JPH07319596A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decide the direction and distance of a pointing cursor depending on the relative positional relation between a specific position of a keyboard and an input key in the case where the pointing cursor is moved on a screen. CONSTITUTION:This processor is equipped with a display means which displays plural areas targeted to be inputted and the pointing cursor which instructs an arbitrary area targeted to be inputted out of the areas targeted to be inputted, an input means which inputs information to an instructed area targeted to be inputted and constituted by arranging plural keys, and a mode switching means 9 which switches a cursor moving mode to move the pointing cursor of the display means and an information input mode to input the information by the key.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of moving a pointing cursor to an arbitrary position on a display and selecting an input target area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an information processing apparatus in which a pointing cursor on a display selects one of a plurality of input target areas, the position of the pointing cursor is moved to change the input target area. In general, it is necessary to move the pointing cursor into the input target area to be selected.Specifically, a method of operating an input device for coordinate input such as a mouse is required. It was being appreciated. Further, in the case where the input device dedicated to the coordinate input is not used, it is a general method to push four dedicated keys, which are four directions of up, down, left and right, which are cursor movement keys.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-165618, a method has been proposed in which a keyboard is placed on a keyboard placing table and the pointing cursor is moved by tilting the entire keyboard forward, backward, leftward and rightward. .

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above conventional method,
When the pointing cursor is moved by an input device dedicated to coordinate input such as a mouse, it is necessary to release the eyes from the display and release the keyboard from which the input is being performed to interrupt the input and operate the mouse or the like. In this case, since it is necessary to move the line of sight or the hand from the keyboard to the mouse each time the input position is changed, there is a problem that the operator's concentration is interrupted and the work efficiency of key input is significantly reduced.

Also, when the pointing cursor is moved by using the cursor movement key which is a dedicated key on the keyboard, it is necessary to move the hand once from the basic operation position on the keyboard. There is a problem similar to the case of using the input device, and there is a problem that the pointing cursor moves in only four directions of up, down, left and right, and the moving distance is fixed and it takes time to move.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-165618, a method has been proposed in which a keyboard is placed on a keyboard placing table and the pointing cursor is moved by tilting the entire keyboard forward, backward, leftward and rightward. However, according to this, although it is not necessary to release the keyboard, it is necessary to tilt the entire keyboard, so the installation state of the keyboard itself becomes unstable, and it is difficult to make fine adjustments and it is difficult to operate as a whole. There was a problem.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a plurality of input target areas and a display means for displaying a pointing cursor for designating an arbitrary input target area out of the input target areas are designated. The input means for arranging a plurality of keys for inputting information in the input target area, the cursor movement mode for moving the pointing cursor of the display means, and the information input mode for inputting the information are switched. An information processing apparatus comprising mode switching means, wherein in the cursor movement mode, the pointing cursor on the display means is moved by a key arranged around a specific position of the input means. Is characterized by.

Further, according to the present invention, the movement of the pointing cursor on the display means in the cursor movement mode is arranged at a specific position on the input means and a key pressed down around the specific position. Is determined by the relative distance and direction of the.

[0009]

When the input means is switched to the cursor movement mode by the mode switching means, the moving distance and direction of the pointing cursor on the display means is determined by the specific position of the input key on the display means. Corresponding to the relative distance and direction from, the operator can move the pointing cursor without releasing the keyboard.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings of FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention. (1) is a keyboard as an input means, and this keyboard (1) has a mode switching means (see (9) in FIG. 3) which is a feature of the present invention. (2) is an input control unit for controlling the keyboard (1),
(3) is a CRT which is a display means, (4) is a CRT (3)
A screen display control unit for controlling the screen display on the display, and (5) is a CPU that controls the entire information processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows a detailed configuration diagram of the input control section (2). (13) is a mode determination unit that determines whether the mode of the keyboard (1) is an information input mode or a cursor movement mode, and (14) is key input based on the result determined by the mode determination unit (13). (15) is a keyboard position management table for managing position information of keys on the keyboard (1), and (16) is a key pressed in the cursor movement mode and a specific position (10).
This is a movement measurement unit that measures the movement direction and distance from the keyboard based on the keyboard position management table (15).

FIG. 2 shows the transition of key input switching between two input target areas. (6) shows the pointing cursor, and (7) and (8) show the input positions of the windows 1 and 2 which are the input target areas, respectively. Shows. FIG. 2A shows a state in which the keyboard (1) is in the information input mode and is inputting in the window 1, FIG.
FIG. 2B shows a state where the keyboard 1 is in the cursor movement mode and the input is being switched from the window 1 to the window 2. In FIG. 2C, the keyboard 1 is in the information input mode. It is in the state of inputting.

FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 are explanatory views of the keyboard (1). A plurality of keys are arranged on the keyboard (1) in a grid pattern, and has a mode switching key (9) as a mode switching means. The keyboard (1) of this embodiment has two modes, a cursor movement mode for moving the pointing cursor (6) and an information input mode for inputting information such as characters, and a mode switching key (9). It is possible to switch between these two modes by. (10) is a specific position serving as a reference for the distance and direction when the pointing cursor (6) is moved in the present embodiment.

When the keyboard (1) is in the cursor moving mode, the moving direction of the pointing cursor (6) is determined by the relative direction of the pressed key from the specific position (10). The arrow in FIG. 3 indicates the moving direction of the pointing cursor (6) corresponding to the pressed key.

Further, a specific position (1
The relative distance from 0) determines the moving distance of the pointing cursor (6). Coloring of the pattern of each key in FIG. 4 corresponds to the pressed key,
This is the moving distance of the pointing cursor (6). The colored patterns represent the moving distances 1 to 4, respectively. The larger the number, the larger the moving distance.

Explaining FIG. 5 as an example, for example, when the pointing cursor (6) is to be moved to the upper right by a large amount, the key (11) is pressed, and when it is desired to be moved to the left by a small amount, the key (12) is pressed. You can press.

The procedure of measuring the moving direction and distance of the pointing cursor (6) will be described below with reference to FIG. Upon receiving an input from the keyboard (1), the mode determination unit (13) determines whether the current mode of the keyboard (1) is the information input mode or the cursor movement mode. In the input switching unit (14), the mode management unit (1
As a result of the determination in 3), if the keyboard is in the information input mode, the code information is sent to the CPU (5) as it is, and if it is in the cursor moving mode, the code information is sent to the movement measuring unit (16). The movement measuring unit (16) measures the movement direction and movement distance based on the input code information and the keyboard position management table (15), and sends the result to the CPU (5).

7 and 8 are examples of the keyboard position management table (15).

FIG. 7 shows an example of the keyboard position management table (15a) when the specific position (10) is fixed, and the difference information in the X direction and the Y direction from the specific position (10) for each key. Is stored. Mobile measuring unit (1
6) fetches the difference information corresponding to the pressed key from this table (15a) and sends it to the CPU (5).

FIG. 8 shows an example of the keyboard position management table (15b) when the specific position (10) can be changed. The relative XY coordinates on the keyboard (1) at the specific position (10). It is composed of two tables, a position information table (17) and a relative XY coordinate position information table (18) on the keyboard (1) for each key. In the movement measuring unit (16), X at the specific position (10)
The Y coordinate information is fetched from the table (17), the XY coordinate information of the pressed key is fetched from the table (18), the difference between them is obtained, and the result is sent to the CPU (5). Figure 8
In the example, if it is desired to change the specific position, only the table (17) needs to be changed.

The operation procedure will be specifically described. When the operator wants to change the window to be input from window 1 to window 2, the mode of the keyboard (1) is first switched from the information input mode to the cursor movement mode by pressing the mode switching key (9). Then, press the key on the keyboard (1) to
The pointing cursor (6) is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow and by the distance indicated by the coloring pattern in FIG. After repeating such key input operation to move the pointing cursor (6) to the window 2, the mode switching key (9) is pressed again to switch the keyboard (1) to the information input mode, and the window 2
Information is input from the input position (8).

Thus, by using the keyboard (1) by switching between the information input mode and the cursor movement mode by using the mode switching key (9), the keyboard (1) can be used without using a dedicated coordinate input device such as a mouse. The pointing cursor (6) can be moved only by 1).

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Pointing cursor in cursor movement mode (6)
The specific position (10) that serves as a reference for movement is set between the key and the key in the approximate center of the keyboard (1), but the present invention is not limited to this, and this specific position is inside the keyboard (1). So long as it is in another position. Further, different specific positions may be set for the left and right hands, respectively.

In the present embodiment, the case where the window is set as the input target area is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in inputting in a word processor, the cursor position during inputting is changed. Can also be used in cases. It can also be used when switching the input items when inputting the contents of the items in creating a table or the like.

[0026]

As apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the pointing cursor can be moved without releasing the hand from the basic operation position on the keyboard by switching the mode by the mode switching key. Compared to the method of using a dedicated key such as a cursor movement key or a dedicated coordinate input device such as a mouse, the operator does not have to move his / her eyes or hands, so that the operator's concentration can be maintained and the efficiency of key input can be improved. In addition, space efficiency is improved because it is not necessary to place a mouse or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a screen view during key input switching.

FIG. 3 is a state diagram of a pointing cursor movement direction corresponding to a key input in a cursor movement mode.

FIG. 4 is a state diagram of a pointing cursor movement distance corresponding to a key input in a cursor movement mode.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of input keys in a cursor movement mode.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an input control unit.

FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a keyboard position management table.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a keyboard position management table.

[Explanation of symbols]

(1) Keyboard (2) Input control unit (3) CRT (4) Screen display control unit (5) CPU (6) Pointing cursor (7) Window 1 input position (8) Window 2 input position (9) Mode Switching key (10) Specific position that serves as a reference for moving the pointing cursor (13) Mode management unit (14) Input switching unit (15) Keyboard position management table (16) Movement measurement unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A display unit for displaying a plurality of input target areas and a pointing cursor for designating an arbitrary input target area from the input target areas, and information in the designated input target areas. Input means for inputting a plurality of keys, and mode switching means for switching between a cursor movement mode for moving the pointing cursor of the display means and an information input mode for inputting the information. An information processing apparatus, wherein in the cursor movement mode, the pointing cursor on the display means is moved by a key arranged around a specific position of the input means. 2. The movement of the pointing cursor on the display means in the cursor movement mode is arranged at a specific position on the input means and around the specific position,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is determined by a distance and a direction relative to a pressed key.