JP2009070134A - Data format conversion method, data format conversion program, recording medium recording this program, and drawing creation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make data formed by drawing software processable by a drawing creation program. <P>SOLUTION: When a user instructs a conversion of data format, a conversion instruction part 43 delivers attributes for a basic drawing or a line constituting the drawing one by one from data before storage which is created by a drawing processing part 41 or a storage file which is already stored in the data format of a drawing editor 2 to a conversion processing part 51. The conversion processing part 51 outputs, based on the delivered attribute, data of a format treatable by a screen editor 3 corresponding to the attribute. Further, the conversion processing part 51 combines data for one screen with data of screen size to create a package file. The screen editor 3 opens the package file fetched through a file fetching part 7 as a file of screen data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data format conversion method for converting drawing data created by a drawing creation program into a format that can be handled by a screen creation program for creating a screen to be displayed on a programmable display, a data format conversion program, and a recording medium recording the same, The present invention also relates to a drawing creation apparatus.

  Graphics software is generally popular as software for drawing figures and pictures. In particular, the drawing software expresses a straight line or a curve as numerical data such as the coordinates, angle, and direction of the line, so that the drawn figure can be subjected to processing such as movement, inversion, enlargement, and reduction.

  Drawing software can be used to create various types of drawings because it can easily process figures as described above, and has a function that allows you to use various parts. Many. For example, a floor plan can be easily created by using parts such as stairs, doors, and windows.

  By the way, in recent building automation (BA), a floor plan (floor diagram) of each floor is created and used for management of each floor. Such a floor plan is often created by the above drawing software.

  The BA is built around a monitoring / control system centered on a computer in order to monitor / control building facilities in a management room or the like. In such a monitoring / control system, introduction of a programmable display device has been promoted in recent years.

  The programmable display has a communication interface with a controller such as a programmable logic controller (PLC), and has a function of displaying the operation status of the controller and receiving an operation input for giving a control instruction to the controller from the screen. It is an operation type display provided. In general, since the programmable display has a graphic display function, it can display an operation panel, a switch, an indicator lamp, and the like, and serves as an operation terminal in the control system. In such a control system, display of the operating status of each controller and control instructions to the controller are performed by a programmable display arranged near the controller.

  The screen displayed on the programmable display is created using screen creation software. This screen creation software creates a screen by arranging parts on which images of switches, lamps and the like are imaged. Further, the screen creation software has various functions such as setting attributes for components arranged on the screen, associating these components with corresponding devices, and transferring the created screen to a programmable display. Furthermore, the screen creation software has a line drawing creation function so that the user can create a desired figure.

Programmable displays are suitable for monitoring and control due to the above characteristics, and are being used not only for building automation but also for various fields.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-184688 (published July 9, 1999)

  For example, in BA, when it is attempted to monitor and control the lighting and air conditioning of each floor using a programmable display, it is necessary to create a diagram of each floor as a screen using the above-described screen creation software. However, since the screen creation software has various functions as described above, considering the size of the software, the line drawing creation function cannot be enhanced like dedicated graphics software such as drawing software. Have difficulty.

  For this reason, the floor diagram created by the screen creation software is less expressive than the floor diagram created by the drawing software. In addition, since the diagram created with the drawing software has a different data format from the screen created with the screen creation software, it cannot be used directly with the screen creation software. Therefore, even if the floor diagram is created with the drawing software, the floor diagram must be separately created on the screen with the screen creation software, and the screen creation work is inefficient.

  In addition, a drawing created with drawing software can be imported as an image and pasted to a screen created with screen creation software. However, since the imported diagram is an image, the screen creation software cannot handle the diagram as a line drawing. . For this reason, it is not possible to perform processing such as changing the size of the figure or the type of lines constituting the figure, and the figure cannot be edited as desired according to the screen.

  Patent Document 1 describes that screen data is converted into other screen data having a different format. It is conceivable to apply this to the conversion of the data format created by the drawing software into the data format created by the screen creation software. However, Patent Document 1 describes that the format is converted by analyzing the components arranged on the screen, but does not disclose the conversion of line drawing data created by the drawing software. For this reason, the conversion method of patent document 1 cannot be applied to the above data conversion as it is.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to process data created by drawing software so that it can be processed by a screen creation program.

  The data format conversion method according to the present invention corresponds to the attribute of drawing data created by a drawing creation program for creating a drawing and the attribute of screen data created by a screen creation program for creating a screen to be displayed on a programmable display. The attribute of the drawing data is converted into the attribute of the corresponding screen data with reference to the correspondence table to be added and stored.

  The drawing creation apparatus according to the present invention associates an attribute of drawing data created by a drawing creation program for creating a drawing with an attribute of screen data created by a screen creation program for creating a screen to be displayed on a programmable display. And a data conversion means for converting the attribute of the drawing data into the attribute of the corresponding screen data with reference to the correspondence table.

  In the above method and apparatus, the attribute of the drawing data created by the drawing creation program is converted into the attribute of the corresponding screen data by referring to the correspondence table. As a result, the data consisting of the converted attributes is in a format that can be handled by the screen creation program, and can therefore be edited by the screen creation program.

  In the data format conversion method, it is preferable that a size of a drawing area displayed as an area for creating a drawing by the drawing creating program is set to the size of the screen.

  The drawing creation apparatus preferably includes size setting means for setting a size of a drawing area displayed as a drawing creation area by the drawing creation program to the size of the screen.

  Thus, when the converted data is edited by the screen creation program, it is not necessary to adjust the size displayed as the screen.

  In the data format conversion method and the drawing creation apparatus, it is preferable that the correspondence table associates an attribute that approximates an attribute of the drawing data when the screen creation program cannot handle an attribute that matches the attribute of the drawing data.

  As a result, it is possible to increase the amount of data that can be converted from the data attributes of the drawing creation program, and to reflect as much information amount of the drawing created by the drawing creation program as possible on the screen created by the screen creation program.

  The data format conversion program of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute the procedure of the data format conversion method described above. This data format conversion program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

  As described above, the data format conversion method can be realized in the computer by causing the computer to read and execute the drawing creation program.

  As described above, the data format conversion method and the drawing creation apparatus according to the present invention are created by the screen creation program for creating the screen data to be displayed on the programmable display and the attributes of the drawing data created by the drawing creation program for creating the drawing. Since the attribute of the drawing data is converted into the attribute of the corresponding screen data by referring to the correspondence table storing the attribute of the screen data associated with the screen, the screen creation program converts the data including the attribute after conversion. Can be edited. Therefore, it is not necessary to create a new screen with the screen creation program in order to draw a diagram similar to the diagram already created with the drawing creation program, and the time required for screen creation can be shortened. Play.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 as follows.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the editor computer 1 according to this embodiment includes a drawing editor 2 and a screen editor 3.

  The editor computer 1 includes a general-purpose personal computer having a CPU, a memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), an external storage device (hard disk drive, MO drive, etc.), a display device, and an input device (keyboard, mouse, etc.). .

  The drawing editor 2 is a functional block realized by installing and executing a drawing application program such as drawing software in the editor computer 1. The drawing editor 2 includes a drawing unit 4 and a data format conversion unit 5.

  The drawing unit 4 includes a drawing processing unit 41, a resolution setting unit 42, and a conversion instruction unit 43.

  The drawing processing unit 41 has a basic function for performing a drawing process, and expresses types, coordinates, angles, directions, and the like of numerical values for straight lines and curves. Further, the drawing processing unit 41 writes the created drawing as a save file in the saving unit 6 in order to save the created drawing. The storage unit 6 is configured by a storage device provided inside or outside the editor computer 1 such as a hard disk drive or a flash memory.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the drawing processing unit 41 displays the drawing window 101 as a user interface. The drawing window 101 has a work area 102 and a parts display area 103.

  The work area 103 displays a drawing area 104 that defines a range for creating a figure. The drawing area 104 is defined by the paper size (A4, B4, etc.) on which the figure is printed.

  The parts display area 103 displays images of various parts prepared in advance. By dragging and dropping an image of a desired part to the drawing area 103 from here, the part can be arranged in the drawing area 103. For example, in Microsoft Visio (registered trademark), a “stencil” that is an assembly of components called “master shape” is displayed in the component display area 103. Stencils can be added.

  The resolution setting unit 42 sets the size of the drawing area 103 to the size (resolution) of the screen created by the screen editor 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the resolution is provided as a plurality of parts 105 (master shape). The resolution setting unit 42 changes the size of the drawing area 104 to the resolution when one of the components 105 having different resolution information is dragged and dropped into the drawing area 104. For example, when the part 105 having a resolution of 320 × 240 dots is dragged and dropped, the drawing area 104 set to the size of A4, for example, is set to the size of the above resolution.

  As will be described later, when the data format conversion unit 5 is added as an extended function part of the drawing editor 2, the resolution setting unit 42 and the plurality of parts 105 (stencil) are also added to the drawing editor 2. Configured as an add-on.

  The conversion instruction unit 43 is a part that instructs execution of data format conversion processing by the conversion processing unit 51 described later. Although not shown, the conversion instruction unit 43 displays a dialog box (not shown) and performs data format conversion to the user when a menu or icon provided in the drawing window 101 is operated to instruct conversion processing. Inquire whether or not to do so. In response to the user's execution instruction for the inquiry, the conversion instruction unit 43 describes attributes of data that the drawing processing unit 41 intends to store in the storage unit 6 and data of the storage file stored in the storage unit 6, which will be described later. To the conversion processing unit 51.

  When the data format conversion unit 5 is added as an extended function part of the drawing editor 2, the conversion instruction unit 43 is also configured as an add-on, like the resolution setting unit 42 described above.

  The data format conversion unit 5 includes a conversion processing unit 51 and a correspondence table 52.

  The conversion processing unit 5 refers to the correspondence table 52 to convert the data (drawing data) created by the drawing editor 2 into the format of the screen data created by the screen editor 3, and the package file (extension is ..). pkg) is stored in the storage unit 6.

  The correspondence table 52 associates the attributes of the drawing object that can be handled by the drawing editor 2 with the attributes of the drawing object of the screen editor 3 corresponding thereto. Table 1 shows some of the attributes of both drawing objects associated with each other in the correspondence table 52.

  The “line shape” is a solid line, a broken line, a dotted line, a one-dot chain line, a two-dot chain line, or the like. The “corner shape” is a rounded corner (R) and is not supported by the screen editor 3. For this reason, all corner shapes are associated with non-round corners. The “line start point / end point size” is not supported by the screen editor 3 and is associated with the line size. In other words, since the size of the start point / end point cannot be changed in the screen editor 3, the start point / end point is expressed thickly so that it appears larger on the screen editor 3 side.

  An “inclined ellipse” is an ellipse whose two central axes are inclined with respect to the horizontal and vertical directions, and is not supported by the screen editor 3, and therefore is associated with a continuous straight line (continuous straight line). Specifically, the conversion processing unit 51 regards the ellipse as a polygon and replaces it with a polygon having the maximum number of angles that can be handled by the screen editor 3. For example, the conversion processing unit 51 determines the number of corners m (m-square) of the ellipse based on the size of the ellipse, and the maximum number of corners n (n-sided) that can be handled by the screen editor 3. Ellipse corners are thinned out every divided number k (= m / n) to represent the ellipse as an n-gon. Also, the conversion processing unit 51 converts the polygons exceeding the n-gons into n-gons by thinning out the number of angles.

  Further, since the screen editor 3 does not support internal painting of a normal ellipse, the conversion processing unit 51 converts it into a polygon so as to paint it.

  The conversion processing unit 51 refers to the correspondence table 52 as described above and refers to the attribute corresponding to the drawing object attribute of the drawing editor 2 passed by the conversion instruction unit 43. Convert to attribute. The conversion processing unit 51 converts the attributes of all the drawing objects included in one drawing created by the drawing editor 2 into a format that can be handled by the screen editor 3 as described above. Also, the conversion processing unit 51 creates a package file by combining the attribute data for one screen and the data for the screen size.

  The data format conversion unit 5 may be incorporated in the drawing editor 2 as a standard function, but may be a function added as an add-on (plug-in) to the drawing editor 2. When provided as an add-on, the data format conversion unit 5 includes an API (Application Program Interface) and is incorporated into the drawing editor 2 as a DLL (Dynamic Link Library). A function prepared as an API defines a procedure for performing the above format conversion processing from the drawing information of the drawing editor 2 and is called from the conversion instruction unit 43.

  The screen editor 3 has a file fetch unit 7 and a screen creation processing unit 8.

  The screen creation processing unit 8 is a switch, lamp, numeric keypad, various displays (for example, a numerical display, a meter display, and a graph display) so that a user-specific screen (user screen) displayed on the programmable display can be created. Parts), drawing functions, text input functions, etc. As components, not only components having a single function but also components having a plurality of functions such as a composite switch, a counter, and a timer are prepared. Components are registered in a library format so that the user can easily select them, and processing definition information (procedures for objects) corresponding to the functions of the components is given in advance. The drawing function is a function for drawing line figures such as lines and curves, drawing basic figures such as various graphs, circles, rectangles, and polygons, and painting with specified colors and patterns in the figure. is there.

  In a state where the screen is displayed on the programmable display device, the display state of the component on the screen changes so as to reflect the state of the device corresponding to the component. For this reason, in the screen data, an address of a memory that stores data relating to the state of the device is associated with each component. The memory is usually provided in a controller such as a PLC or a programmable display. The address can be associated not only with a component prepared in advance, but also with a graphic created by the user. As described above, the screen data is different from a GUI screen displayed on a general computer in that an address is associated with a component or the like. The screen editor 3 has such an address association function.

  The screen editor 3 converts the created user screen data, that is, screen data, into a screen file in a format that can be processed by the programmable display device, and stores the screen file in the storage unit 9. Further, the screen editor 3 reads the stored screen file from the storage unit 9 and transfers it to the programmable display. Here, the storage unit 9 may be common to the storage unit 6 described above.

  The file capturing unit 7 determines a file that can be opened by the screen editor 3 from various files stored in the storage unit 6. In addition to the normal screen data file, the file capturing unit 7 recognizes the above-described package file having the extension “.pkg” as a file that can be opened by the screen editor 3.

  As described above, the screen data file that can be handled by the screen editor 3 has a unique format because the screen data has an address associated with a part or the like. On the other hand, since the drawing data created by the drawing editor 2 is not associated with the address as described above, even if the data format is converted as described above, the same format as that of the screen data file is used. I can't. For this reason, the drawing data after the data format conversion is saved as a package file, and is taken into the screen editor 3 via the file taking-in unit 7. If it can be taken into the screen editor 3, the address can be associated with each figure in the package file drawing by the address association function of the screen editor 3.

  The drawing editor 2 and the screen editor unit 3 are recorded on a recording medium configured to be separable from the editor computer 1 and can be installed in the editor computer 1 from this storage medium. In addition, the editor computer 1 functions as an editor device by including a drawing editor 2 and a screen editor 3.

  The above-mentioned recording medium (program medium) is a computer-readable recording medium, such as a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk system such as a flexible disk or a hard disk, CD-ROM, MO, MD, DVD, etc. A card system such as an optical disk system, an IC card (including a memory card), or an optical card is suitable. In addition, the program medium may be a medium that carries a fixed program including a semiconductor memory such as a mask ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash ROM, or the like.

  Further, if the editor computer 1 is placed in an environment connectable to a communication network including the Internet, it may be a medium that fluidly carries the program so as to download the program from the communication network. However, when the program is downloaded from the communication network in this way, the download program is preferably stored in advance in the editor computer 1 or installed from another recording medium.

  Next, data format conversion processing by the drawing editor 2 in the editor computer 1 configured as described above will be described.

  First, when saving the drawing data created by the drawing processing unit 41, the conversion instruction unit 43 displays a dialog box and asks the user whether to save the drawing data as a package file. When the user instructs saving as a package file, the conversion instructing unit 43 passes from the drawing processing unit 41 to the conversion processing unit 51 one by one the attributes of the basic figure and the lines constituting the figure from the data before saving. When converting the format of the drawing data already stored in the storage unit 6 as a storage file, when the user instructs conversion from the menu, the conversion instruction unit 43 sets the above attributes in the same manner as described above. The data is transferred to the conversion processing unit 51.

  The conversion processing unit 51 refers to the correspondence table 52 based on the passed attribute and outputs data in a format that can be handled by the screen editor 3 corresponding to the attribute. Furthermore, the conversion processing unit 51 creates a package file by combining the data for one screen and the data for the screen size.

  The screen editor 3 opens the package file fetched via the file fetch unit 7 as a screen data file. As a result, the drawing data created by the drawing editor 2 can be edited by the screen creation processing unit 8 except for the data converted as an image of a part or the like.

  As described above, in the editor computer 1 according to the present embodiment, since the drawing editor 2 has the data format conversion unit 5, the drawing data created by the drawing editor 2 can be handled by the screen editor 3. Convert to format. As a result, a figure drawn by the multifunctional drawing editor 2 can be taken into the screen editor 3 and processed. As a result, it is also possible to use a figure that has been finely drawn by the drawing editor 2 on the screen. Therefore, it is not necessary to create a new screen with the screen editor 3 in order to draw a diagram similar to the diagram already created with the drawing editor 2, and the time required for screen creation can be shortened.

  Further, since the drawing editor 104 sets the drawing area 104 to the screen size (resolution), it is not necessary to adjust the size displayed as the screen when the drawing data saved as the package file is opened by the screen editor 3. If you open a package file in which the format of the drawing data is converted in the screen editor 3 while maintaining the size that matches the conventional paper set in the drawing editor 2, the layout of the figure is biased because it differs from the screen size. It is necessary to set the screen size again. Moreover, the resolution setting unit 42 sets the resolution by performing the user's operation of dragging and dropping the component 105 that defines the resolution to the drawing area 104, so that the user can set the resolution with an easy-to-understand and simple operation. Can be instructed to the resolution setting unit 42.

  Further, in the drawing editor 2, when the data format conversion unit 5 has the drawing data attribute of the drawing editor 2 that cannot be handled by the screen editor 3, the data format conversion unit 5 approximates like the “tilted ellipse” described above. Is converted to the attribute. Thereby, the drawing data of the screen editor 3 that can be converted from the drawing data attribute of the drawing editor 2 is increased, and the amount of drawing information created by the drawing editor 2 is reflected on the screen created by the screen editor 3 as much as possible. Can do.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims. That is, embodiments obtained by combining technical means appropriately modified within the scope of the claims are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  Since the data format conversion method of the present invention converts the data created by the drawing creation program into a format that can be handled by the screen creation program, the data created by the drawing creation program is used to convert the drawing created by the screen creation program. It can use suitably for making.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the editor computer which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the drawing window displayed with the drawing editor of the said editor computer.

Explanation of symbols

1 Editor computer (drawing creation device)
2 Drawing editor 3 Screen editor 4 Drawing part 5 Data format conversion part 41 Drawing processing part 42 Resolution setting part (size setting means)
43 Conversion instruction unit 51 Conversion processing unit (data conversion means)
52 Correspondence table

Claims (8)

  With reference to the correspondence table that associates the attribute of the drawing data created by the drawing creation program for creating the drawing and the attribute of the screen data created by the screen creation program for creating the screen to be displayed on the programmable display, A data format conversion method for converting drawing data attributes into corresponding screen data attributes.   The data format conversion method according to claim 1, wherein a size of a drawing area displayed as a drawing creation area by the drawing creation program is set to the size of the screen.   2. The data format conversion method according to claim 1, wherein the correspondence table associates an attribute that approximates the attribute of the drawing data when the screen creation program cannot handle an attribute that matches the attribute of the drawing data.   A data format conversion program for causing a computer to execute the procedure of the data format conversion method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the data format conversion program according to claim 4 is recorded. A correspondence table that associates and stores the attribute of the drawing data created by the drawing creation program for creating the drawing and the attribute of the screen data created by the screen creation program for creating the screen to be displayed on the programmable display;
A drawing creation apparatus comprising: data conversion means for converting the attribute of the drawing data into the attribute of the corresponding screen data with reference to the correspondence table.   7. The drawing creation apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising size setting means for setting a size of a drawing area displayed as an area for creating a drawing by the drawing creation program to the size of the screen.   7. The drawing creation apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when the screen creation program cannot handle an attribute that matches the attribute of the drawing data, the correspondence table associates an attribute that approximates the attribute of the drawing data. .

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