JPH06266525A - Multiwindow screen control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly retrieve and select a screen by displaying an icon at the noticeable position when the entire window is hidden from a screen and visually and smoothly informing an operator of the position of screen. CONSTITUTION:Three windows, windows 1, 2, and 3, are displayed in a display. When the detail contents of the window 1 is required in the processing process, the window 2 is hidden under the window 1 when the display area of the window 1 is expanded. Then, when the display area of the window 1 is expanded, a window manager retrieves the hiddent window and when it is detected, he performs the icon processing display processing and displays the hidden window 2 as an icon.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a window screen in a computer in which a process processed by the computer is guided by a multi-window system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The conventional multi-window system is characterized in that a plurality of windows are generated on one display and each window is displayed so that information of the plurality of windows can be simultaneously displayed. There is. In such a multi-window system,
When you select a window to be created later or an already opened window (activate), move the window, or change the window size, the information displayed under the other window is hidden. May occur. FIG. 2 shows an example of occurrence of the above-mentioned state.

The upper part of FIG. 2 exemplifies a state in which a total of three windows of window 1, window 2 and window 3 are displayed in the display.
In the middle diagram of FIG. 2, it is necessary to look at the contents of window 1 in detail in the process of performing the process. Therefore, as a result of expanding the display area of window 1, window 2 is hidden under window 1 and cannot be seen at all. The state is illustrated.

In such a state, the window 1 has to be processed in order to perform the processing relating to the contents opened in the window 2.
When it becomes necessary to selectively display the window 2 hidden under the window, the operator performs the following operation to redisplay the window 2. 1) Use the task list in the window manager or operating system that manages the operation of the task or window, and select the required window from the list.

2) The requested window is displayed on the screen by closing, moving, or changing the size of the window that causes hiding. In the conventional multi-window system, the situation where one window is hidden under another window occurs when each window operates independently, and the display position of other windows currently opened and the window This is because the window is processed without being aware of the relationship between.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned conventional method, when the number of windows displayed on the display is small, it is easy to search and select windows. However, as the number of windows that are opened and displayed at the same time increases, there is a problem that the operation for searching for a required window from a plurality of overlapping windows becomes complicated.

Further, there is a drawback that the operator cannot easily recognize that a window hidden under another window exists. The present invention provides a method in which the contents of a window that has been opened are displayed in a form that can be recognized by the operator even when a window is additionally displayed or the display form is changed. It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems in the conventional method by facilitating re-access.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a window manager screen control method for performing window-related management processing, in which another window is overlapped by operating an arbitrary window. When hidden, the indicator symbol indicating the existence of this hidden window is displayed on the display, and by operating any window, it is possible to restore other windows that are hidden by being overlapped. In this case, the sign symbol corresponding to the recoverable window is erased to restore the window.

Further, in the above-mentioned multi-window screen control method, when there is no area on the display where the sign symbol can be newly displayed, the sign symbol corresponding to the window which is rarely used is moved to the invisible area to display the display area. And how to get. Further, in the above-mentioned multi-window screen control method, display data of a sign symbol indicating on the display that a hidden window exists is displayed in a title part of a file opened in the window or a predetermined area of the file. The method of extracting and displaying from the data stored in can be adopted.

[0010]

When the operation of a window causes another window to be hidden by the operation of the window, an indicator symbol indicating the existence of the hidden window is displayed on the display. When the window is manipulated again so that another window which is hidden by being overlapped can be restored, this window is restored and the indicator symbol displayed when the window is hidden is erased.

When there is no area on the display where the sign symbol indicating the presence of the hidden window can be newly displayed, the sign symbol corresponding to the less frequently used window is moved to the invisible area and a new sign symbol is displayed. Display area is acquired. The display data of the sign symbol relating to the hidden window is extracted and displayed from the data stored in the title part of the file opened in the window or a predetermined area of the file.

[0012]

1 is an explanatory diagram showing a flow of a processing process portion of the present invention in a window manager having a control program adopting the method of the present invention as a constituent element.
The window display distribution subroutine program in FIG.
It is assumed that when a window operation is performed, it is incorporated in the window manager program as a subroutine that is called to perform the relevant processing.

It is also assumed that when the computing device is started, a program that reserves the icon flag register managed by the window manager in the memory of the computing device operates to set the icon flag register. The operation of this window manager will be described below with reference to FIG. When a new window is called, or when an already displayed window is enlarged, reduced, or any other operation related to the window is performed, the window manager process jumps to the window allocation subroutine 1 in FIG.
Since the window currently open at 101 is hidden by other windows on the display device display, the icon flag register is searched for the presence or absence of the window displayed by the indicator signal (icon) representing that window. Check.

If it is confirmed that the icon is not displayed, the process of the window distribution subroutine 1 is 201 in FIG.
Then, the display position (starting point) and the window size (horizontal / vertical direction) of all the windows generated in the display are compared here. As a result, if it is confirmed that there is a window that is hidden so that the information in the window cannot be confirmed, the process proceeds to 202.

The process of 202 is a process of acquiring an area for displaying a window hidden by the operated window as an icon, and when this process is performed, the apparatus prepares for a search for the presence or absence of an iconized window. When activated, the management flag shall be set in the register that the window manager has set as the icon flag register.

If there is no displayable portion of the icon on the display, the icon which is less frequently used among the icons being displayed in the visible area is moved to the invisible area to acquire the display area. When the acquisition process of the icon display area is completed, the process proceeds to the icon display process 203.

The display data of the displayed icon can also be obtained by a method such as that taken from the title part of the file called on the window. When such a method is adopted, for the file called on the window, the symbol data that symbolizes the contents of the program is placed in the title part of the file in advance so that the contents can be understood when displayed as an icon. Can be facilitated.

First Process of Window Allocation Subroutine
When it is confirmed at 101 that the window already displayed as an icon is present, the process proceeds to 301 in FIG.
In process 301, the window display position (starting point) and window size (horizontal / vertical direction) of the newly operated window and other windows are compared. At this time, these relationships are compared including the original display position and the size of the iconized window by the window control program.

When it is determined by the comparison that the hidden window can be displayed again, the process proceeds to 302, where the display data of the temporarily hidden window is transmitted to restore the window and before the icon is displayed. It will be restored as a window to the position that existed in. By the operation of the window control process, the automatically iconified window is automatically displayed as the original window when other windows covering the previously displayed area are removed. On the other hand, when it is determined in step 301 that the restoration area of the already iconized window cannot be secured, it is determined whether or not a window other than the iconized display is newly hidden by a new window operation. If the window is hidden, the process shifts to step 201 to perform iconized display processing for that window as well.

2 and 3 show examples of multi-window display conditions on the display of the display device controlled by the window manager having the control program according to the present invention as a constituent element. The diagram in the upper part of FIG. 2 exemplifies a state in which a total of three windows of window 1, window 2, and window 3 are displayed in the display.

Since it is necessary to look at the contents of the window 1 in detail in the process of executing the processing, the window 2 is hidden under the window 1 as a result of enlarging the display area of the window 1. As shown in the figure, window 2 disappears at all, but when an operation to expand the display area of window 1 is performed, the window manager searches for hidden windows, and if a hidden window is detected, it is converted to an icon. Figure 2 after performing display processing
The hidden window 2 is displayed as an icon as shown in the lower diagram.

In FIG. 3, when the display area of the window 1 is enlarged, the hidden window 2 is displayed as an icon, and the process related to the window 1 is completed. Therefore, the display area of the window 1 is reduced. 3 illustrates an example of a process of redisplaying window 2 of FIG.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the entire window is hidden from the screen by activating a window to be generated later or an already opened window, moving the window, or changing the window size. In this case, by displaying the icon in a visually recognizable position without closing, moving, or minimizing (iconizing) the window that causes the window to be hidden, the operator can visually and quickly. The position of the screen can be notified to the user, and quick screen search and selection can be performed, and the operability of the entire man-machine interface can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a program according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a process in which a hidden window is displayed as an icon.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a process in which an iconized window is restored and displayed.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A multi-screen capable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of screen information by generating a plurality of independently operated windows on the display so that they can be overlapped with each other and displaying an individual image for each window. In the window screen control method, when another window is overlapped and hidden by operating any window, a sign symbol indicating that the hidden window exists is displayed on the display, When it is possible to restore another window that is hidden by being overlapped by operating the window, the indicator mark corresponding to this restoreable window is erased to restore the window. Multi-window screen control method. 2. The multi-window screen control method according to claim 1, wherein when there is no area on the display where the sign symbol can be newly displayed, the sign symbol corresponding to a window that is rarely used is invisible. A multi-window screen control method, characterized by moving to and acquiring a display area. 3. The multi-window screen control method according to claim 1, wherein display data of a sign symbol indicating on the display that a hidden window exists is displayed in a title part of a file opened in the window. Alternatively, the multi-window screen control method is characterized in that the file is extracted from data stored in a predetermined area of the file and displayed.