JPH0426476B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a terminal control device that is located between a central processing unit and a display device in a data processing system and controls the display device, and particularly relates to a terminal control device that is located between a central processing unit and a display device and controls the display device. The present invention relates to multi-screen control for displaying console messages.

[Background of the invention]

In standard data processing systems, the fourth
As shown in the figure, a system control program (for example, an operating system) 2 in a central processing unit 1 operates the system using a dedicated console display device 6 via a console display control device 4. In this case, the business program 3 in the central processing unit 1 uses a display device 7 different from the dedicated console display device 6 to execute the business. In general,
A plurality of display devices 7 are installed in one system, and all of these are connected to the terminal control device 5. Therefore, all console messages 8 issued by the system control program 2 are displayed on the dedicated console display device 6, and all business screens 9 issued by the business program 3 are displayed on the display device 7.

On the other hand, in recent years, mainly in small systems, one of the display devices 7 is used as a console display device, as shown in FIG.
A widely used method is to reduce the number of installed display devices and make effective use of them, and also to omit the console display control device, thereby reducing the cost of the system. In such a system, the display device 7 which also serves as a console display device is controlled as described below.

(1) When a console message occurs while the display device is being used as a business display device, the system control program 2 displays characters on a part of the screen of the display device 7 to notify that the console message has occurred. The operator responds by pressing a special key. Then, the system control program 2 displays the console message 8 on the display device 7. To return to the original business screen, the operator presses the special key again, and in response, the system control program 2 resends the business screen.

(2) A console message display area of one or two lines is fixedly provided on the screen of the display device 7, and console messages are displayed within this area (control is performed by the terminal control device 5).

(3) Using a CRT screen splittable display device as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-152431, sending both console messages and business screens to the display device 7;
Two screens are controlled by the virtual screen control function, scroll function, etc. of the display device itself (multiple screen control).

However, in method (1), the operator is required to switch screens every time a console message occurs, resulting in poor operability.

In method (2), the console screen (console message display area) is small (limited to one or two lines in size in order to secure a business screen of the necessary size), so the console screen If a scrolling function is required or if console messages occur frequently, there is a problem that the operator may overlook the console messages. Furthermore, the operator may not be able to input information on the console screen, and may have to display a console response screen on the display device 7 when responding.

In method (3), the cost of the display device increases because memory for the virtual screen is provided in the display device, and the screen row coordinates in the same memory are managed by the microprocessor in the display device. This may cause performance problems such as speed. Furthermore, in order to display the console screen, it is necessary to add the above functions to all display devices under the terminal control device (generally, the display devices that display the console screen are not fixed), which increases the system cost. Becomes high.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its main purpose is to inexpensively realize a system in which a single display device is used for displaying business data and console messages; An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal control device for multi-screen control that can improve the operability of a dual-purpose display device.

[Summary of the invention]

In the present invention, when the terminal control device receives a console message addressed to the display device while the display device is displaying a business screen, the terminal control device determines at which position on the business screen the key input by the operator was made. The cursor position determines whether the cursor position is inside or outside a predefined area (referred to as the determination area), and based on the determination result, the predefined console screen Select one and display the console message there.

This will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. In figures a and b, 11 is a display device;
12 is a business screen. A determination area 14 is set on the business screen 12. When the terminal control device (not shown) receives the console message, if the cursor 13 is within the determination area 14, the terminal control device (not shown) displays the preset console screen 15, 1.
6, the console screen 15 farthest from the current cursor position, that is, the business input position, is selected and the console message is displayed there. if,
If the cursor 13 is outside the determination area 14, the terminal control device selects the other console screen 16 and displays the console message there.
In this way, under the control of the terminal control device, a console screen is selected and a console message is displayed so as not to interfere with business input.

Note that the above is merely a description of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In addition, to simplify the explanation,
The system device connected to the terminal control device is 1
The following description assumes that there is only a stand, and that the display device is also used as a console display device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a terminal control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the screen buffer 20 in the terminal control device 5 corresponding to the screen buffer 43 in the display device 7 is located between the transmitting/receiving circuit 22 on the central processing unit side and the transmitting/receiving circuit 23 on the display device 7 side. It is connected to the evacuation buffer 21. Also screen buffer 20
is connected to the screen editing circuit 24 by a control signal 25, and is connected to the screen buffer 20 and the save buffer 2.
Address bus 1 is connected to control circuit 28 . The terminal circuit 28 is also connected to the transmitter/receiver circuit 22 by a command signal 27.

The output of the cursor address register 37 in the terminal control device 5 corresponding to the cursor address register 44 in the display device 7 is connected to the comparison circuit 39 along with the output of the judgment area definition register 38, and its output signal is connected to the selector 40. Ru.
The selector 40 is controlled by the output signal of the comparison circuit 39 to select one of the console screen definition registers 41 and 42, and the contents of the selected console screen definition register are transmitted to the control circuit 28.
is transmitted to. Console message detection circuit 2
9 is a flip-flop 3 which is connected to the transmitting/receiving circuit 2 and indicates that the console screen is being displayed by its detection signal.
Set to 0. On the other hand, flip-flop 32
indicates that there is no input field on the console screen, and is set or reset by the input field detection signal 26 from the screen editing circuit 24. two flip-flops 30,3
The output display of 2 is inputted to the timer 35 via the AND gate 35 as a timer start signal 34.
This timer 35 transmits a timeout signal 36 to the control circuit 28 after a certain period of time has passed since it was started.
give to

Next, the operation will be explained. First, control of the business screen will be explained. When the terminal control device 5 receives a command (write command) for writing a business screen onto the display device 7 from the central processing unit, the transmitting/receiving circuit 22 activates the control circuit 28 in response to the command signal 27 . This control circuit 28 is composed of, for example, a microprocessor, and is used to transfer data between screen buffers, start up the screen editing circuit 24, etc. When activated by the transmitting/receiving circuit 22, the control circuit 28 performs control such as reading out the screen buffer 43 in the display device 7 and storing the contents in the screen buffer 20 in the terminal control device 5. Next, the control circuit 28 activates the transmitting/receiving circuit 22 and causes the business screen data received from the central processing unit to be written into the screen buffer 20. When this writing is completed, the control circuit 28 activates the screen editing circuit 24 and converts the business screen data written into the screen buffer 20 into a format that can be transmitted to the display device 7. When this conversion is completed, the control circuit 28 controls the screen buffer 20 and the transmitting/receiving circuit 23 to transmit the contents of the screen buffer 20 to the display device 7 for display.

Next, the operation when the terminal control device 5 receives a console message while displaying a business screen on the display device 7 will be described. Note that the explanation here assumes that an identification flag for identifying a console message is attached to the beginning of the received data.

While displaying a business screen on display device 7,
When the terminal control device 5 receives a write command for the display device 7, the control circuit 28 first transfers the contents of the screen buffer 43 in the display device 7 to the screen buffer 20. on the other hand,
The console message detection circuit 29 determines whether or not the data is a console message based on the identification flag at the beginning of the received data. If it is a console message, the flip-flop 30 is set by the detection signal from the console message detection circuit 29. Then, the control circuit 28 causes the contents of the cursor address register 44 (current cursor address) in the display device 7 to be transferred to the cursor address register 37.

The cursor address set in the cursor address register 37 is stored in the judgment area definition register 38.
The comparison circuit 39 compares the contents with the contents of the . The determination area definition register 38 contains the determination area (1 in FIG.
The row and column coordinates of the starting point and ending point (corresponding to 14a and 14b in FIG. 1) of 4) are stored. This comparison determines whether the cursor is inside or outside the determination area. Based on this determination result, the selector 40 selects one of the two console screen definition registers 41 and 42. Console screen definition register 4
1, 42 contains the console screen (1 in Figure 1).
5 and 16) are stored. Further, the starting point and ending point are set to be opposite to the cursor position.

When the control circuit 28 obtains information on the start and end points of the console screen via the selector 40, it causes the screen buffer 20 to store data of the part of the business screen corresponding to the console screen in the save buffer 21. When the data has been saved, the control circuit 28 activates the transmitter/receiver circuit 22 and transfers the console message from the host device to the screen buffer 20.
Store them sequentially in the console screen address above. Then, the screen editing circuit 24 is activated to edit the data. When this editing is completed, the contents of the screen buffer 20, ie, the screen on which the business screen console screen coexists, is transmitted to the display device 7 and displayed.

In this manner, console messages are automatically displayed without operator intervention. Moreover,
Since a console screen that does not interfere with business operations is selected according to the cursor position when a console message is received, a sufficiently large console screen can be defined, and operations such as scrolling the console screen are no longer necessary. In this way, the operability regarding the display of console messages is greatly improved. In addition, the data on the selected console screen part of the business screen is automatically saved in the terminal control device, so when returning to the business screen,
There is no need to resend business screens from the central processing unit. This contributes to efficient operation of the system.

Next, the operation when there is no input field on the console screen will be explained.

If the console message does not specify an input field, that is, if there is no input field on the console screen, the operator only needs to confirm the console message and does not need to respond. Therefore, after the operator confirms the console message, it is necessary to return to the original business screen. Conventionally, the operator interrupts work (key input) and presses a special key, etc.
It was necessary to return to such a business screen. In contrast, in this embodiment, if there is no input field on the console screen, the console screen is erased after a certain period of time under the control of the terminal control device 5, and the original business screen is automatically restored. There is.

To explain this, in the aforementioned console screen processing, when the screen editing circuit 24 edits the console screen in the screen buffer 20, the identification flag of the input field is also detected. If there is no input field, the input field detect signal 26 sets a flip-flop 32 to indicate the absence of an input field. Here, since the flip-flop 30 for indicating that the console screen is being displayed has already been set, the timer 35 is activated by the timer activation signal 34. When a timeout signal is output from the timer 35 after a certain period of time has elapsed, the control circuit 28 causes the contents of the screen buffer 43 of the display device 7 to be transferred to the screen buffer 20. Then, the contents of the save buffer 21 are returned to the address of the console screen of the screen buffer 20, the contents of the screen buffer 20 are transferred to the screen buffer 43 in the display device 7, and the flip-flop 30 is reset.
In this way, when there is no input field on the console screen, the operator does not need to intervene to return to the business screen, improving operability in this aspect as well.

Note that the address of the console screen may be stored inside the control circuit 28 or may be stored in a register provided externally.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a terminal control device according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this example,
When a read command is received from the central processing unit while the console screen is displayed, it is determined from the cursor console and either the console screen or the business screen (including the save screen) is sent to the central processing unit. This differs from the previous embodiment in this point. Only the parts related to these differences will be explained. Note that the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 indicate equivalent parts.

In FIG. 3, console screen register 51
is for storing the contents of the console screen definition register 41 or 42 selected by the selector 40 according to the procedure described above, and is connected to the control circuit 28 and the comparison circuit 52.
The other input of comparison circuit 52 is connected to cursor address register 37. AND gate 5
The input side of 4 is connected to a flip-flop 30 indicating that the console screen is being displayed, a comparison circuit 52, and a flip-flop 50 indicating that a read-related command is being received. The output of the AND gate 54 is connected to the control circuit 28 as a console screen selection signal 53.

Next, the operation will be explained. When the terminal control device 5 receives a read command from the central processing unit while the display device 7 is displaying the console screen, the control circuit 28 sets the flip-flop 50. Then, the screen buffer 43 in the display device 7 is read into the screen buffer 20, and at the same time, the contents of the cursor address register 44 are read into the cursor address register 37.

Comparison circuit 52 compares cursor address register 4
4 is compared with the start point and end point addresses of the console screen in the console screen definition register 51 to determine whether the cursor is included in the current console screen. The console screen selection signal 53 is generated when the console screen is being displayed, a read-related command is received, and the cursor is included in the console screen.

When the control circuit 28 recognizes the console screen selection signal 53, it causes only the console screen in the screen buffer 20 to be transmitted to the central processing unit. In this case, the control circuit 28 controls the console screen register 51
to determine the console screen address.

On the other hand, if the console screen selection signal 53 is not generated, the control circuit 28 reads the flip-flop 30 and determines whether the console screen is being displayed. If the console screen is not displayed, all contents of the screen buffer 20 are sent to the central processing unit. If the console screen is displayed, transfer the contents of the save buffer 21 to the console screen address of the screen buffer 20 (restore the original business screen), and send all the contents of the screen buffer 20 to the central processing unit. do.

In this way, when a transmission request occurs while the console screen is displayed, appropriate processing is automatically performed depending on the positional relationship between the cursor and the console screen, eliminating the need for operator intervention and improving operability. It has been improved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to each embodiment and can be implemented with various modifications.

For example, in each of the above embodiments, the judgment area definition register 38, the console screen definition register 41,
The contents of 42 may be rewritten from the central processing unit side via the transmitting/receiving circuit 22.

Further, in the embodiment described above, console messages were detected using the identification flag attached to the beginning of the data, but a new command for writing console messages may be provided. In that case, the console message detection circuit 2
9, a command signal 27 may be input to detect the console message write command.

Alternatively, two device addresses may be assigned to one display device, one device address may be defined as one for the console screen, and the console message detection circuit 29 may detect the device address for the console screen. good.

Furthermore, when multiple display devices are connected to the terminal control device, if a means for storing and determining the device address of the display device that also serves as the console display device is provided in the circuit configuration of each of the above-mentioned embodiments, similar multiple display devices can be connected. Screen controls can be applied.

It is also possible to set a plurality of determination areas and perform similar control.

[Effects of the Invention] Since the terminal control device for multi-screen control according to the present invention is as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) If a console message occurs while an operator is operating a business screen on a display device, the console message is automatically displayed in an area on the screen that does not interfere with business operations, and the operator does not need to perform screen switching operations. do not have. Also, since the console screen can be set large enough,
The operator no longer needs to operate the scroller on the console screen. Therefore, the burden on the operator can be reduced and operability can be improved.

(2) Since multiple screen control is performed by a terminal control device, the display device can be realized at a low cost, and the system can therefore be constructed at a low cost compared to the case where multiple screen control is performed on the display device side, which is generally provided with a plurality of display devices.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a terminal control device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a terminal control device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a system equipped with a dedicated console display device, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a system equipped with a display device that also functions as a console display device. 1...Central processing unit, 5...Terminal control device, 7
...Display device, 12...Business screen, 1
3... Cursor, 14... Judgment area, 15, 16
...Console screen, 20...Screen buffer, 2
1... Evacuation buffer, 22, 23... Transmission/reception circuit, 24... Screen editing circuit, 28... Control circuit,
29...console message detection circuit, 30,
32, 50...Flip-flop, 35...Timer, 37, 44...Cursor address register,
38... Judgment area definition register, 39, 52...
Comparison circuit, 40... Selector, 41, 42... Console screen definition register, 43... Screen buffer, 51... Console screen register.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a system in which one display device is used as both a console display device and a business display device, a central processing unit is located between the central processing unit and the display device to control the display device. A terminal control device, comprising means for defining a determination area and a plurality of console message display areas on a screen buffer within the display device, and means for determining whether a cursor position of the display device is inside or outside the determination area. and, depending on the result of the determination, if the cursor position is within the determination area, select a console message display area outside the determination area, and if the cursor position is outside the determination area, select the console message display area within the determination area. means for selecting a screen buffer in the display device; a memory corresponding to a screen buffer in the display device; and control means for storing the contents in the internal memory, writing the console message in an area of the memory corresponding to the selected console message display area, and transferring the contents of the memory to the screen memory. A terminal control device characterized by: