JPH0756625B2 - Cursor menu controller - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a computer device for displaying and selecting functions by using icons. When one icon is selected, the cursor shape changes to display a plurality of selection items. The present invention relates to a cursor menu control device that performs a control operation of selecting an arbitrary item from the selection items displayed by the cursor.

2. Related Art FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a conventional computer system, 1 is AL
U. 2 is a memory, 3 is a display memory, 4 is a CRT device, 5 is a display control device for generating a video signal from the contents of the display memory 3 and displaying it on the CRT device 4, 6 is a pointing device for inputting data A pointing device controller 7 for management is a controller for controlling the operations of the ALU 1, the memory 2, the display controller 5, and the pointing device controller 6.

The operation of the icon control of the conventional computer device configured as described above will be described below.

First, the control device 7 sends the display data of the icon to be displayed from the memory 2 to the display memory 3, and the display control device 5
The icon is displayed on the CRT device 4 using. At the same time, the position of the icon display area displayed on the display memory 3 is stored. In many cases, the number of displayed icons is plural.

Next, when the switch attached to the pointing device is pressed, the control device 7 inputs from the pointing device control device 6 information on the position of the cursor on the CRT device 4 which moves according to the movement of the pointing device.

Then, if the position of the input cursor is within the icon display area of any of the icons stored first, the menu item corresponding to the icon is displayed on the icon.

Next, the control unit 7 controls the pointing device control unit 6
Is used to detect the position where the attached switch of the pointing device is released on the displayed menu item, and execute the function of the menu item corresponding to that position.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above configuration, when a menu item is selected, the menu item is displayed on the selected icon, so that the contents of the screen below the display area of the menu item are displayed. It had the problem of not being able to see it.

In view of such a point, the present invention changes the cursor shape to a plurality of selection items when one icon is selected, and the cursor shape of the cursor menu that can select any item from the displayed selection items. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cursor menu control device for performing display control and menu selection control.

Means for Solving Problems A cursor menu control device according to the present invention is a pointing device management device that manages information from a pointing device, a function of each icon, a position on a screen, an icon shape, and an icon thereof. From the icon data management device that stores and manages the menu data displayed when is selected, the icon display management device that displays the icon on the screen, and the pointing device management device,
In particular, a switch analysis device with a pointing device that generates information for menu selection using information about switch operation, and the contents of menu data managed by the icon data management device when the icon is selected by controlling the display of the cursor A cursor control device to be displayed as a shape, a pointing device management device, an icon data management device, an icon display management device, a pointing device attached switch analysis device, and a menu control device that controls the cursor control device and manages icon selection operation and menu selection operation. It is characterized by having and.

Operation According to the present invention, with the above-described configuration, when the menu control device obtains information (including position information) that the switch attached to the pointing device is pressed from the pointing device control device, the corresponding icon is managed using the icon data management device. Exists, and if it exists, the icon data management device is used to take out the menu of the icon, and the cursor control device is used to transform the shape of the cursor into a menu item.

Next, the menu control device selects the item of the menu from the operation of the switch using the switch analyzing device attached to the pointing device. Since the menu item is essentially a cursor, the display area of the selected item can be moved to an arbitrary position by the cursor moving operation, and the area covered by the menu item display area can be easily viewed.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a cursor menu control device in an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 8 is A.
LU, 9 is memory, 10 is display memory, 11 is CRT device, 12
Generates a video signal from the contents of the display memory 10, and the CRT device 11
Display control device to be displayed on, 13 is a pointing device management device that controls the pointing device and manages data input, 14 is a function of each icon, position on screen, icon shape information, number of menus, select icon Icon data management device that manages the menu data displayed when the icon data is displayed, 15 is an icon display management device that displays icons on the screen using the icon data managed by the icon data management device 14, and 16 is a pointing device management device An information analysis device for the switch attached to the pointing device that takes out information about the operation of the switch from 13 and creates information for selecting a menu item, 17 controls the shape of the cursor, and when the icon is selected, the icon data management device 14 A car is displayed as a menu selection item based on the managed menu data. Cursor control device for changing the sol shape, 18 controls the pointing device management device 13, the icon data management device 14, the icon display management device 15, the pointing device attached switch analysis device 16 and the cursor control device 17, and the icon selection operation and menu A menu control device for controlling the selection operation, and 19 is a control device for controlling the ALU 8, the display control device 12, and the menu control device 18.

The operation of the cursor menu control device of this embodiment constructed as described above will be described below.

First, it is assumed that the data of each icon is initialized in the icon data management device 14 as shown in FIG. The icon data is in the form of an icon function identifier 20 indicating the function of the icon, position information 21 of the icon on the screen, icon shape information 22, the number of menus 23 the icon has, and menu data 24 which is the contents of the menu. It is assumed that they are stored, and these data are continued for each icon.

Further, it is assumed that the cursor moves on the CRT device 11 according to the movement of the pointing device, and the pointing device has at least two switches (main switch and sub switch).

In this embodiment, the menu item is selected by selecting the icon using the main switch, then the cursor is transformed into the selection item, and the selection item is determined by the number of times the sub switch attached to the pointing device is pressed. To end, press the main switch again, and this will restore the cursor shape to normal.

Further, it is assumed that an icon is displayed on the CRT device 11 as shown in FIG. 3 (a), and the operation of each function when the cursor is placed on this icon and the menu selecting operation is performed will be described.

The actual operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in block 25, the menu control device 18 gives a command to the pointing device management device 13 to receive the state of the switch attached to the pointing device (information on whether the switch is pressed, the current cursor position, the switch number, etc.). . If the main switch is pressed, the process of block 26 is performed. If the main switch is not pressed, the process of block 25 is repeated.

In block 26, the cursor control device 18 indicates to the icon data management device 14 that the position of the cursor when the main switch is pressed among the switch states obtained in block 25 is registered in the icon data management device 14. Command is issued to check whether or not there is a position information corresponding to the position information. If the existence is confirmed by the report, the process proceeds to block 27. If it does not exist, the process returns to block 25.

In block 27, the menu control device 18 instructs the cursor control device 17 to display the menu data of the icon designated in block 25. By this command, the cursor control device 17 retrieves the menu data of the specified icon from the icon data management device 14 and changes the cursor shape to a shape using the menu data as a selection item. In this case, the screen display changes as shown in FIG.

In block 28, the menu control device 18 requests the pointing device attached switch analysis device 16 for data for selecting a menu item. The pointing device-attached switch analysis device 16 counts the number of times the sub switch is pressed, and returns a signal notifying the menu control device 18 of the number of times the sub switch has been pressed when the main switch is pressed. The menu control device 18 determines the selected menu item by using the data of the number of times the sub switch is pressed, which is returned from the pointing device attached switch analysis device 16.

In block 29, the menu controller 18 controls the selected icon and its selected menu item by the controller 19
And waits until the function is executed and ends, and when the function is ended, a command for returning the cursor to the normal state is given to the cursor control device 17, and the process proceeds to block 25.

Although the selection of the menu item is the number of times the sub switch is pressed in the above-described embodiment, the selection information may be represented by a code based on a combination of short pressing and long pressing.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the shape of the cursor is changed from the normal shape to the content of the menu data corresponding to the icon, the menu display area (cursor display area) has no function. It is possible to move to any position on the screen only by the cursor moving operation with the pointing device without adding.

Furthermore, since the menu display area (cursor display area) can be moved along with the cursor movement operation,
By moving the cursor, the area covered by the menu display area can also be easily viewed without an instruction to move the menu display area or an operation accompanying it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a cursor menu control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a storage format of icon data managed by an icon data management device of the embodiment, and FIG. The figure which illustrates a display screen in an Example, the 4th
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment,
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a computer device using a conventional icon. 1 ... ALU, 2 ... memory, 3 ... display memory, 4 ...
… CRT device, 5 …… Display control device, 6 …… Device, 7 ……
Control device, 8 ... ALU, 9 ... Memory, 10 ... Display memory, 11 ... CRT device, 12 ... Display control device, 13 ... Pointing device management device, 14 ... Icon data management device, 15 ... … Icon display management device, 16 …… Switching device attached to pointing device, 17 …… Cursor control device, 18 …… Menu control device, 19 …… Control device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pointing device management device for controlling a pointing device and managing information input thereof in a computer device for displaying and selecting a function using icons, a function of each icon, a position on a screen, an icon. Shape, the number of menus, an icon data management device that stores and manages the menu data displayed when the icon is selected, an icon display management device that displays the icons managed by this icon data management device on the screen, and the pointing device. A switch analysis device with a pointing device that generates information for selecting menu items using information about the operation of the switch from the device management device, and controls the display of the cursor and displays the cursor shape when the icon is selected. From the display shape, the icon data management device A cursor control device that transforms and displays the contents of the menu data to be processed and moves a cursor using information from the pointing device management device, a pointing device management device, an icon data management device, an icon display management device, and a pointing device. A cursor menu control device comprising: a menu control device for controlling each of the attached switch analysis device and the cursor control device, and controlling the icon selecting operation and the menu selecting operation.