JPH06266524A - System for automatically adjusting number of windows - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the visibility by user and the operability by automatically controlling the optimal number of windows in changing the state of display on the system controlling the number of windows to be displayed on a multiwindow system. CONSTITUTION:The system monitors monitors the change of the state of display to be generated by a window system 100, collecting the size of display, the number of windows being displayed, and its display state to calculate the proper number of windows and its location by using the objective display ratio. By sending the information to the window system 100, the window control is automatically performed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-window system which is one display method of a computer display, (1) a new window is created, (2) an existing window disappears, (3) a window The display status of the display may change, such as when the size of the window is changed, (4) The window is in the icon state (iconified), or (5) The icon state is returned to the window. Taking this as a trigger, the optimal number of windows for display (the optimal number of windows) is calculated while considering the display size and the size and display ratio of each window, and based on this, the windows are automatically operated to The display, which is a limited resource, is effectively used to reduce the user's window operation burden and make the window easier to see. On the number of windows automatic adjustment system that enables Rukoto.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a multi-window system capable of dividing and using one computer display into a plurality of rectangular areas called windows, which can be used for moving windows, a mechanism called "window manager" is generally used. The user can arbitrarily perform window operations such as iconizing / uniconifying, changing the stacking order, and changing the size by using a mouse or the like.

By the above operation, the user can change the display state of the windows such as the number of windows, the display ratio, the size and the position according to his or her preference. However, since the physical area in which windows can be placed is generally limited by the size of the display, the user cannot freely and independently set the display states of all windows. For example, when a large number of windows are displayed, the windows are placed close to each other, so that the display ratio of the windows decreases, and depending on the situation, it is necessary to reduce the window size. Also, when increasing the window size,
You have to reduce the number of windows.

In this way, the user executes operations such as iconizing / uniconifying, changing the order of superimposing, changing the size, and moving, and displays the display states such as the number of windows, the display ratio, the size, and the position, respectively. We always work to make a good balance according to the situation. Almost all the work of changing the display state of such a window is performed by a user's manual operation.

[0005]

However, the manual operation of the window by the user using the conventional window manager has the following drawbacks.

(1) The window operation must be performed in consideration of the balance of the number of windows, the display ratio, the size, the position, etc. while considering the effective display area. However, once some kind of window operation is performed, these balances are lost and another operation is required. Such a situation imposes an excessive operation burden on the user, and becomes more difficult as the number of windows displayed at one time increases.

(2) The above item (1) can be overcome to some extent by the user's proficiency in operation when the window operation by the user is permitted. However, even when a plurality of users are viewing a single display as represented by a communication conference or a presentation, the operation may not be performed as expected.

(3) It is expected that the window system will be installed in not only computers but also home electric appliances in the future. In such a situation of use, it is expected that the operation that can be selected by the user will be more limited as compared with the current window system due to the simplification of the operation device and the operation. However, the current system uses a mechanism that allows the user to perform all the arrangements, so this cannot be easily accommodated.

(4) The above (1) is a problem derived from the fact that the display is effectively used in consideration of the balance of the window display states.
Therefore, if the visibility of the window and the effective use of the display are abandoned, it does not matter. However, as presented in (2) above, abandoning this is a problem and not permissible, especially when considering the visibility of persons other than the operator.

It is an object of the present invention to focus on the number of windows that affect the visibility of the windows and the effective use of the display, and automatically display as many windows as the display size allows, thereby limiting resources. The effective use of the display is to reduce the user's window operation burden and make it easier to see the window.

[0011]

In order to achieve such an object, the automatic window number adjusting system of the present invention is
(1) Event monitoring means for monitoring events generated by the window system, and (2) Display size, number of windows currently displayed, size of all displayed windows, stacking order, icons / windows. Display status collection means that collects information related to display status such as status and other window attribute classifications, and creates a window display status table, and (3) Holds the prescribed value of what the window display ratio should be. And (4) an optimum number of windows (the optimum number of windows: N) based on the window display state table obtained by the display state collecting means and the target display ratio held in the target value table. And (5) obtained by the display state collection means and the window number calculation means. Based on the data, it has a layout position calculation means that allocates the window to be laid out to the display, and when the window display status is changed due to the window operation, the new creation of the window, or the disappearance of the window, The optimum number of windows is calculated based on the size of the display, the size of each window, and the display ratio required for the window, and the number of windows is automatically adjusted using this to reduce the number of display resources that are limited. By making effective use of it, it is possible to reduce the user's window operation burden and make the window easier to see.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the number of windows which has been conventionally changed only by the manual operation of the window by the user is displayed in consideration of the effective area of the display and the display ratio and size of the windows. By performing automatic operation, the user's visibility, operability, and utilization of the display are improved.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, an automatic window number adjusting system of this embodiment comprises an event monitoring means 110, a display state collecting means 120, a window number calculating means 130, a target value table 140, and an arrangement position calculating means 150. It is configured. This system exists separately from the window system 100 that controls windows, and is configured to indirectly control the display device 160 by communicating with the window system 100.

First, the definition and calculation method of the display rate, which is a unique variable used in this system, will be described. To simplify the explanation, it is assumed that there are two windows w and W on the display, the window W is superimposed on the window w, and part of the window w is invisible. . The area of the window w is s.

The display ratio v of the window w is defined by the ratio of the area s _visible of the _visible portion to the total area s of the window. That is, v = s _visible / s (Equation 1). s and s _visible can be calculated from the coordinate values of the upper left corner and the lower right corner of the window w and the window W. Further, since the window w may extend off the screen, the display rate may decrease regardless of the overlapping window W. At that time, v is calculated in consideration of this influence.

The window display rate v is an index showing how visible the window is, and the visibility of the window can be defined by this index. For example, v =
A value of 1 indicates that the window can be seen at a glance, and if v = 0, the window is not visible,
That is, it indicates that the window is completely covered by another window.

Next, the system configuration of the present invention and description of each part of the system will be described with reference to FIG. In this system, the event monitoring means 110 monitors an event generated from the window system 100. When an event occurs that changes the display status of a window, such as a new window being created, the window disappearing, or the window size being changed,
The event monitoring unit 110 activates the display state collection unit 120 in the standby state. The event that triggers startup is the event that notifies the occurrence / disappearance of windows,
It is preferable to use an event that notifies the state transition of the window ← → icon. This is a guideline for avoiding a situation in which automatic window operation is started by a slight window operation by the user, and the display state of the display is frequently changed and the display flickers.

FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the display status collecting means 120. The display state collecting means 120 collects the display states of the windows required by the arrangement position calculating means 150,
It also processes the collected data for ease of use. These data are the size of the display, the number of windows, the size of each window, and the icon / window status classification (classification of whether each window is an icon or is displayed as a window), as shown in FIG. The window display state table 125 is stored.

First, the window number collector 121 collects the number of windows currently displayed from the window system 100 and stores this in the window display state table 125. The window number collector 121 acquires the display size by simultaneously collecting the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the display, and stores the result in the table. Next, the window size calculator 122 collects the widths and heights of all windows from the window system 100, and calculates the size based on this. Window system 100
If the can provide size information directly, then only the size needs to be collected. Next, the icon / window state determiner 123 similarly inquires of the window system 100 whether each window is displayed as an icon or a normal window,
The inquiry result is displayed in the window display state table 12
Store in 5.

When all the entries are filled in, the window display state table 125 shows the next sorter 124.
Passed to. The sorter 124 sorts the entries in the window display state table 125 according to the order in which the windows currently displayed are stacked. Figure 3
In the above example, for example, when the window with the window ID of 654321 is at the top in the overlapping order, it is replaced in the upper part of the table. When the sorting according to the stacking order is completed, the sorter 124 then separates the icon and the window entry in the window display state table 125. Specifically, the windows are sorted in such a manner that the entries of all the windows are placed higher than the entries of the icons without changing the order of the windows in the table. An example of this operation is shown in FIG. Figure 4 (a)
Is an example of the window display state table 125 before the icon / window is separated, and FIG. 4B is an example after the separation.

When the storage of the data in the window display state table 125 and the sorting of the data are completed, the display state collection means 120 transmits this window display state table 125 to the window number calculation means 130 and starts it. Notice.

The window number calculation means 130 calculates the number of windows that can be displayed based on the display ratio target values stored in the window display state table 125 and the target value table 140. The target value table 140 shows how much the window display ratio (see the above (Equation 1)) should be. For example, if it was specified that an average display rate of 80% was required for windows,
The target value table 140 holds a value such as v = 0.80. The number of displayable windows is calculated by the following formula.

ΣvS _i ≦ D (Equation 2) where Σ is the sum of i = 1 to N N: Number of windows that can be displayed v: Display ratio (see (Equation 1) above) S _i : i-th window Size D: Display size (Equation 2) indicates that the sum of the substantially visible areas obtained by multiplying the size of each window by the display rate is smaller than the size of the display. Thus, the number N of displayable windows, which indicates how many windows can be physically displayed, can be calculated. Since N cannot be directly derived from (Equation 2), the algorithm shown in FIG. 5 is used.

By the process 131 shown in FIG. 5, first, the display use area d is set to 0, and the entry number i of the window display state table 125 to be read is set to 1.
Next, in process 132, the size of the i-th window in the window display state table 125 is collected, multiplied by the target display ratio v obtained from the target value table 140, and the result is added to the display used area d (process 133). If it is determined in step 134 that d is larger than D, a window can still be displayed on this display, and the process returns to step 132. This loop processing is repeated until the display use area d becomes larger than the display area D. When exiting the loop, the number N of windows such that d is less than or equal to D is obtained (Process 13
5).

The number-of-windows calculation means 130 displays the number N of displayable windows obtained by the window number collector 121 and the window display state table 125 obtained by the display state collection means 120 together with the start command, To the arrangement position calculation means 150.

The arrangement position calculation means 150 calculates the coordinate values of N windows. The arrangement position calculation means 150 is
N entries are taken out in order from the top of the window display state table 125 and are sequentially allocated to the empty display area. If iconified windows are included in the N,
It also returns this icon to a normal window (windowing). Similarly, if the number N is smaller than the number of windows that currently exist, the remaining windows are iconified to reduce the number of windows. This operation status is displayed in the window display status table 125.
FIG. 6 shows an example schematically showing a part of the above.

In FIG. 6, when N = 2, the second () window of the window display table 125 is displayed, and the third window is iconified. When N = 3, the iconizing / windowing operation is not performed. N
= 4, the fourth icon is windowed in addition to the first to third windows.

The layout position calculation means 150 only determines the positions of the N windows and whether or not the window is an icon, and does not perform actual layout. The actual arrangement is performed by the window system 100.
The arrangement position calculation means 150 transmits the calculation result in a data format or request form accepted by the window system 100. The window system 100 arranges the actual windows according to this.

When the window operation is completed, the processing of the present system is passed to the event monitoring means 110 again, and the present system is in the standby state until the next event occurs. The optimal number of windows is calculated based on the display ratio and size of windows and the size of the display, and the automatic window number adjustment system with automatic placement means for effective use of the display is explained. Came. Although only specific items have been explained here, this system can be easily expanded with some modifications. An example of the extension is shown below.

(1) In this embodiment, the system is designed assuming an event-driven window system. For this reason, the operation mode is based on the sending and receiving of events, but if the necessary information can be obtained from the mechanism that creates and manages the windows, it is not necessary to stick to the events.

(2) The event detected by the event monitoring means 110 is not limited to the event for notifying the change of the display state. For example, an interface for rearranging directly from the menu is added so that the user operation can be performed. The operation may be triggered.

(3) The sorter 124 sorts the table based on the two items of the current stacking order of the windows and the status difference between the icon status and the window status. Need not be limited to this, as long as the windows are arranged in an important order in the window display state table 125. For example, windows are classified into several types according to the attributes of the windows, such as a text-based window, a window for displaying a moving image, a window for displaying a still image, and the window display state table 125 for each of these types. You can also set the order in.

FIG. 7 shows a reference example of such a sort situation. In this case, the type of window must be determined by the data collected by the display state collection means 120, and a table for determining which type is to be preferentially assigned to the window display state table 125 is separately provided. Will be needed.

(4) When the window number calculating means 130 calculates the number of windows (N) as many as can be displayed on the display, whether or not the original state of the N windows is an icon is determined according to the calculation result. Displayed regardless. If the user does not want the system to arbitrarily return icons to windows, it is possible to incorporate an algorithm such that the value of N does not exceed the number of windows. That is, in the window number determination algorithm shown in FIG. 5 described above, if the acquired data is an icon, a judgment formula for canceling the loop may be incorporated in the process 134.

(5) The data held in the target value table 140 may be a fixed type that is fixed to the system and cannot be changed, or an input type that can be changed in some way by the user.

(6) In the target value table 140, the display rate is given equally to all windows, but it is also possible to give a different display rate to each window. For example, windows can be classified into several types such as a text-based window, a window for displaying a moving image, and a window for displaying a still image, and a display rate can be set for each of these types.
In this case, the display state collection means 120 must be able to determine the type of window.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the past, the operation of changing / adjusting the window display state was performed only by the manual operation of the window by the user. With the above configuration, the number of windows, the display area, the window display ratio, and the window size can be adjusted. Considering this, it has the advantage of being able to realize an automatic operation that puts it in an ideal state and improving the visibility and operability of the user and the utilization of the display.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an automatic window number adjusting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal structure of a display state collecting means in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a window display state table used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a window display status table sorting status in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a window number determining algorithm for calculating the number of windows by the window number calculating means in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an operation example of iconizing / windowing for each optimum number of windows in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a window display status table sorting status in another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 window system 110 event monitoring means 120 display state collecting means 121 window number collector 122 window size calculator 123 icon / window state determiner 124 sorter 125 window display state table 130 window number calculating means 140 target value table 150 placement position calculating means 160 Display device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. On a multi-window system capable of displaying a plurality of windows on a computer display, a window for controlling the number of windows to be displayed based on the size of the display and the size / display ratio of each window. An automatic number adjustment system, which collects a display status including an event monitoring means for monitoring an event generated by a window system, a display size, the number of windows, a size of all displayed windows, and a classification of window attributes. Then, a display state collecting means for creating a window display state table, a target value table for holding a specified value for defining the target display ratio of the window,
Based on the window display state table obtained by the display state collecting means and the target display ratio held in the target value table, a window number calculating means for calculating an optimum window number, the display state collecting means, and the An automatic window number adjusting system, comprising: an arrangement position calculating means for allocating windows to be arranged to a display based on data obtained from the window number calculating means.