JP2003099170A - User interface controller, user interface control method, computer program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a user interface capable of easily constructing a user interface in a window to be displayed for deciding a parameter for executing prescribed processing, and increasing productivity, and improving maintenance. SOLUTION: When an environment setting UI is displayed at printing, an input event by an operator is monitored, and the state variables of each control are changed by referring to a conflict processing rule based on the event. Then, display change is operated so that any unavailable control can be turned to be gray out.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a user interface control device and method, a computer program and a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the case where a program running on a computer has a function of receiving a plurality of setting values from a user via a user interface and performing some processing based on those setting values, When there is an exclusive relationship, dependency relationship, etc. between multiple set values that have been set, each time the input of the setting value from the user is accepted, the setting that has a relationship among the input value and other setting values The relationship between the values and the values is evaluated, it is determined whether or not there is a mismatch between the set values, and if there is a mismatch, it is resolved.

Consider, for example, a case where various settings relating to printing are made when a print instruction is given from an application running on a general-purpose information processing apparatus.

The printing quality of printing apparatuses of recent years has been remarkably improved, and many setting parameters are provided for its optimization. Inevitably, one window with a limited size in the GUI cannot be dealt with, and further details have to be dealt with by displaying another window or switching the display in a tab format.

However, some parameters (controls) to be set have a causal relationship with each other.
These causal relationships have a dependency relationship or an exclusive relationship, but for example, selection or designation is performed by a control (radio button, option selection button, combo box, etc.) related to a certain parameter in a certain setting window. At this time, only controls having a dependency relationship in another window can be selected or designated, and those having an exclusive relationship need to be grayed out so as to be inoperable or unusable (hereinafter, referred to as a conflict).

[0006]

However, when switching tabs or displaying another window, it is difficult to understand the reason for the occurrence of the conflict. This problem can be dealt with by displaying the message that is the reason, but of course, it is necessary for each control to allow or disallow the operation. It is also necessary to check whether there is any conflict between them and output the reason.

In order to accurately perform the conflict check, a detection processing code corresponding to each of the processing for graying out is required, which not only takes time to create the program code but also adds / changes the graying-out processing. As a result, there arises a problem that the detection process is likely to be leaked or discrepant. Therefore, for example, when a certain control is added, it is necessary to review the causal relationship not only with that control but also with other controls, which only increases the burden on the program creator. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a user interface in a window displayed for determining a parameter for performing a predetermined process can be easily constructed, which improves productivity and is excellent in maintainability. A user interface control device and method, a computer program, and a storage medium are provided.

[0008]

In order to solve this problem, for example, a user interface control device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, in order to determine a parameter for performing a predetermined process, a display window in which a plurality of controls corresponding to the plurality of parameters are arranged is displayed, and the parameter is determined based on the operation result of the control by the operator. A user interface control device, managing means for managing the dependency relationship of the plurality of controls as a conflict processing rule;
When an operation is performed on one of the plurality of controls, a setting unit that sets a state indicating whether or not each control is operable according to the conflict rule managed by the management unit, and the setting of the setting unit Display updating means for updating the display form of the control in the display window according to the result.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiment, when a print instruction is issued from an application running on the host computer,
A case where various settings relating to printing are performed will be described. The OS operating on the host computer is exemplified by Windows provided by Microsoft Corporation in the United States, but the same applies to other OSs.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the arrangement of a print processing system showing an embodiment of the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, if the functions of the present invention are executed,
It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a single device, a system including a plurality of devices, and a system in which processing is performed by connecting via a network such as a LAN or WAN.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 3000 is a host computer, and 1 is a CPU that controls the entire apparatus. Reference numeral 2 is a RAM used as a work area of the CPU 1 (as will be described later, an OS, an application, a printer driver program and its GUI setting program are loaded), and 3 is a program ROM for storing a font ROM, a BIOS, etc. Starting with the ROM that consists of
Each element described below is connected via a bus 4.

5 is a keyboard controller (KBC)
Then, key input from the keyboard 9 or a pointing device (not shown) is controlled. 6 is a CRT controller (C
The display of the CRT display (CRT) 10 is controlled by the RTC). 7 is a disk controller (DKC),
An external memory 11 such as a hard disk (HD) or a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD) that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, printer control command generation programs (hereinafter referred to as printer drivers), and the like. Control access. The external memory (particularly the HDD) stores the OS and other applications and printer drivers. When the power is turned on, the OS is loaded into the RAM 2 and then the application relating to graphic editing and document editing is loaded by the user's designation. Will be executed.

8 is a printer controller (PRTC)
Then, it is connected to the printer 1500 via a predetermined bidirectional interface (interface) 21 and executes a communication control process with the printer 1500. In addition, CP
U1 is a display information RAM set on the RAM 2, for example.
The outline font development (rasterization) process is executed to enable WYSIWYG on the CRT 10. Further, the CPU 1 opens various windows registered based on a command designated by a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 10 and executes various data processing. When executing printing, the user opens a window relating to print settings, and can make printer settings and print processing method settings for the printer driver including selection of print modes.

In the printer 1500, a printer CPU 12 is connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program stored in the external memory 14 (printer (printer)). The engine) 17 outputs an image signal as output information. The program ROM of the ROM 13 stores the control program of the CPU 12 and the like. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data or the like used when generating the output information, and in the case of a printer in which the data ROM of the ROM 13 does not have an external memory 14 such as a hard disk, it is used on the host computer. It stores the information to be displayed. CP
The U12 is capable of performing communication processing with the host computer via the input unit 18, and is configured to be able to notify the host computer 3000 of information and the like in the printer.
Reference numeral 19 denotes a RAM that functions as a main memory, a work area, etc. of the CPU 12, and is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The RAM 19 is used as an output information expansion area, environment data storage area, NVRAM, and the like. The external memory 14 such as the hard disk (HD) or IC card described above is a memory controller (MC) 2
Access is controlled by 0. The external memory 14 is connected as an option and stores font data, emulation programs, form data and the like. Reference numeral 18 denotes the above-mentioned operation panel, on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged. Further, the above-mentioned external memory is not limited to one, but at least one is provided,
In addition to the built-in font, an optional font card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different languages may be connected. Further, an NVRAM (not shown) may be provided to store and hold the printer mode setting information from the operation panel 1501.

FIG. 2 shows a memory map in a state where the user interface control program according to this embodiment is loaded into the RAM 2 on the host computer 3000 and becomes executable. The user interface control program in this embodiment exists as a part of the print processing related program 204 (printer driver). FIG. 3 is a system schematic diagram showing the contents of internal processing of the user interface control unit of the present embodiment. Further, FIG. 4 shows an example showing a relation of data handled by each module in the conflict processing of the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a conflict process and a grayout item reason display process using the conflict process rule in the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 shows an example of the conflict process rule in the present embodiment. And FIG.
8 is an example of a user interface displayed by the printer driver in this embodiment. FIG. 8 shows an example immediately after the user selects [Booklet Printing] in the state of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 shows the state of FIG. Indicates that a reason display event has occurred due to a user operation. In addition, FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of a message rule.

The operation of this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, as described above, the conflict processing on the user interface displayed by the printer driver on the CRT 10 for various settings will be described as an example.

The process starts when the user gives an instruction to open the printer driver user interface (UI) shown in FIG. 7 using the keyboard controller KBC5 shown in FIG. The print processing related program 204 is loaded into the RAM 2 under the management of the OS 205 according to an instruction from the user to open the printer driver UI. When the print processing related program 204 is loaded into the RAM 2, the initialization processing for opening the printer driver UI is first performed by the user's instruction to open the printer driver UI. The inference engine 302 shown in FIG. 3 reads the conflict processing rule 301 described as illustrated in FIG. 6 into the RAM 2 via the conflict manager 303 (step 501).

Then, a state variable list used by the conflict manager as shown by 402 in FIG. 4 is created (step 503). For each of the printer function names A, B, and C appearing in the conflict processing rule 403, there is a state variable with the same name. The value of this state variable is linked to the value of the corresponding member of the internal structure used in the printer driver UI. The initial values of the state variables of all printer function names are the initial values of the members of the internal structure.

For example, the members of the printer driver UI internal structure 401 corresponding to the printer function names A, B and C are cA, cB and cC, respectively. The initial value of int cA is 0
Therefore, the value of the state variable A corresponding to that is OFF. Therefore, the initial state value of the printer function name A in the inference engine 302 is also OFF. Similarly, the initial value of printer function name B is ON, and the initial value of printer function name C is OFF.
Becomes A OFF B ON C OFF Next, if the conflict processing rule 403 is invoked and the described A (ON) ← B (ON), C (OFF). Is established, that is, the printer function name B is ON and When the printer function name C is OFF, the inference engine 30
2 changes the state variable value of the printer function name A on the left side to ON. A ON B ON C OFF The state variable list is thus initialized.

After the inference of the conflict check is completed, the conflict manager reflects the changed value of the state variable in the corresponding member int cA of the printer driver UI internal structure 401. So int cA is changed from 0 to 1 when the above rule is satisfied.

Subsequently, the initialization process required for opening the printer driver UI is performed, and the printer driver UI as illustrated in FIG. 7 is opened (step 50).
4).

After the printer driver UI is opened, the acquisition of the event sent from the OS and its processing are repeated (step 505). Note that the "event" referred to here is that the OS notifies that the "operation" has been performed when the user performs some operation on the printer driver UI that is currently operating. For example,
When a button (one of the controls) icon is clicked, an event that the button is clicked occurs. By describing the operation when that event occurs, the event The processing corresponding to can be realized.

It is determined whether or not the event acquired in step 505 is an event in which the user has changed the setting item on the printer driver UI (step 50).
6) If so, the conflict processing rule constructed in step 501 is applied (step 50)
7). The user's setting change request is Print Style shown in FIG.
Taking the case of changing from 1-Sided Printing to Booklet Printing as an example, the conflict processing is applied to the conflict processing rule shown in FIG.

Collate, Group, Staple, Layout existing as members of the printer driver UI internal structure 401
The values of each member before the conflict processing rule is applied are as follows. Collate OFF Group ON Staple OFF Layout 1-SIDED Since the user's change request changes Layout from 1-Sided to Booklet, the contents of Layout members are as follows. Collate OFF Group ON Staple OFF Layout BOOKLET Then, the printer driver UI 306 calls the conflict manager 303, and Layo in the state variable list
The state variable of ut is updated, and then the inference engine 302 is called to start application of the conflict processing rule. First, each printer function name in the inference engine 302 is initialized with the value held by each member of the state variable list. Subsequently, (5) of FIG. 6 is applied, and Staple remains OFF, and control is disabled, that is, grayed out. Similarly, Fig. 6 (7) and (8) are applied, and the value of Collate is OFF.
From ON to ON, the value of Group is changed from ON to OFF, and each control is disabled. Collate ON (disable) Group OFF (disable) Staple OFF (disable) Layout BOOKLET Above, the application of the conflict processing rule in the inference engine 302 is completed.

In the next step, the conflict manager 303 updates the state variable list (step 508) and the printer driver UI internal structure (step 509) based on the final state.

Next, the printer driver UI 306 refers to the value of the member of the internal structure of the printer driver UI to determine whether the UI needs to be updated (step 510). If it is not necessary to update the UI, the process directly returns to step 505. If the update is necessary, the UI is updated (step 511). Further, in this step, a process of adding a conflict mark to an arbitrary control for the reason display described later is also performed. In the above example,
Since the setting of Layout is changed from 1-Sided Printing to Booklet Printing, Collate changes from OFF to ON, Grou
p changes from ON to OFF, Collate, Group, Staple d
It is isable, and a conflict mark is displayed,
The printer driver UI is updated as shown in FIG. After processing, the process returns to step 505.

If it is determined in step 506 that the setting change request is not received, it is then determined whether the event is a grayout reason display event (step 512). This event occurs, for example, when the conflict mark is clicked or when the mouse cursor is over the conflict mark.

When this event occurs, the printer driver UI 306 issues a reason acquisition request to the conflict manager 303 (step 513). The conflict manager 303 reads the conflict processing rule 301 and searches for the reason why the specified control is grayed out.

For example, when searching for the reason why Staple is grayed out, Staple is disabl in the rule of FIG.
e Check the rules in order. Here (3)
(4) (5) and (6) are applicable, the finisher of (3) is attached and is ON because it is ON, and (4) Stapleable paper is OK because it is ON and is through, and (5) BOOKLET is The reason is that this is applicable because it is specified. Note that the finisher is attached here and the paper is of a size that can be stapled. The check (6) whether the paper type is OHP is not executed because the reason for the higher priority has already been found. The conflict manager 303 assigns the identifier (ID, etc.) corresponding to this reason to the printer driver UI 306.
Return to. The printer driver UI 306 arbitrarily performs processing corresponding to the reason identifier. For example, a comment message can be displayed as shown in FIG. 9 (step 5).
14). When the event is canceled by pressing any key or moving the mouse cursor, the message disappears and the process returns to step 505.

If the reason is not a reason display event in the determination in step 512, then it is determined whether the request is a printer driver UI close request (step 51).
5). If the request is a close request, end processing is performed, the printer driver UI is closed, and all processing is ended (step 516). On the other hand, if it is not the close request, the process returns to step 505 again.

Although the message is displayed, an event that occurs when the cursor is moved over the corresponding control is used. The message displayed at this time is managed as a table as shown in FIG. 11, for example. For example, in the case of the control A, the reason why the control A becomes inoperable is that there are two in the illustrated case. One is when the other control B is ON and the control C is OFF, and the other is when the control X is ON and the control Y is OFF. Read the message to be displayed according to the situation. , Will display it.

The above processing is repeatedly executed until the printer driver UI is closed. When the printer driver UI is closed, all the processing ends, and the processing of the print processing related program in this embodiment also ends.
It is erased from the RAM 2 by the function of the OS 205. In this embodiment, the medium for recording the print processing-related program is an external memory, but the external memory may be an FD, HD drive, CD-ROM, IC memory card, or the like. Further, it is also possible to record the print program in the ROM 3 alone or together with a program such as an OS and other programs operating on a host computer, configure it as a part of a memory map, and execute it directly by the CPU 1. .

[0035]

Other Embodiments In the above embodiment, the reason display is performed by the printer driver UI as shown in step 514, but it is also possible to perform the reason display in the conflict manager as in step 1013 of FIG. That is, instead of returning the corresponding character string resource to the printer driver UI 303 when the corresponding reason is searched for, the conflict manager may load the corresponding character string resource and perform display processing. .

In step 513, the reason search ends when one reason with the highest priority is found, but the entire rule may be searched without interruption and all the corresponding reasons may be displayed.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
The reason can be acquired under the same condition as the process that caused the conflict, simply by describing the conflict process rule for performing the conflict process. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to realize a high-quality reason display process without being bothered by adding a dedicated program code for acquiring the reason and free from the case where the condition is leaked or mismatched.

Further, by transferring the reason display processing from the printer driver UI to the conflict manager, it is not necessary to synchronize the reason identifiers between the two, that is, the independence is improved, the productivity is high and the maintainability is excellent. There is.

As can be easily understood from the above embodiment, the operation in this embodiment can be realized by a program in the printer driver or a part thereof. Therefore, the present invention can be realized by incorporating the program into a computer, and the computer program is also included in the present invention. Also, when installing the program on your computer,
Since it is performed via a storage medium such as a floppy disk or a CDROM, those storage media are also included in the scope of the present invention.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily construct a user interface in a window displayed for determining a parameter for performing a predetermined process, thereby improving productivity and improving maintainability. Can provide an excellent user interface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print processing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a print-related process-related program including a user interface control program, which is executed by a host computer 300.
It is a block diagram which shows a memory map at the time of being loaded on 0 RAM2.

FIG. 3 is a system schematic diagram showing the contents of internal processing of a user interface control unit of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an example showing a relation of data handled by each module in the conflict processing in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a conflict process using a conflict process rule and a grayout item reason display process in the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an example of a conflict processing rule before complementary processing in the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface displayed by a printer driver according to the present embodiment.

8 is a diagram showing a state immediately after the user selects [Booklet Printing] in the state of FIG. 7.

9 is a diagram showing a state in which a reason display event has occurred due to a user operation in the state of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the reason display of a grayout item in another embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a message rule in the embodiment.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. To determine a parameter for performing a predetermined process, a display window in which a plurality of controls corresponding to the plurality of parameters are arranged is displayed, and the parameter is determined based on an operation result of the control by an operator. A user interface control device for determining the dependency of the plurality of controls as a conflict processing rule; and when an operation is performed on one of the plurality of controls, According to the managed conflict rule, setting means for setting a state indicating whether or not each control can be operated, and display updating means for updating the display form of the control in the display window according to the setting result of the setting means. A user interface control device comprising: 2. The user interface control device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit operates by triggering an event input by an operator. 3. The conflict processing rule has a format that describes a causal relationship between a state of a target control and a state of another control that causes a change in the state of the target control. Item 1
The user interface control device according to the paragraph. 4. The user interface control device according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of other controls that cause the state of the target control to be changed. 5. The user interface control device according to claim 1, wherein the display update means grays out a control that cannot be operated. 6. The causal relationship between the state of the target control and the state of another control that causes the state of the target control to change, a storage means for storing a message to the target control, and an operation disabled. The user interface control device according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that extracts a message corresponding to the designated control from the storage unit and displays the message when the control is designated. 7. The user interface control device according to claim 1, wherein the display window is a window for setting a printing environment by a part of a printer driver. 8. In order to determine a parameter for performing a predetermined process, a display window in which a plurality of controls corresponding to the plurality of parameters are arranged is displayed, and the parameter is determined based on the operation result of the control by the operator. And a management step of managing dependency relations of the plurality of controls as a conflict processing rule, and when the operation is performed on one of the plurality of controls, According to the managed conflict rule, a setting step of setting a state indicating whether or not each control can be operated, and a display updating step of updating the display form of the control in the display window according to the setting result of the setting step. A user interface control method comprising: 9. A computer controls the control by an operator by displaying a display window in which a plurality of controls corresponding to the plurality of parameters are arranged in order to determine a parameter for performing a predetermined process by reading and executing the computer. Is a computer program that functions as a user interface control device that determines the parameters based on the operation result of, a program code of a management process that manages the dependency relationship of the plurality of controls as a conflict processing rule, and the plurality of controls. When an operation is performed on one of them, the program code of the setting process for setting the state indicating whether or not each control can be operated is set in accordance with the conflict rule managed by the management means, and the setting result of the setting process. Depending on the display window And a program code of a display updating step for updating the display form of the control of 1. 10. A storage medium on which the computer program according to claim 9 is stored.