Graphics editing device which displays only candidate commands at a position adjacent to a selected graphic element and method therefor

• US 6,049,335 A
• Filed: 06/27/1997
• Issued: 04/11/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Iida, Masahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Fetting, Anton W.
• Application Number:
  US08/884,169
• Time in Patent Office: 1,019 Days
• Field of Search: 345/352-358, 345/145-146
• US Class Current: 715/811
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

The present invention is an apparatus in which selection from a graphic editing command menu is easy. An apparatus according to the present invention includes, a cursor moving unit for moving a cursor in accordance with an input operation, a graphic presence decision unit for deciding whether a graphic element is present at a moved cursor position, a command menu memory unit for storing a menu of graphic editing commands for each graphic element, a menu reading unit for reading a command menu which corresponds to a graphic element when it is decided that a graphic element is present, a command menu display unit for displaying a command menu which is read, a menu item selecting unit for selecting a menu item which is displayed at the moved cursor position in accordance with an input operation, and a command executing unit for executing a graphic editing command of the selected menu item.

Claims

1. A graphic editing apparatus for editing graphic elements presented on a display, the graphic elements comprising a predetermined number of distinct element types, said graphic editing apparatus comprising:

cursor moving means for moving a cursor to a moved cursor position on the display in accordance with a first input operation by a user;

graphic presence decision means for deciding whether one of the graphic elements is present at said moved cursor position;

command menu memory means for storing command menus of graphic editing commands for respective distinct element types;

menu reading means for reading from said command menu memory means one of said command menus corresponding to a distinct element type of said one graphic element determined to be present at said moved cursor position by said graphic presence decision means;

command menu display means for displaying the one of said command menus of corresponding graphic editing commands, read by said menu reading means, on the display;

menu item selecting means for selecting one of said graphic editing commands displayed on the display, on a spot thereof, in accordance with a second input operation by the user;

display order means for storing orders of display of the graphic editing commands for each command menu and modifying the order of graphic editing commands of the one of said command menus on the display based upon the selection of the one of said graphic editing commands selected on the spot by said menu item selecting means; and

command executing means for executing the one of said graphic editing commands selected on the spot by said menu item selecting means, thereby minimizing an amount of movement by the mouse.

2. A graphic editing apparatus for editing graphic elements presented on a display, the graphic elements comprising a predetermined number of distinct element types, said graphic editing apparatus comprising:

cursor moving means for moving a cursor to a moved cursor position on the display in accordance with a first input operation by a user;

graphic presence decision means for deciding whether one of said graphic elements is present at said moved cursor position;

command menu memory means for storing command menus of graphic editing commands for respective distinct element types;

menu reading means for reading from said command menu memory means one of said command menus corresponding to a distinct element type of the one of said graphic elements determined to be present at said moved cursor position by said graphic presence decision means;

command menu display means for displaying the one of said command menus of corresponding graphic editing commands, read by said menu reading means, at said moved cursor position on the display;

menu item selecting means for selecting one of said graphic editing commands displayed at said moved cursor position on the display, on a spot thereof, in accordance with a second input operation by the user;

display order means for storing orders of display of the graphic editing commands for each command menu and modifying the order of graphic editing commands of the one of said command menus on the display based upon the selection of the one of said graphic editing commands selected by said menu item selecting means; and

command executing means for executing the one of said graphic editing commands selected on the spot by said menu item selecting means, thereby minimizing an amount of movement by the mouse.

3. A method of editing graphics, comprising the steps of:

checking whether a mode for automatically displaying a command menu at a current position of a mouse cursor has been invoked;

checking whether the mouse cursor has been moved if said mode for automatically displaying a command menu has been invoked;

determining whether a graphic element is present in an area indicated by the current position of the mouse cursor after confirming movement of the mouse cursor;

referring to a graphic element decision table and reading a number assigned to an element type of the graphic element in response to said determination that a graphic element is present in said area;

referring to a menu control table and reading all commands which correspond to the graphic element number read from the graphic element decision table;

referring to a display order table and reading display order data indicating an order of said commands read from the menu control table and sorting the commands read from the menu control table based on the order data;

displaying the sorted commands in a form of a menu at the current position of the mouse cursor on a display and receiving an input from a user selecting one of said displayed sorted commands of said menu, on a spot thereof; and

updating the display order control table by rearranging the order data to reorder the displayed sorted commands in the menu on the display when the selection by the user is determined and carrying out the one of said displayed sorted commands selected on the snot by the user, thereby minimizing an amount of movement by the mouse.

4. A graphic editing apparatus for editing graphic elements on a display by using a mouse cursor, the graphic elements comprising a predetermined number of distinct element types, said graphic editing apparatus comprising:

a mouse detecting a direction and an amount of movement along a given plane upon movement of said mouse by a user;

a keyboard transmitting information received from the user;

an input control unit receiving outputs of said mouse and said keyboard and, in response, generating a mouse input signal and a keyboard input signal, respectively;

a memory unit;

a main control unit receiving said mouse input signal and said keyboard signal and determining a current position of the mouse cursor on the display using said memory unit based upon said mouse input signal received from said input control unit and, in response thereto, generating output signals;

an output control unit controlling the display in response to said output signals of said main control unit and moving the mouse cursor on the display in accordance with movement of said mouse;

a graphic element decision unit determining whether one of said plurality of graphic elements is present in an area indicated by the current position of the mouse cursor;

a hard disk including a graphic element decision table storing a list of the predetermined number of distinct element types, a menu control table storing command menus of graphic editing commands for respective ones of the distinct element types and a display order control table storing order data indicating display orders of the graphic editing commands for respective ones of said command menus; and

a menu table control unit receiving the determination of said graphic element decision unit, accessing said hard disk when one of the graphic elements is present in said area, reading the graphic element decisions table, the menu control table and the display order control table in order, sorting a plurality of the graphic editing commands corresponding to a distinct element type of the graphic element present in the area based upon the order data and sending the sorted graphic editing commands to said main control unit; and

said main control unit sending said sorted plurality of graphic editing commands to said output control unit;

said output control unit displaying said sorted plurality of graphic editing commands in a display menu on the display; and

when one of said sorted plurality of graphic editing commands is selected, on a spot thereof, by the user, said display order control table updates the order data by rearranging the order data to reorder said plurality of graphic editing commands to be displayed and said main control unit carries out said one graphic editing command selected on the spot by the user, thereby minimizing an amount of movement by the mouse.

5. The graphic editing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein:

said graphic element decision unit assigns a graphic element number for each distinct element type stored therein;

said menu control table stores the graphic editing commands for respective graphic element numbers assigned in said graphic element decision unit; and

said menu table control unit reads the graphic editing commands corresponding to the graphic element number of the distinct element type of the one of the graphic elements present in said area.

6. The graphic editing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein:

said graphic element decision unit assigns a graphic element number for each distinct element type stored therein;

said menu control table stores the graphic editing commands for respective graphic element numbers assigned in said graphic element decision unit;

said display order control table stores in numerical order of the graphic element numbers, the order data indicating an order of display of said graphic editing commands for each distinct element type; and

said menu control table control unit reading the order data and graphic editing commands corresponding to the graphic element number of the distinct element type of the one of the graphic elements present in said area.

7. The graphic editing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the distinct element types comprise:

a line segment;

a circular arc;

a dimension line; and

a curved line.

8. A graphic editing apparatus for editing graphic elements, said graphic editing apparatus comprising:

a display for displaying the graphic elements; and

a graphic display control unit determining which one of the graphic elements exists at a position of a cursor on said display, displaying a menu of commands based upon the one of the graphic elements at the position, the menu including commands executable with respect to the one of the graphic elements; and

a display order unit modifying an order of display of the commands based upon a selection of one of the commands, on a spot thereof, by a user, thereby minimizing an amount of movement by the mouse based on a highest frequency of use of the commands.

9. The graphic editing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the menu is displayed on said display adjacent to the cursor.

10. A method of editing graphics, comprising the steps of:

determining a graphic element at a position of a cursor;

displaying a menu of commands responsive to the determination, the menu including commands executable with respect to the graphic element; and

modifying an order of display of the commands based upon a selection of one of the commands, on a spot thereof, by a user, thereby minimizing an amount of movement by the mouse based on a highest frequency of use of the commands.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said step of displaying a menu of commands further comprises displaying the menu adjacent to the cursor.

12. A graphic editing apparatus for editing graphic elements presented on a display, the graphic elements comprising a predetermined number of distinct element types, said graphic editing apparatus comprising:

cursor moving means for moving a cursor to a moved cursor position on the display in accordance with a first input operation by a user;

graphic presence decision means for deciding whether one of said graphic elements is present at said moved cursor position;

command menu memory means for storing command menus of graphic editing commands for respective distinct element types;

menu reading means for reading from said command menu memory means one of said command menus corresponding to a distinct element type of the one of said graphic elements determined to be present at said moved cursor position by said graphic presence decision means;

command menu display means for displaying the one of said command menus of corresponding graphic editing commands, read by said menu reading means, at said moved cursor position on the display;

menu item selecting means for selecting one of said graphic editing commands displayed at said moved cursor position on the display, on a spot thereof, in accordance with a second input operation by the user;

display order means for storing orders of display of the graphic editing commands for each command menu and modifying the order of graphic editing commands of the one of said command menus based upon a selection of one of the commands, on a spot thereof, by the user so that the one of said graphic editing commands selected on the spot by said menu item selecting means is the closest of said graphic editing commands to said moved cursor position, thereby minimizing an amount of cursor movement; and

command executing means for executing the one of said graphic editing commands selected on the spot by said menu item selecting means, thereby minimizing an amount of movement by the mouse.

13. A graphic editing apparatus for editing graphic elements presented on a display, the graphic elements comprising a predetermined number of distinct element types, said graphic editing apparatus comprising:

cursor moving means for moving a cursor to a moved cursor position on the display in accordance with a first input operation by a user;

graphic presence decision means for deciding whether one of the graphic elements is present at said moved cursor position;

command menu memory means for storing command menus of graphic editing commands for respective distinct element types;

menu reading means for reading from said command menu memory means one of said command menus corresponding to a distinct element type of said one graphic element determined to be present at said moved cursor position by said graphic presence decision means;

command menu display means for displaying the one of said command menus of corresponding graphic editing commands, read by said menu reading means, on the display;

menu item selecting means for selecting one of said graphic editing commands displayed on the display, in accordance with a second input operation by the user;

display order means for storing orders of display of the graphic editing commands for each command menu and modifying the order of graphic editing commands of the one of said command menus based upon a selection of one of the commands, on a spot thereof, by a user, thereby minimizing an amount of cursor movement based on a highest frequency of use of said graphic editing commands selected by said menu item selecting means; and

command executing means for executing the one of said graphic editing commands selected by said menu item selecting means.

14. A graphic editing apparatus for editing graphic elements presented on a display, the graphic elements comprising a predetermined number of distinct element types, said graphic editing apparatus comprising:

cursor moving means for moving a cursor to a moved cursor position on the display in accordance with a first input operation by a user;

graphic presence decision means for deciding whether one of said graphic elements is present at said moved cursor position;

command menu memory means for storing command menus of graphic editing commands for respective distinct element types;

menu reading means for reading from said command menu memory means one of said command menus corresponding to a distinct element type of the one of said graphic elements determined to be present at said moved cursor position by said graphic presence decision means;

command menu display means for displaying the one of said command menus of corresponding graphic editing commands, read by said menu reading means, at said moved cursor position on the display;

menu item selecting means for selecting one of said graphic editing commands displayed at said moved cursor position on the display, in accordance with a second input operation by the user;

display order means for storing orders of display of the graphic editing commands for each command menu and modifying the order of graphic editing commands of the one of said command menus based upon a selection of one of the commands, on a spot thereof, by the user, thereby minimizing an amount of cursor movement based on a highest frequency of use of said graphic editing commands selected by said menu item selecting means; and

command executing means for executing the one of said graphic editing commands selected by said menu item selecting means.

15. A method of editing graphics, comprising the steps of:

checking whether a mode for automatically displaying a command menu at a current position of a mouse cursor has been invoked;

checking whether the mouse cursor has been moved if said mode for automatically displaying a command menu has been invoked;

determining whether a graphic element is present in an area indicated by the current position of the mouse cursor after confirming movement of the mouse cursor;

referring to a graphic element decision table and reading a number assigned to an element type of the graphic element in response to said determination that a graphic element is present in said area;

referring to a menu control table and reading all commands which correspond to the graphic element number read from the graphic element decision table;

referring to a display order table and reading display order data indicating an order of said commands read from the menu control table and sorting the commands read from the menu control table based on the order data;

displaying the sorted commands in a form of a menu at the current position of the mouse cursor on a display and receiving an input from a user selecting one of said displayed sorted commands of said menu; and

updating the display order control table by rearranging the order data to reorder the displayed sorted commands in the menu based upon a selection of one of the commands, on a spot thereof, by the user, thereby minimizing an amount of movement by the mouse cursor bases on a highest frequency of use of selections of a plurality of said displayed sorted commands by the user and carrying out the one of said displayed sorted commands selected by the user.

16. A graphic editing apparatus for editing graphic elements on a display by using a mouse cursor, the graphic elements comprising a predetermined number of distinct element types, said graphic editing apparatus comprising:

a mouse detecting a direction and an amount of movement along a given plane upon movement of said mouse by a user;

a keyboard transmitting information received from the user;

an input control unit receiving outputs of said mouse and said keyboard and, in response, generating a mouse input signal and a keyboard input signal, respectively;

a memory unit;

a main control unit receiving said mouse input signal and said keyboard signal and determining a current position of the mouse cursor on the display using said memory unit based upon said mouse input signal received from said input control unit and, in response thereto, generating output signals;

an output control unit controlling the display in response to said output signals of said main control unit and moving the mouse cursor on the display in accordance with movement of said mouse;

a graphic element decision unit determining whether one of said plurality of graphic elements is present in an area indicated by the current position of the mouse cursor;

a hard disk including a graphic element decision table storing a list of the predetermined number of distinct element types, a menu control table storing command menus of graphic editing commands for respective ones of the distinct element types and a display order control table storing order data indicating display orders of the graphic editing commands for respective ones of said command menus; and

a menu table control unit receiving the determination of said graphic element decision unit, accessing said hard disk when one of the graphic elements is present in said area, reading the graphic element decisions table, the menu control table and the display order control table in order, sorting a plurality of the graphic editing commands corresponding to a distinct element type of the graphic element present in the area based upon the order data and sending the sorted graphic editing commands to said main control unit; and

said main control unit sending said sorted plurality of graphic editing commands to said output control unit;

said output control unit displaying said sorted plurality of graphic editing commands in a display menu on the display; and

when one of said sorted plurality of graphic editing commands is selected by the user, said display order control table updates the order data by rearranging the order data to reorder said plurality of graphic editing commands to be displayed based upon a highest frequency of use of said plurality of graphic editing commands selected by the user and said main control unit carries out said one graphic editing command selected by the user.

17. A graphic editing apparatus for editing graphic elements, said graphic editing apparatus comprising:

a display displaying the graphic elements; and

a graphic display control unit determining which one of the graphic elements exists at a position of a cursor on said display, displaying a menu of commands based upon the one of the graphic elements at the position, the menu including commands executable with respect to the one of the graphic elements; and

a display order unit modifying an order of display of the commands based upon a selection of one of the commands, on a spot thereof, by a user, thereby minimizing an amount of cursor movement based on a highest frequency of use of selections of the commands by a user.

18. A method of editing graphics, comprising the steps of:

determining a graphic element at a position of a cursor;

displaying a menu of commands responsive to the determination, the menu including commands executable with respect to the graphic element; and

modifying an order of display of the commands based upon a selection of one of the commands, on a spot thereof, by a user, thereby minimizing an amount of cursor movement based on a highest frequency of use of selections of the commands by a user.