JP5169311B2 - Screen data generation device, screen data generation method, and screen data generation program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a screen data generation device, a screen data generation method, and a screen data generation program.

  Conventionally, it is known to display a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen on a display device, and display various data and accept operations on the GUI.

  The GUI can be designed by arranging various parts such as a button for receiving an operation from the user and a character display frame for displaying setting contents on the screen. In recent years, there are many requests regarding customization in which a user does not use a GUI provided by a manufacturer as it is, but a user creates a GUI suitable for his / her own use.

  As a technique related to such GUI customization, for example, those described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are known.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus capable of changing display / non-display, position, size, and the like for function keys in a display screen displayed on a liquid crystal display device by selecting a panel customization mode. Have been described.

  In Patent Document 2, when a user logs in to an MFP (Multi Function Printer) using the ID card, the MFP stores the ID card data stored in the ID card of the user. It is described that the GUI for the user is displayed using the screen data in the card. It also describes that a script for generating GUI screen data is stored in an ID card, and GUI is displayed based on screen data automatically generated based on the script.

JP-A-2005-45370 JP 2006-345256 A

  However, when the display screen is customized by the technique described in Patent Document 1, it affects a large number of keys such as rearranging the keys or displaying some of the keys with the remaining keys hidden. In order to perform the modification, there is a problem that the position and size must be designated one by one for the large number of keys, and the editing operation is troublesome.

  Such a problem also occurs when trying to edit a display screen other than the GUI. Also, Patent Document 2 does not particularly describe a specific method for solving such a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a screen data generation device, a screen data generation method, and a screen data generation program that reduce the load when editing a screen displayed by a user. And

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 associates the function identification information indicating the function arranged on the screen with the arrangement identification information for identifying the arrangement on the screen. Screen storage means for storing screen definition information to be held, and display information representing the appearance of the function indicated by the function identification information for each of a plurality of predetermined display sizes. The appearance storage means for storing, the coordinates for arranging the display information of the function indicated by the function identification information associated with the arrangement identification information, for each of the arrangement identification information held by the screen definition information, as the display information to be arranged on the coordinates, the location storage means for storing location definition information for holding the size identification information indicating one of the plurality of display size, stored in the screen storage unit It said screen definition information, and the appearance definition information that is stored in the look storage means, the arrangement definition information in which the location storage means stores, on the basis of the screen data generating means for generating screen data, It is characterized by providing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the appearance storage means holds the display information indicated by the function identification information for each of the plurality of display sizes for each situation of displaying. Then, the screen data generation means further generates screen data using the display information corresponding to the situation to be displayed .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the arrangement storage unit is configured to display either the display size or the position information of the display information on a screen that provides a predetermined function. A plurality of the arrangement definition information different in one or more, and specifying the arrangement definition information used by the screen data generating means as a screen for providing the predetermined function based on a predetermined condition A means is further provided.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the appearance processing information is input processing means for inputting the appearance definition information, and the appearance definition information subjected to the input processing is converted into the appearance. Registration means for registering in the storage means.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising user information storage means for storing the appearance definition information in association with each user, wherein the screen The data generation means generates screen data in the user information storage means based on the appearance definition information associated with the logged-in user.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the appearance definition information stored in the display storage means has the same display size, and has a color and shape. A plurality of the display information different in at least one of the display information, and the screen data generation means further selects one of the color and shape according to a condition relating to a user among the display information of the same display size. Screen data is generated by switching the display information different in the above.

The invention according to claim 7 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the screen data generating portion, the appearance definitions specified based on the user identification information indicating a Subscriber Based on the information , screen data is generated .

The invention according to claim 8 is a screen data generation method executed by the information processing apparatus, wherein the information processing apparatus displays the function identification information indicating the function to be arranged on the screen on the screen. Screen storage means for storing screen definition information to be held in association with arrangement identification information to be identified, and display information representing the appearance of the function indicated by the function identification information, each of a plurality of predetermined display sizes Appearance storage means for storing appearance definition information to be held every time, and for each of the arrangement identification information held by the screen definition information, the function of the function indicated by the function identification information associated with the arrangement identification information An arrangement that stores arrangement definition information that holds coordinates for arranging display information and size identification information indicating any one of the plurality of display sizes as the display information arranged at the coordinates. Comprising a憶means, wherein the layout screen data generating means, said screen definition information stored in the screen storage means, the appearance definition information that is stored in the look storage means, said arrangement storing means for storing And a screen data generation step for generating screen data based on the definition information .

The invention according to claim 9 is a program for causing a computer to function as means for generating screen data to be displayed on the display unit, wherein the computer identifies the function to be arranged on the screen. Screen storage means for storing screen definition information stored in association with layout identification information for identifying the layout on the screen, and display information representing the appearance of the function indicated by the function identification information. for each of the plurality of display sizes, and appearance storage means the appearance definition information remembers that holds, for each of said placement identification information the screen definition information is held, the function identification associated with the placement identification information As the coordinates for arranging the display information of the function indicated by the information and the display information to be arranged at the coordinates, a size information indicating any one of the plurality of display sizes is provided. Information and, with the screen definition information stored in the screen storage means and a location storage means for memorize the location definition information for holding, and the appearance definition information that is stored in the look storage means, the arrangement A screen data generation step for generating screen data is made to function based on the arrangement definition information stored in the storage means .

  According to the first aspect of the invention, the appearance of the display function displayed in the screen data can be changed, and the display size of the display information is determined in advance. By inhibiting the arrangement of the screen data from being lost, the effect of improving the visibility is achieved.

  Exemplary embodiments of a screen data generating apparatus, a screen data generating method, and a screen data generating program according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The screen data generation device may be any device that generates screen data, and can be applied to various devices such as a PC (Personal Computer) as a device other than the image processing device.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. As shown in the figure, the image processing apparatus 100 includes a device service layer 110, a service layer 120, and an application layer 130, and generates screen data according to an operation input by a user. The image processing apparatus 100 is connected to a customization tool 151 and an operation panel 152.

  In the screen data generated by the image processing apparatus 100, a display function representing a function that can be used in the image processing apparatus 100 is displayed. Examples of the display function include a message, a button, a pull-down button, and an icon.

  A message, which is a type of display function, presents text to the user. The button presents caption text on a button-shaped graphic and accepts selection of the caption text. The pull-down button presents one or more texts that can be selected by the user and accepts text selection. In the present embodiment, a pull-down button among these display functions will be mainly described. Since other display functions can be realized with the same configuration as the pull-down button, description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen data generated by the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The screen example shown in FIG. 2 includes a window 204, a button 203, a pull-down button 202, and an icon 201. In the image processing apparatus 100, a plurality of pieces of definition information are combined in order to display the screen data shown in FIG.

  In the prior art, a UI (User Interface) for generating one screen data and a function can be separated and customized, but in the present embodiment, a plurality of UIs are also provided. It is divided into definition information.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of definition information used for displaying screen data. As shown in FIG. 3, the screen data displayed by the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is divided into three data structures of screen definition information, arrangement definition information, and appearance definition information. means.

  The screen definition information is information in which a display function provided for each screen is defined. The arrangement definition information is information in which the layout (position information and display size) of display functions arranged on the screen is defined. The appearance definition information is information that categorizes and holds display data representing the appearance of the display function displayed on the screen for each display size.

  In the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the screen data is divided into three data structures, so that when the screen data is customized, it can be changed with the minimum required amount of work. For example, when trying to change the appearance common to multiple screens, all the skin files prepared for each screen data have been changed in the past, but in this embodiment, they are used for multiple screen data. It is possible to change a plurality of screens at once by changing the appearance definition information. Therefore, customization that used to span between skin files has become possible.

  In addition, when a conventional skin file is divided into a plurality of hierarchies, if a user changes one type of skin file, the change also requires other types of skin files to be changed. . In this way, if a change in one type of skin file affects other skin files, the user must grasp the relationship between the skin files and perform advanced operations to change the appearance. Will require knowledge. Therefore, in the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, when one type of definition information is changed, the definition information between the definition information (specifically, the arrangement definition is not required). Between information and appearance definition information).

  Specific restrictions will be described. First, “shape”, “color”, and “display size” can be considered as appearance elements to be changed. That is, changing the appearance of the displayed display function means changing the one or more elements. Of these elements, when only the “shape” and “color” are changed, it is not necessary to shift the position coordinates for each display function configured on the screen (in other words, the arrangement definition information is changed). You do n’t have to). Therefore, “shape” and “color” can be freely set in the appearance definition information.

  However, if the “display size” of the display function is changed, it may be necessary to change the position coordinates where the display function is displayed. In this case, it is necessary to change the arrangement definition information in addition to the appearance definition information. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the following restrictions are applied so that such a change does not occur.

  Specifically, the vertical and horizontal pixel numbers of the display size are set in advance for all appearance definition information stored in the image processing apparatus 100 according to the type of display function. Then, even when creating a new appearance, the user creates appearance definition information according to a preset “display size”. Thereby, even when the user switches the appearance definition information to be used as the screen data, the screen data generation unit 132 of the image processing apparatus 100 can generate screen data that does not cause the appearance of the display function to be lost.

  If the “display size” is shared, it is impossible to change the display size of the display function in accordance with the user's request and usage. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a plurality of display sizes (small set and large set) are stored for each display function in the appearance definition information. Thus, when creating new screen data, by selecting a display function having an appropriate “display size” as necessary, image data in which the display function is arranged in an appropriate display size can be generated.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the application layer 130 includes a display module 131 and a plurality of modules (not shown), and executes an application according to a user request.

  The display module 131 includes a screen data generation unit 132, an arrangement definition information storage unit 133, a screen definition information storage unit 134, a user arrangement definition management unit 135, a user information acquisition unit 136, a display processing unit 137, a screen An arrangement specifying unit 138 for generating and displaying screen data in accordance with a user operation.

  The screen definition information storage unit 134 stores screen definition information. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the concept of the screen definition information. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the screen definition information associates arrangement destination identification information for identifying an arrangement destination with display functions arranged at the arrangement destination.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the source code of the screen definition information. As shown in FIG. 5, for each display function displayed on the screen, arrangement destination identification information “position” is associated with information “image_key” for identifying the provided display function. Further, “label”, “source”, and the like are set as information including detailed information of each display function. Furthermore, information “layout” for identifying the layout definition information that can be used together with the screen definition information is set in the screen definition information. Further, by setting a plurality of “layouts”, a plurality of pieces of arrangement definition information with different display function arrangements and display sizes may be used on the same screen. Thereby, the screen data generation unit 132 can switch and generate a plurality of screen data with different display function arrangements and display sizes as screens providing the same function.

  Furthermore, the screen definition information storage unit 134 stores a plurality of screen definition information for each screen that provides a predetermined function. For example, the screen definition information storage unit 134 stores professional screen definition information and normal user screen definition information for each screen. The screen definition information is identified by information for identifying the arrangement definition such as “normal” indicating normal use and “professional” indicating professional use. That is, the screen definition information can be switched between professional use and normal use by specifying information for identifying the arrangement definition. Thereby, the display function displayed on each screen can be changed. Note that the screen definition information shown in FIG. 5 is for normal use as defined by <window type = “popup” layout = “normal”>.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the arrangement definition information storage unit 133 stores arrangement definition information. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the concept of the arrangement definition information. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the arrangement definition information associates the display size of the display function with the position where the display function is arranged for each display function arrangement destination identification information.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the source code of the arrangement definition information. As shown in FIG. 7, information for identifying the arrangement definition information is defined in the “name” of the tag “layout”. Placement location identification information is set in “name” of the tag “position”. In “size”, the display size of the display function is set. In “displayposX” and “displayposY”, information on the start point where the display function is arranged is defined. In the present embodiment, only the start point information is defined, but it may be defined by a set of start point information and end point information.

  Thus, a display size is set for each display function arranged in the arrangement definition information. For the display size (size), one of “large” and “small” is set. This display size sets the display size of the display data provided by the appearance definition information. In the present embodiment, the display size is set for each placement destination identification information, but may be set for each screen (layout).

  Furthermore, the arrangement definition information storage unit 133 stores a plurality of pieces of arrangement definition information for each screen that provides a predetermined function. For example, the arrangement definition information storage unit 133 stores professional arrangement definition information and normal user arrangement definition information for each screen. Accordingly, the layout of each screen can be changed by switching the setting of whether the user is for professional use or for normal user use. Note that the arrangement definition information shown in FIG. 7 is intended for normal users as defined in <layout name = “normal”>.

  In addition, in the layout definition information that holds the layout, the display size of the appearance definition information is specified. Therefore, even if the appearance definition information used when displaying the screen data is changed, the layout is prevented from being corrupted. Can do. For example, if it is specified in the layout definition information that an icon with a small display size is used as a company icon, the screen data generation unit 132 uses a small icon to place a large icon even if the appearance definition information is changed. In order to prevent this from happening, the layout of the generated screen data is held.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the user arrangement definition management unit 135 manages information for identifying arrangement definition information used for each user. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a table structure of the user arrangement definition management unit 135. As shown in FIG. 8, the user and the information for identifying the arrangement definition are stored in association with each other. Thereby, arrangement definition information that can be used for each user can be specified. As information for identifying the arrangement definition, one of “normal” indicating normal use and “professional” indicating professional use is defined. Note that the information for identifying the arrangement definition is not limited to these two, and appropriate information may be set according to the embodiment.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the user information acquisition unit 136 acquires information (for example, a user name) for identifying a user who is currently logged into the image processing apparatus 100. And the information which identifies arrangement | positioning definition can be specified from the acquired user name.

  The screen layout specifying unit 138 specifies layout definition information and screen definition information to be used as a screen providing a predetermined function from the layout definition information storage unit 133 based on a predetermined condition. In the present embodiment, the arrangement definition information and the screen definition information are specified according to the difference in the user name as the predetermined condition. Specifically, the screen layout specifying unit 138 acquires information for identifying the layout definition associated with the acquired user name in the user layout definition management unit 135. The screen layout specifying unit 138 can specify screen information (for example, a login screen) to be displayed next by an operation performed on the operation panel 152. Then, the screen layout specifying unit 138 specifies screen definition information of a screen to be displayed from the specified screen information and information for identifying the layout. Thereafter, the screen layout specifying unit 138 specifies layout definition information used to generate screen data from the information for identifying the acquired layout definition. In addition to the user name, an appropriate condition may be set according to the embodiment, such as switching based on a rank indicating whether the user is a beginner.

  The screen data generation unit 132 generates screen data from the screen definition information, the appearance definition information, and the arrangement definition information.

  When generating the screen data, the screen data generating unit 132 uses the layout definition information specified by the screen layout specifying unit 138. Further, the screen data generation unit 132 uses the screen definition information specified from the information for identifying the layout definition acquired by the screen layout specifying unit 138. Furthermore, the screen data generation unit 132 uses appearance definition information provided from the display definition management module 121 described later.

  Note that the screen data generation unit 132 outputs the user name and the name of the display function to be displayed on the screen to the display definition management module 121 in order to acquire the appearance definition information. Thereby, the corresponding appearance definition information can be acquired from the display definition management module 121. By the way, it is assumed that the name of the display function output by the screen data generation unit 132 is specified from the screen definition information. The processing of the display definition management module 121 will be described later.

  The display processing unit 137 displays the screen data generated by the screen data generation unit 132 on a monitor (not shown).

  The service layer 120 includes a display definition management module 121 and provides a service corresponding to the request to each module of the application layer 130.

  The display definition management module 121 includes an appearance list acquisition unit 122, an appearance group registration unit 123, an appearance definition information storage unit 124, an appearance definition management unit 125, a user appearance definition management unit 126, an appearance identification unit 127, And appearance definition information based on the request is provided to the display module 131.

  Specifically, the display definition management module 121 is a module that manages appearance groups used for display. For this purpose, the display definition management module 121 manages each piece of configuration information for displaying an appearance, provides a list of managed appearances to the customization tool 151, and accepts new registration of the appearance.

  The appearance definition information storage unit 124 stores appearance definition information for each display function of each appearance that can be selected by the user.

  The appearance definition information is information in which display data displayed as the appearance of the display function is stored, and is created for each type such as a button or an icon. The appearance definition information used in the image processing apparatus 100 holds display data of a plurality of display sizes for each type. Further, the number of vertical and horizontal pixels is set in advance for each display size of the appearance definition information for each type.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the appearance definition information of the pull-down button. As shown in FIG. 9, the appearance definition information includes a combination of display data for a pull-down button with a small display size (hereinafter, a small set of pull-down buttons) and a combination of display data for a pull-down button with a large display size (hereinafter, pull-down buttons). Holding a large set).

  As shown in the small set and the large set, the display data held by the appearance definition information is categorized for each display size.

  Of the small set, the display data 801 is a pull-down button that is displayed during normal time, and the display data 802 is a pull-down button that is displayed when the user selects (color is high contrast). Of the large set, the display data 803 is a pull-down button that is displayed in a normal state, and the display data 804 is a pull-down button that is displayed when the user selects (color is high contrast). Further, “normal / pulldownbtn.jpg” storing these display data is in a multi-page format, and these display data 801 to 804 are stored for each page. Accordingly, the screen data generation unit 132 of the display module 131 can acquire arbitrary display data from among the four types of pull-down buttons by designating the page “normal / pulldownbtn.jpg”.

  As a result, the screen data generation unit 132 of the display module 131 arranges a small set of display data if the display size “size” is set to “small” in the arrangement destination of the arrangement definition information, and displays the display size “ If “size” is set to “large”, screen data on which a large set of display data is arranged can be generated.

  FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing appearance definition information stored in the appearance definition information storage unit 124. As shown in FIG. 10, the appearance definition information storage unit 124 stores appearance definition information for each display function of “standard”, “yellow”, and “round shape” indicating the appearance. As described above, the appearance definition information storage unit 124 according to the present embodiment categorizes and manages the appearance definition information that summarizes the types of appearance. This category may be a classification for each color or a classification for each shape.

  For example, the appearance definition information storage unit 124 stores appearance definition information 1001 of a pull-down button, appearance definition information 1002 of a button, and appearance definition information 1003 of a company icon as appearance definition information whose appearance is “standard”.

  In addition, the appearance definition information storage unit 124 stores appearance definition information 1004 for pull-down buttons, button appearance definition information 1005, and company icon appearance definition information 1006 as appearance definition information whose appearance is “yellow”.

  Furthermore, the appearance definition information storage unit 124 stores appearance definition information 1007 for pull-down buttons, appearance definition information 1008 for buttons, and appearance definition information 1009 for company icons as appearance definition information whose appearance is “round”. .

  As described above, the appearance definition information 1001 to 1009 according to the present embodiment is multi-page image data. Similarly to FIG. 9, the appearance definition information 1001 to 1009 holds display data categorized for each display size in each page of image data.

  And in the external appearance memorize | stored in the external appearance definition information storage part 124 concerning this Embodiment, "display size" is common for every classification of all the display functions. For this reason, even if the user applies any appearance stored in the appearance definition information storage unit 124 to each screen data provided by the image processing apparatus 100, the layout of the screen data does not deteriorate.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the appearance definition management unit 125 manages the file name of the appearance definition information to be used for each appearance display function. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a table structure of the appearance definition management unit 125. As shown in FIG. 11, the file name of the appearance definition information can be specified from the appearance name and the name of the display function (pull-down button, button, company icon). Thereby, the display definition management module 121 can specify the file name of the used appearance definition information from the used appearance name and the display function. In this embodiment, appearance definition information is stored in a directory provided for each category classified by color and shape.

  The appearance definition information stored in the appearance definition information storage unit 124 according to the present embodiment holds small set and large set display data. Therefore, the arrangement definition information storage unit 133 of the display module 131 holds the arrangement definition information indicating screen data on which a large number of small-sized pull-down buttons and buttons are arranged for professionals, and the large-sized pull-down buttons and the like for beginners. Common appearance definition information can be applied to each of the layout definition information indicating the screen data in which the buttons are arranged to the minimum necessary level.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the user appearance definition management unit 126 stores an appearance name used for each user. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a table structure of the user appearance definition management unit 126. As shown in FIG. 12, the user appearance definition management unit 126 stores a user name and an appearance name in association with each other. As a result, the appearance used by the user can be specified.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the appearance specifying unit 127 specifies the appearance definition information to be used from the user name and the display function name input from the display module. In the present embodiment, the appearance identification unit 127 identifies an appearance name from the input user information based on the user appearance definition management unit 126. Thereafter, the appearance specifying unit 127 specifies the file name of the appearance definition information from the specified appearance name and the input display function name based on the appearance definition management unit 125.

  The appearance list acquisition unit 122 acquires appearance definition information according to the file name specified by the appearance specifying unit 127. Then, the appearance list acquisition unit 122 outputs the acquired appearance definition information to the display module 131.

  In response to a request from the customization tool 151, the appearance group registration unit 123 registers new appearance definition information input from the communication control unit 111, which will be described later, in the appearance definition information storage unit 124. The appearance group registration unit 123 registers the name of the new appearance in the appearance definition management unit 125 in association with the file name of the appearance definition information used for the appearance.

  The customization tool 151 according to the present embodiment is a PC (Personal Computer) connected to the image processing apparatus 100 via a network such as a LAN. However, the module is not limited to the PC, and may be a module provided by the image processing apparatus 100. As described above, the present embodiment does not depend on the means for realizing the customization tool 151. Then, by using this customization tool 151, the appearance used by the user can be registered.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the monitor (not shown) by the customization tool 151. As shown in FIG. 13, the name of the appearance to be edited is input to the registered name 1301. When the input appearance name is not registered in the appearance definition management unit 125, a new appearance is registered.

  Then, the customization tool 151 accepts the setting of the appearance definition information to be used for each display function (company icon, button, and pull-down button) in the new appearance. When setting the appearance definition information, the user can check the “Standard”, “Yellow”, or “Round shape” check box to set the appearance that has already been registered (Standard, Yellow, or Round shape). Appearance definition information can be selected. Also, new appearance definition information can be registered by checking the “Specify” check box and entering the file name of the appearance definition information in the file.

  In this way, with the customization tool 151, the user can create favorite screen data by combining the appearances for each display function already registered.

  When the customization tool 151 accepts a setting such as a new appearance name, the appearance group registration unit 123 registers the appearance name input via the communication control unit 111 and the checked appearance. The name (appearance definition information) or the input file name (appearance definition information) is associated with each other and registered in the appearance definition management unit 125.

  Further, when a new file name is input as appearance definition information in the customization tool 151, the customization tool 151 transmits appearance definition information specified by the file name to the communication control unit 111. Thereby, the appearance group registration unit 123 registers the appearance definition information received via the communication control unit 111 in the appearance definition information storage unit 124.

  For example, in the customization tool 151 shown in FIG. 13, “A company” is set as the registered name, “A company logo.jpg” is set as the company icon, the “yellow” check box is checked in the button, and the pull-down button When the “Round shape” check box is checked and the setting button 1302 is pressed, the appearance group registration unit 123 associates the file name of the corresponding appearance definition information with the new appearance name “Company A”. The entry is registered in the appearance definition management unit 125.

  As a result, when the user who has made the setting described above with the customization tool 151 logs in to the image processing apparatus 100, the screen data shown in FIG. 14 is displayed instead of FIG. The screen data shown in FIG. 14 is assumed to have been changed from a company icon to its own icon, a pull-down button to be rounded, and yellow so that the “close” button can be easily seen.

  As described above, in the image processing apparatus 100, when changing the color or shape of the display data of the display function of the screen data, it is only necessary to change the appearance definition information or the association in the appearance definition management unit 125. Since it is not necessary to change the definition information and the arrangement definition information, the work load can be reduced.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the device service layer 110 includes a communication control unit 111 and an operation control unit 112, and controls devices connected to the inside and outside of the image processing apparatus 100 according to requests from each module of the service layer 120. I do.

  The communication control unit 111 performs control to transmit / receive information to / from the customization tool 151 connected via the network. For example, the communication control unit 111 performs reception control (input processing) such as appearance definition information and information for registering the appearance transmitted from the customization tool 151.

  The operation control unit 112 outputs information input from the operation panel 152 to the corresponding modules in the application layer 130 and the service layer 120.

  Thereby, according to operation of the operation panel 152, switching of screen data, a change of display of a display function, etc. can be performed. As an example, a case where a pull-down button, which is a kind of display function of screen data, is selected on the operation panel 152 will be described. As shown in FIG. 15, the screen data generation unit 132 switches from normal display data included in the appearance definition information to display data 1501 at the time of selection in accordance with operation information from the operation control unit 112. Generate screen data.

  Note that any holding method may be used for holding each item displayed by the pull-down button. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, definition information in which each item of the pull-down button is defined may be used.

  It should be noted that the arrangement definition information storage unit 133, the screen definition information storage unit 134, the user arrangement definition management unit 135, the appearance definition information storage unit 124, the appearance definition management unit 125, and the user appearance definition management unit 126 are included in the image processing apparatus 100. It is stored on a storage means (file system) (not shown) provided. The storage means (file system) can be configured by any commonly used storage means such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an optical disc, a memory card, and a RAM (Random Access Memory).

  Next, processing until generation of screen data in the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of the above-described processing in the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.

  First, the user information acquisition unit 136 acquires the user name of the user who has logged into the image processing apparatus 100 (step S1701).

  Next, the screen layout specifying unit 138 specifies information for identifying the layout definition from the user name based on the user layout definition management unit 135, and information for identifying the operation performed on the operation panel 152 and the layout definition. The screen definition information to be used is specified based on (Step S1702).

  Then, the screen layout specifying unit 138 specifies layout definition information to be used from the information for identifying the layout definition (step S1703).

  Next, the screen data generation unit 132 acquires the specified screen definition information and arrangement definition information (step S1704). Then, the screen data generation unit 132 specifies the display function provided in the screen data to be displayed from the acquired screen definition information.

  Then, the screen data generation unit 132 outputs the user name and the specified display function to the display definition management module 121 (step S1705).

  Next, the appearance specifying unit 127 specifies appearance definition information from the user name and the display function to be used (step S1706). Specifically, the appearance specifying unit 127 specifies the appearance name to be used from the user name by the user appearance definition management unit 126, and based on the specified appearance name and the display function to be used based on the appearance definition management unit 125. Identify the appearance definition information.

  Then, the appearance list acquisition unit 122 acquires the specified appearance definition information from the appearance definition information storage unit 124 (step S1707).

  Next, the appearance list acquisition unit 122 outputs the acquired appearance definition information to the display module 131 (step S1708).

  Then, after the appearance definition information is input, the screen data generation unit 132 specifies the display size for each display function from the arrangement definition information (step S1709).

  Next, the screen data generation unit 132 acquires display data to be arranged in the screen data from the appearance definition information based on the specified display size (step S1710). The appearance definition information includes normal display data and selection display data for each display size. The normal display data is appropriately selected according to the user's operation status. Or display data at the time of selection.

  Then, the screen data generation unit 132 determines whether display data corresponding to the display function has been acquired by the processing so far (step S1711). If it is determined that it has not been acquired (step S1711: No), default display data in the display function is acquired (step S1712).

  Thereafter, when the screen data generation unit 132 determines that the display data has been acquired (step S1711: Yes), or when the default display data has been acquired (step S1712), the position where the display data is defined by the arrangement definition information The screen data is generated by arranging according to the coordinates (step S1713).

  Then, the display processing unit 137 displays the generated screen data (step S1714).

  Screen data can be generated and displayed by the processing procedure described above.

  Next, a process until the appearance is registered in the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating the above-described processing procedure in the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. In this sequence, a case will be described in which a new appearance is registered according to the contents set on the customization screen in FIG.

  First, the user requests the customization tool 151 to display a customization screen (step S1801).

  In response to this, the customization tool 151 makes an appearance list acquisition request to the display definition management module 121 (step S1802). In response to the request, the display definition management module 121 outputs the registered appearance name and the name of the display function that needs to be set as an appearance list (step S1803).

  Then, the customization tool 151 creates a customization screen based on the input appearance list (step S1804).

  Next, the customization tool 151 displays the created customization screen (step S1805).

  Then, the user sets a new appearance on the displayed customization screen (step S1806).

  Then, the customization tool 151 sends a request for creating a new appearance to the display definition management module 121 with the name of the new appearance set in step S1806 (step S1807).

  Next, the appearance group registration unit 123 of the display definition management module 121 adds an entry of the appearance name input by the user to the appearance definition management unit 125 (step S1808). In this embodiment, it is registered as one entry of the appearance definition management unit 125. However, the appearance definition information of the new appearance may be managed on the file system in a directory created with a newly set appearance name.

  Then, the customization tool 151 requests the setting of appearance definition information in accordance with the item checked with the check box in each display function of the customization screen (step S1809).

  Thereafter, the appearance group registration unit 123 of the display definition management module 121 adds a file name indicating the appearance definition information to the added entry in accordance with the registration request, thereby creating the newly created appearance, the appearance definition information, Are associated (step S1810). For example, when “round shape” in the check box of the pull-down button is checked, the appearance group registration unit 123 stores the file name “roundness” stored as the pull-down button of the appearance name “round shape” in the appearance definition management unit 125. "/pulldownpbtn.jpg" is registered as the file name indicating the pull-down button of the new entry.

  Then, the customization tool 151 requests registration of the specified appearance definition information as a company icon on the customization screen (step S1811).

  Next, the appearance group registration unit 123 registers the appearance definition information of the company icon requested for registration in the appearance definition information storage unit 124 (step S1812).

  Then, the customization tool 151 requests setting by the file name of the designated file (appearance definition information) in the company icon on the customization screen (step S1813).

  Thereafter, the appearance group registration unit 123 of the display definition management module 121 adds the specified file name to the added entry in accordance with the registration request, so that the newly created appearance and the specified file (appearance) are added. Association with definition information is performed (step S1814).

  A new appearance is registered by the processing procedure described above, and the user can refer to the screen data according to the registered appearance.

  In the image processing apparatus 100 according to the above-described embodiment, two types of display sizes, a small set and a large set, are set for each type of display function. However, in the present embodiment, the display size of display data for each type of display function is not limited to two types, and three or more types may be set.

  In the image processing apparatus 100 according to the above-described embodiment, the appearance definition information used for display is specified according to the switching of the appearance by the customization tool 151 by the user and the name of the logged-in user. However, the specification of the appearance definition information is not limited to the above-described situation, and may be based on any situation. For example, the appearance definition information may be specified based on the situation such as the screen security level.

  In the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the appearance of the display function displayed on the screen data can be changed. Furthermore, since the display size of the display data is determined in advance, the display information can be appropriately arranged in the screen data even when the appearance is changed. Thereby, a user's visibility improves.

  In the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the display function displayed in the screen data can be selected from a preset display size, thereby facilitating customization of the screen data and the degree of customization. It was possible to achieve both.

  In the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the display size for each display function can be selected in the arrangement definition information, so that the user can display an appropriate display according to the application of the screen data by editing the arrangement definition information. Screen data in which display functions are arranged by size can be generated. Thereby, the user can easily recognize the contents of the screen data by referring to the generated screen data.

  Further, in the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, when only the appearance of the display function is to be changed without changing the display function to be displayed or the arrangement of the display function, the appearance definition information is registered or the appearance is changed. Since only the correspondence relationship between the appearance definition information managed by the definition management unit 125 and the display function needs to be updated, the work load for changing the appearance of the screen data can be reduced.

  Furthermore, in the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, when only the display function arrangement is to be changed without changing the displayed display function or the appearance of the display function, only the arrangement definition information is changed and newly registered. Therefore, the work load for changing the appearance of the screen data can be reduced.

  Furthermore, in the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, when it is desired to separately prepare screen data in which one of the appearance and the arrangement is changed, only the corresponding definition information needs to be prepared. Since it is not necessary to prepare the type of definition information, the work load can be reduced.

  In the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, in accordance with an instruction from the customization tool 151, the appearance definition management unit 125 can switch the correspondence of the appearance definition information to be used for each display function. It is possible to generate and display screen data according to preferences.

  In the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, icons and the like are also defined by appearance definition information, and the appearance definition information is used by a plurality of screen data. Thereby, in the image processing apparatus 100, it is possible to collectively change icons and the like in all screen data by switching the appearance definition information to be used. As a result, it is possible to display information suitable for each user and reduce the work burden of customization for displaying information suitable for each user.

(Modification)
Moreover, it is not limited to each embodiment mentioned above, The various deformation | transformation which is illustrated below is possible.

(Modification 1)
In the first embodiment described above, the display data is stored in the multi-page format in the appearance definition information, and the page number of the display data when each display size is normal and selected is determined in advance. However, it is not necessary to be predetermined in this way. Therefore, in the modification, a case where a page number can be set for each appearance will be described. Note that the image processing apparatus according to this modification has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  By enabling the page number to be set as in this modification, for example, even if the same appearance definition information is used, by switching between low-contrast display data and high-contrast display data, Therefore, it is possible to display low-contrast display data for high-contrast images and display high-contrast display data for color-impaired people.

  The screen data generation unit 132 according to the image processing apparatus 100 of the present modification uses the same appearance definition information stored in the appearance definition information storage unit 124, but has different page numbers for healthy people and those with color weakness. Screen data on which display data is arranged is generated.

  By the way, in the appearance definition information, display data of low contrast color is stored in the “1” page and the “3” page, and the high contrast display is displayed in the “2” page and the “4” page. Data is stored. The screen data generation unit 132 switches the display data between a healthy person and a person with color weakness. For this reason, in this modification, two types of tables are held in the display module 131, and the screen data generation unit 132 responds to the user information (whether the user is a healthy person or a weak person). The table type to be read is switched.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a table structure in which page numbers of appearance definition information used for healthy persons are stored. By referring to the table shown in FIG. 19, the screen data generation unit 132 sets the display data when the small set is not selected as the display data for the healthy person in the appearance definition information. Specify that the display data when the set is selected is the '2' page, the display data when the large set is not selected is the '3' page, and the display data when the large set is selected is the '4' page it can. Thereby, the screen data generation unit 132 can generate screen data in which display data with low contrast is arranged in a normal state and display data with high contrast is arranged in a selection. Thereby, the user can recognize that the normal time and the selection time are switched.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a table structure in which page numbers of appearance definition information used for color-weak people are stored. By referring to the table shown in FIG. 20, the screen data generation unit 132 sets the display data when the small set is not selected as the display data for the visually impaired person in the appearance definition information. Specify that the display data when selecting a set is the '1' page, the display data when not selecting a large set is the '4' page, and the display data when selecting a large set is the '3' page it can. Accordingly, the screen data generation unit 132 can generate screen data in which display data with high contrast is arranged in a normal state and display data with low contrast is arranged in a selection. Thereby, the color weak person can easily recognize the arrangement of the display data and can recognize that the normal time and the selection time are switched.

  In this modification, when display data is to be switched, only the displayed page is switched, and there is no need to separately prepare appearance definition information, so that the user's workload can be reduced.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment and the modification. As shown in the figure, the image processing apparatus 100 includes a CPU 11, ROM 12, RAM 13, NVRAM 14, panel I / F (interface) 15, engine I / F 16, and communication I / F 17, which are connected by a system bus 20. Has been. The operation panel 152 is connected to the panel I / F 15 and the engine unit 19 is connected to the engine I / F 16.

  Of these, the CPU 11 is a control means for controlling the entire image processing apparatus 100, and implements its control function by executing various programs recorded in the ROM 12 and the NVRAM 14. In addition, a function as a screen data generation device that generates screen data defining the content of the screen to be displayed on the display device is also realized. The ROM 12 is a nonvolatile storage unit, and stores programs executed by the CPU 11, fixed parameters, and the like.

  The RAM 13 is storage means for storing temporarily used data or used as a work memory for the CPU 11. The NVRAM 14 is a rewritable nonvolatile storage unit that stores a program that needs to be rewritten among the programs executed by the CPU 11 and a parameter value that needs to be retained even after the apparatus is turned off.

  The panel I / F 15 is an interface for connecting the operation panel 152 to the system bus 20 so that the CPU 11 can control it.

  The operation panel 152 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) that is a display means capable of displaying a graphical screen, a display unit using a light emitting diode (LED), and various keys, buttons, and a touch panel stacked on the LCD. An operation unit is also provided. The LCD can display a screen defined by various data, which will be described later, as a GUI (graphical user interface), and accept user operations on the screen.

  The engine I / F 16 is an interface for connecting the engine unit 19 to the system bus 20 so that the CPU 11 can control it.

  The engine unit 19 is an image processing unit including a scanner engine and a print engine for performing image reading, print output, and the like. The CPU 11 controls the engine unit 19 in accordance with a user operation performed on the operation panel 152 or a command received from an external device via the communication I / F 17, thereby causing the engine unit 19 to read an image, print, copy, Operations such as transmission can be executed.

  The communication I / F 17 is an interface for enabling the image processing apparatus 100 to communicate with other apparatuses via a certain communication path. ) Method of network communication. Then, an external device such as a PC (Personal Computer) communicable via the communication I / F 17 can access the image processing apparatus 100 to instruct its operation or change settings.

  The image processing program executed by the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is a file in an installable or executable format, such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or the like. And recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

  Further, the image processing program executed by the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment may be provided by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. . The image processing program executed by the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  Further, the image processing program of the present embodiment may be configured to be provided by being preinstalled in the ROM 12 or the like.

  The image processing program executed by the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes the above-described units (the user information acquisition unit, the screen layout specifying unit, the screen data generation unit, the display processing unit, and the display definition management module in the display module). And an external appearance group registration section, an external appearance specifying section, an external appearance list acquisition section, a device service layer communication control section, and an operation control section). By reading out and executing the image processing program from the medium, the above-described units are loaded on the RAM 13 and the above-described units are generated on the RAM 13.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of the screen data produced | generated with the image processing apparatus concerning embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the structure of the definition information utilized in order to display screen data. It is explanatory drawing which showed the concept of screen definition information. It is the figure which showed the example of the source code of screen definition information. It is explanatory drawing which showed the concept of arrangement | positioning definition information. It is the figure which showed the example of the source code of arrangement | positioning definition information. It is a figure which shows the table structure of a user arrangement | positioning definition management part. It is the figure which showed the example of the external appearance definition information of a pull-down button. It is the conceptual diagram which showed the external appearance definition information which an external appearance definition information storage part memorize | stores. It is a figure which shows the table structure of an external appearance management part. It is the figure which showed the table structure of the user appearance definition management part. It is the figure which showed the example of a screen which a customization tool displays on a monitor. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen data generated by the image processing apparatus 100 after the appearance is switched in response to a request for a customization tool. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which showed switching of the screen data which a screen data generation part produces | generates according to the operation information from an operation control part. It is the figure which showed the example of the definition information holding the parameter of each item displayed as a pull-down button. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure until screen data generation in the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure of a process until it registers the external appearance in the image processing apparatus concerning Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the table structure which stored the page number of the external appearance definition information which the image processing apparatus concerning a modification uses and is used for healthy persons. It is the figure which showed the table structure which stored the page number of the external appearance definition information which the image processing apparatus concerning a modification uses and is used for color-weak people. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the image processing apparatus concerning embodiment and a modification.

Explanation of symbols

11 CPU
12 ROM
13 RAM
14 NVRAM
15 Panel I / F
16 Engine I / F
17 Communication I / F
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 19 Engine part 20 System bus 100 Image processing apparatus 110 Device service layer 111 Communication control part 112 Operation control part 120 Service layer 121 Display definition management module 122 Appearance list acquisition part 123 Appearance group registration part 124 Appearance definition information storage part 125 Appearance definition management Unit 126 User appearance definition management unit 127 Appearance specification unit 130 Application layer 131 Display module 132 Screen data generation unit 133 Layout definition information storage unit 134 Screen definition information storage unit 135 User placement definition management unit 136 User information acquisition unit 137 Display processing unit 138 Screen layout specifying part 151 Customization tool 152 Operation panel

Claims (9)

Screen storage means for storing screen definition information for storing function identification information indicating functions to be arranged on the screen in association with arrangement identification information for identifying arrangement on the screen;
Appearance storage means for storing appearance definition information for holding display information representing the appearance of the function indicated by the function identification information for each of a plurality of predetermined display sizes;
For each of the arrangement identification information held by the screen definition information, coordinates for arranging the display information of the function indicated by the function identification information associated with the arrangement identification information, and the display information arranged at the coordinates. As an arrangement storage means for storing arrangement definition information for holding size identification information indicating any one of the plurality of display sizes ,
Screen data is generated based on the screen definition information stored in the screen storage means, the appearance definition information stored in the appearance storage means, and the arrangement definition information stored in the arrangement storage means. Screen data generation means;
A screen data generation device comprising: The appearance storage means holds each of the plurality of display sizes for each situation in which the display information indicated by the function identification information is displayed.
The screen data generation means further generates screen data using the display information corresponding to the situation to be displayed.
The screen data generation device according to claim 1. The arrangement storage means stores a plurality of pieces of the arrangement definition information in which at least one of the display size and the position information of the display information is different for a screen providing a predetermined function,
Based on a predetermined condition, as a screen that provides the predetermined function, an arrangement specifying unit that specifies the arrangement definition information used by the screen data generation unit,
Screen data generating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by further comprising. Input processing means for inputting the appearance definition information;
Registration means for registering the appearance definition information subjected to the input process in the appearance storage means;
The screen data generation device according to claim 1, further comprising: User information storage means for storing the appearance definition information in association with each user;
The screen data generating means generates screen data based on the appearance definition information associated with the logged-in user in the user information storage means;
The screen data generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The appearance definition information stored in the display storage means stores a plurality of the display information having the same display size and different in at least one of color and shape,
The screen data generation means further generates screen data by switching the display information having one or more of colors and shapes according to a condition related to a user, among the display information of the same display size. about,
The screen data generation device according to claim 1, wherein the screen data generation device is a screen data generation device. The screen data generating means that, based on the appearance definition information specified based on the user identification information indicating a Subscriber, generates screen data,
The screen data generation device according to claim 1, wherein: A screen data generation method executed by an information processing apparatus,
Screen storage means for storing screen definition information in which the information processing apparatus holds function identification information indicating functions to be arranged on a screen in association with arrangement identification information for identifying arrangement on the screen;
Appearance storage means for storing appearance definition information for holding display information representing the appearance of the function indicated by the function identification information for each of a plurality of predetermined display sizes;
For each of the arrangement identification information held by the screen definition information, coordinates for arranging the display information of the function indicated by the function identification information associated with the arrangement identification information, and the display information arranged at the coordinates. And an arrangement storage means for storing arrangement definition information for holding size identification information indicating any one of the plurality of display sizes,
Based on the screen definition information stored in the screen storage means, the appearance definition information stored in the appearance storage means, and the arrangement definition information stored in the arrangement storage means. Screen data generation step for generating screen data,
A screen data generation method characterized by comprising: A program for causing a computer to function as means for generating screen data to be displayed on the display unit,
The computer is
Screen storage means for storing screen definition information for storing function identification information indicating functions to be arranged on the screen in association with arrangement identification information for identifying arrangement on the screen;
Display information appearance of the functions represented by the function identification information is represented, for each respective predetermined plurality of display size is, the appearance storage means for the appearance definition information remembers that holds,
For each of the arrangement identification information held by the screen definition information, coordinates for arranging the display information of the function indicated by the function identification information associated with the arrangement identification information, and the display information arranged at the coordinates. as, and a location storage means for memorize the location definition information for holding the size identification information indicating one of the plurality of display size
Screen data is generated based on the screen definition information stored in the screen storage means, the appearance definition information stored in the appearance storage means, and the arrangement definition information stored in the arrangement storage means. Screen data generation step ,
A screen data generation program to make it function.

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