JPH05108050A - Character editing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To properly select several contours as objects of editing only by specifying some of the respective contours which constitute a character. CONSTITUTION:A contour retrieval part 3 retrieve contour data indicating one character from a contour information storage part 5 in response to an indication sent from an input part 1 through an editing contents decision part 3 and supplies the contour data to an editing process part 4. The editing process part 4 displays the contour of the character on the display screen of a display part 9 through a display control part 8. A contour inclusion relation detection part 6 detects the inclusion relation of the respective contours constituting the character and stores data indicating the inclusion relation of the respective contours as an inclusion table in an inclusion table storage part 7. When one contour is indicated from the input part 1, the contour retrieval part 3 retrieves other contours having the inclusion relation with the contour in the inclusion table and informs the editing process part 4 of those contours. The editing process part 4 edits the respective contours when the editing process is indicated from the input part 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character editing apparatus for displaying a character represented by combining a plurality of contours on a display screen and editing the character.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of character editing device is, for example,
This is for displaying a character consisting of a plurality of contours a1 to a8 as shown in the drawing on the display screen and for performing an editing process on these contours. This editing processing includes deleting, moving, copying, enlarging, reducing and transforming the contour (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-1570).
89).

By the way, if a plurality of contours are edited one by one, the work becomes complicated and time-consuming. For this reason, some contours are appropriately selected and the selected contours are collectively edited.

However, there are only the following two methods for appropriately selecting some contours from all the contours forming a character.

(A) Each contour to be selected is displayed on the display screen by 1
Specify each one.

(B) A rectangular area including each contour to be selected is designated on the display screen, and each contour is selected at once.

In the former method (A), the operation is obviously complicated.

Further, in the latter method (B), when the shape of the character is complicated, only the contours to be selected do not always fit in the rectangular area, and unnecessary contours other than the target are selected. It often happens.

[0009]

As described above, in the conventional character editing apparatus, even if an attempt is made to select some contours out of all the contours forming a character as an object to be edited, the selection method is as follows. There are only the two described above, and in any case, there are problems that the operation is complicated and that an unnecessary extra contour is often selected.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a character editing apparatus capable of appropriately selecting some contours as an object to be edited only by designating one of the contours forming a character. And

[0011]

According to the present invention, when any one of a plurality of contours forming a character is designated by the designating means, the detecting means designates another contour having an inclusive relationship with the designated contour. The detecting and editing means edits the contour designated by the designating means and the other contour detected by the detecting means.

[0012]

According to the present invention, when one contour is designated by the designating means, another contour having an inclusive relation with this contour is detected by the detecting means, and the designated contour and other detected contours are detected. Both the contours are edited by the editing means. Therefore, only by designating one contour, not only this contour but also other contours having an inclusive relation with this contour are selected, and the selected contours can be collectively edited. Therefore, it is not necessary to select each of the contours to be edited one by one, and an unnecessary contour is not selected.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a character editing device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the input unit 1 is composed of a keyboard, a mouse (pointing device), etc., and is operated to input various data and commands.

The edit content determination unit 2 determines the type of data and command from the input unit 1, notifies the contour search unit 3 of data and commands related to character search, and at the same time outputs data and commands related to character editing. The edit processing unit 4 is notified.

The contour information storage unit 5 stores the contour data of each of a plurality of characters, for example, the second contour data.
Contour data indicating the respective contours a1 to a8 forming the character as shown in the figure is stored.

The contour inclusion relation detection unit 6 is for detecting the inclusion relation with other contours for each contour forming one character, and data showing the inclusion relation for each contour is used as an inclusion table. It is stored in the inclusion table storage unit 7.

The contour search unit 3 searches the contour information storage unit 5 for contour data indicating one character, or searches the inclusion table in the inclusion table storage unit 7. Contour information storage unit 5
The contour search unit 3 notifies the contour search unit 3 of the contour data searched for.

Upon being notified of the contour data from the contour information storage unit 5, the edit processing unit 4 displays the character indicated by the contour data on the display screen of the display unit 9 via the display control unit 8. Further, when the edit processing unit 4 is notified by the edit content determination unit 2 of data and commands related to character editing, the display unit 9 is based on these data and commands.
Edit the characters that are already displayed on the display screen.

The designating means in the claims of the present invention corresponds to the inputting means, the detecting means corresponds to the contour searching section 3, the contour inclusion relation detecting section 6 and the contour table storing section 7, and the editing means corresponds to the editing process. It corresponds to part 4.

In such a configuration, when a desired character is to be displayed, the input unit 1 is operated to input a search command for the character. This search command is notified to the contour search unit 3 via the edit content determination unit 2, and in response to this, the contour search unit 3 searches the contour information storage unit 5 for contour data indicating the character. This contour data is notified from the contour search unit 3 to the editing processing unit 4, and the editing processing unit 4 displays the character indicated by the contour data on the display screen of the display unit 9 via the display control unit 8. here,
Assuming that the displayed characters are as shown in FIG. 2, the contour data represents the positions of the contours a1 to a8 constituting the character in a two-dimensional coordinate system. That is, the starting point coordinates and the ending point coordinates of each line forming the contour are arranged for each of the contours a1 to a8, which is the contour data. Therefore, the edit processing unit 4 forms a contour by connecting the starting point coordinates and the ending point coordinates of each line segment for each of the contours a1 to a8, and thus displays one character on the display screen.

In this way, when the desired character is displayed on the display screen and then the edit process is performed on this character, some outlines to be processed must be selected from the outlines a1 to a8 constituting this character. I have to.

In order to facilitate the selection of some of such contours, the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is performed prior to the editing processing in this embodiment. The processing of this flowchart is performed in parallel with the processing for displaying the desired character described above.

First, the contour data for the character shown in FIG. 2, that is, the contours a1 to a8 constituting the character are notified from the contour information storage unit 5 to the contour inclusion relation detection unit 6, and the contour inclusion relation detection unit. 6 obtains the minimum point coordinates (x, min y) on each contour a1 to a8 (step 101). Here, since each of the contours a1 to a8 is a rectangle, the coordinates of the middle point on the bottom of each rectangle are obtained as the coordinates of the minimum point (x, min y).

Next, the contour inclusion relation detecting section 6 determines each of the contours a1 ...
For each a8, the number of intersections between a straight line that can extend horizontally and in one direction from the minimum point coordinates (x, min y) of the contour and another contour is obtained (step 102). However, the points that do not intersect but only contact the straight line are excluded. For example, the other contour that intersects a straight line that can extend horizontally and to the right from the minimum point coordinates (x, min y) of the contour a1 is only the contour a6, and the number of intersections is two. Also, the minimum point coordinates (x, min
The other contours that intersect the straight line that can extend horizontally and to the right from y) are the contours a1, a6, and a7, and the number of intersections is five. Similarly, the number of intersections for the contour a3 is 0, the number of intersections for the contour a4 is 1, the number of intersections for the contour a5 is 1, and the number of intersections for the contour a6 is 0. The number of intersection points for a7 is one and the number of intersection points for the contour a8 is one.

When the number of intersections is calculated for each of the contours a1 to a8 in this way, the contour whose number of intersections is 2n + 1 (n = 0, 1, 2, ...) Is the inner contour and the number of intersections is 2n ( n = 0,
The contour which has been 1, 2, ...) times is set as the outer contour (step 103). Here, the inner contour is each contour a2, a4, a5, a7,
a8, and the outer contours are the contours a1, a3, and a6.

Next, the contour inclusion relation detection unit 6 determines each outer contour a.
For every 1, a3, a6, it first intersects with a straight line that can extend horizontally and to the right from the minimum point coordinates (x, min y) of the outer contour and 2n + 1 (n = 0, 1, 2, ...) times An intersecting inner contour is obtained (step 104), and if there is a corresponding inner contour (step 105, YES), the inner contour is registered in the inclusion table in the inclusion table storage unit 7 as including the outer contour. , The outer contour is registered in the inclusion table as being included in the inner contour (step 106).

However, in the character shown in FIG. 2, 2n + 1 (n =) which first intersects with a straight line that can extend horizontally and rightward from the minimum point coordinates (x, min y) of the outer contour.
There is no inner contour that intersects 0, 1, 2, ...) times (Step 1
05, NO), and therefore step 106 is jumped to the next step 107.

If it is assumed that there is an outer contour (not shown) inside the inner contour a2, for example, step 104
In step 106, the inner contour a2 is obtained, and the inner contour a2 is registered in the inclusion table as including the outer contour not shown, and the outer contour not shown is registered in the inclusion table as being included in the inner contour a2. Will be done.

Next, the contour inclusion relation detecting unit 6 determines each inner contour a.
For every 2, a4, a5, a7, a8, the minimum point coordinates (x, min
From y), an outer contour that first intersects a straight line that can extend horizontally and to the right is first obtained (step 107), and if there is a corresponding outer contour (step 108, YES), the outer contour includes the inner contour. The inner contour is registered in the inclusion table as being included in the outer contour (step 106).

For example, for the inner contour a2, the outer contour a1 is obtained in step 107, and in step 109, the outer contour a1 is registered in the inclusion table as including the inner contour a2, and the inner contour a2 is registered as the outer contour a2. It will be registered in the inclusion table as included in a1.

The inclusion table storage unit 7 thus formed
The inclusion table in the above is shown in FIG. In the figure, the contour
Concerning a1, the contour a2 is registered as being included in the contour, and "nil" indicating this is registered because there is no contour including the contour. For contour a2, there is nothing that is included in the contour, so register "nil" and define that the contour is included.
a1 registered. Regarding the contour a3, the contours a4 and a5 are registered as being included in the contour, and "nil" is registered because there is no contour including the contour.
Since the contour a4 is not included in the contour, "nil" is registered, and the contour a3 is registered as including the contour. Since the contour a5 is not included in the contour, "nil" is registered, and the contour a3 is registered as including the contour. Regarding the contour a6, the contours a7 and a8 are registered as being included in the contour, and "nil" is registered because there is no contour including the contour. For contour a7, since there is nothing included in the contour, "nil" is registered and contour a6 is included as the contour.
I have registered. Since the contour a8 is not included in the contour, "nil" is registered, and the contour a6 is registered as including the contour.

Now, when performing the editing process on the character displayed on the display screen, the outlines a1 to
A procedure for selecting some of the contours to be processed from a8 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when the pointer 61 shown in FIG. 6 is moved on the display screen by operating the mouse of the input unit 1, for example, the contour a2 is designated as one of the objects of the editing process, The contour a2 is notified to the contour search unit 3 and the edit processing unit 4 via the editing content determination unit 2. In response to this, the edit processing unit 4 displays the contour a2 with a thick line (hereinafter referred to as highlight). Then, either the left button or the right button (not shown) attached to the mouse of the input unit 1 is pressed (step 20).
1).

Note that it is predetermined that pressing the left button retrieves another contour including the previously specified contour, and pressing the right button causes the contour to be specified earlier. It is predetermined to search for other included contours.

Here, if the left button of the mouse is pressed, that is, if it is instructed to search for another contour including the previously designated contour a2 (step 20)
2, YES), to that effect is notified to the contour search unit 3 via the edit content determination unit 2, and in response to this, the contour search unit 3 includes the contour a2 from the inclusion table in the inclusion table storage unit 7. Is searched for (step 203). Here, since there is the contour a1 as another relevant contour (step 20)
4, YES), the contour search unit 3 edits the contour contour a1 by the edit processing unit 4
To notify. That is, the contour search unit 3 searches for a portion corresponding to the contour a2 in the inclusion table shown in FIG.
The contour a1 including the contour a2 is calculated, and the contour a1 is notified to the edit processing unit 4. The edit processing unit 4 highlights the contour a1 as with the contour a2 as shown in FIG. 7 (step 205).

Accordingly, the contour a2 is made by the pointer 61.
The contour a2 and the contour a1 including the contour line can be selected as the target of the editing process by simply pressing the left button of the mouse while instructing.

Similarly, when the mouse of the input section 1 is operated, the outline is moved by the pointer 61 as shown in FIG.
If you specify a3 as one of the editing targets, this contour
a3 is highlighted. After that, when the right button attached to the mouse of the input unit 1 is pressed (step 201),
It is determined that the left button was not pressed (step 2
02, NO), and it is determined that the right button has been pressed (step 206, YES). Since the pressing of the right button has instructed to search for another contour included in the previously designated contour a3, in response to this, the contour search unit 3 causes the inclusion table in the inclusion table storage unit 7 to search. To search for another contour included in the contour a3 (step 207). Then, since there are contours a4 and a5 as other relevant contours (step 204, YES), the contour search unit 3 notifies the edit processing unit 4 of the contours a4 and a5. As shown in FIG. 9, the edit processing unit 4 highlights the contours a4 and a5 similarly to the contour a3 (step 205).

That is, by pointing the contour a3 by the pointer 61 and pressing the right button of the mouse, the contour a3 and the contours a4 and a5 included in the contour line are drawn.
Can be selected as a target of the editing process.

By operating the mouse of the input unit 1 in this way to designate one contour, and then pressing either the left button or the right button attached to the mouse, not only the designated contour but also the contour Other contours can be selected to be included or contained by the contour. Therefore, a plurality of contours that should be selected as the target of the editing process are not selected one by one, and an unnecessary contour is not selected.

In this way, when the contours having the mutual relation of inclusion are selected as the target of the editing process, these contours can be edited at once. That is, when an edit command for instructing any one of deletion, movement, copying, enlargement, reduction, transformation, etc. of a contour is input by operating the input unit 1, this edit command is edited through the edit content determination unit 2. The processing unit 4 is notified. The edit processing unit 4 collectively performs the edit processing corresponding to the edit command on each contour selected as the target of the edit processing. As a result, each contour is subjected to processing such as deletion, movement, copying, enlargement, reduction, and deformation on the display screen of the display unit 9.

In the above embodiment, when one contour is designated and the inclusion relation with this contour is designated, the portion corresponding to the contour in the inclusion table is searched and another contour having the inclusion relation is obtained. However, a part corresponding to the other contour in the inclusion table may be searched for another contour having the inclusion relationship, and these contours may be selected. If you do this,
Even if many contours have a multiple structure, these contours are
Can be selected at any time.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, 1
When one contour is specified, other contours having an inclusion relation with this contour are detected, and these contours are the targets of the editing process, so it is not necessary to select each contour to be edited one by one. Also, there is no need to select an extra contour.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a character editing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character configuration.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for detecting an inclusion relation of contours forming a character.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an inclusion table obtained as a result of the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for selecting some contours to be edited from among the contours forming a character.

FIG. 6 is a diagram used for explaining the process of the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram used for explaining the process of the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram used for explaining the process of the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram used for explaining the process of the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character configuration.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Input unit, 2 ... Editing content determination unit, 3 ... Contour search unit, 4
... edit processing unit, 5 ... contour information storage unit, 6 ... contour inclusion relation detection unit, 7 ... contour table storage unit, 8 ... display control unit, 9
… Display.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A character editing apparatus for displaying a character represented by combining a plurality of contours on a display screen and editing the character, a designating unit for designating one of the contours, and the designation. Detecting means for detecting another contour having an inclusion relation with the contour designated by the means, and editing means for editing together the contour designated by the designating means and the other contour detected by the detecting means. A character editing device comprising: