FR2517448A1 - APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AN IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SUCH A DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device for controlling an image display with a file administration table which administers information including titles of image data stored in a file memory, and their memory addresses, and with a section administration table which administers information including locations and dimensions of sections on a screen and release locations of the image data, the content of the section administration table being updated in accordance with an input command so that location and dimension of the section, the superposition of the sections and their displacement can be changed in interactive communication.

Description

 The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling an image display device and a method for controlling such an image display device with multiple windows, which is suitable for displaying image information , documents such as graphics, stamp imprints, maps and industrial sheets or sheets.

 A map display device or information item topography is usually used as an image display device connected to a computer: a map or information item topography is also referred to as display memory and stores data or information to be displayed at the network intersections of two two-dimensional images. By subdividing a screen of the map or topography display device of information elements into a certain number of zones (windows), it is possible to display several image data simultaneously, and to control them independently. . This device is called a multi-window display device and has the advantage of allowing easy retrieval and comparison of image data.

The concept of the multi-window display device is known and several applications of such a device are known. Many of these devices relate to the display of characters and are intended to display data of known characters such as alphanumeric characters, as described in an article "A manager of display terminal time-sharing sessions" by JM McCrossion and others,
IBM System Journal, vol. 17, NO 3, 1978, pages 260-274.

 It is in another form of the display device with multi-ply windows that "a multigraphic display device" has been proposed (see the Japanese patent application, published under No. 54-75 225). In the proposed display device, a screen for displaying the data is subdivided into blocks which are linked together so as to allow display data to be edited, while the individual display data can be moved in rotation, offset or be reproduced by being framed block by block. The data to be manipulated is graphic data such as lines or arcs.

A third category is that of multi-window display devices for image data or information. As an example of such a device, a double screen television set has been proposed which can simultaneously display the program (see
Nikkei Electronics, February 26, 1977, pages 127-132).

double screen television apparatus conforms the images on television screens by means of a clocked control of a video signal and does not present any possibility of carrying out interactively an ornamentation with modification of the area extracted from the image data , nor the creation, the deletion, the displacement or the modification of the size of the window.

 An object of the present invention is to provide a control method for a multi-window image display device, which allows interactive control and modifications of the position and size of the windows, a modification of the superimposition of the windows and delete and create windows.

 Another object of the present invention is to provide a control method making it possible to perform a lateral or vertical modification of the area extracted from the image data, window by window, and to extract data from a square area among the image data and display it in the window.

In the multi-window display device, several windows w1, w2, ... are defined on one screen
D of the image display device and partial data of 11 image a and image b (data for rectangular areas represented by lines formed by dashes) are displayed in the respective windows, as shown in the Figure 1 appended to this application.

 In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to modify the content of the display of the multiple windows from (1) to (2) of FIG. 2 appended to the present application (to modify the locations for extracting partial images from images a and b), that is to say to modify the extraction zone of the multiple windows so that the extraction zone of the dynamic data is modified vertically and vertically, window by window.

In accordance with the present invention, it is also possible to modify the locations of the windows w1 and w2 on the screen, for example from (2) to (3) in FIG. 2
In accordance with the present invention, it is also possible to modify the sizes of the windows wl and w2 on the screen, for example to go from (3) to (4) in FIG. 2.

 In accordance with the present invention, it is also possible to modify the superposition of windows w1 and w2, for example by making them pass from position (4) to position (5) in FIG. 5.

 In position (4) in Figure 2, the window W2 is located above the window w1 and in position (5) in Figure 2, the window wl is located above the window w2.

In accordance with the present invention, it is also possible to delete or create a window on the screen, for example to switch from the representation (5) to the representation (6) in FIG. 2. In the representation (6) of the figure 2, w2 is deleted and new windows w3 and w4 are created
The problem is solved in accordance with the invention in an apparatus for controlling an image display device thanks to the fact that the latter comprises a file device for storing several image data an image display device (10) for displaying partial areas of said image data in several windows on a display screen, a memory containing a file management table for managing information including the titles of the image data stored in said device forming file and memory addresses provided for this purpose and a window management table in order to manage the information including the locations and sizes of said windows on the display screen and the locations for extracting image data,
an input device for entering the instructions and data concerning the locations and sizes of the windows on the display screen and the locations for extracting the image data to be displayed in said windows, and a processor connected to the input device and the file device in order to extract by reading the image data from the file device in accordance with the instruction and the data entered from said input device for controlling the display of the desired extracted images, in the windows of said image display device.

 Furthermore, the method according to the invention used to control an image display device, of the type comprising a file management table used to store the information containing the search codes for the image data stored in a file memory. et memory addresses used for this purpose and a window management table for storing information including the positions and sizes of windows on a display screen and the positions of extraction of image data, is characterized by the fact that it comprises a first operational phase serving to introduce an instruction from an input device and to decode said instruction, a second operational phase to update the content of said window management table in accordance to the content of said instruction, and a third operational phase for displaying the image data in a predetermined window with reference to said window management table and to said file management table.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description given below taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 represents a conceptual diagram of a display device with multiple windows;
FIG. 2 represents a schenaconceptual of the functions of a display device which can be obtained using the present invention;
Figure 3 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 4A and 4B show configurations of a file management table and a window management table used according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 represents elements of the window management table;
Figure 6 shows examples of instructions;
FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of a program to be executed by a processing unit or processor;
FIG. 8 shows a flowchart used to illustrate a procedure for updating the window management table in accordance with a CREATION instruction; and
FIG. 9 shows a flowchart used to illustrate a procedure for updating the window management table in accordance with a DELETE instruction.

 The present invention provides a control method for performing the functions indicated above.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail.

Figure 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus according to the present invention has a keyboard 1 used for entering coded data and instructions, a memory 2 used for memorizing programs and tables, a processing unit or processor 3 such as a microprocessor, a device for image input 4 such as a facsimile device, a file device 5 intended to store the data or information of the images, a data compressor-decompressor 6 in order to perform the compression and decompression of the data of the images, an image memory 7 for temporarily storing the image data, a transfer control unit 8 for controlling the transfer of data between the image memory (7) and a memory 9 for refresh or regeneration of the topography of the information elements and an image display device 10. Each of these units is known per se. The image data to be displayed on the image display device 10 is indicated using the keyboard 1 and the corresponding image data is retrieved from the file device 5, in which the image data is previously stored. . The image data to be stored is entered from the image input device 4, being compressed by the data compressor-decompressor 6 and is sent to the file device 5 and stored there. data stored in the file device 5, the main memory 2 has a file management table 2A which includes search codes (such as image data titles) in order to retrieve the image data, the addresses of memory, image sizes and data lengths, as shown in Figure 4A. These allocated or characteristic data are prepared by the processor 3 in accordance with the instructions introduced from the keyboard 1. The image display device 10 displays the image in a set of zones or surfaces called windows. The window attributes are defined by a window management table 2B contained in the main memory 2. The window management table 2B includes the positions and sizes of the windows, their levels, the titles of the image data to be displayed. in the windows and the locations for extracting image data, as shown in FIG. 4B. For example, when an image m is to be displayed in a window i, the elements of the window management table 2B are represented as indicated in FIG. 5, in which Xi and
Y. represent the location of window i, Wi and H.

iii represent window dimensions i, Um and V represented
mm feel the extraction location of the image m and Sm and Tm represent the dimensions of the image m.

Figure 6 shows examples of instructions for displaying in multiple windows. Operational phases of the program executed by the processor 3 are shown in FIG. 7. The reference 100 designates an operational phase of entering an instruction from the keyboard 1 and decoding this instruction, while the reference 2 designates a operational phase for updating the content of the window management table in accordance with the instruction, and that the reference 300 designates an operational phase for displaying the image data in a predetermined window with reference to the window management table windows and the file management table. We will explain below the contents of the program for each instruction
CAD Creation of a window (CREATION instruction)
(i) Introduction and decoding of the instruction (100)
The position (lateral and longitudinal) on the screen and the size (lateral and longitudinal) of the window to be created are indicated using the keyboard. The processor stores this data.

(ii) Update of the window management table (200)
FIG. 8 shows the detail of the operating phase 200 for the creation of the window. During an intersessional phase 210 A, the content of a window counter (WC), which indicates the number of windows created on the screen, is incremented by one. Since the number of windows, which can be recorded in the window management table of B is limited, the number is checked in an intermediate phase 210B. If the number supplied by the window counter gWC exceeds the limit, the window management table 2B is overflowed. Consequently, an error processing such as the display of a warning message is carried out during an intermediate phase 210E. If there is no overflow, this means that there is an unused window on the screen and it is looked for during an intermediate phase 210C. Flags located in the window management table indicate the state of use of the windows. During an intermediate phase 210D, a new window i is created, i being one of the vacant or unused window numbers (Fi = O) and the necessary data is recorded in the window management table. keyboard means (window position and size) are saved in the window management table in the form of attributes or characteristics
(Xi, Yi, Wi, Hi) of window i. The level of the window management table indicates the vertical relationship of the window overlay on the screen. When a window with a higher level must be displayed in the same location or in the same position as a window with a lower level, the first window is superimposed on the second. A newly created window has the maximum level of existing windows. For the new window i, a level L. is defined by L. = WC-1. For example if no window other than window i is present, WC = 1 and therefore
Li = O. When a window is present in addition to the window i, WC = 2 and therefore L. = 1. The reason consisting in defining the level in this way is to facilitate the processing of the instructions (FLOT instructions
TEMENT and LOWERING), which require the modification of the superimposition of the windows. Simultaneously when window i is created, the image data to be displayed in the in 'window has not been created or indicated, but it is necessary to clearly indicate that the window has been created. Thus the newly created window displays image data of a specific model (for example all white, all black model or network model) and the title of the image data (Di) is saved in the window management table for window i . After registration, the flag F. of window i in the window management table is set to "1" so as to indicate the creation of the window.

(iii) Display of image data (300)
Image data for windows other than the newly created window i is kept in the refresh memory 9. The level of window i is higher than the level of any other window. Consequently, only the image data for window i are retrieved from the image file device 5 and are transferred to the refresh memory 9. The title of the image data to be displayed in window i is stored in the window management table and the memory address of the image data, the size (lateral and longitudinal) of the image and the length of the data are stored in the file management table. The image data is compressed and this compressed image data is stored in the file device 5. This data is decompressed by the compressor / decompressor 6 and the decompressed data is transferred to the image memory 7. Only the data relating to a predetermined rectangular area designated by the window management table 2B are extracted from the image data of the image memory 7 and are transferred to a predetermined area of the refresh memory. The extraction processing is controlled by the transfer control unit 8. Using a transfer control system described in Japanese utility model application NO 55-85 178 (application published under NO 57-10067) filed by the applicant, the extraction treatment can be carried out at high speed.

tB) Deleting a window (DELETE instruction)
(i) Introduction and decoding of the instruction (100)
The number of the window to be deleted is indicated using the keyboard 1 and is recorded by processor 3. The number of the window is designated by j.

(ii) Update of the window management table (200)
The content of the operating phase 200 for removing the window is shown in detail in FIG. 9. In an intermediate phase 220A, the content (WC) of the window counter is reduced by one unit. The flag
Fj of the window j to be deleted is brought back to "0" during an intermediate phase 200B in order to release the number j as the unused window number.,
Since window j is deleted, it is necessary to update the levels of windows with levels higher than L .. This is done at
3 during an intermediate phase 220C, during which the levels of the window k, for which we have Lk> Lj, are updated in such a way that Lk ç Lk - 1.

(iii) Display of image data (300)
The image data for all the windows recorded in the window management table are retrieved from the image file device 5 and are displayed on the display device 10.

This processing is carried out sequentially starting from the window with the lowest level. The treatment of the respective windows is identical to that of and therefore is not explained here. The flag of window j in the window management table is now in the state reset to its initial position and consequently window j is neglected during the operational phase 300. It follows that window j is deleted on l 'display.

(C3 Changing the window size (instruction
LADDER)
(i) Introduction and decoding of the instruction (100)
The window number and the size after the modification are indicated by means of the keyboard 1 and are recorded by the processor 3.

The window number is designated by j and the size after modification is designated by w. (laté
3 rale) and H; (longitudinal).

3
(ii) Update of the window management table (200)
The data W. and H. of window j in the ta
3 3 window management ble are replaced by Wj and Hj.

The other data in the window management table is not modified.

(iii) Display of image data (300)
The operating phase 300 is implemented sequentially starting from the window of the lowest level as is done during the processing for removing a window.

cD3 Moving the window (MOVE instruction)
(i) Input and decoding of the instruction (100)
The number of the window to be moved and the coordinates of the location to which the movement is made, on the screen are indicated using the keyboard 1 and are recorded by the processor 3.

The window number is designated by j and the coordinates of the position, to which the displacement results are designated by X. (lateral) and Y. (longitudinal).

3 3
(ii) Update of the window management table (200)
The data in window j and X. and Y. in the
ii window management table are replaced by X. and
3
Y ..

3
(iii) Display of image data (300).

 The operating phase 300 is identical to that of the window removal processing and therefore is not explained here.

 (E Modification of the overlapping of windows (FLOATING instruction).

(i) Introduction and decoding of the instruction (100)
When the window j is to be displayed superimposed on the window i, the numbers i and j of the windows are indicated by means of the keyboard 1 and are recorded by the processor. The coordinates (lateral and longitudinal) of the positions or display locations of the windows are not modified.

(ii) Update of the window management table (200)
The levels of the windows recorded in the window management table are modified as follows 1) For the window k, which satisfies Lj + li LK Li 'the level is modified in such a way that Lk <- Lk - 1.

 2) For window j, the level is modified in such a way that Lt level of window i before the modification].

 3) For the other windows, the levels remain unchanged.

(iii) Display of image data (300)
The operating phase 300 is identical to that of the processing for removing a window except that the data of iwaaes of the window j alone and of windows having levels higher than the window j are displayed.

(F) Modification of the superimposition of a window (LOWER command)
(i) Introduction and decoding of the instruction (100)
When window S must be displayed in. - position above window i, the numbers j and i of the windows are indicated by means of the keyboard 1 and are recorded by the processor 3, The coordinates (lateral and longitudinal , window display positions are not changed.

(ii) Update of the window management table (200)
The levels of the windows recorded in the window management table are modified as follows 1) for the window k which satisfies Li # Lk #Li -1, the level is modified in such a way that Lk <- Lk +1.

2) For window j, the level is modified in such a way that L. + [level of window i before the modification]. . Level
3) for the other windows, the levels are not changed.

(iii) Display of image data (300)
The operating phase 300 is identical to that of the processing for removing a window, except that the image data only of the windows having levels higher than the window j are displayed.

CO Recovery and display of image data (DETECTION instruction)
(i) Introduction and decoding of the instruction (100)
The location (Umt Vm) of the rectangular area to be extracted from the image data Tft and the number j of the window, in which it is to be displayed, are indicated by means of the keyboard 1 and are recorded by the processor 3.

(il) Update of the window management table (200)
The title of the image data and the extraction position (lateral and longitudinal coordinates) of the content recorded in the window management table for window j are replaced by m, U and
Vm respectively, indicated using the keyboard 1.

(iii) Displaying image data (300)
The operating phase 300 is identical to that of the processing for removing a window except that the image data of only the window j and of the windows having levels higher than the window j are displayed.

clo Modification of image data extraction (MODIFICATION OF EXTRACTION instruction)
(i) Introduction and decoding of the instruction (100)
The extraction modification is a process aimed at modifying the extraction location of the image data to be displayed. The number of the window to be extracted and the new modified extraction location are indicated using the keyboard 1 and saved by processor 3. The window number is designated by j and the new location d extraction is designated by tm (lateral) and V
m (longitudinal), m designating the title of the image data displayed in the window j.

(ii) Update in the window management table (200)
The extraction location of the content recorded in the window management table for our window j is replaced by U and Vm indicated by means of the
m keyboard 1.

(iii) Display of dtimagN data (300)
The operating phase 300 is identical to that of the data deletion processing except that the image data of only window j and windows having levels higher than window j are displayed.

cI) Exchange of image data (EXCHANGE instruction)
(i) Introduction and decoding of the instruction (100)
This instruction exchanges the image data to be displayed between two windows. The numbers i and j of the windows for the exchange are indicated by means of the keyboard 1 and are recorded by processor 3.

 (ii) Update of the window management table (200).

 The titles of the image data and the extraction locations recorded in the window management table are exchanged or swapped between the windows troei and j.

(iii) Display of image data (300)
The image data is displayed sequentially starting with the lowest level window as is done when processing to delete a window. Image data is displayed only for windows with levels equal to or greater than L. or Lj.

ij
As described above, in accordance with the present invention, several data are displayed simultaneously by dividing the screen into a number of windows and the respective images can be searched independently and the comparison of the data d images is made easier.

Claims (10)

 1. control device for an image display device, characterized in that it includes a file device (5) for storing several image data, an image display device (10) used to display partial areas of said image data in several windows on a display screen, a memory (2) containing a file management table (2A) for managing information including the titles of the image data stored in the file device and the memory addresses provided for this purpose and a window management table (2B) used to manage the information including the positions and sizes of said windows on the display screen and the extraction positions of the image data, an input device (1) for inputting instructions and data relating to the positions and sizes of the windows on the display screen and the positions for extracting the image data to be displayed in said f inputs, and a processing unit (3) connected to said input device and said file device for reading image data from the file device in accordance with the instruction and data input from the input device for controlling the display of the desired extracted images in the windows of said display device.  2. Method for controlling an image display device, of the type comprising a file management table (2A) for storing information including search codes for image data stored in a file memory (5 ) and memory addresses provided for this purpose and a window management table (2B) for storing 11 information including the positions and sizes of the windows on a display screen and the positions for extracting image data , characterized in that it comprises a first operative phase (100) for recording an instruction from an input device (1) and decoding said instruction, a second operational phase (100) for updating the content of said window management table in accordance with the content of said instruction, and a third operating phase (300) for displaying the image data in a predetermined window with reference to said window management table and said fen be file manager  3. Method for controlling an image display device according to claim 2, characterized in that in the first operating phase (100), an instruction serving to create a window and data serving to indicate a position and a size, on the display screen, from the window to be created are introduced, that during the second operating phase (200) the number of windows to be created is compared with a predetermined number and if this number is less than the number predetermined, the input data are recorded in said window management table, and that during the third operational phase (300) the image data recovered from the file device are displayed in the window having the position and size indicated by said input data.  4. Method for controlling an image display device according to claim 2, characterized in that during the first operating phase (100), an instruction used to delete a window and data used to indicate said window are introduced s, that during the second operational phase (200) a flag bit located in said window management table and corresponding to said input window is reduced to zero and that during the third operational phase ( 300), the window image data recorded in the window management table and having positioned flag bits are retrieved from the file device and are. displayed.  5. Method for controlling an image display device according to claim 2, characterized in that during the first operating phase (100), an instruction serving to modify the size of a window, a datum used to indicate said window and data used to indicate a size of the window after the modification are introduced, that during the second operational phase (200), data relating to the size of said window recorded in said management table windows is modified by being replaced by said input data, and that during the third operational phase (300), the image data are displayed in the window having the modified size, with reference to said management table of windows and to said file management table.  6. Method for controlling an image display device according to claim 2, characterized in that during the first operating phase (100), an instruction to move a window and data used to indicate said window and a position, to which the displacement results, are introduced, that during the second operating phase (200), a datum concerning the position of said window recorded in said window management table is modified by being replaced by said datum input and during the third operating phase (300), the image data is displayed in the window at the modified position with reference to said window management table and said file management table.  7. Method for controlling an image display device according to claim 2, characterized in that during the first operating phase (100), an instruction serving to modify the superimposition of the windows and data serving to indicate a window are introduced, that during the second operational phase (200), levels of the windows indicated by said input data and recorded in said window management table are modified in accordance with said input data and that during the third operational phase (300), the image data are displayed in said windows in the order of the levels recorded in said window management table.  8. Method for controlling an image display device according to claim 2, characterized in that during the first operational phase (100) an instruction serving to recover and display the image data and a data serving indicating the position of a rectangular area to be extracted from the image data and a window, in which the extracted image data is to be displayed, is entered, that during the second operating phase (200) data relating to a title of the image data and the extraction position of said window recorded in said window management table are modified in accordance with said input data and that during the third operational phase (300) the data extracted image data, after modification, is displayed in the designated window.  9. Method for controlling an image display device according to claim 2, characterized in that during the first operating phase (100), a command to modify the extraction window and the data used to indicate said window and a new location for extracting image data are introduced, that during the second operating phase (200), data relating to the position of extraction of said window recorded in said window management table are modified in accordance with said input data and that during the third operating phase (300), the image data of the modified extraction position is displayed in the designated window.  10. Method for controlling an image display device according to claim 2, characterized in that during the first operating phase (100) an instruction for exchanging image data to be displayed, between several windows, and data for indicating the windows for the exchange are entered, that during the second operating phase (200) the image data and the extraction positions for said windows recorded in said window management table are exchanged and that during the third operational phase (300) the image data are displayed in said windows in reference to the modified window management table and to the file management table.