CN101488049B - Electronic device and method for operating application program on electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a method for operating an application program, which is used for an electronic device. The electronic device is provided with a keyboard unit, a touch sensing element and a display. Firstly, boundary setting data of a boundary region of a user interface of an application program is transmitted to a driving unit of a keyboard unit, the keyboard unit is planned into at least two induction regions according to the boundary setting data, the induction regions correspond to operation regions of the user interface, then a touch induction element senses contact on one of the induction regions, a signal is generated according to the contact, and finally an action is executed on the corresponding operation region according to the signal.

Description

Electronic device and method for operating application program on electronic device

technical field

The present invention relates to a method for operating an application program on an electronic device, in particular to a method for operating an application program on an electronic device through a touch-sensitive keyboard.

Background technique

With reference to Fig. 1, the computer software or application programs currently on the market, such as software such as Outlook and PowerPoint developed by Microsoft Corporation, its user interface 10 will include a plurality of operating areas 20, and the information desired by the user will be displayed in each operating area within 20. However, in order to completely browse the information presented in the operation area 20 , the user often needs to use a pointing device, such as a mouse, to move the cursor on the screen back and forth between each operation area 20 or to scroll the operation area 20 . In general, these actions are often time-consuming and cause inconvenience to the user.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for operating an application program on an electronic device, the method is to perform an action in the operation area of the application program through contact with the touch-sensitive keyboard unit.

In order to achieve the above object, the method for operating the application program on the electronic device of the present invention is to first open the application program, then obtain the boundary setting data of the user interface of the application program, and then transfer the boundary setting data to the keyboard unit. The drive unit plans the keyboard unit into at least two sensing areas according to the boundary setting data of the user interface, which respectively correspond to the operation areas of the user interface. The user uses his finger to touch the sensing area of the keyboard unit to perform an action in the operation area of the user interface corresponding to the touched sensing area.

According to the method for operating an application program on an electronic device of the present invention, the user does not need to use a pointing device to move the cursor on the display back and forth between each operation area of the application program, but only needs to slide his finger on the keyboard unit to complete the operation. Browse the information presented in the operating area in a convenient way.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device capable of performing the above method.

In order to make the above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the following specifically lists the embodiments of the present invention and describes them in detail with the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the user interface of general software;

FIG. 2 is an electronic device according to the present invention;

3 is a cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to the present invention;

4 is a method for operating an application program on an electronic device according to the present invention, wherein the keyboard unit is planned so that at least two sensing areas correspond to the operation areas of the user interface of the application program;

5a and 5b are the method for operating an application program on an electronic device according to the present invention, wherein the sensing range of the sensing area of the keyboard unit changes as the boundary area of the user interface changes;

6 is a method for operating an application program on an electronic device according to the present invention, wherein the screen presented in the operation area of the user interface scrolls as the finger moves on the sensing area of the keyboard unit;

7a and 7b are the method for operating an application program on an electronic device according to the present invention, wherein the image presented in the operation area of the user interface moves along with the movement of the finger on the sensing area of the keyboard unit;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for operating an application program on an electronic device according to the present invention.

Explanation of main component symbols

10 user interface 20 operation area

100 electronic device 110 housing

120 monitors 130 keyboard units

132 input keys 134 induction areas

150 processing units 160 drive units

180 touch sensing elements 410 user interface

414 Operation Area 416 Border Area

418 scrolling shafts 420 images

470 fingers 510 steps

520 steps 530 steps

540 steps 550 steps

Detailed ways

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 , the electronic device 100 of the present invention has a casing 110 , a display 120 disposed on the casing 110 , a keyboard unit 130 and a touch sensing element 180 . The touch sensing element 180 is located under the keyboard unit 130, and the keyboard unit 130 includes a plurality of input keys 132 marked with English letters, numbers or symbols. In this embodiment, the input keys 132 are all mounted on the same continuous plane. The keyboard unit 130 is a QWERTY keyboard, that is, English letters thereon are configured to be respectively marked on the input keys 132 according to letter positions on a standard QWERTY keyboard. When the input key 132 is touched, the touch sensing element 180 below it will be touched to send out a signal, and when different input keys 132 are touched, the touch sensing element 180 will send out different signals.

The keyboard unit 130 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be switched between a touch operation mode and a symbol input mode. When the keyboard unit 130 operates in the symbol input mode, the keyboard unit 130 inputs characters through the input keys 132 . When the keyboard unit 130 operates in the touch operation mode, the keyboard unit 130 can be planned into a plurality of sensing areas, which will be described in detail below.

Referring to Fig. 4, the application program is opened and executed by the processing unit 150 located in the housing 110, the application program has a user interface 410, and the user interface 410 is displayed on the display 120, the user interface 410 of the application program includes at least two There are two operation areas 414 that can display images, and a boundary area 416 between adjacent operation areas 414 . In addition, the relevant information of the application program, such as the boundary setting data of the boundary area 416, is obtained by using another application program or the program code (not shown) burned in the firmware, and the obtained data is passed to The drive unit 160 of the keyboard unit 130 located in the housing 110 ; or the drive unit 160 directly obtains the boundary setting data of the boundary area 416 of the user interface 410 without passing it through other application programs. Then, the drive unit 160 plans the keyboard unit 130 into at least two sensing areas 134 according to the boundary setting data of the boundary area 416 of the user interface 410, and the two sensing areas 134 are connected with at least two operating areas of the user interface 410. 414 corresponds. It should be noted that the driving unit 160 of the keyboard unit 130 of the present invention can be a physical driving unit, a driver program formed by program codes with the function of driving the keyboard, or a combination of both.

5a and 5b, when the user changes the position of the border area 416 of the user interface 410, for example, using the mouse to move the position of a certain border area 416 by dragging (as in the direction of the arrow in Figure 5a), the border area 416 The boundary setting data will be transmitted to the driving unit 160 again, and then the driving unit 160 will change the sensing range of each sensing area 134 . In short, the sensing range of the sensing area 134 will change dynamically as the boundary area 416 of the user interface 410 changes.

When the user wants to operate the application program through the keyboard unit 130, he can use a stylus or finger to touch the sensing area 134. At this time, the touch sensing element 180 senses the contact and sends a signal according to the contact. to the processing unit 150 , and the processing unit 150 performs an action on the operation area 414 corresponding to the sensing area 134 according to the signal. Similarly, if the finger is in contact with another sensing area 134, after the touch sensing element 180 senses the contact, it will also send out other signals according to the contact, and the processing unit 150 will respond to the corresponding signal in the sensing area 134 according to the signal. Perform other actions on the operation area 414 of the

For example, referring to FIG. 6, if the user wants to completely browse the information presented on the screen in a certain operation area 414 of the user interface 410, he can touch his finger 470 to the sensing area 134 corresponding to the operation area 414. , make the contact keep touching the sensing area 134 and slide for a specific distance. In this way, the screen in the operation area 414 will move in the operation area 414 in a direction opposite to the sliding direction, so that other hidden information can be displayed in the operation area 414 . For example, if the user wants to completely browse the information presented in the middle operation area 414 of the user interface 410, he can slide the finger 470 down on the middle sensing area 134. A scroll bar (vertical scrollbar) 418 moves it down, so that the screen in the operation area 414 can be scrolled up to present information completely. Similarly, if the operation area 414 has a horizontal scroll axis (not shown), you can slide your finger to the right on the sensing area 134 corresponding to the operation area 414, so that the screen in the operation area 414 can scroll to the left and completely present the information.

In addition, referring to FIGS. 7a and 7b, if the picture in a certain operation area 414 contains the data of an image 420 and the image 420 is too large to be partially displayed in the operation area 414, the user can move it to The finger 470 is in contact with the sensing area 134 corresponding to the operation area 414 , makes the contact continue to touch the sensing area 134 and slides for a certain distance. In this way, the screen in the operation area 414 will move in the operation area 414 toward the direction corresponding to the sliding, so that other hidden parts of the image 420 can be displayed in the operation area 414 . The above actions are equivalent to dragging the image 420 with the mouse to move the image 420 within the operation area 414 .

Referring to FIG. 8 , it shows a flowchart of a method for operating an application program on an electronic device according to the present invention. First, the application is started (step 510). Next, the boundary setting data of the boundary area of the user interface of the application is acquired through another application or the program code burned in the firmware (step 520 ). Then, transmit the boundary setting data to the driving unit of the keyboard unit (step 530). Next, the drive unit plans the keyboard unit into at least two sensing areas according to the boundary setting data, so as to respectively correspond to at least two operating areas of the user interface (step 540 ). Finally, the user uses his finger to touch the sensing area of the keyboard unit to perform a corresponding action in the operating area of the user interface corresponding to the touched sensing area (step 550 ).

According to the method for operating an application program on an electronic device of the present invention, the user does not need to use a pointing device to move the cursor on the display back and forth between each operation area of the application program, but only needs to slide his finger on the keyboard unit to complete the operation. Browse the information presented in the operating area in a convenient way.

Although the present invention has been disclosed by the above preferred embodiments, the embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention, and any person skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the claims.

Claims (8)

1. the method for an operating application program, this method is used for electronic installation, and this electronic installation comprises keyboard unit, touch sensing element and display, and described touch sensing element is located at the keyboard unit below, and described method comprises:

By described display explicit user interface, this user interface includes first operational zone, second operational zone and the frontier district between described first operational zone and described second operational zone;

Obtain border setting data corresponding to described frontier district;

According to described border setting data described keyboard unit is formulated for first induction zone and second induction zone, this first induction zone and second induction zone correspond respectively to described first operational zone and second operational zone;

By the contact of first on first induction zone of the described keyboard unit of described touch sensing element sensing, and according to this first contact generation, first signal;

On described first operational zone, carry out first action according to described first signal;

By the contact of second on second induction zone of the described keyboard unit of described touch sensing element sensing, and according to this second contact generation secondary signal; And

Move on described second operational zone, to carry out second according to this secondary signal.

2. method according to claim 1, described method also comprises:

The operator scheme of described keyboard unit is switched to the symbol input pattern, in order to input character.

3. method according to claim 1, described method also comprises:

Move the position of the frontier district of described user interface; And

According to the shift position of frontier district, change the induction range of described first induction zone and described second induction zone.

4. method according to claim 1, described method also comprises:

When described first contact continues described first induction zone of contact and slides one section specific range, on this first operational zone, carry out scroll actions.

5. method according to claim 1, described method also comprises:

When described first contact continues described first induction zone of contact and slides one section specific range, on this first operational zone, carry out drag kick.

6. electronic installation, this device comprises:

Display is used for the user interface of display application program, and this user interface includes first operational zone and second operational zone;

Keyboard unit, be used for operating with the touch control operation pattern, wherein when keyboard unit is operated with the touch control operation pattern, define first induction zone and second induction zone on this keyboard unit, this first induction zone and second induction zone correspond respectively to described first operational zone and second operational zone;

Touch sensing element is located at the keyboard unit below, be used for the contact of first on described first induction zone of sensing and produce first signal according to this first contact, and second on described second induction zone of sensing contacts and produce secondary signal according to this second contact; And

Processing unit is used for moving to carry out first on described first operational zone according to described first signal, and moves to carry out second on described second operational zone according to described secondary signal.

7. electronic installation according to claim 6, wherein said keyboard unit also are used for the operation of symbol input pattern, with input character.

8. electronic installation according to claim 6 also defines the frontier district between described first operational zone and described second operational zone on the wherein said display, described electronic installation also comprises:

Driver element according to the border setting data corresponding to described frontier district, is formulated for described first induction zone and described second induction zone with described keyboard unit.

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