JPH0546722A - Method for inputting graphic data - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the number of items in an operation method which are to be previously memorized in graphic definition as much as possible and to input data having less operation frequency in practical operation by displaying candidates for the determination of the value of a graphic element variable having high probability and an integrating method to an already formed two-dimensional shape on a screen until the obtained candidate coincides with an operator's purpose. CONSTITUTION:When a rubber band circular cursor 4 is allowed to contact with a graphic 23 consisting of a two-dimensional shape already plotted on a display by various methods, a semicircle 19, rounding 20, a full circle 21, or a contacting circle 22 is automatically selected as a specified graphic for the graphic 23. Two candidates for the semicircle 19 exist, and if a semicircle different from a candidate specified by a system is selected, a user requests the succeeding selection. In addition, the selected circle, a candidate for the integrating method to a two-dimensional shape and various drawings are displayed and a candidate matched with an operator's purpose is selected. Thereby it is unnecessary for the operator to memorize many menu functions and the operability of the system can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a man-machine interface technology in a graphic processing system, and particularly CAD (Computer Aided) mainly for drawing drawing.
Design) to improve the shape definition operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The conventional two-dimensional shape definition is described in, for example, "Mitsubishi Engineering Workstation ME Series MELCAD-MD ⁺ Operation Manual", Material No. T6-S.
As shown in R01-47A <06A0> September 20, 1990, publishing company; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Computer Manufacturing Co., Ltd., graphic elements such as circles and straight lines are subdivided by variables that determine the shape. A method has been used in which a defining means such as a circle or a straight line that is suitable for the shape definition to be selected is selected and the shape defining operation is advanced.

The prior art will be described with an example of creating a circle. FIG. 8 shows a man-machine interface when the user makes a two-dimensional definition. Reference numeral 1 is a display screen of the graphic display device, 2 is a menu, and 3 is a cursor. Further, it is assumed that one circle, two line segments and one point have already been created on the display screen 1 as shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 2 in FIG. 9A shows the contents of the menu so that they can be read. In this way, when defining a circle, there are middle items such as circles and tangent circles, and for each middle item, there are small items such as center radius and three elements, and the user must select one of these. I have to.

For example, FIG. 9B shows three elements, a circle,
It shows how to define a circle that touches two tangents. First, the “3 elements” of the menu 2 is designated by the cursor 3. Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, the cursor 3 is used to point at each graphic element with which the circle is in contact. As a result,
The circle shown in (b) is defined.

FIGS. 10 (a), 10 (b), and 10 (c) show an example of defining a circle by designating two elements at which the circle passing point and the circle are in contact. "2 elements" of the menu shown in FIG. 9 (a)
Is designated by using the cursor 3, and then the passing point and the two elements in contact are designated by the cursor as shown in FIG. 10, a circle is created.

FIG. 11 shows an example of creating a circle by designating one element where the center point of the circle is in contact with the circle. In the same way as the above description, from menu 2 in FIG.
Is selected, and the cursor 3 is used to indicate the center of the circle and the element with which the circle is in contact.

[0008]

Conventionally, as shown in the example of defining a circle, when defining a figure, there are many menus subdivided by the method of determining the shape, and the operation is performed using the cursor. Many times. For this reason, it is difficult to learn the functions of the individual menus and the operating means that are frequently used, and it is often necessary to refer to the manual. As a result, it took many days to learn how to use it.

An object of the present invention is to obtain a data input method in which the number of operation method items to be remembered in advance in the graphic definition is as small as possible and the number of operation operations is small in actual operation.

[0010]

According to the method of inputting graphic data according to the present invention, a graphic element identifier is a kind of a circle or a straight line, and the identifier and the location of the graphic element are indicated on the display screen so that the vicinity of the indication point is reduced. From the relationship between the graphic elements already defined in and the graphic elements specified above, and the shape definition operation process,
After presenting the candidates for the numerical values of the variables of the graphic elements with a high possibility and the method of incorporating the designated graphic elements to the already created two-dimensional shape on the display surface, if the intention is different, the next candidate is re-presented. is there.

Further, the graphic data input method according to the second aspect of the present invention is more likely to use the candidate selection process in determining the numerical values of the variables of the graphic elements and the candidate selection of the method of incorporating into the already created two-dimensional shape. When a change in high candidate order is detected,
The candidate order is dynamically changed according to the possibility.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, from the relationship between the graphic element already defined in the vicinity of the designated place and the designated graphic element and the temporal transition of the shape definition operation process, the variable of the graphic element having a high possibility is determined. The candidates for the numerical determination and the method of incorporating into the already created two-dimensional shape are displayed on the screen until they match the intention of the operator.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, if a more probable change in the candidate order is found in the candidate selection process of the embedding method, the candidate order is dynamically changed according to the probability. Replace with.

[0014]

【Example】

Example 1. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the configuration of the present invention. Four
Is a rubber band circle cursor, 5 is an arithmetic unit, 6 is a memory, 7 is an auxiliary memory, 8 is a bus, 9 is an input / output control unit,
10 is a graphic display, 11 is a mouse, 12
Is the keyboard.

First, the operation of this system will be described with reference to FIGS. Next, the program operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. A program for performing the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.
Are stored in and are operated by the arithmetic unit 5.

The rubber band circle cursor shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the radius and the position on the display screen 1 can be continuously changed by operating the mouse 11 or the like.
Many workstations already support this, and you can use them.

For ease of explanation, the same examples as those shown in FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 10 and FIG. FIG. 3 shows this operation method corresponding to the conventional example. The correspondence is shown below. 9 (b) and FIG. 3 (a), FIG. 10 (a) and FIG.
(B), FIG. 10 (b) and FIG. 3 (c), FIG. 10 (c) and FIG. 3 (d), FIG. 11 (a) and FIG. 3 (e), FIG. 11 (b) and FIG. ), FIG. 11 (c) and FIG. 3 (g) correspond to the conventional definition method and the method of this embodiment, respectively.

As the operation method, as shown in FIG. 3, the radius is increased so that the circle for which the rubber band circle cursor 4 is to be formed has an intersection with the graphic element in contact, or the position on the display screen 1 is moved. If it is OK, the intention of confirmation is transmitted to the system by clicking the button of the mouse 11 or the like. When the passing points and the center of the circle are designated, those points are included in the rubber band circle cursor 4 as shown in FIG.

The specific processing flow is shown in the flow charts of FIGS. This process does not include the part that actually calculates the radius and position of the circle. This is because this process can be achieved if the system automatically activates the small items of menu 2 shown in FIG. 9A. Therefore, the process ends by activating the menu as shown at 15 in FIG.

The independent points in 13 of FIG. 4 are points existing independently of line segments and arcs, as shown in FIG. In CAD (Computer Aided Design), such an independent point may be created. If many independent points are simultaneously selected inside the rubber band circle cursor 4, or if there are no independent points, the processing for the points is 1
It is performed in the process S100 shown in FIG. The flowchart of the process S100 is shown in FIG. When there are many independent points as shown in the flow of FIG. 5, they are sequentially presented to the user as candidate points.

In this process, the number of graphic elements selected by the rubber band circle cursor 4 is one clue to the process branch, as shown at 13. In the case shown in FIG. 6A, the straight line is divided into two by the intersection. But the number of elements is 2
Let's do it. So a continuous straight line is one element. Figure 6
In the case of (b), there are 5 elements, and the processing of 14 in FIG. 4 is required. However, even if a straight line (line segment) having a length equal to or less than Δε shown in FIG. 6B is included in the rubber band circle cursor 4, the straight line (or line segment) is not counted as an element. When set, the graphic element 2 is shown in FIG.

It should be noted that the arithmetic operation in the arithmetic unit 5 is always accompanied by an error, and the processing is delicate whether or not the rubber band circle cursor 4 and the graphic element have an intersection, but in this case, a candidate with a high possibility is used first. If the intention is different, the next candidate is presented. If a more likely candidate order is found from this candidate selection process, the order is determined according to the probability.

Example 2. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the circle is in contact with another graphic element. FIG. 7 shows an example in which the semicircle 19, rounding 20, full circle 21, or tangent circle 22 is automatically selected. In the case of the semicircle 19, there are two candidates, so when the user wants to select a different semicircle from the candidates shown by the system, the user requests the next selection.

These branches from 19 to 22 are determined by the relationship between the already drawn graphic 23 and the rubber band circle cursor 4. That is, when there is no circle or figure in the inner area of the rubber band circle cursor 21, there are cases where the area is divided into about two by straight lines (or line segments), and there are other graphic elements in only a part of the area. The case is 22 and the case where there is an intersection in the area is 20.

[0025]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the numerical values of the variables of the graphic elements having a high possibility of being determined and the candidates for the method of incorporating the variables into the already created two-dimensional shape are displayed until they match the intention of the operator. By using the table, it is not necessary to learn the functions of many menus in creating a shape, the operation procedure becomes easy, and a man-machine interface that is easy to learn and easy to use can be obtained.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, if a more probable change in the candidate limb is found in the candidate selection process of the embedding method, the candidate limb is dynamically changed according to the probability. By replacing with, the number of shape definition operations decreases,
The operation time can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a system for realizing a graphic data input method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of a rubber band circle cursor in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation example of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a program control operation for carrying out the graphic data input method in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a program control operation for implementing the graphic data input method in the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating graphic element selection.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a conventional graphic data input method.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation example of a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation example of a conventional example.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation example of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Graphic display screen 4 Rubber band circle cursor 5 Arithmetic device 6 Main memory 7 Auxiliary memory 17 Line segment 19 When semi-circle is selected 20 When rounding is selected 21 When whole circle is selected 22 Connected circle When selected 23 Existing figure

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An input method for a computer of a two-dimensional shape configured by connecting two-dimensional graphic elements such as arcs and line segments, the graphic element identifier is a kind of circle or straight line, and the identifier and its location are set. By instructing the display screen,
The relationship between the graphic elements already defined in the vicinity of the designated location and the above-mentioned designated graphic elements, and the numerical values of the variables of the graphic elements that are highly probable from the shape definition operation process, and the designated graphic to the already created two-dimensional shape. A method for inputting graphic data, characterized in that after presenting a candidate for a method of incorporating an element on the display surface, if the intention is different, the next candidate is presented again. 2. In determining numerical values of variables of a graphic element and selecting a candidate for a method of incorporating into a two-dimensional shape already created,
2. The graphic data input method according to claim 1, wherein when a change in a candidate order having a higher possibility is detected in the candidate selection process, the candidate order is dynamically changed according to the possibility.