JP2659092B2 - Cursor display control method in logic diagram creation processor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Summary] In a logic diagram creation processing apparatus for creating / editing, by a computer, a logic diagram expressing a control structure and a data structure of a program by a graphic pattern, an editing location in the logic diagram is indicated by a cursor. In the case shown, the cursor is displayed in a different display mode between the area of the figure describing the structure and the area of the sentence noting the processing and the contents of the data. At a glance so that they can be easily grasped.

[Industrial applications]

The present invention is an apparatus for creating / editing a logical diagram in which a control structure and a data structure of a program are represented by a graphic pattern, so that editing of a diagram and editing of a sentence can be easily distinguished. The present invention relates to a cursor display control method in a logical diagram creation processing device.

Increasing the productivity of programs executed by computers has become increasingly important in recent years.
Therefore, development of design documents that are easy to structure and programming languages that are close to human languages are desired. Along with this, it is desired to facilitate creation / editing of the design document or program.

[Conventional technology]

In conventional program development, design specifications are described in a flow chart or the like, and coding is performed based on a predetermined syntax rule according to a programming language while referring to the flow chart.

However, the conventional flow chart is not always suitable for a structured program, and it has been difficult to intuitively grasp the control structure and the like of the program based on the flow chart and the source program.

For this reason, the control structure is represented by graphic symbols, the control range and level are clearly indicated by control lines, and a logical diagram that allows sufficient text to be described in accordance with the graphic symbols, etc. It is considered to be used for development and maintenance. This logic diagram can be used as a design document, and if the sentence part complies with the prescribed rules, it can also be used as a source program by a translation process, thus improving program productivity and deciphering ability. -It is considered to be very useful for improving maintainability.

However, if it takes a long time to create / edit a logical diagram, the burden on the designer increases, and the production efficiency decreases. Therefore, such a logical diagram can be created / edited as simply and quickly as possible. It is desired.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a document including a graphic element and a sentence is created, it is general that the document is created by handwriting using a template or the like. Alternatively, such a document has been created by a word processor capable of inputting graphic elements.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

It is considered that the above logic diagram is created by handwriting or by using a general-purpose word processor or program editor. However, it takes a lot of time and effort, the burden on the designer is large, and correction is required. Is also inconvenient.

Therefore, a processing device that creates / edits a logical diagram while displaying it on a display screen by a computer and that can easily input a specific graphic symbol or the like and a sentence portion has been considered.

By the way, when a logical diagram is edited by such a processing device, the way of editing a region of a diagram such as a graphic symbol representing a control structure and a region of a sentence representing contents are different. This is because in the editing such as insertion or deletion in the figure area, since the control structure changes, it is necessary to guarantee consistency with the sentence area. On the other hand, in the editing in the sentence area, it is usually sufficient to edit only the sentence portion.

When specifying an editing location on the display screen, it is convenient for operation if it can be seen at a glance whether it is the area of the figure to be edited or the area of the sentence according to the shape of the cursor indicating the editing location. It is considered that erroneous operation is prevented.

Therefore, according to the present invention, depending on the display mode of the cursor,
Whether the editing is for the figure area or the sentence area
It is intended to be immediately recognizable on the screen.

[Means for solving the problem]

 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a display screen, 11 denotes a logic diagram creation processing device for creating a logic diagram by executing instructions by a central processing unit (CPU), 12 denotes a cursor position determination unit for determining the position of a cursor on the display screen, 13 Is a cursor display mode selection processing unit that selects and displays the cursor display mode according to the position of the cursor, 14 is an editing processing unit that edits the area of the figure or the area of the sentence, and 19 is a logical diagram, such as a memory. 19A is the area of the diagram in the logical diagram, 19B is the area of the sentence in the logical diagram, 36 is a position pointing device such as a mouse or light pen, 41 is a menu used for operation selection, and 42 is a cursor. , 51 represent a logical diagram file in which the contents of the logical diagram 19 are stored.

The logic diagram 19 created by the logic diagram creation processing device 11 is a chart described by a combination of a graphic element representing the structure of processing and data and a sentence representing the content of processing and data. That is, the logical diagram 19 is composed of an area 19A of a figure in which a graphic element is described, and an area 19B of a sentence in which a sentence is described in a right portion thereof. Codes corresponding to various graphic symbols of the graphic element are assigned to the graphic element representing the structure in the same manner as a normal character code. The logical diagram 19 which is symmetrical to the creation / update is stored in the logical diagram file 51 and read out on a memory as needed.

In this logic diagram 19, the control lines L0, L1, L
With 2, ..., the hierarchy of the logical structure can be illustrated. This control level includes the iteration structure, decision structure,
The level is deepened by summarizing into blocks. Such a logic diagram 19 enables a stepwise design from a general design to a detailed design in program development to be advanced for the same logic diagram.

A menu 41 displayed on the display screen 10 allows selection of various editing processing operations for the logic diagram 19 such as insertion, deletion, copying, and movement. Selection of this operation is performed by moving the cursor 42 with the position pointing device 36 and clicking a button of the position pointing device 36.

In the case of the present invention, a plurality of types of display modes of the cursor 42 operated by the position pointing device 36 are prepared in advance. For example, when indicating an area to be copied or deleted, and when the area 19A in the diagram in the logical diagram 19 is to be edited, a control line of the logical diagram indicating the direction of the processing flow is used. This is indicated by a left-pointing arrow (a) indicating a vertical direction. When the region 19B of the sentence described in the horizontal writing in the logical diagram 19 is to be edited, it is indicated by a downward arrow (b) indicating the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the character is written. In other cases, such as menu selection, the cursor 42 is indicated by an upward arrow (c).

The cursor position judging section 12 performs a position pointing device 36 in order to determine a target area in an editing operation such as copying or deletion.
Then, the position of the cursor 42 specified by the operator is input, and it is determined whether the position is in the area 19A of the diagram in the logical diagram 19 or the area 19B of the sentence.

The cursor display mode selection processing unit 13 moves the cursor 42 to the area 19 in the figure according to the determination result by the cursor position determination unit 12.
In the case of A, the position is indicated by a horizontal arrow (a), for example, and in the sentence area 19B, the position is indicated by a downward arrow (b).

The editing processing unit 14 responds to the editing processing operation selected by the same operation selection item by using the cursor 42 in the area 19A in the figure.
And the specification of the sentence area 19B are separately edited. That is, the editing processing unit 14 automatically adjusts the control level in response to the editing instruction for the area 19A in the figure so as not to break the consistency of the logical structure. Perform editing processing integrated in units. On the other hand, in response to an editing instruction for the sentence area 19B, the same editing as that performed by a well-known word processor or the like is performed.

[Action]

In the editing process of the logical diagram 19 performed by the editing processing unit 14, different processes are performed between the editing of the region 19A of the figure and the editing of the region 19B of the sentence. According to the present invention, the cursor to be edited is determined by the cursor position determination unit 12 so that the editing target is the region 19A in the figure.
Or the sentence area 19B, and the cursor 42 is moved to the cursor display mode selection processing unit 13 corresponding to each area.
Thus, in the case of the area 19A in the figure, a left-pointing arrow indicating the direction perpendicular to the control line of the logic diagram indicating the direction of the processing flow, and a character in the case where the sentence area 19B is to be edited, It is displayed with a downward arrow indicating a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the description is made.

Therefore, depending on the display mode of the cursor 42, the area 19A
It is possible to recognize at a glance whether or not is an editing target or whether the sentence area 19B is to be edited.

〔Example〕

2 is an example of a logic diagram created by the logic diagram creation processing device according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration example of the logic diagram creation device according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a logic diagram creation according to the present invention. Example of display edit screen in processing device, 5th
FIG. 6 is a processing configuration diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an example of a logical diagram creation operation according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is an example of a delete operation according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. The figure shows a process explanatory diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

The logic diagram to be created by the logic diagram creation processing apparatus according to the present invention is, for example, a chart based on a combination of a graphic pattern and a sentence as shown in FIG. The various graphic symbols on the left side represent the logical structure according to the hierarchy, and the statements on the right side represent the specific contents of data and processing procedures.

In FIG. 2, L0 is a symbol indicating a control line of control level "0". L1 indicates a control line of control level "1", and L2 indicates a control line of control level "2". Similarly, as the control level becomes deeper, a control line is added to the right.

S1 is a graphic symbol indicating the start of a logic diagram. S2 is a graphic symbol that declares the start of the data section, procedure section, syntax definition section, and the like. S3 is a graphic symbol indicating a general description of a certain process, and S4 is a general name given to the general description. S5 is a graphic symbol indicating a repetition (UNTIL) structure. S
6 is a graphic symbol indicating a judgment (IF) structure. The symbol in S7 indicates sequential processing. S8 is a symbol indicating the range of the repetition and the return. S9 is a graphic symbol indicating the start of a detailed description in which the detailed content of the general description indicated by the graphic symbol S3 is expanded. The outline name S4 described on the right side is associated with the original outline description. S10 is a graphic symbol indicating the end of the detailed description. S11 is a graphic symbol indicating the end of the logic diagram.

This logic diagram can be translated into a low-level programming language by a logic diagram compiler, provided that the right-hand sentence portion follows certain syntax rules. That is, this logic diagram is a design / maintenance document and also a program itself.

The present invention can be applied to, for example, a general-purpose computer system as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 30 denotes a central processing unit (CPU) for fetching and executing successive instructions, 31 a memory, 32 a display,
33 is an external storage device such as a magnetic disk device or a floppy disk device, 34 is a printer, 35 is a keyboard, 36 is a position indicating device such as a mouse, light pen or tablet.

The logical diagram is created while being displayed on the display 32 by the input from the keyboard 35 and the position pointing device 36. The created logic diagram is stored in the external storage device 33. The logic diagram is printed on the printer 34 as needed. The logic diagram is an input to a logic diagram compiler, a logic diagram debugger, and the like.

FIG. 4 is an example of a logical diagram editing screen. In the display screen 10 shown in FIG. 4, 40 is a command route bar,
41 indicates a menu and 42 indicates a cursor.

By placing the cursor 42 on various patterns of the command route bar 40 and pressing a mouse button or the like, mark processing, summing processing, locate processing, and the like can be performed for various scroll processing. In addition, it is possible to specify a line feed, specify a continuation line, specify a line number, specify a control level, move an area, set a window, specify a help message, and the like.

The menu 41 is a frame for selecting an editing operation dynamically displayed by pressing a mouse button or the like according to an editing scene. By moving the cursor 42 within this frame and pressing a mouse button or the like, the editing operation shown in the menu can be selected. Note that there is a character cursor used for character input in addition to the cursor 42 (mouse cursor) pointed by the position pointing device 36, but here only the mouse cursor is shown.

Various operation instruction messages in editing are displayed in a frame at the bottom line on the display screen 10.

The overall processing configuration of the logical diagram creation processing device according to the present invention is as follows.
For example, it is as shown in FIG.

The processing device 50 includes a CPU and a memory, and is a device that executes predetermined instructions of various processing units described below in connection with creation of a logic diagram. The logical diagram file 51 is a file in which the created logical diagram is stored. The main control unit 52 controls activation of various processing units related to the creation of a logic diagram.

The setup unit 53 is activated first to perform a table initialization process, a device initialization process, and the like used for a logical diagram creation process. The new creation / update processing unit 54 executes a creation process of a new logical diagram or an update process of a previously created logic diagram. The help processing unit 55 performs a process of displaying guide information of the entire operation related to the creation of a logical diagram.

The printing control unit 56 transmits the created logical diagram to the printer 34.
Control to output to The control level processing unit 57 performs processing for adding control level information to the beginning and end of a logical diagram corresponding to the control line of the logical diagram in each page when the page is switched in printing the logical diagram. It is.

The file input / output unit 58 processes input / output for the logical diagram file 51. The screen display control section 59 controls to display a screen as shown in FIG. The menu control unit 60 displays the menu 41 and the like shown in FIG. 4 and controls menu selection. The input processing unit 61 performs input processing from the keyboard 35 and the position pointing device 36.
The key history management unit 62 stores input information relating to the creation of a logical diagram by the input processing unit 61, and performs a process of reproducing the creation operation based on the stored input information. The key history file 63 is a file for storing the input information.

In the new creation / update processing unit 54, the scroll processing unit
70 performs processing for moving the display content of the display screen up, down, left, and right. The positioning processing unit 71 performs a process of adjusting the display screen to a designated position in the logical diagram.
In particular, the mark processing section 72 performs a process of adding a mark to a designated position in a logical diagram in advance for positioning. The summing processing section 73 processes the display position of the logical diagram so as to open a desired position by inserting a finger into the book. The window processing unit 74 performs a process of partially displaying another logical diagram on the original logical diagram on the screen.

The insertion processing unit 75, the deletion processing unit 76, the copy processing unit 77, and the movement processing unit 78 perform the same processing as insertion, deletion, copying, and movement of a document in a word processor or the like. However, in the case of a logical diagram, unlike the case of document data only, the object to be edited includes a graphic symbol indicating the structure.
Processing taking into account consistency, such as automatic adjustment of the control level, is performed.

The symbol change processing unit 79 performs a process of changing a symbol representing a structure. The limited syntax processing unit 80 allows the selection of a standardized / standardized syntax expression when inputting the right sentence part in the logic diagram, and processes the input of the variable part.

The copy replacement processing unit 81 inserts the content to be copied by the copy processing unit 77 into the copy position, but performs a process of replacing the copy content with the content of the original logical diagram at the copy position. The check processing unit 82 checks whether the created logical diagram is structurally and semantically correct.
The process of positioning the display at that portion is performed.
The part registration / part development processing unit 83 performs a process of extracting a series of notations frequently used in the logic diagram, converting the notation into parts, and developing the parts at an arbitrary designated position.

The search processing unit 84 performs a process of searching for a designated notation in a logical diagram. The replacement processing unit 85 searches for the specified notation from the logic diagram and performs a process of replacing it with another specified notation. The step-down / step-up processing unit 86 combines a series of processes as a “summary” to increase the control level or cancels the “summary” to make the original control level easier to see. The process of returning is performed.

The memo registration / memo development processing section 87 temporarily stores a part of the logic diagram in a predetermined work buffer, and develops this part in another location. Overview display processing unit 88
Is to extract important parts in the control structure from the original logical diagram and display the outline of the logical diagram so that the entire logical diagram can be seen according to the control level. .

The detailed description processing unit 89 performs a positioning process of the detailed description corresponding to the outline description and an input process of the detailed description. The separation / incorporation processing unit 90 extracts a series of processes specified in the logic diagram, replaces them with an outline description, and performs a process of separating and describing the extracted part as a detailed description. . Conversely, processing for incorporating the detailed description into the general description by designation is also performed.

The write processing unit 91 performs a process of writing the logical diagram being created into the logical diagram file 51. The help processing unit 92 performs a process of displaying an operation guide message related to the new creation / update process. The termination processing unit 93 performs termination processing of the new creation / update processing. In this end processing, the edited logical diagram is saved or discarded as specified.

The present invention is particularly applicable to the new creation / update processing unit shown in FIG.
54, the input processing section 61, and the processing of the screen display control section 59.

The operation of creating a logical diagram is performed, for example, as shown in FIG. Now, it is assumed that up to the line "If true, the page is over" is created as shown in FIG. In the input of the next line, a graphic element such as a temporary control line is indicated by a dotted line D1, and a character cursor C is indicated. Here, for example, when the character "enter a new page" is input, the input character string is displayed in a color different from that of the other determined lines, and then the line feed is performed as shown in FIG. When you enter, the record on that line is confirmed. Upon confirmation, the dotted line D1 such as the original control line is displayed as a solid line, and the graphic element for the next line is displayed as a dotted line D2, as shown in FIG. When a symbol other than the sequential processing is input, the symbol change processing unit 79 shown in FIG. 5 is activated by a menu, and the symbol can be changed to a repetition structure, a judgment structure, or another symbol.

Next, the editing process in the area 19A of the figure and the editing processing in the sentence area 19B will be described with reference to FIG. 7, taking the deletion operation as an example. The same applies to other editing processing operations such as copying and moving.

For example, assume that after selecting "delete" from the menu, the beginning of the deletion is specified in the area 19A in the figure. In this case, the seventh
A horizontal cursor 42 is displayed as shown in FIG. Then, from the cursor 42, the right area X including the sentence portion is displayed in a different color. After that, the cursor 42
Can be moved only downward, and the cursor 42
Each time is moved downward, the area X displayed in a different color is expanded as shown in FIG. 7 (b).

This area X is to be deleted, and by execution, the logical diagram 19 is updated as shown in FIG. 7 (c).

If the beginning of the deletion is the sentence area 19B, a downward cursor 42 is displayed as shown in FIG. 7 (d). Then, the area X for one character is displayed in a different color.
When the downward cursor 42 is moved as shown in FIG. 7 (e) and the deletion is executed, the portion of the area X displayed in a different color is deleted by the movement of the cursor, and the cursor is moved to the position shown in FIG. 7 (f). Will be updated as follows. That is, in editing in the sentence area 19B, only the sentence portion is to be edited.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the editing process according to the embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, an example of the processing will be described according to the processing shown in FIG.

When editing processing such as copying, deletion, or movement is designated, the position of the mouse cursor 42 on the display screen is input.

 It is determined in which area the position of the cursor 42 is located.

When the cursor 42 is in the area shown in the figure, a horizontal cursor is displayed. If it is in the sentence area, a downward cursor is displayed. In other menu areas, the display is made upward.

It is determined whether an operation start point is instructed by clicking a mouse button or the like. If not, return to the process and enter the cursor position.

When the instruction of the operation start point matches, it is determined whether the start point is the area of the figure or the area of the sentence. If it is a statement area, control is transferred to the processing.

In the case of the figure area, the figure and the text on the right side of the figure are displayed in different colors to indicate the object to be edited.

It is determined whether or not an operation end point is instructed. When the end point is specified, confirm the operation as necessary,
Transfer control to processing.

If there is no instruction of the end point, it is determined whether or not the cursor 42 has been moved. If the cursor 42 has been moved, control is transferred to the process. Note that the cursor 42 can be moved only downward.

The editing process is executed with the portion displayed with the changed color as an editing target.

If the text area is the editing start point, the specified character at the start point is displayed in a different color.

It is determined whether or not an operation end point is instructed. When the end point is specified, confirm the operation as necessary,
Transfer control to processing.

If there is no instruction of the end point, it is determined whether or not the cursor 42 has been moved. If the cursor 42 has been moved, control is transferred to the process. The cursor 42 can be moved both downward and rightward in the sentence area.

An editing process is executed with a rectangular area having a diagonal between the start point and the end point as an edit target. Thus, the editing process of the sentence area is performed.

〔The invention's effect〕

Unlike the conventional flow charts, the theoretical diagrams to be created by the present invention are easy to structure and easy to understand the logical structure by hierarchy, and there are no restrictions such as boxes in the part where sentences are written. It has many advantages, such as being able to describe explanations and processing procedures, and that a design document can be used directly as a source program.

According to the present invention, in editing this logical diagram,
The editing of the diagram area related to structuring and the editing of the general sentence area can be distinguished at a glance depending on the display mode of the cursor. Specification errors are prevented beforehand. Also, in the processing of the part of the diagram in the logic diagram, since the direction indicated by the cursor is aligned with the direction perpendicular to the control line indicating the direction of the flow of logic, the operator can determine the direction indicated by the cursor and the direction of the control line. It is only necessary to specify the processing target position by imagining that the intersection of is the processing target. In the text processing, the direction indicated by the cursor is perpendicular to the direction in which the text is written (horizontal writing). The operator only has to specify the processing target by imagining that the point at which the direction indicated by the cursor and the writing direction of the text intersect is the processing target. It becomes easy and operability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an example of a logical diagram created by a logical diagram creating processor according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an example of a hardware configuration of the logical diagram creating processor according to the present invention. 4 is an example of a display edit screen in the logic diagram creation processing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a processing configuration diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a logic diagram creation according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows an example of an operation, FIG. 7 shows an example of a delete operation according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 shows a processing explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a display screen, 11 is a logic diagram creation processing device, 1
2 is a cursor position determination unit, 13 is a cursor display mode selection processing unit, 14 is an editing processing unit, 19 is a logical diagram, 19A is a diagram area, 19B is a sentence area, 36 is a position indicating device, 41 is a menu, 42 Is the cursor,
51 indicates a logical diagram file.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A central processing unit, a memory, a display, and a position indicating device for inputting a position indicated by a cursor displayed on a display screen, and an area of a diagram showing a processing flow and a data structure, This is a diagram that is described by a combination of a processing content and a text region indicating the content of data, and is a logic for creating / editing a logic diagram to be a design document of a program or a source program while displaying the logic diagram on the display. A cursor display control method in a diagram creation processing device, wherein a cursor indicating a position on a display screen in an editing process operation of the logic diagram is in an area of the diagram,
A cursor position determining means (12) for determining whether the cursor is in the above sentence area; and, if the cursor is located in the above figure area, the cursor is perpendicular to the direction of the processing flow in the figure according to the result of the cursor position determination. Cursor display mode selection processing means (13) for displaying in a form indicating the direction of the sentence and, when in the sentence area, displaying the cursor in a form indicating the direction perpendicular to the description direction of the sentence
When the start point of the edit target range in the process selection common to both the above figure and the sentence is specified, the cursor can be moved only in the direction indicated by the cursor form in the area of the above figure. An edit processing means (14) for enabling the cursor to be moved in the direction indicated by the form of the cursor and in the direction perpendicular thereto in the area, and performing separate edit processing for the specification of the area in the figure and the specification of the area of the sentence; A cursor display control method in a logic diagram creation processing device, comprising: