JP2978761B2 - Window control apparatus and method in window system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a window control device in a window system, and more particularly to a window control device in a window system for performing multi-window display control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A first example of a conventional window control device is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5-216611.
The window control device described in this publication is characterized in that all objects can be operated by grouping objects in a window, and sequentially moving the uppermost portion of the stacked objects to the lowermost portion.

When a target object is selected by this window control device, it is necessary to sequentially move the uppermost portions of the objects arranged in a stack to the lowermost portion until the target object becomes the uppermost portion.

[0004] This is because the window control device can directly operate only the object located at the top of the stacked objects, and cannot directly operate the object hidden below.

[0005] A second example of the conventional window control device is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 2-504564.

[0006] The window control device described in this publication is characterized in that, when operating an object, the object can be operated in a manner of turning a page of a document stored in a folder.

In this window control device, when a target page (object) is selected, it is necessary to repeat a page turning operation until the target page is displayed on the screen.

This is because only pages displayed on the screen can be directly operated, and pages not displayed on the screen (hidden by other pages) cannot be directly operated.

As described above, in both the first and second examples of the conventional window control device, when the target object is hidden on the screen, the object cannot be directly selected. Operation is required, and the operability may be poor.

[0010]

A problem with the conventional window control device described above is that when a specific object is selected from a plurality of objects using a pointing device, the target object is not displayed on the screen. Therefore, since the object cannot be directly selected, an operator operation such as moving the object is required, and the operability may be poor.

The reason is that the conventional window control device cannot directly select an object that is not displayed on the screen.
This is because the target object must be displayed on the screen by moving the object displayed at the top to the bottom.

An object of the present invention is to detect an event such as a position movement of a pointing device such as a mouse or a pen input device or a button press by using an interrupt method or a timer device, and to detect the detected event information and the system information. The system displays the hidden object at the current position of the pointing device on the screen at the top of the screen by comparing it with the object information such as the display position of the object, so that the hidden object on the screen is displayed. Even if the operator does not perform operations such as moving the object displayed at the top of the screen to the bottom,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a window control device in a window system capable of selecting a target object.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A window control device in a window system according to the present invention includes an event such as position information of a pointing device such as a mouse or a pen input device detected by using an interrupt method or a timer device, or a button press. An event monitoring unit that analyzes the current position of the pointing device on the screen by receiving the event information of the pointing device from the event monitoring unit and comparing the event information with the object information such as the display position of the object on the system. An object display control unit for controlling display of an object hidden in the object, an object information management unit for managing object information and providing object information in response to an inquiry, and storing object information such as a display position of the object on the system. Oh It is constituted by a object information storage unit.

[Operation] The object display control unit determines which object is hidden at the current position of the pointing device notified from the event monitoring unit and determines what object is present. Inquire the object information management unit, including Thereafter, the object hidden at the pointing position can be displayed at the top of the screen based on the object information obtained by the inquiry.

Therefore, in order to operate a hidden object on the screen, there is no need for the operator to perform an operation such as moving the object displayed at the top of the screen to the bottom.

Further, the object display control unit detects that the pointing device has moved out of the display area of the object displayed at the top of the screen as described above by comparing the event information with the object information, and The display of the object displayed at the top can be returned to the original state.

The object display control unit is notified of the event of the display cancel instruction from the event monitoring unit, and if there is an object displayed at the top of the screen at the current pointer position, based on the display of the object. You can put it back.

Therefore, when the object displayed at the top of the screen becomes unnecessary, the object can be easily restored.

[0019]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a window control device in a window system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1A, according to a first embodiment of the present invention, position information of a pointing device such as a mouse or a pen input device detected by using an interrupt method, a timer device, or the like. , An event monitoring unit 1 for detecting and analyzing event information such as button information and the like, and an event monitoring unit 1
Object display control unit 2 that controls the display of objects based on the event information obtained from the object and the object information obtained by inquiring of the object information management unit 3
Using the position information of the pointing device notified from the object display control unit 2 as a key, the object information stored in the object information storage unit 4 is searched, and the object at the current pointing position is searched. The system includes an object information management unit 3 that provides object information, and an object information storage unit 4 that stores a group name, an object type, a display state, a display position, and the like to which the objects on the system belong.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 (B), (C), (D) and FIGS.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the event monitoring unit of the window control device in the window system of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the event monitoring unit 1 detects the occurrence of an event using a hardware interrupt of a pointing device such as a mouse or a pen input device, or a timer device.

When an event of the pointing device occurs, the event monitoring unit 1 obtains pointer position information, button information, and the like from the device, and analyzes the contents of the event. If the content of the event at this time is to enable the function of the present invention, the event information (position information and button information) of the device that occurs thereafter is notified to the object display control unit 2.

Further, if the content of the event is an event for disabling the function of the present invention, the event information of the device that occurs thereafter will not be notified to the object display control unit 2 until the function is enabled again.

Next, the operation of the object display control unit 2 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment of the object display control unit of the window control device in the window system of the present invention.

According to FIG. 3, the object display control unit 2
Determines whether the content of the event notified from the event monitoring unit 1 is due to movement of the pointing device or other factors.

If the event is caused by the movement of the pointing device, the object display control unit 2 sends an instruction to the object information management unit 3 to confirm what object exists at the destination of the pointer. that point computing position, there is any object, including hidden object, inquiring the type, display position, the display state or the like.

The display of the object is controlled based on the object information obtained by the inquiry.

When the object display control unit 2 determines that there is an object hidden on the screen to which the pointer is moved, if the object is in the icon state, the icon is displayed at the top of the screen. If the type is an object in a window state, the window is displayed at the top of the screen.

How the screen display is changed by the display control of the object display control unit 2 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to (C) and (D).

FIG. 1B shows a state in which objects a, b, and d are hidden and displayed in a window C. FIG. Objects a, b, d. . . Is hidden under the window C and is not actually displayed.

FIG. 1C shows that the icon a is displayed at the top of the screen when the pointer moves to the position where the object a in the icon state exists.

When the pointer is moved out of the display area of the icon a while the icon a is displayed at the top of the screen, the icon a is returned to the original display, and is again shown in FIG. Is displayed. Further, when the pointer moves to the position where the object d in the window state exists, the window d and the objects d1 and d2 registered in the window d are displayed at the top of the screen.
Can also be displayed. This state is represented by
It is a division diagram (D) of FIG.

The basic operation of the window system, such as display of a hidden object and saving / restoring of a screen state caused by canceling the display, is the same as the conventional general window display control.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the object information management unit of the window control device in the window system of the present invention.

According to FIG. 4, the object information management unit 3
Retrieves the object information stored in the object information storage unit 4 by using, as a key, the position information of the pointing device notified at the same time by the inquiry from the object display control unit 2, and hides the object information at the current pointing position. An object is searched for, and the object information (type, display state, display position, etc.) is notified to the object display control unit 2.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a second example of the object display control section of the window control device in the window system of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

According to FIG. 5, the object display control unit 2
Determines whether the content of the event notified from the event monitoring unit 1 shown in the first embodiment is due to the movement of the pointing device or other factors.

If the event is accompanied by the movement of the pointing device, the object display control unit 2 sends the object information to the object information management unit 3 to confirm what kind of object exists at the destination of the pointer. , its pointing position, there is any object, including hidden object, inquiring the type, display position, the display state or the like.

An object display control is performed based on the object information obtained by the inquiry.

When the object display control unit 2 determines that an object hidden on the screen exists at the destination of the pointer, if the type is an object in the icon state, the icon is displayed at the top of the screen. If the type is an object in a window state, the window is displayed at the top of the screen.

When an instruction to cancel the display of an object is given by an event such as a button operation, the object display control unit 2 determines whether the object displayed at the top of the screen in the above-described procedure already exists at the current position of the pointer. Then, the object displayed at the top of the screen is returned to the original state.

This operation is effective in a case where it is desired to return to the original screen state while keeping the mouse position fixed.

[0047]

As described above, the window control apparatus in the window system according to the present invention allows an operator to directly select a target object even if the target object is hidden on the screen. Thereby, the operation of the pointing device for displaying the hidden object on the screen is facilitated, and the smooth window operation can be performed.

The reason is that even if the target object is hidden on the screen, the operator performs an operation for displaying the hidden object on the screen, such as moving the object displayed at the top of the screen to the bottom. This is because a hidden object can be displayed simply by moving the pointing position, and the target object can be selected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a window control device in a window system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of an event monitoring unit of the window control device in the window system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the first embodiment of the object display control unit of the window control device in the window system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the object information management unit of the window control device in the window system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of an object display control unit of the window control device in the window system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Event monitoring part 2 Object display control part 3 Object information management part 4 Object information storage part

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An event monitoring unit for detecting and analyzing event information of position information or button information of a pointing device of a mouse or a pen input device detected using an interrupt method or a timer device, and a group to which an object on the system belongs. An object information storage unit storing a name, an object type, a display state, and a display position, and searching for object information stored in the object information storage unit, searching for an object at a current pointing position, and then searching for the object information And an object display for controlling the display of hidden objects based on the event information obtained from the event monitoring unit and the object information obtained by inquiring of the object information management unit. And a control unit. The window control device in the window system characterized. 2. The window control device according to claim 1, wherein an event of a position movement of a mouse or a pointing device of a pen input device or a button press event is detected using an interrupt method or a timer device, and the detected event is detected. By comparing the information with the object information of the display position of the object on the system, the system displays the object hidden at the current position of the pointing device on the screen at the top of the screen, so that the target object can be displayed. A window control method in a window system, characterized by selecting. 3. The display of the object displayed on the top of the screen is restored by detecting that the pointing device has moved out of the display area of the object displayed on the top of the screen. A window control method in the window system described above. 4. An object for displaying the object displayed at the top of the screen at the current pointer position by detecting an event of an instruction to cancel the display by operating the button of the pointing device. 3. A window control method in a window system according to claim 2, wherein