JP2014164718A - Information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To let a software keyboard and an application coexist.SOLUTION: An information terminal includes a display area setting part 31 which changes a display area and a display position of a second application to such a size and a position that an operation on a software keyboard is not disturbed when it is determined that the second application is being executed on detecting the software keyboard being initiated by a first application.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information terminal capable of executing an application that uses a software keyboard function, which is a function for performing a display imitating a keyboard on a screen for character input.

  Conventional portable information terminals such as mobile phones have many hardware keys such as numeric keys and dial keys. However, today, there is a tendency to enlarge the screen size as much as possible, and in order to make the screen size as large as possible without increasing the size of the device itself, there are models in which almost the entire surface of the terminal is a display screen There are many.

  In such a portable information terminal, an operation input or a character input is received by displaying an image imitating an operation button or a keyboard on a display screen (software keyboard).

  In addition, with the expansion of the display screen, there are models that can execute a plurality of applications on the screen.

  For example, Patent Document 1 describes a portable information terminal that divides a display screen and simultaneously executes different applications in each divided screen area. In Patent Document 1, in each divided display area, information on different applications can be obtained by performing an operation on an application displayed in each display area or performing a touch operation across the divided display areas. It describes how it can be shared.

Special table 2012-521595 (published on September 13, 2012)

  In the above-described software keyboard, it is desirable to make the area of each key easy to touch in order to prevent erroneous operation, and it is desirable to display as many keys as possible in order to reduce the number of touches.

  Therefore, when a software keyboard is displayed, the software keyboard occupies about half of the display screen.

  If a software keyboard is displayed when multiple applications are running on the display screen, the displayed software keyboard prevents the displayed application from being executed. There is a negative effect that the operation is hindered.

  Further, the invention described in Patent Document 1 does not mention the above-described adverse effect caused by displaying a software keyboard.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to realize an information terminal or the like in which a software keyboard and a running application can coexist.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an information terminal according to an aspect of the present invention is an information terminal that can simultaneously execute a plurality of applications on a display unit, and the first application that uses character input by a software keyboard provides the information terminal. A software keyboard detecting means for detecting that the software keyboard is activated and a second application different from the first application is being executed when the software keyboard detecting means detects that the software keyboard is activated. If the application determination means and the application determination means determine whether the second application is being executed, the display area of the second application is changed so as not to hinder the operation on the software keyboard. It is characterized in that comprises an application display control means for, the.

  According to the aspect of the present invention, since the display area of the second application does not hinder the operation on the software keyboard, the user can easily operate the software keyboard. In addition, since the display of the second application is continued, it is possible to prevent the user from overlooking the display content of the second application.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the portable terminal which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the said portable terminal. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in the said portable terminal. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the process in the said portable terminal. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the process with the portable terminal which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the process with the portable terminal which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display in the modification of this invention.

Embodiment 1
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, the upper direction when the user holds the mobile terminal 1 vertically is referred to as the upward direction of the mobile terminal 1, and the right direction toward the touch panel 11 in the vertically held state is referred to as the mobile terminal 1. Called 1 right direction.

[1. (Device configuration)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the mobile terminal (information terminal) 1 according to the present embodiment. Here, a smartphone is assumed as the mobile terminal 1, but the present embodiment is not limited to a smartphone, and may be a mobile phone, a notebook PC (Personal Computer), or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 1 includes a touch panel 11, and performs an operation on the mobile terminal 1 by bringing a finger, a pen, or the like into contact with or approaching the touch panel 11. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the software keyboard is activated, and shows a state in which the character input area 51 and the software keyboard 52 are displayed on the touch panel 11.

  Next, a schematic configuration of the mobile terminal 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a mobile terminal 1 according to the present embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 1 includes a control unit 10, a touch panel 11, and a storage unit 12. FIG. 1 shows a configuration related to a software keyboard display process among various configurations of the mobile terminal 1. Moreover, since the other structure in the portable terminal 1 is the same as the past, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Software keyboard is the same as when the corresponding part of the actual keyboard is pressed corresponding to the touched position when an image imitating the keyboard is displayed on the display unit and the displayed keyboard image is touched The process is performed.

  The touch panel 11 includes a display unit 21 and an operation receiving unit 22. The display unit 21 displays an image on the display screen based on the display information received from the control unit 10. The display unit 21 includes a display element such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an EL (Electroluminescence) display, and a driver circuit that drives the display element based on received image data.

  The operation receiving unit 22 is installed on the display screen of the display unit 21 or is formed integrally with the display screen. The operation receiving unit 22 detects to which position on the display screen a pointer pointing to the position on the display screen, such as a user's finger or pen, touches or approaches (hereinafter referred to as “touch”). Thus, an operation on the mobile terminal 1 is accepted. The operation reception unit 22 transmits reception information, which is information on a position where a touch is detected, to the control unit 10.

  In the present embodiment, the area displayed by the display unit 21 and the area where the operation receiving unit 22 detects an operation are the same.

  The control unit 10 comprehensively controls various components in the mobile terminal 1 and includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The storage unit 12 stores various data and programs, and includes storage elements such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a flash memory.

  Next, details of the control unit 10 will be described. The control unit 10 includes a display area setting unit 31, an application execution unit 32, and a RAM 33, and the application execution unit 32 includes a software keyboard processing unit 34.

  When two applications are executed, the display area setting unit 31 displays the display area of the other application so that the operation on the software keyboard is not hindered when the process of starting the software keyboard is executed in one application. The display position is set, and the display information is notified to the display unit 21 so that the application is displayed in the set display area and display position. Further, the display area setting unit 31 stores the display area and display position of the other application before the change in the RAM 33, and when the processing of the software keyboard is finished, the other application is displayed as the display area and display before the change. Display information is notified to the display unit 21 so as to be displayed at the position. The flow of processing for setting the display area and display position of the application will be described later.

  The display area setting unit 31 sets the display area and display position of the application based on the application execution information notified from the application execution unit 32, and executes the application including the set display area and display position. The information for this is notified to the display part 21 as display information. In addition, when the application execution information notified from the application execution unit 32 indicates that a plurality of applications are being executed, the display region setting unit 31 appropriately sets the display region and display position of each application. The information is set and notified to the display unit 21 as display information. The display area setting unit 31 stores information indicating the set display area and display position in the RAM 33.

  The application execution unit 32 processes various applications executed on the mobile terminal 1. Since the application execution process can be performed by the conventional technique, the description thereof is omitted.

  The software keyboard processing unit 34 executes processing related to the software keyboard.

  The RAM 33 temporarily stores the display area, display position, etc. set by the display area setting unit 31.

[2. Process flow
Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the flow of processing for changing the display area and display position of the application in the mobile terminal 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for changing the display area and display position of the application. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example when the display area and display position of the sub application are changed. The sub-application is an application different from the application that activates the software keyboard.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the software keyboard processing unit 34 activates the software keyboard (YES in S1), application execution information indicating that the software keyboard is activated is sent from the application execution unit 32 to the display area setting unit 31. Be notified. The software keyboard is activated when, for example, an e-mail application is activated and an e-mail creation instruction is received.

  The display area setting unit 31 notified of the activation of the software keyboard determines whether or not a plurality of applications are being displayed (S2). When a plurality of applications are being executed (YES in S2), the display area setting unit 31 stores the display area and display position of the sub application in the RAM 33. Here, the sub-application is an application different from the application that activates the software keyboard.

  Next, the display area setting unit 31 changes the display area and display position of the sub application (S4), and displays the display information so that the sub application is displayed on the display unit 21 with the changed display area and display size. The unit 21 is notified (S5).

  An example of changing the display area and display position of the sub application will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows an example in which the software keyboard is activated by the e-mail application while the e-mail application and the television application are activated.

  As shown in the left diagram of FIG. 4, when the e-mail application and the TV application are simultaneously activated and the TV 61 is displayed over the e-mail reception screen, the reply button 41 of the e-mail application indicates When pressed at 42 or the like, the software keyboard is activated (the right diagram in FIG. 4). As shown in the right diagram of FIG. 4, when the software keyboard is activated, a character input area 51 and a keyboard area 52 are displayed, and the display position of the TV application as a sub application is slightly on the right side from the upper center of the display unit 21. At the same time, the display area is about half of the original display area.

  The display position of the television application is a position that does not overlap the character input position 53 in the character input area 51 and does not overlap the software keyboard 52 and the send button 54. Furthermore, the display area of the TV application is a size that does not make it difficult to view the TV. In this embodiment, the TV application display area 71 and the character input area 51 slightly overlap. This is because if the television application display area 71 is set so that the television application display area 71 and the character input area 51 do not overlap at all, it is difficult to view the television.

  As a result, since the operation on the software keyboard is not hindered by the displayed television, it is possible to allow the user to operate the software keyboard while viewing the television. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the precious scene broadcast on the television from being overlooked in order to operate the software keyboard.

  It is desirable that the display area after setting has the same aspect ratio as the display area before setting. This is because if the aspect ratio is different, the display content is disturbed, which may confuse the viewer.

  The display area may be set by setting a display area of a plurality of sizes (for example, three levels) in advance and selecting an appropriate size, or may be set according to the size of the character input area 51. It may be set in stages.

  After that, when the software keyboard is finished (YES in S6), the display area setting unit 31 displays the display information so that the sub-application is displayed in the display area and display size before change stored in the RAM 33. , The display of the sub application is changed to the display before the change (S7), and the process ends.

  In step S2, if a plurality of applications are not being displayed (NO in S2), the display area setting unit 31 notifies the display unit 21 of display information for displaying the software keyboard so that the software keyboard is displayed. (S8) When the activation of the software keyboard is finished (S9), the process is finished.

[Embodiment 2]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

  Some software keyboards change the display position of the software keyboard depending on whether the user operates the right hand or the left hand. For example, when the user operates with the left hand, the display position of the software keyboard is moved to the left side of the display unit 21. Thereby, it is possible to provide a software keyboard that is more user-friendly.

  In the present embodiment, the display position of the sub application when the software keyboard is activated is set on the opposite side of the display position of the software keyboard. Specifically, when the display position of the software keyboard is on the left side, the display position of the sub application is on the right side. Conversely, when the display position of the software keyboard is on the right side, the display position of the sub application is on the left side.

  FIG. 5 shows a display example in the present embodiment. As shown in the right diagram of FIG. 5, when the display position of the software keyboard 52 is the left side, the display area of the television 72 is located in the area where nothing is displayed on the right side of the software keyboard 52.

[Embodiment 3]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

  In this embodiment, after the display area and display position of the sub application are changed, when the character input position overlaps the display area of the sub application, the display position of the sub application overlaps the character input position. It is moved to a position where it does not become necessary.

  The character input position is indicated by the cursor position, and when the area corresponding to the predetermined number of characters and the display area of the sub application overlap from the cursor position, the sub application display area is moved. Is possible.

  An example of moving the display area of the sub application will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, when the television application display area 73 ′ and the cursor position overlap, the television application display area 73 ′ is moved to the television application display area 73.

  This allows the user to recognize the character being input, so that it is possible to prevent the character input from being hindered by overlapping the display on the television and the character input position.

[Modification]
In the above-described embodiment, the display position of the television application display area may be movable by a user operation. For example, the display position of the television application display area is moved by dragging the television application display area with the user's finger or pen. Thereby, the television application display area can be arranged at a position desired by the user.

  FIG. 7 shows an example in which the display position of the television application display area 74 is moved by the finger 43. In the example of FIG. 7, the display position is moved from the position of the television application display area 74 ′ to the position of the television application display area 74 by moving from the position of the finger 43 ′ to the position of the finger 43.

[Others]
In the above-described embodiment, the television application has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a video playback application, an application that displays a still image, an application that displays text, or the like. May be. Note that the video or the like may be downloaded from the Internet or may be taken by the user himself / herself.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the software keyboard is displayed has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an option menu may be displayed using a pop-up.

  In the above-described embodiment, the size of the display area of the software keyboard does not change between the case where only the software keyboard is displayed and the case where the application is displayed in addition to the software keyboard. When the application is displayed, the display area of the software keyboard may be reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, a software keyboard assuming a Japanese keyboard has been described as an example. However, a keyboard such as English may be used.

[Example of software implementation]
The control unit 10 (particularly, the display area setting unit 31 and the application execution unit 32) of the mobile terminal 1 may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or a CPU (Central It may be realized by software using a Processing Unit.

  In the latter case, the mobile terminal 1 includes a CPU that executes instructions of a program that is software that implements each function, a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which the program and various data are recorded so as to be readable by a computer (or CPU), or A storage device (these are referred to as “recording media”), a RAM (Random Access Memory) that expands the program, and the like are provided. And the objective of this invention is achieved when a computer (or CPU) reads the said program from the said recording medium and runs it. As the recording medium, a “non-temporary tangible medium” such as a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, or the like can be used. The program may be supplied to the computer via an arbitrary transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast wave) that can transmit the program. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[Summary]
An information terminal (portable terminal 1) according to aspect 1 of the present invention is an information terminal that can simultaneously execute a plurality of applications on a display unit, and the software keyboard is activated by a first application that uses character input by the software keyboard. When the software keyboard detection means (display area setting unit 31) for detecting that the software keyboard is detected and the software keyboard detection means detect that the software keyboard is activated, a second application different from the first application is executed. When the application determination means (display area setting unit 31) for determining whether or not the application is in progress and the application determination means determine that the second application is being executed, the display area of the second application is Software keyboard Application display control means for changing the operation of so as not to inhibit (display area setting unit 31), and a.

  According to the above configuration, the display area of the second application does not hinder the operation on the software keyboard, so that the user can easily operate the software keyboard. In addition, since the display of the second application is continued, it is possible to prevent the user from overlooking the display content of the second application.

  Software keyboard is the same as when the corresponding part of the actual keyboard is pressed corresponding to the touched position when an image imitating the keyboard is displayed on the display unit and the displayed keyboard image is touched The process is performed.

  In the information terminal according to aspect 2 of the present invention, the application display control unit in aspect 1 has a size in which the display area of the second application is reduced while maintaining the aspect ratio, and the display position of the second application is A position that does not overlap with the displayed keyboard, the area for the specified number of characters from the cursor position indicating the position where the character input by the software keyboard is displayed, and the area that requires operation immediately after the end of character input It may be.

  According to the above configuration, the second application is displayed so as not to overlap with the keyboard, the area where characters are about to be input, and the area where an operation is required immediately after the end of character input. By displaying the application, it is possible to reliably prevent an operation on the software keyboard from being hindered.

  An information terminal according to aspect 3 of the present invention is the information terminal according to aspect 1 or 2, wherein the first application is an e-mail application, and the application display control means is configured to display a display position of the second application, It may be located on the upper side of the display unit in the case of being held vertically and on the right side of the center.

  When a software keyboard is activated in an e-mail application, a keyboard is often displayed on the lower side of the display unit, a character input area near the center, and a send button on the upper right side. According to the above configuration, the second application is displayed slightly to the right on the upper side of the display unit, so that it does not overlap with the displayed keyboard, the position where characters are first input in the character input area, and the send button. Position. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the operation on the software keyboard from being hindered while continuing to display the second application.

  In the information terminal according to aspect 4 of the present invention, the application display control means according to any one of aspects 1 to 3 is a region in which characters are input by the software keyboard in a part of the display region of the second application. It may be overlapped with a part of a certain character input area.

  According to said structure, the display area of a 2nd application can be made into the magnitude | size which a user's viewing is easy. For example, even when the second application is for displaying a television broadcast or playing a moving image, the user can clearly recognize the contents.

  In the information terminal according to aspect 5 of the present invention, the application display control means according to any one of aspects 1 to 4 includes a cursor position indicating a position where a character input by the software keyboard is displayed, and a display of the second application. When the area overlaps, the display position of the second application may be moved.

  According to the above configuration, the software keyboard continues to display the second application even when the character input by the software keyboard advances and the character input position overlaps the display area of the second application. It is possible to reliably prevent the operation on the hindering.

  The information terminal according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, the information terminal is realized by the computer by causing the computer to operate as each unit included in the information terminal. A control program and a computer-readable recording medium on which the control program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, a new technical feature can be formed by combining the technical means disclosed in each embodiment.

  The present invention can be used for an information terminal capable of executing a plurality of applications.

1 Mobile terminal (information terminal)
11 Touch Panel 21 Display Unit 22 Operation Accepting Unit 31 Display Area Setting Unit (Software Keyboard Detection Unit, Application Determination Unit, Display Control Unit)
32 Application execution unit 34 Software keyboard processing unit

Claims (5)

An information terminal capable of simultaneously executing a plurality of applications on the display unit,
Software keyboard detecting means for detecting that the software keyboard is activated by the first application using character input by the software keyboard;
Application determining means for determining whether a second application different from the first application is being executed when the software keyboard detecting means detects that the software keyboard is activated;
And an application display control unit that changes the display area of the second application so as not to hinder the operation on the software keyboard when the application determination unit determines that the second application is being executed. An information terminal characterized by that. The application display control means is
The display area of the second application is reduced in size while maintaining the aspect ratio,
It is necessary to operate the display position of the second application for a predetermined number of characters from the cursor position indicating the display position of the displayed keyboard, the character input by the software keyboard, and immediately after the end of the character input. The information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the information terminal is positioned so as not to overlap the area. The first application is an email application,
The said application display control means makes the display position of the said 2nd application the right side from the center above the said display part in case a user hold | grips the own terminal vertically. Information terminal described in 1.   The said application display control means makes a part of display area of the said 2nd application overlap with a part of character input area which is an area | region where a character is input with the said software keyboard. 4. The information terminal according to any one of 3.   The application display control means moves the display position of the second application when the cursor position indicating the position where the character input by the software keyboard is displayed overlaps the display area of the second application. The information terminal of any one of Claims 1-4.

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