JPH07104965A - Message notifying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display a message without losing an input control from a user by displaying a message window in the vicinity of an active window in a state that a window performing a processing is displayed and displaying the message window on a part where other window does not exist when plural windows are displayed. CONSTITUTION:The window area of the whole of a display screen 10 is detected by a window location detection means, an area where the present window is not displayed on a screen is divided into rectangular areas as large as possible and the list is determined. The sizes of the rectangle of a free area and the rectangle of a message window 5 are compared, and when the rectangle of the free area which is larger than the message window 5 exists, the display location is defined as the rectangular area. When plural free areas where the message window 5 is possible to be displayed exists, the free area which is closest to the side near the center of the screen of a window 1 which is an active window at present is determined from a list and this free area is defined as a display area.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a message notifying method for notifying a message such as a change in a phenomenon when a window for inputting is displayed on the screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, a window system is used in which a plurality of windows are displayed on the screen and data processing is performed individually in each window. In such a window system, there is a case where it is desired to convey a message of a change in phenomenon such as arrival of an electronic mail addressed to a user who is operating. In such a case, a message window including a message to that effect is displayed to notify the user.

FIG. 2 shows an example of screen display in such a case. 2 (a) shows the message window before being displayed, and FIG.
(B) is a screen after the message window is displayed.
In FIG. 2A, 10 is a display screen, and four windows 1 to 4 are displayed on the display screen 10. Each of these windows 1 to 4 constitutes an input unit for inputting, and in the illustrated state, the window 1 is an active window which is being processed (selected) at that time.

In this state, the message window is displayed as shown in FIG. 2 (b). As shown in the figure, the message window 5 is displayed substantially in the center of the display screen 10, and the active window in which input is possible is switched from the window 1 to the message window 5.

In such display, there are the following two methods for window control. The message window 5 remains the active window unless the confirmation button 5a is operated (input operation is performed from this position with a mouse or the like), and when the confirmation button 5a is operated, the message window 5 disappears from the display screen 10. To be done. The message window 5 is the active window in the initial display, but the active window can be switched to the other windows 1 to 4 by the user's selection. However, also in this case, the message window 5 is still displayed on the display screen 10 unless the confirmation button 5a is operated.

[0006]

However, the above two methods have the following problems. Other operations cannot be performed unless the message in the message window 5 is responded. Therefore, for example, even if the user is inputting in the window 1 and wants to continue the operation, the operation must be interrupted once. In addition, in some cases, the message window 5 is displayed on the input portion of the window 1, and the input portion cannot be seen unless the message window 5 is deleted.

From the above, the user often operates the confirmation button 5a of the message window 5 to give priority to the input operation of the window 1, but does not confirm the contents of the message. As a result, the user There was also a problem that he did not remember the contents of the message.

Similar to the above method, since the control is once performed on the message window 5, the user feels awkward when processing is being performed. Further, control can be transferred to the other windows 1 to 4 while the message window 5 is being displayed. However, if processing is performed in the windows 1 to 4 for this reason, the message window 5 will be changed to the other windows 1 to 4 There is a problem in that the message window 5 is hidden because it is hidden by. For example, when the window 2 is selected in the illustrated state, the message window 5 is covered by the window 2 and cannot be confirmed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and a message notification method for displaying a message without losing the input control from the user and for allowing the user to easily confirm the message window. The purpose is to provide.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a message notification method, wherein when a message window for message notification is displayed with a window for processing displayed on the screen, the message window is If it is displayed near the active window that can be processed at that time and multiple windows are displayed,
The message window is displayed in a portion where there is no other window, and the message window is not displayed as an active window.

In the message notifying method of the second invention, in the first invention, when a plurality of windows are displayed on the screen and there is no area for displaying the message window in the vicinity of the active window, the message in the active window is displayed. The data is displayed in an area where no data is displayed.

In the message notification method of the third invention, in the second invention, when there is no area for displaying the message window in the active window, the window non-display portion near the active window is replaced by the data in the active window. The present invention is characterized in that it is regarded as a continuous area of an area that is not displayed and is displayed in this continuous area.

[0013]

In the message notification method according to the first aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of windows are displayed on the display screen, first, an area in which no windows are displayed on the display screen is obtained, and this is divided into rectangular areas. . Also, the size of the message window is calculated from the message data, the rectangular area of this size is compared with the rectangular area obtained by dividing the window non-display area, and there is an area larger than the rectangular area of the message window in the divided rectangular area. If you do, the area is set as the display position of the message window. Furthermore,
When there are a plurality of divided rectangular areas larger than the rectangular area of the message window, for example, the rectangular area near the center of the display screen is set as the display position.

In the message notification method of the second invention, when there is no area for displaying the message window in the vicinity of the active window, first, the area of the active window is acquired, and the data display portion in the active window is acquired. get. Then, the data non-display portion in the active window is calculated from these values, and the message window is displayed in this portion.

In the message notification method of the third invention, when there is no area for displaying the message window in the vicinity of the active window or in the data non-display portion of the active window, first, as in the second invention, there is no data of the active window. Find the display area.
Next, consider the window non-display portion adjacent to this area as a continuous area, create a rectangular area as large as possible in this area, and search for an area in which the message window can be displayed from the obtained rectangular areas, and display position To decide.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display example of the message notification method of the present invention. Prior to explaining this, a system configuration for realizing the message notification method of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram thereof. The apparatus shown in the figure is a case of a microcomputer, and includes a central processing unit (CPU) 11, a main memory 12, and a display 1.
3, a pointing device 14, a keyboard 15, a magnetic disk device 16, and a bus 17.

The central processing unit 1 has a function of controlling each unit via the bus 17 and performing a display process of a message window described later based on an input from the pointing device 14 or the keyboard 15. Further, the central processing unit 11 is provided with a window position detection means 11a, a message data acquisition means 11b, a display position calculation means 11c and a display control means 11d for display control of the message window.

The window position detecting means 11a has a function of detecting the window position displayed on the screen by the coordinate data or the like. The message data acquisition unit 11b determines the size of the message window on the display screen based on the message data. The display position calculating means 11c calculates the position of the message window based on the window position detected by the window position detecting means 11a and the message data acquired by the message data acquiring means 11b, and determines whether or not the position is correct. It has a judgment function. The display control means 11d is for causing the display 13 to display the position of the message window obtained by the display position calculation means 11c.

The main memory 12 is a random access memory.
The memory is a memory for storing various data and programs. The display control of the message window has a function of storing the message data 12a.

The pointing device 14 is composed of, for example, a mouse and is an input device for performing various inputs. Further, the keyboard 15 is an input device in the system like the pointing device 14. Furthermore,
The magnetic disk device 16 is an external storage device that stores various data and programs.

Next, the operation of the above system will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the display method in the above system. << Step S1 >> The window position detecting means 11a detects the window currently being processed by the user (active window). The display example before displaying the message window is shown in FIG.
It is assumed to be the same as (a). Further, the window position detection is specifically performed by the X and Y coordinate data of the long side and the short side of each window. << Step S2 >> The message data acquisition means 11b fetches the message data stored in the main storage device 12 and obtains the size of the message window 5 to be displayed. That is, the minimum rectangular area (size in the X and Y directions) in which the message can be displayed is calculated according to the data amount of the message.

<Step S3> The window area of the entire display screen 10 is detected by the window position detecting means 11a, the area where the current window is not displayed on the screen is divided into as large rectangular areas as possible, and the list is obtained. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the divided rectangular areas. That is,
The rectangular areas shown by the broken lines in the figure are free areas. It should be noted that these rectangular areas can be easily obtained from the display screen 10 and the X and Y coordinates of the windows 1 to 4.

<< Step S4 >> Display Position Calculation Means 11c
Is the rectangle of each empty area acquired in step S3,
The sizes of the rectangles of the message window are compared, and if there is a rectangle of an empty area larger than the message window 5, the display position becomes the rectangular area, and the process proceeds to step S9.

If there are a plurality of empty areas in which the message window can be displayed, the display position is determined in the following priority order. First, the closest free area is found from the list for the side near the center of the screen of the window that is currently the active window (in this case, window 1), and this free area is used as the display position. is there. For example, in the illustrated example, the active window is the window 1, and the closest to the center of the display screen 10 of the window 1 is the right side. Therefore, the rectangular area closest to the X coordinate of the right side is searched (specifically, the X coordinate of the right side is compared with the X coordinate of the center of the rectangular area), and then the rectangle close to the lower side. The area is searched and the rectangular area A in FIG. 5 is determined.

FIG. 1 shows a display example of such a determination result. Message window 5 as shown
Is displayed in the vicinity of the window 1 and is displayed in an area that does not overlap any of the windows 1 to 4. Furthermore,
The active window remains the same as the window 1 before the message window 5 is displayed.
The input operation of can be continued as it is.

On the other hand, in step S4, as a result of the determination of the display position, {the size of the message window 5≤
If there is no free area satisfying the condition of [size of free area], the process proceeds to the next step S5.

<< Step S5 >> The size of the active window is detected by the window position detecting means 11a. << Step S6 >> Further, the window position detecting means 11a.
Determines the displayed data area in the active window, and thereby the empty rectangular area in the active window. For example, if the window 1 is a window such as an editor, the data area is obtained from the character area already displayed in the window 1 and the cursor position (input position), and thereby the empty rectangular area is obtained.

<< Step S7 >> Display position calculating means 11c
Searches for an area in which the message window 5 can be displayed, based on the empty rectangular area obtained in step S6. If there is a displayable area in the active window (window 1), that area becomes the display position, and the process proceeds to step S9. FIG. 6 shows a display example in this case. As shown in the figure, the message window 5 is displayed in the no data area of the window 1. Also in this case, the active window remains the window 1. On the other hand, as a result of the area determination, if there is no data-free area in which the message window 5 can be displayed, the process proceeds to the next step S8.

<< Step S8 >> In this step, an area without data in the active window obtained in step S7 and an empty area (area where the window is not displayed) on the display screen 10 adjacent to this area are continuous areas. The display position is determined by searching for an area in which the message window 5 can be displayed among the created several areas. FIG. 7 shows a display example in this case. The illustrated example is a case where the empty area located on the right side of the no-data area in the window 1 is regarded as a continuous area and the message window 5 is displayed in this area.

<< Step S9 >> In this step, the display control means 11d causes the steps S4, S7 and S8 to be performed.
The message window 5 is displayed in the display area obtained in. This display is performed so that the message window 5 is not activated.

When the message window 5 is displayed as described above and the user confirms the message and deletes the message window 5, first, the message window 5 is activated and then the confirmation button 5 is pressed.
It is performed by operating a.

If the display area of the message window 5 cannot be secured even in the new area acquisition processing in step S8, a new area including other windows is acquired. Therefore, in this case, a part of the message window 5 is located on the inactive windows 2 to 4. Further, in this case, after the message window 5 is displayed, when the window below the message window 5 becomes active, the message window 5 is moved to an inactive window and displayed, or the active window is displayed. The window is made active this time, and the processing from step S5 is performed to determine the display position.

Further, in the above embodiment, the display position of the message window 5 is set to the center of the display screen 10 as much as possible, but it is not limited to this position as long as it is easy for the user to see. The setting method may be such that it is displayed near the input position (cursor position) of the active window.

[0035]

As described above, according to the message notification method of the first invention, the message window is displayed in the vicinity of the active window and the other windows are not displayed, and the message window is Since it is not displayed as the active window, even if the message window is displayed, the operation on the active window is not disturbed and the operation can be continued as it is. Also, since the message window is displayed unless the user responds, the user can check the message at any time. Moreover, since the message window is not displayed as the active window, it is possible to prevent the message window from being erased as it is even if the confirmation button of the message window is pressed by the user's erroneous operation.

According to the message notification method of the second invention, when there is no display area of the message window in the first invention, the message window is displayed in an area of the active window where no data is displayed. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the first invention, there is an effect that even if there is no free area in the display screen, the operation in the active window is not hindered.

Further, according to the message notifying method of the third invention, when there is no display area of the message window in the second invention, an area in the active window where no data is displayed and a window non-display portion in the vicinity thereof are displayed. Since the message window is displayed in this continuous area by considering it as a continuous area, in addition to the effects of the first and second inventions, even when there is no free area for display in the display screen or active window. , It is effective in not disturbing the operation in the active window.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display example according to a message notification method of the first invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example according to a conventional message notification method.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram for implementing the message notification method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a display operation according to the message notification method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an empty area according to the message notification method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example according to the message notification method of the second invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example according to the message notification method of the third invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-4 window 5 message window 10 display screen

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. When a message window for message notification is displayed in a state where a window for processing is displayed on the screen, the message window is displayed in the vicinity of an active window that can be processed at that time. In addition, when a plurality of windows are displayed, the message window is displayed in a portion without other windows, and the message window is not displayed as an active window. 2. A plurality of windows are displayed on the screen,
2. The message notification method according to claim 1, wherein when there is no area for displaying a message window near the active window, the area is displayed in an area in the active window where no data is displayed. 3. If there is no area for displaying a message window in the active window, the window non-display area near the active window is regarded as a continuous area of the area in which the data in the active window is not displayed, The message notification method according to claim 2, wherein the message is displayed in a continuous area.