JP4143370B2 - Link generator - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a computer graphical user interface (GUI) for calculation, and more particularly to a link generation device suitable for use in a user interface device for editing link information between graphic objects of a computer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Application software for manipulating graphical objects (hereinafter referred to as objects) visually expressed by the development of graphical user interfaces for computers using input devices such as mice, stylus pens, touch panels, and display devices such as bitmap displays Many have been developed. In these application software, various editing operations are performed by selecting an object clicked with an input device such as a mouse from objects displayed on the display device.
[0003]
In one of the editing operations described above, at least two or more objects are connected by a line segment (or line segment group) or a line segment (or line segment group) with an arrow, and there is some relationship between the objects. There is a "link" edit that you have.
In the link editing operation, since the user needs to perform an operation for selecting a plurality of objects and an operation for further editing the link, improvement in operability as a graphical user interface is desired.
[0004]
As a conventional technique aiming at improving the operability of a graphical user interface, a method has been proposed in which a stroke shape is detected and an object whose stroke intersects is selected (for example, Patent Document 1).
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-49700 [0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above prior art, a plurality of objects can be selected and the selection state can be changed. However, in order to generate or edit link information between the selected objects, the user needs to add link information separately. Editing operations need to be added, and the operability may become very poor.
In addition, the link information requires information indicating the start point and end point of the link. However, in the conventional technology, since the selection state is excluded without the concept of the start point and end point of the object, it is very difficult to edit the link after selection. It is.
Furthermore, since links have various visual attributes such as line segments and line segments with arrows, the conventional technology requires operations such as selecting the line type of the link line segment in addition to the operations described above. End up.
[0007]
In view of the above-described conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a link generation device, method, program, and recording medium for improving operability when generating or editing link information between objects. It is in.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a link generation apparatus according to the present invention is a link generation apparatus comprising writing means and an input surface for displaying an object, wherein the writing means is a starting point grounded to the input surface. moving locus on the input surface to the end point away from (hereinafter, stroke) input means for storing each coordinate point sequence of, per coordinate point sequence from the start point of the stroke obtained from said input means to the end point, A detection means for detecting the number of times a line segment connecting two consecutive points in the coordinate point sequence intersects a line segment connecting two consecutive points (hereinafter referred to as the number of self-intersections); was per coordinate point sequence from the start point to the end point of the stroke, and detecting an object that intersects the line segment connecting between two consecutive points of the coordinate point sequence from the start point of the stroke order, and was the detected Obuji And object detecting means for holding the order of extract, between objects detected the order in the object detecting means is continuous, and link generation means for generating a link with line types that are determined based on the self-intersection number Are provided.
[0011]
That is, the invention according to claim 1 is a link generation device comprising writing means and an input surface for displaying an object, wherein the writing means is connected to the input surface and reaches the end point away from the starting point. An input unit that stores each coordinate point sequence of a movement trajectory (hereinafter referred to as a stroke) on the input surface, and a sequence of coordinate point sequences from the start point to the end point of the stroke obtained from the input unit. line segment connecting the two points, the number of times that intersects the line connecting the other two successive points (hereinafter, self-crossing frequency) detection means for detecting the start point of the stroke obtained from said input means from every sequence of coordinate points to the end point, and detects the object that intersects the line segment connecting between two consecutive points of the coordinate point sequence from the start point of the stroke order, and to hold the order of the detected object And object detecting means, and wherein between the object detected the sequence is continuous with the object detecting means, and a link generation means for generating a link with line types that are determined based on the self-intersection number This is a link generation device.
[0012]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the link generation unit further includes an object closest to a start point of the stroke among objects intersecting with the line segment detected by the object detection unit. A link generation device that generates a link with an object closest to an end point of the stroke .
[0013]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the link generation means changes a display state of a start point or an end point of the link based on the number of times of self-intersection. Device.
[0014]
The invention according to claim 4 is the link generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the link generation device is used in a user interface device for a computing system .
[0026]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
First, the concept of a link used in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 2A, three objects of a square 1, a circle 2, and a triangle 3 are arranged on the display device. The square 1 and the triangle 3 are a line segment 4, and the square 1 and the circle 2 are a line segment 5 with an arrow. Is tied by
[0027]
By drawing the line segment 4 and the line segment 5 with the arrow between the objects displayed on the display device in this way, a link that visually tells the user that there is some relationship between the objects is linked. It is defined as
A link is a function often found in, for example, chart application software and presentation software.
[0028]
FIG. 2B shows another variation of the link. A link may be a combination of two or more objects such as “square 1 → circle 2 → pentagon 6”. In this case, the square 1 and the circle 2 are connected by the line segment 7, but the portion connecting the circle 2 and the pentagon 6 is not the line segment but the curve 8. In this way, what is visually known to indicate that there is a relationship between objects can also be handled as a link.
[0029]
The square 1 and the triangle 3 are connected by a dotted line segment 9. In this way, not only a simple solid line but also a visual attribute having various visual effect attributes such as a color attribute, a line type, and a line width can be handled as a link.
The present embodiment provides a method for improving operability when generating or editing a link as described above.
[0030]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a link generation device mounted on a user interface device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, an input unit 100 acquires a coordinate point sequence (hereinafter referred to as a stroke) from a mouse, a stylus pen, a touch panel, or the like. The stroke is a coordinate point obtained by sampling (x, y) coordinate points at a predetermined time interval until a writing means such as a button or a pen of the input unit 100 leaves the state where the input unit 100 is grounded. Is a column. Details of the stroke will be described later.
[0031]
The shape detection unit 101 detects one or more specific shapes formed by the coordinate point sequence from the coordinate point sequence in the stroke acquired by the input unit 100. The object detection unit 102 selects an object when a line segment connecting two consecutive points of the stroke coordinate point sequence forming the shape detected by the shape detection unit 101 is included in or intersects with the object. . The link generation unit 103 generates a link state according to the shape of the stroke detected by the shape detection unit 101 between the objects detected by the object detection unit 102.
[0032]
Next, the concept of stroke will be described with reference to FIG.
The stroke is obtained by sampling a sequence of coordinate points from the 0th to the nth until the writing means moves away from the contact surface after the writing means such as a hand, a pen, or a button has moved from the point where it touches the input surface. For example, the i-th coordinate point can be expressed as (x [i], y [i]) where x is the horizontal direction and y is the vertical direction.
[0033]
For the sake of simplicity, the following description will be made using a structure format format of a C language that is a computer language.
The structure OBJECT representing the data structure of the object can be defined as follows.
typedef struct [
int x [NMAX];
int y [NMAX];
int n;
bool isLink;
int larray [LINKMAX];
int ln;
] OBJECT;
OBJECT obj [OBJMAX];
int max;
[0034]
Here, x [], y [] are horizontal and vertical coordinate points constituting the stroke, and NMAX is a predetermined constant indicating the maximum number of arrays. n is the number of coordinate points of the stroke.
isLink is a variable having a boolean value (true True, false False). If True, the object is a link object, and False indicates an object other than a link.
[0035]
When the object is a link object, larray [] is an array that sequentially holds the index numbers of objects obj [] to which the link object is linked, and LINKMAX is a predetermined constant indicating the maximum number of the array.
1n is a variable for holding the number of objects linked by the link object when the object is a link object.
obj [] is an array having an OBJECT type structure, and OBJMAX is a predetermined constant that holds the maximum number of obj [] arrays. max is a variable that holds the current number of objects.
[0036]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing of the input unit 100.
The user first selects whether to generate a link object or a normal object (step S1, step abbreviated below). The normal object is a stroke drawing object other than the link object. Next, when the writing means contacts the position (x, y) on the input surface of the input unit 100 (S2), first, max that holds the number of objects in the obj [] array is incremented by 1 (S3). Next, obj [max] .n is initialized to 0 (S4).
[0037]
Next, if the user moves the writing means to the position (x ′, y ′) on the input surface (S5), it is determined whether or not the writing means is separated from the input surface (S6). When the writing means remains grounded (S6, NO), x 'is set to obj [max] .x [obj [max] .n] and y' is set to obj [max] .y [obj [max] .n]. (S7), obj [max] .n is incremented by 1 (S8), the next movement of the writing means is detected (S6), and thereafter the process is repeated until the writing means leaves the input surface.
When the writing means moves away from the input surface (S6, yes), it is checked whether the object is a link object (S9). If it is a link object, obj [max] .isLink is set to True (S10), otherwise Sets obj [max] .isLink to False (S11), and ends the process.
[0038]
Next, processing of the shape detection unit 101 will be described.
The shape detection unit 101 detects the number of self-intersections of strokes constituting obj [k] (k is an arbitrary variable that takes a value from 0 to max). Here, the self-intersection means that the line segments connecting the coordinate points constituting the stroke of obj [k] sequentially intersect.
For the intersection determination processing of line segments, for example,
http://www.wombat.or.jp/tomoyashuttle/shtml/algorithm/Intersection.htm
In order to use the well-known technique shown in Fig. 1, a detailed description of the configuration is omitted, but an outline is given below.
[0039]
FIG. 5 shows an example of self-intersection.
First, normal line segment intersection determination processing will be described. When there are coordinate points A, B, C, and D, the line segment AB and the line segment CD intersect. This means that the straight line passing through the points A and B intersects the line segment CD and passes through the points C and D. It is thought that the straight line intersects with the line segment AB. Therefore, when two points constituting the line segment exist on both sides of the straight line with the straight line as the boundary line, that is, when considering a straight line y = dx + e, it is 2 for y-dx-e. A straight line and a line segment are considered to intersect when the coordinates of two points are substituted and the signs are different. As a result of calculating this process with respect to the straight line AB and the points C and D and the straight line CD and the points A and B, it is determined that the line segment AB and the line segment CD intersect.
[0040]
By applying such line segment intersection determination processing to a line segment connecting coordinate points constituting obj [k] itself, the self-intersection number sc can be calculated.
For example, if i and j are variables that take values from 0 to obj [k] .n, which is the number of vertices of the stroke of obj [k], independently of each other, coordinate point A (obj [k] .x [ i], obj [k] .y [i]), B (obj [k] .x [i + 1], obj [k] .y [i + 1]), C (obj [k] .x [ j], obj [k] .y [j]), D (obj [k] .x [j + 1], obj [k] .y [j + 1]) Among them, the intersection of line segments is detected in all cases except for the conditions i = j, i = j + 1, and j = i + 1. The sum of the intersections detected at this time is taken as the number of self-intersections.
[0041]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing of the object detection unit 102.
The object detection unit 102 detects whether or not an object input as a link object and another object intersect (see FIG. 7 for the concept of the intersection), and when an intersection is detected, between the intersected objects Detect links.
FIG. 7 shows a case where the stroke 10 intersects the square 1, the triangle 3, and the circle 2 and does not intersect the pentagon 6.
[0042]
When the input unit 100 is a link object, that is, obj [max] .isLink = True, the process of FIG. 6 is performed.
First, the temporary variable k is initialized to 0, the variable cFlag holding the true / false value is initialized to False, and the number of objects obj [max] .ln linked to obj [max] is initialized to 0 (S21). Next, after initializing the temporary variable i to 0 and src holding the index number of the array of the object that temporarily detected the intersection to −1 (S22), the temporary variable j is initialized to 0 (S23). ).
[0043]
Next, while updating the temporary variables I, j, k sequentially, the line segment (obj [max] .x [i], obj [max] .y [i])-(obj [max] .x [i + 1], obj [max] .y [i + 1]) and line segment (obj [k] .x [j], obj [k] .y [j])-(obj [k] .x [j + 1], obj [k] .y [j + 1]) is judged whether or not they intersect (S24, S25, S26, S33, S35).
When an intersection is detected, cFlag is set to True, and the value of k intersected at that time is substituted for src (S27). The line segment intersection determination process is as described above, and a description thereof is omitted here.
[0044]
Next, it is determined whether cFlag = False (S28). If True, it is determined that src is not -1 (S29). If src is not -1, whether src has not been detected in the past. Is determined (S30). To find out if Src has not been detected in the past, you can check whether there is a value for src in the obj [max] .larray [] array that holds the index numbers of objects that have already been detected in the past. .
[0045]
If it is determined that src has not been detected in the past, assign the value of src to obj [max] .larray [obj [max] .ln], and then add the obj [max] .larray [] array The index value of obj [max] .ln is incremented by 1 (S31).
In this way, k is searched from 0 to max-1 for obj [k], and all objects other than obj [max] that intersect the stroke of obj [max] are detected (S32, S33). If cFlag = False is not satisfied in S28, the process is repeated until i = obj [max] .n-1 in S34 and S35.
[0046]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the link generation unit 103.
First, the object detection unit 102 determines whether obj [max] .ln is 2 or more. If it is smaller than 2, the processing is immediately terminated (S41).
If obj [max] .ln is 2 or more, then the temporary variable i is initialized to 0 (S42). Next, as s1 = obj [max] .larray [i] and s2 = obj [max] .larray [i + 1], the consecutive index numbers of the detected objects in the obj [max] .larray [] array are Obtain (S43).
[0047]
Next, the line type Ltype of the link object to be generated is determined according to the number of self-intersections sc in the stroke of obj [max] detected by the shape detection unit 101 (S44). Ltype is determined as “line segment” when sc = 0, “arrow (one end)” when sc = 1, “arrow (both ends)” when sc = 2, and “line segment” otherwise. (S45 to S50). Next, the line type is designated as Ltyp (S51).
[0048]
Next, specify Ltype between (obj [s1] .x [0], obj [s1] .y [0])-(obj [s2] .x [0], obj [s2] .y [0]) A line segment is drawn with the line type thus created (S52). When the line type is “line segment”, a normal line segment is drawn between ob j [s1] and obj [s2]. When the line type is “arrow (one end)”, a line segment with an arrow on obj [s2] is drawn between obj [s1] and obj [s2]. When the line type is “arrow (both ends)”, a line segment with arrows on both ends of obj [s1] and ob j [s2] is drawn between obj [s1] and obj [s2].
[0049]
Next, it is determined whether i is obj [max] .ln−1 (S53). If i is not obj [max] .ln−1, i is incremented by 1 (S54).
The above processing is repeated until i becomes obj [max] .ln-1.
[0050]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing another process of the link generation unit 103.
In FIG. 9, a link line segment is drawn between an object closest to the start point side and an object closest to the end point side among the objects intersected by the link objects.
[0051]
First, it is determined whether obj [max] .ln> = 2 (S61). If obj [max] .ln is smaller than 2, the process is immediately terminated. In other cases, s1 = obj [max] .larray [0] and s2 = obj [max] .larray [obj [max] .ln-1] are then set (S62). That is, the index number of the object closest to the start point (obj [max] .x [0], obj [max] .y [0]) of obj [max] and the object detected last That is, the index number of the nearest object on the end point of obj [max] (obj [max] .x [obj [max] .n], obj [max] .y [obj [max] .n]) get.
Since the subsequent processing is the same as S44 to S52 in FIG. 8, a detailed description is omitted, but a link line segment is drawn between obj [s1] and obj [s2].
[0052]
FIG. 10 shows a state in which the link generation unit 103 draws the link line segment by changing the line type according to the number of self-intersections of the link object detected by the shape detection unit 101.
When there is no self-intersection number in the stroke of the link object as shown in FIG. 10 (a1), the link generation unit 103 generates a link line segment as shown in FIG. 10 (a2).
When there is one self-intersection number in the stroke of the link object as shown in FIG. 10 (b1), the link generation unit 103 generates a link line segment having an arrow at one end as shown in FIG. 10 (b2). .
When there are two self-intersections in the stroke of the link object as shown in FIG. 10 (c1), the link generation unit 103 generates a link line segment having arrows at both ends as shown in FIG. 10 (c2). .
[0053]
FIG. 11 shows the difference between the processing of the link generation unit 103 shown in FIG. 8 and the other processing of the link generation unit 103 shown in FIG.
When the stroke of the link object as shown in FIG. 11A is drawn, in the case of the process of FIG. 8, a link line segment is generated between each object where the stroke of the link object intersects as shown in FIG. 11B1. . In the case of the process of FIG. 9, a link line segment is generated between an object near the start point and an object near the end point of the stroke of the link object as shown in FIG. 11 (b2).
[0054]
Next, referring to FIG. 12, the program according to the embodiment of the present invention used for installing the program for executing the above-described series of processes in the computer and making it executable, and the recording in which the program is recorded The medium will be described.
The program executes the processing of each flowchart described above.
[0055]
For example, as shown in FIG. 12 (a), this program can be provided in a state of being installed in advance on a hard disk as a recording medium built in a computer connected to a user interface device equipped with a link generation device according to the present invention.
Further, as shown in FIG. 12B, the program is temporarily or permanently stored in a recording medium and incorporated as a unit in a computer connected with a user interface device equipped with a link generation device according to the present invention, or By using it as a detachable recording medium, it can be provided as package software.
[0056]
As the recording medium for storing the program, as shown in FIG. 12C, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), an MO (Magneto optical) disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile). Disc), magnetic disk, semiconductor memory, etc. can be used.
Also, as shown in FIG. 12D, the program is a user interface device equipped with a link generation device according to the present invention from a download site via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet, in a wired or wireless manner. Can be transferred to a connected computer and downloaded to a hard disk or the like built in the computer.
[0057]
【The invention's effect】
The invention described above has the following effects.
In the prior art, when performing a link operation between objects, it is necessary to edit the link while keeping the object in a selected state, or to intentionally select two objects and perform the link operation. According to the present invention, it is possible to detect a linked object by drawing the stroke of the linked object so as to intersect with the object, and to generate a link line segment in the intersected order, so that the link editing operation in the GUI operation is easy. become.
[0058]
In addition, since the link has various visual attributes such as a line segment and a line segment with an arrow, the conventional technique requires an operation such as selecting a line type of the link segment separately. According to this, the number of self-intersections included in the stroke of the link object can be detected, and the line type of the link line segment can be specified at the same time depending on the difference in the number of self-intersections. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a link generation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram for explaining a concept of a link.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram for explaining a concept of a stroke.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing of an input unit.
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a self-intersection of strokes.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of an object detection unit.
FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram for explaining a concept of intersection.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing of a link generation unit.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing another process of the link generation unit.
FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram illustrating how a link generation unit draws a link line segment with various line types according to the number of self-intersections;
FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a link line segment due to a difference in processing of a link generation unit.
FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram for explaining a program and a recording medium according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 7 Square object 2 Round object 3 Triangular object 4 Line segment 5 Line segment with arrow 6 Pentagram object 8 Curve line segment 9 Dotted line segment 10 Stroke 100 Input unit 101 Shape detection unit 102 Object detection unit 103 Link generator

Claims (4)

A link generation device comprising writing means and an input surface for displaying an object,
Input means for storing each coordinate point sequence of a movement trajectory (hereinafter referred to as a stroke) on the input surface from the start point grounded to the input surface to an end point separated from the input surface;
For a coordinate point sequence from the start point to the end point of the stroke obtained from the input means, a line segment connecting two consecutive points of the coordinate point sequence intersects a line segment connecting two other consecutive points. Detecting means for detecting the number of times (hereinafter referred to as the number of self-intersections);
For the coordinate point sequence from the start point to the end point of the stroke obtained from the input means, an object intersecting with a line segment connecting two consecutive points of the coordinate point sequence is detected in order from the start point of the stroke, and Object detection means for maintaining the order of the detected objects;
Link generating means for generating a link with a line type determined based on the number of self-intersections between objects detected in the order detected by the object detecting means;
A link generation device comprising:   The link generation means further generates a link between the object closest to the start point of the stroke and the object closest to the end point of the stroke among the objects intersecting with the line segment detected by the object detection means. The link generation device according to claim 1. It said link generating means, on the basis of the self-crossing frequency, according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the link generation device and changes the display state of the start point or end point of the link. The link generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the link generation device is used in a user interface device for a computing system.

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