JPH09319538A - Graphical user interface - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent physical data, which can be made common, from being overlapped by composing these data of a display object, which is composed of an object for detecting the operation of a user and controlling picture display, and a data object for which physical data to be used for various kinds of objects are separated from the display object and made independent. SOLUTION: Peculiar data such as the display positions and sizes of push buttons 10a and 10b on a console are carried by a 1F illumination icon object 1a and a 2F illumination icon object 11b or the like on a display 1 as they are and physical data, which can be made common, such as images to be the base of push buttons 10a and 10b or basic image data such as icons are made independent of the display object 1 at an image data object 21, etc., of a data object 2. Thus, the physical data which can be made common are provided at the data object 2 made separate from and independent of the display object 1, and shared by the object of the display object 1 and the physical data are prevented from being overlapped.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a graphical user interface (hereinafter, referred to as GUI) in an operating device of various equipment such as air conditioning, lighting, power reception / distribution or home appliances.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers have been used for the purpose of improving the operability of low-cost operating devices such as operating devices for building equipment systems and operating devices for consumer equipment that control the operation of various devices such as building air conditioning and lighting. Also, there is an active movement to introduce a GUI operation method that is predominant in workstations and the like. However, in general, a GUI-operated operating device needs to handle a large amount of data such as display image data and various sound data representing responses, which are various components of the operating device screen such as windows, buttons, and icons. , Large amount of memory and high performance CPU are required. This raises the cost of the operating device and is an obstacle to penetration of the operating device by the GUI operation method.

Recently, in the operation device in the GUI operation system, the GUI is often implemented by using the object-oriented technology for the purpose of improving the software productivity by the reuse, but generally, the GUI is implemented by the screen display. The control, display image data, and information of the device connected to the operation device are configured as an integrated object, or an object to which the operation procedure is added. The object means a data or a program in which data and an operation of the data are integrated.

An example of a GUI using such an object-oriented technique is the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-202863. A design support system for GUI application programs disclosed in this publication discloses a first event setting object for setting display switching of each window on a screen, a simulated environment setting object for creating a simulated window, and operation contents for each window. By implementing independent objects such as window operation and procedure setting objects that perform continuous procedure setting as a group, prototyping of overall GUI operation can be performed in detail and flexibly, and application programs can be designed efficiently. It is to support.

[0005]

The conventional G as described above is used.
Even in the UI application program design support system, a large amount of memory and a high-performance CPU are required because it is necessary to manage a large amount of image data and sound data and perform these processes. As a result, the cost of the operating device is raised, and the penetration of the operating device by the GUI operation system into various device fields where low cost is required is hindered.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and aims to improve the efficiency of memory usage by sharing data that is used redundantly and decompressing data, and at the same time, keep objects unchanged. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a graphical user interface that enables low-cost implementation by storing various attribute data in inexpensive hardware.

[0007]

A graphical user interface according to the present invention is a display object including various objects for detecting a user's operation and controlling a screen display, and a display object for displaying physical data used by the various objects. And a data object that is separated from and independent.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention is a display object for detecting a user's operation and controlling a screen display, and various data including operation information and setting information of a device and a system controlled by the display object. And a database object for managing the display object separately from the display object.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention includes a display object including various objects for detecting a user operation and controlling a screen display,
Separates physical data used by various objects from the display object and separates various data including operation information and setting information of the devices and systems controlled by the display object from the display object. And a database object that is managed independently of each other, and a link object that links the display object and the database object to exchange data of both objects.

The graphical user interface according to the present invention has a plurality of screen objects consisting of slide objects and icon objects corresponding to respective display screens, and controls the screen display based on the screen object specified from among the screen objects. A database that manages based on the operation information on the display screen, separating the display object that detects the operation of the display object and various data including the operating information and the setting information of the device and the system controlled by the display object, separately from the display object. An object and a procedure object for inputting an operation detected in the display object and identifying a screen object corresponding to the display screen to be displayed based on the operation,
The operation information detected by the display object is transmitted to the database object, and the data corresponding to the operation information output from the database object is transmitted to the screen object of the display object specified by the procedure object, and the screen corresponding to the operation is transmitted. And a link object to be displayed.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention generates a display screen and a data object composed of a plurality of objects in which physical data used in the screen object of the display object is separated from the display object to be independent. When one or more screen objects whose behavior is predicted next to the screen object being identified are identified by the procedure object, the corresponding screen object is extracted in advance based on the identification and Memory management object that extracts in advance an object corresponding to the screen object.

Further, in the graphical user interface according to the present invention, the memory management object previously generates one or a plurality of display screen data based on the extracted screen object and data object.

In the graphical user interface according to the present invention, the procedure object calculates the transition probability of the display screen with respect to the operation detected by the display object, and the operation is predicted next based on the transition probability. Alternatively, a plurality of screen objects are designated as memory management objects.

The graphical user interface according to the present invention has a decompression object for decompressing a previously compressed data object as needed.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention has a decompression object for decompressing the data object corresponding to the image object among the data objects compressed in advance when the screen object is specified by the procedure object. is there.

In the graphical user interface according to the present invention, the link object includes a forward link object for linking the display object and the database object and transmitting data of the display object to the database object, and a link object for linking the display object and the database object. And a reverse link object for transmitting the data of (1) to the display object.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention comprises an object management table for managing the correspondence between the object name and the address where each object exists, and when the message is transmitted, it intervenes between the objects and the object management table is stored. Based on the address of the destination object, the message exchange service object transfers the message to the object at that address.

Furthermore, the graphical user interface according to the present invention uses a fixed-length message composed of a communication destination object name, a service number to be used, and a pointer address to a parameter exchanged between the objects, as a message communicated between the objects. It is composed.

In the graphical user interface according to the present invention, the variable part of the attribute data consisting of the variable part and the invariant part of each object is stored in the RAM,
The invariant part is stored in the ROM.

[0020]

1 is a block diagram of the first to tenth embodiments of the present invention. In addition, in this embodiment, an operating device for a building facility equipment management system that monitors and operates, for example, air conditioning, lighting, etc. installed in a building will be described as a specific example.

In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a graphical user interface (GUI) mounted on an operating device 200 for a building facility equipment management system, which is composed of a plurality of objects described later. 1 is GUI100
Object having display display control and user operation detection functions, 2 is a data object that is physical data such as image data and audio data used in the display object 1, and 3 is a target of monitoring / operation A database object including a database of various data including configuration information about a building equipment device management system, operating information and setting information of devices (for example, indoor units, illuminators, etc.), and a function of managing the database,
4 is a display object 1 and a database object 3
A link object 5 having a function of linking and the data of both objects 1 and 3 is provided with a management function of a transition procedure between display operation screens of the controller 200, that is, an operation procedure corresponding to the operation of each screen. The provided procedure object 6 is a network management object having a management function of communication between the operating device 200 and the building equipment device management system.

Reference numeral 101 denotes a GUI mounted on the controller 200.
100 and a multitasking real-time operating system (hereinafter referred to as a real-time OS) such as μITRON that manages execution of various applications, 102 is a driver (software) group such as a display driver and a voice driver for operating hardware, and 103 is The operation unit 200 is hardware such as a microcomputer, a ROM, a RAM, and a display element (LCD). Then, each object 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is a real-time OS 10
The single management function operates independently of each other, and the functions of the entire GUI are realized by exchanging messages with each other. Also, display object 1 and data object 2
The database object 3 is usually composed of a plurality of objects.

Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a main part of the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10a is displayed on the display operation screen on the operation device 200, for example, "1F
It is used in the 1F lighting icon object 11a of the display object 1 having the display control function and the user operation detection function, and the 1F lighting icon object 11a (display object 1) by the push button of "common area lighting". , Image data object 2 of data object 2 actually displayed on the display operation screen
1 and the operation device 20 when the operation from the user is accepted
It consists of a sound data object 22 of a data object 2 originating from 0. 31a, 31b, ... Are, for example, illumination 1 object and illumination 2 object of the database object 3 corresponding to the target device, group or system monitored and operated by the operation device 200, and their operating states (current value = [ON | OFF]). ),
Information such as button positions on the display operation screen and their sizes is stored. 41a, 41b, ... Are the 1F lighting object of the link object 4, for example, the 2F lighting object, and the 1F lighting object 41a associates the 1F lighting icon object 11a of the display object 1 and the lighting 1 object 31a of the database object 3 with the 1F lighting icon object. The operation information of the user 11a is transmitted to the lighting 1 object 31a to rewrite the contents of the lighting 1 object 31a.

Then, the 1F lighting icon object 1
1a (display object 1), image data object 21 and sound data object 22 (data object 2), illumination 1 object 31a and illumination 2 object 31b (database object 3), and 1F illumination object 41a and 2F illumination object 41b (link A plurality of objects such as the object 4) constitutes the GUI 100 mounted on the operation device 200 as shown in FIG.

As described above, since each object operates functionally independently, each object can be freely designed and the burden on the designer can be reduced. Further, for example, even if a change occurs in the display operation screen of the operation device 200, if the basic configuration of the GUI 100 does not change, it is not necessary to change the database portion, and the change and repair can be easily performed.

In a conventional GUI-oriented object designed and implemented, for example, a part for controlling display and display data are integrated, and various data corresponding to the object are all included in each object. It was an accompanying form. Therefore, in the GUI 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, among various data included in each object of the GUI 100, for example, the push button 10a displayed on the display operation screen on the operation device 200. , 10b ... Unique data such as display positions and sizes of the display objects 1 and 10b ...
1a, 2F lighting icon object 11b, and 3
The F object icon icon 11c, etc., and the physical data that can be shared, such as the basic image data of the push buttons 10a, 10b ... And the basic image data of icons, sound data used for operation sounds, etc., are data objects. The second image data object 21 and the sound data object 22 are configured to be held independently of the display object 1.

In this way, the physical data that can be made common is provided in the data object 2 which is separated from the display object 1 and is independent, and is shared by a plurality of objects of the display object 1 so that the image tends to be large as data. It is possible to prevent duplication of physical data such as data and sound data, and avoid waste of expensive memory.

The GU according to the first embodiment of the present invention
In I100, as shown in FIG. 2, various data including the operation information and the setting information of the device and the system which are the objects of control of the display object 1 conventionally associated with the display object 1 and the like are separated from the display object 1. It is provided in the database object 3 which is independent of each other so as to operate independently in terms of function. Therefore, the transmission of data from the display object 1 to the database object 3 is configured not to be performed directly by both parties 1 and 3, but via the link object 4. This allows display object 1 and database object 3
Can increase the independence of.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the push button 10e of "large conference room lighting", which is one of the push buttons on the display operation screen, has a group control function for collectively operating a plurality of illuminators, The large conference room lighting icon object 13 of the display object 1 corresponding to the "large conference room lighting" push button 10e, and the illuminator 1 object 31a of the database object 3 corresponding to the plurality of illuminators that are the target of group control, The illuminator 2 objects 31b ... Are linked via the large conference room lighting group object 43 of the link object 4. Accordingly, the large conference room lighting icon object 11e (display object 1) only needs to give an instruction to the large conference room lighting group object 43 (link object 4), and the large conference room lighting icon object 13 (display object 1) and the illumination It is not necessary to know the configuration contents of the container 1 object 31a and the like (database object 3). Therefore, when the number of illuminators in the large conference room is changed, it is only necessary to change the attribute data related to the database object 3 managed by the large conference room lighting group object 43 (link object 4). , It is not necessary to make changes to the display object 1 and the database object 3.

As described above, in the GUI 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the display object 1 and the database object 3 are directly related to each other, and the display object 1 gives a direct instruction to a plurality of objects of the database object 3. It is not necessary to send it out, and even if the content of the group control is changed, there is no need to change many attribute data of the display object 1.
Thereby, each object can secure sufficient independence.

Also, when a plurality of types of control are performed on the same content, such as two types of time display, digital display and analog display, as shown in FIG. 5, a clock link of the link object 4 is displayed. The object 45 is a clock object 32 that manages actual clock data of the database object 3 and a display object 1.
Of the digital clock button 1 and the clock object 32 of the database object 3 and the analog clock object 16 of the display object 1 are linked.
By selecting (operating) either 0g or the analog clock button 10h, the clock link object 45 of the link object 4 transmits the data of the selected object to the clock object 32 of the database object 3 to display digital or analog. Let In this way, since it is not necessary for the display object 1 and the database object 3 to know each other's configuration contents as in the case of group control, each object can ensure sufficient independence.

As the link object 4, as shown in FIG. 2, the link object 4 corresponds to the 1F lighting icon object 11a of the display object 1 and the lighting 1 object 31a of the database object 3 in a one-to-one correspondence. 1F lighting object 4
As shown in FIG. 4, one object of the display object 1 and one of the plurality of objects of the database object 3 correspond one-to-one with one object of the link object 4 as shown in FIG. The case of correspondence, and the case where one of the link objects 4 corresponds to a plurality of objects of the display object 1 and one object of the database object 3 corresponding to each other as shown in FIG. There is. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the above-described one-to-one link, one-to-many link, or plural-to-one link has one link object 46a, 46b itself and the property of the link object 46a, 46b. There is also one in which the display object 1 and the database object 3 are associated with each other by linking the display object 1.

Embodiment 2. FIG. 8 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a main part of the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 17 is one object 17 for each screen displayed on the controller.
a, 17b ... A slide object that manages all push buttons and the like existing on the screen, and push buttons and the like are icon objects 18 (icon objects 18a and 18b) that control the display.
...) and a data object 24 (data objects 24a, 24b ...) Having image data and sound data used in the icon object 18, and a plurality of screen objects (display objects) (slide object 17 and icon object 18). The display operation screen is generated by the object 1). Further, the slide object 17 and the icon object 18 (screen object) are held by the display object 1, and the data object 24
Is held in data object 2. Reference numeral 33 is a database object corresponding to each of the icon objects 18, and includes target devices (eg, illuminators) to be monitored and operated by the operating device, operating states of groups or systems, display positions and sizes of push buttons on the screen, and the like. It has various data, and each database object 33a, 33b ... And the icon object 1
8a, 18b ... are link objects 47a, 47b ...
Linked by. Further, the database object 33 is held by the database object 3,
The link objects 47a, 47b ... Are held in the link object 4.

Reference numeral 5 identifies the slide object 17 (screen object) corresponding to the display operation screen required according to the user's operation, and manages the transition procedure between the display operation screens, that is, the operation procedure corresponding to the operation of each screen. The slide object 17 is a procedure object having a function to
Screen transition management table 5 for each a, 17b ...
1a, 51b, ..., And the display operation screen of the next transition destination when the icon object 18 in each display operation screen (each slide object 17) and the push button or the like corresponding to the icon object 18 are operated. The correspondence with (slide object 17) is managed by the table.

For example, when the display operation screen A corresponding to the slide object 17a is currently displayed on the operation device, buttons A-1 to A-6 corresponding to the icon objects 18a ... Are displayed on the screen A. When the user operates the button A-1, as shown in FIG.
The icon object 18a detects the operation and transmits the operation information to the database object 33a via the link object 47a. At the same time, the operation information is transmitted to the procedure object 5 via the slide object 17a, and the procedure object 5 refers to the screen transition management table 51a of the slide object 17a and operates the button A-1 corresponding to the icon object 18a. The transition screen at that time and the slide object 17b are specified, and an instruction to display the display operation screen B corresponding to the slide object 17b is issued on the operating device. Then, the display operation screen B is displayed as the next screen on the operating device.

Here, it is assumed that the button A-1 corresponding to the icon object 18a is the "device 1" button for operating the device 1. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the “device 1” button 10j of the display operation screen A displayed on the operation device 200.
When the user operates the icon object 18a, the icon object 18a detects that the "device 1" button 10j has been operated, and transmits the operation information, that is, "information that it is the device 1" to the procedure object 5 via the slide object 17a. The procedure object 5 is the slide object 1
The slide object 17b corresponding to the next screen is specified by the screen transition management table 51a of 7a, and the operation information “information indicating that the device 1” is transmitted to the slide object 17b. The slide object 17b includes a screen template 300 for forming a screen. By adding operation information to the template 300, the same information is transmitted to the icon object 19a or the like forming the display operation screen B, and the icon is displayed. The object 19a or the like transmits the same information to the link object 48a, the database object 33 or the like. And the slide object 17
Reference numeral b constitutes a display operation screen B with operation buttons 10k, 10m and the like corresponding to the icon object 19a and the like. A display operation screen B is displayed on the operation device.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the operation information on the display operation screen A is transmitted to the slide object 17b corresponding to the next screen through the procedure object 5,
By adding the operation information to the template 300 of the slide object 17b, the slide object 17b can issue a display instruction to the icon object 19a or the like that constitutes the display operation screen B to be displayed corresponding to the operation. it can. Then, the icon object 19a and the like are associated with the database object 33 via the link object 48a and the like, and the slide object 17b, the icon object 19a,
"Device 1" button 10j operated by the link object 48a and the database object 33
The display operation screen B corresponding to the actual device 1 is configured.

As described above, by managing the transition of the next screen by the procedure object 5, even if the transition procedure is changed, only the procedure object 5 is changed without changing other objects such as the slide object 17. Therefore, it is possible to easily make changes and repairs. Further, the slide object 17 only needs to manage the use of operation buttons or the like in the screen, and the display operation screen to be displayed can be easily configured by the screen model 300 of the screen and the operation information of the display object 1. Therefore, when performing similar monitoring / operation for each device to be controlled, as shown in FIG. 9, similar display operation is performed for each of the operation buttons 10j, 10n, 10p displayed on the display operation screen A. It is possible to avoid having the screens B, C, D ... Duplicately, and it is possible to save the amount of memory used. In addition, when there are multiple targets such as group control or schedule setting, many functions are operated in the same procedure, so the procedure itself can be made common and prepared as a template so that it can be reused in the development of other operating devices. Therefore, the design efficiency can be improved.

Embodiment 3. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a main part of the third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, in the second embodiment, next to the display operation screen displayed on the operation device by the procedure object 5. A slide object 17 corresponding to a display operation screen predicted to be displayed, and an icon object 18 and a data object 24 corresponding thereto are extracted, and a display predicted based on the extracted slide object 17, icon object 18 and data object 24. It has a memory management object 7 for generating display operation screen data of the operation screen in advance and temporarily storing the generated display operation screen data in the memory block 7a.

In this embodiment configured as described above, the display operation screen predicted to be displayed next to the display operation screen displayed on the operation device based on the operation procedure managed by the procedure object 5 The procedure object 5 identifies a plurality of slide objects 17 corresponding to, and instructs the memory management object 7 to generate the entity of the display operation screen corresponding to the identified slide object 17. Then, the memory management object 7 that has received the instruction works on the real-time OS 101 to secure as much memory capacity as possible among the memory capacities necessary for generating the substance of the display operation screen of the memory mounted on the controller. , A memory block 7a is prepared. At this time, if all the required memory capacity cannot be secured, the capacity that can be secured in screen units is secured. Then, the memory management object 7 extracts the slide object 17 specified by the procedure object 5, the icon object 18 and the data object 24 corresponding to the slide object 17, and generates display operation screen data based on the extracted objects 17, 18, 24. , Memory block 7a.
That is, when the display operation screen A corresponding to the slide object 17a is displayed on the operation device, the procedure object 5 causes the slide objects 17b and 17d corresponding to the display operation screens B and D to be displayed next to be displayed. Then, the memory management object 7 is instructed to generate its substance, and the memory management object 7 displays the operation screens B and D based on the slide objects 17b and 17d.
Data is generated and the display operation screens B and D data are stored in the memory block 7a as shown in FIG.

In this way, the procedure object 5 specifies the slide object 17 or the like corresponding to the display operation screen predicted to be displayed next based on the operation procedure of the procedure object 5, and the specified slide object 17 or the like is designated. Since the memory management object 7 generates the display operation screen data based on the data and stores it in the memory block 7a in advance, the display operation screen below the slide object 17 of the screen to be displayed after receiving the instruction of the procedure object 5 is displayed. It is not necessary to perform the generation work each time an operation is performed on the display operation screen, and it is possible to shorten the screen generation work time. As a result, the response of the operating device and the operability can be improved.

Embodiment 4. The fourth embodiment is different from the third embodiment in that the slide object 17 corresponding to the display operation screen to be displayed next is specified based on the operation procedure managed by the procedure object 5. Instead, the operation is performed based on the transition probability calculated based on the operation frequency of the user, and the number of times the user has operated each icon object 18 in the procedure object 5 and the display operation screen transitioned by the operation. There is provided a transition probability calculation means for calculating the operation frequency by calculating the operation frequency for each slide object 17 by calculating the operation frequency based on the number of times the slide object 17 is operated. Then, as shown in FIG. 11A, the procedure object 5 has a screen transition management table 51 (51a ...) In which a column of operation frequency of each icon object 18 is provided, and FIG.
As shown in 1 (b), the transition probability management table 52 corresponding to the transition probabilities in the respective slide objects 17 of the transition destination.
(52a ...).

Then, the procedure object 5 is the slide object 17 corresponding to the display operation screen predicted to be displayed next, for the upper several screens having a high transition probability based on the transition probability management table 52, for example, the slide object 1.
7b and 17d are specified, and the memory management object 7 is instructed to generate the entities of the display operation screens B and D before the operation is actually performed. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the memory management object 7 stores the generated display operation screen B and D data in the memory block 7a.

As described above, based on the transition probability management table 52 of the procedure object 5, the display operation screen data generated by the slide object 17 or the like having a high transition probability can be stored in advance in the memory block 7a before the operation. Therefore, the screen transition speed adapted to the operation tendency of the user can be increased, and the response of the operation device and the operability can be improved.

Embodiment 5. FIG. 12 is a configuration explanatory view of the essential parts of the fifth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is the second
In the embodiment of FIG.
a, 24b ...) As the data object 25 (25a, 25b ...) In the pre-compressed state, the hardware 10
A decompression object 8 for decompressing the data object 25, which is stored in the ROM No. 3 and decompresses the data object 25 when necessary, is provided.

In this embodiment thus configured, the display operation for the procedure object 5 to be displayed next based on the operation procedure managed by the procedure object 5 as in the case described in the second embodiment. When the slide object 17a corresponding to the screen is specified, the icon objects 18a ... Corresponding to the specified slide object 17a specify the data objects 24a. The decompression object 8 is the data object 24 specified from the data object group compressed and stored in the ROM.
A compressed data object 25a corresponding to a ...
Is extracted and decompression processing is performed to generate the actual data objects 24a. Then, the slide object 17a constitutes a display operation screen by the icon objects 18a ... Using the generated data objects 24a.

Thus, the actual data object 2
4a ... are stored in the ROM after being compressed, and the decompression object 8 extracts and decompresses them when necessary.
The memory requirement for the entire data object can be reduced, and the amount of expensive memory used can be saved.

Embodiment 6. The sixth embodiment is an implementation of the invention of the fifth embodiment to the third embodiment, and displays a plurality of display operation screens to be displayed next based on the operation procedure managed by the procedure object 5. When the display operation screen data generated by the corresponding slide object 17 or the like is generated by the memory management object 7, the compressed data object 25 corresponding to the slide object 17 corresponding to the plurality of predicted display operation screens is displayed. The decompression object 8 performs decompression processing to form a substantial data object 24, and the data object 24 and the like generate a plurality of display operation screen data.

With this configuration, the same effects as those of the third and fifth embodiments can be obtained, the memory used can be saved, and the speed of screen transition can be increased. As a result, the response of the operating device and the operability can be improved.

Embodiment 7. The seventh embodiment is an implementation of the invention of the fifth embodiment to the fourth embodiment, and is a slide object corresponding to a display operation screen with a high transition probability based on the transition probability management table 52 of the procedure object 5. When the display operation screen data generated by 17 or the like is generated by the memory management object 7, the compressed data object 25 corresponding to the slide object 17 corresponding to the display operation screen having a high transition probability.
Is expanded by the expansion object 8 into the actual data object 24, and the display operation screen data having a high transition probability is generated by the data object 24 and the like.

With this configuration, almost the same effects as those of the fourth and fifth embodiments can be obtained, the memory used can be saved, and the screen transition speed adapted to the operation tendency of the user can be increased. As a result, the response of the operating device and the operability can be improved.

Embodiment 8. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a main part of the eighth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, in the first embodiment, the display object 1 and the database object 3 are associated with each other, and data from the database object 3 is stored. The reverse pulling object 49 of the backward link object 4a is provided for transmitting to the display object 1 and rewriting the data of the display object 1.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, for example, when the user turns on the lighting 1 that is turned on,
Illumination 1 object 31 of database object 3
Lighting information is written in a, and the lighting 1 object 31a
Transmits the turn-off information to the 1F lighting icon object 11a via the reverse lookup object 49 of the backward link object 4a. Then, the 1F lighting icon object 11a takes out the data representing the lighting off state from the lighting image data object 21 of the data object 2 based on this lighting off information, and the lighting 1 which is in the lighting off state on the display operation screen on the operating device. The push button 10a corresponding to is displayed.

At this time, the reverse lookup object 49 is the same as in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the key of the 1F lighting icon of the display object 1 is extracted from the key “lighting 1” of the lighting 1 object 31a based on the reverse link management table 400 provided in the reverse lookup object 49, and the 1F lighting icon is extracted. An information link for the lighting icon object 11a is configured.

The reverse link management table 400 is created as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 14, the link object (forward link object) 4 is the 1F lighting objects 41 a and 2 of the link object 4.
A link management table 4 which is a correspondence table between the display object 1 and the database object 3 with the display object 1 side as a key based on the F lighting object 41b and the like.
01 is created. Next, this link management table 40
The display object 1 side and the database object 3 side are exchanged based on 1, and the reverse link management table 400 with the key as the database object 3 side is created and given to the reverse lookup object 49.

As described above, by providing the backward link object 4a separately from the link object (forward link object) 4, the data from the database object 3 is transmitted to the display object 1 through the backward link object 4a. The display object 1 can make the transmitted data available. As a result, the display object 1 and the database object 3 can easily exchange data between the display object 1 and the database object 3 by using the link object (forward link object) 4 and the reverse link object 4a, and expand the range of use of data. be able to.

When a plurality of objects of the display object 1 correspond to one object of the database object 3, the database object 3 which is a key of the backward link management table 400.
The same key exists on the side, and the data of the database object 3 is sent to the plurality of objects of the display object 1 corresponding to the key via the reverse lookup object 48 of the backward link object 4a.

Embodiment 9. FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a main part of the ninth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 16A is a configuration diagram of a message communicated between objects. In this embodiment, in the third embodiment, a message exchange service object 9 having an object management table 9a whose contents are changed by the memory management object 7 of the third embodiment is provided, and each object of the display object 1 is provided. (Slide object 17
Etc.) is provided with a service definition table 500 for managing the information of the services defined for each, and message communication between objects is realized. Note that 104
Is a memory area provided by the real-time OS 103, 6
00 is a fixed length message communicated between objects, and is composed of a communication destination object name 601, a service number 602, and a pointer 603 to a parameter, as shown in FIG. The object management table 9a is a correspondence table of object names and addresses where each object exists, and the service definition table 500 is a correspondence table of service numbers and service names.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, for example, the icon object 18 is changed from the slide object 17a to the icon object 18a.
When a request to display the icon A-1 corresponding to a occurs,
The slide object 17a is the icon object 1
8a is stored in a predetermined address (05010H) of the memory area 104, and "icon object (A-1) + service number 2 + pointer to parameter ( "05010H)" is generated based on the service definition table 500 managed by itself and is transmitted to the message exchange service object 9. The message exchange service object 9 has an icon object (A-1) having an object name 601 from the transmitted message 600, that is, an icon A-.
1, the address on the memory of the icon A-1 is specified from the object management table 9a managed by itself, and the specified address, that is, the icon object 18
Transfer the message 600 to a. Then, the icon object 18a uses the received message 600 to indicate its service number 602 and pointer 60 to the parameter.
3 is taken out and the service “icon display” is interpreted based on the service definition table 500 managed by itself, and the address (05010) of the memory area 104 is read.
The parameter for the service stored in H) is taken out from the address (05010H) in the message 600, and the service of "icon display" is executed. As a result, the icon A-1 is displayed on the display operation screen on the operation device.

In this way, the contents of the message 600 such as the type of service and parameters are defined in each object for which message communication is performed, and the message exchange service object 9 basically does not convert the message 600 and the object management table 9
Since the message transfer is realized on the basis of a, each object can be made highly functionally independent without managing the address of the other party to which the message 600 is sent. It is possible to obtain a GUI that can realize message communication with a high degree of freedom. Further, when the memory allocation of the object is changed by reallocating the memory, it is only necessary to change the object management table 9a of the message exchange service object 9 by the memory management object 7, for example.
The GUI design efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, since the message 600 to be communicated has a fixed length, the process of message communication can be easily performed, and the function of the entire GUI can be enhanced.

In the above embodiment, the message communication between objects is realized by the object management table 9a which is a table of all objects of the message exchange service object 9, but the number of objects increases, for example. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 17, the object management table 9a of the message exchange service object 9 may be created for each category to perform message communication. In this case, the message 600 to be communicated is configured as shown in FIG. 16B, and it is possible to avoid an increase in the search and management processing in the message exchange service object 9.

Embodiment 10. In the tenth embodiment, the attribute data and method of each object 1, 2, 3 ... Are divided into a variable part and an invariant part based on the contents thereof. The part is stored in the ROM of the memory.

Cost reduction is important for applying the GUI to a wide range. For this reason, it is effective to implement an object in an operation device or the like on a ROM basis, which is lower in cost than a RAM. Therefore, in the attribute data and methods of the elements forming each object 1, 2, 3, ..., A method that is not changed at normal execution is stored in the ROM, and a variable part that may be changed at execution is compiled. Attribute data that is mixed with invariant parts that are not changed once determined once is stored in ROM and RA
By storing in each of M, the amount of RAM used can be significantly reduced.

Next, a method of realizing storage in the ROM or RAM for each attribute data of each object 1, 2, 3 ... Will be described with reference to FIG. First, the designer analyzes whether or not each attribute data is likely to be changed at the time of execution, or is not changed after being determined once. That is,
The ID of the display image data of the data object 2 is
For example, since the image data itself that becomes the base of the button is inserted, it does not change at the time of execution, and even if the process of deforming the image at the time of execution is possible, the process of deformation performs a certain operation on this image data. Therefore, the ID indicating the original image data remains unchanged. On the other hand, the coordinate position data of the display object 1 is variable because the coordinate position changes at the time of execution, such as in the case of an operating device that enables movement of the button displayed on the display operation screen. Such an analysis is performed on all the attribute data, and "ROM" is added to the invariant attribute data and "RAM" is added to the variable attribute data as the attribute additional information, as shown in FIG. Files are created collectively as a Class_A analysis result table 801.

Then, the script generation means 802 converts the file designated by the ROM or RAM for each attribute data into the file 803 in which the script of the intermediate language is described, and the script development means 804 makes the compiler based on the file 803. The source code file 807 corresponding to the language handled by 805 is converted. In addition,
In the source code file 807, attribute data having a ROM designation is given a designation of const, for example, and cannot be changed at the time of execution.
A pointer for accessing the M-specified attribute data is prepared, and the variable RAM area can be accessed. Then, the compiler 805 uses the source code file 807 to create the actual machine software 806 for operating the actual machine of the operating device, and the actual machine software 806 causes the respective objects 1, 2,
A variable part of the attribute data 3 ... Is stored in the RAN, and a constant part is stored in the ROM.

Thus, most of the objects are RO
Expensive RAM because it can be stored on M
It is possible to reduce the amount of use of the device, realize an inexpensive GUI operating device, and improve the development efficiency.

[0067]

The graphical user interface according to the present invention separates the display object composed of various objects for detecting the user's operation and controlling the screen display and the physical data used in the various objects from the display object. Since it has independent data objects, it is possible to prevent common duplication of physical data, avoid waste of expensive memory, and improve memory usage efficiency.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention includes a display object for detecting a user's operation and controlling a screen display, and various data including operation information and setting information of a device and a system controlled by the display object. Since it has a database object that manages each object separately from the display object, it is possible to freely design each object by functionally isolating each object, which reduces the burden on the designer. Can be reduced.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention includes a display object composed of various objects for detecting a user operation and controlling a screen display,
Separates physical data used by various objects from the display object and separates various data including operation information and setting information of the devices and systems controlled by the display object from the display object. Since it has a database object that is managed independently and linked, and a link object that links the display object and the database object to exchange the data of both objects, it is possible to increase the independence of each object, and to design and change etc. An easy graphical user interface can be obtained.

The graphical user interface according to the present invention has a plurality of screen objects including a slide object and an icon object corresponding to each display screen, and controls the screen display based on the screen object specified from among the screen objects. A database that manages based on the operation information on the display screen, separating the display object that detects the operation of the display object and various data including the operating information and the setting information of the device and the system controlled by the display object, separately from the display object. An object and a procedure object for inputting an operation detected in the display object and identifying a screen object corresponding to the display screen to be displayed based on the operation,
The operation information detected by the display object is transmitted to the database object, and the data corresponding to the operation information output from the database object is transmitted to the screen object of the display object specified by the procedure object, and the screen corresponding to the operation is transmitted. Since it has a link object to be displayed, it is possible to increase the independence of each object, and even when changing the procedure, it is sufficient to change only the procedure object, and it is easy to change and modify. it can.
Also, when similar control is performed for each device to be controlled, the same operation procedure and screen creation work can be shared, so that it is possible to improve memory usage efficiency and The design efficiency can be improved.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention generates a display screen and a data object composed of a plurality of objects in which physical data used in the screen object of the display object is separated and independent from the display object. When one or more screen objects whose behavior is predicted next to the screen object being identified are identified by the procedure object, the corresponding screen object is extracted in advance based on the identification and A memory management object that extracts in advance an object corresponding to the screen object to be stored. The memory management object pre-stores one or a plurality of display screen data based on the extracted screen object and data object. Since the made, it is possible to shorten the time of the screen generation work can be improved and improved operability of the operation unit of the response.

Further, in the graphical user interface according to the present invention, the procedure object calculates the transition probability of the display screen with respect to the operation detected by the display object, and the operation is predicted next based on the transition probability. Alternatively, since a plurality of screen objects are designated as memory management objects, the screen transition speed adapted to the operation tendency of the user can be increased, and the response of the operation device and the operability can be improved.

Since the graphical user interface according to the present invention has a decompression object that decompresses a previously compressed data object as needed, the memory requirement for the entire data object can be reduced and it is expensive. It is possible to reduce the amount of memory used.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention has a decompression object for decompressing the data object corresponding to the image object among the data objects compressed in advance when the screen object is specified by the procedure object. Therefore, the amount of expensive memory used can be saved, the speed of screen transition can be increased, and the response of the operating device and the operability can be improved.

In the graphical user interface according to the present invention, the link object is a forward link object that links the display object and the database object and transmits the data of the display object to the database object, and the link object that links the display object and the database object. Since it has a reverse link object for transmitting the data to the display object, it is possible to easily exchange the data between the display object and the database object, and it is possible to expand the range of use of the data.

Further, the graphical user interface according to the present invention is provided with an object management table for managing the correspondence between the object name and the address where each object exists, and when the message is transmitted, the object management table intervenes between the objects and is stored in the object management table. Since it has a message exchange service object that specifies the address of the object of the destination based on that and transfers the message to the object of that address, each object does not manage the address of the other party to send the message, It is possible to obtain a graphical user interface that can be highly functionally independent and can realize message communication with a high degree of freedom in memory arrangement while saving memory. Further, even when the memory allocation of the object is changed, it is only necessary to change the object management table of the message exchange service object, so that the efficiency of designing the graphical user interface can be improved.

Furthermore, the graphical user interface according to the present invention uses a fixed-length message composed of a message to be communicated between objects as a communication destination object name, a service number to be used, and a pointer address to a parameter exchanged between the objects. Since it is configured, the processing of message communication can be easily performed, and the function of the entire graphical user interface can be enhanced.

In the graphical user interface according to the present invention, the variable part of the attribute data of the variable part and the invariant part of each object is stored in the RAM,
Since the invariant part is stored in the ROM, the amount of expensive RAM used can be reduced, an inexpensive graphical user interface can be realized, and the development efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of first to tenth embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a main part of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a display object and a data object according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration explanatory diagram of another main part of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration explanatory diagram of another main part in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of a modified example of the link object according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram of another modification of the link object according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of a main part of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a main part of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a screen transition management table and a transition probability management table of a procedure object according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a structural explanatory view of a main part of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a main part of an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of a backward link management table of a backward link object according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention and an explanatory diagram of a method of creating the same.

FIG. 15 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a main part of a ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of a message communicated between objects.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of a modification of the object management table of the message exchange service object according to the ninth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of a method for implementing ROM or RAM storage for each attribute data of each object according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Display object, 2,24 Data object, 3,33 Database object, 4,47
Link object, 4a reverse link object, 5 procedure object, 6 network management object, 7 memory management object, 8 decompression object, 9 message exchange service object,
9a Object management table, 17 slide object, 18 icon object, 25 compressed data object, 100 GUI, 600 message, 601 object name, 602 service number, 603 pointer to parameter.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Koichi Sato 2-3-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Sanryo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Isao Minematsu 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Ryo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A display object including various objects for detecting a user operation and controlling a screen display, and a data object in which physical data used in the various objects are separated from the display object to be independent. A graphical user interface having. 2. A display object for detecting a user's operation and controlling screen display, and various data including operation information and setting information of a device and a system controlled by the display object are separated from the display object. A graphical user interface comprising: a database object that is managed independently. 3. A display object including various objects for detecting a user operation and controlling screen display, and a data object in which physical data used in the various objects are separated from the display object and are independent of each other. A database object that separates and manages various data including operation information and setting information of devices and systems that are the objects of control of the display object, and manages the data separately and independently from the display object. A graphical user interface having a link object for exchanging data. 4. A display object which has a plurality of screen objects including a slide object and an icon object corresponding to each display screen, and controls the screen display based on the screen object specified from the screen objects to detect a user operation. A database object that separates and manages various data including operation information and setting information of a device and a system controlled by the display object from the display object, and manages the data based on operation information on a display screen; A procedure object for inputting an operation detected by an object and identifying a screen object corresponding to a display screen to be displayed based on the operation, and transmitting operation information detected by the display object to the database object, Database A link object for transmitting data corresponding to the operation information output from the source object to the screen object of the display object specified by the procedure object, and for displaying a screen corresponding to the operation. A graphical user interface. 5. A data object comprising a plurality of objects in which physical data used in the screen object of the display object is separated and independent from the display object, and a screen object which generates a display screen. When one or more screen objects whose behaviors are predicted are specified by the procedure object, the corresponding screen object is extracted in advance based on the specification and the corresponding screen object is selected from the data objects. The graphical user interface according to claim 4, further comprising a memory management object for extracting the selected object in advance. 6. The graphical user interface according to claim 5, wherein the memory management object pre-generates one or a plurality of display screen data based on the extracted screen object and data object. 7. The procedure object calculates a transition probability of a display screen with respect to an operation detected by the display object, and selects one or a plurality of screen objects whose operation is predicted next based on the transition probability. 7. The graphical user interface according to claim 5, wherein the graphical user interface is specified as a memory management object. 8. The graphical user interface according to claim 1, further comprising a decompression object for decompressing the pre-compressed data object when necessary. 9. A decompression object for decompressing a data object corresponding to the image object among the data objects compressed in advance when a screen object is specified by the procedure object. Or the graphical user interface described in 7. 10. The link object includes a forward link object for linking the display object and the database object and transmitting data of the display object to the database object, and a link object for linking the display object and the database object with data of the database object. And a reverse link object for transmitting the information to the display object.
The described graphical user interface. 11. An object management table for managing correspondence between an object name and an address where each object exists, intervenes between objects when a message is sent, and the address of the destination object based on the object management table. 11. A graphical user interface according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, having a message exchange service object for specifying a message and forwarding a message to the object at that address. . 12. The message communicated between objects is constituted by a fixed length message consisting of a communication partner object name, a service number to be used, and a pointer address to a parameter exchanged between the objects. 11. A graphical user interface according to item 11. 13. The attribute data consisting of a variable part and an invariant part of each object, the variable part is stored in a RAM, and the invariant part is stored in a ROM. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
The graphical user interface described in 10, 11, or 12.