JPH02136913A - Help guidance device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the searching time for help guidance by securing such a constitution where a display control part selects the help guidance for an operation which is allowed in an information process state among plural help guidances and displaying the selected help guidances in the prescribed priority in case plural help guidances are selected. CONSTITUTION:In the case two operations S1 and S2 are allowed in an information process state No1, for example, two help guidance addresses H1 and H2 are taken out and displayed in a help guidance display area 5 at one time. However, plural help guidances are displayed in the prescribed priority in case the area 5 cannot afford to display all help guidances at one time. Thus an operator can search his/her desired help guidance in the least time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a help guidance device provided to assist an operator in an information processing device.

(Prior Art) When operating an information processing device to perform various tasks, an operator operates the device according to a certain procedure depending on the task. For operations with complex operations, operators refer to a guidebook, etc. while performing the operations.However, it is cumbersome to refer to a guidebook each time during the operation, so a simpler method is to use help. Methods of displaying guidance are widely adopted.

Help guidance is a message that, when requested by an operator using the keyboard, displays the specific methods and contents of various operations on the display, and serves the same role as referring to a guidebook. .

For example, when operating a teleprinter, the operator:
The text to be sent via the communication line is created in advance using the keyboard and display. After completing the creation work, the user performs a predetermined sending operation to send the text to the other party.

In such work, when an operator wants to know the detailed procedure for some operation while creating or modifying text, he/she can use the ") IE" provided on the keyboard.
Press down the LP” key.

When the ")IELP" key is pressed, the screen during text creation is switched to a help guidance screen. In this way, help guidance is displayed across the entire screen. Since help guidance is provided for each various operation, several help guidances are displayed simultaneously on the screen as much as possible.

If you cannot display all the help guidance,
The operator presses the scroll key to scroll the screen and search for the requested help guidance. Then, find the desired help guidance, follow its instructions, and return to writing the text.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional method as described above, when all the help guidance can be displayed on the display screen at the same time, it is difficult to read the desired help guidance immediately. It is possible and efficient. However, the text creation screen cannot be viewed while the help guidance is being displayed, and the help guidance screen cannot be viewed while the text creation screen is being displayed.

Therefore, if help guidance is displayed during text creation, there is a problem in that the text creation work is interrupted and the workability deteriorates.

In order to improve workability, help guidance may be displayed on a portion of the text screen, but this makes the display area too small and it takes time to search for help guidance. Of course, even if the amount of help guidance is so large that it cannot be displayed on the entire screen, there is a problem in that it takes time to find the desired help guidance due to scrolling and searching.

The present invention has been made with attention to the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a help guidance device that is excellent in workability and can easily search for appropriate help guidance.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A help guidance device of the present invention includes an information input device, a display device that displays an information processing state, and a plurality of help guidance devices for guiding how to operate the information input device. a display control unit that selects and displays one of the help guidances on a part of the display screen of the display device; The present invention is characterized in that help guidance for operations permitted in the processing state is selected, and when there are a plurality of help guidances, they are displayed in a predetermined priority order.

(For I) The above device displays help guidance on a part of the display screen of the display device. Therefore, the text being created is also displayed on the display device at the same time. When a large number of help guidances are stored in the guidance memory, a display control section is provided to select and display the necessary help guidance.

This display control unit determines the processing status of the device and displays the help guidance that is determined to be most necessary at that time.

If there are multiple pieces of guidance to be displayed, they cannot be displayed on the limited display screen. Therefore, help guidance is displayed in a predetermined priority order. As a result, the operator can search for necessary help guidance immediately or with minimal scrolling during operation.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the help guidance device of the present invention.

The device shown in the figure is operated by an operator using the information input device l.
It operates under the control of the control unit 2, and its information processing status is displayed on the display screen 4 of the display device 3. On this display screen 4, for example, help guidance is displayed at the same time as the text that the operator is creating. The help guidance is set to be displayed in the help guidance display area 5. This help guidance is stored in the guidance memory 6, and the display control unit 7 controls to select an appropriate one from among the many help guidances 8 and display it in the help guidance display area 5.

In addition, the control section 2 includes a printing section 9 and a line control section 10.
The line control unit 10 is connected to the communication line 1.
Connected to 1.

Here, the information input device 1 is generally comprised of a keyboard provided in an information terminal, a teleprinter, or the like. Further, the control unit 2 is an arithmetic processing circuit including a microprocessor, a program memory, a predetermined I10 interface, and the like. The display device 3 is a device consisting of a cathode ray tube display, a liquid crystal display, etc., and the guidance memory 6 is a read-only memory, random access memory, etc.
It consists of memory, magnetic disk device, etc.

The printing section 9 is comprised of a thermal printer, a dot printer, or the like, and is a device that prints out text created by an operator using the display device 3 or text sent or received through the line 11. Line control section 1
0 is composed of a known communication control circuit that controls communication between this device and line 11.

Note that the display control section 7 constitutes a part of the control section 2,
It consists of a microprocessor and memory that stores necessary parameters.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 can perform various operations such as text creation, text correction, and text transmission.

The guidance memory 6 stores a large number of help guidances 8 that help with each operation. The display control section 7 is
Among the help guidances, the help guidance considered to be the most appropriate is displayed in the display area 5. The criteria for this selection is that in the information processing state displayed on the display screen 4,
The next step is to determine the permissible operations and select the corresponding help guidance.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the contents of the help guidance selection table parameters necessary for the operation of the display control section 7. As shown in FIG.

This table shows the information processing status, for example, text creation work (Prepare) and text correction work (E
dit).

Here, in the information processing state (Prepare) of step 1, the permitted operations are Sl, S2. Suppose there are three S3s. Corresponding help guidance is prepared for each operation, and this is stored in the guidance memory 6 in FIG. 1. Similarly, for the information processing state (edit) of FkL2, whose help guidance addresses are set as Hl, H2, and H3, and are associated with allowed operations, two allowable operations S4. S5 exists,
Help guidance H4, H5, H6, and H7 are associated with each other.

In this example, three guidances H5, H6, and H7 are associated with the allowable operation S5. For complex operations, multiple help guidances may be associated in this way.

If various other information processing states are possible, the information processing states, permissible operations, and help guidance addresses are associated in the same manner.

The help guidance device of the present invention having the above configuration generally operates as follows.

First, an operator operates the information input device 1 shown in FIG.
Text creation tasks shall be performed. In this case, the text being created is displayed on the display screen 4 of the display device 3. At this time, the display control unit 7 first determines the information processing state of the device. In the case of a teleprinter, the information processing states are waiting, text creation, and text editing.

Examples include states such as 1 communication while printing. Furthermore, at this time, each connected unit, for example, the printing section 9 in FIG.
The information processing state of the entire device, including the operating state of the line controller 10 and the line controller 10, is grasped. This can be easily executed by detecting a predetermined status display flag provided in the control section 2.

Then, the help guidance selection table shown in FIG. 2 is referred to. At this time, for example, the information processing state N11l
, if the number of allowed operations is 81, then
The help guidance address H1 is recognized, and the help guidance 8 stored at that address is read out from the guidance memory 6 shown in FIG. 1 and displayed on the help guidance display area 5 of the display device 3.

For example, in this information processing state, two operations S1
．． If S2 is permitted, two help guidance addresses H1 and H2 are extracted and both are displayed in the help guidance display area 5 at the same time.

However, if the help guidance display area 5 does not have enough space to display all necessary help guidance, the help guidance is displayed in a preset priority order. This priority order is associated with, for example, the address order of help guidance.

Therefore, when there are two or more help guidances 8 to be displayed, the display control section 7 operates to preferentially display, for example, the one with the smallest address.

Regarding the allowable operation S5 in information processing state No. 2 in FIG. 2, three types of help guidance are prepared. Even in such a case, each help guidance may be prioritized and only the one with the highest priority may be displayed in the help guidance display area 5. If the operator wishes to view help guidance other than what is displayed, he or she may operate the information manpower device 1 to scroll the help guidance. In this case as well, the help guidance is scrolled in order of priority.

FIG. 3 shows a specific example of a screen display of a teleprinter embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a display example of a so-called menu screen when the apparatus is on standby.

The startup menu (STARTIIP) is displayed here.
MENU) will be displayed, and number 1, text creation (Pre
pare) No. 2, text editing (Edit), 3
No.

Communication (Send), No. 4, Print (Print) No. 5, Delete (Delete), No. 6, Other processing (Ut
Six types of work menus are displayed. The operator selects the number below it.
If you input the work number to the right of the display of er), that work will start.

In this way, the operation allowed in the information processing state during standby is the operation of entering a numerical value next to the number on the screen. Therefore, under the dashed line in the diagram, there is a message that says ``Enter the job number and then press the return key'' (εnter number).
r, “RETtlRN”) is displayed. Also, regarding manual call operation and auto call operation when sending text with a teleprinter,
Help guidance is displayed to guide you to which key to press. , (Manual call
:“CALL/CLEAR”, Auto call“
AUTOCALL") In this embodiment, these help guidances are automatically displayed whether or not the operator requests them. Therefore, they can be viewed at any time, improving work efficiency.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen display when editing text.

In this information processing state, the operator has already created the text and is editing it.

Therefore, operations such as canceling the editing work, printing out the edited text on a printer, or deleting a part of the edited text are allowed here. In this case, the display control unit 7 in FIG. 1 first displays the three help guidances shown below the broken line in the figure with top priority. In other words, a cancel operation or an operation when editing is completed (Cancel operator
ation/Finishediting: ”EN
D/CANCL") and help guidance corresponding to operations in the case of manual call and auto call similar to those shown in FIG. 3 are displayed.

FIG. 5 shows another example of help guidance display when editing text.

That is, in the state shown in FIG. 4, if the operator wishes to display other help guidance, by operating a predetermined key on the information input device 1 shown in FIG. The help guidance set to
It will be displayed as shown in the figure. This will display help guidance regarding printing to the printer and deleting documents [Pr1nt 5tart/end(be
gins atcursor): ”PRINT”L
ine delete: “C0DE” + “DEL W
ORD"1° Also in this case, help guidance corresponding to an operation that is not allowed in the information processing state shown in the figure is not displayed, and the operator can search for the necessary help guidance in the shortest possible time.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

In the above embodiment, the system is configured such that necessary help guidance is always automatically displayed when the operator is performing some task. However, if the operator does not require the help guidance to be displayed, the display may be suppressed and displayed only when requested.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the help guidance device of the present invention described above,
Since the help guidance is displayed at the same time as the normal screen such as the text creation screen, the operator can work while looking at it, and the operator's work efficiency is extremely high. In addition, even if the help guidance display area is small, the necessary help guidance is automatically selected and displayed, and when there are multiple help guidances, they are displayed in priority order, making it easier for operators to search for help guidance. Time can be shortened. Therefore, not only teleprinters but also various information processing apparatuses can be operated more efficiently.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the help guidance device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a help guidance selection table of the display control unit of the device of the present invention, and FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. Each figure is an explanatory diagram of a specific screen display example of the apparatus of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Information input device, 2... Control unit, 3... Display device, 4... Display screen, 5... Help guidance display area, 6... Guidance memory, 7... Display Control unit, 8... Help guidance, 9... Printing unit, 10
. . . line control unit, 11 . . . line. Patent applicant Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. Embodiment diagram of help guidance device of the present invention No.
1 Help guidance selection table of diagram display control section 2nd diagram ED I TED MESSAGE + (ASC) LINE 6 1234567[]9123456789123456
789'+23456789123456789AB
CDEFGIIIJ)iLMNOPQRsTUVWXY
Z ABCIIEFGIIIJKLMNOPORTSTU
VWXYZEND. 1. Cancel operation/Finis
h editing:2, Manual cal
l: -CALL/CLEAR"3, ^uto
call: -＾uTo CALL"-END/
CANCL” Example of screen display when editing text Figure 4
r −D' before n+u+ber. 1. Enter number, -RETL
IRN”2, Manual call: -C
ALL/CLEAR”3, ＾uto call
: -AUTOCALLl,"Screen display example during device standby vR Figure 3 ED I TED MESSAGE l (ASC) LINE 6 123456789 123456789 12345
6789 123456789 +23456789
ABCDEFGHI JKLMNOPCIRSTuVW
XYZ ABC[1EFGll l JKLMNOP
QRSRTUWXYZNllI 4, Pr1nt 5tart/end (be name in
s at cursor) 25, Line delete
te: -CODE" + -DE 1.
"ORD#-PRINT" Other help guidance display examples when editing text Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An information input device; a display device that displays information processing status; a guidance memory that stores a plurality of help guidance for guiding how to operate the information input device; and a display of the display device. A part of the screen includes a display control unit that selects and displays one of the help guidances, and the display control unit displays help guidance for operations that are permitted in the information processing state among the help guidances. A help guidance device characterized in that when a plurality of help guidances are selected, the help guidances are displayed in a predetermined priority order.