JPH0341558A - Retrieving method and menu offering method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rapidly retrieve an optional item based upon a display screen by specifying an item in an optional hierarchy to be retrieved in a hierarchical structure from a retrieving screen and displaying the specified contents on the display screen. CONSTITUTION:The display state of the retrieving screen 21 at the time of retrieval is divided into many sections as the grating-like matrix format on the whole display screen, large items 12 are arranged in the horizontal direction of respective lines and all medium items and small items belonging to respective large items are arrayed in respective lines in the order of through numbers following the large items. The display contents of each section consist of the registered number of the item and the title of the screen. Thereby, the many retrieving items in the hierarchical structure can be listed and the existence of the many retrieving items can be recognized at a glance. An optional hierarchical item to be retrieved is specified from the retrieving screen and the contents can be displayed on the display screen. Thus, the average retrieving time can be shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a search method for search targets, and particularly to a search method suitable for searching a large number of hierarchically structured search targets on a display screen.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, hierarchical search targets such as management information of a plant system have been searched using a display screen.

Generally speaking, in a hierarchical search target, as shown in FIG. exist. In other words, many items are connected in a tree shape.

For convenience of illustration, only medium items belonging to one large item (registration number 2-0-0) are shown as medium items 63, and only medium items belonging to one large item (registration number 2-0-0) are shown as small items 64.
-0) are shown. There may be a lower hierarchy, and depending on the item, there may be no items below a medium item or below a small item.

During a search, when an operator performs a search instruction operation on a display terminal device or the like of the system, a basic menu 61 listing major items 62 first appears on the display screen. When the operator inputs the registration number of a desired major item 62 from this basic menu 61, a display screen for the selected major item appears. This display will display the contents of the large item as is if there are no subordinate items belonging to the large item, and if there are, the menu of the middle item will be displayed. On the other hand, when the operator inputs the registration number of a desired medium item, the contents of the medium item are displayed if a lower-order menu does not exist, and a menu of small items is displayed if a lower-order menu exists. For the following layers, it is possible to reach the desired item screen by performing similar operations.

Regarding technology similar to this, please refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-1
It is disclosed in 47711, 63-241605, and the like.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] According to the search system based on the above-mentioned conventional technology, for example,
When searching for lower-level frequently used items, each time,
The target item screen cannot be reached unless input instructions are given in order from the top. Furthermore, when moving from one lower-level item to another lower-level item, the screen for the target item cannot be reached unless the user passes through the higher-level item screen. In particular, when moving from the display screen of a certain sub-item to the screen of sub-items belonging to a different large item than the large item to which that small item belongs, complicated operations are required and searching takes a lot of time. .

Further, from the display screen of the basic menu 6D, it is not possible to recognize what kinds of items exist in the lower level items or what their belonging relationships are. When there are a large number of items, it is not easy to remember all the items and their attribution relationships, and therefore, the amount of time wasted due to erroneous operations during searching increases.

If you know the registration number for each search item, you can directly enter the registration number to get the screen for the desired item. Alternatively, it is necessary to prepare a separate item/registration number correspondence table. However, it is difficult to remember the registration numbers of all items. Further, it is troublesome to refer to the correspondence table every time, and there are also problems with its storage.

An object of the present invention is to provide a search method and a menu presentation method that enable quick search for any item based on a display screen.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a search method and a menu presentation method that can easily recognize the existence and belonging relationships of a large number of subordinate items on a display screen.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above object, the search method according to the present invention has the following features:
A search method that searches for a search target in a hierarchical structure consisting of a plurality of higher-level items and lower-level items belonging to the higher-level items on a display screen, the display screen is divided into a plurality of sections in a grid pattern, and the title of each of the above items is Prepare a search screen that is cut out by the display width of the above section and displayed within a specific section, and from the search screen specify an item in any hierarchy to be searched in the above hierarchical structure, and select the specified item. The content is displayed on the display screen instead of the search screen.

Preferably, each of the higher-level items and the lower-level items belonging to each of the higher-level items are assigned to sections within the same row (or column) of the grid.

According to another aspect, the search method according to the present invention is a search method in which a desired item is selected from a large number of items to be searched, and information on the item is displayed on a display screen. A search screen is prepared that is divided into a large number of grid-like sections, and the title of each item is cut out by the size of the section and displayed in a specific section, and any item specified on the search screen is searched. , the contents of the item are displayed on the display screen instead of the search screen.

In each of the above search methods, the arrangement order of each item on the search screen may be changed depending on the frequency of search for each item.

Furthermore, in the search screen, items that protrude from the display screen can be dealt with by moving the contents of the search screen vertically or horizontally.

Preferably, in a screen for any item called up from the search screen, a display window is provided in a part of the display screen according to an operator's instruction or at all times, and a part of the search screen is displayed in the display window. By displaying a copy of the item and instructing the item displayed in the display window, the display contents of the item are directly displayed on the display screen in place of the item contents currently being displayed.

For example, this display window is sized to correspond to a 3x3 area, and eight items around the currently displayed item are selected as a copy of a portion of the search screen displayed in the display window. The search screen within the display window can be moved up and down or left and right according to instructions from the operator.

Alternatively, the display window displays the contents of the same row (or column) of the search screen, and if all items in the same row (or column) cannot be displayed in the display window, the operator It may be possible to update the display according to an instruction.

Furthermore, it is desirable to display the full text of the title on a part of the screen in response to an operator's instruction on the search screen or on the screen of a specific item in which a display window is displayed.

According to still another aspect, the search method according to the present invention is a screen search method for calling desired screen information from a large number of screen information and displaying the screen information on a display screen, the display screen being arranged in a grid. A search screen is prepared that is divided into a large number of sections, and each section displays information that is shortened from the large number of screen information according to the size of the section, and from the search screen, any of the above The screen information destination is specified and the specified screen information is displayed on the display screen instead of the search screen.

Further, the menu presentation method according to the present invention presents a menu with a hierarchical structure in which lower-order items are sequentially connected in a tree-like manner to a plurality of higher-order items on the display screen. A menu presentation method in an information processing device, comprising: providing a menu screen consisting of a matrix-type list; assigning a group of items belonging to the same high-level item to the same row (or column) of the list;
A limited part of the name of every item is displayed on the display screen.

[Operation] According to the search screen of the present invention, even if the search target is a large number of search items having a hierarchical structure, all of the items are listed on the display screen in principle.

In addition, because a portion of the explanatory text (title) is also displayed, the existence of a large number of search items can be recognized at a glance. Therefore, there is no need to rely on the operator's memory or an external correspondence table, as in the past. Moreover, by arranging all the small and medium-sized items belonging to the same large item in the same row (or column), the belonging of lower-order items can be easily understood.

Furthermore, by specifying the desired item from this search screen, it is possible to directly move to the screen for any item, regardless of the hierarchy.

After moving to the screen for a specific item, the user can use the search display window to move directly from the current screen to the screen for any item without returning to the search screen. In other words, the positioning of the current item and the destination item in the hierarchical structure is not affected in any way; for example, when migrating from a small item belonging to one large item to a small item belonging to another large item. Direct migration is also possible.

The title of the item in each section of the search screen and search display window is limited in length depending on the size of the section, but in most cases this allows you to recognize what the item is. . For items that cannot be recognized, a guidance display function can be used to display the full text of the title in a part of the screen, for example at the bottom, by giving a separate instruction.

By changing the arrangement order of each item on the search screen depending on the search frequency of that item, the items with high search frequency are concentrated in one direction, which has the effect of shortening the average search time.

(below, margin) [Example] Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of a search system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This search system includes a storage means 13 that stores display information constituting each screen of a plurality of search items as a plurality of files, and display information that manages and searches files in this storage means 14 and creates display data. It consists of a management means 11. The management means 11 is specifically a screen display management program. This management method manages the display information files of all screens in parallel, without distinguishing between large items, medium items, and small items. Each file has nt-nz-n
It is given a registration number in the form of 3. respectively, nt
represents a large item, nz represents a medium item, and n3 represents a classification number of a small item. In the management means 11, alphabetical characters (A, B, C, . . .
...) Manage by adding 12. Furthermore, each item belonging to the same large item is managed by giving priority to the registration number n2 of the medium item and giving it a consistent number 13, as shown in FIG. 1, which will be described next. When nz are the same number, they are managed by assigning a consistent number 3 in descending order of the registration number n3 of the small item.

FIG. 1 shows the display state of the search screen 21 during a search in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the entire display screen is divided into a large number of sections in a grid pattern (that is, in a matrix format). Each row (horizontally in the figure) corresponds to a large item, and within each row, following the large item, all medium and small items belonging to this large item are arranged in the above-mentioned -kan number j'@. In this example, the display content within one section consists of the registration number of the item and the title of the screen (name or brief description of the item). If the title sentence is too long to be displayed in one section, only the character bones corresponding to the width of one section from the beginning of the sentence are displayed. If there are too many items to fit on one screen,
It is also possible to display only the portion that fits, and to recognize portions that protrude from the screen by moving the image vertically and horizontally.

According to this search screen 21, a large number of search items in a hierarchical structure are listed and titles are also displayed, although only partially, so the existence of a large number of search items can be recognized at a glance. Further, since all small and medium items belonging to the same large item are displayed in the same line, it is easy to understand the belonging of a lower item to a higher item.

If the search screen 21 is displayed and the user wishes to display a screen for a specific item, the user inputs the registration number using input means such as a keyboard.

Even if the target screen is a small item screen, the registration number is immediately recognized by the search screen, so it is possible to move directly to the target item screen without going through intermediate hierarchical screens. In addition to the keyboard, input methods include
This may be done by directly instructing the division using a mouse, touch panel, or the like. In that case, it is not necessarily necessary to display the registration number within the section, and the number of characters that can be displayed in the title can be increased accordingly.

When a specific item is designated by an instruction to input a registration number, etc., the management means 11 reads out the display information file for that item and displays that screen on the display screen in place of the search screen. Now, if W8 number 2-1-0 is specified, a screen corresponding to that item is displayed instead of the search screen 21, as shown in FIG. The registration number is displayed at the top left of the screen (the display in the center of the screen is omitted). In this embodiment, at this point, the search display window 41 shown in the upper right corner of the figure is not displayed. If you want to move to another item's screen while the current item's screen is displayed, and you operate the nearby search key (not shown; a general-purpose key may be used instead of a dedicated key), the search display 4 windows will appear at the top right of the screen. At this time, the display of the current items other than the display window 41 remains, and by operating a cancel key (not shown), it is possible to return to the state without the display window 41. In this embodiment, in order to secure a wide display area, the display window 41 is made to appear according to the operator's instructions, but if the display window 41 does not become an obstacle, it may be configured to display 5 at all times while the item is displayed on the screen. Good too. Note that such window display technology is well known. In this embodiment, the search display window 41 consists of nine sections of 3x3 size.

A partial copy of the search screen 21 of FIG. 1 is displayed. Although the size of the display window 41 is not limited to 3×3, this size is preferable because it does not cover much of the displayed content of the current item and it corresponds to a so-called numeric keypad. As the items to be displayed in the nine categories, eight items around the current item (registration number 2-1-0 in this example) are selected as the center. If there is no desired item in the display window 41, or if you want to refer to another item,
By operating a cursor key (not shown) or the like, the display window 41
You can move the displayed content vertically and horizontally in units of sections. The state after the movement is shown in FIG. The content in the search display window 41 in this figure shows a state in which the search screen 21 is moved one section to the left and one section upward from the state of the search display window 41 in FIG. 3.

In the state shown in Figure 4, the registration number of the item you wish to search is 4-
Let's say it's 3-0. Since the full text of the title within a section is not displayed, if you wish to check the full text of the title, operate the guidance display key (not shown) and then specify the registration number to display the guidance display shown at the bottom of Figure 4. window 51
will appear, and the registration number and full title will be displayed. Instead of this operation method, if the guidance for the item located in a specific section (for example, the center section) of the search display window 41 is automatically displayed in response to the operation of the guidance display key, it is possible to No instructions required. After checking the display contents of the guidance display window 51, press the execution key (not shown).
By operating , the screen for that item will be displayed. If the cancel key is operated while the guidance display window 51 is being displayed, the guidance display window 51 disappears and the display returns to the state before the guidance display key was operated. Note that it is not necessary to operate the guidance display key when moving to another screen, and it is sufficient to use it only when it is necessary to confirm the surface text. According to this guidance display function, it is possible to reduce wasted time due to shifting to an incorrect item.

At the time of inputting the registration number or displaying the guidance display window 51, by operating the execution key, the management means 11 reads out the file and switches the screen to the screen for the item. In this way, after moving from the search screen 21 in FIG. 1 to a specific screen, the search display window 41 can be used to directly move to the screen for any desired item, regardless of the hierarchy of the item. be able to.

Note that the display state of the screen for a specific item may be returned to the search screen 21 by operating a specific key. Further, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the guidance display window 51 is displayed on a part of the screen in response to a guidance display key operation and a registration number instruction operation while the search screen 21 shown in FIG. 1 is displayed. It is.

Next, as the display content of the display window 41, instead of displaying a partial copy of the search screen as is, as described above,
FIG. 5 shows an example of displaying nine item groups in the same line (that is, item groups belonging to the same large item) in order of -kan number.

The figure shows the screen for the item with registration number 2-1-0. To display the search window 43 on this screen,
Operate a related search key (not shown). In the illustrated example,
Since the '310 number is 2-1-0, nine items in the row corresponding to the major item classification number It 2 I+ are selected and displayed in ascending order of consistency number. If nine or more items exist, the subsequent items are displayed by operating the next page key. The operation of selecting a screen for a specific item, the display operation of the guidance display window 51, etc. are the same as described above.

The management means 11 may add up the number of times each item's screen has been called up, compare the number of times each registration screen has been used according to this result, and update the consistent numbering in descending order of the number of times it has been used. good. For example, in FIG. 1, frequently used items within the same row are aggregated on the left. This function reduces the search range and improves inspection efficiency. Furthermore, in order to facilitate understanding of the hierarchy, in this embodiment, such sorting of items is performed only between items in the same hierarchy. Note that operator identification codes may be registered and sorting may be performed for each operator. Furthermore, on the search screen 21 in FIG.
It is also possible to check the frequency of use for each row and sort the rows.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a specific search target with a hierarchical structure to which the present invention is applied. This example is an example of a power generation facility maintenance system, and major items include plant general information, equipment specifications, parts specifications, etc. shown in basic menu 8. Screens corresponding to these major items are screens 82 to 86. Furthermore, screens 91 to 99 are displayed as screens for medium items belonging to each major item.
There is.

Note that for convenience of illustration, screens for all small and medium-sized items are not shown in FIG. Further, the basic menu screen 81 is used in a conventional menu selection method, and is not necessary in the present invention. However, it is possible to display the information by pressing a specific key.

FIG. 8 shows a search screen corresponding to the items in the hierarchical structure of FIG. 7. As shown, large items (for example, items on line A)
In some cases, the number of display sections may be less than the number of display sections in one line.

Also, some items protrude from the right side of the screen. Items that protrude to the right can be displayed within one screen by moving the display content to the left, as described above. In the illustrated example, only three characters are displayed for the title, but this number of characters is determined by the size of the section.

Normally, the operator can recognize the item without displaying the entire surface text. However, there may be cases where some of the displayed surface sentences completely match.

In such a case, the function of displaying the entire text of the surface sentence using the guidance display window 51 becomes effective.

FIG. 9 shows the configuration of a search screen according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The search screen 21 in this embodiment is suitable when the number of items is large, and consists of a plurality (n) of search screens (planes) 21a to 21d. For each search screen, it is possible to recognize which search screen is currently selected by displaying "PLANEn'" in the lower display area. The actual display mode of the search screens 21a to 21d is to display the selected screen at the top and display all the screens 21a to 21d.
Although it is possible to display the screens 21a to 21d completely overlapping each other, as shown in FIG. 9, it is preferable to slightly shift each screen 21a to 21d and display the screens 21a to 21d so that their presence can be recognized. In addition, on the display screen for specific items, “P” is displayed at the bottom.
"L A N E n" is displayed.

When displaying the search display windows 41, 43, those corresponding to the search screen currently at the top are displayed. In order to move from the display screen for specific items in one plane to the screen for items belonging to another plane, it is necessary to return to the search screen shown in FIG.

Although various keys have been mentioned in the description of the embodiments above, these keys do not necessarily have to be dedicated keys, and general-purpose keys such as a PF key may be used. Alternatively, a control box may be displayed on the display screen for instructions using a mouse.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, even if the inspection target has a hierarchical structure, all items can be listed on the search screen, so the existence and belonging relationships of many subordinate items can be displayed on the display screen. can be easily recognized.

In addition, screens for many search target items can be managed on one search screen, and the screen for any desired item can be moved from this search screen. The effort can be reduced.

Furthermore, a single display window is provided during the screen display of each item, and by using this window, it is possible to move directly to the screen of the desired item, regardless of the hierarchy, even if the search target is in a hierarchical structure. can.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a search screen used in the search method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system for implementing the present invention, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are search display windows. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the conventional search method, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a specific search target to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the search screen for the search target in FIG. The explanatory diagram, FIG. 9, is an explanatory diagram of another search screen different from the one shown in FIG. 11...Display information management means, 14...Storage means, 2
1. Search screen, 31... Screen for each item, 41.43
... Search display window, 51... Guidance display window.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A search method for searching on a display screen for search targets in a hierarchical structure consisting of a plurality of higher-level items and lower-level items belonging to the higher-level items, the display screen being divided into a plurality of grid-like sections. Prepare a search screen in which the title of each item is divided and displayed in a specific section by cutting out the title of each item by the display width of the above section, and from this search screen, select the item in any layer of the above hierarchical structure to be searched. A search method characterized in that the content of the specified item is displayed on a display screen in place of the search screen. 2. The inspection method according to claim 1, wherein each of the higher-level items and the lower-level items belonging to each of the higher-level items are allocated to sections within the same row (or column) of the lattice. 3. A search method in which a desired item is selected from a large number of items to be searched and information on the item is displayed on a display screen, and the display screen is divided into a large number of sections in a grid pattern, and each of the above items is displayed. A search screen is prepared in which the title of the item is cut out by the size of the above section and displayed in a specific section, and for any item specified on the search screen, the content of the item is displayed in place of the above search screen. A search method characterized by displaying on a display screen. 4. The search method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the arrangement order of each item on the search screen is changed depending on the frequency of search for each item. 5. Items that protrude from the display screen on the search screen can be made to appear within the display screen by moving the content of the search screen vertically or horizontally. Search method described. 6. On the screen of any item called up from the above search screen, a display window is provided in a part of the display screen according to the instructions of the operator or at all times, and a part of the above search screen is displayed in the display window. Claim 1 characterized in that by displaying a copy and instructing the item displayed in the display window, the display content of the item is directly displayed on the display screen in place of the item content currently being displayed. Or the search method described in 3. 7. The display window shall be sized to correspond to a 3×3 section,
Select eight items around the currently displayed item as a copy of a portion of the search screen displayed in the display window, and move the search screen in the display window up, down, or up according to the operator's instructions. Claim 6 characterized in that it is movable left and right.
Search method described. 8. The display window displays the contents of the same row (or column) of the search screen, and if all items in the same row (or column) cannot be displayed in the display window, the operator 7. The search method according to claim 6, wherein the search method can be updated and displayed according to an instruction. 9. Claim 1, wherein the entire text of the title is displayed on a part of the search screen or on a screen of a specific item with a display window displayed, in response to an instruction from an operator. Search method described in 3 or 6. 10. A screen search method for calling desired screen information from a large number of screen information and displaying the screen information on a display screen, the method comprising: dividing the display screen into a large number of sections in a grid pattern; A search screen is prepared in which information shortened according to the size of the above section is displayed in each section, the above arbitrary screen information is specified from the search screen, and the specified screen information is displayed. A search method characterized by displaying on a display screen instead of the search screen. 11. A menu presentation method in an information processing device that presents on a display screen a menu with a hierarchical structure in which lower-order items are successively connected in a tree-like manner to a plurality of higher-order items, the menu screen consisting of a list in matrix format. A menu presentation characterized in that a group of items belonging to the same higher level item is assigned to the same row (or column) of the list, and a limited part of the name of all the items is presented on the display screen. Method.