JPH10293676A - Icon display control device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify a new icon with no overlapping caused between icons when the new icon is additionally displayed in a window. SOLUTION: The lowest icon 30 is decided out of a group of icons which are displayed in a window 28, and a new icon is additionally displayed in an additional space where the new icon can be displayed adjacent right to the icon 30. If such a space is not available, the new icon is displayed on a stage under the icon 30 and at a position set close to the left edge of the window 28. The lower or upper edge of the icon 30 can be used as its decision standard.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an icon display control apparatus and method, and more particularly to display control when a new icon is additionally displayed in a window.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Information processing using icons is rapidly spreading. On the screen of the computer, each executable file and data file are displayed as icons of a specific form, and various operations can be performed using the icons. Some machines that control printing, copying, facsimile transmission / reception, and the like also have the concept of icons, and on such machines, for example, individual documents are represented as icons.

As described above, when a new file is generated in a computer, an iconization command is given to an open file, or a new page is added in a print server, a window on a screen is displayed. Inside, a new icon is additionally displayed.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-16355 describes several techniques relating to a method for additionally displaying a new icon. In the first method (first conventional technique), a new icon is displayed below the group of icons displayed in the window so as to be left-justified with respect to the window. In addition,
In this method, when a plurality of new icons are sequentially displayed, the new icons are sequentially displayed left-justified downward.

[0005] In a second technique (second prior art) in the above publication, a raster scan (in which rightward scanning is sequentially performed from upper to lower rows for each row) is performed on an icon group displayed in a window. A search is performed along with the search to find a free space to which a new icon can be added. If there is such an empty space, a new icon is additionally displayed in that space.

[0006] In the third technique (third prior art) in the above publication, a new icon is additionally displayed along the raster scanning direction from the upper left corner of the window regardless of the arrangement of the icons displayed at that time. You. in this case,
Overlaps may occur between icons.

[0007]

By the way, when a new icon is additionally displayed in a window in which a plurality of icons are already displayed, the layout of the whole window is such that each icon is easy to see and that the new icon is easily recognized. Is desired.

However, in the first prior art,
When a plurality of new icons are sequentially displayed, there is a problem that a row of new icons extends downward, and the arrangement balance of the icons becomes poor as a whole window. Since the icon display area (ie, window) is usually horizontally long in many cases, arranging a plurality of new icons vertically has a poor appearance and deteriorates operability.

In the second prior art, a new icon is displayed in a group of icons that are already displayed, and there is a problem that it is difficult to know which icon is the new icon. Of course, it is possible to highlight the newly displayed new icon, but even in that case, even if the new icon is highlighted in a state where a large number of icons are mixedly displayed in an unaligned state. Again, it is difficult to recognize new icons immediately.

In the third prior art, there is a high possibility that a new icon overlaps an already displayed icon, and in such a case, there is a problem that the discrimination of the superimposed icon is reduced.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-258289 discloses a process for additionally displaying a new image while a plurality of images are being displayed. However, even in this method, no consideration is given to prevention of overlapping of the elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to make each icon easy to see when a new icon is additionally displayed in a window.
The purpose is to make it easy to recognize that this is a new icon.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an icon management apparatus for controlling the display of a new icon in a window. A bottom icon determination means for determining the bottom icon, and a space presence / absence for determining whether there is an additional space on the right side of the bottom icon where a new icon can be additionally displayed in consideration of the right end of the window. Determining means, when the additional space exists, first display control means for executing control for displaying a new icon at a first position to the right of the bottom icon, and when the additional space does not exist, A second step of executing a control for displaying a new icon at a second position based on a left end of the window below the bottom icon.
And display control means.

According to the above configuration, if an additional space exists to the right of the bottom icon, a new icon is additionally displayed at that position (first position), and an additional space exists to the right of the bottom icon. If not, a new icon is added to the next row and left-justified. When the new icons are sequentially displayed, the new icons are displayed side by side as long as the above-mentioned additional space exists, and the new icons are displayed left-justified in the next row when the additional space is exhausted.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an easy-to-view arrangement because no overlapping occurs between icons, and it is easy to recognize that the icon is a new icon, and there is an advantage that an empty space can be efficiently used.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the bottom icon determination means determines the bottom icon based on at least one of an upper end coordinate and a lower end coordinate of each icon.

Using the upper end position as a reference, an empty space can be effectively used even when icons having different sizes are scattered. Using the lower end position as a reference, it is possible to construct a layout that makes it easier to recognize that the icon is a new icon.

When determining an additional space or displaying a new icon, it is desirable to set a margin around the icon so that adjacent icons do not make a display that is difficult to see. In addition, the concept of the window includes all the concepts of the area where the icon is displayed, and the present invention can be applied regardless of whether or not the window is scrolled. The window may be enlarged or reduced. In any case, in the present invention,
Basically, the addition position of the above-mentioned new icon is determined in an area that is actually visible through the window.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an icon management apparatus for controlling a display of a new icon in a window, wherein the icon includes a predetermined icon among icons currently displayed in the window. Determining a protruding icon that protrudes most in the one reference direction; and considering a window end in a second reference direction orthogonal to the first reference direction, a new icon is placed on the one window end side of the protruding icon. Determining whether there is an additional space that can be additionally displayed, and, when the additional space exists, controlling to display a new icon at a first position next to the one window end side of the protruding icon And if the additional space does not exist,
Executing a control to display a new icon at a second position based on the other end of the window in the second reference direction at a next stage in the first reference direction of the projecting icon. .

The present invention is desirably applied to a system in which the main array direction is a raster scanning direction (in this case, the first reference direction is downward and the second reference direction is right). The present invention is also applicable to a system having a main array direction.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a main configuration of a system to which an icon display control method according to the present invention is applied.
This system is realized by, for example, a general-purpose computer. The bus 10 is connected to a CPU 12 that executes information processing according to a program, a storage unit 14 that stores various programs and data, a display 16 that displays icons and the like, and an input device 18 that is operated by a user. I have. The storage unit 14 stores a program for performing display control on the display 16, various application programs, and the like. Further, the storage unit 14
The icon list shown in FIG. 2 is formed on the top according to the control of the display control program. The display 16 is a display. The illustration of the interface unit and the like is omitted. The input device 18 is composed of, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, and the like.

FIG. 2 illustrates an icon list 20 for managing icons displayed on the display 16. In this example, the icon list includes a list number 22, an icon name 24, and position information 26 for each icon. The position information 26 indicates the position of each icon in the window. In this example, the position of the icon is managed by the coordinates of the upper left corner and the coordinates of the lower right corner of the icon. The system shown in FIG. 1 is a server having a document management function for controlling, for example, printing and facsimile transmission / reception. In such a system, an icon is assigned to each document. Has been granted.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, when displaying a new icon, a display next to the right or a left-justified display described below is selected. This will be described below.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in a state where a plurality of icons are displayed as already displayed icons in any one of the windows 28 on the display 16, in the present embodiment, the already displayed icons are displayed. The bottom icon 30 is specified from the group. Then, under the condition that there is no overlap between the icons, it is determined whether or not there is a space on the right of the bottom icon where the new icon 32 can be additionally displayed. If such an additional space exists, a first new icon display process is executed, as shown in FIG. 3, and a new icon 32 is additionally displayed at a fixed interval to the right of the bottom icon 30. You.

On the other hand, if there is no such additional space to the right of the bottom icon 30, a second new icon display process is executed as shown in FIG. New icon 3 with left justification in the next row on the side
2 is additionally displayed.

Therefore, according to the above control,
When adding new icons, the new icons are not always displayed in the bottom row, but the right-to-right display or the bottom left-justified display is selected according to the presence or absence of additional space. Can be clearly expressed as a new icon while effectively using.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which new icons 32 are sequentially displayed. As shown in FIG. 5, there is an additional space on the right of the bottom icon 30, and after two new icons 32 are additionally displayed in order using the additional space, in order to avoid overlapping between the icons, 3
The additional icons are sequentially added from the bottom of the new icon to the bottom left. Therefore, as described above, both the effective use of the free space in the window and the indication of the new icon can be achieved at the same time.

The position of each icon in the window is managed by the icon list shown in FIG. Of course, when a plurality of windows are simultaneously displayed on the screen, an icon list is created for each window, and the new icon addition display processing according to the present embodiment is executed.

Next, an icon display control method according to this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

When a window is opened and a new icon is additionally displayed while a plurality of icons are already displayed in the window, this routine is executed. First, in S101, 1 is substituted for a variable n as an initial value.

In S102, the n-th icon in the icon list shown in FIG.
That is, the first icon in the icon list 20 is the icon A.

In S103, the variable n is incremented by one. In S104, the n-th icon in the icon list is specified as the icon B. In the first stage, 2
The second icon is specified as icon B.

In S105, the positions of the icons A and B in the vertical direction are compared. In this embodiment, the coordinates of the lower end of the icon are compared, and as a result of comparing the coordinates, if it is determined that the icon A is lower, the below-described S108 is executed, and the icon B is Is determined to be below, S107 described later is executed, and when it is determined that the two positions are the same,
S106 is executed.

In S106, the horizontal positions of the icons A and B are compared. In this embodiment, the coordinates of the left end of the icons are compared, and if the icon A is on the right, S108 is executed, and if the icon B is on the right, S107 is executed.

In step S107, the icon which has been the icon B is redefined as the icon A. And
In S108, it is determined whether or not n has reached the maximum value.
That is, in S108, it is determined whether or not the above determination has been made for all the icons listed in the icon list 20.

Therefore, by repeatedly executing the above-described determination for each icon according to the list number, the lowest icon in the already displayed icon group is specified as the icon A. If there are a plurality of lowermost icons, the icon located on the rightmost side is determined to be the lowermost icon.

In S109, the provisional x of the new icon
The coordinates are calculated. Specifically, the x coordinate of the icon A +
The x coordinate of the new icon is defined as the calculation result of the width of the icon A + the margin between the icons (fixed length). Here, the x coordinate of the icon A is, for example, x at the left end of the icon A.
According to the example shown in FIG. 2, the width of the icon A is specified by comparing the coordinates of the upper left corner and the coordinates of the lower right corner in the x direction. The margin between the icons is a margin area set to prevent the icons from being adjacent to each other and to improve the appearance when a plurality of icons are displayed.

In S110 in FIG. 7, if a new icon is temporarily displayed on the right of the bottom icon determined as described above, it is determined whether or not the new icon fits in the window. Specifically, the value obtained by adding the width of the new icon to the x coordinate of the new icon tentatively determined in S109 is compared with the coordinates of the right end of the window to determine whether there is an additional space. Here, if it is determined that a new icon cannot be additionally displayed in the space on the right, a second new icon display process is executed in S111 to be described later, and the new icon is left-justified in the next row of the bottom icon. Will be displayed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S110 that there is an additional space in which a new icon can be additionally displayed, the following steps are executed to determine whether the icons overlap. In S112, the image area of the new icon is specified. That is, the image area of the new icon is calculated based on the x coordinate and the width of the new icon. In S113, 1 is assigned to a variable m as an initial value.

In S114, the m-th icon is specified from the icon list. Then, in S115, it is determined whether or not areas overlap between the new icon and the m-th icon. Here, if there is an area overlap with any of the icons, S111 is immediately executed. On the other hand, if there is no such overlap, it is determined in step S116 whether the variable m has reached the maximum value. If it is not the maximum value, the variable m is incremented by one in S117, and the overlap with each icon is sequentially determined according to the icon list described above. Then, if there is no overlap between the icons, a first new icon display process is executed in S118, and a new icon is additionally displayed on the right of the bottom icon.

FIG. 8 shows the specific contents of S118 shown in FIG. First, in S201, the x coordinate of the new icon is calculated. This is the same as that shown in S109, and the step of S201 may be omitted as necessary. In S202, the y coordinate of the new icon is calculated. Specifically, y at the top of the bottom icon
The coordinate is used as the y coordinate of the new icon. S203
Then, the new icon is additionally displayed on the right of the bottom icon while the coordinates of the lower left corner are specified by the x coordinate and the y coordinate determined as described above.

FIG. 9 shows the specific contents of S111 shown in FIG.

In S301, the x coordinate of the new icon is calculated. Specifically, the x coordinate of the new icon is calculated by adding the margin (fixed length) between the icons to the x coordinate of the left end of the window. In S302, the y coordinate of the new icon is calculated. Specifically, the y coordinate of the new icon is determined by adding the margin (fixed length) between the icons to the y coordinate of the lower end of the lowermost icon. S
At 303, the new icon is additionally displayed with the window left justified.

In the above embodiment, as an example, the lower end of the icon is used as the criterion for determining the lowermost icon. However, the coordinates of the upper end of each icon may be used as the criterion. Also in this case, the icon display control according to the present embodiment can be realized by steps similar to the steps shown in the respective drawings such as FIG. Incidentally, when the upper end is used as the determination criterion, as shown in FIG. 10, even if there is an icon 30A whose lower end is lower than the lowermost icon 30, the new icon 32A is not affected by the icon 30A. Can be additionally displayed, and the empty space can be effectively used as a display area.

It should be noted that the bottom icon may be determined using not only the lower end and the upper end but also other criteria. Further, in relation to the window, the margin may not be a fixed length but may be a variable according to the size of the window. When the upper end is used as a criterion, there is an advantage that an empty space can be effectively used particularly when icons of different sizes are displayed as shown in FIG.

The specific example of the icon list shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and the position of each icon may be grasped based on another criterion. For example, the center point of the icon can be used. However, in order to determine the overlap between the icons, it is necessary to manage information that can grasp the shape of the entire icon in any case.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a new icon is additionally displayed in the window, it is possible to realize a display mode in which each icon is easy to see and easy to recognize as a new icon.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a specific example of a system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of an icon list.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a result of a first new icon display process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a result of a second new icon display process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in a window when a plurality of new icons are sequentially displayed in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing icon display control according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing icon display control according to the present invention.

8 is a diagram showing a specific example of a first new icon display process shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of a second new icon display process shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the upper end of an icon is used as a bottom icon determination criterion.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 icon list, 28 windows, 30 bottom icon, 32 new icons.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An icon display management device for controlling an additional display of a new icon in a window, comprising: a bottom icon determination unit for determining a bottom icon among icons currently displayed in the window; Space presence / absence determining means for determining whether or not there is an additional space in which a new icon can be additionally displayed on the right side of the bottom icon in consideration of the right end of the window; First display control means for executing a control for displaying a new icon at a first position on the right of the lower icon; and when the additional space does not exist, the first display controller is based on the lower end of the lowermost icon and based on a left end of the window. An icon display control device, comprising: second display control means for executing control for displaying a new icon at a second position. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bottom icon determination unit determines the bottom icon based on at least one of a top coordinate and a bottom coordinate of each icon. Control device. 3. An icon management method for controlling an additional display of a new icon in a window, wherein a protruding icon that protrudes most in a predetermined first reference direction among icons currently displayed in the window is determined. Taking into account one window edge in a second reference direction orthogonal to the first reference direction, and determining whether there is an additional space on the one window edge side of the protruding icon that can additionally display a new icon. Determining, when the additional space exists, performing a control to display a new icon at a first position on the one window end side of the protruding icon; and executing the control when the additional space does not exist. At a second position in the first reference direction of the protruding icon at a second position based on the other window end in the second reference direction. Icon display control method characterized by comprising the steps of: performing control to display the regulations icon, a.