JPH0581271A - Word processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a word processor capable of improving its using procedure by continuously displaying help information even when sentence formation/ calibration is returned to an executable state after displaying the help information on a display screen. CONSTITUTION:The word processor 1 is constituted of a keyboard 2 provided with character keys 3, cursor moving keys 4, a help key 5, and a switching key 6, a liquid crystal display device 7 provided with a display screen 8 and a printing mechanism 9, and if the help key 5 is depressed when a document formed/calibrated by depressing various keys on the keyboard is displayed on the screen 8, help information is displayed on the upper half screen 8a or lower half screen 8b of the screen 8. When the switching key 6 is depressed under said status, a cursor is displayed on a document displayed on the residual half screen, so that the document can be formed/calibrated while observing the help information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a word processor having a display screen for displaying a sentence being created / proofed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of word processor, for example, a help key is provided on a keyboard as a help display means. With this configuration, when the user does not know how to use the various functions of the word processor and the like, when the help key is operated, help information is displayed on the display screen instead of the text being created or proofread. The help information includes various messages for specifically explaining the usage and contents of various functions and a guide message for selecting and displaying these various messages.

By appropriately responding to this guide message, a message explaining a function whose usage is unknown can be found and displayed on the display screen.

[0004]

In the above conventional configuration, when the help key is operated again while the help information is displayed on the display screen, the help information is created on the display screen instead of the help information.
The sentence being proofread is displayed and the state in which preparation and proofreading of the sentence can be executed is returned to. In this case, the help information disappears from the display screen, so if you forget the contents of the message, you have to operate the help key again, find the message you forgot and display it, which is quite inconvenient. There was a problem.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable the help information to continue to be displayed even after the help information is displayed on the display screen, and the text creation / proofreading can be executed again. It is to provide a word processor that can improve the.

[0006]

A word processor of the present invention is a word processor comprising a display screen for displaying a sentence being prepared / proofread, and a help display means for displaying help information in a partial area of the display screen. In addition to the above, the present invention is characterized in that a switching means is provided for enabling creation and proofreading of a sentence displayed in another area of the display screen while displaying the help information.

[0007]

According to the above means, when it is not possible to know how to use the various functions of the word processor, the help display means displays the help information in a partial area of the display screen,
It is possible to find a message explaining a function whose usage is unknown and display it on the display screen. By operating the switching means while this help information is displayed, it is possible to create and proofread the text displayed in other areas of the display screen while the message found above is displayed on the display screen. become. Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent forgetting the content of the message, and the usability is improved.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an English word processor will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 2 showing the overall schematic configuration, a keyboard 2 is provided in the front part of the main body 1 of the word processor. The keyboard 2 is provided with a character key 3 for inputting characters such as alphabed and symbols, a cursor movement key 4 for moving the cursor, a help key 5 as a help display means, and a switching key 6 as a switching means. It is set up.

A liquid crystal display device 7, for example, is arranged diagonally upward at the rear of the keyboard 2, and a rectangular display screen 8 is provided on the front surface of the liquid crystal display device 7. The display screen 8 is configured to display a plurality of lines, for example, 20 lines, which are being prepared and proofread.

A printing mechanism 9 having a well-known structure is provided behind the liquid crystal display device 7. The printing mechanism 9 will be briefly described. A platen 10 is rotatably provided on the rear portion of the main body 1.
0 is driven to rotate by a motor (not shown). A guide 11 is arranged in parallel to the front side of the platen 10, and a carriage 12 is provided on the guide 11 so as to be movable in the left-right direction. Carriage 12
Are driven by a motor (not shown).

On the carriage 12, the type wheel 1 is attached.
3, a print hammer 14, an ink ribbon cassette 15 and the like are provided. In this case, the type wheel 13 is rotated to align the type corresponding to the character data with the printing position,
Printing is performed by hitting the printed characters on the printing paper via the ink ribbon by the printing hammer 14.

On the other hand, in FIG. 3 showing the electrical configuration, the control device 16 includes a main CPU 17, a ROM 18 and a RAM.
19 and the like are connected by a bus 20. The main CPU 17 is a program memory area 1 of the ROM 18.
According to the control program stored in 8a, a data signal is input from the keyboard 2 or the like to drive and control the printing mechanism 9 and drive and control the display mechanism 21 having the liquid crystal display device 7.

Here, help information data is stored in the help memory area 18b of the ROM 18. R
The AM 19 includes an input buffer area 19a for storing data such as characters input from the keyboard 2, a text memory area 19b for storing a text edited based on the input data such as characters as a document file, and a help key. 5 is provided with a help flag area 19c for storing a help flag for determining whether the switch key 6 has been operated, a switch flag area 19d for storing a switch flag for determining whether the switch key 6 has been operated, and the like. There is.

The display mechanism 21 includes an interface 22, a display CPU 23, a character generator 24, a display controller 25, and a display RAM 2.
6, the liquid crystal display device 7 is connected by a bus 27. Here, the character generator 24
In the liquid crystal display device 7, for example, about 400 kinds of dot matrix display data for displaying a display image such as characters and symbols are stored in correspondence with the code data.

The display CPU 23 receives the control data and the character data output from the main CPU 17 via the interface 22, reads the corresponding display data from the character generator 24, and supplies the display data to the display controller 25. The display controller 25 displays the display data on the display RAM 26.
In addition to writing to, the display image corresponding to the display data is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 7.

The display CPU 23 receives the cursor position data output from the main CPU 17 through the interface 22 and displays the cursor at the designated position on the liquid crystal display device 7 through the display controller 25. It is configured.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. 1 (a)-(d),
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing various display modes displayed on a display screen 8 of the liquid crystal display device 7. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the control contents of the control program of the control device 16. In particular, the control function for displaying help information and the sentence creation / calibration with the help information displayed can be executed. 6 is a flowchart showing in detail each content of the control function to be performed. Hereinafter, this flowchart will be described.

First, when the word processor is powered on, initialization is performed (step S1). In this initialization, for example, the help flag and the switching flag are set to "off". Then, an edit screen for creating and proofreading a sentence is displayed on the display screen 8 of the liquid crystal display device 7 (step S2). In this state, various keys of the keyboard 2 are operated to create and proofread a sentence. Specifically, in the state of waiting for key input in step S3,
If there is a key input, the process proceeds to "YES" in step S3, and the process according to the key input is performed.

In this case, if any key other than the help key 5 and the switching key 6 is operated, "Y" is selected in step S3.
Since the help flag is not "ON" now, the process proceeds to "NO" in step S4, and further proceeds to "NO" in steps S5 and S6. Then, processing according to the function of the input key is executed (step S7). This will create and proofread the text,
A sentence and a cursor are displayed on the display screen 8 as shown in FIG. Here, the cursor is indicated by a rectangular hatched area for one character.

If the user does not understand how to use the various functions of the word processor during the preparation and proofreading of a sentence, the help key 5 is operated to display a partial area of the display screen 8, for example. Upper half screen 8
The help information is displayed on the screen a of the lower part a or the lower half of the screen, a message explaining a function whose usage is unknown is found, and the message is displayed on the display screen 8a or 8b.

Specifically, when the help key 5 is pressed while the display screen 8 is shown in FIG. 1A, the process proceeds to "YES" in step S3, and the help flag is not "ON". , Proceeds to “NO” in step S4, and further proceeds to “YES” in step S5. Since the help flag is not "on", the process proceeds to "NO" at step S8 to set the help flag to "on" (step S).
9). Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1B, the cursor is erased from the display screen 8 (step S10), and the help information is displayed on the upper half display screen 8a (step S10).
11). Here, the lower half of the display screen 8b displays the text being created / corrected.

In this case, since the cursor is located in the lower half of the display screen 8 in the screen state before displaying the help information, the help information is displayed on the upper half display screen 8a. .. Therefore, when the cursor is located in the upper half of the display screen 8, the help information is displayed on the lower half of the display screen 8b.

The help information includes various messages for specifically explaining the usage and contents of various functions, and a guide message for selecting and displaying these various messages. Therefore, in the state shown in FIG. 1B, by operating the various keys of the keyboard 2 and appropriately responding to the above guide message, a message explaining a function whose usage is unknown can be found, and the message can be displayed. It is displayed on the display screen 8a.

Specifically, when various keys of the keyboard 2 are operated in the state shown in FIG. 1 (b), the process proceeds to "YES" in step S3 and the help flag is "ON". In S4, proceed to "YES". Since the switching flag is not "ON" now, "NO" in step S12.
Then, the process proceeds to "NO" in steps S13 and S14. If the key input is effective for responding to the guide message, step S15
Then, the process proceeds to "YES", and a message is appropriately displayed on the display screen 8a according to the key input (step S1).
6).

If it is determined in step S15 that the key input is not effective for responding to the guide message, the process proceeds to "NO" in step S15 to notify that the key input is an error, for example, by sounding a buzzer. At the same time, error processing for invalidating the key input is performed (step S17).

Now, while the message found as described above is displayed on the display screen 8a, the display screen 8b is displayed.
When it is desired to create and proofread the text displayed in, the switch key 6 is pressed in the screen state shown in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1C, the display screen 8
The cursor is displayed at b, and the sentence displayed on the display screen 8b can be created and proofread.

Specifically, when the switching key 6 is operated in the state shown in FIG. 1 (b), "YES" in step S3.
Since the help flag is "ON", the process proceeds to "YES" in step S4. Now, the switching flag is "on"
Therefore, the process proceeds to “NO” in step S12, further proceeds to “NO” in step S13, and proceeds to “YES” in step S14.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1C, the cursor is displayed on the display screen 8b (step S1).
8), set the switching flag to "ON" (step S1)
9). As a result, by operating the various keys of the keyboard 2 while the help information is still displayed on the display screen 8a, the text displayed on the display screen 8b can be created.
Calibration can be performed.

Further, in the screen state shown in FIG. 1C, when it is desired to change the content of the help information displayed on the display screen 8a, that is, instead of the message displayed on the display screen 8a, a different function is used. When it is desired to find the message corresponding to, the switch key 6 is operated to bring the display screen 8 into the state shown in FIG. 1 (b). Then, in this state, various keys of the keyboard 2 are operated to appropriately respond to the guide message of the help information, thereby finding a message corresponding to a different function and displaying the message on the display screen 8a.

Specifically, when the switching key 6 is operated in the screen state shown in FIG. 1 (c), "Y" is displayed in step S3.
Since the help flag is "on", the process proceeds to "YES" in step S4. Then, since the switching flag is "ON", "YES" in step S12.
Then, the process proceeds to “NO” in step S5 and further to “YES” in step S6.

Since the help flag is "on", the process proceeds to "YES" at step S20 to set the switching flag to "off" (step S21), and as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the cursor is erased from the display screen 8b (step S22). As a result, by operating various keys of the keyboard 2, a message corresponding to a different function is searched from the help information and the display screen 8 is displayed.
can be displayed in a.

Next, when it is desired to return from the screen states shown in FIGS. 1 (b) and 1 (c) to the screen for making / correcting a normal sentence, the help key 5 is operated to operate the screen shown in FIG.
Return to the screen state shown in (d), that is, the screen for creating and proofreading a normal sentence (the same screen state as in FIG. 1A). First,
The case of returning from the screen state shown in FIG. 1B will be specifically described.

In this case, in the screen state shown in FIG.
When the help key 5 is operated, "YE
Since the help flag is "ON" in step S4, the process proceeds to "YES" in step S4, and the process proceeds to "NO" in step S12 because the switching flag is not "on". Then, in step S13, the process proceeds to "YES" to set the help flag to "off" (step S2).
3) The help information is deleted from the display screen 8 (step S24).

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1D, the text being prepared and proofread is displayed on the display screen 8 and the cursor is displayed (step S25). As a result, the sentence displayed on the display screen 8 can be created and proofread.

The case of returning from the screen state shown in FIG. 1C will be specifically described. In this case,
When the help key 5 is operated in the screen state shown in (c), the process proceeds to "YES" in step S3, and since the help flag is "on", the process proceeds to "YES" in step S4, and further, Since the switching flag is "ON", the process proceeds to "YES" in step S12. Then, step S5
, Go to "YES", and the help flag is "ON".
Therefore, the process proceeds to “YES” in step S8. Subsequently, both the help flag and the switching flag are set to "OFF" (step S26), and the help information is deleted from the display screen 8 (step S27).

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1 (d), the text being prepared / corrected is displayed on the display screen 8 and the cursor is displayed (step S28). As a result, the sentence displayed on the display screen 8 can be created and proofread.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 1A, when the switching key 6 is operated in a normal screen state in which a sentence is created and proofread, a process of notifying that the key input is an error I do. Specifically, when the switching key 6 is operated in the screen state shown in FIG. 1A, "Y" is displayed in step S3.
Since the help flag is not "ON", the process proceeds to "NO" in step S4. Then, step S5
In step S6, proceed to "NO".
Go to "S".

Here, since the help flag is not "ON", the process proceeds to "NO" in step S20 to notify that the operation of the switching key 6 is in error by, for example, sounding a buzzer and inputting the key. Error processing for invalidation is performed (step S29).

According to this embodiment having such a structure, the help key 5 is operated to display the help information on the screen 8a in the upper half of the display screen 8, and the help information is displayed while the help information is displayed. By operating the key 6, while the help information is still displayed on the display screen 8a, the text displayed on the lower half screen 8b, which is another area of the display screen 8, is created and calibrated. You can Therefore, since it is possible to create and proofread a sentence while looking at the contents of the message, it is possible to reliably prevent forgetting the contents of the message and improve usability.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention is provided with help display means for displaying help information in a partial area of the display screen, and in the state where the help information is displayed, another area of the display screen is displayed. Since the configuration is provided with a switching means that enables the creation and proofreading of the text displayed on the screen, even after the help information is displayed on the display screen, the text creation and proofreading can be returned to an executable state. , The help information can be continuously displayed, and the excellent effect of improving usability can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention and showing various display modes of a display screen.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view

FIG. 3 is a block diagram.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a control program (No. 1)

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a control program (No. 2)

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a main body, 2 is a keyboard, 5 is a help key (help display means), 6 is a switching key (switching means), 7 is a liquid crystal display device, 8 is a display screen, 9 is a printing mechanism, 16 is a control device, and 21 is The display mechanism is shown.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A word processor comprising a display screen for displaying a sentence being created / proofread, a help display unit for displaying help information in a partial area of the display screen, and a state in which the help information is displayed, A word processor, comprising: a switching unit that enables execution / creation of a sentence displayed in another area of the display screen.