JPH0348929A - Display control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the waiting time to execute the change by producing preferentially the picture element data on a display block based on the display control information to store this data into one of a pair of storing means together with the picture element data on a non-display block stored into the other storage means. CONSTITUTION:A picture is divided into plural blocks by a dividing means 111, and the display control information is outputted to decide whether the divided blocks should be displayed or not. Based on the display control information, a drawing means 112 produces preferentially the picture element data on a display block and then produces the picture element data on a non-display block. The picture element data produced by the means 112 are successively inputted to a write control means 115, and it is decided based on the display control information whether these picture element data should be displayed or not. Then the picture element data to be displayed are written into a display picture element data storing means 113 and a picture element data storing means 114 respectively. The picture element data belonging to the non-display block is stored in the means 114, and the contents of the means 113 are updated based on the contents of the means 114.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Table of Contents] Overview Industrial Field of Application Conventional Technology Problems to be Solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems Action Example 1 Correspondence between the Example and FIG. 1 ■ , Structure of the embodiment■, Operation of the embodiment■, Summary of the embodiment■1 Variations of the invention Effects of the invention (Summary) Display control method for displaying a part of an image Instructions for starting and changing the display In a display control method that generates and displays pixel data representing characters, symbols, 2 figures, etc. based on drawing data, the aim is to shorten the waiting time from start to execution. a dividing means for outputting display control information indicating whether or not each block is displayed by the display means; and a dividing means for generating pixel data corresponding to the block to be displayed by the display means with priority according to the display control information and not displaying it. a drawing means for next generating pixel data corresponding to the block; a pixel data storage means for storing the pixel data generated by the drawing means; a display pixel data storage means for storing pixel data to be displayed by the display means; The pixel data generated by the means is sequentially inputted, the presence or absence of display by the display means is determined based on the display control information, and the pixel data to be displayed is stored in both the display pixel data storage means and the pixel data storage means, The pixel data not to be displayed is configured to include write control means for storing pixel data in the pixel data storage means.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a display control method for a display device of a work, station, or personal computer, and particularly relates to a display control method in which a display device displays a part of an image handled by an application.

For example, when an application for editing a newspaper or the like is executed on a workstation or the like, the editing application treats the entire image of the newspaper page (for example, A1 size) as one piece of information.

However, normally, only the portion of the newspaper page that is of interest is displayed on a bit map display and provided to the user.

Similarly, in a multi-window system, some of the information that the application using each window treats as a single unit (for example, an image showing a document or figure) may be displayed in the corresponding window. ing.

Hereinafter, a piece of information provided to a user by a display device, such as the above-mentioned newspaper image, will be referred to as a display target.

[Conventional technology]

In conventional workstations, drawing data indicating characters, symbols, figures, etc. that make up an image to be displayed is created by an application and stored in memory.

The drawing hardware (for example, a graphics processor) reads part of the drawing data from this memory, performs bit expansion, and writes pixel data corresponding to each pixel to the bitmap memory. As a result, a part of the image to be displayed is displayed on the bitmap display.

In this case, when the user instructs the user to scroll the screen, the graphics processor reads the drawing data for the newly displayed part from memory, develops it into pixel data, and writes it to bitmap memory. .

Furthermore, there is a method called a lascritin method in which the entire region of an image to be displayed is developed into pixel data in advance, regardless of whether the region is displayed by a display device or not.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the method in which only the area displayed by the display device is developed into pixel data by the graphics processor, when scrolling is instructed by the user, Since the newly displayed area is drawn, there is a problem in that it is not possible to quickly respond to screen scrolling instructions.

On the other hand, in the conventional raskritin method mentioned above,
It is possible to respond quickly to screen scrolling instructions. However, when a user instructs to display a part of an image, the entire area of the image is developed into pixel data, so there is a long waiting time from the instruction to display the image until the part of the image is displayed. There was a problem with that.

The present invention was created in view of these points, and is a display control method that reduces the waiting time from an instruction to change the display (for example, a scroll instruction or an initial display instruction) to execution. is intended to provide.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of the display control method of the present invention.

In the figure, dividing means 111 in a display control method that generates and displays pixel data representing characters, symbols, figures, etc. based on drawing data divides an image into a plurality of blocks, and each block is displayed by display means 101. Display control information indicating whether to display or not is output.

The drawing means 112 displays the display means 1 according to the display control information.
01, pixel data corresponding to a block to be displayed is generated preferentially, and pixel data corresponding to a block not to be displayed is generated next.

The pixel data storage means 114 stores the pixel data generated by the drawing means 112.

The display pixel data storage means 113 stores pixel data to be displayed by the display means 101.

The write control means 1.15 is sequentially inputted with the pixel data generated by the drawing means 112, determines whether or not to display by the display means 101 based on the display control information, and stores the pixel data to be displayed in the display pixel data storage means. 113 and pixel data storage means 114, and pixel data that is not to be displayed is stored in pixel data storage means 114.

[For production]

The image is divided into a plurality of blocks by the dividing means 111, and for each of these blocks, the display means 10
1, display control information indicating whether to display or not is output.

According to the display control information, the drawing means 112 preferentially generates pixel data corresponding to the block to be displayed, and then
Generate pixel data corresponding to blocks that are not displayed.

The pixel data generated by this drawing means 112 is
The data is sequentially supplied to the write control means 115.

The write control means 115 determines whether or not to display based on the above-mentioned display control information, and the pixel data to be displayed is stored in the display pixel data storage means 113 and the pixel data storage means 11.
4 is written to both.

On the other hand, pixel data not to be displayed is written into the pixel data storage means 114 by the write control means 115.

In the present invention, the display means 1
01, pixel data corresponding to the block to be displayed is preferentially generated, and a part of the image corresponding to this block is displayed by the display means 101.

By the way, after a part of the image is displayed by the display means 101, an instruction from the user (for example, a scroll instruction, etc.)
It is thought that there is usually a predetermined period of time before the During this time, pixel data corresponding to the blocks not to be displayed is generated by the drawing means 112 and stored in the pixel data storage means 114. Therefore, the pixel data storage means 114 stores pixel data corresponding to all the blocks mentioned above, and based on the contents of the pixel data storage means 114, the display pixel data storage means 11
The contents of 3 are updated.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a workstation to which a display control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

(1) Here, the correspondence between the embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 1 will be shown.

The display means 101 is a bit map display 201.
corresponds to

The dividing means 111 corresponds to a central processing unit (CPU) 211 and a memory 212.

The drawing means 112 includes a CPU 211. It corresponds to the graphics processor (CP) 213.

The display pixel data storage means 113 corresponds to a display bitmap memory (BMM) 214.

The pixel data storage means 114 is a retin BMM 215.
corresponds to

The write control means 115 corresponds to the BMM control circuit 216.

Examples of the present invention will be described below assuming that the correspondence relationship as described above exists.

1-J
12 is a memory, 213 is a graphics processor (CP
), 214 is a display bitmap memory (BMM),
215 is BMM for retin, 216 is 8MM97111
201 is a bitmap display, 217 is a display control circuit that controls the bitmap display 201, 202 is an input device control circuit that controls input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, and 203 is an external storage device such as a floppy disk device. This is an external storage control circuit that controls the

The CPU 211 described above. Memory 212. GP213, BM-M214 for display. BMM control circuit 216, display control circuit 217. The input device control circuit 202 and the external storage control circuit 203 are interconnected via a bus.

Here, by executing an application (for example, a program for creating and editing documents and images) by the CPU 211, codes and drawings representing characters and symbols constituting an image to be displayed (for example, an image of a newspaper) are generated. The instructions and data for this are stored in memory 2 as drawing data.
It is stored in 12.

In response to instructions from the CPU 211, the CP 213 generates pixel data corresponding to each pixel of the image to be displayed based on the drawing data stored in the memory 212, and directly sends the data to the BMM without going through the above-mentioned bus. The signal is supplied to the control circuit 216.

Each storage location of the display BMM 214 corresponds to each pixel displayed by the bitmap display 201, and has a capacity corresponding to, for example, an A4 size image. On the other hand, the retin BMM 215 has a capacity corresponding to the entire area of the image handled by the application (for example, the entire A1 page).

The BMM control circuit 216 controls the display BMM 214 and the retin BMM 21 according to instructions from the CPU 211.
5, write the pixel data supplied from the CP213, and write the specified pixel data to the retin BMM21.
5 to the display BMM 214.

The CPU 211 shown in Figure 2 is operated according to an ablication program, and the user can start displaying an image on the bit map display 201 by operating the keyboard and mouse. It now requests display changes such as screen scrolling.

When the user operates the keyboard and mouse and inputs a request to display an image and the range to be displayed via the input control circuit 202, the CPU 211 displays the entire image to be displayed based on the above-mentioned range. Divide the region into multiple rectangular blocks.

For example, as shown in Figure 3, the image to be displayed is
It is composed of XL, XYL pixels. Further, the left and right direction of the drawing is taken as the X direction, and the up and down direction is taken as the Y direction, and the coordinates of each pixel are expressed by the number of pixels counted from the pixel in the upper left corner as a base point.

When the upper left coordinates (X,, Y,) and lower right coordinates (X,, Y,) of the range to be displayed are specified by a user's instruction or an implicit value set in advance in the application, the CPU 211 divides the entire area of the image into five blocks (indicated by ■ to ■ in the figure), and creates a display control table as shown in the table below for each block.

Table 1 In the display control table shown in Table 1, the upper left coordinates and lower right coordinates indicate the coordinates of the pixel at the upper left corner and the coordinates of the pixel at the lower right corner of each block.

When the upper bit of the display flag is "1", it indicates that the corresponding block is displayed, and when it is "0", it indicates that it is not displayed. In addition, if the lower bit of the display flag is "°1", it indicates that the bit expansion of the drawing data regarding the corresponding block has already been completed, and it is "0".
” indicates that the bits are not expanded.

This display control table is stored in memory 212.

Hereinafter, while referring to this display control table,
The operation of bit expansion of drawing data regarding each block will be explained.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the bit expansion operation of the workstation to which the embodiment is applied. Further, FIG. 5 shows an explanatory diagram of the bitmap memory.

First, the CPU 211 executes the display BM
- Write the pixel data to the F-in BMM at the same time. II? The signal is supplied to the O circuit 216, and the BMM control circuit 216 is set to the "display and retinue simultaneous mode" (step 401).

While the r display and retin simultaneous mode j is set, the BMM control circuit 216 transfers the pixel data supplied by the GP 213 to the display BMM 214 and the retin BMM.
215 and 215 at the same time.

Next, the CPU 211 refers to the display control table in the memory 212 and searches for a block to be displayed whose bit expansion has not yet been completed, based on the display flag. For example, as shown in Table 1, block ■
The display flag (“10”) corresponding to block ■ indicates that the block ■ is a block to be displayed and bit expansion has not yet been completed, so this block ■ is searched as the corresponding block ( Step 402)
.

Depending on the search result in step 402, it is determined in step 403 whether or not there is a relevant block.

If the determination in step 403 is affirmative, the CP
U211 reads the upper left coordinates and lower right coordinates corresponding to the corresponding block (for example, block) from the display control table described above, and specifies the rectangular area indicated by these coordinates as the clip area. GP213
reads the drawing data from the memory 212, performs bit expansion according to the designated clip area, and supplies the generated pixel data to the BMM control circuit 216.

Also, at this time, the CPU 211 rewrites the display control table stored in the memory 212 and sets the lower bit of the display flag corresponding to the corresponding block (for example, block ■) to "1 pa." The display flag corresponding to block ■ of the display control table shown in the table is rewritten to "11'" (step 404
).

In step 404, the pixel data supplied from the GP 213 is simultaneously written by the BMMililJ1 circuit 216 into storage locations corresponding to the above-mentioned clip areas of both the display BMM 214 and the retinue BMM 215.

For example, if an application monopolizes the bitmap display 201, the clip area described above corresponds to the entire display BMM 214. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Only pixel data of

Based on the pixel data written to the display BMM 214, the display control circuit 217 controls the display operation of the bitmap display 201, and in step 40
4, a bit-expanded block (for example, a block) is displayed.

The steps 402 to 404 described above are performed as step 4.
By repeating until a negative judgment is made in 03,
Pixel data corresponding to all display areas is the display BMM2
14 and are displayed on the bitmap display 201.

As described above, in the workstation according to the embodiment, when a display instruction is supplied from the user, the drawing data corresponding to the block included in the range to be displayed is
The data is preferentially expanded into bits by the CP 213 and displayed on the bitmap display 201. Therefore,
The waiting time from the display instruction to the actual display is the same as when the Lascritin method is not applied.

By the way, if the determination in step 303 described above is negative, the CPU 211 issues an instruction to write pixel data only to the BMM for retinue.
J? l+ circuit 216 and BMM! The IJ jB circuit 216 is set to the "r retinue limited mode" (step 405).

The BMM control circuit 216 writes pixel data supplied by the CP 213 only to the retin BMM 215 while the r retin-only mode j is set.

Next, in a manner similar to step 402, the CPU 211 searches for a block that is not displayed based on the display flag in the display control table and for which bit expansion has not yet been completed (for example, block ■) (step 406).
.

Depending on the result of the search in step 406, it is determined in step 407 whether or not there is a matching block.

If the determination in step 407 is affirmative, the corresponding block (
For example, the GP 213 performs bit expansion using a rectangular area corresponding to the block (2) as a clip area, and the generated pixel data is supplied to the BMMIII control circuit 216. Further, in the same manner as step 404, the lower bit of the display flag corresponding to the corresponding block (for example, block ■) in the display control table is rewritten to 11H (step 408).

In step 408, the pixel data supplied from the CF 213 is written to the storage location corresponding to the above-mentioned clip area of the retin BMM 215 by the BMM control circuit l\8216.

The steps 406 to 408 described above are performed in step 4.
By repeating until a negative judgment is made in 07,
Pixel data corresponding to all blocks is BM for retin
Written to M215.

In this way, following the block (for example, block ■) included in the range to be displayed specified by the user, other blocks (for example, the area corresponding to block ■ to block ■) are bit-expanded. , pixel data corresponding to the entire area of the image handled by the application is stored in the retin BMM 215 (see FIG. 5).

] [ζgin As described above, the image to be displayed is divided into multiple blocks based on display instructions from the user, and a display flag indicating whether each block is a display area is set. Create a display control table containing By selecting the block for bit expansion according to this display flag, it is possible to preferentially expand bits of blocks included in the range to be displayed, and quickly respond to display instructions from the user. can do.

After the bit expansion of the drawing data corresponding to the block included in the above-mentioned range to be displayed is completed, other blocks are sequentially selected and focused expansion is performed, and the BMM control circuit 21
6, it is written only to the retin BMM 215.

This makes it possible to bit-expand the entire image in the retin BMM 215 while the user is performing an operation on a part of the displayed image.

Thereafter, when the user instructs scrolling, the CPU 211 specifies a new portion to be displayed by scrolling. For example, if the user issues a scroll instruction to view an image to the right of the part displayed on the bitmap display 201,
In response to instructions from the CPU 211, the BMM control circuit 21
6, the corresponding pixel data (for example, part of block ■) is transferred from the retin BMM 215 to the display BMM 214.
, it is possible to quickly respond to scrolling instructions from the user.

Note that in the embodiment of the present invention described above, a case was considered in which an image handled by an application was divided into a plurality of rectangular blocks, but there is no limit to the shape of the blocks or the number of blocks. , it can be applied as long as it performs bit expansion with priority given to the block to be displayed.

In addition, in ``correspondence between Examples and Figure 1'',
Although the correspondence between the present invention and the embodiments has been described, those skilled in the art will easily assume that the present invention is not limited to this and that there are various modifications.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, pixel data corresponding to the block to be displayed is generated preferentially based on display control information and displayed by the display means, thereby quickly responding to display instructions from the user. can do. Further, following the block to be displayed, pixel data corresponding to the block not to be displayed is generated and stored in the pixel data storage means, and based on the pixel data stored in the pixel data storage means, the display pixel data storage means is By updating the content, it is possible to quickly respond to instructions from the user to change the display.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a principle block diagram of the display control method of the present invention, Figure 2
Figure 3 is a block diagram of a workstation to which a display control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram of blocks, Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment, and Figure 5 is a diagram of the bitmap memory. It is an explanatory diagram. 2 is a drawing means, 3 is a display pixel data storage means, 4 is a pixel data storage means, 5 is a write control means, 2 is a bitmap display, 2 is a human power device control circuit, 3 is an external storage control circuit, 1 is a A central processing unit (CPU), 2 a memory, 3 a graphics processor (CP), 4 a display bitmap memory (BMM), and 5 a retinue BMM. 6 is a BMM control circuit, and 7 is a display control circuit. In the figure, 101 is a display means, 111 is a dividing means,

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a display control method that generates and displays pixel data representing characters, symbols, figures, etc. based on drawing data, an image is divided into a plurality of blocks and each block is displayed by a display means (101). dividing means (111) for outputting display control information indicating whether or not the block is displayed; a drawing means (112) for next generating pixel data corresponding to a block; a pixel data storage means (114) for storing the pixel data generated by the drawing means (112); and a display means (101) for displaying the pixel data. display pixel data storage means (113) for storing pixel data to be displayed, and pixel data generated by the drawing means (112) are sequentially input, and based on the display control information, whether or not to display by the display means (101) is determined. The pixel data to be displayed is stored in both the display pixel data storage means (113) and the pixel data storage means (114), and the pixel data not to be displayed is stored in the pixel data storage means (114).
); and a display control method comprising: