JPS62154129A - Composite terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display the corresponding action mode on a CRT even in an action mode related to the entire surface of the CRT screen, by changing the form of a cursor which is displayed on the CRT according to the action mode. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 1 starts its working according to a program supplied from a ROM 3 which attains a given action mode. Then the CPU 1 reads out a cursor pattern given from a cursor pattern memory 4 and loads it to a cursor pattern generator 7. Thus the video signals of said cursor pattern form produced by the generator 7 are sent to a CRT 5 under the control of a CRT controller 6 as long as the CPU 1 works in said action mode. Thus it is possible for an operator to discriminate an active mode by giving different cursor patterns for each action mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a composite terminal device that can support multiple types of terminal functions.

3. Technical Disadvantages of the Invention] In general, the shape of the cursor displayed on the CRT of a normal terminal device changes depending on the function of each terminal device or logical attributes such as fields and key shift states. By the way, in recent years, with the aim of effectively utilizing hardware resources and existing software (application programs), so-called composite terminal devices have been developed that can support multiple existing terminal device functions (modes) with a single CRT terminal device. has been done. However, the shape of the cursor used in this multifunction terminal device does not take on different shapes so that the types of terminal device functions can be identified.
It was the only shape that was common to all the modes (types of functions) that this composite terminal device could take.

[Problems in the Background Art] Therefore, when a multifunction terminal device performs a function that covers the entire CRT screen, there is not enough space on the screen to notify the operating mode, so it is difficult to determine which mode the multifunction terminal device is currently in. There is a drawback that hardware means such as an indicator (for example, an LED) must be added in order to inform the operator of whether the system is operating or not.

E. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, an object of the present invention is to provide a composite terminal device that can easily inform an operator of the current operating mode without using any hardware means such as an indicator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION] The present invention achieves the object of easily informing an operator of the current operation mode without using hardware means such as the above-mentioned indicators by changing the shape of a cursor displayed on a CRT depending on the operation mode. It is something.

1 Embodiment 1 of the Invention An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1st
The figure is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the composite terminal device of the present invention. 1 is a CPU that controls the entire terminal device, 2 is a main memory 1 that reads and writes various data necessary during operation, and 3
is a read-only memory (ROM>) that stores programs etc. that operate CPtJl, 4 is a cursor pattern memory that stores various cursor patterns, 5 is a CRT that displays various data etc. along with the cursor, and 6 is a CR
a CRT controller that controls display operations for T5;
7 is a cursor pattern generator that generates a video signal with a given cursor pattern shape; 8 is an interface between the host computer 10 and this terminal device; 9 is a keyboard for inputting various data and operation instructions; 10I
This is a host computer that instructs the operation mode of the terminal device, etc., and is connected to the terminal device through a transmission line 100.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a cursor pattern stored in the cursor pattern memory 4 shown in FIG. 1, in which a plurality of cursor pattern examples, such as ``口'', ``C'', and ``2'', are stored.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. First, the host computer 10 notifies the CPU 1 of the terminal device via the interface 8 of the mode in which the terminal device is to be operated. After that, CPU1 uses RO to realize the given operation mode.
It starts operating according to the program supplied from M3. At the same time, CPtJl reads out the cursor pattern corresponding to the given operation mode from the cursor pattern memory 4 and transfers it to the cursor pattern generator 7.
Load into. Therefore, while the CPU 1 operates in the above mode, a video signal in the shape of the cursor pattern generated by the cursor pattern generator 7 under the control of the CRT controller 6 is sent to the CRT 5. Therefore, the cursor pattern displayed on the CRT 5 has a shape corresponding to the current operating mode of the terminal device. Further, the operation mode of the terminal device can also be instructed using function keys on the keyboard 9, and in this case as well, the CPU 1 reads out a cursor pattern corresponding to the given operation mode from the cursor pattern memory 4,
This is loaded into the cursor pattern generator 7.

According to this embodiment, since the cursor shape displayed on the CRT 5 has a different shape depending on the mode in which this terminal device operates, the operator can easily check the current state of the terminal device by simply looking at the cursor pattern shape. mode can be easily known.

Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the need for hardware means such as an LED for informing the operator of the type of mode. In addition, the entire screen of the CRT5 can be displayed on the host computer 10.
In the mode used by the application program, it is not possible to set a line to display the mode type, but even in such cases, the operator can know the current operating mode by the cursor shape displayed on the CRT 5. .

In the above embodiment, the cursor shape is changed depending on the type of terminal device to be emulated. A similar configuration can also be used to inform the operator of which O8 the terminal device is currently operating at.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the multifunction terminal device of the present invention, by changing the shape of the cursor displayed on the CRT depending on the operation mode, the current operation mode can be determined without using hardware means such as an indicator. This has the effect of easily informing the operator.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the composite terminal device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a cursor pattern stored in a cursor pattern memory 4. As shown in FIG. 1...CPU 4...Cursor pattern memory 5...CRT 6...CRT controller 7...Cursor pattern generator 8...Interface 9...Keyboard

Claims (1)

[Claims] A multifunction terminal device capable of operating in a plurality of modes, comprising cursor pattern selection control means for selecting a cursor pattern shape corresponding to an operation mode, and display control means for displaying the selected cursor pattern shape on a display. A composite terminal device characterized by: