JPH06348449A - Document preparing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve operability up to the selection of an icon by specifying an icon registering position. CONSTITUTION:A system registering part 55 registers icon information, program information and a program stored in a substitutive external storage medium such as a system floppy set up in an external storage device 3 in an external storage device 4. In this case, an icon display position displayed on an icon menu display is specified as an icon registering position. Preferably a switching means for switching the automatic allocation of an icon registering position and its allocation based upon specification and a switching means for switching whether the automatic change of a registering position for a registered icon is possible or not are prepared. An icon memnu display part 56 displays the icon registered in the device 4 on a display device 2 through a display control part 53, receives a user's request inputted from an input part 1 through an input control part 51 and starts a corresponding function, e.g. a document edition part 52.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an icon registration function for selecting a function in a document creation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional word processor has a function of expressing a function as an icon, a function of registering an icon, a function of displaying a registered icon, and a function of changing a registered position of the registered icon.

[0003]

Since the number of icons that can be displayed on one screen is fixed by the system, if the number of registered icons increases, all the icons cannot be displayed on one screen, and the registered icons will be registered where. There is a problem that it is difficult to understand. Further, if the screens are registered after the second screen, it is necessary to switch the screen display, and the number of operation steps for icon selection increases, which causes a problem of poor operability.

Further, when it is desired to change the registered position of the registered icon, it is necessary to perform an operation of changing the registered position of the icon after registering the icon, which is inferior in operability.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a document creating apparatus which can improve the operability up to icon selection by making it possible to specify the registration position of the icon.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above-mentioned object is means for designating the display position of an icon displayed in an icon menu display as an icon registration position at the time of icon registration,
This is achieved by means for switching between automatic allocation of icon registration positions and allocation by designation, and means for switching whether or not to automatically change the icon registration position for registered icons.

[0007]

[Operation] When the "assignment by designation" is designated by the means for switching the icon registration position automatically or by assigning it, the display position of the icon displayed in the icon display is set as the icon registration position at the time of icon registration. Register at the icon registration position designated by the designating means.

When "automatic allocation" is designated, the system automatically allocates and registers icon registration positions.

If "automatic change is possible" is designated by the means for switching whether or not the icon registration position can be automatically changed, and if another icon is designated to be registered for the already registered icon registration position, Change the registration position of the registered icon and register it at the specified icon registration position.

When the icon is designated to be registered at the icon registration position where the icon is already registered in the "automatic change impossible" state, the registration is not possible.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an icon registration process, FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an icon registration condition changing process, FIG. 3 is a structural example of a document creating apparatus in which the present invention is applied to a word processor, and FIG. 4 is an icon management table. One configuration example, FIG. 5 is a configuration example of the icon condition setting table, and FIG. 6 is a configuration example of the icon registration condition changing screen.

In FIG. 3, 1 is an input unit such as a keyboard for inputting sentences and commands, 2 is a display unit such as a CRT display for displaying characters, figures and the like, 3
Is an external storage device for reading and writing an exchangeable storage medium such as a floppy disk, 4 is a non-exchangeable built-in large capacity external storage device such as a fixed disk, and 6 is a storage portion of a semiconductor memory.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a control unit such as a microprocessor for controlling the above-mentioned respective units, which is an input control unit 51, a document editing unit 52, a display control unit 53, a file management unit 54, a system registration unit 55, an icon menu display unit. It is composed of 56 etc.

The respective parts constituting the control section will be described below.

The input control unit 51 transfers the input data input by the user via the input unit 1 to the document editing unit 52.

The document editing unit 52 edits a new document,
The document stored in the external storage device 3 and the external storage device 4 is updated.

The display control unit 53 displays characters, figures, etc. on the display unit 2 in response to display requests from the document editing unit 52 and the microcomputer menu display unit 56.

The file management unit 54 includes an external storage device 3,
Processing such as reading data from files in 4 and writing data to files is performed.

Since the details of the processing of the file management unit 54 are widely realized by the OS installed in a personal computer, a workstation, etc., no particular explanation will be given here.

The system registration unit 55 stores icon information, program information, and the like stored in a replaceable external storage medium such as a system floppy set in the external storage device 3.
The program is registered in the external storage device 4.

The icon menu display unit 56 displays the icons registered in the external storage device 4 on the display device 2 by using the display control 53, receives the user's request from the input unit through the input control unit 51, and receives the corresponding function. For example, the document editing unit 52 is activated.

FIG. 4 is a structural example of an icon management table for managing registered icons, which is composed of an icon position table (4-1) and an icon data table (4-2). The icon position table corresponds to the icon display position on the icon menu display screen and stores the corresponding icon table number. It is assumed that the initial state is set from the top of the icon position table in ascending order of icon table numbers. The icon data table is
The number of registrable numbers is secured from the icon 1, and each icon is composed of icon information such as icon registration / non-registration, icon pattern, icon name, etc. The initial state is all unregistered. In the present embodiment, an example in which the icon management table is secured in the external storage device 4 will be described.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of an icon condition setting table, which is composed of an icon registration position allocation condition and an icon registration position automatic change permission / prohibition condition. The icon registration position allocation condition is a table that specifies whether the system automatically allocates the icon registration position or allocates it by user designation, and the initial state is "automatic allocation". The icon registration position automatic change availability condition is valid when the allocation condition of the icon registration position is "assignment by specification", and is a table that specifies whether the registration position of the already registered icon can be automatically changed.
The initial state is “automatically changeable”. In this embodiment, an example in which the icon condition setting table is secured in the external storage device 4 will be described.

Next, the procedure for changing the icon registration condition in the system registration section 55 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the icon registration condition changing process is activated, the icon registration changing condition type is input from the input unit 1 via the input control unit 51 (201). After (201)
It is checked whether the icon registration change condition type is "icon registration position allocation condition" (202), and if it is "icon registration position allocation condition", the icon registration position allocation condition mode is input from the input unit 1 via the input control unit 51. (20
3). After (203), the icon registration position allocation condition data is read from the external storage device 4 into the storage unit 6 via the file management unit 54 (204). After (204), the icon registration position allocation condition data is changed to the mode acquired in (203) (205). After (205), the icon registration position allocation condition data in the storage unit 6 is written to the external storage device 4 via the file management unit 54 (206), and the icon registration condition changing process is terminated.

In the check of (202), if the icon registration change condition type is "icon registration position automatic change availability condition", the icon registration position automatic change availability condition mode is input from the input unit 1 via the input control unit 51 ( 20
7). After (207), the icon registration position automatic changeability condition data is read from the external storage device 4 into the storage unit 6 via the file management unit 54 (208). After (208)
Icon registration position automatic change availability condition data (203)
It is changed to the mode acquired in (209). After (209)
The storage unit 6 is stored in the external storage device 4 via the file management unit 54.
The icon registration position automatic change permission / inhibition condition data is written (210), and the icon registration condition change process is terminated. A screen display example of the icon registration condition change processing procedure of FIG. 2 is shown in FIG.
Will be described in detail. 6-1 is an example of an icon registration change condition type input screen, and there are types of “icon registration position allocation condition” and “icon registration position automatic change permission / inhibition condition”. 6-2 is an example of an input screen for icon registration position allocation conditions, and there are modes of "automatic allocation" and "allocation by designation". 6-3 is an example of the input screen of the condition for automatically changing icon registration position, and there are modes of "automatic change possible" and "automatic change impossible". The input of the type and mode is realized by pressing the numeric keypad, the numeric keypad, the cursor key, or the like assigned to the input unit 1 via the input control unit 51.

Next, the icon registration processing procedure in the system registration section 55 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The icon registration process operates assuming that the icon of the registration request is not registered in the icon management table in the external storage device 4. In the case of re-registering the icon, the icon registration process is started in a state where the icon data for the re-registration request icon in the external storage device 4 is "unregistered".

The icon registration process is performed by the file management unit 54.
The icon management table and the icon registration condition table are read from the external storage device 4 into the storage unit 6 via (10).
1).

After (101), it is checked whether the icon registration position assignment condition is "assignment by user designation" (1
02), if the icon registration position allocation condition is "allocation by user designation", the icon registration position is input from the input unit 1 via the input control unit 51 (103). After (103), it is checked whether the user-specified icon registration position is an unregistered area (104). If it is not an unregistered area, it is checked whether the icon registration position automatic change permission condition is "automatic change allowed" (105). ). If the result of the check in (105) is "automatic change is possible", the process of moving the icon registration position is performed (106). In the movement process of the icon registration position, an unregistered area is searched from the registration request position of the icon position table in the screen display order of the icon menu, and if there is no unregistered area, “unmovable” is returned as the end code. If there is an unregistered area, move the icon data table number of the area before the unregistered area from the registration request position in the icon position table by one toward the unregistered area, and unregister it in the registration request icon position table. Set the icon data table number of the area and return "move complete" as the end code.

After (106), the icon registration position can be moved, and it is checked whether or not the user-specified icon position has become an unregistered area (107). The icon registration position can be moved and the user-specified icon position can be changed. If it becomes an unregistered area, the icon data is registered (1
08). The registration process of the icon data is a process of writing the icon information such as “registration present”, the icon name for the icon of the registration request, the icon pattern, etc. in the icon data table in the external storage device 4 via the file management unit 54.

After (108), the end code is set to "normal" (109), and the process ends.

In the check of (107), if the icon registration position cannot be moved and the user-specified icon position cannot be set in the unregistered area, it is determined that registration is impossible, and (1
The process moves to 12), the end code is set to "registration impossible", and the process ends.

If the condition of whether or not the icon registration position can be automatically changed is "automatic change not possible" in the check of (105), (1
The process proceeds to 12), the end code is set to "registration impossible", and the process ends.

In the check in (104), if the icon registration position designated by the user is the unregistered area, the process proceeds to the icon data registration process in (108).

When the icon registration position allocation condition is "automatic allocation" in the check of (102), it is searched whether or not there is an unregistered area in the icon management table (11).
0). The unregistered area search process in the icon management table is a process of checking whether the corresponding icon data table (4-2) in order from the head of the icon position table (4-1) is unregistered.

After (110), it is checked whether or not there is an unregistered area in the icon management table (11
1) If there is an unregistered area in the icon management table, transition to (108) and register an icon in the searched unregistered area.

When there is no unregistered area in the icon management table by checking (111), (11
The process proceeds to 2), the end code is set to "registration impossible", and the process ends.

Although the icon management table and the icon registration condition setting table are allocated to the external storage device 4 in this embodiment, they may be allocated to the storage unit 6.

In this embodiment, when the user does not need to be aware of the registration position of the icon, the initial state is "automatic allocation". Therefore, a means for switching the icon registration position between automatic allocation and allocation by designation. By this, the system automatically allocates the icon registration position without specifying the "automatic allocation", so that the same operability as in the conventional technique can be secured and the operability is not deteriorated.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It has the following effects.

(1) The user can specify the registration position of the icon by the icon registration position selecting means, and the operation of moving the icon registration position after the icon registration becomes unnecessary, and the operability of icon selection is improved.

Particularly, when the icon is designated at the head of the icon registration position, the number of operation steps up to icon selection can be minimized, and the operability is further improved.

(2) Since the registration position of the icon can be specified at the time of registering the icon, it is not necessary to change the icon registration position after the icon registration, and the operability is improved.

(3) When the user does not need to be aware of the registration position of the icon, the system can be designated by specifying "automatic allocation" by means of switching between automatic allocation of the icon registration position and allocation by designation. Allows you to automatically assign the icon registration position, which does not impair operability.

(4) When the user is aware of the registration position of the already registered icon, the user is already registered by designating "unchangeable" by the automatic change prohibition / prohibition canceling means of the icon registration position. It is possible to prohibit changing the registered position of the icon that is present, and the operability is not adversely affected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of icon registration processing of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of an icon registration condition changing process of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an icon management table.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an icon condition setting table.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an icon registration condition change screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Input unit, 2 ... Display device, 3 ... External storage device, 4 ... External storage device, 5 ... Control unit, 6 ... Storage unit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a document creation apparatus having a function of expressing a function as an icon, a function of registering the icon, and a function of displaying the registered icon as an icon menu, the display position of the icon displayed in the icon menu is displayed as an icon. A document creating apparatus comprising means for designating as an icon registration position at the time of registration. 2. The document creating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for switching whether to automatically assign icon registration positions or assign them by designation. 3. The document creating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for switching whether or not to automatically change the icon registration position for an already registered icon.