JPH06348445A - Information processor and its picture displaying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve user's usability by visually displaying the positional relation of plural display windows from two directions, i.e., the top face and the side face. CONSTITUTION:In the case of displaying a window code on a window position display screen 22 observed from the top face, the sort of the window is judged. Whether a superposed window exists or not is judged from the positional relation of the window concerned, and when the superposed window exists, a superposed window code 41 is displayed on the screen 22. When there is no superposed window, the window code of the sort is displayed on the screen 22. In the case of displaying a window code on a window position display screen 23 observed from the side face, the sort of the window is judged. Then whether a superposed window exists or not is judged from the positional relation of the window and a window code 42 is displayed on the screen 23 when a superposed window exists or the window code of the sort is displayed on the screen 23 when there is no superposed window.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for displaying information by opening a plurality of windows and a screen display method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when a plurality of windows are displayed on a screen, the windows are displayed in an overlapping manner. Also, when selecting the window to be displayed at the top among the overlapping windows, the mouse is used to search for it.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, when the number of windows overlapped on the display screen is increased and one window is hidden by other windows, the hidden window is hidden. There was a problem that it was not possible to determine the existence of and its position. Also,
The window to be displayed at the top is selected by clicking the window on the screen with the mouse. Therefore, when the number of windows that overlap on the display screen increases, the movement distance of the mouse increases due to the operation, and To select a window that is hidden behind another window, you have to find it in the overlapping windows,
There was also the problem of taking time.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and improves the convenience of the user by visually displaying the positional relationship of a plurality of display windows from two directions, the top surface and the side surface. Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and a screen display method thereof.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the information processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. An information processing device that opens a plurality of windows to perform information processing, and includes a determination unit that determines a positional relationship between a plurality of windows to be displayed on a screen, and a positional relationship between the windows determined by the determination unit as an upper surface and Display means for displaying as a window position display screen viewed from two sides.

[0006]

With this configuration, it is possible to determine the positional relationship between a plurality of windows to be displayed on the screen and display the determined positional relationship between the windows as a window position display screen viewed from two directions of the top and side surfaces. As a result, the convenience of the user can be improved.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 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 hardware configuration of an information processing system to which the window position display method according to the present invention is applied. As shown in the figure, the present system is composed of a CPU, a RAM, a ROM and peripheral circuits thereof, and a central processing unit 11 for controlling the entire system, an external recording device (memory) 12 such as a hard disk, and a CRT or the like. A display device 13,
A keyboard 14 as an external input device and a mouse 15 as a pointing device constitute the main part.

In the above structure, the central processing unit 11
Controls the memory 12, the display device 13, the keyboard 14 and the mouse 15, the memory 12 stores information necessary for the system to perform information processing, and the display device 13 displays a window and a position of the window. The keyboard 14 and the mouse 15 perform various inputs to the central processing unit 11.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of windows are opened on a display screen of a computer in the first embodiment. As shown, the display device 1
3 includes a conventional window display screen 21 on top, a window position display screen 22 viewed from the top, and a window position display screen 23 viewed from the side. In this example, the windows displayed in the window position display screens 22 and 23 are indicated by solid window symbols, and the window B (indicated by 25 and 27) is hidden behind the window A (solid lines indicated by 24 and 26). The solid line) is visually displayed.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process for realizing the window position display method in the first embodiment. In the embodiment, the mouse 1
The act explicitly specified by 5 is defined as "window selection". Normally, general window operations (selection, opening, closing, moving, iconizing) are performed on the window display screen 21, but the flowchart of the process in FIG. 3 is executed along with these general operations. Is. That is, the window display screen 2
When a window is selected, opened, closed, moved, or iconified on the window 1, the window display screen 21
The position and context of the previous windows above will change.

Along with this, the central processing unit 11 determines the window position from the upper surface and the front-rear relationship (step S1).
1), a window symbol is displayed on the window position display screen 22 viewed from the top on the display device 13 (step S1).
2). Next, the central processing unit 11 determines the window position from the side and the front-rear relationship (step S13), and displays the window symbol on the window position display screen 23 viewed from the side on the display device 13 (step S14).

As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to visually know the positions and the front-back relations of a plurality of windows simultaneously displayed on the screen from two directions of the upper surface and the side surface.
Also, when one window is hidden by another window and disappears completely, the existence and position of the window can be similarly known. <Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The system configuration of the second embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment described above, and the description thereof is omitted. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of windows are opened on the display screen of the computer in the second embodiment.
In the embodiment, the type of the terminal or application for the window opened by starting the terminal or the application is defined as "window type".

As shown in the figure, it comprises a conventional window display screen 21 on the display screen 13, a window position display screen 22 seen from the top, and a window position display screen 23 seen from the side. In this example, the windows displayed in the window position display screens 22 and 23 are indicated by solid line window symbols so that hidden and invisible windows are visually displayed and overlapping windows when viewed from the top and side are shown by thick lines. Are displayed as overlapping window symbols. In the figure, the overlapping window symbol 41 indicates that the window A and the window C are one-dimensionally overlapped when viewed from the top, and the overlapping window symbol 42 is one-dimensional when the window A and the window B are viewed from the side. It shows that it overlaps.

It is also possible to change the shade of the window symbol to be displayed according to the type of window, or to change the color of the line in the case of a color display device. next,
The operation of the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 shows the second
6 is a flowchart showing a process for realizing the window position display method in the embodiment of FIG.

First, when a window symbol is displayed on the window position display screen 22 viewed from the top, the type of the window viewed from the top is determined (step S21). next,
It is determined from the positional relationship of the windows whether or not there are overlapping windows (step S22), and if overlapping, the overlapping window symbol 41 is displayed on the window position display screen 22 (step S23). Another window symbol is displayed on the window position display screen 22 (step S24).

Next, when the window symbol is displayed on the window position display screen 23 viewed from the side, the type of the window viewed from the side is determined (step S25). next,
It is determined from the positional relationship of the windows whether or not there are overlapping windows (step S26), and if overlapping, the overlapping window symbol 42 is displayed on the window position display screen 23 (step S27). Another window symbol is displayed on the window position display screen 23 (step S28).

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the window type is displayed on the window position display screen in which the positions and the front and rear relationships of a plurality of windows simultaneously displayed on the screen are shown from the two directions of the upper surface and the side surface. It is possible to identify the overlapping state. <Third Embodiment> Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The system configuration of the third embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment described above, and the description thereof is omitted. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of windows are opened on the display screen of the computer in the third embodiment.
In the embodiment, the act of explicitly designating a specific window or window symbol with the mouse 15 is defined as “selection of window or window symbol”.

Whether or not a window is selected is displayed by changing the shade of the window symbol. As shown, a conventional window display screen 21 on the display device 13, a window position display screen 22 seen from above,
The window position display screen 23 is viewed from the side. In this example, the window position display screens 22 and 23
The window displayed inside is shown by a solid line window symbol, and the window symbol of the window B hidden behind the window A and not visible is selected by the mouse 15 to be displayed at the top.

Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing for realizing the window position display method in the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the window position display screen 22,
When the window symbol of the window to be displayed at the top on the window display screen 21 is selected by the mouse 15 on 23 (step S31), the window corresponding to the selected window symbol is displayed on the window display screen 21. It is determined whether or not it is displayed at the top (step S32). If it is displayed at the top, the process ends without doing anything, but if it is not displayed at the top, that is, the window of window B hidden behind window A and not visible. When the symbol is selected, window B is displayed as shown in FIG.
Is moved to the top and displayed (step S33).

As described above, according to the third embodiment, an arbitrary window symbol is displayed from the window position display screen in which the positions and the front and rear relationships of a plurality of windows displayed on the screen at the same time are shown from the two directions of the top surface and the side surface. Can be selected and displayed at the top of the window display screen. The same effects can be obtained by applying the present invention to an information processing device such as a word processor (word processor) that opens a plurality of windows for processing, desk top publishing (DTP), or the like.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the convenience of the user by visually displaying the positional relationship of a plurality of display windows from two directions of the upper surface and the side surface. Become.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of windows are opened on a display screen of a computer in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing window display processing in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where a plurality of windows are opened on a display screen of a computer in the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing window display processing in the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state where a plurality of windows are opened on the display screen of the computer in the third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a window display process in the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which a plurality of windows are opened on the display screen of the computer in the third embodiment.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A screen display method for an information processing apparatus that opens a plurality of windows to perform information processing, wherein a positional relationship between a plurality of windows to be displayed on a screen is determined, and a positional relationship between the determined windows is determined. A screen display method comprising displaying as a window position display screen viewed from two directions of an upper surface and a side surface. 2. A screen display method of an information processing apparatus that opens a plurality of windows to perform information processing, wherein a positional relationship between a plurality of windows to be displayed on a screen is determined, and a positional relationship between the determined windows is determined. A screen display method characterized by displaying as a window position display screen viewed from two directions of an upper surface and a side surface, and displaying overlapping windows according to the positional relationship of the displayed windows. 3. A screen display method for an information processing apparatus that opens a plurality of windows to perform information processing, wherein the positional relationship between a plurality of windows to be displayed on the screen is determined, and the positional relationship between the determined windows is determined. It is displayed as a window position display screen viewed from two directions of the upper surface and the side surface, and when the window displayed on the window position display screen is selected, the window selected according to the position of the window is displayed at the top. A screen display method characterized by the above. 4. An information processing apparatus that opens a plurality of windows to perform information processing, comprising: a determining unit that determines a positional relationship between the plurality of windows to be displayed on the screen; and a window that is determined by the determining unit. An information processing device, comprising: a display unit that displays a positional relationship as a window position display screen viewed from two directions of an upper surface and a side surface.