JP2001195167A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor by which information regarding setting items is easily confirmed. SOLUTION: This information processor 12 capable of displaying plural setting change screens 60, 68 to change the contents of the setting items is characterized by providing key display means 52, 54 to display keys 84, 86 to be provided corresponding to each setting change screen and to display the setting change screens on a screen 14 and a setting information display means 52 to display the setting information 100 regarding the setting items the contents of which are changeable on the setting change screen 68 corresponding to the overlapped key 86 when the keys 84, 86 are overlapped on a movable cursor 92 on the screen 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a plurality of setting items and allowing the user to change the contents of the setting items.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, printer drivers and the like provided in information processing apparatuses such as personal computers have become high-performance and multifunctional. For example, printer drivers are provided with many setting items such as paper size, image quality, and layout. ing. These setting items are usually displayed in a dialog box or the like, through which the user can freely change the contents of the setting items.

[0003]

However, the conventional information processing apparatus has the following problems. That is, since the display area of a display for displaying a dialog box or the like for changing the contents of the setting items is limited, it is difficult to display all the setting items on the display at one time. Further, even if all the setting items can be displayed at once, the display becomes complicated and is not easy to use for the user.

[0004] On the other hand, the setting items are classified into a plurality of groups according to uses and types, and these groups are further divided hierarchically, with the frequently used groups at the top and the less frequently used groups at the bottom. There is a processing unit. According to this type of information processing apparatus, it is possible to solve the problem that the display is complicated by displaying all the setting items at once.

However, in such an information processing apparatus, the setting items of the infrequently used group in the lower layer are not normally displayed on the display, but are displayed on the display only when a predetermined key is pressed. You. For this reason, in order for the user to grasp the contents of all setting items that are not displayed on the display, it is necessary to open and close a plurality of hierarchical dialog boxes many times, which requires a lot of work time. Become.

In addition, although the number of setting items provided in recent information processing apparatuses is quite large, the contents of most setting items are not changed and are printed with predetermined contents (initial values). Often. Therefore, even if a number of hierarchical dialog boxes are opened and closed to display the setting items whose contents are to be checked, the contents of the setting items are often the same as the initial values, and the opening and closing operations of the dialog boxes become useless. Would. On the contrary, since the operation of displaying all the dialog boxes and confirming the contents of the setting items was omitted, there was a possibility that the setting items might be printed without being intended by the user. .

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide an information processing apparatus capable of easily confirming information on setting items.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an information processing apparatus capable of displaying a plurality of setting change screens for changing the contents of setting items. Key display means for displaying a key for displaying a setting change screen on the screen, and a key and a movable cursor being overlapped on the screen, a setting change screen corresponding to the overlapped key is provided. Setting information display means for displaying setting information on setting items whose contents can be changed on a screen.

According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, setting information relating to setting items is displayed on the screen by the setting information display means simply by moving the cursor and overlapping the key. For this reason, the user can easily check the information on the setting items without performing the operation of displaying the setting change screen. The “setting item” corresponds to a paper size, a binding margin, an image quality, a layout, and the like when an information processing apparatus having a printer driver is used as an example.

Preferably, the setting information is a name of the setting item and a current content of the setting item. When such a configuration is adopted, the user can easily see the current contents of the setting items desired to be grasped. Here, the "contents of the setting items" are, for example, A4, B
5 means the margin, which corresponds to leaving 10 mm on the left end of the sheet. The "current content" means the content of the setting item at the time when the key and the cursor are overlaid.

It is also preferable that the setting information is a name of a setting item and a current content of the setting item which are different from the reference content and the current content. When such a configuration is adopted,
It is possible to easily grasp which setting items have different contents from the reference contents. In addition, "standard content"
It may be the initial content (initial value) of the setting item or the content registered by the user or the like.

In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, when the reference content of the setting item is different from the current content, the display of the key is changed if the reference content of the setting item is different from the current content. Preferably. When such a configuration is adopted, it is possible to easily understand which setting item differs from the reference content by looking at the display of the key.

In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the setting information display means may display the setting information on the screen for a predetermined time after the key and the cursor overlap. Further, the setting information display means may display the setting information on the screen only while the key and the cursor overlap.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention further comprises display instruction means for displaying the setting information on the screen, and when the key and the cursor are overlapped and the display instruction means is operated, the setting information is displayed. You may make it display on a screen. When such a configuration is adopted, the setting information is not displayed on the screen unless the display instruction means is operated, so that the setting information can be displayed or not displayed according to the user's intention.

In this case, only when the key and the cursor are overlapped and the display instruction means is operated,
The setting information may be displayed on a screen. When such a configuration is adopted, the user can display the setting information on the screen for a desired time by adjusting the time for operating the display instruction means.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the same reference numerals are used for the same elements, and redundant description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an image output system 10 including an information processing device 12 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the information processing apparatus 12, a CPU 20, a ROM 22, a RAM 24,
The hard disk drive 26, the display interface 28, the keyboard interface 30, the mouse interface 32, and the parallel interface 34 are mutually connected via a bus 42. Also,
The display 1 has a display 1
4 is connected, the keyboard 16 is connected to the keyboard interface 30, and the mouse interface 32
Is connected to the mouse 18, and the parallel interface 34 is connected to the printer 20.

The hard disk drive 26 stores a predetermined operation system and various application programs executed through the operation system. Further, the hard disk drive 26 includes a printer driver 5 corresponding to the printer 20.
0 is stored. The printer driver 50 is control software that is read into the RAM 24 at a predetermined timing under the control of the operation system. Further, the printer driver 50 is connected to the display 1.
4. A print execution command is transmitted to the printer 20 based on various print information set by the user via the keyboard 16 and the mouse 18 and image data provided by the application.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the printer driver 50. As shown in FIG.
Control unit 52, print information storage unit 54, and data communication unit 5
6 are provided. The control unit 52 controls the print information storage unit 5
Then, a setting change screen is displayed on the display 14 based on the information stored in the storage unit 4. The setting change screen is a screen for the user to change the contents of various setting items by operating the keyboard 16 and the mouse 18, and the setting items include a paper size and a layout. The contents of each setting item are stored in the print information storage unit 54. The control unit 52 updates the information stored in the print information storage unit 54 when the user changes the content of the setting item on the setting change screen, and further displays the setting change screen based on the updated information. change.

The printing of the image data created by the application software or the like is executed by the keyboard 16 or the mouse 1.
When the user gives an instruction via the control unit 8, the control unit 52 transmits a part of the various print information stored in the print information storage unit 54 to the application, and stores the image data given from the application and the print data in the print information storage unit 54. The print data corresponding to the printer 20 is created based on the various print information. The print data is transmitted to the data communication unit 5
6, and the printer 20 executes printing based on the print data. The outline of the image output system 10 has been described above.

Next, referring to FIG.
4 will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the print information storage unit 54. The print information storage unit 54 includes three groups of paper settings, graphics settings, and option settings. The setting includes a sub-group of setting and margin setting, and the graphics setting includes a sub-group of image quality adjustment. In the print information storage unit 54, the names of setting items, initial contents of setting items (initial values), current setting contents of setting items (setting values), and setting items of setting items can be set for each group and sub-group. Group information such as a range is stored. For example, in the group information relating to the paper setting, a setting item “number of copies” is provided, and the settable range of the number of copies is 1 to 999. The initial value is 1 and the actual setting value is 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a setting change screen 60 for changing the paper setting. In the upper part of the setting change screen 60, a graphics setting key 80 and an option setting key 82 for displaying a setting change screen of graphics and options, which are other groups, respectively, are displayed. In the lower left corner of the setting change screen 60, a layout setting key 84 and a margin setting key 86 for displaying a setting change screen of a layout setting and a margin setting, which are sub-groups of paper settings, are displayed. . Information about each of these keys is stored in the print information storage unit 54.
The control unit 52 reads this information from the print information storage unit 54 and causes the display 14 to display the information. That is, the control unit 52 and the print information storage unit 54 constitute a key display unit. On the right side of the center of the setting change screen 60, the names of setting items such as “number of copies”, “output paper size”, “sort”, “original orientation”, and “double-sided printing” are listed up and down. The contents of each setting item are displayed on the right side of the name.

In the lower right corner of the setting change screen 60, an OK button 88 for validating the setting contents of the displayed setting screen and closing the display screen and a OK button 88 for disabling the setting contents and closing the display screen are displayed. A cancel button 90 is displayed. Further, in the present embodiment, the cursor 92 on the display 14 can be moved by operating the mouse 18, and by pressing the click button provided on the mouse 18 while the cursor 92 is over each key, Screen (dialog box) can be displayed. As a method of displaying various screens, a mouse 1
Instead of using the button 8, the TAB button or the arrow button of the keyboard 16 may be operated to move the keyboard focus, and the so-called return button may be pressed to issue a determination instruction. Further, the mouse 18 and the keyboard 16 may be used together.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a setting change screen 68 for changing the margin setting, which is a sub-group of the paper setting. The setting change screen 68 can be displayed by pressing the click button of the mouse 18 with the cursor 92 superimposed on the margin setting key 86 in FIG. In the state shown in FIG. 5, the binding margin is still set to "None" which is the initial content.

Next, the control operation of the control unit 52 from the display of the setting change screen to the deletion thereof will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

When the user instructs print settings, the printer driver 50 is started. And the control part 52
In step 101 (hereinafter, step is abbreviated as “S”), the setting change screen 60 shown in FIG.
To be displayed. Next, the control unit 52 backs up the group information related to the sheet setting stored in the print information storage unit 54 (S102). Thereafter, the control unit 52 substitutes the number of keys existing in the setting change screen 60 into N (S103). Since the setting change screen 60 displays a graphics setting key 80, an option setting key 82, a layout setting key 84, and a margin setting key 86, N = 4.

Next, the control unit 52 initializes the counter I to 1 (S104), confirms that the conditional expression (I <N + 1) in S105 is satisfied, and then checks the group information corresponding to the first key. Is read from the print information storage unit 54 (S106). Here, the margin setting key 86 is a first key, the layout setting key 84 is a second key, the option setting key 82 is a third key, and the graphics setting key 80 is a fourth key.

In S107, the control unit 52 determines whether or not the content of each read setting item is equal to the initial content. If the content of the current setting item for the margin setting is not equal to the initial content, the process proceeds to S108, and the area around the margin setting key 86 is turned on as shown in FIG. 9 (S108). At this time, when there are a plurality of setting items, if there is at least one item having a content different from the initial content, the area around the key is lit. Thereby, the user can grasp that the setting items related to the margin setting are different from the initial contents without opening the setting change screen 68 for the margin setting shown in FIG. It is not necessary to adopt a method of lighting around the key as a method for notifying the user that the content of the setting item has been changed, and the display of the key is changed so that the current content of the setting item is the initial content. What is necessary is just to make it different from the display when equal. For example, the area around the key may blink, or the color of the key may be changed.

On the other hand, if the contents of all the current setting items are equal to the initial contents in S107, the process proceeds to S109,
In the same manner as the binding setting, the comparison process is performed between the content of each setting item and the initial content, with I = I + 1 as the layout setting corresponding to the second key (S105 to S109). Further, the content of the current setting item is not equal to the initial content in S107, and the process for the layout setting is similarly performed after proceeding to S108 (S105 to S109).
When the contents of the setting items are compared with the initial contents for all four keys, in S105, I = 5, N
+ 1 = 5, and the control unit 52 ends the initial operation for displaying the setting change screen 60.

Next, the control unit 52 proceeds to S110 shown in FIG. 7 and enters an input waiting state. When the user changes the content of the setting item displayed on the setting change screen 60 in S110, the control unit 52 rewrites the group information stored in the print information storage unit 54 (S115). Next, the control unit 52 determines whether or not a key on the setting change screen 60 has been pressed in S111. If any key has been pressed, the process proceeds to S101 in FIG. 6, and the setting change screen corresponding to that key Is displayed on the display 14. For example, when the margin setting key 86 is pressed, a setting change screen 68 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.

On the other hand, if no key is pressed in S111, the process proceeds to S112, and the control unit 52 determines whether the cursor 92 is overlaid on any key. Here, “overlap” between the key and the cursor 92 means
This means that the cursor enters a predetermined determination area provided for each key. When the determination area is larger than the area of the key, the cursor 92 does not necessarily need to be positioned above the key. Then, when determining that the cursor 92 is overlaid on the key, the control unit 52 proceeds to S201 shown in FIG. 8 and starts the setting information display process. Here, the “setting information” is the name of the setting item having a different content from the initial content and the current content.

First, in S201, group information corresponding to the key on which the cursor 92 is superimposed is read from the print information storage unit 54. Here, the margin setting key 86
The description will be made assuming that the cursor 92 is superimposed on. The control unit 52 creates the storage area A for setting information (S2
02), the number of setting items in the group information is substituted for N (S203). Further, the control unit 52 initializes the counter I to 1 (S204), and sets the conditional expression (I <N +) in S205.
After confirming that 1) is satisfied, the current setting contents and initial contents corresponding to the first setting item are read from the print information storage unit 54 (S211). In the present embodiment, the binding position is the first setting item, and the binding value is the second setting item (see FIG. 5).

Then, the control section 52 determines whether or not the setting content of the binding position is set to "none" as the initial content (S212). Here, it is assumed that the margin setting has been changed as shown in FIG. In the same figure, the binding position is set to “left” unlike the initial content.
For this reason, the control unit 52 proceeds to S213, and stores information such as “binding position” which is the name of the setting item and “left” which is the current setting content in the storage area A created in S202. On the other hand, if the current content of the binding position remains “none” in S212, the process proceeds to S214 without storing anything in the storage area A.

After setting I = I + 1 in step S214 and determining in step S205 that the conditional expression (I <N + 1) is satisfied, the control unit 52 sets the current setting content of the margin value as the second setting item. And the initial contents are read from the print information storage unit 54 (S211). Then, in S212, it is determined whether or not the set content of the binding value is equal to the initial content “0”. As shown in FIG. 10, the binding value is “10” mm,
The control unit 52 proceeds to S213, and stores the name of the setting item “margin value” and the current setting content “1” in the storage area A.
0 ”is stored. Then, when the comparison between the contents of the setting items and the initial contents is completed for all the setting items, I = 3 and N + 1 = 3 in S205, and the control unit 52 proceeds to S206.

In step S206, the control unit 52 determines whether the setting information is stored in the storage area A. When the setting information is not stored in the storage area A,
The control unit 52 proceeds to S113 shown in FIG. On the other hand, S20
In 6, when it is determined that the setting information is stored in the storage area A, the control unit 52 displays the setting information window 100 on the display 14 as the setting information display means as shown in FIG. 11. In the setting information window 100, the setting item name “margin position”, the current setting content “left”, the setting item name “margin value”, and the current setting content “10” are displayed. Is displayed.

That is, in this embodiment, the cursor 92
Is moved to overlap the margin setting key 86, the setting information on the setting items whose contents can be changed on the setting change screen 68 corresponding to the margin setting key 86 is displayed on the display 14, so that the user can change the setting. The setting information can be confirmed without performing the operation of displaying the screen 68, that is, the operation of superimposing the cursor 92 on the binding margin setting key 86 and pressing the click button of the mouse 18. Moreover, since the setting information displayed in the setting information window 100 in the present embodiment is the name of the setting item whose initial content is different from the current content and the current content, the user can determine which setting item differs from the initial content. It can be easily grasped whether the contents are included.
The setting information displayed in the setting information window 100 may be the names of all setting items corresponding to the key and the current contents of the setting items.

At S207, the setting information window 10
After displaying 0 on the display 14, the control unit 52
It is determined whether or not the cursor 92 overlaps the margin setting key 86 (S208). When the user moves the cursor 92 to the outside of the determination area of the margin setting key 86, the control unit 52 sets the setting information window 10
0 is deleted from the display 14, and the process proceeds to S113.
That is, the user can see the setting information only while the cursor 92 is over the binding setting key 86.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S208 that the cursor 92 is overlaid on the margin setting key 86, the control unit 52 transmits the cursor 92 and the margin setting key 8
It is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since 6 overlapped (S209). Then, S20 until a predetermined time elapses.
8 is repeated, and when a predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit 5
2 deletes the setting information window 100 from the display 14 (S210). That is, the user can view the setting information only for a predetermined time after the cursor 92 is overlaid on the margin setting key 86. Note that cursor 9
The setting information window 100 may be displayed at all times while 2 is overlaid on the margin setting key 86, or even if the cursor 92 is moved outside the determination area of the margin setting key 86, The setting information window 100 may be displayed until the time elapses.

For example, when using a mouse having two click buttons on the left and right, the left button is used as a decision button, the right button is used as a display instruction button (display instruction means), and the key and the cursor 92 overlap. When the display instruction button is pressed, the setting information window 10
0 may be displayed. In this case, since the setting information is not displayed on the display 14 unless the display instruction button is pressed, the setting information can be displayed or not displayed according to the user's intention. When such a mouse is used, the setting information may be displayed on the display 14 only while the key and the cursor 92 overlap and the display instruction button is pressed. In this case, the user can display the setting information on the display 14 for a desired time by adjusting the time for pressing the display instruction button. Further, the display instruction means is not limited to a mouse button, but may be any key of the keyboard 16.

After erasing the setting information window 100 from the display 14, the control unit 52 waits until the OK button 86 is pressed in S113. When the OK button 86 is pressed, the control unit 52 closes the currently displayed setting change screen. If the closed setting change screen is the setting change screen 60 for paper setting, the control unit 5
2 ends the control operation. On the other hand, in S113, OK
If the cancel button 90 is pressed in S116 without pressing the button 86, the control unit 52 proceeds to S110
The contents of the setting items changed in the step are returned to the group information backed up in S102 (S117), and the setting change screen is closed. If the cancel button 90 is not pressed in S116, the control unit 52 proceeds to S11
Returning to 0, the above operation is repeated.

As described above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the reference content to be compared with the current content of the setting item does not necessarily need to be the initial content (initial value), and may be the content separately registered by the user or the like.

[0042]

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, setting information relating to setting items is displayed on the screen by the setting information display means simply by operating the cursor and overlaying the key. For this reason, the user can easily check the information on the setting items without performing the operation of displaying the setting change screen.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an image output system including an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of a printer driver.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a print information storage unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a setting change screen for changing paper settings.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a setting change screen for changing a margin setting.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of a control unit of the printer driver.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of a control unit of the printer driver.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of a control unit of the printer driver.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the area around a margin setting key is lit on a setting change screen for paper setting.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state in which a setting item has been changed on a setting change screen for margin setting.

FIG. 11 shows a setting change screen for paper setting.
It is a figure showing the state where the cursor was overlaid on the margin setting key and the setting information was displayed.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 image output system, 12 information processing device, 14
Display, 16 ... keyboard, 18 ... mouse, 20
... Printer, 26 ... Hard disk drive, 50 ... Printer driver, 52 ... Control unit, 54 ... Print information storage unit, 60, 68 ... Setting change screen, 80 ... Graphics setting key, 82 ... Option setting key, 84 ... Layout setting Key, 86: binding margin setting key, 92: cursor, 100: setting information window.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tomoe Yamakawa 3-7-1, Funai, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama Prefecture Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Taro Seki 3-7-1, Funai, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Within the company (72) Inventor Kazunori Ozeki 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Inside Fuji Xerox Corporation (72) Inventor Koichi Sato 3-7-1, Funai, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Inside Fuji Xerox Corporation (72) Inventor Koichiro Mino 3-7-1, Fukui, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama F-term in Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. DE05 5E501 AA02 BA03 BA05 CB09 EA05 EA10 EA15 EB05 FA05 FA25 FB43

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus capable of displaying a plurality of setting change screens for changing the contents of setting items, wherein a key provided for each of the setting change screens and for displaying the setting change screen is provided. Key display means to be displayed on the screen, and, when the key and the movable cursor overlap on the screen, setting information relating to the setting item whose content can be changed on the setting change screen corresponding to the overlapped key. An information processing apparatus, comprising: setting information display means for displaying on a screen. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting information is a name of the setting item and a current content of the setting item. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting information is a name of the setting item whose reference content is different from a current content and a current content of the setting item. 4. When the reference content of the setting item is different from the current content, the display of the key is different from the display when the reference content of the setting item is the same as the current content. The information processing device according to claim 1. 5. The setting information display unit according to claim 1, wherein the setting information is displayed on a screen for a predetermined time after the key and the cursor overlap each other. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting information display unit displays the setting information on a screen only while the key and the cursor overlap each other. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 7. The apparatus further comprises display instruction means for displaying the setting information on a screen, wherein the setting information is displayed on the screen when the key and the cursor overlap and the display instruction means is operated. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 8. The setting information is displayed on a screen only while the key and the cursor are overlapped and the display instruction means is operated.
An information processing apparatus according to claim 1.