JP2671907B2 - Method and device for displaying and reporting input characters - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input character display and reporting method and device for displaying characters (including numbers and symbols) input from a keyboard or the like on a display device and reporting them to a host computer. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Characters input from a keyboard are CR
Although it is displayed on the T display device and the code is sent to the computer, there are roughly two methods of displaying and reporting this input character. One of them is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-286011, in which character codes of characters input from a keyboard are sequentially reported to the host computer, and display of input characters (echo back) is instructed by the host computer. It is done by. This input method is generally called "input in the host echo mode" because the host computer displays the input characters in a folded manner. According to this method, all input characters are immediately reported to the host computer, so it is possible to check the detailed input information, and the host side wraps and displays all the key-in characters, so that free operation can be realized. .

Another method is to display the characters input from the keyboard locally by the CRT display device, and to report to the host computer collectively the input characters. This is generally called "input in the local echo mode" because the terminal displays the key-in character locally. In this case, there are roughly two types of input character reporting methods. One is to report the input character string in the area to the host computer all at once by designating the area on the CRT display device from the host computer. It is a method. This is HIDIC V9
0 series HC-5156 Graphic CRT display device (Detailed version) Manual (manual number 95)
-4-0028) 5-118. The other is a method of reporting the input information to the host computer from the keyboard side by using the send key or the tab key as a trigger.
This is described in Host Connection Support Package EM560B Manual (7100-7-016) P13. According to the local echo mode, since the terminal displays the key-in characters locally, a large amount of input can be performed without imposing an extra load on the host computer. Moreover, since the communication overhead can be reduced, a plurality of terminals can be connected to one computer and network.

The above two methods can be switched by a command from the host computer. This switching method is described, for example, in the above-mentioned manuals 5-78 and 5-88.

[0005]

Even in the data input area defined on one screen, it is necessary to immediately report the input character string to the host computer according to the purpose and check it. In some cases, there may be areas where it is sufficient to report after the input of the input area is completed. For this reason, we designed a screen that combines the input area that should improve the operability of the operator by performing an immediate check of the input data using the host echo and the input area that inputs a large amount of data at once using the local echo. Even so, once the local echo is switched to, the host computer cannot know the timing at which the host echo should be made, so a screen combining these types of input areas is useless. Also, from the aspect of the input information reporting method, in the case of input using a host echo, there is a drawback that communication load and host load increase while free operability can be realized. On the other hand, with the local echo, while the communication load and host load can be suppressed, only the operations specific to the information display device can be performed, so if it is necessary to check the detailed input information, one input area There is a drawback that an unnatural operation such as pressing a transmission key is required each time data is input.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for displaying and reporting an input character which enables the operator to perform an optimum operation while suppressing the load and transmission load on the host computer.

[0007]

The above-mentioned object is to display an input character from the input means at the cursor position on the input screen displayed on the display means, and to calculate the code of the input character via a transmission line. In the method of displaying and reporting the input characters for reporting to, include one or more input areas on the screen, and including the information indicating the display and reporting method in the input area and the position of the area on the screen. An input area management table for storing definition data is provided, and when the input screen is first displayed from a computer, the definition data for each input area on the screen is set in the input area management table, When a character is input from, the input area in which the cursor at that time exists is determined from the position information in the definition data corresponding to that area, and the determined input is performed. In accordance with the display reporting scheme in area corresponding definition data is accomplished by performing a report to the display and the computer to the screen of the input character.

[0008]

[Operation] If the input area is defined when the screen is displayed and the display / reporting method of the input characters in each area is set, it is possible to know which input area is input from the cursor position. It is possible to read out the display / reporting method of the area from and to display and report according to it. And as a display reporting method,
Host echo mode to report input characters to the computer one by one and display control to the computer, local echo mode to perform display locally on the keyboard side and report collectively, local display control and every one report at the same time By providing a semi-local echo mode for performing, it is possible to minimize the overhead for computer processing and reporting and realize a work environment with good operability.

[0009]

Embodiment 1 An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a CR for implementing the method of the present invention.
In the functional block diagram showing one embodiment of the T controller, C
The controller 101 of the RT terminal includes a cursor control task 102 for controlling cursor movement and a host computer 109.
A transmission control task 103 for controlling the exchange of information with
A keyboard control task 104 for inputting from the keyboard 108 and characters / characters according to an instruction from the host computer 109.
A drawing control task 105 for drawing a figure, an input area management table 106 for managing an input area, and a drawing memory 107 for drawing characters and figures are provided.

Next, the operation of this CRT terminal will be described. The application program outputs predetermined screen format data and input area definition data from the host computer to the CRT terminal when the initial screen having an arbitrary input area is displayed. As shown in FIG. 2, the input area definition data 201 includes input area name 202, starting point coordinates 203, area width 204, area height 205, and input character reporting method 20.
6, an input end identification character 207, and a representative field flag 208. However, as the input character reporting method, in the present embodiment, in addition to the local echo and host echo modes described in the conventional example, a semi-local echo mode in which input characters are locally displayed and simultaneously reported to the host computer one by one is also used. Also prepare. When there are a plurality of input areas on the screen, this definition data is output for each area. The transmission control task 103 that receives this data passes it to the drawing control task 105. The drawing control task 105 draws character and graphic data in the drawing memory 10
7, and the input area management table 106 is created from the input area definition data. This table 10
Data is stored in 6 so that the respective input area definition data are arranged in ascending order of the starting point coordinates, so that the control of FIG. 4 described later can be easily performed.

When the cursor key is pressed while the screen having the input area is displayed, the cursor control task 102 is executed via the keyboard control task 104.
The cursor key keyed in is notified. The cursor control task 102 searches the input management information table 106 for an input area that meets the conditions of the key-in, and notifies the keyboard control task 104 of the input area definition information of FIG. Thereafter, a character is input from the keyboard 108. As shown in FIG. 3, the keyboard control task 104 refers to the input area definition information (step 301), and when the reporting method 206 is host echo, the transmission control task Input area name 2 into 103
02 and the input character code are passed, and these pieces of information are sent to the host computer 109 (step 302). If the reporting method 206 is local echo or semi-local echo, the input character is passed to the drawing control task 105 and the character is drawn at the cursor position (step 303). After that, it is determined whether the reporting method is the semi-local mode or the local mode (step 304). If the reporting method is the semi-local mode, the input data is reported to the host in step 302, and the process ends. When it is determined in step 304 that the mode is the local mode, in step 305 it is checked whether the input character at that time is the end identification character defined in the area. If yes, the representative field defined in the input area is further determined in step 306. Check if the flag is on. If it is not ON, the character code entered in the input area in step 307 together with the input area name is transmitted to the transmission control task 103.
And send it to the host computer at once. When the representative field flag is turned on, it is related to the transmission control task 103 so as to collectively send the input characters of the input area concerned and the input area of the local echo mode previously inputted in step 308 to the host computer. Pass the data.

After that, when echo back from the host computer or character drawing by local echo occurs, the cursor control task 102 updates the cursor position as shown in FIG. 4 (step 401). as a result,
When the cursor exceeds the input area being processed (step 402), the presence or absence of the next area on the input area management table 106 is checked (step 403), and if there is, the cursor control task 102 refers to the information of the input area. , The cursor is moved to the input position in the input area (step 405). At this time, new input area definition information is passed to the keyboard control task 104 (step 40).
6). If it is determined in step 403 that the next input area is not on the management table 106, the cursor control task 10
2 processes the input area at the top (step 40)
4). The input area management table 106 is initialized by the drawing control task 105 when a command for resetting the drawing memory 107 is sent from the host computer.

According to the present embodiment, the echo mode is automatically switched when the cursor is moved between the input areas, and an input is made with an optimum user interface even if the operator does not perform the mode switching operation. be able to.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the input screen.
It is assumed that each area 501 of the table displayed at 0 is set as the local echo area and the end character code is set as the tab key. When the initial screen is displayed, the cursor is displayed in the column (area) 502 for item 1 and element 1. In addition, the current numerical value of the plant is displayed in each area. In such a screen, when the operator moves the cursor to the area to be changed and changes the numerical value, the CRT display device provided with the controller 101 operates as follows. 1) Move the cursor with the cursor movement key. 2) Display the changed value in the specified area by inputting the changed value (local echo). 3) By the tab key or the number of characters in the input area,
Report the input area name and input information to the host computer. That is, when the cursor moves from one input area to another, it reports to the host computer that the input area has changed. According to this display example, the input data is sent to the host computer only at the end of one area, not for each numerical value input, so that the host load can be reduced. Moreover, since the input information is reported to the host computer immediately after the input of each area is completed, the rationality of the input numerical value can be immediately checked, and the operator can know the input error at that time. Furthermore, by using a cursor movement key such as a tab key as the end character code, it is possible to realize an operation that does not make the operator feel uncomfortable.

[0015]

According to the present invention, it is possible to realize optimum operability for an operator by providing different input character reporting methods and input end character definitions in a plurality of input areas within one screen. it can. Further, since the host computer does not need to manage the switching timing of the echo mode, the development efficiency of software for controlling the terminal is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of a CRT controller to which the method of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an input area management table.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an echo mode switching process of a keyboard control task.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a cursor movement process between input areas.

FIG. 5 is an input example diagram of a tabular screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 CRT Controller 102 Cursor Control Task 103 Transmission Control Task 104 Keyboard Control Task 105 Drawing Control Task 106 Input Area Management Table 107 Drawing Memory 108 Keyboard 201 Input Area Definition Data 202 Input Area Name 203 Input Area Origin Coordinates 204 Input Area Width 205 Input Area Height 206 Input character reporting method 207 Input end identification character 208 Representative field flag

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Masahiro Nakamura 5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture Hitachi Process Computer Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Kenji Tsuboi 5-chome, Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture No. 1 Hitachi Process Computer Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuaki Sakuma 5-2-1 Omikacho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Hitachi Process Computer Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masao Sueki, Mika Oita, Ibaraki Prefecture 5-2-1 Machi, Ltd. Inside the Omika Plant of Hitachi, Ltd. (56) References JP 63-62016 (JP, A) JP 3-191412 (JP, A)

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An input character for displaying an input character from the input means at a cursor position on an input screen displayed on the display means and reporting the code of the input character to a computer through a transmission path. And in the reporting method, an input area for defining one or a plurality of input areas on the screen, and storing definition data including information indicating the display reporting method in the input area and the position of the area on the screen. A management table is provided, and when the input screen is first displayed from the computer, the definition data for each input area on the screen is set in the input area management table, and when a character is input from the input means. , The input area where the cursor at that time exists is determined from the position information in the definition data corresponding to the area, and the table in the definition data corresponding to the determined input area A method of displaying and reporting an input character, characterized in that the input character is displayed on the screen and is reported to a computer according to a display reporting method. 2. The display / report method is a local echo mode in which input characters are locally displayed by a control means provided on the display means side, and the input characters are collectively reported to a computer by inputting a predetermined character; Either the host echo mode in which characters are sequentially reported to the computer and the characters sent back from the host computer are displayed, or the semi-local echo mode in which the input characters are displayed locally by the control means and simultaneously reported to the computer at the same time. The method for displaying and reporting input characters according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The definition data, as a predetermined input character in the local echo mode, has an end identification character indicating the end of the input character, and when the character is input, the character input to the input area is input. The method for displaying and reporting input characters according to claim 2, characterized in that the computer reports in batch. 4. The definition data has a representative field flag, the flag is set to ON, and the end identification character is input in an input area in which the display reporting method is set to local echo mode, 4. The display and reporting of input characters according to claim 3, wherein the characters input to the input area and the input area in the local echo mode which is input before the area are collectively reported to the computer. Method. 5. The method for displaying and reporting input characters according to claim 1, wherein when the cursor moves from one input area to another input area, it is possible to report to the host computer that the input area has changed. 6. An input character display and reporting device for displaying an input character from the input means at a cursor position on the displayed input screen and reporting the code of the input character to a computer via a transmission line. In the above, an input area management table for defining one or a plurality of input areas on the screen, and storing definition data including information indicating the display report method in the input area and the position of the area on the screen, ,
A means for setting the definition data of each input area on the screen in the input area management table when the input screen is first displayed from the computer, and a cursor at that time when a character is input from the input means. Is determined from the position information in the definition data corresponding to the area, and the input character is displayed on the screen and is reported to the computer according to the display report method in the determined definition data corresponding to the input area. An apparatus for displaying and reporting input characters, characterized by comprising: 7. The display / report method is a local echo mode in which input characters are locally displayed by a control means provided on the display means side, and input characters are collectively reported to a computer by inputting a predetermined character, and an input Either the host echo mode in which characters are sequentially reported to the computer and the characters sent back from the host computer are displayed, or the semi-local echo mode in which the input characters are displayed locally by the control means and simultaneously reported to the computer at the same time. 7. The display and reporting device for input characters according to claim 6, wherein: