WO2015063847A1

WO2015063847A1 - Programmable display apparatus and program

Info

Publication number: WO2015063847A1
Application number: PCT/JP2013/079190
Authority: WO
Inventors: 欣史古山
Original assignee: 発紘電機株式会社
Priority date: 2013-10-29
Filing date: 2013-10-29
Publication date: 2015-05-07
Also published as: JPWO2015063847A1; CN105659205A

Abstract

A scrolling-operation detecting unit (102) obtains a movement direction and a movement amount on the basis of a user-performed scrolling operation detection result. An offset position updating unit (103) updates an offset position on the basis of the movement direction and the movement amount. An image segmenting unit (104) segments part of a screen image on the basis of the offset position, and stores the part in a display memory. A display control unit (105) displays the image stored in the display memory on a display. The scrolling-operation detecting unit (102) determines a scrolling operation to have begun when an empty region in which there is no item image is touched.

Description

Programmable display, program

The present invention relates to a programmable display and the like.

In general, a programmable display is connected to various connected devices such as a PLC main body and a temperature control device, and items such as numerical displays and lamps for displaying the status of these connected devices, and for users to give arbitrary instructions. Displays an image of items such as switches. An item is also called a screen component or the like. Usually, images of a plurality of screen parts (items) are displayed on the screen of the programmable display. The screen of the programmable display is called an operation display screen.

Data or the like for displaying such an operation display screen (referred to as screen data or the like) is arbitrarily created in advance by a developer or the like in a support device (not shown) and downloaded from the support device to a programmable display. .

The screen data includes data for each item, such as an image of the item, display position coordinates, and an address of an allocated memory area to be described later. In addition, some programs may be included. The item image is, for example, an image of a switch, an image of a lamp, or a “image of a type indicating a numerical value by a figure” such as a meter (meter or the like) or a bar graph.

Each of the above items, for example, displays the status of the component corresponding to an arbitrary component of an arbitrary connected device, or accepts an ON / OFF instruction for the component. For example, in the case of an item that displays the temperature measurement value of the temperature control device as a numerical value, the current temperature is displayed as a numerical value as needed.

The display control related to the various items is realized by, for example, periodically executing predetermined processing for each item. The predetermined processing is, for example, reading stored data in a predetermined area (allocated memory area) of a memory device in the connected device, and determining / displaying the display content of the item based on the stored data. The connected device updates the stored data in each allocated memory area as needed. For example, in the temperature control device, the temperature measurement value is updated as needed.

For example, with respect to the item “lamp”, the stored data in the allocated memory area is 1-bit data. When this bit is “0”, the item image to turn off the lamp, and when “1”, the lamp is turned on is programmable. Display on the display. The stored data in the allocated memory area is updated on the connected device side as described above. For example, “1” is stored in the allocated memory area when the push button on the connected device is ON, and “0” is stored when the push button is OFF.

Here, a predetermined area of the memory device in the connected device, that is, an allocated memory area may be referred to as a monitoring memory. From the above, it can be said that an arbitrary monitoring memory is assigned to each item, and the display content of each item is controlled to be updated based on the data stored in the monitoring memory.

Further, the data read from the monitoring memory is temporarily stored in a predetermined area (referred to as internal memory) of the memory device in the programmable display, and the display contents of the item are determined and displayed based on the stored data. There is also a configuration.

In the case of this example, the process of reading the data stored in the monitoring memory and storing it in the internal memory is executed, for example, periodically by the communication function unit of the programmable display. For example, the communication function unit communicates with various connected devices such as the PLC main body and the temperature control device, acquires the storage data of the monitoring memory for each item, and stores the acquired data in the internal memory. Overwrite and store. And the item display function part which performs the display control which concerns on the said various items in a programmable display determines and controls the display content regarding each item by accessing an internal memory regularly.

Here, for example, the conventional techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known.

Patent Document 1 discloses scrolling a list of items in an apparatus with a touch screen display.

Patent Document 2 discloses that screen data is automatically resized in a screen editing device that edits screen data of a programmable display.
Special table 2010-515978 JP 2008-250962 A

As in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, for example, regarding screen display of a smartphone or the like, scrolling a screen larger than the display display resolution is a well-known technique.

However, it is difficult to apply this well-known technique to a programmable display as it is. The reason is that the screen displayed on the programmable display is the operation display screen as described above. That is, as described above, the operation display screen is composed of displays related to various items, and switches, buttons, and the like may be displayed. When a switch, button, or the like is touch-operated, some command is issued to the connected device, and for example, motor driving is started. For this reason, even if the user touches an arbitrary position on the screen for the purpose of the scroll operation, if there is a switch or the like at this position, it is erroneously determined that the switch is operated and the connected device operates. There was a case.

Here, for example, in a smartphone or the like, even if an arbitrary position is touched for a scroll operation and the position of an arbitrary switch is touched (dragged), for example, it is not determined that the switch has been turned ON alone. . This is because in a smartphone or the like, the ON / OFF state of the switch is determined by releasing the touch operation. If an operation for moving the fingertip is performed while the touch (drag) is still performed, it is determined that the operation is a scroll operation.

On the other hand, in the case of a programmable display, it is not possible to set the “operation confirmation by releasing touch operation” as described above. The programmable display device is configured such that when a switch press (touch) is detected, it is determined that there is a switch operation (ON / OFF), and an operation corresponding to the switch is performed. One reason for this is because of the momentary switch among the various switches. The momentary switch is a switch having a function of assuming that the switch is kept on while the switch is pressed and assuming that the switch is turned off when the touch operation is released. For this reason, as described above, in the programmable display, it is not possible to set “the operation is confirmed by the release of the touch operation”.

For example, for the reasons described above, it is difficult to scroll the operation display screen larger than the display display resolution in the programmable display.

An object of the present invention is to provide a programmable display and the like capable of scrolling and displaying an operation display screen larger than the display display resolution in a programmable display that displays an operation display screen including various item displays.

The programmable display of this invention has the following each structure in the programmable display which has a touch panel and a display.
Screen storage means for storing screen data exceeding the display resolution of the display;
A scroll operation detecting means for detecting a scroll operation on the touch panel to obtain a moving direction and a moving amount;
Offset position updating means for updating the offset position based on the moving direction and the moving amount;
Image cutout means for cutting out a part of the screen data based on the offset position and storing it in a display memory;
Display control means for displaying an image stored in the display memory on the display.

It is a schematic block diagram of the whole system containing the programmable display of this example. It is a structural example of the programmable display of this example. It is a software block diagram of this system. It is an example (1/2) of a screen data creation support screen in the drawing editor device. It is an example (2/2) of a screen data creation support screen in the drawing editor device. It is a figure which shows the example of an image (the 1) which scrolls and displays a virtual screen. It is a figure which shows the example of an image (the 2) which scroll-displays a virtual screen. It is a processing function figure of the programmable display of this example. It is a figure for demonstrating the kind of mode and mode change. (A) to (c) are specific examples of various types of information. It is a process flowchart figure, such as a start detection process part. It is a process flowchart figure of a scroll display related process. It is a process flowchart figure of an end detection process part. It is FIG. (1) which shows the example of an image of a scroll process. FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating an example of scroll processing; It is an example of a data structure of a switch area chain list. (A) is an example of a screen and an example of operation, and (b) is an example of data. (A) is an example of a screen and an example of operation, and (b) is an example of data. (A)-(d) is a figure which shows the scroll display example of the overlap image by this example. It is a functional block diagram of the programmable display of this example.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the entire system including the programmable display 1 of this example.

The programmable controller system shown in FIG. 1 has various connection devices 4 and a programmable display 1 connected to the various connection devices 4 via a communication line 6. Furthermore, the structure by which the programmable display 1 was connected to the drawing editor apparatus 5 (support apparatus) via the communication line 3 may be sufficient. However, the drawing editor device 5 does not necessarily need to be connected to the programmable display device 1. The drawing editor device 5 may be referred to as the support device 5 in some cases.

The programmable display 1 is provided with a plurality of communication interfaces 2 (communication ports), and is connected to various connection devices 4 and the drawing editor device 5 by the communication line 3 / communication line 6 connected to each communication interface 2. ing.

Programmable display 1 displays the operation display screen based on the screen data and the like during operation. Here, the programmable display 1 of this example can display an operation display screen larger than the display display resolution. In other words, screen data exceeding the display display resolution can be displayed. For example, when the display display resolution is 800 (pixels) × 600 (pixels) horizontally, for example, the operation display screen can be 1600 (pixels) × 1200 (pixels) horizontally. Such an operation display screen can be scroll-displayed in accordance with an arbitrary operation by the user.

In this description, an operation display screen (screen data exceeding the display display resolution) larger than the display display resolution as described above may be referred to as a virtual screen. In addition, the programmable display 1 acquires the data of the said allocation memory area from the connection apparatus 4 with a fixed period, for example about each item on the operation display screen currently displayed like the past, and based on this acquisition data Updates the display contents of the operation display screen. This display content update is performed on the entire virtual screen.

FIG. 2 is a configuration example of the programmable display 1 of this example.

The programmable display device 1 has a function of displaying an operation display screen based on the above-described screen data and the like in substantially the same manner as the conventional example described above. However, in this method, an operation display screen ((display Screen data exceeding the display resolution (virtual screen) can be scroll-displayed according to an arbitrary operation by the user.

The illustrated programmable display 1 includes a display operation control device 10, a touch panel 18, a display 19, the communication interface 2 and the like.

The display operation control device 10 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12 (flash memory, etc.), a RAM 13, a communication controller 14, a graphic controller 15, a touch panel controller 16, etc., which are connected to a bus 17.

The CPU 11 is a central processing unit (arithmetic processor) that controls the entire display operation control device 10. The CPU 11 performs a predetermined arithmetic processing operation by executing a program (for example, a main body program 21 described later) stored in advance in the ROM 12. Thereby, for example, the processing of various flowcharts to be described later is realized. Various calculation results are stored in, for example, the RAM 13 or the ROM 12. The ROM 12 may be a flash memory, for example.

The ROM 12 stores the screen data (screen data 22 described later) and the like described in the background art. As described above, for each item such as the above-described switch, lamp, meter, bar graph, etc., for example, the screen data includes various data related to item display such as the image of the item, display position coordinates and size, and the allocation memory. It has data related to monitoring memory access, such as area addresses.

The processing of the CPU 11 includes, for example, processing for acquiring “stored data in the allocated memory area for each item” described in the background art. From the above, it can be said that this is a process of acquiring data stored in the “monitoring memory”. This acquired data is temporarily stored in, for example, a shared memory 63 described later. The shared memory 63 may be a part of the storage area of the RAM 13 or the ROM 12 or may be another memory (not shown).

Further, display target data based on, for example, the screen data and the acquired data is developed (drawn) on, for example, the RAM 13 or a video RAM (not shown) by the processing of the CPU 11. Based on this drawing, the graphic controller 15 displays the above-described operation display screen on the display 19.

The display 19 is made of, for example, a liquid crystal panel, and a touch panel 18 is provided so as to overlap the liquid crystal panel. On the display 19, the operation display screen is basically displayed in which a plurality of item images are arranged at predetermined positions.

Here, in this method, in the case of an operation display screen larger than the display resolution of the display 19, the entire operation display screen is drawn on a memory area (not shown) and the like is cut out, for example, the RAM 13 or not shown. Stored on the video RAM. As a result, only the cropped image portion is displayed from time to time, thereby realizing scroll display. The part to be cut out corresponds to the user operation. Details will be described later.

Further, the communication controller 14 communicates with the connection device 4 and the drawing editor device 5 such as a PLC main body (not shown), a temperature control device, and the like via the communication interface 2.

The detection result of the pressing operation position (touch position) on the touch panel 18 by the operator or the like is taken into the CPU 11 or the like via the touch panel controller 16 and analyzed. This is analyzed based on the display position coordinates and size data of each item, for example. For example, when an operator touches the display position of an image of an arbitrary switch, it is assumed that the operation has been performed on this switch by analyzing that the touch position is within the display area of the switch image. It becomes.

Here, in this method, when the touch position by the user does not correspond to any item display area, that is, when an arbitrary position in an empty area where no item image is arranged is touched, it is determined that the scroll operation starts. To do. By doing in this way, the problem mentioned above can be solved. Details will be described later.

Fig. 3 shows the software configuration of this system.

In the programmable display 1, various programs / data such as a main body program 21, screen data 22, and communication program 23 are stored in the ROM 12 (flash memory or the like), for example. When the CPU 11 reads / executes / references these programs / data and the like, display control of the operation display screen and the like is performed.

This operation display screen consists of image display of various items such as meters, bar graphs, lamps and switches. The display content of each item image is updated as needed, for example, by reflecting data acquired from the allocated memory area (monitoring memory) through communication with the connected device 4. When the operation display screen is the virtual screen, only a part of the entire virtual screen image is displayed.

Basically, the CPU 11 performs processing based on the main body program 21 and the screen data 22, whereby the operation display screen is displayed. The display content of each screen component on the operation display screen is updated as needed based on the result of communication with the connected device 4 by the communication program 23 (such as the acquired data). The display content is, for example, a display indicating a numerical value such as a temperature or lighting / extinguishing of a lamp.

The screen data 22 is, for example, a screen data file 32 arbitrarily created in advance on the drawing editor device 5 side, downloaded to the programmable display device 1 and stored. In addition, the communication program 23 is also the one in which, for example, the communication program file 33 previously stored on the drawing editor device 5 side is downloaded and stored in the programmable display device 1.

As described above, basically, the CPU 11 performs display control of the operation display screen based on the main body program 21, screen data 22, acquired data, and the like. For example, regarding items such as meters and lamps, data is periodically read from the allocated memory area of the item, and the display content of the item is updated based on the read data. Alternatively, for example, regarding an item such as a switch, when the user touches a desired switch on the operation display screen and performs an ON / OFF operation, switch ON image display / switch OFF image display is performed. Further, the CPU 11 performs a predetermined process (for example, control of the connection device 4) according to the switch operation.

The read data from the allocated memory area is temporarily stored in an internal memory (such as a shared memory 63 described later) of the programmable display 1, and item display control is performed based on this.

That is, for example, a process of periodically reading data from a predetermined storage area (allocated memory area) of a memory device in the connection device 4 and storing the read data in the internal memory by each communication processing unit 55 to be described later Is done. Then, display control of the operation display screen is performed based on data stored in the internal memory. As a result, the display contents of each item image on the operation display screen reflect the contents of the latest stored data in the allocated memory area (monitoring memory) corresponding to the item.

The communication program 23 of the programmable display 1 is a program for communicating with the connection device 4 via the communication line 6. Usually, each connected device 4 has a communication protocol (communication rule) unique to each model and performs communication between the programmable display 1 and the connected device 4 in accordance with this communication rule. Therefore, the communication program 23 needs to be developed for each model of each connected device 4. Of course, the CPU 11 and the like execute the communication program 23 to realize communication processing with the connected device 4.

Note that communication between the programmable display 1 and the drawing editor device 5 is performed by the main body program 21 and the drawing editor 31, for example. For example, a communication function is incorporated in the drawing editor 31. This is not particularly related to the present technique, and is not shown or described. The connection device 4 such as the PLC main body has various manufacturers and models, each manufacturer / model has its own communication program, and the communication program 23 depends on the manufacturer / model of the connection device 4 depending on the case. Multiple types will be provided.

The communication program 23 is normally stored in advance as a plurality of communication program files 33 (a plurality of communication programs developed for each model) in an HD (hard disk) (not shown) in the drawing editor device 5. Then, when the user selects / designates an arbitrary connected device 4 using the drawing editor 31, the drawing editor device 5 transfers the communication program file 33 corresponding to the selected connected device 4 to the programmable display device 1, The communication program 23 is stored.

The process of accessing the monitoring memory in the connected device 4 from the programmable display 1 is executed according to various settings included in the screen data 22. In other words, it is executed according to various user settings made when the screen data file 32 is created on the drawing editor 31. For example, when the user creates the screen data file 32, the user arranges various items in the screen and designates an arbitrary address (monitoring memory) for each item.

The screen data file 32 created as described above is downloaded to the programmable display 1 and stored as the screen data 22. The programmable display 1 performs display control of the operation display screen using the screen data 22 as in the conventional case, and accordingly, periodically acquires the data in the monitoring memory for each item. Perform operations and so on. Furthermore, the operation | movement etc. which update the item display content on a screen based on acquisition data are performed.

In addition, the program for realizing the various processes described above may be included in the main body program 21, for example, or may be included in the screen data file 32 (screen data 22). In any case, when the CPU 11 executes such a program, for example, various processes and operations of the programmable display 1 of this example are realized.

Here, the support device 5 is, for example, a personal computer or the like. Although not particularly illustrated, a general general-purpose computer configuration (CPU, storage unit (hard disk, memory, etc.), communication unit, operation unit (mouse, etc.), display) is provided. Have. When the CPU executes an application program stored in advance in the storage unit, for example, the processing functions of the drawing editor 31 are realized.

4 and 5 are examples of screen data creation support screens in the drawing editor device 5. FIG.

In the creation support screen shown in FIG. 4, the user creates an arbitrary operation display screen in the editing area shown on the left side of the diagram. That is, the screen data 22 (32) is arbitrarily created. The created screen data 22 (32) is downloaded and stored in the programmable display device 1, and an operation display screen is displayed based on the screen data 22. Thus, in the case of the example of FIG. 5 described later, an operation display screen larger than the display display resolution is displayed.

The operation for creating the arbitrary operation display screen itself is the same as the conventional one. For example, the user selects a desired item from an item list display selection area (not shown) and places it at an arbitrary position on the editing area. To do. Then, the user performs various settings for the arranged items on a setting window (dialog box or the like) (not shown). For example, a desired function is assigned and an address of the assigned memory area is set.

In this example, the illustrated setting window 40 that can further set the operation display screen (screen) itself can be displayed by the user performing a predetermined operation.

Here, the size of the editing area is matched with the display size (display display resolution) of the programmable display 1 by default, and here is “horizontal (640 (pixels) × vertical 480 (pixels)”. It shall be. “Horizontal” corresponds to “width” and “vertical” corresponds to “height”.

In contrast, in the display area setting area 41 on the setting window 40 shown in the figure, the user can arbitrarily set and change the size of the screen. In the illustrated example, the width is doubled (= 1280 (pixels), but the height is not changed (480 (pixels)), but the “OK” button still shown in FIG. 43 is not operated, this change has not yet been applied, that is, the edit area is still “horizontal (640 (pixels) × vertical 480 (pixels)) in the state of FIG. Is the size of.

Note that a preview image corresponding to the setting in the display area setting area 41 is displayed in the illustrated preview display area 42. For example, the display is such that the correspondence between the display size of the programmable display 1 and the size of the screen after changing the setting (the size of the editing area) can be understood. However, the present invention is not limited to this example.

When the user in the state shown in the figure operates the “OK” button 43, the creation support screen is in the state shown in FIG.

As shown in Fig. 5, the width of the editing area is doubled. The height does not change. In other words, in FIG. 5, the editing area has a size of “horizontal (1280 (pixels) × vertical 480 (pixels))”. This is the size of the screen of the operation display screen displayed on the programmable display 1 side as it is. As described above, a screen having a size larger than the display resolution is called a virtual screen. As noted above, at any given time, only an arbitrary portion of the virtual screen will be displayed on the display.

Here, the thick frame 44 on the figure represents the initial display position. The user can perform an operation of moving the thick frame 44 to an arbitrary position in the editing area, and can thereby set the initial display state of the virtual screen. When the initial display position is set in the state shown in the figure, when this creation support screen is displayed on the programmable display 1 side, the left half of the virtual screen is displayed in the initial state. Then, the user can perform a scroll operation from this state to display a desired portion of the virtual screen. Details will be described later.

Note that the size of the thick frame 44 corresponds to the size of the display.

Further, the state in which the portion within the thick frame 44 at the position shown in FIG. 5 is displayed corresponds to the state of display offset position (X, Y) = (0, 0) described later. Good.

Here, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show examples of images in which an operation display screen (virtual screen) having a size larger than the display display resolution is scroll-displayed on the programmable display 1.

First, the example of FIG. 6 is an example where the horizontal direction (width) of the virtual screen is set to “three times the display resolution” by the setting window 40. It is assumed that the vertical direction (height) is “no setting change” and the display resolution remains unchanged.

In the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the virtual screen is “twice the display resolution” in the horizontal direction (width) and “no setting change” in the vertical direction (height).

In the state shown in FIG. 6A, it is assumed that a display offset position (X, Y) = (0, 0), which will be described later, of the virtual screen. Here, with reference to the upper left corner of the virtual screen, when the upper left corner is at the position of the upper left corner of the display of the programmable display 1 as shown in FIG. 6A, the display offset position (X, Y ) = (0,0).

The display offset position (X, Y) indicates the relative positional relationship between the virtual screen and the display. The display offset position (X, Y) is a display reference position of screen data (virtual screen) with respect to the display. In this example, the display offset position (X, Y) may be regarded as indicating the relative positional relationship between the upper left corner of the virtual screen and the upper left corner of the display.

In this state, when the user touches any empty area on the display with a fingertip, the scroll process is started. Although not shown in the figure, it is assumed that various items are arranged on the virtual screen, and an area (an empty area) where no item is arranged is touched in FIG.

After the scroll process is started as described above, when the user moves the fingertip to the left in the figure while touching the display as shown in FIG. 6B, for example, The virtual screen is an image that moves to the left relative to the display. As a result, the content displayed on the display is displayed on the right side of FIG. 6A.

If the state shown in FIG. 6B is a state in which the virtual screen is moved leftward by 200 pixels from the state shown in FIG. 6A, here, the display offset position (X , Y) = (200, 0).

Next, the example of FIG. 7 is an example in which the virtual screen is set to double the display resolution in both the horizontal direction (width) and the vertical direction (height) by the setting window 40.

Further, in the state shown in FIG. 7A, it is assumed that the display offset position (X, Y) = (0, 0), which will be described later, of the virtual screen, as in FIG. 6A.

In this state, when the user touches any empty area on the display with a fingertip, the scroll process is started. As in FIG. 6, item display is also omitted in FIG. 7, but it is assumed that an area (empty area) where no item is arranged is touched in FIG. 7A.

After the scroll process is started as described above, if the user moves the fingertip in the upper left direction in the figure while touching the display as shown in FIG. 7B, for example, Thus, the virtual screen is an image that moves in the upper left direction relative to the display. As a result, the display content on the display is displayed in the lower right part of FIG. 7A.

The state shown in FIG. 7B temporarily moves from the state shown in FIG. 7A to the upper left direction by 300 pixels in the horizontal direction (X direction) and 200 pixels in the vertical direction (Y direction). Here, it is assumed that the display offset position (X, Y) = (300, 200).

FIG. 8 is a processing function diagram of the programmable display of this example.

When the CPU 11 executes a predetermined program (for example, the main body program 21, the communication program 23, etc.) stored in the ROM 12, for example, various processing function units shown in a dotted line in FIG. 8 are realized. That is, various processing functions such as the illustrated touch switch determination processing unit 51, screen scroll position change processing unit 52, screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53, and the like are realized.

Further, the entire virtual screen image data 54 is generated and stored as needed by an existing function (not shown). This existing function generates image data of an operation display screen based on the screen data 22 and the like, and image data can be generated in the same manner in the case of a virtual screen. However, in a normal screen, the generated image data may be stored in the RAM 13 as it is. However, in the case of a virtual screen, the generated virtual screen whole image data 54 is stored in a memory other than the RAM 13 (not shown in the CPU 11). Memory etc.). Then, the screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53 cuts out a part of the entire virtual screen image data 54 and stores it in the RAM 13. This will be described in detail later.

The graphic controller 15 displays the drawing data on the RAM 13 on the display 19 so that the operation display screen or the like is displayed.

The virtual screen entire image data 54 is updated as needed by existing functions. That is, for example, the display content of each item is updated as needed in a manner that reflects the latest acquired data from the allocated memory area for each item.

The details of the various processing functions described above will be described later, but will be briefly described below.

The touch switch determination processing unit 51 is a processing function unit that determines the user operation content based on the touch operation by the user. The touch switch determination processing unit 51 has, for example, an existing function such as determining an item operated by the user, but also has a new function of this example.

That is, in addition to the above existing functions, the touch switch determination processing unit 51 further includes various processing functions of, for example, the screen scroll start detection processing unit 51a, the screen scroll end detection processing unit 51b, and the screen scroll position change detection processing unit 51c shown in the figure. Have In the following description, these are omitted and referred to as a start detection processing unit 51a, an end detection processing unit 51b, and a position change detection processing unit 51c. Similarly, the screen scroll position change processing unit 52 is also referred to as a position change processing unit 52.

Here, for example, when the user performs an operation of touching an arbitrary position on the touch panel 18, the touch panel controller 16 detects the XY coordinates of the touch position. Thus, the touch switch determination processing unit 51 determines the item operated by the user based on the detected coordinates and, for example, the screen data 22 or the like. This is an example of the existing function of the touch switch determination processing unit 51.

For this existing function, a specific example is not shown, but the screen data 22 includes display position coordinates and size data of each item, and an area (item area) where each item is arranged. Can be determined. From this, it is determined that the item corresponding to the item area has been operated by determining the item area including the user operation detection position coordinates. For example, the item may be determined based on a switch list 61 described later.

Here, when the item area including the user operation detection position coordinates does not exist, that is, when the user touches the empty area, nothing has been done in the past, but in this technique, the scroll display process is performed using this as a trigger. Start.

That is, in brief, when the start detection processing unit 51a detects that a touch operation has been performed on the empty area, the start detection processing unit 51a executes a scroll operation start process. For example, the touch position coordinates are stored as a drag position described later, and the mode is shifted to the screen scroll mode.

Here, with reference to FIG. 9, the mode type and mode change will be described.

In this example, various modes as shown in FIG. 9, for example, two types of modes, ie, a switch detection mode and a screen scroll mode, are provided in advance. The switch detection mode is a mode for performing a processing operation as usual, and is normally a switch detection mode. When a user operation on an arbitrary item is detected during the switch detection mode, processing related to the operated item is executed. On the other hand, if there is a touch operation on the empty area during the switch detection mode, the screen shifts to the screen scroll mode.

When the user performs an operation of moving the fingertip in an arbitrary direction while being touched during the screen scroll mode, the position change detection processing unit 51c detects this and considers that the scroll operation has been performed. Then, the position change processing unit 52 is caused to execute a predetermined process.

The position change processing unit 52 updates a display offset position (X, Y), which will be described later, according to the touch position moving operation.

The screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53 cuts out a part of the entire virtual screen image data 54 based on the display offset position (X, Y) at that time (for example, at regular intervals), and overwrites this in the RAM 13. To do. As a result, the image cut-out position changes with the update of the display offset position (X, Y), so that the operation display screen is scrolled on the display 19.

For example, while the user moves the fingertip to a desired target position, for example, the processing of the position change processing unit 52 and the screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53 described above is executed many times at regular intervals. The display offset position (X, Y) is updated, and a part of the entire virtual screen image data 54 is cut out based on this, and stored in the RAM 13. Thereby, the operation display screen is scrolled with the user operation.

The screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53 may execute the above processing operation only during the screen scroll mode, but basically it is desirable to execute the above processing operation regardless of the current mode. This is because the image cutout position does not change during the switch detection mode, but the display content of each item may change.

When the user performs an operation of releasing the fingertip from the touch panel 18 (lifting operation), the end detection processing unit 51b performs a process for ending the scroll process. For example, the mode is returned to the switch detection mode.

Hereinafter, the various processing function units will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 11, 12, and 13. Examples of information related to these processes are shown in FIGS. 10 (a) to 10 (c).

Hereinafter, first, various information shown in FIGS. 10A, 10 </ b> B, and 10 </ b> C will be described.

The screen setting data 60 shown in FIG. 10A includes a width designation presence / absence 61, a display area width 62, a height designation presence / absence 63, a display area height 64, and the like. These various types of information store, for example, the setting contents on the setting window 40 described above.

That is, when the virtual screen width or / and height is set on the display area setting area 41, the presence / absence of the setting and the setting contents are stored in the various data items 61-64. When the virtual screen width is set, the width designation presence / absence 61 is designated (flag ON), and the user setting contents are stored in the display area width 62. Similarly, when the height of the virtual screen is set, the height designation presence / absence 63 is designated (flag ON), and the user setting content is stored in the display area height 64.

For example, in the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5, the width is changed as described above, the width designation presence / absence 61 is set to the flag ON, and '1280' is stored in the display area width 6. On the other hand, since there is no change in the height, the height designation presence / absence 63 remains flag OFF, and the display area height 64 remains no data (NULL).

The screen setting data 60 is included in the screen data 22 (32), for example. Further, display related data such as display display resolution is registered in advance in the programmable display 1, for example.

Next, the virtual screen control information 70 shown in FIG. 10B includes a virtual screen width 71, a virtual screen height 72, a display offset position X73, a display offset position Y74, and the like.

For example, when the screen scroll mode is started, the display area width 62 and the display area height 64 in the screen setting data 60 relating to the currently displayed screen are copied to the virtual screen width 71 and the virtual screen height 72. However, in the case of no designation (flag OFF), values of display resolution (width and height) (not shown) stored separately are stored. For example, in the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the width is changed to be “1280”, but the height is still the display resolution height (= 480). As a result, the value of the display area width 62 (= 1280) is copied to the virtual screen width 71, but the display resolution height (= 480) is copied to the virtual screen height 72.

Further, the values of the display offset position X73 and the display offset position Y74 are updated at any time by a calculation process described later in the screen scroll mode. Then, as will be described later, for example, a process of cutting out a part of the virtual screen from the virtual screen and storing it in the RAM 13 is performed at regular intervals based on the current offset position.

The values of the display offset position X73 and the display offset position Y74 are “0” by default. That is, it is “0” at the start of the virtual screen display.

The screen movement detection control information 80 shown in FIG. 10C includes a drag position X81, a drag position Y82, and the like. These drag position X81 and drag position Y82 store the XY coordinates of the touched position when a touch operation is performed on the empty area. Even if the touch position moving operation described above is performed thereafter, the drag positions 81 and 82 are not changed. This is because the drag positions 81 and 82 indicate the first touch position (drag position).

The XY coordinates of the drag position (drag position X81, drag position Y82) are XY coordinates in the physical coordinate system. That is, it is not the coordinates on the virtual screen but the coordinates on the display 19. In other words, the coordinates are detected by the touch panel controller 16. Therefore, if the display 19 is 640 (pixels) × 480 (pixels), the physical coordinate system is 640 × 480 regardless of the size of the virtual screen. Here, it is assumed that the upper left corner is the coordinate (0, 0) and the lower right corner is the coordinate (640, 480).

Hereinafter, processing examples of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 11, 12, and 13 will be described.

FIG. 11 is a process flowchart of the touch switch determination processing unit 51. Note that this may be regarded as a processing flowchart of the start detection processing unit 51a.

When the user touches an arbitrary position on the touch panel 18, the touch panel controller 16 detects the touch position coordinates (physical coordinates) and passes them to the touch switch determination processing unit 51. Thereby, the process of FIG. 11 is started.

Here, the detected touch position coordinates are coordinates in the physical coordinate system as described above. For this reason, in the case of a normal screen, that is, a screen having the same size as the display resolution, the touch position coordinates may be used as they are, but in the case of a virtual screen, it is necessary to convert them to coordinates on the virtual screen.

From this, first, it is determined whether or not the currently displayed screen is a virtual screen (step S11). For example, referring to the screen setting data 60 relating to the currently displayed screen, when both the width designation presence / absence 61 and the height designation presence / absence 63 are both flag OFF (no designation), the normal screen display is performed. In other cases, it is determined that the virtual screen is being displayed.

If the virtual screen is being displayed (step S11, YES), the detected touch position coordinates are converted into coordinates on the virtual screen (step S12). This conversion method is as follows, for example.

X coordinate on virtual screen = pressed X coordinate + display offset position X73
Y coordinate on virtual screen = pressed Y coordinate + display offset position Y74
The pressed X coordinate and pressed Y coordinate are the touch position coordinates (physical coordinates).

If it is a virtual screen, it is determined whether or not an arbitrary item has been operated using the coordinates on the virtual screen obtained by the conversion process (step S13). In the case of a normal screen, it is determined using the detected touch position coordinates whether or not an arbitrary item has been operated (step S13).

The determination process itself in step S13 may be an existing technology and will not be described in detail, but by referring to the screen data 22, the area where each item is arranged (item area) can be known, so the touch position If there is an item area including the coordinates, step S13 is YES.

On the other hand, when there is no item area including the touch position coordinates, step S13 is NO. In this case, it can be considered that the empty area has been touched.

Note that the method is not limited to the example using the screen data 22 described above, and for example, a determination method using the switch area chain list 90 may be used, which will be described later.

When an arbitrary item is operated, that is, when a display area of an arbitrary item is touched (step S13, YES), the processing function of the operated item is executed (step S14). This process itself is an existing process, for example, a process of updating the display content of the item based on the screen data 22 or the acquired data from the allocated memory area.

On the other hand, when an item is not operated, that is, when a touch operation is performed on an empty area (step S13, NO), in the case of a normal screen (step S15, NO), nothing is done as usual. This process ends. On the other hand, in the case of a virtual screen (step S15, YES), the processing of steps S16 and S17 is executed, and this processing is terminated. That is, for example, the scroll operation start process by the start detection processing unit 51a is executed, and this process ends.

It should be noted that the method for determining that an empty area has been touched is not limited to the example using the arrangement area of each item. For example, by registering area information indicating an empty area in advance, if the touch position is within the area indicated by the area information, it may be determined that the empty area has been touched.

The process of step S16 is a process of storing the touch position. That is, the touch position coordinates (pressed X coordinate, pressed Y coordinate) are stored in the drag position X81 and drag position Y82. The process of step S17 is a mode change process for changing the mode to the “screen scroll mode”.

The processing in FIG. 11 may be regarded as being performed by the start detection processing unit 51a in steps S16 and S17, and the other processing by the touch switch determination processing unit 51. Not exclusively. For example, you may consider that the start detection process part 51a performs all the processes of FIG.

During the “screen scroll mode”, for example, it is determined whether or not the touch position by the user has moved every fixed period Δt, and each time it is determined that the touch position has moved, the process of step S22 in FIG. 12 is executed. . Moreover, you may perform the process of step S23 for every process execution of step S22. However, the processing in step S23 (image cutout processing) may be executed at a constant cycle regardless of the mode as described above.

It should be noted that even if it is detected that the display area of an arbitrary item image is touched during the “screen scroll mode”, it may not be considered that the item has been operated.

Note that FIG. 12 is regarded as a processing flowchart of the scroll display related processing.

The determination process of whether or not the touch position moved by the user has been executed, for example, by the position change detection processing unit 51c.

The touch panel controller 16 passes the current (latest) touch position coordinate detection result to the position change detection processing unit 51c, for example, at any time or for each fixed period Δt.

The position change detection processing unit 51c determines whether or not the current value of the touch position coordinate matches the previous value. If the current value does not match, the position change detection processing unit 51c determines that the touch position has moved (step S21). Is transferred to the position change processing unit 52. Further, the current value is stored as a new previous value regardless of the determination result.

When the touch position coordinates (current value) are passed from the position change detection processing unit 51c, the position change processing unit 52 updates the display offset position X73 and the display offset position Y74 based on this (Step S22). In this method, a new display offset position is calculated by the following calculation formula, and this is overwritten and stored in the display offset position X73 and the display offset position Y74.

Display offset position X = Drag position X81—Pressed X coordinate Display offset position Y = Drag position Y82—Pressed Y coordinate The pressed X coordinate and pressed Y coordinate are the touch position coordinates (current value). The touch position coordinates (current value) are coordinates in the physical coordinate system.

The screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53 cuts out a part of the entire virtual screen image data 54 at that time and stores it in the RAM 13 at a fixed cycle regardless of the mode as described above, for example (step S23). In that case, the part to cut out is determined as follows, for example.

The image of the area corresponding to the cut width and the cut height is cut out from the cut reference position as a starting point. here,
Cutting reference position = (display offset position X73, display offset position Y74)
Cutout width = Display resolution X
Cutting height = Display resolution Y
If the display resolution is 640 × 480, the cutout width = 640 and the cutout height = 480.

In this way, a part of the virtual screen is cut out in accordance with the user operation, stored in the RAM 13, and thus displayed on the display 19. By repeatedly executing such a display, for example, at a constant cycle while the user moves the touch position, the virtual screen is scroll-displayed.

Note that the process execution timing of the screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53 is not limited to the above-described fixed-cycle execution example. For example, the position change processing unit 52 updates the offset position with the execution of the process of step S22. You may make it notify the said screen display cut-out drawing process part 53 to the effect. Then, by this notification, the screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53 may execute the process of step S23.

The “drag position X81—pressed X coordinate” and “drag position Y82—pressed Y coordinate” can be said to indicate the moving direction and moving amount from the drag position to the current fingertip position.

FIG. 13 is a processing flowchart of the end detection processing unit 51b.

The end detection processing unit 51b monitors the user operation detection result by the touch panel controller at any time during the “screen scroll mode”, and when the lifting operation is detected (step S31), the mode is changed to the “switch detection mode”. Change (step S32).

Here, FIGS. 14 and 15 show examples of the scroll display processing.

In addition, here, the example of FIG. 7 is used as an example of the virtual screen. That is, an example in which the virtual screen is set to twice the display resolution in both the horizontal direction (width) and the vertical direction (height) is used. In this case, it can be said that the virtual screen is composed of four divided areas with the display size as one unit. In other words, it can be said to be composed of four divided areas: upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right.

FIG. 14 shows the scrolling process as an image of the positional relationship between the display and the virtual screen.

Here, for the sake of simplicity, the display resolution is assumed to be 800 horizontal (pixels) × 400 vertical (pixels). In FIG. On the other hand, the virtual screen is an image indicated by a dotted-line rectangle in the figure in the default state. As described above, in the default state, (display offset position X73, display offset position Y74) = (0, 0), and the upper left corner of the virtual screen matches the upper left corner of the display as illustrated. It becomes an image. In this default state, the image of the upper left divided area of the virtual screen is displayed on the display.

In this state, for example, after the user touches the center position of the display (physical coordinates = (400, 300)) as shown in the figure, the fingertip is moved to the upper left corner (physical coordinates = (0, 0)) while touching. Suppose that the lifting operation is performed at the upper left corner. In accordance with this operation, the process of step S22 described above finally results in a state of (display offset position X73, display offset position Y74) = (400, 300). As shown in the figure, this is an image in which the virtual screen has moved to the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in the figure.

Then, while the virtual screen moves from the state indicated by the dotted line to the state indicated by the one-dot chain line, for example, the processes of steps S22 and S23 are repeatedly performed at a constant cycle, and each time the offset position (display) is displayed. Based on the offset position X73 and the display offset position Y74), a part of the virtual screen is cut out. This is cut out by the size of the display indicated by the thick frame. The clipped image is stored in the RAM 13 and displayed on the display 19.

Finally, an image is obtained in which the process of step S23 is performed on the virtual screen indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. That is, an image of a region having a width of 800 and a height of 400 is cut out from the coordinates (400, 300) on the virtual screen as a starting point. In other words, this is an image of cutting out the area indicated by the thick frame on the virtual screen indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. This cuts just the middle area of the virtual screen by the size of the display. Then, the image of the clipped area is stored in the RAM 13 and displayed on the display 19.

For example, as described above, while the virtual screen moves from the state indicated by the dotted line in the figure to the state indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in the figure, the virtual screen is virtualized according to the (updated) offset position at that time, for example, at regular intervals. Cut out and display a part of the screen. As a result, the display 19 scrolls from the state where the upper left divided area of the virtual screen is displayed to the state where the middle area is displayed.

FIG. 15 shows an example in which the scroll operation is further performed after the scroll of FIG.

Here, it is assumed that the user performs the same operation as in FIG. 14 in a state where the virtual screen is indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. That is, for example, after the user touches the center position of the display (physical coordinates = (400, 300)) as shown in the figure, the fingertip is moved to the upper left corner (physical coordinates = (0, 0)) and the upper left corner is moved. Suppose that a lift operation is performed at a corner.

With this operation, the offset position is finally updated to the state of (display offset position X73, display offset position Y74) = (800, 600). As shown in the figure, this is an image in which the virtual screen is moved to a position indicated by a thin solid line (thin line) in the figure. Then, the image is subjected to the image cut-out process in step S23 on the virtual screen indicated by the thin line. That is, an image of an area having a width of 800 and a height of 400 is cut out from the coordinates (800, 600) on the virtual screen indicated by the thin line as a starting point. In other words, this is an image in which the area indicated by the thick frame is cut out from the virtual screen indicated by the thin line. This means that when the virtual screen is composed of the above four divided areas, the lower right divided area is cut out.

Of course, in this case as well, as in the example of FIG. 14, the offset position is updated during movement, for example, and a part of the virtual screen is cut out and stored in the RAM 13 accordingly. Is called. As a result, the display 19 scrolls from the state where the middle area of the virtual screen is displayed to the state where the lower right divided area is displayed.

For example, as described above, in the programmable display device 1 of this example, the operation display screen larger than the display display resolution can be scroll-displayed in the programmable display device that displays the operation display screen including various item displays. In particular, the scroll display can be realized in such a way that a situation in which an arbitrary item is mistakenly operated and erroneously operates does not occur.

Here, an example in which the switch area chain list 90 is used for the item determination process in step S13 will be described.

In addition, although the example which identifies the pressing item with reference to the switch area | region chain list 90 here is shown, it is not restricted to such an example. Basically, by referring to predetermined information such as item position coordinates and item size (not shown) of the screen data 22, the area where each item is arranged can be known. Thus, the pressed item can be determined by determining in which item area the coordinates of the position touched by the user are included. Therefore, normally, the screen data 22 or the like may be referred to, and the switch area chain list 90 is not necessary.

The switch area chain list 90 is information for enabling the pressed item to be properly identified even when the items are arranged so as to partially overlap each other. However, such an item discrimination process is not essential and may be omitted.

Here, FIG. 16 shows an example of the switch area chain list 90.

Note that, here, only the switch among various items will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and the same may be applied to other items.

In the switch area chain list 90, one record corresponds to one item (here, each switch). Here, since it is assumed that there are a plurality of items, the switch area chain list 90 is composed of a plurality of records.

Each switch area chain list 90 includes an upper link 91, a lower link 92, a link 93 to switch item information, a switch area start X94, a switch area start Y95, a switch area end X96, a switch area end Y97, and the like.

The upper link 91 is a link (a pointer or the like) to a record corresponding to the switch arranged above the switch.

The lower link 92 is a link (a pointer or the like) to a record corresponding to the switch arranged below the switch.

The link 93 to the switch item information is a link (pointer or the like) to a record in the screen data 22 or the like in which information related to the switch is registered. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. When a unique identification ID (referred to as item ID) is assigned in advance for each item and each record in the screen data 22 or the like is managed using the item ID, the item ID of this item is “ It may be stored in “link to switch item information” 93.

When the item operated by the user is determined using the switch area chain list 90, the function item of the operation item is referred to by referring to the link destination information using the “link 93 to the switch item information” of the record of the operation item. Will be executed.

The switch area start X94, switch area start Y95, switch area end X96, and switch area end Y97 all indicate an area (arrangement area) where the switch is arranged. This assumes a rectangular switch as shown in FIG. 17A and the like, which will be described later, and the XY coordinates of the upper left corner of the rectangle are the switch area start X94 and the switch area start Y95. The XY coordinates of the lower corner are the switch area end X96 and the switch area end Y97.

Note that the “that switch” is a switch corresponding to the record. In the determination process in step S13, an arrangement in which the touch position coordinates are included in the arrangement area of each record in the switch area chain list 90. Determine whether there is an area. If there is only one corresponding item, it may be determined that the switch is an operation item. However, when there are a plurality of applicable items (basically two), an operation switch discrimination process using the upper link 91 and the lower link 92 is performed. The operation item is an item that is touch-operated by the user, and basically the function of the operation item is executed as usual.

Here, the switch area chain list 90 will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the example shown in FIGS. 17A and 18A, three switch items of switch A, switch B, and switch C are arranged. As shown in the figure, the switch A and the switch B partially overlap, and the switch B and the switch C also partially overlap. This overlaps so that the switch B is on the upper side (upper order) of the switch A. The switches C overlap so that they are above (upper) the switch B.

And, for example, as shown in FIG. 17A, when the user touches the position of the fingertip indicated by the “hand” picture in the figure, there is no problem in the discrimination processing using the screen data 22 or the like. That is, it can be determined that the switch A is operated. However, when the user touches, for example, an area where the switch A and the switch B overlap, both the switch A and the switch B are applicable in the determination process using the screen data 22. On the other hand, in this example, by using the switch area chain list 90, it is determined that a relatively higher (upper) switch has been operated.

In the example shown in FIG. 17B, for example, in the case of the switch B, the upper link 91 is “switch C” and the lower link 92 is “switch A”. From this, for example, when the area where the switch A and the switch B overlap is touched, it can be determined that the switch B is operated because the switch A can be recognized as being lower than the switch B. Similarly, for example, when the area where the switch C and the switch B overlap is touched, the switch C can be recognized as being higher when viewed from the switch B, so that it can be determined that the switch C is operated.

Then, by using the “link 93 to the switch item information” in the record of the switch regarded as the operation item as described above, predetermined information (not shown) regarding this switch is acquired, and based on this, this information is acquired. The function of the switch can be performed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 18A, when the user touches an area (empty area) that does not correspond to any of the switch A, the switch B, and the switch C, the above-described operation using the switch area chain list 90 is performed. By the determination process, it is determined that there is no corresponding item. In this case, the determination result of step S13 is NO, and the process proceeds to step S15.

Here, a case where an overlap image is displayed will be described.

The overlap image is a window that pops up on the operation display screen, such as a dialog box or a banner. When an overlap image is displayed, first, an operation display screen image including each item image is generated based on the screen data 22 and the like, and the overlap image is overwritten and drawn at a predetermined position on the image. For example, the entire virtual screen image data 54 is generated. Here, it is assumed that a predetermined image is registered in advance as the overlap image, but the present invention is not limited to this example.

In this method, as described above, since the entire virtual screen image data 54 is cut out based on the display offset position at that time, the overlap image is also cut out together. If the display offset position changes due to the scroll operation, the cutout location of the overlap image also changes. Thus, for example, as shown in FIGS. 19C and 19D, the overlap image is scrolled together with the scroll display. In some cases, the overlap image may disappear from the screen.

Here, conventionally, there is a special overlap image called “global overlap image”. The “global overlap image” is an overlap image that displays, for example, an alarm or a warning, and therefore needs to be continuously displayed even when the screen is scrolled. For this reason, it is not desirable to make the display display that may disappear as the operation display screen is scrolled like the normal overlap image.

That is, as shown in FIG. 19A, when the “global overlap image” is displayed on the screen, the image on the operation display screen is scrolled as shown in FIG. 19B by the scroll operation. It is desirable to continue displaying the “global overlap image” at the position as it is.

In order to realize this, for example, in the example of FIG. 8 described above, although not shown in FIG. 8, a “global overlap image storage unit” (not shown) is provided. For this purpose, for example, a memory area for storing the global overlap image is further provided in a memory (not shown) in the CPU. When an event for displaying a “global overlap image” occurs, a process of storing the “global overlap image” in the “global overlap image storage unit” is performed. As the “global overlap image” itself, a predetermined image is registered in advance, and when a predetermined event (such as some abnormality detection) occurs, this registered image is stored in the “global overlap image storage unit”. .

For example, the screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53 performs the global overlap when the image is stored in the “global overlap image storage unit” every time the above image cutout / storage process is executed. The image is overwritten on the cut out image. That is, as described above, the screen display cutout drawing processing unit 53 cuts out a part of the entire virtual screen image data 54 based on the display offset position, and stores this cutout image in the RAM 13. Further, when an image is stored in the “global overlap image storage unit”, the global overlap image is overwritten and stored in a predetermined storage area on the RAM 13. The predetermined storage area is a part of the storage area for storing the cut image.

In this way, even if the cutout image changes with the scroll operation, the global overlap image continues to be displayed without changing the display position. That is, for example, the display is as shown in FIGS. 19 (a) and 19 (b).

For example, when an alarm occurs, a process of storing the global overlap image in the “global overlap image storage unit” is performed, and when the alarm is released, the image in the “global overlap image storage unit” is deleted. Processing may be performed.

FIG. 20 is a functional block diagram of the programmable display 1 of this example.

The programmable display 1 of this example is a programmable display having a touch panel 18 and a display 19.

The illustrated programmable display 1 includes a screen storage unit 101, a scroll operation detection unit 102, an offset position update unit 103, an image cutout unit 104, a display control unit 105, an item function execution unit 106, a screen update unit 107, and a global image storage. Various processing function units such as the unit 108 are included. These various processing function units are realized, for example, when the CPU 11 executes application programs stored in advance in the ROM 12 or the like.

The screen storage unit 101 stores a screen image larger than the display resolution of the display 19. In other words, screen data exceeding the display resolution of the display 19 is stored. That is, for example, the “virtual screen image” is stored.

The scroll operation detection unit 102 detects a scroll operation on the touch panel 18 by the user, and obtains a movement direction and a movement amount based on the detection result.

The offset position update unit 103 updates the offset position based on the movement direction and the movement amount. For example, in the embodiment described above, the values of the display offset position X73 and the display offset position Y74 are updated.

The image cutout unit 104 cuts out a part of the screen image (screen data) based on the offset position and stores it in the display memory. An example of the display memory is the RAM 13 described above.

The display control unit 105 displays an image stored in the display memory on the display. An example of the display control unit 105 is the graphic controller 15 described above.

For example, the screen image (screen data) is composed of one or more item images, and the scroll operation detection unit 102 determines that the scroll operation is started when an empty area without the item image is touched.

For example, when the scroll operation detection unit 102 determines that the scroll operation is started, the scroll operation detection unit 102 shifts to a specific mode, and obtains the movement direction and the movement amount each time the touch position movement is detected during the specific mode. An example of this specific mode is the screen scroll mode described above.

For example, the offset position update unit 103 performs the offset position update process every time the movement direction and the movement amount are obtained.

The programmable display 1 further includes an item function execution unit 106 that executes the function of the item when a display position of an arbitrary item image is touched, for example. However, the item function execution unit 106 is an existing function. When the user touches an item image when an arbitrary position on the display (on the touch panel) is touched to start a scroll operation, an operation that is not desired by the user is caused by the existing function. Therefore, in this method, an empty area is used for the scroll operation as described above.

The image cutout unit 104 cuts out an area having a size corresponding to the width and height of the display 19 from the start point from the offset image, for example, from the offset position. For example, when the offset position is updated in accordance with the scroll operation by the user, the portion to be cut out from the screen image changes accordingly. As a result, the screen image is scrolled on the display 19.

Note that the offset position is, for example, the base coordinate (0, 0) of the physical coordinate system on the display 19 by default. The moving direction and moving amount are, for example, the moving direction and moving amount from the scroll operation start position to the current position.

Further, the programmable display 1 is connected to the connection device 4, and a predetermined memory area in the connection device 4 is assigned to each item in advance.

Then, the screen update unit 107 generates and updates the content of the item image based on predetermined information set in advance and data acquired from the allocation memory area as needed for each item. Update the contents of the screen image (screen data).

The screen update unit 107 may basically be regarded as an existing function. However, if the screen image (screen data) to be updated is the “virtual screen”, the display content may change during scrolling. .

Further, for example, the virtual screen image may be an image formed by overlapping an arbitrary image on an operation display screen generated based on the screen data 22 or the like that is information on one or more items.

In the case of this example, the clipping process by the image clipping unit 104 is performed on the virtual screen image including the overlap image. As a result, the image stored in the display memory may include an overlap image. Also, if the offset position changes, the cutout location from the overlap image also changes. Thus, when the operation display screen is scrolled, the overlap image is also scrolled together.

In addition, for example, when displaying a global overlap image that is an overlap image that needs to be displayed regardless of the scroll display state, the configuration further includes a global image storage unit 205 that stores the global overlap image. May be.

In this case, the image cutout unit 104 cuts out a part of the virtual screen image and stores it in the display memory, and then when the global overlap image is stored in the global image storage unit 205, The global overlap image is overwritten and stored in a predetermined storage area in the display memory. The predetermined storage area is a part of the storage area for storing the clipped image. Thereby, for example, the scroll display shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B is performed.

Also, the support device 5 may have, for example, the setting unit 111 shown in the figure as its processing function. The setting unit 111 performs, for example, the screen display described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 to allow the user to create or set desired screen data. At that time, as described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the screen itself can be set, and in particular, the user can arbitrarily set the screen size.

As described above, according to the programmable display 1 of this example, the operation display screen larger than the display display resolution can be scroll-displayed on the programmable display that displays the operation display screen including various item displays.

Claims

In a programmable display having a touch panel and a display,
Screen storage means for storing screen data exceeding the display resolution of the display;
A scroll operation detecting means for detecting a scroll operation on the touch panel and obtaining a moving direction and a moving amount;
Offset position updating means for updating the offset position based on the moving direction and the moving amount;
Image cutout means for cutting out a part of the screen data based on the offset position and storing it in a display memory;
Display control means for displaying an image stored in the display memory on the display;
A programmable display device comprising:
The screen data consists of one or more item images,
The programmable display device according to claim 1, wherein the scroll operation detection unit determines that the scroll operation is started when an empty area without the item image is touched.
When the scroll operation detecting means determines to start the scroll operation, the scroll operation detecting means shifts to a specific mode, and obtains the moving direction and the moving amount each time a touch position movement is detected during the specific mode,
3. The programmable display device according to claim 2, wherein the offset position update means performs the offset position update every time the movement direction and the movement amount are obtained.
4. The programmable display according to claim 1, further comprising item function execution means for executing a function of the item when a display position of an arbitrary item image is touched.
2. The programmable display according to claim 1, wherein the image cutout unit cuts out an area having a size corresponding to the width and height of the display from the start point from the offset point. vessel.
The programmable display according to claim 1, wherein the offset position is a base coordinate (0, 0) of a physical coordinate system on the display by default.
The programmable display device according to claim 1, wherein the moving direction and the moving amount are a moving direction and a moving amount from the scroll operation start position to a current position.
The programmable display is connected to a connection device,
Each item is assigned a predetermined memory area in the connected device in advance,
A screen for updating the content of the screen data by generating / updating the content of the item image based on predetermined information set in advance and data acquired from the allocated memory area as needed for each item. The programmable display according to claim 2, further comprising updating means.
The screen data stored in the screen storage means is an image formed by overlapping an arbitrary image on an operation display screen generated based on screen data that is information on one or more items.
2. The programmable display device according to claim 1, wherein the image cutout means cuts out a part of the screen data including the overlap image based on the offset position and stores the cutout data in the display memory.
A global image storage means for storing the global overlap image when displaying a global overlap image that is an overlap image that needs to be continuously displayed regardless of the scroll display state;
Each time the image cutout means stores the cutout image in the display memory, if the image is stored in the global image storage means, the image cutout means overwrites and stores the image in the display memory. The programmable display device according to claim 1, wherein:
A programmable display computer having a touch panel and a display,
Screen storage means for storing screen data exceeding the display resolution of the display;
A scroll operation detecting means for detecting a scroll operation on the touch panel and obtaining a moving direction and a moving amount;
Offset position updating means for updating the offset position based on the moving direction and the moving amount;
Image cutout means for cutting out a part of the screen data based on the offset position and storing it in a display memory;
Display control means for displaying an image stored in the display memory on the display;
Program to function as.