JP2504579B2 - Screen I / O control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [Overview] A screen input / output control method for performing interactive processing with a user in an information processing apparatus such as a computer system, a word processor, and a workstation by pressing a PF key and selecting a menu, The purpose is to improve the operability by allowing the user to specify the meaning of PF keys that are common to multiple screens, while allowing the unification of operations using the pointing device and PF keys. , PF common to multiple screens assigned to each PF key
A PF key table that stores key semantic information and a PF that defines or updates the contents of the PF key table by input
Key table definition processing means and when the PF key is pressed,
The PF key table is provided with an input processing unit that returns the semantic information corresponding to the PF key to the input request source, and when the menu item is selected, returns the semantic information corresponding to the menu item to the input request source. Configure.

[Industrial applications]

The present invention is applied to a PF (Program) in an information processing device such as a computer system, a word processor, and a workstation.
mable Function) Screen input / output control method that performs interactive processing with the user by keystrokes and menu selection.

In recent years, due to the development of operation methods of information processing systems, in personal computers and workstations, the mainstream operation is to select items in fixed menus such as pull-down menus and pop-up menus with a pointing device such as a mouse or touch pen. Has become.

On the other hand, since it is convenient to use the PF key to select the same function as the menu, it is thought that the operability will be further improved if the user can freely set and use it properly.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 6 shows a conventional screen input / output control mechanism such as a workstation having a function of selecting menu items.

The screen edit information 22, the menu definition information 23, and the PF key definition information 51 are fixedly defined in advance by the screen definition body 21. The menu definition information 23 has semantic information for each title of each menu item. This semantic information is identification information such as a function name notified to the application program 14. The PF key definition information 51 has meaning information for each PF key.

When the application program 14 specifies the screen definition body 21 and requests input / output to the screen input / output control unit 15, the screen input / output control unit 15 reads the screen editing information 22 into the screen data buffer 16 and displays the data on the display device 10. To display.

Also, the corresponding menu definition information 23 is read into the menu definition buffer 20. In addition, the PF key definition information 51
Read into the key definition buffer 50. Then, by selecting the menu with the pointing device 11 or inputting the PF key from the keyboard 12, the menu definition buffer is respectively displayed.
20, Refers to the PF key definition buffer 50 and returns the semantic information corresponding to the application program 14.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional screen input / output control mechanism adopted in a host computer or the like.

No input mechanism by pointing device, 6th
Menu definition buffer 20 and menu definition information 23 shown in the figure
There is no. The screen input / output control unit 15 has a PF key table 19 having correspondence information between PF keys and their meanings. This PF
The key table 19 can be defined or updated by the PF key table definition processing unit 13.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the conventional screen input / output control mechanism as shown in FIG.
Each screen has menu definition information 23 and PF key definition information 5
I also have 1 for each screen. Therefore, there is a problem that the user cannot change the meaning of the PF key individually or the meaning of the PF key common to multiple screens by a single operation.

On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 7, in the interactive use of the host computer by the VDT terminal, the PF
It has a PF key table 19 that defines the meaning of the keys, and a PF that is common to multiple screens according to the frequency of use and operation of the user.
The meaning of the key can be changed for each user. However, there was a problem that the menu could not be operated with a pointing device.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, makes it possible to unify the operation with a pointing device and the operation with a PF key, and to allow the user to specify the meaning of a PF key common to a plurality of screens. The purpose is to improve operability.

[Means for solving the problem]

 FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 10 is a display device, 11 is a pointing device such as a mouse or a touch pen, 12 is a keyboard having a PF key, 13 is a PF key table definition processing unit, and 14 is an application program for processing screen input / output and processing data. , 15 is a screen input / output control unit, 16 is a display device
A screen data buffer for storing display contents in 10, 17 is an input processing unit for returning the meaning to the application program 14 in response to input from the pointing device 11 and the keyboard 12, 18 is a menu display processing unit, 19 is each PF key PF key table with meaning information, 20 is a menu definition buffer that stores menu definition information, 21 is a screen definition used by the application program 14, 22 is screen edit information, and 23 is a menu that defines the meaning of each menu. Indicates definition information.

The present invention has a PF key table 19 that stores semantic information of PF keys common to a plurality of screens assigned to each PF menu. Then, the PF key table definition processing unit 13 can define or update the contents of the PF key table 19 by input by the user.

When the application program 14 specifies the screen definition body 21 and requests input / output to the screen input / output control unit 15, the screen input / output control unit 15 reads the screen edit information 22 into the screen data buffer 16 and displays it on the display device. Display on 10.
Also, by selecting the menu display from the pointing device 11, the menu definition information 23 is displayed in the menu definition buffer.
Read in 20, and display the menu.

When the PF key on the keyboard 12 is pressed in such a state, the input processing unit 17 refers to the PF key table 19 and
The semantic information corresponding to the key is returned to the application program 14 that is the input request source. On the other hand, when a menu item is selected by the pointing device 11, the input processing unit 17 refers to the menu definition buffer 20 and returns the semantic information corresponding to the menu item to the application program 14 which is the input request source.

When the menu display processing unit 18 displays a menu, the information in the menu definition buffer 20 and the PF key table 1
Based on the information in 9, the process of displaying the number of the PF key having the same meaning as that for each menu item according to the contents of the PF key is performed.

[Action]

Conventionally, when a host computer user used a workstation or personal computer, the meaning of the PF key could not be defined for each user, so operability was not sufficient. According to the present invention, since the PF key table definition processing unit 13 can rewrite the PF key table 19, it is possible to individually define the meaning of the PF key common to a plurality of screens.

Also, the menu selection by the pointing device 11 can be executed by the same operation as the conventional one.

Further, when the menu display is designated, the menu display processing unit 18 searches the PF key table 19 for the PF key number having the same meaning as the menu item, and incorporates the PF key number in the display of the menu item. Since it is displayed in, unified operation is possible.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 is an example of an application system of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an example of a menu display according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an embodiment of the present invention. The processing flow of this input processing part is shown.

The present invention can be applied to an information processing system such as a computer system having a display device 10, a pointing device 11 and a keyboard 12 as shown in FIG. 2, a word processor and a workstation. 30
Is a processing unit, which includes a CPU 31 and a memory 32.
33 is an external storage device such as a disk device. In the case of a workstation, it is designed to be connected to a host computer or the like via a line.

The menu according to the present invention is displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, 40 is a menu bar. For example, when the display of a “classification 2” menu is selected on the menu bar 40, a pull-down menu 41 is displayed.

The PF key number is displayed by the menu display processing unit 18 shown in FIG. 1 for each title of each menu item. By combining the contents of the menu definition information 23 shown in FIG. 1 expanded in the menu definition buffer 20 and the contents of the PF key table 19, the menu items and PF
Corresponds to the key number and displays the PF key number.

In this example, the next screen is PF01, the previous screen is PF02, and the beginning is PF0.
Corresponds to the number 3, ... When selecting the function of the next screen, the user may either click the position of the next screen in the pull-down menu 41 with a mouse or key the PF01 key.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the present invention is carried out while maintaining compatibility with the prior art. In the figure, the same symbols as in FIG.
It corresponds to that shown in FIG. Reference numeral 50 represents a PF key definition buffer, and 51 represents PF key definition information.

In this example, as the PF key definition information 51 that can be defined in advance in the screen definition body 21, a description of the form F0nn (n is a numeric value) is reserved as the meaning corresponding to the PF key of PFnn. You can do it.

The PF key table 19 has correspondence information between F0nn and the meaning returned to the application program. This PF key table 19 can be set and updated with definition information by the PF key table definition processing unit 13 shown in FIG.

For example, assume that the PF01 key is pressed. The meaning of F001 is once obtained by the PF key definition buffer 50.
This is a meaning reserved for the PF key, so the PF key table 19 is referenced and the corresponding N
Extract the meaning of EXT. This is notified to the application program 14 shown in FIG.

When a PF key whose meaning is associated in a format other than F0nn is pressed in the PF key definition buffer 50, the original meaning defined in the PF key definition information 51 is returned. In this example, the meaning of END is fixedly associated with PF03, so that the meaning of END is notified when PF03 is pressed.

According to this embodiment, the application program using the new format screen definition body 21 in which the PF key is defined in the F0nn format can change the meaning of the PF key by the user. For an application program that uses the conventional screen definition program 21, the meaning of the PF key cannot be changed by the user because the definition of the PF key is not in the F0nn format.
It can be used as it is within the range of the conventional operation method without changing.

FIG. 5 shows a processing flow of the input processing unit 17 shown in FIG. In the following description, 〜 corresponds to the process 示 す shown in FIG.

Wait for an input event from the keyboard or pointing device.

The input event determines whether the PF key is pressed or the menu is selected by the pointing device. If it is a menu, move to the processing.

Extract the meaning of the PF key from the PF key definition buffer.

Judge whether the extracted meaning is in F0nn format. If the format is not F0nn, move on to processing.

In the case of the F0nn format, the meaning of the P key corresponding to F0nn is extracted from the PF key table, and that is the return value. After that, it moves on to processing.

If the format is not F0nn, the return value is the meaning of the PF key retrieved from the PF key definition buffer. After that, it moves on to processing.

In the case of menu selection with a pointing device, the meaning of the menu is retrieved from the menu definition buffer and that is the return value.

Returns the meaning of the PF key or menu to the application program that is the input request source.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform an operation of selecting a menu item and define the meaning of the PF key common to a plurality of screens for each user. Therefore, the user can freely assign meanings to his favorite PF keys and, like a pointing device,
PF keys can be used, improving operability.

Also, since the PF key number is displayed in the menu, PF
Even if the user changes the key definition, the meaning defined for each PF key can always be easily understood.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a configuration example of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an example of an application system of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an example of a menu display according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 shows a processing flow of the input processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of the prior art. In the figure, 10 is a display device, 11 is a pointing device, 12 is a keyboard, 13 is a PF key table definition processing unit, 14
Is an application program, 15 is a screen input / output control unit,
16 is a screen data buffer, 17 is an input processing unit, 18 is a menu display processing unit, 19 is a PF key table, 20 is a menu definition buffer, 21 is a screen definition body, 22 is screen editing information, and 23 is menu definition information. .

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A display device (10), a keyboard (12), and a pointing device (11) for designating a position on the screen displayed on the display device, and pressing or displaying a PF key on the keyboard. Meaning information of each menu item is stored for each screen used by an application program in a screen input / output control method in an information processing system that performs interactive processing by specifying a menu item displayed on the device with a pointing device. Means for storing menu definition information (23) and semantic information common to multiple screens used by application programs and assigned to each PF key
PF key table (19), PF key table definition processing means (13) that defines or updates the contents of the PF key table by input, and when the PF key is pressed, the PF key table corresponds to the PF key Input processing means (17) for returning the meaning information corresponding to the menu item to the input request source according to the menu definition information when the menu item is selected. Characteristic screen input / output control method. 2. A display device (10), a keyboard (12), and a pointing device (11) for designating a position on the screen displayed on the display device, and pressing a PF key on the keyboard or displaying. Meaning information of each menu item is stored for each screen used by an application program in a screen input / output control method in an information processing system that performs interactive processing by specifying a menu item displayed on the device with a pointing device. Means for storing menu definition information (23) and semantic information common to multiple screens used by application programs and assigned to each PF key
Refer to the PF key table (19), the PF key table definition processing means (13) that defines or updates the contents of the PF key table by input, and the menu definition information and PF key table when displaying a menu, A screen input / output control method characterized in that a menu item is provided with a menu display processing means (18) for displaying a PF key number having the same meaning as the menu item according to the correspondence relationship of the semantic information.