JPH0391865A - Form design system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently perform the work of form design to reduce the burden on an operator by indicating a prescribed point as the reference point at the time of input of a rule. CONSTITUTION:A computer system 50 is used to display a spacing chart for form design on a display device 10, and patterns, character strings, and symbols for form design are generated on a display screen by an input device 20, and the operator designs the form while confirming the display design and the entire design on the display screen and registers form data in a file 30. At the time of input of a segment to the close area surrounded with preliminarily determined rules, coordinates of the start point of this segment are determined by coordinates of a first inputted point and the values of an equation of preliminarily determined y-axis or x-axis parallel segments. Coordinates of the end point of this segment are determined by coordinates of the start point and the value of an equation of x-axis of y-axis parallel segments unequivocally determined by a second inputted point.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] Books! This invention relates to a form design system for designing and outputting forms using a computer system.

[Prior Art] Designing a form requires complicated and highly accurate work, but in the past, these works were performed manually, requiring a great deal of effort before starting the printing process. In response to this, the present applicant has previously proposed a form design system that uses a computer system to easily design forms without requiring any skill (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-288269 reference). The outline of its configuration is shown in Figure 1, where IO is a CRT, 20 is an input device, 30 is a file, 40 is an output device, 41 is a conversion system, 50 is a computer system, and 51 is a spacing chart. a display routine, 52 an input controller, 53 an instruction analyzer, 54 a menu routine, 5
5 is a CRT diagram J[lE routine, 56 is a table controller, 57 is a file controller, and 58 is an input information table.

The configuration shown in FIG. 1 consists of a CRT display device 10 that displays required messages, design patterns, etc., a data input mechanism that has various menus and is composed of a tablet, and a keyboard that includes a numeric keypad set button, etc. an input device 20, a file 30 composed of a floppy disk, magnetic tape, etc., into which data can be written or read; a prepress film;
An output device 40 consisting of a laser drum plotter or the like that outputs printing plates, etc., the CRT display device 10, and an input device 20.
, a computer system 50 that integrates and processes the file 30 and the output device 40, inputs management information such as file number, product name, operator name, etc. through the input device 20, and initializes the computer system 50 to output the file 30. In the open state, a spacing chart for design is displayed in a grid on the CRT display device 10, and a file 30 is displayed using the input device 20.
Select the form design already registered in the CRT display device IO and display it on the CRT display device IO.
Interactive form design input is performed using the display device IO and input device 20, data is registered in the file 30 after the work is completed, and a form design already registered in the file 30 is selected using the input device 20, and the CRT is In addition to displaying it on the display device 10, a plate-making film or the like of the form design is outputted via the conversion system 41 and the output device 40.

By the way, the computer system 50 is operated by software, and includes a spacing chart display routine 51 for displaying a spacing chart in which grid points are arranged on the CRT display device 110, and an input command from the input device 20. An input controller 52 to control, an instruction analyzer 53 to analyze instructions transmitted from the input device 20 via the input controller 52, a menu routine 54 to execute a menu according to instructions notified from the instruction analyzer 53, and a menu routine. CRT display device 10 according to menu data from 54
a CRT figure generation routine 55 for displaying figures and data on the screen; an input information table 58 for organizing and storing input information; and a table controller for controlling the input information table 68 according to the selected output of the menu routine 54. 56, and a file controller 57 that connects the file 30 and the input information table 58. The menu routine 54 includes a basic figure menu for processing basic figures such as straight lines and arcs, a layout menu for moving and deleting lines, and an application menu for processing complex figures such as rectangles with rounded corners. The application menu includes routines for processing rectangles with rounded corners, vertical ruled lines, parallel ruled lines with rounded frames, etc. In addition, the menu routine 54 includes a character menu for processing characters, and a character information table for processing characters.

The created form design is read from the file 30, converted into a format by the conversion system 41, and sent to the output device 40. This can also be sent online.

Next, a working procedure for designing a form using the configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

First, in step S1, check the manuscript submitted by the customer. If it is necessary to use multiple parts, check the parts that are common to each part and the parts that are not. In order to store the design data, Prepare a data recording medium such as a floppy disk. In the character string recording in step S2, character strings are distinguished from the manuscript into words or sentences, and are recorded on a data recording medium using a Japanese input method such as a kana-kanji conversion method. Next, in the item-specific management information input in step S3, in order to identify each form, the form name, customer name, finished size, form type, dimensional unit, number of parts, etc.
Individual identification information such as classification is recorded on the data recording medium.

Furthermore, the element list input in step S5 is a list of parts constituting the form, and fixed parts among parts such as dragonflies are registered in advance. The character string input in the character string input process of step S2 is automatically registered as one component for each word or sentence. Add other strings,
Even at this stage, additions of fixed parts can be registered in the element list using a Japanese input method such as a kana-kanji conversion method. The form layout work in step S6 is to perform a rough design of the form. Using a screen interactive method, the rough design of the borders of the form is performed by trial and error while selecting basic shapes from the menu, and these data are recorded on the data recording medium. do. In the form makeup work in step S7, the form is designed individually for each part, and in the case of multiple parts, the common part that is common to all parts is first designed, and then the parts entered in the item-specific management information are Each part is designed in just a few minutes. These data are
Each part is distinguished and recorded on a data recording medium, and further,
The conversion work in step S8, which is performed after the above element list input (step S5), form layout work (step SS), and form make-up work (step S7), converts the data recording medium on which the work up to the form make-up work has been completed. , the data converter, that is, the computer system 50 converts the data into a data format that can be processed by the output device 40, and the data on the data recording medium is converted in units of parts. In one part, check the overlap of all ruled lines, screens, text/logos, and fixed parts and convert them according to priority.

Note that among the above operations, step S1 is a manual operation performed by an operator, steps 82 to s7 are performed by the input device 20, and step S8 is performed by the computer system 50.

In the manner described above, a desired form design is performed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional form design system, there was a problem in that the operation for inputting ruled lines was complicated.

That is, in conventional form design, when entering a ruled line at a desired position within a preset frame,
It is designed to input the coordinate values of the starting and ending points of the desired ruled line, but in doing so, it goes without saying that the coordinates must be parallel to the line segments that make up the closed area, that is, the frame. In documents used for printing, the positions of ruled lines must be determined in particular by taking into account the feed pitch determined by the structure of the printer. This is because if the position of the ruled line does not take into account the pitch of the printer, printed characters, numbers, etc. will overlap the ruled line. Of course, in the form design system previously proposed by the present applicant, grid points are formed for each pitch of the printer using a spacing chart, and when a certain position is specified by the input device 20, In this case, the input position is determined to be the position of the nearest grid point by so-called rounding, and the coordinates of the grid point are determined by the computer system 5.
0, so it is relatively easy to input the coordinates, but it is very difficult for the operator to input the ruled line at the desired length, in the desired position, parallel to other line segments, and with high precision. It was becoming a burden.

Furthermore, when the closed regions are nested, it is necessary to select the frame of the closed region that the end points of the generated line segments touch, making the operation complicated.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned problems and
In addition to improving the efficiency of form design and correction, it also makes it possible to easily input any line segment within a closed area, making it possible to perform the entire process from form design to platemaking or printing plate processes. Our goal is to provide a form design system.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the form design system of the present invention includes a display g[ and an input device for selectively displaying various operation menus and processing menus and inputting necessary data. and a file from which data can be written or read,
an output device that outputs the created form design data;
a computer system that connects and processes each of the devices, displays a spacing chart for form design on the display device, and displays figures, character strings, and symbols for form design on the display screen using the input device; In a form design system in which a form is designed while checking the display design and the overall design on the display screen, and the designed form data is registered in the file, the form is surrounded by predetermined ruled lines. When inputting a line segment in a closed region, the coordinates of the starting point of the line segment are the coordinates of the input first point and the equation of the predetermined y-axis parallel line segment or X-axis parallel line segment. The coordinates of the end point of the line segment are determined by the coordinates of the starting point and the value of the equation of the X-axis parallel line segment or the y-axis parallel line segment that is uniquely determined from the input second point. It is characterized by being

[Operation and Effects of the Invention] In the present invention, the same accuracy as before is required for inputting the reference point, that is, the first point, but for the second point, a horizontal ruled line is input. In this case, the desired ruled line can be automatically input by specifying an arbitrary point on the right or left side of the reference point and on the left or right side of the vertical ruled line at the desired position. For ruled lines, the second point is below or above the reference point, and
Since it is sufficient to press any point above or below the desired horizontal ruled line, high precision is not required for inputting the coordinates of the second point. Therefore, according to the present invention, only the minimum necessary accuracy is required for inputting ruled lines and straight lines, so the work of form design is streamlined, and
This greatly reduces the burden on the operator.

[Example code] Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The hardware configuration of the form design system according to the present invention is similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, but the processing performed by the computer system 50, particularly the menu entry 54, is different. The process will be explained with reference to the flowchart in FIG. In the following description, the case where the X coordinate is large is called the right side, the case where it is small is called the left side, the case where the y coordinate is large is called the lower side, and the case where the y coordinate is small is called the upper side.

Now, as shown in FIG. 4, the frame of the form, that is, the closed area 12
It is assumed that the horizontal ruled line 14 is input when the vertical ruled line 13 is determined and displayed on the display screen ll of the CRTlO. Therefore, at this time, input information table 5
8 stores the equations of the following five line segments.

Y = Y + (X + ≦X≦Xs)
・”(1)3’:Y* (XI:aX:aX3
) ・”(2) x = X , ( Y 2 ≦y
≦Y+ ) = (3) x ”
*≦y:aY+) ・”(4)X”X2
(Y* ≦y≦Y+) ... (5) Furthermore,
These line segment equations are not stored together in the input information table 58, but rather line segments parallel to the X axis,
That is, the line segments given by the above equations (1) and (2) are added to the X-axis parallel line segment table, and the line segments parallel to the y-axis, that is, the above equations (3), (4), and (5) The line segments given by the equations are stored in a y-axis parallel line segment table.

First, the operator selects the first
In order to input a point, it is assumed that the input device 20 is used to specify a point Pp in FIG. 5, and furthermore, in step S12, a horizontal line segment is specified. The operations in step SL1 and step SL2 may be performed by, for example, specifying the point Pp on a tablet and then specifying a horizontal line segment or a vertical line segment using an appropriate menu key, but a well-known four-button cursor may be used. However, it is convenient if one of the buttons is assigned to a horizontal line segment and another button is assigned to a vertical line segment, since the operation in step S11 and the operation in step SL2 can be performed in one operation.

In this way, when the first point and the horizontal line segment are specified, the menu routine 54 takes in the coordinates (a, b) of the point Pp, and further confirms that the horizontal line segment has been specified in step S13. is recognized and input information table 58
Search the Y-axis parallel line segment table stored in (
In step S15), the search is performed as follows.

The menu routine 54 searches the Y-axis direction table and determines whether a line segment parallel to the y-axis exists on the left side of the X-coordinate a of point Pp. As a result of the search, if there is no y-axis parallel line segment to the left of the first point, the menu routine 54 determines that there is no intersection in step 31B, returns to step Sll, and displays a message on the screen prompting re-input. do. On the other hand, if the search results show that there is a y-axis parallel line segment to the left of the first point and a y-axis parallel line segment that intersects with a straight line parallel to the X-axis drawn from the first point, then , in step 816, it is determined that there is an intersection, and in step S17, the intersection is determined as the starting point. Therefore, in the case of Figure 5, the starting point is point P+
@, and its coordinates are (X+.b). When the starting point is determined in this way, a predetermined mark, a "+" mark in FIG. 5, is displayed in a predetermined color, for example, white, at the starting point position rR P can be recognized as having been determined.

Once the starting point is determined, the operator then inputs a second point to determine the ending point (step 818), but the second point must be a point to the right of the starting point and where the ending point exists. Any point on the left side of the line segment parallel to the y-axis is sufficient. That is, in this embodiment, a ruled line is drawn up to the line segment given by the equation x = X2, so the X coordinate of the second point only needs to satisfy XI x x X2. Therefore, if the operator indicates point Ps(c+d) (where X1<c<X2) in FIG. 5 as the second point, the menu routine 54 searches the y-axis parallel line segment table in step S20. Then, it is determined whether a line segment parallel to the y-axis exists on the right side of the X-coordinate C of the second point Ps. As a result of the search, if there is no y-axis parallel line segment to the right of the second point, the menu routine 54 determines in step S22 that there is no intersection, returns to step 818, and displays a message on the screen prompting re-input. indicate. On the other hand, if the search results show that there is a y-axis parallel line segment to the right of the second point and a y-axis parallel line segment that intersects with a straight line parallel to the X-axis drawn from the second point, , it is determined in step S22 that there is an intersection, the X coordinate of the intersection is set as the X coordinate of the end point, and the y coordinate of the start point Pea is set as the y coordinate of the end point.
The end point is determined as coordinates (step S23). Therefore, in the case of FIG. 5, the end point is point P. with coordinates (X2.b). becomes. When the end point is determined in this way, a predetermined mark, ``*'' mark in FIG. be able to recognize that Next, when the operator performs a confirmation operation using the input device 20 (step S24), the menu routine 54 draws the determined ruled line 14 (FIG. 4) in a predetermined color (step S25), and The equation is stored in the X-axis parallel line segment table of the input information table 58, and the process ends. Note that the confirmation operation in step S24 may be performed using the menu of the input device 20, or if the above-mentioned four-button cursor is used, a certain button may be defined as the confirmation button. It is something. Further, in the above embodiment, the settings of the line width and line type of the ruled lines are omitted, but it goes without saying that these settings can be made in the same manner as in the past.

The above explanation is an example of inputting an X-axis parallel line segment, but when inputting a y-axis parallel line segment, the starting point X
The coordinates are the X coordinates of the first point specified in step Sll, and the y coordinates are the
The value of the equation of the axis-parallel line segment is adopted. Also, the end point
The coordinates are the X coordinates of the starting point, and the y coordinates are the ones in step 8.
The value of the equation of the X-axis parallel line segment that exists directly below the second point designated in 18 is adopted.

In addition, when drawing a line segment such as 15 in Figure 4, the second point is on the right side of line segment 13 and on the left side of line segment 12, as shown at P+3 in Figure 5. Just specify the point.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above example, the starting point is to the left of the end point in the case of a line segment parallel to the , in the case of a line segment parallel to the This can be set arbitrarily in the computer system 50. In addition, when inputting an X-axis parallel line segment, the line segment used to determine the end point was the y-axis parallel line segment to the right of the second point. Point P+s in Figure 5, and y to the left of the input point.
It is also possible to search for line segments parallel to the axis, and this can also be set arbitrarily in the computer system 50.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the first
When specifying a point, the same accuracy as before is required because its X or Y coordinates are adopted as the coordinates of the starting point, but for the second point, its coordinates are adopted as the coordinates of the end point. The coordinates of the end point are determined only by the coordinates of the start point and the The burden will be significantly reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one configuration example of a form design system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation flow of form design, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the processing of ruled lines and line segments in the form design system of the present invention. Flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5
The figure is a diagram for explaining the processing in the flowchart shown in FIG. 3. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... CRT, 20... Input device, 30... File, 40... Output device, 41... Conversion system, 5o... Conbutan stem, 51... Basing chart display routine , 52... Input controller, 53... Command analyzer, 54... Menu routine, 55... CRT figure generation routine, 56...
...Table controller, 57...File controller, 5 8...Input information table. Applicant Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A display device, an input device for selectively displaying various operation menus and processing menus and inputting necessary data, a file capable of writing or reading data, and an output device for outputting created form design data; and a computer system that connects and processes each of the devices, displays a spacing chart for form design on the display device, and generates figures, character strings, and symbols for form design on the display screen by the input device. In a form design system, a form is designed while checking the display design and the overall design on the display screen, and the designed form data is registered in the file. When inputting a line segment within a closed area, the coordinates of the starting point of the line segment are the first input
The coordinates of the end point of the line segment are determined by the coordinates of the point and the value of the equation of the y-axis parallel line segment or A form design system characterized by being determined by the value of an equation of an x-axis parallel line segment or a y-axis parallel line segment uniquely determined from a point.