JPH02108113A - Character input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily insert and delete a character, etc., without misoperation by displaying three divided blocks and one cursor assigned to each block on the same screen of a monitor display when the signal of an operation switch is inputted. CONSTITUTION:The three divided block 101, 103, and 105 and the cursors 102, 104, and 106 assigned to the blocks 101, 103, and 105 are displayed on the monitor display. A character string of a document that a user is creating is displayed in the 1st block 101 among the three divided blocks 101, 103, and 105, a list of character groups which can be selected is displayed in the 2nd block 103, and a list of the kinds of special operation (command) such as insertion and deletion is displayed in the 3rd block; and the cursors 102, 104, and 106 are displayed in the blocks 101, 103, and 105. Consequently, correction and addition are easily performed even in case of operator's misoperation and the operability is improved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] A display device such as a television game machine or a video printer that has a built-in display device such as a CRT or can be connected to it, and that does not have a full keyboard but has a small number of switches. (key)
The present invention relates to a device that accepts character input from a user and that requires character input for creating, editing, etc.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, the number of devices such as video game consoles, video printers, and video cameras that allow text input such as dates and titles has been increasing. These devices use a display device such as a CRT as a monitor function to display and check the characters input by the user while creating sentences. By the way, the input means is a small number of switches, about four, and in order to create a sentence by selecting one character from a large group of characters, the monitor display method and the assignment of the switch 6B to each switch are as follows. It has a great influence on the operability and functionality of character input devices.

The conventional method uses two display methods on the monitor display.
It was divided into two blocks and one cursor was assigned to each block. FIG. 4 shows a method of displaying the monitor display screen when accepting and accepting character input by the user's switch operations.

401 is a block that displays a character string of a sentence that the user is creating, and 402 is a cursor that indicates the position of the next character to be registered following the sentence. 403 is a block that displays a list of character groups that the user can select;
Create a sentence by selecting one character from this group of characters. A cursor 404 designates a selected character from the character group. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the functions of four switches corresponding to the display screen of FIG. 4. switch 501
The switch 502 moves the cursor 404 leftward and rightward in FIG. The switch 503 has the function of registering one character, and the switch 504 has the function of updating the cursor 402 in FIG. 4 to the right. That is, the switch 501 and the switch 502 move the cursor 404 in FIG.
to specify the character to be selected and register it with switch 503. The switch 504 moves the cursor 402 in FIG. 4 to the right to update the position of the next character to be registered. Repeat this process to create sentences.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As the number of characters to be input increases and the length of sentences to be created increases, the frequency of erroneous operations by users increases, and the need for insertion and deletion functions increases. However, with the conventional display method shown in Figures 4 and 5, although it is possible to create sentences, it is not possible to insert a single character,
Another problem is that it is not possible to have a function such as deleting a single character.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a display method on a monitor display, in which blocks are divided into three blocks and one cursor is assigned to each block. The reason for this is that two would cause the above-mentioned problem, and four would be too complicated and cause confusion for the user. Of the blocks divided into three, the first block contains the character string of the sentence that the user is creating, and the second block contains one of the characters that can be selected! l,
The third block contains special operations such as insertion and deletion (hereinafter referred to as
Displays a list of types of commands (denoted as commands), and places a cursor in each block.This allows for easy corrections and additions even if the user makes a mistake, dramatically improving operability. .

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows a display method on a display device, and FIG. 2 shows the functions of four switches serving as input means.

In FIG. 1, 101 is a block that displays the character string of the sentence that the user is creating, 102 is a cursor that indicates the registration position of the next character following that sentence, and 103 is a block that displays a list of selectable character groups. Block 104 is a cursor for specifying a selected character, 105 is a block for displaying the type of command, and 106 is a cursor for indicating the command currently being executed. That is, the display method is to display blocks divided into three on the same screen and one cursor for each block.

In FIG. 2, the switch 201 is the cursor 1 in FIG.
06 and specify the command to be executed.

When the cursor 106 goes to the bottom, it returns to the top position again using a rotation method inside the block 105. The switch 202 and the switch 203 control the functions of moving the cursor 102 or 104 to the left and right.
4 has a function of registering one character, deleting one character, or inserting one character.

By the way, the command in block 105 is EDIT
There are four types: , MOVE, DEL, and IN5 (7). The command rEDITJ is a sentence creation command that moves the cursor 104 to the left and right using switches 202 and 203, selects one character, and then registers that one character at the position indicated by the cursor 102 using the switch 204. After registration, the cursor 102 is automatically moved by one character. command r
M.

VEJ) In response to a command to move the cursor 102, the cursor 102 is moved to a position using the switch 202 and the switch 203 to specify an arbitrary character in the already created sentence. The command rDELJ is a command to delete one character.
Each time the switch 204 is pressed, one character indicated by the cursor 102 is deleted, and the character string to the right of the deleted character is automatically shifted to the left one character at a time. The command rINsJ is a one-character insertion command, and the cursor 10
Each time the switch 204 is pressed, a blank character is inserted at the position of the character indicated by 2, and the character string to the right of that character is automatically shifted to the right one character at a time. By the way, the commands rMOVEJ, rDELJ, r
INsJ (7) During execution i;l+ - Since there is no need for the crane 104, it is not displayed. Note that blinking only one character designated by the cursor 104 may be used as a substitute for the cursor function without displaying the cursor 104.

FIG. 3 is a simple block diagram showing the hardware configuration of this device. 301 is a character input means with four operation switches attached to the outside of the main body, 302 is a CPU, 303
is a memory; 304 is a display signal generation circuit; 30
5 is a video signal output terminal for connecting to an external display device such as a CRT.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a practical character input device that allows users to easily insert and delete characters and the like without causing any malfunctions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the display method of the present invention on a display device, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the functions of switches corresponding to the display method of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of this device. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional display method on a display device, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing functions of switches corresponding to FIG. 4. Applicant Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Kizobe Suzuki 1 person Figure 3/Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] It has a plurality of operation switches attached to the outside of the main body, and a display signal generation circuit that inputs the switch signals and generates a monitor display signal. A character input device characterized in that a display method displays blocks divided into three on the same screen and one cursor assigned to each block.