JPH03242721A - Mouse font display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the structure of an application program by registering a table of font used as a mouse cursor. CONSTITUTION:When the font table is registered, a mouse control program stores its entry address and automatically assigns font numbers 8,000H, 8,001H,..., n to fonts defined in the font table in order from the first font. Font numbers 0 to 7FFFH are assigned to fonts in a ROM. When a font number is designated, the mouse control program discriminates a font in the ROM or a font of the application in accordance with the font number and refers to the corresponding font table to store the actual mouse font in the font storage area of the mouse control program and displays the mouse font on a screen. Hereafter, the font number of the new mouse font is designated to switch the mouse font. Thus, the structure of the application program is simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for displaying mouse fonts, and more particularly to a method for managing displayed mouse fonts and a method for switching mouse fonts during a mouse interrupt processing period.

2. Description of the Related Art A pointing device called a mouse is often used in information processing devices such as personal computers and word processors.

A mouse usually consists of hardware, which is the mouse body, and software (mouse control program) for using the data.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional general computer that can use a mouse.

In FIG. 6, the mouse body 5 is connected to the CPUI via the mouse interface 4 and the system bus 15. As shown in FIG. The mouse control program 10 consists of two programs, an application interface program 1)
It consists of an interrupt processing program, and two data areas: a mouse font storage area 13 and a mouse data area 14.

The mouse interrupt processing program 12 uses interrupts from the CPU 1 to convert physical mouse information obtained mainly through the mouse interface 4 into information that is easy for the application program 6 to use.
The mouse font stored in the mouse font storage area 13 is displayed on the screen (CRT) 3 via the CRT controller (CTRC) 2.

The X and Y positions of the mouse and information on whether a button is pressed or not, obtained through the mouse interrupt processing, are stored in the mouse data area 1.4.

The mouse information stored in this area can be referenced from the application program 6 via the application interface program 1).

This application interface program 1) has a function (application interface function) for the following application programs to use or control the mouse.

■Returns current mouse position information (X position, Y position).

■Returns current mouse button information (pressed/released).

■Set the mouse cursor position.

■Set the mouse cursor font.

■Call a routine written in the application program from the mouse interrupt processing program (called a user subroutine function).

The purpose and use of the above functions are obvious.

For example, regarding the mouse font (■), the set mouse font is stored in the mouse font storage area 13, and the new font stored in the mouse font storage area 13 is referenced and displayed on the screen at subsequent mouse interruptions. That is, ■ has two functions: the function of defining the mouse font itself, and the function of switching fonts.

In addition, the function (■) sends a predefined user subroutine 8 from the application program 6 to the mouse control program 10 to the interrupt processing program 1.
The user subroutine function, which refers to the function called by 2, refers to the mouse information stored in 14 to enable application programs that require real-time performance for mouse operations or applications that want to have their own interface. provided for the program.

An example of the former is a program that displays a menu on the screen if a button is held down. As an example of the latter, a mouse control program usually does not have a function to return mouse click information (the operation of pressing and releasing a mouse button), so in a user subroutine (by referring to button information), the click information can be returned. may be set.

This user subroutine is not always called during interrupt processing; normally, the application program can define in advance a condition for calling the user subroutine (user subroutine call condition) for the mouse control program. By using this user subroutine call condition, the user subroutine only needs to check the mouse information and internal information of the application program only when necessary (such as only when the mouse moves), making it possible to create efficient application programs. becomes possible.

An example of user subroutine call conditions is shown below.

■The mouse has moved.

■A mouse button was pressed.

■The mouse button was released.

■ In all cases (in this case, the user subroutine is always called).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the inter-frame mouse interrupt processing program.

The flow of interrupt processing will be explained below in conjunction with the block diagram of FIG.

First, the mouse interface 4 is obtained in process A, and the amount of movement as physical data of the mouse body 5 (for example, if the mouse is 5c
m) and obtain button information. Next, in process B, this movement length is converted to a unit on the screen (eg, 5 dots), and the converted movement amount is added to the X and Y coordinates of the mouse to calculate a new X and Y position. This button information and mouse coordinate data are stored in the mouse data storage area 14.

Next, in process C, the 1 interrupt processing program checks whether the user subroutine call condition is satisfied. If the conditions are met, the mouse coordinates and button information stored in the mouse data storage area 14 are set in the register of the CPU, and a user subroutine is called (processing D).

If the user subroutine call condition is not met,
Alternatively, the interrupt processing program that returns from the user subroutine call temporarily erases the currently displayed mouse font from the screen and displays the mouse font again at the updated mouse coordinate position (process E).

Here, the application program realizes the following functions in order to improve the user interface.

1) Change the mouse font in real time (in the background) while the application program is running.

(Example: While an application program is executing a certain process, move the hands of a clock or drop the sand in an hourglass.) 2) According to the "system state" of the application program, such as the mouse position, mouse button state, or keyboard state. Change mouse font.

(For example, changing the mouse font on and off the menu bar on the screen, changing the mouse font while the left button is pressed, or changing the mouse font only while the shift key is pressed.) Functions such as It is.

As for the specific effect of such a user interface, in the case of item 1) above, ``Rather than simply displaying a fixed clock, the current processing progress of the application program can be expressed by the amount of sand in an hourglass. The state of the application program can be shown to the user more specifically."

In the case of item 2) above, a user interface that "allows the user to easily visually recognize that the available commands differ depending on the system state of the application program/or that the internal state of the application program differs" Improvements can be made.

When an application program changes the mouse font in this way, it uses the above application interface function to define the mouse font pattern at any time. FIG. 8 shows how the font pattern is defined in the application program in case 1) above, and FIG. 9 shows how the font pattern is defined in the application program in case 2) above.

To display an animated mouse font,
It is necessary to display multiple mouse fonts consecutively within a certain period of time. To achieve this, one process of the current application program is divided into processes 1 to n, as shown in FIG. 3, and a mouse font is defined before each process.

FIG. 9 is an example of an application program that displays mouse font 1 when X>Xi and Y)Yl (area 1), and otherwise displays mouse font 0 (area O).

First, in step 1, initialize the mouse font and variables. In the initial state, mouse font O is displayed at the position where X=O and Y=O. The variable font type is font O.
This is a binary variable that indicates whether font 1 or font 1 is displayed, and since font O is initially displayed, it takes the value O.

From the current mouse coordinates obtained in step 2, change the font if necessary in steps 3 to 5. The font is changed when the current mouse coordinates are in area O and the current font type is 1, or when area 1 and font type is 0. In other cases, the font is not changed.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional method described above for changing mouse fonts, an application program interface is used to change the mouse font.
Only one mouse font can be defined at a time. For this reason, there were the following problems to be solved. In other words, (1) Issue 1 When switching the mouse font in an application that uses multiple mouse fonts, it is necessary to define the font pattern for the mouse control program each time, making font management complicated and the application The program structure becomes complex.

(2) Problem 2 As shown in FIG. 3, changing the mouse font in real time requires extra processing such as dividing the application program process itself into multiple processes.

Furthermore, when switching fonts, an application program interface is used, and the mouse control program copies the corresponding font to the font storage area and displays the copied font on the screen.

However, when changing the mouse font in real time, the application program must frequently issue font change processing to the mouse control program. In this case, due to the overhead of the application program and mouse control program associated with changing the font, it is not possible to switch fonts smoothly, and animation using the mouse cursor cannot be performed.

(3) Issue 3 In an application program that changes the mouse font depending on the "system status" such as mouse status 1) (position and button information) or keyboard status, the application program constantly monitors the mouse and keyboard and changes the mouse font. , the overhead of the application program is large.

Problems such as:

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention, as a means for solving the problem 1 above (invention 1), provides a mouse control program with a function of defining a plurality of mouse fonts and a font number corresponding to each font in a l-to-l ratio. Introducing a function to display.

Further, as a means for solving the above problem 2 (invention 2), in the mouse control program of the above invention 1, it is specified from the application program. The interrupt processing program automatically switches the mouse font during the interrupt processing period according to a table (mouse display control table) that defines font numbers and display periods.

Furthermore, as a means for solving the above-mentioned problem 3 (invention 3), the current mouse font is switched (if necessary) according to the return value of the user subroutine called from the mouse interrupt processing program.

action First, the means for solving problem 1 above operates as follows.

When a mouse font table (2) defining a plurality of mouse fonts is provided from an application program to a mouse control program, the mouse control program stores the entry address of the font table (referred to as a font registration function). When this registration function is performed,
Font numbers are automatically assigned (for example, Oll) from the first font in the font table.

Next, when the font number of the mouse font to be displayed is given from the application program, the mouse control program copies the actual font from the stored entry address to the font storage area and displays the font on the screen.

Furthermore, in order to use fonts stored in the ROM and fonts owned by the application program, the font numbers are divided into two.

For example, by distinguishing font numbers 0-7FFFH to indicate the fonts in the ROM, and font numbers 8000 I-1 and later to indicate the fonts of the application program, it is possible to use the fonts in the ROM and the fonts of the application program at the same time. can.

The means for solving problem 2 above operates as follows. ..., ;y,
I□,=The interrupt processing program in the mouse control program displays the font corresponding to the font number defined in the table for the corresponding period defined in the table according to the given mouse display control table. . When the display period ends, the interrupt processing program automatically repeats the same process for the next font defined in the mouse display control table.

Furthermore, the solution of section M3 operates as follows.

Define the conditions that cause the font to change as a call condition for the user subroutine (for example, if you want to change the font depending on the mouse position, define mouse movement as the call condition), and then the user subroutine changes the actual font. Check whether the conditions are met.

When changing the font due to conditions other than the mouse, such as the keyboard, the user subroutine is defined to be called at any time, and the user subroutine always monitors the conditions for changing the mouse font, such as the keyboard state.

If the conditions for changing the font are met, the user subroutine sets the font number corresponding to the new font as the return value. Otherwise, set the current font number.

The interrupt handling program in the mouse control program is
The font number set as the return value of the user subroutine is checked, and if it is different from the current font number, the font corresponding to the new font number is copied to the font storage area and the font is displayed on the screen.

Embodiment (1) Embodiment corresponding to problem 1 FIG. 1 is an embodiment showing the flow of an application program in one case using the solving means of section M1.

All items described in each step are instructions for the mouse control program. In step 2, a mouse font table as shown in FIG. 2 is registered in the mouse control program. In the mouse font table, horizontal and vertical sizes of fonts and actual fonts are defined as many as the number of fonts.

The fonts in the ROM are also stored in a similar font table (2) in the ROM.

When a font table is registered, the mouse control program memorizes its entry address and automatically selects the font number 8000H18001)L...n from the first font defined in the font table.
Allocate.

The fonts in the ROM have font numbers 0 to 7FFFH.
is assigned.

When the font number to be displayed is specified in step 3, the mouse control program selects the RO from the font number.
Determine whether the font in M is an application font.

Next, referring to the corresponding font table, the actual mouse font is stored in the font storage area in the mouse control program, and the mouse font is displayed on the screen.

Thereafter, the mouse font is switched by specifying the font number of the new mouse font, as shown in step n.

(2) Embodiment for Issue 2 FIG. 7 is an embodiment of a mouse display control table that is set by an application program for a mouse control program when animation is performed using a mouse font.

This mouse display control table defines (a plurality of) mouse font numbers and their display periods.

When the mouse display control table (2) in Figure 3 is given to the mouse control program, the mouse control program switches to the font with font number 8 after displaying font 3 for a time corresponding to 5 mouse interrupts. , displays the time for two interrupts.

After the release, font 1 is displayed for time 4, and the font returns to the one before this mouse animation.

If you want to repeat the animation, you can do it by realizing a special value for the font number or display period1.
For example, if the font number is -1, the above animation operation is repeated, and the number of repetitions is defined in the display period area.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a mouse interrupt processing program within a mouse control program that operates according to this display control table.

Processes 40 and 41, similar to conventional mouse interrupt handling programs, capture mouse data and calculate new mouse positions. In steps 42 and 43, it is checked whether the display period of the current mouse font has ended.

The variable Term is a flag for checking whether the display period has ended, and its initial value is the display period of the mouse display control table.

If 'l'erm() is 0, continue to display the current mouse font.

When T e r m = O, the font corresponding to the next font number defined in the mouse display control table is displayed on the screen, and the variable T
Reinitialize m at the next font display period.

(Section 37 Wi3 Compatible Embodiment FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the interrupt processing program of the mouse control program of the present invention.

Here, the process flow will be explained using an example in which the mouse font is changed depending on the mouse position. In this case, the application program defines mouse movement in advance as a condition for a user subroutine call.

Processes 50 and 51 are similar to conventional mouse interrupt processing programs. However, the user subroutine called in process 52 checks whether the mouse font should be changed based on the current mouse coordinates, sets the mouse font number to be displayed in the CPU register, and ends.

If the user subroutine call condition is not satisfied, (so as not to change the mouse font in process 54)
The current font number is set in the CPU register (processing 53).

In step 54, the value of the CPU register is checked to see if the specified font number is the same as the current font number. If the same, move the mouse cursor to the new mouse position. If different (a different font number was specified from the user subroutine), it deletes the current mouse font from the screen, copies the actual mouse font from the font table into the font storage area, and replaces it with the new one on the screen. Display it at the mouse position.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

First, according to the solution using the mouse font display method corresponding to problem 1 above, by setting a table of fonts to be used as a mouse cursor as fM, from then on, by using a font number corresponding to that font on a one-to-one basis,
You can switch fonts.

Therefore, the application program only needs to manage the font number, not the font itself.
This has the effect of simplifying the structure of the application program. Furthermore, by distinguishing the font numbers into fonts in the ROM and fonts in the application program, both fonts can be used with the same operability of font number management.

Next, according to the solution corresponding to Problem 2 above, the application program prepares a mouse display control table for performing animation with the mouse cursor, so that the mouse interrupt processing program can control the mouse display control table during the interrupt processing period. The mouse font can be automatically switched according to the

Therefore, smooth animation of the mouse cursor can be realized without increasing the load on the application program, which is effective when the application program uses a mouse to improve the user interface.

Further, according to a solution using a mouse font display method corresponding to problem 3 above, a user subroutine called from a mouse interrupt processing program checks the system status such as the mouse status and keyboard status and switches the mouse font. Can be done.

Therefore, ■The overhead of the application program is reduced because the application program itself does not need to constantly monitor the mouse and switch fonts. ■The mouse font management part (user subroutine) can be created separately from the application program body. This has the effect of making it easier to create application programs.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a flowchart of an application program when using a mouse control program that manages the mouse using mouse font numbers, Figure 2 is a mouse font table diagram, Figure 3 is a mouse display control table diagram, and Figure 4 is a mouse FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an interrupt processing program that refers to a display control table; FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an interrupt processing program that changes the mouse font according to the return value of a user subroutine; FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a computer system that uses a mouse; FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a conventional application program that performs animation using a mouse font. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a conventional application program that changes the mouse font depending on the mouse position. It is a diagram. 1. CPU, 2. CRTCl 3. Cathode ray tube (CRT), 4. Mouse interface, 5. Mouse body, 6.10. Memory, 15. System bus.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In the application program interface of the mouse control program, a mouse font table in which a plurality of horizontal and vertical sizes of mouse fonts and actual font data are defined is registered in advance from the application program to the mouse control program. A mouse font display method characterized in that a mouse font to be displayed is switched according to a mouse font number that corresponds one-to-one to the font. (2) In the mouse control program, when a table of mouse font numbers and their font display times is specified from the application program, the interrupt processing program in the mouse control program automatically displays the corresponding font for the corresponding period. 2. The mouse font display method according to claim 1, wherein the mouse font that is specified next in the table is displayed for a specified period of time. (3) In the mouse control program, the current mouse font is changed during interrupt processing by returning a mouse font number as a return value of a user subroutine called from the mouse interrupt processing program. The display method of the mouse font described in ranges 1 and 2.