JPH05298049A - Menu display control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a menu to occupy the major part of a screen even the number of menu items increases when the display region of the menu is limited to a fixed size by displaying accompanied by scroll bars. CONSTITUTION:At an initial state (a), menu items M1-M4 are displayed on the screen. In this case, when a mouse pointer is positioned at the 'next picture display region' of the horizontal scroll bar and a mouse click is performed, menu items M5-M8 are displayed (b). When the mouse pointer is positioned at the desired M6 and a button is pushed, the menu item M6 is black-and-white inversed, and menu items M61-M64 of the low-order are pull down displayed. Next, when the mouse pointer is positioned at the 'next picture display instruction region' of the vertical scroll bar (e) and the mouse click is performed, menu item M65-M68 are displayed (f). Then, the mouse pointer is positioned at the desired menu item 66 (g), the button is pushed, and menu selection is completed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an information processing device such as a personal computer or a workstation,
A method for performing menu selection with good operability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a method of using a menu bar has been known as a method for performing the above menu selection (Shiz Kobara: "Visual Design with OSF / Motif", pp.
112-113, Addison Wesley (June 1991)). This is a command in the upper part of a window or display screen in a window system, with multiple commands that the user can select.
It is a method of displaying horizontally and letting the user select a desired command from these.

[0003]

However, it cannot be said that the above-mentioned conventional techniques have been sufficiently considered from the viewpoint of improving operability from the viewpoint of the user.

Generally, menus have a multi-tiered hierarchical structure. In the prior art, the first level is a menu bar, the second level is a pull-down menu, and the third level and subsequent pull-down menus are adjacent to pull-down menus.
Each menu was displayed. A display example is shown in FIG. In the example shown in the figure, the menu bar is displayed in three lines in a folded manner (M1 to M9). If there are too many menu items on the pull-down menu to fit on the display screen, the pull-down menus are displayed in multiple lines (M61 to M68).

In the prior art as described above, as the number of menu items increases, the menu bar and pull-down menus occupy most of the display screen.
This has been a cause of deterioration of operability on the user side.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new menu display control system that solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention limits the size of the display area of the menu bar or pull-down menu, and the number of menu items is too large to be displayed. Occasionally, a scroll bar is displayed along with this. The display example is shown in FIG.

In order to realize the above new method, the present invention is
Hierarchical menu display control means, mouse input reception means, menu bar display means, pull-down menu display means,
A hit determination means is provided.

[0009]

The hierarchical menu display control means activates the menu bar display means to display the menu bar and the horizontal scroll bar on the display screen, and activates the mouse input acceptance means to accept the mouse input.

The mouse input is repeatedly accepted until the mouse button is pressed, but when the mouse button is pressed, the hit determination means is activated and the mouse pointer moves to the menu item being displayed or horizontal / vertical scrolling. Determine if you hit the bar.

As a result of the judgment, when the displayed menu item is hit, the pull-down menu display means is activated to display the pull-down menu and the vertical scroll bar. Then, the mouse input receiving means is activated to receive the mouse input. While the mouse button is pressed,
Returning to the hit determination, when the displayed menu item is hit, the display update corresponding to the change of the selected menu item such as deletion of the old pull-down menu and display of the new pull-down menu is repeated. When the mouse button is released, the hit determination means is activated again to determine whether the lowest pull-down menu is hit.

As a result of the judgment, when the lowest pull-down menu is hit, it means that the menu selection has been made, and the display is initialized and the processing ends, but when the pull-down menu is not hit. Since no menu selection has been made, returns to the mouse input reception and repeats the mouse input reception until the button is pressed.

Further, as a result of the hit determination when the mouse button is pressed, when the horizontal / vertical scroll bar is hit, the displayed menu item is horizontally / vertically scrolled. While the mouse button is being pressed, scroll processing is repeated because it is a scroll instruction, but when the button is released, the scroll instruction ends, returning to the above mouse input reception, mouse input reception is repeated until the button is pressed. ..

Each means operates as described above, and the menu
By providing a scrolling method associated with the bar or pull-down menu, even if there are too many menu items, the menu bar and pull-down menu do not occupy most of the screen, and the user does not have to do so. A comfortable operating environment is provided.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the system configuration of an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer or a workstation to which the menu display control system of the present invention can be applied.

The information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 10, a memory 20, a hard disk 30, a flexible disk 40, a printer 50, and a keyboard 6.
0, a mouse 70 and a display 80. These are all well-known conventional devices,
It is connected via the bus 90.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of a program that realizes the method of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, the hierarchical menu display control unit 6
Reference numeral 00 is a part for performing display control of the hierarchical menu. An example of the hierarchical menu is shown in FIG. Now, consider selecting menu item M66 on this hierarchical menu. For that purpose, M6 at level 1 and M66 at level 2 may be sequentially selected (marked with *). FIG. 6 shows this selection operation in association with the screen display.

FIG. 6A shows the initial state, and the first four menu items (M1 to M4) among the menu items M1 to M9 are displayed on the screen. Also, a horizontal scroll bar is displayed adjacent to this. Since the target menu item M6 is not displayed in this state, the next screen (M5 to M8) is displayed by positioning the mouse pointer on the "next screen display instruction area" of the horizontal scroll bar and clicking the mouse. (Fig. 6
(B)). Position the mouse pointer on the desired M6,
When the button is pressed, the menu item M6 is reversed in black and white, and the first four menu items (M61 to M64) among the subordinate menu items M61 to M68 are displayed in a pull-down display.
Since the remaining four menu items (M65 to M68) are hidden, a vertical scroll bar is displayed adjacently (Fig. 6).
(C)). When the mouse button is released here, the pull-down display remains as it is and the first menu item M61 is reversed in black and white (FIG. 6 (d)). Position the mouse pointer on the "next screen display instruction area" of the vertical scroll bar (Fig. 6).
(E)) When the mouse is clicked, the next screen (M65
M68) is displayed (FIG. 6 (f)). Position the mouse pointer on the desired menu item M66 (see FIG. 6).
(G)), the button is pressed to complete the menu selection.

The hierarchical menu display control unit 600 shown in FIG.
This is a part that controls the display of the menu bar and pull-down menu as described above in response to the user's selection operation of the hierarchical menu.

Selected menu item registration table 1300
Is a table for storing the menu item selected by the user on the hierarchical menu. A configuration example is shown in FIG. This table consists of the following items.

(1) selected menu item no. The number of the selected menu item.

In the header of the table, (2) number is the number of registered menu item numbers.

Is provided.

Menu / bar display management table 1400
Is the menu item displayed in the menu bar,
This is a table for managing the control items (step / page / jump scroll) for scrolling displayed on the horizontal scroll bar. A configuration example is shown in FIG. FIG. 11A shows a management table of menu items. This table consists of the following items.

(1) xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax The x and y coordinates of the diagonal points of the item rectangle of the displayed menu item.

(2) menu item no. The number of the displayed menu item.

In the header section of the table, (3) number The number of displayed menu items.

(4) hscrbar Horizontal scroll bar display presence / absence flag.

Is provided.

Further, FIG. 3B is a control item management table. This table consists of the following items.

(1) xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax The x and y coordinates of the diagonal points of the item rectangle of the displayed control item.

(2) control item no. The number of the displayed control item.

In the header section of the table, (3) number The number of control items displayed.

Is provided.

Pull-down menu display management table 1
Reference numeral 500 denotes a menu item displayed in the pull-down menu and a control item (step / page / jumps) for scrolling displayed in the vertical scroll bar.
It is a table for managing croll). A configuration example is shown in FIG. FIG. 11A shows a management table of menu items. This table consists of the following items.

(1) xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax The x and y coordinates of the diagonal points of the item rectangle of the displayed menu item.

(2) menu item no. The number of the displayed menu item.

In the header of the table, (3) number The number of displayed menu items.

(4) vscrbar Vertical scroll bar display presence / absence flag.

Is provided.

Further, FIG. 7B shows a control item management table. This table consists of the following items.

(1) xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax The x and y coordinates of the diagonal points of the item rectangle of the displayed control item.

(2) control item no. The number of the displayed control item.

In the header of the table, (3) number The number of control items displayed.

Is provided.

The hierarchical menu definition table 1600 is a table for storing the menu structure as shown in FIG. A configuration example is shown in FIG. This table consists of the following items.

(1) xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax x, at the time of screen display of both diagonal points of the menu item rectangle
y coordinate.

(2) character strings Character strings of the names of menu items displayed on the screen.

(3) level The level of the menu item on the menu hierarchy.

(5) high level menu item no. The number of the higher-level menu item to which the menu item belongs.

(6) low level menu item: number The number of lower level menu items included in the menu item.

(7) low level menu item: fp The number of the first lower menu item (fp: forward pointe
r).

(8) low level menu item: bp Number of the last lower menu item (bp: backward pointe
r).

(9) same level menu item: fp The number of the next same level menu item.

(10) same level menu item: bp The number of the previous same level menu item.

In the header part of the table, (10) number The number of registered menu items.

Is provided.

The save / recovery management table 1700 is a table for managing the contents of the graphic RAM to be saved / recovered when a menu bar or pull-down menu is displayed on the screen or erased from the screen. A configuration example is shown in FIG. This table consists of the following items.

(1) xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax x and y coordinates of two diagonal points of the save rectangle on the screen.

(2) save top address The storage top address on the save memory of the save rectangle.

In the header part of the table, (3) number The number of registered save rectangles.

Is provided.

Now, referring to FIG. 4, the overall control unit 100
Activates the hierarchical menu display control unit 600 to allow the user to select a menu. FIG. 12 shows a processing flow of the hierarchical menu display control unit 600.

At step 605, it is determined whether the menu bar is being displayed. If it is not displayed as a result of the judgment,
In step 610, the menu bar is displayed. Specifically, after saving the contents of the rectangular area occupied by the menu bar on the screen to the save memory 1900, the menu
The bar display unit 700 is activated to display the menu bar. If the menu bar is being displayed, the display is unnecessary, so the flow advances to step 615.

In step 615, the mouse input is accepted, and in step 620, it is determined whether the mouse button is on or off. If the result of determination is that the button is off, step 615.
Return to and accept mouse input again. Also, the button
If it is on, proceed to step 625.

In step 625, a hit test is performed on the mouse pointer when the mouse button is turned on and the menu item rectangle. The display management tables 1400 and 1500 are referred to for the hit test. In step 630, the result of the hit test is determined, and when the mouse pointer does not hit any of the displayed menu items, the process proceeds to step 640 to accept the mouse input again without doing anything. When any of the displayed menu items is hit, the process proceeds to step 635 to update the menu display.

A more detailed processing flow of step 635 is shown in FIG. First, in step 635-10, the selection state of the menu is determined. For the determination, the selected menu item registration table 1300 is referred to.

In the new menu selection, step 635-
In step 20, the black and white of the selected menu item is reversed, the rectangular area on the screen occupied by the pull-down menu to be displayed is saved, the pull-down menu is displayed, and the menu selection state is updated.

When a menu item is being selected and there is a transition of menu items, the process proceeds to step 635-30. FIG. 14 shows a more detailed processing flow of step 635-30.

First, in step 635-30-10, the type of transition between menu items is determined. That is, it is determined whether to move to an upper / lower menu item or to a different menu item within the same level. To judge,
The selected menu item registration table 1300 and the hierarchical menu definition table 1500 are referred to.

At the time of shifting to the upper / lower menu item, the process proceeds to step 635-30-20 to determine whether to shift to the lower menu item or to the higher menu item, and depending on the determination result, the step 635-30-4
0, go to steps 635-30-50.

When moving to a different menu item in the same level, the process proceeds to step 635-30-30 to move to another menu item in the menu bar or to another menu item in the pull-down menu. It is determined whether or not the transition is made, and in accordance with the determination result, step 635-3
0-60, and proceeds to steps 635-30-70.

Steps 635-30-40, Step 6
At 35-30-50, Steps 635-30-60, and Steps 635-30-70, the corresponding screen update processing is performed. First in steps 635-30-40,
Black / white inversion of the selected menu item in the pull-down menu, saving of the rectangular area on the screen occupied by the lower pull-down menu to be displayed, display of the lower pull-down menu, and updating of the menu selection state are performed. Next, in step 635-30-50, depending on whether to move to a higher-order menu item including the currently selected menu item or to another higher-order menu item, in the former case, the pull-down menu Delete the lower pull-down menu of the selected menu item (Save memory 1900
To the screen), release black / white inversion of the selected menu item, and update the menu selection status.In the latter case, pull-down
Erase menu, clear upper / lower old menu item black / white inversion, upper / new menu item black / white inversion, save rectangular area on screen occupied by new pull-down menu to be displayed, display new pull-down menu, menu selection status Update. Further, step 635-30-60
Deletes the old pull-down menu, cancels the black / white inversion of the old menu item in the menu bar, black / white inverts the new menu item in the menu bar, saves the rectangular area on the screen occupied by the new pull-down menu to be displayed, and Display pull-down menu and update menu selection status. Finally, in step 635-30-70, the lower pull-down menu of the old menu item in the pull-down menu is deleted, the old menu item is released from black / white inversion, the new menu item is inverted in black / white, and the lower pull-down menu to be displayed is occupied. Save the rectangular area on the screen, display the pull-down menu below the new menu item, and update the menu selection status.

In step 635-10 of FIG. 13, when a menu is being selected and there is no transition of menu items,
do nothing.

Returning to FIG. 12, mouse input is accepted again in step 640, and it is determined in step 645 whether the mouse button is on or off. As a result, the button
If it is on, go to step 6 for another hit test.
Return to 25. If the button is off, a hit test is performed with the mouse pointer at that time and the menu item rectangle in the lowest pull-down menu in the displayed pull-down menu (step 66).
5, 670). As a result, when none of the menu items is hit, the menu selection has not been completed, and the process returns to step 615 to accept the mouse input again.
When the menu item is hit, the menu selection has been completed, so the process proceeds to step 675.

In step 675, all the other pull-down menus are left, leaving only the first level menu bar display.
Erase the menu. Since the menu item is not selected in the first level menu bar display, the black and white inversion of the old menu item is canceled.

When it is determined in step 630 that the scroll bar is hit, the process proceeds to step 650 to scroll the display menu item. It is a scroll instruction until the mouse button is released, so the mouse input is accepted in step 655, and the button is turned on / off in step 660.
If the button is turned on, it is judged whether it is in the off state or not. If the button is turned off, the scroll instruction is completed, and the process returns to step 615.

The processing in the hierarchical menu display control unit 600 is completed, and the control is transferred to the overall control unit 100. The overall control unit 100 activates the menu processing units 200 to 400 to execute the process corresponding to the selected menu item. After the processing is completed, the hierarchical menu display control unit 600 is activated again. Hereinafter, the above is repeated.

The above is the description of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0082]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the display area of the menu bar or pull-down menu is limited to a certain size and there are too many menu items to display all of them, Since the scroll bar is displayed along with them, the conventional menu wrapping display is eliminated, and the menu does not occupy most of the screen, so that it is possible to provide a comfortable operating environment for the user. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display example in a conventional menu display control system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example in the menu display control system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer and a workstation to which the menu display control system of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a program that realizes the method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical menu.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a menu selection operation method showing a selection operation of a hierarchical menu by a user in association with screen display.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a selected menu item registration table 1300.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a menu bar display management table 1400.

FIG. 9 is a pull-down menu display management table 150
It is a figure which shows the structural example of 0.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a hierarchical menu definition table 1600.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a save / recovery management table 1700.

FIG. 12 is a processing flowchart in the hierarchical menu display control unit 600.

FIG. 13 shows a process flow of a hierarchical menu display control unit 600 in step 635 (update menu display).
It is a more detailed process flow diagram.

FIG. 14 is a step 635-30 in the processing flow in the hierarchical menu display control unit 600 (menu transfer processing).
6 is a more detailed processing flow chart in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... CPU, 20 ... Memory, 30 ... Hard disk, 40 ... Flexible disk, 50 ... Printer, 60 ... Keyboard, 70 ... Mouse, 80 ... Display, 90 ... Bus, 100 ... Overall control section, 200, 300, 400 ... Menu Processing unit, 500 ... Hit determination unit, 600 ... Hierarchical menu display control unit, 700 ... Menu bar display unit, 800 ... Pulldown menu display unit, 900 ... White / black reversing unit, 1000 ... Mouse input receiving unit, 1100 ... Evacuation unit , 1200 ... Recovery unit, 1300 ... Selected menu item registration table, 1400 ... Menu bar display management table, 1500 ... Pulldown menu display management table, 1600 ... Hierarchical menu definition table, 1700 ... Evacuation recovery management table, 1800 ... Graphic RAM 1900 ... save memory.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a menu tree having a multi-tiered hierarchical structure, menu items located at the highest level (first level) are displayed in a menu bar, and levels other than the above (second level, third level, ... ) A menu display control method characterized by displaying the pull-down menu of the menu item located in). 2. In the menu bar display, when there are too many menu items to display in a certain area,
2. The menu display control method according to claim 1, wherein a horizontal scroll bar is displayed as a scroll means in association with the menu bar. 3. In the pull-down menu display,
2. The menu display control system according to claim 1, wherein when there are too many menu items to display in a certain area, a vertical scroll bar is displayed as a scrolling means in association with the pull-down menu.