JPH06149524A - Multiwindow display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily confirm and move a window hidden under a highorder layer and to easily perform its operation. CONSTITUTION:In the case of changing a display window, an operator picks a display window changing menu 16 by a mouse or the like. Thus, the external shapes of all the windows are displayed on a display screen 1. Then, the operator instructs a point near the centroid of the window to be displayed on the screen. A controller not shown in a figure calculates distances between the instructed point 17 and the centroids 12d-15d of the respective windows, discriminates the window for which the distance is the shortest as the desired window and displays it at a highest-order layer. Thus, the desired window can be easily displayed and the operability of the windows can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-window display system, and more particularly to a multi-window display system which enables easy operation of displaying a lower window hidden in an upper window on the uppermost layer. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a conventional overlap-type multi-window display method, when a window hidden under an upper layer window is displayed in the uppermost layer, each window is sequentially arranged in the uppermost layer in a predetermined order. , You have to select the window to move to the top layer,
This was a troublesome operation.

As a conventional technique relating to a multi-window display system which eliminates the above-mentioned troublesomeness and improves operability, for example, a technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-193786 is known.

This prior art is to display the overlapping state of windows in a dedicated window in a state of being viewed from the horizontal direction, and by pointing this with a mouse or the like, the windows are moved to the uppermost layer and displayed. , The operability is improved.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned prior art does not take into consideration the case where a plurality of windows exist in the same layer in parallel, and a plurality of windows in the same layer hidden under the upper layer window are not considered. There is a problem that it is difficult to move necessary windows from the above windows to the uppermost layer and display them.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to easily confirm the window hidden under the upper layer in the overlap type multi-window display method and select the desired window as the maximum. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-window display method that can be displayed in the upper layer and can be easily operated.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the object is to provide a display window change mode, in which the outlines of all windows are displayed, and the center of gravity or the vicinity of the center of the window required by the user is displayed. This is achieved by moving the window to the top layer and displaying it when picked with a mouse or the like.

[0008]

When the required window is to be displayed on the top layer, the operator only needs to specify the coordinates near the center of gravity from the outline of each window displayed in the change mode of the display window. Even when there are a plurality of windows, the required window can be easily found and displayed, and the operability can be improved.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a multi-window display system according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display example before the display window is changed, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example after the display window is changed, and FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the window management table in the display state before the display window is changed, FIG. 5 is a window management table in the display state after the display window is changed, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an embodiment of the invention. 1 to 3, 11 is a display screen, 12 to 15 are first to fourth windows, 16 is a window change menu, and 12d to 15 are shown.
d is the center of gravity of the first to fourth windows, 17 is the coordinates designated by the mouse, 31 is the window system control device, 32 is the keyboard, 33 is the memory, 34 is the data processing device, 3
5 is a mouse, 36 is a display control device, 37 is a display device, 3
Reference numeral 8 is an internal bus, and 41 is a window management table.

In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3, the memory 33 stores a window management table 41, and the data processing device 34 has a distance from the coordinates designated by the mouse 35 to the center of gravity of the window. And calculate
A program for reassigning window hierarchy numbers based on the distance is stored. Then, the data processing device 34
Refers to the window management table 41 as necessary,
Perform update processing.

The window system control device 31 refers to the window management table 41 to manage the multi-window display and gives an instruction to the display control device 36. The display control device 36 performs image control and multi-window display on the screen of the display device 37.

The mouse 35 is used for a display window change menu 16, an instruction of a window to be displayed on the uppermost layer, and the like. However, the display window change menu 16 can also be instructed by pressing the function key 32f of the keyboard 32.

Now, it is assumed that the display device 37 is designed so that four windows can be displayed in an overlapping manner, as shown in FIGS. In addition, the display device 37
The display screen 11 has the XY coordinates of the upper left corner (0, 0) and the lower right corner (699, 499), and the four windows are the first window 12 from the upper hierarchy,
Side by side with the second window 13, the third window 14 and the fourth
It is assumed that the window 15 is in the same layer.

In this case, the whole of the first window 12 and a part of the second window 13 are displayed, but the third window 14 and the fourth window 15 cannot be seen on the actual screen. In FIG. 1, the hidden and invisible portion is indicated by a broken line.

The window management table, which is a table of information necessary for such multi-window display, is shown in FIG.
As shown in Fig. 3, the window number of each window, start point information and end point information indicating the window area, the center of gravity information of the window, the distance from the coordinates designated by the mouse to the center of gravity of the window, and the window hierarchy number are included. Is configured. The start point information, the end point information, and the center-of-gravity information of each window are represented by the opposite vertices of the window rectangle, that is, the X and Y coordinates of the upper left corner and the lower right corner. It is assumed to be a hierarchy.

The display of the multi-window is performed based on the start point information and the end point information of the window of the upper hierarchy. The contents described in FIG. 4 are
This is an example of the case where the display as shown in FIG. 1 is performed.

Next, the processing for changing the display window in the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG.

(1) With the display on the display device 37 in the state of FIG. 1, first, the operator uses the mouse 35 to instruct the display window change menu 16 to enter the window change mode. In this window change mode, the hidden part under the window is displayed only by the outline of the window. This processing is performed by the window system control device 31,
This is performed by referring to the start point information / end point information of the window management table 41 and redrawing only the contour (step 60).

(2) In this example, the third window 14 is changed to the highest hierarchy, and the operator uses the mouse 3
5 using the coordinates (2
10, 130) 17 (step 61).

(3) Next, the number of windows is checked. If the number of windows is 1, the window is not changed, so the window change mode is canceled (steps 62 and 67).

(4) In this example, since the number of windows is 4, the distance from the coordinate 17 designated by the mouse 35 to each of the window centroids 12d to 15d is calculated, and the result is stored in the window management table 41. (Step 6
3).

(5) The data processing device 34 reassigns the window hierarchy numbers in the ascending order of the updated distances. However,
When there are a plurality of windows with the same distance calculation result, the layer numbers are reassigned in the ascending order of the original window numbers. As a result, in this example, the window management table 41 becomes as shown in FIG. 5 (step 64).

(6) Window system controller 31
Redisplays the window with reference to the reassigned window hierarchy number shown in FIG. In this example, it is displayed as shown in FIG. 2 (step 65).

(7) If the operator wants to end the window change mode, the operator releases the window change mode by pointing the mouse 35 twice in succession (steps 66 and 67).

(8) However, when the mouse is again instructed, the process returns to step 64 to reassign the window hierarchy number again. In that case, the window hierarchy number is decreased by 1 for the windows with window numbers 2 and after, and the window with the window hierarchy number of 1 is changed to the lowest layer. This process is repeated until the redisplay of the window is completed.

When the window is redisplayed in the above example,
Third window 14, first window 12, second window 13, fourth window in order of increasing distance to the center of gravity of the window.
The window hierarchy number is changed in the order of window 15,
The third window 14 will be displayed.

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the windows to be displayed in the overlapped multi-windows can be easily changed to the uppermost layer and displayed, and there are a plurality of windows in the same hierarchy. Even in this case, it is possible to surely change the specified window to the top layer.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the distances between the coordinates designated by the mouse and the barycentric positions of all windows are calculated, and the hierarchical numbers are given in ascending order of distance.
The window with the shortest distance is displayed as the top layer, but only a part of multiple windows is changed,
The processing as described above can also be performed.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a display example before changing the display window for explaining the operation in this case. In FIG.
Reference numeral 18 is an arbitrarily designated rectangular area, and other reference numerals are the same as those in FIG.

In this example, an arbitrary rectangular area is designated on the screen by pointing with a mouse or the like, and only the window including the center of gravity of the rectangular area is limited to the display window change target. The window with the shortest distance from the center of gravity of the window to the center of gravity of the window is moved to the uppermost layer for display.

Now, after the operator enters the display window changing mode as described above and designates an arbitrary rectangular area 18 using the mouse 35 by designating the upper left and lower right points, the area within this area is specified. The window with the center of gravity is selected as the target to be changed. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the centers of gravity 12d and 14d are selected as the windows to be changed.

The center of gravity 17 'of the arbitrary rectangular area 18
The distance between the center of gravity and the center of gravity 12d, 14d is calculated, and the window with the center of gravity at the shortest distance is moved to the top layer and displayed. In this example, the third window 14, the first
Window hierarchy numbers are assigned in the order of the windows 12. In this case, the changed screen display is the same as that shown in FIG.

In the above-mentioned example, it is not necessary to show the outlines of all the windows in the display window change mode. In this case, the window to be displayed can be picked very easily within the range remembered by the operator. .

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the overlap type multi-window display method, even if a necessary window is hidden under a plurality of windows, the window can be easily moved to the top. A system that can be displayed in layers and has good operability can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display example before a display window is changed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example after a display window is changed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a window management table in a display state before a display window is changed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a window management table in a display state after changing a display window.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another display example before changing the display window, which illustrates another operation example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Display Screen 12 to 15 First to Fourth Window 16 Window Change Menu 12d to 15d Center of Gravity of First to Fourth Window 17 Coordinates Instructed with Mouse 31 Window System Control Device 32 Keyboard 33 Memory 34 Data Processing Device 35 Mouse 36 Display Control device 37 Display device 38 Internal bus 41 Window management table

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A multi-window display method in which a plurality of windows are overlapped and displayed on one screen is provided with a mode for changing a display window for displaying the outlines of all windows, and in the mode, any pointer on the screen is displayed by a pointer. A multi-window display method that calculates the distance between the position specified by the pointer and the center of gravity of each window by specifying the position of, and displays the window with the shortest distance in the top layer. 2. A multi-window display method in which a plurality of windows are overlapped and displayed on one screen, and a mode for changing the display window is provided, and in the mode, an arbitrary rectangular area is designated on the screen by a pointer. Thus, only the window including the center of gravity in the rectangular area is limited to the display window change target, and the window having the shortest distance from the center of gravity of the rectangular area to the center of gravity of the window is displayed in the uppermost layer. Multi-window display method.