JPH0511968A - Icon display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the icon display system which explains one object not with icon but with plural icons. CONSTITUTION:The head fonts of the plural icons registered on a main memory(MM) 22 are displayed on a display(DSP) 14 by a display control(DCNT) 15 and when the displayed icons are instructed by a mouse(MS) 11 and noticed through a mouse controller (MCNT) 12 to a CPU 21, the CPU 21 searches the next registered icon font and displays it from the DCNT 15 to the DSP 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an icon display system for an information processing apparatus having an icon display function, and more particularly to an icon display system in which the operator's ease of use and work efficiency are improved.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a user-friendly user interface has been provided in which a plurality of icons are displayed on the display screen of a personal computer, a workstation or the like to make the processing of the computer easier to understand. However, there is a system in which the meaning and meaning of the icon is supplementarily explained by a help function or the like, because the meaning and function thereof are unclear only by the display contents of the icon. Further, in some systems, in order to clarify the display content of the icon, a large icon display area is used and the icon is displayed in a larger icon font.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the display area of one icon is made large so that it can be seen at a glance. However, many icons cannot be displayed on one screen. was there.
Also, when the icon display area is made small and many icons are displayed, its function is difficult to see at a glance,
If a booklet such as a quick reference guide for explaining icons is prepared, the guide is referred to during operation, which interrupts the continuity of the operation and deteriorates the operability.

Further, when the function cannot be identified by a small icon, there are some cases where the function explanation is supplemented by the help function of other methods, but the operation is temporarily suspended because the screen display area for help occupies the screen. There is a poor operability because it is necessary to learn the operation for displaying the help guidance screen.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an icon display system in which one object is described with a plurality of icons instead of one icon.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] and

In order to achieve the above object, the icon display system of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, in the icon display method of the information processing apparatus having the icon display function, a registration unit that registers a plurality of icons for one object, a display unit that displays the icons registered by the registration unit, and the display unit. And an instructing means for instructing to display the next icon registered with respect to the icon displayed in.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functions of the information processing apparatus (personal computer) in this embodiment. In FIG. 1, 11 is a mouse (MS),
It is a pointing device. 12 is a mouse controller (M
CNT) and controls the hardware of the mouse 11. A mouse display control (MLCNT) 13 displays the operation of the mouse 11 on the screen. 14 is a display (DS
P), which is a CRT in this embodiment. Reference numeral 15 is a display control (DCNT), which performs hardware-like display control. A screen display control (SCNT) 16 logically receives the data requested to be displayed and converts it into physical display data. An icon display control (ICNT) 17 controls the icon display such as displaying the next icon from among a plurality of registered icons and registering / deleting a plurality of icons. 18 is an application program (AP
ROG), and requests screen display and registration of icon fonts.

An icon display data table (IFNTBL) 19 stores icon display font data and its control data. In this example, in this embodiment, 10 fonts are registered for each of 50 types of icons and are managed by the icon display control 17. A screen control data table (SC) 20 stores data for icon display control including the screen display state.
ONTBL). In this example, this table is
Data for controlling the display of 50 types of objects is registered and managed by the screen display control 16.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the block diagram shown in FIG. 1 from a hardware side, and is a block diagram showing a personal computer in the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes a microprocessor (CPU), which performs overall control according to a control procedure (program) and control data described later. Reference numeral 22 denotes a main memory (MM) in which the mouse display control 13, screen display control 16, icon display control 17, application program 18, icon display data table 19, screen control data table 20 and the like shown in FIG. There is. A CPU bus 23 is composed of an address bus, a data bus and a control line.

FIG. 3 shows one unit of the above-mentioned icon display data table 19, and is a display data format of an icon for one type of object.
In FIG. 3, IFNTREC is a general term for the entire area that stores one unit of data, and the current display icon number (CD
Area 31 indicating NO), area 32 storing the number of registered fonts (ITNO) indicating how many are currently registered for one type of object, and area 33 storing the registered font (IFNTREG) To be done. Here, the currently displayed icon number area 31
The registered font number area 32 is composed of 2 bytes each, and the registered font area 33 is composed of 512 bytes per icon font, which is a unit of 512 bytes.

FIG. 4 shows the screen control data table 2 described above.
This indicates one unit of 0 and is a screen control data format for one type of object. In FIG. 4, SCONREC is a general term for the entire area that stores one unit of data, and includes an area 41 that stores data (IOBJNO) for identifying an object and a display unit 1.
4 is composed of areas 42 and 43 for storing the upper left position (ILADR) and the lower right position (IRADR) of the icon when the icon is displayed on the screen 4, respectively. Here, the area 41 is composed of 2 bytes, and the areas 42 and 43 are respectively composed of 2 bytes each indicating an X-axis and Y-axis address, and a total of 4 bytes.

Next, the registration and display of icons and the deletion of icons in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the related drawings.

FIG. 5 is a control transition diagram when registering and displaying a plurality of icon fonts for one object. Hereinafter, each transition will be described in order.

1) Application program (APR
From OG) to icon display control (ICNT), the icon font registration parameter (IFNTPR) described later in detail
M) is passed.

2) The icon display control (ICNT) processes the icon font registration parameter (IFNTPRM) and stores it in the icon display data table (IFNTBL), and the storage position is stored in the object identifier (OBJN).
O) as an application program (APROG)
Let me know.

3) Application program (APR
The OG) passes the upper left display address on the display (DSP) of the icon font and the object identifier (OBJNO) to the screen display control (SCNT) to request the icon initial display of the registered object.

4) The screen display control (SCNT) stores the object identifier (OBJNO) and the display address in the screen control data table (SCONTBL), and the object identifier (OBJNO) is controlled by the icon display control (ICN).
To T) to request the icon font address of the object.

5) The icon display control (ICNT) detects the corresponding font address from the icon display data table (IFNTBL) by the object identifier (OBJNO) and notifies the screen display control (SCNT) of the font address.

6) The screen display control (SCNT) is a display control (DC) based on the display address on the display (DSP).
The icon is displayed on the display (DSP) by writing the icon font to the corresponding display address in NT).

Next, before explaining the process of operating the mouse to sequentially change the icon display, the operation of the mouse button and its corresponding function in this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, a 2-button mouse is used and the following processing is performed.

1. Left-click 1-click ... Positive instruction 2. Click left button 2 ... Execute object 3. Right-click 1 click ... Negative instruction 4. Right button 2 click ... Display of the next font of the icon The above 1, 2 and 3 are mouse controlled (MCN
T), mouse display control (MLCNT), and screen display control (SCNT), respectively, but since they are not directly related to the present invention, description thereof is omitted here.

Here, the control transition when the mouse is operated by clicking the right button 2 times will be described below with reference to FIG.

1) When the mouse (MS) is operated by the operator (user), the mouse display control (MLCNT) detects the operation content via the mouse control (MCNT). If the mouse is simply moved, the mouse display control (MLCNT) sequentially writes the data in the display control (DCNT) in order to display the mouse icon on the display (DSP) according to the movement amount.

2) If the data from the mouse control (MCNT) is a button operation, the mouse display control (MLCNT) controls the physical address (X, Y coordinate values) and the button operation (right / left) on the display of the mouse. Notify the screen display control (SCNT) of the contents of left and 1/2 click).

3) The screen display control (SCNT) performs each process according to the contents of the button process. For example, right button 2
In the case of clicking, it is determined that it is the next display request of the icon, and the X and Y coordinate values received from the mouse display control (MLCNT) are 1 in the screen control data table (SCONTBL).
Address (ILADR,
IRADR) to determine whether it is within a rectangle, and SCONREC having the corresponding ILADR and IRADR
Is detected and the object identifier (OBJNO) is searched. Next, the screen control display (SCNT) displays the detected object identifier (OBJNO) as an icon display control (I
CNT) and request the address of the icon font to be displayed next.

4) Then, the same operation as the processing described in 5) and 6) of FIG. 5 described above is performed, and the following icon font is displayed on the display (DSP).

The process of registering and deleting a plurality of icon fonts and the process of displaying the next icon font will be described below with reference to the parameters shown in FIG. 7 and the flow charts shown in FIGS.

FIG. 7 shows an application program (A
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the contents of an icon font registration parameter (IFNTPRM) when PROG) registers a plurality of icon fonts for one object. As shown in the figure, IFNTPRM indicates the number of icon fonts (I
No) and a font pattern (IFNTP). Here, the number of icon fonts (INO)
Is an area showing how many font patterns (IFNTP) are defined, and has a size of 2 bytes. Since the icon font in this embodiment has a design of vertical and horizontal 64 × 64 dots, the font pattern (IFNTP) is 512 bytes per font.
Up to 10 icons can be defined per icon.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing for registering the icon font.

First, in step S81, the currently displayed icon number (CDN) in one unit (IFNTREC) of the above-mentioned icon display data table (IFNTBL).
O) searches the area of FFFFh (h is Hexdecimal display). Here, the currently displayed icon number (CDN
O) indicates FFFFh and an unused area.

Next, in step S82, the number of registered fonts within one unit (IFNTREC) searched (I
The number of icon fonts (INO) and the font pattern (IF) of the registration parameter (IFNTREC) described above in the TNO) area and the registration font (IFNTREG) area.
NTP) respectively. Also, the searched icon display data table (INTREC) of one unit (IFNTREC)
The position in FNTBL) is set as the object identifier (OBJNO) which is the return data, and the process ends.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing for deleting the icon font.

In step S91, based on the object identifier (OBJNO) of the input parameter, one unit (IC) in the icon display data table (IFNTBL).
ONREC). Then, in step S92, FFFFh (deletion symbol) is set to the currently displayed icon number (CDNO) in the designated ICONREC.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing for displaying the next icon font. When the right button 2 is clicked, the screen display control (SCNT) activates the object identifier (OBJNO) as a parameter.

First, in step S101, one unit (ICO) in the icon display data table (IFNTBL) is used.
NREC) based on the object identifier (OBJNO). Then, in step S102, the value obtained by adding "1" to the current display icon number (CDNO) is compared with the registered font number (ITNO), and if it is larger than the registered font number (ITNO), the current displayed icon number (CDNO). Is set to “0”.

Next, in step S103, the next display font address is calculated based on the current display icon number (CDNO), the size of IFNTREC and the start address of the icon display data table (IFNTBL), and the value is used as return data. ..

The current display icon number (CDNO) is
Since it is initialized to FFFFh at the time of registration, "1" is added to the currently displayed icon number (CDNO) in step S102. Because of this processing, the routine shown in FIG. 10 can be commonly used for the initial display after initial registration and the next icon font display.

Further, in this embodiment, when the power is turned on,
The areas of the 50 current display icon numbers (CDNO) are preset to FFFFh in advance.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
With the function of registering a plurality of icon fonts and the function of recognizing the next icon font display request, it is possible to display a plurality of icon fonts at the same display location for one object.

As a result, even if only one icon font can be displayed to represent one object,
The meaning of the object can be discriminated, and the working efficiency of the operator and the user interface function are improved.

[0042]

Other Embodiments In the present embodiment, a personal computer has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be similarly applied to a workstation or a terminal-dedicated machine.

The workstation can be realized in exactly the same manner as in this embodiment with FIGS. 1 and 2, and with a terminal-only machine, the application program (APRO) shown in FIG.
G) is on the host computer, has a “functional block that communicates with the host computer” instead of the application program of FIG.
FNTPRM ”and“ Object Identifier (OBJN)
It becomes possible by communicating "O) with the display address". At this time, a host communication interface for communicating with the host computer is added to FIG.

In this embodiment, the number of icon fonts is limited to 10 at maximum, but by changing one unit (IFNTREC) in the icon display data table (IFNTBL) to a variable length, You can also remove the registration limit for the number of icon fonts.

Further, the application program shown in FIG. 1 is replaced with object management, and the object management is controlled so that a plurality of application programs are operated at the same time, and the object identifier and the icon display address are managed in the same manner as in this embodiment. Is also good.

In the present embodiment, the description of the multi-window is omitted, but the screen display control (SCNT),
If the above-mentioned object management is made compatible with multiple windows, icon display control (I
It goes without saying that the next icon font display function can be realized on the multi-window without changing the CONT function. Also, by making the workstation and terminal-dedicated machine compatible with multiple windows, the function of displaying the next icon font can of course be realized.

In this embodiment, the font size is described as 512 bytes (vertical and horizontal 64 × 64 dots).
This size is not fixed and you may change it to any size vertically and horizontally. In that case, the layout change of one unit (IFNTREC) in the icon display data table (IFNTBL), the layout change of the registration parameter (IFNTPRM), the processing content of the screen display control (SCNT), and the icon display control (ICNT) are changed. Although it is necessary to change the processing content, it goes without saying that these changes can be easily made.

The display of the next icon font is performed by clicking the right button 2 of the mouse, but the same function is performed by operating the keys on the keyboard or adding a touch panel on the display and touching the display icon. It goes without saying that it is easy to realize this function.

Furthermore, IFN is added to SCONREC in FIG.
Provide an area to save the font address in TBL,
The font address of FIG. 5 and the font address of FIG. 6 may be stored in SCONREC by the screen display control (SCNT) to improve the processing speed at the time of functions such as full screen display.

The present invention may be applied to an apparatus composed of one device or a system composed of a plurality of devices. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to an apparatus or system.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By expressing one object with multiple icons, operability and work efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a personal computer in this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the personal computer shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing one unit configuration in an icon display data table.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one unit configuration in a screen control data table.

FIG. 5 is a control transition diagram when registering a plurality of icon fonts.

FIG. 6 is a control transition diagram when displaying a next icon font.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing icon font registration parameters.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for registering a plurality of icon fonts.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for deleting a plurality of icon fonts.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for displaying a next icon font.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 mouse 12 mouse control 13 mouse display control 14 display 15 display control 16 screen display control 17 icon display control 18 application program 19 icon display data table 20 screen control data table

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. In an icon display method of an information processing apparatus having an icon display function, a registration unit that registers a plurality of icons for one object, and an icon registered by the registration unit. An icon display system comprising: a display unit for displaying and an instruction unit for instructing display of a next icon registered for the icon displayed on the display unit.