JP4518537B2 - Screen creation support device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal device having a display screen and a screen creation support device that supports creation of a screen specification of the display screen of the terminal device.

  For example, a user interface using a display screen is used for a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone (hereinafter, the terminal device is also simply referred to as a terminal) so that various users can easily use various applications. It has been. In recent years, there are various applications for mobile phones that have become multifunctional, such as telephone functions, memo pad, address book, schedule book, e-mail, Web browsing, camera shooting, calculator, clock display, guide display, etc. For all of these, there is a unique screen that informs the user and prompts for input. Basic elements constituting the screen include a background, an image (including icons, tabs, indicators, a matrix, and the like), text (including a label, a list, and the like).

  In mobile phone manufacturers and the like, the work required for designing and creating such various screens is enormous, and is generally assigned to a plurality of persons in charge.

  Therefore, in some cases, the person in charge uses a non-uniform screen configuration, it is difficult to divert parts between screens, or inconsistencies occur between screens. Such a problem may occur between a plurality of screens of the same model, and may also occur between screens of different models (for example, a current model and a successor model).

  Conventionally, the creation of a screen specification as a document is a separate task from the coding of a program for displaying a screen on a terminal. In the coding of the program, data and parameters used in the specification are not included. I had to enter it again.

  The present invention has been made in such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a screen creation support apparatus capable of facilitating screen creation and improving the applicability of components constituting the screen, and the screen. An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal device that displays a screen based on a screen specification created by a creation support device.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a screen creation support apparatus capable of creating a screen specification in a format that allows easy use of data for a screen display program.

  A screen creation support apparatus according to the present invention is a screen creation support apparatus for assisting a creator to create various display screens of a terminal device having a display unit, and specifies predetermined basic components constituting the screen. Component design drawing storage means for storing component design drawing data including component information defining component identifiers for each component and attribute information of each basic component, and components constituting the screen pattern for each of a plurality of predetermined screen patterns A screen design drawing storage means for storing screen design drawing data including part identifiers for identifying the parts and arrangement information for defining the mutual arrangement relation between the parts, and used in common for the part design drawing and the screen design drawing Common constant table storage means for storing common constant table data defining constants to be stored, and a resource for storing resource data including image data and text data constituting the parts Comprising a Sudeta storage means, display means having a display screen for displaying various information, an input means for accepting input of instructions and information by the creator, a screen specification creation means. The screen specification creation means displays one or more screen patterns from a plurality of screen patterns stored in the screen design drawing storage means on the display screen of the display means according to the operation of the input means by the creator. Screen specifications data are created by selecting and specifying text and / or images to be assigned to individual parts on those screen patterns.

  The part design drawing data includes part information defining attribute information of each basic part. By preparing such part design drawing data in advance, the creator of the screen (screen specification) need not create a new part. Further, by preparing in advance a screen pattern in which one or more (usually a plurality of) parts are combined as a screen design drawing, it is not necessary to create a screen pattern that is normally used. As a result, not only the components but also the screen pattern can be standardized, and the applicability of screen components (including components and screen patterns) is improved. In creating an actual screen of a terminal device, the creator combines necessary screen patterns and prepares text and / or images to be assigned to individual parts on those screen patterns. It can be specified by selecting from the above or manually inputting. This makes it possible to create a target screen in a short time.

  The common constant table data includes, for example, various constant names and variables using the actual values of the constants or other constant names associated with the constant names. With this configuration, when a specific constant such as a screen size is changed, the change automatically extends to other constants. Also, by changing the constants in the common constant table data, the constants used in the part design drawing and screen design drawing can be automatically changed, and changes in the screen size etc. can be automatically reflected in the screen configuration. it can.

  Preferably, at least the part design drawing data, the screen design drawing data, and the screen specification data are all described as text data with tag information. Thereby, the part identifier in the screen design drawing data is linked to the part design drawing data of a specific part in the part design drawing storage means, or the screen pattern identifier in the screen specification data is set to the screen design. It is possible to link to specific screen design drawing data in the figure storage means.

  The screen design drawing data may include a condition for switching a plurality of the component identifiers, or a condition for switching information defining a mutual arrangement relationship of a plurality of components. Similarly, the screen specification data may include a condition for selectively designating a text and / or an image to be assigned to each part on the screen pattern from a plurality of options. Thereby, the condition information for switching the screen contents can be included in the definition information itself of the screen pattern or component.

  The display screen of the terminal device is divided into a plurality of areas, and the screen pattern of the screen design drawing can be prepared for each area. Thereby, a combination of different screen patterns for each area is possible, and more different whole screens can be obtained with fewer screen patterns.

  By defining the positions of the parts constituting the screen pattern as relative positions, it becomes possible to automatically cope with changes in the screen size and the like.

  A terminal device having a display unit according to the present invention is a common device obtained by extracting necessary data from common constant table data, parts design drawing data, and screen design drawing data used in the screen creation support device as described above. Constants, part design data, and screen design data are stored in the storage means, and resource data including image data and text data constituting the parts are stored in the storage means. The screen composition means preferably identifies one or more screen patterns constituting a specific screen based on the screen design data, component design data, and common constants using information extracted from the screen specification. A screen to be displayed on the display screen of the display means is constructed by selecting screen pattern identifiers to be designated and designating text and / or images to be assigned to individual parts on those screen patterns. . With this configuration, the screen specification information and the information used to create the screen specification can be used effectively without re-input and reflected in the screen configuration means (screen display program in one embodiment). Can be made.

  According to the present invention, a screen creator selects a screen pattern in which screen parts are combined in advance and completes the screen by designating text and / or images to be assigned to the parts on the screen pattern. Therefore, the work efficiency is improved and the screen can be created in a short time.

  In addition, since screen parts and screen patterns are prepared in advance and selected and used, the screen parts and screen patterns are standardized and their diversion is enhanced. Therefore, the present invention is particularly useful when creating a large number of screens.

  At least the parts design drawing data, the screen design drawing data, and the screen specification data are all described as text data with tag information, so that they function as a document and the necessary data portion is extracted. It can be imported into the screen display program. Therefore, the coding operation of the screen display program can be automated or simplified, and the possibility of erroneous input is reduced.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration of the screen creation support apparatus according to the present embodiment. The screen creation support apparatus includes a data processing unit 101, a display unit 102, an input unit 103, a printing unit 104, a communication unit 105, and a storage unit 110. The storage unit 110 includes a program 111, a common constant table 112, a part design drawing 113, a screen design drawing 114, a screen specification 115, a screen resource data 116, a state transition table 117, a C source code 118, and screen creation support resource data. 119 and the like are stored.

  The data processing unit 101 is configured by a CPU or the like, and controls the entire apparatus and performs necessary data processing according to a program 111 in the storage unit 110. In addition to the operating system, the program 111 includes application programs such as a web browser and a screen creation support program. The display unit 102 includes a display device having a display screen, and has a function of displaying various types of information to the user. The input unit 103 includes a keyboard and a pointing device (for example, a mouse), and has a function of accepting user instructions and information input. The printing unit 104 includes a printer or the like and has a function of printing out electronic data. The communication unit 105 is configured by a communication adapter or the like and is connected to the LAN, or connected to the WAN via a router, a modem, or the like, and has a function of performing communication with the outside. The printing unit 104 may be connected via a LAN or the like.

  The screen creation support apparatus shown in FIG. 1 can be realized by installing the screen specification creation program according to the present invention in a general-purpose computer (for example, a personal computer).

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of a mobile phone as an example of a terminal device having a screen to be screened according to the present invention. The overall operation of this mobile phone is controlled by the CPU 220. The CPU 220 is connected to the communication circuit 203, the display control unit 209, the operation unit 206, the ROM 207, and the RAM 208 via the control line 200, and controls each of these units. A communication circuit 203 is a part that performs transmission / reception processing of a mobile phone, and is connected to a base station by an antenna 202 via a wireless interface. The display control unit 209 is a part that performs display control of the display unit 210 such as a liquid crystal display. The operation unit 206 includes a numeric keypad and various operation keys, and is a part that receives user input instructions. The ROM 207 is a memory that stores a fixed program (including a screen display program as a screen configuration unit) executed by the CPU 220 and fixed data associated therewith. The ROM 207 may include a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory. A RAM 208 is a memory that provides a temporary storage area and a work area for data to be used by the CPU 220. The data line 201 is connected to the CPU 220, the communication circuit 203, the display control unit 209, the ROM 207, the RAM 208, the speaker 204, and the microphone 205, and provides a data transfer path between these arbitrary parts.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the mutual relationship between various data handled in this embodiment. As various data, there are a common constant table 112, a part design drawing 113, a screen design drawing 114, a screen specification 115, a screen resource data 116, a state transition table 117, and a C source code 118. Hereinafter, each of these data will be described. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that at least the part design drawing 113, the screen design drawing 114, and the screen specification 115 are all described as text data with tag information. In this embodiment, the screen specification 115 is described in a markup language such as XML (extensible Markup Language). The screen specification 115 can be converted into another format (for example, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) or PDF (Portable Document Format)).

  Hereinafter, each of these data will be described.

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the common constant table 112. The common constant table 112 is a data table that defines common constants used in both the part design drawing 113 and the screen design drawing 114. By changing this table value, constants commonly referred to in a plurality of design drawings and the like can be changed at once. Table values include those related to the entire terminal screen and those related to parts. In the figure, the display size, font size, line size, and character pitch are shown as common constants for the whole. The parts include labels, icons, lists, tabs, matrices, indicators, and the like. In the figure, basic label width and basic label margin are shown as common constants of labels.

  The table values of the common constant table 112 include those that set actual specific numerical values as they are and those that specify other constants as variables. For example, in the example shown in the figure, the display size "MAIN_WIDTH" is set to a specific value of "120", but "DISP_WIDTH", "SOFTLEY_WIDTH", etc. are not specific values and have a variable "MAIN_WIDTH". Is defined using (or including). The basic label width "LABEL_WIDTH_L" is defined as "MAIN_WIDTH-(LIST_MARGIN_R + LIST_MARGIN_L)". With the definition method using such variables, for example, even if the screen size is changed, it is not necessary to change constants that change with the change.

The part design drawing 113 is a design drawing that defines attribute information of all parts that may be used in the screen design drawing 114. The attribute information is mainly information such as shape, size, color type, text / image classification, and the like. Parts is representative of the elements constituting the screen, and the focus, items, background, by a combination of the basic components and the like. Further, as shown in FIG. 5A, the part design drawing 113 can be constituted by not only parts but also combination parts. The combination part is a combination of a plurality of parts that are handled as one part.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a component design drawing. This part shows an example of a “label” part having a part name “LABEL1-F1”. The label is a component made up of text (character string) of each item on the menu screen, for example. The part design drawing 113 includes “layout information” indicating a visual appearance configuration of the part on the screen, “overall information” regarding the entire attribute of the part, “definition” regarding the definition of the part, and configuring the part "Basic part information" about the basic part to be included. “Overall information” includes component variables, data variables, and component constants. “Part variable” is information regarding the position, size, and focus of the part. The “data variable list” includes “basic part names” (for example, items), “variable names” (for example, text data), and “formats” (for example, character string IDs / arbitrary texts) of basic parts constituting the parts. The “component constant list” defines constants specific to this component. “Definition” defines definition information specific to this component (in this example, the number of lines in “item”). “Basic part information” defines attribute information such as the shape of the basic part, the distinction of text / image, relative position (X coordinate, Y coordinate) in the part, size, part color type, etc. In this case, the basic component 1 includes “focus” and the basic component 2 includes “item”. A specific character string assigned to this label on the screen is determined by a screen specification described later.

Next, the screen design diagram 114 is a design diagram that configures a screen pattern in which components are arranged in combination. A screen pattern is usually a combination of a plurality of components. One screen pattern is not limited to correspond to the entire screen of the terminal display unit, may correspond to the portion of the screen area. As the types of screen patterns, there are “pict”, “title”, “main”, “set list”, and “soft key” as shown in FIG. As shown in the example of the menu list related to the schedule of the mobile phone in FIG. 7, the display screen usually has a horizontally long strip-shaped pictogram area 102 a at the upper part of the screen for displaying the received electric field strength and the remaining battery level, and a lower part of the screen. A soft key area 102c for displaying soft keys and an intermediate main area 102b sandwiched between the two areas are divided. Although not shown, a title area for displaying a title may be provided in the normal upper portion of the main area 102b. The types of screen patterns described above correspond to these areas.

  “Pict” is a pictorial screen design displayed in the pict area. “Title” is a screen design drawing of a screen pattern in a title format. “Main” includes screen design drawings such as LIST, MATRIX, INF, TAB, POP, and TELEPHON. LIST is a screen design diagram of a list-type screen pattern. MATRIX is a screen design diagram of a matrix-type screen pattern. INF is a screen design diagram of a screen pattern for displaying information and status (for example, a screen during communication). TAB is a screen design diagram of a screen pattern using tabs. POP is a screen design diagram of a pop-up screen pattern. TELEPHON is a screen design diagram of a screen pattern using telephone number parts. The “set list” is a screen design diagram of a screen pattern called “set list” using combination parts. The “soft keys” include screen design diagrams of SOFTKEY, BROWSER-SOFTKEY, and KEYLOCK-SOFTKEY. SOFTKEY is a screen design diagram of a normal soft key screen pattern. BROWSER-SOFTKEY is a screen design diagram of a screen pattern of soft keys when the browser is used. KEYLOCK-SOFTKEY is a screen design diagram of a screen pattern at the time of key lock. By combining these screen patterns, a screen specification of a specific screen as will be described later is created.

  8A and 8B show a specific example of the screen design drawing 114, and here, an example of a “list” screen pattern with a screen pattern name “LIST-1” is shown. This screen design drawing 114 is composed of “layout information”, “reference diagram”, “sample screen”, “whole information”, “feature”, “definition”, and “component information”. Each image information of the layout information, the reference diagram, and the sample screen is included in the text with tag information of the screen design drawing as link information for the corresponding resource data.

  The “layout information” is a visual graphic display of what components the screen pattern is configured and how they are arranged in a predetermined area. The circled numbers in the figure indicate the serial numbers of the parts used in this screen pattern, and the character string following the number indicates the part name. In addition, a rough arrangement position of each component is indicated by a rectangular frame line. Further, various margin names are shown along with the dimension lines. For parts that are repeatedly arranged, the fact and the direction of repetition are appended together with the part number. “Or” of “ListLabel-F1 or ListLabel1-F2” of the part number 4 means that the parts can be switched on the condition of the font size.

  The “reference diagram” is a diagram schematically showing how the parts of the screen pattern are actually arranged on the screen. The “sample screen” is a specific example of an actual screen pattern. “Overall information” is information that defines information related to the entire screen pattern, and includes “screen variable list”, “data variable list”, and “constant list”. The “screen variable list” specifies the contents of items relating to the entire screen pattern (which depends on the individual screen pattern) that cannot be determined by screen design drawing parts as variable names. “Remarks” describes the variables and the options according to the conditions. The “data variable list” uses the contents related to individual data that cannot be determined by screen design drawing parts as variables. The “constant list” defines constants specific to this screen pattern. The “feature” defines the feature of the screen pattern, and here, “scroll unit” and “cyclicable screen” (whether or not cyclic display is possible) are defined. The “definition list” represents definitions of words (variables) used in the screen design drawing. “Part information” lists all the parts used in the screen pattern and describes attribute information for each part. The attribute information specified here varies depending on the part. Basically, the part variable, type, relative position (X coordinate, Y coordinate) in the part, size (horizontal width, height), focus target, presence of underline, Etc. If the value of the component variable changes depending on the condition, the value is described together with the condition classification. For example, in part 1 (background) and part 2 (upper indicator) shown in FIG. 8B, the attribute information such as “horizontal width”, “height”, “X coordinate”, and “Y coordinate” is selected from the common constant table. Variables are used. In the component 3 (lower indicator), as a relative position designation method with respect to the Y coordinate, a position obtained by subtracting the lower indicator lower margin and the lower indicator height from the background height is used. By such a relative position designation method, it is possible to automatically cope with a change in the terminal screen size. From the component 4 (item), it can be seen that the component identifier is switched according to the condition (here, the font size). Further, the Y coordinate of each item, which is a kind of component arrangement information, is represented by a variable, and the variable is switched according to a condition (here, font size).

  For the parts used in the part design drawing, the link information to the corresponding part is set for the part ID (part identifier) in the “type” column of the part, and the screen design drawing is displayed on the screen. When browsing the above, when the user designates (clicks) the component ID of the component, the contents of the corresponding component design drawing are displayed.

  FIG. 9 shows a specific example of the screen specification 115. Here, an address book is given as an example of “application name”. The screen ID is “ADD3”, and the screen name is “search method selection”. This screen specification 115 shows a result of creation by a creator using a creation support program of the present invention in combination with the screen patterns of the screen design drawings prepared in advance as described above.

  In the example shown in the figure, the screen specification 115 includes “screen image”, “feature”, “screen data”, and “remarks”. The “screen image” includes an image diagram, a layout diagram, and a focus diagram. Each image information is included in the text with tag information of the screen specification as link information for the corresponding resource data. The image diagram is a screen created with the same text and image as the actual screen. The layout diagram is a diagram showing how the components of the selected screen pattern are arranged in a frame, and an arrangement number is assigned to the position of each component. The arrangement of each component is determined based on the layout information of the screen design drawing. The focus diagram has the same frame configuration as the layout diagram, but is a diagram in which components that may be focused are shown in black. Focusing means that a specific display item is temporarily highlighted according to the operation of the user of the terminal.

  “Characteristic” is information related to the entire screen. In this example, “repetition count”, “font size”, “data addable screen”, “presence of selected focus”, “selected” “Possible screen”, “Multi-select focus”, “Scroll unit”, “Cyclic screen” are defined. These pieces of information are inherited from the screen design drawing used or input by the creator.

  “Screen data” is data in which each part of the screen pattern is assigned to each arrangement position determined in the arrangement drawing, and specific texts and images necessary for the part are assigned. In the example of the figure, “TITLE1”, which is one of the title screen patterns, is assigned to the position of arrangement number 1, and a character string is assigned to each item. It is specified by a message ID such as a character string or an image or a file name. The part name of the part selected by the creator is automatically inserted into the “UI part name”, and the type information of the part (“text data” in this example) is automatically inserted into the “type”. In the “data description”, description information such as a character string input by the creator is automatically inserted.

  Arrangement numbers 2 to 6 are assigned a repetitive item “LIST-1” which is one of the list screen patterns, and a character string is assigned to each item. “Focus” indicates whether or not the focus can be achieved. Since it can be seen from the “data variable list” of the “LIST-1” screen pattern that the focus can be applied to the component name “item”, it is automatically reflected in the “focus” in this screen data.

  With respect to the soft key screen pattern in the soft key area, since the number and arrangement position of the soft keys are determined in advance, there is no arrangement drawing and no arrangement number is assigned. A necessary character string is assigned to each of the three soft keys.

  The “function menu” is a menu displayed when the user of the terminal instructs a function key (not shown). In this example, the function menu does not exist. If it exists, the wording of the function menu is described. “Remarks” is necessary remark information (for example, definition of condition 1, condition 2... Specified in “feature”, “screen data”, etc.).

  FIG. 10 shows a part of an XML file corresponding to the screen specification shown in FIG. An XML file is text information with tag information, which is transformed with a style sheet (here create_dispspec.xsl) and displayed in a human-readable format by a Web browser (for example, Microsoft Internet Explorer). Can do.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the screen resource data 116 includes data such as backgrounds, texts, and images of various parts constituting the display screen, as well as image information of screen specifications, layout diagrams, focus diagrams, layout information of screen design drawings, Also includes layout information of component design drawings.

  The state transition table 117 is a data table in which information on which screen is transferred from which screen in a terminal to which screen is transferred.

  The C source code 118 is obtained by coding the screen display program of the terminal in the C language here based on the state transition table 117 and the screen specification 115. The C source code 118 is compiled on this support device or other device and converted to native code that runs on the terminal platform. Native code is installed on the terminal.

  For further reference, examples of part design drawings having parts names of Background, Tabpanel1, and IndicatorUp are shown in FIG. 11, FIG. 12-A, B, and FIG. 13, respectively. Examples of screen design diagrams using these parts as part of necessary parts are shown in FIGS. FIGS. 15A and 15B show examples of screen specifications of the address book “Akabata order” screen using this screen design drawing. Basically, it is the same as the case of the “search method selection” screen. However, while the “search method selection” screen shows the repetition pattern of the parts in the vertical direction, as shown in the layout information of FIG. 14-A and the screen image of FIG. 15-A, the repetition of the parts in the horizontal direction is also defined. Is possible.

  FIG. 16 shows the relationship between various data of the screen creation support device and various data introduced into the terminal device. As described above, the screen creation support device data includes the screen resource data 116, the common constant table 112, the part design drawing 113, the screen design drawing 114, and the screen specification 115. Of the screen resource data 116, a portion actually used for the terminal screen is introduced to the terminal as the screen resource data 25. The common constant table 112 is introduced into the terminal as common constant data 21. In the part design drawing 113 and the screen design drawing 114, data directly involved in screen creation is introduced into the terminal as the part design data 22 and the screen design data 23, respectively. The screen specification 115 is converted into the screen display program 24. The common constant data 21, the part design data 22, and the screen design data 23 are shown as data independent of the screen display program 24. However, all or a part of them is integrated into the screen display program 24 as parameters, conditions, and the like. May be.

  The screen creation procedure in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This procedure can be performed by one creator, but may be performed by a plurality of persons in charge. First, a common constant table is created in the same procedure as in a normal table work, and is stored in the storage unit (S1). Next, part design drawings are created for various parts and stored in the storage unit (S2). Further, a screen design drawing is created for each of the plurality of screen patterns using these components, and stored in the storage unit (S3). As described above, in the state where the common constant table, the part design drawing, and the screen design drawing are saved in the storage unit of the screen creation support device, the screen specification is created using these, and saved in the storage unit ( S4). In the present embodiment, the screen creation support program assists the creator in creating the screen specifications at least for creating the screen specifications.

  FIG. 18 shows a specific processing procedure of screen specification creation in step S4 of FIG. 17 realized by the screen creation support program. This processing procedure will be described with reference to examples of support device screens as shown in FIGS.

  First, the screen creation support program is activated, and a layout tool screen as shown in FIG. 19 is displayed (S11 in FIG. 18). This screen is a user interface (UI) screen for supporting creation of a screen specification. A menu bar and an icon bar for operation are displayed at the top of the screen, and a parts list area 51, a viewer area 52, and an object tree area 53 are arranged below the menu bar and icon bar. The parts list area 51 is an area in which a list of parts constituting the screen (here, screen parts in screen pattern units) is displayed. The viewer area 52 is an area for displaying a screen to be created. The object tree area 53 is an area in which the directory of the created component file on the screen is displayed in a tree shape.

  When the new creation button 41 is clicked on the screen shown in FIG. 19, a creation target screen (application name) and a window 54 for inputting the title are opened as shown in FIG. 20, for example, an application name is selected from a pull-down menu 59 ( FIG. 18, S12). Here, a case where “address book” is selected as the application name is shown. As shown in FIG. 21, a title and a subtitle can be further input. Clicking the OK button completes preparation for creating a new screen.

  Therefore, the component addition screen 57 as shown in FIG. 22 is opened using the “parameter” of the menu bar or the screen component addition icon 43 of the icon bar. In this screen, screen components are selected and added in units of the above-described screen patterns (S13 in FIG. 18). FIG. 23 shows a state where a window part corresponding to the outer frame of the screen is selected. FIG. 24 shows a state where a title screen component is further added. In the parts list area 51, item numbers are assigned to the screen parts, and part names, layers, X coordinates, and Y coordinates are registered. A corresponding directory item is added to the object tree area 53.

  As shown in FIG. 25, it is also possible to select from the variable list 58 the x-coordinate and y-coordinate of the screen component as the screen pattern attribute information on the component addition screen 57.

  FIG. 26 shows a screen configuration completed up to a stage before inputting a specific character string in the list. Further, the creator inputs necessary information (S14). For example, a “title character” property screen (not shown) relating to the title part (here, TITLE1) on the object tree is displayed, and the creator inputs a title name (eg, “search method selection”) in the input field. . This input data is reflected in the display of “title” in the window frame 55 in FIG. 26 (the character string “title” replaces the input character string). Similarly, the creator can input a specific character string in the item of the list part.

  Until the creation of one screen is completed (S15), the process returns to step S13 to add the next screen pattern. When the creation of the entire screen is completed (S16, Yes), this process is terminated.

  Although not shown, after designating a screen pattern, its image diagram, layout diagram, focus diagram, etc. can be confirmed on the display screen of the screen creation support device. The “feature” information of the screen specification can also be confirmed on the display screen of the screen creation support device.

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a processing example of creating a native code of the screen display program of the terminal. Based on the completed screen specification, the source code of the screen display program in C language is generated (S21). This step is preferably automatically performed based on the screen specifications with reference to the state transition table 117 described above. However, the creator may do it manually. As described above, since the screen specification is created with text information with tag information such as an XML file, it not only functions as a document but also automatically extracts necessary data based on the tag information. Can be used when generating source code. Therefore, workability is improved and the possibility of erroneous input is reduced. The generated source code is converted into native code by a compilation process by a predetermined compiler (S22).

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but various modifications and changes other than those mentioned above can be made. For example, although a mobile phone has been described, any terminal device such as a PDA, a car navigation device, an audio-visual device, a home appliance, a game machine, and a screen creation support thereof can be used as long as the terminal device has a display screen for a user interface. The present invention is applicable to an apparatus.

It is the block diagram which showed the rough hardware constitutions of the screen creation assistance apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the mobile telephone as an example of the terminal device which has the screen used as the object of the screen creation by this invention. It is a figure which shows the mutual relationship of the various data handled by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the common constant table | surface in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the outline of the component design drawing and screen design drawing in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the components design drawing in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the menu list relevant to the schedule of the mobile telephone in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed a specific example of the screen design drawing in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the part following FIG. 8-A. It is the figure which showed the specific example of the screen specification in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed a part of XML file corresponding to the screen specification document shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the component design drawing of the component name of Background in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the component design drawing of the component name of Tabpanel1 in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the part following FIG. 12-A. It is the figure which showed the example of the component design drawing of the component name called IndicatorUp in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the other screen design drawing in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the part following FIG. 14-A. It is the figure which showed the part following FIG. 14-B. It is the figure which showed the part following FIG. 14-C. It is the figure which showed the part following FIG. 14-D. It is the figure which showed the example of the screen specification using the screen design drawing of FIGS. 14-A-14-E. It is the figure which showed the part following FIG. 15-A. It is the figure which showed the relationship between the various data of the screen creation assistance apparatus in embodiment of this invention, and the various data introduced into a terminal device. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the procedure of the screen creation in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the specific process sequence of screen specification preparation of step S4 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the layout tool screen displayed at the time of starting the screen creation assistance program in embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the window opened when the new creation button is clicked on the screen of FIG. It is the figure which showed the screen following FIG. It is the figure which showed the component addition screen opened when the screen component addition icon is clicked on the screen of FIG. It is the figure which showed the screen which shows the state which selected the window components in FIG. It is the figure which showed the screen which shows the state which added the title screen components following FIG. It is the figure which showed the mode which shows a mode that the x coordinate and y coordinate of a component are selected from a variable list screen in a component addition screen. It is the figure which showed the screen following FIG. It is the flowchart which showed the processing example of the native code creation of the screen display program of the terminal in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Data processing part, 102 ... Display part, 103 ... Input part, 104 ... Printing part, 105 ... Communication part, 110 ... Memory | storage part, 111 ... Program, 112 ... Common constant table, 113 ... Component design drawing, 114 ... Screen Design drawing, 115 ... Screen specification, 116 ... Screen resource data, 117 ... State transition table, 118 ... C source code, 119 ... Screen creation support resource data

Claims (5)

A screen creation support device for assisting a creator to create various screens of a terminal device having a display unit,
Resource data storage means for storing resource data including image data and text data constituting predetermined parts;
Part design for storing a part design drawing including part information for defining a part identifier for identifying the predetermined part constituting the screen and attribute information indicating at least the shape, size, and text / image of each part Figure storage means;
Screen design drawing storage for storing a screen design drawing including a component identifier for specifying a component constituting the screen pattern and layout information for defining a mutual arrangement relationship between the components for each of a plurality of predetermined screen patterns Means,
Constant table storage means for storing a constant table that defines constants used for the component information of the component design drawing and the layout information of the screen design drawing;
Display means having a display screen for displaying various information;
An input means for receiving an instruction and information input by the creator;
In accordance with the operation of the input means by the creator, a screen specification as a specification of the screen to be created including the screen pattern identifiers of the plurality of screen patterns defined in the screen design drawing is created and stored in the storage means Screen specification creation means,
The screen specification includes an arrangement diagram in which each part of the selected screen pattern on the screen to be created is arranged in one frame for each part , features of the screen, and the arrangement figure. A screen pattern is assigned to each placement position determined by the screen data and the screen data, which is the data to which the text and / or image necessary for the part is assigned,
The resource data storage means further includes a layout drawing constituting the screen specification, and a part identifier in the screen design drawing is linked to a part design drawing of a specific part in the part design drawing storage means, A tag in which both the screen design drawing and the screen specification are described in a markup language so that a screen pattern identifier in the screen specification is linked to a specific screen design drawing in the screen design drawing storage means It is composed of text data with information,
The screen specification creation means displays the screen to be created from a plurality of screen patterns stored in the screen design drawing storage means on the display screen of the display means according to the operation of the input means by the creator. A plurality of screen patterns are selected as screen patterns to be configured, and designation of the text and / or image to be assigned from the resource data stored in the resource data storage means for individual parts on the screen patterns or A screen creation support device that creates the screen data by accepting an input of an arbitrary text, and creates the feature items by taking over from the screen design drawing or accepting an input of text.   The screen creation according to claim 1, wherein the constant table includes various constant names and variables using actual values of the constants or other constant names associated with the constant names. Support device.   When the created screen is used in the terminal device, the screen design drawing is a condition for switching a plurality of component identifiers as a component identifier for specifying a component constituting the screen pattern, or a plurality of components The screen creation support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a condition for switching information for determining a mutual arrangement relationship of components.   The screen creation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the screen to be created is divided into a plurality of areas, and a screen pattern of the screen design drawing is prepared for each area.   5. The screen creation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positions of the parts constituting the screen pattern are defined as relative positions as the mutual arrangement relationship of the parts.