JPH09120353A - Multi-screen display controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To offer an easy-to-see screen for a user and also to improve his operability, working efficiency, etc., by dividing a display area into the 1st and 2nd parts on a physical screen of a CRT, etc., and displaying a user's working screen (active screen), etc., in the 1st display area. SOLUTION: The controller includes a CPU 1, a ROM 2, a RAM 3, an input device 4, a bus 5, plural memories 6a to 6c, the display control parts 7a to 7c corresponding to the memories 6a to 6c respectively, a screen synthesizing part 8 and a CRT 9. The ROM 2 stores various types of programs, and the CPU 1 reads out these programs and carries them out to perform the display control. In such constitution, a display area is divided into the 1st and 2nd parts on a physical screen of the CRT 9. Then a user's working screen (active screen), etc., is displayed in the 1st display area, and other screens are displayed in the 2nd display area with no mutual overlapping of them.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-screen display system, and more particularly to a CRT (Cathod RayTube).
The present invention relates to a multi-screen display control device that displays a plurality of independent logical screens on a physical screen such as.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a system has become widespread in which a plurality of independent screens can be simultaneously displayed on a CRT screen connected to a personal computer, a workstation or the like. Such a system is called a multi-window system, which greatly improves the operability of users who work.

However, in this multi-window system, because of its good operability, too many screens may be displayed on the CRT too much. In a multi-window system,
When a plurality of screens are displayed, the newly selected screen is displayed so as to be superimposed on the screen selected in the past, so that a number of screens will be displayed on the CRT in a state of overlapping. This is very similar to a state in which many documents are scattered on the desk, and each screen is difficult for the user to see, which brings about an adverse effect that the operability, the operating efficiency, etc. are rather lowered. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-screen display control device in which each screen is easy for a user to see and operability, work efficiency and the like can be improved.

In view of the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a multi-screen display control device, wherein a first display area is set in a display area on a physical screen, and the first display area is set in the display area. Display area setting means for setting a second display area in an area other than the first display area, and an active screen selected as a work target is displayed in the first display area, and all other inactive screens And display control means for displaying in the second display area so as not to overlap each other. According to the multi-screen display control device configured as described above, the screen corresponding to the work target selected by the user is displayed in the first display area as the active screen, and the other screens are displayed as the inactive screen in the second display area. The display areas are displayed so that they do not overlap each other. The invention according to claim 2 is the same as the invention according to claim 1.
In the multi-screen display control device described above, the display area setting means may include the first display area and the second display area according to the number of active screens and inactive screens.
It is configured to change the ratio with the display area. According to the multi-screen display control device configured as described above, the display area setting means sets the first display area on the physical screen according to the number of active screens and inactive screens selected by the user. The ratio of the area of the second display area is changed. The invention according to claim 3 is the same as the claim 1.
Alternatively, in the multi-screen display control device according to the second aspect, the display control unit is configured to arrange the inactive screens in the second display area according to a temporal order selected as a work target. According to the multi-screen display control device configured as described above, the inactive screen is displayed in the second display area according to the temporal order previously selected as the work target. The invention according to claim 4 is the multi-screen display control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the display control means is not active based on the number of inactive screens and the area of the second display region. It is configured to have a calculation means for calculating an area per screen of the screen, and an area changing means for changing the area of the inactive screen so as to match the area per screen calculated by the calculation means. To do. According to the multi-screen display control device configured as described above, the calculating means calculates the area per screen of the inactive screen based on the number of inactive screens and the area of the second display area, and the area The changing unit changes the area of the inactive screen so as to match the area per screen calculated by the calculating unit. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the multi-screen display device according to the first to fourth aspects, when the number of the active screens exceeds the number that can be displayed in the first display area, the active screens are displayed. Is configured to have a screen changing means for changing to an inactive screen. According to the multi-screen display control device configured as described above, the screen changing unit does not activate the active screen when the number of the active screens exceeds the number that can be displayed in the first display area. Change to screen. The invention according to claim 6 is the multi-screen display device according to claims 1 to 5, wherein the display control means is configured to display the active screen larger than the inactive screen. According to the multi-screen display control device configured as described above, the display control means displays the active screen larger than the inactive screen.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First, the basic idea underlying the present invention will be described. One of them is that the number of screens that humans can keep an eye on is only a few. That is, even if several screens are displayed at the same time, the user does not always pay attention to all of them. Therefore, rather than making a complicated display by stacking many screens, only the screens 1 and 2 that the user really wants to see are displayed as large and easy-to-see, and other screens do not interfere with the large display screen. It is preferable to display it in terms of operability. Another idea is that when searching for one screen among multiple screens, it is recommended that each screen has its own identification information, or that it be arranged according to some rules. It means that the selection of will be easier. From the above viewpoint, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the display area on the CRT is divided into a first display area and a second display area, and the user really wants to see the first display area. It was decided to display the desired screen so that it is easy to see, for example, it is large. Further, in the second display area, other screens are displayed relatively small so as not to overlap each other, and the identification information is added to each of the screens.
Alternatively, it was decided to arrange the screens according to certain rules. Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the multi-screen display control device according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the multi-screen display control device of this embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1 and an RO.
M (Read Only Memory) 2 and RAM (Random Access Memo)
ry) 3, an input device 4 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a bus 5, a plurality of memories 6 (6a, 6b, ...) And a display control unit 7 (7a, 7b, ...) Corresponding to each memory. .),
And a screen synthesizing section 8 and a CRT 9. RO
Various processing programs are stored in M2, and C
PU1 performs display control by reading and executing these programs. The details of the control will be described later. From the input device 4, instructions necessary for work,
Information is input by the user. Bus 5 has a CP
The U1, the ROM2, the RAM3, the input device 4, and the memory 6 are connected, and information is exchanged between the respective elements.
The RAM 3 stores information and the like arbitrarily set by the user. For example, the ratio of the first display area and the second display area,
The positional relationship and the like. Further, when the screens in the second display area are arranged according to the user's preference, information for determining the order is stored. Instructions, necessary information, and the like from the user are input to the input device 4. For example, a specific application or the like (hereinafter, referred to as “work target”)
Enter an instruction to start the, a specific screen to be displayed in the first display area, an instruction to save the screen displayed in the first display area to the second display area, etc. .
In the following description, the screen corresponding to the work target selected by the user for performing work will be referred to as "active screen", and the other screens will be referred to as "inactive screen". Therefore, the active screen is displayed large in the first display area, and the inactive screen is displayed small in the second display area. The memory 6
The image data of each screen displayed on the CRT 9 is stored. The amount of image data stored in the memory 6 is
It is necessary that the data capacity be equal to or larger than the data capacity required when only one screen is displayed in the first display area. Further, in the memory 6, when the screen is displayed as an inactive screen in the second display area, image data such as a title of each screen displayed in place of the screen and symbols arbitrarily set by the user Is also remembered. Although a plurality of memories corresponding to each screen are provided in FIG. 2 for convenience of description, in practice, a storage area of one memory may be allocated to each screen and used. The display control unit 7 is a CRT for image data and the like stored in the memory 6.
9 control the display method on the screen. The control of this display method includes the control of the display pattern and the control of the display position.
Controlling the display pattern means controlling how each screen is displayed, especially in the second display area. For example, in the second display area, the screen is compressed and displayed as compared with the case where it is displayed in the first display area, or instead of the compressed screen, the title of the screen (name of work target, etc.) It is to display the symbol arbitrarily set by the user as corresponding to. That is, specifically, when only one screen is displayed in the first display area, the image data stored in the memory 6 is supplied to the screen synthesizing unit 8 so as to be displayed on the scale as it is. When the two screens are displayed side by side in the first display area, the image data stored in the memory 6 is halved.
And the compressed image is supplied to the image synthesizing unit 8. When the screen is displayed in the second display area, the image data stored in the memory 6 is displayed in a predetermined ratio, for example, 1/8, 1/16,
It is compressed on a scale such as, and supplied to the screen synthesis unit 8. Further, when displaying the title of the work target, the symbol set by the user, or the like instead of the compressed screen in the second display area, those image data are supplied to the image synthesizing unit 8.
The image data can be compressed by a known method such as data thinning. On the other hand, the control of the display position refers to a control for determining at which position in the first or second display area each screen is displayed in the display area of the CRT 9. The screen synthesis unit 8 displays the image data supplied from the display control unit 7 on the CRT 9. Specifically, the active screen selected and designated by the user is displayed in the first display area, and the inactive screen is displayed in the second display area. In addition, the screen synthesis unit 8
It also has a function of changing the ratio of the first display area and the second display area within the displayable area of the CRT 9. The details of the changing method will be described later. Next, an example of a specific display control operation will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. Note that the following operation is performed by the CPU 1 executing a program stored in advance in the ROM 2. Further, it is assumed that the area ratios, positions, etc. of the first display area and the second display area on the CRT 9 are set in advance by the user. First, it is confirmed whether or not the user selects a work target (step S1). The screen corresponding to the work target selected here is displayed in the first display area as an active screen. When the work target is selected (step S1: YES), the screen compositing unit 8 confirms whether or not there is a free area in the first display area (step S11). If there is an empty area (step S11: NO), the display control section 7 outputs the image data of the amount necessary for displaying in the first display area, and the screen synthesis section 8 shows the image data in FIG. As an active screen in the first display area (step S
27). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S11 that there is no free area in the first display area, the user is asked whether to close one of the active screens displayed in the first display area (step S13). When the user does not desire to close any active screen (step S13: NO), the CPU 1 displays on the CRT 9 that the work target cannot be selected (step S15). On the other hand, when the user selects one active screen to be closed in step S13 (step S13: YES), the CPU 1 closes the active screen and moves to the second display area. That is, the display pattern and the display position of the screen in the second display area are determined and displayed in the second display area (steps S17 to S23). Specifically, the display control unit 7 corresponding to the screen compresses the image data stored in the memory 6 at a predetermined ratio for display in the second display area, and the compressed image data is displayed on the screen. Input to the synthesis unit 8. The screen synthesizing unit 8 displays the input compressed image data at a predetermined position in the second display area as an inactive screen. The display position is selected as a work target in the past and follows the temporal order displayed in the first display area. For example, on the screen of the CRT 9, it is displayed from the left in the order selected from the left in the past. Then, the work target selected in step S1 is newly displayed as an active screen in an empty area in the first display area created by closing one active screen (step S25). In step S1, if the user has not selected a new work target (step S1: N
O), and inquires whether to close the active screen currently displayed in the first display area (step S3). If the user does not want to close the active screen (step S3), the process ends. On the other hand, when the user gives an instruction to close the active screen (step S3: YES), the active screen is moved to the second display area by the same processing as steps S19 to S23 described above (step S3: YES). S5-S
9). Although an example of a specific display control operation has been described above, the display control device according to the present invention can perform the following various controls. First, in the above example, C
The user has set the ratio of the areas of the first display region and the second display region in the display region of the RT9 in advance, but this ratio may be variable according to the number of screens displayed in each display region. Good. That is, for example, when the number of active screens displayed in the first display area decreases and the number of screens to be displayed in the second display area increases, the first display area is reduced to The two display areas may be enlarged (see FIGS. 1 and 4). Also,
In the above example, the arrangement of the inactive screens (display order) in the second display area is the order selected for each, but instead the display is arranged in any order predetermined by the user. Alternatively, the position may be determined and displayed for each type of work target. Further, although the area of the second display area is fixed and the number of inactive screens that can be displayed in the area is limited, the number of inactive screens displayed in the second display area is When the number is larger than the limited number, as shown in FIG. 5, the size of each inactive screen is reduced so that all inactive screens can be displayed in the second display area. You can also This can be realized by the display control unit 7 changing the size of an inactive screen according to an instruction from the CPU 1. In the above example, if it is determined in step S11 of FIG. 3 that the first display area has no free space, the user is asked whether or not to close any active screen in step S13. However, it is also possible to forcibly close one active screen without asking the user and display the newly selected work target as the active screen. In this case, the active screens that are forcibly closed can be selected in the order that they are selected from the oldest one in time, or in the order of importance of each work preset by the user. . In addition, there are other methods, such as a method in which the ones that have been selected and displayed in the first display area have the longest elapsed time, and those that have been closed last are closed. There are also ways to go. Also, the first
When a plurality of screens are set to be displayed in an overlapping manner in the display area, the screen with the smallest visible portion may be closed as shown in FIG. Further, in the above example, the display pattern of the screen in the second display area is the compressed image of the image displayed as the active screen, but instead, the title of the work target or the user is arbitrary. You may display the specific symbol, mark, etc. set to. Since the image data of these symbols and the like is stored in advance in the memory 6, such a change can be made by changing the setting of the display pattern.

As is clear from the above description,
According to the multi-screen display control device of the present invention, the display area on the physical screen of the CRT or the like is divided into the first and second display areas, and the screen etc. on which the user is working in the first display area ( Since the active screen is displayed, the screen the user is paying attention to is displayed in an easy-to-see manner, and operability and work efficiency are improved. Further, since the other screens are displayed in the second display area so as not to overlap each other, it is possible to easily recognize the existence of the screen that is not currently focused. Further, by providing a certain rule or the like in the arrangement of the screen display in the second display area, even if any of the screens that are not noticed (inactive) is selected as a new work target, it is easy to specify the screen. Becomes

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a display example of a multi-screen display control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multi-screen display control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a display operation of the multi-screen display control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another display example of the multi-screen display control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a modified display example of the multi-screen display control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram when a display is modified in the multi-screen display control device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... CPU 2 ... ROM 3 ... RAM 4 ... Input device 5 ... Bus 6 ... Memory 7 ... Display control unit 8 ... Screen composition unit 9 ... CRT

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A display area setting means for setting a first display area in a display area on a physical screen and a second display area in an area other than the first display area in the display area, and a work target. A display control means for displaying an active screen selected as the above in the first display area, and displaying all other inactive screens in the second display area so as not to overlap each other. A multi-screen display control device characterized by the above. 2. The display area setting means, according to the number of the active screen and the inactive screen,
The multi-screen display control device according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of the first display area to the second display area is changed. 3. The multi-screen according to claim 1, wherein the display control means arranges the inactive screens in the second display area according to a temporal order selected as a work target. Display controller. 4. The display control means calculates the area per screen of the inactive screen based on the number of the inactive screens and the area of the second display region, and the calculating means. An area changing unit for changing the area of the inactive screen so as to match the calculated area per screen.
Alternatively, the multi-screen display control device described in 2. 5. A screen changing means for changing the active screen to an inactive screen when the number of the active screens exceeds the number that can be displayed in the first display area. Item 5. A multi-screen display device according to items 1 to 4. 6. The multi-screen display device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays the active screen larger than the inactive screen.