JP2005321915A - Information processor, information processing method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor, an information processing method and a program capable of improving operability of an icon. <P>SOLUTION: For each of slots 281 to 286 provided as areas in which any one of icons 231 to 234 or the like can be arranged, whether or not arrangement of an icon is designated is recognized. For the slots 281 to 284 for which arrangement of each of the icons 231 to 234, among the slots 281 to 286, is designated, each of the icons 231 to 234 is arranged. For other slots 285, 286, empty symbols 235, 236 indicating that the arrangement of an icon is not designated are arranged, respectively. Then, an image is displayed which includes a free registration area 212 for which the slots 281 to 286 for which the icons 231 to 234 or the empty symbols 235, 236 are arranged in prescribed order. This program is applicable to, for instance, a launcher application program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program, and more particularly, to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program that can further improve icon operability.

  In recent years, with the spread of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PCs as appropriate), various users have come to use PCs for various purposes. In addition, the performance of the PC has been improved, and various processes can be performed on the PC. Under such circumstances, the number of application programs installed on one PC also increases, which may make it difficult for the user to select and start a desired application program.

  As one method for solving such a problem, there is a method using a launcher application program (hereinafter, referred to as a launcher program as appropriate) (for example, see Patent Document 1). The launcher program places an icon representing an application program or the like registered in advance at a position on the PC display screen that is highly visible to the user. For example, when an operation called “click” is performed by the user such as moving the mouse pointer onto a predetermined icon (combining) and pressing the left or right button of the mouse only once, the launcher program Activates the application software represented by the icon.

  FIG. 1 shows a part of a display screen example of a PC when a conventional launcher program included in an OS (Operating System) called Windows (registered trademark) is executed.

  When Windows (registered trademark) is started, a desktop 1 which is a display area for files and the like is displayed on the PC as shown in FIG. 1, and a task bar 2 is displayed at the bottom of the desktop 1. . Further, a start button 3 is displayed on the left side of the task bar 2 in FIG. In FIG. 1, only a part of the desktop 1 is shown.

  When a conventional launcher program included in Windows (registered trademark) is activated, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a quick activation unit 4 is displayed to the right of the start button 3 in the task bar 2.

  In the quick activation unit 4, icons 5-1 to 5-4 are displayed side by side in the order from left to right. The icon 5-1 represents an application program called a browser that provides a function for connecting to the Internet. An icon 5-2 represents an application program called a mailer that provides a function of sending and receiving mail. An icon 5-3 represents an application program called a movie player that provides a function of reproducing moving image content. An icon 5-4 represents an application program called photo album software that provides a function of displaying content such as a still image.

  In addition, the respective paths of the browser, mailer, movie player, and photo album software represented by the icons 5-1 to 5-4 in the quick launch unit 4 are stored in the launcher program.

  Therefore, the user can activate each application icon 5-1 to 5-4 displayed by the launcher program to activate the application program represented by the icon. For example, the user can perform a simple operation such as placing the mouse pointer on an icon representing a desired application among the icons 5-1 to 5-4 displayed in the quick start unit 4 and performing a click operation. Application programs can be started. Hereinafter, such a series of user operations is referred to as an icon activation operation.

  By the way, although not shown in the figure, the user can display an icon representing a desired application program in the quick start unit 4 as with the icons 5-1 to 5-4. For example, the user moves the mouse pointer to an icon (not shown) representing a desired application program displayed in the desktop 1, presses the left or right mouse button, and further holds down the button (drags). The mouse pointer is moved into the quick activation unit 4 and the button is released within the quick activation unit 4, so that an icon called “drag and drop” is performed to bring the icon into the quick activation unit 4. The application program path displayed by the icon can be stored in the launcher program. Hereinafter, such a series of user operations is referred to as an icon moving operation.

  Further, the user can change the size of the quick activation unit 4. For example, the user can expand the size of the quick activation unit 4 in the horizontal direction by moving the mouse pointer to the right end of the quick activation unit 4 and resizing the mouse pointer to the right from the position. Thereby, for example, more than four icons can be displayed in the quick activation unit 4. Similarly, the user can narrow the size of the quick activation unit 4 in the horizontal direction by moving the mouse pointer to the right end of the quick activation unit 4 and resizing to the left from the position. As a result, the number of icons to be displayed is reduced, but the area of the task bar 2 other than the quick activation unit 4 can be enlarged.

  If the size of the quick activation unit 4 is reduced by the user's mouse operation, all icons 5-1 to 5-4 registered in the launcher program may not be displayed side by side. In such a case, only the icons 5-1 to 5-3 that can be displayed among the icons 5-1 to 5-4 are displayed as shown in the quick start unit 4 in FIG. Then, the hierarchy display button 6 is displayed.

  When the user clicks the mouse pointer on the hierarchy display button 6, that is, when the hierarchy display button 6 is pressed, an icon display window 7 as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed. In the icon display window 7, an icon 5-4 that cannot be displayed in the quick starter 4 is displayed.

  As described above, the update of the size of the quick start unit 4, the display of the icons 5-1 to 5-4, the display of the hierarchy display button 6, and the display of the icon display window 7 are performed by a CPU (Central Processing Unit). This is done by executing.

  In Windows (registered trademark), when the user clicks the start button 3, a start menu window (not shown) is displayed. In the start menu window, an icon for starting a frequently used application program is displayed. The icons in the start menu window are registered without undergoing a registration operation by the user.

  In addition to the launcher program for displaying the quick start unit 4 described above, that is, the launcher program included in Windows (registered trademark), as a launcher program included in the OS, for example, a launcher included in Mac OS (registered trademark) X There are programs. Although not shown, this launcher program displays an area called Dock (toolbar) on a part of the display screen of the PC.

  The user can perform the above-described icon movement operation also in the launcher program included in Mac OS (registered trademark) X. That is, the user can move an icon representing an application program or the like into the Dock by dragging and dropping the mouse, and display the icon in the Dock.

  The user can perform the icon activation operation described above in the launcher program included in Mac OS (registered trademark) X. That is, for example, in the Dock, icons representing application programs are displayed side by side. When the user moves the mouse pointer to an icon representing a desired application program and clicks on the icon, the icon is displayed. A desired application is started.

JP-A-10-97407

  However, the conventional launcher program as described above has a problem that the operability of the icon is impaired.

  For example, as one of icon operations in a conventional launcher program, there is an icon movement operation as described above. The user needs to determine the destination of the target icon when performing this icon movement operation. For example, in the launcher program included in Windows (registered trademark), the above-described quick activation unit 4 in FIG. 1 is a destination candidate.

  However, as shown in FIG. 1, since the plurality of icons 5-1 to 5-4 are closely arranged, it is difficult for the user to visually recognize the destination candidates at a glance, and as a result, The problem that the operativity of icon movement operation will be impaired will generate | occur | produce. In other words, it is difficult for the user to determine a destination candidate before moving the movement target icon to the quick activation unit 4. After all, the user actually moves the movement target icon to the quick activation unit 4, and There arises a problem that a complicated operation such as determining a destination candidate while moving in the activation unit 4 must be performed.

  At this time, the destination candidate is one of the left side of the icon 5-1, the two of the icons 5-1 to 5-4, or the right side of the icon 5-4. A vertical line is displayed at the corresponding position to indicate the current destination candidate.

  Although not shown, the same problem occurs in the icon moving operation in the launcher plug included in Mac OS (registered trademark) X.

  Further, for example, as one of icon operations in the conventional launcher program, there is an icon activation operation as described above. When performing this icon activation operation, the user needs to find an icon representing an application program to be activated.

  However, in a conventional launcher program, a large number of icons are simply displayed side by side, and it is troublesome to search for an icon representing a desired application program from among the large number of icons, and the operability of the icon activation operation The problem that is damaged will occur.

  In addition, in the Dock in the launcher program included in Mac OS (registered trademark) X, an icon representing an application program and, for example, a file, a folder, a trash bin (a file to be deleted, etc., which is temporarily stored) (Region) etc. are displayed separately. For example, after one or more icons representing application programs are first arranged side by side, icons representing files, folders, trash cans, etc. are arranged side by side. Furthermore, one line is displayed between the icon arranged at the end of the icons representing the application program and the icon arranged at the beginning of the icons representing the files, folders, and the like. This line is a line displayed as a separator for separating an icon representing an application program from an icon representing a file, a folder, or the like.

  However, the position of this line cannot be arbitrarily changed. For this reason, for example, it is impossible to use this line as a separator for classifying icons representing application programs by type.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to further improve the operability of icons.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a recognizing unit that recognizes whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for each of a plurality of slots provided as areas where icons can be arranged, and a plurality of slots. The predetermined icon is arranged for the slot recognized as the predetermined icon arrangement by the recognition means, and the predetermined icon indicating that the icon arrangement is not designated for the other slots. Display control means for performing control for arranging symbols and generating a first image in which a predetermined icon or a plurality of slots in which predetermined symbols are arranged are arranged in a predetermined order and displaying them on a predetermined display device It is characterized by providing.

  In the information processing apparatus of the present invention, as each attribute of the plurality of slots, one of a first attribute in which icon arrangement is specified and a second attribute in which icon arrangement is not specified A determining means for determining one and a holding means for holding attribute information indicating the attribute determined by the determining means for each slot can be further provided, and the recognition means holds the holding means for each slot. Based on the attribute information, it is possible to recognize whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for the slot.

  In the information processing apparatus of the present invention, when a first command for updating the arrangement order of a plurality of slots included in the first image currently displayed on the display device is input according to a user operation, An acquisition means for acquiring the first command can be further provided, and when the first command is acquired by the acquisition means, the display control means has a plurality of slots in which a predetermined icon or a predetermined symbol is arranged. To generate a second image arranged in the order specified by the first command, and to perform control to update the display content of the display device from the first image to the second image. Can do.

  In the acquisition means, a second command for arranging a new icon in a slot in which a predetermined symbol is arranged among a plurality of slots included in the image displayed on the display device is further provided to a user operation. If the second command is acquired, the recognition unit acquires the second command. When the second command is acquired by the acquiring unit, the second command is further received for the slot specified by the second command. When the new icon arrangement specified by the command is re-recognized, the display control means further recognizes that the new icon arrangement is designated for the slot by the recognition means. For a slot, a new icon is placed, and for the other slots, the same predetermined icon or predetermined symbol as before is placed, and a new icon is placed. , A second image in which each of a plurality of slots in which a predetermined icon or a predetermined symbol is arranged is arranged in a predetermined order is generated, and the display content of the display device is changed from the first image to the second image. Can be controlled to update.

  An information processing method according to the present invention includes a recognition step for recognizing whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for each of a plurality of slots provided as areas where icons can be arranged, and The predetermined icon is arranged for the slot recognized as the predetermined icon arrangement by the recognition step, and the predetermined icon indicating that the icon arrangement is not designated for the other slots. A display control step of performing control for arranging symbols, generating an image in which each of a plurality of slots in which a predetermined icon or a predetermined symbol is arranged is arranged in a predetermined order, and displaying the image on a predetermined display device It is characterized by that.

  The program according to the present invention includes a recognition step for recognizing whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for each of a plurality of slots provided as areas where icons can be arranged, and a recognition of the plurality of slots. For a slot that is recognized as having a predetermined icon arrangement specified by the step, the predetermined icon is arranged, and for the other slots, a predetermined symbol indicating that the icon arrangement is not designated is placed. And a display control step for performing control for generating an image in which each of a plurality of slots in which a predetermined icon or a predetermined symbol is arranged is arranged in a predetermined order and displaying the image on a predetermined display device. Features.

  In the program of the present invention, as the attribute of each of the plurality of slots, one of a first attribute in which icon arrangement is specified and a second attribute in which icon arrangement is not specified is set. A determination step for determining and a holding control step for controlling holding of attribute information indicating the attribute determined by the processing of the determining step can be further provided for each slot. In the recognition step, holding control is performed for each slot. Based on the attribute information held by the processing of the step, it is possible to recognize whether or not the icon arrangement is designated for the slot.

  In the information processing apparatus, the information processing method, and the program according to the present invention, it is recognized whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for each of a plurality of slots provided as areas where icons can be arranged. . Of the plurality of slots, the predetermined icon is arranged for the slot recognized as the designated icon arrangement, and the icon arrangement is not designated for the other slots. A predetermined symbol indicating this is arranged. Further, an image in which each of a plurality of slots in which a predetermined icon or a predetermined symbol is arranged is generated in a predetermined order is generated and displayed on a predetermined display device.

  According to the present invention, the operability of icons can be further improved.

  BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The best mode of the present invention will be described below. Correspondences between constituent features described in the claims and specific examples in the embodiments of the present invention are exemplified as follows. This description is to confirm that specific examples supporting the invention described in the claims are described in the embodiments of the invention. Therefore, even if there are specific examples that are described in the embodiment of the invention but are not described here as corresponding to the configuration requirements, the specific examples are not included in the configuration. It does not mean that it does not correspond to a requirement. On the contrary, even if a specific example is described here as corresponding to a configuration requirement, this means that the specific example does not correspond to a configuration requirement other than the configuration requirement. not.

  Further, this description does not mean that all the inventions corresponding to the specific examples described in the embodiments of the invention are described in the claims. In other words, this description is an invention corresponding to the specific example described in the embodiment of the invention, and the existence of an invention not described in the claims of this application, that is, it may be divided in the future. It does not deny the existence of an invention which appears by amendment and is added.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 includes a plurality of slots (for example, slots 281 to 286 in FIG. 6) provided as areas where icons (for example, the icon 231 to the icon 234 in FIG. 6) can be arranged. Each of which recognizes whether or not an icon arrangement is designated (for example, the launcher control unit 152 in FIG. 4), and among the plurality of slots, a predetermined icon is arranged by the recognition means. For a slot recognized as being designated (for example, the slots 281 to 284 in which the placement of the icons 231 to 234 in the slots 281 to 286 in FIG. 6 is designated), the predetermined icon is placed. Other slots (for example, slots 285 and 286 of slots 281 to 286 in FIG. 6). , A predetermined symbol (for example, empty symbols 235 and 236 in FIG. 6) indicating that the icon arrangement is not designated is arranged, and the plurality of slots in which the predetermined icon or the predetermined symbol is arranged Are generated in a predetermined order (for example, the launcher window 201 in FIG. 5 including the free registration area 212), and a predetermined display device (for example, the display unit 81 in FIGS. 3 and 4) is generated. Display control means (for example, the display control unit 153 in FIG. 4) that performs control to be displayed on the display.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 includes, as an attribute of each of the plurality of slots, a first attribute (for example, “attribute” in the slot list of FIG. 15) in which an icon arrangement is specified. Determining means (for example, the slot management unit 155 in FIG. 4) that determines one of the attribute that corresponds to the described App, File, and Folder) and the second attribute for which the icon arrangement is not specified. ) And attribute information indicating the attribute determined by the determining means for each slot (for example, App, File, Folder, Blank described in the item “Attribute” in the slot list of FIG. 15) And a holding unit (for example, slot list storage unit 156 in FIG. 4), and the recognition unit is based on the attribute information held in the holding unit for each slot. Then, it is recognized whether an icon arrangement is designated for the slot.

The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 is a first command (for example, FIGS. 7 and 8) that updates an arrangement order of the plurality of slots included in the first image currently displayed on the display device. When an instruction corresponding to a user operation indicated by (1) is input in response to a user operation, the apparatus further includes an acquisition unit (for example, an operation information acquisition unit 151 in FIG. 4) that acquires the first instruction.
When the first command is acquired by the acquiring unit, the display control unit is configured to designate each of the plurality of slots in which the predetermined icon or the predetermined symbol is arranged by the first command. Control for generating a second image (for example, the launcher window 201 shown in FIG. 9) arranged in the order in which it is displayed, and updating the display content of the display device from the first image to the second image (For example, the processing of FIG. 19, particularly, the processing of steps S84 (YES), S85 (YES), S86, S87 is executed).

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the acquisition unit further adds a new one to a slot in which the predetermined symbol is arranged among the plurality of slots included in the image displayed on the display device. When a second command (for example, a command corresponding to the user operation shown in FIG. 10 to FIG. 12) to place a simple icon is input according to a user operation, the second command is acquired, When the second command is acquired by the acquiring unit, the recognizing unit further determines the new icon specified by the second command for the slot specified by the second command. Re-recognize that the layout is designated (eg, it is determined as YES in step S62 in FIG. 18), and the display control means further performs the new recognition for the slot by the recognition means. If it is re-recognized that the placement of a new icon is designated, the new icon is placed for that slot, and the same predetermined icon or the same symbol as before is placed for the other slots. A second image (for example, a launcher window shown in FIG. 12) in which each of the plurality of slots in which the new icon, the predetermined icon, or the predetermined symbol is arranged is arranged in the predetermined order. 201), and control is performed to update the display content of the display device from the first image to the second image (for example, the processing of steps S63 to S65 in FIG. 18 is executed). And

  The information processing method according to claim 5 is an information processing method for an information processing device that controls display of a predetermined display device, and for each of a plurality of slots provided as regions where icons can be placed, A recognition step for recognizing whether or not an arrangement is designated (for example, the process of the launcher control unit 152 in FIG. 4 and the process in step S1 in FIG. 16) and the recognition of the plurality of slots. For a slot that is recognized as having a predetermined icon arrangement specified by the step, the predetermined icon is arranged, and for the other slots, a predetermined symbol indicating that the icon arrangement is not designated is placed. And arranging each of the plurality of slots in which the predetermined icon or the predetermined symbol is arranged in a predetermined order. A display control step (for example, the processing of the display control unit 153 in FIG. 4 and the processing in step S1 in FIG. 16, etc.) for performing control to generate the displayed image and display it on the predetermined display device. It is characterized by.

  The program according to claim 6 is a program to be executed by a computer that controls display of a predetermined display device, and the icon arrangement is performed for each of a plurality of slots provided as areas where icons can be arranged. A recognition step for recognizing whether or not it is specified (for example, the processing of the launcher control unit 152 in FIG. 4 and the processing in step S1 in FIG. 16) and the recognition step among the plurality of slots. For a slot that is recognized as having a predetermined icon arrangement, the predetermined icon is arranged, and for other slots, a predetermined symbol indicating that the icon arrangement is not designated is arranged. Each of the plurality of slots in which the predetermined icon or the predetermined symbol is arranged in a predetermined order. The display control step (for example, the processing of the display control unit 153 in FIG. 4 and the processing in step S1 in FIG. 16, etc.) for performing control to generate the image arranged in FIG. It is characterized by including.

  The program according to claim 7 is described in a first attribute (for example, “attribute” in the slot list of FIG. 15) in which an icon arrangement is specified as an attribute of each of the plurality of slots. Determination step (for example, the process of step S6 in FIG. 16) for determining one of the second attribute for which the icon arrangement is not specified, and the attribute corresponding to App, File, and Folder) , For each slot, attribute information indicating the attribute determined by the process of the determination step (for example, among App, File, Folder, Blank described in the item “Attribute” in the slot list of FIG. 15) A holding control step (for example, the process of step S87 or S92 in FIG. 19), and the recognition step includes the holding step for each slot. Based on the attribute information held in the holding control step, it is recognized whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for the slot.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration example of an embodiment of a personal computer (PC) 41 to which the present invention is applied.

  Although details will be described later, the PC 41 can place an icon designated by the user in a specific area on the display screen of the display unit 81.

  Hereinafter, a specific area in which such icons are arranged is referred to as a slot. The arrangement of icons in the slots is hereinafter referred to as displaying icons in the slots.

  There are a plurality of such slots on the display screen, and the slot can be moved to a place where another slot is arranged (hereinafter, such place is referred to as a place). In this case, the other slots move. Other details of the slot will be described later.

  In addition, the PC 41 uses a specific symbol (hereinafter referred to as an empty symbol) indicating that icon display is not specified in place of an icon in a slot in which icon display is not specified (slot in which no icon is arranged). Can be displayed.

  As will be described later, an arbitrary icon can naturally be arranged in a slot in which an empty symbol is arranged. Therefore, when performing the icon movement operation (command) described above, the user can immediately visually recognize the slot in which the empty symbol is arranged as a candidate for the icon movement destination. Furthermore, it is of course possible to move the slot where the empty symbol is arranged (change of the place). Therefore, as will be described later, a slot in which an empty symbol is arranged can be used as a separator.

  That is, in the PC 41, since empty symbols can be arranged in the slots, the conventional problem described above, that is, a complicated operation of determining a candidate for the icon movement destination while actually moving the icon must be performed. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that the operability of the icon is impaired due to the fact that it has to be performed and it takes time to search for a desired icon from among a large number of icons. Details of the slot in which the empty symbol is arranged will be described later.

  Furthermore, when the user performs an operation (command) to click on the slot (the icon displayed in) with the mouse 71, the PC 41 executes the processing of the target represented by the icon displayed in the slot. As an object represented by the icon, for example, there is an application program. In this case, the target process represented by the icon refers to a process for starting the application program. Other examples of the object represented by the icon and the process of the object represented by the icon will be described later.

  Hereinafter, a hardware configuration example of the PC 41 will be described.

  In FIG. 3, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51 executes various processes according to a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52 or a program loaded from a storage unit 58 to a RAM (Random Access Memory) 53. To do. The RAM 53 also appropriately stores data necessary for the CPU 51 to execute various processes.

  The CPU 51, ROM 52, and RAM 53 are connected to each other via a bus 54. An input / output interface 55 is also connected to the bus 54.

  Connected to the input / output interface 55 are an input unit 56, an output unit 57, a storage unit 58 configured by a hard disk, and a communication unit 59 configured by a modem, a terminal adapter, and the like.

  The input unit 56 includes a mouse 71 that is a pointing device, a keyboard 72, and the like. The input unit 56 receives an operation input from the user. That is, the input unit 56 outputs operation information corresponding to the operation by the user.

  The output unit 57 includes a display unit 81 made up of a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), etc., a speaker 82, and the like. The display unit 81 displays an image provided by a program executed by the CPU 51 on the display screen.

  The storage unit 58 includes an OS (Operating System) 91, a launcher program 92, various programs such as application programs 93-1 to 93-7, 94-1 to 94-3, files 95-1 and 95-2, In addition, various data such as folders 96-1 and 96-2 are stored (installed).

  The OS 91 is configured, for example, as the above-described Windows (registered trademark) or Mac OS (registered trademark) X, and controls basic operations of the computer. That is, the OS is a form of basic control software.

  The launcher program 92 displays an icon of an application program or the like registered in advance in the launcher program 92, and provides a function of directly starting an application program represented by the icon when the icon is clicked. Details of the other launcher program 92 will be described later with reference to FIGS. The launcher program 92 is provided, for example, by a manufacturer that manufactures the PC 41, and is installed in advance before shipment. Hereinafter, a manufacturer that manufactures the PC 41 is referred to as a provider of the launcher program 92.

  The application programs 93-1 to 93-7 and 94-1 to 94-3 are configured as executable files (EXE files). That is, each of the application programs 93-1 to 93-7 and 94-1 to 94-3 can open a file of a predetermined format and execute predetermined processing on the file, for example.

  Specifically, the application programs 93-1 to 93-7 are application programs installed in the storage unit 58 in advance before shipment by, for example, the provider of the launcher program 92 and the launcher window described later in FIG. 5. An application program in which an icon corresponding to a fixed position in a fixed area 211 in 201 is displayed.

  Specifically, for example, the application program 93-1 provides a function of reproducing content composed of moving images and sound, such as a television broadcast program, and outputting the content from the display unit 81 and the speaker 82.

  The application program 93-2 provides a function of playing back music content and outputting it from the speaker 82, for example.

  The application program 93-4 provides a function of playing back a still image (photo) content and displaying the content on the display unit 81, for example.

  The application program 93-5, for example, provides a function of reproducing content composed of moving images and sounds and outputting the content from the display unit 81 and the speaker 82, as with the application program 93-1. However, the application program 93-5 reproduces content recorded on a recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disk) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), and the format of the reproducible data is different from that of the application program 93-1. .

  The application program 93-6 receives EPG (Electric Program Guide) information supplied from a server (not shown) connected to the Internet (not shown) via the communication unit 59, and based on the EPG (EPG ( An electronic program guide) is created and displayed on the display unit 81.

  The application program 93-7 provides a function of causing the display unit 81 to display an electronic manual in which the functions of the application programs 93-1 to 93-6 are described.

  In contrast to the application programs 93-1 to 93-7 as described above, the application programs 94-1 to 94-3 have icons corresponding to slots in the free registration area 212 in the launcher window 201 described later with reference to FIG. It is an application program that can be freely arranged.

  Specifically, for example, the application program 94-1 provides a browser function. That is, for example, the application program 94-1 receives a home page supplied as HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) text from another device on the Internet (not shown) via the communication unit 59, and the HTML text etc. Is provided to generate image data and to display an image corresponding to the image data, that is, a home page on the display unit 81.

  The application program 94-1 is installed in advance in the storage unit 58 by the provider of the launcher window 92 at the time of shipment, for example, and an icon representing the application program 94-1 is arranged in a predetermined slot. Similarly to the application program 94-1, for example, although not shown, an application program that provides a function that seems to be useful to a user, such as a so-called mailer, is preinstalled in the storage unit 58 at the time of shipment. In this case as well, the corresponding icon is arranged in a predetermined slot at the time of shipment. Note that the icons arranged in advance in the slots in this way can also be updated or not displayed as described later.

  The application program 94-2 provides a word processor function that creates sentence data based on, for example, input from the keyboard 72.

  The application program 94-3 provides a paint function for creating image data based on an input from the mouse 71, for example.

  The application programs 94-2 and 94-3 are application programs installed later in the storage unit 58 after shipment by the user of the PC 41, for example. The icons representing the application programs 94-2 and 94-3 are not arranged in the slots at the time of shipment, but can be arranged in arbitrary slots by the user of the PC 41 as will be described later.

  In the following description, the application program 94-1 is described as a browser 94-1, the application program 94-2 is described as a word processor 94-2, and the application program 94-3 is described as a painter 94-3 as appropriate. .

  The files 95-1 and 95-2 and the folders 96-1 and 96-2 can freely arrange corresponding icons in slots in the free registration area 212 in the launcher window 201 described later with reference to FIG. Files and folders. The files 95-1 and 95-2 and the folders 96-1 and 96-2 are files and folders created by the user of the PC 41 and stored in the storage unit 58.

  Specifically, for example, the files 95-1 and 95-2 are files including sentence data created by the word processor 94-2. In the following description, the file 95-1 is described as a word processor document file 95-1, and the file 95-2 is described as a word processor document file 95-2 as appropriate.

  The word processor 94-2 can open the word processor document file 95-1 or 95-2 and execute a predetermined process on the opened one of the word processor document files 95-1 and 95-2.

  Folders 96-1 and 96-2 indicate a predetermined hierarchy of a hierarchical structure constructed by the OS 91. In other words, folders 96-1 and 96-2 store lower-layer folders and files (including executable files, ie, application software).

  As described above, various information is stored in the storage unit 58.

  The communication unit 59 communicates with other devices (not shown) via a network including the Internet.

  A drive 60 is connected to the input / output interface 55 as necessary, and a magnetic disk 101, an optical disk 102, a magneto-optical disk 103, a semiconductor memory 104, or the like is appropriately mounted, and a computer program (application) read from them is read. Programs, etc.) are installed in the storage unit 58 as necessary.

  The example of the hardware configuration of the PC 41 has been described above with reference to FIG.

  Next, the details of the launcher program 92 stored in the storage unit 58 will be described with reference to FIG. That is, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the launcher program 92 to which the present invention is applied.

  Each function shown in FIG. 4 is realized by loading the launcher program 92 in FIG. 3 into the RAM 53 and the CPU 51 executing the launcher program 92 loaded in the RAM 53.

  When the launcher program 92 is executed by the CPU 51, an operation information acquisition unit 151, a launcher control unit 152, a display control unit 153, an execution unit 154, and a slot management unit 155 are realized.

  When the launcher program 92 is executed by the CPU 51, a predetermined area of the RAM 53 or the storage unit 58 is used as the slot list storage unit 156. Details of the contents stored in the slot list storage unit 156 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The operation information acquisition unit 151 acquires information (hereinafter referred to as operation information) supplied from the mouse 71 based on a user operation and supplies the information to the launcher control unit 152.

  The launcher control unit 152 controls the display control unit 153, the execution unit 154, or the slot management unit 155 according to the operation information supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151. Details of the control contents of the launcher control unit 152 will be described later.

  In addition, the launcher control unit 152 includes an attribute recognition unit 161. The attribute recognition unit 161 recognizes the attribute of the slot based on the operation information supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 and the information stored in the slot list storage unit 156 supplied via the slot management unit 155. To do. The slot attributes will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Based on the control of the launcher control unit 152, the display control unit 153 performs control to display, for example, a launcher window 201 described later with reference to FIG.

  The execution unit 154 executes various processes based on the control of the launcher control unit 152. For example, the execution unit 154 activates the browser 94-1 and the like stored in the storage unit 58 under the control of the launcher control unit 152. For example, the execution unit 154 opens the word processor document file 95-1 or the like stored in the storage unit 58 with the word processor 94-2. For example, the execution unit 154 stores the word processor document file 95-2 and the like in the folder 96-1. Note that details of the process of the execution unit 154 will be described later, for example, which of these processes is executed and the execution timing thereof.

  The slot management unit 155 supplies information stored in the slot list storage unit 156 to the launcher control unit 152 under the control of the launcher control unit 152, and information stored in the slot list storage unit 156. Is changed (updated).

  The slot list storage unit 156 is configured, for example, as a partial storage area of the storage unit 58 of FIG. 3, and stores a slot list described later with reference to FIG. As described above, the information included in the slot list is appropriately read out and updated by the slot management unit 155.

  The functional configuration example of the launcher program 92 has been described above. Next, an outline of processing executed by the launcher program 92 will be described.

  When the launcher program 92 is executed by the CPU 51, the operation information acquisition unit 151 acquires operation information indicating the operation of the mouse 71 by the user. This operation information is supplied to the launcher control unit 152.

  The launcher control unit 152 generates a control signal based on the operation information supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 and the slot attribute recognized by the attribute recognition unit 161. This control signal is supplied to the display control unit 153, the execution unit 154, or the slot management unit 155.

  Specifically, for example, when operation information indicating an instruction to change the display content of the display unit 81 is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152, the launcher control unit 152 displays the display on the display unit 81. A control signal for changing is generated and supplied to the display control unit 153. The display control unit 153 changes the display content of the display unit 81 based on this control signal.

  For example, when operation information indicating selection of a predetermined slot is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152, the attribute recognition unit 161 of the launcher control unit 152 recognizes the attribute of the slot.

  As described above, an empty symbol or an arbitrary icon is displayed in the slot. As will be described later, in the present embodiment, for example, an attribute indicating that an icon representing an application program is designated and an icon representing a file are designated as slot attributes. , An attribute indicating that display of an icon indicating a folder is designated, and an attribute indicating that an empty symbol is displayed are provided. It can be said that the attribute indicating that an empty symbol is displayed is an attribute indicating that display of an icon is not specified.

  The above four attributes of the slot are roughly divided into two types of attributes: a first attribute indicating that icon display is specified and a second attribute indicating that icon display is not specified. can do. That is, an attribute indicating that display of an icon representing an application program is designated, an attribute indicating that display of an icon representing a file is designated, and display of an icon representing a folder are designated. The attribute is a first attribute, and an attribute indicating that an empty symbol is displayed is a second attribute.

  For example, assume that the attribute of the slot recognized by the attribute recognition unit 161 is an attribute indicating that display of an icon representing an application program is designated. In this case, the launcher control unit 152 generates a control signal that instructs activation of the application program indicated by the icon displayed in the slot, and supplies the control signal to the execution unit 154. Then, the execution part 154 starts the application program according to this control signal.

  Also, for example, when a predetermined icon is dragged and moved into a slot where an empty symbol is displayed, and operation information indicating that the icon has been dropped is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152 The launcher control unit 152 generates a control signal for changing the attribute of the slot, that is, a control signal for requesting an update of the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156, and supplies the control signal to the slot management unit 155. . The slot management unit 155 updates information regarding the target slot in the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 according to the control signal. In this case, the display of the icon representing the application program in the first attribute is designated from the attribute indicating that the empty symbol as the second attribute is displayed as the attribute of the target slot. Are updated to any one of the following attributes: an attribute indicating that the display of an icon representing a file is designated, or an attribute indicating that the display of an icon representing a folder is designated.

  The slot list information updated in this way is supplied to the launcher control unit 152. Then, the launcher control unit 152 generates a control signal for changing the display of the target slot from an empty symbol to an icon (dropped icon), and supplies the control signal to the display control unit 153. The display control unit 153 changes the display content of the display unit 81 based on this control signal.

  The outline of the process executed by the launcher program 92 has been described above. Further, details of processing executed by the launcher program 92 and specific examples of images displayed on the display screen of the display unit 81 as a result of the processing will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  For example, when the launcher program 92 is activated while Windows (registered trademark) is activated as the OS 91 in FIG. 3, for example, an image as illustrated in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 81. . That is, FIG. 5 shows a display example of the display unit 81 when the launcher program 92 is activated.

  When Windows (registered trademark) is activated, the display unit 81 displays the desktop 1, the task bar 2, and the start button 3. The desktop 1, the task bar 2, and the start button 3 are the same as those in the conventional case shown in FIGS.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, a launcher window 201 is displayed on the right side in the desktop 1. Note that the launcher window 201 can be displayed at any position other than the right side of the desktop 1, such as the top, bottom, left side, and the like.

  The launcher window 201 is divided into a fixed area 211 and a free registration area 212 as indicated by a dotted line in the figure. A menu button 213 is displayed at the top of the launcher window 201. When the menu button 213 is clicked by the user's operation of the mouse 71, for example, a menu window (not shown) is displayed. This menu window is an image for setting display or non-display of the launcher window 201 or the like.

  In the fixed area 211, icons 221-1 to 221-7 are displayed vertically arranged. Each of these icons 221-1 to 221-7 represents an application program 93-1 to 93-7 stored in the storage unit 58 of FIG.

  In addition, separators 222-1 and 222-2 are displayed above and below the icon 221-7, respectively. The icons 221-1 to 221-7 and the separators 222-1 and 222-2 have display contents and arrangement locations determined in advance by the provider of the launcher program 92, and cannot be changed by operating the mouse 71 or the like. It is said that.

  In the free registration area 212, icons 231 to 234 and empty symbols 235 and 236 are displayed vertically arranged. Each of the icons 231 to 234 represents the browser 94-1, the word processor 94-2, the word processor document file 95-1, and the folder 96-1 stored in the storage unit 58 of FIG.

  The empty symbols 235 and 236 indicate that an arbitrary icon can be arranged (displayed) at the position where the empty symbol is indicated.

  In the example of FIG. 5, the icons 231 to 234 are arranged vertically in that order, but the arrangement location can be updated in accordance with the user's operation of the mouse 71 as described later.

  Here, FIG. 6 shows a more detailed configuration example of the free registration area 212 of FIG.

  The free registration area 212 is provided with a region where each of a plurality of slots is arranged, that is, a plurality of storage places. For example, in FIG. 6, six places 212-1 to 212-6 are provided, and slots 281 to 286 are respectively arranged in the places 212-1 to 212-6.

  In each of the slots 281 to 286, icons designated by the user are arranged (displayed). However, among the slots 281 to 286, an empty symbol is displayed in a slot in which icon display is not designated, that is, in a slot in which no icon is displayed.

  Specifically, in FIG. 6, an icon 231 representing the browser 94-1 is arranged in the slot 281. In the slot 282, an icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 is arranged. In the slot 283, an icon 233 representing the word processor document file 95-1 is arranged. In the slot 284, an icon 234 representing the folder 96-1 is arranged. An empty symbol 235 is arranged in the slot 285. An empty symbol 236 is arranged in the slot 286.

  Each of the slots 281 to 286 in which the icon or the empty symbol is arranged is arranged in the designated places 212-1 to 212-6 in the free registration area 212.

  For example, in FIG. 6, each of the slots 281 to 286 is arranged in each of the places 212-1 to 212-6 in the free registration area 212.

  Thereby, in the free registration area 212, as shown in FIG. 5, icons 231 to 234 and empty symbols 235 and 236 are vertically arranged and displayed. More specifically, the slots 281 to 286 of FIG. 6 are vertically arranged in a predetermined order and are transparently displayed. As a result, the icons 231 to 234 arranged on them and empty symbols 235 and 236 are displayed. Are displayed as if they were arranged vertically.

  In the free registration area 212, scroll buttons 241-1 and 241-2 are displayed. For example, when the scroll button 241-1 is clicked by the user's operation of the mouse 71, the free registration area 212 includes the first slot 281 to the sixth slot 286 (to be exact, Instead of the corresponding icons 231, 232, 233, 234 or empty symbols 235, 236), the seventh to twelfth slots (more precisely, the corresponding icons or empty symbols) are displayed.

  For example, in the example of FIG. 5, each of the icons 231 to 234, the empty symbol 235, and the empty symbol 236 is arranged in each of the locations 212-1 to 212-6 in the slots 281 to 286 in FIG. 6. It is arranged in each. In this state, when the scroll button 241-1 is clicked by the user's operation of the mouse 71, each of the six other slots (not shown) is arranged in each of the locations 212-1 to 212-6. .

  Thereafter, for example, when the scroll button 241-2 is clicked by the operation of the user's mouse 71, each of the slots 281 to 286 is replaced with each of the six other slots displayed in the free registration area 212. It will be displayed again. Therefore, when the scroll button 241-1 or 241-2 is operated, the slots arranged in the respective locations 212-1 to 212-6 in the free registration area 212 are changed. That is, the icons or empty symbols arranged in the changed slots are displayed (the display contents are updated) in each of the locations 212-1 to 212-6.

  Each time the scroll button 241-1 or 241-2 is pressed (clicked), the slots arranged in the respective locations 212-1 to 212-6 in the free registration area 212 are moved up or down one by one. It can also slide in the direction.

  In addition to the launcher window 201 described above, a mouse pointer 251 that operates in response to the user's operation of the mouse 71 is displayed in the desktop 1 of the example of FIG. Further, icons 261 to 263 are also displayed outside the launcher window 201 in the desktop 1. Each of the icons 261 to 263 is an icon designated for display by the OS 91 in FIG. 3. For example, a painter (application program) 94-3, a word processing document file 95-2 stored in the storage unit 58, and Each folder 96-2 is represented.

  A task bar 2 including the above-described start button 3 is displayed below the desktop 1, and a notification area 202 is displayed on the right side thereof. Note that the notification area 202 has existed conventionally and is easily understood by those skilled in the art, so the description thereof is omitted here.

  Next, FIG. 7 shows a display example of the display unit 81 when the target processing represented by the icon displayed in the slot is executed by clicking the slots 281 to 286 (FIG. 6) in the free registration area 212. The description will be given with reference.

  When the user operates the mouse 71 and clicks one of the slots 281 to 286 in the free registration area 212, operation information indicating the operation of the mouse 71 by the user is displayed via the operation information acquisition unit 151. The control signal is supplied to the control unit 152, and the control signal corresponding to the operation information is generated by the launcher control unit 152. In the slot management unit 155, various information of the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 is supplied to the launcher control unit 152 based on the control signal. Further, the execution unit 154 performs processing based on the information of the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156.

  FIG. 7 shows a display example of the free registration area 212 when the mouse pointer 251 is moved into the free registration area 212.

  In the free registration area 212 shown in FIG. 7, the icons 231, the icons 232, the icons 233, the icons 234, the empty symbols 235, and the empty symbols 236 are arranged in order from the top in the same manner as shown in FIGS. They are displayed vertically.

  For example, when the user operates the mouse 71 to move the mouse pointer 251 onto the slot 285 in FIG. 6 where the empty symbol 235 in the free registration area 212 is displayed, the slot 285 in which the mouse pointer 251 is located. Is an attention slot, and an area frame 301 surrounding the attention slot 285 is displayed on the display unit 81.

  In this way, by displaying the area frame 301 so as to surround the attention slot 285 where the mouse pointer 251 is placed, the user can place the place of the attention slot 285 (in the example of FIG. 7, the place 212-5 of FIG. 6). ) Can be easily recognized.

  Further, when the user operates the mouse 71 and clicks one of the slots 281 to 286 in the free registration area 212, the target process represented by the icon displayed in the clicked slot is executed. Is done.

  Specifically, for example, when the user operates the mouse 71 and moves the mouse pointer 251 onto the slot 281 (FIG. 6) in which the icon 231 in the free registration area 212 is displayed, according to the operation. Then, the slot 281 where the mouse pointer 251 is located is set as the target slot, and the area frame 301 surrounding the target slot 281 is displayed on the display unit 81 as shown in FIG.

  Further, when the user clicks the mouse 71 while the slot 281 is the target slot, the icon 231 displayed in the target slot 281 is displayed in the launcher program 92 (FIG. 4) according to the click operation. Processing for starting the browser 94-1 to be represented is performed.

  Similarly, in each of the other slots 282 to 286 (FIG. 6) displayed in the free registration area 212, the processing of the target represented by the icon displayed in the slot is performed by the user's click operation of the mouse 71. Executed.

  Specifically, for example, when the slot 282 (FIG. 6) in which the icon 232 is displayed is clicked, processing for starting the word processor 94-2 represented by the icon 232 displayed in the slot 282 is performed. For example, when the slot 283 in which the icon 233 is displayed is clicked, the word processor 94-2 opens the word processor document file 95-1 represented by the icon 233 displayed in the slot 283. Further, for example, when the slot 284 in which the icon 234 is displayed is clicked, a process of displaying the lower layer of the folder 96-1 represented by the icon 234 displayed in the slot 284 in the desktop 1 is performed.

  When the user operates the mouse 71 and clicks in the slot 285 where the empty symbol 235 is displayed or the slot 286 where the empty symbol 236 is displayed, the launcher program 92 performs processing. Since an icon representing a target to be executed is not arranged, no processing is performed.

  Next, a display example of the display unit 81 when an icon arrangement location in the free registration area 212 is designated (the free registration area 212 is customized) will be described. The process of customizing the free registration area 212 is performed by each functional block shown in FIG.

  First, FIGS. 8 and 9 are display examples of the display unit 81 when the placement (order) of the icons 231 to 234 and the empty symbols 235 and 236 in the free registration area 212 is changed. The example of a display of the display part 81 when the slot arrange | positioned in the placements 212-1 thru | or 212-6 in the registration area 212 is updated is shown.

  When the user operates the mouse 71 so as to change the arrangement (order) of the icons 231 to 234 and the empty symbols 235 and 236, operation information indicating the operation of the mouse 71 by the user is obtained via the operation information acquisition unit 151. The control signal is supplied to the launcher control unit 152 and the control signal corresponding to the operation information is generated by the launcher control unit 152. In addition, the slot management unit 155 updates the contents of the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 based on the control signal. Further, the display control unit 153 causes the display unit 81 to display an image based on each piece of information included in the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156, whereby the inside of the free registration area 212 is changed and displayed. Is done.

  That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the user presses the button of the mouse 71 in a state where the slot 285 in which the empty symbol 235 is displayed is the target slot, the mouse pointer 251 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the “copy” display mouse pointer 311 is changed to an area display showing the entire attention slot 285 instead of the area frame 301 surrounding the attention slot 285 as indicated by shading in the figure. 312 is displayed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, in the state where the “copy” display mouse pointer 311 is displayed on the target slot 285, for example, the display position of the icon 233 (see FIG. 6 (in the place 212-3), the operation of moving the “copy” display mouse pointer 311, that is, the target slot 285 (FIG. 6) in which the empty symbol 235 is displayed is dragged, and the place 212-3 is moved. Suppose you perform an operation to drop. In this case, the target slot 285 in which the empty symbol 235 is displayed moves to the place 212-3 (FIG. 6). Along with this, the slot 283 in which the icon 233 is displayed moves to the place 212-4. Similarly, the slot 284 in which the icon 234 is displayed moves to the place 212-5.

  Therefore, when the target slot 285 is moved from the placement place 212-5 to the placement place 212-3, an image as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 9, icons 231, icons 232, empty symbols 235, icons 233, icons 234, and icons 236 are displayed vertically in the free registration area 212 from the top.

  In FIG. 9, the empty symbol 235 also serves as a separator that divides the group consisting of the icons 231 and 232 displayed above the group and the group consisting of the icons 233 and 234 displayed below the empty symbol 235. ing. Therefore, for example, when the user wants to distinguish (group) the icons 231 and 232 and the icons 233 and 234, the user simply performs a drag-and-drop operation on the slot 285 in which the empty symbol 235 is displayed. Thus, such a division can be performed.

  In the above description, the slot 285 in which the empty symbol 235 is displayed is moved from the place 212-5 to the place 212-3, but an icon is displayed to move the slot in the free registration area 212. This can be done regardless of whether it is a slot or a slot displaying an empty symbol.

  As described above, since the slot can be moved regardless of whether the slot is displaying an icon or a slot displaying an empty symbol, the degree of freedom of the position where the icon is displayed is not impaired. Further, for example, icons can be grouped and displayed by arranging slots in which empty symbols are displayed as separators.

  Next, referring to FIGS. 10 to 12, a display example of the display unit 81 when it is designated to display a new icon in the free registration area 212, more precisely, in the free registration area 212. A display example of the display unit 81 when the slots arranged in the locations 212-1 to 212-6 (FIG. 6) are updated will be described.

  Note that a newly displayed icon can be designated to be displayed only in a slot in which a free symbol in the free registration area 212 is displayed. That is, the user can specify that a desired icon is displayed (display is updated) for a slot in which a free symbol in the free registration area 212 is displayed.

  In the free registration area 212, for example, when the display of the icon 261 among the icons 261 to 263 outside the launcher window 201 is designated, the user operates the mouse 71 to operate the empty symbol 235 or 236. The icon 261 outside the launcher window 201 is dragged and dropped into the slot 285 in which 235 is displayed. In this case, operation information indicating the operation of the mouse 71 by the user is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152. Furthermore, information related to the object represented by the icon 261 is supplied from the OS 91 to the launcher window 152 via the operation information acquisition unit 151.

  Then, the launcher control unit 152 generates a control signal based on the operation information from the operation information acquisition unit 151, information on the object represented by the icon 261, and the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156. To do. In addition, the slot management unit 155 updates the contents of the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 based on the control signal. Further, the display control unit 153 causes the display unit 81 to display an image based on each piece of information included in the updated slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156, whereby the inside of the free registration area 212 is changed. Displayed.

  FIG. 10 shows a display example of the display unit 81 when an icon designated to be newly displayed in the free registration area 212 is selected from icons outside the launcher window 201. The display in the free registration area 212 is the same as in FIG.

  In the free registration area 212, for example, when the display is designated as a new icon 261, the user moves the mouse pointer 251 to the icon 261 displayed in the desktop 1 by the CPU 51 executing the OS 91. The icon 261 is designated by pressing the button of the mouse 71.

  Further, the user drags the icon 261 to the slot 285 or 286 (FIG. 6) in which the empty symbol 235 or 236 is displayed in the free registration area 212 of the launcher window 201 while keeping the button of the mouse 71 pressed. .

  FIG. 11 shows a display example of the display unit 81 when the icon 261 displayed outside the launcher window 201 is dragged to the slot 285 displaying the empty symbol 235 in the free registration area 212.

  When the user operates the mouse 71 and drags the icon 261 with the mouse pointer 251 to move it onto the slot 285 (FIG. 6) in which the free symbol 235 in the free registration area 212 is displayed, the launcher program 92 7 is changed to the icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 341, and the slot 285 in which the icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 341 is located is set as the target slot. In the same manner as described above, an area frame 301 surrounding the target slot 285 is displayed on the display unit 81.

  As shown in FIG. 11, in a state where the slot 285 in which the empty symbol 235 is displayed is the target slot, the user performs an operation of releasing the button (drag) of the mouse 71, that is, an operation of dropping. Thus, when it is specified that the icon 351 is displayed in the attention slot 285 in which the empty symbol 235 is displayed, the (identical) icon 351 corresponding to the icon 261 is displayed in the empty symbol 235 in the attention slot 285. Instead, it is displayed.

  FIG. 12 shows an image displayed on the display unit 81 when the icon 351 is designated to be displayed in the slot of interest 285 as described above.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in the free registration area 212, an icon 231, an icon 232, an icon 233, an icon 234, an icon 351, and an empty symbol 236 are displayed side by side in order from the top.

  As described above, when the icons 262 and 263 are dragged and dropped into the slot 285, the same display as when the icon 261 is dragged and dropped is performed.

  As described above, since the empty symbol 235 (236) is displayed in the slot 285 (286) where the display of a new icon can be designated, the user can display the slot where the empty symbols 235 and 236 are displayed. 285 and 286 can be easily recognized as positions where icons can be newly displayed.

  Above, description of the example of a display of the display part 81 when the arrangement | positioning location of the icon in the free registration area 212 is designated is complete | finished.

  Next, among the slots 281 to 284 (FIG. 6) in the free registration area 212, for example, the slot 282 (FIG. 6) in which the icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 that handles the word processor document file 95-2 is displayed. Of the icons 261 to 263 outside the launcher window 201, for example, a display example of the display unit 81 when the icon 262 representing the word processor document file 95-2 is dragged and dropped, more precisely, the free registration area 212 A display example of the display unit 81 when the icon 262 is dragged and dropped into the slot 282 arranged in the storage area 212-2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  When the user operates the mouse 71 to drag the icon 262 outside the launcher window 201 onto the slot 282 in the free registration area 212, operation information indicating the operation of the mouse 71 by the user is displayed in the launcher control unit 152. To be supplied. Furthermore, information related to the word processor 95-2 represented by the dragged and dropped icon 262 is supplied from the OS 91 to the launcher control unit 152 via the operation information acquisition unit 151. The launcher control unit 152 displays the operation information from the operation information acquisition unit 151, information on the word processor document file 95-2 represented by the dragged and dropped icon 262, and the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156. A control signal is generated based on the above. In the display control unit 153, the display of the display unit 81 is changed based on the control signal. Further, in the execution unit 154, processing based on the contents of the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 is executed based on the control signal.

  FIG. 13 shows a display example of the display unit 81 when the icon 262 outside the launcher window 201 is dragged onto the slot 282 in the free registration area 212. The icon 262 is an icon representing the word processor document file 95-2 as described with reference to FIG.

  For example, the user operates the mouse 71 to drag an icon 262 representing the word processor document file 95-2 displayed outside the launcher window 201 onto the slot 282 in which the icon 232 in the free registration area 212 is displayed. Then, the mouse pointer 251 is changed to an icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 361 as shown in FIG. 13, and the slot 282 where the icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 361 is located is set as a target slot. In the same manner as shown in FIG. 7, an area frame 301 surrounding the target slot 282 is displayed on the display unit 81.

That is, the icon 232 displayed in the slot 282 of the free registration area 212 is an icon representing the word processor 94-2, and the word processor document file 95-2 represented by the icon 262 can be opened. As described above, when the icon 262 is dragged by the mouse pointer 251 onto the slot 282 in which the icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 that can handle the word processor document file 95-2 represented by the icon 262 is displayed. The mouse pointer 251 is changed to an icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 361 and displayed. As a result, the user simply moves the mouse pointer 251 dragging the icon 262 onto the slot 282 before dropping the icon 262 representing the word processor document file 95-2. The word processor 94-2 represented by the displayed icon 232 can recognize whether or not the word processor document file 95-2 represented by the icon 262 can be handled.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the user performs a drop operation to release the mouse 71 button while the icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 361 is positioned on the target slot 282, the target slot 282 is displayed. The word processor 94-2 represented by the icon 232 displayed in FIG. 2 is activated, and further, the word processor 94-2 performs processing for opening the word processor document file 95-2 represented by the icon 262 dropped in the target slot 282.

  FIG. 14 shows a display example of the display unit 81 when the icon 263 outside the launcher window 201 is dragged onto the slot 282 in the free registration area 212. Note that the icon 263 is an icon representing the folder 96-2 as described in FIG.

  For example, when the user operates the mouse 71 and drags the icon 263 representing the folder 96-2 displayed outside the launcher window 201 into the slot 282 in which the icon 232 in the free registration area 212 is displayed, The mouse pointer 251 is changed to an icon addition “cannot be dropped” display mouse pointer 371 as shown in FIG. 14, and the slot 282 where the icon addition “cannot be dropped” display mouse pointer 371 is positioned is a slot of interest. In the same manner as shown in FIG. 7, an area frame 301 surrounding the target slot 282 is displayed on the display unit 81.

  Here, the icon 232 displayed in the slot 282 of the free registration area 212 is an icon representing the word processor 94-2, and the folder 96-2 represented by the icon 263 cannot be handled. Thus, when the icon 263 is dragged by the mouse pointer 251 onto the slot 282 in which the icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 that cannot handle the folder 96-2 represented by the icon 263 is displayed, the mouse The pointer 251 is changed to an icon addition “no drop” display mouse pointer 371 and displayed. Accordingly, the user simply moves the mouse pointer 251 dragging the icon 263 onto the slot 282 before performing the drop operation of the icon 263 representing the folder 96-2, and the icon 263 is displayed in the slot 282. The word processor 94-2 represented by the icon 232 can confirm whether or not the folder 96-2 represented by the icon 263 can be handled.

  The display example of the display unit 81 has been described above.

  Next, the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 of FIG. 4 will be described.

  FIG. 15 is a view for explaining a slot list stored in slot list storage unit 156 shown in FIG.

  As described above, the icons 231 to 234 and the empty symbols 235 and 236 are displayed in the slots 281 to 286 in the free registration area 212 based on the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156. .

  As shown in FIG. 15, the slot list is configured by listing various pieces of information (hereinafter referred to as slot information) regarding the corresponding slot for each slot. That is, in the slot list of FIG. 15, each row (record) corresponds to one slot, and the description content of one record indicates slot information of the slot corresponding to that record.

  Specifically, in the example of FIG. 15, slot number (Slot No.), name (Name), attribute, path (Path), icon file (Icon File), and ID (Identification) are provided as slot information. ing.

  The slot number (Slot No.) indicates the number assigned to the slot corresponding to the row.

  The name (Name) indicates the name of the icon designated by the user to be displayed in the corresponding slot.

  The attribute indicates the attribute of the corresponding slot. That is, in the present embodiment, as described above, the attribute indicating that the display of the icon representing the application program, which is roughly divided into the first attribute and the second attribute, is designated as the slot attribute, There are provided four attributes: an attribute indicating that display of an icon representing a file is designated, an attribute indicating that an icon representing a folder is displayed, and an attribute indicating that no icon display is designated. Yes. “App” in FIG. 15 represents an attribute indicating that display of an icon representing an application program is designated, and “File” in FIG. 15 represents an attribute indicating that display of an icon representing a file is designated. Further, Folder in FIG. 15 represents an attribute indicating that an icon representing a folder is displayed, and Blank in FIG. 15 represents an attribute indicating that icon display is not designated.

  The path (Path) indicates a target path (target location) represented by an icon designated by the user to be displayed in the corresponding slot.

  The icon file (Icon File) indicates the location of the icon file specified by the user to be displayed in the corresponding slot. This file stores icon image data, and the corresponding icon is displayed by the image data.

  The ID indicates an ID attached to an icon designated by the user to be displayed in the corresponding slot. That is, each usable icon is given a unique ID.

  In the slot list shown in FIG. 15, the slot corresponding to the record in the first line from the top is assigned 1 as the slot number, and the user should display an icon 231 representing the browser 94-1 in that slot. It is specified. Further, since the icon 231 representing the browser 94-1 is an icon used to activate the browser 94-1, which is an application program, App is described as the attribute of the slot corresponding to the record in the first line. Yes. Although not shown, the Path item of the record on the first line actually describes the path of the browser 94-1 (the location of the EXE file of the browser 94-1), and the icon file ( In the “Icon File” item, the location of the file of the icon 231 representing the browser 94-1 is actually described, and in the ID item, the ID of the icon 231 representing the browser 94-1 is actually described. Described.

  Similarly, the slot corresponding to the record in the second row from the top is assigned 2 as the slot number, and the user specifies that an icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 should be displayed in that slot. . Further, since the icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 is an icon used to activate the word processor 94-2 as an application program, App is described as the attribute of the slot corresponding to the record in the second row. Yes. Although not shown, the Path item of the record on the second line actually describes the path of the word processor 94-2 (the location of the EXE file of the word processor 94-2), and the icon file ( In the item “Icon File”, the location of the file of the icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 is actually described, and in the ID item, the ID of the icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 is actually included. Described.

  The slot corresponding to the record in the third line from the top is assigned 3 as a slot number, and the user specifies that an icon 233 representing the word processor document file 95-1 should be displayed in the slot. Also, since the icon 233 representing the word processor document file 95-1 is an icon used to open the word processor document file 95-1, which is a file, File is described as the attribute of the slot corresponding to the record on the third line. Has been. Although not shown, the Path item of the record on the third line actually describes the path of the word processor document file 95-1 (where the word processor document file 95-1 exists), and is an icon file. The (Icon File) item actually describes the location of the file of the icon 233 representing the word processor document file 95-1, and the ID item contains the icon 233 representing the word processor document file 95-1. The ID is actually described.

  The slot corresponding to the record in the fourth line from the top is assigned 4 as the slot number, and the user specifies that the icon 234 representing the folder 96-1 should be displayed. Further, since the icon 234 representing the folder 96-1 is an icon used to display the lower layer of the folder 96-1, which is a folder, Folder is described as the attribute of the slot corresponding to the record in the fourth row. ing. Although not shown, the Path item of the record on the fourth line actually describes the path of the folder 96-1 (location where the folder 96-1 exists), and an icon file (Icon File). In the item, the location of the file of the icon 234 representing the folder 96-1 is actually described, and in the ID item, the ID of the icon 234 representing the folder 96-1 is actually described. .

  The slot corresponding to the record on the fifth line from the top is assigned 5 as the slot number, and the icon to be displayed is not specified by the user, so Blank is described as the attribute of the slot corresponding to the record on the fifth line. ing. Also, nothing is described in the items of Path, Icon File, and ID in the fifth line. Similarly, the slot corresponding to the sixth line is assigned with a slot number of 6 and the icon to be displayed is not specified by the user, so that “Blank” is described as the attribute of the slot corresponding to the sixth line. Also, nothing is described in each of the items of Path, Icon File, and ID in the sixth line.

  Hereinafter, the processing of the launcher program 92 in FIG. 3 (particularly, the processing related to the free registration area 212) will be described in more detail with reference to the flowcharts in FIGS.

  In the above description, the mouse pointer 251, the “copy” display mouse pointer 311 (FIG. 8), the icon addition “copy” display mouse pointers 341 (FIG. 11) and 361 (FIG. 13), and the icon addition “drop” are displayed. Each of the “not permitted” display mouse pointers 371 (FIG. 14) is described with a different number because it is displayed differently. However, in the following flowcharts, if there is no need to distinguish between them, the mouse pointer 251 is appropriately described. To do.

  When the CPU 51 executes the OS 91 and further executes the launcher program 92, the processing of the launcher program 92 in FIG. 16 starts.

  As the launcher program 92 is executed, in step S1, the launcher control unit 152 of FIG. 4 controls the display control unit 153 to display the launcher window 201 (FIG. 5) on the display unit 81 (FIG. 3). And go to step S2.

  Specifically, the launcher control unit 152, for each of the slots 281 to 286 displayed in the locations 212-1 to 212-6 (FIG. 6), based on the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156. Recognizes whether icon display (arrangement) is specified. The launcher control unit 152 arranges the icon in the slot in which the icon display is designated among the slots 281 to 286, and does not designate the icon display in the other slots. Is generated and supplied to the display control unit 153. Based on this control signal, the display control unit 153 generates an image in which each of the slots 281 to 286 in which icons or empty symbols are arranged is arranged in a predetermined order, and causes the display unit 81 to display the image.

  In step S <b> 2, the operation information acquisition unit 151 determines whether or not the mouse pointer 251 is in the free registration area 212. When it is determined that the mouse pointer 251 is not in the free registration area 212, the process returns to step S2, and the operation information acquisition unit 151 repeats the determination of whether or not the mouse pointer 251 is in the free registration area 212. That is, the operation information acquisition unit 151 constantly monitors the position of the mouse pointer 251 and repeats the determination process in step S2 as long as the mouse pointer 251 is positioned outside the free registration area 212.

  Thereafter, when the mouse pointer 251 is moved into the free registration area 212, it is determined in step S2 that the mouse pointer 251 is in the free registration area 212, and the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the operation information acquisition unit 151 sets the slot where the mouse pointer 251 is located as the slot of interest, and proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, the operation information acquisition unit 151 determines whether or not the icon is being dragged with the mouse pointer 251 located in the slot of interest. If it is determined in step S4 that the icon is not dragged, the process skips to step S81 in FIG. The processing after step S81 will be described later.

  On the other hand, when the icon arranged outside the free registration area 212 is dragged by the mouse pointer 251 and moved to the target slot in the free registration area 212, it is determined that the icon is dragged in step S4. As a result, the process proceeds to step S5.

  In step S <b> 5, the operation information acquisition unit 151 acquires information related to the object represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251. In other words, the OS 91 manages information related to icons arranged outside the free registration area 212. When an icon arranged outside the free registration area 212 is dragged by the mouse pointer 251 and moved into the free registration area 212, the OS 91 displays information related to the object represented by the icon as an operation information acquisition unit. 151 (not shown in FIG. 4), the operation information acquisition unit 151 acquires and holds information about the object represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251 in the process of step S5.

  Thereafter, together with the information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 151 in the process of step S5, that is, the information about the object represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251, the location of the slot of interest in the free registration area 212 (the location of FIG. 6). Information indicating any one of 212-1 to 212-6 is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152. Accordingly, the process proceeds from step S5 to S6.

  In step S6, the launcher control unit 152 recognizes the attribute of the slot of interest.

  Specifically, for example, the launcher control unit 152 manages each of the slots 281 to 286 arranged in each of the locations 212-1 to 212-6 of the free registration area 212 with the slot number (FIG. 15). ing. Therefore, first, the launcher control unit 152 recognizes the slot number of the target slot and notifies the slot management unit 155 of the slot number. Then, the slot management unit 155 extracts the slot information of the slot specified by the slot number notified from the launcher control unit 152 from the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156, and supplies the slot information to the launcher control unit 152. To do. The launcher control unit 152 holds the slot information supplied from the slot management unit 155 and recognizes the attribute included in the slot information as the attribute of the slot of interest.

  In step S <b> 7, the launcher control unit 152 determines whether the attribute of the slot of interest is “Blank”.

  If it is determined in step S7 that the attribute of the target slot is Blank, the process skips to step S61 in FIG. In addition, the process after step S61 is mentioned later.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S7 that the attribute of the target slot is not Blank, the process proceeds to step S8, and the launcher control unit 152 determines whether or not the attribute of the target slot is App. If it is determined in step S8 that the attribute of the target slot is not App, the process skips to step S31 in FIG. The processing after step S31 will be described later.

  Here, when it is determined in step S8 that the attribute of the target slot is “App”, the icon being dragged by the mouse pointer 251 has been moved from the outside of the free registration area 201. It indicates that it is located above. Further, it is indicated that the object represented by the icon displayed in the target slot is application software (application program).

  If it is determined in step S8 that the attribute of the attention slot is App, the process proceeds to step S9, and the launcher control unit 152 displays the object represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251 as the icon displayed in the attention slot. It is determined whether or not it can be handled by the application program represented by.

  Here, for example, the icon dragged to the attention slot by the mouse pointer 251 is the icon 262 (FIG. 5) representing the word processor sentence file 95-2 in FIG. 3, and the icon 232 representing the word processor 93-2 is the attention slot. If the icon 262 is dropped on the target slot 282, the word processor sentence file 95-2 that is the object represented by the icon 262 is changed to the target slot 282 as described above. Is opened by the word processor 93-2 that is the object represented by the icon 232 displayed on the screen.

  Therefore, in step S9, as described above, the launcher control unit 152 determines whether the object represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251 is a file of the object (application program) represented by the icon displayed in the target slot. Determine whether. The application program file refers to a file that can be opened by the application program. In the process of step S9, the information acquired in the process of step S5, that is, the information related to the object represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251 is referred to.

  For example, as described above, the icon 262 representing the word processor document file 95-2 displayed on the desktop 1 (FIG. 5) and the slot 282 displaying the icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 are displayed (FIG. 6). ) And the word processor document file 95-2 is recognized as a file that can be opened by the word processor 94-2, the object represented by the icon 262 dragged by the mouse pointer 251 in step S9. Is determined to be the file of the word processor 94-2 that is the object represented by the icon 232 displayed in the target slot 282, and the process proceeds to step S10.

  In step S10, the launcher control unit 152 controls the display control unit 153 to display the area frame 301 surrounding the slot of interest, and displays the mouse pointer 251 as an icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 341 (361) (FIG. 11 ( 13)), the process proceeds to step S11.

  Specifically, for example, the launcher control unit 152 generates a control signal for changing the mouse pointer 251 to the icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 341 and supplies the control signal to the display control unit 153. Furthermore, the launcher control unit 152 generates a control signal for displaying the area frame 301 (FIG. 7) so as to surround the target slot, and supplies the control signal to the display control unit 153. Then, the display control unit 153 displays the area frame 301 surrounding the slot of interest based on the control signal supplied from the launcher control unit 152 and changes the mouse pointer 251 to the icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 341.

  In step S <b> 11, the launcher control unit 152 determines whether or not an icon has been dropped in the slot of interest. If it is determined in step S11 that no icon is dropped in the slot of interest, the process returns to step S2, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  On the other hand, for example, when operation information corresponding to the icon being dragged by the mouse pointer 251 being dropped in the attention slot is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152, in step S11, attention is paid. It is determined that the icon has been dropped in the slot, and the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S12, the launcher control unit 152 controls the execution unit 154 to activate the target (application software) represented by the icon displayed in the target slot, and is dropped in the target slot (the icon displayed in the target slot). Open the file that the icon represents.

  Specifically, as described above, the launcher control unit 152 acquires and holds the slot information of the slot of interest in the process of step S6. Therefore, in step S12, the launcher control unit 152 supplies the execution unit 154 with information related to the object represented by the icon dropped on the target slot and the slot information of the target slot.

  Further, in step S12, the execution unit 154 is displayed in the target slot based on the information about the object represented by the icon dropped on the target slot and the slot information of the target slot supplied from the launcher control unit 152. The application program (software) represented by the icon is started, and the file that is the object represented by the icon dropped on the slot of interest is opened.

  Specifically, for example, the slot of interest is a slot 282 in which an icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2 is displayed, and the icon 262 representing the word processor document file 95-2 is dropped on the slot of attention 282. In this case, the word processor 94-2 is activated by the processing of step S12, and the word processor 94-2 opens the word processor document file 95-2.

  When the process of step S12 ends, the process returns to step S2, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S9 that the object represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251 is not the file of the object (application program) represented by the icon displayed in the target slot, the process proceeds to step S13, and the launcher is started. The control unit 152 changes the mouse pointer 251 to an icon addition “cannot be dropped” display mouse pointer 371 (FIG. 14). Specifically, for example, the launcher control unit 152 generates a control signal for changing the mouse pointer 251 to the icon addition “cannot be dropped” display mouse pointer 371 and supplies the control signal to the display control unit 153. The display control unit 153 changes the mouse pointer 251 to the icon addition “cannot be dropped” display mouse pointer 371 based on the control signal supplied from the launcher control unit 152.

  Thereafter, the processing returns from step S13 to S2, and the same processing is performed thereafter.

  Incidentally, when it is determined in step S8 in FIG. 16 that the attribute of the target slot is not “App”, the process proceeds to step S31 in FIG. 17 as described above. Accordingly, the processing after step S31 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S31 of FIG. 17, the launcher control unit 152 determines whether or not the attribute of the slot of interest is Folder.

  The attribute of the attention slot being Folder indicates that the object of the icon displayed in the attention slot is a folder. Therefore, if the launcher control unit 152 determines in step S31 that the attribute of the target slot is Folder, the launcher control unit 152 proceeds to step S32, and the target represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251 is the icon displayed in the target slot. It is determined whether or not the object can be stored in the folder represented by the icon displayed in the target slot, that is, the icon displayed in the target slot.

  If it is determined in step S32 that the object represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251 can be stored in the folder represented by the icon displayed in the target slot, the process proceeds to step S33, and the launcher control unit 152 Controls the display control unit 153 to display the area frame 301 (FIG. 7) surrounding the slot of interest, and changes the mouse pointer 251 to the icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 341 (FIG. 11). Proceed to step S34.

  In step S34, the launcher control unit 152 determines whether or not an icon has been dropped in the slot of interest. If it is determined in step S34 that the icon is not dropped in the slot of interest, the process returns to step S2 in FIG. 16, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  On the other hand, for example, when operation information indicating that the icon being dragged by the mouse pointer 251 is dropped in the slot of interest is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152, in step S34, attention is paid. It is determined that the icon has been dropped in the slot, and the process proceeds to step S35.

  Here, the object represented by the icon dropped in the slot of interest is a file or folder that can be stored in the folder represented by the icon displayed in the slot of interest.

  Therefore, in step S35, the launcher control unit 152 controls the execution unit 154 to display the file or folder that is the target represented by the icon dropped in the target slot, and the folder that is the target represented by the icon displayed in the target slot. Move in.

  Specifically, the launcher control unit 152 acquires and holds slot information of the slot of interest in the process of step S6 in FIG. Therefore, the launcher control unit 152 supplies information related to the object represented by the icon dropped in the target slot and slot information of the target slot to the execution unit 154.

  Further, in step S35, the execution unit 154 is dropped in the target slot based on the information about the object represented by the icon dropped in the target slot and the slot information of the target slot supplied from the launcher control unit 152. The file (executable format file, that is, the application program) or folder that is the object represented by the icon is moved into the folder that is the object represented by the icon displayed in the slot of interest.

  Specifically, for example, the slot of interest is a slot 284 (FIG. 6) in which an icon representing the folder 96-1 is displayed, and an icon 261 representing the painter 94-3 is dropped on the slot of interest. In this case, the shortcut of the painter 94-3 (the icon representing the painter 94-3) is stored in the lower layer of the folder 96-1 in the process of step S35.

  When the process in step S35 is completed in this way, the process returns to step S2 in FIG. 16, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S31 that the attribute of the target slot is not Folder, the object represented by the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251 is added to the folder represented by the icon displayed in the target slot in step S32. If it is determined that the storage is not possible, the process proceeds to step S36, and the launcher control unit 152 changes the mouse pointer 251 to an icon addition “cannot be dropped” display mouse pointer 371 (FIG. 14). Thereafter, the processing returns to step S2 in FIG. 16, and the same processing is performed thereafter.

  Next, when it is determined in step S7 in FIG. 16 that the attribute of the slot of interest is “Blank”, as described above, the process proceeds to step S61 in FIG. Accordingly, the processing after step S61 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S61 of FIG. 18, the launcher control unit 152 displays the area frame 301 (FIG. 7) surrounding the slot of interest, and changes the mouse pointer 251 to the icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer 341 (FIG. 11).

  In step S62, the launcher control unit 152 determines whether or not an icon has been dropped in the slot of interest. If it is determined in step S62 that no icon is dropped in the slot of interest, the process returns to step S2 in FIG. 16, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  On the other hand, for example, when an icon arranged (displayed) outside the free registration area 212 is dragged and moved into the free registration area 212 and further dropped on a slot where an empty symbol is displayed, When the operation information indicating that the icon dragged by the mouse pointer 251 is dropped in the attention slot is supplied from the operation information acquisition section 151 to the launcher control section 152, the icon is dropped in the attention slot in step S62. The process proceeds to step S63.

  In step S63, the launcher control unit 152 creates an animation file. That is, in this embodiment, the icon file can be an animation file including a moving image. In this way, by making the icon file of the icon displayed in the slot an animation file, when the slot becomes the slot of interest, the area frame 301 is displayed and the icon can be displayed in animation. it can.

  Therefore, in the process of step S63, an animation file is created as an icon file for displaying the icon dropped on the mouse pointer 251 in the slot of interest. However, when displaying an icon as a single still image, an icon file of image data of the still image is created in step S63.

  In step S63, the launcher control unit 152 controls the slot management unit 155 to update the slot list stored in the slot storage unit 156.

  Specifically, in step S64, the launcher control unit 152 supplies the slot file management unit 155 with information related to the object represented by the icon file and the icon dropped in the target slot, along with a control signal for updating the slot list. . The slot management unit 155 updates the slot information of the slot of interest in the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 based on the control signal supplied from the launcher control unit 152, and proceeds to step S65.

  In step S65, the launcher control unit 152 controls the display control unit 153 to display the target icon represented by the icon dropped in the slot of interest.

  Specifically, the launcher control unit 152 displays a control signal for displaying the free registration area 212 based on the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 updated by the list management unit 155. To the unit 153. The display control unit 153 updates the display of the display unit 81 based on the control signal from the launcher control unit 152.

  When the process in step S65 is completed in this way, the process returns to step S2 in FIG. 16, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  As described above, when the icon arranged outside the free registration area 212 is dragged and moved into the free registration area 212, that is, when it is determined in step S4 that the icon is dragged. The subsequent processing executed in the above has been described.

  Next, a process when only the mouse pointer 251 is moved into the free registration area 212 without dragging the icon arranged outside the free registration area 212, that is, the process of step S4 in FIG. Thus, the subsequent processing executed when it is determined that the icon is not dragged will be described.

  As described above, when the mouse pointer 251 is merely placed in the free registration area 212, it is determined in step S4 in FIG. 16 that the icon is not dragged, and the process is as shown in FIG. Proceed to step S81.

  In step S81 in FIG. 19, the launcher control unit 152 displays the area frame 301 (FIG. 7) surrounding the slot of interest.

  Specifically, in step S 81, information indicating the locations of the slots of interest in the free registration area 212 (locations 212-1 to 212-2 in FIG. 6) is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152. In addition, as described above, the launcher control unit 152 manages the slots arranged in the respective locations 212-1 to 212-6 in the free registration area 212 with the slot numbers, and the slot of the slot of interest. The slot number is recognized and the slot number is notified to the slot management unit 155. The slot management unit 155 extracts slot information of the slot specified by the slot number notified from the launcher control unit 152 from the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156, and supplies the slot information to the launcher control unit 152.

  The launcher control unit 152 holds the slot information supplied from the slot management unit 155 and recognizes the attribute included in the slot information as the attribute of the target slot. Further, the launcher control unit 152 supplies a control signal for displaying the area frame 301 in the target slot to the display control unit 153 according to the slot number of the target slot. The display control unit 153 displays the area frame 301 in the target slot of the display unit 81 based on the control signal from the launcher control unit 152.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds from step S81 to S82, and the launcher control unit 152 determines whether or not the target slot is clicked. When the mouse pointer 251 is placed in the target slot and clicked on the target slot, that is, operation information indicating that the target slot has been clicked is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152. In step S82, it is determined that the target slot has been clicked, and the process proceeds to step S83.

  In step S <b> 83, the launcher control unit 152 controls the execution unit 154 to execute the processing of the target represented by the icon displayed in the slot of interest.

  Specifically, in step S83, the launcher control unit 152 supplies the execution unit 154 with slot information of the slot of interest, together with a control signal for executing processing of a target represented by the icon. Based on the control signal supplied from the launcher control unit 152, the execution unit 154 accesses the location where the file or folder indicated by the path (Path) of the slot information exists, and executes predetermined processing of the target represented by the icon. .

  Specifically, for example, when the icon displayed in the slot clicked by the user's operation of the mouse 71 is the icon 232 representing the word processor 94-2, the word processor 94-2 is activated.

  When the process of step S83 ends, the process returns to step S2 of FIG. 16, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  However, when the slot of interest is, for example, a slot 285 or 286 (FIG. 6) in which empty symbols 235 and 236 are arranged, there is no icon displayed in the slot of interest. In this case, the process of step S83 is not performed, the process returns to step S2 of FIG. 16, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S82 that the target slot has not been clicked, the process proceeds to step S84, and the launcher control unit 152 determines whether or not the target slot has been dragged. If it is determined in step S84 that the target slot is not dragged, the process returns to step S2 in FIG. 16, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  If it is determined in step S84 that the target slot has been dragged, that is, an operation corresponding to the user performing a drag operation to move the mouse pointer 251 on the target slot while holding down the button of the mouse 71. When information is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152, the process proceeds to step S85, where the launcher control unit 152 has dragged the slot of interest and moved it to another slot in the free registration area 212. Determine whether or not. If it is determined that the slot of interest has been dragged and has not been moved to another slot in the free registration area 212, the process skips steps S86 to S88 and proceeds to step S89.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S85 that the slot of interest has been dragged and moved to another slot in the free registration area 212, that is, the user has operated the mouse 71 to move the slot of interest into the free registration area 212. When the operation information indicating that it has been dragged onto another slot is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152, the process proceeds to step S86, and the launcher control unit 152 controls the slot management unit 155. Then, the slot numbers of the slot list are updated according to the arrangement order instructed by the user's operation of the mouse 71, and the slot information of the slot list is sorted in the order of the updated slot numbers.

  Specifically, for example, when the slot 285 of FIG. 6 is set as the target slot and moved to the slot 283 while being dragged by the mouse pointer 251, the launcher control unit 152 sets the slot number of the target slot 285. No. 5 (FIG. 15) is changed to slot number 3 (FIG. 15) of the destination slot 283, slot number 3 of the destination slot 283 is changed to number 4, and the destination slot 283 is further changed. The slot number 4 of the next slot 284 is changed to 5. Then, the launcher control unit 152 sets the control signal for updating the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 to the slot management unit 155 and the slot number of the slot list from No. 5 to No. 3. The fact that No. 3 is changed to No. 4 and No. 4 is changed to No. 5 is supplied. Based on this control signal, the slot management unit 155 changes the slot number of the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156, and sorts the slot information of each slot in the slot list in the order of the slot number ( Rearrange).

  Further, for example, when the slot 283 in FIG. 6 is set as the target slot and is moved onto the slot 285 while being dragged by the mouse pointer 251, the launcher control unit 152 causes the slot number 3 ( 15) is changed to the slot number 5 (FIG. 15) of the destination slot 285, the slot number 5 of the destination slot 285 is changed to the number 4, and one slot before the destination slot 283. The slot number 4 of the slot 284 is changed to 3. Then, the launcher control unit 152 sets the control signal for updating the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 to the slot management unit 155 and the slot number of slot list 3 to No. 5. The fact that No. 5 is changed to No. 4 and No. 4 is changed to No. 3 is supplied. Based on this control signal, the slot management unit 155 changes the slot number of the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156, and sorts the slot information of each slot in the slot list in the order of the slot number ( Rearrange).

  After the process of step S86, the process proceeds to step S87, and the launcher control unit 152 controls the display control unit 153 to update the display in the free registration area 212, and proceeds to step S88. Specifically, the launcher control unit 152 displays a control signal for displaying the free registration area 212 based on the slot list updated in the immediately preceding step S86 stored in the slot list storage unit 156. 153. The display control unit 153 updates the display of the display unit 81 based on the control signal from the launcher control unit 152. Thereby, the slots in the free registration area 212 are displayed in the order of arrangement of the slot information in the updated slot list.

  In step S88, the launcher control unit 152 determines whether or not the target slot has been dropped on another slot to be moved. If it is determined in step S88 that the slot of interest has been dropped on another slot to be moved, the process returns to step S2 in FIG. 16 assuming that the movement of the slot of interest by the user has ended, and so on. Is done.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S88 that the target slot is not dropped on the other slot of the destination, that is, the user operates the mouse 71 to drop the target slot on the other slot of the destination. If the operation information corresponding to the above has not been supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152, the process returns to step S85, and the same process is performed thereafter.

  If it is determined in step S85 that the slot has not been moved to another slot in the free registration area 212, the process proceeds to step S89, and the launcher control unit 152 determines whether or not the target slot has been dropped outside the launcher window 201. Determine whether. In step S89, when it is determined that the target slot is not dropped outside the launcher window 201, that is, for example, operation information indicating that the target slot is dropped in the fixed area 211 in the launcher window 201 is When the operation information is acquired from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152, the launcher control unit 152 discards the operation information as an error, and the process returns to step S2 in FIG. Is called.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S89 that the slot of interest has been dropped outside the launcher window 201, that is, an operation corresponding to the user dragging and dropping the slot of interest outside the launcher window 201 by operating the mouse 71. When the information is supplied from the operation information acquisition unit 151 to the launcher control unit 152, the process proceeds to step S90, and the launcher control unit 152 determines whether the attribute of the target slot is other than Blank.

  Specifically, the launcher control unit 152 holds slot information of the target slot in the process of step S81, and recognizes the attribute of the target slot based on the slot information of the target slot.

  If it is determined in step S90 that the attribute of the attention slot is not other than Blank, in other words, the attribute of the attention slot is Blank, the launcher control unit 152 discards the operation information as an error, and performs processing. Return to step S2 in FIG. 16, and the same processing is performed thereafter.

  On the other hand, if the attribute of the target slot is other than Blank in step S90, that is, if the attribute of the target slot is one of App, File, or Folder, the process proceeds to step 91, and the launcher control unit 152 Information for creating a shortcut for the object represented by the icon displayed in the slot is supplied to the OS 91. Specifically, the launcher control unit 152 supplies the slot information of the slot of interest to the OS 91, and proceeds from step S91 to S92. Accordingly, the OS 91 displays a corresponding shortcut in the desktop 1 based on the slot information from the launcher control unit 152.

  In step S92, the launcher control unit 152 controls the slot management unit 155 to change the attribute of the slot of interest to Blank, and proceeds to step S93. Specifically, the launcher control unit 152 supplies information indicating that an icon is not arranged in the slot of interest to the slot management unit 155 together with a control signal for updating the slot list storage unit 156. The slot management unit 155 deletes the description contents other than the slot number of the slot information of the slot of interest in the slot list stored in the slot list storage unit 156 based on the control signal supplied from the launcher control unit 152 In addition, the slot list is updated in which a blank indicating that an empty symbol is displayed is described in the attribute.

  In step S93, the launcher control unit 152 controls the display control unit 153 to display an empty symbol in the slot of interest.

  Specifically, when the slot list in the slot list storage unit 156 is updated, the updated slot list is supplied from the slot management unit 155 to the launcher control unit 152. The launcher control unit 152 supplies a control signal for changing the display of the target slot from an icon to an empty symbol according to the slot list from the slot management unit 155 to the display control unit 153. The display control unit 153 changes the display content of the display unit 81 based on this control signal. Thereafter, the processing returns to step S2 in FIG. 16, and the same processing is repeated thereafter.

  Note that the processing illustrated in FIGS. 16 to 19 ends when the execution of the OS 91 is ended (including the sleeve state), for example.

  Next, another display example of the launcher window 201 will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 to 22, only the right side of the image displayed on the display unit 81 is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 20, when the mouse pointer 251 is outside the launcher window 201, the free registration area 212 in the launcher window 201 is displayed, for example, in gray out (displayed only in gray) (displayed in shaded in the figure). can do.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 21, when the mouse pointer 251 is in the launcher window 201, the gray-out display in the free registration area 212 can be canceled and the normal display can be performed.

  That is, the operation information acquisition unit 151 of FIG. 4 determines whether or not the mouse pointer 251 is in the launcher window 201, and supplies operation information indicating the determination result to the launcher control unit 152. The launcher control unit 152 supplies, to the display control unit 153, a control signal for setting the display in the free registration area 212 of the launcher window 201 to grayout display or normal display according to the operation information. Based on this control signal, the display control unit 153 sets the display of the launcher window 201 of the display unit 81 to gray-out display or normal display.

  As described above, when the mouse pointer 251 is not in the launcher window 201, the icons 221-1 to 221-7 in the fixed area in the launcher window 201 can be made conspicuous by displaying the free registration area 212 in gray. Therefore, it is possible to emphasize the existence of the application programs 93-1 to 93-7 (FIG. 3) that is specified in advance by the provider of the launcher window 201, so that usability is not impaired.

  Next, a display example of the launcher window 201 when the resolution of the display unit 81 is changed will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the resolution of the display unit 81 is a predetermined resolution, six slots 281 to 286 are displayed in the free registration area 212 as shown in FIGS. However, for example, when the resolution of the display unit 81 (FIG. 3) is increased, the size of the icon displayed on the display unit 81 and the slot in which the icon is arranged are reduced. The number of slots to be increased.

  That is, in FIG. 22, by increasing the resolution of the display unit 81, the number of slots that can be displayed in the free registration area 212 has been changed from, for example, 6 to 12 shown in FIG. . Therefore, in the free registration area 212 of FIG. 22, the number of slots is increased by six compared to the case of FIG. 21 and the like, and empty symbols 401 to 406 are arranged in the six slots, respectively.

  Specifically, for example, the launcher control unit 152 in FIG. 4 displays the size of the displayable area of the display unit 81 (the length in the vertical direction of the image in FIG. 5 displayed on the display screen of the display unit 81, and the horizontal (Direction width) and resolution information are acquired from the OS 91 (not shown in FIG. 4), and the vertical size of the display screen of the display unit 81 is recognized. Furthermore, the launcher control unit 152 recognizes the horizontal size of the launcher window 201, the vertical size of the fixed area 211, and the vertical size of the place (FIG. 6) based on the information indicating the resolution ( calculate. Then, the launcher control unit 152 obtains a value obtained by dividing the vertical size of the fixed area 211 from the vertical size of the display screen of the display unit 81, and further calculates the value by the vertical size of the place. The number (integer) obtained by dividing is taken as the number of places.

  Therefore, even when the resolution of the display unit 81 is increased, the number of dots for displaying the launcher window 201 is not changed, so that the size of the fixed area 211 and the locations 212-1 to 212-6 in the free registration area 212 (FIG. The size of 6) is reduced. Along with this, the number of places in the free registration area 212 increases. For example, in FIG. 22, as the resolution of the display unit 81 is increased, the number of places is increased from six to twelve. Since the same number of slots as the number of places is displayed in the free registration area 212, in FIG. 22, slots 281 to 286 (in which icons 231 to 234 and empty symbols 235 and 236 are arranged are arranged. In addition to FIG. 6), slots in which empty symbols 401 to 406 are arranged are displayed. As described above, when the resolution of the display unit 81 is increased, the number of icons and empty symbols that the user can recognize at a time increases, and the number of times the scroll buttons 241-1 and 241-2 are operated can be reduced. .

  Also, as shown in FIG. 22, even when the number of icons and empty symbols that can be recognized by the user is large, empty symbols are appropriately arranged between slots where icons are arranged. By arranging slots and displaying empty symbols as separators, icons can be grouped and displayed, and operability when selecting a user icon can be improved.

  As described above, according to the PC 41 shown in FIG. 3, when the launcher program 92 is executed by the CPU 51, for example, the launcher control unit 152 has slots 281 to 281 provided as areas where icons can be arranged. For each of the slots 286, the display control unit 153 recognizes whether or not the icon arrangement is designated, and the display control unit 153 recognizes the slot of the slots 281 to 286 for which the icon arrangement is designated. An icon is arranged, and for other slots, a predetermined symbol indicating that no icon is arranged is arranged, and each of the slots 281 to 286 in which the icon or symbol is arranged is stored in the slot list storage unit 156. Lunch arranged in a predetermined order based on the slot list Generates a window 201, since the cause is displayed on the display unit 81, it is possible to easily recognize the position where the new icon is displayed, thereby improving the operability when displaying an icon. That is, for example, the user can visually recognize the positions of the empty symbols 235 and 236 displayed in the free registration area 212 as new icon movement destinations. It is possible to improve operability when performing an operation for displaying (icon moving operation).

  In the above description, each slot is handled individually. However, a plurality of slots may be grouped and handled for each group. That is, for example, from the slot in which “Blank” is described in the attribute to the next slot in which “Blank” is described as one group, or in the slot information of the slot list illustrated in FIG. Including group information (not shown) indicating whether it belongs to a group, based on the group information, slots of the same group information can be handled as the same group.

  For example, when handling as a group, the user only needs to move the slot once, and the slots belonging to the same group as that slot are moved in the order (in order) before the movement. It is possible to facilitate the operation when the layout in the free registration area 212 is changed.

  Furthermore, the slots may be color-coded according to, for example, the above-described group, the date / time when the icon is designated to be displayed, and the attribute. By color-coding the slots, for example, the visibility of the grouped slots can be improved and the convenience at the time of rearrangement can be improved.

  Further, for example, slots can be displayed hierarchically. That is, in the slot attribute, in addition to App, File, Folder, and Blank described with reference to FIG. 15, a class indicating a hierarchy can be provided. When a slot whose attribute is Class is clicked, for example, the slot displayed in the free registration area 212 is changed to the same group as the slot clicked with the mouse pointer 251 instead of the slots 281 to 286. Other slots (not shown) to which it belongs can be displayed. Thereby, an icon can be easily selected from the free registration area 212 for slots belonging to the same group.

  In addition, by displaying slots hierarchically in a window (not shown) different from the launcher window 201, slots that cannot be displayed in the free registration area 212 can be appropriately displayed on the display unit 81. it can.

  The series of processing described above is executed by software, but can also be executed by a plurality of hardware that realizes each functional block.

  Further, the launcher program 92 constituting the software for performing the above-described series of processing is the magnetic disk 101 (including a flexible disk), the optical disk 102 (CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory), DVD) shown in FIG. And a magneto-optical disk 103 (including MD (Mini-Disk) (trademark)), and a removable recording medium such as the semiconductor memory 104 can be stored (recorded) temporarily or permanently. Such a removable recording medium can be provided as so-called package media software.

  The launcher program 92 is installed on the PC 41 from the above-described removable recording medium, and is also transmitted from the download site to the PC 41 via a digital satellite broadcasting artificial satellite, or via a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. The launcher program 92 thus transferred can be received by the communication unit 59 and installed in the built-in storage unit 58 via the network.

  Here, in the present specification, the processing of each step described in the flow chart described is not limited to processing performed in time series according to the described order, but may be performed in parallel or individually even if not necessarily performed in time series. This includes the processing to be executed.

It is a figure explaining the example of a display of the icon in the conventional launcher program. It is a figure explaining the example of a display of the icon in the conventional launcher program. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of one Embodiment of the personal computer to which this invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the function of the launcher program to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the example of a display when a launcher program is started. It is a figure which shows the example of the slot arrange | positioned at each storage place in a free registration area. It is a figure which shows the example of a display when a mouse pointer is set | placed on the free registration area. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of a display when an attention slot is dragged in another slot. It is a figure which shows the example of a display after an attention slot is moved to the position of another slot. It is a figure which shows the example of a display when designating the icon displayed on a slot. It is a figure which shows the example of a display when designating the icon displayed on a slot. It is a figure which shows the example of a display when a new icon is displayed on a slot. It is a figure which shows the example of a display when dropping an icon in the slot in a free registration area. It is a figure which shows the example of a display when an icon cannot be dropped to the slot in a free registration area. It is a figure for demonstrating the slot list memorize | stored in the slot list memory | storage part. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of CPU which performs a launcher program. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of CPU which performs a launcher program. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of CPU which performs a launcher program. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of CPU which performs a launcher program. It is a figure for demonstrating another example of a display of a launcher window. It is a figure for demonstrating another example of a display of a launcher window. It is a figure for demonstrating another example of a display of a launcher window.

Explanation of symbols

  1 desktop, 51 CPU, 52 ROM, 53 RAM, 54 bus, 55 input / output interface, 56 input unit, 57 output unit, 58 storage unit, 59 communication unit, 60 drive, 71 mouse, 72 keyboard, 81 display unit, 82 Speaker, 91 OS, 92 launcher application program, 93-1 to 93-7 application program, 94-1 to 94-3 application program, 95-1, 95-2 file, 96-1, 96-2 folder, 101 magnetic Disc, 102 optical disc, 103 magneto-optical disc, 104 semiconductor memory, 151 operation information acquisition unit, 152 launcher control unit, 153 display control unit, 154 execution unit, 155 slot management unit, 156 slot Storage area, 201 launcher window, 211 fixed area, 212 free registration area, 212-1 to 212-6, 231 to 234, 261 to 263, 351 icon, 235, 236, 401 to 406 empty symbol, 251 mouse pointer , 281 to 286 slots, 301 area frame, 312 area display, 341, 361 Icon addition “copy” display mouse pointer, 371 Icon addition “drop not possible” display mouse pointer

Claims (7)

Recognizing means for recognizing whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for each of a plurality of slots provided as areas where icons can be arranged;
Among the plurality of slots, the predetermined icon is arranged for the slot recognized by the recognizing means to designate the arrangement of the predetermined icon, and the icon is arranged for the other slots. A predetermined symbol indicating that there is not, a first image in which each of the predetermined icon or the plurality of slots in which the predetermined symbol is arranged is arranged in a predetermined order, and a predetermined display device is generated An information processing apparatus comprising: display control means for performing control for display on the display. Determining means for determining any one of a first attribute in which icon arrangement is specified and a second attribute in which icon arrangement is not specified as an attribute of each of the plurality of slots;
Holding means for holding attribute information indicating the attribute determined by the determining means for each slot;
The recognizing unit recognizes, for each slot, whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for the slot based on the attribute information held in the holding unit. The information processing apparatus described in 1. When a first command for updating the arrangement order of the plurality of slots included in the first image currently displayed on the display device is input in response to a user operation, the first command is It further comprises an acquisition means for acquiring,
When the first instruction is acquired by the acquisition means, the display control means designates each of the plurality of slots where the predetermined icon or the predetermined symbol is arranged by the first instruction. The second image arranged in a predetermined order is generated, and the display content of the display device is controlled to be updated from the first image to the second image. Information processing device. The acquisition means further includes a second command for arranging a new icon in a slot in which the predetermined symbol is arranged among the plurality of slots included in the image displayed on the display device. If input according to the user's operation, get the second command,
When the second command is acquired by the acquisition unit, the recognizing unit further includes the new icon specified by the second command for the slot specified by the second command. Re-recognize that the placement of was specified,
The display control means further arranges the new icon for the slot when the recognizing means re-recognizes that the arrangement of the new icon is designated for the slot, and for the other slots. The predetermined icon or the predetermined symbol that is the same as before is arranged, and each of the plurality of slots in which the new icon, the predetermined icon, or the predetermined symbol is arranged is arranged in the predetermined order. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a control is performed to generate a second image arranged and update the display content of the display device from the first image to the second image. . In an information processing method of an information processing device for controlling display on a predetermined display device,
A recognition step for recognizing whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for each of a plurality of slots provided as areas where icon arrangement is possible;
Among the plurality of slots, the predetermined icon is arranged for the slot recognized as having been designated by the recognition step, and the icon is arranged for the other slots. A predetermined symbol indicating that the predetermined icon is not present, an image in which each of the predetermined icon or the plurality of slots in which the predetermined symbol is arranged is arranged in a predetermined order is generated and displayed on the predetermined display device An information processing method comprising: a display control step for performing control. A program to be executed by a computer that controls display on a predetermined display device,
A recognition step for recognizing whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for each of a plurality of slots provided as areas where icon arrangement is possible;
Among the plurality of slots, the predetermined icon is arranged for the slot recognized as having been designated by the recognition step, and the icon is arranged for the other slots. A predetermined symbol indicating that the predetermined icon is not present, an image in which each of the predetermined icon or the plurality of slots in which the predetermined symbol is arranged is arranged in a predetermined order is generated and displayed on the predetermined display device A display control step for performing control. A determination step of determining any one of a first attribute in which icon arrangement is specified and a second attribute in which icon arrangement is not specified as an attribute of each of the plurality of slots;
A holding control step for controlling holding of attribute information indicating the attribute determined by the processing of the determining step for each slot; and
The recognizing step recognizes, for each slot, whether or not an icon arrangement is designated for the slot based on the attribute information held by the processing of the holding control step. The program according to claim 6.

Images