GB2324231A - Display motif generating method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

Motif widget batch generating method and device are provided, to efficiently implement an alarm display which informs a user of a malfunction alarm of a base station manager in a digital cellular system in a graphic. Widget generation data, which is needed for generating widgets being graphic user interface (GUI) objects in a batch, is filed, and a batch generation structure is defined to read the filed widget generation data in a corresponding widget group unit. Then, a corresponding data file requested by an instruction of the batch generation structure is read, and widgets are generated by a widget generation function for widget batch generation.

Description

1 2324231 DISPLAY MOTIF GENERATING METHOD AND DEVICE

Background to the Invention

The present invention relates to a graphic user interface (GUI) for use in a mobile communications system, and in particular, to method and device for more efficiently implementing an alarm display for informing a user of a malfunction of a base station manager (BSM) in a digital cellular system.

Since the early 1980s, cellular communication service has been rapidly increasing to such an extent that demand for the cellular service exceeds system capacity. This increase is due to the advantages of mobility, rapidity, wide area coverage, and convenience offered by cellular communication services. To satisfy this increasing demand for the cellular communications service, various technologies have been developed for increasing the capacity of radio channels, such as the use of microcells, communication service in digital form, narrow banding of voice signal, a high-efficiency frequency modulator, and multiple access.

Current digital cellular mobile communication systems are divided into TDMA (Time-Division Multiple Access) and CDMA (CodeDivision Multiple Access) systems.

In TDMA, each transmission time is adjusted so that transmission signals are overlapped in space domain, but do not mutually interfere in time domain when signals are sent to other stations, using predetermined time slots assigned for transmission and reception. TDMA schemes are under development or are already put to practical use in Europe, U.S., and Japan which have established a TDMA standard.

2 On the other hand, CDMA systems are categorised into two groups in accordance with frequency hopping and direct sequence. Qualcomm proposed a direct-sequence CDMA system.

An alarm display for notifying a malfunction alarm of a cellular BSM has been implemented by commercial programs, such as SL-GMS. SL-GMS, is a software graphic tool, but is very expensive to install, and needs significant driving system resources, including a large memory. This hinders the changing of an alarm display. The display changing time is long due to the need for real-time processing, and this lowers the effect of a GUI alarm display. Therefore, ef forts have been continuously expended toward providing an alarm display using motif widgets instead of SL-GMS.

Advantageously, the use of motif widgets facilitates display generation, costs less because it is basically provided to most UNIX systems, imposes less operational load on a driving system during its driving, and operates rapidly as compared to SL-GMS.

Despite these advantages, codes must be individually entered in order to generate basic motif elements, widgets. Such operation requires a large number of codes, and it is very difficult to later change the characteristics and structure of the widgets. Because a code must be modified and re-compiled just to change the colour of one widget, for example, the process of changing the colour of a motif display including many widgets is very complicated and time consuming.

Surmnary of the Invention Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for efficiently implementing an alarm display indicating a malfunction alarm of a BSM in a digital cellular system.

3 Another object of the present invention is to provide method and device for easily generating and modifying motif widgets, in particular in order to implement an alarm display.

To achieve the above objects, there is provided a method for the generation of a display motif, comprising the steps of decomposing the required display motif into several elementary graphic objects, widgets; organising widgets into groups according to characteristics common to one or more widgets; listing characteristics common to the widgets of each group; listing characteristics particular to individual widgets of each group; and batch generating widgets according to a fixed instruction sequence, sequentially by group with reference to the list of characteristics common to the widgets of each group, and sequentially within each group with reference to the list of characteristics particular to each widget of the corresponding group.

Preferably, the characteristics are listed in a data file.

In an embodiment of the invention, each widget group contains a parent widget and widgets having a common property.

In an embodiment of the invention, the listed characteristics include a parent widget identifier, a kind of a widget, a position of the widget relative to the parent widget, the colour and character string of the widget.

In an embodiment of the invention, the listed characteristics further include a total number of widget groups and the number of child widgets in each group.

In an embodiment of the invention, the parent widget information includes a group identifier and a child identifier.

1 4 In an embodiment of the invention, the characteristics common to the widgets of each group include a kind of widget; or a parent widget identifier.

In an embodiment of the invention, the characteristics particular to each widget of a group include: size information; or position co-ordinates; or colour information; or a character string for display upon the corresponding widget.

is According to an aspect of the invention, the display motif may be changed by modification of the list of characteristics, without modification of the fixed instruction sequence.

According to an aspect of the invention, the fixed instruction sequence contains no information relating to the appearance of the widgets.

In an embodiment of the invention, the display motif is an alarm display for informing a user of a digital cellular communications system of a malfunction alarm of a base station manager.

In an embodiment of the invention, the widget colour information includes colours of a top shadow, a bottom shadow and a background.

In an embodiment of the invention, composite widget 30 generation functions are collected in a widget generation function.

The present invention also provides a display motif generating device, comprising: a data filing unit for filing generation data needed for batch generation of elementary graphic objects, widgets; a batch generation structure defining unit for reading the filed widget generation data corresponding to a widget group; and a widget generation controlling unit for reading a certain data f ile, as requested by an instruction of the batch generation structure defining unit from the data filing unit, and for batch generating requested widgets by a widget generation function.

In an embodiment of the invention, such a display motif generating device is used for implementing an alarm graphic display which informs a user of a digital cellular communication system of a malfunction alarm of a base station manager.

In an embodiment of the invention, the widgets are grouped when the batch generation structure is defined.

In an embodiment of the invention, each widget group contains a parent widget and widgets having a common property.

In an embodiment of the invention, the filed widget generation data includes a parent widget identifier, a kind of widget, a position of the widget relative to the parent widget, the colour and the character string of the widget.

In an embodiment of the invention, the filed widget generation data includes a total number of widget groups and the number of child widgets in each group.

In an embodiment of the invention, the parent widget identifier includes a group identifier and a child widget identifier.

In an embodiment of the invention, the widget colour information includes colours of a top shadow, a bottom shadow and a background.

In an embodiment of the invention, composite widget generation functions are collected in the widget generation function.

6 Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

figure 1 is a block diagram of a digital cellular system with relation to a BSM, to which the present invention may be applied; figure 2 illustrates an exemplary simple motif display for better understanding of a widget group, a group identifier and a child identifier; figure 3 illustrates a motif widget structure of the motif display shown in figure 2; figure 4 is an algorithm of widget batch generation according to an aspect of the present invention; and figure 5 is a block diagram of a motif widget batch generation device according to another aspect of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Preferred odiment

In a digital cellular system, a BSM operates in a work station, for managing, repairing, and maintaining the entire mobile communications system. The BSM notifies the operational state of the mobile communications system through an alarm display implemented according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a CDMA digital cellular system with relation to a BSM, to which the present invention may be applied. The digital mobile communications system includes mobile stations (MS) 10-1 to 10-n, a base station transceiver subsystem (BTS) 12, a base station controller (BSC) 14, a BSM 16, and a mobile 1 7 switching centre (MSC) 18. The mobile stations 10-1 to 10n are mobile communication terminals, for radio communication under the control of the BTS 12. The BTS 12 is a base station for radio communication with the mobile stations 10-1 to 10-n positioned within its own cell radius. The BSC 14 is connected between the BTS 12 and the MSC 18, for controlling the entire communication of the BTS 12. The BSM 16 is connected to the BSC 14, for interfacing operators in the BTS 12. The BSM 16 is connected to the BSC 14, for the interfacing operators in the BTS 12. The MSC 18 is connected to the BSC 14, for switching the mobile stations 10-1 to 10-n.

A display motif is a set of basic user interface objects 15 called widgets. A motif widget set includes all objects related with GUI, which a programmer or a user may want, such as pull-down menu, dialogue box, scroll bar, push button, and the like. When the programmer intends to make some application program using a display motif, he just selects a widget set for use in making GUI, and includes the widget set in the related code, which is them compiled, ready for use. Results from coded widgets are displayed on a screen. However, for making a plurality of widgets of the same property by such a method, an identical coding must inconveniently be repeated. Code portions of the widgets of the same property vary in accordance with the positions, colours, and strings of widgets.

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to 30 efficient implementation of an alarm display indicating a malfunction alarm of the BSM 16 shown in figure 1 to a user or an operator. For this purpose, a motif widget batch generation data is disclosed in an aspect of the present invention.

According to an aspect of the invention, by independently managing the data needed for generating widgets, widgets may be easily and rapidly generated in a batch. Coding is simplified by filing the widget generation data in data 8 files, reading the data files, and making a fixed instruction sequence function for automatically generating corresponding widgets, according to the data in the data files. Further, coding efficiency is increased, as widget characteristics may be changed just by modifying the data files. Work time can be reduced and work efficiency can be increased by modifying a widget structure through the data files requiring no coding or compiling.

Although there are many kinds of widget managers available to generate widgets, a If orm. widget I type widget manager is preferably used, due to the convenience it offers, in enabling widgets to be arranged according to position.

According to an aspect of the. invention, a data f ile is provided, and includes the position of a parent widget, the kind of a generated widget, the position of a widget within the parent widget, the colour and any character string associated with the widget. For the widget position, relative co-ordinates are used in a IXmATTACH_ POSITION' resource of the form widget.

Widgets are grouped in accordance with their kinds, and widgets in the same group must have an identical parent widget. To represent the kind of a widget, a string indicating a widget batch generation function is used instead of an original widget name. While the function may be made whenever necessary according to the desired use of widgets, basically required functions are preferably defined at the start.

In generating widgets, data files are used in a manner similar to user interface language (UIL), in that preliminarily complied functions are used. However, UIL is of the same structure as the widget structure in motif codes, and needs re-compiling whenever a modification needs to be made. On the other hand, the use of data f iles according to the present invention enables the widget structure to be modified without reference to the 9 corresponding source file, and requires no compiling. Further, a widget generation function is made whenever necessary, and coding efficiency is increased by excluding unnecessary widget generation functions from the source 5 code.

The conventional methods are not viable in coding, especially in the case of an alarm display because the structure of the alarm display should be modified whenever demands for the state of an alarm are changed.

To the contrary, according to an aspect of the invention, the alarm display can be modified just by modifying the data files in the widget batch generating method, thereby 15 simplifying coding.

A widget structure for widget batch generation according to an embodiment of the present invention will be defined as follows:

Definition of Widget Structure for Batch Generation Widgets are grouped to enable batch generation of widgets. Each widget group comprises a parent widget, and child widgets sharing a common property. The parent widget is equivalent to a manager widget, and a child widget is a widget generated on the parent widget.

A widget structure is defined as struct Page( int N; Widget Buttons; Pos POSPTR; Col COLPTR; Str STRPTR; Prt PRTPTR; Knd KNDPTR; int MAXLEN; Here, a filed N indicates the number of widgets needed, for memory allocation (hereinafter, referred to as malloc). The term N[n] indicates the number of child widgets in an n'th group. Especially, N[01 indicates the total number of widget groups forming a display. A filed Buttons indicates the address of each child widget in a group. The child widget is defined by a double pointer because a group identifier and then a child identifier are given to each child widget. Fields POSPTR, COLPTR, and STRPTR indicate the position, colour, and any character string of a widget, respectively. Structures Pos, Col, and Str store data necessary to change the position, colour, and string of the widget. Fields PRTPTR and KNDPTR indicate the position of a parent widget and the kind of a widget group. Because child widgets in a group are of the same kind, and share an identical parent widget, PRTPTR and KNDPTR are defined by a single pointer.

A field MAXLEN stores the length of the longest character string in a group, for use in assigning an appropriate character font to a widget. The field MAXLEN is different from the other fields in that its value is set after comparing strings during implementing a program, while the initial values of the other fields are set in a data file. That is, the initial value of MAXLEN may not be set in the data file.

Structures Pos, Col, Str, and Knd are defined as:

typedef struct_ Pos { int Nth, Sth, Wst, Est; Pos; typedef struct_Col char Tsh[201, Bsh[201, Bdg[201; } Col; 11 typedef struct-Str{ char str[1001; char fore[20]; Str; typedef struct_Prt{ int i, j; Prt; typedef struct Knd{ char knd[201; Knd; Fields of Pos indicate top, bottom, left, and right position co-ordinates of a child widget with respect to a parent widget, and fields of Col indicate top shadow, bottom shadow, and background colours of the widget. Fields of Str indicate a character string and the colour of the string, respectively. The field fore (the colour of the string) may be omitted, in which case, black is designated.

Two fields of Prt indicate a group identifier and a child identifier of a parent widget, respectively. A field of Knd indicates the kind of a widget.

Concepts for widget generation in an embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

2. Concepts for Widget Generation A widget group refers to a set of widgets the same kind on an identical parent widget. A group identifier indicates the number of a group among groups defined in data file, starting with 1 and subsequently incremented. A child identifier indicates the number of a widget in a group, starting with 1 and sequentially incremented. Every widget defined in the date file has a group identifier and a child identifier. A simple motif display is illustrated in figure 2, for better understanding of the widget group, the group identifier, and the child identifier.

12 To produce the structure of the motif display shown in figure 2, four widget groups and five child widgets are used. The four groups have one, one, one, and two child widgets respectively. Though a background widget 20 Ue a form widget) at the bottom belongs to no group, it is used as a parent widget for other widgets in a data file, and so is advantageously given a group identifier and a child identifier. Thus, a group identifier 0 and a child identifier 0 are given to the background widget 20. Figure

3 illustrates the structure of the motif display shown in figure 2. For simplicity in describing widgets, if a b1th child widget in an a'th group is defined as widget (a, b), the background widget 20 is widget JO, 01. Groups 1-4 have widgets {O, 01, [1, 1), (2, 11, and {3, 1), respectively, as their parent widgets. Widgets of the same kind under an identical parent are usually included in the same group, but may be in different groups under certain circumstances, such as in order to allocate different fonts to widgets in the same group, or to for convenience of widget management.

A widget generation function is described below.

3.

Widget Generation Function A widget generation function creates child widgets on a parent widget by malloc of as many child widgets as necessary; its changes characteristics of the child widgets such as position and colour, and returns pointers of the child widgets. The value of the returned pointers are grouped and used to designate the child widgets by means of a group identifier and child identifiers.

According to an aspect of the invention, data relating to 35 a parent widget, and the number, positions, and colours of child widgets are obtained from widget structures in a data file.

13 A composite widget having a complicated structure can be formed when necessary. For example, in order to generate a manager widget with threedimensional visual effects, three form widgets are subjected to malloc, have different colours, and are overlapped with a slight offset. Although the position of a child widget relative to the corresponding parent widget is determined by a form widget at the bottom in a parent widget, the address of a f orm widget at the top in the parent widget is returned as the address of a widget group.

There are no particular limits on widget generation functions, and they can be def ined by a user, as long as the pointer of a form widget is returned in a composite manager widget generation function. This is because other widgets can only be positioned on the composite manager widget including form widgets.

Intended widget generation functions may be implemented by reading only one function, if a string indicating each function is used in an IF-sentence, rather than by several widget generation functions included in separate codes.

A data file for widget batch generation is made as follows according to an aspect of the present invention.

4. Making Data File for Widget Batch Generation An example data file for a simple motif display implemented by widget generation functions will be analyzed. Such data file, and such motif may be used in a BSM alarm display of a digital cellular system. It should be noted that the content and format of this example data file may not be ideal in any given application. Content and format can be freely defined by a programmer.

A data file for defining the motifs shown in figure 2 may be:

14 4: 1 1 1 2 KND01{BigButtons} KND02{BigButtons} MD03{BigButtons} KND04{BigButtons} PRT01{0, 0} PRT02 {l, 1} PRT03 {2, 1} PRT04 {3, 1} POST01{25, 76, 3. 97} POST02{5, 95, 5. 95} POST03{5, 93, 5, 95} POST04{7, 93, 15. 43}{7, 95, 57, 85} COL0l{whitesmoke, greySO, lightgrey} COL02{grey 50, whitesmoke, grey70} COL03{whitesmoke, greySO, lightgrey} COL04{NULL, NULL, limegreen} {NULL, NULL, limegreen} STRO1{NULL} STR02{NULL} STR03{NULL} STR04{A}{B} The first line indicates that there are four widget groups, and that the four groups have one, one, and two child widgets, respectively. These numbers should be positioned in a fixed order in the first line, and are used for malloc of widgets needed for a widget generation function. The term IKNDI indicates the kind of a widget, and should be positioned at the start of a line because it generally serves as a token representing the position of intended data in a data f ile. A character string indicating the kind of a widget is bracketed in (), excluding other character sequences. The string may be defined by a user as a string representing a widget generation function by a user. The term IPRTI indicates a parent widget. A group is identifier and a child identifier for the parent widget are separated by commas. The sequence of designating the parent widget and subsequent widgets should be retained. otherwise, the parent widget would be unidentified, resulting in an unexpected display. The term POS indicates the top, bottom, left, and right positions of a child widget relative to the parent widget, expressed in percentage terms. Assuming that a widget entirely occupies the parent widget, the relative position of the widget is {O, 100, 0, 1001. The relative position may be defined only in integer percentage co-ordinates, and avoids a decimal point. In case a co- ordinate below 1 is required for an intended position, a dummy widget must be generated on the parent widget, and then the required widget is positioned on the dummy widget, in terms of percentage of the dummy widget. The term ICOLI provides colour information of top shadow, bottom shadow, and background of a widget. The term 'NULL' indicates an unusual colour, and the terms used to designate various colours may be interpreted according to a colour designation table, known as I rgb. txt I. The term ISTRI includes information of a character string attached to a widget. To obtain a child widget without a string, the colour information of the child widget in the data file should be blank. To remove strings from all the child widgets in a group, NULL should be market in the colour information of the child widgets.

Figure 5 is a block diagram of a motif widget batch generating device according to another aspect of the present invention. The device has a data filing unit 50, a batch generation structure defining unit 52, an a composite widget batch generating controlling unit 54.

The data filing unit 50 files widget generation data needed 35 for batch generation of widgets, being GUI objects, in a data f ile.

16 The batch generation structure defining unit 52 defines a batch generation structure to read the filed widget generation data in a corresponding widget group unit.

The composite widget batch generation controlling unit 54 reads a corresponding data file requested by an instruction of the batch generation structure defining unit 52 from the data f iling unit 50, and generates an intended composite widget using a widget generation function for widget batch generation.

An algorithm for widget batch generation is shown in figure 4. Referring to figure, 4 a data file in the data filing unit 50 is opened, in step 100, and the number PAGE.N[O] of widget groups and the number PAGE.N[n] of child widgets on an n1th group are read from the data file, in step 102. Referring to figures 2 and 3, PAGE.N[01 is 4, and PAGE.N[11-PAGE.N[41 are 1, 1, 1, and 2, respectively.

In step 104, a widget structure is allocated to a memory, using malloc, A structure PAGE stores widget structure information read from the data file. In step 106, i and j indicating a group identifier and a child identifier respectively, are set up to 1. The identifier i is incremented from I to PAGE.N[01, and j is incremented from 1 to PAGE.N[n]. The term n indicates an arbitrary group identifier among I-PAGE.N[PAGE. N[011.

In step 108, it is determined whether i is not larger than PAGE.N[O]. Referring to figures 2 and 3, PAGE.N[O1 is 4, larger than 1, and the procedure goes to step 110.

In step 110, it is determined whether j is not larger than PAGE.N[i]. Because j is 1 at the moment, it is equal to PAGE.NU1 according to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, and the procedure goes to step 112.

In step 112, the kind KNDPTR[i] of a widget, a parent widget PRTPRT [i] [j I, the position POSPTR [i] [j of the 17 widget relative to the parent widget, the colour COLPTR[i][j] and string STRPTR[i][j] of the widget are all read from the data file. The current values of i and j are 1, respectively. The data read in step 112 is used to generate widgets.

In step 114, a composite widget corresponding to PAGE.KNDPTR[group identifier) is generated, using a widget generation function. Referring to f igures 2 and 3, a composite widget for group 1 is generated, using a corresponding widget generation function PAGE.KNDPTR[l]. The widget generation function includes functions for generating intended composite widgets, which are implemented by key input of PAGE.KNDPTR[group identifier].

In step 116, j is incremented by 1, and the procedure goes back to step 110. Now that j is 2, j is larger than PAGE.N[1], the procedure jumps to step 118.

In step 118, i is incremented by 1, and j is set to 1, and the procedure goes back to step 108.

By the above procedure, composite widgets for group 1 are generated in a batch, and then steps 108-118 are repeated, while sequentially incrementing i and j by 1. Thus, widgets for each of groups 2-4 are respectively generated in a batch. When all child widgets all groups have been generated, the procedure goes to step 120, and the data file is closed.

As described above, in the widget batch generating method using a motif function according to the present invention, widgets are easily generated in a batch by filing widget generation data, and work time is reduced by modifying a widget structure through a data file requiring no compiling. In addition, use of a function for automatically reading the data file and generating widgets facilitates coding and increases work efficiency.

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Claims (24)

1. A method for the generation of a display motif, comprising the steps of:decomposing the required display motif into several elementary graphic objects, widgets; organising widgets into groups according to characteristics common to one or more widgets; listing characteristics common to the widgets of each group; listing characteristics particular to individual widgets of each group; batch generating widgets according to a fixed instruction sequence; sequentially by group with references to the list of characteristics common to the widgets of each group; and sequentially within each group with reference to the list of characteristics particular to each widget of the corresponding group.
2. 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the characteristics are listed in a data file.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each widget group contains a parent widget and widgets having a common property.
4. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the listed characteristics include a parent widget identifier, a kind of a widget, a position of the 19 widget relative to the parent widget, the colour and character string of the widget.
5. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the listed characteristics further includes a total number of widget groups and the number of child widgets in each group.
6. is A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the parent widget information includes a group identifier and a child identifier.
7. 7. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the characteristics common to the widgets of each group include:

   a kind of widget; or a parent widget identifier.
8. 8. A method according to claim 1 wherein the characteristics particular to each widget of a group includes:

   size information; or position co-ordinates; or colour information or a character string for display upon the corresponding widget.
9. 9. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the display motif may be changed by modification of the list of characteristics, without modification of the fixed instruction sequence.
10. 10. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the fixed instruction sequence contains no information relating to the appearance of the widgets.
11. 11. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the display motif is an alarm display for informing a user of a digital cellular communications system of a malfunction alarm of a base station manager.
12. 12. A method according to claim 4 or claim 8, wherein the widget colour information includes colours of a top shadow, a bottom shadow, and a background.
13. 13. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein composite widget generation functions are collected in a widget generation function.
14. 14. A display motif generating device, comprising:

    a data filing unit for filing generation data needed for batch generation of elementary graphic objects, widgets; a batch generation structure defining unit for reading the f iled widget generation data corresponding to a widget group; and a widget generation controlling unit for reading a certain data file, as requested by an instruction of the batch generation structure defining unit from the data filing unit, and for batch generating requested widgets by a widget generation function.
15. 15. A display motif generating device, according to claim 14, for implementing an alarm graphic display which informs a user of a digital cellular communication system of a malfunction alarm of a base station manager.

    21
16. 16. A device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the widgets are grouped when the batch generation structure is defined.
17. 17. A device as claimed in claim 14, wherein each widget group contains a parent widget and widgets having a common property.
18. 18. A device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the filed widget generation data includes a parent widget identifier, a kind of widget, a position of the widget relative to the parent widget, the colour and the character string of the widget.
19. 19. A device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the f iled widget generation data includes a total number of widget groups and the number of child widgets in each group.
20. 20. A device as claimed in claim 18, wherein the parent widget identifier includes a group identifier and a child widget identifier.
21. 21. A device as claimed in claim 18, wherein the widget colour information includes colours of a top shadow, a bottom shadow and a background.
22. 22.

    A device as claimed in claim 14, wherein composite widget generation functions are collected in the widget generation function.
23. A method for the generation of a display motif substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
24. 24. A display motif generating device substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.