JPH04281513A - Key assignment processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate a key assignment by using the display screen of a key array drawing, and to obtain a key assignment processor by which the assigned result can be displayed so as to be easily utilized, as for the key assignment processing of a computer. CONSTITUTION:A key assignment chart 1 indicates the key code, character graphic designation, and character string designation of each key. A display part 2 displays the prescribed key arrangement drawing of a key at a display screen 5, and displays the character drawing according to the indication of the key assignment chart at each key top position of the key arrangement drawing. A coordinate converting part 3 receives a prescribed input designating the coordinate within the key arrangement drawing on the display screen, and decides the key code of the key displayed in an area to which the input coordinate value belongs. A key assignment processing part 4 updates information concerned with the key code of the key assignment chart according to both the decided key code and a prescribed key assignment designating input, and allows the display part to update the display of the key arrangement drawing according to the key assignment chart.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key assignment processing device for defining arbitrary keys to correspond to keys representing necessary characters, commands, etc. in a computer.

0002

[Prior Art] Instead of assigning keys on a keyboard, which is an input device for operating a computer, to letters, numbers, symbols, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as characters), each user There is a demand for assigning appropriate keys to character strings (including single characters) representing characters or commands required for use.

[0003] With such a function, by making the keys compatible with displaying characters suitable for a certain application and inputting commands, the key input method can be customized by the user, reducing the number of key inputs, etc. Key operations can be performed efficiently and errors can be reduced.

[0004] Registration of this key assignment is performed by, for example, specifying a command for key assignment and inputting the key name determined by the system and a character string representing the command to be assigned as parameters for that command. The results are stored in a key assignment table as, for example, a correspondence between key names and character strings.

[0005] After that, when that key on the keyboard is pressed, the character string to which that key is assigned is known from the key assignment table, based on the key name determined from the key code generated from the keyboard when the key is pressed, and that character string is assigned to the key on the keyboard. will be processed in the same way as if it were input from .

That is, the character string is treated as an input character, the character string is displayed on the display screen if necessary, and if the character string starts command execution, the command execution is started, etc. It is.

[0007] Also, in the special character figures created by the user,
When assigning a certain key, first register the character pattern of that character shape separately, make it possible to call up that character pattern using the method determined by the system, and then assign the registered character as described above. Assign the required keys.

[0008]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] It is possible to assign keys as described above, but in this case, it is necessary to create a separate record and refer to what kind of key assignments have already been made. Also, when operating a key, the key top usually displays a fixed name regardless of the assigned character string, so either refer to a separately prepared record or indicate the function assigned to the key top. It may be necessary to take measures such as pasting your name, etc.

On the other hand, there is a software keyboard, etc., in which a key arrangement diagram as illustrated in FIG. 2 is displayed on a display screen, and key input is performed by pointing a key in the key arrangement diagram on the screen with a cursor. However, a key assignment function that effectively utilizes a software keyboard has not been provided.

An object of the present invention is to provide a key assignment processing device that facilitates key assignment and displays assignment results in an easy-to-use manner by using the display screen of the key layout diagram as described above.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention. The figure shows the configuration of a key assignment processing device, which includes a key assignment table 1, a display section 2, a coordinate conversion section 3, and a key assignment processing section 4. , is a table showing the key code, character/figure designation, and character string designation of the key.

[0012] The display unit 2 displays a predetermined key layout diagram of the key on the display screen 5, and displays the character/figure specified in the key assignment table at the key top position of each key in the key layout diagram. Display each.

The coordinate conversion unit 3 receives a predetermined input specifying the coordinates in the key arrangement diagram on the display screen 5, and converts the key displayed in the area from the area to which the input coordinate values belong. Determine the key code.

The key assignment processing unit 4 updates the information regarding the key code in the key assignment table 1 according to the determined key code and the predetermined key assignment designation input, and displays the corresponding key code on the display unit 2 according to the key assignment table 1. Update the display of the key layout diagram.

The key assignment processing section 4 may include a character pattern editor 6, and the character pattern editor 6 may be activated by a predetermined designation input among the key assignment designation inputs.

The character pattern editor 6 is an editor that generates data of the character figures having a specified shape in accordance with a predetermined input, and registers the data in a predetermined character pattern table. 6 updates the key assignment table 1 as the character/graphic designation for the key code.

Further, the key assignment processing section 4 may have at least one of a character pattern table 7 and a command table 8. The character pattern table 7 is a table that holds registered character patterns, and the command table 8 is a table that holds character strings representing registered commands.

In this case, the key assignment processing unit 4 displays the held character pattern table 7 or command table 8 on the display screen 5 when specified by a predetermined designation input in the key assignment designation input. , the key assignment table 1 is updated with the character pattern or command specified on the display screen 5 as the character/graphic designation or character string designation for the key code.

[0019]

[Operation] By using the key assignment processing device of the present invention, for example, by inputting a predetermined key assignment command into a computer, the key assignment processing device can be set to the assignment mode in which it is operating. Key assignments can be easily made by operating the keyboard, and the assignment results are immediately reflected in the key layout diagram.

In normal operation of the computer, the key assignment table created by key assignment is used in the same way as in the conventional method, and the display section displays the software keyboard according to the key assignment table in the same way as when the keys were assigned. This makes it possible to easily identify the functions assigned to each key and perform key input operations.

[0021]

[Embodiment] In FIG. 1, the display section 2 always displays a predetermined key arrangement diagram as illustrated in FIG. At each key position, a key top display is displayed with reference to the character/graphic designation in the key assignment table 1.

[0022] The key assignment table 1 is in a tabular form having, for example, columns for each key showing, for example, a key code, a character/figure designation, and a character string designation for all the keys shown in the key layout diagram. This is the information.

When the user inputs an input indicating the displayed position of a necessary key on the display screen 5 using the input device 9 such as a mouse, the specified position is indicated using a known appropriate method. Coordinate values in the X and Y directions are generated and input to the coordinate conversion section 3.

The coordinate conversion unit 3 converts key coordinate values indicating the display position of each key in the key arrangement diagram (for example, the coordinate value of the upper left corner of the key diagram) and when that key is pressed on the keyboard. It has a correspondence table with the key codes that should be generated on the keyboard, and by determining the key coordinate values within a certain range from the input coordinate values, converts them into the corresponding key code, and executes the key assignment processing section. Pass it to 4.

The key assignment processing unit 4 refers to the key assignment table 1 to convert the key codes received in sequence into character strings to which the keys are assigned, interprets them as key assignment designation input, and performs key assignment processing. Execute.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the processing flow of the key assignment processing unit 4. In processing step 10, for example, the first inputted key code is designated as the key to be assigned, and then in processing step 11, the key code input first is designated as the key to be assigned. Processing is determined from subsequent input.

When the process of specifying a character figure is specified, each character figure in the character pattern table 7 is displayed on the display screen 5 in a process step 12, and a character is selected from among them in a process step 13. It is assumed that a character is selected by identifying it from the input of, for example, coordinate values on the screen, and the selected character is designated as a character figure.

If the process of generating a character pattern is specified, the character pattern editor 6 is activated in a process step 14, and in a process step 15, a character consisting of a predetermined number of dots is generated by the process of the character pattern editor 6. A user is allowed to input a pattern, character pattern data is generated and registered based on the pattern, and the characters of the character pattern are designated as character figures.

When a character/figure is specified as described above, the key assignment table 1 is updated in processing step 18, and the character/figure specification field in the key code section of the key to be assigned is changed to the specification of the currently specified character. Then, in processing step 19, the display section 2 updates the display of the key layout diagram to a new state.

When the process of specifying a character string is specified, the commands in the command table 8 are sequentially displayed on the display screen 5 in a process step 16, and a command is selected from among them in a process step 17. Assume that the command string is specified.

Next, in processing step 18, the key assignment table 1 is updated, the character string specification field in the key code section of the key to be assigned is changed to the currently specified character string, and processing step 1
Step 9 causes the display unit 2 to update the display of the key layout diagram to a new state.

After the above, in processing step 20, it is identified,
If the next allocation target key specification is input, process step 1
The process starts from 0, and if there is a predetermined input indicating the end, the process as a key assignment device ends.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the key in the lower right part of the key layout diagram, which is normally used as a numeric keypad, is assigned to a symbolic logic symbol, and a special character figure consisting of two question marks is assigned. This indicates, for example, that the key is an unassigned key (the string specification is undefined).

[0034]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, in key assignment processing in a computer, by using a display screen of a key layout diagram, key assignment is facilitated and assignment results are displayed in an easy-to-use manner. It has a remarkable industrial effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

[Figure 1] Block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention

[Figure 2]
Diagram explaining a display example of a key layout diagram

[Figure 3] Flowchart of processing of the present invention

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Key assignment table 2 Display section 3 Coordinate conversion section 4 Key assignment processing section 5 Display screen 6 Character pattern editor 7 Character pattern table 8 Command table 9 Input device 10-20 Processing steps

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: Comprising a key assignment table (1), a display section (2), a coordinate conversion section (3), and a key assignment processing section (4), the key assignment table (1) is arranged in a predetermined manner. is a table showing the key code, character/figure designation, and character string designation for each key, and the display unit (2) displays a predetermined key arrangement diagram of the key on the display screen (5). The coordinate conversion unit (3) displays the character/figure specified in the key assignment table (1) at the key top position of each key in the key layout diagram, and the coordinate conversion unit (3) converts the display screen (5 ) receives a predetermined input specifying the coordinates in the key layout diagram above, determines the key code of the key displayed in the area from the area to which the input coordinate value belongs, and processes the key assignment. The section (4) updates the information regarding the key code in the key assignment table (1) according to the determined key code and the predetermined key assignment designation input, and displays the key assignment table on the display section (2). A key assignment processing device characterized in that the key assignment processing device is configured to update the display of the key layout diagram according to the following. 2. The key assignment processing unit (4) has a character pattern editor (6), starts the character pattern editor by a predetermined designation input from the key assignment designation input, and starts the character pattern editor. (6) is an editor that generates data of the character figure having a specified shape according to a predetermined input and registers it in a predetermined character pattern table; 2. The key assignment processing device according to claim 1, wherein said key assignment table (1) is updated with said character/figure registered in said key assignment table (1) as a character/figure designation for said key code. 3. The key assignment processing unit (4) has at least one of a character pattern table (7) and a command table (8), and the character pattern table (7) includes registered character patterns. This is a table that holds the command table (8
) is a table that holds character strings representing registered commands, and the key assignment processing unit (4) executes the following commands when specified by a predetermined designation input in the key assignment designation input.
The character pattern table (7) or the command table (8) to be retained
) is displayed on the display screen, and the character pattern or command instructed on the display screen is used as the character pattern designation or character string designation for the key code in the key assignment table (
1) The key assignment processing device according to claim 1 or claim 2, which updates: