JP2820949B2 - Hierarchical object selection method and apparatus, information processing apparatus and CAD apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a hierarchical object selection method and information processing apparatus in an information processing apparatus such as a CAD apparatus, and more particularly to a method for selecting an arbitrary object and selecting an object. User-friendly hierarchical object selection method and device capable of easily knowing the information
It relates to a CAD device and an information processing device.

[Conventional technology]

In the information processing device, when there are various menus, these menus are arranged in a hierarchical structure so that a child menu can be selected from a parent menu screen, and the selected child menu screen is displayed. In addition, the child menu screen is displayed. Incidentally, as related to the menu screen, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 56-64385
And JP-A-58-195942.

The hierarchical structure of the object is similar to the hierarchical structure of the menu. However, the hierarchical structure of the menu is usually such that a plurality of child menus are prepared for one parent menu, and a plurality of grandchild menus are prepared for one child menu. In this way, a complicated hierarchical structure in which one child object belongs to another parent object in common or a grandchild object directly belongs to the parent object is not taken. Therefore, the act of selecting a menu is simple, and a desired menu can be easily reached by proceeding the selection procedure in order.

However, selecting a necessary object from an object group having a complicated hierarchical structure takes time only by following the hierarchical structure in many cases, and it is often difficult to know which layer is currently in the hierarchy. In particular, in an information processing device that handles a large amount of graphic data, such as a CAD device, it is necessary to quickly select the target graphic data, and the necessary graphic data can be selected from a graphic data group having a complicated hierarchical structure. Being able to select quickly leads to the ease of use of CAD equipment.

Conventionally, when selecting a hierarchized object, only a selection key that can select an object belonging to a higher hierarchy than only the currently selected object is provided. In this case, if the selection key is pressed while the highest object is selected, the lowest object is newly selected, and if the selection key is kept pressed, the object hierarchy is sequentially changed from the bottom. The route goes up to the top and returns to the bottom again.

The above conventional technique has a problem that the hierarchical structure of the object that the user is currently trying to select cannot be understood. Therefore, a technique has been used in which the hierarchical structure of objects is displayed as a tree structure of object identifiers, and an identifier in the tree display is designated to select an object.

As related to the traditional object selection method,
Hitachi 2050 Series, Program Product, Office Text, Evey (2) (OFIS / TEXT-EV (2)) Grammar Operation Manual pp65-66, Program Product, GRDAS Parts Configuration Management System HICAD / PF Operation Manual pp20-23 . still,
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-80454 and the like relate to CADN.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the first prior art, when the user presses the selection key too much and passes through the hierarchical level of the object desired by the user, there is no means for selecting a lower-level object. Returning to here, you can trace to the desired object. Further, in an object having a network-type hierarchical structure in which an object has a plurality of higher-layer objects, there is a problem that there is no means for selecting an upper-layer object.

In the second prior art, since an object is selected from a tree display in which identifiers are displayed based on the hierarchical structure of the object, the position and the position of the object to be selected in advance in the entire hierarchical structure are determined. There is an annoyance that it is necessary to know the correspondence between the object identifier and the object.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a selection method and a selection apparatus for accurately and quickly selecting an object desired by a user from a hierarchical object group.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and a CAD apparatus capable of easily and accurately selecting an object desired by a user from a hierarchical object group.

[Means for solving the problem]

The first object is a selecting means for selecting an arbitrary object, a means for selecting a currently selected object, an object belonging to the same hierarchy as the currently selected object and common to the next higher or lower hierarchy. Means for selecting an object having a plurality of selected objects as a common lower-level object, and means for selecting the lowest-level object among higher-level objects having a selected lower-level object. It is achieved by exercising.

The second object is achieved by providing, in an information processing device or a CAD device, a selection means for achieving the first object and a display means for achieving the second object.

(Operation)

First, an object is selected by means for selecting an object at an arbitrary hierarchical level in the hierarchical structure. And
By means of selecting objects higher by N levels,
It is possible to select an object in a hierarchy higher than the currently selected object. In this way, by moving up the hierarchy from an object at an arbitrary hierarchy level, an object in the middle of the hierarchy can be selected. By means of selecting an object lower by M levels when an object is selected, an object lower than the currently selected object can be newly selected. This makes it possible to move down the hierarchy of objects, and in combination with means for selecting a higher-level object, move up and down the hierarchy, and select the desired object appropriately while viewing the distinction display (echo back) of the selected state. It becomes possible. Further, by means for newly selecting an object that shares the object of the lower hierarchy with the currently selected object, it is possible to select a hierarchized object that is allowed to have a plurality of objects of the upper hierarchy.

An arbitrary number of arbitrary objects can be selected by means for selecting a plurality of objects at arbitrary hierarchical levels. Further, by means of selecting an object of a higher hierarchy common to a plurality of objects, an object of a higher hierarchy can be selected from the plurality of objects selected earlier with a small number of operations.

By displaying the hierarchical relationship of objects as a tree diagram and linking it to the selected state, it is possible to quickly check the position of the currently selected object selected while moving up and down the hierarchical relationship in the hierarchy, It is possible to prevent the user from selecting an object that is not right.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a CAD apparatus which is an example of an information processing apparatus including a selection unit and a display unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The input unit 101 includes a pointing device such as a mouse and an input device such as a keyboard, and receives a command input from a user and an instruction for selecting an object. The output unit 102 includes a display unit such as a CRT, displays the state of the object, and displays the object selected by the user with respect to the object not selected by blinking or the like. Also, a tree diagram representing the hierarchical relationship of the objects is displayed. Storage means 10
Reference numeral 3 stores a program describing objects, their hierarchical relationships, and object selection means. Central processing unit 10
4 receives an object selection command from the input unit 101, determines an object to be processed while moving up and down the hierarchical relationship of the objects stored in the storage unit 103, and receives a command from the input unit 101, and receives a command for the selected object. Executes processing and outputs the result to output means 10
Send to 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display on a CAD (graphic processing) device and a mouse 101 as an example of an input means.
The display unit 102 displays the graphic element objects 207, 208, and 209. The mouse 101 has three buttons, a first button 203, a second button 204, and a third button 205.
A cursor 206 indicates the current position of the mouse 202 on the screen. The graphic element objects 207, 208, and 209 have a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 5, the object 301 includes graphic objects 207 and 208, and the object 302 includes the object 301 and the graphic element object 209. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a tree diagram in which the hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 5 is created using actual objects themselves.

Next, the procedure of the hierarchical object selection process will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, in a step, the tree diagram of FIG. 8 is read out on the display screen of FIG. 4 by a predetermined operation and displayed in a window (FIG. 2). Next, in step 2, for example, the cursor 206 is pointed to a circle (object 207) and one of the buttons of the mouse 101, for example, the first button 203 is pressed to perform an object selection input. This gives the object
207 is selected.

Next, in step 3, a screen echo is performed to clearly show the user which object was selected. As the screen echo, for example, in this case, the object 207 is blinked or the display color is changed.

In the next step 4, screen echo of the corresponding object in the window screen is performed.

To search for objects, use mouse
Press any button of 101 to input. In this embodiment, the user presses the first button 203 to search for an object in the higher hierarchy for the selected object, and presses the second button 203 to search for an object in the lower hierarchy.
When the user presses the button 204 and wants to search for objects having the same child object in the same hierarchy, the user presses the third button.

In step 6, it is determined whether the search operation for the hierarchical object has been completed. For example, in step 5,
If an operation other than the above-mentioned operation or another command operation is performed from the keyboard, the determination in step 6
Proceeding to 11, the window display is closed, and this object selection processing ends.

If it is determined in step 6 that the object selection process has not been completed, it is first determined in step 7 whether the button pressed in step 5 is the first button. If the determination result of step 7 is affirmative (true), the higher-level object search processing of step 8 is performed, the higher-level object 301 of the object 207 is selected, and the process returns to step 3. Thus, in step 3, the lower-level objects 207 and 209 (circles and triangles in the display unit 102)
Flashes. Also, in step 4, the display of the object 301 becomes a blinking display or the like on the window screen. In this embodiment, since the hierarchical structure of the objects is displayed on the window screen as a tree diagram, the object selected only in the tree diagram is blinked and the like, and the graphic displayed on the display unit 102 is displayed. The screen echo may not be performed. If the tree diagram is not displayed in a window, screen echo must be performed. Here again the first
When the button 203 is pressed, the higher-order object 302 is selected, and the objects 207, 208, and 209 blink or the like.

With object 302 selected, press the second button 2
When "04" is pressed, the process proceeds to step 7 or step 9, where it is determined that the second button 204 has been pressed, and the process proceeds to the lower-level object selection process of step 10. This allows
The previously selected object 301 is selected and a corresponding screen echo is performed. Here, when the second button 204 is further pressed, the object 207 selected first is selected.

When the third button 205 is pressed, the process proceeds from step 7 to steps 9 and 12, and in step 12, it is determined that the third button 205 has been pressed, and the process proceeds to an object search process 13 having the same child. In the object hierarchy shown in FIG.
Although there is no such object, for example, in an object having a hierarchical structure shown in FIG.
Since there are parent objects 501 and 502 having 7, if the process proceeds to step 13 while the object 501 is currently being selected, the object 502 will be selected.

When a command other than the first, second, and third buttons of the mouse is issued, error processing is performed from step 12 to step 14, and the process returns to step 5 to wait for an input from the mouse.

When you press the second mouse button 204 to go down the hierarchy,
As described above, the object selected when going up to the upper hierarchy may be stored, and when going down to the lower hierarchy or going up the hierarchy, the objects may be selected in the reverse order. May be. For example, the second button 20
A method is conceivable in which, when 4 is pressed, the lower-level object at the position where the cursor 206 is closest is selected.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are diagrams for explaining a hierarchical object selection process in an object group that is allowed to have a plurality of upper hierarchical objects.

FIG. 6 shows a display unit 102 of the CAD apparatus and a mouse 101 as an example of an input unit. The display unit 102 displays the graphic element objects 407 to 415.

The graphic element objects 407 to 415 have a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 7, and the object 502 is composed of graphic element objects 407, 409, 411, and is used when positioning the two circles 407, 409 and the center line 411 in the horizontal direction of the screen. The object 505 is composed of objects 502 and 503, and is used to perform operations such as "move", "copy", and "change display color" by combining the four circles and the center line. object
Reference numeral 506 includes an object 505 and a graphic element object 415, and is used to collectively perform processes such as "move", "copy", and "change display color" with the circles 407, 408, 409, 410, the center lines 411, 412, 413, 414, and the outer frame 415. object
Reference numeral 501 includes graphic element objects 407, 408, and 413, which are used when positioning the two circles 407 and 408 and the center line 413 in the vertical direction of the screen. In such a case, the graphic element object 407
Has two higher-level objects of objects 501 and 502.

Next, another embodiment of a method of selecting a hierarchical object will be described with reference to FIG. The cursor 206 is moved to the graphic element object 407, and the first button 203 is pressed. At this time, the object 407 is in a selected state, and blinks, for example, so that the user can understand that the selection has been made. Here, when the first button 203 is further pressed, the object 502, which is one of the objects in the upper hierarchy of the graphic element object 407, is selected, and the graphic element objects 407, 409, 411, which are lower objects, blink. . To select another upper layer object 501 of the graphic element object 407, the third button 205 is pressed while the object 502 is selected. When the third button 205 is pressed, another upper layer object 501 of the lower layer object 407 selected previously is selected. The third button 405 when there are three or more higher-level objects
Each time is pressed, selection is made in order.

With object 502 selected, the first
When the user presses the button 203, the upper object 505 of the object 502 is selected, and the lower graphic element objects 407 to 412 blink. object
When the second button 204 is pressed in a state where 505 has been selected, the previously selected object 502 is in a selected state.
Here, when the third button is pressed, the object 501 which is another higher-level object of the graphic element object 407 which has been selected on the way up the hierarchy is selected. When the second button is further pressed, the initially selected object 407 is selected.

When the third button 205 is pressed to select another object having a common lower-level object, the selection order is not only a method in which the objects are selected in the order in which the memory is searched and found, but also an order of creation or There are a method of selecting objects in reverse order and a method of selecting objects closest to the cursor.

Next, for another hierarchy object selection procedure,
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

In FIG. 6, a plurality of terminal objects are selected by a first button 203. After selecting a plurality of terminal objects with the first button 203 and pressing the second button 204, the lowest object among the objects in the upper hierarchy common to the selected objects is selected. Become. For example, cursor 206
The graphic element object 407 and the graphic element object 410
, The first button is pressed to set the selected state. Then, when the second button is pressed, the hierarchical structure shown in FIG. 7 is followed to search for a common upper object of the graphic element object 407 and the graphic element object 410. In this case, the objects are 505 and 506. Since the object 505 is lower in hierarchy than the object 506, the object 505 is selected.

The first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the third embodiment can be realized at the same time by switching according to a user command. When the level of the hierarchy is shallow, the method of moving up and down the hierarchy by the method of the first and second embodiments, and when the level of the hierarchy is deep, the object of the higher hierarchy is selected by the method of the third embodiment. The selection method is switched according to the state of the hierarchical structure of the object.

By using a specific key such as a keyboard or a menu on a screen or a tablet instead of a mouse button, the present invention can be applied to a pointing device such as a stylus pen having only one button.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are display examples of a tree diagram showing a hierarchical relationship between objects. In both cases, the example of FIG. 4 is displayed as a tree diagram. These figures are called up at any time during object selection and used to confirm the position of the selected object in the hierarchical tree.

FIG. 8 is a tree diagram showing the hierarchical relationship of the objects by displaying the objects themselves, as described above. In this case, there is no need to attach an identifier to the object. FIG. 8 shows the hierarchical relationship of FIG. 5 based on the shape of the graphic element object of FIG. In FIG. 8, reference numerals 602 to 606 show reduced actual objects. For example, when the graphic element objects 207 and 208 are selected in FIG. 4, each of the objects is turned on and off, and 60 in the tree diagram of FIG. 8 (actually, the window screen of FIG. 2).
4 and 606 blink, indicating that two graphic element objects are being selected. When the object 301 is selected in FIG. 5, the graphic element object 2
07 and 208 are blinking, and 60 in the tree diagram of FIG.
3 flashes. In FIG. 4 only, the object 301
Is not selected, or it is not possible to distinguish whether objects 207 and 208 are selected.
It can be distinguished by using the tree diagram in the figure.

FIG. 9 shows a hierarchical structure displayed as a tree diagram using identifiers assigned to the objects in advance, instead of displaying the objects themselves. In this example, the object number is used as the identifier, but it goes without saying that another identifier may be used. For example, when this display is used in a CAD device, it is easy to understand if a part number or a part name is used as an identifier. When the hierarchical structure is displayed using identifiers as shown in FIG. 9, it is easy for an expert in the field to understand, but generally difficult for a person to understand. On the other hand, when the hierarchical structure is displayed by reducing actual objects as shown in FIG. 8, it is easy for ordinary people to understand.

If the entire hierarchical structure of the objects cannot be displayed on one window screen, a part of the hierarchical structure is displayed centering on the location of the currently selected object, and the tree diagram in the window screen is displayed as the selection is advanced. We deal with it by scrolling.

When the hierarchical structure of an object is displayed as a tree diagram, the hierarchical structure becomes clear at a glance. However, for a person who knows the hierarchical structure of the object to some extent, such as an expert, if the hierarchical structure is displayed as a tree diagram, it becomes rather troublesome. In such a case, depending on the selection of the operator of the information processing apparatus, for example, as shown in FIG.
Only the currently selected object identifier is displayed at a predetermined position on the display screen, in the example of FIG. 10, at the bottom of the screen. Of course, the identifiers of the objects selected in the past may be displayed simultaneously, or the identifiers of the past objects may be scroll-displayed in the order of selection history.

Hereinafter, the example of FIG. 10 will be described in detail. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the object identifier “obj301” of the currently selected object is displayed to indicate that the object 301 in FIG. 5 is currently being selected. Here, when the object 302 in FIG. 5 is newly selected by the means for selecting an object in a higher hierarchy than the currently selected object, the object identifier “obj302” is displayed. Furthermore, when the object 301 and the object 207 are set to the selected state by the means for selecting an object lower in the hierarchy of the currently selected object, “obj301” and “obj207” are displayed. In this way, by sequentially displaying the identifiers of the selected objects, the operator can identify the currently selected object by a simple method without changing the display format such as blinking the object itself. Can be provided. Of course, the present invention is not limited to only a method that provides only one of the means. It goes without saying that both the display of the identifier and the blinking display may be performed.

According to the present embodiment, by providing a button for moving up and down the hierarchy when selecting an object, the user can select an object while moving up and down the hierarchy and watching the echo of the selected state of the object. Has the effect that it is possible to interactively and accurately select. Further, by providing a button for sequentially selecting a plurality of higher-level objects, there is an effect that it is possible to interactively and easily select an object hierarchized so as to allow having a plurality of higher-level objects. .

Further, by providing a means for selecting a plurality of objects and selecting a common upper-layer object, there is an effect that the upper-layer object can be selected with a small number of operations.

Furthermore, by displaying a tree diagram showing the hierarchical relationship of the objects and echoing the selection state of the objects, whether a plurality of lower-level objects are selected or an upper-level object composed of those objects is displayed. Because you can tell whether you are selecting,
It is possible to check whether an object desired by the user has been selected, and it is possible to select an accurate object.

In the means for selecting a hierarchical object, by providing a means for only displaying the identifier of the currently selected object, it is possible to notify the operator of the selected state only by displaying a character string without changing the display format of the object. it can. When the object is a complicated figure, a character string is only output compared to changing the display format of all the graphic elements constituting the object, so that the response at the time of the interactive processing can be made faster.

〔The invention's effect〕

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even if it is a group of objects which comprises a complicated hierarchical structure, since a hierarchy can be moved up and down freely or the same hierarchy can be moved, a desired object can be reached quickly and interactively, and operation is accurate and accurate. This has the effect of being easier.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an object selection procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a window displaying a tree diagram showing an object hierarchical structure, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an information processing apparatus, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of selecting an object, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure of the objects shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a method for selecting another object, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the hierarchical structure of objects shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the hierarchical structure of objects as a tree diagram, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the hierarchical structure of objects as a tree diagram using identifiers, FIG. The figure shows only the selected object identifier on the screen. 101 mouse (input means), 102 screen (output means), 103 storage device, 104 central processing unit, 203, 20
4,205 …… Button, 206 …… Mouse cursor, 207,208,20
9,301,302,407〜415,501〜506 …… Object, 702〜
706 …… Object identifier.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kenichi Tomita 4026 Kuji-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Within Hitachi Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-61-248128 (JP, A) JP-A-63- 253409 (JP, A) JP-A-61-196319 (JP, A) JP-A-63-66625 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G06T 11/00-11 / 80 G06F 17/00 G06F 3/00

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus comprising a storage device storing a plurality of objects forming a hierarchical structure, wherein the information belongs to the same hierarchy as the currently selected object and has an object common to the immediately higher or lower hierarchy. A hierarchical object selection method characterized by selecting an object. 2. An information processing apparatus comprising a storage device storing a plurality of objects forming a hierarchical structure, wherein the lowest object is selected from the upper objects having any of the selected plural objects as common lower objects. A hierarchical object selecting method. 3. An information processing apparatus comprising a storage device storing a plurality of objects forming a hierarchical structure, wherein the information belongs to the same hierarchy as the currently selected object and has an object common to the next higher or lower hierarchy. A hierarchical object selection device, comprising: selection means for selecting an object. 4. An information processing apparatus having a storage device storing a plurality of objects forming a hierarchical structure, wherein the lowest object is selected from the upper objects having any of the selected plural objects as common lower objects. A hierarchical object selecting apparatus, comprising: 5. An information processing apparatus comprising a storage device storing a plurality of objects forming a hierarchical structure, wherein the storage device stores a plurality of objects forming a hierarchical structure.
5. An information processing apparatus comprising: the hierarchical object selection device according to claim 4; and means for displaying an identifier of an object currently selected at a predetermined position on a screen. 6. A CAD apparatus, comprising: a storage device storing a plurality of hierarchically structured graphic data by combining graphic element data; and displaying selected graphic data on a display screen. First display means for window-displaying the hierarchical structure in a tree shape, selecting means for selecting graphic data higher or lower by an arbitrary hierarchy from the selected graphic data, and displaying the graphic data selected by the selecting means. Second display means for displaying the display in the tree shape separately from other displays, the second display means comprising:
A CAD apparatus characterized in that the display in the tree shape is distinguished from the display of other graphic data, and the display of the graphic data selected by the selecting means is also displayed on the display screen.