User interface control apparatus and method
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorTomonori Minagawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An identifier which indicates a reason why a direct change is disabled upon application of a specific conflict resolution rule can be described in a conflict resolution rule description file (301). In case of a process executed when a UI is not displayed, a status variable list (304) that holds setup values and status values is accessed in place of an internal structure (305) to easily check if each setup item is enabled/disabled. Upon matching overall data, a start point list which lists setup items in a given priority order is loaded to execute conflict resolution in turn, thus resolving conflicts among setup items.
Claims13
A user interface control apparatus for resolving a conflict between a plurality of pieces of setup information input to a predetermined apparatus to be controlled via a user interface and/or a plurality of pieces of environment information of the apparatus to be controlled, comprising:
- holding means for holding conflict resolution rules to be applied in accordance with the setup information and/or the environment information;
- status control means for controlling to enable/disable a direct change in state of a predetermined setup item on the user interface in accordance with the conflict resolution rules;
- and
- message control means for sending a message containing a reason why the direct change in state of the predetermined setup item is disabled by said status control means via the user interface, wherein:
- the conflict resolution rules containing:
- a command for disabling the direct change in state of the predetermined setup item;
- and
- reason information indicating a reason why the direct change is disabled by the command.
A user interface control method for resolving a conflict between a plurality of pieces of setup information input to a predetermined apparatus to be controlled via a user interface, and/or a plurality of pieces of environment information of the apparatus to be controlled, comprising the steps of:
- controlling to enable/disable a direct change in state of a predetermined setup item on the user interface in accordance with conflict resolution rules to be applied in accordance with the setup information and/or the environment information, wherein the conflict resolution rules containing a command for disabling the direct change in state of the predetermined setup item, and reason information indicating a reason why the direct change is disabled by the command;
- and
- sending a message corresponding to the reason information contained in the applied conflict resolution rule via the user interface.
A control program for resolving a conflict between a plurality of pieces of setup information input to a predetermined apparatus to be controlled via a user interface, and/or a plurality of pieces of environment information of the apparatus to be controlled, executing:
- a step of controlling to enable/disable a direct change in state of a predetermined setup item on the user interface in accordance with conflict resolution rules to be applied in accordance with the setup information and/or the environment information, wherein the conflict resolution rules containing a command for disabling the direct change in state of the predetermined setup item, and reason information indicating a reason why the direct change is disabled by the command;
- and
- a step of sending a message according to the reason information contained in the applied conflict resolution rule via the user interface.
A storage medium that stores a control program for resolving a conflict between a plurality of pieces of setup information input to a predetermined apparatus to be controlled via a user interface, and/or a plurality of pieces of environment information of the apparatus to be controlled, said control program executing:
- a step of controlling to enable/disable a direct change in state of a predetermined setup item on the user interface in accordance with conflict resolution rules to be applied in accordance with the setup information and/or the environment information, wherein the conflict resolution rules containing a command for disabling the direct change in state of the predetermined setup item, and reason information indicating a reason why the direct change is disabled by the command;
- and
- a step of sending a message according to the reason information contained in the applied conflict resolution rule via the user interface.
A user interface control apparatus, which comprises first input means for inputting a setup change request to a predetermined apparatus to be controlled via a user interface, and second input means for inputting a setup change request to the apparatus to be controlled without the intervention of the user interface, and resolves a conflict between setup states of setup items on the user interface, comprising:
- a first storage area for storing setup information indicating the setup state of each setup item on the user interface, and information indicating whether or not a direct change of the setup state is enabled;
- a second storage area for storing an internal structure of the user interface by reflecting the setup information of each setup item in said first storage area;
- a third storage area for storing predetermined conflict resolution rules to be applied to the setup change request input by said first or second input means;
- checking means for checking if the information, which indicates whether or not the direct change is enabled, and is stored in said first storage area in correspondence with the setup item to be changed by the setup change request, indicates that the direct change is enabled;
- and
- change means for, when said checking means determines that the information, which indicates whether or not the direct change is enabled, and is stored in said first storage area in correspondence with the setup item to be changed by the setup change request, indicates that the direct change is enabled, changing the setup information and/or the information indicating whether or not the direct change is enabled, of the specific setup item, which are/is stored in said first storage area.
A user interface control method for resolving a conflict between setup states of setup items on a user interface used to set up a predetermined apparatus to be controlled, comprising:
- a first input step of inputting a setup change request to the apparatus to be controlled via the user interface;
- a second input step of inputting a setup change request to the apparatus to be controlled without the intervention of the user interface;
- a checking step of checking if information, which is stored in a status variable list that stores setup information indicating the setup state of each setup item on the user interface, and information indicating whether or not a direct change of the setup state is enabled, corresponds to the setup item to be changed by the setup change request, and indicates whether or not the direct change of the setup state is enabled, indicates that the direct change is enabled;
- and
- an update state of updating, when it is determined in the checking step that the information, which corresponds to the setup item to be changed by the setup change request and indicates whether or not the direct change of the setup state is enabled, indicates that the direct change is enabled, the setup information and/or the information indicating whether or not the direct change is enabled, of the specific setup item stored in the status variable list in accordance with a conflict resolution rule to be applied according to the setup change request input in the first or second input step.
A control program for resolving a conflict between setup states of setup items on a user interface used to set up a predetermined apparatus to be controlled, executing:
- a first input step of inputting a setup change request to the apparatus to be controlled via the user interface;
- a second input step of inputting a setup change request to the apparatus to be controlled without the intervention of the user interface;
- a checking step of checking if information, which is stored in a status variable list that stores setup information indicating the setup state of each setup item on the user interface, and information indicating whether or not a direct change of the setup state is enabled, corresponds to the setup item to be changed by the setup change request, and indicates whether or not the direct change of the setup state is enabled, indicates that the direct change is enabled;
- and
- an update state of updating, when it is determined in the checking step that the information, which corresponds to the setup item to be changed by the setup change request and indicates whether or not the direct change of the setup state is enabled, indicates that the direct change is enabled, the setup information and/or the information indicating whether or not the direct change is enabled, of the specific setup item stored in the status variable list in accordance with a conflict resolution rule to be applied according to the setup change request input in the first or second input step.
A storage medium that stores a control program for resolving a conflict between setup states of setup items on a user interface used to set up a predetermined apparatus to be controlled, said control program executing:
- a first input step of inputting a setup change request to the apparatus to be controlled via the user interface;
- a second input step of inputting a setup change request to the apparatus to be controlled without the intervention of the user interface;
- a checking step of checking if information, which is stored in a status variable list that stores setup information indicating the setup state of each setup item on the user interface, and information indicating whether or not a direct change of the setup state is enabled, corresponds to the setup item to be changed by the setup change request, and indicates whether or not the direct change of the setup state is enabled, indicates that the direct change is enabled;
- and
- an update state of updating, when it is determined in the checking step that the information, which corresponds to the setup item to be changed by the setup change request and indicates whether or not the direct change of the setup state is enabled, indicates that the direct change is enabled, the setup information and/or the information indicating whether or not the direct change is enabled, of the specific setup item stored in the status variable list in accordance with a conflict resolution rule to be applied according to the setup change request input in the first or second input step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.