JP2622023B2 - Window management method - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a window management system, and more particularly to a method of deleting and using a plurality of windows in a tiling type window arrangement in a work using a visual display device. The present invention relates to a window management method that facilitates expansion (deletion of one window and accompanying expansion of adjacent windows) and change (enlargement or reduction of one window and reduction or expansion of adjacent windows).

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in this type of window management method, the arrangement of windows (including viewports in a broad sense) is managed only by the coordinate values of the windows, and is written in the windows without having any adjacent relationship between the windows. The data was output to the visible display device as it was (it may disappear due to overlapping windows and moving out of the visible display). For this reason, when deleting, expanding, and changing windows, it is necessary to update the windows one by one or to specify the update for all the affected windows, and to restore the state before the update, one window is required. You had to undo or recreate the window in some cases.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the above-described conventional window management method, the arrangement of the windows is managed only by the coordinate values of the windows.
Since there is no adjacent relationship between windows, there is a disadvantage that operations are complicated when deleting, expanding, or changing windows.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned point, an object of the present invention is to group windows, treat them as a window layer having a hierarchical structure, and manage adjacent relations between windows by using a surface table, a line table, and a point table. It is an object of the present invention to provide a window management method which enables a change to be performed with a minimum necessary instruction.

[Means for solving the problem]

A window management system according to the present invention is a window management system for managing the arrangement of windows. In the window management system, windows are grouped and managed as a window layer having a hierarchical structure. A point table, table creation means for creating a surface table, a line table, and a point table in conjunction with generation of a window; writing means for writing the surface table, the line table, and the point table into a storage device; Reading means for reading the line table and the point table; table search means for searching the surface table, the line table and the point table stored in the storage device; and a window to be deleted, expanded and changed when the window is deleted, expanded and changed Face Table updating means for updating a table, a line table, and a point table of a window adjacent thereto, if any, so as to maintain an adjacent relation, and a surface table, a line table, and a point table. And visual display means for allocating a window to a screen based on the

[Action]

In the window management method of the present invention, the surface table, the line table, and the point table group windows and manage them as a window layer having a hierarchical structure, and manage the adjacent relationship between windows of the same window layer.
A table creating means creates a surface table, a line table and a point table with the generation of the window, a writing means writes the surface table, the line table and the point table in the storage device, and a reading means reads the surface table, the line table from the storage device. And a point table, and a table retrieving means retrieves the surface table, the line table and the point table stored in the storage device, and the table renewing means retrieves the surface of the window to be deleted / extended and changed when the window is deleted / extended / changed. The table, line table, and point table are updated, and if there is an adjacent window, the surface table, line table, and point table of the window are updated so as to maintain the adjacent relationship, and the visible display means is the surface table, line table, and point table. Windows to screen based on That.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a window management system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The window management method according to the present embodiment includes a table creating unit 1, a table updating unit 2, a table searching unit 3, a writing unit 4, a reading unit 5, a visible display unit 6, a storage device 7, a visible display The main part is constituted by the device 8. In addition,
Symbols S1, S2, and S3 indicate a window generation operation, a window deletion / expansion operation, and a window change operation, respectively, and each operation is performed toward the visible display device 8. There is no particular limitation on the order and the number of the window generation operation S1, the window deletion / expansion operation S2, and the window change operation S3.

In the window management method according to the present embodiment, the window arrangement information is stored in the storage device 7 in the area table 11 and the line table 12.
And are managed in association with each other as a point table 13.

By the way, there are two types of window arrangements: a tiling type in which windows do not overlap, and an overlapping type in which windows can be overlapped. In the window management system of this embodiment, a tiling type window arrangement and an overlapping type are used. Window arrangement can be mixed.

In the window management method according to the present embodiment, windows are grouped into a hierarchical structure, and each hierarchy is distinguished as a window layer. The window can be a transparent window (a window with only a frame defined), but the display priority of the window for each window layer (meaningful when overlapping), display priority between window layers (In this embodiment, since the emphasis is placed on the arrangement of the windows, the display priority is not particularly shown, but is managed by the surface table 11).

The window layer has one unusual window layer, which is the topmost window layer actually allocated on the visible display device 8, and is called a perspective window layer. Each perspective window of the perspective window layer is associated with another window layer and output to the visible display device 8.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a perspective window layer. Here, the perspective window layer is provided with two perspective windows that vertically divide the screen of the visible display device 8 into upper and lower windows. Corresponds to the window layer 1, and the window layer 2 corresponds to the lower transparent window and is output to the visible display device 8.

Referring to FIG. 3, the surface table 11 is a table for holding information relating to the surface of the window, and includes a surface number a, a busy flag b, a point number c at the four ends of the surface, a line number d constituting the surface,
It has fields of the number e of lines or points constituting the surface, the window arrangement method (overlapping / diling) f, the window layer number p, and the window layer number q to be viewed.

The surface number a is an identification number corresponding to one of the windows.

The in-use flag b determines whether or not the table data corresponding to the surface number a is in use (valid / invalid).
This is for duplicating each of the data that has become dummy (invalid) at the time of updating 11 by using a flag instead of dumming.

The point number c at the four ends of the surface has a point number 1 on the point table 13 corresponding to the points at the four ends of the window. In the example of FIG. 4 (b), points P1, P2, P3, P4 and P5 are provided in this order (FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (f) illustrate the arrangement of windows in a certain window layer. FIG. 4 shows an example in which there are eight windows as shown in FIG.

The line number d forming the surface has the line number g on the line table 12 corresponding to the frame surrounding the window. In the example of FIG. 4C, lines L5, L6, L7, L1, and L2 are provided in this order.

The number e of lines or points forming the surface has the number of points or lines forming the window.

The window arrangement method f is an identifier for identifying whether the arrangement of windows is a tiling type in which windows do not overlap or an overlapping type in which windows overlap. In the window management method according to the present embodiment, it is an important method to provide an adjacent relationship between adjacent windows, particularly in the case of a tiling type window arrangement.

The window layer number p is an identification number indicating a window layer including a window. The perspective window of the perspective window layer is assigned a unique window layer number p (for example, 0), and the window of the normal window layer is assigned another unique window layer number p.

When the window is a perspective window of the perspective window layer, the perspective window layer number q has a window layer number p of a window layer that can be seen from the perspective window.

The line table 12 is a table for holding information on a frame surrounding a window, and includes a line number g, a busy flag h, a point number (start point, end point) i of a line end point, and a surface number (up / down) in contact with the line.
(Right face, bottom / left face) j and a line horizontal / vertical flag k.

The line number g is an identification number corresponding to one line of the frame surrounding the window.

It is determined whether or not the table data corresponding to the in-use flag h and the line number g is in use (valid / invalid).
This is for duplicating each data with a flag without dumming the data which becomes dummy (invalid) at the time of updating.

The point number i of the end point of the line has the start point and the end point of the line as point numbers on the point table 13, and has the start point and the end point in this order. The start point and the top are the end points. In the example shown in FIG.
L1 has a start point P5 and an end point P4.

The surface number j in contact with the line has the surface number on the surface table 11 of the window on both sides of the line. In the example shown in FIG. 4 (e), the line L2 represents the window F2 on the upper side and the window F1 on the lower side.
have.

The line horizontal / vertical flag k is an identifier indicating whether the line is horizontal or vertical.

The point table 13 is a table for holding information on points at the four ends of the window, and has fields of a point number 1, a busy flag m, a line number n in the vertical and horizontal directions, and x and y coordinate values o of the point. doing.

The point number 1 is an identification number corresponding to the end point of the window.

The in-use flag m determines whether or not the table data corresponding to the point number 1 is in use (valid / invalid).
This is for duplicating each of the data which has become dummy (invalid) at the time of updating 13 by using a flag instead of dumming.

The line numbers n in the up, down, left, and right directions have line numbers on the line table 12 corresponding to the lines in the up, down, left, and right directions as the start point and the end point. In the example shown in FIG. 4 (f), the point P5 is a line L1, L3, L4.
And L2 in order.

The x, y coordinate value o of the point has a coordinate value on the definition of the window.

Next, the operation of the thus configured window management system of the present embodiment will be described.

When the window generation operation S1 is performed, the table generation unit 1 obtains the window area, window generation pattern (visible division pattern), window layer type, and the like of the window generation information from the visible display device 8, and displays the obtained information on the surface. The data is developed into a table 11, a line table 12, and a point table 13 and stored in the storage device 7 using the writing means 4. The result of the window generation is displayed on the visible display device 8 using the visible display means 6.

When the window deletion / expansion operation S2 is performed, the table updating means 2 obtains the deletion window from the visible display device 8, and stores the current information of the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13 in the storage device 7. The storage device 7 is read from the storage device 7 using the reading device 5, and whether or not the deleted window information exists in the storage device 7 is checked by the table search device 3. If the deletion window information exists in the storage device 7, the table updating means 2 creates information for deleting the deletion window from the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13 in the storage device 7. And stored in the storage device 7. Further, table updating means 2
With reference to the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13, if there is a window that can be extended by a window adjacent to the deletion window as reuse of the deletion window area, the window is extended. Is created and stored in the storage device 7 using the writing means 4. The result of the window deletion / expansion is displayed on the visible display device 8 using the visible display means 6.

When the window change operation S3 is performed, the table updating means 2 obtains the area change window from the visible display device 8 and reads out the current information of the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13 in the storage device 7. The information is read from the storage device 7 using the means 5, and the table search means 3 checks whether or not the area change window information exists in the storage device 7. If the area change window information exists in the storage device 7, the table updating means 2
Information on the area change window of the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13 in the area, and write means 4
Is stored in the storage device 7. Further, the table updating means 2 refers to the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13 to reduce an adjacent window when enlarging the area of the area change window, and conversely reduce the area of the area change window. In this case, in order to enlarge the adjacent window, the change information of the adjacent window is created and stored in the storage device 7 using the writing means 4. The result of the window change is displayed on the visible display device 8 using the visible display means 6.

Next, FIGS. 5 to 7 show changes in the state of the visible display device 8 and changes in the states of the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13 due to the window deletion / extension operation S2 and the window change operation S3. This will be described specifically with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state before deletion / extension and change of a window. Here, two windows F1 and
It is assumed that F2 is generated with an adjacent relationship, and information is registered in the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13.

Here, when the window deletion / extension operation S2 for deleting the window F1 is performed, only the window identifier of the deletion window F1 (corresponding to the surface number F1 on the surface table 11) is input, and the data on the surface table 11 is deleted. Since the line table 12 is searched from the line numbers L1, L2, L3, and L7 constituting the surface, and the surface number F2 in contact with the line on the line table 12 can be known, it is understood that the window F2 can be expanded.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the result of deleting the window F1 and expanding the window F2.
Also, only the information of the window F2 is registered in the point table 13 (the information of the window F1 is a dummy and is not shown).

As described above, by using the information of the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13, the data input of the window F2 which is extended with the deletion of the window F1 becomes unnecessary, and the data input of only the window identifier of the deleted window F1 is performed. Then, the adjacent windows F1 and F2 can be deleted / extended (this is the first feature of the window management system of the present embodiment).

Next, when the window change operation S3 for enlarging the window F2 is performed from the state shown in FIG. 5, as in the case of the window delete / extend operation S2, the change window F2
By inputting the data of the window identifier F2 and the change position, the line numbers L5, L7, L6 and L4 constituting the surface on the surface table 11 are converted to the point numbers of the line end points on the line table 12, and further on the point table 13. Search and update the x, y coordinates of the point.

In FIG. 5, the end points where the window F2 and the window F1 are in contact with each other are P5 and P6 having the same point number. Therefore, when the window F2 is changed, the window F1 is automatically changed. FIG. 7 shows this result, and only the x and y coordinate values of the points related to the points P5 and P6 on the point table 13 are updated.

As described above, by using the information of the surface table 11, the line table 12, and the point table 13, in the window change operation S3 for changing the window F2, data input of each of the window F2 to be enlarged and the window F1 to be reduced is performed. Is unnecessary, and the adjacent windows F1 and F2 can be changed with a minimum necessary data input (this is the second feature of the window management system of the present embodiment).

Further, in the window management method of the present embodiment, when five windows F1 to F5 are provided in one window layer as shown in FIG. 8A, the window F5 is set as shown in FIG. 8B. When simultaneously processing a plurality of windows, such as when deleting and expanding other windows F1 to F4 collectively, input can be greatly simplified.

By the way, the perspective window layer can also delete, extend, and change the perspective window, like the other window layers. In this case, the output of the window layer associated with each perspective window of the perspective window layer is performed. However, the window of another window layer other than the perspective window layer need not be updated. Conversely, when a window is deleted, expanded, or changed on the window layer side associated with the perspective window of the perspective window layer, the area where the window layer is output changes in the perspective window of the perspective window layer. However, it is not necessary to update the perspective window layer and the window of the window layer that has not been deleted, expanded, or changed.

For example, when it is desired to enlarge the output area of the window layer 1 in FIG. 2, it is only necessary to enlarge the upper perspective window of the perspective window layer downward.
And it is not necessary to update the window layer 2. As described above, by providing the perspective window layer, the output state of the visible display device 8 can be easily changed, and the allocation of windows on the visible display device 8 is easily performed efficiently (this is the This is the third feature of the window management method of (1). However, when it is not necessary to change the window, the window layer to be displayed may be directly assigned to the visible display device 8 without providing the perspective window layer.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, windows are grouped and treated as a window layer having a hierarchical structure, and adjacent relations between windows are managed by a surface table, a line table, and a point table. There is an effect that the change can be performed with a minimum necessary instruction, and simultaneous deletion, expansion, and change of a plurality of windows can be performed.

Further, by providing a perspective window layer between the window and the visible display device, window layers of different hierarchies can be displayed on one screen, and there is an effect that the windows can be efficiently arranged easily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a window management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram in which windows are grouped and treated as a window layer having a hierarchical structure, and a perspective window layer for perspectiveing the window layer is provided. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of a surface table, a line table and a point table in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (f) are surface tables and a line table shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example for explaining the contents of a point table, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a surface table, a line table and a point table before a window is changed, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a surface table, a line table, and a point table. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a surface table, a line table, and a point table after a window is changed. Figure 8 (a) and (b) is a diagram illustrating the simultaneous deletion and expansion of the window by the window management system of the present embodiment. In the figure, 1 ... table creation means, 2 ... table update means, 3 ... table search means, 4 ... write means, 5 ... read means, 6 ... visible display means, 7 ... storage device, 8 .. Visible display device, 11 surface table, 12 line table, 13 point table, S1 window creation operation, S2 window deletion / extension operation, S3 window change operation.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A window management system for managing the arrangement of windows, comprising: a surface table, a line table, and a point table for grouping windows and managing them as a window layer having a hierarchical structure, and managing an adjacent relationship between windows of the same window layer. Table creation means for creating a surface table, a line table, and a point table in conjunction with generation of a window; writing means for writing the surface table, the line table, and the point table into a storage device; Reading means for reading a point table; table searching means for searching a surface table, a line table and a point table stored in the storage device; and a surface table of a window to be deleted, expanded and changed when a window is deleted, expanded or changed , Wire tape Table updating means for updating a point table, a line table, a line table, and a point table of an adjacent window, if any, so as to maintain an adjacent relationship, and a window based on the surface table, the line table, and the point table. And a visible display means for assigning to a screen. 2. A window management system according to claim 1, wherein a perspective window layer is provided at the top of the window layer, and window layers of different hierarchies can be simultaneously allocated to the screen by seeing through the perspective window.