JPS62198290A - Terminal control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a high propaganda effect by requesting automatically a data, and updating a display picture, when an operator of a video tex terminal has stopped operation exceeding a prescribed time. CONSTITUTION:When an operator executes a key-in, time counting is started therefrom. When the operator stops operation and the key-in is not executed thereby, the time counting time becomes longer. When the time counting exceeds a prescribed time which is set in advance, a terminal decides that the operation is stopped, and starts automatically a request of a data. The automatic request of the data is executed by reading out a retrieval code of the data, which is registered in a data request sequence storage part 8 of a RAM, a ROM, a floppy disk, etc. in advance, in order of its registration, and executing a request to an information center.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a terminal control method for a Videotex system.

[Conventional technology]

The Videotex system consists of an information center equipped with image data files that can be searched using search codes, an operating section such as a keyboard or cow pad for inputting data requests, and image data! A Videotex terminal equipped with a display unit such as a CRT is connected via a communication line. The conventional control method for Videotex terminals is to send a data request entered by an operator through a communication line to an information center by operating the terminal's operation panel, and to respond to this data request by sending a data request from the information center. The sent image data continues to be displayed on the display until the next operation is performed, allowing the operator to fully understand one screen's worth of image data before moving on to the next image data. It is now possible to do so.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the conventional system as described above, it does not matter if the terminal is installed in a general home, but if it is a terminal installed on the street and targeted at unspecified operators, the intention is to make profits by having the general public operate it. In this case, if the displayed screen did not change and remained constant when the operator was not present, it would be difficult to attract the attention of the public, and therefore it would be difficult to arouse the desire to operate the device.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to provide a terminal control method that allows the display screen of the terminal to change even when no operator is present.

[Means for solving problems]

The terminal control method according to the present invention includes: a timer for measuring the operation down time of the operation unit; a determining means for determining whether or not the operation down time measured by the timer has passed a predetermined time; and a data request a storage means for storing a sequence of information, and a data storage system based on the sequence stored in the storage means from the time when the determination means determines that the operation stop time has passed a predetermined time until a new operation is performed. (; automatic request execution means for repeatedly sending out requests.

[Effect]

According to this invention, the absence of the operator is detected by the timer and the determination means, and the automatic request execution means is activated to automatically issue a data request to the information center based on the sequence stored in the storage means. Sent repeatedly. As a result, the above sequence C can also be accessed from the information center.
Two sets of image data are sent and the display screen is updated one after another.

If the display screen changes every moment in this way, it will have a much higher advertising effect than a terminal installed on the street (a terminal whose display screen does not change at all!), and therefore will replace the public's desire for operation. I can wake up.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a Videotex terminal in one embodiment. In the figure, 1 is a CPU connected to a communication line 3 from an information center (not shown) via a line control unit 2. A man-machine interface section 4 as an operation section including a keyboard and the like is connected, and a CRT 5 as a display section is connected via an image display control section 6. On the other hand, numerals 7 and 8 correspond to the timekeeping means and storage means provided in the present application; 7 is a timekeeping section consisting of a timer, etc., and 8 is a data request/sequence storage section consisting of RAM, ROM, floppy disk, etc. Yes, each is connected to the CPUI mentioned above. Note that the CPU 1 realizes the determination means 1a and the automatic request execution means 1b provided in the present application.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the software executed by the CPUI, and the operation will be explained below based on this flowchart.

First, when this software is started up, such as by turning on the power, predetermined initial settings are made in step 10. After setting the vJ period, the interface between the operator and the terminal is generally performed by key-in (2) of the keyboard, etc. that constitutes the machine interface section 4. Key-in is determined in step 11, and when the operator performs key-in, From there, time measurement is started in step 12. If the key-ins are consecutive, the clock time is initialized in step 16 for each key-in, so it will not take a long time, but if the operator pauses the operation, When there are no more key-ins, the clock time becomes longer.

When the measured time exceeds a preset certain time, the terminal determines in step 13 that the operation has stopped, and starts automatic data re-restoration in step 14. Automatic data requests are made in RAM in advance.

This is done by reading the data search codes registered in the data request/noise storage unit 8 such as ROM, floppy disk, etc. in the order in which they are registered and making a request to the information center. Requests are made at regular intervals in step 15, but if there is a key-in action by the operator during this period, the automatic request for data is immediately stopped and processing corresponding to the key-in action by the operator is performed in step 17. . Of the above steps, step 12 is performed by the timer 7 as a timer, and step 13. Step 14 is performed by the determining means 1a and the automatic request executing means tb+2, which are respectively realized by the CPUI.

Therefore, if the above terminal is installed at the head of fI,
When the operator is not present, the automatic request jfAtD operates, and a request according to a predetermined sequence is sent to the information center, and the corresponding image data is sent from the information center, so the display screen of the terminal is automatically updated sequentially. ◎ In the above example, the data search codes were registered in the order of request, but this is possible by adding an index to the search code, arranging this index in an arbitrary request order, and requesting data in the order of this index. This will allow you to change the order in which requests are made.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, when the operator of the Videotex terminal stops operating for a predetermined period of time or more, data is automatically requested and the display screen is updated, thereby achieving a high advertising effect. In order to increase the desire to operate the Videotex terminals installed on the street, the frequency of operation of the Videotex terminals can be increased.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of this invention, @
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... CPU, 1a... Judgment means, 1b... Automatic request execution means, 3... Communication line, 4... Man-machine interface section (operation section), 5... CRT
(display section), 7... timekeeping section (timekeeping means), 8...
Data request/sequence storage unit (storage means).

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Connected to the information center via a communication line, the display unit sends data requests input from the operation unit to the information center, and displays image data sent from the information center in response to this data request. In the Videotex terminal displayed on the screen, a clock means for measuring the operation down time of the operation section, a determination means for determining whether or not the operation down time measured by the clock means has passed a predetermined time, and a data request A storage means for storing the sequence, and an automatic system for repeatedly sending data requests based on the sequence stored in the storage means from the time when the determination means determines that the operation stop time has passed a predetermined time until a new operation is performed. 1. A terminal control system, comprising: a request execution means, and the automatic request execution means is activated to automatically update a display screen of a display unit when a predetermined operation down time has elapsed. (2) The first claim characterized in that the determination means and the automatic request execution means are realized by a CPU.
Terminal control method described in section.