JPH09244993A - On-line screen display control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the loads of a host computer in the terminal screen display control of an on-line system. SOLUTION: Respective terminals 20 (20-1-3) are provided with screen buffer groups 30 (30-1-3) and the respective buffers of the screen buffer groups 30 respectively correspond to the respective pieces of display unit information provided in a host 10. When the internal information of the host 10 is updated, a transmission data generation part 14 generates transmission data including the updating data of the updated display unit information and transmits them to all the terminals 20. The terminals 20 update the data of the buffer 7 in the screen buffer groups 30 by the received transmission data and reconstitute a display screen by using the data of the screen buffer groups 30 after updating. Thus, in the terminals 20-1 and 20-2 displaying a unit screen 7, display contents for the unit screen 7 are updated. Since the terminal 20-3 does not display the unit screen 7 from the first, even though the data of the screen buffer 7 are updated, the display screen itself is not changed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a screen display control method for controlling the screen display state of a terminal device in an online system consisting of a host computer and a plurality of terminal devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an online system such as a seat reservation system, a host computer (hereinafter abbreviated as "host") is generally connected with a plurality of terminal devices (hereinafter abbreviated as "terminal"), and each terminal is It displays information provided by the host or sends input data from the terminal operator to the host. Such terminals are directly controlled by the host communication control unit on a point-to-point low transmission capacity line, or are controlled collectively by a relatively small number by a multiplexing procedure. The scheme is taken. In these online systems, when the internal information of the host is updated, the terminal display screen may need to be updated in conjunction with it. In such a case,
The host creates update information and sends it to each terminal, and the terminal updates the display screen with the update information.

Under such an environment, there has been a need for a technique for efficiently using a line having a limited transmission capacity.
As such a technique, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-13363.
In No. 8, the terminal side holds a plurality of format data, the host side transmits the variable data and the format designation code to the terminal side, and the terminal side stores the variable data in the format corresponding to the format designation code. A method of synthesizing is disclosed. Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-156138, fixed screen information is registered in the internal memory of the terminal device, the host computer transmits a number designating a fixed screen and additional screen data, and the terminal side stores these. A method of reducing the amount of transmission data by combining is disclosed.

However, with the recent development of LAN technology and the like, it has become possible to directly connect terminals to a large-capacity transmission line without passing through an exchange. Rather, the performance of the host itself, such as the calculation speed, becomes a bottleneck in the performance of the entire system.

For example, FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a screen display control method in a conventional online system. In FIG. 8, terminals 20-1 and 2 are included in the host 10.
0-2 and 20-3 are connected. In this example, as shown in the figure, screen data A, B and C are displayed in different screen layouts on the display screens of the terminals 20-1 to 20-3. Here, the screen data A to C are displays corresponding to different display unit information among the internal information of the host 10. What is display unit information?
This refers to information that is the processing unit for updating and displaying data. The screen layout indicates the geometrical arrangement state of each screen data on the display screen of the terminal. FIG.
In the above, the screen data A is displayed on the display screens of the terminals 20-1 and 20-2, but the screen data A is not displayed on the display screen of the terminal 20-3.

In such a case, if the unit information corresponding to the screen data A in the internal information of the host 10 is changed, each terminal 20-1 is linked with the change.
The display of ~ 20-3 is changed. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the processing of the host 10 at the time of such display change, and the display change processing of each terminal at the time of updating the internal information will be described below with reference to FIG.

That is, when the host 10 receives an input from a terminal or an operator of the host (S100), the host 10 performs data processing on the input and updates the internal information (S102). That is, in this example, the display unit information corresponding to the screen data A is updated.

When the internal information is updated in this way, this update must be reflected on the display screens of the terminals 20-1 to 20-3. This data update may be reflected only on the terminal displaying the screen for the updated information. Therefore, when the internal information is updated, the host 10 next searches for a terminal to be linked with this update (that is, a terminal displaying screen data for the updated display unit information). (S11
0). That is, in this example, the terminals 20-1 and 20-
2 is searched as the corresponding terminal.

Next, since the terminals extracted as a result of this search do not all display the same screen layout, the host 10 determines the screen layout state in the current screen display of these searched terminals. Is searched (S112). In this example, the host 10 is the terminal 20-
The screen layout states of the display screens 1 and 20-2 are read.

Then, the host 10 uses the updated internal information in accordance with the current screen layout of each terminal.
Update screen data to be transmitted to each terminal is generated (S11).
4). The update screen data generation in this host 10
This is individually performed for each terminal to be linked and displayed. That is, in this example, the host 10 reads the display unit information corresponding to each of the screen data A to C (the display unit information corresponding to A is updated) from the internal information, and reads them. The updated screen data for the terminal 20-1 is generated by arranging according to the screen layout of No. 1. The same process is performed for the terminal 20-2. Since the terminal 20-3 does not display the screen data A, the update screen data is not generated.

In this way, when the updated screen data for each terminal to be linked and displayed is generated, they are individually transmitted to the corresponding terminals (20-1 or 20-2). (S116).

On the other hand, the terminals 20-1 and 20-2 that have received the updated screen data from the host 10 display the screen reflecting the update of the screen data A.

[0013]

In such a screen display control method, the host displays the current state of screen display (the number of screen data being displayed, the screen layout) for each terminal when updating the internal information. Had to be searched, and display data corresponding to the state of each terminal had to be generated and transmitted.
Therefore, when the number of terminals increases, the load on the host increases and the processing efficiency of the entire system decreases. The above-mentioned JP-A-59-133638 and JP-A-60.
The method of No. 156138 was effective in reducing the amount of transmission data, but when displaying with different screen layouts in each terminal, the host needs to generate different display data for each terminal. For example, it was not an effective measure against the increase in host load.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to reflect the update result of the internal information of the host on the display screens of many terminals without increasing the load on the host. It is intended to provide an online screen display control method.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an online screen display control system according to the present invention is connected to a host computer having internal information including a plurality of display unit information and connected to the host computer. An online system comprising a plurality of terminal devices that simultaneously display one or more of the display unit information on a display screen, the host computer outputs update data for each updated display unit information of the internal information. Transmission data generating means for generating transmission data including the transmission data and transmitting the transmission data to each of the terminal devices, each terminal device being provided corresponding to each display unit information of the internal information of the host computer. Multiple screen buffers to store display unit information,
A display screen generation unit that generates a display screen by laying out display unit information stored in each of the screen buffers according to preset screen layout information, and each of the terminal devices transmits the transmission data from the host computer. When receiving, the display unit information in the screen buffer corresponding to each update data included in the transmission data is updated, and a display screen updated according to the screen layout is generated for each terminal device. To do.

In this configuration, when the internal information is updated, the host computer generates transmission data common to all terminal devices, including update data about the updated display unit information, and transmits this to all terminal devices. Send.

On the other hand, each terminal device has a plurality of screen buffers corresponding to each display unit information, and the contents of each screen buffer are updated at any time by the update data included in the transmission data from the host computer. . Therefore, the latest internal information of the host computer is always reflected in the screen buffer group of each terminal device. Then, the display screen generation unit generates a display screen unique to each terminal device by selecting and laying out one of the display unit information stored in the screen buffer group to be displayed in accordance with the preset screen layout information. To do.

According to this configuration, the host computer does not need to generate separate transmission data for each terminal device, and therefore need not detect the current screen display state of each terminal device when updating the internal information. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load on the host computer when the data update is reflected on the screen display of the terminal device.

Further, according to the present invention, each terminal device receives a layout storage unit for storing a predetermined number of screen layout information and a layout identifier designating each screen layout information in association with each other, and inputting the layout identifier. A layout setting unit configured to retrieve and set screen layout information corresponding to a layout identifier from the layout storage unit, and generate a display screen based on the screen layout information set by the layout setting unit. .

In this configuration, each terminal device generates a display screen according to the screen layout information corresponding to the layout identifier designated by the host computer or the operator. Therefore, according to this configuration, each terminal device can change the screen layout of the display screen by changing the layout identifier.

Further, according to the present invention, the transmission data generating means of the host computer has means for adding a layout identifier to the transmission data, and the layout setting section of each terminal device detects the layout identifier from the transmission data, The screen layout information is set according to the identifier.

With this configuration, the screen layouts of all the terminal devices can be simultaneously changed from the host computer at the same time when the update data is transmitted.

Further, according to the present invention, the host computer further has means for generating transmission data of only the layout identifier and transmitting the transmission data to each terminal device, and the layout setting unit of each terminal device performs layout from the transmission data. It is characterized in that the identifier is detected and the screen layout information is set according to the layout identifier.

According to this configuration, the host computer can change only the screen layout of each terminal device.

Further, the present invention further includes a layout notifying section for notifying the host computer of the current layout identifier of the terminal device, and the host computer screens of each terminal device based on the notification from the layout notifying section. It is characterized by managing the layout.

In this configuration, the screen layout identifier for each terminal device is automatically set by the terminal device. This layout identifier is notified to the host computer by the layout notifying unit. This allows the host computer to know the current state of the screen layout of each terminal device.

[0027]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of an online screen display control system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the online system according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the same components as the components of FIG. 8 described above or components corresponding thereto are given the same reference numerals.

In this online system, as shown in FIG. 1, terminals 20-1 to 20-3 are connected to a host 10. The host 10 has a data processing unit 12 and a transmission data generation unit 14. Data processing unit 12
Receives data and commands from the terminal 20 and other devices, and performs predetermined data processing based on them. The transmission data generation unit 14 generates transmission data for each terminal 20 based on the processing result of the data processing unit 12. This transmission data is data used to change the screen display of each terminal 20 according to the update of the internal information of the host 10 or the like. The generated transmission data is used for all terminals 20-1 to 20-2.
0-3.

Each terminal 20 has screen buffer groups 30-1 to 30-3 for storing internal information of the host 10. The display unit information of the internal information of the host 10 is stored in each of the screen buffers α to δ of the screen buffer group 30 of each terminal 20. That is, in this example, the host 10 has four pieces of display unit information as internal information, and each terminal 20 has four screen buffers α to δ corresponding to the four pieces of display unit information. . Then, in the present embodiment, the screen buffer group 30 of each terminal 20 has the same information having the same contents as the internal information of the host 10. Each terminal 20 forms a display screen by selecting and laying out the information stored in the screen buffer group 30. In this example, the displays 36-1 to 36-3 of the terminals 20 perform screen display with different screen layouts. Each display 36
Displays a display screen including a plurality of unit screens (α to δ), and each unit screen (α to δ) displays information of the corresponding screen buffers α to δ.

FIG. 1 shows how the terminal screen is updated when the content of the display unit information corresponding to the screen buffer γ is updated in the host 10. In FIG. 1, the transmission data generation unit 14 of the host 10 generates transmission data including update data regarding updated display unit information, and transmits the transmission data to all terminals 20. Each terminal 20 updates the data of the buffer γ in its own screen buffer group 30 with the received transmission data, and reconstructs the display screen using the updated data of the screen buffer group 30. As a result, the display contents of the unit screen γ are updated in the terminals 20-1 and 20-2 displaying the unit screen γ. In addition,
Since the terminal 20-3 originally did not display the unit screen γ, the display screen itself does not change after the update processing (however, the data in the screen buffer γ has been updated).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the terminal 20. 2, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 2, the transmission control device 22 is a device for controlling transmission / reception of data to / from a transmission line. The transmission data from the host 10 is received by the transmission control device 22 and temporarily stored in the reception buffer 24. The layout storage unit 32 stores information about a plurality of screen layouts. An identifier (called a layout identifier) is given to each of these screen layout information. Each screen layout information is stored in the layout storage unit 32 in association with the layout identifier. The data control unit 28 is a control unit that controls screen display in the terminal 20, and performs processing such as updating the contents of the screen buffer group 30 and changing the screen layout. That is, the data control unit 28 extracts the update data of the screen buffer from the transmission data and updates the data content of the screen buffer group 30 based on this. Further, when the transmission data includes the designation of the layout identifier, the data control unit 20 retrieves the screen layout information corresponding to the designation from the layout storage unit 32, and changes the screen layout setting. And
The data control unit 28 generates display data on the output buffer 34 by arranging the data stored in the screen buffer group 30 according to the currently set screen layout. Then, the display data of the output buffer 34 is displayed on the display 36.

The input unit 26 is for inputting a screen layout instruction from the operator to the terminal 20. The data control unit 28 retrieves the screen layout information requested by the operator from the layout storage unit 32 based on the screen layout instruction (that is, the designation of the layout identifier) input from the input unit 26, thereby setting the screen layout. To change.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure of the terminal screen display control in this embodiment, (a) shows the processing procedure of the host 10, and (b) shows the processing procedure of the terminal 20. In FIG. 3, steps indicating the same or similar processing contents as the processing steps in FIG. 9 described above are designated by the same reference numerals. Hereinafter, the control processing of the terminal display screen in the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

First, when there is an input from the terminal 20 or other data processing device to the host 10 (S10).
0), the input is given to the data processing unit 12 of the host 10. Then, the data processing unit 12 performs predetermined data processing according to the input (S102). For example, in the seat reservation online system, inputs such as empty seat inquiries and seat reservations are made from each terminal 20, and the host 10 receiving these inputs from each terminal makes a predetermined reservation such as seat reservation registration according to the input. Perform processing.

By such data processing, the host 1
When the internal information of 0 is updated, the host 10
The internal transmission data generation unit 14 collectively generates update data for the updated display unit information in the internal information (S104). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of generated transmission data. As shown in FIG. 4, the transmission data 40 includes header information (header), a layout identifier portion 42, and an update data portion 44. The header information is data indicating the type of the transmission data.
The layout identifier section 42 is used when the host 10 gives an instruction to change the screen layout of the terminal 20. When the change of the screen layout of the terminal 20 is not designated, the value "NULL" indicating that the screen layout is not changed is set in the layout identifier part 42 (FIG. 4).
reference). The process of changing the terminal screen layout using the layout identifier unit 42 will be described in detail later. On the other hand, the update data part 44 of the transmission data 40 is a part that holds data about the updated display unit information.
The transmission data 40 of FIG. 4 includes update data sections 44-1 and 44 for the display unit information corresponding to the screen buffers α and δ.
-2. Each update data section includes a buffer identifier (for example, 44-1a) that identifies the screen buffer and update information (for example, 44-1b). Here, the update information is
For example, it may be the display unit information itself after the data update, or the difference between the display unit information before and after the update. The transmission data 40 generated in this way is
It is transmitted to all terminals 20 (S106).

Each terminal 20 receives the transmission data 40 by the transmission control device 22 (S200). The received transmission data is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 24. The data control unit 28 transfers the transmission data 40 from the reception buffer 24.
In response, the contents of the data are examined to determine whether or not the contents of the screen buffer need to be changed (S202), and if necessary, the contents of the whole screen buffer to be changed are updated (S204). That is, the data control unit 28 checks whether or not the transmission data 40 includes the update data unit 44, and if the update data unit 44 is included, the data control unit 28 is designated as the buffer identifier 44 a of the update data unit 44. The contents of the screen buffer group 30 being updated are updated using the data of the update information 44b. As a result of this processing, the information held by the screen buffer group 30 of each terminal 20 corresponds to the updated internal information of the host 10. If the transmission data 40 does not include the update data section 44, the information in the screen buffer group 30 is not changed.

Next, the data control unit 28 sends the transmission data 4
The layout identifier part 42 is extracted from 0 (S206),
It is determined whether the layout of the display screen needs to be changed according to the extraction result (S208). Here, the data control unit 28 determines that the screen layout should be changed when the content of the layout identifier unit 42 is different from the layout identifier of the currently displayed screen layout. In this case, the data control unit 28 stores the screen layout information corresponding to the extracted layout identifier in the layout storage unit 3.
Taken from No. 2 and set this as a new screen layout. Then, the data control unit 28 uses the output buffer 3
4, the unit screen data stored in the screen buffer group 30 is combined with the newly set screen layout, and as a result, the display data formed in the output buffer 34 is displayed on the display 36 (S212).

On the other hand, when the extracted layout identifier section 42 has the same value as the layout identifier of the current screen layout or "NULL", the data control section 2
8 does not change the screen layout and displays S on the current display screen.
It is determined whether the contents of the screen buffer changed in 204 are displayed (S210). If this determination is YES, the data control unit 28 arranges the data in the screen buffer group 30 according to the current screen layout to generate display data, and displays it on the display 36 (S21).
4). On the other hand, if the determination in S210 is NO, that is, if the changed contents of the screen buffer are not displayed or the screen buffer is not changed in S204, the data control unit 28 displays the display screen. The process ends without making any changes.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the host may generate and transmit the same transmission data to all terminals when updating the internal information, and the current screen display of each terminal is displayed. There is no need to detect the state and generate separate transmission data for each terminal. Therefore, according to this configuration,
It is possible to reduce the load on the host when the data update is reflected on the screen display of the terminal device.

In the present embodiment, since the screen layout of each terminal 20 is set for each terminal, basically, the host 10 does not instruct the screen layout of the terminal 20. Therefore, when the internal information of the host 10 is updated, as shown in FIG. 5, the host 10 transmits the transmission data 40 whose layout identifier part 42 has a value of “NULL”.
Is transmitted to each terminal 20. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the display unit information corresponding to the screen buffer β is updated in the host 10. In this example, the host 10 does not give an instruction to change the screen layout. Therefore, each terminal 20
The screen buffer group 30 is updated by the data of the update data section 44 of the transmission data 40, the data of the screen buffer group 30 is arranged according to the set screen layout information 38, and the display data is generated on the output buffer 34.

On the other hand, when the screen layout of the terminal 20 is instructed from the host 10, for example, an emergency message may be displayed on all terminals. in this case,
As shown in FIG. 6, the host 10 transmits the update data section 44 for the display unit information (such as an emergency message) desired to be displayed on all terminals and the value of the screen layout identifier including the display unit information to the transmission data 40. Is set in the layout identifier section 42, and this is transmitted to all terminals 20.
Each terminal 20 updates the screen buffer group 30 based on this transmission data 40, and at the same time, the layout identifier section 42.
The screen layout information 38 designated by the output buffer 34
Generate display data on top. If the information to be displayed simultaneously on all terminals 20 is already stored in the screen buffer of each terminal 20, the host 10 generates transmission data 40 (see FIG. 7) that does not include update data. Then
Just send it. Thus, in this embodiment, the host 1
The screen layout of all terminals 20 can be forcibly changed from 0.

The terminal screen layout can be changed from the host not only for all terminals at the same time but also for each terminal individually. In this case, the host may send the transmission data including only the layout identifier as shown in FIG. 7 to the target terminal.

In the online system, it is often convenient for the host to know the screen layout state of each terminal. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the host can grasp and manage the status of the screen layout of each terminal.

This method will be described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the operator inputs to the input unit 26 at the terminal. In this case, the data control unit 28
Along with the input data, the current layout identifier is set in the layout notification section and the host is notified.
The host has a table that manages the screen layout of each terminal, and when receiving the notification of the layout identifier from the terminal, updates the layout identifier of the terminal in the table. Further, when it is determined that layout is necessary for the input, the host generates transmission data including the layout identifier at the same time as the input response and transmits the transmission data to the terminal. The terminal receiving this transmission data
The layout identifier contained therein is detected to change the screen layout setting. According to this method, the host can always grasp the state and change of the screen layout of each terminal. This example changes the screen layout of the terminal
The configuration is performed in a unified manner according to the instruction of the transmission data from the host. Instead of this, even if the terminal changes the screen layout according to the input from the input unit 26 and notifies the host of this fact, and the host only updates the table by this notification, the host is similar to the above example. It is possible to manage the terminal screen layout by.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The host computer only needs to generate and transmit the same transmission data to all terminal devices when updating the internal information, which can reduce the load on the host computer.

According to the present invention, the screen layout of each terminal device can be changed by designating the layout identifier.

Further, according to the present invention, the screen layout of all the terminal devices can be simultaneously changed from the host computer at the same time when the update data is transmitted. This function is effective when it is desired to forcefully display specific information such as an emergency message on all terminals.

Further, according to the present invention, the host computer can change only the screen layout of each terminal device.

Further, according to the present invention, the host computer can always grasp the state of the screen layout of each terminal device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an online system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a terminal of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of terminal screen display control in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a data structure of transmission data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a screen display control process when the screen layout of the terminal is not changed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining screen display control processing when the screen layout of the terminal is changed from the host.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing transmission data used to instruct only a screen layout change of a terminal.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an online system.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of conventional online terminal screen display control.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 host computer, 20 terminal device, 22 transmission control device, 24 reception buffer, 26 input unit, 28 data control unit, 30 screen buffer group, 32 layout storage unit, 34 output buffer, 36 display.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G09G 5/00 555 G09G 5/00 555D

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An online system comprising: a host computer having internal information including a plurality of display unit information; and a plurality of terminal devices connected to the host computer and simultaneously displaying one or more display unit information on a display screen. In the system, the host computer has transmission data generation means for generating transmission data including update data for each updated display unit information of the internal information, and transmitting the transmission data to each terminal device, Each of the terminal devices is provided corresponding to each display unit information of the internal information of the host computer, a plurality of screen buffers storing the corresponding display unit information, and according to preset screen layout information, A display screen generation unit that generates a display screen by laying out the display unit information stored in each screen buffer, When each terminal device receives the transmission data from the host computer, each terminal device updates the corresponding display unit information in the screen buffer with each update data included in the transmission data, and the screen layout for each terminal device is updated. An online screen display control method characterized in that a display screen updated according to the above is generated. 2. The online screen display control method according to claim 1, wherein each terminal device includes a layout storage unit that stores a predetermined number of screen layout information and a layout identifier that specifies each screen layout information in association with each other. A layout setting unit that receives the layout identifier and retrieves and sets the screen layout information corresponding to the layout identifier from the layout storage unit, based on the screen layout information set by the layout setting unit. An online screen display control method characterized by generating a display screen. 3. The online screen display control method according to claim 2, wherein the transmission data generation means of the host computer has means for adding a layout identifier to the transmission data, and the layout setting of each of the terminal devices. An online screen display control method, wherein the unit detects a layout identifier from the transmission data and sets screen layout information according to the layout identifier. 4. The online screen display control method according to claim 2, wherein the host computer further has means for generating transmission data of only a layout identifier and transmitting the transmission data to each of the terminal devices. The online screen display control method, wherein the layout setting unit of the apparatus detects a layout identifier from the transmission data and sets screen layout information according to the layout identifier. 5. The online screen display control method according to claim 2, wherein each of the terminal devices further includes a layout notifying unit that notifies the host computer of a current layout identifier of the terminal device. Is an online screen display control method for managing the current screen layout of each terminal device based on a notification from the layout notification unit.