Computer system for executing application programs by a combination of picture symbols5287502Abstract A method of obtaining a desired function from a computer system by selecting one or more pictorial symbols displayed on a display screen is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing a plurality of attributes to at least part of the plurality of pictorial symbols, inferring by using a predetermined rule in accordance with the attributes when one or more of the plurality of pictorial symbols is selected, and obtaining a function of the computer system in accordance with the inferred result. Claims What is claimed is: Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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(pencil
(isa (value (tool)))
(function (value (edit)))) A1
(eraser
(isa (value (tool)))
(function (value (erase)(undo))))
A2
(ruler
(isa (value (tool)))
(function (value (draw.sub.-- a.sub.-- diagram))))
A3
(container
(isa (value (container)))
(function (value (store)(display.sub.-- itself))))
A4
(paper
(isa (value (paper)))
(function (value (display.sub.-- itself))))
(function (value (published))) A5
(note book
(isa (value (paper)))
(function (value (display.sub.-- itself))))
(function (value (not.sub.-- published)))
A6
(calculator
(isa (value (tool)))
(function (value (calc)))) A7
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In addition, the function-obtaining knowledge base 112B is represented as rules which describe application programs to be executed in accordance with object attributes and function attributes of the selected pictorial symbols mentioned above or in accordance with relations among these attributes. For example, the function-obtaining knowledge are represented by the production rules as follows.
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{ (paper instance <file.sub.-- name>)
( function edit)
.fwdarw.
edit <file name>; } F1
{ (paper instance <file.sub.-- name>)
( function erase)
.fwdarw.
erase <file.sub.-- name>;
} F2
{ (paper instance <file.sub.-- name>)
( function draw.sub.-- a.sub.-- diagram)
.fwdarw.
draw.sub.-- a.sub.-- diagram <file.sub.-- name>;
} F3
{ ( function undo)
.fwdarw.
undo; } F4
{ (paper instance <file.sub.-- name>)
( function store)
.fwdarw.
save <file.sub.-- name>;
} F5
{ (tool instance <appli.sub.-- name>)
( function store)
.fwdarw.
quit <appli.sub.-- name>;
} F6
{ (paper function display.sub.-- itself
instance <file.sub.-- name>)
.fwdarw.
type <file.sub.-- name>;
} F7
{ (container function display.sub.-- itself
instance <directory.sub.-- name>)
.fwdarw.
list <directory.sub.-- name>;
} F8
{ (paper instance <file.sub.-- name>)
( function calcu)
.fwdarw.
(calcu <file.sub.-- name>);
} F9
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The restriction knowledge base 112C is a knowledge base of restrictions to be imposed so as to determine a function to be preferentially obtained when a plurality of function-obtaining rules conflict with each other as the inferred results obtained by using the pictorial symbol attribute knowledge base 112A and the function-obtaining knowledge base 112B. The restriction knowledge are, for example, illustratively represented by the production rules as follows.
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{ (selected icon.sub.-- number <n>)
(result icon.sub.-- number <1> <= <n>)
function <func.sub.-- A>
application <appli.sub.-- X>)
(result icon.sub.-- number <m> <= <n>
function <func.sub.-- B>
application <appli.sub.-- Y>)
.fwdarw.
kill <appli.sub.-- Y>;
execute <appli.sub.-- X>;
R1
{ (select icon.sub.-- number <n>)
(select.sub.-- order <a> <icon.sub.-- A>
<b> <icon.sub.-- B>)
(<a> <= <b>)
(<icon.sub.-- A> function <func.sub.-- A>)
(<icon.sub.-- B> function <func.sub.-- B>)
(result icon.sub.-- number <1> == <n>
used.sub.-- func <func.sub.-- A>
application appli.sub.-- X>)
(result icon.sub.-- number <m> == <n>
used.sub.-- func <func.sub.-- B>
application <appli.sub.-- Y>)
.fwdarw.
kill <appli.sub.-- Y>;
execute <appli.sub.-- X>;
} R2
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The restriction rule R1 is illustrated as follows. For example three pictorial symbols A, B, and C are selected. When all the pictorial symbols A, B, C are considered, a function-obtaining rule is satisfied; when any two pictorial symbols (for example, B and C) are selected, a different function-obtaining rule is satisfied. In this case, R1 determines to execute the function in accordance with the case where all the pictorial symbols A, B, and C are selected. In other words, with respect to the restriction rule R1, in the case where both functions of X and Y are able to be executed because two function-obtaining rules of function-obtaining knowledge base 112B are satisfied, and when the number of pictorial symbols to be considered in the function-obtaining rule with respect to the function X is larger than that with respect to the function Y, the function X is preferentially used to be executed. Thus, even if two function-obtaining rules are applicable and each of them obtains a different function to be executed, as mentioned above, by the restriction rule for preferentially using a function in accordance with the function-obtaining rule considering more pictorial symbols than another, the function not to be executed is restricted and the function to be executed is determined to be used. The function-obtaining knowledge which obtains the function Y is restricted and only the function obtaining knowledge which obtains the function X is used. On the other hand, with respect to the restriction rule R2, when different combinations of function attributes and object attributes satisfy two of different function-obtaining rules in a particular combination of pictorial symbols, a function in accordance with a function attribute of a pictorial symbol which is first selected is obtained. Then, the method of obtaining functions by using the pictorial symbol attribute knowledge base 112A, the function-obtaining knowledge base 112B, and the restriction knowledge base 112C will be practically described in the following. EXAMPLE 1 When the user selects the pencil and the paper as the pictorial symbols by operating for example the mouse 100, the pictorial symbol attribute knowledge A1 and A5 in accordance with these pictorial symbols are obtained as shown in FIG. 3. Thereafter, the inference portion 110 references the function attributes and the object attributes, infers in accordance with these pictorial symbol attribute knowledge Al and A5, and determines that the function-obtaining rules F1 and F7 are satisfied. In this case, the restriction rule R1 is applied and thereby the function-obtaining rule F1 is selected (this case where the restriction knowledge base knowledged 112C is applied will be described in more detail in Example 3). The function that is described in the function-obtaining rule F1 is to "edit the file with the file name <file--name>." The inferred result is sent to the control portion 114. Thereafter, the control portion 114 commands the application program portion 116 to execute an application program for executing the specified function. Thereby, the application program portion 116 executes the application program which can "edit the file with the file name <file--name>" and obtains the function that the user desired. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the function is obtained in accordance with the function attribute (edit) that the pencil pictorial symbol 200 has and the object attribute (paper) that the paper pictorial symbol 208 has. EXAMPLE 2 When the pencil and the storebox are selected as the pictorial symbols, as shown in FIG. 3, the inference portion 110 infers by using the pictorial symbol attribute knowledge A1 and A4 in accordance with these pictorial symbols and determines that the function-obtaining rule F6 is satisfied. Thereafter, the function described in the function-obtaining rule F6 is obtained and thereby the application program for editing is stopped. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the function is obtained in accordance with the object attribute (tool) that the pencil pictorial symbol 200 has and the function attribute (store) that the storebox pictorial symbol 206 has. Thus, in the above mentioned two cases, although the user selected the pencil pictorial symbol 200, different functions are obtained in a combination of the function attribute and the object attribute that the pencil pictorial symbol 200 has and those that other pictorial symbol has. Thus, when one pictorial symbol provides a plurality of attributes, even with the same pictorial symbol, a different function can be obtained in accordance with the type of pictorial symbol in combination therewith. Consequently, with a relatively small number of pictorial symbols, a large number of functions can be accomplished. Thus, the number of pictorial symbols to be memorized by the user can be reduced. In addition, since the contents of the functions can be metaphorically displayed, the user can deepen his or her understandings about the functions, thereby improving the operability. EXAMPLE 3 Next, a case where the restriction knowledge base 112C is applied will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, when the calculator 212 and the paper 208 are selected as the pictorial symbols, the inference portion 110 infers by using the pictorial symbol attribute knowledge A5 and A7 in accordance with these pictorial symbols and determines that the function-obtaining rules F7 and F9 are satisfied. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the function-obtaining rule F7 is a rule which is satisfied only by the function attribute (display.sub.-- itself) that only the paper pictorial symbol 208 has, while the function-obtaining rule F9 is a rule which is satisfied by the object attribute (paper) that the paper pictorial symbol 208 has and by the function attribute (calc) that the calculator pictorial symbol 212 has. When two function-obtaining rules conflict with each other and the number of pictorial symbols that are referenced as pictorial symbol attribute knowledge that are execution conditions of an application program differs between these rules, the restriction rule R1 is applied. In other words, in this case, the function-obtaining rule F9 that considers both the attributes of the paper pictorial symbol 208 and that of the calculator pictorial symbols 212 is used instead of the function-obtaining rule F7, which considers only the attributes of the paper pictorial symbol 208. Thus, in accordance with the function-obtaining rule F9, the application program which can "calculate the table with the file name <file--name>" is executed. In addition, as an example where the restriction knowledge R1 is applied in FIG. 3, the pencil pictorial symbol 200 and the paper pictorial symbol 208 may be selected. In this case, with a combination of the function attribute (edit) that the pencil pictorial symbol 200 has and the object attribute (paper) that the document pictorial symbol 208 has, the function-obtaining rule F1 is satisfied. On the other hand, the function attribute (display.sub.-- itself) that the document pictorial symbol 208 has satisfies the function-obtaining rule by itself. Like the above example, by applying the restriction knowledge R1, the function in accordance with the function-obtaining rule F1 considering more pictorial symbols than the other rule F7 is used. Thereby, the application program which can "edit the file with the file name <file.sub.-- name>" is executed. On the other hand, when only the paper is selected as the pictorial symbol, since the pictorial symbol attribute knowledge A5 satisfies the function-obtaining rule F7, a function is obtained in accordance with the function-obtaining rule F7. The case where the user selects a plurality of pictorial symbols and the case where he or she selects only one pictorial symbol can be distinguished, for example, by using a normal click and a double click of the mouse 100, respectively. In addition, such cases can be also distinguished by overlapping one pictorial symbol on another pictorial symbol and then using the double click of the mouse 100. When a function-obtaining rule cannot be specified as the inferred result obtained from the inference portion 110, the result is sent to the control portion 114. Thereafter, the control portion 114 causes the display unit 102 to display a message describing that there is no function in accordance with the pictorial symbol being selected. In this case, the user selects another pictorial symbol(s) or adds new knowledge to the knowledge base 112 through the definition input portion 124 and the converter 120 so as to add a new rule for obtaining a function. In the above description, as the inferred result by the inference portion 110 in accordance with the function-obtaining knowledge base 112B, when a plurality of application programs to be executed by the application program portion 116 have been applicable, the restriction knowledge base 112C functions as a knowledge base for specifying one from these application programs. However, when a combination of pictorial symbols selected by the user is improper, the restriction knowledge base 112C may also have a condition knowledge for stopping the inference operation by the inference portion 110. In this case, the information of the improper selection of the pictorial symbols is sent to the inference portion 110 through the pictorial symbol determination portion 106. Thereby, a condition knowledge determination portion (not shown in the figure) of the inference portion 110 stops the inference operation which uses the knowledge of the pictorial symbol attribute knowledge base 112A and the function-obtaining knowledge base 112B by using the condition knowledge stored in the restriction knowledge base 112C. The information which stops performing the inference operation and then stops obtaining the function from the pictorial symbol is sent from the inference portion 110 to the control portion 114. At that time, the control portion 114 transfers the information for stopping function-obtaining to the I/O port 104 and the display unit 102. Thereby, the window area of the display unit 102 prompts the user to retry to obtain a function with pictorial symbols. Accordingly, since the user sets the desired pictorial symbols for obtaining the function, the improper selection of pictorial symbols is removed. At that time, when the user improperly selects pictorial symbol(s) with an expectation of executing a particular application program, it is preferable, from the viewpoint of the human interface, to permit this combination of the pictorial symbols and to obtain the application program expected by the user. To do this, besides the knowledge for specifying a function when there are a plurality of applicable functions and the knowledge for detecting an impropriety of selected pictorial symbol(s) and for stopping the obtaining of a function, the restriction knowledge 112C may have a learning knowledge for permitting the users to obtain the expected functions in their improper selections of pictorial symbols, by considering, for example, the frequency of each improper selection of pictorial symbols and the attribute knowledge of these pictorial symbols. When the restriction knowledge base 112C is also provided with the learning knowledge mentioned above, besides a function in accordance with a selection of pictorial symbols defined in the initial knowledge specification 122 and a function in accordance with a selection of pictorial symbols newly defined by the user with the mouse 100, a function in accordance with a selection of pictorial symbols newly defined by the learning knowledge can be obtained. When the user has difficulty in obtaining a function in accordance with a selection of pictorial symbols depending on the knowledge obtained as the learning result, he or she redefines the pictorial symbols to be selected by using the mouse 100 so as to remove the difficulty. Thus, the pictorial symbols defined by the user are stored in the pictorial symbol attribute knowledge base 112A and the function-obtaining knowledge base 112B and become a knowledge base that is inferred by the inference portion 110. In addition, an obtained knowledge stored in the restriction knowledge base 112C with respect to a function which is obtained in a combination of pictorial symbols based on the learning knowledge may be moved to the pictorial symbol attribute knowledge base 112A and the function-obtaining knowledge base 112B through the control portion 114, the I/O port 104, the definition input portion 124, and the converter 120 unless the user redefines the knowledge. In this case, since the knowledge of the pictorial symbol knowledge base which are accessed by the inference portion 110 are newly added, development patterns for obtaining functions in selections of pictorial symbols are increased. According to the present invention, since at least part of pictorial symbols have a plurality of attributes, a large number of functions can be represented with a relatively small number of pictorial symbols. In addition, since one pictorial symbol has attributes for example as an object and a function, it is possible to closely associate mental images that the user has with respect to pictorial symbols with functions of the computer system. Thus, according to the present invention, the operability can be improved in comparison with the related art. In addition, the method according to the present invention can be flexibly applied to a large computer system with a large number of functions. Moreover, in the above mentioned embodiment, an example where a particular function was obtained by selecting one or a plurality of pictorial symbols obtained by clicking the mouse was described. However, even if one or a plurality of pictorial symbols is selected with a touch panel or the like, the present invention can be applied. In the above mentioned embodiment, an example where function attributes and object attributes were used as attributes of pictorial symbols was described. However, it is possible to use either the function attributes or the object attributes and also to use other attributes. Moreover, besides the above mentioned embodiment, the present invention can be applied to modifications thereof which are readily accomplished by those of ordinary skill in the art.
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