JP3635853B2 - Icon display control apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an icon display control apparatus and method, and more particularly to display control when a new icon is additionally displayed in a window.
[Prior art]
Information processing using icons is rapidly spreading. In the computer screen, each executable file and data file is displayed as a specific icon, and various operations can be performed using the icon. Some machines that control printing, copying, facsimile transmission / reception, etc. have introduced the concept of icons. On such machines, for example, individual documents are represented as icons.
[0003]
As described above, when creating a new file on a computer, giving an iconization command to an open file, or adding a new page on a print server, the window on the screen A new icon is additionally displayed.
[0004]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-16355 describes several techniques related to a new icon addition display method. In the first method (first prior art), new icons are displayed so as to be left-justified with respect to the window below the icon group displayed in the window. In this method, when a plurality of new icons are sequentially displayed, the new icons are sequentially displayed on the lower left side.
[0005]
In the second method (second prior art) in the above publication, raster scanning is performed with respect to the icon group displayed in the window (rightward scanning is performed sequentially from the upper stage to the lower stage for each stage). A search is performed to search for an empty space where a new icon can be added. If there is such an empty space, a new icon is additionally displayed in that space.
[0006]
In the third method (third prior art) in the above publication, new icons are additionally displayed along the raster scanning direction from the upper left corner of the window regardless of the arrangement of the icons displayed at that time. In this case, there is a possibility that overlap occurs between icons.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when a new icon is additionally displayed in a window in which a plurality of icons are already displayed, it is desired to have a layout in which each icon is easy to see and easy to understand as a new icon as a whole window.
[0008]
However, in the first prior art described above, when a plurality of new icons are sequentially displayed, the row of new icons extends downward, and there is a problem that the arrangement balance of the icons becomes worse when viewed as a whole window. Since the icon display area (that is, the window) is usually horizontally long, it is not good to arrange a plurality of new icons vertically, and the operability is lowered.
[0009]
In the second prior art, a new icon is displayed in the already displayed icon group, and there is a problem that it is difficult to know which is the new icon. Of course, it is possible to highlight a newly displayed new icon, but even in such a case, even if a new icon is highlighted in a state where many icons are mixedly displayed in an unaligned state. Again, it is difficult to recognize new icons immediately.
[0010]
Further, in the third prior art, there is a high possibility that a new icon overlaps an already displayed icon. In such a case, there is a problem that the distinguishability of the superimposed icon is lowered.
[0011]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-258289 discloses a process in a case where a new image is additionally displayed in a state where a plurality of images are displayed. However, this method does not take into consideration the prevention of overlapping of each element.
[0012]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it easy to see that each icon is easy to see and to be a new icon when a new icon is additionally displayed in the window. It is in.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in an icon display control device for controlling the addition display of a new icon in a window, the lowest icon is determined among the icon group currently displayed in the window. Considering the condition that the lowest icon determination means and the right edge of the window and the overlap between the icons do not occur , it is determined whether or not there is an additional space that can additionally display a new icon on the right side of the lowest icon. A space presence / absence determining means, a first display control means for executing a first display control for displaying a new icon at a first position to the right of the bottom icon when the additional space exists, and the additional space If not, the second display control to display the new icon to a lower end of the lowermost icon in the second position based on the left edge of the window A second display control means for executing, only contains the new icon said first display control in accordance with the presence or absence of additional space or the second display control for each additional display is being selected.
[0014]
According to the above configuration, if there is an additional space to the right of the bottom icon, a new icon is additionally displayed at that position (first position), and there must be an additional space to the right of the bottom icon. In the next row, a new icon is added and displayed left-justified. When new icons are sequentially displayed in addition, the first display control or the second display control is selected for each new icon according to the presence or absence of the additional space, and as a result, the new icon is displayed as long as the additional space exists. Are displayed side by side, and new icons are displayed left-justified in the next row from the time when there is no more space.
[0015]
Therefore, according to the present invention, there is an advantage that an easy-to-view arrangement can be realized because no overlapping occurs between icons, and that a new icon can be easily understood and an empty space can be used efficiently.
[0016]
In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the bottom icon determination means determines the bottom icon on the basis of at least one of the upper end coordinate and the lower end coordinate of each icon.
[0017]
If the upper end position is used as a reference, an empty space can be used effectively even when icons of different sizes are scattered. If the lower end position is used as a reference, it is possible to construct a layout that can be easily understood as a new icon.
[0018]
In addition, when determining the additional space or adding and displaying a new icon, it is desirable to set a margin around the icon so that adjacent icons do not come into contact with each other and are difficult to see. Further, the concept of the window includes all the concepts of the area where icons are displayed, and the present invention can be applied regardless of the presence or absence of scrolling in the window. The window may be enlarged / reduced. In any case, according to the present invention, the above-described new icon addition position determination is basically performed within an area actually visible through the window.
Preferably, a plurality of icons having different sizes are displayed in the window, and the bottom icon determining unit determines the bottom icon based on the upper end coordinates of the icons. Preferably, the lowest icon determination means determines the lowest and rightmost icon among the icons currently displayed in the window as the lowest icon. Preferably, an icon list for managing position information including the coordinates of the upper left corner and the coordinates of the lower right corner is provided for each icon, and determination of the lowermost icon based on the position information and presence / absence of the additional space Is made.
[0019]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a icon display control method for controlling the additional display of a new icon to the window, first predetermined in icon group that is currently displayed in the window The one of the protruding icons is determined in consideration of the step of determining the protruding icon that protrudes most in the reference direction, and the condition that one window end in the second reference direction orthogonal to the first reference direction and the icon do not overlap. A step of determining whether or not there is an additional space capable of additionally displaying a new icon on the window end side, and when there is the additional space, a first position on the one window end side of the protruding icon and performing a first display control to display the new icon, if the additional space is not present, the first reference side of the projecting icon Seen containing a step of executing a second display control to display the new icon, to the second position based on the other of the window end of the a next stage the second reference direction in said each additional display of the new icon The first display control or the second display control is selected according to the presence or absence of an additional space .
[0020]
The present invention is preferably applied to a system in which the main array direction is the raster scanning direction (in this case, the first reference direction is the downward direction and the second reference direction is the right direction), but the main direction is the other direction. The present invention can also be applied to a method having an arrangement direction.
[0021]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0022]
FIG. 1 shows a main configuration of a system to which an icon display control method according to the present invention is applied. This system is realized by, for example, a general-purpose computer.
Connected to the bus 10 are a CPU 12 that executes information processing according to a program, a storage unit 14 that stores various programs and data, a display 16 that displays icons, and an input device 18 that is operated by a user. Yes. The storage unit 14 stores a program for executing display control for the display 16 and various application programs. Further, an icon list shown in FIG. 2 is formed on the storage unit 14 according to the control of the display control program. The display device 16 is a display. The interface unit and the like are not shown. The input device 18 is composed of, for example, a mouse or a keyboard, and the interface unit and the like are not shown for the input device 18.
[0023]
FIG. 2 illustrates an icon list 20 for managing icons displayed on the display 16. In this example, the icon list includes a list number 22, an icon name 24, and position information 26 for each icon. The position information 26 indicates the position of each icon in the window. In this example, the position of the icon is managed by the coordinates of the upper left corner and the lower right corner of the icon. The system shown in FIG. 1 is a server having a document management function for controlling, for example, printing and facsimile transmission / reception. In such a system, an icon is assigned to each document. Has been granted.
[0024]
In the system shown in FIG. 1, the right adjacent display or the lower left-justified display described below is selected when the new icon is added and displayed. This will be described below.
[0025]
For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the state in which a plurality of icons are displayed as already displayed icons in any of the windows 28 in the display device 16, in the present embodiment, The lowermost icon 30 is identified. Then, it is determined whether or not there is a space in which a new icon 32 can be additionally displayed on the right side of the bottom icon under the condition that there is no overlap between icons. If such an additional space exists, the first new icon display process is executed as shown in FIG. 3, and a new icon 32 is additionally displayed at a certain interval to the right of the bottom icon 30. The
[0026]
On the other hand, when such an additional space does not exist on the right side of the lowest icon 30, the second new icon display process is executed as shown in FIG. A new icon 32 is additionally displayed on the left side of the line.
[0027]
Therefore, according to the control as described above, when a new icon is additionally displayed, the new icon is not always displayed in the lowermost row, but is displayed on the right side or on the lower left according to the presence or absence of additional space. Is selected, it is possible to clearly express that the icon is a new icon while effectively utilizing the empty space in the window.
[0028]
FIG. 5 shows an example in which new icons 32 are sequentially added and displayed. As shown in FIG. 5, there is an additional space on the right side of the bottom icon 30, and after the new icons 32 are additionally displayed in order by using the space, in order to avoid overlapping between the icons, From the third new icon, the lower left row is added and displayed sequentially. Therefore, as described above, it is possible to achieve both the effective use of the empty space in the window and the clarification that it is a new icon at the same time.
[0029]
The position of each icon in the window is managed by the icon list shown in FIG. Of course, when a plurality of windows are displayed on the screen at the same time, an icon list is created for each window, and the new icon addition display processing according to the present embodiment is executed.
[0030]
Next, the icon display control method according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
[0031]
This routine is executed when a window is opened and a new icon is additionally displayed in a state where a plurality of icons are already displayed in the window. First, in S101, 1 is assigned to the variable n as an initial value.
[0032]
In S102, the nth icon in the icon list shown in FIG. That is, the first icon in the icon list 20 is the icon A.
[0033]
In S103, the variable n is incremented by one. In S104, the nth icon in the icon list is specified as the icon B. In the first stage, the second icon is identified as icon B.
[0034]
In S105, the vertical positions of the icons A and B are compared. In this embodiment, the coordinates of the lower end of the icon are compared, and if it is determined that the icon A is lower as a result of comparing the coordinates, S108 described later is executed, and the icon B Is determined to be below, S107 to be described later is executed, and if it is determined that both positions are the same, S106 is executed.
[0035]
In S106, the horizontal positions of the icons A and B are compared. In this embodiment, the coordinates of the left end of the icon are compared. If the icon A is on the right side, S108 is executed, and if the icon B is on the right side, S107 is executed.
[0036]
In S107, the icon that has been icon B until then is redefined as icon A. In S108, it is determined whether n has reached the maximum value. That is, in S108, it is determined whether or not the above determination is made for all icons listed in the icon list 20.
[0037]
Therefore, the lowest icon in the displayed icon group is specified as the icon A by repeatedly executing the above-described determination for each icon along the list number. When there are a plurality of bottom icons, it is determined that the icon present on the rightmost among them is the bottom icon.
[0038]
In S109, the provisional x coordinate of the new icon is calculated. Specifically, the x coordinate of the new icon is defined as the calculation result of the x coordinate of icon A + the width of icon A + the margin between icons (fixed length). Here, the x-coordinate of the icon A is, for example, the x-coordinate at the left end of the icon A, and the width of the icon A is obtained by comparing the coordinates of the upper left corner and the lower right corner in the x direction according to the example shown in FIG. Identified. The margin between icons is a blank area that is set to improve the appearance by preventing adjacent icons when a plurality of icons are displayed.
[0039]
In S110 in FIG. 7, if a new icon is additionally displayed immediately to the right of the lowest icon determined as described above, it is determined whether or not the new icon fits in the window. Specifically, the x-coordinate of the new icon tentatively determined in S109 is compared with the coordinate of the right edge of the window and the presence / absence of an additional space is determined. Here, if it is determined that a new icon cannot be additionally displayed in the space adjacent to the right, a second new icon display process is executed in S111, which will be described later, and the new icon is left-aligned at the next level of the bottom icon. Will be displayed.
[0040]
On the other hand, when it is determined in S110 that there is an additional space in which a new icon can be additionally displayed, the following steps are executed in order to execute overlap determination between icons. In S112, the image area of the new icon is specified. That is, the image area of the new icon is calculated based on the x coordinate and the width of the new icon. In S113, 1 is assigned to the variable m as an initial value.
[0041]
In S114, the mth icon is specified from the icon list. In S115, it is determined whether or not the areas overlap between the new icon and the mth icon. Here, if there is an overlapping area with any of the icons, S111 is immediately executed. On the other hand, if there is no such overlap, it is determined in S116 whether or not the variable m has reached the maximum value. If it is not the maximum value, the variable m is incremented by 1 in S117, and duplication between the icons is sequentially determined according to the icon list described above. If there is finally no overlap between the icons, the first new icon display process is executed in S118, and a new icon is additionally displayed on the right side of the bottom icon.
[0042]
FIG. 8 shows the specific contents of S118 shown in FIG. First, in S201, the x coordinate of the new icon is calculated. This is the same as that shown in S109, and the step of S201 may be omitted if necessary. In S202, the y coordinate of the new icon is calculated. Specifically, the y coordinate of the upper end of the lowest icon is used as the y coordinate of the new icon. In S203, a new icon is additionally displayed on the right side of the bottom icon while the coordinates of the lower left corner are specified by the x coordinate and the y coordinate determined as described above.
[0043]
FIG. 9 shows specific contents of S111 shown in FIG.
[0044]
In S301, the x coordinate of the new icon is calculated. Specifically, the x coordinate of the new icon is calculated by adding the margin (fixed length) between icons to the x coordinate of the left end of the window. In S302, the y coordinate of the new icon is calculated. Specifically, the y coordinate of the new icon is determined by adding the margin (fixed length) between the icons to the y coordinate of the lower end of the lowest icon. In S303, a new icon is additionally displayed with the window left aligned.
[0045]
In the above embodiment, the lower end of the icon is used as a reference for determining the lowest icon as an example, but the coordinates of the upper end of each icon may be used as the determination reference. Also in this case, the icon display control according to the present embodiment can be realized by a process similar to the process shown in each drawing such as FIG. Incidentally, when the upper end is used as the determination criterion, as shown in FIG. 10, the new icon 32 is not affected even if there is an icon 30 </ b> A having a lower end lower than the lowermost icon 30. Can be additionally displayed, and an empty space can be effectively used as a display area.
[0046]
Note that the lowermost icon may be determined using other criteria in addition to the lower end and the upper end. Further, in relation to the window, the margin may be a variable according to the size of the window without making the fixed length. If the upper end is used as a criterion, there is an advantage that an empty space can be effectively used particularly when icons of different sizes are displayed as shown in FIG.
[0047]
The specific example of the icon list shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and the position of each icon may be grasped based on other criteria. For example, the center point of the icon can be used. However, in order to determine the overlap between icons, it is necessary to manage information that can grasp the shape of the entire icon anyway.
[0048]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when a new icon is additionally displayed in the window, it is possible to realize a display form in which each icon is easy to see and easy to understand that it is a new icon.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a specific example of a system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of an icon list.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a result of a first new icon display process.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a result of a second new icon display process.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in a window when a plurality of new icons are sequentially displayed in the present embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing icon display control according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing icon display control according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of the first new icon display process shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of the second new icon display process shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the upper end of the icon is used as the lowest icon determination criterion.
[Explanation of symbols]
20 icon list, 28 windows, 30 bottom icon, 32 new icon.

Claims (6)

In an icon display control device for controlling the addition display of a new icon in a window,
Bottom icon determination means for determining a bottom icon among a group of icons currently displayed in the window;
Considering the condition that no overlap occurs between the right edge of the window and the icon , a space presence / absence determining means for determining whether or not there is an additional space that can additionally display a new icon on the right side of the bottom icon;
First display control means for executing a first display control for displaying a new icon at a first position right next to the bottom icon when the additional space exists;
Second display control means for executing a second display control for displaying a new icon at a second position based on the left end of the window at the bottom of the lowermost icon when the additional space does not exist;
Only including,
The icon display control device , wherein the first display control or the second display control is selected for each additional display of the new icon according to the presence or absence of the additional space . The apparatus of claim 1.
The bottom icon determination means
An icon display control apparatus, wherein the lowest icon is determined based on at least one of an upper end coordinate and a lower end coordinate of each icon. The apparatus of claim 2.
A plurality of icons of different sizes are displayed in the window,
The lowermost icon determination means determines the lowermost icon with reference to the upper end coordinate of each icon. The apparatus of claim 1.
The lowest icon determination means determines the lowest and most right icon among the icons currently displayed in the window as the lowest icon. The apparatus of claim 1.
An icon list is provided for managing position information including the coordinates of the upper left corner and the coordinates of the lower right corner for each icon,
The icon display control device, wherein the determination of the bottom icon and the presence / absence of the additional space are made based on the position information. In an icon display control method for controlling addition display of a new icon in a window,
A step of determining the most protruding protruding icon to a predetermined first reference direction within a group of icons are currently displayed in the window,
In consideration of the condition that no overlap occurs between one window edge and the icon in the second reference direction orthogonal to the first reference direction, an additional space capable of additionally displaying a new icon on the one window edge side of the protruding icon Determining whether or not exists,
Executing a first display control for displaying a new icon at a first position on the one window end side of the protruding icon when the additional space exists;
Second display control for displaying a new icon at a second position based on the other window edge in the second reference direction, which is the next stage of the protruding icon in the first reference direction when the additional space does not exist. A process to perform;
Only including,
The icon display control method, wherein the first display control or the second display control is selected for each additional display of the new icon according to the presence or absence of the additional space .

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