JPH05189177A - Hierarchically structured display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the device for easily reaching an arbitrary structural element even when the hierarchical structure is wide concerning the hierarchically structured display device to display the scrolling of the hierarchical structure within a fixed area. CONSTITUTION:A hierarchical structure developing means 10 fetches and develops all the elements 102 of hierarchical structure 100, a branch line segment generating means 12 generates line segments 104 from the branch points of the hierarchical structure 100 to all the branched destinations from the developed elements 102, a display area moving means 14 moves an area 106 in a fixed dimension on the hierarchical structure 100 shown by the developed elements 102 according to input operations, a display area cutting-out means 16 extracts all the elements 102 existent inside the area 106, and a hierarchical structure part display means 18 synthetically displays all the line segments 104 pulled from the extracted elements 102 and the extracted elements 102.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hierarchical structure display device for scrolling and displaying a hierarchical structure within a certain area.

A multi-window system is installed in many personal computers and workstations, and data of various structures can be scroll-displayed in those windows.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In FIG. 9, the prior art is explained, and a hierarchical structure 100 (disk, file directory structure, etc.) in FIG. 9 is formed by a large number of elements 102 (directories, files, etc.).

The uppermost element (AAAAA) of these elements 102 is arranged at the left end of the figure, and the element 102 which is a lower hierarchy of the uppermost element 102 (AAAAA).
(BBBBBB, CCCCC, DDDDD, EEEEEE,
FFFFF, GGGGGG, HHHHH, IIIII, J
JJJJ ... is the top element 102 (AAAAA)
It is located on the right side of A).

Further, the element 102 (DDDDDD, FFF)
On the right side of FF ...), the element 1 which is the lower hierarchy
02 (D1000, D2000, D3000, F100
0, F2000) are arranged, and the element 102 (F2
000) is on the right side of the element 102 (F
2001, F2002, F2003) are arranged.

All elements 102 are hierarchical structures 100.
It is sorted for each hierarchy and is expanded in order to continue later,
Therefore, the hierarchical structure 100 extends toward the bottom of the figure.

A path from the top element 102 to the elements 102 is expressed by a link line 108 extending in the row direction and the column direction and connecting the elements 102. In many cases, the hierarchical structure 100 is displayed in the window 106. Part of (ie
Only element 102 and part of link line 108) are displayed.

The window 106 is moved in the horizontal and vertical directions on the hierarchical structure 100 in accordance with the user's input operation. Therefore, the user scrolls the hierarchical structure 100 in the horizontal and vertical directions in the window 106 to select an arbitrary element 102. Can be reached, and the scrolling operation causes a hierarchical structure 10
It becomes possible to grasp the whole 0.

[0009]

Conventionally, when searching for a target element 102 from a vast hierarchical structure 100 having an extremely large number of elements and hierarchies, a link line in which a display relating to a window non-display structure intersects with a window frame. 10
Since the display is limited to 8, the window scroll operation needs to be repeated while following the link line 108. Therefore, there is a problem that the operation to reach the target structural element is troublesome.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an apparatus capable of easily reaching an arbitrary structural element even when the hierarchical structure is vast. To do.

[0011]

To achieve the above object, a hierarchical structure display device according to the present invention is constructed as shown in FIG.

The hierarchical structure expanding means 10 shown in FIG.
All the elements 102 of 00 are taken in and expanded, and the branch line segment generation means 12 generates a line segment 104 (108) from the branch point of the hierarchical structure 100 to all branch destinations from the expanded element 102.

The display area moving means 14 moves the sizing area 106 on the hierarchical structure 100 indicated by the expanded element 102 in accordance with the input operation, and the display area cutting means 16 exists inside the area 106. Extract all elements 102.

Then, the hierarchical structure portion display means 18 compositely displays all the line segments 104 drawn from the extracted element 102 and the extracted element 102.

[0015]

In the present invention, the line segment 104 (link line 108) extending from the structural element (102) displayed in the area 106 (window) to the structural element 102 (including the non-displayed one) which is a lower hierarchy thereof. Are provided to the user as information about the hidden structural parts.

For example, in the case of the hierarchical structure 100 similar to that shown in FIG. 9, this can be displayed in a window as shown in FIG. That is,
As for the elements 102 (BBBB) and (CCCC), since there is no subordinate element, the line segment 104 is displayed thinly. Since the element 102 (DDDD) includes three subordinate layers, the line segment 104 is It is displayed thick. Here, the line segment may be distinguished by the presence or absence of the lower element by changing the brightness, the color, or the like.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the embodiment, in which the data in the hierarchical structure data storage unit 24 is read-accessed from the access unit 26 and expanded in the memory unit 28 by operating the keyboard 20 and the mouse 22. ..

This data is read by the display control unit 30 and displayed in a window on the display 32, and the window display data is scrolled in the horizontal and vertical directions by operating the keyboard 20 and the mouse 22.

4, 5 and 6, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts, and in FIG. 7, the window display operation of the hierarchical structure 100 will be described.

In FIG. 4, the data of the hierarchical structure 100 (data of the structural element 102) is read and the memory unit 28 is read.
When expanding to (step 406), the number of elements of the hierarchical structure 100 and the number of lower layers are added up (step 402,
404).

Then, the vertical and horizontal sizes of the window 106 are determined based on the accumulated number of elements and the number of lower layers (steps 408 and 410), and the window 106 is opened (step 412).

When the window 106 is opened as shown in FIG. 7, the data of the structuring element 102 to be displayed inside is read from the memory section 28 (step 414), and the structuring element 102 indicated by the read data is displayed. Are displayed at the hierarchy level, the position determined by the read sequence number, and the row position (steps 416, 418, 420, 422).

In FIG. 5, the structural element 10 being displayed is shown.
2 (center of the lower part of the figure) (see FIG. 7) to all structural elements 102 (including those not displayed) in the lower hierarchy (the center of the left part is the end point of FIG. 7)
Is displayed (steps 500, 502, 50).
4,506).

When the window display is performed in this manner, the lower left position and the upper left position of the scroll bar 200 in FIG. 7 are calculated (steps 600 and 602), and the intersection of each line segment 104 and the left side of the scroll bar 200 is calculated. Obtained as the position of the scroll bar scale (step 6)
04).

In FIG. 8, the operation of calculating the scroll bar scale is described. The straight line a in the figure is the bottom of the window 106, and a non-display straight line parallel to the straight line a above the straight line a with an appropriate interval. b is defined.

Then, the intersection e of the straight line d and the straight line b on the lowermost side of each line segment 104 is calculated to obtain the lower left reference point of the scroll bar 200, and the scroll bar 20
A non-displayed straight line c on the left side of 0 is defined.

An intersection point g of the straight line f on the uppermost side of each line segment 104 and the straight line c on the left side of the scroll bar is calculated, and as a result, the display position and height of the scroll bar 200 are determined.

Further, the intersection of each line segment 104 drawn in the middle of the straight lines d and f and the straight line c on the left side of the scroll bar is calculated, and the straight line h (straight lines a and b) serving as each scale of the scroll bar is calculated.
Parallel) is required.

When the display position of the scroll bar 200, its height, and each scroll bar scale are determined as described above, the scroll bar 200, its scale, and the scroll cursor 2 are written in the memory unit 28.
02 is displayed on the display unit 32 as shown in FIG. 7 (steps 606 and 608).

Thereafter, the window 106 is closed when an instruction to end the display is input (step 610), but when an instruction to move the scroll cursor 202 is input, the window display based on the moving position of the scroll cursor 202 is displayed. Performed (steps 612, 61)
4).

For example, in FIG. 7, when the scroll cursor 202 is moved to the scroll bar scale line at the lowest position by a mouse operation and the mouse is clicked, the structural element 102 is displayed.
(JJJJJJ) is displayed in the window 106, and the display of the scroll bar 200 is updated.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the line segment 104 toward the hidden structuring element 102 is displayed in the window 106, even if the hierarchical structure 100 is large, the whole Is easier to understand,
Therefore, the target structural element 102 can be searched for more quickly.

Moreover, it is possible to immediately move to an arbitrary position by a simple operation of moving the scroll cursor 202 to the scale line in the scroll bar 200 and clicking it. Therefore, search, addition, change, deletion of the structural element 102, etc. It is possible to efficiently perform the work of.

The color and line type of the line segment 104 toward the undisplayed structuring element 102 are determined according to the attribute of the structuring element 102 (file or directory, whether reading or writing is possible, etc.). Preferably.

It is also preferable to display the name of the structuring element 102 corresponding to the current position of the scroll cursor 202 as a guide.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the line segment to the structural element which is not displayed is also displayed, even if the hierarchical structure is vast, it is easy to grasp the whole, It is possible to move quickly to the desired position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the operation of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an example.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a window display operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a calculation process for scroll bar display in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 keyboard 22 mouse 24 hierarchical structure data storage unit 26 access unit 28 memory unit 30 display control unit 32 display unit 100 hierarchical structure 102 structural element 104 link line between structural elements 106 window 200 scroll bar 202 scroll cursor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hierarchical structure expanding means (10) for taking in and expanding all elements (102) of a hierarchical structure (100), and a line segment (104) extending from a branch point of the hierarchical structure (100) to all branch destinations. A branch line segment generation means (12) for generating from the expanded element (102), and a hierarchical structure (1 shown by the expanded element (102).
Display area moving means (14) for moving the fixed size area (106) on the display area (00) according to the input operation, and all elements (10) existing inside the area (106)
Display area cutout means (16) for extracting 2), and a hierarchical structure for displaying by combining all the line segments (104) drawn from the extracted element (102) and the extracted element (102) A hierarchical structure display device comprising: a partial display means (18).