JP2001195289A - Method and device for urging use with order of directory or file and medium with program for realizing the method and computer on which the program is loaded - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To necessarily and quickly communicate the preparation intention of directory and the management rule of the directory to a user. SOLUTION: Message data including data indicating items to be communicated to a user such as the intention or policy of directory preparation for each directory are prepared. When a file included in the directory and the low rank directory are displayed, a file navigation window 10 for simultaneously displaying a message constituted of the message data and the file and the low rank directory is displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for encouraging the orderly use of directories and files, a medium recording a program for realizing the method, and a computer equipped with the program.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional operating systems (O
In the directory display program incorporated as part of S), the files included in the directory specified by the user and the lower directories are displayed, but the intent of creating the directory and the management rules of the files in the directory. Are not displayed at the same time. Although there is a method of separately writing the directory creation intention and management rules in a file, the information is not transmitted to the user unless the user of the directory voluntarily opens the file. Furthermore, under the present circumstances, since the work itself of creating a file also takes time and effort, such a file is often not created. For this reason, the directory usage by the user becomes disorderly, and problems such as a decrease in work efficiency and a decrease in quality of the product arise.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the intent of creating a directory,
Make sure that the rules for managing files in the directory
It is intended to be transmitted to the user immediately. This promotes the ordered use of directories and files.

According to the present invention, in a directory display method including a description of a file included in a directory designated by a user or a program and a lower directory, the intention of directory creation, a guideline, etc. should be transmitted to the user for each directory. A file navigation system that prepares message data including data representing an item and displays a message based on the message data simultaneously with the file and the lower directory when displaying the files and lower directories included in the directory. A window is displayed.

[0005] The message records the intention of the directory creator, usage guidelines, memorandum, and the like. The message data includes not only text data but also image data (still images and moving images) and audio data.

If there is no description about a file or a lower directory in a directory, it is natural that they are not displayed. Even if files and lower directories are set to be hidden, they are not displayed in the file navigation window. It is to be understood that the invention includes such embodiments.

According to the present invention, the directory structure is displayed, and at the same time, the message information (message represented by the message data) such as the intention of creating the directory and the usage guideline is displayed on the screen (file navigation). When the user opens the directory, the message information is first seen by the user. In addition, creating message information, which was conventionally troublesome, requires file navigation,
Since it can be performed from the window, the message information can be left without much trouble of the creator of the directory.

According to the present invention, when a single directory is shared by a plurality of users, the directory administrator writes directory usage rules as message information, thereby enabling orderly operation in the directory to directory users. It will be possible to encourage. In addition, even when using the directory for individuals, by recording the file version information (changes from the previous version and known problems) as message information,
Even when creating a new file based on a file created in the past, the target version can be easily reached.

There are two main methods of storing message information: a method of storing the information as a data file and a method of storing the information in a database. As a method of storing in a database, there is a method of constructing a database using a directory path as a key and storing message data as its record. As a method of storing as a data file, as described in the embodiment, a data file for storing message data is created for each directory, and this data file is stored immediately below each directory. There is a way.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the message data can be created or changed in the file navigation window.

Further, the lower directory can be created in the file navigation window. When you create a lower directory,
Also create a message file.

[0012] A program recording medium according to the present invention includes a process of receiving a directory path from a user or a program, a process of determining whether there is message data corresponding to a directory specified by the path, and a process of message data corresponding to the directory. If there is no
The computer causes the computer to execute a process of creating message data and a process of simultaneously displaying a description of a file included in the directory specified by the above path and a lower directory when displaying the file navigation window, and the above message data. It stores the program.

The above-described method is realized by a computer having the program installed.

When a directory is created by a program other than the above program, there is no message data corresponding to the directory. When such a directory path is specified when starting the program according to the present invention, a new process of creating message data is performed. This message data creation processing is performed similarly when a lower directory is created.

That is, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the program according to the present invention further causes the computer to execute a process of creating message data for the lower directory when the lower directory is created in the file navigation window. Let it.

Updating of message data is also possible.
That is, the program according to the present invention causes the computer to further execute a process of receiving a message input by a user and a process of updating message data with the received message.

In one embodiment, the message data is stored as a separate data file for each directory. In this case, the computer performs a process of reading the file when displaying the file navigation window. Although the message is displayed in the file navigation window, the display of the message file itself is generally prohibited.

In another embodiment, the message data is stored in a database. In this case, the computer executes a process of accessing the database and reading the message data when displaying the file navigation window.

When the medium storing the program according to the present invention is defined by focusing on the creation of a message file,
It is expressed as follows. In other words, since a message file is always created for the root directory, the computer creates a message file corresponding to the root directory (deciding the file name, setting to hide, etc.) Processing to display a file (meaning message data input area or message data input guidance), processing to store message data input by the user in the message file according to the displayed message file , And when displaying the file navigation window, a process of displaying a message based on the above message data together with the contents of the root directory is performed.

In general terms, the program according to the present invention performs a process of displaying a message file (display of a message data input area, display of a message data input guide, etc.), and displays the message file on the displayed message file. Therefore, the computer is caused to execute a process of storing the message data input by the user in the message file and a process of displaying the message based on the message data together with the contents of the root directory when displaying the file navigation window.

The present invention also provides a computer on which the above-mentioned program is installed (installed).

The program according to the present invention can be incorporated into an OS from the beginning, or can be created in a form supplementing an existing OS such as Windows95.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<System Hardware and Software Configuration> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of software and hardware of a system for realizing the method according to the present invention. In this figure, arrows indicate mutual transmission of information (data).

In this embodiment, a program (file navigation display program) for realizing a method for encouraging ordered use of directories and files (hereinafter, referred to as a program)
It is assumed that this program runs on an operating system (OS). This OS has the following functions.

The OS has basic input / output control functions.
Converts electrical signals input from the mouse and keyboard into a format that the application can understand. Application program (hereinafter referred to as application)
This program can be regarded as a kind of application in relation to the OS. Based on data provided from the OS, the direction and amount of movement of the mouse,
Recognize information about the presence or absence of mouse button clicks, characters input from the keyboard, and the like.

In the OS, a group of functions (generally referred to as Application Programming Interface; hereinafter referred to as API) for displaying windows, lines, curves, and basic input interfaces (text input areas, cursors, etc.) on a display device. Is provided as a standard, and an application can output a graphic to a display device by calling an API prepared in the OS.

The OS stores data in an external storage device.
Data is managed in a logical hierarchical structure (directory structure) as shown in FIG. Application is OS
Through the directory and the files stored in the directory.

The folder A is the name of the highest-level directory (root directory). This directory includes a message file a, a data file P, an application program X, and lower directories (the names of which are folders B and D). ) Is described. In the folder B, information about a message file b, a lower directory (the name is folder C), and a data file R are described. Similarly, information on the message file d, the application program Z and the data file S is described in the folder D. Further, information about the message file c, the data file Q, and the application program Y is described in the lowest folder C.

Message files a, b, c and d
Is provided for each directory (folders A, B, C and D). The message file stores message data including data representing contents to be transmitted to the user, such as the intention of creating a directory and guidelines. The message may include not only text but also an image.
Since one message file a to d is always included in one folder, a common name (for example, Comment.ddt) may be given to them.

The OS gives icon IDs to all icons representing directories and files, and associates icon images with directories and files.
FIG. 2 shows an example of an icon image for a folder, a file, and an application.

<Directory Attribute Information> Each directory has various attribute information as shown in FIG. The application accesses (ie, reads,
Writing).

The directory attribute information includes a directory name (directory name), directory hierarchy information indicating a logical hierarchy on an external storage device to which the directory belongs, an ID of an icon corresponding to the directory, and a directory by an OS standard GUI. It includes a directory non-display flag indicating whether or not to display, and other information.

The directory hierarchy information indicates a directory higher than the directory. For example, for directory C (folder C), the directory name and directory hierarchy information are represented as follows.

Directory name: folder C Directory hierarchy information: {folder A} folder B

The directory name and the directory hierarchy information may be included in the directory hierarchy information instead of being separate items. In this case, it becomes as follows.

Directory hierarchy information: {folder A}
Folder B ￥ Folder C

The icon ID is an ID number of an icon used when displaying an icon in this directory in a directory display program provided as a standard in the OS. Depending on the OS, only one type of icon can be assigned to a directory, as in the example shown in FIG. In this case, no icon ID is required.

The directory non-display flag indicates whether or not the directory display program which the OS has as a standard indicates to the user that the directory exists, ie, whether or not to display an icon indicating the directory. In this embodiment, the directory non-display flag = 1 indicates non-display and 0
Indicates a display.

<File Attribute Information> FIG. 4 shows a part of the contents of the file attribute information for each file managed by the OS. Here, the file attribute information includes attribute information of both the data file and the application (program) file. An application can read or write these pieces of attribute information through an API.

The file attribute information indicates the name of the file (file name), the hierarchical information of the directory to which the file belongs, the ID of the icon corresponding to the file, and whether or not the file is to be displayed using an OS standard GUI. A file non-display flag and the like are included. The attribute information has the same data configuration as the corresponding directory attribute information. In addition to the above, the file attribute information includes the capacity of the file, a creator identifier indicating whether the file is an application or data, and the like.

<Structure of Application Table> Since the data file is opened by the application, it is necessary to associate them. An example of a creator identifier for a data file and an application table that associates the data file with an application is shown in FIG. In this table, the creator identifier, the name of the application to open the file of the creator identifier, and the path to the application are associated with each other. Thus, if the creator identifier of the data file is known, the name of the program that opens the data file and the path where the application is installed can be specified.

<Example of File Navigation Window Screen> FIG. 6 shows an example of a file navigation window screen displayed according to this program.
The file navigation window 10 has three areas: a directory name field 11, a message display section 12, and a directory display section 13, a new directory creation button 14, a message edit button 15, and a close box.
It consists of 16 buttons, 16 buttons.

The directory name field 11 is located at the top of the file navigation window 10.
In this field 11, when this program starts,
Displays the name of the directory received as an argument from another program or user.

The message display section 12 occupies the upper half area of the file navigation window 10 and displays messages in a message file described in the directory displayed in the directory name field 11. This message informs the directory user of the directory creation intention and usage guidelines.

The directory display section 13 occupies the lower half area of the file navigation window 10, and displays the directories below this directory and the files described in this directory by icons. However, when the file / directory non-display flag of the attribute information of these files and directories is set to non-display, the corresponding icon is not displayed. The names of folders, files, and applications are displayed below the icons.

The file navigation window 10 shown in FIG. 6 is for the folder A shown in FIG. 2, a message display section 12 displays messages in the message file a, a directory display section 13 displays folders B, Folder D, file P and application X
Icons are displayed.

File navigation window 10
A new directory creation button 14, a message editing button 15, and a close box 16 are lined up on the right side of the top of the.

When the new directory creation button 14 is pressed, a directory having a name “untitled” under the directory whose name is displayed in the directory name field 11 is newly created. If a directory named “untitled” already exists, another name is assigned based on the naming rule. The newly created directory is immediately displayed on the directory display section 13 in the file navigation window 10.

When the user presses the close box 16, the file navigation window is deleted and the program ends.

When the message edit button 15 is pressed, message data can be edited in the message display section 12.

<Screen Example of Entire Display> FIG. 7 shows a plurality of file navigation windows 10A and 10A.
An example in which B and 10C are displayed is shown.

File navigation window 10
A (this is the same as window 10 shown in FIG. 6)
This is displayed as a result of a user or application giving an instruction to execute this program. This is the folder A as an argument when starting this program from the OS (see Fig. 2)
This is when the path was passed.

One execution of the program displays one file navigation window.
When the folder B icon on the file navigation window 10A is double-clicked, the program is executed again from the file navigation window 10A with the path of the folder B as an argument, and as a result, the file navigation window 10B is opened.
It is displayed in addition to 10A.

File navigation window 10
C is displayed when the folder C icon on the file navigation window 10B is double-clicked.

File navigation window 10
B and 10C also have message display sections, where message files b and c belonging to folders B and C respectively.
Is displayed at the same time as the window is displayed.

File navigation window 10
When the user double-clicks the application Y icon in C, the path of the application Y is passed to the OS, and the execution of the application (program) Y is started.

When the user double-clicks the file Q icon, the path of the file Q is passed to the application (see the table in FIG. 5) corresponding to the creator identifier of the file Q managed by the OS, and The file Q is opened by the application.

<Processing Flow of This Program> FIG. 8 shows a processing procedure of this program for displaying a file navigation window.

In step 0, the program is started again by a command from the user or the program that has already been started.

In step 1, the program acquires path information of a directory corresponding to a file navigation window to be drawn (target). When this program is started (step 0), if the path of the directory to be displayed by the user or the already started program is specified as an argument, a variable (hereinafter Pa)
th variable). If no directory argument is passed from the OS or this program that has already been started, a preset path (default value) is stored in a Path variable. The default value is, for example,
This is the path of the root directory.

For example, the path variable for displaying the file navigation window of the folder C is as follows.

Path = “￥￥ Folder A ￥ Folder B ￥ Folder C”

In step 2, the contents of the (target) directory to be displayed, the lower-level directories (folders) described in the directory, and the attribute information of the files (FIGS. 3 and 4) are obtained. These pieces of information, ie, directory (file) name, hierarchy information, creator identifier (does not exist in the case of a directory), icon ID, and directory (file) non-display flag are stored in array variables (structure, table, Stored as an object) (hereinafter referred to as item list)
I do. For example, when taken as an array variable, it can be described as follows. The item number indicates a directory (0) or a file (1).

Array (X, Y) X: Item number Y:
Attribute number (0,0) = “directory (file) name” (0,1) = “layer information” (0,3) = “creator identifier” (0,4) = “icon ID” (0,5) = "Directory (file) non-display flag"

In step 3, it is checked whether the message file exists in the item list. As mentioned above, comment.
A common name ddt can be given. In this case, comment.dd is added to the item list acquired in step 2.
It is checked whether a file named t is included, and if it does not exist, the process proceeds to step 4;

At step 4, a data file (message file) is newly created in the target directory.

At step 5, a file navigation window is created and drawn on the GUI. Details of the processing in step 5 will be described later with reference to FIG.

Step 6 shows an event waiting loop. This is a state of waiting for an instruction (event) from the mouse or keyboard from the user. When an event occurs, the type of the event is checked,
Distribute processing.

When the event is that the message editing button 15 has been pressed, a message editing routine is executed in step 7. Details of step 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

If the event is a single click on the name (name display section) displayed below the directory icon or file icon, step 8 executes the file / directory (folder) name change mode. Details of step 8 will be described with reference to FIG.

If the event is a double click of an application icon or a file icon, the application is executed or the file is opened by the application that created the file in step 9. When the icon is double-clicked, the creator identifier is checked from the item list (see FIG. 4). If the creator identifier indicates an application, the OS passes the path of the application and starts the application.
If the creator identifier indicates a data file, the application is started with reference to the application table of FIG. 5 and the path of the data file as an argument.

When the new directory creation button 14 is pressed and the event occurs, at step 10
Creates a new directory (subdirectory) under the name "untitled" in the directory specified by the variable. If a directory with the same name already exists in the same hierarchy, set a file name based on the naming rule. For example, a directory name is obtained by adding a hyphen + serial number to the end of "unnamed", such as "unnamed-2".

In step 11, a message with a blank content is created in the subdirectory, and non-display is set as a file non-display flag. In step 12, an icon of the subdirectory (subfolder) is displayed in the directory display section 13.

If the event is a double-click on a lower-level directory (subdirectory) icon, the path information of the subdirectory (subfolder) is obtained from the item list in step 13.

At step 14, the program is started by passing the path information of the subdirectory to the program.

If the event is that the close box 16 has been pressed, the program ends in step 16. If the event is another event processing, the corresponding event processing is performed in step 15. Other event processes include, for example, a process of dragging and dropping a folder icon between directory display portions of two file navigation windows.

<Details of File Navigation Window Creation Processing> FIG. 9 is a detailed flowchart of the file navigation window creation processing (step 5) shown in FIG.

In FIG. 9, step 51 is a file
This is the basic display processing of the navigation window. O
The entire window is rendered using the API of S.
A directory name field is created at the top of the screen, and the name of the directory acquired in step 1 of FIG. 8 is displayed. In addition, a close box 16 and a message edit button 15 are created at the right end on the screen. This program allows the program to recognize a button press event for these two buttons.

At step 52, a message file included in the directory specified by the Path variable is opened.

In step 53, it is determined whether or not the message file is normal data (whether or not the data could be read without error). If the data is normal,
Proceed to step 54. If it is abnormal data, step 56
Proceed to.

At step 54, it is determined whether or not the file non-display flag is set to non-display 1 for the message file. If not hidden,
In step 55, non-display is set. This is the message
This is to prevent the icon of the file from being displayed on the directory display unit 13.

If it is determined in step 53 that the message file is not normal data, the name of the message file is changed to Xcomment.ddt in step 56, and the file non-display flag is set to display. This is for storing a message file having abnormal data and displaying it on the directory display unit 13 so that its existence can be recognized.
If Xcomment.ddt already exists in the same directory,
Overwrite with the message file determined to be abnormal this time.

In step 57, a new message file (comment.ddt) with a blank content is created, and the file non-display flag is set to non-display.

In step 58, a newly created message file is opened.

Step 59 is a display on the message display unit 13. In the upper half area of the file navigation window created in step 51, a message display
Create The text written in the message file is displayed in the message display section 12. If the contents of the message file cannot be displayed in the message display section 12, scroll display is possible.

Step 60 is a display on the directory display section 13. The directory display section 13 is created in the lower half area of the file navigation window created in step 51. Based on the item list, directories and files are displayed as icons in the directory display section 13. At this time, the items for which the directory non-display flag is set in the item list are not displayed on the directory display unit 13. Enables the program to detect double-click and name-click events for each icon. The above display is actually performed using the API of the OS.

<Details of Message Editing Routine Processing> FIG.
8 shows a detailed flowchart of the process of editing the information displayed in the message display section 12 (Step 7 in FIG. 8).

Step 71 permits text editing in the message display section 12. When the message edit button 15 is pressed, the cursor is moved to the message display section 12,
Input of characters and the like to the message display unit 12 and editing of a character string displayed on the message display unit 12 are enabled (step 72).

Step 73 is an event holding loop.
It is determined whether the cursor is located at a portion other than the message display unit 12 by the user and clicked there.
If it is clicked at that location, at step 74 the result edited by the user is reflected in the message file.

<Details of File / Directory Name Change Routine Processing> FIG. 11 shows the details of the process of changing the file or directory name (step 8 in FIG. 8) when the directory name is displayed or the file name is displayed by a single click in the directory display section 13. It shows a simple flowchart.

Step 81 is for permitting text editing in the icon name display section. If a name is selected by clicking once on the icon name display portion and not moving the mouse for a certain period of time, user input is permitted to the name display portion.

Step 82 is a name input by the user. The user inputs text in the name display section.

Step 83 is an event waiting loop.
It is determined whether the user has clicked on a part other than the name display part. If a click is made at the point, the process proceeds to step 84. If not clicked, the name input processing by the user is continued.

Step 84 is a file / directory name check process. It is determined whether or not the character string input to the name display section in step 81 is appropriate, for example, does not include a character string prohibited as a file / directory name, and the character string length does not exceed a limit. . If so, go to step 85. If it is not appropriate, the name input processing by the user is continued.

Step 85 is a file / directory name update process. The name of the file / directory is updated to the name input in the name input processing by the user in step 82.

<Other Embodiments> In the above embodiment, message data is stored in a message file, and this message file is created in each directory. It is also possible to store message data in a database (hereinafter referred to as a message database). The primary key of a message database record is a directory path. This record is composed of fields such as message data, creator identifier, and security classification.

If the “message file” is read as “the record of the message database corresponding to the path of the directory being referred to” in the processing of FIGS. 8 to 11, the processing of FIGS. It can be applied to the used processing as it is (the file non-display flag processing (step 55) and the file name change processing (step 56) need not be performed).

A directory managed by another computer connected to a computer on which this program is installed by a network can be accessed by this program and displayed on one computer (messages are naturally displayed). For example, in a computer system including a plurality of computers connected via a network, it is sufficient that at least one computer has this program installed.

The above-described program (file navigation display program) is described as a program operating on the existing OS, assuming that the OS is used.
It may be incorporated in S. In this case, a new OS may be created by incorporating the functions of this program into the program integrally with other functions of the OS, or an existing OS may be created.
The function of this program may be added in a form that supplements the function of S. In the latter case, many of the existing OSs have a function of displaying the directory display section of FIG. 6, so if this function is used to additionally display a message display section or the like. Good.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration.

FIG. 2 shows a hierarchical structure of a directory.

FIG. 3 is a table showing directory attribute information.

FIG. 4 is a table showing file attribute information.

FIG. 5 shows a configuration of an application table.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of a file navigation window.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which a plurality of file navigation windows are displayed on a display screen.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a file navigation display program.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a window creation processing procedure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a message editing process procedure.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a file / folder name change processing procedure;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 File navigation window 11 Directory name field 12 Message display section 13 Directory display section

Claims (14)

[Claims] In a method of displaying a directory including a description of a file included in a directory designated by a user or a program and a subordinate directory, items to be communicated to a user such as a directory creation intention and a guideline for each directory are described. A message containing data to represent
Prepares data and displays a file navigation window that displays a message based on the message data at the same time as the files and lower directories when displaying the files and lower directories contained in the directories. How to promote orderly use. 2. A message data directory in a directory.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein a file is created and the message data file is accessed to read the message data when displaying a directory. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the message data is stored in a database, and the database is accessed to read out the message data when a file navigation window is displayed. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the message data is created or updated in the file navigation window. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lower directory is created in the file navigation window. 6. A process for receiving a directory path from a user or a program, a process for determining whether there is message data corresponding to the directory specified by the path, and a process for determining whether there is no message data corresponding to the directory. The process of creating data,
And a storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a process for simultaneously displaying a description of a file and a lower directory included in a directory specified by the path when displaying a file navigation window and the message data. 7. A process for displaying a message file, a process for storing message data input by a user in a message file in accordance with the displayed message file, and a process for displaying a file navigation window in a root directory. A storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a process of displaying a message based on the message data together with the content of the message data. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the message data is stored as a separate data file for each directory.
8. The recording medium according to claim 6, wherein a program for causing a computer to further execute a process of reading the file when displaying a navigation window is stored. 9. A program for storing the message data in a database and storing a program for causing a computer to execute a process of accessing the database and reading the message data when displaying a file navigation window. Item 8. The recording medium according to item 6 or 7. 10. A program according to claim 6, wherein a program for causing a computer to further execute a process of creating message data for a lower directory when a lower directory is created in the file navigation window is stored. The recording medium according to claim 1. 11. The program according to claim 6, wherein a program for causing a computer to further execute a process of receiving a message input by a user and a process of updating message data by the received message is stored. recoding media. 12. The recording medium according to claim 6, wherein a program for causing a computer to execute a process of setting a non-display flag when the message file is created is stored. . 13. A computer equipped with the program according to claim 6. 14. An apparatus for displaying files included in a directory designated by a user or a program and directories including descriptions of subordinate directories, items to be transmitted to the user, such as intentions of directory creation and guidelines for each directory. Storage means for storing message data including data representing the message, and when displaying the files and lower directories included in the directory, reading the message data from the storage means, and displaying a message based on the read message data. For prompting the use of directories and files in an orderly manner, the means for controlling the file and the lower directory to be displayed in the file navigation window at the same time.