JP2000200127A - Display processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to intuitively recognize the locations of resources symbolized by respective icons only by looking at a screen. SOLUTION: A desktop 202 in a trapezoidal shape is displayed inside a display screen 100 and a remote resource display area 204 is displayed at the upper part. The icons for symbolizing locally managed resources are expressed on the desktop 202 and remote resources present on a network are expressed on the remote resource display area 204 on the other hand. Thus, the resources managed by himself/herself and the resources managed by someone else are clearly discriminated and expressed and erroneous recognition for the belonging of the resources is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a display control device, and more particularly to display processing of icons.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general operating system (OS) installed in a computer has a window display processing function and an icon display processing function. By executing these functions, a display area as a virtual desktop is set in the display screen, and an icon (pictogram) symbolizing each resource (or object) is displayed in the display area. Here, resources represented by icons are files, data, programs,
Printer, facsimile, hard disk, etc.
When any of the application programs is started, the window processing function opens a window as a display area representing the program, and displays an icon representing a file or the like in the window as necessary. Is done.

An icon displayed in a display area such as a desktop or a window has a form corresponding to the type of a resource symbolized by the icon. For example, a document file is symbolized by an icon having a form like a document, and an application program is symbolized by an icon having a form reminiscent of a function or a name unique to the document. in this way,
The type of the object can be roughly grasped by looking at the form of the icon.

[0004]

However, in the conventional system, it is not possible to easily recognize the location (or destination) of an object just by looking at the icon on the display area. For example, when a large number of icons symbolizing a document file are displayed on a certain display area, for each file symbolized by the icon, whether the file is its own file managed in the device, or It is not possible to easily determine whether the file is another person's file managed by another device on the network outside the device. Therefore, you may mistake other people's files that are not protected as your own files,
It is feared that problems could be inadvertently deleted, changed, or moved to another location.

When a desired file is instructed to be printed out by a desired printer, a file icon displayed on the display area is selected and the mouse button is overlaid on an icon symbolizing the printer in a selected state. There is known an operation method of giving a print output instruction of a file by a release operation. When such a print output instruction is issued, if an icon symbolizing a locally connected printer and an icon symbolizing a printer connected via a network are mixedly displayed in the display area, the print instruction is issued. It is not easy to determine whether the printer you want to perform is a locally connected printer or a printer connected via a network, and you tried to output with a locally connected printer. However, there is a concern that a problem arises in that an output instruction is issued to a printer of a different type, and the result output to a printer at a remote place must be obtained.

Of course, if the location information is included in the file name or the like displayed integrally with the icon, the above problem may be avoided by consciously reading and confirming the content. Such a checking operation is complicated. If the location information is not included in the file name or the like, it cannot be determined whether the file is to be managed by itself or other.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-63324 discloses that
A technique relating to a three-dimensional representation of an icon is disclosed.
However, it does not disclose a process for indicating the destination of each icon.

An object of the present invention is to enable a user to intuitively recognize the location of a resource represented by each icon just by looking at a screen.

Another object of the present invention is to effectively produce a display area in which icons are displayed as a virtual desktop, thereby improving user's recognition and operability.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an area display processing means for executing a process of displaying a plurality of display areas for each available resource, and symbolizing each resource. Icon display processing means for executing a process of displaying an icon to be displayed on a display area corresponding to the location of each resource.

According to this configuration, a display area is displayed for each available resource location, and the location and affiliation of the resource represented by each icon can be intuitively understood based on each display area as a criterion. . As a result, it is possible to prevent erroneous recognition of the affiliation. Here, the concept of a resource includes data, a file, a program, and hardware.

Preferably, the area display processing means includes:
A first area display processing means for executing a process of displaying a first display area for a local resource; and a second area display processing means for executing a process of displaying a second display area for a remote resource. The icon display processing means executes first icon display processing means for displaying an icon symbolizing a local resource on the first display area, and executes processing for displaying a remote resource on the second display area. Second icon display processing means.

With this configuration, it is possible to determine at a glance whether each resource is local (on the local machine) or remote (on the network) on the screen.

If a line (network icon) symbolizing the network is expressed in the second display area, the distinction between the self and the other can be emphasized.

Preferably, the first display area and the second display area have different forms. here,
Preferably, the first display area is three-dimensionally expressed as a trapezoidal area, and the second display area is expressed as a rectangular area rising from the back side of the first display area.

According to this structure, the first display area having the local attribute can be three-dimensionally expressed as a desktop with a sense of depth, while the second display area having the remote attribute can be expressed.
The display area can be expressed as being far away from self-management. When a trapezoidal display area is generated by performing primary conversion on a rectangular display area (desktop), the brightness may be changed at a fixed rate.

Preferably, the first icon display processing means includes a coordinate calculation means for calculating coordinates of each icon on the trapezoidal first display area. According to this configuration, the coordinate data on the trapezoid can be obtained by converting the icon coordinate data used on the original rectangular area. In this case, the icon image size may be changed, but the icon image size is maintained and displayed as it is in order to avoid problems such as an increase in processing load and crushing due to reduction of icons and characters. It is desirable.

Preferably, when a plurality of icons are displayed in an overlapping manner on the trapezoidal first display area, the first icon display processing means gives priority to the display of the front icon in the overlapping portion. . According to this configuration, a sense of depth can be emphasized. Of course, it is desirable to add a function of automatically arranging the icons so that overlapping between the icons does not occur as much as possible.

Preferably, the first icon display processing means adds a shadow pattern to each icon when displaying the icon on the trapezoidal first display area.
According to this configuration, the three-dimensional expression can be emphasized by simple processing.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first area display processing means for executing a process of displaying a first display area for self-managed resources by using a three-dimensional representation, A second area display processing means for executing a process of displaying a second display area for resources other than the two-dimensional representation using a two-dimensional expression, and a second area display processing means for displaying an icon symbolizing the self-managed resource on the first display area. 1
Icon display processing means, and second icon display processing means for displaying an icon symbolizing a resource other than the self-managed resource on the second display area.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an area display processing step of executing a process of displaying a plurality of display areas for each affiliation of an available resource, and an icon symbolizing each resource. And an icon display processing step of executing a process of displaying on the display area corresponding to the destination of the icon.

The processing according to the present invention is substantially realized by software, and such software is recorded on a recording medium. The recording medium includes various media such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, and a ROM.

[0023]

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

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a system for realizing the display processing according to the present invention. In this system, a plurality of computers are connected to a network 26. Resources such as data and files are shared by each computer via the network 26.

In each computer, a CPU 12 is connected to the internal bus 10, and the CPU 12 executes a program and calculates data. An input unit 16 is connected to the internal bus 10 via an I / F module 14. The input unit 16 is a mouse, a keyboard, or the like. A display 20 is connected to the internal bus 10 via an I / F module 18.

The storage unit 22 is composed of a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, and the like. The storage unit 22
Above, a desktop display processing unit 24 as software is stored. The CPU 12 executes processing according to the OS and various application programs stored in the storage unit 22. The CPU 12 also executes processing according to a desktop display processing program.
The computer shown in FIG.
Is connected to the network 26 via the
6 and can communicate with other computers.

Next, a desktop display process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The display processing according to the present embodiment includes a normal display mode for displaying a normal desktop and a three-dimensional display mode for displaying a desktop three-dimensionally.

FIG. 2 illustrates the desktop 102 displayed in the normal display mode. This desktop 102 is displayed on the display screen 100. Tabs 102A and 102B are provided on the desktop 102, and the display contents displayed on the desktop 102 can be switched by clicking those tabs.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of icons 104 are displayed in a desktop 102 as a display area. These icons represent, for example, resources that can be directly managed by a user using the computer. Here, this resource is data, a file, hardware, or the like. Incidentally, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 106 represents a connection between a plurality of icons, and specifically shows a state in which a certain file is being processed by a copy machine.

Although the desktop image as shown in FIG. 2 has been displayed in the conventional system, the system according to the present embodiment can display a three-dimensional desktop image as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, a trapezoidal desktop (local resource display area) 20 is displayed on the display screen 100.
2 is shown. Such a display image of the desktop 202 can be extremely easily generated by performing a primary conversion of the display image of the desktop 102 shown in FIG. In the primary conversion, the upper and lower parts are compressed. Incidentally, in such a primary conversion, the brightness representing the desktop is also variable, and in the present embodiment, for example, the brightness is increased by about 25%. Thus, the appearance of light on the desktop is more simulated.

On the desktop 202, a plurality of icons 104A are represented. The coordinates of each icon 104A on the desktop 202 can be obtained by linear transformation from the icon coordinates on the desktop 102 shown in FIG. When calculating the icon coordinates on the trapezoidal coordinate system by coordinate conversion from the icon coordinates on the rectangular coordinate system, in the present embodiment, the size of the icon image is maintained as it is, and the size of the character displayed with the icon is also maintained as it is Have been.

In this embodiment, a triangular shadow pattern 206 is added to each icon while the icon 104A is displayed on the desktop 202. Specifically, a shadow having a triangular prescribed pattern is added to the right and lower sides of each icon. Thereby, it is possible to easily three-dimensionally represent the icons.

Incidentally, when a plurality of icons overlap each other on the trapezoidal desktop 202,
In the overlapping portion, the icon existing on the near side is preferentially displayed. Of course, it is also possible to arrange the icons so that they do not overlap as much as possible by using a known technique such as automatic arrangement of the icons.

A remote resource display area 204 is displayed on the back side of the desktop 202, specifically, on the upper side of the upper side of the trapezoidal desktop 202. On the display area 204, resources connected to the computer via a network are represented as icons. Specifically, a line (network icon) representing a network is represented in the remote resource display area 204, and a plurality of resources are represented as icons on the line.

Therefore, the resources managed locally and the resources managed remotely can be clearly distinguished and expressed by the two display areas, and the user can mistake the resource or mistakenly recognize the resource. Problems can be prevented beforehand. That is,
According to the present invention, it is possible to intuitively express an affiliation destination such as self and others as an image.

Of course, the remote resource display area 2
04 can also be given a sense of depth by making it a trapezoidal region. However, as shown in FIG. 3, the three-dimensionally represented desktop 202 and the two-dimensionally represented remote resource display area 204 are different from each other. According to the combination, a difference between the two areas can be clearly expressed by causing a sense of disparity.

When other windows or pop-up menus are displayed on the display screen 100, they are displayed two-dimensionally as in the conventional case.

Next, a specific processing process of the display processing performed by the desktop display processing unit 24 (FIG. 1) will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that the processing example shown in FIG. 4 is merely an example, and that each processing process can be executed in parallel if necessary, and that a different process from the process shown in FIG. 4 is used. Is also possible.

In FIG. 4, in S101, it is determined whether the user has set the display mode to the normal display mode or the three-dimensional display mode.

Here, a case where the normal display mode is selected will be described. In S102, a normal desktop 1 represented by a two-dimensional rectangle as shown in FIG.
02 images are generated. In S103, S102
Is generated on the display screen 100. In S104, for each resource to be displayed on the desktop, it is determined whether the location is local or remote, and an image of an icon is generated only for the resource determined to be local. .

Information on each resource displayed on the desktop is stored and managed in a desktop information file shown in FIG. The desktop information file describes a resource name, a file path as resource location information, a location attribute indicating whether the resource is located locally or remotely managed, and the coordinates of the display position of the icon on the desktop.

For each resource to be displayed on the desktop, whether the location is local or remote is determined by determining whether the location attribute of the desktop information file is "Local" or "Remote". Perform by checking. If nothing is described in this location attribute, it is possible to determine whether the resource is local or remote by examining each resource location information (for example, a file path). At the same time, the location attribute item is added.

The determination is made in this way, and an icon image is generated only for the resource whose location is determined to be local.

Then, in S105, the image of each icon generated in S104 is displayed on the desktop 102 based on the coordinate information of each resource stored in the desktop information file shown in FIG.

When the user instructs to change the display method from the normal display mode to the three-dimensional display mode (S101)
(3D)), an image of the desktop 102 as shown in FIG. 2 is generated in S106, and
At 07, a coordinate transformation is performed on the image by a primary transformation.

More specifically, conversion from a rectangular area as shown in FIG. 6 to a ledger area is performed. In the Y-axis direction, reduction is performed by a predetermined magnification. Y2 = aY1 (a: predetermined reduction ratio)

The X-axis direction is moved in the Y-axis direction by a distance calculated from a distance X1 by a predetermined inclination. X2 = X1 + bY2 (b: predetermined slope coefficient)

In S108, the trapezoidal desktop 202 after the primary conversion is displayed. In S109, an icon for each resource is generated without distinction whether the location is local or remote.

In step S110, for the local resource icon, the position coordinates stored in the desktop information file are subjected to the same primary conversion as described above, so that the position coordinates of the local resource icon in the local resource display area are obtained. Perform the operation.

In S111, the local resource icons are displayed in the local resource display area based on the coordinates of each local resource icon calculated in S110. For the remote resources, the remote resource display area is displayed based on the coordinate information of each icon stored in the desktop information file.

In S112, it is determined whether or not to continue displaying the desktop. Then, when the operation of the specific icon is performed while the desktop display is continuously performed, the display in the display screen is updated.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The user can intuitively recognize the location of the resource symbolized by each icon just by looking at the screen. Further, there is an advantage that the display area in which the icons are displayed can be effectively rendered as a virtual desktop, and the recognition and operability of the user can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a display image of a desktop in a normal display mode.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display image of a desktop in a three-dimensional display mode.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of image processing according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a desktop information file.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a primary transformation of coordinates from a normal display to a three-dimensional display.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 internal bus, 12 CPU, 16 input unit, 20
Display unit, 22 storage unit, 24 desktop display processing unit (desktop display processing program), 26 networks, 100 display screens, 102, 202 desktop (local resource display area), 104, 104A
Icon, 204 Remote resource display area.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Kawasugi 134 Kobe-cho, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama Business Park East Tower 13F Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Inside Yokohama Business Park East Tower 13F Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroo Seki 134 Kobe-cho, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama Business Park East Tower 13F Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An area display processing means for executing a process of displaying a plurality of display areas for each available resource, and displaying an icon symbolizing each resource on a display area corresponding to the location of each resource. A display processing device comprising: an icon display processing unit that executes processing. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said area display processing means executes first area display processing means for displaying a first display area for local resources, and second display for remote resources. A second area display processing unit that executes a process of displaying an area, wherein the icon display processing unit executes a process of displaying an icon symbolizing a local resource on the first display area. A display processing apparatus, comprising: processing means; and second icon display processing means for executing processing for displaying a remote resource on the second display area. 3. The display processing device according to claim 2, wherein the first display area and the second display area have different forms from each other. 4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the first display area is three-dimensionally expressed as a trapezoidal area, and the second display area is expressed as a rectangular area rising from a depth side of the first display area. A display processing device characterized by being performed. 5. The display according to claim 4, wherein said first icon display processing means includes a coordinate calculation means for calculating coordinates of each icon on said trapezoidal first display area. Processing equipment. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, when a plurality of icons are displayed in an overlapping manner on the trapezoidal first display area, the first icon display processing means is closer to the near side in the overlapping portion. A display processing device for giving priority to the display of an icon. 7. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first icon display processing means adds a shadow pattern to each icon when displaying the icon on the trapezoidal first display area. Display processing device. 8. A first area display processing means for executing a process of displaying a first display area for self-managed resources using a three-dimensional representation, and a second display area for resources other than the self-managed resources. The second to execute the display processing using the two-dimensional representation
Area display processing means; first icon display processing means for displaying an icon symbolizing the self-managed resource on the first display area; and icon symbolizing a resource other than the self-managed resource on the second display area. A display processing device, comprising: a second icon display processing means for displaying on a second icon. 9. An area display processing step of executing a process of displaying a plurality of display areas for each affiliation of an available resource, and displaying an icon symbolizing each resource on a display area corresponding to the affiliation of each resource. A display processing method, comprising: an icon display processing step of performing a display processing. 10. A recording medium storing a program for executing the method according to claim 9 on a computer.