JP2002149300A - Method and device related to table display and handling - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To practically utilize a large table that has not been able to be displayed so far by utilizing the display performance of a display device, the characteristic of the large table and computer throughput and drastically expanding limitation. SOLUTION: A structure in which the data existence place of a table is made to be point information and hierarchized and a detailed image is reached while grasping an overall layout, and meanwhile, scattering places are shown clearly by a low density scroll for jumping to a data existing place and masking, etc., by condition retrieval, to make arrival efficient. In addition, masking results are extracted in a different screen, confirmed and reorganized in a localized table. On top of that, the results are grasped, changed, returned or reorganized to a new local table to be inserted/added to the original table. The easy and efficient handling of the large table can be realized by integration such as to facilitate a reconstruction by a repeating pattern.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

2. Description of the Related Art When a huge table is two-dimensionally displayed using a display device in information processing, the number of characters that can be practically displayed is limited, and the present invention handles a huge table in a visible state. A method and apparatus for doing so.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a current display device, there are limitations on the displayable size and density of a display screen that can be displayed, the size of characters that can be displayed, the visual field that can be viewed by human beings, and the discrimination ability. There is a limit to the size. In the current scrolling of the table, only the adjacent area is combined with the corresponding area of the vertical axis identifier and the horizontal axis identifier to be displayed, and the scrolling in the vertical and horizontal directions is practically performed about 10 times. This is the limit of patience. In addition, according to the current scroll method (hereinafter, referred to as high-density scroll) in which display is performed even when display information does not exist, in a large table having a large percentage of blank cells (hereinafter, cells in which data is not stored), The rate of extremely wasteful operations increases. FIG. 1 shows a case in which the current scrolling method starts from the origin at the upper left of the center of the table, gives priority to the right and left directions, and then sequentially scrolls the entire area downward (the numbers in the ellipse are conventional numbers). (The number of the scroll order is shown by the method.) According to the example of this figure, 30 scroll passes are required. In the current simple high-density scroll only,
000 x 1,000 cells, and even 100,000 x
Display a huge table with 100,000 cells,
It is extremely difficult to efficiently reach the required area while grasping the entire arrangement structure, then move to a nearby effective area, efficiently grasp the relationship between distant cells, and perform change processing. .

In general, as the size of a table becomes larger, the ratio of blank cells tends to increase as compared with a place where character or numerical information at the center exists. For a huge table,
Since the cells of the filling data are scattered, even when searching for a small number of cells, scrolling alone is often inefficient, assuming that data exists at the current high density. In addition, it is difficult to display and search for all necessary data scattered, and it is difficult to confirm or change it.It is easy to omit confirmation or omission, and it is more difficult to deal with when the place you want to handle changes every moment. . For these reasons, the use of huge tables is difficult to satisfy the reliability as the mainstream in information processing, which is one of the factors preventing full-scale use. One example is a table in which sales, sales quantity, unit price, inventory, purchase unit price, etc. are arranged on the horizontal axis by city and on the vertical axis by product, and these items are sometimes viewed from the perspective of Tokyo. If you want to see the time from the viewpoint of Osaka, if the places you want to see are scattered in the table, it will be difficult to judge whether you have searched for all the relevant places you need, and the larger the table, the more the conventional scroll In this case, the number of operations increases, and the operation becomes extremely inefficient. For this reason, if the table becomes large, it will be inefficient and difficult to grasp and prevent its practical use. Often left behind.

[0004]

Generally, a table has a central portion composed of a filling cell for storing character information, numerical information, symbol information, link information to the outside of the table, or the like, or a blank cell for storing no data. , And a vertical axis identifier consisting of several cells on the left side of the edge where these cells are located (identifiers indicate item names, numbers, position increments, or a combination thereof to identify positions on the table) and the number of upper edges It consists of a horizontal axis identifier consisting of a strip cell. For this reason, even in accessing the entire macro display and the micro part, it is necessary to display the cell while maintaining the relation with the vertical and horizontal identifiers.

In general, as the size of the table becomes larger, the ratio of blank cells tends to increase as compared with the filling cells at the center. In many cases, high-density scrolling alone is inefficient. Dealing with these huge tables requires new solutions, such as:

[0006] The arrangement of the filling cells in the table, or the parts which are considered to be currently useful to the operator of the display device, is highlighted, so that the detailed information can be obtained while grasping from a macro viewpoint as much as possible. The user can quickly reach the useful data area in the vicinity from the currently displayed microscopic detail screen, where the detailed display, change or input is set. It is necessary for the user to provide a situation in which the user can grasp the current state and avoid the interruption of thinking as much as possible and proceed efficiently to the next point. Furthermore, by pushing such functions, the vertical axis identifier, the horizontal axis identifier, and the central cell are extracted from the highlighted information on a separate screen while maintaining the mutual relationship, and then operations such as confirmation and change are performed. Repeat the same pattern by changing the name on the screen, inserting it into the designated place by changing the name, or inserting the part created on another screen as a unit while sequentially inserting it into the designated place that matches the name It must be able to be arranged efficiently. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus capable of handling a large table easily and simply.

[0007]

The solution according to the present invention is as follows.

In handling a huge table, a table in which the filling cell at the center is displayed as dot information and blank cells are not displayed, while maintaining the arrangement status in order to promote the overall understanding, is as wide as possible. By displaying it in a reduced size on the display screen so that it can be covered, and specifying it on it, a limited range of cell information is displayed on another screen,
Allows confirmation and change. If the number of times of scrolling is large even when expressed in a table using dots, this dot table is partitioned, and if there is one or more places of filling data in that partition, the dot is set as a higher-order dot as a filling section, and a table composed of these is used. The dot section table) is configured to be overlaid on the upper layer, and access is possible for each of these layers or between layers. As a result, the normal table can be accessed on the display device of the information processing device as a huge table having a structure including a macro viewpoint and a micro viewpoint.

Furthermore, in addition to general vertical and horizontal high-density scrolls used for spreadsheets and the like, low-density scrolls for jumping to filling data can be used together. This makes it possible to use a low-density scroll efficiently while maintaining the layout image or even in the area where the density of the filling cells is low or the density of dots representing the filling is low, so that the scroll path can be significantly increased. A method is provided that allows reduced access.

In the handling of the table, a method of displaying a detail or changing an operation, and then specifying a next screen display and repeating low-density scroll, a series of operations is repeated, and an operation method of returning to the first departure screen is supported. , And can handle the filling data location of the table without fail and avoid double operations as much as possible.

In the case where each cell in the center part of the table, the vertical axis and the horizontal axis identifiers are meaningful information, a level of display condition is provided, and a condition mask with various identification display levels is provided corresponding to the level. It is provided to limit the display target places, and to display in a relief form to enable a change operation. In addition, information that is not directly useful is displayed as a “blur” level to indicate a relative existence position if necessary, thereby enabling a change operation. As these identification indications, grades that can be used as display devices (for example, dots and figures are types and size types,
The font and size of the characters, the size of the numerical value, or the range of the size, and the color type of these can be selected. When the table has a hierarchy, it reaches the selected location along the grade by low density scroll and displays it for each hierarchy, and enables efficient access such as change, so the screen display so that the existence can be recognized I do. As a result, a method and apparatus for quickly reaching useful information with a small number of operations while realizing the condition level in the overall arrangement can be realized, and a huge table can be handled efficiently.

In the above condition determination, if the item name of the vertical axis identifier or the item name of the horizontal axis identifier is valid, the filling data cell at the center including this column or row is valid.
Or, when the cell information at the center is valid, the vertical axis identifier and the horizontal axis identifier are assumed to be valid.

As a method of handling a specific place, only the effective area clarified by the above method is extracted from a huge table, combined as a table on another screen, changed, and then returned to the original position. , Or another position. As a result, even if a table arranges data at a high density, it is actively converted to a table of low-density data using a mask technique, and the existence of the corresponding cell in the whole is grasped by a hierarchical expression according to the scale. If it is desired to repeat the same pattern after editing or processing on it, insertion and addition are facilitated, and a huge table is completed and operated.

By employing these methods as a display device for mobilizing, a large table can be handled easily and promptly.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention uses a multi-stage structure consisting of a macro viewpoint and a detailed micro viewpoint in order to easily and quickly solve a problem with a huge table exceeding the limit that can be directly handled by a display device. Efficient table access, adoption of low-density scroll to skip blank spots, cyclic display of all data without omission by combination of next screen specification and low-density scroll, highlighting useful areas by condition mask, useful by condition setting Cell extraction, subsequent processing and rearrangement, and the creation of similar patterns and insertion into a huge table using a partially created table as a mold (hereinafter referred to as a mold) are realized individually or in combination. Then, a huge table was efficiently formed, and an example is shown below.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the multi-level table formation according to the present invention and a part of the plane in each level, that is, the central part of the selection and the corresponding vertical and horizontal axis identifiers, and displays them on the screen as a table. A relationship is shown in which this screen is accessed to display the screen by moving to another area in the display plane, and to specify the location of the original display screen and develop it into a lower detailed table. Therefore, a super huge table is developed from a dot section screen to a dot screen, and then to a detailed screen showing cell information. There is a case where it is not necessary to form a hierarchy from a dot screen in a table of such a size that does not need to be used, and to a detail screen only in a smaller table.

FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the appearance of multi-level formation and screen access, a normal high-density scroll in the vertical and horizontal directions of the table, and a list giving priority to items used as vertical or horizontal axis identifiers. In the display flow, the position of the filling data information of the present invention is overlapped with a dot display hierarchy to handle a huge table, or furthermore, this dot display is sectioned, and a multi-layer that displays the section including the filling data information by dots is displayed. This is an example of the flow of handling a huge table by superimposing.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic example of a mode in which the existence position of the filling data information is handled in a huge table by superimposing a dot display hierarchy. In the left schematic diagram, the position where information exists in the cell at the center of the original table is defined as a dot map, and the horizontal axis identifier and vertical axis identifier are the item name and item for a plurality of items (every 50 items in the actual example). The numbers are arranged with “steps” indicating the item numbers between the numbers, whereby the data existence areas of a table of approximately 300 items × 400 items are collectively displayed. The schematic diagram on the right displays details of approximately 20 items × 10 items around the click area in the left diagram, and corresponding upper-side items and left-side items (hereinafter, this format is referred to as a first format). The upper left start point of the scroll screen of the table is displayed so that the position of the start point can be easily understood as long as the specified upper row or left column exists. In addition, in order to make the starting point on the layout easy to understand, in practice, the starting point on the display is shifted by 1 to 2 units up and down to the outer edge, and the end on the display near the end,
It is displayed to meet this.

FIG. 5 shows a screen in which the position is designated on the dot map, the horizontal axis identifier is set in the vertical direction, and the characters at the top are treated as symbols at the center, as in the left diagram of FIG. This is a schematic example of pull-down display of details by moving a cursor (hereinafter, this format is referred to as a second format). This format is automatically displayed in the first format when the detailed content is to be displayed as it is, and automatically in the second format when the detailed content can be handled as a symbol consisting of characters of 1, 2 or 3 bytes. Is a numerical value, it is automatically selected by a value or by selection, and in addition, both the first format and the second format are converted by a selection instruction.

The handling of a huge table or a super huge table reaches a detailed screen by using these hierarchical methods, where confirmation, change, or new setting by adding / deleting items is performed.

The low-density scroll according to the present invention can be performed at each stage of the table hierarchy display. In the example of FIG. 6, the blank cell area is skipped, and the detail display screen is jumped to the dot display filling data sequentially. This is an example of moving. In this example, select low-density scrolling from the display pull-down menu in the menu bar, add the low-density scrolling in addition to the normal scroll symbols in the corners of the right and bottom scroll bars on each screen, and In accordance with the above, both can be used in combination to change the position of the display content to a position that is easy to see and to operate an efficient display. If you select the automatic setting of the scroll method in the display pull-down menu, the scroll method suitable for the table in that layer of the hierarchical display is automatically selected according to the density of the filling data of the table currently being held, and the scroll bar is displayed. Is switched to either high density or low density for display. A rough estimate of this switch is 10% or 20
%, And it is possible to automatically switch and display the setting values among the standard setting values according to the size of the base table.

FIG. 6 shows that all the information of the original table can be reached by 11 low-density scrolls. In the course of repeating the operation of specifying the next screen in the horizontal direction, each time the search reaches the end of the table, Skip to the diagonal corner (upper left corner) of a table that does not exceed the number of screen rows or columns, after a line break or column break, or when the search reaches the corner of the table (here, the lower right corner) Display, with the process of doing
Alternatively, it may be possible to go through all the filling data locations in the table without fail through the route of repeating the change operation and then the next screen and returning to the display screen including the display data at the time of departure (hereinafter referred to as low density scrolling without patrol leakage). It becomes possible.

The upper menu bar of the display screen has horizontal and vertical next and previous screen selection buttons. By selecting the display without leaking from the pull-down menu of the menu bar, and then selecting one of these four buttons, the mode is determined and becomes effective in the table. After confirming the display of one table or making changes such as adding, inserting, deleting, or replacing, at the end of the screen work, select the selected button, and in that direction, from the end to the start, from the corner to the diagonal from the corner The process is also switched back to the corner, all the filled cells are sequentially displayed, and the display returns to the initial display screen. On the screen including the content of the redisplay, the displayed content flashes again to notify the operator of the redisplay.

FIG. 7 is a simple example in which condition masks of the following two grade levels are set. -Emphasis level Clearly display the original information (characters and numbers), the information indicating the position as a point, or the information indicating the section including the matched position, with the location matching the condition as filling data.・ Blurring level Anti-highlighting display (blurring display) is applied to the places in the filling data that are not valid to clarify the interrelationship with the valid areas, and are distinguished from the emphasis mask information. FIG.
In the figure below, the presence of a condition matching location using a conditional mask display (condition grade mask) with the character B as the first character is highlighted using a bold circle as a highlighting symbol, and a small circle is used at a mismatching location of the filling data. The condition grade mask to be blurred is shown. Thus, since the entire arrangement can be recognized, it is possible to arrive at the display of the details with extremely few operations by utilizing the low-density scroll and the normal scroll, and the change operation can be facilitated.

The item which is the horizontal axis identifier, the item which is the vertical axis identifier, and the cells scattered in the center are displayed by using the conditional grade mask search function and the display function, and the matching locations are displayed. Can be edited and displayed on another screen as a table on another screen, and it is easy to grasp a target that is difficult to recognize because it is huge and related places are scattered, and it is possible to easily change the content.

Further, if the change is returned to the original position, or if the new content affects the size of the table, the start point of the center is designated and inserted or added. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing these flows, and the upper left portion thereof shows a screen development for setting search conditions for three regions of a horizontal axis identifier, a vertical axis identifier, and a central cell.

FIG. 9 shows an example of setting these conditions, using "Tokyo" and "PC" as keywords, and displaying the corresponding item and the corresponding central cell as a thick circle dot as an emphasis grade mask.
Display the detailed information of the relevant location as a table on a separate screen, and change "Tokyo" to "Osaka" on this screen, change the number in the center, and set the insertion start point on the base table. Specifying to change the original table is illustrated.

In this example, for the item name which is the vertical axis identifier, "PC" is designated as the top character string of the product name to search for a group of PC-related products, and the item which is the horizontal axis identifier is conscious of the Tokyo branch. Specify “Tokyo” as a character string, search for matching item names “Tokyo sales volume”, “Tokyo sales unit price”, “Tokyo purchase unit price” and “Tokyo target profit”, and find the intersection of the two. The cell at the intersection of the part is also displayed as an effective part on the emphasis mask, and the emphasized part is extracted by designating the extraction, and a table "PC-Tokyo branch" of the PC relating to the Tokyo branch is synthesized. Display and change the numerical value or character on it.

In addition, the Tokyo used in the item name is replaced with Osaka, the cell value is also changed for Osaka, a table "PC-Osaka branch" is created, and the new insertion position of the original table is changed. Specified,
Alternatively, specify an additional position and additionally reorganize the original table. With such a molding method, a huge table can be easily completed and operated by repeating the same pattern.

[0030]

As described above, according to the description of the first aspect, it is possible to expand to a detailed portion while maintaining the listability of the entire huge table which has not been handled so far, and to grasp every corner of the table. To allow changes. In addition, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently arrive at the place where the data exists, to grasp and change the contents, and to deal with a sense of security according to the third aspect. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the display utilizing the condition mask level is used to differentiate the data in the table, thereby increasing the efficiency of scrolling the search for a position that matches the condition, and lowering the display level for the position that does not match the condition level. By leaving it, it is possible to clarify its existence and maintain the performance of grasping relations and places. Further, according to the description of the fifth aspect, the location highlighted by utilizing the conditional mask level according to the fourth aspect is extracted and displayed on another screen, and is changed and returned to the original table or changed. Thus, it is possible to insert or add to the original table as a table representing a new part, and it is possible to easily create and operate a huge table by creating a repetitive pattern. When the present invention is implemented using the display device of the information processing device, it is effective for displaying a table exceeding the display screen, and is effective for widening the practical limit of the table.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a method for displaying the entire area of a huge table according to the related art.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a multi-layered representation of a table according to the present invention and its screen display and operation.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a coexistent flow of handling of a table by the conventional handling and handling by the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a position where the filling data information is present in a large table as dots and a detailed portion thereof is developed as a table according to the present invention (first format).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a position where the filling data information is present in a large table as dots and the detailed portion thereof is developed as a table according to the present invention (second format).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display of a huge table by low-density scroll implemented in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a low-density scroll using a conditional mask, implemented in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of developing a search display based on a condition grade mask and developing a corresponding portion on a separate screen as a detailed table, implemented in the present invention;

FIG. 9 develops a relevant table as a detailed table on a separate display and a search display using a conditional grade mask implemented in the present invention, and adds the changed detailed table to the original table to form a new configuration table. Figure

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method for displaying a huge table on a display device for information processing, wherein a state in which data is stored in a cell is represented by a dot and a state in which data is not stored is represented by a blank, and a state of data arrangement over a wide area. Is displayed as a screen that can be confirmed from the macro viewpoint, and the information stored in the location specified in the screen and its neighboring cells, the vertical axis identifier for specifying those positions is added to the left side, and the horizontal axis identifier is added to the upper side. To display detailed data from the micro-viewpoint on a separate screen, and if the table represented by dots is even larger, divide the table vertically and horizontally to have at least one cell with data. The section to be displayed is composed of dots, which are further superimposed as a table showing the higher macro viewpoints. However, the method and apparatus that enables the handling of a huge table. 2. In the display of a table or a hierarchical table according to claim 1, as a display method when data exists at a low density, in addition to a conventional scroll (hereinafter referred to as a high-density scroll), a method of displaying data exists. Search for places where
Scrolling through non-existing places (hereinafter referred to as low-density scroll) is used together to reach detailed data,
A method and apparatus for displaying and enabling operations such as addition, insertion, change, deletion, and replacement. 3. By specifying a shift from the display screen of the table to the next screen or the previous screen, the place of the filling data is searched by low-density scroll, and the transition to the display screen is repeated. A method and apparatus for displaying filling data locations sequentially without exception and enabling addition, insertion, change, deletion, replacement, and the like. 4. In displaying and handling a table according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, the display condition level of information stored in a cell is set in a vertical axis identifier area, a horizontal axis identifier area, and a central area. Hereafter referred to as the condition mask level), the suitability or the degree of the suitability is displayed, the arrangement is grasped, the necessary information is quickly reached and displayed, and addition, insertion, change, deletion, etc. are operated. Method and apparatus for doing so. 5. In displaying and handling a table according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, a cell of the table is searched under set conditions, a matched part, a corresponding vertical axis identifier, and a horizontal axis. Identifiers and central parts are extracted and combined, displayed on a separate screen as a single table, and their relationships are grasped, and edits such as addition / insertion / change / deletion / replacement are performed. A method and apparatus for reconstructing a base table by inserting or adding back to a place before extraction or by specifying a starting point.