JP4710459B2 - Tree structure display program, tree structure display method, tree structure display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to display of nodes having a tree structure in a system that handles information forming a hierarchical relationship, such as a file management system of a computer.

  Conventionally, when storing a file in a storage device such as a hard disk connected to a computer, the user uses a function of the file management system to store the file in a directory that is hierarchically related based on the file type, content, etc. Categorize and save. Since a set of information elements such as directories and files has a hierarchical relationship, elements displayed in a tree are collectively referred to as “nodes”. Information elements held and managed in the storage device can be displayed on the screen by a function such as an operating system (OS) file management system. However, when a large amount of information elements are stored in the storage device, all the nodes are connected to each other. They cannot be displayed on the screen at the same time. Therefore, the user usually searches for a target directory or file while scrolling. As described above, when all the nodes cannot be displayed in a limited screen display area at the same time, various problems occur in visibility and operability. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 are techniques for displaying a tree having a hierarchical relationship so that the hierarchical relationship can be grasped. Further, as a known tool, there is an explorer provided as standard in Microsoft Windows (registered trademark).

  FIG. 15 shows a schematic display example when information elements held and managed in the storage device are expanded on the screen using the explorer provided by Microsoft. In FIG. 15A, for example, in order to display the node 60 (node group in FIG. 15) located in the lower hierarchy, the nodes 62 and 64 in the upper hierarchy of the node 60 to be displayed cannot be closed. For this reason, other nodes (node group in FIG. 15) 66 in the same hierarchy as the display-purpose node 60 are expanded and become display targets in the same manner as the display-purpose node 60 even though they are not display purposes. . Further, the nodes 68 in the same hierarchy as the nodes 62 and 64 in the upper hierarchy are similarly expanded and displayed. Due to the display of nodes other than the display purpose, that is, the generation of unnecessary display, a useless space 70 appears on the display screen as shown in FIG.

  Many techniques have been devised to solve such problems and to facilitate the tree display when the tree structure becomes large. Directionality for convenience in these technologies can be roughly divided into partial tree display, display efficiency improvement, display tree simplification, and the like.

  First, for example, Patent Documents 3 and 4 are prior arts that employ partial tree display. Patent Document 3 describes a technique for partially displaying a tree structure starting from a designated element. Patent Document 4 is the same as Patent Document 2 in that the head node is designated and displayed. Note that the well-known technique realized by the OS for scrolling display within a limited display area is also a partial tree display technique in that a part of the tree structure is displayed.

  Next, display efficiency can be broadly divided into display efficiency due to node arrangement and display efficiency due to space saving. Of these, prior art that adopted display efficiency according to node arrangement. For example, there are Patent Documents 5 and 6. In Patent Document 5, when displaying the end node of the tree, the end nodes are arranged side by side so that a useless empty display area does not occur. In this technique, the size of the display area necessary for the tree display is reduced by arranging the end nodes so as to reduce the free space as much as possible. This increases the number of nodes displayed in the display window for easy understanding. In Patent Document 6, display efficiency is improved by dynamically rearranging upper layer nodes in accordance with the display range of the display window so that a useless empty display area does not occur in the upper layer of the display window. In this technique, even when scrolling, the upper hierarchy follows the scroll, and the upper hierarchy node is always displayed in the screen.

  In either case, the display efficiency is improved by devising the arrangement so that more nodes are displayed in the display window. In particular, Patent Document 6 provides a certain solution to the fundamental problem of tree display in which the display density is lower in the upper hierarchy. The above-described partial tree display method can achieve the same effect in that the upper layer nodes are always displayed on the display screen.

  Finally, as a prior art employing the simplification of the display tree, for example, there is Patent Document 7. Patent Document 7 creates and displays a tree composed only of elements designated by the user. In particular, even when the hierarchy is deep, elements in the intermediate hierarchy can be omitted and displayed, and a tree including necessary elements can be displayed very compactly.

  In addition to the above, regarding the simplification of the display tree, there are Explorer and a variable view of Eclipse of free software provided as standard equipment in Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation. The former can hide and display unnecessary files and efficiently display necessary nodes on the screen by switching display / non-display of lower nodes by opening and closing folders. In the latter case, data contents during debugging can be displayed in a tree structure. For example, in an array, nodes representing an array and lower nodes representing elements of the array are displayed as a tree with a hierarchical structure. When the size of the array is very large, in Eclipse, the elements of the array are sequentially grouped into several groups, a virtual intermediate node representing each group is placed under the node representing the array, and the group nodes Below, the nodes of the elements of the array included in the group are arranged and displayed. Thus, by adding only virtual nodes by grouping them, it is possible to suppress the enlargement of the display tree by expanding and displaying only selected groups without expanding and displaying a large number of nodes at once.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-156843 JP-A-1-290046 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-195467 Japanese Patent No. 2527240 JP-A-8-315038 JP 2001-331358 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-45197

  As described above, many techniques have been devised for convenience when the tree structure becomes large, but these techniques have various problems.

  First, in Patent Documents 3 and 4 relating to partial tree display, it is not possible to directly access other parts of the tree that are not displayed. For example, if multiple nodes that you want to refer to are scattered at positions that are more than the display area of the tree, you cannot display multiple nodes simultaneously on the display screen, so you can switch the screen to display the selected node I had to scroll. If the root node is not included in the display target of the tree, the positional relationship between the target partial tree and the root node is unknown, so which part of the tree is displayed on the screen, only from the display contents I couldn't judge.

  In Patent Documents 5 and 6 relating to display efficiency, the display area of the display screen is efficiently used, but no mention is made of the display of nodes other than the intended one. Therefore, when the tree portion for display purposes is a very small part of a very large tree structure, almost no display efficiency effect can be obtained.

  In Patent Document 7 regarding simplification of the display tree, the tree can be displayed very efficiently, but it takes much time to form a desired tree display. That is, it is possible to display efficiently only when the user designates a node to be displayed. In addition, when selecting and displaying nodes in a certain hierarchy, at least first all nodes in that hierarchy must be displayed. If the user selects all the nodes to be displayed on the tree one by one and switches the selected node to the display mode, the desired tree cannot be obtained.

  In addition, in the explorer provided by Microsoft, as shown in FIG. 15, it is not possible to close a node on the route from the root node up to the node part for display purpose, so it exists in the upper hierarchy of the node part for display purpose. Other nodes to be displayed are also displayed. Therefore, when there are a very large number of nodes in the upper hierarchy, the size of the display tree cannot be reduced. In addition, in the free software Eclipse, it is possible to hide a group consisting of only unnecessary nodes, but if the target node is included, the lower nodes of the group must be expanded and displayed. The same problem occurs with Microsoft-provided Explorer.

  As described above, while any of the above-described techniques has some effects, some problems remain depending on the use situation, and it is difficult to say that the tree display is easy to use in every scene.

  An object of the present invention is to solve at least one of the above problems by providing an improved tree display program, method or apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, a tree structure display program according to the present invention provides a computer having a function of displaying a set of elements in a hierarchical relationship on a screen in a tree structure. Root node setting processing means for setting one of the nodes as a root node of the display tree, and when forming a tree structure in which the parent element of the element set as the root node is a child node of the root node, the child node is the parent element This is a function that serves as a tree structure display processing means for displaying a symbol indicating that the information is added to the formed tree structure .

  The root node setting processing means sets a root node based on an element designated by the user.

  Further, the tree structure display processing means displays a node icon displayed on the screen in a different form between an open state in which a lower node of the node is expanded and displayed and a closed state in which a lower node of the node is not displayed. And an icon display control unit.

  The tree structure display processing means switches between the open state and the closed state of the node according to the display state switching instruction from the user who has designated the node whose display state is to be switched.

  Further, the tree structure display processing means, when any node located on the path between the node representing the highest element of the hierarchical structure and the root node of the display tree is designated in the display state switching instruction, It has a tree structure forming unit for re-forming the tree structure so as to display all node icons located on the route.

  The icon display control unit indicates forward link information indicating that the display node indicates a child element of the element indicated by the parent node, and the display node indicates a parent element of the element indicated by the parent node. Any one or both of the reverse direction connection information indicating that is displayed on the screen.

  Further, the icon display control unit displays the forward link information and the reverse link information on a screen connecting the display node and each node icon representing the parent node or in the vicinity thereof.

  In addition, the icon display control unit can use a directional icon whose direction is visually recognizable, and can visually recognize whether the forward direction connection information or the reverse direction connection information depends on the direction of the directional icon. To do.

The tree structure display method according to the present invention is implemented by a computer having a function of displaying a set of elements having a hierarchical relationship on a screen in a tree structure, and has a tree structure with an element located in the highest hierarchy in the hierarchical structure as a root node. the ordinary tree display step of displaying, a step of accepting a root node specified by the user from the tree normally displayed by the tree display step, the parent element of the element shown is designated root node by the user when forming a tree structure as a child node of the root node, characterized in that the child node and displaying added to the tree structure symbols, which formed was indicating that a parent element.

The tree structure display device according to the present invention is a tree structure display device that displays a set of elements in a hierarchical relationship on a screen in a tree structure, and sets one of the set of elements in a hierarchical relationship as a root node of the display tree When forming a tree structure having a root node setting processing means and a parent element of an element set as a root node as a child node of the root node, a symbol indicating that the child node is a parent element is formed It characterized by having a a tree display processing means for displaying is added to the tree structure.

  Further, the tree structure display processing means displays a node icon displayed on the screen in a different form between an open state in which a lower node of the node is expanded and displayed and a closed state in which a lower node of the node is not displayed. An icon display control unit is provided.

  Further, the tree structure display processing means switches between the open state and the closed state of the node according to a display state switching instruction from a user who has designated the node for switching the display state.

  Further, the tree structure display processing means, when any node located on the path between the node representing the highest element of the hierarchical structure and the root node of the display tree is designated in the display state switching instruction, All the node icons located on the route are displayed.

  According to the present invention, when the parent element cannot be displayed as a parent node, the tree structure is displayed so that the parent element is a child node and can be discriminated as a parent element. Even if the elements of the hierarchy are not displayed as the root node of the display tree, the entire elements having a hierarchical relationship can be displayed as a tree structure. In particular, since the tree structure is displayed with the element designated by the user as the root node, it is easy for the user to determine a desired portion as a display target, and it can be displayed on the screen. In particular, by displaying the parent element of the element as a child node of the node, the child node indicating the parent element of the element can be closed while the node indicating the element is displayed. That is, while displaying a desired portion as a display target, it is possible to hide unnecessary elements positioned in the upper hierarchy of the display target portion, and even unnecessary elements in the same hierarchy as the display target portion. As described above, since unnecessary nodes that are not to be displayed can be hidden, the screen display area can be saved.

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

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a computer corresponding to a tree structure display device according to the present invention. The computer 1 used in the present embodiment can be realized with a general-purpose hardware configuration that has existed in the past. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the computer 1 is provided with a CPU 2, a ROM 4, a RAM 6, an HDD controller 10 connected to a hard disk drive (HDD) 8, a mouse 12 and a keyboard 14 provided as input means, and a display device. An input / output controller 18 for connecting each display 16 is connected to an internal bus 20.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block configuration diagram of the computer 1 in the present embodiment. The computer 1 includes a root node setting processing unit 22, a display processing unit 24, and a node information storage unit 26. The root node setting processing unit 22 receives a node designated by the user from the normal tree displayed on the screen. The display processing unit 24 displays all or part of the tree structure of elements having a hierarchical relationship on the screen. The tree structure forming unit 28 included in the display processing unit 24 is in accordance with an instruction from the user, a tree structure having an element located at the highest hierarchy of the entire set of elements having a hierarchical relationship as a root node, or designated by the user A tree structure is formed with the element to be displayed as the root node. Although various icons are used in the present embodiment, the icon switching unit 30 performs display control such as switching display of these icons. The node information storage unit 26 stores information about each node such as attribute information including the name of the node and the like, and tree structure information representing the hierarchical relationship between the nodes.

  In the present embodiment, the node information storage unit 26 holds information necessary for implementing the present embodiment. However, the necessary information is stored in the node information storage unit 26 in the computer 1. The configuration is not limited, and may be configured to be acquired via a network, for example. Further, it is assumed that the node information storage unit 26 shown in FIG. 2 is realized by the HDD 8 shown in FIG. Of course, necessary data may be copied to the RAM 6 before use.

  The processing functions in the root node setting processing unit 22 and the display processing unit 24 are realized by a cooperative operation between the computer 1 and one or more tree structure programs that realize the processing function.

  Next, the basic concept of the tree structure display method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The tree display is used as a means for visually confirming a hierarchical structure in various fields such as a file system and a structured document. Generally, when displaying a hierarchical structure as a tree, each node is arranged according to its hierarchical position so that either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction represents the hierarchical direction with the root node as the apex. Displayed by connecting with lines (hereinafter also referred to as “branches”, usually straight lines). Thus, in the tree display representing the hierarchical structure, the lines connecting the nodes have a parent-child relationship direction. That is, a tree representing a hierarchical structure can be regarded as a kind of directed graph.

  FIG. 3A shows an example of a tree display of seven nodes having a hierarchical relationship. Of the nodes forming the tree structure, the node 1 is a node located at the highest hierarchy of the hierarchical structure and is a root node serving as a base point for forming the hierarchical structure. Node 1 has nodes 2, 5, and 6 as child nodes. Node 2 has nodes 3 and 4 as child nodes, and node 6 has node 7 as a child node. If the nodes 1 to 7 having such a hierarchical relationship are displayed as a directed graph in a tree form, the hierarchical relationship of each node can be easily grasped visually as illustrated in FIG. FIG. 3A is an example of a tree display often seen in a computer, and a line connecting nodes is not a straight line but a lead line bent at a right angle, and a part of the line is expressed by overlapping. It is essentially unchanged as a directed graph.

  However, in general, a tree is a connected graph that does not include cycles, and there is no need to consider the direction of branches. In the tree display of the hierarchical structure, the root node that is the base point of the tree generally means a node in the highest hierarchy (highest point) in the hierarchical structure as described above, but is originally an undirected graph. In the tree, the concept of root is not necessary. FIG. 3B shows an example of a tree display of 7 nodes having the same hierarchical relationship as FIG. 3A. As shown in FIG. Even if it is displayed in such a way that it is not clear, more specifically, the same tree structure can be expressed even if it is not displayed at the top so that node 1 in the highest hierarchy can be easily identified as the root node. it can. That is, it is not necessary to use a tree display that expands from the node 1 of the highest hierarchy as illustrated in FIG. In other words, a tree expression having an arbitrary node as a root is possible without considering the hierarchical relationship of the hierarchical structure.

  The applicant of this patent pays attention to the undirected nature of the tree, and proposes the following tree structure display method. The outline of the tree structure display method characteristic of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a tree display of 10 nodes having a hierarchical relationship. FIGS. 4A to 4D show examples in which node tree structures having the same hierarchical relationship are displayed in different display forms. As can be easily understood by referring to FIG. 4A showing the conventional tree display, among the nodes forming the tree structure, the node 1 is located at the highest hierarchy of the hierarchical structure and forms the hierarchical structure. It is a node (actual root node) serving as a base point, and nodes 2 and 8 are child nodes. Node 2 has nodes 3, 4 and 7 as child nodes, and node 8 has nodes 9 and 10 as child nodes. Further, the node 4 has the nodes 5 and 6 as child nodes. When the nodes 1 to 10 having such a hierarchical relationship are converted into a directed graph and displayed as a tree, the result is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4A, the node 1 located at the highest level of the hierarchical structure is arranged at the highest level on the screen display so that it can be easily identified as the root node.

  Here, it is assumed that the user designates the node 4 as the root node from the tree display as shown in FIG. Then, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, a tree structure in which the node 4 is positioned at the top of the tree structure is formed and displayed on the screen. As can be understood from FIG. 4A, the node 4 is a child node of the node 2 and also a parent node of the nodes 5 and 6 (the parent-child relationship here is not the parent-child relationship on the display tree but the original hierarchy). This is a structural parent-child relationship). Referring to FIG. 4 (b), it can be seen that nodes 2, 5 and 6 are connected by branches to the node 4 displayed at the highest level and have a parent-child relationship. However, simply connecting nodes directly connected by branches (hereinafter also referred to as “connected nodes”) with the same type of branches cannot determine whether the connected node is a parent node or a child node. Therefore, in the present embodiment, an arrow-shaped symbol that easily expresses the direction is added to the branch connected to the parent node 2 so that the parent-child relationship with the connected node can be clearly understood. In FIG. 4B, it can be easily understood from the direction of the arrow 40 that the node 2 is the parent node. On the other hand, no symbol is added to the branches of the child nodes 5 and 6 so that it can be determined that the node is not a parent node.

  The parent node 2 of the node 4 is a child node of the node 1 as can be understood from FIG. 4A, and is also a parent node of the nodes 3 and 7 in addition to the node 4. Therefore, nodes 3, 7 and 1 are directly connected as connected nodes with branches, and among these branches with the parent node Node 1, the direction is set so that the parent-child relationship can be understood as described above, and the arrow 40 is set. Append. Note that the child nodes 5 and 6 of the node 4 do not have any child nodes, so there is no need to expand and display the nodes.

  The parent node 1 of the parent node 2 of the node 4 is not only the node 2 but also the parent node of the node 8 as can be understood from FIG. Therefore, the node 8 is directly connected by a branch as a connection node. Further, since the child node 8 of the node 1 is the parent node of the nodes 9 and 10, they are connected by branches so that the parent-child relationship can be understood.

  In the present embodiment, when the node 4 is designated as the root node as described above, the node 4 is displayed at the highest position on the screen display, and a symbol is added to the branch so that the parent-child relationship can be grasped. The tree display was done. Thus, for example, when the user wants to display node 4 or a node group including node 4 and its child nodes, a tree display can be performed in a hierarchical structure expanded from the display target node, so that the display target portion can be determined. It becomes easy to do. In the present embodiment, the display target and the display purpose are synonymous.

  As can be understood from the relationship between FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the present embodiment does not change the hierarchical relationship entity in the hierarchical structure, but allows the display form of the hierarchical structure to be changed. Is. In FIG. 4B as well, the element located in the highest hierarchy in the hierarchical structure is node 1. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a node located at the highest hierarchy such as node 1 in the hierarchical structure is referred to as an “actual root node”. A node designated as a root node will be referred to as a “virtual root node”.

  Next, FIG. 4C is a display example when the node in the lower hierarchy of the node 2 that has been expanded and displayed in FIG. 4B is hidden by closing the node 2. Note that in this case as well, the node 2 is still the parent node of the node 4, so an arrow 40 is added to the branch connecting the nodes 2 and 4. Further, FIG. 4D is a special display form of a tree display in which a node is closed and displayed. Basically, although a node 2 is closed and displayed, a node that has not been displayed in FIG. 4C is displayed. Among them, the route from the virtual root node 4 to the actual root node 1 is left and displayed so that the hierarchical relationship between the virtual root node 4 and the actual root node 1 can be grasped. In FIG. 4D, an arrow 42 having a shape different from that of the arrow 40 is added to the branch. By adding this arrow 42 to the branch, the branch is on the path to the actual root node 1. In other words, it can be seen that the actual root node 1 exists at the end of the branch.

  On the display screen, a node icon representing a node is either an open state in which a node located in a lower hierarchy of the node is expanded and displayed, or a closed state in which a node located in a lower hierarchy of the node is not displayed. Is displayed in the state. The above-described “close node” means that the display state of the node icon is switched to the closed state by a user operation such as a click operation of the node icon, and the node located in the lower hierarchy is hidden.

  The outline of the tree structure display method in the present embodiment is as described above. However, according to the present embodiment, the node 4 to be displayed (if the node group 4 to 6 is to be displayed, the most A virtual hierarchical structure developed from the upper node 4) is formed, and the formed hierarchical structure is displayed as a tree. As a result, the display-purpose node 4 can be displayed on the uppermost screen, so that it becomes easy to determine the display-purpose node 4.

  Conventionally, when the node 4 is desired to be displayed, the nodes 1 and 2 located in the upper hierarchy of the node 4 must always be displayed in an expanded manner. In the example shown in FIG. 4A, since the number of nodes between the root node 1 and the node 4 is small, the node 4 may fit in the display screen even in the tree display illustrated in FIG. 4A. . However, for example, when there are a large number of nodes that are displayed at a higher level than the node 4 such as the node 3, the node 4 comes off the display screen. As described above, when the tree structure is large and nodes are expanded and displayed, the target node 4 must be searched while scrolling. In the present embodiment, since the display target node 4 can be displayed on the top as a virtual root node as described above, the target node can be displayed even if an unnecessary node is expanded and displayed. It can be easily found. Moreover, even if the node 4 to be displayed is in the lower hierarchy in the actual tree structure, even the nodes 1 and 2 in the upper hierarchy of the node 4 can be displayed on the screen in a closed state. A necessary screen display area can be reduced. For this reason, the screen display area can be used for other displays.

  The basic concept regarding the tree display of the present embodiment is as described above. Subsequently, the tree structure display processing of the present embodiment is shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. It explains using.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example when the directory structure in the file management system is displayed as a tree. Here, as an example, Windows Explorer (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation is used as a model case. FIG. 6 shows a normal tree display in which a node (here “desktop”) located in the highest hierarchy of the hierarchical structure is displayed as an actual root node. In the following description, a portion below the “tree structure display method” folder is set as a display target portion 44 from the tree structure. In the following description, “folder” and “node” are synonymous.

  The display processing unit 24 extracts the tree structure information from the node information storage unit 26 and displays the tree structure shown in FIG. 6 on the display 16 (step 110). However, at this time, all the nodes cannot be displayed on the screen simultaneously as in the display example of FIG. Here, as described above, in order to switch the normal tree display shown in FIG. 6 to the characteristic tree display of the present embodiment, the “tree structure” positioned at the top of the display target portion 44. The pop-up menu 46 is displayed by, for example, right-clicking the “display method” folder, and the “tree operation” menu 48 in the pop-up menu 46 is further displayed. Then, the user selects “base node designation” from the tree operation menu 48 to issue a tree display switching instruction with the “tree structure display method” folder as a virtual root node. A display example of the pop-up menu displayed by this user operation is shown in FIG. The root node setting processing unit 22 performs processing such as displaying a pop-up menu in response to a user operation, and accepting a tree display instruction using the “tree structure display method” folder as a root node (described above) ( Step 120).

  When the display processing unit 24 is notified from the root node setting processing unit 22 that the tree display switching instruction has been received, the display processing unit 24 displays the hierarchical structure with the “tree structure display method” folder specified in the instruction as the root node. The structure is formed by the structure forming unit 28 (step 130). The icon switching unit 30 sets the display form of the nodes in the tree. The display form of the nodes will be described later. When the display processing unit 24 forms a tree structure expanded with the “tree structure display method” folder as a root node, the display processing unit 24 displays this on the screen (step 140). An example of this display is shown in FIG.

  As is apparent from FIG. 8, the “tree structure display method” folder that the user intends is displayed at the top position of the tree, and the parent folder and the child folder are displayed below the folder. The “FY2004” folder appears to be a subfolder of the “Tree structure display method” folder, but it is actually the parent folder. This is the extension line to the “FY2004” folder. In addition, a left-pointing white arrow 40 icon is added so as to be distinguishable.

  As described with reference to FIGS. 4B and 4C, when the “2004” folder is closed, it can be displayed in a very compact display tree as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, a folder in a higher hierarchy that could not be closed in the past can be closed as described above. Further, since the display target portion 44 is arranged at the top, even when another folder is opened, the state where the portion 44 is displayed on the screen can be maintained.

  On the other hand, if the folder of the actual upper hierarchy is closed, the position of the display target portion 44 on the tree, that is, the positional relationship between the display target portion 44 and the actual root node becomes difficult to understand. It may be. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 4D, only the nodes on the route to the actual root node (in this example, “desktop”) are displayed, and other nodes are displayed. The tree is displayed in the hidden state. As a result, the relative positional relationship between the display target portion 44 and the actual root node can be easily grasped, and unnecessary expansion on the display of the tree can be suppressed by hiding unnecessary folders. can do. An example of this tree display is shown in FIG. As described above, the icon of the left-pointed black arrow 42 is added to the leader line on the route to the actual route node, so that it can be determined that the actual route node exists at the end of this route. Is displayed.

  Some icons have already been described, but here, the types of icons in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 summarizes the icons used in this embodiment. In FIG. 11, the first and second icons are icons added to the lead lines (branches) connected to the nodes in the upper hierarchy as described above, and the parent-child discrimination information for discriminating the parent-child relationship of the connected nodes is symbolized. It is a thing. Of these, the first white arrow icon indicates that the icon is displayed by a normal expansion method. The second black arrow icon indicates that only the folder on the path to the actual root node is expanded and displayed on the path from the virtual root node to the actual root node. It is an icon that is switched to the first icon. The third and fourth icons are node icons located in the upper hierarchy from the virtual root node, as is apparent from the comparison between FIG. 6 and FIG. Among these icons, the third icon is a node icon indicating a closed state in which a node in a lower hierarchy of the node is not expanded and displayed. On the other hand, the fourth icon is a node icon indicating an open state in which a node in a lower hierarchy of the node is expanded and displayed. Note that the third and fourth node icons indicate that the normal node icon is displayed upside down to indicate that it is an upper level node icon. See the example of the “My Document” icon in FIG. Obviously, the shape of the node icon is not limited to the shape illustrated in FIG. The 5th and 6th plus icons and minus icons are basically icons for opening and closing folders as in the case of Microsoft Explorer.

  In the present embodiment, the above icons are used, but the present invention is not limited to the shape and expression method illustrated in FIG. For example, the first icon is a directional icon that indicates that the destination of the added leader line is an upper hierarchy node and can grasp the parent-child relationship in the direction of the arrow. What is necessary is just to change the display form so that it can be grasped at a glance whether the node connected to the root node is a parent node or a child node. Therefore, in this embodiment, an icon is added to the leader line with the upper hierarchy node. However, since the display form of the leader line connected to the parent node or the child node may be different, an icon may be added to the leader line with the lower hierarchy node, or icons with different arrow directions. An icon having a different display form may be added to both. Alternatively, information such as a character string indicating a parent node or a child node may be displayed in the vicinity of the lead line without providing an icon on the lead line.

  The above icons have the role of presenting information that informs the user of the current state of suspension such as the position of the upper hierarchy node and the actual root node on the screen, but these icons can also be operated by the user. It is also a button. Here, the icon operation will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram in which a part of the tree display after the “application” folder shown in FIG. 8 is extracted. In FIG. 12A, when the minus icon 50 added to the leader line to the “application” folder is clicked, the “application” folder is closed as shown in FIG. On the other hand, in FIG. 12B, when the plus icon 52 added to the leader line to the “application” folder is clicked, the “application” folder is opened as shown in FIG. The parent folder and the child folder linked to the “application” folder are expanded and displayed.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram in which a part of the tree display after the “application” folder shown in FIG. 8 is extracted, and FIG. 13A is the same diagram as FIG. In FIG. 13A, when the white arrow icon 40 added to the leader line to the “application” folder is clicked, the “application” folder is changed to the “application” folder as shown in FIG. Of all the subsequent nodes, nodes other than the node located on the path to the actual root node are closed. At this time, the icon positioned on the route to the actual route node is switched to the black arrow icon 42. In this way, when the white arrow icon 40 indicating the normal expansion method is operated, if there is a folder on the path to the actual root node under the right folder, it is displayed, and other subfolders are displayed. You want to hide. In the present embodiment, in order to improve the display efficiency, only one click operation on the arrow icon 40 is performed, and only the nodes located on the route between the click position and the actual root node are left, and the others All nodes are hidden at once. However, display and non-display may be switched while allowing the user to click and select. On the other hand, in FIG. 13B, when the arrow icon 42 added to the lead line to the “application” folder is clicked, the “application” folder is opened as shown in FIG. The parent folder and the child folder linked to the “application” folder are expanded and displayed. When this expanded display is performed, the black arrow icon 42 is switched to a white arrow icon 40. As described above, when the black arrow icon 42 is operated, the display is switched to the normal expanded display, and other nodes other than those on the route are also displayed. In the present embodiment, all the actual route nodes are switched and displayed, so that only the arrow icon 42 positioned at the top of the route can be operated.

  When the icon is clicked and selected by the user's mouse operation, the icon switching unit 30 in the display processing unit 24 switches the display of the node icon between the open state and the closed state as described above, and the arrow icon 40 and the arrow icon 42. The display is switched between the minus icon 50 and the plus icon 52. At the same time, the display processing unit 24 reconstructs the tree structure by the tree structure forming unit 28 and displays the reconstructed tree structure on the screen.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the virtual root node is displayed at the top of the screen, while the actual root node is displayed at the bottom. Unlike the first embodiment, the present embodiment provides a tree structure display method for displaying the actual root node in a familiar upward direction. An example of the tree display of the present embodiment is shown in FIG.

  In the display example shown in FIG. 14A, the folder located in the upper hierarchy with respect to the display target portion 44 is displayed above the display target portion 44 as in the prior art, and the arrow icon is not used. I did it. However, for the upper layer than the display purpose portion 44, only the nodes located on the path from the actual root node to the virtual root node are displayed, and the nodes not on the path are not displayed.

  According to the present embodiment, even if the hierarchy where the folder to be displayed exists is very deep, unnecessary folders are not expanded and displayed by closing the nodes in the upper hierarchy, so that the space in the width direction of the screen can be displayed. Since the spread can be suppressed, the tree to be displayed can be simplified, and thus the display space can be saved.

  FIG. 14B shows a display example when the “patent” is clicked in FIG. By closing the “Patents” folder by this click operation, “Work”, “My Documents”, and “Desktop” can be hidden, thereby more effectively simplifying the tree and saving the display space. Can be realized.

  In the present embodiment, the actual root node is displayed in a tree structure that is displayed above. However, if the tree structure display method described in each of the above embodiments can be combined and implemented, Similar to changing the arrangement order, the actual root node is not limited to being displayed at the top or bottom, but can be switched and displayed.

  Furthermore, in response to a user's instruction to switch the tree structure, a virtual tree structure display that displays a virtual root node as a root node, and an actual root node that is located at the highest hierarchy of all nodes in a hierarchical relationship is used as a root node. The normal tree structure display to be displayed may be displayed in a switchable manner.

  In the above description, the display state varies depending on the shape and orientation of the icon, but in the actual system, the color of the icon and the leader line is changed, the icon smaller than the normal size is used, The display target node may be emphasized by changing not only the shape but also other attributes such as color and size.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the tree structure definition as an undirected graph and the replacement of the root node are performed by effectively utilizing the feature of the undirected tree. Can be provided. Thereby, it is possible to display the display target portion of the tree so that it can be easily identified, and it is possible to reduce the area necessary for the tree display. Further, since the tree display and the node display / non-display can be switched by a simple operation such as a click operation, the accessibility to a portion not displayed in the tree is not impaired.

It is a hardware block diagram which showed position embodiment of the tree structure display apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a functional block block diagram of the tree structure display apparatus in this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of the tree structure used in order to demonstrate the basic idea of the tree structure display method in this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of the tree structure used in order to demonstrate the outline | summary of the tree structure display method in this Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the tree structure display process of this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example when displaying the directory structure in the file management system of this Embodiment as a tree as usual. It is the figure which showed the example of a display of the pop-up menu displayed by user operation in this Embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example when a node designated by a user in FIG. 6 in the first embodiment is displayed as a tree as a virtual root node. It is the figure which showed the example of a display when the node displayed under the virtual root node in FIG. 8 is made into a closed state. It is the figure which showed the example of a display when the path | route of a virtual root node and an actual root node is made into the display state in FIG. It is the figure which showed the icon used in this Embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example in which a part of the tree display after the “application” folder shown in FIG. 8 is extracted. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another display example in which a part of the tree display after the “application” folder shown in FIG. 8 is extracted. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example when a node designated by a user in FIG. 6 is displayed in a tree form as a virtual root node in the second embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of the conventional tree display.

Explanation of symbols

  1 Computer, 2 CPU, 4 ROM, 6 RAM, 8 Hard disk drive (HDD), 10 HDD controller, 12 Mouse, 14 Keyboard, 16 Display, 18 Input / output controller, 20 Internal bus, 22 Root node setting processor, 24 Display Processing unit, 26 node information storage unit, 28 tree structure forming unit, 30 icon switching unit.

Claims (13)

A computer having a function of displaying a set of elements in a hierarchical relationship on a screen in a tree structure,
Root node setting processing means for setting one of a set of elements in a hierarchical relationship as a root node of a display tree;
When forming a tree structure in which the parent element of the element set as the root node is a child node of the root node, a symbol indicating that the child node is a parent element is added to the formed tree structure and displayed. Tree structure display processing means,
Tree structure display program to function as. In the tree structure display program according to claim 1,
The root node setting processing means is a tree structure display program for setting a root node based on an element designated by a user. The tree structure display program according to any one of claims 1 to 2,
The tree structure display processing means displays a node icon displayed on the screen in a different form between an open state in which lower nodes of the node are expanded and displayed and a closed state in which lower nodes of the node are not displayed. A tree structure display program having a display control unit. In the tree structure display program according to claim 3,
The tree structure display processing means is a tree structure display program for switching and displaying the open state and the closed state of the node in response to a display state switching instruction from a user who has designated the node whose display state is to be switched. In the tree structure display program according to claim 4,
The tree structure display processing means, when any node located on the path between the node representing the highest element of the hierarchical structure and the root node of the display tree is designated in the display state switching instruction, A tree structure display program having a tree structure forming unit for re-forming a tree structure so as to display all node icons positioned above. In the tree structure display program according to claim 3,
The icon display control unit indicates that forward link information indicating that the display node indicates a child element of the element indicated by the parent node, and that the display node indicates the parent element of the element indicated by the parent node. A tree structure display program that displays either or both of the reverse link information to be displayed on the screen. In the tree structure display program according to claim 6,
The icon display control unit is a tree structure display program that displays the forward link information and the reverse link information on a screen connecting the display node and each node icon representing its parent node or in the vicinity thereof. The tree structure display program according to claim 7,
The icon display control unit uses a directional icon whose direction is visually recognizable, and allows the user to visually recognize which of the forward direction connection information and the reverse direction connection information is based on the direction of the directional icon. Structure display program. Implemented on a computer having the function of displaying a set of elements in a hierarchical relationship on a screen in a tree structure,
In the hierarchical structure, a normal tree display step for displaying a tree structure with the element located in the highest hierarchy as a root node;
Receiving a root node designated by the user from the tree displayed by the normal tree display step;
If the parent element of the element shown is designated the root node by the user to form a tree structure as a child node of the root node, the symbol indicating that the child node is a parent element, added to the formed tree structure Step to display and
A tree structure display method comprising: In a tree structure display device that displays a set of elements in a hierarchical relationship on a screen in a tree structure,
And the root node setting processing means for setting one of the set of elements in a hierarchical relationship as the root node of the tree view,
When forming a tree structure in which the parent element of the element set as the root node is a child node of the root node, a symbol indicating that the child node is a parent element is added to the formed tree structure and displayed. Tree structure display processing means ;
Tree structure display device characterized by having. The tree structure display device according to claim 10, wherein
The tree structure display processing means displays a node icon displayed on the screen in a different form between an open state in which lower nodes of the node are expanded and displayed and a closed state in which lower nodes of the node are not displayed. A tree structure display device comprising a display control unit. The tree structure display device according to claim 11, wherein
The tree structure display processing unit switches and displays an open state and a closed state of the node according to a display state switching instruction from a user who has designated a node whose display state is to be switched. The tree structure display device according to claim 12, wherein
The tree structure display processing means, when any node located on the path between the node representing the highest element of the hierarchical structure and the root node of the display tree is designated in the display state switching instruction, A tree structure display device that displays all node icons located above.

Images