JPH07262258A - Graphic processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a graphic processor which can easily and precisely designate a position at the time of arranging a graphic and a character. CONSTITUTION:A grid-shaped auxiliary line is displayed on the screen of a display unit 13 executing plotting work. When a coordinate is inputted by using a mouse 15 (point designation), the coordinate of a grid point in a position nearest to a point designated by the mouse 15 is calculated. The calculated coordinate is used for a graphic processing as the inputted coordinate. Thus, coordinate input satisfying a prescribed condition can be executed even if the position of a mouse cursor is not finely adjusted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a graphic processing device, and more particularly to a graphic processing device for interactively drawing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A drawing operation in a graphic processing apparatus is performed by repeatedly selecting a graphic (character) element and designating a position where the selected graphic element is to be arranged. An apparatus using (cursor key) and an apparatus using a pointing device such as a mouse are known.

In the graphic processing apparatus, a cursor whose position changes according to the pressing of a key or the movement of the mouse is provided on the screen, and the drawing operator moves the cursor position to a desired position. , Specify the position to place the figure. Since the cursor moving speed at the time of such processing is faster when a mouse is used, currently in commercially available graphic processing devices, a device that specifies a position using a mouse is mainstream. .

[0004]

As described above, the graphic processing apparatus is configured to specify the position where the graphic is to be arranged, using the cursor displayed on the screen. Then, the following problems occurred when specifying the position.

For example, in the drawing process, there is a case where it is desired to specify a point displayed on the screen and having the same height as a certain point. In such a case, in the conventional image processing device,
It was necessary to display the cursor at the same height as that point, and the mouse had to be finely moved on the desk in order to display the cursor at a desired position. In addition, the designated point may not be at the desired position, which makes it difficult to input specific coordinates using the mouse.

[0006] Further, although the normal graphic processing device is constructed so that the display magnification of the image displayed on the screen can be changed, when the position is designated with a different display magnification, the resolution of the position input by the mouse is reduced. Since it changes according to the display magnification, even if the dots have the same height on the screen, they may be printed as points having slightly different heights in the print result.

A similar problem occurs when arranging a character string. For example, in drawing work, it may be necessary to add a new character string after the character string that has already been placed. It was often the case that print results with slightly different heights were obtained.

As a technique for facilitating the arrangement of characters, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-52871 discloses a character partition grid corresponding to the size of characters on the screen and assists in drawing. Techniques such as using as a line have been proposed. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-1947076 discloses that
In order to facilitate the work of arranging the character string in the graphic symbol, a graphic processing device having a function of detecting the boundary of the graphic symbol and a function of arranging the character string within the boundary has been proposed. These techniques can make the operation easy with respect to a specific drawing process, but cannot solve the above-mentioned problems that occur during position designation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a graphic processing apparatus which can easily and accurately specify the position when arranging a graphic or a character.

[0010]

The invention according to claim 1 is
(A) Display device for displaying figures, (b) Pointing device for specifying points on the screen of this display device, and (c) Designation of the grid format used as auxiliary lines during drawing work. (D) display means for displaying on the screen of the display device a grid of the format designated by this format designating means, and (e) a grid point constituting the grid, designated by a pointing device. The grid point searching means for searching the grid point closest to the point and (f) the coordinate recognizing means for considering the coordinates of the grid point searched by the grid point searching means as the coordinates defining the arrangement position of the figure are provided.

That is, according to the first aspect of the invention, a grid serving as an auxiliary line at the time of drawing is displayed on the screen of the display device, and the coordinates of the grid point closest to the point designated by the pointing device are displayed as a graphic By configuring the graphic processing device so as to be used as the information for defining the arrangement position of, the position designation when arranging the graphic can be performed easily and accurately.

The display means displays a grid according to the format of the grid designated by the format designating means on the screen of the display device, and the grid point searching means is designated by a pointing device such as a mouse or a light pen. By calculating the distance between the point and a grid point located around it, the grid point closest to the point is searched. The coordinate recognizing means regards the coordinates of the searched grid point as the coordinates defining the arrangement position of the figure. As a result, the pointing device is used as a device for selecting and designating one point from a point group (coordinate group) satisfying a certain condition, and it is easy to adjust the positional relationship of the graphic placed on the screen. You will be able to.

According to a second aspect of the invention, (a) a display device for displaying a graphic, (b) a pointing device for designating a point on the screen of the display device, and (c).
The input means for inputting the character string to be arranged on the screen of the display device, (d) the format designating means for designating the format of the grid which is an auxiliary line at the time of drawing work, and (e) Display means for displaying a grid of a specified format on the screen of the display device; and (f) grid point searching means for searching for a grid point closest to the point specified by the pointing device from the grid points forming the grid. (G) character string arranging means for arranging the character string input by the input means one character by one character at a grid point interval in a predetermined direction from the grid point searched by the grid point searching means.

That is, according to the second aspect of the invention, a grid serving as an auxiliary line at the time of drawing is displayed on the screen of the display device, and the character string is arranged on the grid point.
By configuring the graphic processing device, it is possible to easily and accurately specify the position when arranging the graphic (character string).

The display means displays a grid according to the format of the grid designated by the format designating means on the screen of the display device, and the grid point searching means, for example, displays the points designated by the pointing device and their surroundings. By calculating the distance of the located grid point, the grid point closest to that point is searched. The searched grid point is recognized as a place for arranging the first character of the character string input by the input means,
The character string arranging means arranges each character in a series of grid point sequences starting from the grid point.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, (a) a display device for displaying a graphic, (b) a pointing device for designating a point on the screen of the display device, and (c).
Format specification means for specifying the format of the grid that will be the auxiliary line during drawing work, (d) display area specification means for specifying the display area of the grid, and (e) the format specified by this format specification means. Means for displaying the grid of No. 3 in the display area designated by the display area designating means on the screen of the display device;
Judgment means for judging whether or not the point designated by the pointing device is in the display area of the grid, and (g) When this judgment means judges that the point is in the display area, the grid points forming the grid , The coordinate of the grid point closest to the point specified by the pointing device is regarded as the coordinate that defines the placement position of the figure, and when it is determined that it is outside the display area, the coordinates of the point specified by the pointing device are placed. And a coordinate recognizing unit which regards the position as a coordinate defining the position.

That is, according to the third aspect of the present invention, by providing the display area designating means, the display range of the grid displayed on the screen is limited, and the point designated by the pointing device is within the range. Only at this time, the graphic processing apparatus is configured so that the closest grid points are regarded as information for designating the layout position of the graphic. As a result, the pointing device is moved from the point group (coordinate group) which satisfies a certain condition to 1
An area that can be used as a device for selecting and designating points and an area that can be used as a device having an original function can be provided on the screen.

[0018]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a graphic processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The graphic processing device 11 of the embodiment includes a central processing unit (CPU) 12 and a display unit 13.
, Keyboard 14, mouse 15, read only memory (ROM) 16, random access memory (RA
M) 17 and a storage device 18, and each unit is controlled by the CPU 12 in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 16. The display unit 13 is a device for displaying a drawing result, and includes a bitmap display and a display controller that controls the bitmap display.

The keyboard 14 and the mouse 15 are input devices for supplying information necessary for graphic processing to the CPU 12. The keyboard 14 is used for inputting characters and numerical information, and the mouse 15 is It is used to select the processing content to be executed by the graphic processing device and to specify the position where the graphic or character is arranged. RAM17 is a CPU
12 is a memory used as a work area. The storage device 18 is a device for storing a drawing result (graphic file), format chart format information described later, and the like. In the graphic processing device of the embodiment, a fixed magnetic disk device and a floppy disk device are used. , The storage device 18 is connected. This graphic processing device is a device that creates a graphic data file in a form suitable for printing, and the created graphic file is output to a printer via the interface 19.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the screen structure of the display unit in the graphic processing apparatus of the embodiment. In this figure processing device, information setting excluding the input of characters and numerical information is configured to be performed by using a mouse, and an area for setting various information is provided on the screen. There is.

In the menu display area 22 provided in the screen 21, a processing name (menu) that can be executed by the graphic processing apparatus is displayed, and the menu to be executed by the graphic processing apparatus is selected by the menu displayed in this area. Is specified by using the mouse. Icon display area 2
In FIG. 3, graphic elements that can be used during drawing are displayed, and in the drawing area 24, the contents of one area of the graphic file to be processed are displayed. Display magnification coordinate information display area 25
Is an area for displaying the coordinates where the mouse cursor is located, the details of which will be described later. In this figure processing device, the size and display position of each area can be changed,
The instruction is also given using the mouse.

In the graphic processing apparatus of the embodiment, by selecting a graphic element from the icon display area 23 and designating the position where the graphic element is to be arranged on the drawing area 24, the drawing work (graphic file creation work) is performed. Can be advanced. A coordinate information display area 25, which is provided to assist the drawing work, is a format chart set in the drawing screen 24.

The format chart is a chart for designating (limiting) a point group that can be designated by a mouse, and the graphic processing apparatus of the embodiment is configured so that a plurality of format charts can be set simultaneously. Each format chart is defined by the information described below.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of the format chart defining information. Of these information, the x-direction display interval 32
_The four types of information described as _x , x-axis rotation angle 33 _x , y-direction display interval 32 _y, and y-axis rotation angle 33 _y are information for designating the display format of the format chart. _{For the x} and y axis rotation angles 33 _y , a clockwise rotation angle from the X axis and a rotation angle from the Y axis of the XY Cartesian coordinate system, which is the drawing coordinate system, are set, respectively. x direction display interval 3
2 _x is set to the grid spacing in the x-axis direction defined by the x-axis rotation angle 33 _x , and y-direction display spacing 32 _y is set to the grid spacing in the y-axis direction defined by the y-axis rotation angle 33 _y. To be done.

The display area start point coordinates X34 _X , the display area start point coordinates Y34 _Y , the X size 35 _X, and the Y size 35 _Y are information for designating the area in which the format chart is set, and the format chart is the drawing coordinates. Of the system
X coordinate 34 _X and Y coordinate 34 _Y as the starting point, X size 3
5 _X and Y size 35 _Y is set (displayed) in an area of a size defined by _Y.

The chart display mode 36 is information for selecting display or non-display of the formatting chart, and the adjustment mode 37 is information for setting whether or not to execute the coordinate adjusting process. The adjustment interval x38 _x and the adjustment interval y38 _y are information for designating the grid interval used in the coordinate adjustment process, and are used in combination with the above-mentioned rotation angle information 33 _x , 33 _y . The coordinate adjusting process will be described later in detail. The coordinate display mode 39 is information for setting whether or not to display the coordinate where the mouse cursor is positioned in the coordinate information display area on the screen, and the display is in accordance with the content of the coordinate display unit 40. It is done in a unit system.

This format chart defining information is 2
Set by the seed input screen. One input screen is used to input information designating the display format of the format chart, and the other input screen is used to input the setting range and mode of the format chart.

FIG. 4 shows an outline of the format chart display format input screen. The input screen is displayed by selecting a menu in the menu display area. Thus, in the format chart display format input screen, the chart name and information (x direction display interval, x axis rotation angle, y direction display interval, y axis rotation angle) for defining the display format of the format chart are input. It is configured to be able to. There is also a column on the input screen for setting the unit system used when inputting the display interval. Clicking this column will scroll the available unit systems. It has become. For example, if "inch" is selected as the "unit" and "2" is set as the display interval, the number of dots for 2 inches in the drawing coordinate system is calculated, and the calculated value is associated with the chart name. And stored as format chart format information. As the "unit", one that defines the display interval by the length such as "mm" and "dot" and one that defines the display interval by the number of display lines per unit length such as "/ inch" are It is configured for use.

The remaining information in the format chart definition information is input using the format chart control information input screen.

FIG. 5 shows an outline of the format chart control information input screen. In this input screen, the chart name to specify the format chart format information, the information to specify the setting range of the format chart,
The mode information can be input, and the graphic processing device (CPU) is configured to display one information based on the information set on this input screen and the format chart format information stored in association with the chart name. Create form chart rule information.

The information input as "adjustment unit X" and "adjustment unit Y" is used to calculate the adjustment interval x and the adjustment interval y. For example, "1/2" is set for the "adjustment unit X". In this case, the value of "1/2" of the x-direction display interval is set as the adjustment interval x in the format chart defining information. The usage of the "unit" column is the same as that already described, but the unit set here is stored as the "coordinate display unit" in the format chart defining information.

The CPU adds unique identification information to the format chart defining information set in this manner, and the identification information is stored in a predetermined storage area in order to store the instruction to set the format chart. Write information. Further, when the display mode is to instruct the display of the format chart, the chart of the format set by the x-direction display interval, the y-direction display interval, etc. in the format chart defining information is displayed. Display in the area.

As described above, since the format chart defining information is automatically given a unique name, the graphic processing apparatus according to the embodiment is based on one format chart format information. It is also possible to set (create) a plurality of format charts, and to set format charts using different format chart format information.

The coordinate input processing (coordinate adjustment processing) in the graphic processing apparatus of the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. It should be noted that the flow shown in the figure is executed when the mouse cursor moves, and in the following description, it is assumed that the format chart has already been set on the screen. Further, the input coordinate information indicates information used as coordinates of a point where a figure or a character is arranged when the mouse is clicked.

The CPU of the graphic processing apparatus of the embodiment constantly monitors the movement amount of the mouse. When the mouse is moved, the mouse cursor is displayed at a position corresponding to the movement amount (step S101). In addition, the coordinates in the drawing coordinate system are calculated based on the position information of the mouse cursor in the screen coordinate system (step S102). Then, using the calculated coordinates, it is determined whether or not the mouse cursor is positioned within the area where the format chart is set (step S103).

When the mouse cursor is within the area where the format chart is set (step S10)
4) Y), the adjustment mode set in the format chart defining information of the format chart is read (step S105), and it is determined whether the format chart is a format chart for performing the adjustment processing (step S106). . If it is the mode for executing the adjustment (Y), the coordinates of the format chart grid point existing closest to the position of the mouse cursor are calculated using the coordinate information calculated in step S102 (step S107). . In this calculation process, a grid (point group) whose format is defined by the adjustment interval x, the x-axis rotation angle, the adjustment interval y, and the y-axis rotation angle in the format chart defining information is used. Then, the calculated grid point coordinates are stored as input coordinate information (step S108).

Further, if it is not within the area of the format chart (step S104; N), and if it is in the mode in which the coordinate adjustment is not executed (step S).
106; N), the coordinate information calculated in step S102 is stored as input coordinate information (step S109).

For example, the positional relationship between the mouse cursor and the format chart is as shown in FIG.
If the format chart is set to the mode for executing the coordinate adjustment, the coordinates of the format chart grid point 43 closest to the mouse cursor 41 becomes the input coordinate, and if the mode is not for executing the coordinate adjustment, the mouse is used. The coordinates of the point 42 located at the tip portion 41 of the cursor are treated as input coordinates.

As described above, in the graphic processing device of the embodiment,
By using the format chart, the points that can be specified with the mouse are limited. For example, if you set an orthogonal grid as the format chart, you can specify points that are at the same height with respect to a certain point. Etc. can be easily performed.

After that, the input coordinates obtained by the process of FIG. 6 are displayed in the coordinate information display area as shown in FIG. 8 when the coordinate display mode indicates display of the coordinates. It is displayed in various forms. As described above, the unit used for the display is the unit input on the format chart control information input screen.

The graphic processing apparatus of the embodiment is constructed so that such coordinate adjustment processing can be used even when a character string is input.

FIG. 9 shows the flow of character string arrangement processing. During the character string arranging process, the CPU is given the character string to be arranged, the coordinates P _X and P _Y of the start point of the character string, and the character string printing direction (step S201). An information input screen similar to that shown in FIG. 5 is used to input the character string and the character string printing direction, and the input coordinates obtained by the processing shown in FIG. 6 are used as the coordinates P _X and P _Y. To be

Based on these pieces of information, the CPU first detects the number N of characters in the character string (step S202).
Then, "1" is set to the parameter i which is the information for designating one character in the character string (step S203), and the i-th character is arranged at the coordinates P _X and P _Y (step S204).
To do. The graphic processing apparatus according to the embodiment also has a function of applying deformation such as rotation to the character font, and the shape of the character to be arranged in step S204 can be arbitrarily designated.

Next, the CPU searches for adjacent grid points in the direction defined by the character string printing direction, and the coordinate P
The contents of _X and P _Y are rewritten to the coordinates of the searched grid point (step S205). Then, "1" is added to i (step S206), and when i does not exceed N (step S207; N), the process returns to step S204, and the next character is placed on the searched grid point.

The graphic processing apparatus of the embodiment is an apparatus capable of setting a plurality of format charts, and can also specify the range of the area for setting the format chart. For example, a single format is used. Even if the apparatus is configured so that the chart is set on the entire screen, it is possible to obtain a graphic processing apparatus that can easily and accurately specify the position. Further, the chart that can be designated as the format chart may be limited to the orthogonal grid, and the displayed chart and the chart used for the coordinate adjustment may be the same.

[0047]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to input the coordinates of a point satisfying a predetermined condition without finely adjusting the cursor position with the pointing device, so that the figure is arranged. The position can be specified easily and accurately.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the character string can be arranged on a series of points satisfying a predetermined condition, the drawing work including the character arrangement becomes easy.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an area where the grid point coordinates are treated as input coordinates and an area where the coordinates designated by the pointing device are treated as input coordinates. Therefore, the area where the input coordinates are limited can be limited to a necessary area, and the drawing operation can be facilitated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a graphic processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a screen configuration in the graphic processing device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of format chart defining information used in the graphic processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a format chart format input screen in the graphic processing device of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a format chart control information input screen in the graphic processing device of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of an input coordinate acquisition process in the graphic processing device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of coordinate adjustment processing in the graphic processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a coordinate information display area in the graphic processing device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of character string arrangement processing in the graphic processing device according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Graphic processing device, 12 ... CPU, 13 ... Display unit, 14 ... Keyboard, 15 ... Mouse (pointing device), 16 ... Read only memory (ROM), 17 ... Random access memory (RA
M), 18 ... Storage device, 19 ... Interface, 21 ...
Screen, 22 ... Menu display area, 23 ... Icon display area, 24 ... Drawing area, 25 ... Coordinate information display area, 32 ...
x (y) direction display interval, 33 ... x (y) axis rotation angle, 34
... Display area start start point coordinates X (Y), 35 ... X (Y) size, 36 ... Chart display mode, 37 ... Adjust mode, 38 ... Adjust interval x (y), 39 ... Coordinate display mode, 40 ... Coordinate display unit , 41 ... Mouse cursor, 4
2, 43 ... Points (input coordinates)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A display device for displaying a figure, a pointing device for designating points on the screen of the display device, and a format designating means for designating a format of a grid serving as an auxiliary line in drawing work. And display means for displaying a grid of the format specified by the format specifying means on the screen of the display device, and a grid point closest to a point specified by the pointing device from grid points forming the grid. A graphic processing apparatus comprising: a grid point searching means for searching; and coordinate recognizing means for considering the coordinates of the grid points searched by the grid point searching means as the coordinates defining the arrangement position of the graphic. 2. A display device for displaying a figure, a pointing device for designating a point on the screen of the display device, and an input means for inputting a character string to be arranged on the screen of the display device. A format designating means for designating a format of a grid which is an auxiliary line at the time of drawing work, a display means for displaying a grid of the format designated by the format designating means on the screen of the display device, and the grid. Lattice point searching means for searching the lattice points closest to the point designated by the pointing device from the lattice points constituting the character string, and a predetermined character string input by the input means from the lattice points searched by the lattice point searching means. And a character string arranging means for arranging one character at a time at grid point intervals in the direction. 3. A display device for displaying a figure, a pointing device for designating points on the screen of this display device, and a format designating means for designating the format of a grid that serves as an auxiliary line during drawing work. A display area designating means for designating a display area of the grid, and a grid of a format designated by the format designating means is displayed on the screen of the display device designated by the display area designating means. Display means, a judgment means for judging whether or not the point designated by the pointing device is in the display area of the grid, and the grid is displayed when the judgment means judges that the point is in the display area. From the constituent grid points, the coordinates of the grid point closest to the point specified by the pointing device are regarded as the coordinates that define the placement position of the figure, and when it is determined that it is outside the display area. Is a coordinate processing unit that regards the coordinates of a point designated by a pointing device as coordinates that define the placement position of a graphic.