METHOD 0F CONTROLLING A DRAWING APPARATUS

Abstract: Drawing apparatus used in various industrial fields, such as the field of making a diagram of distribution lines, and more particularly to a drawing apparatus utilizing a computer. This apparatus is provided with a program for automatically determining a position in which a second type of symbol is drawn on the basis of the information on the kind and position of a first type of symbol and the information on the content of a symbol qualifying the first type of symbol and the relation between the qualifying symbol and the symbol to be qual­ ified. A position, in which a symbol qualifying a symbol the drawing position of which has solely been determined, i.e., a position in which the second type of symbol is drawn, is thereby determined. When the position in which the second type of symbol is drawn is determined automatically, an oper­ ator's action of inputting the information on the position in which the second type of symbol is drawn can be eliminated.

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method as claimed in Claim 1 BACKGROUND ART In various fields of industry, various drawings such as system arrangement drawings are used. Distribution line drawings, for example, are used in the field of electric power industry. Fig. 7 indicates a portion of such a distribution line drawing, in which 1A and 1B denote electric pole symbols, 2A, 2B, and 2C denote distribution line symbols, 3A and 3B denote character strings stating electric pole specifications, and 4A, 4B, and 4C denote character strings stating distribution line specifications. The positions wherein symbols of the first kind consisting of the electric pole symbols 1A, 1B and the distribution line symbols 2A, 2B, 2C are to be drawn are singulary determined in correspondance with the erected positions of the electric poles. The character strings 3A, 3B stating the electric pole specifications and the character strings 4A, 4B, 4C stating the distribution line specifications are symbols of the second kind for qualifying the symbols of the first kind consisting of the electric pole symbols 1A, 1B and the distribution line symbols 2A, 2B, 2C whose positions to be drawn therein are determined, and the same must be drawn in the vicinity of the symbols to be qualified but so as not to overlap with other character strings or symbols. A drawing processing apparatus for making such a drawing (CAD system using a computer) is shown, for example, in a document: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Catalog NM-LF01-09A <39C0>. When this system is used a distribution line drawing, such as shown in Fig. 8 is obtained. In Fig. 8, 5 denotes a computer, 6A denotes a storage device storing data of kinds and positions of facilities consisting of data of kinds and positions of electric poles as well as kinds of distribution lines and their connections, 6B denotes a storage device storing data of facilities specifications consisting of data of electric poles specifications and distribution lines specifications, 6c denotes a storage device storing data of positions in which facilities specifications are to be drawn, 7 denotes an interactive input/output device for the operator, and 8 denotes a printer for outputting drawings. The operations will be described in the following. The operator inputs, through the interactive input/output device 7, data of kinds and positions of facilities, data of facilities specifications, and data of positions in which facilities specifications are to be drawn. These input data are stored in the storage devices 6A, 6B, 6C, respectively, under the control of the computer 5. Then, under the control of the computer 5, the facilities are drawn from the data of kinds and positions of facilitiies stored in the storage device 6A, the facilities specifications are drawn from the data of facilities specifications and data of positions in which facilities specifications are to be drawn stored in the storage devices 6B, 6C and a drawing is output to the printer 8. Since the prior art apparatus has been structured as described above, the operator has had to input even the data of the positions for drawing therein the facilities specification, i.e., the symbols qualifying the symbols whose positions to be drawn therein are singularly determined, and therefore, there was such a problem that it took time to input such many data. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention was directed to solve the problem as described above, and therefore has a primary object to provide a drawing processing apparatus capable of making a drawing without having the operator input the data of positions for drawing therein the symbols for qualifying the symbols of the second kind by adapting the positions for drawing therein the symbols of the second kind to be automatically determined from the data of the symbols of the first kind whose positions to be drawn therein are singularly determined and the symbols of the second kind qualifying the same. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a drawing processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 2 and 3 are explanatory drawings ot the operations of the above embodimemt; Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of functions and operational flow of the present invention; Figs. 5 and 6 are drawings showing examples of patterns of shifting of regions as the objects of distribution; Fig. 7 is an explanatory drawing showing an example of making a drawing; and Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of drawing processing apparatuses of the prior art. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below as an example taking the same drawing of the distribution line as in the description of the prior art. Fig. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 1, 9 denotes a program for determining the positions of rectangular regions for drawing therein facilities specifications from data of kinds and positions of facilities and data of facilities specifications. Other than that, like reference numerals in Fig. 1 to those in fig. 8 denote like or corresponding parts. The operations will be described below. The operator inputs data of kinds and positions of facilities and data of facilities specifications to the drawing processing apparatus using the interactive input/output device 7. These input data are stored in the storage devices 6A and 6B, respectively, under the control of the computer 5. Then, under the control of the computer 5, the facilities are drawn from the data of kinds and positions of facilities and, at the same time, the program 9 is executed, whereby the positions for drawing therein the facilities specifications are determined, and thus, the facilities specifications are drawn and a drawing is output to the printer 8. The operations of the program 9 will be described in detail in the following. Functions and operational flow of the present invention are shown in Fig. 4. [1] The symbols stating the facilities specifications are temporarily distributed, singularly, in a relative position to the symbols of facilities to be qualified. (Step 11) [2] Making such that both the symbols stating the facilities and the symbols stating the facilities specifications occupy rectangular regions, the data defining these regions are made. Examples of the regional data in a temporarily distributed state are shown in Fig. 2. Referring to Fig. 2, 10A - 10E denote the regions which the symbols stating the facilities occupy and 10F - 10J denote the regions which the symbols stating the facilities specifications occupy. By the way, Fig. 2 corresponds to the initial arrangement of the distribution line drawing of Fig. 7. (Step 12) [3] A 'distributed' status is attached to the regions of the symbols stating the facilities and an 'undistributed' status is attached to the regions of the symbols stating the facilities specifications. (Step 13) [4] The other of priority for distribution is set up according to the kind of the facilities specifications (whether electric poles specifications or distribution lines specifications). (Step 14) [5] The processes 5-1, 5-2, and 5-3 are performed as long as there is left any region of the 'undistributed' status. (If there is no region of the 'undistributed' status, the execution of the program 9 is ended.) (Step 15) [5-1] Out of the regions of the 'undistributed' status, one of the regions of the symbols stating facility specifications of higher order of priority for distribution is selected and this is made to be the region as the object of distribution. (Step 16) [5-2] It is checked whether or not the region as the object of distribution is overlapping with other region of the 'distributed' status and the process of 5-2-1 is performed until there remains no overlap (if there is no overlap, the process 5-3 is then processed). (Step 17) [5-2-1] The region as the object of distribution is shifted. The direction and distance of the shifting is singularly determined by the kind of the facilities specifications and the number of times of checking for the overlapping of the region as the object of distribution performed in the above mentioned process 5-2. For example, in the case where the number of times of the checking is small, the region for distribution is shifted in the vicinity of the symbol of the facility to be qualified, and if the number of times of the checking is increasing because of difficulty in distributing the region as the object of distribution without producing any overlap, the distance of the shifting is increased, and so on. (Step 18) [5-3] The status of the region as the object of distribution is changed from 'undistributed' to 'distributed'. Namely, the distribution of the region as the object of distribution selected in the above mentioned process 5-1 is finished. (Step 19) The above is the description of the operations of the program 9. The example of the regional data which have gone through with the operations of the program 9 is shown in Fig. 3. In Fig. 3, the regions 10F, 10G which had overlaps in the temporarily distributed state have been shifted and the overlaps have been eliminated. By having the symbols of the facilities and the symbols stating the facilities specifications drawn according to the regional data in Fig. 8, the distribution line drawing of Fig. 7 is obtained. The patterns of shifting in the process 5-2-1 are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Althrough, in the above described embodiment, the drawing was made with the positions for drawing the facility specifications therein determined automatically, the symbols whose positions to be drawn therein are singularly determined (the symbols of the first kind) and the symbols qualifying the same whose positions to be drawn therein are not singularly determined (the symbols of the second kind) may be connected by leader lines whereby their correspondence with each other is made distinct. It may also be practicable to connect the symbols of the first kind and the symbols of the second kind to make their correspondence distinct only when the distances between them are larger. In the present case, the distribution line drawing was taken as the example, but the present invention can be applied to any of such drawings as machine drawings, piping drawings, and the like, if the drawing is such that draws symbols whose positions to be drawn therein are singularly detemined and symbols qualifying the same and the positions thereof wherein the same are to be drawn are not singularly determined. As described so far, the present invention is provided with a program automatically determining the positions for drawing therein the symbols which qualify the symbols whose positions to be drawn therein are singularly determined from the data of kinds and drawn positions of the symbols whose positions to be drawn therein are singularly determined and the data of the contents of the symbols qualifying these symbols and the condition of 'qualifying / to be qualified', and therefore, such an effect is obtained that a drawing can be made without the need for the operator to input the symbols whose positions to be drawn therein are singularly determined. By the way, the functions and operational flow as shown in Fig. 4 is fully performed by the computer unit shown in Fig. 1, and therefore, each means for performing each of the steps 11 - 19 of Fig. 4 exists in the computer unit shown in Fig. 1. That is, each of the step 11 - 19 in Fig. 4 can be read as each of the means 11 -19. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is applicable to an apparatus to process such a drawing as a distribution line drawing utilizing a computer.

Claims: 1. A method of controlling a drawing processing apparatus for printing a plurality of first symbols in singularly determined positions and a plurality of second symbols at positions related to that of the first symbols into a drawing, said drawing processing apparatus comprising a computer (5, 9), an interactive input/output device (7) for inputting data indicating kind and position of said first symbols and data for second symbols specifying said first symbols, a printer (8) and storage devices (6A, 6B); characterized by the steps of printing the first symbols at singularly determined positions in accordance with input data received from the input/output device (7); determining the positions of the second symbols temporarily by the computer (5, 9) in relation to the positions of the first symbols determining by the computer rectangular regions for the first (10A - 10E) and second (10F - 10J) symbols; attaching by the computer a "distributed" status to the regions for the first and an "undistributed" status to the regions for the second symbols; checking in a predetermined priority order whether the positions of the regions of the second symbols would overlap with any of the regions with a "distributed" status, and if there is an overlap, adjusting the positions of the overlapping regions of second symbols into final positions, whereas the positions of the non-overlapping regions of second symbols remain unchanged; and printing the second symbols into the drawing, in the unchanged and adjusted regions. 2. A method according to claim 1, adapted to be used in connection with distribution line drawings in the electrical power industry.

Inventors: IIJIMA, K. MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Applicants: MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1986
Main classification: G06F15
IPC codes: G06F17, G06T11