JPH11282941A - Cell data emphasis display method by color - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for facilitating color selection setting relating to cell data to be displayed. SOLUTION: For the cell data of a table form, from the logical conditions of an upper limit, a lower limit and a range, etc., management conditions including class information and the color setting conditions of color specification or the gradation colors of an ascending order/descending order, etc., the background color and the character color are automatically calculated for the respective cells of the table form, the color of the cell is changed and the management conditions and the color setting conditions are preserved in a condition storage part. In the case that the data are changed, the color of the cell after data change is automatically set by the conditions stored in the condition storage part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an information processing system, and more particularly to a method and system for managing and controlling colors of table data and the like output to a display terminal or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many spreadsheets, database search systems, and data analysis software display data on a screen in a table format, thereby enabling a user to refer to and update the data.

[0003] These systems are configured so that a user can set the background color or character color of each cell in order to emphasize the data displayed on the screen.

[0004] At this time, the user needs to check the position of the target cell in advance and select it. The user also needs to specify the color.

[0005]

However, it takes an enormous amount of time and labor to perform the above-described color selection and setting for individual data displayed on the screen.

As a result, the order of consideration of the data to be emphasized and the realization of the emphasized expression are reversed. In other words, the color allows the user to immediately understand the meaning of the data value, but prior to that, it is necessary to investigate the data for setting the color, and as a result, the original user's thinking and It will go backwards.

As a method of displaying cell data in a spreadsheet or emphasizing / modifying cell data to be printed on a printer, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-274515 discloses a detailed condition setting using a conditional operation expression in a spreadsheet. A method of dynamically emphasizing / modifying cell data (emphasis / modification of colors, fonts, and tables) has been proposed.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and a system for facilitating color selection and setting for displayed cell data.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for inputting parameters necessary for determining conditions for emphasizing a cell in tabular cell data. The background color and the character color of each cell in the table format are automatically calculated from the above conditions to change the cell color. That is, for the cell data in the table format, based on the management conditions including the logical conditions such as the upper limit, the lower limit, and the range, and the class information, and the color setting conditions such as the color designation or the ascending / descending shades, About the cell,
The background color and text color are automatically calculated and the cell color is changed.

In the present invention, the management condition and the color setting condition are stored in a storage unit, and when the data is changed, the cell after the data change according to the condition stored in the storage unit. Is automatically set.

Further, the system according to the present invention comprises: data input means for inputting table data; condition input means for inputting parameters necessary for determining a logical condition for highlighting a cell; Condition analysis means for determining a range of a class and a method of emphasizing the same; data evaluation means for determining which class each cell belongs to according to the range of the class determined by the condition analysis means; and determination by the condition analysis means. Color determining means for determining an emphasizing method for each cell, data storing means for storing table data input from the data inputting means, and Condition storage means for storing an emphasis condition, and data is output to an output device such as a display or a printer according to the cell emphasis condition determined by the color determination means And an output means for force, the.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a background color or a character color in a cell is set according to set data management conditions so that a data value can be visually displayed. It was done.

The following are specified as the management conditions. -Logical conditions such as upper limit, lower limit, and range. -Data class (specify class width).・ Data class (class width is automatic).

The management conditions can be specified for the entire data, columns, rows, and any rectangular range.

In the embodiment of the present invention, as the color setting, there are a method of directly specifying individual colors with respect to the management conditions described above, and an automatic setting in which colors are determined by gradation in ascending or descending order.

The set color is expressed on a display or a print result.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the condition of the color expression can be saved, and can be used continuously even when the data value changes.

FIG. 1 shows an example (monthly product sales sheet) in which cell data is highlighted by color selection according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, in the embodiment of the present invention, parameters are input for tabular data 201 with respect to management conditions 202 and corresponding colors 203. As described above, the management conditions 202 include (1) logical conditions such as an upper limit, a lower limit, and a range,
(2) Class of data (specify class width), (3) Class of data (class width is automatic), and the like.

As a result, the background color and character color of each cell are automatically calculated (204), and the display 205
The color of the cell above changes. Here, when printing (206), the printing result is also output in this color (20).
7).

Whether the color expression is the background color in the cell or the character color can be switched with a single touch by clicking an icon or the like on the screen with a mouse (208).

In the embodiment of the present invention, since the information of the management condition 202 and the color setting 203 can be stored separately from the data value, when the data value is changed (210) by correction, re-input or the like. No need to reset.

Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention,
The highlighting of the data by the color expression of the cells can be performed simply and without impairing the thinking of the viewer of the data.

[0024]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in one embodiment of the present invention, a data input device 1, a condition input device 2, and an output device 3 are connected to the data processing device. A condition input unit 10, a condition analysis unit 20, a condition storage unit 30, and an output unit 40 are provided.

The condition input unit 10 includes a data input unit 11 and a condition input unit 12. The condition analysis unit 20 includes a condition analysis unit 21 and a data evaluation unit 22.
And color determining means 23. Condition storage unit 30
Has a data storage unit 31 and a condition storage unit 32. The output unit 40 includes an output unit 41.

The data input means 11 is a data input device 1
Input application program data. Condition input means 1
Numeral 2 inputs parameters necessary for determining a logical condition for emphasizing a cell by an application program from the condition input device 2.

The condition analysis means 21 determines a class range and a method of emphasizing the class based on the parameters input by the condition input means 12.

The data evaluation means 22 includes a condition analysis means 21
According to the range of the class determined in the above, it is determined which class each cell belongs to.

The color determining means 23 determines an emphasizing method for each cell according to the emphasizing method for each class determined by the condition analyzing means 21.

The data storage means 31 stores the data input means 1
The table data input in step 1 is stored.

The condition storage means 32 stores the cell emphasis condition obtained by the condition analysis means 21.

The output means 41 outputs data to the output device 3 in accordance with the cell emphasis condition determined by the color determination means 23.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the processing flow of one embodiment of the present invention. The operation of one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the application program, of the logical conditions for emphasizing the cell input by the user through the condition input unit 10,
For the data value in the cell, the method of determining the class to be represented by color coding can specify an equal interval or an arbitrary interval (step 51).

When an arbitrary interval is specified in step 51, the width of each class can be specified by an upper limit and a lower limit (step 56).

When equal intervals are designated, the number of divisions and the upper and lower limits of the class are designated (step 52). If the upper and lower limits are omitted by designating equal intervals, the class is automatically obtained from the data by the condition analysis unit 20 (details will be described later).

As for the color condition, the color corresponding to each class can be directly designated (step 57).

In the determination of the color condition, it is also possible to select an automatic setting based on shading (for example, a data having a small data value is displayed in light blue, and a larger data value is displayed in dark blue) (step 55). Therefore, there is no need for the user to determine data for each cell in advance. In determining the color condition, a color range can be designated (step 54).

The condition analysis unit 20 first obtains the class of the data from the input emphasis condition (steps 60 and 6).
1) Next, display colors for each class are determined from the color conditions (steps 62 to 64).

In the determination of the class, at an arbitrary interval, the class and the color specified by the user are determined. When equal intervals are selected in the class selection and the number of divisions, the upper limit, and the lower limit are not specified, a section is determined from the maximum value and the minimum value of the data (step 61).

Then, for each cell of the table data, the class to which the data value belongs is determined, and the background color or character color of each cell is determined. This eliminates the need for the user to define the color while determining the data value of each cell by himself.

Specifically, for sales data for each product,
It is possible to display table data such that the level of sales is changed from dark blue to pale blue in the background color or text color of a cell. The user can grasp at a glance the products or stores with high or low sales.

The once inputted logical condition and color condition are stored in the condition storage section 30 (step 68). At this time, not only the background color or the character color of each displayed cell is stored, but also the condition that is the basis of the color condition is stored in the condition storage unit 32. The condition determination and the color determination are performed again on the updated data, and dynamic color change is possible.

In the above example, when the data is corrected, for example, when the sales data needs to be corrected on the screen, the color corresponding to the corrected data is simultaneously determined based on the emphasis condition in the condition storage unit. Is immediately requested, and the background color or the text color of the cell is dynamically changed.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The first effect of the present invention is that the background color or the character color of the cell is set according to the set data management condition, so that the user does not need to check the position of the target cell in advance, and the work load is reduced. That is, operability and work efficiency are improved. Therefore, according to the present invention,
The huge amount of data that changes every day can save a huge amount of time and effort in searching for data to emphasize.

A second effect of the present invention is that the user does not need to specify individual colors because automatic setting in which colors are determined by gradation in ascending or descending order is possible.

A third effect of the present invention is that a user can easily specify an individual color because a default value when directly specifying an individual color is set.

There are empirical rules such as “good / safe = blue” and “bad / dangerous = red” depending on the nature of the data, but these visual effects can be easily obtained.

The fourth effect of the present invention is that the user can immediately grasp the meaning of the data value from the color, but it is necessary to investigate the data for setting the color before the user can understand the meaning. . ", Which reverses the order of the consideration of the data to be emphasized and the realization of the emphasized expression, thereby enabling a smooth operation in line with the original user's thinking. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a table in which cells are selected by color and displayed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an overall operation of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 data input device 2 condition input device 3 output device 10 condition input unit 11 data input unit 12 condition input unit 20 condition analysis unit 21 condition analysis unit 22 data evaluation unit 23 color determination unit 30 condition storage unit 31 data storage unit 32 condition storage Means 32 40 Output unit 41 Output means 201, 205, 207, 209, 211 Output table 202 Condition setting processing 203 Color setting processing 204 Cell background color automatic calculation display processing 206 Printing processing 208 Color expression change processing 210 Data change processing

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuyuki Nakano 4-1 Inaricho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima Japan Electric Software Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A parameter necessary for determining conditions for emphasizing a cell with respect to cell data in a table format is input, and the background color and character of each cell in the table format are input from the input conditions. Automatically calculate color and change cell color,
A cell data highlighting method using colors. 2. A table format based on logical conditions such as an upper limit, a lower limit, and a range, and management conditions including class information, and color setting conditions such as color designation or ascending / descending shades. A cell data highlighting method using colors, comprising automatically calculating the background color and character color of each cell in the format and changing the cell color. 3. The management condition and the color setting condition are stored in a storage unit, and when data is changed, the color of the cell after data change is automatically set according to the condition stored in the storage unit. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the cell data is highlighted by color. 4. An equal interval is selected in the selection of a class, a section is determined from the number of divisions, an upper limit, and a lower limit. And determining the range, dividing the color range by the number of sections, determining the color of each class, and determining the color of each cell from the class to which each cell data belongs. Item 2. A method for highlighting cell data by color according to item 2. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, when equal intervals are selected in the class selection and the number of divisions, the upper limit, and the lower limit are not specified, the section is determined from the maximum value and the minimum value of the data. Cell data highlighting method by color. 6. A data processing device connected to an input device and an output device such as a display or a printer, a data input means for inputting table data, and a parameter required for determining a logical condition for highlighting a cell. Condition inputting means, condition analyzing means for determining a range of a class and its emphasizing method based on the input parameters, and determining which class each cell belongs to according to the range of the class determined by the condition analyzing means. Data evaluation means, color determination means for determining an enhancement method for each cell according to the enhancement method for each class determined by the condition analysis means, and data storage means for storing table data input from the data input means Condition storage means for storing the cell emphasis condition obtained by the condition analysis means; cell emphasis condition determined by the color determination means Accordingly, characterized by comprising output means for outputting data to an output device such as a display or a printer, the cell data highlight system by the color.