JPH0384619A - Procedure producing and executing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the design and the change of procedure by assigning the procedure serving as a basic unit to each button and putting these buttons on each other to show a series of procedures. CONSTITUTION:An overlap button retrieving means 106 selects a button put directly or indirectly under the button selected by a pointed button selection means 105. That is, a button 201 is selected by a position pointing means 104 like a mouse, etc., when a button 202 is put on a button 203 and the button 201 is put on a button 202. Thus the means 106 selects both buttons 202 and 203. As a result, the design and the change are simplified among procedures.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a procedure creation/execution device that creates and executes a plurality of procedures using logical buttons provided on a screen.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, devices have been known that create logical buttons on a screen and execute procedures by selecting the buttons with a mouse or the like. Hereinafter, when a button is referred to as a button, it refers to a button that is logically created on the screen.

With the above device, the procedure was created and executed as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 5(a), the screen 501
Next, write the procedure to be executed when the button 502 is pressed in a programming language or the like. The button created in this way is selected using a mouse or the like, and the program corresponding to the selected button is called. The procedure was executed by performing such processing.

The above processing will be explained using FIG. First, the procedure for creating a button will be explained. Button creation means 401
The button information storage means 402 creates a button, and stores the button press area shape that defines the location where the created button is pressed, the vertical relationship of the button, and the procedure number corresponding to the button.
is stored in

A procedure corresponding to the button is created in a programming language or the like using the procedure creation means 403.6 The created procedure is stored in the procedure execution means 407.

Next, in order to execute one procedure which describes the execution of a procedure, the button displayed on the display means 404 is indicated by the position indicating means 405 such as a mouse, and the indicated position is entered in the button press area. Among the buttons, the one located at the top is the instruction button selection means 4.
06 from the button information storage means 402. The procedure number of the selected button is the procedure execution means 407
, and the procedure corresponding to the button was executed.

In this way, buttons have conventionally been used as switches for starting programs corresponding to procedures. Therefore, when the button 504 overlaps the button 503 as shown in FIG. only was to be executed.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional device described above, when a button is pressed, only one procedure can be executed, so in order to execute multiple procedures, the program started when the button is pressed is It was necessary to write multiple procedures in advance. Therefore, when one of the procedures to be executed is replaced with another procedure, the button program must be rewritten, which is troublesome.

Another problem was that it was difficult to visually tell which combination of procedures the procedure assigned to a button was made up of.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a procedure creation/execution device that allows easy design and modification of procedures to be executed when a button is pressed, and allows the contents of the procedure to be executed to be displayed at a glance. It is about providing.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a procedure creation/execution device according to the present invention is a procedure creation/execution device that executes a plurality of procedures by selecting logical buttons arranged on a screen. , button creation means for arranging buttons to which procedures are assigned in advance in an overlapping manner on a screen; button information storage means for storing a button press effective area, a vertical relationship of the button, and a procedure number held by the button; Display means for displaying the button on the screen; position indicating means for indicating the position on the screen; instruction button selection means for selecting the button specified by the position indicating means; and the instruction button. An overlapping button search means for recursively searching for a button that overlaps under the button selected by the selection means, an unexecuted button storage means for storing the button searched by the overlapping button search means, and the unexecuted button. Execution button selection means for selecting a button to be executed next from among the buttons stored in the storage means, and execution of a pre-stored procedure corresponding to the button selected by the execution button selection means and said unexecuted procedure. and procedure execution means for deleting the executed button from the button storage means.

(Operation) Prepare in advance a plurality of buttons to which procedures, which are the basic units of processing to be executed, are assigned. and,
Arrange the buttons necessary for processing on the screen so that they overlap the buttons that are selected using a mouse, etc. However, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the button 301 that is pressed first
It is not necessary that the button 303 and other buttons 303 necessary for the process have a direct shape, and this is referred to as indirectly overlapping.

When the top button among the buttons arranged in this manner is pressed, a search is made for a button that directly or indirectly overlaps the pressed button. Then, by executing the procedure corresponding to the searched button, the - group procedures are executed.

(Example) Next, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

The button creation means 101 selects a plurality of buttons to which procedures have been assigned in advance, and arranges them one on top of the other on the screen. The shape of the button may be circular or rectangular, and the button will not be distorted into the desired shape by the user.

Further, the buttons do not have to have the same shape, and furthermore, the picture of the 'button displayed on the display means 103 and the button press effective area that defines the effective area where the button is pressed do not necessarily match. There's no need to be.

For the button created by the button creation means 101, the valid button press area, the vertical relationship of the button, and the procedure number corresponding to the button are sent to the button information storage means 102.

You may also send the procedure name instead of the procedure number.

The button information storage unit 102 is a unit for storing the valid button press area where a button can be pressed, the vertical relationship of the buttons, and the procedure number assigned to the button, obtained by the button creation unit 101. As an example of expressing the f-system between the top and bottom of buttons, consider the Z-axis, which is conceptually perpendicular to the screen, and consider the method of assigning the coordinates of the Z-axis to express the vertical relationship of the buttons.Procedure number 0 It is also possible to store procedure names instead of numbers.

The button is displayed on the screen of the display means 103. The display means 103 includes a CR']', a liquid crystal display,
You can use anything that can display buttons and a cursor, such as a plasma display.

The position display means 104 is a means for indicating a position on the screen, and a pointing device such as a mouse or a digitizer can be used. Further, the position may be specified by controlling a cursor from the keyboard, or the position may be specified by directly inputting coordinates. When using a cursor, the button is selected by the position indicating means 104 by moving the cursor over the button, and then changing the cursor position by clicking a button on the mouse or pressing the enter key on the keyboard. This is done by notifying the instruction button selection means 105 of the coordinates to be selected. If the cursor is not used, the coordinates input from the keyboard are sent to the instruction button selection means 105.

The instruction button selection means 105 is a means for selecting, from the button information storage means 102, the button located at the top of the buttons whose coordinates specified by the position instruction means 104 are included in the valid button press area.

The overlapping button search means 106 is the instruction button selection means 1
This is means for selecting buttons directly or indirectly overlapping the button selected by 05. for example,
As shown in FIG. 2, the button 202 is placed above the button 203.
When the button 201 is placed on top of the button 202, when the button 201 is selected with the position indicating means 104 such as a mouse, the overlapping button search means 106 selects the button 201.
and button 203 is selected.

An example of the overlap button search means 106 will be described. Here, to simplify the explanation, it is assumed that the picture of the button and the effective button press area match.

First, of the lines representing the effective pressing area of the button in Figure 2 (here, it matches the shape of the button), supplement the lines hidden under the button.Then, as shown in Figure 3 (A), button A is placed in area 301 and area 302, and button B is placed in area 301 and area 302 so that
is divided into an area 302 and an area 303, and the button C is divided into an area 303 and an area 304, respectively. This is stored in a table as shown in FIG. 3 (b).

To find out which buttons overlap with another button, first,
Search the table for the number of the constituent area of the button that is the source of the search. Next, search the table for the button that includes the constituent area number of the button.

Furthermore, using the vertical relationship of the buttons stored in the button information storage means 102, the search is narrowed down to buttons located below the button that is the source of the search. In this way, a direct type button is searched below the button that is the source of the search.

Similarly, by repeating the above process for the searched buttons, all buttons directly or indirectly overlapping the button selected by the position specifying means 104 are selected. This result is sent to unexecuted button storage means 107.

The unexecuted button storage means 107 is the overlapping button search means 1
This is for storing the button selected in step 06.

Execution button selection means 108 includes unexecuted button storage means 1
Select the button to be executed next from the buttons stored in 07. Regarding the button selection+qi order in the execution button selection means 108, it is possible to select the buttons in the order in which they are stored in the unexecuted button storage means 107, or to select the buttons among the buttons stored in the unexecuted button storage means 107. , it is also conceivable that the buttons are selected in order from the button located at the top in the vertical relationship. In either case, when there are no more buttons stored in the unexecuted button storage means 107, it is assumed that the sequence has been executed, and the process ends.

In the procedure execution means 109, the execution button selection means 108
After executing the procedure defined by the button selected in , all executed buttons are deleted from the buttons stored in the unexecuted button storage means 107.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the procedure creation/execution device of the present invention, a procedure serving as a basic unit is assigned to each button, and a group of procedures is expressed by overlapping the buttons. Therefore, to create a - group procedure, all you need to do is select the buttons necessary for the process and place them on the screen.If you want to change the processing content, you can change the layout of the buttons on the screen or replace them. You can do it with Therefore, there is no need to write the process corresponding to the button in a program @ language or the like as in the past.

In addition, since the procedures for all buttons that directly or indirectly overlap under the selected button are executed, if position 204 in Figure 2 is selected with a mouse, button 201
Not only is the procedure corresponding to button 20 executed.
2. The procedure corresponding to button 203 is also executed. Therefore, the operation does not change depending on where the same button is pressed.

Furthermore, since the procedures to be executed are represented by a combination of buttons, there is also the advantage that the execution contents can be seen at a glance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram that does not show the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually showing how buttons are stacked, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining overlapping button search means. FIGS. 4 and 5 are block diagrams and diagrams of button arrangement examples for explaining the conventional technology. 101 401...button creation means, 102. 402...button information storage means, 103,404...
・Display means, 104, 405...position indication means, 10
5.406... Instruction button selection means, 106... Overlapping button search means, 107... Unexecuted button storage means, 108... Execution button selection means, 109°407
...Procedure execution means, 408...Procedure creation means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a procedure creation/execution device that executes multiple procedures by selecting logical buttons arranged on the screen,
button creation means for arranging buttons to which procedures are assigned in advance in an overlapping manner on a screen; button information storage means for storing a button press effective area, a vertical relationship of the button, and a procedure number held by the button; a display means for displaying on a screen, a position indicating means for indicating a position on the screen, an instruction button selection means for selecting a button specified by the position instruction means, and an instruction button selection means. Overlapping button search means for recursively searching for a button that overlaps under the button selected by , unexecuted button storage means for storing buttons searched by the overlapping button search means, and unexecuted button storage means for storing buttons searched by the overlapping button search means. execution button selection means for selecting a button to be executed next from buttons stored in the execution button selection means; and execution button storage for executing a pre-stored procedure corresponding to the button selected by the execution button selection means. A procedure creation/execution device comprising: procedure execution means for deleting an executed button from the means.