JP2004164085A - Display control device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a plurality of screen pages at the same time by automatically restoring the optimal screen page structure set by a user. <P>SOLUTION: Screen display condition of all of screen pages contained in combinations of kinds of screen pages are stored in response to the number of screen pages and combination of kinds of screen pages, and a plurality of screen pages are displayed at the same time in a display means on the basis of the screen display condition when renewing screen pages to be displayed in the display means. The number of screen pages and kinds of screen pages to be displayed when renewing screen pages are detected, and screen display condition is decided through a memory means on the basis of contents of the detections. A plurality of screen pages are displayed in the display means on the basis of the decided screen display condition. When the same number of screen pages or the same combination of kinds of screen pages is to be displayed, a desirable display condition set by a user once is automatically restored, and a plurality of screen pages can be always displayed at the same time with the optimal screen page structure without complicated operation by a user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a display control device and a program for displaying a screen on a predetermined display device. In particular, when updating the screen display in response to a user's activation or termination operation of various functions, a plurality of screens are simultaneously displayed in an appropriate display state according to the number of screens to be displayed or a combination of screen types. The present invention relates to a display control device and a program capable of performing such operations.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Recently, with the spread of personal computers, computer music, which plays musical instruments, composes and arranges music, and synthesizes timbres using computers, allows anyone to enjoy music freely. Have been. In such computer music, a screen corresponding to various functions is displayed on a predetermined display device such as a display in accordance with selection of various functions such as input of performance data, editing of a tone (also referred to as voice), editing of effects, and the like. Can be displayed at the same time. For example, in a function for editing a tone that is often used in a sequencer or the like (referred to as a voice editor), each tone is edited simultaneously while comparing a plurality of tones. A plurality of screens are displayed at the same time, for example, by multi-window display, and the user can use these displayed screens. In a display control device known in the related art, a display state such as a display position and a display size of a screen at the time of a previous screen stop (for example, closing a window display) is held for each screen, so that a start operation by a user can be performed. Accordingly, the respective screens are displayed based on the held display state of each screen. By doing so, even a beginner with little musical expertise can easily perform tone editing while viewing a plurality of screens displayed on a predetermined display device.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when performing tone editing etc. by displaying multiple screens at the same time, the display state such as the display position and display size of each displayed screen should be appropriately adjusted according to the number and type of displayed screens. The changed display becomes easier for the user to see and the editing becomes easier. Therefore, conventionally, the user can easily view the display by manually changing the display state of the screen such as shifting the display position of each screen displayed on the display device or changing the display size of the screen. I can do it. However, even when the user changes the display state of the screen, the conventional display control device displays each screen in the display state of the previous screen stop when displaying a new screen. Therefore, the user can display the screen such as the display position and the display size of each screen in accordance with the screen configuration (the number of screens or the combination of screen types) displayed each time a new screen is displayed. There is a problem that the state must be manually changed, and such a change operation is very troublesome and troublesome.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and when displaying a new screen, based on a display state of each screen determined according to the number of screens to be displayed or a combination of screen types. By displaying each screen, it is possible to automatically restore the optimal screen configuration that is easy for the user to set the tone color, etc., and display the screen without any troublesome operation by the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a display control device and a program capable of performing the following.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A display control device according to the present invention is a display control device that simultaneously displays a plurality of screens on a predetermined display unit, and according to a combination of the number of screens or the types of screens, all screens included in the combination. Storage means for storing the screen display state in the above, detection means for detecting the number or type of screens to be displayed when updating the screen displayed on the display means, and the number or screen of the detected screens Determining means for determining a screen display state from the storage means on the basis of a combination of the types, and display means for displaying a plurality of screens on the display means based on the determined screen display state.
[0006]
According to the present invention, according to the combination of the number of screens or the types of screens, the screen display states of all the screens included in the combination are stored, and the screen display is performed when updating the screen displayed on the display unit. Since a plurality of screens are displayed on the display means based on the state, it is not necessary for the user to manually change the screen display state such as the display position and the display size of each screen every time the screen is updated. . That is, when updating the screen, the number of screens or the type of screen to be displayed is detected, and the screen display state is determined from the storage unit based on the combination of the detected number of screens or the type of screen. The display means displays a plurality of screens on the display means based on the determined screen display state. Therefore, when updating the screens in which the number of screens to be displayed or the combination of the screen types is the same, once the user Automatically restores the desired display state set by the user, and simultaneously displays a plurality of screens. By doing so, it becomes possible to display a plurality of screens in a screen configuration that is always easy to view even if the user does not perform a troublesome operation.
[0007]
The present invention can be constructed and implemented not only as a device invention, but also as a method invention. Further, the present invention can be implemented in the form of a program of a computer or a processor such as a DSP, or can be implemented in the form of a storage medium storing such a program.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of the entire configuration of the display control device according to the present invention. The hardware configuration example of the display control device shown here is configured using a computer, in which a selection screen and an editing screen 1 to 3 for tone editing (voice editor) displayed on the display unit 5A are displayed. The display control such as the display position and display size of various screens (not shown) such as a computer is executed by a predetermined control program (a software program such as a main process and an editing process described later) for realizing the display control process for each screen. Are performed by executing the respective steps. Of course, this display control processing is not limited to the form of computer software, but can also be implemented in the form of a microprogram processed by a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and is not limited to this type of program. The present invention may be embodied in the form of a dedicated hardware device including a discrete circuit or an integrated circuit or a large-scale integrated circuit. Note that the display control device according to the present invention is not limited to a personal computer, and may take any product application form such as an electronic musical instrument, a karaoke device, an electronic game device, or other multimedia devices.
[0010]
In this embodiment, the voice editor is a function for editing the contents of various parameters used for controlling the tone generation mode of the timbre (specifically, timbre waveform data). When the voice editor is activated, a plurality of editing screens, for example, in a window display form suitable for editing each parameter are displayed on the display unit 5A so that the user can easily edit each of the plurality of different parameters. . In the display control device shown in this embodiment, a main screen (not shown) from which various functions can be selected is displayed in accordance with the activation of predetermined sequence software, and a selection screen is displayed in accordance with a voice editor selection from the main screen. Is displayed, the edit screen 1 is displayed according to the selection of the voice type (for example, piano tone or guitar tone) from the selection screen, and the edit screen 2 or the edit screen 3 is displayed according to the selection of the edit target parameter from the edit screen 1. , Etc., the screens corresponding to the selected contents are displayed step by step according to the selection operation. That is, one voice editor for editing one timbre is configured by grouping a plurality of screens (selection screen and edit screens 1 to 3), and the user can edit each of the simultaneously displayed edit screens 1 to 3. The parameters relating to the timbre can be edited as appropriate. It goes without saying that the edit screen 1, the edit screen 2, and the edit screen 3 have different editable parameter types.
[0011]
The display control device shown in FIG. 1 is controlled by a microcomputer including a microprocessor unit (CPU) 1, a read only memory (ROM) 2, and a random access memory (RAM) 3. The CPU 1 controls the operation of the entire display control device. The ROM 2, the RAM 3, the communication interface (I / F) 4, the display circuit 5, the detection circuit 6, the sound source circuit 7, and the effect circuit 8 are connected to the CPU 1 via a communication bus 1D (for example, a data and address bus). Have been. The ROM 2 stores various control programs executed or referred to by the CPU 1, various data, and the like. The RAM 3 is used as a working memory for temporarily storing various data generated when the CPU 1 executes a predetermined program, or as a memory for storing a program currently being executed and data related thereto. A predetermined address area of the RAM 3 is assigned to each function and used as a register, a flag, a table, a memory, and the like.
[0012]
Here, the display position information of the screen recorded in the display position buffer secured on the RAM 3 will be described. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data configuration of display position information of a screen recorded in a display position buffer.
[0013]
The display position buffer records display position information for each combination of the number of screens or the types of screens to be displayed on the display unit 5A. The display position information is data including the display positions and the display sizes of all the screens to be displayed on the display unit 5A in one combination determined according to the function selection by the user. In this embodiment, the display position information is defined for each combination of the selection screen and the edit screens 1 to 3 as the combination of the screen types. For each screen included in the one combination, Each screen is displayed on the display unit 5A based on the defined display position and display size. That is, the display position is information that defines where the screen should be displayed on the display unit 5A. In the initial display state, the display position is displayed on a screen corresponding to a predetermined position (initial value) on the display unit 5A. The display size is information that defines what size (that is, display range) the screen should be displayed on the display unit 5A, and corresponds to a predetermined size (initial value) on the display unit 5A in the initial display state. Display on the screen. These display position and display size values are always updated when the user moves the display position of the screen or changes the display size, that is, when the screen layout is changed, but the screen display is stopped. In this case, the data before the display is stopped remains without updating (here, initial value setting, clearing, etc.). That is, the latest screen layout before the screen display is stopped is always stored in the display position information.
[0014]
Returning to the description of FIG. 1, the communication interface (I / F) 4 is connected to a wired or wireless communication network such as a LAN, the Internet, or a telephone line, and external devices (not shown) are connected via the communication network. ), Etc., and is an interface for taking control programs and various data from the external device into the display control device side. Alternatively, the communication interface 4 may be a MIDI interface for acquiring MIDI data (performance data) from an external MIDI device. Such a communication interface 4 may comprise both wired or wireless, not both. If the control program is not stored in the ROM 2, the control program may be downloaded from another device (such as a server computer) via the communication network 4 or stored in an external storage device (not shown) such as a hard disk or a CD-ROM. By storing the control program and reading it into the RAM 3, the CPU 1 can cause the CPU 1 to perform the same operation as when the control program is stored in the ROM 2. By doing so, it is possible to easily add a control program or upgrade the version.
[0015]
The display circuit 5 displays a screen according to the function selection by the user on the display unit 5A composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) or a CRT, as well as the control state of the CPU 1. The operation device (switch or the like) 6A is a selection switch for selecting a function, a switch for inputting various information related to automatic performance, and the like. Of course, in addition to these, various operations such as a numeric keypad for inputting numerical data used for editing a tone, a keyboard for inputting character data, and a mouse used for operating a predetermined pointing device displayed on the display unit 5A are also provided. May include children. The detection circuit 6 detects the operation state of each switch, and outputs switch information corresponding to the operation state to the CPU 1 via the data and address bus 1D.
[0016]
The tone generator 7 can simultaneously generate tone signals on a plurality of channels, inputs data and performance data given via an address bus 1D, and generates tone signals based on these. The tone signal generated from the sound source circuit 7 is given an effect through the effect circuit 8 and is emitted from a sound system 8A including an amplifier, a speaker, and the like. The effect circuit 8 gives different effects to the tone signal from the tone generator 7 according to predetermined effect parameters. The sound source circuit 7, the effect circuit 8, and the sound system 8A may have any conventional configuration. For example, the tone generator 7 may adopt any of various tone synthesis methods such as FM, PCM, physical model, formant synthesis, etc., may be constituted by dedicated hardware, or may be constituted by software processing by the CPU 1. May be.
[0017]
In the display control device shown in this embodiment, when the sequence software is started, the main screen is displayed on the display unit 5A and the main processing is started. On the main screen, various functions such as a voice editor are displayed in a list. When a user selects a voice editor from the main screen, a selection screen corresponding to the selected voice editor is newly displayed on the display unit 5A. I do. That is, one selection screen is displayed each time the voice editor is selected once from the main screen. This process is performed by the CPU 1 of the display control device shown in FIG. 1 executing a main process (not shown). A plurality of tones (for example, piano tones, guitar tones, and the like) are displayed in a list on the selection screen, and the user can select any one of the displayed tones. When the voice editor is executed, the main screen and the selection screen are always displayed on the display unit 5A, and the selection screen ends when the voice editor stops and the main screen stops when the sequence software stops. Is done.
[0018]
When one tone color is selected by the user from the displayed selection screen, an editing screen 1 for editing various parameters related to the tone color is displayed, and an editing process corresponding to the displayed editing screen 1 ( (To be described in detail later). Further, from the edit screen 1, it is possible to specify the type of another parameter relating to the tone to be edited. According to the instruction of the parameter, one of the edit screen 2 and the edit screen 3 becomes the edit target in the edit screen 1. The edit screen corresponding to the displayed edit screen 2 or edit screen 3 is activated while displaying the screen as the screen corresponding to the tone color being displayed. That is, a plurality of editing processes are simultaneously activated so as to correspond to each of the editing screens 1 to 3 selectively activated for tone color editing.
[0019]
Therefore, the "editing process" started together with the display of each of the edit screens 1 to 3 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the "editing process". As described above, the editing process shown in FIG. 3 is started for each of the editing screens 1 to 3. That is, the editing process corresponding to each of the editing screens 1 to 3 displayed on the display unit 5A is started one by one as the processing of the editing screens 1 to 3 displayed on the display unit 5A as necessary for tone editing. Here, for simplicity of the description, the processing operation in the editing process started for each of the editing screens 1 to 3 will be described based on an embodiment represented by the same flowchart.
[0020]
In step S1, it is determined whether or not activation of a new editing screen has been instructed. When the activation of a new editing screen is instructed, that is, here, in response to an instruction to edit another parameter relating to a tone to be edited on the editing screen 1, activation of either the editing screen 2 or the editing screen 3 is performed. Is instructed (YES in step S1), the type of the currently displayed editing screen is detected from the type of the currently executed editing processing, and a new activation is performed for the detected type of the editing screen. Determines the combination of the types of screens to be displayed on the display unit 5A by adding the type of the editing screen instructed (step S2). In step S3, the display position information corresponding to the determined combination is read from the display position buffer, and the corresponding screen is displayed at the display position and the display size according to the read display position information, and newly activated. Starts the editing process corresponding to the editing screen instructed. For example, when only the editing screen 1 among the editing screens 1 to 3 is being displayed, and an instruction to start the editing screen 3 is issued from the editing screen 1, the upper screen in the display position buffer shown in FIG. Then, the display position information of the third combination is read out, and based on the display position information, the edit screen 1 and the edit screen 3 are simultaneously displayed on the display unit 5A in addition to the selection screen. In this case, the editing processes corresponding to the editing screen 1 and the editing screen 3 are activated. Alternatively, when the edit screen 1 and the edit screen 3 are being displayed, and the user instructs to start the edit screen 2 from the edit screen 1, the lowermost combination in the display position buffer shown in FIG. Is read out, and edit screens 1 to 3 are simultaneously displayed on the display unit 5A in addition to the selection screen based on the display position information. In this case, a plurality of editing processes respectively corresponding to the editing screens 1 to 3 are activated.
[0021]
In step S3, when the display position information corresponding to the combination determined at the time of displaying the screen is not in the display position buffer, a predetermined default (initial value) is set for the newly activated editing screen. ) And the display positions and sizes of the other screens currently being displayed are recorded in the display position buffer as new display position information. For example, when only the edit screen 1 is being displayed and an instruction is given to start the edit screen 4 from the edit screen 1, the edit screen 4 is displayed at a predetermined default display position and display size. Newly create display position information defining the selection screen and the edit screen 1 based on the display position and display size currently being displayed, and display position information as the display position information of the combination of the selection screen, the edit screen 1 and the edit screen 4. Record in buffer. The processing from step S1 to step S3 described above is effective only in the editing processing started in correspondence with the editing screen 1, and the editing processing started in correspondence with the editing screen 2 and the editing screen 3. Is an invalid process that is not executed. That is, in the editing processing corresponding to the editing screen 1, when a new editing screen 2 or the editing screen 3 is activated, the processing of the editing screen 2 or the editing screen 3 corresponding to the tone handled in the editing screen 1 is performed. Since it is necessary to start a new editing process, the processes in steps S1 to S3 are executed as effective processes. However, since a new screen is not started in the editing processing corresponding to the editing screen 2 and the editing screen 3, the processing from step S <b> 1 to step S <b> 3 is not executed as an invalid processing, but is described below. The process starts from the process of step S4.
[0022]
In step S4, it is determined whether the display position or the display size of the screen currently displayed on the display unit 5A has been changed. If the display position or display size of the currently displayed screen has been changed (YES in step S4), the new display position or display size after the change corresponds to the combination of the currently displayed screen type. The information of each screen changed in the displayed display position information is overwritten and recorded, and the screen currently displayed is changed to a new display position and display size on the display unit 5A and displayed (step S5). In step S6, the parameters of the tone color corresponding to this processing are changed to new parameter values in accordance with an instruction to change various parameters for controlling the tone generation mode of the tone color on the screen. That is, the contents of the designated parameter are changed to the designated new parameter value for the timbre handled in this editing process. The timbre parameters are recorded for each timbre, and the contents are rewritten according to the instruction, and for timbres that cannot be rewritten, a new timbre corresponding to the new parameter is created and recorded.
[0023]
In step S7, it is determined whether or not an instruction to stop the screen has been issued. When the stop of the screen is instructed (YES in step S7), the combination of the types of the screen to be newly displayed is determined (step S8), and the display position and the display according to the display position information of the determined combination are determined. The selection screen and the edit screen are displayed by size, and the edit processing ends (step S9). That is, when one editing screen is terminated, the combination of the types of the remaining screens other than the terminated editing screen is determined, and the display position and the display size of the screen are changed according to the display position information corresponding to the combination. To display the remaining screens. For example, when the display of the edit screen 3 is ended when all of the edit screens 1 to 3 are displayed together with the select screen, the combination of the remaining screen types, that is, the select screen, the edit screen 1 and the edit screen 2 Is read from the display position buffer (see the second combination from the top shown in FIG. 2), and the selection screen, the edit screen 1 and the edit screen 2 are displayed based on the display position information. Alternatively, when the display of the edit screen 3 is terminated while the edit screen 1 and the edit screen 3 are displayed together with the selection screen, the display position information corresponding to the combination of the select screen and the edit screen 1 is displayed in the display position buffer. (See the top combination shown in FIG. 2), and displays a selection screen and an edit screen 1 based on the display position information. On the other hand, if the stop of the screen is not instructed (NO in step S7), the process returns to step S1 to repeatedly execute each of the above processes.
[0024]
In the above-described embodiment, the selection screen is displayed each time the voice editor is started from the main screen (that is, a plurality of selection screens are displayed), and one tone can be selected for each selection screen. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only one selection screen may be displayed upon activation of the voice editor, and a plurality of tone colors may be selected therefrom.
In the screen display, the screen may be exclusively displayed. For example, the edit screen 2 and the edit screen 3 are screens for exclusive display, and the edit screen 1 is started from the edit screen 1 even though the edit screen 1 and the edit screen 2 are already being displayed. In this case, the editing screen 1 and the editing screen 3 may be displayed according to the display position information corresponding to the combination of the editing screen 1 and the editing screen 3 (in this case, the editing screen 2 is Display is stopped).
Note that the types and number of screens included in one voice editor are not limited to those in the embodiment.
[0025]
In the above-described embodiment, the display position and the display size of each screen are determined according to the combination of the screen types (see FIG. 2). However, the present invention is not limited to this. The display position and display size of each screen may be determined.
Note that the display control device shown in the above-described embodiment has a remarkable effect when used in a voice editor. However, the target to be used may not be a voice editor, and in other words, a plurality of screens can be displayed simultaneously. Any function may be used as long as it is effective to store the display position and the display size of the screen for each screen.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the display state of each screen such as the display position and the display size is stored according to the number of screens or the combination of the screen types, and each screen to be displayed is displayed based on this. Therefore, even if the user does not newly change the display position, display size, and the like of each screen, a desired display state set by the user can be automatically restored once and each screen can be simultaneously displayed. Is obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration showing an embodiment of the entire configuration of a display control device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data configuration of display position information of a screen recorded in a display position buffer.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an “editing process”.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CPU, 2 ... ROM, 3 ... RAM, 4 ... Communication interface, 5 ... Display circuit, 5A ... Display part, 6 ... Detection circuit, 6A ... Operator, 7 ... Sound source circuit, 8 ... Effect circuit, 8A ... Sound System, 1D ... communication bus

Claims (4)

A display control device that simultaneously displays a plurality of screens on predetermined display means,
According to a combination of the number of screens or the types of screens, storage means for storing screen display states of all screens included in the combination,
When updating the screen to be displayed on the display means, a detection means for detecting the number or type of screens to be displayed,
Determining means for determining a screen display state from the storage means, based on a combination of the number of screens detected or the type of screen,
A display control device comprising: display means for displaying a plurality of screens on the display means based on the determined screen display state. The storage means, when a screen is displayed on the display means other than the number of stored screens or the combination of the types of screens, is displaying according to the number of currently displayed screens or the combination of the types of screens. The display control device according to claim 1, wherein a screen display state of each screen is stored. 3. The display control device according to claim 1, further comprising an updating unit configured to update a corresponding screen display state stored in the storage unit in accordance with a change in a display state of the screen displayed on the predetermined display unit. . On the computer,
According to a combination of the number of screens or the types of screens, a procedure of storing screen display states of all screens included in the combination,
When updating the screen to be displayed on the display means, a procedure for detecting the number or type of screens to be displayed,
A step of determining a screen display state from the storage unit based on a combination of the number of screens detected or the type of screen,
Displaying a plurality of screens on a display means based on the determined screen display state.

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