JP2007058272A - Icon description display device, icon description display method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an icon description display device capable of speedily and easily accessing a currently displayed icon (status). <P>SOLUTION: The icon description display device has: an input control section which controls input of an icon description display instruction; an icon information file holding at least lists of names of icons, images of the icons, descriptions of the icons, and screens where the icons are displayed for each the icons; a display control section which displays an icon in a screen and generates an actual icon list of an icon displayed in an updated screen by referring to the icon information file every time the displayed screen is updated; and a processing section which monitors the input control section and displays a list of descriptions of icons displayed in a current screen with the actual icon list when the icon description display instruction is input, and can display the list of descriptions of the icons in the currently displayed screen through an easy operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an icon explanation display device, an icon explanation display method, a program, and a recording medium, and more specifically to a technique for displaying an explanation of icons currently displayed on a display screen.

In recent applications and systems, the status and status of each occasion are often displayed as icons.
For example, a maximum of 30 icons can be displayed on the standby screen of a mobile phone.
In addition, different icons are displayed for each file type on the desktop of Microsoft Windows (registered trademark).
On the game screen, the status of the character is displayed as an icon.
Furthermore, digital cameras, copying machines, and the like also display icons for the status and mode from time to time.

Thus, most computer applications use icons as status and property display means.
One reason why icons are used to display status and the like is that icon display is suitable for displaying a large number of statuses in a limited space. Moreover, it is because the effect of making it understand intuitively by displaying with the "image" called an icon is effective.

  However, these days, too many icons are flooded, and because they are designed differently for each application, the meaning of all icons cannot be remembered. Also, because the design has become complicated, there are many icons that cannot be intuitively understood. For example, few people can answer all the meanings of icons that may appear on their mobile phones.

  Then, in order to know the meaning of the currently displayed icon (situation), the user investigates by some method. Moreover, every time a new device or application is used, or whenever a new unknown icon is displayed, it is investigated.

As such an investigation method, for example, the technique of Patent Document 1 displays help (function explanation) of an icon at a predetermined position when the mouse cursor is moved over the icon. This operation method display device monitors and displays mouse control means for detecting mouse movement, display means for displaying mouse cursor and icon help, storage means for storing function descriptions of icons, and mouse control means. And a monitoring control means for controlling the means and the storage means to display a description of the function of the icon when the mouse cursor is moved over the icon.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 02-292619

However, the process of investigating new and unknown icon descriptions is very tedious.
For example, even if you want to know the meaning (status) of the icon displayed on the screen at that time and use the help function, you must search to get to the explanation and follow the document while reading it. Don't be.
Even if it arrives, it is not the “currently displayed icon list” but the “all icon list”, so the user has to find the desired information again.

  In the technique of Patent Document 1, it can be explained that the mouse cursor is placed on an icon on the screen. However, this function is limited to an icon representing a function process. It is not compatible. Also, if you want to know the meaning of multiple icons, you need to move the cursor over and over again each time.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and provides an icon explanation display device, an icon explanation display method, a program, and a recording medium that can quickly and easily access an icon (status) that is currently displayed. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an icon explanation display device according to claim 1 includes an input control unit that controls an input of an icon explanation display instruction, an icon name, an icon image, and an icon name for each icon. An icon information file that holds at least a description and a list of screens on which icons are displayed, and icons are displayed on the screen, and each time the displayed screen is updated, the icon information file is referred to and updated. A display control unit that generates an actual icon list of icons displayed on the displayed screen, and the input control unit is monitored, and when an instruction to display an icon explanation is given, the actual icon list is displayed on the current screen. And a processing unit for displaying an explanation list of icons.

  The icon explanation display device according to the second aspect of the present invention displays an input control unit that controls input of an icon explanation display instruction, and an icon name, an icon image, an icon description, and an icon for each icon. An icon information file that holds at least a list of screens, a display control unit that displays icons and their descriptions on the screen, and monitors the input control unit, and refers to the icon information file when an icon description display instruction is given And a processing unit for displaying a description list of icons displayed on the currently displayed screen.

In the invention of the icon explanation display method according to claim 3, for each icon, at least an icon name, an icon image, an icon explanation, and a list of screens on which icons are displayed are held in an icon information file, In addition to displaying icons on the screen, each time the displayed screen is updated, the icon information file is referenced to generate an actual icon list of icons displayed on the updated screen, and an icon explanation display instruction When the action is performed, an explanation list of icons currently displayed on the screen is displayed by the actual icon list.
The invention of the icon explanation display method according to claim 4 holds, for each icon, at least an icon name, an icon image, an icon description, and a list of screens on which icons are displayed in an icon information file. When an icon explanation display instruction is given, a list of explanations of icons displayed on the currently displayed screen is displayed by referring to the icon information file.

The invention according to claim 5 is a program for causing a computer to realize the function of the icon explanation display device according to claim 1 or 2.
The invention described in claim 6 is a computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 5 is recorded.

According to the present invention, even if an unknown status icon is displayed, the contents can be immediately understood by a specific operation. This eliminates the need to remember and look at the icons, reducing stress.
Also, when new software or hardware is introduced, it can be used immediately.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to an icon explanation display device of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an icon explanation display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, an icon explanation display device includes a display device 11 including a mouse cursor, a display for displaying an explanation of icons and icons, a display control unit 12 for controlling display of the display device 11, and a mouse, a keyboard, and buttons. The input control unit 14 that controls the instruction, the icon information file 15 that holds the icon image of the icon and explanation information, the input control unit 14 and the display control unit 12 are monitored, and the icon control file 15 is currently displayed based on the icon information file 15. The processing unit 13 displays an explanation of the icon on the screen, and the storage device 16 temporarily stores data being executed.

Next, the operation of Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data structure example of the icon information file 15. The icon information file includes at least an identifier (ID) for identifying the icon, a character string representing the icon name, an image displayed on the screen as the icon or a file address storing the image, and a character representing the description of the icon A column and a list of screen identifiers of the screens on which this icon is used. 2 is a list of identifiers of icons currently displayed on the screen, and is updated and temporarily stored in the storage device 16 every time the screen of the display device 11 is updated. .
3 and 4 are flowcharts showing the operation of the icon explanation display device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is an example of an icon explanation list display.

  When an instruction to change the screen displayed on the display device 11 is issued to the display control unit 12 (S1), the screen name to be displayed is acquired, and the icon information file 15 is referred to, which is the same as this screen name. All IDs of icons having screen names and actual states are taken out and stored in the storage device 16 as an accumulated actual icon list (S2).

  In addition, the input control unit 14 constantly monitors input from the mouse, keyboard, and buttons, and when an instruction to display an icon is given (S11 / YES), refers to the actual icon list stored in the storage device 16, An icon image, an icon name, and an icon description are extracted from the ID registered here, an icon description list as illustrated in FIG. 5 is generated (S12), and the icon description list is displayed on the display device 11 (S13). ).

  With the above configuration, a list of icon descriptions currently displayed on the screen is maintained, and when the screen is updated, this list is also automatically updated so that the user can perform simple operations. When a display request is received, the contents of this list can be displayed.

In the first embodiment described above, the explanation list of icons currently displayed is always updated. However, in the second embodiment, an icon explanation list is generated and displayed when the user requests display. .
Next, the operation of Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the icon explanation display device according to the second embodiment.

  The input control unit 14 constantly monitors input from the mouse, keyboard, and buttons, and when an instruction to display an icon is given (S21 / YES), acquires the currently displayed screen name (S22), and displays an icon. With reference to the information file 15, the ID of the icon having the same screen name as this screen name is extracted, and the icon image, icon name, and description of the icon are extracted from this ID, and the icon description list as illustrated in FIG. (S23), and the icon explanation list is displayed on the display device 11 (S24).

  Even with such a configuration, the meaning of the “currently displayed icon” can be known with a simple operation.

The present invention is not limited only to the above-described embodiments. Each function constituting the icon explanation display device of the above-described embodiment is programmed and written in a recording medium in advance, and these programs recorded in the recording medium are stored in a memory or a storage device provided in the computer. Needless to say, the object of the present invention is achieved by executing the program. In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program and the recording medium recording the program also constitute the present invention.
In addition, the program includes a case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by processing in cooperation with an operating system or another application program based on an instruction of the program.

Note that the program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments includes a disk system (for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.), a card system (for example, a memory card, an optical card, etc.), and a semiconductor memory system (for example, a ROM, a nonvolatile memory). Etc.) and a recording medium of any form such as a tape system (for example, magnetic tape, cassette tape, etc.). Or you may make it receive the said program stored in the memory | storage device via the network directly from the server computer. In this case, the storage device of this server computer is also included in the recording medium of the present invention.
As described above, by programming and distributing the functions of the above-described embodiment, the cost can be reduced, and the portability and versatility can be improved.

It is a block diagram which shows the icon description display apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the data structure example of an icon information file. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the icon description display apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 when updating the icon list currently displayed. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the icon description display apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 when an icon description list display instruction | indication is given. It is an icon description list display example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the icon description display apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 when an icon description list display instruction | indication is given.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Display apparatus, 12 ... Display control part, 13 ... Processing part, 14 ... Input control part, 15 ... Icon information file, 16 ... Memory | storage device.

Claims (6)

  An icon control file that controls the input of icon explanation display instructions, an icon information file that holds at least an icon name, an icon image, an icon description, and a list of screens on which icons are displayed for each icon. A display control unit that generates an actual icon list of icons displayed on the updated screen by referring to the icon information file each time the displayed screen is updated, and the input An icon explanation display device comprising: a processing section that monitors the control section and displays an explanation list of icons currently displayed on the screen by the actual icon list when an instruction to display an icon explanation is given. .   An input control unit that controls input of an icon explanation display instruction, an icon information file that holds at least an icon name, an icon image, an icon description, and a list of screens on which icons are displayed for each icon, an icon, A display control unit for displaying the description on the screen, and the icon displayed on the currently displayed screen by monitoring the input control unit and referring to the icon information file when an instruction to display the icon description is given. An icon explanation display device comprising: a processing unit that displays a list of explanations.   For each icon, at least an icon name file, an icon image, an icon description, and a list of screens on which icons are displayed are stored in the icon information file, and the icons are displayed on the screen and the displayed screen is updated. Each time the icon information file is referred to, an actual icon list of icons displayed on the updated screen is generated, and when an instruction to display an icon explanation is given, the actual icon list is displayed by the actual icon list. An icon explanation display method, characterized in that a description list of icons displayed on the screen is displayed.   For each icon, an icon name, icon image, icon description, and a list of screens on which icons are displayed are held in at least an icon information file, and when an icon description display instruction is given, the icon information file An icon explanation display method characterized by displaying an explanation list of icons displayed on the currently displayed screen with reference to FIG.   The program for making a computer implement | achieve the function of the icon description display apparatus of Claim 1 or 2.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 5 is recorded.