JP4816376B2 - Display method for information processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a display method for an information processing apparatus that can quickly select a target selection item from a large number of menus.

  In general, an information processing apparatus displays various icons on a display screen, and clicks on these icons to execute processing assigned to these icons. A common technique in these technologies is that a plurality of functional field buttons are arranged on the upper side or one side of a window screen, and a sub-window is displayed by clicking the functional field buttons with a cursor, and the plurality of functional field buttons displayed in the sub-window are displayed. By selecting a desired sub function button from among the sub function buttons, the function assigned to the sub function button can be executed.

JP 2005-92888 A

  Each of the conventional examples is realized as independent software or as software attached to independent software. Therefore, in order to display these menus, it is first necessary to display a window related to specific software. Furthermore, it is necessary to move the cursor along the side of the window with a coordinate pointing device such as a mouse so as to match the target functional field button. Next, it is necessary to perform an operation of clicking the function field button to open a sub window, and further, a target object must be selected and clicked from a plurality of sub function buttons arranged in the sub window. In addition, when there is no target sub function button in the sub window, it is necessary to work from the selection of the function button.

  Thus, in this menu method, a specific function cannot be executed unless a plurality of steps are taken. Furthermore, since it is necessary to move the cursor to a plurality of function field buttons displayed on the display screen, an operation technique for the coordinate pointing device is required. These operations are generally performed through a mouse. However, when there is no table surface for operating the mouse or on a trackpad or trackball used in a portable information processing apparatus, the cursor is moved. There is a problem that it is difficult to operate finely.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a display method for an information processing apparatus that can quickly select a target selection item from among a large number of selection items.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a storage device that stores image information related to a menu of operation processing functions, a display device that displays a menu of operation processing functions, and an operation instruction device that instructs operation control of the menus. And a control device that controls the display operation of the menu based on an instruction of the operation instruction device, the display method of the display device based on the operation instruction of the operation instruction device A cursor is displayed on the display screen, and an icon group in which a plurality of icons to which a specific execution process is assigned is arranged in one direction is displayed at the coordinate position of the cursor based on the operation instruction of the operation instruction device, as well as enlarge or emphasize to one icon in the icon group in the vicinity of the cursor, and hide the cursor, the particular direction of the operation instruction device With the move operation, together sequentially moving an icon to be the enlargement or enhancement, moving the group of icons in the direction of movement direction opposed icon that the enlarged or enhancement sequentially moved.

  According to the present invention, among the plurality of icons arranged in one direction, the icon to be selected to be enlarged or highlighted is moved in one direction in accordance with the movement instruction of the operation instruction device, and this movement is accompanied. Since the entire icon group moves in the direction opposite to the moving direction, many icons can be displayed on the display screen, and a target icon can be quickly selected from a large number of icons.

  The menu display method of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an apparatus block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing apparatus. FIG. 2 is a display screen diagram illustrating the correlation between the movement of the selected icon and the movement of the icon group. FIG. 3 is an operation conceptual diagram of slide menu animation, FIG. 3A is a display screen diagram, and FIG. 3B is an operation conceptual diagram of an enlarged display. FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the slide menu. FIG. 5 is a display form diagram of animation display. In addition, the same site | part, direction, etc. are shown with the same code | symbol, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  First, a schematic configuration of an information processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the slide menu display method according to this embodiment can be applied to a very general information processing apparatus 1. For example, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a typical information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus 1 includes a display device 10 capable of displaying various types of information, a storage device 11 that stores information such as various operation programs and screen information displayed on the display device 10, and input of character information. And a keyboard 12 capable of inputting detailed operation instructions, an operation instruction device (mouse) 14 for instructing operation of a cursor 13 and a slide menu 100 displayed on the display device 10, and an operation of the information processing apparatus 1 And a control unit 15 that controls the entire system. In this embodiment, a printer (not shown) as an output device, a communication device that enables connection with other devices and the Internet, and the like can be provided. In this embodiment, a processing unit 16 that operates based on the operation of the slide menu 100 is connected.

  In this embodiment, a mouse 14 that is a general coordinate instruction device having a pair of left and right operation buttons is used as the operation instruction device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and operation with a trackball, joystick, or up / down / left / right keys provided on the keyboard 12 or the like may be used.

  In this embodiment, image information related to menus of operation processing functions of various programs displayed on the display device 10 is stored in the storage device 11. When starting up various programs, the control unit 15 accepts the operation of the mouse 14 and displays the cursor 13 and the menu 100 of the operation processing function on the display screen 50 of the display device 10.

  A major feature of this embodiment is that the menu 100 is a slide menu that can quickly select a desired selection item from among a large number of selection items. The slide menu 100 is an icon group 102 in which a plurality of icons 101 to which a specific execution process is assigned are arranged in one direction, and is displayed at the coordinate position of the cursor 13 based on an operation instruction of the mouse 14. When the slide menu 100 is displayed, the cursor 13 is not displayed, and instead, the icon 101a near the cursor 13 is selected and enlarged. The selected icon 101a can be moved in the arrangement direction of the icon group 102 by the movement operation of the mouse 14. At this time, the control unit 15 moves the icon group 102 in a direction (reverse direction) X2 opposite to the movement direction arrow X1 of the selected icon 101a.

  That is, in this embodiment, in response to the movement instruction of the mouse 14, the icon 101a to be selected to be enlarged is displayed in one direction with respect to the icon group 102 composed of a plurality of icons 101 arranged in a line. The entire icon group 102 moves in the direction X1 opposite to the movement direction X1 along with this movement, and thus a large number of icons 101 can be displayed on the display screen 50 and a large number of icons 101 are moved. You can quickly select the desired icon from the list.

  Another major feature of this embodiment is that the icon 101a to be enlarged is displayed as an animation so that the icon 101a gradually increases and gradually decreases as the icon 101a moves. According to this animation display, the currently selected icon 101a can be easily identified, the moving speed of the selected icon 101a can be grasped, and the switching of the selected icon 101a can be easily grasped.

  In this embodiment, the currently selected icon is displayed in an enlarged manner. However, highlighting such as increasing the thickness of the icon line or increasing the brightness such as a spot display is also possible. Good. The animation at this time may change the thickness and brightness of the line.

  Another major feature of this embodiment is that the moving speed of the selected icon 101a is synchronized with the speed of the icon group 102 moving in the opposite direction. Thereby, it is possible to easily grasp the moving speed of the selected icon.

  Hereinafter, the slide menu will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

  First, with reference to FIG. 2, the movement of the selected icon and the movement control of the icon group moving in the opposite direction (opposite direction) to this movement direction will be described.

  In FIG. 2, the icon group 102 of this embodiment shows a case where a plurality of icons 101 to which a specific execution process is assigned are arranged in the horizontal direction. However, not all the icons 101 of the icon group 102 are displayed on the display screen 50, but a part of them is always displayed. That is, what is substantially displayed on the display screen 50 is an array of five icons, icon A to icon E, and the icon J from the icon F protruding from the display screen 50 is virtually displayed. Here, the state of FIG. 2A is displayed such that the left end of the icon group 102 is positioned at the left end of the display screen 50. In this state, the icon A is selected. Extended display.

  In this embodiment, the icon group 102 moves with respect to the display screen 50 as indicated by an arrow X2 in the direction opposite to the moving direction X1 of the icon 101a as the selected icon 101a moves. The icon J at the right end of the icon group 102 is positioned at the right end of the display screen 50 as shown in FIG. To move.

  On the other hand, the icon 101 in the selected state moves from the state of FIG. 2A located at the left end of the display screen 50 to the right end of the display screen 50 through the state of FIG. It moves to the state shown in FIG.

  That is, in this embodiment, while the selected icon 101a moves from the left end of the display screen 50 to the right end, the left end of the icon group 102 arranged in the left-right direction is located at the left end of the display screen 50. The control unit 15 performs control so that the right end of the icon group 102 moves to a state where the right end is located at the right end of the display screen 50.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the left end of the icon group 102 is positioned at the left end of the display screen 50, the icon A positioned at the left end is selected and expanded. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the center icon of the icon group 102 is located at the center of the display screen 50, the icon located at the center of the icon group 102 is selected and expandedly displayed. . Further, as shown in FIG. 2C, when the right end of the icon group 102 is located at the right end of the display screen 50, the icon J located at the right end is selected and expanded and displayed.

  By coordinating the movement of the icon group 102 and the selected icon 101a, all the icons constituting the icon group 102 can be selected.

  Further, as described above, in this embodiment, since all of the icon group 102 is displayed until the selected icon 101a crosses the display screen 50, the icons constituting the icon group 102 are displayed. When the number 101 is increased, the relative speed between the selected icon 101a and the icon group 102 is increased, or the sensitivity of the selected icon 101a is increased, and the selected icon 101a is quickly switched. Accordingly, the switching sensitivity of the selected icon 101a is determined in consideration of the size of the display screen 50 and the number of icons 101.

  However, if too many icons 101 are arranged with respect to the width of the display screen 50, the sensitivity of selection increases, and the cursor 13 is quickly switched when the cursor 13 is moved, which is difficult to use. Therefore, the same switching sensitivity can be obtained by increasing the amount of movement of the cursor 13 with respect to the increase in the number of icons 101. For example, if the switching sensitivity of the selected icons 101a is to be the same, the amount of movement of the cursor 13 when the number of icons 101 is 10 is 1, and when the number of icons 101 is 20, It is better to double the amount of movement. The controller 15 automatically determines the amount of movement of the cursor 13 according to the number of icons 101 based on the setting or the preset switching sensitivity.

  Next, an enlarged display animation of the icon group 102 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3A shows an icon group 102 displayed on the display screen 50, and shows a state in which five icons 101 from icon A to icon E are currently displayed. The icon C is displayed in an enlarged manner and is moving from the right side to the left side according to the arrow X1. In this state, the icon group 102 moves in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the selected icon 101a, and therefore moves from the left side to the right side according to the arrow X2.

  In this embodiment, the selected icon is animated so that its size gradually increases as it moves, and the form of the icon 101 changes so as to gradually decrease after a predetermined size. . This animation operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 3B, the horizontal axis indicates the arrangement of the icon group 102, and the vertical axis indicates the size of the icon 101. That is, the underline indicates the standard size, and the upper line indicates the maximum size. In this embodiment, since the icon 101a selected by moving the non-display cursor 13 is displayed in an enlarged manner, when the non-display cursor 13 is moved, the icons 101 in the moving direction are expanded one after another. When the predetermined size is reached, the original standard size is restored.

  Specifically, since the non-display cursor 13 moves in the direction of the arrow X1 (from the right side to the left side), the icon C having a size on the underline gradually expands and gradually decreases when reaching the size of the overline. The size of the original standard is then increased, and then the icon B with the size of the underline gradually expands, and when it reaches the size of the overline, it gradually decreases and becomes the size of the original standard The icons in the direction of movement change the form in order.

  In this embodiment, the control unit 15 determines that the enlarged icon 101a is in a selected state. That is, when the non-displayed cursor 13 is positioned within the range of the width of the icon 101, it is determined that the selected state. The width of the icon 101 is determined by the relative relationship between the moving direction of the selected icon 101a and the moving direction opposite to the moving direction.

  Next, an operation flow of the slide menu will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, when the operation program for the slide menu 100 is activated, the control unit 15 monitors whether or not the left button of the mouse 14 has been clicked (step 200). When the left button is clicked, the control unit 15 displays the slide menu 100 at the coordinate position of the clicked display screen 50 (step 202). In this embodiment, since the slide menu 100 is arranged in the horizontal direction, the Y coordinate (vertical position) indicates the vertical position of the slide menu 100. Further, the X coordinate (lateral position) indicates the position of the icon 101 to be selected.

  Here, as described in FIG. 2, when the icon 101a in the selected state is determined, the position of the icon group 102 in the left-right direction is also determined. In addition, when the slide menu 100 is displayed, the control unit 15 hides the cursor 13. Further, when the cursor 13 is not displayed, the control unit 15 ignores the Y coordinate of the cursor 13 and monitors only the X coordinate. Thereby, even if the position of the cursor 13 is shifted in the vertical direction from the band-shaped icon group 102 arranged in the horizontal direction, the selection of the icon 101 is not hindered. However, if the cursor 13 is left in the display state, a shift in the Y coordinate between the cursor 13 and the icon 101a in the selected state becomes a concern. In this embodiment, the cursor 13 is not displayed.

  When the slide menu 100 is displayed, the control unit 15 monitors whether or not the left button of the mouse 14 has been double-clicked (step 204). When the left button of the mouse 14 is double-clicked, the control unit 15 calls and executes the process assigned to the selected icon 101a from the storage device 11 (step 214), and closes the slide menu 100. (Step 216).

  On the other hand, the control unit 15 monitors the movement of the cursor 13 in the horizontal direction (step 206). If the cursor 13 moves to the left or right without being double-clicked, the enlarged icon 101a in the selected state is reduced and displayed. (Step 208), it is determined whether or not the range of the icon 101a in the selected state has been exceeded (step 210). If exceeded, the icon 101 in the moving direction of the cursor 13 is enlarged and displayed (step 212). Return to.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the graphic change of the enlarged display of an icon is demonstrated. In this embodiment, the shape of the icon 101 is different for each type of icon 101, for example, for each function or field. This makes it easy to identify not only characters attached to icons but also shapes.

  In this embodiment, since the plurality of icons 101 are arranged in the left-right direction, each icon 101 has a rectangular button shape having the same size, and the respective expanded shapes are changed to improve the identification.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5A, a small rectangular color frame is provided in a rectangular button, and this color frame covers the entire button when expanded.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5B, extended portions are added to the top and bottom of a rectangular button, and this extended portion is enlarged at the time of expansion.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5C, a small circular color frame is provided in a rectangular button, and this color frame covers the entire button when expanded.

  In this embodiment, along with the change of the form at the time of expansion, the character attached to the icon 101 is expanded and displayed, thereby facilitating identification of the icon 101 to be selected. By doing so, the user looks at the icons 101 arranged in the horizontal direction through the magnifying glass moving in the horizontal direction, so that the user can understand the icon group 102 and the display screen 50 as a whole. The icon 101a can be selected to be spotted.

  Further, in the above embodiment, it has been described that the position of the slide menu 100 is determined by the coordinate position of the cursor 13 on the display screen 50. In particular, the position of the Y coordinate is the position in the Y-axis direction (height direction) of the slide menu 100, and the X coordinate determines the position of the icon group 102 in the horizontal direction and the icon in the selected state. However, in this embodiment, it is also possible to call the slide menu 100 that has been operated first by setting an initial screen (not shown) and continue the operation of the previous work.

  That is, in step 216 in FIG. 4, when the process assigned to the selected icon is executed and the slide menu 100 is closed, the control unit 15 causes the storage device 11 to store the X-axis coordinates at the time of this process. In step 202, when the slide menu 100 is displayed at the clicked position, the control unit 15 stores the clicked X coordinate and Y coordinate in the memory device 11 for the X coordinate. The X coordinate is called and corrected, and the slide menu 100 is displayed. As a result, the operation can be continued from the end of the previous operation. Of course, XY coordinates may be stored in the storage device 11, and the slide menu 100 may be displayed at a previously operated coordinate position or a predetermined position regardless of the clicked coordinate position.

It is an apparatus block diagram which shows schematic structure of an information processing apparatus. It is a display screen figure explaining the correlation of the movement of the icon selected, and the movement of an icon group. It is an operation | movement conceptual diagram of the animation of a slide menu. It is an operation | movement flowchart of a slide menu. It is a display form figure of animation display.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing apparatus, 10 ... Display apparatus, 11 ... Memory | storage device, 12 ... Keyboard, 13 ... Cursor, 14 ... Mouse, 15 ... Control part, 16 ... Processing part, 50 ... Display screen, 100 ... Slide menu, 101 ... Icon, 102... Icon group, X1... Selected icon moving direction, X2... Icon group moving direction.

Claims (4)

A storage device that stores image information related to the menu of the operation processing function, a display device that displays the menu of the operation processing function, an operation instruction device that instructs operation control of the menu, and the instruction based on an instruction of the operation instruction device A display method for an information processing apparatus including a control device that controls a display operation of a menu,
Based on the operation instruction of the operation instruction device, a cursor is displayed on the display screen of the display device,
Based on an operation instruction of the operation instruction device, an icon group in which a plurality of icons to which a specific execution process is assigned is arranged in one direction at the coordinate position of the cursor,
Displaying one of the icons in the vicinity of the cursor in an enlarged or highlighted manner, and disabling the cursor ;
As the operation instruction device moves in a specific direction, the icons to be enlarged or emphasized are sequentially moved, and the icon group is moved in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the icons to be sequentially enlarged or emphasized. A display method for an information processing apparatus, characterized by being moved.   The display method of the information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
  A display method of an information processing apparatus, wherein a speed at which the enlarged or emphasized icons sequentially move and a speed at which the icon group moves in a direction opposite to the moving direction are synchronized.   The display method of the information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
  According to the number of icons in the icon group, the speed at which the enlarged or emphasized icon sequentially moves and the relative speed of the speed at which the icon group moves in a direction opposite to the moving direction are variable. Display method for information processing apparatus.   The display method of the information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
  The display method of the information processing apparatus, wherein the amount of movement of the cursor is variable according to the number of icons in the icon group.

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