JP2725837B2 - Data transfer device with memory card in graphic display device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a graphic display device capable of drawing desired images such as figures, graphs, and characters on a display such as a CRT or a plasma display. The present invention relates to a device for transferring data between a device and a memory card.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system for connecting a display terminal to a host computer online to monitor an operating state of a plant including, for example, tanks, pipes, valves, and the like, and a progress of a process in a machine factory. (For example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-6130).

In this system, monitoring data from an instrumentation system such as a tank level meter and a limit switch for detecting opening and closing of a valve is once sent to a host computer. The host computer processes the monitoring data according to a preset procedure, creates a control command for displaying an image, and sends the control command to the display terminal.

In the display terminal, images such as a plant system diagram and a factory process diagram are created in advance, and those graphic data are registered in a memory in the terminal, and in an operation mode connected to the host computer, An image corresponding to the control command is called on the screen.

By the way, when constructing a monitoring system using a plurality of such display terminals, if graphic data of an image created by one terminal is stored in a memory card, the memory can be stored in another display terminal. The graphic data of the card can be used, so that the drawing work is unnecessary for the common image, and the great labor required for drawing can be reduced.

In this case, if a function of copying the contents of one memory card to another memory card is provided, it is more effective for sharing data.

(Problems to be Solved) However, in order to copy a memory card, it is necessary to provide two card sockets for simultaneously mounting a memory card A as a copy source and a memory card B as a copy destination. As a result, there is a problem that the apparatus becomes large.

In order to reduce the number of card sockets to one, a dedicated buffer memory for temporarily reading and storing the contents of the memory card A of the copy source is additionally provided in the terminal, and after storing by the buffer memory, The copy may be performed by replacing the memory card B at the copy destination, but the problem of increasing the size of the circuit board and increasing the cost arises due to the additional memory.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As shown in FIG. 1, a graphic display device according to the present invention has a display (11) and a graphic (graph), character, or other image on a screen of the display (11). Data input means for creating graphic data (12)
A main memory (45) for storing graphic data created by the data input means (12); a video RAM (44) having a storage address corresponding to each pixel constituting the screen; A graphic controller (5) that stores the graphic data of (45) as image data at each address of a video memory and sends the stored data as a video signal to a display (11); Reader / writer interface (16) for reading and writing data to the card, and video RAM (44)
And a graphic controller (5) for controlling data transfer between the reader / writer interface (16)
With

(Operation) When performing data transfer between the memory cards (7) and (71), a predetermined number of data are transferred to the graphic controller (5) while the transfer source memory card (7) is attached to the reader / writer interface (16). Enter a command.

As a result, the data of the memory card (7) is
The data is read by the writer interface (16), and the data is written to the video RAM (44) by the graphic controller (5).

Thereafter, when the transfer destination memory card (71) is attached to the reader / writer interface (16), the data in the video RAM (44) is read out by the graphic controller (5), and the data is transferred to the reader / writer interface (16). ) Is written to the transfer destination memory card (71).

(Effect of the Invention) In the graphic display device according to the present invention, a video RAM (44) to which data corresponding to an image projected on a screen is normally written can be used for data transfer between memory cards. It is possible to copy a memory card without enlarging the area and only by providing one card socket.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the display device of the present invention is implemented in an instrumentation monitoring system of a plant or the like described above will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The image display control device (1) is connected to the host computer (2) online, a communication controller (13) for receiving data from the host computer (2), and data input means (12) such as a keyboard. I / O controller (14) to take in input signals from CPU, CPU
(15), ROM in which the system program described below is registered
(4) a main memory (45) composed of various RAMs (41), (42), and (43) described later, a video RAM (44), and a register () for controlling data read timing by the communication controller (13). 3) and a graphic controller (5) for controlling the drawing operation of the display (11). In addition, a well-known reader / writer interface (16) provided with a card socket to which a memory card such as an IC card can be attached and detached is provided on a device casing (not shown).
Is attached and connected to the graphic RAM (43).

The event RAM (42) is a memory for storing a plurality of display change processing words, and the graphic RAM (43) is a base screen to be displayed on the display (11) and various image blocks to be displayed on the base screen. And the like are created and registered in advance. The video RAM (44)
When controlling the drawing operation of the display (11) by the graphic controller (5), the graphic RAM (4
This is a working memory used to develop the data of 3) into a screen image.

The image display control device (1) also has a function as a conventional general graphic display device, but illustration and description of these well-known configurations are omitted.

On the other hand, the host computer (2) is a general digital computer or a programmable controller.

FIG. 2 shows the correspondence between the division of the memory area of the video RAM (44) and the display area of the display (11). The total memory area (ACEG) of the video RAM (44) is 4
Area, and the entire area of the display (A'B'I ')
H '), a memory area (ABIH) for storing image data, a buffer memory area (ABFG) used for copying a memory card, and a screen area (ABF) used for displaying a message when a memory card is copied. B "C" D "
I ″) is set in the message storage area (BCDI).

In the operation mode described later, the graphic RA in FIG.
Graphic data read from M (43) is video data as image data corresponding to each pixel that composes the screen.
It is stored in the area (ABIH) of the RAM (44). When copying the memory card, the area (A) of the video RAM (44) is copied.
BFG) is written with the contents of the original memory card,
Data representing a predetermined message is written in the area (BCDI).

Therefore, when the memory card is copied, the image on the base screen of the display shown in FIG. 5 is disturbed, but the message display area (B "C" D "I") displays a message indicating the copy operation procedure to the user or "copy" The word "medium" will be displayed without any disturbance.

FIG. 3 shows a procedure for copying data of a memory card A in which graphic data is already registered to another memory card B.

First, it is determined whether or not the memory card A to be copied is set in the reader / writer interface (16). If so, it is determined whether or not a command to start copying has been input. If YES,
Read the contents of the memory card A of the copy source, and
M (44) is transferred to the memory area (ABFG).

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the copy destination memory card B has been replaced with the reader / writer interface (16), and if the copy destination memory card B has been set,
It is determined whether a command for instructing data transfer has been input. If YES, the contents of the memory area (ABFG) of the video RAM (44) are read and written to the memory card B, and the copying of the memory card A is completed.

If the amount of data in the memory card to be transferred is
When the capacity exceeds the capacity of the area (ABFG) of M (44), data is divided for each capacity and transferred.

When copying between memory cards, video RAM
Since (44) is used, there is no need to provide a dedicated memory area for copying, and only one card socket is required, and the device can be downsized.

The drawings and description of the above embodiments are intended to illustrate the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the invention described in the claims or reducing the scope thereof.

Further, the configuration of each part of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the technical scope described in the claims.

The data transfer method according to the present invention can be applied not only to an instrumentation monitoring system as shown in FIG. 1 but also to a general graphic display device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of an image display control device and a host computer, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a correspondence relationship between a video RAM and a display screen, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a copy operation. is there. (1) Image display control device (11) Display (12) Data input means (16) Reader / write interface (7) Memory card (44) Video RAM (45) … Main memory (5) …… Graphic controller

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A display (11) and data input means (12) for creating graphic data for drawing an image such as a figure, a graph, and a character on a screen of the display (11).
A main memory (45) for storing graphic data created by the data input means (12); a video RAM (44) having a storage address corresponding to each pixel constituting the screen; A graphic controller for storing the graphic data of (45) as video data in each address of a video memory and transmitting the stored data as a predetermined video signal to an image display unit; A reader / writer interface (16) for detaching a memory card and reading / writing data from / to the memory card, and a graphic for controlling data transfer between a video RAM (44) and a reader / writer interface (16). And a controller (5). La (5) in response to input of a command for instructing data transfer between the memory card,
A graphic display device for writing data from a transfer source memory card A to a video RAM (44) and / or reading data from the video RAM (45) and transferring the data to a transfer destination memory card B. Data transfer device with memory card.