A pattern generating apparatus produces a large plurality of form patterns from a much smaller plurality of basic form symbols. These basic symbols are stored in a memory and are accessed in different ways so that as output from the memory each basic symbol may be rotated by varying degrees. In each of its rotated configurations each basic symbol thereby represents a different pattern.
An image display apparatus comprises: a computer unit for reading out dot data of an image pattern from a character generator and writing into a bit map type graphic memory; a CRT controller for reading out the dot data from this bit map type graphic memory and displaying on a CRT monitor; and a time sharing control circuit for time sharingly controlling the access from the computer unit to the bit map type graphic memory and the access from the CRT controller to this memory. The character generator is provided with a ROM which is constituted such that a dot matrix of one character pattern is segmented on a byte unit basis in the horizontal direction of raster and these segmented sub-patterns are continuously stored in this ROM in the vertical direction of raster. The time sharing control circuit is provided with an address selector for selecting between address signals providing access to the graphic memory in a vertical scan sequence direction from the computer unit in response to a string instruction and address signals providing access in the horizontal scan direction from the CRT controller in accordance with a predetermined time sharing control.
The graphics apparatus of the present invention is comprised of: registers, in which the address of a primitive graphic form stored in a graphic ROM unit and the number of dynamic images for the primitive graphic form are both stored, and an updating register, in which the difference value or the logically calculated value between the address of the primitive graphic form stored in the graphic ROM unit and the address of the dynamic graphic forms stored in a graphic ROM unit for dynamic graphic forms, is stored. Addresses necessary to display dynamic frames in the graphic ROM unit are calculated based upon the previously mentioned values and addresses.
A video display system is provided for a video game or the like including a computer, a CRT, and mechanism for displaying images on the CRT under control of the computer. An image memory receives image data from the computer for subsequent display on the CRT. A mechanism causes the image data to be written into the image memory in one of two selectable modes, namely, left to right or right to left. Another mechanism causes the image data to be read from the memory for subsequent display on said CRT in one of two modes, namely, top to bottom or bottom to top. A mechanism controls the selection of the writing and reading modes wherein the image displayed on the CRT may be normal or inverted when viewed from a fixed position.
A painting-out pattern reference system comprises a graphic data memory for storing drawn graphic data to be displayed on a display screen, in the form of a bit image, the graphic data memory having a horizontal size of 2.sup.n .times.m words (where "n" and "m" are natural numbers); a pattern data memory storing a unitary painting-out pattern in the dorm of a bit image for defining the unitary painting-out pattern, the pattern data memory having a horizontal size of 2.sup.n words; a drawing address memory storing a memory address for performing a painting-out drawing, the drawing address memory supplying the stored memory address to the graphic data memory; a pattern address memory storing a pattern head memory address of any line in the pattern data memory; and a pattern data selector receiving least significant n bits of an address output of the drawing address memory and the pattern head memory address from the pattern address memory for generating an address to the pattern data memory so as to cause at least one word of pattern to be selected among 2.sup.n words of pattern stored in the pattern data memory so that the selected one word of pattern is supplied to the graphic data memory.
Design tools typically require representation of tree-like structures. These structures may be represented at various levels of refinement (or conversely, of abstraction). Existing methods of displaying different levels of a design involve either outlining methods which lack perceptual unity and/or obscure essential process considerations or the use of different windows (e.g., overlapping rectangular areas) which obscure essential relationships among the levels. FLOWforms.TM. (Scandura, 1987) have some of the requisite properties but it is not obvious how they map into various programming languages or how they might be constructed automatically in real time. Disclosed herein is a process for displaying arbitrary numbers of different levels of a design which apply equally to data and process and which automatically represent such relationship in proper visual context. This process shows how various configurations of rectangular regions can be constructed and embedded within one another to automatically refine each data or process element (represented by a rectangular region or box-like "window") to display desired information in a limited display area in precisely the proper context without increasing the contextual scale. During expansion, each such region or window is replaced by a larger region containing a structured, distinctive configuration of regions of the original size. Such configurations represent the refinement. Optionally, at the top of the embedding region are the contents of the original region set off by an easily distinguishable border.
