Patent Abstract:
The invention provides a data processing method and apparatus in which, even in a case of overlappingly displaying a plurality of traces, those traces can be distinguished and observed, and input time points of the traces can be distinguished by merely seeing the traces. Another object of the invention is to provide a data processing method and apparatus in which time information of time points when a plurality of sets of image information are inputted is stored so as to correspond to each set of image information, and each set of image information is displayed with each attribute (e.g., brightness, thickness or color) that is automatically determined in accordance with an elapsed time in accordance with the time information, so that a plurality of sets of image information inputted in a state in which they can be displayed on the same picture plane can be easily discriminated.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a data processing method and apparatus which can input and output trace data. 
     The invention also relates to data processing method and apparatus which can input and output image data. 
     The invention further relates to a data processing method and apparatus which can output image data in various forms by changing attributes of the image data designated. 
     2. Related Background Art 
     As an information terminal apparatus of the type such that an operating instruction and data are inputted by a trace written by a pen, for example, there has conventionally been known an apparatus in which fundamental software such as “Windows for Pen Computing” (registered trade name), made by Microsoft, “PenPoint” (registered trade name), made by Go Corporation, or the like is installed. 
     In the above conventional apparatuses, however, if a trace is inputted overlapping a previously-drawn trace, since the traces are displayed by the same attributes, the traces on a display screen become complicated, it is very hard to see the traces, and operating efficiency is poor. Further, the input times of the displayed traces cannot be distinguished. 
     Hitherto, there has been known an apparatus such that when a trace is drawn or an image is inputted, attributes such as color, line type, line width, area type, and the like of the trace or image are designated and the trace or image is displayed or printed on the basis of the designated attributes. 
     In the above conventional apparatus, however, when attributes of a trace or image which are newly inputted are designated to be different from the attributes of the trace or image which has already been inputted, an operation to change the attributes has to be performed. In the case where the attributes of at least two traces or images which have already been inputted are changed to different kinds of attributes as well, on the other hand, an operation to specify the trace or image as the target of a change in attributes and an operation to change the attributes are needed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is made in consideration of the above drawbacks, and it is an object of the invention to provide a trace input/output electronic apparatus and its display control method, in which even if many traces are overlapped and inputted, the traces can be distinguished and input time points of the traces can be distinguished by merely seeing the traces. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a data processing method and apparatus in which, even if the sets of designated attributes are not different, the operator can discriminate a plurality of traces or images which are outputted to the same picture plane, an operation to designate attributes is unnecessary, and operating efficiency is high. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a construction of a preferred embodiment the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an external view of a trace input/output electronic apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a construction of the apparatus of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a display form of a trace; 
     FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a display form of a trace; 
     FIG. 6 is a flowchart for a display control process of a trace; 
     FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing in detail a part of the process in FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a display form of a trace; 
     FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a display form of a trace; 
     FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a modification of the process in FIG. 7; and 
     FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a display form of a trace. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of the invention will now be described hereinbelow with reference to the drawings. 
     [First Embodiment] 
     FIG. 2 is an external view of a trace input/output electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. A liquid crystal display  12  with a digitizer is provided for a casing  11 . When a trace is inputted by a trace input pen  13 , a trace  14  is displayed on the display  12 . 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a construction of the apparatus. The apparatus comprises: a CPU  101  for controlling the whole apparatus; a ROM  102  for storing a control program or the like of processes which are executed by the CPU  101 , including, for example, processes shown in flowcharts, which will be explained hereinbelow, or the like; a RAM  103  to store data during arithmetic operations of the CPU  101  or the like; a digitizer  105  for detecting a contact position of the trace input pen  13  and inputting image data comprising a trace written by the pen as a coordinate dot train, a display  106  such as liquid crystal display, CRT, or the like; an I/O controller  104  to which the digitizer  105  and liquid crystal display (LCD)  106  are connected and which functions as an interface of a data input/output and an operation input; and a timer  107  for measuring time. 
     A trace is inputted by the exclusive-use trace input pen  13 . A line is drawn at a position corresponding to the LCD  106  on the basis of coordinate data which is sent from the digitizer  105  to the CPU  101 . FIG. 4 shows a display picture plane at that time. A trace  21  is displayed by a dense solid line. FIG. 5 shows a case where a new trace  32  is inputted. However, brightness, which is one display attribute of the trace  21  which has already been drawn, is changed to a lower value, so that what was shown as trace  21 , now appears as trace  31 . 
     A control program for the CPU  101  to execute various processes, which will be explained in the following, can be stored in the ROM  102  in advance. However, it is also possible to the apparatus in a manner such that prior to executing the process, a control program stored in another memory medium is read out therefrom, is stored into the RAM  103  and is used. As another memory medium in this case, it is possible to use an FD, a CD-ROM, or the like which is detachably connectable to the apparatus, or a memory medium of another apparatus which can transmit and receive data through a public line or a LAN. 
     As means for inputting an image, in addition to a trace input pen and a digitizer, another input unit such as touch panel, mouse, or the like which can input an image can be used. Or, an image inputted by another apparatus can be also inputted through the public line or LAN. 
     The process in the CPU  101  for realizing the above operations will now be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7. 
     In FIG. 6, since a trace is not yet inputted in step  41 , 0 is set as the value of a variable i. In step  42 , a check is made to see if a trace has been inputted from the digitizer  105 . If YES, step  43  follows. If NO, step  49  follows. In step  49 , when i=0, the processing routine is returned to step  42 . If NO, step  50  follows (that is, i indicates the number of traces to be displayed on the display  106 ). The value of i is increased by “1” at a time point when the pen is put down on the screen. Namely, when there is no trace, no operation is performed, and the apparatus is returned to a wait state, to wait for an input. 
     In step  43 , the value of the variable i is increased by “1”, and a time to start the drawing is measured by the built-in timer  107  and is stored as T(i) into the RAM  103 . In step  44 , display attributes of the inputted trace are initialized. In this instance, the brightness of the trace is set to the maximum value. In step  45 , the trace is displayed on the LCD  106  on the basis of coordinate data stored in the RAM  103  in correspondence to T(i) that is inputted as an i-th trace. In step  46 , a check is made to see whether the pen has been taken from the screen or the inputting of the trace is continuing. When the trace is inputted, step  47  follows. When the pen is taken up and the inputting of the trace data is finished, step  50  follows. In step  47 , the trace is displayed in a manner similar to step  45 . In steps  48  and  50 , a process to change the display attributes of all of the traces shown in FIG. 7 is executed. After completion of step  48 , the processing routine is returned to step  46 . When step  50  is finished, the processing routine is returned to step  42 . 
     FIG. 7 is the flowchart for the process to change the display attributes of all of the traces in steps  48  and  50 . In step  51 , a variable j is set to “1”. In step  52 , the current time is read out from the built-in timer  107  and set as the value of a variable S. In step  53 , t=S−T(j) is executed as an elapsed time when the trace is displayed. In step  54 , the brightness Q of the trace is calculated by α/t (α is a constant) and is set as a display attribute. In step  55 , when Q is equal to or less than a predetermined prescribed value, the trace is deleted. In step  56 , j=j+1 is executed. In step  57 , when j is larger than the number of traces (i), the processing routine is finished. If NO, the processing routine is returned to step  53 . 
     By the above processes, even when a trace overlapping a previously-drawn one is inputted, a difference between the new and old traces can be recognized, and the user is not confused. Hitherto, as shown in FIG. 8, when a trace is overwritten into the same region, the display picture plane merely becomes complicated. However, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, even if the user successively inputs traces into the same region so as to be overlapped, the drawn trace gradually becomes thin (the brightness decreases), so that the user can distinguish the traces which were overwritten and drawn without mixing up the traces. (In FIG. 9, the brightness of “A” is the lowest and the brightness of “B” is the second-lowest brightness.) 
     Consequently, in a case of continuously inputting hand-writing characters, even if a character overlapping an earlier one is inputted, it is not confused with the earlier character. Therefore, even in a small input region, the next character can be inputted while the previous character trace is still visible. 
     Therefore, the character input region can be reduced and the apparatus can be miniaturized. Moreover, a larger number of trace information can be recorded in a limited display region. 
     Further, since the traces can be distinguished with respect to the time, even in an electronic memorandum notebook application or the like, the input time point can be recognized. It is not always necessary to add a date, a time, and the like to the memorandum. 
     Even in the case of a temporary memorandum, since the trace is deleted with the lapse of time, the trouble of actively deleting the old trace can be omitted. 
     [Second embodiment] 
     FIG. 10 is a flowchart for a process to change the display attributes of all traces according to the embodiment. The processes other than this process are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment. 
     The flowchart shown in FIG. 10 is obtained by replacing step  54  in the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 with step  84 . In step  84 , the thickness of the trace is used as a display attribute of the trace. The other processing steps are similar to those in FIG.  7 . 
     FIG. 11 shows a display picture plane of the second embodiment and it will be understood that the trace which was inputted first is displayed thinly. 
     In the first embodiment, changes in brightness cannot be displayed in the case of using a liquid crystal display of only two monochromatic gradations. However, in the present embodiment, since the display attribute is the thickness of trace, an effect similar to that in the first embodiment is obtained irrespective of the number of gradations of the liquid crystal display. 
     Instead of line brightness or thickness, other display attributes can be controlled in accordance with the lapse of time, in accordance with the invention. For example, the color in which the trace is displayed, can be changed over time. 
     Also, while the present invention has been particularly discussed with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, many other modifications and variations will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill, and the scope of the invention is therefore not to be limited by the details of the described preferred embodiments, but only by the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6