JPH11213022A - Design supporting method and its system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to change the details of navigation in accordance with designer's skillness in each process. SOLUTION: Application necessary for each design process is started by referring to the information of each design process stored in a process information storing part 2 and the procedure of each design process stored in a navigation information stoing part 13 is displayed on an output device 5 such as a display to navigate designer's interactive operation. A skillness information observing part 6 observes the operation state of the designer's interactive operation to an input device 4 and a navigation level judging part 12 judges at least designer's skillness in each process based on the observed result, selects navigation of a detailed level optimum to the skillness and displays the selected result on the output device 5 such as the display.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, when operating a CAD / CAM system for mold design, refers to workflow information of each design, activates an application required in each design process, and executes each design process. The present invention relates to a design support method and an apparatus for displaying a procedure of the above and navigating a designer's interactive operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when designing a mold such as a lead frame, a CAD for mold design having a workflow system function for executing the workflow software is used.
/ CAM system is used.

[0003] In such a CAD / CAM system for designing a mold, an application required in the design process is started by referring to design information for designing a lead frame by interactive operation of a designer (user). Information and tools for each design process are displayed on the display screen.

In addition, the CAD / CAM system for designing a mold uses a manual operation performed by a designer in each design process. A design support function for navigating is provided.

The CAD / CAM system is provided with a call button for calling the navigation information only when necessary, and a document of the navigation information is, for example, HTML (Hyper Text Markup L).
anguage) format,
In some cases, the degree of freedom is given in accordance with the skill level of the designer who operates the CAD / CAM system.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-55103 discloses a technique that may be suitable for judging the level of skill in operating the CAD / CAM system for designing a mold. This technique determines the level of skill in the operation of a computer or the like, and changes the operation method.For example, the operation of a designer is observed and recorded, and the frequency distribution of the time between operations is obtained. The variance of the distribution is calculated based on the frequency distribution, the variance is replaced with a skill index, and the skill level is determined based on the skill index.

[0007]

However, when the above-described workflow system is applied to designing a die such as a lead frame, the usability of the system is greatly increased depending on the details of navigation information for a designer. It will be different.

That is, for a designer who is very skilled in system operation, work efficiency is improved when the navigation function is not used. On the other hand, an inexperienced designer cannot work without detailed navigation such as design procedures and related information.

[0009] However, the navigation function of the above-described system allows navigation only with a uniform level of detail, so that the navigation level has to be adjusted to a level of skill that is generally suitable for most designers.

For this reason, an experienced designer may feel frustrated when unnecessary navigation information is displayed and operated, and an inexperienced designer may not understand the operation contents. Must ask a skilled designer.

As a countermeasure against such a problem, a method of writing a help procedure manual for system operation in an HTML format or the like and sequentially displaying it is conceivable. For a person, the operation is still frustrating.

On the other hand, using the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-55103, the level of skill for the operation of the system by the designer is determined and reflected on the display of the navigation information of the detail corresponding to the level of skill. Is possible, but
There is no disclosure of changing this in all the details of the navigation information for each process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a design support method and a system thereof capable of changing the details of navigation information according to the skill level of a designer for each process.

[0014]

According to the present invention, an application required in each design process is started by referring to information of each design process, and a procedure of each design process is displayed to allow a designer to interact with the design process. In a design support method for navigating operations, at least each level of skill for each process of a designer is determined based on the result of observation of an operation state for a designer's interactive operation, and navigation information at a level of detail that is optimal for the level of skill is selected. This is a design support method.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, an application necessary for each design process is started by referring to information of each design process, and a design support for displaying a procedure of each design process and navigating a designer's interactive operation. In the system, a skill level information observing means for observing an operation situation with respect to a dialogue operation of a designer, and each skill level for each process of the designer is determined based on an observation result of the skill level information observing means. A navigation level determining means for selecting navigation information for each process of an optimal detail level,
It is a design support system provided with.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a design support for activating an application required in each design process by referring to information of each design process, and displaying a procedure of each design process to navigate a designer's interactive operation. In the system, a proficiency information storage unit for each process that stores each proficiency level of each process of the designer, a general proficiency information storage unit that stores a total proficiency level for the entire design support system of the designer, A process skill level observing unit for observing the operation status of each process for the interactive operation and updating the skill level for each process stored in the process skill level information storage unit based on the observation result; Observe the operation status of the entire system
A general skill information observing unit that updates the total skill stored in the general skill information storage unit based on the observation result, and a process-specific skill information observing unit and a general skill information observing unit that are stored in the process-specific skill information observing unit, respectively. A navigation level determining means for determining a skill index based on the skill level and the total skill level for each process, and selecting navigation information for each process having an optimum level of detail with respect to the skill index. System.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the design support system according to the third aspect, the step-by-step proficiency information observing unit determines whether or not navigation information is selected for each of the various design steps during the interactive operation of the designer and the navigation activation time. Has the function of observing

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the design support system according to the third aspect, the step-by-step proficiency information observing section increases the proficiency when the navigation use time is shorter than a prescribed value, and further increases the skill level. It has a function of reducing the skill level based on selection and reference of navigation information more detailed than provided navigation information.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the design support system according to the third aspect, the general skill information observing unit monitors the number of interactive operations of the designer and monitors the elapsed time from the previous login at the time of login. Having.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the design support system according to the third aspect, the navigation level determining means monitors the proficiency level for each process and the overall proficiency level information stored in the proficiency level information observing unit for each process. It has a function of obtaining a skill index from a product of the total skill level stored in the section.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the design support system. In this design support system, the workflow software unit 1 accesses the process information storage unit 2 and can exchange information with the terminal device 3. The terminal device 3 includes an input device 4 such as a mouse and a keyboard, and an output device 5 such as a display.
Is provided.

The workflow software unit 1 executes the workflow software and designs, for example, a lead frame stored in the process information storage unit 2 by a designer's interactive operation using the input device 4 of the operation terminal 3. With reference to the design information, the application necessary for the design process is started, and the output device 5 has a function of displaying information and tools of each design process.

The skill information observing section 6 has a function of observing the operation status of the designer's interactive operation, and has a function of updating the designer's skill stored in the skill information storage section 7. doing.

The proficiency information observing section 6 has the functions of a process-specific proficiency information observing section 8 and a general proficiency information observing section 9, and the proficiency information storage section 7 is provided for each process of the designer. And a general skill level information storage unit 11 for storing the total skill level of the process-specific skill level storage unit 10 for storing each skill level and the overall skill level for the entire support system of the designer.

The process-specific proficiency information observing unit 8 observes the operation status of each process for the designer's interactive operation, and based on the observation result, stores the process proficiency information stored in the process-specific proficiency information storage unit 10. It has the function of updating another skill level.

The overall skill level information observing section 9 observes the operation status of the designer with respect to the entire system, and updates the overall skill level stored in the overall skill level information storage section 11 based on the observation result. have.

The navigation level judging section 12 is capable of accessing a navigation information storage section 13 in which navigation information for each process at a detailed level optimal for each skill level is stored.

This navigation level determination unit 12
The skill level of each step of the designer stored in the skill level information storage unit 7 is read, each skill level of each step of the designer is determined, and navigation information for each step of a detail level optimal for the skill level is obtained. It has a function of selecting from the navigation information storage unit 13 and displaying it on the output device 5.

Next, the operation of the system configured as described above will be described. The workflow software unit 1 executes the workflow software, and refers to design information for designing, for example, a lead frame stored in the process information storage unit 2 by a designer's interactive operation using the input device 4. An application required in the design process is started, and information and tools of each design process are displayed on the output device 5.

As described above, when designing the lead frame, for example, by the interactive operation of the designer using the input device 4,
The process-specific skill information observing unit 8 observes the operation status of the designer for the interactive operation of each step of the input device 4 for each process, and based on the observation result, stores each of the process skill information storage units 10. Update the skill level for each process.

At the same time, the general skill level information observing section 9 observes the operation state of the designer on the entire system from the operation state of the input device 4, and is stored in the general skill level information storage section 11 based on the observation result. Update your overall skill level.

The navigation level judging unit 12 stores a process-specific skill information storage unit 10 and a general skill information storage unit 11.
The updated skill level of each step of the designer is read, the level of skill of each step of the designer is determined, and the navigation information for each step of the detail level optimal for the skill level is stored in the navigation information storage unit 13. Select and display on the output device 5.

With such a design support system, the details of navigation can be changed according to the skill of the designer in each process. As a result, even inexperienced designers can perform all kinds of design tasks according to the detailed navigation screen display that covers the details of operation, and for skilled designers, it is a minimum navigation. It does not disturb the rhythm of work. further,
Since the skill level of the designer can be evaluated for each process, navigation can be appropriately simplified from the process in which the operation was learned.

Next, a specific example of one embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the design support system.
This design support system has a configuration of workflow systems 21a and 21b which operate on an EWS (engineering workstation) 20 serving as a host and a PC (personal computer) 21 serving as a client. These workflow systems 21a and 21b
Is a client-server application composed of a server and a client.

The workflow system 21a includes:
The database system 22 can be accessed. The database system 22 stores, for example, design information (workflow information) for designing a lead frame.

Therefore, the workflow systems 21a, 2a
1b executes workflow software, refers to design information for designing, for example, a lead frame stored in the database system 22 by a designer's interactive operation using the input device 4 of the operation terminal 3, and The application 23 required in the design process is started, and the output device 5
Has a function of displaying information and tools of each design process.

An interactive operation by the designer is performed on the input device 4.
Navigation selection, navigation start time,
The number of interactions is observed.

That is, the process operation observation module 24
Has a function of observing the presence / absence of navigation selection and navigation activation time for each design step during the interactive operation of the designer.

The process operation observation module 24 is an EW
From the observation result of the presence or absence of navigation selection and navigation activation time for each design process in the skill level table 25 provided in S20, if the navigation use time is shorter than the specified value, the skill level is increased and the support is increased. It has a function to reduce the level of skill when selecting and referring to a more detailed navigation than the navigation provided by the system.

The comprehensive operation observation module 26 monitors the number of interactive operations performed by the designer in real time, monitors the elapsed time since the previous login at the time of login, and monitors the number of interactive operations and the elapsed time since the previous login. Has the function of updating the numerical value of the total skill level of the skill level table 25 based on.

The skill level table 25 stores, as shown in FIG. 3, the skill levels and the total skill levels for the designers A, B, C, D, and E for the process 1, the process 2,... I have. The higher the numerical value of the skill level and the total skill level, the higher the skill level.

Navigation level determination module 27
Are the designers A, stored in the skill level table 25.
A skill index is obtained from the product of the respective skill levels and the total skill levels for Step 1, Step 2,... Step N for B, C, D, and E,
The navigation information for each process of the detail level optimal for the skill index is stored in the navigation information database 28.
And has a function of displaying on the output device 5 by execution processing in the navigation unit 29.

In this case, the navigation level judging module 27 judges the navigation information for each step of the detailed level that is optimal for the skill level based on the information stored in each of the navigation level judgment tables 30-1 to 30-n. It has the function to do.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of each of the navigation level judgment tables 30-1 to 30-n. In the navigation level determination tables 30-1 to 30-n, the proficiency of each process is represented by a numerical value, for example, an integer value from 1 to 10, and is realized as a file or a table in the database system 22. I have.

Specifically, in the navigation level determination tables 30-1 to 30-n, the skill level is formed in the first column, and the navigation procedure is formed in the second column, and the rows are stored in ascending order of the navigation level. Have been.

For example, as a threshold for selecting a navigation procedure, a detailed procedure manual is displayed on the first line with a skill level of 0 to 39, and a table of contents of the procedure manual is displayed on a second line with a skill level of 40 to 69. The third line stores information for displaying a procedure manual display selection window with a skill level of 70 or more. In addition, 1
The proficiency of the line is the minimum value of possible numerical values, for example, 0
Is specified.

Next, the operation of the system configured as described above will be described with reference to the schematic processing diagram of each module shown in FIG. Each workflow system 21a, 21b
The workflow software is executed, and the design process is performed by referring to design information for designing, for example, a lead frame stored in the database system 22 by a designer's interactive operation using the input device 4 such as a mouse or a keyboard. Then, the necessary application 23 is started, and information and tools of each design process are displayed on the output device 5 such as a display.

As described above, when designing a lead frame, for example, by the interactive operation of the designer using the input device 4,
The process operation observation module 24 observes whether or not a navigation is selected for each design process and a navigation activation time during a designer's interactive operation on the input device 3, and the skill level table 2 provided in the EWS 20.
In contrast to the above, from the observation result of the selection of navigation for each design process and the navigation start time, if the navigation use time is shorter than the specified value, the skill level is greatly changed, and the navigation provided by the support system is changed. Also, when the detailed navigation is selected and referred to, the skill level is changed to a smaller value.

For example, the process operation observation module 24
As shown in FIG. 5, when the operation of closing the navigation screen within 30 seconds is performed on the skill level table 25 for each process within 30 seconds, a command other than closing the navigation screen by 1 increases the skill level of the process N. When selected,
An update is performed to reduce the skill of the process N by one.

On the other hand, the comprehensive operation observation module 26 monitors the number of interactive operations performed by the designer on the input device 3 in real time, monitors the time elapsed since the previous login at the time of login, and performs the number of interactive operations and the previous login. Skill level table 25 based on the time elapsed since
Update the total skill level of.

For example, the comprehensive operation observation module 26
As shown in FIG.
When the operation is performed ten times or more per minute, the total skill level is updated by one, and when the operation is performed only twice, the total skill level is updated by one.

Along with this, the comprehensive operation observation module 26
Reduces the designer's overall skill by one if more than two days have passed since the last login. The navigation level determination module 27 performs a process 1, a process 2, and a process for each of the designers A, B, C, D, and E stored in the skill level table 25.
... A skill index is obtained from the product of each skill level and the total skill level for the process N, and navigation information for each process at a detailed level optimal for the skill index is selected from the navigation information file 28 and executed by the navigation unit 29. To display the navigation information on the output device 5.

In this case, the navigation level judging module 27 judges the navigation information for each step of the detail level that is optimal for the skill level based on the information stored in each of the navigation level judgment tables 30-1 to 30-n. I do.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the navigation level judging module 27 acquires the total skill of the designer from the skill table 25, and obtains the skill of the designer in the process N from the skill table 25. To get.

Next, the navigation level determination module 27 calculates and obtains a skill index according to the following equation from the skill level in the process N and the total skill level. Skill index = (total skill) × (skill of process N) Next, the navigation level determination module 27 refers to, for example, the navigation level determination tables 30-1 to 30-n of process N as shown in FIG. Ask for navigation procedures.

For example, if the skill index (here, the skill level) is in the range of 0 to 39, the navigation level determination module 27 performs, for an inexperienced designer, a detailed procedure as shown on the right side of FIG. The letter Q is displayed on the output device 5. In this detailed procedure manual Q, for example, an instruction for the erasure portion is indicated by an arrow as erasure of an extra element.

If the skill level is in the range of 40 to 69, the navigation level judging module 27 prepares the table of contents R of the procedure manual as shown in the right side of FIG. It is displayed on the output device 5. In the table of contents R, for example, elimination of extra elements, shaping of dimension display, and change of character size are displayed.

Further, if the skill level is within the range of 70 or more, the navigation level judgment module 27 displays a procedure display selection window S on the output device 5 as shown on the right side of FIG. I do. This procedure display selection window S is for selecting whether to display or close the design procedure.

As described above, in one embodiment,
At least each skill level of each process of the designer is determined based on the observation result of the operation situation for the designer's interactive operation, and the most detailed level of navigation is selected for these skill levels. Up to this point, it is possible to change the level of detail of the navigation according to the skill level of the designer for each process, and realize sufficient and necessary support.

As a result, even an inexperienced designer can perform all kinds of design work independently in accordance with the display of the detailed navigation screen covering the details of the operation. The minimum information can be navigated, and the rhythm of work is not disturbed by excessive information, and the work efficiency is not reduced.

Further, the skill of the designer can be evaluated for each process, so that the navigation can be simplified as appropriate from the process where the operation was learned. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be modified as follows.

For example, when the overall skill level is calculated from the number 14 of interactive operations in the overall operation observation module 26, this is realized by a simple method of increasing or decreasing the overall skill level according to the number of operations per unit. For example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-55103, the level of skill in operation of a computer or the like is determined and the operation method is changed. For example, the operation by a designer is observed and recorded. A frequency distribution of the time between the operation and the operation, calculating a variance value of the distribution based on the frequency distribution, replacing the variance value with a skill index, and determining a skill based on the skill index. It may be applied to perform more detailed evaluation.

The navigation means for the designer need not be limited to the screen display of the document. For example, in order to present a specific operation to a beginner, an image of an interactive operation such as CAD may be displayed as a moving image. If you do not want to display extra information on the screen, you may use voice instructions.

In the simultaneous operation, it is effective to use the skill level parameter when deciding the assignment of the drawings so that the drawings having a high degree of difficulty are allocated to skilled persons and the easy drawings are allocated to beginners. The difficulty of the drawing can be inferred from the capacity and the like. Furthermore, information such as the number of elements can be added.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a design support method and a system thereof capable of changing the details of navigation according to the skill level of a designer for each process.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a design support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a specific configuration diagram of an embodiment of a design support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a skill level table.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a navigation level determination table.

FIG. 5 is a schematic processing diagram of each module.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Workflow software unit, 2: Process information storage unit, 3: Terminal device, 4: Input device, 5: Output device, 6: Skill information observation unit, 7: Skill information storage unit, 8: Skill by process Information observation unit, 9: Overall skill information observation unit, 10: Process-specific skill information storage unit, 11: Overall skill information storage unit, 12: Navigation level determination unit, 13: Navigation information storage unit, 20: EWS, 21: PC, 21a, 21b: Workflow system, 22: Database system, 23: Application, 24: Process operation observation module, 24: Process operation observation module, 25: Skill level table, 26: Comprehensive operation observation module, 27: Navigation Level judgment module, 28: navigation information file, 29: navigation unit, 30-1 to 30-3 0-n: Navigation level determination table.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A design support method for launching an application required in each of the design steps with reference to information on each of the design steps, and displaying a procedure in each of the design steps to navigate a designer's interactive operation. Determining at least each skill level for each of the steps of the designer based on an observation result of an operation situation with respect to the interactive operation of the designer, and selecting navigation information of a detail level optimal for the skill level. Design support method. 2. A design support system that activates an application required in each of the design steps with reference to information on each of the design steps, and displays a procedure of each of the design steps to navigate a designer's interactive operation. A skill level information observing means for observing an operation situation with respect to the designer's interactive operation, and determining each skill level of each step of the designer based on an observation result of the skill level information observing means. Navigation level determining means for selecting navigation information for each of the steps of the optimal detail level,
A design support system comprising: 3. A design support system that activates an application required in each of the design steps with reference to information on each of the design steps, and displays a procedure in each of the design steps to navigate a designer's interactive operation. A process-specific skill information storage unit for storing each skill level of the designer for each process, a general skill information storage unit for storing a total skill level for the entire design support system of the designer, Step-by-step skill level information for observing the operation status of each of the steps with respect to the interactive operation, and updating the skill level of each of the steps stored in the step-wise skill level information storage unit based on the observation result Observation unit, observes the operation status of the designer for the entire system,
A general skill information observing unit that updates the overall skill stored in the general skill information storage unit based on the observation result, and a process-specific skill information observing unit and the general skill information observing unit. Navigation level determining means for obtaining a skill index based on the stored skill level for each process and the total skill level stored therein, and selecting navigation information for each of the steps having an optimum level of detail for the skill index; And a design support system comprising: 4. The step-by-step skill level information observing section has a function of observing whether or not navigation information has been selected for each of the various design steps and a navigation activation time during the interactive operation of the designer. Item 3
Design support system described. 5. The step-by-step proficiency information observing section increases the proficiency when the navigation use time is shorter than a prescribed value, and outputs navigation information more detailed than the navigation information provided from the support system. 4. The design support system according to claim 3, further comprising a function of reducing the skill level based on selection and reference. 6. The general skill level information observing unit has a function of observing the number of interactive operations of the designer and monitoring an elapsed time from a previous login at the time of login. Design support system. 7. The navigation level determination means,
Having a function of obtaining a skill index from a product of the skill level of each process stored in the process-specific skill information observation unit and the total skill level stored in the overall skill level information observation unit. 4. The design support system according to claim 3, wherein: