JPH07121338A - System for constructing gui - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the system for constructing the GUI capable of performing the accurate arrangement without any correction work by displaying a mesh on a master widget being constructed and displaying the attribute values of parts. CONSTITUTION:A mouse is moved while pushing a mouse button to decide the dimension of a top level 8. When the button is released, a top level 9 with mesh is displayed and the dimension is decided. Similarly, a slave widget 10 is prepared on the top level 9. In this case, the dimension of the slave widget and the position 10.1 are displayed. Thus, even when a complicated screen with many number of parts is prepared, the accurate screen can be constructed in a short time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is an alternative to programming an OSF / Motif widget that provides a high level GUI in the X window system which is the basic means for GUI (Graphical User Interface) of UNIX workstations. The present invention relates to a GU construction method that can be easily and visually developed while actually operating.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional GUI construction method, since the description is made by programming, there are problems that it takes a long time to learn the programming technique and it is difficult to make corrections / changes. On the other hand, GUI construction tools having various functions are currently on the market, and generally, a widget is arranged on a window, various attributes are added to the widget, and a source code is generated from the constructed GUI. It has such a function.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, since the parts of the screen to be created are arranged visually, they are not aligned when a plurality of parts are arranged, and the position coordinates and size are not aligned. There was a problem that the files that specify the attributes of each part had to be modified in order to arrange the values numerically.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a GUI construction method capable of performing an accurate layout without a modification work by displaying a mesh on a parent widget and displaying attribute values of parts. .

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the state of the mouse, such as the mouse button being pressed, the mouse button being released, or the mouse being moved, is detected and processed by event type. Sort out. When the mouse button is pressed, the position coordinates of the component are obtained. When the mouse button is released, a mesh is drawn in the component to facilitate the placement of child widgets. When the mouse is moved, it is possible to display the position coordinates of the component and the current size (width x height).

[0006]

According to the construction method of the present invention, since the drawing of the mesh and the position coordinates and sizes of the parts are displayed, the parts can be immediately and accurately arranged. Furthermore, since the work of modifying the attribute file is eliminated, it is possible to reduce the number of screen creation steps.

[0007]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be shown below.

The user shall use a GUI construction tool that allows the user to interactively lay out the user interface by defining the appearance of the application through menu selections.

First, the flow of development using the GUI construction tool will be shown.

In FIG. 1, a user 1 uses a keyboard 2 and a mouse 3 to display a CRT. Build a GUI using an editor on the display 4. As a result, the C source code 5 defining the parts and the resource file 6 defining the attributes are automatically generated. The processing corresponding to each component is defined by the user application 7.

All GUI-compatible applications are of a type that executes various processes triggered by an input (event) from the user. That is, an event such as a click or a key input is generated for a component on the screen, and the system takes a predetermined reaction in response to the event and performs the processing requested by the user (FIG. 2).

FIG. 3 shows an example of a GUI screen to be created. In addition to the screen configuration, the size and position of the parts must be designed. In the conventional method, it is necessary to create and modify the attribute file, but in the GUI construction method of the present invention, it is possible to confirm the attribute while creating the screen.

In FIG. 4, the user is a CRT. Place the cursor on the display at the position where you want to create a screen, hold down the mouse button and move the mouse, and then use the top level 8 as the parent widget of the screen you are creating.
Decide the size of. At this time, as shown in 8.1, the size of the part, that is, the width x size is displayed. Therefore, not only the visual size but also the actual size can be confirmed numerically and as designed. You can create parts with values.

When the size of the top level 8 is determined, the mouse button is released. Then, the top level 9 in which the mesh is drawn on the top level 8 is displayed.

Next, the child widget 10 is added to the top level 9.
To build. Similarly, place the cursor on the position where you want to create a part on the mesh, and move the mouse while pressing the mouse button to determine the size of the part that will be the child widget of the screen to be created. At this time 10.1
The size and position coordinates of the part, that is, width × height ± x ± y are displayed as shown in FIG. The position of the displayed child widget is the position based on the parent widget. The displayed value is updated at any time as the size and position of the part change.

Next, a specific example of event processing according to the present invention will be described.

In FIG. 5, when the mouse button is pressed on the top level which is the parent widget, an event that the mouse button is pressed occurs, and the system calls a function for checking the current position of the child widget. The function resides in a predefined library on the X Window System. If you move the mouse while holding down the mouse button, the event that the mouse has moved occurs, and the system calls a function to check the position and size of the widget being created. At this time, the size of the component is updated according to the mouse cursor, and the position coordinates and the value indicating the size are also updated. That is, the previous figure or character is erased, and a new figure or character is drawn. When the mouse button is released, the event that the mouse button is released occurs, and in response to this, the system determines the position and size of the child widget, and finishes updating the figure and character string. Also, when the widget being created is the top level that is the parent widget, the process of drawing a mesh in the widget is performed. That is, a function that draws a straight line is called. Regarding the start point coordinates and the end point coordinates of the line segment, it is possible to register the interval of the line segment determined by the user based on the size of the top level.

As described above, in the GUI construction tool,
By displaying the mesh on the parent widget and displaying the position coordinates and size of the parts, it is possible to visually perform the strict placement of the parts, and there is no need to modify the attribute file. You can significantly increase the sex.

[0019]

According to the present invention, since the mesh is displayed on the parent widget and the position coordinates and size of the parts are displayed, even if an attempt is made to create a complicated screen with a large number of parts, it will be accurate in a short time. There is an effect that you can build a different screen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a flow of development using a GUI construction tool.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an event-driven model.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of a GUI screen.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of event processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... User, 2 ... Keyboard, 3 ... Mouse, 4 ... CR
T. Display, 5 ... Parts, 6 ... Resource, 7 ... User application, 8 ... Parent widget, 9 ... Parent widget with mesh, 10 ... Child widget.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A GUI construction tool capable of interactively laying out a user interface by defining the appearance of an application such as icons and scroll bars by selection from a menu, and displaying a mesh while creating parts in a GUI screen. In addition, a function for displaying the position coordinates and the size of the part currently being created is provided.
UI construction method.