JPH04283854A - Document processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use an on-line manual and smoothly carry out original work by installing a device which has a display screen and a simple keyboard outside exclusively for the on-line manual. CONSTITUTION:The manual regarding respective processes of the document processor or contents for assisting the processes is displayed on the independent dedicated screen which is connected to a document processor main body and not used for document processes. The screen data of the manual or contents to be displayed are stored in a storage means which is not included in the document processor main body and the manual or contents are displayed. Further, the document processes are performed while instruction and input performed for the displayed manual or contents are reflected directly on the original document processes. Therefore, the document processing operation can be carried on over a look at the manual screen and one device which displays the on-line manual is reconnected among various devices and used.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document processing device having a help function that provides a user with a screen to assist the user in accordance with the status of a document processing task on the document processing device.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a function called a help function or an online manual is displayed in such a way that all or part of the screen on which the user is working is hidden, and the user must understand the contents of the help screen before proceeding with the task. The procedure is to turn off the help screen and return to the original work.

Further, since the help screen data is held on the document processing device as part of the document processing application program, it consumes a large amount of the document processing device's resources.

Furthermore, since help screen data is held as part of a word processing program, only one fixed piece of help screen data is stored in one word processing program.

[0005]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In the above conventional example, when a user needs an online manual, he or she interrupts the work he is currently doing, understands (memorizes) the contents of the online manual, and resumes his original work. It was difficult to read the online manual while comparing it with the content of the original work, or to perform the original work according to changes in the instructions in the online manual, as it required procedures to perform operations according to the content that was understood after returning. .

[0006] Furthermore, since the contents of the help screen are fixed for the word processing program, there is a drawback that it is not possible to provide a help screen suitable for the user's level and purpose.

[0007] Therefore, in view of the above points, the object of the present invention is to
An object of the present invention is to provide a document processing device configured to facilitate the use of online manuals.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a method for displaying manuals related to each process of a document processing device or contents that assist the processing on a separate dedicated screen that is connected to the main body of the document processing device and is not used for document processing. It is equipped with means for displaying.

The present invention also provides a document processing device having a function of displaying manuals related to each process of the document processing device or contents to assist the processing in accordance with the processing contents.
Screen data of the manual or the content to be displayed is stored on a separate storage means not included in the main body of the document processing apparatus, and display processing of the manual or the content is performed.

Further, the present invention provides a document processing device having a function of displaying a manual related to each process of the document processing device or content that helps the processing according to the processing content. It has a means for directly reflecting instructions and input given by the user in the original document processing to perform document processing.

[0011]

[Operation] According to the present invention, by installing an external device with a display screen and a simple keyboard exclusively for online manuals, the user can receive input from the online manual side without interfering with the screen during the user's actual work. Users can now use online manuals without having to memorize the contents of manuals, allowing them to carry out their original work smoothly.

0012

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows the system configuration of a document processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 in the figure is a CPU that controls the entire system.
It is. Reference numeral 2 denotes a memory, which is composed of a program area 2a that stores programs related to control processing by the CPU 1, and a work area 2b for various processing. Note that programs related to various processes are also stored in this program area 2a.

3 is a floppy disk, and 4 is a hard disk. The floppy disk drive 3 is mainly used for backing up personal or common data, and the hard disk device is used when processing common data.

5 is an FD/H that controls the floppy disk 3 and the hard disk 4 to send and receive data.
It is a D controller.

Reference numeral 6 is a printer that forms a visible image, and 7 is a scanner that reads an original image.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a serial/parallel interface through which print data is output to the printer 6 and images are input from the scanner 7.

[0019] 9 is a general-purpose interface SCS
I interface, which exchanges data between the online manual device section 18 and the main body of the document processing device.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a keyboard for inputting various characters and instruction information, to which a pointing device 11 is connected. The input key information and movement information from the pointing device 11 are output together as serial data.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a serial interface that inputs this serial data and converts it into corresponding parallel data.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a bit move unit (BMU) which performs bit control such as transfer or rotation of image data;
4 is a character font storage unit that stores patterns corresponding to character symbol codes; 15 is a VRAM that develops display images as image data; 16 is a CRT that visualizes and displays the image data developed in the VRAM 15; 17;
is a companding unit that compresses an image or expands compressed data.

Reference numeral 18 denotes an online manual device section that displays the contents of the online manual and also receives input.

Next, an overview of the online manual device section 18 will be explained.

An overview of the online manual device section 18 shown in FIG. 1 will be explained using FIG. 2.

In FIG. 2, A1 is a liquid crystal display that displays a manual, and B1 to B10 are keys each having a separate return code.

A2 is a SCSI cable for communication with the main body.

Further, A3 is a floppy disk insertion slot, into which a floppy disk A4 containing a database consisting of manual screen contents, relationships between screens, transmission code information to the main body, etc. is inserted.

B11 is a send button used to send instructions to the main body.

Next, processing between the document processing device main body and the online manual will be explained.

Processing between the main body of the document processing apparatus and the online manual will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, on the document processing device main body side, H1
The initial screen will be displayed.

[0033] Then, in H2, information for searching a manual screen corresponding to the menu currently displayed on the main body side is transmitted to the online manual device side.

On the other hand, on the online manual device side,
In M1, the initial screen is already displayed on the display.

[0035] Then, in M2, it is determined whether or not menu information has been transmitted from the main body of the document processing device, and if so, a screen to be displayed as a manual is searched for in M4 based on that information, and in M5. In the case of this embodiment, information about changes in the manual displayed on the display is not provided to the main body, so no instructions are given to the main body in M6.

[0036]Then, the currently displayed manual screen continues to be displayed until the next information from the main body or a key operation on the online manual device side is performed in M2 to M3.

[0037] Here, when the presence or absence of key operation is determined at M3, the search and display of the next display screen is performed accordingly at M4 and M5, and it is determined at M6 whether or not to instruct the main body. If so, send instructions to the main unit.

[0038] The contents of the processing performed by key operations are clearly displayed on the screen as part of the screen data.

Returning to the main body of the document processing device, it is determined in H3 whether there is an instruction from the manual side, and if there is, a new menu according to the instruction is displayed in H1, and in H2, a menu suitable for that menu is displayed. The information for searching the manual screen is sent to the online manual device side.

Then, in H3 to H4, the currently displayed menu is held until there is an instruction from the manual side or a direct operation on the menu displayed on the main body side.

Next, the contents of the screen data will be explained.

First, the floppy disk A shown in FIG.
The screen database contained in 4 will be explained.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a record containing one screen worth of data to be displayed on the online manual device.

C1 is used to identify the screen, and is the screen I sent from the main body as menu information indicating the manual screen corresponding to the menu displayed.
It is D.

[0045] The database holds an index in which the screen ID and the storage address of each screen record are sorted in the order of the ID, and is used for screen retrieval.

C2 is data forming the screen display.

[0047] C3 to C5 form information indicating a process corresponding to one key operation on the online manual device, and a record for one screen has 10 set areas corresponding to 10 keys. It is taken.

C3 is a key number on the online manual device, C4 is a screen ID indicating the next screen to be displayed on the online manual device, and C5 is a transmission code sent when an instruction is sent to the main body of the document processing device. .

[0049] The online manual device side retains the transmission code of the most recent key operation until the send button on the online manual device is pressed, and when the send button is pressed, the transmission code is sent to the main body of the document processing device. Send.

On the main body side, based on the transmitted code, a document processing menu corresponding to the manual screen on the online manual device is displayed.

Next, other embodiments will be explained.

(1) In the above embodiment, a floppy disk was used to store the online manual screen database, but if it is used only for the purpose of online manual of the document processing device to which the online manual device is connected, the database can be used to store the online manual screen database. It is possible to use a fixed ROM or hard disk for the online manual device.

Furthermore, by using a card-type storage medium instead of a floppy disk, it is possible to make the online manual device smaller and lighter, and by using a medium capable of storing large amounts of data such as a magneto-optical disk. , the contents of the manual can be enriched.

(2) In the above embodiment, in order to convey instructions from the manual side to the main body, a means was used in which only what was desired to be sent was transmitted by operating the send button on the online manual device side. With this method, it is possible to move the manual side independently (there is no change in the main body side during this time), so you can use the online manual device as a reference to see how to operate differently from the original operation. It was possible to do this without affecting the operation of the main unit.

[0055] However, this does not mean that there is no need for troublesome operation of the transmission key.

Therefore, FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a method for changing the menu on the main body side at any time in response to key operations on the manual device side.

In FIG. 5, K1 to K4 are processes on the main body side of the document processing apparatus, and the contents of the processes are the same as those in the embodiment.

[0058] L1 to L6 are processes on the online manual device side.

[0059] After displaying the initial screen in L1, it is determined in L2 whether or not information has been sent from the main body, and if there is, the screen is displayed in L5.
Search for the screen to be displayed as a manual with , and display it with L6.

[0060] When no information is sent from the main unit in L2, it is determined in L3 whether there is a key operation on the online manual device side, and if there is a key operation, the transmission code corresponding to the key operation is sent to L4. The information is unconditionally transmitted to the main body at , and then the screen is searched and displayed at L5 and L6.

[0061] In this method, the menu on the main body of the document processing apparatus also changes whenever a key is operated on the online manual apparatus side.

(3) In the above embodiment, the manual is changed in response to a change in the menu of the main body of the document processing apparatus, but there is a method in which the manual is changed in response to other detailed process breaks. For example, the operation of drawing a straight line will be explained using FIG. 6 as an example.

First, a straight line is specified in the menu of the main body of the document processing apparatus. At this point, a message such as P1 is displayed on the online manual device side. Following this message, when the user specifies a starting point like P2 on the main unit, the manual side will display an instruction message for the next operation like P3 as a result of the mouse input to specify the starting point, and then P4. can complete a straight line.

In this process, the online manual device is used only to display messages, and the record of one screen in the screen database is only the screen ID and screen data. No instructions are sent to the main unit. Or, even if it is sent, it will be ignored by the main unit.

[0065]

[Effects of the Invention] By implementing the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(b) By displaying the online manual screen on the display of the device connected to the main unit, which is separate from the display of the main unit, the document processing screen is not hidden, so document processing work can be continued while looking at the manual screen. There is an effect that makes it possible.

(b) By retaining screen data to be displayed as an online manual on a separate storage means that is not included in the document processing device, it is possible to save disk space in the document processing device.

[0068] In addition, the content of the manual screen can be adjusted to suit the level and purpose of the user who requires the online manual.
This has the advantage that it can be provided without changing the program of the main body of the document processing device.

(c) By reflecting the input to the online manual in the document processing of the document processing device itself, the conventional circuitous process of understanding and memorizing the contents of the manual screen and then returning to the original document processing work can be improved. ,
This has the effect of reducing the user's work.

(d) By displaying the online manual on the screen of a device separate from the main body of the document processing device and storing the screen data in a storage means separate from the main body, the processing program of the document processing device can be used to display the online manual of each device. Since the online manual screen can be displayed simply by being compatible with the manual screen data, it becomes possible to use one device that displays the online manual by replacing it among various devices.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

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

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an online manual device section in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing data records for one screen.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 Memory 3 Floppy disk 4 Hard disk 5 FD/HD controller 6 Printer 7 Scanner 8 Serial/parallel interface 9 SCS
I interface 10 Keyboard 11 Mouse 12 Serial interface 13 Bit move unit 14 Character font storage section 15 VRAM 16 CRT 17 Companding section 18 Online manual device section

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: The document processing apparatus is provided with means for displaying manuals related to each process of the document processing apparatus or contents to assist the processing on a separate dedicated screen connected to the main body of the document processing apparatus and not used for document processing. Characteristic document processing device. 2. In a document processing device that has a function of displaying a manual related to each process of the document processing device or content that helps the process according to the processing content, screen data of the manual or the content to be displayed is displayed. A document processing apparatus, characterized in that the document processing apparatus is provided on a separate storage means not included in the main body of the document processing apparatus, and performs display processing of the manual or the content. 3. In a document processing device that has a function of displaying a manual related to each process of the document processing device or content that helps the process in accordance with the processing content, What is claimed is: 1. A document processing device characterized by having means for performing document processing by directly reflecting instructions and input to original document processing.