JPS62168197A - Display controller - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a display control device that performs various controls on a CRT display using a mouse.

(b) Prior art and its problems Conventionally, there is a so-called mouse as a coordinate input device that serves as a man-machine ink face.

By moving this mouse on the table,
The ball installed on the back rotates, and the amount of rotation is converted into a pulse train according to the amount of movement of the mouse in the X- and Y-axis directions, and these pulse trains are transferred to the computer as coordinate data for cursor movement. . Then, by reading the coordinate data from the mouse, the computer moves the cursor to the coordinate position specified by the mouse.

However, in a conventional display control device using a mouse, depending on how the mouse is moved, the cursor P may move to a position outside the display area R of the CRT, as shown in FIG. When this happens,
I have no idea where the cursor is currently, so I blindly move the mouse to move the cursor to the display area R.
I had no choice but to change it back to the internal mode, and the mouse operation became extremely difficult to use.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a method for easily returning the cursor to the display area even if the cursor is moved outside the display area of the CRT due to mouse operation. The purpose is to make mouse operations easier to use.

(C) Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a display control device that converts the number of pulses given according to the amount of movement of a mouse into position coordinates on an x-yu standard. a coordinate conversion unit that converts the coordinate data into coordinate data shown in the figure; a determination unit that inputs the coordinate data from the coordinate conversion unit and determines whether or not the coordinate data is within a preset display area of the CRT; A cursor display command generating means for generating a command to display a cursor at a predetermined position within the display area when the coordinate data is within the display area based on the determination result, and displaying the coordinate data based on the determination result by the determination means. out-of-area mark display command generating means for generating a command to display an out-of-area mark at the outer peripheral edge position within the display area closest to the coordinate data when the cursor and out-of-area mark are outside the area; and a character generator in which characters are stored.

(D) Effect In the display control device of the present invention, the number of pulses given by the coordinate conversion section according to the amount of mouse movement is
It is converted into coordinate data indicating the position coordinates on the coordinate system. When this coordinate data is input to the determining means, the determining means determines whether the coordinate data is within a preset display area of the CRT. As a result of the determination, if the coordinate data is within the display area, the determination means provides a determination signal for cursor display to the cursor display command generation means. The cursor display command generation means generates a command to display a cursor at a predetermined position within the display area based on the cursor display determination signal from the determination means.

Further, if the result of the determination is that the coordinate data is outside the display area, the determining means provides a determination signal for displaying an outside mark to the command generating means for displaying an outside mark. The out-of-area mark display command generation means generates a command to display an out-of-area mark at the outer peripheral edge position within the display area closest to the coordinate data based on the out-of-area mark display determination signal from the determination means.

The cursor display command generated by the cursor display command generation means or the outside area mark display command generated by the outside area mark display command generation means is given to the CRT controller.

As a result, the CRT controller decodes these commands and reads the cursor or out-of-area mark from the character generator, so if the coordinate data input from the mouse is within the display area, the specified position within the display area If the coordinate data input from the mouse is outside the display area, an out-of-area mark will be displayed at the outer periphery of the CRT display area closest to the coordinate data. become.

Therefore, even if the cursor moves outside the display area, the approximate current position of the cursor can be known by looking at the displayed out-of-area mark.

(e) Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a display control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates the entire display control device, 2 is a mouse that outputs a predetermined pulse according to the movement of the ball, 4 is an interface that counts and outputs the number of pulses from the mouse 2, and 6 is a control circuit that reads the number of pulses given from the ink face 6 according to the amount of movement of the mouse.

As shown in FIG. 2, this control circuit 6 includes a coordinate conversion section 8 that converts the number of pulses given from the interface 4 into coordinate data indicating position coordinates on the X-Y coordinates, and a determining means IO for inputting coordinate data and determining whether or not the coordinate data is within a preset display area of the CRT; A cursor display command generating means 12 generates a command to display a cursor at a predetermined position within the display area, and when the coordinate data is outside the display area based on the determination result by the determination means 10, the cursor display command generating means 12 generates a command to display a cursor at a predetermined position within the display area. an out-of-area mark display command generation means 14 that generates a command to display an out-of-area mark at the outer peripheral edge position in the displayed display area; and a cursor display command or an out-of-area mark generated by the cursor display command generation means I2. Display command generation means 14
The data output section I6 selects and outputs the out-of-area mark display command generated in the above.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
(area indicated by symbol E) or outside the display area (
The region inside/outside determination unit 18 determines whether the coordinate data is located outside the display area, that is, the region indicated by symbols A, BSC, D, F, G11-1, 1, respectively. B.

It consists of an outside-area condition determining section 20 that determines which of the areas C, D, F, G, H, and I the object is in. On the other hand, the cursor display command generation means 12 is
It consists of a first character command generation section 22 that generates a command to specify a cursor character, a first display position code generation section 24 that generates a command to specify a cursor display position, and also generates a command for displaying an outside area mark. means! 4 is a second character command generation unit 26 that generates a command specifying a character of an outside area mark;
and a second display position command generating section that generates a command specifying the display position of the out-of-area mark. In addition, 3
0 is a system memory including a ROM section and a RAM section in which a program for controlling the operation of the control circuit 6 is stored.

32 decodes commands for displaying a cursor or for displaying an out-of-area mark given from each command generation means 12. A raster scan type CRT controller which specifies the address of 34 and reads out the stored address data, and 34 stores address data for reading characters at address positions formed corresponding to each display position on the CR1 screen. 36 is a latch circuit that latches the address data read from the video memory 34, and 38 is a character in which the characters of a cursor (in this example, a black circle) and an out-of-area mark (in this example, a white circle) are stored. Generator, 40 is character generator 3
a parallel-to-serial conversion circuit for serializing the character data of the cursor or out-of-area mark read from 8;
4 is a display circuit that modulates the luminance of serialized character data in a parallel-to-serial conversion circuit 40 and superimposes it on a TV synchronization signal given from a CRT controller;
4 is a CRT for displaying an image of the output from the display circuit 42;

The summer operation of the display control device will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the mouse 2 is moved on the table, the mouse outputs a predetermined pulse according to the amount of movement of the ball, so the number of pulses is counted by the ink face 4, and the number of pulses is read by the control circuit 6. (Step■)
.

When the number of pulses is read by the control circuit 6, the coordinate conversion unit 8
is the number of pulses given from ink face 4 as X-Y
In step ①), the converted coordinate data is first sent to the area inside/outside determining section I8 of the determining means 10. The area inside/outside determination unit 18 determines whether there is coordinate data at a coordinate position previously set corresponding to the display area (area E) of CrtT, or an area outside the display area (area A, B, C, D1FSG, H1 (areas indicated by ■)) (step ■).

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the coordinate data for the X-axis coordinate is X. It is determined whether the range is ≦X≦XmaX, and then Y for the Y-axis coordinate. ≦Y≦Y
Determine whether it is within the max range.

As a result of the determination, if the coordinate data is within the display area (area E), the area inside/outside determination section I8 outputs an inside area determination signal to the cursor display command generation means I2. Based on this within-area determination signal, the first character command generation unit 22 of the cursor display command generation unit 12 issues a command to assign a character for cursor display, and the first display position command generation unit 24 issues a cursor Commands specifying display positions are generated, and both commands are combined as a cursor display command and sent to the data output section I6.

The data output unit 16 converts this cursor display command into
Transfer to the RT controller 32.

The CRT controller 32 decodes the cursor display command from the data output unit I6 and sends address data for reading the cursor display character code to a predetermined address corresponding to each display location on the CRT screen in the video memory 34. Store in position (step ■). That is, address data for cursor display is stored in the video memory 34 at an address position corresponding to the display position of the cursor on the C11T screen. And Cf1T controller 32
specifies the address of the video memory 34 and reads out the stored address data for cursor display at a predetermined timing synchronized with TV scanning. The address data read from the video memory 34 is latched by the latch circuit 36 at the next stage, and the read address of the character generator 38 is specified by this latch data. This results in
A character code for cursor display is read from the character generator 38, and this is sent to the parallel-to-serial conversion circuit 40.
After being serialized by the display circuit 42, the brightness is modulated by the display circuit 42,
Furthermore, it is output to the CRT 44 after being superimposed on the CRT controller TV synchronization signal. In this way, CIIT44
A cursor (black circle) is displayed at a predetermined position within the display area (step ■).

On the other hand, if the coordinate data is outside the display area as a result of the determination, the area outside/outside determination section I8 sends an outside area determination signal to the area inside/outside determination section 20. Based on this out-of-area determination signal, the area-outside/inside-outside determination unit 20 further determines where the coordinate data is located outside the display area, that is, as shown in FIG. Determine which region it is in among the indicated regions (
Step ■). Then, the determination signal is outputted to the outside-area mark display command generation means 14. Based on this determination signal, the second character code generating section 26 of the out-of-area mark display command generating means 14 issues a command specifying a character for out-of-area mark display, and the second display position command generating section 28 issues a command to designate a character for out-of-area mark display. A command for specifying the display position of the mark outside the area is generated, and both commands are combined into one command for displaying the mark outside the area and sent to the data output unit 16. Data output section 16
transfers this out-of-area mark display command to the CRT controller 32.

The CRT controller 32 decodes the out-of-area mark display command from the data output unit 16 and stores address data for reading out the out-of-area mark display character code at a predetermined location in the video memory 34 corresponding to each display location on the CRT screen. is stored at the address location (step ■). In other words, in this case, the coordinate data input manually from the mouse is
Since it is outside the display area, the address data of the character for displaying the out-of-area mark is stored at a predetermined address position corresponding to the outer peripheral edge position on the CRT screen of the video memory 34 closest to the coordinate data. Then, the CRT controller 32 specifies the address of the video memory 34 and
The stored address data for displaying the mark outside the area is read out at a predetermined timing synchronized with TV scanning. The address data read from the video memory 34 is latched by the latch circuit 36 at the next stage, and the read address of the character generator 38 is specified by this latch data. As a result, the character code for displaying the out-of-area mark is read out from the character generator 38. In this way, an out-of-area mark (white circle) is displayed at the outer peripheral edge position within the display area closest to the coordinate data input from the mouse 2 (step 2).

Therefore, even if the cursor moves outside the display area, the position of the cursor can be determined by looking at the displayed out-of-area mark.

In this embodiment, the cursor is displayed as a black circle and the out-of-area mark is displayed as a white circle, but it is of course not limited to this.

(F) Effect As described above, according to the present invention, even if the cursor moves outside the display area during mouse operation, the approximate current position of the cursor can be known by looking at the displayed out-of-area mark. . Therefore, the cursor can be easily returned to the display area, and excellent effects such as improved usability of the mouse can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a display control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a control circuit, and Fig. 3 is an explanation showing the position coordinates of coordinate data and each divided area. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the display control device, FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the determination result of the determination means, and FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the case where the cursor is moved by the mouse. 1... Display control device, 6... Control circuit, 8
...Coordinate transformation unit, IO...determination means, 12...cursor display command generation means,! 4... Command generation means for displaying an outside area mark, 38... Character generator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) The number of pulses given according to the amount of mouse movement is
- A coordinate conversion unit that converts the position coordinates on the Y coordinate into coordinate data; and a determination that inputs the coordinate data from the coordinate conversion unit and determines whether or not this coordinate data is within a preset display area of the CRT. means, cursor display command generation means for generating a command to display a cursor at a predetermined position within the display area if the coordinate data is within the display area based on the determination result of the determination means; and determination by the determination means. an out-of-area mark display command generating means for generating a command to display an out-of-area mark at an outer peripheral edge position within the display area closest to the coordinate data when the coordinate data is outside the display area based on the result; A display control device comprising: a character generator in which characters of a cursor and an out-of-area mark are stored;