A t1 counter and a t2 counter (described later) for pen input control are stored in the main storage memory, and a c register is stored in the flash ROM. To be provided.

The hard disk device 26 stores an operating system program of the personal computer, various application programs, data files, and the like.

The communication interface 27 is, for example, a USB
Data is transmitted and received between the control unit 21 and another information processing device according to the (Universal System Bus) standard.

Next, a description will be given of an operation in a case where a writing operation is performed by designating an arbitrary line color using the tablet input unit 29 using the stylus pen 30 and drawing and displaying is performed on the display unit 28.

FIG. 2 shows the contents of processing executed by the control unit 21 in response to input coordinate position data from the input control unit 23 in response to pen input by the stylus pen 30. Initially, the input control unit It waits for pen touch to be performed depending on whether or not there is input coordinate position data from 23 (step S01). When it is determined that pen touch is performed as shown in FIG. A display position on the display unit 28 corresponding to the data is calculated (step S02), and a dot is displayed at the operation position of the stylus pen 30 by the display control unit 22 (step S02).
03).

Thereafter, a value "1" is set in a t1 counter for counting the operation time of the stylus pen 30 at the same position (step S04), and it is determined whether or not the pen touch is continued. Judgment is made (step S05), and if not, after resetting both the t1 counter and a t2 counter, which will be described later, to “0” (step S06), the process returns to step S01 again, and the next pen touch is performed. stand by.

If it is determined in step S05 that the pen has been continuously touched, the display position on the display unit 28 is calculated from the input coordinate position (step S07), and the same display of the previous pen touch is performed. It is determined whether or not the operation position is moved by comparing the position with the position (step S08).

Here, if it is determined that the operation position is moving, it means that the stylus pen 30 is performing a writing operation, so that the display control unit 22 also controls the new operation position of the stylus pen 30. After the dots are displayed, drawing display is performed (step S09). Further, after resetting both the t1 counter and the t2 counter to set the count value to “0” (step S10), the process returns to the process from step S05 again. .

If it is determined in step S08 that the operation position has not moved, the stylus pen 30
Since the same position is continuously operated in, t
One counter is set to "+1" update (step S11),
Then, it is determined whether or not the count value of the updated and set t1 counter is equal to or greater than a preset value m (step S12).

This value m is set so that when the operation of the stylus pen 30 at the same position is continued for a predetermined time, the operation is performed to change and set the color of the line to be drawn. If it is determined in step S12 that the value of the t1 counter is less than m, the above step S0 is performed again.
The process returns to step 5.

Thus, the stylus pen 3 at the same position
While the operation of 0 is continued, the t1 counter continues to be updated and set, and the count value becomes m. When this count value is determined in step S12, it is provided in the flash ROM of the memory 25 at that time. In addition, the value of the c register holding the line color code is read, and the line color corresponding to the value is displayed on the display unit 28 in a pop-up window (step S13).

FIG. 3B shows an example of a pop-up window PW which is displayed when a predetermined time m has elapsed from the state shown in FIG. 3A. here,
As the pop-up window PW, the fact that the “line color” is “red” is displayed together with the line of that color (display of drawing conditions).

The pop-up window P
At the same time as the display of W is started, the t2 counter is set to “+1”.
An update is set (step S14), and it is determined whether or not the count value of the updated and set t2 counter has reached a preset value n (step S15).

This value n is set as a time for continuously displaying one color when the line colors are sequentially switched after the operation of the stylus pen 30 at the same position has continued for the above-mentioned time m. If it is determined in step S15 that the value of the t2 counter is less than n, the process returns to step S05.

Thus, the stylus pen 3 at the same position
While the operation of 0 is continued and the display by the pop-up window PW is being performed, the t1 counter and the t2 counter are both updated and set, and the value of the t2 counter becomes n, which is determined in step S15. At that time, the value of the c register is updated and set to "+1" (step S16), and at the same time, the t2 counter is reset to "0" (step S17), and thereafter, the process returns to the processing from step S05. .

By the update setting of the c register, the color of the line displayed in the pop-up window PW is changed and set. That is, for example, the above m is time 1
Assuming that the value corresponding to [seconds] and the value n corresponds to 0.5 [seconds], the same position on the tablet input unit 29 is maintained for one second when the user of this personal computer performs drawing. The pop-up window PW is displayed at the time when the operation is performed, and if the operation at the same position is continued, the line color is sequentially updated and set every 0.5 seconds thereafter. If m is set to 0 [seconds], the pop-up window PW is displayed when the stylus pen 30 touches the tablet input unit 29.

The user judges when the content of the pop-up window PW has been updated to the desired color, and moves the operation position of the stylus pen 30 before handwriting input before updating to the next color. Can be started, and the movement of the stylus pen 30 is determined in step S08, and the process of drawing and displaying in step S09 is repeatedly executed, whereby the pop-up window PW
Disappears, and as shown in FIG. 3C, the display unit 28 displays the drawing pattern with a line of a color desired by the user corresponding to the handwriting input of the stylus pen 30.

The above-mentioned c register stores a plurality of colors in advance by the user
For example, by specifying eight colors, one of the eight colors is cyclically selected.

As described above, since it is not necessary to provide an area for displaying a menu item for designating a line color in the display unit 28 and the tablet input unit 29, it is effective as an area for drawing the entire screen. It is possible to change the color of the line as an input condition without releasing the pen from the input surface during handwriting input. Can be realized.

In the above embodiment, the color of the line is changed and set at the time of drawing. However, not only the color of the line, but also the line thickness, solid line, dashed line, dotted line, etc. Alternatively, the type of a line such as a one-dot chain line may be changed or a plurality of stages of figures (circles, squares, triangles, etc.) may be changed and set. Further, it goes without saying that these conditions may be combined.

In the above embodiment, the pop-up window PW is displayed by operating the pen continuously at the same position at the start of drawing a line.
For example, by stopping the movement of the pen for a certain period of time while drawing one line or at the end of drawing, the display state of the lines drawn so far may be sequentially updated and set at predetermined time intervals. Frequently, in that case, there is no need to display the pop-up window PW.

Further, the drawing conditions are displayed in a pop-up window, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, you may output by audio | voice.

When the mouse is used, if the mouse pointer is moved to the drawing start position and drawing is instructed (clicked), it is easy to detect that the pen touch is detected. Can be replaced.

In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.

[0053]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is not necessary to provide an area for displaying a menu item for designating drawing conditions, so that the area of a drawing portion can be effectively utilized. At the same time, since the drawing conditions can be changed without moving the pointing device from the input position during the input, the operation required for the operation is not wasted, and very high operability can be realized.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reliably change the drawing conditions while checking the notification contents.

According to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect of the invention, in particular, the color of a line to be drawn can be easily changed.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect of the invention, in particular, the thickness of a line to be drawn can be easily changed.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect of the invention, in particular, the type of a line to be drawn can be easily changed and set.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect of the invention, a pop-up window is displayed only when necessary, for example, corresponding to the input position, thereby making the user interface environment easier to use. Can be realized.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the second or sixth aspect of the present invention, the time required for changing the input conditions can be shortened, and a more user-friendly user interface environment can be realized.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is not necessary to provide an area for displaying a menu item for designating drawing conditions, so that the area of a drawing portion can be effectively utilized, and Since the drawing conditions can be changed without moving the pointing device from the input position during the input, the operation required for the operation can be performed without waste and very high operability can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the contents of an operation process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a transition state between the tablet input unit and the display unit during operation according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a general handwriting input method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 display input unit 11a drawing area 11b menu area 12 stylus pen 21 control unit 22 display control unit 23 input control unit 24 keyboard 25 memory 26 hard disk device (HDD) 27 communication interface (I) / F) 28 display unit 29 tablet input unit 30 stylus pen PW pop-up window

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A drawing apparatus for drawing with a pointing device, detecting means for detecting an input position by the pointing device, and counting the duration of the input when the input is continued without changing the position by the detecting means. And a selecting means for selecting a drawing condition when a count value of the time counting means reaches a predetermined value, and performing drawing according to the drawing condition selected by the selecting means. . 2. An image drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said selection means has a notifying means for notifying said drawing condition, and selects said drawing condition notified by said notifying means. 3. The drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing condition is a color of a line to be drawn and displayed. 4. The drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing condition is a thickness of a line to be drawn and displayed. 5. The drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing condition is a type of a line to be drawn and displayed. 6. The drawing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said notifying means displays drawing conditions in a pop-up window. 7. The drawing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said notifying means automatically and sequentially switches and notifies said drawing conditions at a predetermined timing. 8. A drawing method for performing drawing by a pointing device, comprising: a detecting step of detecting a state of the pointing device during a period from the start to the end of drawing by the pointing device; and in the detecting step, the position of the pointing device is determined. A condition displaying step of displaying selectable drawing conditions when it is detected that there is no change; and a selecting step of selecting a predetermined drawing condition from the drawing conditions displayed by the condition displaying step. A drawing method characterized by drawing under the drawing conditions selected in the selecting step.