Method and apparatus for cursor movement control

Abstract: Apparatus for moving a cursor while constrained on a selected graphics object displayed on a display screen (4) comprises a mouse (6) or similar device for entering a signal for pointing to a position on the display screen (4); means (5) for determining a point on the display screen (4) in response to the signal entered by the mouse (6); means (1,2) for determining a point on the graphics object which is near the point determined by means (5); and means (3) for displaying the cursor at the point determined by means (1,2). Graphics objects can thus be tracked by means of a cursor without requiring the specification of points or directions prior to tracking thereby providing the user with direct control of the movement of a cursor constrained onto graphics object.

Description: The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for moving a cursor while constrained on the contour of a graphics object in order to permit a point on the contour of the graphics object to be easily selected in a graphics processing system including a computer. Processing of a graphics object displayed on a display screen is typically performed by moving a cursor. A user, while looking at the display screen, controls the movement of the cursor by giving instructions through a cursor key or by moving a pointing device such as a mouse. Moving and positioning the cursor on a specific point on the contour of the displayed graphics object involves a difficult visual operation for the user. Moreover, this operation alone does not allow the user to select a point on the contour of the graphics object with geometrical precision; he or she can merely select a point that appears to his or her eyes to be nearest to the target graphics object. JP-A-60-168227 describes a method of and apparatus for moving a cursor to a specific position on a graphics object, in which when a user wants to select a point P on the line E shown in Figure 21 of the accompanying drawings, he first locates the cursor at an arbitrary point Q on the S-shaped curve E. This specifies the starting point for tracking. Next, the user specifies the direction in which tracking should start by moving the part for manipulation from point Q toward point P. The pixels forming the line figure are then sequential-ly tracked in the specified direction by a line tracking unit. This cursor movement control apparatus is provided with multiple predetermined masks for tracking pixels. The user can select one of the pixels being tracked. Tracking of pixels is continued until the user specifies that the process be terminated, that is, until a point on the line is selected. However, once the tracking has begun, the direction cannot be changed. In the example shown in Figure 21, if the cursor has passed beyond the desired point P, the user must again specify the starting point and direction of tracking in order to move the cursor back. This is difficult. Furthermore, referring to Figure 22A of the accompanying drawings, segment N, which intersects segment M, cannot be tracked. More specifically, pixels are distributed as shown in Figure 22B of the accompanying drawings at the point of intersection of segments M and N. The apparatus cannot determine which of P2 and P3 should be selected as a subsequent pixel to P1. Even if it could do so, the apparatus might often fail to track segment N but and instead track the segment M. Line figures often include points of intersection or contact. In order to track such a line figure precisely, a method should be based on graphics objects, rather than on tracking pixels as in this device. Furthermore, a method of and apparatus for cursor movement control is known in which graphics objects are treated as functions, and a point at which tracking should start is predetermined for each graphics object. When a user specifies a graphics object, the cursor is moved to and displayed at the starting point of tracking on the graphics object. When the user specifies a tracking direction by means of a cursor key, the cursor starts moving in the specified direction. Referring to Figure 23A of the accompanying drawings, the starting point of tracking on a circle S is fixed at point P and, when the user instructs a rightward movement, the cursor C starts moving toward a terminal point Q in the direction indicated by an arrow. However, the user must specify a point and a direction to start tracking. Further, once the tracking has begun, the direction cannot be changed. Referring again to Figure 23A, if the cursor has passed beyond the desired point R, the user must return the cursor to the starting point of tracking P and specify the tracking direction. This is difficult. Furthermore, since the starting point of tracking is fixed, it takes much labour and time to move the cursor to a distant point such as R. Furthermore, referring to Figure 23B of the accompanying drawings, the user first specified rightward movement: nevertheless the cursor C moves leftward near the point R on the display screen. This leads to a very bad operability. Yet furthermore, the cursor can be moved along the contour of a graphics object only if it is representable as a function of F (x, y). Therefore, a free curve drawn by freely moving the mouse cursor on the display screen, as shown in Figure 24 of the accompanying drawings cannot be treated. Proceedings of 1986 Workshop on Interactive 3D Graphics (ACM 1987), 23 Oct 1986, Chapel Hill (US), pp 183-196, and EP-A-0 203 324 both describe apparatus represented by a segment for moving a cursor while constrained on a selected graphics object displayed on a display screen, the apparatus comprising: means for entering a signal for pointing to a position on the display screen; means for determining a point on the display screen in response to the signal entered by the means; means for determining a point on the graphics object which is near to the point determined by the means by projecting the point determined by the means onto the graphics object; and means for displaying a cursor at the point determined by the means. The common features of the conventional apparatuses for and methods of cursor movement control are the need to specify a tracking direction every time the user starts tracking a graphics object with a cursor and the impossibility of changing the direction once the tracking has begun. Since a point on a graphics object is selected by trial and error in most cases, repeatedly specifying the manipulation for every change in the tracking direction is a burden on the user. In addition, tracking of a graphics object is performed automatically, and the user can specify only that the process be terminated. While cursor movements other than for tracking a graphics object are controlled through a pointing device or an equivalent, tracking of a graphics object alone is outside the direct control of the user. This lacks consistency and results in bad operability. In accordance with the present invention, there is now provided apparatus represented by a segment for moving a cursor while constrained on a selected graphics object displayed on a display screen, the apparatus comprising: first means for entering a signal for pointing to a position on the display screen; second means for determining a point Qi on the display screen in response to the signal entered by the first means; third means for determining a point Pi on the graphics object which is near to the point determined by the second means by projecting the point Qi determined by the second means onto the graphics object; ans fourth means for displaying a cursor at the point Pi determined by the means; characterised in that the third means comprises means for dividing the segment into n intervals, where n is an integer larger than 1, and for determining representative points in the respective intervals, the representative points consisting of the opposite ends of the segment and points that divide the segment into intervals, the point Pi determined by the third means being a representative point of whichever interval li of the n intervals is nearest to the point Qi determined by the second means, and the fourth means displaying the cursor at the representative point Pi. This advantageously enables graphics objects to be tracked by means of a cursor without requiring the specification of points or directions prior to tracking. An operator can therefore directly control movement of a cursor constrained onto graphics object. Viewing the present invention from a second aspect, there is provided a method for moving a cursor while constrained on a selected graphics object represented by a segment displayed on a display screen, comprising the steps of: (a) entering a signal for pointing to a position on the display screen; (b) determining a point Qi on the display screen in response to the signal entered in step (a); (c) determining a point Pi on the graphics object which is near to the point Qi determined in step (b) by projecting the point determined in step (b) onto the graphics object; and (d) displaying a cursor at the point Pi determined in step (c); characterised by the step (c) comprising the steps of: (e) dividing the segment into n intervals, where n is an integer larger than 1; (f) determining representative points in the respective intervals, the representative points consisting of the opposite ends of the segment and points that divide the segment into intervals; and (g) determining the point Pi to be the representative point of whichever interval of the intervals is nearest to the point, Qi. Further embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims. A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an explanatory view of the constituent components of a cursor movement control apparatus according to the invention; Figure 2 is an explanatory view of a graphics object table; Figures 3A and 3B are explanatory views of the selection effective area of a graphics object; Figure 4 is an explanatory view of a method for selecting a graphics object; Figure 5 is an explanatory view of the input data and output data of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a view showing the relationship between a mouse movement on a desk and the position pointed to on a display screen; Figure 7 is a flow chart showing a method for moving a mouse cursor while constrained on a simple segment; Figures 8A to 8E are explanatory views of steps constituting the method of Figure 7; Figures 9A and 9B are explanatory views of an example for obtaining a projective point; Figures 10A and 10B are explanatory views of a cursor movement according to the method of Figure 7; Figure 11 is an explanatory view of a graphics object in the form of a straight line; Figure 12 is an explanatory view of an example of the display of positional information; Figure 13 is an explanatory view of an example of the display of segment divisional information; Figure 14 is an explanatory view of another example of the display of segment divisional information; Figures 15a to 15D are explanatory views of a discontinuous mode; Figure 16 is a flow chart showing a method for moving a mouse cursor while constrained on a continous series of segments; Figures 17A to 17F are explanatory views of steps constituting the method of Figure 16; Figures 18A and 18B are explanatory views of cursor movement according to the method of Figure 16; Figure 19 is a flow chart showing a modification of the method of Figure 16; Figure 20 is an explanatory view of a cursor movement on a parabola and displayed information; Figures 21, 22a and 22B are explanatory views of an example of a conventional technique; and Figures 23A, 23B and 24 are explanatory views of another example of a conventional technique. As shown in Figure 1, cursor movement control apparatus according to the present invention includes a control unit (1), arithmetic unit (2), display control unit (3), display (4), mouse control unit (5), mouse (6), segment end table (7), grapnics object table (8), position coordinate display unit (9), ratio display unit (10), data storage area (11), and graphics object selection unit (12). All the information on all graphics objects currently drawn on a display screen is stored in the graphics object table (8). The information includes the numbers of the graphics objects; types of graphic.s objects (segments, circles, points, etc.); geometrical data on graphics objects, including coordinate values, attributes such as types of lines or shapes of points; and selection effective areas, which are assorted and managed for each graphics object (see Figure 2). For a line figure such as the one shown in Figures 3A and 3B, a length constant "D_LENGTH" is predetermined for each graphics object as the selection effective area. In this example, as shown in Figure 4, a graphics object is selected by locating the mouse cursor in the. selection effective area of a desired graphic object and clicking the buttom on the left. This method of selecting a graphics object is already known. For a graphics object that is defined to include the area enclosed by a line or lines, the interior is also regarded as part of the selection effective area. As shown in Figure 5, the apparatus in Figure 1 receives signals indicating the number of a graphics object, the operating mode (coordinate display, ratio display, continuous mode, discontinuous mode, and the value of equal division n in the case of the continuous mode), the current coordinate value of the mouse cursor, and the direction and distance of motion of the mouse. It then outputs the values of the coordinates of a finally designated point on the graphics object to, for example, the data storage area (11), while displaying the cursor according to a movement of the mouse and also displaying, in a certain mode, information on the cursor display position and on the segment division. Figure 6 shows the relationship between the mouse moved on a desk and the position pointed to on the screen. The movement of the mouse on the desk is divided to small parts and thereby reduced to a series of numerous linear movements on a two-dimensional plane. The individual linear movements are mapped on the display screen. They are analyzed into the directions and distances moved by the mouse. In a conventional cursor movement control apparatus, the direction of motion B of the mouse is the direction of motion b of the mouse cursor on the display screen. In contrast, the distance of motion a of the mouse cursor is obtained by multiplying the distance of motion A of the mouse by a certain constant ratio (mr). Although the direction b and distance a are also obtained in the apparatus according to the present invention, the next position of the mouse cursor is not calculated from a and b alone. This is an important feature of the present invention. Henceforth, the distance a is called to the virtal distance of motion of the mouse cursor and the direction b is called the virtual direction of motion of the mouse cursor. The role of the mouse control unit (5) is summarized as a) receiving a signal indicating the direction and the distance of motion by a mouse on a desk, b) displaying the mouse cursor at a designated position on the screen of the display (4) through the display control unit (3) and deleting it therefrom, and c) sensing a click of the mouse button and generating a signal indicating the current coordinate of the mouse cursor. The behaviour of the apparatus in selecting a simple segment and a point on the segment is explained below with reference to Figures 7 and 8A-8E. S1: The mouse control unit (5) detects a click of the left button of the mouse and the current coordinates of the cursor, and sends a signal indicating the coordinates through the control unit (1) to the graphics object selection unit (12). The graphics object selection unit (12) searches the graphics object table (8) and supplies the number of a graphics object having the detected coordinates within the selection effective area. When the number of the graphics object is entered, the control unit (1) searches the graphics object table (8) for the two ends of the segment and records the coordinate value in the segment and table (7) (here the ends are named A and B, respectively, and the respectively coordinate values Xa, Ya, Xb and Yb). S2: As shown in Figure 8A, the mouse control unit (5) displays the mouse cursor, through the display control unit (3), at a point P0 (Xp0, Yp0), which is a projection onto the segment of the current position of the mouse cursor, namely, point Q0 (Xq0, Yq0). Since the operation for obtaining the projection of a point on a display screen onto a segment will often be referred to, an example of such a process is given below, with reference to Figure 9A. From the coordinates of the opposite ends A and B of a segment, the formula ax+by+c=0 of a straight line 1 connecting the ends is obtained by a simple calculation. When a point P (Xp, Yp) is given, the coordinates (Xh, Yh) of a projection of the point P to the straight line 1 are obtained as follows: Since the segment PH is perpendicular to the straight line 1, b (Xh - Xp) = a (Yh - Yp) Since the point H is on the straight line 1, a*Xh + b*Yh + c = 0 Since a, b, Xp and Yp are given in (1) and (2), Xh and Yh can be obtained by solving the simultaneous equations (1) and (2). This is the simplest algorithm for obtaining a projection to a segment, obtaining precisely the foot of a perpendicular from the point P to the straight line 1 by means of equations. According to another algorithm that does not solve the equations directly, an obtained projection H′ may deviate somewhat from the point H. However, so long as the projection is a point near the point H, a deviation of the order of several pixels is immaterial. Thus the term "projected point" used in the specification also includes points other than that at the foot of a perpendicular in a strict sense. As shown in Figure 9B, it may occur that the foot H of a perpendicular obtained by a specific algorithm does not ride on the segment, in other words, that Xh<Xa or Xb<Xh for Xh and Yh<Yb or Ya<Yh for Yh. In this case, whichever of A and B is nearest to the point P is regarded as the projected point. In Figure 9B, the projection of point P onto the segment is point B. S3: When the mouse control unit (5) detects a movement of the mouse (6), the virtual distance of motion mcd of the mouse cursor on the display screen is obtained by multiplying the distance of motion md of the mouse on the desk by the foregoing ratio mr. S4: The point Q1 at a distance of mcd from the point P0 in the direction of motion of the mouse on the display screen is first obtained, and the projection P1 of the point Q1 onto the segment AB is then obtained (Figure 8B). Thereafter, the mouse control unit (5) deletes the mouse cursor located at P0 through the display control unit (3), and newly displays the mouse cursor at P1 (Figure 8C). S5: S3 and S4 are repeated until a termination instruction (a click of the mouse button) is given, thereby obtaining Q1, P1, Q2, P2 ... in sequence and moving the mouse cursor accordingly (Figures 8D and 8E). S6: When the user clicks the mouse button to enter a signal instructing that a point be selected, the repetition is terminated, and the current coordinates of the mouse cursor are outputted. Calculation of the coordinate values of P0, P1, Q0, Q1, and so on is performed by the arithmetic unit (2) on the basis of information stored in the segment end table (7). These necessary data are temporarily recorded in the data storage area (11), and are deleted when deemed unnecessary. As a result, in response to a movement of the mouse, the mouse cursor moves while constrained on the segment AB on the display (Figure 10A), and in response to a click of the mouse button, the current coordinates of the point on the segment are finally selected (Figure 10B). If the target graphics object, namely, the object to be followed by the cursor, is a straight line or a half line, the coordinates of the two points at opposite ends of the visible part of the straight line or the half line on the display are calculated by referring to the graphics object table (8). The foregoing steps S1 to S6 are then performed, taking points A and B as the end points in the base of the above segment (see Figure 11). When a coordinate display mode is designated, the position coordinate display unit (9), on every movement of the mouse cursor, displays new values for the coordinate of the mouse cursor on the display (4) through the display control unit (3), as shown in Figure 12. If the target graphics object is a simple segment, a function for displaying information on the division of the segment by means of the current position of the cursor may be utilized in addition to the function for displaying the values of the coordinates of the mouse cursor. A continuous mode and a discontinuous mode are available for displaying divisional information. Assuming that the opposite ends of a segment are A and B and that the current position of the cursor is P, the ratio display unit (10) displays the value of AP/AB on the screen of the display (4) through the display control unit (3), as shown in Figure 13 in the continuous mode. The value of the ratio is renewed for every movement of the mouse. In the discontinuous mode, the segment AB is first divided virtually into n pieces of equal parts. In this mode, the mouse cursor can move only to a total of (n+1) points, which are located at the opposite ends A and B and at (n-1) points dividing the segment internally. The ratio is displayed as "i : n-1", using an integer i (0≤i≤n). Figure 14 shows an example un which a selection is made from quadrisectional points on the segment while the ratio is displayed in the discontinuous mode. By using the discontinuous mode as in this example, a user can readily select points dividing a segment into equal parts. The discontinuous mode is explained below in detail. When the value n of equal division is 4, the equal-divisional points R1, R2 and R3 of the segment AB are determined as shown in Figure 15A. Subsequently, five intervals (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5) are set on the target segment AB. Interval T1 include's point A alone, interval T2 includes point R1 alone, interval T3 includes point R2 alone, interval T4 includes point R3 alone, and interval T5 includes point B alone. The boundary between intervals T1 and T2 is the mid-point of the segment AR1, the boundary between intervals T2 and T3 is the mid-point of the segment R1R2, the boundary between intervals T3 and T4 is the mid-point of the segment R2R3, and the boundary between intervals T4 and T5 is the mid-point of the segment R3B. Except that the display of the mouse cursor is renewed only when the interval including the point Pi is changed, the same operation as the aforementioned operation for selecting an arbitrary point on the segment is performed. First, the point nearest to the current position of the mouse cursor is selected from the five points (A, B, R1, R2 and R3) shown in Figure 15a. In this example, it is point R3. Point R3 is regarded as P0. When the movement md of the mouse is detected, mcd=md•mr is calculated, and a point Q1 at a distance of mcd from the point P0 in the direction of motion of the mouse is obtained. The projection of Q1 onto the segment AB is shown at P1 (Figure 15B). When P1 is included in interval T3, the mouse cursor is deleted from R3 and shown at R2 (Figure 15C). If P1 is included in interval T5, the mouse cursor is deleted from R3 and shown at B (Figure 15D). In this fashion, respective effective intervals Tm of discontinuous points are determined so as to display the mouse cursor at a corresponding discontinuous point (in this example, one of several points that divide the segment into equal parts) for every change in the interval in which the projection Pi is located. As a result, as shown in Figure. 14, the mouse cursor moves while constrained only on points dividing the segment into equal parts, and the coordinates of one of these points are obtained by a clock of the mouse button. If a target graphics object is a simple segment, the user can designate whether the coordinate value should be displayed, whether the ratio should be displayed, if so, whether in the continuous mode or in the discontinuous mode and, if in the discontinuous mode, what should be the value n of equal division. For this, an input device such as a mouse button or a keyboard may be used. An arrangement may be employed that is capable of switching the modes at an arbitrary point of time before the selection of a point on the graphics object. Further, the value n of equal division in the discontinuous mode may be variable. Provided below, with reference to Figures 16 and 17A-17E, is an explanation of the behavior of the apparatus when the target graphics object is a curve. Here, a curve means a continuous curve on a two-dimensional plane. A curve is often treated as a continuous series of serpents (a polygonal line) in a graphics processing unit for display purposes. In the apparatus shown in Figure 1, the data on a curve object are represented in the graphics object table (8) as a row of coordinates of the vertices of the polygonal line. Assume here that the target graphics object in the form of a curve is represented in the table (8) by a row of points G0(Xg0, Yg0), G1(Xg1, Yg1), ... Gi(Xgi, Ygi) on a two-dimensional plane, in other words, that the curve is approximately represented by i segments connecting two adjacent points in this row (Figure 17A). S11: This is the same as operation of S1 for a simple segment. S12: The segment nearest to the current position Q0 of the mouse cursor is selected. Specifically, projections of point Q0 are obtained for respective segments, and the distances between the respective projections and the point Q0 are obtained. These distances are compared with each other. Here, a segment Gk-1•Gk (1≤k≤i) has been selected at random (Figure 17B). S13: By the same operation as S2 for a simple segment, the point P0 that is nearest to point Q0 on segment Gk-1•Gk is obtained, and the mouse cursor is displayed at point P0. The difference from S2 is that positional information on point P0 is stored as Prev. Prev is used in later steps. S14: This is the same as operation S3 for a simple segment. The direction and distance of motion of the mouse are detected. S15: The virtual distance mcd of the mouse cursor on the display screen is calculated. Since the virtual direction of motion of the mouse cursor is the same as the direction of motion of the mouse, this results in the moving vector of the mouse being mapped onto the display screen. The following operations, S16 and S17, are, used for determining the segment li on which the mouse cursor rides. S16: A test is performed to decide whether or not the point at which the cursor is currently displayed, namely, the point Prev, coincides with an end of segment Gk-1•Gk, which is either point Gk-1 or point Gk. The drawing shows the test for point Gk alone for simplicity; the same test is performed for Gk-1. S17: If the result of the test in S16 is positive, one of the two segments having point Prev as its end is selected on the basis of a virtual moving vector T of the mouse cursor on the display screen. For simplicity, an explanation is given only for the case in which point Prev coincides with point Gk, as shown in figure 17C. In this case, as shown in Figure 17D, the display scree.n is divided into two parts, H1 and H2, by a line bisecting the angle defined by adjacent two segments Gk-1•Gk and Gk•Gk+1, and the vector of mouse movement T mapped onto the display screen determines whether the detected mouse movement is to move the mouse cursor to H1 or to H2. This operation is explained below in greater detail. The half-line V extending horizontally and rightward from point Gk is taken as a reference line for the angle on the display screen. The angle 1 defined by segment Gk•Gk+1 and reference line V and the angle 2 defined by segment Gk•Gk-1 and reference line V are obtained by calculating inverse trigonometric functions by using the coordinates of points Gk-1, Gk and Gk+1. The angle T defined by the vector T and the reference line V is also obtained by calculating the inverse trigonometric function. When the line bisecting the angle defined by two segments Gk•Gk-1 and Gk•Gk+1 is divided into S1 and S2 at point Gk, the angle α defined by S1 and reference line V and the angle β defined by S2 and reference line V can be calculated as follows (α<β): (i) If 0<(1+2)/2<π (Figure 17D), α = (1+2)/2 β = α + π (ii) If π≤(1+2)/2<2π (Figure 17E), α = β - π β = (1+3)/2 where both of the foregoing angles are equal to or larger than 0 radians and smaller than 2π radians. It can be determined as follows whether the movement is to H1 or H2: If 0≤T<α, movement is toward H1. If α≤T<β, movement is toward H2. If β≤T<2π, movement is toward H1. If S17 determines that the movement is toward H1, segment Gk-1•Gk is determined to be segment li. If S17 determines that the movement is toward H2, segment Gk•Gk+1 is determined to be segment li. If the result of the test in S16 is negative, segment Gk•Gk+1 is determined to be segment li without executing S17. S18: As shown in Figure 17F, the coordinates of a virtual point Qi of the mouse cursor, which reflects the mouse movement on the display screen, are calculated on the basis of the vector of mouse movement T mapped onto the display screen and the coordinates of point Prev. S19: The coordinates of point Pi, which is the projection of point Qi onto segment li, are calculated. S20: A cursor is displayed at point Pi, and point Prev is renewed to point Pi. S14 to S20 are repeated until a termination instruction (a click of the mouse button) is given. S21: When the user clicks the mouse button to enter a signal that a point should be selected, the same operation as S6 for a simple segment is performed. As a result, the mouse cursor moves along the continuous series of segments shown in Figure 18A, that is, while constrained on the target curve, in response to the movement of the mouse cursor. Finally, a point on the curve is selected upon entry of a termination instruction. If a contour is managed as a continuous series of segments, the processing shown in Figure 16 is applicable to moving the cursor while constrained on the contour for a graphics object, which is defined as also including the area enclosed by the segments. Some modifications follow for the foregoing operations S16 to S18 A typical example is shown in Figure 19 and explained below. S16′: The coordinates of point Qi are calculated on the basis of the vector of motion of the mouse mapped on the display screen, which was determined in S15. S17′: It is determined whether point Prev is an end of a segment or not. If so, point Pi is obtained, and segment li is regarded as the segment on which the mouse cursor currently rides. S18′: When the result of S17′ is positive, segment li is selected from two segments a and b having point Prev as their ends. The projections Qa and Qb of point Qi onto segments a and b are obtained, respectively, and the distances QiQa and QiQb are further obtained. If QiQa≤QiQb, segment a is determined to be segment li. If QiQb≤QiQa, segment b is determined to be segment li. When the designation of the coordinate display mode is entered, the position coordinate display unit (9) displays a new coordinate value of the mouse cursor on the screen of the display (4) through the display control unit (3) on every movement in all the foregoing processes where the mouse cursor moves. In the example shown in Figure 20, the value of the derived function (2X-4) is also displayed, in addition to the coordinate values (X, Y). When the target graphics object is a graph of a function on the xy plane, a faculty for displaying, in addition to the values of coordinates, the value of a numerical expression calculated from these values may be added so as to provide a useful user interface application in a software system for learning mathematics. In the foregoing example, once a graphics object on the display screen is selected, the subsequent movement of the cursor are automatically constrained on the graphics object. However, selection of the graphics object is not only for the purpose of selecting a point thereon. In addition to the constraint mode provided by the present invention, an unconstrained mode that permits movement of the mouse cursor in a conventional technique may be provided to allow a user to specify either mode before selecting a graphics object. Alternatively, so that a user can quickly switch to a desired operation other than selection of a point, the system may be so designed that the constraint mode is switched to the unconstrain-ed mode before selection of a point on a graphics object. In this case, a signal indicating the switch to the unconstrained mode terminates repetition of S3 and S4 in Figure 7 or repetition of S14 to S20 in Figure 16. In the foregoing example, a mouse is used as a pointing device. However, the present invention allows a light pen, joy stick, or other device to be used for pointing to a point on the display screen. Moreover, the invention is applicable to a computer system with touch panel, in which a user points to a point on the display screen by pressing the panel instead of using a pointing device. Further, application of the invention is not limited to the case in which a graphics object is managed as a simple segment or a continuous series of segments in a computer. For example, in the case of a circle, the functional formula F(x,Y) of the circle may be registered directly in the graphics object table, or alternatively, data on the center and radius alone of the circle may be registered. In this case, in order to obtain a projective point of a certain point P to the circle, the intersections with circle of the straight line connecting the center of the circle and point P are obtained, and whichever of the two obtained intersections is nearer to point P may be selected. Therefore, by deleting steps S12, S16, S17 in Figure 16 and obtaining the projective points in S13 and S19 in such a way, the constrained mode can be implemented. It is noted, however, that management of the graphics object as a continuous series of segments in the computer is more advantageous in that it allows faster calculations. It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the present invention makes it possible to track a graphics object by means of a cursor, without requiring the prior specification of points or directions for tracking. Further, it allows direct control by a user of the movement of a cursor constrained on the graphics object.

Claims: Apparatus represented by a segment for moving a cursor while constrained on a selected graphics object displayed on a display screen (4), the apparatus comprising: first means (6) for entering a signal for pointing to a position on the display screen (4); second means (5) for determining a point Qi on the display screen (4) in response to the signal entered by the first means (6); third means (1, 2) for determining a point Pi on the graphics object which is near to the point determined by the second means (5) by projecting the point Qi determined by the second means (5) onto the graphics object; and fourth means (3) for displaying a cursor at the point Pi determined by the third means (1, 2); characterised in that the third means (1, 2) comprises means for dividing the segment into n intervals, where n is an integer larger than 1, and for determining representative points in the respective intervals, the representative points consisting of the opposite ends of the segment and points that divide the segment into intervals, the point Pi determined by the third means (1, 2) being a representative point of whichever interval li of the n intervals is nearest to the point Qi determined by the second means (5), and the fourth means (3) displaying the cursor at the representative point Pi. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means (1, 2): determines whether the point at which the cursor is displayed is an end of an interval or not; and if so, selects interval li, in response to the signal entered by the first means (6), from the interval including the point at which the cursor is currently displayed and the interval adjacent to the interval, and otherwise, determines the interval including the point at which the cursor is currently displayed to be interval li. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the signal entered through the first means (6) indicates the desired direction and distance of motion of the cursor. A method for moving a cursor while constrained on a selected graphics object represented by a segment displayed on a display screen, comprising the steps of: (a) entering a signal for pointing to a position on the display screen; (b) determining a point Qi on the display screen in response to the signal entered in step (a); (c) determining a point Pi on the graphics object which is near to the point determined in step (b) by projecting the point Qi determined in step (b) onto the graphics object; and (d) displaying a cursor at the point Pi determined in step (c); characterised by the step (c) comprising the steps of: (e) dividing the segment into n intervals 1, where n is an integer larger than 1; (f) determining representative points in the respective intervals, the representative points consisting of the opposite ends of the segment and points that divide the segment into intervals; and (g) determining the point Pi to be the representative point of whichever interval li of the intervals is nearest to the point Qi. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the step (b): determines whether the point at which the cursor is displayed is an end of an interval or not; and if so, selects interval li, in response to the signal entered in step (a), from the interval including the point at which the cursor is currently displayed and the interval adjacent to the interval, and otherwise determines the interval including the point at which the cursor is currently displayed to be interval li.

Inventors: AKAISHI MASANORI, HIDAKA KAZUYOSHI, AKAISHI, MASANORI, HIDAKA, KAZUYOSHI
Applicants: IBM, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Application year: 1991
Main classification: G06F3
IPC codes: G06F3, G09G5