JPH0113111B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an interactive screen creation control method, particularly when creating a screen definition while interacting with a display device, which requires a processing unit for defining various items including headings and those items. A processing unit for defining ruled lines for enclosing items according to the requirements is divided into separate functions, making it quick and easy to create screen definitions such as definitions of various items, and also processing parts for defining the characters used for various definitions. This invention relates to an interactive screen creation control method that relaxes the constraints of .

For example, in a data processing system, a screen for various sales inventory management processes such as a sales data aggregation screen may be displayed on a display device, or a screen with the same content as the above screen may be saved and recorded later as a form. When outputting the data to a printer, it is necessary to define the format in advance, that is, the format of what items should be placed in which positions, and store it in the data processing system. This definition of the format of the content to be displayed on the screen is called a screen definition.

Conventionally, when creating a screen definition program in an interactive manner, an operator would call up the screen definition section using a light pen or the like from a menu displayed on the screen of a display device, and select items and other items by typing on a keyboard, etc. Enter the definition information for
Regarding item definition information, for example, special characters are input between items, and the attributes of the items, such as item type and item length, are distinguished and recognized by the characters. In addition, vertical or horizontal ruled lines to separate each item and make it easier to see can be added at the same time as inputting the definition information of the above item, such as "-, |,
Definitions were made by inputting special characters such as "T, +,...". In this way, in the past, when defining an item and defining a ruled line, special characters were input to distinguish attributes, etc., and the screen configuration of the item and the ruled line definition were performed at the same time. The process became complicated, putting an extremely heavy burden on the operator, and not only was it easy to make mistakes when inputting definition information, but it was also impossible to find and correct the characters that caused the error at a glance. Additionally, characters used to display special meanings such as "+", such as indicating the intersection of vertical and horizontal ruled lines for defining ruled lines, cannot be used freely as product names or other fixed literal items. It had the disadvantage of being subject to restrictions.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems, and allows items to be defined directly and easily, and by defining ruled lines independently, it eases restrictions on characters used for items. , the purpose is to provide a control method that allows the screen definition body to be easily and freely designed. Therefore, the interactive screen creation control method of the present invention is an interactive screen creation control method that uses a display device to interactively create a screen definition that defines the format of a screen used for business processing by a computer. a screen configuration definition unit that analyzes characters corresponding to input predetermined item types, recognizes each item type, item position, and item length, and stores these item information as a screen configuration definition body; Analyzes predetermined ruled line specification characters input on the screen created by the configuration definition section, recognizes the position of vertical ruled lines or horizontal ruled lines to be displayed on the screen, and stores this ruled line information as a ruled line definition body. a screen definition body display unit that displays on the screen the contents of a screen definition body consisting of definition information obtained by combining the screen configuration definition body and the ruled line definition body; and at least the screen configuration definition unit and the ruled line definition body. It is equipped with a definition section and a screen processing type selection section that individually selects and activates one of the above screen definition display sections according to an external instruction, and creates screen definitions by distinguishing between item definitions and ruled line definitions. It is characterized by the fact that it is made to do so.
This will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 5 show examples of screen display modes in the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a data processing device, 2 is a screen processing type selection section, 3 is a screen configuration definition section, 4 is a ruled line definition section, 5 is a screen definition display section, 6 is a display device, 7 is the screen of the display device, 8 represents a light pen, 9 represents a keyboard, and 10 represents a storage device.

In the data processing device 1, when a screen definition program creation process is requested and started, for example, by an operator command or by pointing one of the menus on the screen 7 of the display device 6 with the light pen 8, etc. , control is first passed to the screen processing type selection section 2. The screen processing type selection section 2 selects and activates various processing sections for defining a screen, which will be described later, in response to instructions from an operator. The processing units activated by the screen processing type selection unit 2 include the screen configuration definition unit 3, the ruled line definition unit 4, the screen definition display unit 5, and the like.

The instruction from the operator is determined, for example, as follows. First, the screen processing type selection unit 2 assigns an identification number etc. to each processing unit for screen definition, and
For example, a process selection screen as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the screen 7 of the display device 6. In this embodiment, "1" is designated for the screen configuration definition section 3, "2" is designated for the ruled line definition section 4, "3" is designated for the screen definition display section 5, etc. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, comments such as explanations of various defining characters used in later processing are also displayed. The above-mentioned identification number instruction for activating the various processing units is performed by inputting it using, for example, the keyboard 9 or the light pen 8. If the operator wishes to end the process, he or she presses the program function (PF) key, which means "end." The screen processing type selection unit 2 recognizes this, performs necessary post-processing, and ends the processing.

The identification number "1" is specified and the screen configuration definition section 3
When activated, the screen configuration definition unit 3 recognizes the items that constitute the screen by inputting predetermined definition characters, and stores the results in the storage device 6.
stored in a predetermined location. The above definition characters are associated with various items, for example, as shown below. The left side shows the definition character, and the right side shows the item type.

999…9; Numerical item in the input field LLL…L; Light pen item XXX…X; Free field in the input field Kakaka…ka; Katakana field in the input field WWW…W; Output field III…I; ID card field NNN…N ;Japanese item MMM...M;Multiple literal item Others;Fixed literal item The operator moves the cursor to the desired position on the screen and inputs the required number of digits for the definition characters as described above. This input enables the screen configuration definition unit 3 to recognize the types, positions, and item lengths of various items. FIG. 3 shows an example of input information of the screen configuration definition section 3 regarding the screen for inputting sales data. For example, "Shiyouhin code", "Shiyouhinmei", etc. displayed on the screen 7 shown in Figure 3 represent fixed literal items, and their contents do not change depending on the time or situation when the screen is displayed. shows. "Shiyouhin Code"
``9999'' inserted and displayed below is a numeric input item, indicating that the number is 4 digits. That is, this indicates that when this screen is actually used, the operator is required to input a number that is a four-digit product code. The characters "WWW...W" following to the right are output items, and therefore indicate that the sales data processing program that reads the product code should output the product name corresponding to the product code. In addition, when defining such items, for example, if the same item contents are continuous in the vertical or horizontal direction, various commands such as a repeat command that can specify the repetition of multiple items can be prepared for convenience. We are trying to Once you have finished configuring the screen for the item,
The operator presses the ENTER key, for example, to notify the user of this, and returns control from the screen configuration definition section 3 to the screen processing type selection section 2.

In the process of the screen processing type selection section 2, if the identification number "2" is designated, the ruled line definition section 4 is activated. The ruled line definition unit 4 displays the screen configuration definition created by the screen configuration definition unit 3 and waits for input of ruled line definition information. A ruled line is defined, for example, by specifying the position of a vertical ruled line using the character "|" and of the starting and ending ends of a horizontal ruled line using the characters. Since the screen configuration definition and the ruled line definition are performed as separate processes, characters such as "|" used for the ruled line definition can be used freely without any restrictions in the screen configuration definition. Fourth
The figure shows how vertical ruled lines and horizontal ruled lines are specified. The horizontal ruled line is defined by the character `` from the top left of ``Shiyouhin code'' to the top right of ``Kingaku'', and the vertical ruled line is defined by the character ``|'' at the position indicated. ing. In the ruled line definition as well, repeat commands and other commands are prepared to facilitate the input of definition data. The ruled line definition based on the ruled line definition data is stored in the storage device 10 in the same way as the screen configuration definition. Control is returned to the screen processing type selection section 2 upon notification of processing completion by the operator pressing the enter key or the like.

When displaying the created screen for confirmation, etc., the operator inputs the identification number "3". The screen processing type selection section 2 recognizes the identification number "3" and starts the screen definition display section 5. The screen definition display unit 5 reads the screen definition defined so far from the storage device 10 and displays it on the screen 7 of the display device 6. FIG. 5 shows the display of the sales data aggregation screen defined by the above-described processing. If there is a definition error in the displayed screen, control is returned to the screen processing type selection section 2, the screen configuration definition section 3 or the ruled line definition section 4 is called again, and the error is corrected.

As explained above, according to the present invention, definitions of items on the screen can be actually defined in an application program without having to be aware of special characters used only to specify delimiters between items or to define attributes of items. It can be done directly, easily and quickly with the images you use. In particular, since the processes for screen configuration definition and ruled line definition are differentiated, it is possible to prevent operator operations and various processes in screen definition from becoming complicated, and to facilitate the creation of screen definitions and error correction. Furthermore, in the definition of fixed literal items, etc., the restriction that characters used for defining ruled lines cannot be used is removed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 5 show examples of screen display modes in the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a data processing device, 2 is a screen processing type selection section, 3 is a screen configuration definition section, 4 is a ruled line definition section,
5 is a screen definition display unit; 6 is a display device;
7 is the screen of the display device, 8 is the light pen,
9 represents a keyboard, and 10 represents a storage device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an interactive screen creation control method that uses a display device to interactively create a screen definition that defines the format of a screen used for business processing by a computer, a screen configuration definition unit 3 that analyzes characters corresponding to item types, recognizes each item type, item position, and item length, and stores these item information as a screen configuration definition body; A ruled line definition unit 4 that analyzes predetermined ruled line designation characters input on the created screen, recognizes the position of vertical ruled lines or horizontal ruled lines to be displayed on the screen, and stores this ruled line information as a ruled line definition body. and a screen definition display unit 5 that displays on the screen the contents of a screen definition body consisting of definition information obtained by combining the screen configuration definition body and the ruled line definition body, and at least the screen configuration definition unit and the ruled line definition unit. and a screen processing type selection section 2 that individually selects and activates one of the above screen definition display sections according to an external instruction, and creates a screen definition structure by distinguishing between item definitions and ruled line definitions. An interactive screen creation control method characterized by: