JPH0476724A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to easily observe character on a window at the time of inputting a key and to improve operability by temporarily erasing the cursor display of a pointing device from the window screen at the time of document edition executing the key input. CONSTITUTION:This information processor is provided with a key input part 1, a mouse input part 2, a window control part 3, a window display part 4, a program input part 5, an input request detection part 6, a storage area 7, a key input valid/invalid flag 8, a time counting part 9, and a mouse input valid/invalid flag 10. During the execution of key input, the cursor display of the pointing device on the window is suppressed, and when key input is not executed for a fixed time, the cursor display of the pointing device is executed. Consequently, the window for a program requiring frequently key input can easily be observed and operability, especially user interface, can be improved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an information processing device, and particularly to window management in a multi-window system that constitutes a user interface of an information processing device using a bitmap display and a pointing device. Regarding functions.

[Prior Art] FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of a conventional window system.

In FIG. 6, the key input section 1 that receives input (key input) from a keyboard (not shown) outputs the received key input to the window control section 3 when the key input permission flag 8 is in the "allowed" state. On the other hand, when the key input permission flag 8 is "no", the received key input is invalidated as is. The mouse input unit 2 receives input (coordinate data) from a mouse (product name, not shown) of a pointing device at regular intervals, and outputs the input coordinate data to the window control unit 3.

The window control unit 3 opens a window and converts it into an icon depending on the type of input data.
It converts the icon into a window, starts the program, displays the mouse cursor, and transfers input key data from the window pointed to by the mouse cursor to the program. When a window is open and the cursor is pointing to the window, the storage area 7
When an input request occurs from the input request detection unit 6 that detects an input request from the program 7-1, the window control unit 3
sets the key input enable/disable flag 8 to the "allow" state and waits for an input from the key input section 1. When a key input is made from the key input section l, the window control section 3 controls the window display section 4.
It outputs input key data to display the character corresponding to the key input, and also outputs the character code to the program input section 5.

Furthermore, when coordinate data is input from the mouse input unit 2, the window control unit 3 detects whether or not the coordinate data is in the window, and if the mouse cursor is not in the window, input from the keyboard is detected. The key input permission flag 8 is set to "no" so as not to accept the input, and the coordinate data is output to the window display section 4 to display the mouse cursor.

The window display unit 4 displays characters or a mouse cursor in a window on the screen according to the contents of input data. The program input section 5 inputs the input key data inputted from the window control section 3 into a program 7-1.
Transfer to. The input request detection section 6 detects an input request from the program 7-1, and when there is an input request, notifies the window control section 3 that there is an input request for the program.

Here, the storage area 7 is a memory area of the internal computer of the information processing device, and is an area where a program resides corresponding to the window displayed on the window display unit 4. In FIG. 6, as an example, the program 7- 1 is operating.

In addition, the key input permission flag 8 is a flag that determines whether or not to accept key data from the key input section l.If the value of this flag is "no", even if there is an input from the keyboard, the key input section 1 does not output key data to the window control unit 3.

Set the value of this key input permission flag 8 to “possible” or “not possible”
The window control section 3 controls the program 7 according to the window pointed to by the mouse cursor.
-1 is operating, it becomes "possible".

FIG. 3 shows an example in which a window of the above-mentioned program 7-1 is displayed, and a mouse cursor indicating the position indicated by the mouse is also displayed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional example described above, the mouse cursor is displayed on the window pointed by the pointing device (hereinafter referred to as the mouse) (see Figure 3). ), the display of the mouse cursor made the window difficult to see (see Figure 5).Especially when a program such as an editor is running, the display of the mouse cursor may make it difficult to see what is being edited. Each time, the user had to move the mouse cursor to a position within the window that would not interfere with editing, which was a hindrance to editing typing work.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems described above, and to temporarily erase the cursor display of a pointing device from the window screen when editing a document while key input is being performed.
An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that makes it easier to see characters on a window during key input and improves operability.

In an information processing device capable of specifying a window, the display suppressing means suppresses display of a cursor of a pointing device on a window in which character input is being performed from the character input means; a pointing device cursor display means for displaying the cursor of the pointing device again if the character input is not performed for the predetermined period of time, even when the cursor display of the pointing device is suppressed; The present invention is characterized by comprising display suppression canceling means for canceling suppression of cursor display of the pointing device when movement of the pointing device is detected.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention displays a plurality of windows on a display screen, allows characters to be input into each window from a character input means, and allows inputting characters from a pointing device. Active [Function] In the present invention, the cursor display (generally an arrow) of a pointing device (mouse) is prohibited in the window where key input is being performed, and if no key input is performed on the window for a certain period of time, the mouse is displayed again. Since the cursor is displayed, it is easier to see the characters on the window when entering keys (and the operability (user interface) is improved.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, key input section 1. Mouse input section 2. Window control unit 3. Window display section 4. Program input section 5. Input request detection unit 6. The storage area 713 and program 7-1 are
It has almost the same function as the conventional example described above in FIG.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a time counter which is activated or stopped by the window control unit 3 and counts a certain period of time, and reference numeral 10 is a mouse input enable/disable flag which suppresses the force of the mouse coordinate data from the mouse input unit 2.

Program 7-1 currently running in the above configuration
is an editor and already has mouse operations.

The operation when the window of the program 7-1 is displayed by operating the keyboard will be described below. The display state of the screen at this point is shown in FIG.

Here, the user (operator) opens the editing window of the editor (i.e., the window of program 7-1 in Figure 1).
On the other hand, when characters are input from the keyboard, the key input section 1 outputs the input characters to the window control section 3.

FIG. 2 shows the processing procedure of the window control section 3 at this time.

Next, the processing procedure will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step S1, it is determined whether there is any key input. If there is a key input, the process advances to step S2. In step S2, the mouse input permission flag is set to "no".

If the mouse input permission flag is in the “no” state, the mouse input unit 2 outputs coordinate data to the window control unit 3 even though coordinate data is input from the mouse at regular time intervals. I learn not to do it. Since the window control unit 3 inputs the mouse coordinate data in a processing program different from that shown in FIG. 2 and instructs the window display unit 4 to display the mouse cursor, this From this point on, the mouse cursor no longer appears on the screen.

In the next step S3, the mouse display switch, which is an internal switch of the window control section 3, is turned off. Furthermore, in step S4, the time counting section 9 is stopped, thereby suppressing the display of the mouse cursor after a certain period of time has elapsed since the key input.

In the following step S5, it is determined whether or not there is an input request from the input request detection section 6. At this point, if there is an input request from the input request pressure detection unit 6, the input characters are output to the program input unit 5 in step S6, and if there is no input request in step S5, they are temporarily input in step S7. The characters are stored in a predetermined storage area in the window control unit 3, and the characters are output to the program input unit 5 when an input request is made later. After that, the process returns to step SL. Therefore, while the input key continues to exist in this way,
The process of step 5l-37 described above is repeatedly executed,
During this time, the mouse cursor will not be displayed on the window. Figure 4 shows program 7- during key input at that time.
1 window is shown.

Here, if the user stops inputting from the keyboard,
The window control unit 3 moves from step S1 to step S38 and executes step S8 in FIG. In step S8, it is determined whether or not the mouse display switch in the window control section 3 is set to F. If the switch is OFF, the time counting section 9 is activated in step S12. The time counter 9 counts a predetermined time, and when the predetermined time elapses, an affirmative determination is made in step S9.In step S13, the mouse display switch is turned on and the mouse input permission flag lO is set to "possible". ” state. When the mouse input permission flag is "possible", the mouse input section 2 outputs the coordinate data from the mouse to the window control section 3, and the window control section 3 displays the mouse cursor on the window display section 4. then step S
Return to 1. This window display state is shown in FIG.

Further, if the mouse switch is ON in step S8, the process directly returns to step S1.

Further, in step SIO, the mouse input unit 2 detects whether the mouse has moved or not, and if there is a change in the mouse coordinate data (that is, if the mouse has moved),
The process proceeds from step SIO to 313, where the mouse coordinate data is output to the window control unit 3 even if the mouse input permission flag is in the "no" state. At the same time, the mouse input section 2 sets the mouse input permission flag 10 to the "possible" state.

In the above embodiment, a mouse was used as an example of a pointing device (coordinate data input means), but it is clear that the present invention can be applied to other pointing devices such as a drag ball (part name).

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the cursor display of the pointing device on the window is suppressed when key input is being performed, and the cursor of the pointing device is displayed again when no key input is performed for a certain period of time. Since this is done, the windows for programs (for example, editors) that require frequent key input can be easily seen (and the operability, especially the user interface, can be improved).

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a window system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are explanations showing examples of window display. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional window system. l... Key input section, 2... Mouse input section, 3... Window control section, 4... Window display section, 5... Program input section, 6... Input request detection section, 7 . . . Storage area, 7-1 . . . Program in storage area, 8 . . . Key input permission flag, 9 . Brochure 7-1 window

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) An information processing device that can display a plurality of windows on a display screen, input characters into each window from a character input means, and actively specify a window using a pointing device. A display suppressing means for suppressing a cursor display of a pointing device on a window in which a character is being inputted from the character inputting means, and a time counting means for counting the fact that the character is not inputted for a certain period of time on the window. , a pointing device cursor display means for displaying the cursor of the pointing device again if the character input is not performed for a certain period of time; even if the cursor display of the pointing device is suppressed, when movement of the pointing device is detected; An information processing apparatus comprising: display suppression release means for releasing suppression of cursor display on a device.