JPH10143397A - Plural window history managing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plural window history managing system requiring a small memory capacity in recording window history and a low processing cost in reproducing the history, and capable of successively and discretely reproducing the history. SOLUTION: A time sequential history information managing means 501 records event generation time information, event contents information and event-window related information as time sequential history information of event and window, a window history information managing means 601 records window structure history information proper to window, and a reproducing method instructing means 701 instructs whethe the reproduction method of the window is to be successive or discrete. When an event monitoring means 201 detects the event, a screen control means 401 records the time sequential history information of the event and the window in the time sequential history information managing means 501 in order of generation and simultaneously records the window structure history information proper to the window in the window history information managing means 601 and reproduces the window structure history information by the reproduction method instructed by the reproduction method instructing means 701.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multiple window history management system, and more particularly to a multiple window history management system for managing the history of a plurality of windows in an information processing system for displaying multiple windows.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of a multitasking operating system and a graphical user interface (GUI), various operations have been performed on a plurality of windows on an output device such as a display. Also, various methods for recording and reproducing the history have been required. Although this tendency is expected to increase, at present, few general-purpose methods have been proposed to efficiently record and reproduce the histories of a plurality of windows with a small storage capacity.

[0003] For example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-157497, the reproduction of the history of a plurality of windows has conventionally been performed using only the arrangement information of the screen. The window screen of is targeted for reproduction. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a conventional technique, in which a history of arrangement information of windows 1, 2, and 3 from time T1 to time T2 is recorded,
This represents a state transition in which the history is reproduced from the time T2 to the state at the time T1 using the history at the time Tl. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, when the history of the time Tl is reproduced on the screen display unit, the screen configuration and the display contents of all the windows of the screen display unit are changed to the state of the time T1 using only the screen arrangement information. I'm back.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional recording / reproducing method for a plurality of window histories, a system for automatically demonstrating a GUI-oriented application program and various browsers typified by an Internet browser are used. As the use has progressed, it has not been possible to respond to a request to efficiently record and reproduce the window history including the display contents in the multi-window.

[0005] That is, the first problem of the conventional recording / reproducing method of multiple window histories is that, for example, when recording / reproducing a GUI-oriented application program demonstration, all information on the screen is recorded as a moving image. In this case, the information must be recorded in the same manner as in the case where the information is recorded.

A second problem is that, when reproducing the history of a plurality of windows, even if it is desired to take out and reproduce only the portion where the content has changed, it must be reproduced continuously in time. However, the processing efficiency is poor.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus for displaying multi-windows, in which, when recording and reproducing the histories of a plurality of windows, the storage capacity required for recording the histories is smaller than in the conventional method, and Another object of the present invention is to provide a multiple-window history management system that reduces processing costs required for history reproduction.

Another object of the present invention is to record the history of a plurality of windows and to reproduce not only continuously on the time axis but also discretely. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-window history management system which improves the interface.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in an information processing apparatus for displaying multiple windows, an input operation is performed on a plurality of windows displayed on an output device by an input device. Event monitoring means for monitoring events that occur when
Time-series history information management means for recording and managing event occurrence time information, event content information, and event-window relation information as time-series history information of the event and the window, and recording of unique window configuration history information for each window Window history information management means for managing and recording, when an event is detected by the event monitoring means, the event and the time series history information of the window in the time series history information management means in the order of occurrence time; Screen control means for recording and reproducing unique window configuration history information in the window history information management means for each case.

[0010] Also, the multiple window history management system according to the present invention, when an input operation is performed by an input device on a plurality of windows displayed on an output device, in an information processing device for displaying a multi-window. Event monitoring means for monitoring an event to be performed; time-series history information management means for recording and managing event occurrence time information, event content information and event-window relation information as time-series history information of the event and the window; Window history information management means for recording and managing window configuration history information unique to each event, reproduction method instructing means for instructing whether the method of reproducing the window with respect to a time axis is continuous or discrete, and the event When an event is detected by the monitoring means, the event and the And recording the time-series history information of the windows in the time-series history information management means in the order of occurrence time, and recording unique window configuration history information for each window in the window history information management means; And a screen control means for reproducing by the reproduction method instructed by (1).

[0011]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a multiple window history management system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The multiple window history management system according to the present embodiment includes an input / output unit 101 including an output device 102 such as a display and an input device 103 such as a keyboard and a mouse, an event monitoring unit 201, an event queue 301, and a screen control unit. 401, a time-series history information management unit 501 that manages time-series history information including event occurrence time information 502, event content information 503, and event-window relation information 504, and a window that manages window configuration history information 602 of each window. History information management means 601 and reproduction method instruction means 70
And 1.

[0013] A multiple window history management system according to the present embodiment provides a window history acquisition phase for acquiring a history of a plurality of windows displayed by a user operation in an information processing system for displaying multiple windows. A window history reproduction phase for reproducing the histories of a plurality of windows.

Referring to FIG. 2, a window history acquisition phase (process A) includes an input status monitoring step 901,
Input occurrence determination step 902, event occurrence time and event content acquisition / holding step 903, and processing A-
And one execution event generation step 904.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the window history acquisition phase (process A-1), each window ID acquisition step 905, each window configuration information and screen dump data acquisition step 906, and each window configuration history information change determination step 907 and an event-window relation information generation / holding step 908.

Referring to FIG. 4, the window history reproduction phase (process B) includes a reproduction method, a desired reproduction start time and a desired reproduction end time input step 911, an information transfer step 912 to the screen control means, and a latest event. An occurrence time investigation step 913 is provided.

Referring to FIG. 5, the window history reproduction phase (process B-1) includes a changing window ID group acquisition step 921, a corresponding window configuration history information acquisition step 922, a window reproduction step 923, and a screen display content failure. It comprises a change maintaining step 924, a next event occurrence time existence determining step 925, and a changing window ID group obtaining step 926.

Referring to FIG. 6, the window history reproduction phase (process B-2) includes a changing window ID group acquisition step 931, a corresponding window configuration history information acquisition step 932, a window reproduction step 933, and a discrete reproduction request. A standby step 934, a discrete reproduction request presence / absence determination step 935, a reproduction end request presence / absence determination step 936, and a next event occurrence time existence determination step 937.
And a changing window ID group acquisition step 938.

Next, the operation of the multiple window history management system according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described separately for a window history acquisition phase and a window history reproduction phase.

First, the window history acquisition phase will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

Step 901: Event monitoring means 201
, Constantly monitors the input state of whether or not an input operation such as a keystroke by a keyboard or a click by a mouse is performed from the input device 103.

Step 902: When an input from the input device 103 occurs, the event monitoring means 201 adds a corresponding event to the event queue 301. At the same time as adding this event, the event monitoring means 201
An exclusive lock is placed on the event queue 301. When it is detected that an input from the input / output unit 101 has occurred, steps 903 to 904 are performed.

Step 903: The screen control means 401
The event occurrence time and the event content are acquired and recorded and held in the event occurrence time information 502 and the event content information 503. The event occurrence time information 502 is set information of “event occurrence time, event ID”, and the event content information 503 is “output device I such as a display”.
D, the ID of the window in which the event has occurred, the event type, and the input contents. "

Step 904: The screen control means 401
An event for performing the process A-1 is added to the event queue 301. At the same time as adding this event, the screen control unit 401 releases the exclusive lock of the event queue 301 and returns to step 901. Thus, the event for performing the process A-1 is always executed between the event detected in step 902 and the event that will be detected in the next step 902.

Step 905: The screen control means 401
All the IDs of the windows displayed on the output device 102 such as a display are acquired.

Step 906: The screen control means 401
The window configuration information and the screen dump data of each window are acquired, and recorded and held as the window configuration history information 602 in the window history information management unit 601.
Each window configuration information includes “the event start time, the window ID, the xy coordinates representing the display position of the window on the screen, and the size of the window acquired in step 903”.
Is set information.

Step 907: The screen control means 401
It is checked whether each window configuration history information 602 has changed from the previously obtained window configuration history information 602. If there is a change, the screen control unit 401 performs step 908.

Step 908: The screen control means 401
The event-window relation information 504 is generated and stored in the time-series history information management unit 501. The event-window relation information 504 is set information of “window ID and event ID of the window changed in step 907”.

Next, the window history reproduction phase will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4, 5 and 6.

Step 911: By the input device 103,
Enter the information to specify whether to reproduce the history continuously or discretely along the time axis as the reproduction method, and at the same time, specify the desired reproduction start time and reproduction end time, respectively, the elapsed time from the history recording start time Enter as

Step 912: Reproduction method designating means 701
Passes information input from the input device 103 to the screen control unit 401. At this time, the desired reproduction start time and the desired reproduction end time are converted into the history recording start time + the elapsed time from the start of the history recording, and then passed.

Step 913: The screen control means 401
In the event occurrence time information 502, the latest event occurrence time in a group of event occurrence times earlier than the desired reproduction start time is checked. Then, the screen control means 401
Process B-1 when continuous reproduction is specified in the reproduction method
Is performed, and if discrete reproduction is designated as the reproduction method, the process B-2 is performed.

Step 921: The screen control means 401
The window ID group that has changed is acquired from the event-window relationship information 504 corresponding to the event occurrence time obtained in step 913 by the time-series history information management unit 501.

Step 922: The screen control means 401
Step 92 from the window history information management means 601
1 or the window configuration history information 602 corresponding to the window ID group acquired in step 926.

Step 923: The screen control means 401
Window configuration history information 60 acquired in step 922
2 is reproduced on the screen display device 102.

Step 924: The screen control means 401
Until the time of (next event occurrence time−current event occurrence time) elapses, the display content of the output device 102 is maintained without being changed.

Step 925: The screen control means 401
It is checked whether or not the next event occurrence time exists between the desired reproduction start time and the desired reproduction end time in the event occurrence time information 502, and if it exists, the processing of step 926 and thereafter is performed. End the history reproduction phase.

Step 926: The screen control means 401
The time-series history information management unit 501 obtains a changed window ID group from the event-window relation information 504 corresponding to the next event occurrence time, and step 9
Repeat step 22 and subsequent steps.

Step 931: The screen control means 401
Event-window relation information 504 of the event occurrence time obtained in the previous process from the time-series history information management means 501
Window ID group that has changed is acquired from.

Step 932: The screen control means 401
Step 931 from window history information management means 601
Alternatively, window configuration history information corresponding to the window ID group acquired in step 938 is acquired.

Step 933: The screen control means 401
The window configuration history information acquired in step 932 is reproduced on the output device 102.

Step 934: The screen control means 401
The reproduction method designating unit 701 waits for a discrete reproduction request from the input device 103 to the previous or next event occurrence point.

Step 935: The screen control means 401
If there is a discrete reproduction request from the input device 102 to the previous or next event occurrence point, the processing after step 937 is performed, and if there is no reproduction request, the end determination of step 936 is performed.

Step 936: The screen control means 401
If there is a reproduction end request from the input device 102, the window history reproduction phase is ended. If there is no reproduction end request, the process proceeds to step 934.

Step 937: The screen control means 401
It is checked whether or not the next event occurrence time exists in the event occurrence time information 502.
The process proceeds to step S38, and if not, the window history reproduction phase ends.

Step 938: The screen control means 401
The time-series history information management unit 501 obtains a changed window ID group from the event-window relation information 504 corresponding to the next event occurrence time, and step 9
Return to 32.

[0047]

FIG. 7 shows a screen transition of an embodiment of the multiple window history management system of the present invention for recording and reproducing the history of a multi-window on an information processing system for displaying a multi-window. Hereinafter, the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 will be described separately for a window history acquisition phase and a window history reproduction phase.

As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of windows are displayed on the output device 102 such as a display at the time Tl, and the display position, size and display contents of each window have changed from the time Tl to the time T2. I do. The case where the history of the window at the time T2 is reproduced from the state at the time Tl after the history of the window from the time Tl to the time T2 is recorded will be described. For simplicity, it is assumed that an event has occurred once at time Ts during the period from time Tl to time T2.

First, the processing of the window history acquisition phase during the period from time Tl to time T2 is as follows.

Step 901: Event monitoring means 201
Monitors the input state of the input device 103, such as whether the input device 103 has performed an input operation such as a key press or a mouse click on the window 1, the window 2 and the window 3.

Step 902: During the period from the time Tl to the time Ts, no input operation is performed, so that only the monitoring by the event monitoring means 201 is performed.
It is assumed that some button in the window 1 is clicked by the mouse from the input device 103 at time Ts. When this input occurs, the corresponding event I is added to the event queue 301. At the same time as the event I is added, an exclusive lock is placed on the event queue 301 to exclude all access except for access from the screen control unit 401. Since the event monitoring means 201 has detected that an input from the input / output means 101 has occurred, the screen control means 401
Steps 903 to 904 are performed.

Step 903: The screen control means 401
“Event occurrence time Ts, event ID” is acquired and recorded and held in the event occurrence time information 502. Also,
An “output device ID such as a display, an ID of the window 1 in which an event has occurred, an event type (mouse), and input content (single click)” are acquired and recorded and held in the event content information 503.

Step 904: The screen control means 401
An event X for executing steps 905 to 908 is added to the event queue 301. At the same time as adding this event, the screen control unit 401 releases the exclusive lock of the event queue 301 and returns the control to step 901.

At the time T when the event I is executed
In step 2, each window on the screen changes, and event X is executed after event I ends.

Step 905: The screen control means 401
The window IDs of window 1, window 2, window 3, and window 4 displayed on the output device 102 such as a display are acquired.

Step 906: The screen control means 401
The window history information management unit 601 acquires window configuration information and screen dump data of each of window 1, window 2, window 3 and window 4, and records and holds the window configuration history information 602 in the window history information management unit 601. . The window configuration information of each window is group information of “event start time Ts acquired in step 903, own window ID, xy coordinates indicating the display position of the own window on the screen, and size of the own window”.

Step 907: The screen control means 401
It is checked whether each window configuration history information 602 has changed from the previously obtained window configuration history information 602. In the embodiment, the size of window 1 and the display content change, the size of window 2 and the display content change,
There is no change in window 3, and window 4 is newly generated. Since there has been a change, the screen control means 401
Performs step 908.

Step 908: The screen control means 401
Generate and hold event-window relationship information 504. The event-window relation information 504 is “window 1, window 2, window 4 window I
D, Event I ID ”.

At the time Te, the execution of the event X ends.

Next, the process of the window history reproduction phase for continuously reproducing the screen from the state at time Tl to the state at time T2 on the time axis is as follows.

Step 911: By the input device 103,
As the reproduction method, information specifying that the history is to be continuously reproduced along the time axis is input, and at the same time, a desired reproduction start time Tb (≦ T1) and a desired reproduction end time Tf (≧ T
2) is input as the elapsed time from the history recording start time Tl.

Step 912: Reproduction method designating means 701
Passes the reproduction method (continuous reproduction), the desired reproduction start time Tb, and the desired reproduction end time Tf input from the input device 103 to the screen control means 401. At this time, the desired reproduction start time Tb and the desired reproduction end time Tf are converted into the history recording start time Tl + the elapsed time from the start of the history recording, and are passed.

Step 913: The screen control means 401
In the event occurrence time information 502, the desired reproduction start time T
The latest event occurrence time in the group of event occurrence times earlier than b (the history recording start time Tl because there is no corresponding event in this embodiment) is checked. Since continuous reproduction is specified in the reproduction method, the screen control means 4
01 performs the processing from step 921 to step 926.

Step 921: The screen control means 401
Step 913 is executed by the time-series history information management unit 501.
From the event-window relation information 504 corresponding to the event occurrence time T1 obtained in the above, the IDs of the changed windows 1, 2 and 3 are acquired.

Step 922: The screen control means 401
The window configuration history information 602 corresponding to each ID of window 1, window 2, and window 3 is acquired from the window history information management unit 601.

Step 923: The screen control means 401
Window configuration history information 60 acquired in step 922
2 is reproduced on the output device 102.

Step 924: The screen control means 401
(Next event occurrence time Ts-Current event occurrence time T1)
Until the time elapses, the display content of the output device 102 is maintained unchanged.

Step 925: The screen control means 401
The desired reproduction start time Tb in the event occurrence time information 502
As a result of examining whether or not the next event occurrence time exists between and the reproduction end desired time Tf, the event occurrence time T
Since s exists, the processing after step 926 is performed.

Step 926: The screen control means 401
The event-window relation information 50 corresponding to the next event occurrence time Ts by the time-series history information management means 501
The respective IDs of window 1, window 2, and window 3, which have changed from 4, are acquired.

The screen control means 401 executes steps 922 to 924 again.

Step 925: The screen control means 401
The desired reproduction start time Tb in the event occurrence time information 502
Between the event occurrence time Ts and the desired reproduction end time Tf
As a result of checking whether or not the next event occurrence time exists, since it does not exist, the window history reproduction phase ends.

Next, the processing of the window history reproduction phase for discretely reproducing the screen from the state at time T1 to the state at time T2 with respect to the time axis is as follows.

Step 911: By the input device 103,
As a reproduction method, information specifying that the history is discretely reproduced along the time axis is input, and at the same time, a desired reproduction start time Tb (≦ T1) and a desired reproduction end time Tf (≧ T
2) is input as the elapsed time from the history recording start time T1.

Step 912: Reproduction method designating means 701
Passes the reproduction method (discrete reproduction), the desired reproduction start time Tb, and the desired reproduction end time Tf input from the input device 103 to the screen control means 401. At this time, the desired reproduction start time Tb and the desired reproduction end time Tf are converted into the history recording start time T1 + the elapsed time from the start of the history recording, and then passed.

Step 913: The screen control means 401
In the event occurrence time information 502, the desired reproduction start time T
The latest event occurrence time in the group of event occurrence times earlier than b (the history recording start time Tl because there is no corresponding event in this embodiment) is checked. Since the discrete reproduction is specified in the reproduction method, the screen control means 4
01 performs the processing of steps 931 to 938.

Step 931: The screen control means 401
The time-series history information management unit 501 acquires the ID of each of the changed windows 1, 2, and 3 from the event-window relationship information 504 corresponding to the event occurrence time Tl obtained in the previous process.

Step 932: The screen control means 401
Step 93 from the window history information management means 601
The window configuration history information 602 corresponding to each ID of the window 1, window 2, and window 3 acquired in step 1 is acquired.

Step 933: The screen control means 401
Window configuration history information 60 acquired in step 932
2 is reproduced on the output device 102.

Step 934: The screen control means 401
The reproduction method designating means 701 waits for a discrete reproduction request from the input device 103 to the previous or next event occurrence point.

Step 935: Assume that there is a discrete reproduction request from the input device 103 to the event occurrence point behind the time axis. In this case, the screen control unit 401
Performs the processing after step 937.

Step 937: The screen control means 401
Since the next event occurrence time Ts exists in the event occurrence time information 502, the process proceeds to step 938.

Step 938: The screen control means 401
The time-series history information management means 501 stores the event-window relation information 50 corresponding to the next event occurrence time Ts.
The respective IDs of window 1, window 2, and window 4, which have changed from 4, are obtained, and the process returns to step 932.

Step 932: The screen control means 401
Step 938 from window history information management means 601
Window 1, window 2, window 4 acquired in
The window configuration history information 602 corresponding to each of the IDs is acquired.

Step 933: The screen control means 401
Window configuration history information 60 acquired in step 932
2 is reproduced on the output device 102.

Step 934: The screen control means 401
The reproduction method designating means 701 waits for a discrete reproduction request from the input device 103 to the previous or next event occurrence point.

Step 935: It is assumed that there is no discrete reproduction request from the input device 103 to the previous and subsequent event occurrence points. In this case, the screen control unit 401 determines in step 9
36 is determined.

Step 936: It is assumed that there is a reproduction end request from the input device 102. In this case, the screen control means 4
01 ends the window history reproduction phase.

[0088]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the information processing apparatus for displaying multi-windows, when the histories of a plurality of windows are recorded and reproduced, the recorded information mainly changes in the display contents. The information required at the time of the window-related change requires a small storage capacity. Also, when recreating, only the history of the windows whose display contents have changed is re-displayed, thus reducing the processing cost required for the reproduction. It has the effect of being small.

Further, it is easy to perform not only continuous reproduction along the time axis but also discrete reproduction, which leads to an effect of improving a user interface.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a multiple window history management system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a window history acquisition phase (process A) in the multiple window history management system according to the present embodiment;
FIG.

FIG. 3 is a window history acquisition phase (process A-) in the multiple window history management system according to the present embodiment;
It is a flowchart which shows 1).

FIG. 4 is a window history reproduction phase (process B) in the multiple window history management system according to the present embodiment;
FIG.

FIG. 5 is a window history reproduction phase (process B-) in the multiple window history management system according to the present embodiment;
It is a flowchart which shows 1).

FIG. 6 is a window history reproduction phase (process B-) in the multiple-window history management system according to the present embodiment;
It is a flowchart which shows 2).

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state transition of a window in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state transition of a window in the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 input / output means 102 output device 103 input device 201 event monitoring means 301 event queue 401 screen control means 501 time-series history information management means 502 event occurrence time information 503 event content information 504 event-window relation information 601 window history information management means 602 Window configuration history information 701 Reproduction method instruction means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for displaying a multi-window, wherein: an event monitoring means for monitoring an event generated when an input operation is performed on a plurality of windows displayed on an output device by an input device; Time-series history information management means for recording and managing event occurrence time information, event content information, and event-window relationship information as time-series history information of the event and the window; and recording window configuration history information unique to each window Window history information management means for managing and storing, when an event is detected by the event monitoring means, time-series history information of the event and the window in the time-series history information management means in order of occurrence time; Window configuration history information unique to each Multiple windows history management system characterized by having a screen control unit to reproduce recorded in the window history information management unit. 2. An information processing apparatus for displaying a multi-window, wherein: an event monitoring means for monitoring an event generated when an input operation is performed on a plurality of windows displayed on an output device by an input device; Time-series history information management means for recording and managing event occurrence time information, event content information, and event-window relationship information as time-series history information of the event and the window; and recording window configuration history information unique to each window Window history information management means for managing and managing, a reproduction method instructing means for instructing whether the method of reproducing the window with respect to a time axis is continuous or discrete, and when an event is detected by the event monitoring means. The time at which the time-series history information of the event and the window is generated The time and records the sequence history information management unit records the specific window configuration history information in the window history information management unit for each of the windows,
A multiple-window history management system, comprising: a screen control unit for performing reproduction by a reproduction method instructed by the reproduction method instructing unit.