JP4894727B2 - Help display device and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a help display device, and more particularly, to a help display device and a program for displaying a help window activated from activation source software in a superimposed manner on the window of activation source software.

Conventionally, a portion overlapping with a help window started from a start-up software window can be displayed by making the background of the help window transparent. In addition, when an operation is performed on the overlapped portion, the operation content sent to the help system is sent back to the application program, thereby enabling direct operation on the overlapped portion (for example, Patent Documents). 1).
JP-A-11-203014

However, if the background of all the overlapped parts of the help window is displayed transparently as before, it will be difficult to read if the help contents of the help window and the control of the window of the starter software overlap. There was a risk of damage.

  For example, FIG. 12 shows an example of a screen display when a help window 1220 is displayed over a conventional print setting window 1210. The help window 1220 for “Orientation” on the print setting window 1210 is displayed with its background transparent. For this reason, the characters in the print setting window 1210 and the control 1230 overlap the characters in the help window 1220, so that the characters in the help window 1220 and the overlapped characters in the print setting window 1210 are difficult to read. .

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and aims to provide a help display device having good legibility and operability by transparently displaying only the control related to the displayed explanation. To do.

  In order to achieve this object, the help display device according to claim 1 is configured to transmit the help window activated from the activation source software over the window of the activation source software so that the background of the help window is transparent. In the help display device to be displayed, the window duplication judgment means for judging whether or not the position of the control and the help window overlap, and among the controls judged to overlap by the window duplication judgment means, the control window is displayed on the help window. And a transparent display means for transparently displaying only the control related to the content of the help on the help window.

The help display device according to claim 2 is a storage means for storing the correspondence between the controls related to the contents of the help and the correspondence between the controls and the help in the help display device according to claim 1. The window duplication judgment means is obtained by the position information acquisition means for acquiring the position on the window of the control related to the content of the help associated with the storage means, and the position information acquisition means Control overlap determining means for determining whether or not the position of the control overlaps the help window.

  Further, the help display device according to claim 3 is the help display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the text duplication judgment means for judging whether the transmitted control overlaps the text in the help, and the text. Character position adjusting means for adjusting a character to a position that does not overlap with the control when it is determined by the overlap determining means is provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program having a function of transparently displaying a background of the help window when a help window activated from the activation source software is displayed on the window of the activation source software. A window duplication judgment means for judging whether or not the position of the control and the help window overlap with each other, and only a control related to the content of the help displayed on the help window, which is judged to be overlapped by the window duplication judgment means. It is determined that an operation has been performed on the control by the transparent display means for transparently displaying on the help window, an operation determining means for determining whether an operation has been performed on the transparently displayed control, and the operation determining means. And transfer means for transferring the operation to the control. Characterized in that was.

  The program according to claim 5 is the program according to claim 4, wherein the controls related to the content of the help, the controls and the help are associated with each other, and the associated control is displayed on the window of the associated controls. A position information acquisition means for acquiring a position, and a control overlap determination means for determining whether the position of the control obtained by the position information acquisition means overlaps the help window; Operation determining means for determining whether or not an operation has been performed on the controlled control, and transfer means for transferring the operation determined to be performed on the control by the operation determining means to the control. To do.

  As is clear from the above description, in the present invention, when the help window is displayed transparently, only the control related to the content of the help is transparently displayed, so that readability and operability are improved.

  Furthermore, when the transparent control and the text in the help window overlap, the position is adjusted so that the text does not overlap with the control, thereby improving not only the readability of the text but also the operability to the control unit.

(First embodiment)
[Schematic configuration of printing system]
Hereinafter, embodiments in which the help display device of the present invention is implemented in a printing system will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is an external view of a personal computer 110 constituting the printing system 100 and a printer 160 connected to the personal computer.

  The personal computer 110 includes a main body 120, a mouse 130 and a keyboard 140 which are user input means, and a display 150 which is an image display means. The mouse 130, the keyboard 140, and the display 150 are connected to the main body 120, respectively.

The printer 160 is connected to the main body 120 of the personal computer 110 via a cable 170 as connection means. The connection means between the printer 160 and the personal computer 110 is not limited to a cable, and may be connected via a network such as a LAN or a wireless communication means such as infrared communication.
[Hardware configuration of printing system]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the printing system 100. The personal computer 110 includes a CPU 210, a ROM 220, a RAM 230, a LAN interface (LAN I / F) 310, a printer port interface (printer port I / F) 290, and a hard disk device (hereinafter abbreviated as HDD) 240. A main body 120 is configured. The main body 120 is connected to a display 150 such as a CRT, a keyboard 140, and a mouse 130 (see FIG. 1).

  The HDD 240 includes a printer driver storage area 250, an application storage area 260, and an operation system (hereinafter abbreviated as OS) storage area 270, which constitute storage means in the present invention. The OS storage area 270 stores an operation system program, and the application storage area 260 stores an application program such as text editing software. The printer driver storage area 250 stores a printer driver program having a help function, and corresponds to the boot source software and program in the present invention. The printer driver program is downloaded from the Internet and stored. Further, it may be installed and stored from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM.

  The CPU 210 constitutes window duplication judgment means, transparent display means, position information acquisition means, control duplication judgment means, and transfer means in the present invention. Operations of the display 150, the keyboard 140, and the mouse 130 are also processed by the CPU 210. The RAM 230 provides a work area for the CPU 210. The ROM 220 has a BIOS storage area 280 in which a BIOS program for controlling basic operations such as activation of the personal computer 110 is stored.

The printer 160 includes the printer main body 320 and the printer port I / F 290. The personal computer 110 and the printer 160 are connected by the printer port I / F 290 such as a USB. As another example, it may be connected by a network such as a LAN via the LAN interface 310 or wirelessly.
[Operation of printing system]
Next, processing executed by this hardware will be described. When the printer driver is called for print setting while the CPU 210 is executing the application stored in the application storage area 260 in the personal computer 110, the printer driver program stored in the printer driver storage area 250 Is executed and a print setting window is displayed on the display. The CPU 210 of the personal computer 110 executes the following processing related to help display based on the printer driver program stored in the printer driver storage area 250 in the HDD 240.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process related to help display executed by the CPU 210 based on the printer driver program stored in the HDD 240. In the START state, the print setting window displays the print driver program in the printer driver storage area 250 in accordance with the execution of the printer driver program in order to set the print target to be printed edited by the text editing software or the like by the user's operation. It is displayed on the display 150.

First, in S1, it is determined whether or not the print setting window 570 (see FIG. 4) displayed on the display 150 is closed in accordance with the execution of the printer driver program which is the starting source software. When it is determined that the close button 770 (see FIG. 4) has been clicked and closed by the user (S1: Y), the display of the print setting window 570 is stopped, and the process ends. If it is determined in S1 that it is not closed (S1: N), the process further proceeds to S2, and it is determined whether a help screen display operation has been performed from the input unit such as the mouse 130 or the keyboard 140.

  Here, the determination process in S2 will be described more specifically. FIG. 4 is a simplified view of the display screen of the print setting window 570 having control A 510, control B 520, control C 530, control D 540, control E 550 and control F 560. The control A 510, the control B 520, and the control F 560 are associated with common help contents, and the control C 530, the control D 540, and the control E 560 are associated with different help contents. The user sets the help mode by left-clicking the help button 580 on the print setting window 570 by operating the mouse 130 to display the help window for the control A510, and then left-clicking again on the control A510. As a result, help display is executed for the control A510. The “help display operation” in S2 means the series of operations by the user.

  If it is determined that the help display operation has been performed (S2: Y), the process proceeds to S3. Conversely, when the help display operation is not performed (S2: N), the process returns to S1.

  Next, the processing of the printer driver program in S3 will be specifically described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a list of related controls in which the controls in the print setting window 570 and the help to be displayed are associated with each other by ID. The related control list is stored in the printer driver storage area 250 of the HDD 240. The IDs of the control A 510, the control B 520, the control C 530, the control D 540, the control E 550, and the control F 560 are “ID_A”. , “ID_B”, “ID_C”, “ID_D”, “ID_E”, and “ID_F”, each of which is associated with a help ID corresponding to the help content to be displayed.

  In S3, the CPU 210 extracts only the related control ID related to the control ID of the help to be displayed from the related control list, and newly develops it on the RAM 230 as a related control ID table including only related controls. Here, since the help display operation has been executed for the control A 510, the CPU 210 has the help ID “IDHLP_A” related to the help content associated with “ID_A” from the related control list and the same help ID “IDHLP_A”. The associated control IDs “ID_B” and “ID_F” are extracted and expanded on the RAM 230.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to S4, in which position on the print setting window 570 the control included in the related control ID table is specified. The control position information is acquired from the operation system stored in the OS storage area 270. The CPU 210 describes each position information in the related control ID table on the RAM 230 described above.

  FIG. 6 is a control ID table obtained by the processing from S3 to S4. The control related to the content of the help and the help ID of the help to be displayed are respectively associated with “ID_A”.

Thereafter, the process proceeds to S5, and the help ID of the help to be displayed is checked. Here, since the control A 510 is operated, the CPU 210 displays the ID “IDHLP_A” of the help to be displayed.
Is searched from the printer driver storage area 250.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to S6, and the help window including the help contents is created according to the help ID. The help window is arranged in the lower part of the control A 510 (from the upper left of the help display origin to the lower right). In this step, the help window has not been displayed on the display 150 yet.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to S7, where the position of the control described in the related control ID table is compared with the position of the help window to determine whether or not the positions of the two overlap. Controls determined to overlap (S7: Y) proceed to S8 and are displayed transparently when the help window is displayed on the display 150.

  If it is determined that they do not overlap (S7: N), the process proceeds to S9, and the help window is displayed opaquely. Therefore, other unrelated controls and overlapping portions of the print setting window 570 are not transparently displayed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S14, where it is determined whether or not the help window 710 is to be closed. When the close button 770 is clicked by the user's operation and it is determined to close (S14: Y), the help window 710 is closed and processing related to help is performed. finish. If it is determined that it is not closed (S14: N), the display state is continued until it is closed.

  FIG. 7 is a simplified diagram of a print setting display screen when the help window 710 is displayed. A region indicated by a two-dot chain line indicates a region where the help window 710 is displayed. As shown in FIG. 7, when the help window 710 is expanded, the control F560 overlaps, so that the area of the control F560 becomes a transparent area. Further, the control C530, the control D540, and the control E550 are impermeable areas.

  FIG. 8 is a simplified diagram of a print setting display screen when the transparency process is performed. Of the overlapped controls, only the control F560 is transmitted from the print setting window 570, and the other controls are not transmitted. Through the above processing, the legibility of the help window 710 can be improved.

  Next, processing when the user performs an operation on the transparent control will be described. In FIG. 8, the control F560 is operated by the user's mouse operation. In S10, the operation content generated by the user's operation is sent to the printer driver storage area 250, and the coordinates operated by the user are compared with the coordinates of the control stored in the printer driver storage area 250 by the CPU 210. The Specifically, it is determined whether an operation has been performed on the control position described in the related control ID table. If it is determined that the operation has not been performed (S10: N), the process proceeds to S13.

  When it is determined that the operation has been performed (S10: Y), the process proceeds to S11, and the operation content is transferred to the corresponding control. In S12, the control operates according to the transferred operation content.

  When the processes from S1 to S12 are completed, it is determined in S13 whether the help window 710 is to be closed. If the close button 770 is clicked by the user's operation and it is determined to close (S13: Y), the help window is displayed. 710 is closed and the process related to help is terminated. If it is determined that the display is not closed (S13: N), the display state is continued until the display is closed.

By the above processing, only the control related to the help content to be displayed can be transmitted, so that the readability of the help is improved.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a description will be given of processing for adjusting the position where the text does not overlap when the help content overlaps the transparent control. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing relating to character position adjustment executed by the CPU 210 based on the printer driver program stored in the HDD 240. Since the process related to the transparent display of help is substantially the same as the flowchart of FIG. 3, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In S17, it is determined whether or not the help contents 810 and the transparent control F560 area overlap. If it is determined that they overlap (S17: Y), the help contents 810 are expanded in the help window 710 while avoiding the transparent area of the control F560 in S18. If they do not overlap (S17: N), the process proceeds to S19, the background of the help window 710 excluding the transparent area is painted opaquely, and the help window 710 is drawn (S20).

  In FIG. 8, the help content 810 and the transmitted control F560 are displayed on the screen. In the figure, there is a portion where the transparent control F560 region and the second line of the help content 810 overlap. At this time, the printer driver program determines that the help contents 810 and the control F560 overlap (S17: Y), and the second and subsequent lines of the help contents 810 are advanced until they do not enter the control area (S18). .

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the screen display after the character position is adjusted. Since the size of the help window 710 has been changed by the process of S18, the process returns to S15, and it is determined again whether the help contents 810 and the related control overlap. In FIG. 10, since there are no more overlapping controls (S17: N), the process proceeds to S19, where the background of the help window 710 excluding the transparent area is opaquely painted and the help window 710 is drawn (S20).

  In addition to this, the character position adjustment method may take another form depending on the size of the control and the help contents 810. FIG. 11 shows a modification of the character position adjusting means of the help contents 810. As shown in the figure, the character position may be adjusted by sending only duplicate characters without line feed.

  In the case of the second embodiment, since the characters in the control and the help window do not overlap, the readability and operability are further improved.

  The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, although the mouse is used as the user input means in this embodiment, a keyboard may be used.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a personal computer and a printer. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the help display device. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing related to transparent help display. FIG. 4 is a simplified view of the display screen of the print setting window. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a control list in the print setting window. FIG. 6 shows a control ID table. FIG. 7 is a simplified view of the display screen of the print setting window. FIG. 8 is a simplified diagram of the display screen of the print setting window. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing related to character position adjustment. FIG. 10 is a simplified view of the display screen of the print setting window. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a modification of the character position adjusting means of the help text. FIG. 12 shows a screen display when the conventional help window is seen.

Explanation of symbols

110 PC 160 Printer 570, 1210 Print setting window 710, 1220 Help window 510 Control A
520 Control B
530 Control C
540 Control D
550 Control E
560 Control F
580 Help button 770 Close button

Claims (5)

In a help display device that displays a background of the help window transparently when a help window started from the start source software is displayed over the start source software window,
Window duplication judgment means for judging whether the position of the control on the window and the help window overlap;
Transparent display means for transparently displaying on the help window only the control related to the content of the help displayed on the help window when it is determined by the window overlap determining means to overlap,
A help display device characterized by comprising: Storage means for storing the correspondence between the controls related to the content of the help and the correspondence between the controls and the help;
The window duplication judgment means includes:
Position information acquisition means for acquiring a position on the window of the control related to the content of the help associated with the storage means;
The help display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a control duplication determination unit that determines whether or not the position of the control obtained by the position information acquisition unit overlaps the help window. Sentence duplication judgment means for judging whether or not the transparent control overlaps with the character in the help;
The help display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a character position adjusting unit that adjusts a character to a position that does not overlap the control when it is determined by the sentence overlap determining unit. Computer
When displaying the help window started from the starting source software so as to overlap the window of the starting source software and displaying the background of the help window transparently,
Window duplication judgment means for judging whether the position of the control and the help window overlap;
Transparent display means for transparently displaying on the help window only controls related to the contents of the help displayed on the help window, which are determined to be overlapped by the window overlap determining means,
Program to function as. The computer,
Position information acquisition means for associating the controls related to the content of the help, and associating the control with the help, and acquiring a position of the associated control on the window;
Control duplication judgment means for judging whether the position of the control obtained by the position information acquisition means overlaps the help window;
An operation determination means for determining whether or not an operation has been performed on the transparently displayed control,
The program according to claim 4, for causing an operation determined to be performed on the control by the operation determination unit to function as a transfer unit that transfers the operation to the control.