JP2001060271A - Device and method for line drawing, and computer- readable recording medium where line drawing program is recorded - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To add a node to a continuous line through a small number of operations. SOLUTION: A base point node specification part 51 specifies as a base point node one of the nodes at both the ends of a connection line to which a node is to be added. Consequently, two end-point nodes which adjoin to the base point node are determined. An added node specification part 52 specifies the position of the added node. A connection node determination part 53 determines a connection node to be connected to the specified added node. In concrete, a comparison decision part 53a draws the perpendicular line passing the base point nose and selects as a connection node the end-point node included in the area containing the added node between the right and left areas divided by the perpendicular line. Lastly, a drawing execution part 54 draws a new connecting line by using the determined added node and connection node. When the added node is specified, the position of a mouse is detected and a virtual connecting line based upon the detected position of the mouse as the position of the added node is displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a line drawing apparatus and a line drawing method for drawing a node by adding a node to a continuous line connecting the nodes with a line, and a computer-readable recording medium storing a line drawing program. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional drawing software draws continuous straight lines such as polygonal lines and filled polygons by clicking a mouse and connecting points designated on a screen in a predetermined order. Was. When a node is added to a continuous straight line, etc., when a node is specified, the node is automatically added to the connection line closer to the end node among the connection lines from the node, and the user marks the mark with the node. The target was moved by dragging with the mouse.

As shown in FIG. 9A, specifically,
When the “add node” command is executed, a new node Q is generated on a straight line connecting the designated base node PS and the node PE adjacent to the end point. The node Q is
It is often set to be generated at the midpoint between the nodes PS and PE at both ends. Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, the mark of the added node Q is dragged with the mouse and moved to the target position, and the position of the added node Q is determined. Then, a final connection line connecting the nodes PS / PE at both ends and the additional node Q is drawn.

As described above, in the conventional method of adding a node to a continuous straight line, it is possible to add a node to a continuous straight line once arranged on the screen.

[0005]

However, in the conventional method of adding a node of a continuous straight line, the mark is added to the node Q, and then the mark is moved to a target position in two steps.

That is, the user has performed an operation of generating a node (action) and an operation of moving the mark of the generated additional node to a desired position. Therefore,
In the conventional method of adding a node of a continuous straight line, two independent operations are required, and the user is forced to perform complicated operations.
In particular, the operation of grasping the mark of the additional node using the mouse and dragging it to the target position has not always been easy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a line drawing apparatus, a line drawing method, and a line drawing program capable of adding nodes to a continuous straight line with a small number of operations. To provide a computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a line drawing apparatus comprising:
In order to solve the above problem, in a line drawing apparatus for drawing a continuous line connecting nodes by connecting lines, a base node specifying means for specifying one of nodes connected to an additional node to be added as a base node And additional node specifying means for specifying the position of the additional node; and connection node determining means for determining which of the nodes adjacent to the base node the additional node is to be connected to based on the position of the additional node. It is characterized by.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a line drawing method according to the present invention is a line drawing method for drawing a continuous line connecting nodes by connecting lines. A first step of designating one of the above as a base node, a second step of designating the position of the additional node, and connecting the additional node to any of the nodes adjacent to the base node based on the position of the additional node And a third step of determining whether

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a computer readable recording medium storing a line drawing program according to the present invention stores a line drawing program for drawing a continuous line connecting nodes by connecting lines. In a computer-readable recording medium, a first process for designating one of nodes connected to an additional node to be added as a base node, a second process for designating a position of the additional node, and a position of the additional node , A line drawing program for causing a computer to execute a third process of determining which of the nodes adjacent to the base node is to connect the additional node to the base node.

With the above arrangement, one of the nodes connected to the additional node is designated as the base node by the base node designating means (first step, first processing), and the additional node designating means (second step, first processing). Step, second processing) specifies the position of the additional node, and the connection node determining means (third step, third processing) sets the additional node to a node adjacent to the base node based on the position of the additional node. Is determined, and a continuous line to which a node is added can be drawn.

Thus, the user can perform an operation of designating an additional node only by an operation of determining a position. Therefore, a node can be added to the continuous line with a small number of operations. Note that the conventional method requires two operations of adding a node mark and then moving the mark to a target position.

Therefore, the operability of the "add node" command can be improved. In particular, the “add node” command is often used in a drawing process after arranging nodes at large intervals to determine a rough shape and then finely adjusting the shape while adding nodes. Therefore, the effect of improving the operability is large as compared with the conventional method requiring a delicate drag.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the line drawing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the connection lines are straight lines.

According to the above configuration, a node can be added to a continuous straight line such as a polygonal line or a polygon with a small number of operations.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In the following description, a case will be described where a node is added to a continuous straight line connecting the nodes with a straight line, but the connecting line between the nodes is not limited to a straight line. That is, the line drawing apparatus and the line drawing function according to the present embodiment can be applied to a case where a node is added to a continuous curve in which nodes are connected by a curve.

The line drawing apparatus according to this embodiment detects a mouse which detects a drawn continuous line (or painted polygon) on a screen from a selected node (base node) as a base point. A node (additional node) is added while dynamically displaying the result when a node is added at the position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the line drawing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 1, a memory unit 2, an input unit 3, a display unit 4, and an application unit 5.

The CPU 1 controls the entire system according to the system program stored in the memory unit 2 and performs a line drawing process (described later) according to the program and data of the application unit 5.

The memory unit 2 includes a ROM (read only memory) for storing the system program and a memory (RA) for temporarily storing data necessary for line drawing processing.
M (random access memory).

The input unit 3 is an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard that can be used to perform various operations such as data input required for line drawing processing.

The display unit 4 includes a CRT (cathode-ray tube) and an LCD (liquid cryst) for displaying a drawing figure.
al display).

The application unit 5 includes the CPU
1 is a collection of software for realizing the line drawing function executed by 1 and is stored in a storage device such as a hard disk drive (not shown). The application unit 5 particularly includes a base node specifying unit (base node specifying unit) 51, an additional node specifying unit (additional node specifying unit) 52, a connection node determining unit (connection node determining unit) 53, and a drawing executing unit 54. In.

Here, the functions of the line drawing apparatus according to the present embodiment include a boundary line (outline), a paint color,
It may be incorporated as one function of a drawing editor for inputting data such as painting start coordinates. This drawing editor uses existing drawing software (drawing software)
May be used. In addition, this drawing editor includes an editor function provided in screen creation software (drawing software) for programmable displays widely used in the field of factory automation (FA), etc., and basic figures prepared in advance in drawing software. May be used.

The programmable display is an operation display having a dot display screen, an operation input switch, an interface with a host controller, a program memory for control such as operation input on the screen, and the like. Generally, a programmable display performs a graphic display, so that it can be provided with functions such as an operation panel, a switch, and an indicator light, and various monitors for management such as an operation status of a control target device and work instructions, It has a function as a terminal for inputting setting values for devices.

The screen displayed on such a programmable display can be created by the user using the above-mentioned drawing software. In creating a screen, a user configures a desired screen using components such as switches, numeric keys, a meter display, and a graph display, drawing functions, and the like provided by drawing software. Then, the drawing function can be used as a drawing editor.

Next, the base node specifying unit 51, the additional node specifying unit 52, the connection node determining unit 53, and the drawing executing unit 54 of the application unit 5 will be described. 4 (a) to 4 (d) are appropriately referred to.

It is assumed that nodes are managed by coordinates in a coordinate list. Further, it is assumed that the continuous line is managed by a vector from the node.

The base node specifying unit 51 specifies one of the nodes at both ends of the connection line m1 to which the additional node Q is to be added as the base node P0. Thereby, two end point nodes P1 and P2 (both end nodes) adjacent to the base point node P0 are determined.

The additional node specifying section 52 specifies the position of the additional node Q. When the additional node Q is designated, the position of the mouse is detected, and a virtual connection line is displayed in which the position of the mouse at the time of detection is regarded as the position of the additional node.

The connection node determining section 53 includes a comparison determining section 53a and a user specifying section 53b. The connection node determining unit 53 determines a connection node to be connected to the specified additional node Q. Specifically, the comparison determination unit 5
At 3a, a vertical line (or horizontal line) passing through the base node
Among the areas divided into two, the end node included in the area including the additional node is selected as the connection node. In addition,
When the comparison node 53a cannot determine the connection node,
If the user wants to make a specification different from the determination, the change is made in the user specification section 53b.

The drawing execution unit 54 erases the straight line before adding the node and draws new connection lines n0 and n1 using the determined additional node Q and connection node P1. In addition, the drawing execution unit 54 includes the additional node designating unit 52
Thus, in the process of designating the additional node Q, following the movement of the mouse, a line imagined that the additional node has been determined at that position is sequentially simulated and drawn.

The operation of the line drawing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3 and the explanatory diagram of FIG.

The outline of the operation of the line drawing apparatus according to this embodiment is as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In step S1 (first step, first process), when the "add node" command is started, one of the nodes at both ends of the connection line m1 to which a node is to be added is designated as the base node P0 ( FIG. 4 (a). Therefore, if a node is to be added in the middle of the connection line m1, the nodes P0 and P1 can be designated as base nodes.

In step S2 (second step, second processing), nodes P1 and P2 adjacent to the base node P0 specified in step S1 are determined as both end nodes (FIG. 4 (a)).

In step S3 (third step, third processing), the user specifies the position of the additional node Q using a mouse or the like (FIG. 4B). At this time, the position of the mouse is detected, the position of the mouse at the time of detection is regarded as the position of the additional node Q, and virtual connection lines connecting the additional node Q, the base node P0, and the end node P1 are displayed. .

In step S4, a connection node to be connected to the additional node Q specified in step S3 is determined (FIG. 4C). Specifically, in the x-y coordinate system of the continuous line, the additional node Q and the end point nodes P1 and P2 are compared with respect to the base point P0 for the x coordinate, respectively.
An end point node included in the same area as the additional node Q is selected as a connection node. The details of step S4 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S5, the connection line m1 before adding the node is deleted, and the connection lines n0 and n1 are drawn using the determined additional node Q and the connection node P1 (FIG. 4D). Of course, the virtual connection line displayed according to the position of the mouse is deleted.

Next, step S4 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the explanatory diagrams of FIGS. 4 (c) and 5.

In step S41, in the x-y coordinate system of the continuous line, the x coordinate is set with reference to the base node P0.
The additional node Q is compared with the end nodes P1 and P2 (FIG. 4C). That is, a vertical line (reference line LX) passing through the base node P0 is drawn. And the reference line LX
The end node included in the area including the additional node Q among the two areas divided by is determined as the connection node. Specifically, in FIG. 4C, the additional node Q is located in a region on the left side of the reference line LX, and this region includes the end point node P1. Therefore, the terminal node P1 is selected as a connection node to be connected to the additional node Q.

If the end nodes P1 and P2 are divided by the reference line LX and are included in either one of the regions, the connection node cannot be determined in step S41 (FIG. 5). Therefore, in step S42, it is determined whether or not the connection node has been determined. If the connection node has been determined in step S41 (YES), the connection node determination process (S4) ends. On the other hand, if the connection node has not been determined in step S41 (NO),
Proceed to step S43.

In step S43, as in step S41, the y-coordinate of the continuous line in the xy coordinate system is
The additional node Q and the end node P are based on the base node P0.
1 · P2 are compared (FIG. 5). That is, a horizontal line (reference line LY) passing through the base node P0 is drawn.
Then, of the two regions divided by the reference line LY, the end node included in the region including the additional node Q is determined as the connection node. Specifically, in FIG. 5, the additional node Q is located in an area above the reference line LY, and this area includes the end point node P1. Therefore, the terminal node P1 is selected as a connection node to be connected to the additional node Q.

Here, if the end point nodes P1 and P2 are both included in one quadrant of the coordinate system formed by the reference line LX and the reference line LY, the connection node cannot be determined even in step S43. Therefore, it is determined in step S44 whether or not the connection node has been determined. If the connection node has been determined in step S43 (YE
S), the connection node determination processing (S4) ends. on the other hand,
If the connection node has not been determined in step S43 (NO), the process proceeds to step S45.

In step S45, the user explicitly specifies which of the end nodes P1 and P2 is to be selected as a connection node to be connected to the additional node Q.

As described above, the connection node determination processing (S
In 4), the comparison determination unit 53a of the connection node determination unit 53 first determines whether the additional node and both end nodes are to the right or left of the vertical reference line LX. Is automatically switched to the horizontal reference line LY for determination. Therefore, an additional node can be automatically determined by a simple determination method.

As shown in FIG. 6, when an additional node R is specified at a position beyond the reference line LX and it is desired to connect to the connection node P2, a mode different from the above-described method is used. That is, first, the node R is added in a region including the end point node P2 to be a connection node (or may be on the connection line m2) by the “add node” command. afterwards,
The additional node R is determined by a “node move” command.
The “node move” command is a command for freely moving an existing node.

Here, the connection node determination method (S41 to S41)
For 45), various methods other than the above method are possible. For example, the following method is conceivable. The distance between the additional node Q and the connection line m1 and the additional node Q
Is compared with the connection line m2, and the shorter end node is selected. The distance between the additional node Q and the terminal node P1 is compared with the distance between the additional node Q and the terminal node P2, and the shorter terminal node is selected. When specifying the additional node Q, the determination is made depending on the direction from which the mouse has moved. That is, the terminal node closer to the path followed by the mouse to the additional node Q is selected.

Note that "node addition" according to the present embodiment.
When using the command for fine adjustment of continuous lines,
That is, when a node is added near the original connection line, the method () of comparing the distance between the additional node and the connection line is suitable. In any case, if the connection node cannot be determined, the connection node can be determined by designating by the user (S45 in FIG. 3).

Next, virtual connection lines displayed when specifying an additional node will be described with reference to FIGS.

The additional node designating section 52 detects the position of the mouse in the additional node designating process (S3 in FIG. 3).
A connection line when a node is added at that position is virtually displayed. Note that the method of determining the connection node of the virtual connection line performs the same determination as in step S4. The actual drawing is performed by the drawing execution unit 54 based on a command from the additional node designation unit 52.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, virtual nodes A to D are set according to the position of the mouse in the process of specifying an additional node, and connection lines using these as additional nodes are displayed. You. Note that points A to D in FIG. 7 schematically show four additional nodes that can be obtained when the base node P0 is specified, and respective connection lines. Then, it can be seen that the connection nodes P1 and P2 are switched with the vertical reference line LX (FIG. 4C) as a boundary according to the position of the additional node.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the mouse is at the position of the node Q1, the connection lines g0 and g1 are drawn between the base node P0 and the connection node P1 with the node Q1 as an additional node. If the result is not satisfactory, if the mouse is moved without being determined at the position of the node Q1, the mouse moves to the position of the node Q2, and new connection lines h0 and h1 are drawn. When the position of the additional node Q is determined when the mouse is moved and the state of the continuous straight line including the virtual connection line is as desired, the connection lines n0 and n1 virtually drawn are determined. Is determined.

As described above, the virtual line display (virtual line simulation) function of the connection line detects the position of the mouse and
The position of the node to be added and the connection line with the node are displayed by following the mouse. Therefore, as a result of the addition of the node, it is possible to clearly indicate to the user how the object changes from the prototype before the determination. Therefore, the user can determine the position of the added node after checking what image the node is added as a whole continuous line while looking at the virtual connection line.

The display of the virtual connection line can be updated in accordance with an appropriate condition such as a time interval. Further, the virtual connection line may be set variously, such as displaying only the latest connection line at all times, or displaying several past connection lines.

Finally, the above embodiment does not limit the scope of the present invention, and various changes can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, the following configuration can be adopted.

In the line drawing apparatus according to the present invention, the connection node determining means (connection node determination section 53) is a node adjacent to the base node and divided by two straight lines passing through the base node. Among them, a node included in the area including the additional node may be a connection node.

Further, in the line drawing apparatus according to the present invention, the connection node determining means (connection node determining unit 53) may determine whether the connection node determination unit (connection node determination unit 53) is a node adjacent to the base node and a line determined by the node and the base node. The node having the shortest distance from the additional node may be the connection node.

Further, in the line drawing apparatus according to the present invention, the connection node determining means (connection node determination unit 53) is a node adjacent to the base node, and has the shortest distance from the additional node. The node may be a connection node.

Finally, the present invention provides a method for using a plurality of devices (for example,
Whether applied to a system composed of a host computer, a terminal computer, an interface device, a network device, a reader, a printer, etc., or to a device composed of one device (eg, a portable computer, a word processing device, etc.) Good.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium in which program codes (executable format programs, intermediate code programs, and source programs) of a line drawing program, which is software for realizing the above-described functions, are readable by a computer. Is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus reads out and executes a program code recorded on a recording medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the above-described function, and the recording medium on which the program code is recorded constitutes the present invention.

A recording medium for supplying the program code can be configured to be separable from a system or an apparatus. Further, the recording medium may be a medium that fixedly carries the program code so that the program code can be supplied. Even if the recording medium is mounted on a system or an apparatus so that a computer can directly read the recorded program code, the recording medium may be connected to a system or apparatus as an external storage device via a program reading apparatus connected to the system or the apparatus. It may be mounted so that it can be read.

For example, as the recording medium, a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy disk / hard disk, a CD-ROM / M
Disk system including optical disk such as O / MD / DVD / CD-R, card system such as IC card (including memory card) / optical card, or mask ROM / EPROM / E
A semiconductor memory system such as an EPROM / flash ROM can be used.

The program code may be recorded so that the computer can read out from the recording medium and directly execute the program code. Alternatively, the program code may be read from the main storage after being transferred from the recording medium to the program storage area of the main storage. It may be recorded so that it can be executed.

Further, the recording medium may be a medium that carries the program code in a fluid manner so that the program code can be supplied via a communication network or the like. In this case, the system or device can be configured to be connectable to a communication network (including the Internet or the like), and the program code can be supplied by downloading from the communication network.

A program for reading the program code from the recording medium and storing the program code in the main memory;
It is assumed that the program for downloading the program code from the communication network is stored in a system or an apparatus in advance so as to be executable by a computer.

The functions described above are realized not only by executing the above-described program code read by the computer, but also executed by the OS or the like running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It is also realized by performing part or all.

Further, the above-mentioned function is realized by writing the program code read from the recording medium into a memory provided in a function expansion board mounted on a computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Based on the instructions of the program code, the functions are also realized by the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performing part or all of the actual processing.

[0070]

As described above, the line drawing apparatus of the present invention has the following features.
In a line drawing apparatus which draws a continuous line connecting nodes by connecting lines, a base node specifying means for specifying one of nodes connected to an additional node to be added as a base node, and a position of the additional node The configuration includes an additional node designation unit and a connection node determination unit that determines which of the nodes adjacent to the base node is connected to the additional node based on the position of the additional node.

Further, as described above, the line drawing method according to the present invention provides a line drawing method for drawing a continuous line connecting nodes by connecting lines, wherein one of the nodes connected to the additional node to be added is replaced with the additional node. A first step of designating a base node, a second step of designating a position of an additional node, and determining which of the nodes adjacent to the base node the additional node is to be connected to based on the position of the additional node. And a third step.

Further, as described above, the computer-readable recording medium on which the line drawing program of the present invention is recorded is a computer-readable recording medium on which a line drawing program for drawing continuous lines connecting nodes by connecting lines is provided. On the recording medium, a first process of designating one of the nodes connected to the additional node to be added as a base node, a second process of designating the position of the additional node, and a position of the additional node, This is a configuration in which a line drawing program for causing a computer to execute a third process of determining which of the nodes adjacent to the base node is connected to the additional node is recorded.

Therefore, the user can perform the operation of specifying an additional node only by the operation of determining the position.
Therefore, there is an effect that a node can be added to the continuous line with a small number of operations. Therefore, there is an effect that the operability of the “add node” command can be improved.

Further, the line drawing apparatus of the present invention has a configuration in which the connection lines are straight lines as described above.

Therefore, there is an effect that a node can be added to a continuous straight line such as a polygonal line or a polygon with a small number of operations.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a line drawing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart schematically showing an operation of the line drawing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of steps for determining a connection node in the flowchart shown in FIG. 2;

4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the line drawing apparatus shown in FIG. 1,
FIG. 4 (a) is a step of specifying a base node and both end nodes, and FIG. 4 (b) is a step of specifying an additional node.
FIG. 4C shows a step of determining the x-coordinate among the steps of determining the connection node, and FIG. 4D shows a step of drawing.

5 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the line drawing apparatus shown in FIG. 1,
The step of determining the y coordinate among the steps of determining the connection node will be described.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the line drawing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the line drawing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the line drawing apparatus shown in FIG. 1,
The display example in the step of specifying an additional node is shown.

9 (a) and 9 (b) are explanatory diagrams showing a method of adding a node of a continuous straight line according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 51 Base node specifying unit (base node specifying unit) 52 Additional node specifying unit (additional node specifying unit) 53 Connection node determining unit (connection node determining unit) m1, m2, n0, n1 connection line P0 base node P1 connection node Q addition Node S1 (first step, first processing) S3 (second step, second processing) S4 (third step, third processing)

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takako Ito Canada, British Columbia, Bernavi, North Fraser Way 220-3700 F-term in Indy Electronics Inc. (reference) 5B050 BA07 BA18 BA19 EA05 EA07 FA09

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A line drawing apparatus for drawing a continuous line connecting nodes by connecting lines, a base node specifying means for specifying one of nodes connected to an additional node to be added as a base node, an additional node And a connection node determining means for determining, based on the position of the additional node, with which of the nodes adjacent to the base node the additional node is to be connected. Line drawing device. 2. A line drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said connection line is a straight line. 3. A line drawing method for drawing a continuous line connecting nodes by connecting lines, a first step of designating one of nodes connected to an additional node to be added as a base node, And a third step of determining which of the nodes adjacent to the base node is to be connected to the additional node based on the position of the additional node. Drawing method. 4. In a computer-readable recording medium storing a line drawing program for drawing a continuous line connecting nodes by connecting lines, one of nodes connected to an additional node to be added is designated as a base node. A first process for specifying the position of the additional node; a second process for specifying the position of the additional node; and a third process for determining, based on the position of the additional node, which of the nodes adjacent to the base node is connected to the additional node. And a computer-readable recording medium on which a line drawing program for causing a computer to execute.