JP2007299324A - User interface control method, apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a user interface control method, apparatus and program capable of controlling a user interface through a simple process while easily securing the matching of the requirements for prohibiting or permitting selection. <P>SOLUTION: When there is an input for the start of user interface control, a sequence of numerical values representing the logical expression of prohibition requirements is read and copied to an operation memory (S10, S20). A table indicating the status of selection (selected/unselected) of choices for each set items set at that time is created (S30). The table is referred to and the status value of each choice is replaced by the corresponding numerical value in the sequence of numerical values (S40). The sequence of numerical values after the application of the status values is calculated by a stacking operation, and based on the result of the calculation a determination is made as to whether or not main setting is possible; if the prohibition requirement is 1 (TRUE), a notification that a combination of the choices set is prohibited and cannot be set is displayed (S80). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a user interface and a program, for example, which are displayed on a display device when setting printing conditions and are prohibited from selecting a predetermined option when a certain option is selected from a plurality of setting items.

  For example, printing by a printer is performed by setting print setting information such as print size and paper type. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a printer that can select print setting information using an input device on an input screen displayed on the display screen of a stand-alone printer. Patent Documents 2 and 3 disclose a printer driver that displays a setting screen on which a user can set print setting information using an input device on the screen of a display device of a host computer. In the technique of Patent Document 2, a prohibition process is performed such that a paper tray with insufficient paper cannot be selected on the setting screen.

  Also, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, on the setting screen (user interface), a plurality of options are prepared for each of a plurality of setting items such as paper size, paper type, and printing speed, and the user desires for each setting item. The print setting information can be set by selecting the option.

  By the way, setting items that can be selected in this type of user interface include the above-described paper size, paper type, etc., color mode (color / monochrome), print quality (text / draft), and bidirectional printing (on / off). Various setting items can be selected such as off) and borderless printing (on / off). However, there are cases where the combination of the option A1 of a certain setting item and the option B1 of another setting item is not suitable for appropriate printing, so that such an unsuitable option cannot be selected. It is disabled such as being hidden or grayed out. For example, if “Draft”, which gives priority to print speed over print quality, is selected in the setting item “Print quality”, the setting item “Bidirectional printing” prints in only one direction of the carriage reciprocating scan. The option of bidirectional printing “off” is invalidated so that “unidirectional printing” with a low printing speed cannot be selected. When the user interface is controlled so as to avoid such an inappropriate combination of options, it is determined from the prohibition condition whether each option should be validated or invalidated. When the combination is not settable, for example, non-settable options on the list box are hidden or grayed out so that the user cannot select.

  Conventionally, as a method for determining the validity / invalidity of each option from the prohibition condition, for example, an n-bit bit flag string equal to the number n of all options of all setting items as shown in FIG. 15, for example, “0000100100. A bit flag string such as “00” is prepared according to the number of combinations that can be set or cannot be set, and prohibition information is acquired based on the bit flags. For example, in the table 71 representing the prohibition conditions shown in FIG. 15, a bit flag is set for each prohibition condition such as a bit flag prohibiting borderless printing and a bit flag prohibiting roll paper printing. For example, as many bit flag sequences as the number of combinations corresponding to a plurality of options A1 and B1 for which combinations are prohibited are prepared and provided as prohibition information.

In another conventional method, it is assumed that all selectable options on the UI are treated as logical variables, and each logical variable takes a state of {selected (TRUE) or non-selected (FALSE)}. A forbidden condition that cannot be set is expressed by a logical expression that combines these logical variables.
E = ((X1 ∧ X2) ∨ (X1 ￣∧ X3)) ∨ ((X2 ∧ X4 ￣) ∨ ((X1 ∧ X3) ∧ X5))…
The software reads the logical expression as described above, analyzes it, and converts it into a data format indicating information that cannot be set. After that, it is used for UI prohibition processing. Further, the specific conversion method from the logical expression depends on the implementation method of each software.
JP 2001-312491 A JP 2004-5455 A JP 2005-165713 A

  However, the following points can be cited as the former problem of the two conventional methods. Since the prohibited conditions can be freely defined in each setting item, it is possible to create contradictory data as the overall prohibited conditions, and as a result, the consistency of the prohibited conditions cannot be guaranteed. Further, when trying to indicate complicated prohibition conditions, a large amount of bit flags are required, and on the UI side, a large amount of logic for analyzing and executing these bit flags is required.

  Moreover, the following point is mentioned as a latter problem among two conventional methods. Since it is necessary to analyze logical expressions and prohibition data including all prohibition conditions and convert them into data indicating information that cannot be set / can be set, more calculation time is required than the former method. It becomes. In addition, the converted arithmetic operation data has a problem that a large memory capacity is required as compared with the former conventional method.

  Also in Patent Document 2, a prohibition process is performed to avoid paper shortage and errors in the paper tray. However, this is not a prohibition process of a combination of options, but a paper tray or error shortage of paper is detected. Since it is sufficient to hide / invalidate the detected option, the user interface control is not complicated in the first place, and the problem is different.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to control a user interface by a simple process and to easily ensure matching of selection prohibition or selection permission conditions and a user interface. To provide a control device and a program.

  The present invention is a user interface control method for controlling a user interface displayed on a display unit so that an option can be input for each of a plurality of setting items based on an input from the input unit, and selection between the setting items is prohibited or A storage unit stores a numerical sequence in which a logical expression expressing each option for each setting item as a logical variable is converted into a numerical value as a condition for combination of alternatives to be permitted, and control start from the input unit When obtaining a trigger input, the numerical value string is read from the storage means, and a state value application step for replacing a state value indicating a selection state of each option of the setting item with a corresponding numerical value in the numerical value string, An operation step for performing an operation based on the numerical sequence to which the state value is applied, and a prohibition that there is a selection prohibition option from the operation result at the operation step. If the information has been obtained and summarized in that and a display reflecting step for reflecting the 該禁 law information on a display of said display means.

  According to this, when an input that triggers the start of control is obtained from the input means, the numerical value string is read from the storage means in the state value application step, and the selection state of each option in each setting item on the user interface is indicated. Replace the status value with the corresponding numeric value in the numeric sequence. Then, in the calculation step, calculation is performed based on the numerical sequence after application of the state value. In the display reflection step, if the calculation result is prohibition information indicating that there is a selection prohibition option, the prohibition information is reflected on the display of the display means. Since the control logic is a numerical string calculation logic, it is a relatively simple logic, and since it is a calculation of a logical expression representing the prohibition condition for selection prohibition or the permission condition for selection permission, it is easy to match the prohibition condition and the like. Therefore, a user interface control method, a user interface control device, and a program that can control the user interface by simple processing and easily ensure the matching of selection prohibition or selection permission conditions are provided.

In the user interface control method of the present invention, it is preferable that the condition is a forbidden condition that represents a condition of a combination of options that should be prohibited from being selected.
According to this, when the number of combinations of options that should be prohibited is larger than the number of combinations that should be allowed to be selected, it is a prohibition condition, and thus the logical expression can be completed easily. Therefore, since the numerical sequence is simplified, it is possible to reduce the burden of calculating the numerical sequence in the calculation step and reduce the memory area used for the calculation.

  Further, in the user interface control method of the present invention, the logical expression is a logical variable that becomes true when the option is selected and becomes false when the option is not selected. Is defined for all options of all setting items, and is negated of the logical variables X1,..., Xn, and becomes true when no option is selected, and false when selected. It is preferable that the logical expression expresses the condition by defining logical variables X1￣,..., Xn￣, and combining the logical variables by logical sum / logical product.

    According to this, using two types of logical variables Xn and Xn￣ in which true / false at the time of selection and non-selection are contradictory, the condition is determined by the combination of the logical variable and logical sum / logical product. Since expressed logical expressions are used, the range of conditions that can be expressed as logical expressions is expanded.

  In the user interface control method of the present invention, it is preferable that the numerical sequence is a sequence in which numerical values are arranged in reverse Polish notation. According to this, since the numerical values are arranged in the order of reverse Polish notation, the numerical values can be calculated by referring to the numerical values in order. For example, stack calculation can be performed by sequentially referring to the numerical values.

In the user interface control method of the present invention, it is preferable that the numerical sequence is calculated by stack calculation in the calculation step.
According to this, in the calculation step, the numerical sequence is calculated by stack calculation. The calculation may be performed by referring to the numerical values in order according to the numerical order in the numerical sequence. For example, calculation processing by a computer can be easily completed.

  In the user interface control method of the present invention, in the calculation step, the numerical values in the numerical sequence are sequentially referred to on the working memory for storing the numerical sequences in the calculation, and the memory area where the reference of the numerical values is finished Is used as a stack area, and when the reference numerical value corresponds to a logical variable, the reference numerical value is pushed to the stack area, and when the reference numerical value corresponds to a logical operator, a plurality of It is preferable to perform the operation on the numerical sequence by popping numerical values, performing an operation defined by the logical operator on the plurality of numerical values, and pushing the operation result to the stack area.

  According to this, the numerical values in the numerical sequence stored in the working memory are sequentially referred to, and the memory area where the numerical values have been referred to is utilized as a stack area. When the reference numerical value is a numerical value assigned to the logical variable, the reference numerical value is pushed to the stack area, and when the reference numerical value is a numerical value obtained by assigning to the logical operator, a plurality of (two) from the stack area. A numerical value is popped, an operation defined by the logical operator is performed on the plurality of numerical values, and the operation result is pushed onto the stack area. By repeating such a stack operation, the operation of the numerical sequence is advanced. Since the memory area after the numerical reference on the working memory is used as the stack area, it is not necessary to prepare a separate memory area for stack calculation.

  In the user interface control method of the present invention, it is preferable that the input that triggers the start of control from the input means is a confirmation input for confirming the option selected in each setting item.

  According to this, when there is a definite input for confirming the option selected in each setting item from the input means, since the option is selected in all the setting items, all the status values of the options are determined. For this reason, it is possible to determine whether or not the combination of options selected at that time should be prohibited or permitted from the calculation result of the calculation of the numeric string to which the state value is applied. For example, if it is permitted, it is determined by the combination of options at that time. On the other hand, if it is prohibited, it is reflected in the display of the display means that it cannot be selected.

  In the user interface control method of the present invention, it is preferable that the input that triggers the start of control from the input means is a selection input for selecting the option in the setting item.

  According to this, when there is a selection input for selecting an option from the input means, whether or not the option can be selected again regardless of whether it is not selected or selected among the setting items other than the setting item to which the option belongs You may need to judge. In this case, the state values of only some of the options including the selected option are determined, and the state values of the options of other setting items that need to be determined whether they can be selected are undetermined. Therefore, in the state value application step, only the state value of the option for which the state value is determined is replaced with the corresponding numerical value of the numerical value sequence, and the numerical value sequence to which only this partial state value is applied is performed in the calculation step. Then, from the calculation result, options for which selection is prohibited or permitted for a setting item that needs to be determined whether or not selection is possible are specified. Then, in the display reflection step, that is reflected on the display on the user interface for the choices that are prohibited or permitted to be selected. For example, an option whose selection is prohibited is invalidated so that it cannot be selected, such as being in a non-selectable state or a non-display state. Therefore, it can be avoided that the user subsequently selects an option that is prohibited in combination with other setting items.

  In the user interface control method of the present invention, it is preferable that the numeric string is composed of an array of numeric values assigned to logical variables and does not include a numeric value representing a logical operator. According to this, the numerical value sequence includes a plurality of numerical values assigned to the logical variables, and numerical values indicating logical operators are omitted. For this reason, the numerical sequence itself can be reduced by the amount that the logical operator is omitted, and the working memory required for the operation of the numerical sequence can be reduced. Further, since the number of numerical values to be referred to at the time of calculation is reduced, the time required for calculation can be shortened.

  In the user interface control method of the present invention, the numerical sequence is expressed in reverse Polish notation as a logical expression expressed in a notation format in which the order of the positions of logical operators is always fixed when expressed in reverse Polish notation. In the calculation step, the numerical value is popped from the stack area every time a predetermined number of numerical values are stacked by referring to the numerical values in the numerical sequence in order. In addition, it is preferable to perform an operation on the popped numerical value using a preset logical operator so as to be performed after referring to the predetermined number of numerical values.

  According to this, even if the numerical value of the logical operator is omitted, since the omitted position of the logical operator is fixed, the timing to perform the operation by the omitted logical operator is grasped from the reference position. Each time the stack operation is completed by referring to the numerical value up to the previous one of the omitted logical operator, the next omitted logical operator should be referred to from the current position. An operation with a fixed omitted logical operator is performed on the numerical value popped from the stack area. That is, it is possible to build a program for performing the operation of the omitted logical operator after referring to a predetermined number of numerical values. Therefore, even if the logical operator is omitted, the numerical sequence can be calculated according to a predetermined rule that the omitted logical operator is calculated each time a predetermined number of numerical values are referred to.

  Further, the user interface control device of the present invention is a user interface control method for controlling a user interface displayed on the display means based on an input from the input means so that an option can be inputted for each of a plurality of setting items, Storage means for storing a numerical string in which a logical expression expressing each option for each setting item as a logical variable is a combination of options that should be prohibited or allowed to be selected between items, and the input means A state value applying unit that replaces a state value indicating a selection state of each option of the setting item in the user interface with a corresponding numerical value in the numerical sequence when obtaining an input that triggers the start of control from There is a calculation means for performing a calculation based on the numerical sequence to which is applied, and a selection prohibition option from the calculation result of the calculation means exists. That if the prohibition information to the effect is obtained and summarized in that and a display reflecting unit for reflecting the 該禁 law information on a display of said display means. According to the invention of this apparatus, the same effect as that of the method invention can be obtained.

  The present invention is a user interface control program for causing a computer to execute a process for controlling a user interface displayed on a display unit based on an input from an input unit so that options can be input for each of a plurality of setting items. A storage unit stores a numerical string in which a logical expression that represents a condition of a combination of options that should be prohibited or permitted to be selected between the setting items and each option for each setting item is expressed as a logical variable is converted into a numerical value. When the computer obtains an input that triggers the start of control from the input means, the numerical value string is read from the storage means, and a state value indicating a selection state of each option of the setting item is displayed in the numerical value string. A state value application step for replacing with a corresponding numerical value, an operation step for performing an operation based on the numerical sequence to which the state value is applied, and Program for executing a display reflecting step if prohibition information indicating that there is a selection inhibition choices from the calculation result in the calculation step is obtained that reflects the 該禁 law information on a display of said display means. According to this, when the computer executes this program, the same effect as that of the invention of the method can be obtained.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the printing system. The printing system includes a computer 11 including a personal computer and a printer 21 connected to an interface (hereinafter “I / F 17”) of the computer 11. The printer 21 is, for example, an ink jet printer.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the computer 11 includes a CPU 12, a ROM 13, a RAM 14, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 15, a video circuit 16, an I / F 17, a bus 18, a display device 19, and an input device 20.

Here, the CPU 12 is a control unit that executes various arithmetic processes according to programs stored in the ROM 13 and the HDD 15 and controls each unit of the apparatus.
The ROM 13 is a memory that stores basic programs executed by the CPU 12 and data. The RAM 14 is a memory that temporarily stores programs being executed by the CPU 12, data being calculated, and the like.

  The HDD 15 is a storage device that reads data and programs stored in the hard disk in response to a request from the CPU 12 and stores data generated as a result of the arithmetic processing of the CPU 12 in the hard disk.

The video circuit 16 is a circuit that executes a drawing process according to a drawing command supplied from the CPU 12, converts the obtained image data into a video signal, and outputs the video signal to the display device 19.
The I / F 17 is a circuit that appropriately converts the expression format of the signal output from the input device 20 and outputs print data to the printer 21.

The bus 18 is a signal line that connects the CPU 12, ROM 13, RAM 14, HDD 15, video circuit 16, and I / F 17 to each other and enables data exchange between them.
The display device 19 is configured by, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitor or a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor, and displays an image according to the video signal output from the video circuit 16.

The input device 20 is configured by, for example, a keyboard and a mouse, and is a device that generates a signal corresponding to a user operation and supplies the signal to the I / F 17.
Hereinafter, each functional portion shown in FIG. 2 will be described individually.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an application program, a video driver program, a printer driver program, and the like are installed in the computer 11, and these operate under a predetermined operating system (OS). The application unit 23, the video driver 24, and the printer driver 25 are constructed by the CPU 12 built in the computer 11 executing the above-described various programs stored in the HDD 15 or the like.

  The printer driver 25 includes a UI control device 30 and a printing unit 38. The UI control device 30 includes a storage unit 31, a data load unit 32, a table creation unit 33, a calculation unit 34, a UI control unit 35, and a printing unit 38. These functional parts are realized by the cooperation of the hardware of the computer 11 and the software stored in the HDD 15.

  The application unit 23 has a function of performing image editing, for example, and can process an image captured from a digital camera or an image drawn by a user. The image handled by the application unit 23 is displayed on the screen of the display device 19 by being output to the video driver 24. When the input unit 20 is operated to accept a print execution command, the application unit 23 outputs the image data to be printed to the printer driver 25.

  The video driver 24 is a program for driving the video circuit 16. For example, the video driver 24 performs gamma processing, white balance adjustment, and the like on the image data supplied from the application unit 23, and then generates and displays a video signal. The image is supplied to the device 19 and displayed. The printer driver 25 displays the image data of the UI 28 on the screen of the display device 19 via the video driver 24.

  The printer driver 25 is a user interface control device (hereinafter referred to as “UI control device 30”) that performs display control of a user interface (hereinafter referred to as “UI28”) for the user to input and set printing conditions on the screen of the display device 19. Is provided). When the user operates the input device 20 to input a command related to printing such as a print execution command or a print setting display command to the application unit 23, the UI control device 30 is activated by the printer driver 25 that has received the command. Is done.

  The UI control device 30 displays a UI 28 having a setting screen on which setting items such as paper size, media, and color mode are selectable. In the UI 28, one of selection function units such as a combo box, a radio button, and a check box is associated with each setting item constituting the printing condition, and the user can set each setting item on the UI 28. A desired printing condition is set by selecting and changing the selection function unit for each selection as necessary. In this case, there are combinations of options that cannot be set together between setting items. For example, a combination of “glossy paper” set at the time of photo printing in the setting item “media” and “draft” not suitable for photo printing in the setting item “print quality” corresponds to this. By prohibiting combinations that are inappropriate as options from being set in advance, it is possible to prevent the user from printing under inappropriate printing conditions.

  The following two methods can be used as a method for preventing the printing condition from being set by a combination of options that are prohibited from being selected. One is a method of notifying selection prohibition when the OK button 42 (confirmation button) shown in FIG. The other one is a method of disabling the selection prohibition option (grayed out or hidden) to disable the selection by the user. This embodiment employs the former method.

  The setting items that can be selected on the UI 28 for setting printing conditions include, for example, about 10 to 20 although they include items set on a lower setting screen such as a detailed setting screen, depending on the model of the printer 21. About 2 to 10 choices prepared for each setting item are selected one by one for each setting item, and the printing conditions are determined. The UI control device 30 determines whether or not the setting of the option when the OK button 42 is operated satisfies a prohibition condition among the combinations of a large number of options, and according to the determination result Perform predetermined processing. In the present embodiment, as a predetermined process, when a setting is possible, a process for confirming and accepting the setting is performed. When the setting is not possible, a process for displaying a message indicating that the setting is not possible is displayed on the screen of the display device 19. Do.

  The UI control device 30 efficiently acquires a combination of options that cannot be set between setting items. The process of discriminating between combinations of options that can be set and options that cannot be set is based on prohibited data (numerical string) that is a numerical expression of the logical expression of the prohibited conditions that includes all combinations of options that cannot be set. It has become. When the UI control device 30 obtains an input for starting UI control, the UI control device 30 substitutes the state value of each option selected on the UI 28 into a numerical value string, and calculates the numerical value string after the substitution from the calculation result obtained. It is determined whether or not the prohibition condition is satisfied, and the determination result is reflected on the display of the display device 19. In the present embodiment, a numerical value sequence 55 obtained by converting the logical expression 52 created by the computer 50 on the printer manufacturer side shown in FIG. 2 into a numerical value is stored in the CD-ROM 41 together with the printer driver program as prohibition data. Is provided with the printer 21 for the user. Then, a printer driver program and various data are installed in the user's computer 11 from the CD-ROM 41, whereby the printer driver 25 having the UI control device 30 is installed in the computer 11.

  Here, processing performed by the computer 50 will be described. The computer 50 is equipped with a tool for a developer to develop the UI control device 30 for the printer, and includes a numerical string creating unit 51 as a part of the function of the tool. The development tool is configured by software, and the numerical sequence creating unit 51 is constructed as a part of the function by the computer 50 executing the software. The numerical sequence creating unit 51 creates a logical expression 52 based on prohibition information given by a developer operating an input means (not shown), and converts the logical expression 52 into a numerical sequence 55 according to a predetermined rule. To do. As described above, the logical expression 52 is a logical expression that expresses a prohibition condition that defines a combination in which selection is prohibited among a plurality of setting items, with options as logical variables. Details of the logical expression 52 will be described later.

Next, components of the UI control device 30 will be described.
The storage unit 31 shown in FIG. 2 is configured by a predetermined storage area or memory of the HDD 15 and stores data necessary for UI control processing. As described above, the data of the numerical value sequence 55 read from the CD-ROM 41 is stored in the storage unit 31. In addition, the storage unit 31 is provided with a predetermined storage area for managing, with a flag, the state value of the selected state, which state is selected / unselected for each option on the UI 28. In the initial state, default values are set for the respective state values (flags), and the flag value is changed each time the selection state of the option is changed by the operation of the input device 20.

  When there is an input from the input device 20 that triggers the start of UI control processing, the data load unit 32 displays state value (flag) data indicating the selection state of each option on the UI 28 at that time, Are loaded from the storage unit 31. In the present embodiment, the input when the OK button 42 is operated becomes a trigger for starting the UI control process.

The table creation unit 33 creates a table 44 (shown in FIG. 3) based on the data of the numerical value sequence 55 loaded by the data loading unit 32 and the state value data for each option.
The calculation unit 34 refers to the table 44 created by the table creation unit 33 and replaces the numeric value assigned to the logical variable of each option among the many numeric values constituting the numeric string 55 with the state value of the corresponding option. Process. That is, a process of substituting the state value into the logical variable of the logical expression expressed by the numerical value sequence 55 is performed. And the predetermined calculation process which calculates the numerical sequence after state value application is performed.

  The UI control unit 35 determines whether or not this setting is possible from the calculation result of the calculation unit 34, and reflects the determination result on the display content of the display device 19 via the video driver 24. In the present embodiment, as described above, when the main setting is possible, the main setting is accepted and the printing unit 38 is notified that the main setting has been confirmed. On the other hand, when the main setting is impossible, the main setting is performed. A message indicating that is not possible is displayed.

  Upon receiving a notification of confirmation from the UI control unit 35, the printing unit 38 reads out status value data from the storage unit 31 to acquire print setting information, and performs resolution conversion processing and color conversion on the image data to be printed. Print data generated by performing processing, halftone processing, and rasterization processing is supplied to the printer 21. The print data is data in a format that can be interpreted by the printer 21 and includes the pixel data and various command data.

  The resolution conversion process is a process for converting, for example, the resolution of an RGB image to be printed into a print resolution determined from the options of the setting item “print quality”. Further, when this processing is performed, scaling processing or trimming processing for scaling to an image size corresponding to the paper size determined from the option of the setting item “paper size” is performed as necessary. The color conversion process is a process of converting RGB image data expressed in the RGB color system into image data of the CMYK color system with reference to a color conversion table (not shown). The halftone process is a process of converting CMYK pixel data having multi-stage gradation values into CMYK pixel data having small-stage gradation values that can be expressed by the printer 21. The rasterization process is a process for changing the CMYK image data subjected to the halftone process in the order of data to be transferred to the printer 21. The rasterized data is output to the printer 21 as print data to which a command is attached.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed in advance by the computer 50 on the manufacturer side. As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3D, the processing performed by the numerical sequence creation unit 51 includes (a) creation of a logical expression 52, (b) rearrangement into reverse Polish notation, (c) logical variable It consists mainly of three processes for numerical conversion of logical symbols.

First, the creation of a logical expression will be described. Assume that all selectable options on the UI 28 are treated as logical variables, and each logical variable takes a state of {selected (TRUE) or non-selected (FALSE)}. A forbidden condition that cannot be set is expressed by a logical expression that combines these logical variables. The forbidden condition formula E is shown as follows.
E = ((X1∧X2) ∨ (X1￣∧X3)) ∨ ((X2∧X4￣) ∨ ((X1∧X3) ∧X5))… (1)
For example, the setting items include paper size, media, color mode, and the like. Each option prepared below each setting item is represented by a logical variable. For example, the setting item “paper size” has “A2, A3, A4, Letter, Legal,...” As options, and the setting item “media” includes “plain paper, OHP sheet, matte” as options. Paper, glossy paper, semi-glossy paper,..., And the setting item “color mode” has “color / monochrome” as an option. A logical variable is assigned to each of these options.

  The logical variables on the right side of the logical expression 52 expressed by the above equation (1) include “X1, X2, X3, X4, X5,...” And “X1￣, X2￣, X3￣, X4￣, X5￣. , ... ". The logical variable Xn (where n = 1, 2,...) Is true when the option N1 represented by the logical variable Xn is selected, and false when the option N1 is not selected. ) Is a logical variable. On the other hand, the logical variable Xn￣ (where n = 1, 2,...) Becomes true (TRUE) when the option N1 represented by the logical variable Xn is not selected, and when the option N1 is selected. It is a logical variable that is false. Each of the logical variables Xn and Xn￣ takes a value “1” when it is true (TRUE) and takes a value “−1” when it is false (FALSE).

  For example, “X1∧X2” in the right side of the above equation (1) is X1∧X2 when both the option A1 represented by the logical variable X1 and the option B1 represented by the logical variable X2 are selected. Becomes TRUE and X1 値 X2 = 1∧1 = 1 takes the value “1”. When at least one of the option A1 represented by the logical variable X1 and the option B1 represented by the logical variable X2 is not selected, X1∧X2 becomes FALSE and X1∧X2 = −1. The value “−1” is obtained by (∵1∧-1 = −1∧1 = −1 値 -1 = −1).

  Xn∨Xm in which logical variables are connected by logical sum is expressed as follows when Xn∨Xm is selected when at least one of the choice An represented by the logical variable Xn and the choice Bm represented by the logical variable Xm is selected. True (TRUE) and X1 「X2 = 1 (∵1∨-1 = −1∨1 = 1∨1 = 1), and takes the value“ 1 ”. Further, when both of the option An represented by the logical variable Xn and the option Bm represented by the logical variable Xm are not selected, Xn∨Xm becomes FALSE, and Xn∨Xm = −1 ( The value "-1" is obtained by (-1) -1 = -1).

  Forbidden function E means that when the value becomes “1” and becomes true (TRUE), the combination of options selected at that time is prohibited, while the value becomes “−1”. If it becomes false (FALSE), it means that the combination of choices selected at that time is not prohibited, that is, permitted. In other words, E = 1 when a combination of prohibited options is selected, and E = −1 when a combination of options that is not prohibited (that is, permitted) is selected.

  “X1∧X2” shown in the above example means that in the logical expression 52, it is prohibited to simultaneously select both the option A1 and the option B1. Further, “X1￣∧X3” in the equation (1) indicates that the option C1 represented by the logical variable X3 is not selected in the logical formula 52 when the option A1 represented by the logical variable X1￣ is not selected. This means that the selection of is prohibited. That is, in order to select option C, it means that selection of option A1 is essential. For the combinations of options that are prohibited from being selected in this way, logical variables representing the respective combinations are connected by logical product (∧), for example, “Xn∧Xm”, “Xn￣∧Xm”, “Xn∧Xm￣”. , “Xn￣∧Xm￣”, “(Xn∧Xm) ∧Xl”,... Each of these prohibited combinations connected by logical product is connected by logical sum (∨) to form a small group formula, and the small group formula connected by the logical sum is another small group. For example, the logical expression 52 is constructed by being connected to the above expression by logical sum. Therefore, when it is desired to add a certain prohibited combination, each logical variable corresponding to the prohibited combination in the logical expression is connected by a logical product (∧), for example, “Xn∧Xm” or the expression of the small group, What is necessary is just to add to the existing logical formula 52 in the form connected by the logical sum. In addition, when it is desired to delete a prohibited combination, each logical variable corresponding to the prohibited combination is connected by a logical product (∧), for example, “Xn∧Xm” or the formula of the small group is replaced with an existing logical formula. What is necessary is just to delete from 52. If the logical expression 52 is used in this way, addition / deletion of prohibited combinations can be performed relatively easily.

  The numerical formula 52 shown in FIG. 3A is created by the numerical value string creating unit 51 of the computer 50 based on the above-described method. When a developer manipulates an input device (not shown) to define a logical variable of options as necessary and inputs information on a combination that is prohibited in response to a request from the numerical sequence creation unit 51, a numerical sequence The creation unit 51 creates the logical expression 52 according to the rules described above.

  That is, the numerical sequence creation unit 51 sets all the logical variables X1, X2, X3,... That are true (TRUE) when a specific option in a setting item is selected, and false (FALSE) when a specific option is not selected. Define all options for the setting items. Next, negation of X1, X2, X3,..., That is, logical variables X1￣, X2￣, X3￣,... That are true (TRUE) when an option is not selected and false (FALSE) when an option is selected. Define. Based on the prohibition condition (selection prohibition condition) information given from the input device, by combining these logical variables with logical sum and logical product, A logical expression 52 is created.

  When the logical expression 52 is created in this way, the numerical value string creating unit 51 performs a process of rearranging the logical expression 52 into the reverse Polish notation as shown in FIG. As a result of this processing, the reverse Polish notation logic in which the parentheses “()” in the logical expression 52 are removed and the logical variables and logical symbols are rearranged in the order of calculation as shown in FIG. Equation 53 is obtained.

  Next, the numerical sequence creating unit 51 converts the logical expression 53 of the reverse Polish notation into a numerical sequence 55 shown in FIG. 3D with reference to the conversion table 54 shown in FIG. This conversion table 54 is read out and used in advance stored in a predetermined storage area of the memory. Alternatively, the numerical value string creation unit 51 may create each time according to the number of setting item options.

  The conversion table 54 shown in FIG. 3C is a table showing the correspondence between logical variables / logical symbols and their conversion destination numerical values. In the conversion table 54, “TRUE (true)” is set to “1” and “FALSE (false)” is set to “−1”, and the logical product (、) is “2” and logical sum ( Ii) is set to be converted to "-2". As for the logical variables, the logical variables “X1, X2, X3, X4,...” Are converted to “3, 4, 5, 6,...”, Respectively, and the logical variables “X1￣, X2￣, X3￣, X4” are converted. “￣,...” Are set to be converted into “−3, −4, −5, −6,. “0” is used for termination (NULL). Note that the conversion of “TRUE” and “FALSE” is not used for the conversion from the logical expression 53 to the numerical sequence 55, and therefore the numerical sequence 55 does not include “1” and “−1”. In the computer 11 on the user side, when the calculation for UI control is performed in the state where the option of the setting item is selected on the UI 28, the numerical value indicating the logical variable of the option corresponds to the selection / non-selection of the corresponding option. Are replaced with “1” or “−1”.

  In this way, the numerical sequence creation unit 51 refers to the conversion table 54 and converts the logical expression 53 of the reverse Polish notation shown in FIG. 3B to the numerical sequence 55 shown in FIG. In the numerical value sequence 55, “0” indicating the end position of the numerical value sequence 55 is arranged at the final end position. When the computer 11 calculates the numerical value sequence 55, the left end position in the figure in the numerical value sequence 55 becomes the calculation start position, and the calculation proceeds while shifting the numerical values to be referred to one by one sequentially from the calculation start position. It will be. Then, when “0” for termination is referred to, calculation of all numerical values is completed. The end “0” is arranged at the end of the numerical sequence 55 so that the calculation end position can be recognized.

  As described above, the data in the numerical sequence 55 is written in the CD-ROM 41 together with the printer driver program, and is installed in the user's computer 11 together with the printer driver program from the CD-ROM 41. Is stored in the storage unit 31 shown in FIG. The computer 11 has a numeric string 55 as software setting data, and is used when the UI control device 30 controls the UI 28. When the user instructs execution of printing from the application unit 23 and the printer driver 25 receives a print command, the UI control device 30 displays the UI 28 on the screen of the display device 19, and the user operates the UI 28 by operating the input device 20. The prohibition control is performed to prohibit the selection of the combination that should be prohibited when the option is selected in.

  FIG. 4 shows a UI control processing program (forbidden control processing) executed by the CPU 12 when an input in which the OK button 42 is operated is obtained from the input device 20 with a desired option selected in each setting item on the UI 28. FIG. The UI control processing is performed by the UI control device 30 configured by the CPU 12 that executes the UI control processing program. The UI control process will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 as appropriate according to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing pre-processing before the calculation is started in the work memory 43, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram explaining a calculation procedure in the work memory 43. An input when the OK button 42 provided on the UI 28 shown in FIG. 2 is operated is given to the data load unit 32 of the UI control device 30. The UI control process is started upon input of this signal.

  First, in step S10, a working memory area is prepared. In this embodiment, a working memory area is secured in the RAM 14, and this memory area is used as the working memory 43 (shown in FIGS. 5 and 6). If the number of options is 125 or less, 1 byte is secured for each numerical value. If there are more than 125 options, 2 bytes are reserved for each numerical value.

  In step S 20, the numerical value sequence 55 is copied to the work memory 43. That is, the numerical value sequence 55 is read from the storage unit and stored in the work memory 43 as shown in FIG. If the number of choices (setting items) is 125 or less, one numerical value is stored in 1 byte secured previously, and if it exceeds 125, one numerical value is stored in 2 bytes secured previously. To do.

  In step S30, a table indicating the setting state (selected state) is generated. Logical variables X1, X2, X3,... Are assigned to all options, and selection is made for each of the logical variables X1, X2, X3,... From the setting state (selected state) of the options selected on the UI 28.・ Unknown. “1” (TRUE) for the numerical value (Index) corresponding to the logical variable of the selected option, and “−1” for the numerical value (Index) corresponding to the logical variable of the unselected (non-selected) option. (FALSE) is set, and the table 44 shown in FIG. 5B is created. In the example of the figure, “1” is set as the state value for the numerical values (Index) “4”, “7”,... Corresponding to the logical variables X2, X5,. For the numerical values (Index) “3”, “5”, “6”,... Corresponding to the logical variables X1, X3, X4,. Yes. The state values of the logical variables X1Ｘ, X2￣, X3￣,... Can be obtained by multiplying the state values of X1, X2, X3,. In the table 44, the numerical values (Index) “0”, “1”, and “2” are not used because they are not numerical values representing options.

  In step S40, the numerical value assigned to the logical variable is replaced with the state value of the logical variable acquired from the table 44. That is, the numerical value (Index) “3, 4, 5,...” To which the logical variable is assigned in the numerical value sequence 55 shown in FIG. 1 ”) and converted into a numeric string 56 as shown in FIG.

  In step S50, the replaced numeric string 56 is calculated by stack operation. FIG. 6 shows a calculation procedure performed in the stack operation. By calculating the numerical sequence 56 by this stack operation, prohibition information is extracted. Hereinafter, a calculation method by stack operation will be described.

  A stack in which the replaced numeric value string 56 is referred to one by one in the right direction from the start position (left end position in the figure) of the work memory 43 and the work memory 43 itself is used as a stack. By performing the operation, the numerical sequence 56 is calculated.

  FIG. 6A shows a process from immediately after the numerical value replacement until the calculation is performed with reference to the first numerical value. Here, in order to use the working memory 43 as a stack and perform calculation by stack operation, it is necessary to manage a numerical reference position and a stack end position. The CPU 12 secures a predetermined storage area on the memory and manages the stack end position. Further, another predetermined storage area is secured on the memory, and a reference position 45 (address) for referring to the numerical values in the numerical value string 56 on the working memory 43 one by one is managed here.

  The reference position 45 uses the left end position in FIG. 6 in the working memory 43 as a reference start position, and moves to the right one by one each time a numerical value is referenced. On the other hand, the stack end 46 sets the left end position of FIG. Stack operations are performed according to the following rules: When the numerical value (reference numerical value) of the reference position 45 is “1” (TRUE) or “−1” (FALSE) which is the state value of the logical variable, the reference numerical value is set to the position of the stack end 46 of the work memory 43. To push. When a numerical value is pushed, the stack end 46 is moved to the right by one. When the numerical value (reference numerical value) at the reference position 45 is “2” (logical product) or “−2” (logical sum), which is a numerical value representing a logical symbol, two from the stack area in the work memory 43. Pop the numerical value and return the stack end 46 to the left by the number (two) of the popped numerical values. The stack operation performed according to such rules and the position management of the reference position 45 and the stack end 46 are performed by the CPU 12 based on the UI control program. For convenience, the addresses of the storage area (one portion in FIG. 6) in the working memory 43 in FIG. 6 are the first address, second address, third address,... I will call it.

  First, as shown in FIG. 6A, the first numerical value that is the first reference position 45 is referred to. Since the reference numerical value is “−1” (FALSE), the reference numerical value is pushed to the first address which is the position of the stack end 46 on the working memory 43. Pushing moves the stack end 46 one step to the right. When the reference and push of the first numerical value are finished in this way, as shown in FIG. 6B, both the reference position 45 and the stack end 46 indicate the second address where the second numerical value is located.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the second numerical value at the reference position 45 is referred to, the reference numerical value is “1”, so the reference numerical value is used as the stack end 46 on the work memory 43. To the second address, which is the position of. Pushing moves the stack end 46 one step to the right. When the second numerical value is referred and pushed, the reference position 45 and the stack end 46 both indicate the third address, which is the third numerical value position, although not shown.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, when the third numerical value at the reference position 45 is referred to, the reference numerical value is “2” (logical product), so 2 from the stack area of the working memory 43. One number is popped, and the stack end 46 is returned to the left by the number of pops (two). Here, since the reference numerical value “2” means a logical product, the logical product of the two popped numerical values is calculated. That is, −1 (FALSE) 2 (∧) 1 (TRUE) is calculated. Then, the calculation result “−1” is pushed to the position of the stack end 46. As a result of this push, the stack end 46 is shifted to the right by one and the second address is indicated as shown in FIG. The reference position 45 is in a state indicating the fourth address which is the position of the fourth numerical value. Since the stack end point 46 indicates the position where the numerical value is to be pushed next, the position at which the numerical value is popped is a position to the left of the stack end point 46.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6D, when the fourth numerical value at the reference position 45 is referred to, the reference numerical value is “1” (TRUE), so that the reference numerical value is stored in the work memory 43. Push to the second address which is the position of the stack end 46. In this case, the pushed value is overwritten. This push moves the stack end 46 one step to the right. When the fourth numerical value is referred and pushed, the reference position 45 indicates the fifth address which is the fifth numerical value position, and the stack end 46 is set to the third numerical value. A state indicating the third address which is the position of the numerical value is entered. Thereafter, the stack operation is repeated in the same procedure until the terminal value “0” is referred to.

  At the stage of referring to the terminal value “0”, the stack terminal 46 is moved to the right by one from the position where the last calculation result performed at the time of referring to the previous numerical value is pushed. For example, when “0” is referred to, the stack end 46 is moved back to the left, and the stack end 46 indicates the final read position when the calculation result is read from the head position of the working memory 43. Therefore, the numerical value at the head position pointed to by the stack end 46 becomes the calculation result of the logical expression of the prohibition condition. In this way, the calculation by the stack operation of the numerical sequence in step S50 shown in FIG. 4 is performed, and the calculation result is obtained.

  In step S60, it is determined whether this setting is possible. That is, a numerical value is read from the head position that is the stack end position from the work memory 43 after the calculation is completed, and it is determined whether or not the numerical value of the calculation result is “−1” (FALSE). Here, as described with reference to FIG. 6, since the value of the start position of the work memory 43 is a calculation result, the numerical value of the start position of the work memory 43 is seen and the value is “−1” (FALSE). If so, this setting is not a forbidden condition, and this setting can be set. On the other hand, if the numerical value (calculation result) at the head position is “1” (TRUE), this setting is a prohibition condition, and this setting cannot be set. Therefore, in this step S60, it is determined whether or not the numerical value at the head position of the working memory 43 is “−1” (FALSE). If the numerical value at the head position is “−1” (FALSE), the process proceeds to step S70. If the numerical value at the head position is “1” (TRUE), the process proceeds to step S80.

  In step S70, this setting is confirmed. In other words, the options of the setting items selected by the user are confirmed, and for example, the printer driver 25 starts processing for performing printing with the determined print setting conditions of this setting.

In step S80, a message indicating that selection is not possible (setting is impossible) is displayed.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating user interface control. As shown in FIG. 7A, on the UI 28, the color mode is “color” and the medium is “matte paper”. Finally, “A4” is selected as the paper size and the mouse of the input device 20 is operated to operate the pointer 47. After the selection, the OK button 42 is operated with the pointer 47. Then, the UI control program is executed by the CPU 12 in the computer 11 and the above-described processing is executed to obtain the calculation result of the numerical sequence of logical expressions. If the calculation result is “−1”, the selected setting is not a forbidden condition, and the selected setting is accepted. On the other hand, if the calculation result is “1”, since the selected setting is a prohibition condition, a message 48 indicating that this setting cannot be set is displayed as shown on the lower side of FIG. It is displayed on the screen of the device 19 and the setting is not accepted. Steps S10 to S40 correspond to the state value application step, step S50 corresponds to the calculation step, and steps S60 and S80 correspond to the display reflection step.

As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) A logical expression representing the prohibition condition of choices in the UI 28 is stored in the storage unit 31 as a numerical sequence formed by converting each of the logical variables and logical operators into numerical values. Then, when the confirmation input in which the OK button 42 is operated is obtained, the state value of each option selected at that time is replaced with the corresponding numerical value of the numerical sequence, and the numerical value sequence after the replacement is calculated, From this calculation result, it is determined whether or not the setting selected on the UI 28 can be set. The UI control can be performed with a relatively small amount of data and a relatively simple process. In addition, since the prohibition information is obtained by calculating a numerical string representing a logical expression, it is easy to ensure consistency of the prohibition conditions.

(2) Since the operation of the numerical value sequence 56 is performed by using the working memory 43 as a stack and performing a stack operation, the memory capacity used for the operation can be reduced.
(3) The UI control process is started when the OK button 42 is operated in a state where all the options on the UI 28 are selected. Therefore, since the state value “1” or “−1” is set in all the numerical values corresponding to the logical variables in the numerical value string 56, the operation result is always obtained as “1” or “−1”. Therefore, subsequent processing performed based on the calculation result can be made relatively simple. For example, if the calculation result is E = -1, this setting is confirmed and printing is started through a predetermined procedure. If the calculation result is E = 1, a message 48 indicating that this setting cannot be selected is displayed. It is sufficient to perform the display process.

  (4) The numerical value sequence 55 is obtained by rearranging the logical expressions in reverse Polish notation and expressed in numerical values. Since the numerical values are arranged in the order of reverse Polish notation, the stack is calculated in order from the top. The numerical sequence 56 can be calculated by calculation. For this reason, the calculation of the numerical value string 56 can be completed by a relatively simple calculation process.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As a method for preventing printing conditions from being set for combinations of items whose selection is prohibited, in the first embodiment, selection is prohibited when the OK button 42 is operated with a combination of items whose selection is prohibited. A method to notify the effect was adopted. In contrast, the second embodiment employs a method in which selection by the user is prohibited in advance by disabling (grayed out) the selection prohibition options in advance. In addition, about the structure common to the said 1st Embodiment, description is abbreviate | omitted using the same code | symbol, and especially a different structure is explained in full detail.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a UI control processing program in the present embodiment. The CPU 12 executes this UI control processing program every time there is an input for selecting an option from the input device 20. Hereinafter, UI control processing will be described according to the flowchart of FIG. 8 with reference to FIGS. 9 to 12 as appropriate. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing pre-processing before the start of calculation in the work memory 43, FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a calculation method of a numerical expression including a logical variable, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing explaining the calculation method. As shown in FIG. 14A, when there is an input for selecting an option from the setting items on the UI 28, the CPU 12 starts UI control processing. In FIG. 2, when there is an input in which an option is selected from the input device, the UI control device 30 starts UI control processing and first activates the data load unit 32.

  First, a working memory area is prepared in step S110, and the numerical value sequence 55 is copied to the working memory 43 in step S120. These steps S110 and S120 are the same processes as steps S10 and S20 in the first embodiment. As a result of the processing in step S120, the numerical value sequence 55 is copied to the work memory 43 as shown in FIG.

  In the next step S130, a table indicating the setting state (selected state) is generated. This process is also basically the same as step S30 in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, the UI control process is started each time a setting item option is selected, so the state value is “1” ( The difference is that there is an undetermined logical variable that is not determined to be “TRUE” or “−1” (FALSE). “1” (TRUE) for the numerical value (Index) corresponding to the logical variable of the selected option, and “−1” for the numerical value (Index) corresponding to the logical variable of the unselected (non-selected) option. Set each to (FALSE). At this time, no replacement is performed for the numerical value corresponding to the option of the setting item for which prohibition determination is to be performed. The table 49 shown in FIG. 9B is created by performing such numerical value replacement. In the example of the figure, “1” is set as the state value for the numerical values (Index) “4”, “7”,... Corresponding to the logical variables X2, X5,. For a numerical value (Index) “5”... Corresponding to an unselected (unselected) logical variable X3,..., “−1” is set as a state value, and the unselected optional logical variables X1 and X4 are set. For the corresponding numerical values “3” and “6”, “3” and “6” are set as they are. The state values of the logical variables X1Ｘ, X2￣, X3￣,... Can be obtained by multiplying the state values of X1, X2, X3,.

  In step S140, the numerical value assigned to the logical variable is replaced with the state value of the logical variable acquired from the table 44. That is, the numerical value (Index) “3, 4, 5,...” To which the logical variable is assigned in the numerical value sequence 55 shown in FIG. 9A is replaced with the corresponding state value in the table 44, and FIG. c) is converted into a numeric string 57 as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the numerical value column 57 includes numerical values “3”, “−3”, “6”, and “−6” of the logical variables corresponding to the setting items for which the option is not selected.

  In step S150, the replaced numeric string 57 is calculated by stack operation. The calculation method by the stack operation is basically performed in the same manner as in step S50 in the first embodiment and the procedure described in FIG. However, since the numerical value of the logical variable is included, when the logical product or the logical sum is calculated, the numerical value of the logical variable may be included in at least one of a set of numerical values to be calculated. Different from the embodiment. Calculation of an expression including at least one of the numerical values of the logical variable can be performed efficiently and accurately according to the calculation rule shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, the calculation rule in the case of including a numerical value of a logical variable will be described with reference to FIG. Six calculation rules shown in FIGS. 4A to 4F are incorporated in the program in advance. All of these operation rules are logically derived from the operation rule of logical product or logical sum.

  In the figure, the numerical values of the logical variables to be operated are represented by A and B, and the logical variables of these numerical values A and B are Xn and Xm, respectively. In each of the arithmetic expressions shown in FIGS. 4A to 4F, the logical variables, logical symbols, and state values corresponding to the numerical values are shown in parentheses after the numerical values.

  The arithmetic expression represented by the numerical string “A21” shown in FIG. 11A means a logical product (∧) of the logical variable Xn and the state value “1”, that is, “Xn∧1”. In the case of Xn∧1, since the calculation result is “1” when Xn is “1” and the calculation result is “−1” when Xn is “−1”, Xn 、 1 = Xn. . Therefore, in the case of “A21”, “A” is pushed to the stack end position.

  The arithmetic expression represented by the numerical string “A2-1” shown in FIG. 11B means the logical product (∧) of the logical variable Xn and the state value “−1”, that is, “Xn∧−1”. . In the case of Xn∧−1, regardless of whether Xn takes a value of “1” or “−1”, the calculation result is “−1”, so Xn∧−1 = −1. Therefore, in the case of “A2-1”, “−1” is pushed to the stack end position.

  The arithmetic expression represented by the numerical string “A-21” shown in FIG. 11C means the logical sum (∨) of the logical variable Xn and the state value “1”, that is, “Xn∨1”. In the case of Xn∨1, regardless of whether Xn takes a value of “1” or “−1”, the calculation result is “1”, so Xn∨1 = 1. Therefore, in the case of “A-21”, “1” is pushed to the stack end position.

  The arithmetic expression represented by the numerical string “A-2-1” shown in FIG. 11D is obtained by calculating the logical sum (∨) of the logical variable Xn and the state value “−1”, that is, “Xn∨−1”. means. In the case of Xn∨-1, since the calculation result is “1” when Xn is “1” and the calculation result is “−1” when Xn is “−1”, Xn 、 −1 = Xn become. Therefore, in the case of “A-2-1”, “A” is pushed to the stack end position.

  The arithmetic expression represented by the numerical string “A2B” shown in FIG. 11E means a logical product (∧) of the logical variable Xn and the logical variable Xm, that is, “Xn∧Xm”. In the case of Xn∧Xm, since the state values of both Xn and Xm are undetermined, it is not known which value is “1” or “−1”. However, for example, it is impossible to simultaneously select both “A4” and “Letter” in the setting item of the paper size. In this way, in the case of a logical product of an impossible combination that simultaneously selects two options within the same setting item, Xn∧Xm is excluded as FALSE (“−1”). Therefore, in the case of “A2B”, if “A” and “B” are numerical values representing two options in the same setting item, “−1” is pushed to the stack end position.

  The arithmetic expression represented by the numerical string “A-2B” shown in FIG. 11F means a logical sum (∨) of the logical variable Xn and the logical variable Xm, that is, “Xn∨Xm”. In the case of Xn∨Xm, since the state values of both Xn and Xm are undetermined, it is not known which value is “1” or “−1”. Therefore, in the case of “A2B”, when A and B are numerical values representing two choices in different setting items, “A” and “B” are pushed to the stack end position. When two numerical values are pushed, the position of the stack end 46 moves to the right by two. Note that the same rule is applied to negative cases such as Xn￣ and XmＸ.

  FIG. 11 shows a calculation procedure performed in the stack operation. By calculating the numerical sequence 57 by this stack operation, prohibition information is extracted. Hereinafter, calculation by the stack operation will be described.

  The replaced numeric value sequence 57 is referred to from the left to the right in the figure, and the stack operation similar to that in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment is performed using the work memory 43 itself as a stack.

  FIG. 11A shows a process from immediately after the numerical value replacement until the calculation is performed with reference to the first numerical value. First, as shown in FIG. 11A, the first numerical value at the reference position 45 is first referred to. Since the reference value is “3” (X1), the reference value is pushed to the position of the stack end 46 on the work memory 43. Pushing moves the stack end 46 one step to the right.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 11B, when the second numerical value at the reference position 45 is referred to, the reference numerical value is “1”, so that the reference numerical value is used as the stack end 46 on the work memory 43. Push to the position. Pushing moves the stack end 46 one step to the right.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 11C, when the third numerical value at the reference position 45 is referred to, the reference numerical value is “2” (logical product), so 2 from the stack area of the working memory 43. One number is popped, and the stack end 46 is returned to the left by the number of pops (two). Here, since the reference numerical value “2” means a logical product, the logical product of the two popped numerical values is calculated. That is, 3 (X1) 2 (∧) 1 (TRUE) is calculated. Since this calculation corresponds to the arithmetic expression shown in FIG. 10A and the calculation result is “3”, “3” is pushed to the position of the stack end 46 as shown in FIG. 11C. . This push shifts the stack end 46 one position to the right.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 11D, when the fourth numerical value at the reference position 45 is referred to, the reference numerical value is “−3” (X1￣). Push to the top stack end 46 position. In this case, the pushed value is overwritten. This push moves the stack end 46 one step to the right. Thereafter, the stack operation is repeated in the same procedure until the terminal value “0” is referred to.

  Then, at the stage of referring to the terminal value “0”, the stack terminal 46 is moved to the right from the push position as a result of the push of the last calculation result performed at the time of referring to the previous numerical value. For example, when the calculation is completed, it is convenient that the final read position when the calculation result is read from the head position of the working memory 43 can be specified by the position of the stack end 46. For this reason, when the end value “0” is referred to, the stack end 46 is returned to the left by one. Therefore, a numerical string or a numerical value stored in the memory area from the start position of the working memory 43 to the stack end position is acquired as a calculation result of the logical expression E of the prohibition condition. Thus, the calculation by the stack operation of the numerical sequence in step S150 shown in FIG. 8 is performed, and the calculation result is obtained.

  FIG. 12 shows the working memory 43 when the calculation is completed. When the end numerical value “0” is referenced, the work memory 43 stores numerical values indicating logical variables (options) that cannot be selected from the head position to the stack end position. The CPU 12 acquires the calculation result stored in the memory area from the start position of the work memory 43 to the stack end position. In the example shown in the figure, “3-6” is obtained. In the numerical sequence “3-6” obtained as a calculation result, the logical variable X1 indicated by the numerical value “3” and the logical variable X4￣ indicated by the numerical value “−6” correspond to non-selectable options. Therefore, E = X1∨X4￣ is acquired as prohibition information. This means that the choice of the logical variable X1 is prohibited from being selected, and the choice of the logical variable X4 is prohibited from being selected. That is, selection of the logical variable X1 is prohibited (selection prohibited), which means that the alternative of the logical variable X4 must be selected.

  In response to the calculation result, in step S160 shown in FIG. 8, the option is invalidated according to the calculation result. That is, in the example of FIG. 12, if the setting item including the option of the logical variable X1 is N and the setting item including the option of the logical variable X4 is M, the option of the logical variable X1 among the options of the setting item N is invalid. The options other than the option of the logical variable X4 among the plurality of options in the setting item M are invalidated (grayed out). Accordingly, the user selects an option other than the option of the logical variable X1 in the setting item N, and can select only the option of the logical variable X4 in the setting item M, so that the user always selects this.

  Here, for example, it is assumed that a calculation result of logical expression E = AB (A and B are numerical values) is obtained. In this case, when the numerical value A is a positive numerical value, the option corresponding to the numerical value A is invalidated (grayed out) so that it cannot be selected. If the numerical value A is a negative numerical value, all the options other than the option corresponding to the numerical value A in the corresponding setting item are invalidated (grayed out or not displayed). In this case, only the option corresponding to the numerical value A that is not invalidated can be set. The same applies to the other numerical value B, and a predetermined option determined according to the sign of the value is invalidated (grayed out).

  In addition, data that the CPU 12 refers to in the UI control process is stored in the memory so that contradictory logical expressions do not appear in the numerical sequence calculation results. For example, the choices in the same setting item in the logical expression are calculated by including a condition that cannot be set at the same time, so that it is possible to avoid the occurrence of a plurality of negative numerical values (negative logical variables). Steps S110 to S140 correspond to the state value application step, step S150 corresponds to the calculation step, and step S160 corresponds to the display reflection step.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating user interface control. A UI 28 shown in FIG. 14 is a part of the setting screen of the UI 28, and a detailed setting screen or the like is displayed by operating a detailed setting button, a property button, or the like (not shown). In various setting items prepared on the detailed setting screen, the default option is selected. As shown in FIG. 14A, for example, the user operates the input device 20 (mouse) in a state where both the setting item “color mode” and the medium are not selected on the UI 28, and displays “A4” in the paper size. The pointer 47 is moved to "" and selected. Then, in the computer 11, the UI control program is executed by the CPU 12, the above-described processing is executed, and a calculation result of a numerical sequence of logical expressions is obtained. Note that, in the state where the color mode in FIG. 14A remains the default and the user has not made a selection, even if the color is selected by default, the CPU 12 will be regarded as not selected.

  In this case, for example, it is assumed that the option of the logical variable X1 is “OHP sheet” in the setting item “media”, and the option of the logical variable X4 is “color” of the setting item “color mode”. As a result of the calculation, the prohibition information shown in FIG. 12, E = X1∨X4￣ is acquired. Then, as shown in FIG. 14B, the “OHP sheet” that is the option of the logical variable X1 is invalidated, and the setting item other than “color” that is the option of the logical variable X4, that is, “monochrome” is invalidated. It becomes.

  Here, the setting items have priority, and the setting value is set for the setting items with the same or higher priority, but the setting value with the lower priority is set without setting the state value. Then, the table 44 is created. The example of FIG. 12 is an example in which, for example, the setting item “color mode” has a lower priority than the setting item “paper size”, and the numerical value assigned to the logical variable representing the choice of the setting item “color mode” is the state value. Is not replaced. Therefore, the numerical value sequence obtained as the result of the numerical value sequence includes the numerical value corresponding to the option in the setting item “color mode”, and the setting item “color” that has already been in the selected state is “color”. “Monochrome” is disabled in “Mode”. In the figure, parentheses are attached to invalidated options.

  Further, the logical expression of the prohibition condition includes logical variables assigned to all options of the UI 28 including not only the setting screen but also the detailed setting screen. For this reason, the prohibition information acquired by the calculation performed when the option is selected on the setting screen includes information on the option to be invalidated not only on the setting screen but also on the detail setting screen. Therefore, when the detailed setting screen is displayed by operating the detailed setting button on the setting screen, the calculation result that has already been calculated is used, so that a predetermined option can be displayed in a disabled state (grayed out) from the beginning. That is, it is possible to avoid delaying the reflection of invalidation of options when the detailed setting screen is displayed.

As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the same effects as those in the first embodiment can be obtained, and the following effects can be obtained.
(5) If a certain option is selected in the middle of setting, the UI control is started using the selected input as a trigger. Accordingly, since options that cannot be selected in the middle of setting are invalidated (grayed out) in advance, selection of options that cannot be selected can be prevented in advance. For example, in the first embodiment, the UI control is started when the OK button 42 is operated after all the options for each setting item are selected. When the message 48 indicating that setting is impossible is displayed. However, in this embodiment, it is not necessary to perform this kind of setting re-operation. Further, in the method of the first embodiment, when the setting is re-executed, the selection prohibition option is not known. Therefore, the setting must be made by trial and error, and the re-execution may be repeated many times. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, since the redo itself can be avoided, it can be set correctly at one time.

  (6) In the UI control, when a user performs a selection operation on one screen having a UI 28 composed of a plurality of screens, a calculation related to a prohibition related to a setting item to be set on another screen is performed. When is switched, the calculation result that has already been calculated may be reflected on the display. Therefore, it can be displayed in a state where the options are invalidated (grayed out) from the beginning of switching to another screen. For example, it is possible to avoid a response delay in which options are invalidated after switching the screen.

  (7) Since the calculation result of the numerical sequence 56 is obtained as a short numerical sequence representing a simple logical expression, it does not take much time for the analysis, and it takes a relatively short time even when combined with the calculation time of the numerical sequence. Processing can be finished.

(8) Since the predetermined rule shown in FIG. 10 is provided for the calculation including the logical variable, the logical operation including the logical variable can be performed relatively smoothly and accurately.
(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment will be described. The present embodiment is a modification of the numerical sequence employed in the first and second embodiments. This is an example of simplifying the format of a numeric string by providing a constraint on a logical expression indicating a prohibition condition, thereby reducing the size of the working memory and improving the calculation efficiency.

  FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the simplification of the numeric string. FIG. 6A shows a notation format of a logical expression employed in the present embodiment in order to simplify the numerical string. Although a logical expression representing one prohibition condition can be expressed in various notation formats, in this embodiment, the logical expression indicating the prohibition condition is limited to the notation format shown in FIG. That is, a logical expression is expressed in a notation format in which (Xn∧Xm) indicating a logical product of two logical variables is connected by a logical sum. Then, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 13B, in the numerical sequence arranged in the working memory 43 in the reverse Polish notation, the positions of the numerical values “2” and “−2” assigned to the logical operators Is always fixed. In this case, even if the number of options and the prohibition conditions are changed, the order in which the numerical values and logical symbols appear is always fixed by limiting the logical expression notation format to the notation format shown in FIG. The In this case, the number of bytes necessary to store one numerical value or logical symbol (for example, 1 byte) is equal to the number of logical variables in the logical expression, the number of logical symbols, and the number of other necessary numerical values such as a terminating numerical value. A memory capacity that is multiplied by the total is required. When the logical expression in FIG. 13A is replaced with a numerical string, the upper-stage work memory 43 in FIG. 13B has the numerical values “2” and “−2” representing logical symbols fixed at fixed positions. Appear in That is, they appear in the third, sixth, seventh, tenth, eleventh,... That is, the numerical value “2” regularly appears at the (4p−1) th (where p = 1, 2,...), And the numerical value “−2” appears regularly at the (4p + 2) th.

  Therefore, even if the logical symbol is not stored as a numerical value, it can be understood from the above rules how the numerical value is calculated after referring to the logical product, and the logical value is calculated after referring to the numerical value. As a result, the numerical values “2” and “−2” representing the logical symbols can be deleted, and by deleting them, the numerical sequence itself can be reduced as in the work memory 43A shown in the lower part of FIG. The memory area of the main memory 43A can be reduced by the amount of deletion of numerical values “2” and “−2”. In the operation of a numerical sequence, when a numerical value is first pushed twice, next, two numerical values are popped and a logical product is calculated. After that, every time you push a number twice, pop the result of two numbers and perform the logical product, pop the result, then continue to pop the number two and calculate the logical sum. It can be carried out. Of course, by restricting the expression form of the logical expression, the logical expression itself showing the same prohibition condition may become long, and therefore, it is not always possible to reduce the numeric string and the working memory. The one that can reduce the capacity of the working memory 43 is selected according to the equation.

  When the calculation is performed on the working memory 43A shown in FIG. 13B, (X1X2∧) is expressed for the first two numerical values, and (X1￣X3∧∨) is expressed as two sets for the remaining numerical values. ). In this case, a method for determining whether or not the reference numerical value is the first two is required. After popping two numerical values and pushing the calculation result, if the stack end position indicates the top position of the working memory 43, it is determined as the first two numerical values. In the case of (X1￣X3∧∨) -type operations, it is necessary to pop twice for the logical sum calculation after popping two numerical values and pushing the calculation result. At this time, if the second pop fails, the first two numbers are determined. In this case, when the address number of the reference position 45 indicating the numerical reference position on the work memory 43 is “−1”, the pop may be failed.

  Next, a method of optimizing the calculation logic in the (X1￣X3∧∨) format is shown below. The actual calculation of (X1￣X3∧∨) is performed in combination with the numerical value Xn (1, −1, numerical value) popped from the stack. The actual logical expression is, for example, Xn∧ (X1￣∧X3). Therefore, depending on the value popped from the stack, the calculation can be omitted as follows.

  When Xn = 1 (TRUE), “1” (TRUE) is pushed without calculating (X1￣∧X3). When Xn = −1 (FALSE), the calculation result of (X1￣∧X3) is pushed. In this case, the calculation of the logical sum is omitted.

When Xn = numerical value, the processing is switched as follows according to the calculation result of (X1∧X3).
When the calculation result of (X1￣∧X3) = 1 (TRUE), “1” (TRUE) is pushed.
When the calculation result of (X1￣∧X3) = − 1 (FALSE), Xn (numerical value) is pushed.
When the calculation result of (X1￣∧X3) = numerical value, Xn and the numerical value of the calculation result are pushed.

According to the third embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(9) Even if the numerical values “2” and “−2” of the logical symbol are omitted, the logical expression is expressed by an expression method in which the order of the logical symbols is fixed when rearranged in reverse Polish notation. A numerical sequence is formed by rearranging such logical expressions in reverse Polish notation. Therefore, the numerical values “2” and “−2” of the logical symbols appear at the same position as counted from the top. Therefore, even if the numerical value of the logical symbol is omitted, if a program that performs an operation determined from the logical symbol is assumed as having a logical symbol at the fixed position, Operate on the omitted logical symbols. Since such regularization is possible, a numerical sequence can be calculated even if a logical symbol is omitted. In the case of a simple prohibition condition, it is possible to delete a logical symbol by adopting the notation format of this example, and to make the amount of data and memory relatively small. Therefore, it is possible to calculate in a relatively short time.

  In addition, since the position where the logic symbol is omitted is fixed, the position where the logic symbol appears also in the logical expression representing the forbidden condition after the change, for example, even if a change such as an increase in options or a prohibition condition is changed Therefore, an arithmetic program based on an arithmetic rule for performing arithmetic operations on a numeric string in which the numerical value of a logical symbol is omitted can be used before and after the logical expression is changed. In other words, any prohibition condition can be reproduced in the software that controls the UI without changing the control logic. Further, since the logic symbols are omitted, the memory area used by the work memory 43 can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and can be implemented with the following configuration.
(Modification 1) In the embodiment described above, the numerical value stack calculation is performed using the work memory 43 by performing a stack operation on the work memory 43, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to employ a configuration in which a stack memory area is separately secured, a numerical value read from the working memory is written to the stack memory and pushed, and the numerical value is read from the stack memory and popped. According to this configuration, the stack memory is required and the number of reading / writing of numerical data is increased. Can be avoided.

  (Modification 2) In the third embodiment, the logical symbols are omitted by creating the logical expression in a format in which the order in which the logical symbols are positioned is always fixed when expressed in reverse Polish notation. It is not limited to this. For example, the numerical value of the logical symbol is omitted, but every time the logical expression is changed by changing the prohibition condition, a program that changes the predetermined number of values to calculate the logical expression every time the reference numerical value reaches the predetermined number. You may recreate it.

  (Modification 3) It is not limited to the format of the tables 44 and 49 in the said embodiment. For example, in order to speed up the state value replacement process, a method of preparing two tables for a positive numerical value and a negative numerical value, a method of referring to an Index with a two's complement, or the like can be employed.

  (Modification 4) In the above-described embodiment, a logical expression representing a prohibition condition is used. However, a logical expression representing a condition permitted in the opposite of the prohibition may be adopted. In this case, by selecting an option that should be validated to a selectable state based on the calculation result of the numerical sequence, the other options are invalidated. It is preferable to select the prohibition condition or permission condition, and it is preferable to select the one that requires a simple logical expression. If the selection permission condition is less than the selection prohibition condition, the permission condition logical expression is adopted. It is preferable to do.

  (Modification 5) In the above-described embodiment, the stack calculation of the numerical sequence is configured such that the memory area in which the numerical value reference on the working memory is finished is used as the stack area by performing the stack operation on the working memory. However, it is not limited to this. A configuration can be employed in which a memory area dedicated to the stack is separately secured, and the numerical value read from the working memory is pushed to the memory area dedicated to the stack, or the numerical value is popped from the memory area dedicated to the stack. According to this configuration, it is necessary to secure a separate memory area for stacking, and the processing for increasing the number of reading / writing of numerical data is performed. It can be similarly avoided that calculation is involved.

  (Modification 6) In the above embodiment, a logical expression is created by using all the options prepared on the UI 28 as logical variables. However, a numerical expression in which only some of the options are expressed as logical variables is adopted. It can also be set as the structure which performs. For example, regardless of the selection result of other setting items, there is no need to dare to calculate and specify a setting item for which all options are always allowed. Therefore, this type of setting item option is excluded from the logical expression in advance. May be. In other words, it is not necessary to define logical variables for all options of all setting items prepared on the UI 28, and it is only necessary to define logical variables for only some of the setting item options and create a logical expression.

  (Modification 7) In the above-described embodiment, the UI control process including the operation of the numerical sequence expressing the logical expression is realized by software that causes the CPU to execute the program. However, at least a part of the UI control process is performed by hardware. It can also be realized. For example, a logical expression indicating a prohibition condition and a circuit for an arithmetic program thereof may be formed in a customer IC such as an ASIC, and UI control processing may be performed by calculation on hardware. If the UI control processing is performed by an electronic device other than a personal computer, for example, an electronic device such as a printer or a multifunction machine, it is possible to have a numerical sequence arithmetic circuit including a logical expression (numerical sequence) as an electronic circuit.

  (Modification 8) Although the user interface control method and the control apparatus are realized in a computer such as a personal computer, the present invention can also be applied to electronic devices such as a printer and a multifunction machine as described above. In this case, a configuration in which a CPU built in the electronic device executes a UI control program may be employed. The present invention can also be applied to electronic devices other than printers and multifunction peripherals, and can be applied to projectors, digital cameras, digital video cameras, mobile phones, and the like.

The technical idea grasped from the embodiment and the modifications will be described below.
(1) In the user interface control device according to claim 11, the arithmetic means sequentially refers to the numerical value of the numerical sequence on a working memory that stores the numerical sequence at the time of calculation, and the numerical value reference When the memory area on the finished working memory is used as a stack area and the reference value corresponds to a logical variable, the reference value is pushed to the stack area, and the reference value corresponds to a logical operator. In some cases, by popping a plurality of numerical values from the stack area, performing an operation specified by the logical operator on the plurality of numerical values, and performing a stack operation to push the operation result to the stack area, the numerical value A user interface control device that performs column operations.

  (2) In the user interface program according to claim 12, in the calculation step, the numerical values in the numerical value sequence are sequentially referred to on a working memory that stores the numerical values in the calculation. When the memory area on the finished working memory is used as a stack area and the reference value corresponds to a logical variable, the reference value is pushed to the stack area, and the reference value corresponds to a logical operator. In some cases, by popping a plurality of numerical values from the stack area, performing an operation specified by the logical operator on the plurality of numerical values, and performing a stack operation to push the operation result to the stack area, the numerical value A program characterized by performing column operations.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing system. (A)-(d) The flowchart explaining the process performed in advance by the maker side computer. The flowchart which shows UI control processing. (A)-(c) Explanatory drawing which shows the pre-process before the calculation start in a working memory. (A)-(d) Explanatory drawing explaining the calculation procedure in a working memory. (A), (b) The schematic diagram of UI for demonstrating user interface control. The flowchart which shows UI control processing in 2nd Embodiment. (A)-(c) Explanatory drawing which shows the pre-process before the calculation start in a working memory. (A)-(f) Explanatory drawing explaining the calculation method of the numerical formula containing a logical variable. (A)-(d) Explanatory drawing explaining the calculation method by stack operation in a working memory. The figure which shows the working memory after completion of calculation. (A), (b) Explanatory drawing for demonstrating the structure of numerical sequence simplification. (A), (b) The schematic diagram of UI for demonstrating user interface control. The figure which shows the flag table in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printing system, 11 ... Computer, 12 ... State value application means, CPU which comprises calculation means, and display reflection means, 13 ... ROM, 14 ... RAM, 15 ... HDD, 16 ... Video circuit, 19 ... As display means Display device 20 ... Input device as input means, 21 ... Printer, 23 ... Application section, 24 ... Video driver, 25 ... Printer driver, 30 ... UI control device as display reflection means, 31 ... Storage section as storage means 32 ... Data load unit, 33 ... Table creation unit constituting state value application unit, 34 ... Calculation unit as calculation unit, 35 ... UI control unit, 38 ... Printing unit, 43, 43A ... Work memory, 44 ... Table 45 ... Reference position 46 ... Stack end 52 ... Logical expression 55 ... Numeric string 56 56 Numeric string 57 57 Numeric string

Claims (12)

A user interface control method for controlling a user interface displayed on a display unit so that an option can be input for each of a plurality of setting items based on an input from the input unit,
A storage unit stores a numerical string in which a logical expression expressing each option as a logical variable representing a condition of a combination of options that should be prohibited or permitted to be selected between the setting items is converted into a numerical value. ,
When an input that triggers the start of control is obtained from the input means, the numerical value string is read from the storage means, and a state value indicating a selection state of each option of the setting item is set as a corresponding numerical value in the numerical value string. A replacement state value application step;
An operation step for performing an operation based on the numerical sequence to which the state value is applied;
A display reflecting step of reflecting the prohibition information on the display of the display means when the prohibition information indicating that the selection prohibition option exists is obtained from the calculation result in the calculation step; Interface control method. The user interface control method according to claim 1,
The user interface control method according to claim 1, wherein the condition is a prohibition condition representing a condition of a combination of options that should be prohibited from being selected. In the user interface control method according to claim 1 or 2,
In the logical expression, logical variables X1,..., Xn (n is an integer of 2 or more) are set to all options of all setting items, which are true when the option is selected and false when not selected. The logical variables X1,..., Xn that are defined and are negated of the logical variables X1,..., Xn and become true when the option is not selected and become false when the option is selected. A user interface control method characterized by being a logical expression expressing the condition by defining and combining the logical variables by logical sum / logical product. The user interface control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The method for controlling a user interface, wherein the numerical sequence is a sequence of numerical values in reverse Polish notation order. The user interface control method according to claim 4,
In the calculation step, the numerical value sequence is calculated by stack calculation. The user interface control method according to claim 5, wherein
In the calculation step, the numerical values of the numerical sequence are sequentially referred to on a working memory that stores the numerical sequence at the time of calculation, and the memory area after the reference of the numerical value is used as a stack area, and the reference numerical value is a logical variable If the reference numerical value corresponds to the logical operator, the reference numerical value is pushed to the stack area, and if the reference numerical value corresponds to a logical operator, a plurality of numerical values are popped from the stack area to the plurality of numerical values. A method for controlling a user interface, comprising: performing an operation defined by a logical operator and performing a stack operation of pushing a result of the operation to the stack area, thereby performing an operation on the numeric string. In the user interface control method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The user interface control method characterized in that an input that triggers the start of control from the input means is a confirmed input for confirming the option selected in each setting item. The user interface control method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The user interface control method characterized in that the input that triggers the start of control from the input means is a selection input for selecting the option in the setting item. In the user interface control method according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The method of controlling a user interface, wherein the numerical sequence includes an array of numerical values assigned to logical variables and does not include numerical values representing logical operators. The user interface control method according to claim 9, wherein
The numerical sequence is formed by arranging numerical values in an order expressed in reverse Polish notation, which is a logical expression expressed in a notation format in which the order in which logical operators are positioned is always fixed when expressed in reverse Polish notation, In the calculation step, each time a predetermined number of numerical values for a predetermined number of stacks are referred to in order by sequentially referring to the numerical values in the numerical sequence, the numerical values are popped from the stack area and executed after the predetermined number of numerical values are referred to. A user interface control method, wherein an arithmetic operation using a logical operator set in advance is performed on the popped numerical value. A user interface control device for controlling a user interface displayed on a display unit so that a choice can be input for each of a plurality of setting items based on an input from the input unit,
Storage means for storing a numerical sequence in which a logical expression expressing each option as a logical variable representing a condition of a combination of options that should be prohibited or permitted to be selected between the setting items is converted into a numerical value;
When an input that triggers the start of control is obtained from the input means, state value applying means that replaces a state value indicating a selection state of each option of the setting item in the user interface with a corresponding numerical value in the numerical string;
A calculation means for performing a calculation based on the numerical sequence to which the state value is applied;
A user interface comprising: a display reflecting means for reflecting the prohibition information on the display of the display means when the prohibition information indicating that the selection prohibition option exists is obtained from the calculation result of the calculation means. Control device. A program for controlling a user interface for a computer to execute a process for controlling a user interface displayed on a display unit based on an input from the input unit so that options can be input for each of a plurality of setting items,
A storage unit stores a numerical string in which a logical expression that represents a condition of a combination of options that should be prohibited or permitted to be selected between the setting items and each option for each setting item is expressed as a logical variable is converted into a numerical value. ,
When the computer obtains an input that triggers the start of control from the input means, the numerical value string is read from the storage means, and a state value indicating a selection state of each option of the setting item is associated with the corresponding value in the numerical value string. A state value application step to replace the numerical value to be
An operation step of performing an operation based on the numerical sequence to which the state value is applied;
A program for executing a display reflection step of reflecting the prohibition information on the display of the display means when the prohibition information indicating that the selection prohibition option exists is obtained from the calculation result in the calculation step.

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