JP2003296113A - Program development support device, program development support method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program development supporting system for easily changing program when a certain program is changed by adding another program. <P>SOLUTION: A program development supporting device has a part list display means to visually display each of a plurality of program parts on a screen by icons or character strings, a program configuration display means to display the program configuration of the designated program part, blocks to indicate components of the program part, and connection between the blocks on a predetermined area on the screen, a movement designation means to designate the icon or character string displayed on the screen by the part list display means for the movement into the area, and a part addition means to add the program configuration data of the program part corresponding to the designated icon or character string to the program configuration data of the program part displayed in the area according to the designation to move the icon or character string. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program development support device, a program development support method, a program and a recording medium, and more particularly to a program development support device, a program development support method for developing a program while creating a visual model, Program and recording medium

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to develop an efficient software program, in developing a program, a program to be developed is expressed by using a visual model, and the visual model is created to develop the program. There is a program development support system to support the.

When a program developer (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a developer) designates a part from a list of a plurality of program parts displayed on the screen of a display device of a terminal device, the structure or structure of the program is determined. It is displayed on screen by a visual model. For example, FIG. 10 to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device in the development support system according to the related art. As shown in FIG.
00 is a screen display frame, and the parts list display unit 1 on the screen
When “IP1” is selected as the component ID (identifier) from 01, the program configuration of the selected IP1 is displayed on the program configuration display unit 102. The visual model can indicate the processing contents of the program parts to the developer by displaying the processing of the parts in a block or box 103 and displaying the order of processing between parts, that is, the flow, by an arrow 104. Similarly, as shown in FIG.
If “IP2” is selected as the part ID, the program configuration of IP2 is displayed on the program configuration display unit 102. Each box 103 represents one process.

Further, the developer causes the pop-up window 105 or the window 105 to display the source code, which is the processing content of each box, and the accompanying text information, by instructing a predetermined command. You can add or modify the contents of the program.

Therefore, the developer creates or confirms the contents of each program component, and defines the flow between the plurality of components with an arrow, so that the program to be developed is a combination of a plurality of program components. Can be created.

[0006]

However, in the conventional program development system using the visual model, the contents of individual program parts can be displayed and the contents of the displayed blocks can be corrected, but other programs can be used. To change the contents by adding the contents of the parts, a complicated work is required.

For example, in the case of adding the contents of the component of IP2 to the contents of the component IP1 shown in FIG.
Even if the component IP2 is selected and copy and paste is performed in the area of the program configuration display unit 102 using the mouse or the like while the screen of 0 is displayed, as shown in FIG. Configuration display unit 10
Move to 2. However, the icon of IP2 only moves, and information such as program configuration data and source code of each block included in IP2 is not added to the component data of IP1.

[0008] If one part is to be combined with another part, it cannot be combined with a simple operation, and a complicated work is required. Specifically, two program parts are displayed in different windows, and in that state,
Copy each program to another window by copy and paste. Then, with respect to the component program displayed in the box in the new window, it is necessary to modify the contents of the box and set new connection relations by arrows.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention provides a program development support system capable of easily changing a program when another program is added and changed. To aim.

A program development support apparatus of the present invention is a program development support apparatus for expressing a program using a visual model and developing the program by creating the visual model. A component list display means for visually displaying each of them on the screen by an icon or a character string, a program configuration of the designated program component, a block indicating a component of the program component, and a connection relationship between the blocks. Program configuration display means for displaying in a predetermined area on the screen, and movement designation for designating the icon or character string displayed on the screen by the parts list display means for moving into the area Means and the designation for moving the icon or the character string, depending on the designation. The program part of the program configuration data corresponding to the icon or character string, and a part further processing means for adding to the program configuration data of the program component that is displayed in the region.

The program development support method of the present invention is a program development support method for expressing a program using a visual model and performing the program development by creating the visual model. Each of them is visually displayed on the screen by an icon or a character string, and the program configuration of the designated program component is preliminarily displayed on the screen with the block indicating the component of the program component and the connection relation between the blocks. In order to display the icon or character string displayed on the screen in order to display it in a predetermined area and move it into the area, the designation according to the specification for moving the icon or character string The program configuration data of the program component corresponding to the icon or character string
It is added to the program configuration data of the program component displayed in the area.

The program of the present invention is a development support program for expressing a program by using a visual model and developing the program by creating the visual model. A function of visually displaying each on the screen by an icon or a character string, a program configuration of the specified program component, a block indicating a component of the program component, and a connection relationship between the blocks are displayed on the screen. A function to display in a predetermined area, a function to specify the icon or character string displayed on the screen in order to move into the area, and a specification to move the icon or character string. The program configuration data of the program component corresponding to the specified icon or character string The motor, to realize the function of adding to the program configuration data of the program component that is displayed in the region.

The recording medium of the present invention is a recording medium in which the program of the present invention is recorded.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of the system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a program development support system according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a center device.
The center device 1 is connected to a plurality of terminal devices 2 used by a plurality of developers and a memory device 3 for storing various programs and data required for program development.

The center unit 1 includes a central processing unit (CP
U) Program development support tool program 4 executed by
Is installed. The memory device 3 stores visual model data 5 of a program to be developed, which will be described later, in addition to the various programs and data necessary for the program development described above.

The program developer executes the program development support tool program 4 using the terminal device 2, and develops the program while displaying a visual model of the program on the display device of the terminal device 2.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the program development support tool 4. Program development support tool 4
Is a parts list display unit 11 and a program configuration display unit 1
2, a source code display unit 13, a target movement designation unit 14, and a program component addition processing unit 15.

The parts list display unit 11 is a program for displaying a list of program parts on the screen of the display device of the terminal device 2. Each program component is displayed as an icon or a character string.

The program structure display unit 12 displays the structure or structure of the program parts designated on the screen of the terminal device 2 by the developer on the screen of the display device of the terminal device 2.
It is a program for displaying blocks indicating constituent elements and arrows indicating connection relationships between the blocks.

The source code display unit 13 is a program for displaying the source code of the block designated on the screen of the terminal device 2 by the developer on the screen of the display device of the terminal device 2.

The target movement designating section 14 allows a developer to use a pointing device such as a mouse to operate a target such as an icon designated on the screen, such as so-called copy and paste or drag and drop. It is a program of.

The program component addition processing section 15 is a processing program for a developer to add another program component to a certain program component in order to change the content of the certain program component. Specifically, the program component addition processing unit 11 allows the developer to move icons on the screen, connect arrows, etc. by using a pointing device such as a mouse based on the visual model data having the data structure shown in FIG. The program is a program that executes a process of adding a program component in accordance with the operation of.

The program development support tool 4 further includes various other programs not shown here, but the description thereof is omitted here.

Each "unit" is a conceptual one corresponding to each function of this embodiment, and does not necessarily correspond to a specific hardware or software routine on a one-to-one basis.
Therefore, in the present specification, the embodiment will be described assuming a virtual circuit block (section) having each function of the embodiment. Further, each step of each procedure in the present embodiment may be executed in a different order, a plurality of steps may be executed at the same time, or a different order may be executed for each execution, as long as the property is not violated.

FIG. 3 is an ER (Entity-Relationship) diagram showing the data structure of visual model data. In FIG. 3, one “model” has a one-to-N relationship with the “model part”. Each "model part" corresponds to a program part. The “model part” has a one-to-N relationship with the “box” which is a processing unit program. In the model, “box” corresponds to a component of a program part. Further, the “box” has a one-to-N relationship with the “connection destination box information”.

The "model part", which is a component of the "model", is composed of data of a model part ID (character string) which is an identifier. A "box", which is a component of the "model part", is a data of a box ID (character string) that is an identifier, a box text (character string) that is text data other than the source code, and a source code (character string). Consists of. The "connection destination box information" consists of data of a connection destination box ID (character string) that is an identifier. The connection destination box information indicates the information of the box connected next to each box.

The "box" needs information indicating where it is located in order to display the box on the screen, and is associated with the two-dimensional data of "coordinates". The "box" is associated with the data of the relative coordinate and the size of the box to indicate the position of the box in the window, in a one-to-one correspondence. The “connection destination box information” is associated with the two-dimensional data of “coordinates” which is the arrow vertex information regarding the start point and the end point of the arrow connected to the connection destination box in a one-to-N relationship. The two-dimensional data consists of the X coordinate (real number) and the Y coordinate (real number) of the display target. When the arrow is not a straight line and is bent in the middle, the arrow apex information includes not only the start point and the end point, but also the coordinate data of the middle bent point.

First, the operation on the screen will be described. 4 to 7 and 9 are diagrams showing examples of the display screen of the visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device 2 by the development support system according to the present embodiment.
20 is a screen display frame. Reference numeral 21 is a parts list display unit, and 22 is a program configuration display unit.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the developer selects the program part IP1 from the parts list displayed in the parts list display section 21, the program structure display section 22 displays the program structure of the program part IP1 in a box. Is indicated by an arrow. In FIG. 4, the program parts are displayed in the parts list display section 21 by the icons indicated by the square frames, but may be displayed by character strings. The frame of the component IP1 is highlighted with a thick line, which indicates that the IP1 is selected. Here, the program of the component IP1 includes four boxes 23, 24, 25, and 26. And, for example,
When the developer selects the box 23 and gives a predetermined command for displaying the source code, a frame or window 27 for displaying the source code appears near the box 23, in which the box 23 of the box 23 is displayed. The source code showing the processing content is displayed. The boxes are connected by arrows indicating the order of processing.

Since the visual model data has a data structure as shown in FIG. 3, the developer moves the position of the component program on the screen, changes the connection of the arrow, and changes the contents of the source program. When changed, etc., the operation, the changed contents, etc. are reflected in the visual model data. For example,
If the position of the block is moved, the relative coordinate data of the box is changed, and if the connection destination of the arrow is changed, the coordinate data of the arrow vertex information of the connection destination box is changed.

The program developer develops the system or program to be developed while confirming the contents of each program component.

The developer uses the IP2 of the parts list display section 21.
When is selected, the program configuration of the component IP2 is displayed on the program configuration display unit 22 as shown in FIG. Similar to FIG. 4, the frame of the component IP2 is highlighted with a thick line, which indicates that IP2 is selected. Here, the program of the component IP2 includes two boxes 31 and 32. The two boxes are connected by an arrow indicating the order of processing.

In developing a program, it is sometimes desired to change the contents of a certain program part by adding the contents of another program part. For example, this is the case when the content of IP2 is added to the content of IP1.

In the state where the program configuration of the component IP1 is displayed (FIG. 4), the developer uses the so-called copy-and-paste or drag-and-drop on the screen to display the IP2 as shown in FIG. The icon is moved to the frame of the program configuration display unit 22, that is, the program configuration display area. For example, the developer selects the icon of the component IP2 on the component list display unit 21, that is, with the mouse button pressed, moves the mouse to request the icon of the component IP2 in the area of the program configuration display unit 22. Move to the position you want to use, and release the mouse button you were pressing, that is, drop it. It is assumed that the position of the icon when the mouse button is released, that is, when it is dropped is in the state shown in FIG.

When the mouse button is released, the screen display is changed as shown in the screen of FIG. That is, the two boxes 31, 32 that are the constituent elements of the program of the component IP2
And the arrows in those boxes will appear exactly where you release the mouse button.

That is, when the icon of the component IP2 is selected and dropped at a certain position in the area of the program configuration display section 22, the program configuration data of the component IP2 is added to the program configuration data of the component IP1.
Further, the coordinate data of the box and connection destination box information included in the component IP2 is adjusted based on the coordinates of the position where the component IP2 is dropped.

In the process of adding the program configuration data of the component IP2 to the program configuration data of the component IP1, the data of the box of the component IP1 shows the data of the boxes 31 and 32 of the component IP2 and the connection relationship of the boxes 31 and 32. Arrow data is added.

In the adjustment of the coordinate data, the coordinate data relating to the connection destination box information regarding the boxes 31 and 32 and the boxes 31 and 32 added to the IP1 is corrected based on the coordinate data of the dropped position.

A process for adding a component by drag and drop will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 8
6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of component addition processing.

When a certain component is selected and the structure of the component is displayed on the program configuration display unit 22, when a component to be added is selected and copied or moved to the program configuration display unit 22 by dragging and dropping,
The processing of FIG. 8 is executed.

First, the data of the drop position coordinates of the component to be added is stored (step (hereinafter abbreviated as S)).
1). Next, the coordinate data of the box and the connection destination box information regarding the model component that is the dropped program component is adjusted based on the coordinate data of the drop position (S2). This adjustment will be described later.

The box ID, which is one of the attribute data of each box of the dropped model part, is corrected so as not to overlap with the box ID of the model part at the drop destination (S3). This is to prevent the box ID included in the moved component IP2 from overlapping with the ID assigned to the box included in the destination component IP1. If they overlap, a new ID that does not overlap is added to the box of the component IP2.

Then, the model part (IP
To the box data of 1), add the box data of the dropped model part (IP2) together with the modified attribute data (including accompanying information such as source code),
Store in the visual model data 5 of the memory device 3 (S
4). Based on the box data after the addition, the terminal device 2
The display content on the screen of is updated (S5).

As a result of the processing of S5, the screen of FIG. 6 is updated to the screen of FIG. That is, the program configuration display unit 22
Boxes 23-26 and 31, 32 are displayed in
And the arrow which shows the connection relation between boxes is also displayed. In the screen of FIG. 7, when you want to see the contents of the source code for the added box, you can display the source code of box 31 in the pop-up window 33 by instructing a predetermined command, as shown in FIG. To be done.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, it is also possible to add an arrow indicated by a dotted line 34 so that the box 32 is connected to the box 32. When this arrow is added, the connection destination box information of the component IP1 is added, the arrow vertex information regarding the arrow is generated, and added as model data.

An example of adjusting the coordinate data of the box and connection destination box information based on the coordinate data of the drop position will be described.

For example, when the horizontal axis on the screen is the X axis and the vertical axis is the Y axis, it is assumed that (120, 50) is set as the coordinate data of a predetermined point in the box 31 of the component IP2. . The predetermined point of the box is, for example, the upper left vertex of the box. This coordinate data (1
20, 50) are relative coordinate data with respect to a predetermined reference point. Therefore, the relative coordinates mean relative coordinates indicating how much the display position is moved in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction with respect to the coordinates of a certain reference point.

When the part IP2 is selected and a box is displayed in the program configuration display section 22, the box 31 is displayed.
If the reference point is, for example, (30, 40), is displayed such that the predetermined point in the box 31 is at the coordinate position of (150, 90).

It is assumed that the component IP2 to be added has been selected and copied or moved to the program configuration display unit 22 by drag and drop. If the coordinates of the drop position designated by the mouse are (50, 100), the block of the component IP2 is displayed on the program configuration display unit 22. At that time, the X coordinate of the upper left apex of the block 31 becomes 140 from (120 + 50-30),
The Y coordinate is 110 from (50 + 100-40).
Therefore, the upper left vertex coordinate of the box 31 is (140,
110). That is, the X coordinate and the Y coordinate are adjusted as (coordinates of the drop position + coordinates determined for the dropped model component (relative coordinates) -coordinates of the reference point).

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when the program is developed using the visual model, the content of the program component can be easily changed by dragging and dropping the component to be added, and at that time. Additional information such as source code can be added at the same time.

The program for executing the above-described operation is a floppy (registered trademark) disk, CD-RO.
For portable media such as M, storage devices such as hard disks,
All or part of it is recorded or stored. The program is read by a computer and all or part of the operation is executed. Alternatively,
All or part of the program can be distributed or provided via a communication network. The user is
The program development support system of the present invention can be easily realized by downloading the program through the communication network and installing it in the computer, or by installing it in the computer from the recording medium.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A program development support system capable of easily changing a program when another program is added and changed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a program development support system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a program development support tool according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an ER diagram showing a data structure of visual model data according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device by the development support system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device by the development support system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device by the development support system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device by the development support system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of component addition processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device by the development support system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device in the development support system according to the related art.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device in the development support system according to the related art.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a visual model displayed on the screen of the display device of the terminal device in the development support system according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-Center device 2 ... Terminal device 3 ... Memory device 4 ... Program development support tool program 5: Visual model data

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor, Koji Ueno             1st Komukai Toshiba-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa             Inside the Toshiba Research and Development Center (72) Inventor Shinichi Nagano             1st Komukai Toshiba-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa             Inside the Toshiba Research and Development Center (72) Inventor Tetsuo Hasegawa             1st Komukai Toshiba-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa             Inside the Toshiba Research and Development Center (72) Inventor Akihiko Osuka             1st Komukai Toshiba-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa             Inside the Toshiba Research and Development Center F term (reference) 5B076 DB01 DB03 DB07 DC02 DC09                       DD05 DE06 DE07 DE08 EC07

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A program development support apparatus for expressing a program using a visual model and developing the program by creating the visual model, wherein each of the plurality of program parts is an icon or a character string. By means of a component list display means for visually displaying on the screen, a program configuration of the designated program component, a block indicating a component of the program component, and a connection relationship between the blocks are predetermined on the screen. A program configuration display means for displaying in the area, a movement designating means for designating the icon or character string displayed on the screen by the parts list display means for moving into the area, the icon or character Corresponds to the specified icon or character string according to the specification for moving the row And a component addition processing means for adding the program configuration data of the program component to the program configuration data of the program component displayed in the area. 2. The icon or character string displayed by the parts list display means is displayed in a first window on the screen, and the area is a second window on the screen. The program development support device according to claim 1. 3. The component addition processing of the program configuration data of the program component corresponding to the icon or the character string moved by the movement designating unit to the program configuration data of the program component displayed in the area. When added by the means, the program configuration of the program component corresponding to the moved icon or character string is displayed in the area on the screen based on the added program configuration data. The program development support apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3, characterized in that. 4. The movement designation means includes a pointing device, and the icon or character string is moved by the pointing device based on position data dropped in the area in a state of being selected on the screen. The program development support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display position of the program configuration of the program component corresponding to the icon or the character string is determined. 5. A program development support method for expressing a program by using a visual model and developing the program by creating the visual model, wherein each of a plurality of program parts is represented by an icon or a character string. To visually display on the screen the program configuration of the specified program component, and to display the block indicating the component of the program component and the connection relation between the blocks in a predetermined area on the screen. , In order to move the icon or character string displayed on the screen in order to move it into the area, and according to the designation for moving the icon or character string, the specified icon or character string The program configuration data of the program component corresponding to the program component program displayed in the area. A program development support method characterized by being added to ram configuration data. 6. The icon or character string corresponding to each of the plurality of program components is displayed in a first window on the screen, and the area is a second window on the screen.
6. The program development support method according to claim 5, wherein the program development support method is a window. 7. The added program when the program configuration data of the program component corresponding to the moved icon or character string is added to the program configuration data of the program component displayed in the area. 7. The program configuration of the program component corresponding to the moved icon or character string is displayed in the area on the screen based on configuration data. Program development support method. 8. The pointing device causes the icon or character string to be selected on the screen, and the moved icon or character string is selected based on position data dropped in the area in the selected state. 8. The program development support method according to claim 5, 6, or 7, wherein a display position of the program configuration of the corresponding program component is determined. 9. A development support program for expressing a program by using a visual model and developing the program by creating the visual model, wherein the computer is provided with an icon or a plurality of program parts, respectively. The function of visually displaying on the screen by a character string, the program configuration of the designated program component, the block indicating the component of the program component, and the connection relation between the blocks are predetermined on the screen. A function of displaying in the area, a function of designating the icon or the character string displayed on the screen in order to move the area, and a specification for moving the icon or the character string, The program configuration data of the program part corresponding to the specified icon or character string is stored in the area. Program for realizing a function to be added to the program configuration data of the program component that has been displayed. 10. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 9 is recorded.