JPH0576652B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an interactive computer system having a display device and an input device. The present invention relates to a menu selection processing method suitable for giving instructions.

[Conventional technology]

For instructions on menus using a screen instruction device such as a mouse, see the Matsukin Totsushi Manual (1984), published by Apple Computer.
pp. 17-18 (Macintosh, 1984, Apple
There is a menu selection method using a pull-down menu as explained in Computer, InC. do.

The menu is displayed in a menu area 31 at the top of the screen 30, as shown in FIG. This menu 32 is displayed by the user using a mouse that moves in conjunction with the mouse,
In response to an operation of pointing with a cursor 33 and pressing a mouse button, the menu 32 is highlighted and then a pull-down menu 34 is displayed, in which auxiliary selection items of the menu are displayed. In the case of Figure 3,
For the Style (character shape) menu, two groups of selection items, character modification format and character font size, are divided into blocks 35 and displayed.

Here, if you move the mouse cursor 33 to the pull-down menu 34 while holding down the mouse button, the specified item 36 will be highlighted, and by releasing the mouse button while pointing to the desired item, that item will be selected. Then, the pull-down menu 34 is closed and the selected item on the menu 32 is processed.

The menu selection processing method described above has a hierarchical menu structure, which can be designated and selected using a mouse, thereby providing the user with an easy-to-use operating environment.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, with the above-described conventional technology, (1) only one selection item on a pull-down menu can be changed in one menu selection operation; For this reason, in the example shown in Figure 3, it is necessary to perform two separate menu selection operations to specify the character modification format and character font size, and if you want to select and specify multiple items in this way, , multiple menu selection operations are required, making the operation complicated.

(2) Since menu item selection and execution instructions are performed at the same time, erroneous operations are likely to occur due to incorrect menu item instructions.

However, there were still problems with operability, such as:

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a menu selection processing method that separates menu item selection and execution instruction operations, allows multiple items to be easily specified, and reduces erroneous operations.

[Means for solving problems] The above objective is achieved by the following means.

1 In a system having a display device and an instruction device on the screen, for a block that is a collection of one or more items, a table including a first field that stores the item number when displaying a pull-down menu, and a table that stores the item number during display. A table is prepared that includes a second field that stores the number of the item being selected for each block of the pull-down menu.

Here, a pull-down menu is displayed in response to the menu provided by the instruction device. At this time, the items to be selected displayed on the pull-down menu are displayed divided into blocks, and the selected items within the block indicated by the first field are highlighted in some way. In addition, an operation box indicating operations such as execution and cancellation of the menu is also displayed.

Prepare the following processing for displaying this pull-down menu.

(1) When an unselected item is specified, the item number of the specified item is stored in the first field, and the highlighted display of the old selected item is moved to the specified item.

(2) In response to an instruction from the operation box indicating execution, the menu user program is notified of the selected item number shown in the second field,
Clear the pull-down menu.

2. A third table that stores the presence or absence of an initial value and the selection item number of the initial value in a table for each block.
field, and for instructions for the currently selected item in the pull-down menu, cancel the highlighting of that item, and if there is an initial value, store the initial value held in the third field in the second field, and set the item to that item. Highlight.

3. In response to an instruction from the operation box indicating execution, store the item number of the selected item stored in the second field in the first field.

[Effect]

An operation box for executing or canceling is displayed in the pull-down menu, and for item instructions,
The menu selection is notified to the menu using program by processing the selection and deselection, and instructing the operation box that means execution. Since execution instructions are issued after confirming that the item is highlighted, the possibility of erroneous operations can be reduced.

In addition, by setting a default selection item for a selected item that cannot be in a state of no selection, by processing an item instruction in a selected state by the instruction device, the default selection item is forcibly set when a selection is cancelled. The selected item can be set to be selected.By processing in response to an instruction from the operation box that indicates execution, the menu usage program is notified of the currently selected item, and the initial selection item is set the next time the pull-down menu is displayed. This improves the operability when repeatedly instructing the same item, and makes it possible to return the state of the selected item in the pull-down menu to the state before display by instructing the cancel operation box.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 explains the configuration of hardware for implementing the present invention. In this diagram,
1 is the arithmetic processing unit CPU, 2 is the main memory MM, 3
is the display processing unit DPU, 4 is the display memory FM, 5 is the display control device DC, 6 is the display device D, 7 is the external storage control device FC, 8 is the external storage device FD, 9 is the keyboard control device KBD, 10 is the keyboard KB, 1
1 is a pointing device control device PDC, 12 is a pointing device PD having buttons, and 13 is a common bus connecting these units.

Note that DPU3 can be replaced with CPU1, and FM4 can also be replaced with MM2.

The program related to the menu control method of the present invention is
Located on MM2 and following this program
Menu control is performed by the CPU 1 issuing processing requests to the DPU 3 or PDC 11.
The DPU 3 performs rendering processing to the FM 4 according to the drawing instruction from the CPU 1. The DC5 reads out the contents of the FM4 cyclically at regular intervals, and displays the information on the corresponding D6 according to the read information. Due to this,
A display reflecting the information stored in FM4 is always displayed on D6. The PDC 11 has the role of notifying the CPU 1 of the movement information of the PD 12 and the state of the buttons that the PD 12 has. The CPU 1 enables the PD 12 to give instructions on the D6 by displaying a cursor on the FM 4 via the DPU 3 in response to the movement of the PD 12.

5 and 6 show examples of screen output by the menu control method of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows an example of a menu display, in which a fixed length character string of a menu 32 is displayed on a menu bar 31. 33 is PD1
This is a cursor that moves in accordance with the movement of 2.

In FIG. 6, the menu is indicated by the cursor 33,
A display example of a pull-down menu 34 opened by pressing a button on the PD 12 is shown. The pull-down menu is divided and displayed in blocks 35 according to the selected item, and the currently selected item is displayed with a circle mark 37 added thereto to emphasize it. Examples of such highlighting include enclosing the item in a frame that displays it in reverse video, underlining the item, and so on. A maximum of one item can be selected per block. Also,
Function boxes for Cancel 38 and Execute 39 are displayed at the bottom of the pull-down menu 34. The following selection operations are performed using the menu pull-down menu shown in this figure. When the user uses the PD 12 to point to a menu with the cursor 33 and presses a button held on the PD 12, a corresponding pull-down menu 34 is displayed. In this state, by moving the cursor 33 to the desired item and pressing the button on the PD 12, the circle mark 37 will move to that item.
Further, by indicating an item that is already selected using the PD 12 and pressing the button, the circle mark 37 for that item is erased, and if there is a default item in that block, the circle mark 37 is displayed for that item. Note that when invalidation of instructions is specified as an attribute of an item, that item is displayed with reduced brightness, and instructions for that item are ignored.

In this state, if you specify the Cancel 38 area with the PD 12 and press the button, the pull-down menu will close without returning any instructions to the application. Note that when this pull-down menu is opened again, the selected items are displayed in the same position as when the pull-down menu was opened last time.

When the area of execution 39 is specified with PD12 and the button is pressed, the identifier of the currently selected item is returned and the pull-down menu is closed. Note that the next time the pull-down menu is opened, the previously executed item is displayed with a circle mark 37 attached thereto.

Menu control processing for realizing the menu selection operations as described above will be described in detail below.

Fig. 1 shows the processing in the embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 1 a shows the processing contents of the main processing, Fig. 1 b
~e indicates the processing contents of the sub-process called from the main process.

Moreover, FIGS. 7a, b, and c show tables used in the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure a, the menu management block MMB50 has the number of menus 51, the number of characters displayed in the menus (fixed length) 52,
A pointer to a pull-down menu management block PMMB 60 having respective display menu character strings 53 and pull-down menu management information for each menu.The number of display digits 55 and the number of lines 56 of the pull-down menu to be displayed for each menu.

Pull-down menu management block in Figure b
PMMB60 is the display string 6 of each item to be displayed.
1. Valid/invalid flag 62 for item instructions;
The block number 63 to which the item belongs and the block range 6 that indicates which item is the block for each block into which the item is divided.
4 information, a default flag 65 indicating whether there is an item to be specified by default when the selection is canceled, a default item number 66, and a selected item number to display the previously selected item when the pull-down menu is opened. Has 67. If there is no selection item number 67, a null code (a number indicating that nothing has been selected) is stored.

The selection item table SFF 70 shown in FIG. 3C is a work table used when opening a pull-down menu, and holds the selected menu number 71 and the item numbers selected in each block of the pull-down menu for that menu. If there is no selection item, a null code is stored.

The processing contents of the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically explained using the processing flow shown in FIG. 1 and the table configuration diagrams shown in FIGS. 7a, b, and c.

The input processing activated in response to the input of PD12 is
If the state of the PD 12 is read (box 101) and the pull-down menu is not displayed and the cursor 33 points to the menu and the button of the PD 12 is pressed (as determined by boxes 103, 104, and 106),
A pull-down menu display process 110 for the designated menu is performed. The pull-down menu display process 110 is shown in FIG. 1b, and includes the process of saving the background data of the area where the pull-down menu is displayed (box 111), and the process of saving the background data of the area where the pull-down menu is displayed (box 111), and the process of saving the background data of the area where the pull-down menu is displayed, and Menu number 7
1", and the RMMB60 for the instructed menu in "Currently selected item number 72".
Processing to set the value of selection item number 67 when opening the pull-down menu held in (box 112)
Then, a process (box 113) is performed to draw a pull-down menu as shown in FIG. 6 according to the contents of the RMMB 60. At this time, the circle mark 37 representing the selection item follows the "selection item number 67" held in the RMMB 60.

By pointing within the pull-down menu with the cursor 33 and pressing the button on the PD 12 (determined by boxes 103 and 104), the following processing is performed depending on the cursor designated position (determined by box 105).

(1) Item selection processing 200 (instruction of item area) As shown in Figure 1c, when an item that is not selected is specified, the block to which the specified item belongs is selected.
The circle mark 37 displayed on the item known from the belonging block number 63 of PMMB 60 and indicated by the currently selected item number 72 of that block is deleted (box 202), and the new item designated as the currently selected item number 72 is deleted. At the same time as setting the number, mark the item with a circle 3
7 is displayed (box 203).

In addition, when specifying the currently selected item, the circle mark of the specified item is deleted and the "selected item number 72" of the SFT 70 is displayed for the block to which the item belongs.
A null code is set to (block 204). Next, refer to the "default flag" in PMMB60 for that block, and if there is a default item, enter the item number shown in "default item number 66" into "selected item number 72" in SFT70.
and displays a circle 37 in that item (block 206).

(2) Execution processing (instructing the area of the execution box) As shown in Figure 1d, the value of the "selected item number" of the confirmed SFT 70 is changed to the correspondence of the PMMB 60 corresponding to the "selected menu number 71". The new selection item is stored in "selection item number 67" so that the next time the pull-down menu is opened, a new selection item will be displayed (box 301). Then, SFT
"Currently selected menu number 7" stored in 70
1" and the "selected item number 72" of each block to the application program (box 302), and the background data saved when the pull-down menu was displayed is restored (box 303).

(3) Cancellation processing (designating the area of the cancellation box) As shown in Figure 1e, only the background data of the pull-down menu is restored and nothing is notified to the application program.

According to this embodiment, (1) it is possible to select and specify a plurality of items for each divided block in a single menu selection operation;

(2) Even after changing the selected item on the pull-down menu, by instructing the cancel operation box, the selection can be canceled and the state of the selected item can be returned to the state before the pull-down menu was displayed.

(3) Since the execution instruction for the selected item is given with the circle mark 37 displayed on the selected item, erroneous operations can be reduced.

(4) When deselecting an item, it can be executed after confirming the default item.

There are effects such as

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since the item selection operation and execution operation can be separated, (1) multiple selection items can be easily changed in one menu instruction operation;

(2) Misoperations such as execution due to incorrect selection can be reduced.

By being able to specify a default selection item, it is possible to set the item so that it is always selected when the item is deselected.

In addition, the item that was previously instructed to be executed in the pull-down menu is memorized and the next display is based on this, making it easier to repeat operations.By canceling the selection in the middle of selection, the status of the selected item can be checked before the pull-down menu is displayed. It has the effect of being able to return it to its original state.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a processing flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a menu display in a conventional method, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a pull-down menu display in a conventional method, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram for implementing the present invention, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of a menu according to the present invention, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a pull-down menu according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a pull-down menu according to the present invention. FIG. 6...Display device, 12...Instruction device, 32...Menu, 34...Pull-down menu, 35...Block, 37...Circle indicating selection, 39...Execution operation box, 60...Pull-down menu management block, 70...Selection item table , 100... Menu selection processing, 200... Item selection processing, 300... Execution processing.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A menu selection processing method for an interactive computer system having a display device and an instruction device for instructing the screen of the display device, and having a function of displaying and selecting selection items in the form of a menu displayed on the screen. , the selection items in menu format are divided into a plurality of blocks and displayed on the screen, and an item for instructing execution or cancellation of the selection item is displayed on the screen, and an item is selected within each selection item block. Instructing to execute or cancel all of the selected multiple selection items, executing the processing program according to the execution or cancellation instructions, and then displaying the selected items in a menu format in multiple blocks, For previously selected selections, highlighting is displayed for each selection block, allowing you to select items within each selection block and instructing you to execute or cancel all selected selections. The processing program is executed according to the cancellation instruction, and if the selected item is different from the highlighted item, the newly selected item is highlighted the next time the selected item is displayed in menu format. Menu selection processing method. 2. Claim 1 characterized in that when no item is selected within the selection item block, it is processed as if a predetermined selection item has been selected.
Menu selection processing method described in section.