JPH07296041A - Layout generation device of console panel and operation guide generation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a layout generation device which can secure the systematicness of the layout of a console panel. CONSTITUTION:An object management part 302 stores class information of an object, display information and object identification information. A class management part 301 stores class data regulating the including relation of various classes. A class area designation part 101 designates a prescribed class area in a layout area. When the class area is set, a layout control part 201 fetches class information and displays information on the respective objects from the object management part 302 and the class management part 301 for the respective objects and arranges the objects in the layout area in accordance with inputted arrangement position information. When the objects are arranged in the different class areas, an alarm generation part 202 issues an alarm.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a layout generation apparatus for performing a uniform layout of objects such as buttons and display units on a plane of an operation panel of a home electric appliance or the like by using an object-oriented concept, and various types of operation panels. The present invention relates to an operation guide generation device that generates a guide such as a button and presents it to the user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, layout design and guide generation of operation panels of various home electric appliances and information equipment have been performed using a layout generation device and an operation guide generation device. The layout generation device stores shape data and the like of operation buttons, boxes, and the like (hereinafter referred to as objects) of various devices in which the operation panel is used. Then, the designer determines the layout of the object by designating the position of the object to be arranged on the layout plane of the operation panel from the input device of the layout generation device.
The arrangement state is displayed on the screen of the display device. An example of the layout is shown in FIG. This example shows a layout example of the operation panel of the TV.

Further, when the layout of the operation panel is determined, the operation guide generation device selects guide information corresponding to each object from the guide information sentences prepared in advance and displays the guide information sentence in the guide information display area. Layout and generate operation guide.

[0004]

However, in the conventional layout generating apparatus, the layout of the object is determined according to the instruction information of the designer. Therefore, for example, in the case of a usage pattern in which a plurality of designers design layouts for the same target device, the layouts may vary depending on the tastes of the designers, etc., and a layout that lacks uniformity may be generated. Occurs. In addition, even the same designer may not be consistent in layout due to different layout rules applied at each design stage. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 21, since the operation button group and the box group are arranged in a mixed manner at the left and right positions, the panel layout is not uniform in appearance and the operability is poor.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional operation guide generating apparatus, since the operation guides corresponding to the respective objects are individually created, when the layout of the objects in the guide is changed, the operation guides are applied to all the objects. It is troublesome to change the layout of the operation guide. Further, since all the guides are laid out manually, there is a problem that it is difficult to make the layouts uniform.

Therefore, in view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a layout generation apparatus capable of ensuring the uniformity of layout regardless of the operator. Another object of the present invention is to provide an operation guide generation device capable of ensuring layout uniformity in guide display.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the layout generating apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 is an object data storage means for storing object class information, display information and object identification information in association with each other. , Class data storage means for storing class data defining inclusion relations of various classes, class area designating means for designating a predetermined class area in the layout area, identification information of objects to be arranged, and layout area Object designating input means for designating an arrangement position inside, and class information and display information of the corresponding object from the object data storing means and the class data storing means based on the object identification information given from the object designating input means. And take out the finger from the object specification input means. Layout means for arranging the objects in the layout area according to the arranged position, and warning means for issuing a warning when the layout means lays out an object that does not belong to a class in the class area designated by the class area designating means. ing.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an operation guide generation device, wherein input means for generating a pseudo signal of an operation, class information of a plurality of objects constituting the operation guide, display information and object identification information are stored in association with each other. Object data storage means, object selection means for selecting an object to be guided based on a pseudo signal of an operation input from the input means, and class area information divided into various classes for which an operation guide is to be displayed. In the layout area information holding means for holding layout area information including, and the class information and the display information from the object data storage means based on the object selected by the object selecting means, and the layout area extracted from the layout area information holding means. Matches the class information of the object And layout means for laying out objects in the class area, and a display means for displaying a layout of an object layout means is generated.

[0009]

In the layout generating apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the object data storage means stores the class information of the object, the display information and the object identification information in association with each other. Further, the class data storage means stores class data that defines the inclusion relationship of various classes. Then, the class area designation means designates a predetermined class area in the layout area. When the layout area is set, the object specification input means specifies the identification information of the object and the arrangement position in the layout area for each object. Then, the layout means extracts the class information and the display information of each object from the object data storage means and the class data storage means based on the object identification information designated for each object, and arranges the layout designated by the object designation input means. Arrange the objects in the layout area according to the position information. Further, at this time, it is determined whether or not each object is placed in a class area that matches the class held by itself, and if it is placed in a different class area, the warning means issues a warning.

In the operation guide generating apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the object data storage means stores the class information, the display information and the object identification information of a plurality of objects constituting the operation guide in association with each other. Then, when the input unit generates a pseudo signal of operation in accordance with an instruction from the operator, the object selecting unit selects an object to be guided based on the pseudo signal of operation input from the input unit. The layout area information holding unit holds layout area information including class area information divided into various classes for which the operation guide is to be displayed. The layout means extracts class information and display information from the object data storage means based on the object selected by the object selection means,
The object is laid out in the class area that matches the class information of the object in the layout area extracted from the layout area information holding unit. Further, the display means displays the layout of the object generated by the layout means.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall device configuration of an operation guide generation device in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As illustrated, the operation guide generation device according to the present exemplary embodiment includes an input device 100, a control unit 200 that controls a guide generation processing operation, a data storage unit 300 that stores various data required for guide generation, And a display device 400 for displaying the guide generation result.

The input device 100 is composed of a keyboard device, a mouse, a tablet input device, or the like, and performs operations such as inputting commands and data necessary for guide generation, and area coordinate input. The control unit 200 is composed of a CPU, and controls the data generation process and the operation of each device according to a processing program that performs a layout generation process and a guide generation process. The data storage unit 300 includes storage devices such as a hard disk device, a floppy disk device, a magnetic disk device, and an optical disk device, and stores data necessary for layout generation processing and guide generation processing. The contents of the stored data will be described later.

As the display device 400, a device having a display screen, such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display device, is applied, and the layout and guide information generated at each stage of processing are appropriately displayed. The operation guide generation device according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into an operation panel layout generation process and an operation guide generation simulation process. The configuration required for the layout generation process is shown in FIG. The configuration required for the simulation process is shown in FIG. The configuration and operation of this device will be described below separately for each process. (Layout Generation Process) The layout generation process is a process of arranging operation buttons, a display unit, and the like on an operation panel of a home electric appliance or the like, and the operation buttons, the display unit, and the like are referred to as objects.

As shown in FIG. 2, the layout generating process is performed by the class area designating unit 10 in the operation guide generating apparatus.
1, a layout control unit 201, and a warning generation unit 202
, Class management unit 301, and object management unit 302
Is done using and. The class management unit 301 stores structural data of classes. A class is a set of various objects grouped in terms of layout uniformity. An example of the class structure is shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, for example, the panel class, the button class, the box class, etc. should be arranged according to a certain standard for each panel, each button, and each box in order to unify the layout. It is defined in the base.

The object management unit 302 stores object data necessary for displaying an object on a layout plane. An example of the object data is shown in FIG. The object data has an object identifier, a class name to which the object belongs, a display shape of the object, and a display character string. The class area designating unit 101 specifies an area of each class on the layout plane of the operation panel by using a coordinate input device such as a mouse.

The layout control unit 201 includes the input device 10
Each object is arranged on the layout plane of the operation panel according to the selection information and the position information of the object input from 0. At this time, the layout control unit 201 determines whether or not the class of the area in which the objects are arranged matches the class assigned to each object, and if they do not match, the warning generation unit 202 issues a warning. Control.

The warning generation unit 202 includes a layout control unit 2
A signal to be warned is received from 01, and a message or warning sound indicating that the arrangement position of the object is inappropriate is generated for the designer. Next, the control operation of the layout control unit 201 will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 and with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6 as appropriate.

First, the designer sets the layout plane of the operation panel using the input device 100. At this time,
At the same time, the layout plane of the guide information display area may be set. Next, the class area designating unit 101 sets a class area on the layout plane. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the TV is set in the layout plane area 150 of the operation panel of the TV.
A control button class area A and a box class area B are set. In the guide layout area 160, remote control graphic classes C and D and character string class E are also included.
Has been set (S10). This class area is set to uniformly arrange objects included in the same class.

Then, the layout of each object is started. First, when the designation information and the arrangement position information of one object are given from the input device 100, the layout control unit 201 takes out class data, shape data or character string data from the object data of the object management unit 302 (S12). Then, the position information of the input object is compared with the position information of the previously specified class area to recognize the class of the area where the object is to be arranged. And that class
It is determined whether or not it matches the class defined in the object data or a class above it (S14, S1).
6).

If the two classes match or the class of the placement area is a class of the superordinate concept of the object, it is determined that the placement is in the correct area, and the layout data is in the layout plane according to the shape data of the object. The object is placed at the designated position of (S18,
S20). The arrangement state is displayed on the screen of the display unit 400.

If they do not match, the warning generator 202
A warning generation command is sent to. Warning generator 20
2 receives the warning generation command, and outputs a message and a warning sound to the effect that "the arrangement area is inappropriate" on the screen of the display unit 400 (S22). For example, when the volume button is designated as the object and its layout position is designated by the box class B shown in FIG. 6, the layout control unit 201
Compares the volume button class information “button class” retrieved from the object management unit 302 with the class information “box class” of the area designated at the arrangement position. Since the two do not match, the layout control unit 201
Gives an instruction for issuing a warning to the warning generation unit 202. Then, it returns to the state of accepting the designated input of the object again.

The above processing is repeated for all objects. A display example of the laid out operation panel is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 7, various operation buttons are arranged in the area specified in the button class area on the left half of the panel area, and various boxes are arranged in the area specified in the box class area in the right half. ing. Therefore, a uniform layout is generated for the entire panel.

The generated layout information is stored in the storage unit (not shown). As described above, according to the layout generation process of the operation guide generation device according to the present exemplary embodiment,
The class area instructing unit 101 indicates the area of the class on a plane, and the warning generating unit 202 lays out an object which does not belong to the specified class or a lower class of the specified class within the specified class area. Occasionally a warning is issued to keep the layout consistent and easily create a panel or guide with good operability. (Simulation process of operation guide generation) The simulation process of operation guide generation is a process of generating a guide of the operation method of the operation panel generated by the layout generation process described above. It is possible to perform a simulation on the screen whether or not it is shown.

As shown in FIG. 8, the operation guide generation simulation process includes a key input unit 102, a layout instruction unit 103, an operation object management unit 203, and a motion information extraction unit 204 in the operation guide generation apparatus. The key layout extraction unit 205, the layout unit 206, the object management unit 302, the operation information management unit 303, the key layout management unit 304, and the display unit 400 are used.

The key input section 102 is composed of an input device having a key for generating an event for operation.
For example, when simulating the generation state of the guide screen to be displayed on the TV screen when the remote control operation of the TV is performed, an input for giving an instruction equivalent to the action (event) of pressing the operation key of the remote control It is equipped with a key. As this input key, for example, each key of the keyboard may be set in association with the operation key of the remote controller. The operation object management unit 203 becomes a target for which the operation guide generation device currently displays the guide information. A process of recognizing an object, changing the guidance target object according to the instruction of the event information and recognizing the current guide display target object each time the event information is input from the key input unit 102. I do.

The object management section 302 stores guide information such as display graphics and explanations necessary for displaying the guide information. An example is shown in FIG. This guide information is classified using the concept of a class that is grouped according to certain characteristics in order to unify the layout.
The motion information management unit 303 associates the identifier information of each object and the event information given from the operation object management unit 203 with the identifiers (description 1, description 2, ...) Of the descriptive text to be displayed on the guidance screen. , Operation information (action 1, action 2, ...) that causes the guide information generation action specified by the event information and the object to be performed.
・) And are stored. An example of the operation information stored in the operation information management unit 303 is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 9 shows an example of the motion information data stored in the motion information management unit 303, and FIG. 10 describes the contents of each identifier (description 1, ..., Action 1, ...) Of the motion information data. It was done.

The motion information extraction unit 204 extracts, from the motion information management unit 303, motion information for the object managed by the operation object management unit 203. For example, when the currently focused object is a "channel button" and the "↓ key (down key)" is input as event information from the key input unit 102, the motion information extraction unit 204 causes the motion information shown in FIG. Information management unit 303
The operation procedure information of “operation 8” (focus movement to volume button) stored at the position of “channel button”-“down key” in the inside is taken out.

The key layout management unit 304 includes a key input unit 10
The key information having the arrangement and shape of all the keys that 2 has is stored. For example, when the key input unit 102 is a model of a TV remote controller as shown in FIG. 13, the shape of each key of the remote controller as shown in FIG. 11 and the arrangement coordinate information on the screen are stored. . Key layout extractor 205
Is the key arrangement management unit 30 based on the key identification information necessary for the guidance extracted by the operation information extraction unit 204.
The necessary key information is extracted from 4.

The layout designating section 103 holds area information of the guidance display area set for each predetermined class. For example, in the examples shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the layout information of the remote control graphic classes C and D and the character string class E is stored. Further, the layout information of the operation panel generated by the layout process may be held.

The layout section 206 has layout information given from the layout instruction section 103, shape and character string data extracted from the object management section 302,
The operation explanation and the key display are laid out on the guide layout plane based on the key arrangement information extracted by the key arrangement extracting unit 205. The display unit 400 displays an operation guide laid out by the layout unit 206 on the screen, which includes operation explanations and key information.

Next, the operation guide generation simulation processing operation of the operation guide generation device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Also, in the following description of the operation, a display simulation of guidance to be displayed on the TV screen in response to the remote control operation of the TV is used as an example. Further, in the initial stage of the operation, the layout of the TV operation panel shown in FIG. 6 is displayed in advance on the screen of the display unit 400, and the operation object management unit 203 displays the information focused on the “channel” as the current object. It is assumed to be stored.

First, event information is input from the key input unit 102. For example, key input simulating the key operation of the remote controller shown in FIG. This key operation generates event information such as "↓ (down key)" and "↑ (up key)" (S50). The operation object management unit 203 receives the event information and outputs the currently focused object and the event information to the motion information extraction unit 2
Send to 04. The motion information extraction unit 204 searches the motion information management unit 303 for motion information corresponding to the current object and event, and determines whether focus movement occurs (S52, S54).

If the focus is not moved, the key name in which the explanation is set corresponding to the object and the explanation are taken out (S56). For example, when the current object is a “channel button” and the event information is a “right key”, the motion information D1 in FIG. 9 is searched. Since the movement information D1 does not define the focus movement movement, the movement information extraction unit 204 causes the explanation information identifier “description 7”.
And the key names "Enter key, Down key, Left key, Right key, Power key". Then, it progresses to step S62.

When the focus is moved, the motion information extracting section 204 moves the focus to a new designated object according to the motion procedure information specified by the object and the event. When the object is updated by the focus moving process, the key name in which the explanatory note is set corresponding to the object and the explanatory note are extracted from the operation information management unit 303 based on the updated object. For example, when the current object is a “channel button” and the event information is a “down key”, the motion information D2 in FIG. 9 is searched. Since the movement information D2 defines “focus movement to volume button” (see FIG. 10), the movement information extraction unit 204 moves the current object from the “channel button” to the “volume button”. Then, based on the object identifier “volume button”, the description sentence identifier “description 1, description 10, description 3, description 4, description 6” in the operation information management unit 303 and the key name “up key, down key, left key, Right key, power key "
And are taken out (S60).

The layout unit 206 includes the operation information extraction unit 2
04, receives the descriptive text identifier and the key name, outputs the key name to the key layout extraction unit 205, and outputs the key layout management unit 304.
The key display shape data and the key arrangement coordinates are received from. In addition, the object management unit 3 using the description identifier
02, and class information and character string information of the corresponding object are extracted. Furthermore, the key arrangement extracting unit 205
Extracts the area data for setting the layout area of the operation description and the layout area of the key information extracted by the key layout extraction unit 205 from the layout instruction unit 103 and outputs it to the layout unit 206. Then, the layout unit 206 generates data for guidance display based on the key information, the character string information of the explanatory note, and the layout area information, which are given respectively (S64).

The display section 400 displays guide information on the screen according to the given guidance display data. For example, when the instruction from the remote controller is currently a channel operation, a guidance screen as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed.
When the "down key" on the remote control is operated,
The guidance screen as shown in 5 is automatically displayed on the screen regardless of the operation of the operator (S66).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, event reception is performed from the operation information managed by the operation information management unit and the arrangement of all keys of the key input unit managed by the key arrangement management unit. By generating the operation guide of the key received by the target object according to the layout information designated by the layout instruction unit, the operation guide corresponding to the change of the event reception target object can be easily generated.

Although the operation guide generation device in the above embodiment is shown as a configuration that performs the layout generation process and the guidance generation simulation process as a series of operations, it is also possible to configure only the guidance generation configuration as an independent configuration. Good. That is, it is possible to store the device configuration shown in FIG. 8 inside the device for which guidance is provided. As an example, the TV remote control operation guide generation function used in the above embodiment can be provided inside the TV. In this case, the key input unit 102 is configured to receive an operation signal sent to the TV side by the key operation of the remote controller, and the display unit 400 is configured to use the cathode ray tube of the TV. With this configuration, T
When the V viewer operates the remote control, a message appears on the TV screen.
For example, the guidance shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 can be automatically generated and displayed. (Embodiment 2) In the operation guide generation device of Embodiment 1, when classifying various objects by class, they are classified mainly based on attributes such as shapes of the objects, but the present invention is based on the concept of class classification. Other criteria may be used as For example, in the second embodiment, the classification is performed according to the function of each object. FIG. 16 shows an example of the class information stored in the class management unit 301 and corresponds to FIG. 3 of the first embodiment. In this example, each object is classified into an audio class, a video class, or the like.

Further, the object management unit 303 is shown in FIG.
Object data as shown in 7 is stored. Other configurations are the same as those in the case of the first embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 18 shows a layout example of the class areas laid out according to the class areas classified according to such functions. Further, an example in which objects are laid out according to such class area setting is shown in FIG.
Is shown in. As shown in the figure, in each class area, only the objects belonging to the class are uniformly arranged. Then, as shown in FIG. 20, for example, when the “video switching” button is arranged in the audio button class, the warning generation unit 202 issues a warning.

[0040]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, when the layout area of the object is set for each class, and the objects other than the objects classified into this class are arranged in the class area. Is configured to issue a warning, it is possible to lay out the operation panel and the like with a uniform layout by arranging the objects in a group for each class.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, the guide information according to the operation of the operation buttons of various devices is laid out and displayed at a predetermined position in the layout area classified into classes. Therefore, it is not necessary to artificially generate and display new guide information each time a different operation is performed, the generation of the operation guide is facilitated, and the display having a uniform layout can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a device guide generation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram functionally displaying a configuration related to a layout generation process of the device guide generation device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a class information explanatory diagram showing class information stored in a class management unit shown in FIG.

4 is a data explanatory view showing an example of object data stored in an object management unit shown in FIG.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a layout generation processing operation performed by the configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a class area layout display diagram showing a state in which a class area is laid out.

FIG. 7 is an object layout diagram showing a layout state of objects.

8 is a block diagram functionally displaying a configuration for performing guidance generation simulation processing of the operation guide generation device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

9 is an operation information explanatory diagram showing an example of operation information stored in an operation information management unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the contents of the explanatory note identifier and the action information identifier shown in FIG. 9.

11 is a key arrangement information explanatory diagram showing an example of key arrangement information stored in a key arrangement management unit shown in FIG. 8;

12 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the guidance generation simulation process performed by the configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a key arrangement of a TV remote controller.

FIG. 14 is a screen display diagram showing a display example of guidance displayed when a remote control is operated.

FIG. 15 is a screen display diagram showing another display example of guidance displayed when operating a remote controller.

FIG. 16 is a class information explanatory diagram showing class information stored in the class management unit of the device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an object data explanatory diagram illustrating an example of object data stored in an object management unit of the device according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a class area layout display diagram showing an example of a layout of a class area generated by the layout processing of the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is an object layout display diagram showing an example of an object layout generated by the layout process of the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a layout display diagram showing an example of a layout to be a warning target in the layout process of the second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a layout display diagram showing an example of a layout generated during a conventional layout generation process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 input unit 101 class area instruction unit 102 key input unit 200 control unit 201 layout control unit 202 warning generation unit 203 operation object management unit 204 operation information extraction unit 205 key layout extraction unit 206 guidance layout unit 300 storage unit 301 class management unit 302 Object management unit 303 Operation information management unit 304 Key layout management unit 400 Display device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A layout generation device for arranging a plurality of objects in a layout area, comprising: object data storage means for storing object class information, display information, and object identification information in association with each other; Class data storing means for storing the class data defining the inclusion relation of, a class area designating means for designating a predetermined class area in the layout area, identification information of an object to be arranged, and an arrangement in the layout area. An object designation input means for designating a position, and the class information of a corresponding object from the object data storage means and the class data storage means based on the object identification information given from the object designation input means, Take out the display information and Layout means for arranging the object in the layout area according to the arrangement position designated by the object designation input means; and the layout means for allocating an object not belonging to the class in the class area designated by the class area designating means. And a warning means for issuing a warning when the layout is generated by the layout generating apparatus. 2. An operation guide generation device for generating and displaying an operation guide according to an operation of operating an operation panel of an apparatus by an operator, the input means generating an operation pseudo signal, and the operation guide. Object data storage means for storing the class information, display information and object identification information of a plurality of objects in association with each other, and selecting an object to be guided based on the pseudo signal of the operation input from the input means. Based on the object selected by the object selecting means, layout area information holding means for holding layout area information including class area information divided into various classes for which operation guides should be displayed, Retrieving class information and display information from the object data storage means A layout means for laying out the object in the class area matching the class information of the object in the layout area extracted from the layout area information holding means, and a layout of the object generated by the layout means An operation guide generating device, comprising: