JP2005301647A - Information processor and method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To actuate an application through an intuitive operation. <P>SOLUTION: When an image 309 is dragged and dropped on an icon 321, a mailer is actuated to display a mail creation picture while the picture of an address book is switched to. In a mail address input field prepared in the main creation picture, a mail address which is linked to the picture 309 and described in a mail address field is automatically input and in an input field for a mail main sentence, characters of a name and a company name which are linked to the image 309 and described in a name field and a company name field are automatically input. This invention is applicable to a mobile information processor such as a PDA and a mobile telephone set. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a program, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus and method, and a program that allow an application to be activated by an intuitive operation.

  Depending on the address book function installed in portable information terminals such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), each person's phone number, address, e-mail address, face image, company name, and website URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and other personal information can be managed.

  Therefore, the user can use the information managed by the address book function, for example, to send an e-mail to a registered person or browse a Web site managed by the person.

By the way, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique that can display the contents of a file by dragging an icon representing a file to an icon representing a program by using a mouse or the like.
JP 2000-227828 A

  However, when trying to send an e-mail to a certain person using information registered in the address book, for example, the user copies the e-mail address of the e-mail addressee from the address book screen and displays it on the e-mail creation screen. After changing the display, paste the e-mail address in the specified field on the screen, or open the list of e-mail addresses registered in the address book while the e-mail creation screen is displayed. It is necessary to select the mail address of the recipient.

  Also, when trying to browse a website managed by a person using information registered in the address book, for example, the user copies the URL from the address book screen and displays it on the browser screen. After changing the URL, it is necessary to paste the URL in a predetermined field provided on the screen.

  That is, an application that uses information registered in the address book cannot be started directly from the screen of the address book, and there is a problem that the usability is poor.

  Also, if you open a list of email addresses registered in the address book from the email creation screen and select the email address of the recipient from there, the email address selection itself can be done relatively easily, In this case, of the various personal information registered in the address book, such as only the mail address, the information that can be used for creating the mail is limited.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation. For example, from the screen of an address book or the like in which various personal information is registered, the registered various information is used by an intuitive operation. It is possible to start the application.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a display control unit that displays key data associated with a plurality of data, in which an application that is different depending on a destination is started, and an application that is identified by the destination of the key data. Display based on the data acquired by the acquisition means is performed in advance on the acquisition means for acquiring the data to be given to the application from a plurality of data associated with the key data, and on the screen displayed immediately after startup. And an activation control means for controlling activation of the application identified by the destination of the key data.

  The display control means can display an image representing an individual associated with a plurality of information related to the individual as key data.

  When controlling the activation of the mailer identified by the destination of the image, the activation control means is associated with the image in the mail address input field prepared on the mail creation screen displayed immediately after the mailer is activated. It is possible to control the activation of the mailer so that the mail address being displayed is displayed in advance.

  The acquisition unit may identify an application to be activated based on an icon representing an application displayed at a destination of key data and acquire data to be given to the identified application.

  The information processing method of the present invention includes a display control step for displaying key data associated with a plurality of data, in which different applications are activated depending on the destination, and at the time of activation of the application identified by the destination of the key data. An acquisition step for acquiring the data to be given to the application from a plurality of data associated with the key data, and a display based on the data acquired by the processing of the acquisition step are performed in advance on the screen displayed immediately after starting. As described above, it includes an activation control step for controlling activation of an application identified by the movement destination of the key data.

  The program of the present invention includes a display control step for displaying key data associated with a plurality of data, in which an application that is different depending on a destination is displayed, and an application that is identified by the destination of the key data when the application is started. The acquisition step for acquiring the given data from a plurality of data associated with the key data and the display based on the data acquired by the processing of the acquisition step are performed in advance on the screen displayed immediately after starting. And causing the computer to execute processing including an activation control step for controlling activation of the application identified by the destination of the key data.

  In the information processing apparatus, method, and program of the present invention, activation of an application that is activated depending on the destination of movement is displayed, key data associated with a plurality of data is displayed, and activation of the application identified by the destination of movement of the key data Sometimes data to be given to the application is obtained from a plurality of data associated with the key data. In addition, the activation of the application identified by the destination of the key data is controlled so that the display based on the given data is performed in advance on the screen displayed immediately after the activation.

  According to the present invention, an application can be activated by an intuitive operation.

  Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and quickly perform an operation using the activated application.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The correspondence relationship between the invention described in this specification and the embodiments of the invention is exemplified as follows. This description is intended to assure that embodiments supporting the claimed invention are described in this specification. Therefore, although there is an embodiment which is described in the embodiment of the invention but is not described here as corresponding to the invention, it means that the embodiment is not It does not mean that it does not correspond to the invention. Conversely, even if an embodiment is described herein as corresponding to an invention, that means that the embodiment does not correspond to an invention other than the invention. Absent.

  Further, this description does not mean all the inventions described in this specification. In other words, this description is for the invention described in the present specification and not claimed in this application, i.e., the existence of an invention that will be filed in the future or added by amendment. There is no denial.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 (for example, PDA 1 in FIG. 1) has a plurality of data (for example, in each field in FIG. The display control means (for example, the display control unit 362 in FIG. 12) that displays the key data (for example, the images 301 to 309 in FIG. 7) associated with the data to be described, and the movement destination of the key data are identified. Data to be given to the application when the application is started (for example, an email address when starting a mailer or a URL when starting a web browser) is selected from among a plurality of the data associated with the key data The acquisition means (for example, the key data management unit 364 in FIG. 12) to be acquired and displayed immediately after starting. Activation control for controlling activation of the application identified by the movement destination of the key data so that a display based on the data acquired by the acquisition unit is performed in advance on a screen (for example, the screen of FIG. 10) Means (for example, the application control unit 363 in FIG. 12).

  The acquisition unit of the information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the acquisition unit starts an application based on an icon (for example, the icons 321 and 322 in FIG. 7) representing the type of application displayed at the movement destination of the key data. And obtaining the data to be given to the identified application.

  The information processing method according to claim 5 is associated with a plurality of data (for example, data described in each field in FIG. 8) in which different applications (for example, mailer, Web browser) are activated depending on the destination. Display control step (for example, step S2 in FIG. 14) for displaying the key data (for example, images 301 to 309 in FIG. 7), and data to be given to the application when the application identified by the movement destination of the key data is started (For example, an e-mail address when starting a mailer and a URL when starting a web browser) from a plurality of the data associated with the key data (for example, FIG. 14) Step S8) and a screen (for example, the image shown in FIG. ), An activation control step (for example, FIG. 14) that controls the activation of the application identified by the movement destination of the key data so that the display based on the data acquired by the processing of the acquisition step is performed in advance. Steps S9 and S10).

  Also in the program according to claim 6, the embodiment (however, an example) to which each step corresponds is the same as the information processing method according to claim 5.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The external appearance of a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) 1 to which the present invention is applied is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views showing the appearance of the front side of the main body of the PDA 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views showing the appearance of the back side of the main body.

  The PDA 1 is divided into a display portion 11 and a main body portion 13 with a central hinge portion 12 shown in FIG. 2 as a boundary, and is formed to be foldable via the hinge portion 12 (the folded state is illustrated). 1).

  As shown in FIG. 2, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 28 and a transparent touch panel 36 stacked on the LCD 28 are provided on almost the entire surface 11-1 of the display unit 11. That is, when the user touches the fingertip or the tip of the stylus 2 in FIG. 1 with an arbitrary position on the LCD 28, the coordinates are detected by the touch panel 36, and predetermined processing corresponding to the detected coordinates is performed.

  The hinge portion 12 is provided with a camera portion 21 made of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or the like.

  On the upper surface 13-1 of the main body 13 that faces the surface 11-1 (display unit 11) when the PDA 1 is folded, for example, an application for schedule management, address book management installed in the PDA 1. A button 32 on which a symbol representing each application such as an application for printing is printed is provided. When the user presses the button 32, the corresponding application is activated.

  In addition, a scroll button 33 for scrolling the screen displayed on the LCD 28 in the vertical direction is provided at the center of the area where the button 32 on the upper surface 13-1 is arranged. Further, a keyboard 34 for inputting characters, symbols, numbers and the like is provided below the button 32 and the scroll button 33 on the upper surface 13-1.

  The right side surface 13-2 of the main body 13 is provided with an MS slot 41 into which a Memory Stick (trademark) (hereinafter referred to as MS) 3, which is a kind of nonvolatile semiconductor memory, can be mounted (FIG. 1). The MS slot 41 can be mounted with a function expansion module having the same shape as that of the MS 3 such as a communication function expansion module based on Bluetooth (trademark).

  As shown in FIG. 3, a battery that opens and closes when a removable main battery 162 (FIG. 5) made of a lithium ion battery or the like that supplies power to the main body 13 is attached to or detached from the left side surface 13-3 of the main body 13. A lid 26 is provided. A jog dial 25 that can be pressed and rotated is provided on the left side surface 13-3 so as to slightly protrude from the side surface.

  A CF slot 42 into which a CompactFlash (registered trademark) (hereinafter referred to as CF) 4, which is a kind of nonvolatile semiconductor memory, can be mounted is provided on the back surface 13-4 of the main body 13. As shown in FIG. 4, the CF slot 42 pops up from the back when the CF 4 is mounted. The CF slot 42 can be mounted with a function expansion module having the same shape as the CF4, such as a communication function expansion module based on PHS (Personal Handy Phone) (trademark), for example.

  A connector 67 for connecting an accessory device such as a cradle 91 (FIG. 5) for charging the removable main battery 162 is provided on the lower end surface 13-5 (FIG. 2) of the main body 13.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of the PDA 1 having the above-described external configuration.

  A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 131 executes various processes according to a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 132 or an application loaded from a storage unit 139 to a RAM (Random Access Memory) 133. The RAM 133 also appropriately stores data necessary for the CPU 131 to execute various processes.

  The CPU 131, the ROM 132, and the RAM 133 are connected to each other via the CPU interface 135. The CPU interface 135 is also connected to a display control unit 136 that controls screen display on the LCD 28.

  In addition to the camera unit 21 and the LCD 28, a VRAM 138 is also connected to the display control unit 136. The display control unit 136 stores the image captured by the camera unit 21 in the VRAM 138 based on the control by the CPU 131, the image stored in the VRAM 138, and other memories (MS 3, CF 4, RAM 133, storage unit 139. The image stored in () is displayed on the LCD 28. The VRAM 138 stores an image to be displayed on the LCD 28 in addition to an image captured by the camera unit 21.

  The CPU interface 135 includes an input unit 137 including a jog dial 25, buttons 32, scroll buttons 33, and a keyboard 34, a touch panel 36, an infrared communication port 62, an MS slot 41, and a slot I / F 64 corresponding to the CF slot 42. In addition, the removable main battery 162 and the backup battery 163 are charged, and the connector 67 to which the cradle 91 serving as a relay device for communication with the other external device 152 is connected, and the voice collected by the microphone 142 are converted into digital data. An audio processing unit 141 for converting to is connected.

  Information representing coordinates detected by the touch panel 36 is supplied to the CPU 131 via the CPU interface 135.

  Further, the CPU interface 135 is connected to a storage unit 139 composed of an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) or a hard disk. The storage unit 139 is a memory built in the PDA 1, unlike the MS 3 and the CF 4, which are storage media detachable from the PDA 1.

  The CPU interface 135 includes a wireless communication unit 146 that performs wireless communication in accordance with a standard such as Bluetooth, and a non-contact IC card interface (I that reads and writes data without contact with an IC card such as FeliCa (trademark)). / F) 147 is connected.

  An application read from a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like that is appropriately attached to the external device 152 is an infrared communication performed via the infrared port 62 or a wireless communication performed via the wireless communication unit 146. The data is supplied to the PDA 1 as necessary by communication or wired communication performed via the cradle 91 and installed in the storage unit 139. Alternatively, an application read from the MS 3 or CF 4 that is appropriately mounted in the slot I / F 64 is also installed in the storage unit 139 as necessary.

  The CPU interface 135 is an LCD open / close switch 144 that is turned on when the display unit 11 is closed with respect to the main body unit 13 and is turned off when the display unit 11 is open with respect to the main body unit 13. In addition, an LCD rotation switch 145 that is turned on when the display unit 11 is rotated by a predetermined angle or more is provided.

  Connected to the CPU interface 135 are a main battery mounting portion 161 to which the removable main battery 162 is mounted, and a backup battery 163 composed of a rechargeable button battery or the like as a backup power source when the removable main battery 162 is removed. Has been.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main screen displayed on the LCD 28.

  Various operations performed using the PDA 1 are basically started from this main screen. The main screen includes a standard display area 201, a silk area 202, and a status area 203.

  In the standard display area 201, when an application is being executed, a screen of the application being executed is displayed. In addition, when the application is not executed, application icons 204 corresponding to each of the installed applications are displayed as shown in FIG. 6 (however, strictly speaking, the application is not displayed at all at this time. It is not not executed, but an application icon 204 is displayed and an application for allowing the user to select is executed).

  In FIG. 6, for example, the application icon 204 is selected when starting an address book icon 204A selected when starting an application that manages an address book, or an application (mailer) that creates or transmits / receives mail. Mailer icon 204B, and a web browser icon 204C that is selected when a web browser is connected to the Internet via the wireless communication unit 146 of FIG. 5 and displays a screen of a predetermined site.

  In the silk area 202, a user interface (area for user input) corresponding to the silk plug-in being executed is displayed. Depending on the application to be executed, the display of the silk area 202 may disappear, and one screen may be displayed on the entire standard display area 201 and the silk area 202.

  In the status area 203, for example, a status icon 205 indicating the state of the PDA 1 such as the battery capacity, the presence / absence of the MS3 in the MS slot 41, the presence / absence of the CF4 in the CF slot 42, and the volume setting are displayed. Is done.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an address book screen displayed when the address book icon 204A of FIG. 6 is selected.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a list of images (face images) registered in the PDA 1 is displayed on the address book screen of the PDA 1 together with personal information such as name, address, telephone number, and mail address.

  In the example of FIG. 7, images 301 to 309, which are images for nine people, are displayed in a list. Also, an icon 321 representing a mailer and an icon 322 representing a Web browser are displayed below the image list.

  For example, when one image is selected from those displayed on the list with the stylus 2 or the like, the address book screen of FIG. 7 is switched to a detailed screen of personal information represented by the selected image. In the details screen of personal information, for example, in addition to the same image as the selected image, name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, work information, URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the website managed by the person Personal information such as is displayed.

  That is, various information described in one record as shown in FIG. 8 is linked (or added) to each image in FIG. FIG. 8 shows an example of information linked to the image 301 in FIG.

  One record is composed of fields in which information of a person's name, telephone number, address, mail address, company name, and URL represented by an image (image 301) is described. The information described in each field is registered by the user.

  Thus, the user can start an application directly from the address book screen of FIG. 7 using an image in which various types of information are linked.

  For example, as indicated by a broken line arrow in FIG. 9, the user moves the tip of the stylus 2 to the display position of the icon 321 while pressing the tip of the stylus 2 against the image 309, and stops pressing there. (When the image 309 is moved to the display position of the icon 321 by drag and drop), the mailer is activated, and the LCD 28 displays a mail creation screen as shown in FIG. 10 instead of the address book screen of FIG. Is displayed.

  The e-mail creation screen includes, for example, an e-mail address input field 331 for inputting the e-mail address of the addressee, a title input field 332 for inputting a title, and a text input field 333 for inputting an e-mail text. In the screen of FIG. 10 showing an example of the mail creation screen displayed on the LCD 28 immediately after being moved to the display position, the mail address “AAA@BBB.ne.jp” is displayed in the mail address input field 331, In the text input field 333, characters “CCC Co., Ltd.” and “Ichiro Yamada” have already been entered.

  Among the characters already input in this way, “AAA@BBB.ne.jp” in the mail address input field 331 is a mail address field linked to the image 309 moved to the display position of the icon 321 (see FIG. This is input based on the e-mail address described in 8).

  Also, “CCC Co., Ltd. Gonaka” in the text input field 333 is a fixed word following “CCC Co., Ltd.” that is the company name information described in the company name field linked to the image 309. It is input based on a certain “Gochu”, and “Ichiro Yamada” is the name information “Ichiro Yamada” described in the name field linked to the image 309, and the fixed name following the name. It is input based on the word “sama”.

  Therefore, the user can save the trouble of inputting the e-mail address, the name of the addressee, and the standard words that follow the e-mail address, and can create an e-mail just by inputting other e-mail text and e-mail title. Can do.

  In this way, it is possible to select the recipient of the mail while viewing the image of each person's face, and to display the mail creation screen directly from the address book screen. Rather than, for example, copying an email address on the personal information screen, switching the display to the email creation screen, and then sending an email compared to pasting the email address in a predetermined input field The series of operations can be performed quickly.

  In addition, in the mail composition screen that is displayed, only necessary information among all personal information registered in the address book (all information linked to the image moved to the display position of the icon 321) is included. Since it is automatically input regardless of the user operation, the user can easily and quickly create and send a mail.

  For example, the URL of a website managed by the recipient of the email, which has little to do with the creation of email, is not entered, and it is automatically entered compared to when all personal information is entered at once. It is possible to save the trouble of deleting unnecessary information later.

  Furthermore, the operation for activating the mailer is also an intuitive operation such as simply moving the image by drag and drop, which is preferable because of the nature of the PDA 1 that can be easily operated in a short time while away from home.

  If the image 309 is moved to the display position of the icon 322 in the same manner as in FIG. 9, the Web browser is activated and the URL field linked to the image 309 is entered in the URL input field prepared on the browser screen. The described URL is automatically entered, and the website screen identified by the URL is displayed.

  In this way, the user can easily switch the application to be activated simply by changing the movement destination of one piece of data (in the above case, an image).

  In addition, the data used in the launched application (email address, name, company information, URL in the case of a web browser in the case of a mailer) uses only the field data required for that application, so the record When registering, users will automatically enter the appropriate data for each field provided on the screen of the application to be launched unless an incorrect registration is made, such as entering a phone number in the name field. be able to.

  That is, an e-mail address can be automatically entered in the e-mail address entry field 331 of the e-mail creation screen, and a URL can be automatically entered in the URL entry field of the web browser.

  The operation of the PDA 1 that switches the display as described above will be described later with reference to a flowchart.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an application prepared in the PDA 1.

  In FIG. 11, when the address book application 351 activated when the address book icon 204 </ b> A in FIG. 6 is selected and the mailer icon 204 </ b> B are selected, or on the address book screen, one of the images is the icon 321. A mailer 352 that is activated in response to a request from the address book application 351 that is performed when the display position is moved is shown.

  In addition to this, a PDA 1 is also provided with a Web browser (not shown) that is activated when the Web browser icon 204C is selected or in response to a request from the address book application 351.

  The address book application 351 generates a record as shown in FIG. 8 for each person according to the input from the user, and stores it in the record database 353.

  Further, the address book application 351 displays a list of images linked to the record data stored in the record database 353, and when the image selected from the list is moved to the display position of the icon 321, the mailer 352 requests activation. At the time of this request, data such as a mail address, name, and company name linked to the moved image is provided from the address book application 351 to the mailer 352.

  Note that the image data displayed as a list on the address book screen is stored in a different location from the record database 353 (key data database 365 in FIG. 12).

  In the following, as appropriate, data to be a key for identifying the application to be activated by the destination and acquiring data to be given to the application, such as images 301 to 309 displayed in a list, will be referred to as key data.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the address book application 351. At least a part of each configuration shown in FIG. 12 is realized by the address book application 351 being executed by the CPU 131 (FIG. 5).

  Based on the input from the touch panel 36, the input control unit 361 acquires a position on the LCD 2 where the user presses the tip of the stylus 2, for example, and appropriately displays information indicating the acquired position as a display control unit 362, The data is output to the application control unit 363 and the key data management unit 364.

  The display control unit 362 controls the display on the LCD 28. For example, when a plurality of key data (images) are supplied from the key data management unit 364, the display control unit 362 displays a list on the LCD 28.

  The application control unit 363 controls activation of applications other than the address book application 351. For example, the application control unit 363 has moved one key data selected from the list displayed by the user to the display position of the icon 321 based on the information supplied from the input control unit 361. If this is detected, the mailer 352 is requested to start up. At the time of this request, data such as a mail address acquired by the key data management unit 364 is also provided from the application control unit 363 to the mailer 352.

  The key data management unit 364 generates a record based on the input from the input control unit 361, stores the record in the record database 353, and sets key data linked to the data described in the generated record as key data. It is stored in the database 365. For example, the image serving as key data is an image captured by the user using the camera unit 21 (FIG. 5) or an image captured by an external device and supplied to the PDA 1 via the MS 3 or the like.

  The key data management unit 364 identifies the attribute of data to be given to the application to be activated in response to a request from the application control unit 363, and is the same attribute (field) as the identified attribute linked to the key data. Get the data. For example, when the mailer 352 is activated, the key data management unit 364 identifies that the data attribute to be given to the mailer 352 is an email address, a name, and a company name, and an email address linked to the moved key data. Acquires data representing name and company name.

  Information indicating the correspondence between each application and the attribute of data to be given to the application may be prepared in advance in the key data management unit 364, or an inquiry about the application to be activated is made by the key data management unit 364. The attribute of data to be given to the application may be acquired.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the mailer 352. At least a part of each configuration shown in FIG. 13 is realized by the mailer 352 being executed by the CPU 131.

  Based on the input from the touch panel 36, the input control unit 381 acquires a position on the LCD 2 where the user presses the tip of the stylus 2, for example, and appropriately displays information indicating the acquired position as a display control unit 382. Output to the function providing unit 383.

  The display control unit 382 controls the display on the LCD 28. For example, the display control unit 382 displays a mail creation screen as shown in FIG. 10, and in accordance with instructions from the function providing unit 383, a predetermined character or figure is displayed in each input field prepared on the mail creation screen. Etc. are displayed.

  The function providing unit 383 provides a user with a mail creation function and a transmission / reception function. For example, the function providing unit 383 creates a mail based on the input from the input control unit 381, and causes the display control unit 382 to display the text being created on the LCD 28, or controls the wireless communication unit 146 to send and receive mail. And so on.

  Note that a web browser (not shown) that starts when the web browser icon 204C of FIG. 6 is selected or when key data is moved to the display position of the icon 332 of FIG. It has the same configuration as the mailer 352.

  Next, operations of the address book application 351 and the mailer 352 executed by the CPU 131 will be described.

  First, processing of the address book application 351 that controls the activation of the mailer 352 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  For example, when the address book icon 204A is selected while the main screen of FIG. 6 is displayed, in step S1, the key data management unit 364 displays all key data to be displayed on the address book screen as the key data database 365. Read from. The key data read by the key data management unit 364 is output to the display control unit 362.

  In step S <b> 2, the display control unit 362 displays a list of key data supplied from the key data management unit 364 on the LCD 28. Thereby, for example, the address book screen of FIG. 7 including a list of images as key data is displayed on the LCD 28.

  In step S <b> 3, the input control unit 361 determines whether one key data is selected from the list displayed based on the input from the touch panel 36, and waits until it is determined that the key data is selected.

  When one of the images in FIG. 7 displayed in the list is selected by the stylus 2, the input control unit 361 determines that the key data has been selected in step S3, the tip of the stylus 2 is Information indicating the pressed position is output to the display control unit 362, the application control unit 363, and the key data management unit 364.

  In step S4, the input control unit 361 determines whether or not the user has made a pen-up, that is, whether or not the state in which the key data is being pressed at the tip of the stylus 2 has ended, and the pen is still pen-up. If it is determined that there is not, the process proceeds to step S5.

  In step S5, the display control unit 362 moves the display position of the key data according to the information supplied from the input control unit 361, that is, information indicating the movement of the pen (stylus 2) by the user. Thereafter, the process returns to step S4, and the subsequent processing is repeated.

  On the other hand, if the input control unit 361 determines in step S4 that the user has pen-up, the input control unit 361 outputs information indicating the pen-up position to the application control unit 363.

  In step S <b> 6, the application control unit 363 identifies the application represented by the icon to which the key data is moved based on the pen-up position, and requests the key data management unit 364 for data to be given to the identified application.

  In step S7, the key data management unit 364 acquires the attribute of the data to be given to the application to be activated in response to the request from the application control unit 363, and proceeds to step S9, where it is linked to the key data. Get data of the same attribute (field) as the attribute. For example, when it is requested to activate the mailer 352, information on the mail address, name, and company name is acquired. The acquired data is output from the key data management unit 364 to the application control unit 363.

  In step S9, the application control unit 363 supplies the data supplied from the key data management unit 364 to the application to be activated (for example, mailer 352), and proceeds to step S10 to request activation.

  Next, processing of the mailer 352 that has received a startup request from the address book application 351, which is performed corresponding to the processing of FIG. 14, will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The function providing unit 383 of the mailer 352 requested to start from the address book application 351 acquires the data supplied from the address book application 351 in step S21. Data acquired by the function providing unit 383 is output to the display control unit 382.

  In step S22, the display control unit 382 causes the LCD 28 to display a mail creation screen using the data supplied from the input control unit 381. Thus, for example, on the LCD 28, the mail address “AAA@BBB.ne.jp” and the characters related to the mail addressees of “CCC Corporation Onaka” and “Ichiro Yamada” are displayed in the mail address input field 331 and the text. A mail creation screen as shown in FIG. 10 that is input in advance in each of the input fields 333 is displayed.

  In step S <b> 23, the function providing unit 383 creates a mail based on the information supplied from the input control unit 381. When the transmission of the created mail is instructed, the function providing unit 383 controls the wireless communication unit 146 to transmit the created mail and terminate the process.

  In the above, the key data is an image, and the application that is activated in response to the image being moved over the icon is the mailer 352 or the Web browser. However, the key data is not limited to the image. In addition, the application that is activated in response to the movement is not limited to the mailer 352 or the Web browser.

  That is, the key data may be any data as long as the user can link various information to the key data and move it to a predetermined position. For example, a predetermined number of character strings and symbols can be used as key data.

  For example, in the address book screen of FIG. 7, when the display is switched to a list of names so that each personal information is represented by a name instead of an image, the data described in the name field becomes key data, Attribute information indicating that the data described in the field is key data is added to the name field.

  In this case, when one of the names displayed in the list is moved, the application is started according to the movement destination as in the case where the above-described image is key data.

  In addition, the user himself / herself is responsible for the data (data linked to the key data) that is automatically input in the input field prepared on the screen of each application, such as the mail address input field 331 on the mail creation screen. It may be possible to set. Also, the user may be able to set the above-mentioned fixed words such as “Gochu” following the company name and “Sama” following the name for each data (field).

  Further, the data linked to the key data is not limited to the data described in each field as shown in FIG. 8, and is, for example, time information or a fixed sentence input to an e-mail or a notepad. Also good.

  For example, when key data linked with time information is moved over an icon that represents an application that manages a schedule or an icon for a task (an icon that represents an application that manages an item to be performed) The time field to be automatically selected, allowing the user to enter a predetermined schedule or item there, or moved over the icon representing the application that manages the alarm settings Sometimes, an alarm may be automatically set at the time specified by the time information.

  If the PDA 1 is also equipped with a mobile phone function, the key data linked to the phone number is automatically moved to the phone number when the key data is moved over the icon representing the phone function. The transmission may be performed automatically.

  Furthermore, in the above, as shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that each data of the record is associated with the image that is the key data, but this image itself is also described and managed as one data in the record. It may be. In this case, the key data database 365 shown in FIG. 12 becomes unnecessary, and the key data and the data associated with the key data are searched from the record data database 353.

  The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware, but can also be executed by software.

  When a series of processing is executed by software, a program constituting the software executes various functions by installing a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware or various programs. For example, it is installed in a general-purpose personal computer from a network or a recording medium.

  As shown in FIG. 5, this recording medium is composed only of a package medium made up of MS3, CF4, etc. on which a program is recorded, which is distributed to provide a program to the user, separately from the apparatus main body. Instead, it is configured by a ROM 132, a storage unit 139, and the like that are provided to the user in a state of being preinstalled in the apparatus main body and in which a program is recorded.

  In the present specification, each step includes not only processing performed in time series according to the described order, but also processing executed in parallel or individually, although not necessarily performed in time series.

It is a perspective view which shows the example of the external appearance of PDA of the state which closed the display part with respect to the main-body part. It is a perspective view which shows the example of the external appearance of PDA of the state which opened the display part with respect to the main-body part. It is a perspective view which shows the example of the external appearance of the back side of PDA. It is a perspective view which shows the example of the other external appearance of the back side of PDA. It is a block diagram which shows the example of an internal structure of PDA. It is a figure which shows the example of a main screen. It is a figure which shows the example of an address book screen. It is a figure which shows the example of the data described by the record. It is a figure which shows the other example of an address book screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a mail preparation screen. It is a figure which shows the example of the application prepared for PDA. It is a block diagram shown about the functional structural example of an address book application. It is a block diagram shown about the functional structural example of a mailer. It is a flowchart explaining the process of an address book application. It is a flowchart explaining a mailer process.

Explanation of symbols

  1 PDA, 2 stylus, 28 LCD, 301 to 309 images (key data), 321 and 322 icons, 351 address book application, 352 mailer, 353 record database, 361 input control unit, 362 display control unit, 363 application control unit, 364 key data management unit, 365 key data database, 381 input control unit, 382 display control unit, 383 function providing unit

Claims (6)

Display control means for displaying key data associated with a plurality of data, in which different applications are activated depending on the destination;
Acquisition means for acquiring data to be given to the application when the application identified by the movement destination of the key data is started from a plurality of the data associated with the key data;
An activation control means for controlling the activation of the application identified by the movement destination of the key data so that a display based on the data acquired by the acquisition means is performed in advance on a screen displayed immediately after the activation; An information processing apparatus comprising: The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays an image representing the individual associated with a plurality of pieces of information related to the individual as the key data. When controlling the activation of the mailer identified by the destination of the image, the activation control means displays the image in the mail address input field prepared on the mail creation screen displayed immediately after the mailer is activated. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein activation of the mailer is controlled so that a mail address associated with the mail address is displayed in advance. The acquisition unit identifies an application to be activated based on an icon representing an application displayed at a movement destination of the key data, and acquires the data to be given to the identified application. The information processing apparatus described. A display control step for displaying key data associated with a plurality of data, in which different applications are activated depending on the destination,
An acquisition step of acquiring data to be given to the application at the time of activation of the application identified by the movement destination of the key data from among the plurality of data associated with the key data;
Activation control for controlling activation of the application identified by the movement destination of the key data so that a display based on the data acquired by the processing of the acquisition step is performed in advance on a screen displayed immediately after activation. An information processing method comprising: steps. A display control step for displaying key data associated with a plurality of data, in which different applications are activated depending on the destination,
An acquisition step of acquiring data to be given to the application at the time of activation of the application identified by the movement destination of the key data from among the plurality of data associated with the key data;
Activation control for controlling activation of the application identified by the movement destination of the key data so that a display based on the data acquired by the processing of the acquisition step is performed in advance on a screen displayed immediately after activation. A program that causes a computer to execute processing including steps.

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