JPH07160467A - Display controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To visually confirm the state of an original window from its icon with ease when the window is displayed as the icon. CONSTITUTION:When the window W2 displayed on the screen of a display part 16 is made into the icon, an icon button 43 at the upper part of the window W2 is clicked with a mouse button (a). Consequently, the window W2 is closed and a reduced image of image data of a table displayed in the window W2 so far is displayed (b) as the icon of the window W2 at the left lower end of the screen as the icon of the window W2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display control device for controlling the display of icons in a multi-window system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the improvement of functions of personal computers, recently, not only workstations but also personal computers, a graphical user interface (GUI) is becoming standard. Typical examples include Macintosh, UNIX X-Window, and MS-DOS MS-Windows.

This GUI provides the user with an interface that allows the user to operate the computer as if he or she were operating in a real working environment. By operating a pointing device such as a mouse to select a menu or icon. However, it is possible to perform desired work.

An icon is an object that is a simple pictorial representation of an application program or function used by the user. In a multi-window system such as the X-Window, the window can be iconized during work. It is like this. In other words, if many windows are open on one screen, the screen will be difficult to see, and it will hinder the desired operation. Therefore, use windows that you do not plan to use at this time or for the time being as icons,
It can be arranged in the lower left corner of the screen. Also, the window converted into an icon in this way can be easily returned to the original window by operating the mouse.

[0005] The iconification of the above-mentioned window is performed by, for example,
This is done by clicking the select button on the mouse with the minimize button (on OSF / Motif-compliant X window systems) to the right of the window title bar. Further, the icon thus obtained can be moved to a desired position on the root window by placing the mouse pointer on it and dragging the mouse while holding down the select button. .

On the other hand, when the icon is returned to the window, the mouse pointer is placed on the icon and the select button is double-clicked. As a result, the icon is restored in the same size as the original at the position before the iconification.

Further, in the multi-window system, a file manager can be activated by selecting an icon or inputting a command to display a list of all files on the system. In this list display, the file names of all the above files are usually displayed together with the file type (directory, text file, program file, execution file, etc.) and the latest update date.

[0008]

In the conventional multi-window system described above, when the window is made into an icon, the pattern of the icon is fixed in advance and the latest state (contents) of the original window is displayed. It did not represent. Therefore, once iconified, the only way to confirm the state (content) of the window before the iconification is to return to the original window. However, as described above, in order to return to the window, it is necessary to interrupt the work currently in progress and operate the mouse or the like. Repeating such an operation many times does not affect the original work. It has been a major factor in lowering work efficiency. In particular, when a plurality of application programs are linked to perform business, such a situation is likely to occur.

A first object of the present invention is to realize an icon display system capable of visually judging the state (contents) of the original window. Further, since the above-mentioned conventional file list display method is a character-based interface, if there are files with similar names, the wrong file may be selected during file search. This is because the number of characters in a file name is limited, so that similar file names are often used. In particular, such a tendency is strong in a document file used only for temporary print output.

A second object of the present invention is to realize a method of displaying a list of files that allows a desired file to be selected easily and surely.

[0011]

The invention according to claim 1 is
It is premised on a display control device for controlling display of windows in a multi-window system. And it has each following means.

The storage means stores the image data of all windows displayed on the screen. When an icon is instructed to be changed to an icon, the icon creating means reads the image data of the window from the storing means and creates an icon based on the image data.

The icon display control means deletes the window instructed to change the icon from the screen and displays the icon created by the icon creating means on the screen.

In addition to the storage means, the icon creation means, and the icon display control means, the invention according to claim 2 further has window restoration display control means. The icon restoration display control means erases an icon displayed on the screen from the screen when the windowing is instructed, and the image data of the window corresponding to the icon is stored in the storage means. Read out and restore the window on the screen.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 has the following respective means. The icon creating means creates an icon for each file created on the window based on its image data.

The storage means stores the icon created by the icon creation means in association with the name of the corresponding file. When there is a request for displaying a list of files, the control means reads out the icon and name of the requested file from the storage means, and displays the icon together with the file name of the file.

[0017]

The operation of the invention according to claim 1 is as follows. When a window is opened on the screen and data such as a file is created in the window, the image data in the window is immediately stored in the storage means.

Then, when one or more windows are displayed on the screen and the user operates a mouse, a keyboard or the like to instruct a certain window to be iconized, the icon creating means causes the storage means to display the window. The image data of is read and the icon is created by, for example, reducing the image data.

Subsequently, the icon display control means erases the window instructed to change the icon from the screen, and displays the icon created by the icon creating means in the display area on the screen as described above. .

As described above, when the window is iconified, the icon picture reflects the image data of the original window, so that the user can easily confirm the display state of the original window from the icon picture. it can.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the above-described action, the following action is further performed. That is, when one or more icons generated by iconizing windows are displayed on the screen, if the user gives an instruction to window one of the icons by operating the mouse or keyboard, icon restoration display control is performed. The means erases the icon for which the windowing instruction is given from the screen, and reads the image data of the window corresponding to the icon from the storage means,
The window is restored and displayed on the screen.

As described above, in the second aspect of the invention, the iconified window can be restored to the original state. The operation of the invention according to claim 3 is as follows.

When the user opens a window on the screen and creates a file in the window,
The icon creating means creates an icon based on the image data of the file when the window is closed. That is, for example, the icon is created by reducing the image data to a predetermined ratio or using a part of the image data.

The storage means stores the icon thus created by the icon creating means in association with the name of the corresponding file (file name). When the user requests a file list display by operating the keyboard or mouse, the control means displays the icon of the file requested to be displayed and its name (file name).
Is read from the storage means, and those icons are displayed in a predetermined format on the screen while being written together with the corresponding file names.

As described above, in the file list display, each file is displayed with not only the file name but also the icon reflecting its internal image. Therefore, the user can select the desired file based on the pattern of the icon. Can be found easily and quickly. Also, even if there are many files with similar file names, there is almost no false recognition.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the entire system of an information processing apparatus having a multi-window display function which is an embodiment of the present invention.

The CPU 11 executes the program loaded on the RAM 13 which is the main memory, controls other blocks in the system described later, and controls the entire system.

The input unit 12 is composed of a keyboard 12a and a mouse 12b, and is used for an instruction input operation for window display, window iconization, icon windowing, file list display and the like. Operation information of the keyboard 12a and the mouse 12b is input to the CPU 11 via an interface (not shown). The keyboard 12a is a document processing program 14 mainly described later.
It is used for data input during execution of application programs such as a and the table processing unit program 14b. Further, the mouse 12b is provided with a mouse button (not shown), and the mouse button is used for instructing to restore a window into an icon or vice versa (restoration of an icon into a window). The above instruction is performed by clicking the mouse button (operation of pressing and releasing the mouse button without moving the pointer). Also,
When the mouse 12b is moved on a desk or the like, the mouse 12b
Information on the movement amount and the movement direction of b is output to the CPU 11 via the interface.

The RAM 13 is a random access memory which is a main memory of the CPU 11, and various application programs stored in an external storage device 14 described later are loaded in a predetermined area. Further, the operating system (OS) and interrupt vector data for interrupt processing are also loaded in a predetermined area. Furthermore, various application programs 14a, 14 described later
It also has work areas for b, 14c, and 14d.

The external storage device 14 is a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a CD-ROM (Compact Disk).
Read Only Memory) and stores various application programs such as a document processing program 14a, a table processing program 14b, a graph processing program 14c, and a graphic processing program 14d.

Document processing program 14a ... Word processor software, which is an application program for text document operation.

.. table processing program 14b ... An application program for creating a table, for creating a table in various formats on the screen and performing a table calculation.

The graph processing program 14c ...
An application program for displaying various statistical results and the like created by the table processing program 14b in a graph. Graphic processing program 14d ... An application program for drawing various graphics.

The display memory 15 is a bit map type video RAM (Video RAM) and stores image data of a display screen in correspondence with pixels. Since the apparatus of this embodiment is a multi-window system, the above image data consists of image data such as windows and icons. The CPU 11 draws the display image data on the display memory 15 to display the image data on the screen of the display unit 16.

The display unit 16 is a bitmap display including a CRT display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and displays image data such as windows and icons stored in the display memory 15.

The fixed icon memory 17 is a memory for storing image data of icons of the various application programs 14a to 14d and image data of icons indicating various functions (menus, etc.) prepared on the system side. is there.

The file data memory 18 is a memory for storing image data of a file created by the various programs 14a to 14d executed in the window opened on the screen of the display unit 16. In this embodiment, as will be described later in detail, the image data of the file can be registered as an icon, and when reading an arbitrary file, the existing files are displayed as a list by the icon. ing.

The image icon memory 19 is a memory for storing the image data of the icon of the file in which the internal image data is stored in the file data memory 18.

The file management data memory 20 is a memory for storing the file management data 21 for all files created by the various programs 14a to 14d. The detailed contents of this management data will be described later.

The fixed icon memory 17, the file data memory 18, the image icon memory 19, and the file management data memory 20 are composed of, for example, a RAM (random access memory), a floppy disk or a hard disk.

All of the blocks 12 to 20 described above are connected to the CPU 11 by the bus 30. This embodiment is a multi-window system as described above, and it is possible to open a plurality of windows on the screen of the display unit 16 at the same time and execute the various application programs 14a to 14d in the respective windows. ing.

Then, file management data 21 is created by the CPU 11 for each file created in the window by these application programs 14a to 14d, and this is registered in the file management data memory 20 described above. .

FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the file management data memory 20. In the present embodiment, a file can be converted into an icon by the entire layout image or image data of a part of a characteristic portion and registered in the image icon memory 19. The file management data 21 is also data for managing the image data of this icon. The functions of the nine fields of the file management data 21 shown in FIG. 2 will be described below.

File name ... The name of the file created by the applications 14a to 14d. This name is set by the user.

Attribute: Indicates the type of image data stored in the file having the above file name. That is, the "document" created by each of the application programs 14a to 14d,
It is information indicating the characteristics of image data such as "table", "graph", and "graphic".

Window display position: Coordinate information indicating the display position on the screen of the display unit 16 of the window when the window is iconized. This is, for example, in the upper left corner of the above window (x, y in an x, y axis integer coordinate system with the upper left corner of the screen as the origin (0, 0).
y) It is a coordinate value. Window display size: x, y of the display area on the screen of the iconized window
Information that indicates the size in the coordinate system. Since the window is a rectangle, information about the length (horizontal length) in the x-axis direction and the length (vertical length) in the y-axis direction of the rectangle in the x and y coordinate system.

File pointer ... Stores the image data of the file displayed in the iconified window in the file data memory 18 or the image data of the file registered as an icon when the window is closed. A pointer that indicates the start position of the area being created.

Further, when the icon of the file is created using the image data of a part of the page of the file, a pointer indicating the position within the page is also included.

Icon pointer: A pointer indicating the storage start position of the image data of the icon of the file having the above file name in the image icon memory 19.

Icon display position ... Information indicating the coordinate position of the upper left corner of the display area of the icon of the file having the above file name on the screen of the display unit 16.

Environmental information: Various information necessary to restore the system environment to the state at the time of iconization when the icon is restored to the original window. For example, the page number of the image data of the file displayed in the window at the time of iconification, the setting state of various operation modes of the application program at the time of iconification, the program counter in the CPU 11 and general purpose Register value etc.

Open flag ... A flag indicating whether or not a window for creating or editing a file managed by the file management data 21 is currently open on the screen of the display unit 16. Set to "on" if open, "off" if not open.

Next, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation method for iconizing a window (a file displayed in the window) in this embodiment. In the figure (a), the screen screen of the display unit 16 in which the _two windows W ₁ and W ₂ are overlapped and displayed is displayed.
As shown schematically in Fig. 3 (a), the window menu button 4 is displayed at the top of the window from its left edge.
1, a title area 42, an icon button 43, and the like are displayed.

The window menu button 41 is an object used for pulling down various menus, and the mouse pointer 51 is placed on the button 41.
When a button (mouse button) of the mouse 12b is clicked with overlapping, the pull-down menu is displayed.

The title area 42 includes windows W ₁ , W
₂ ... This is the area where the name of the currently running application program is displayed. Iconized button 4
Reference numeral 3 denotes an object used to iconify a window. When the mouse button is clicked while the mouse pointer 51 is overlaid,
The window in which this iconified button 43 is displayed is iconified.

That is, in this embodiment, for example,
When iconifying the window W ₂ in which the graph as shown in FIG. 3 (a) is displayed, first, the mouse 12 b is operated to place the mouse pointer 51 on the iconification button 43 of the window W _2. To match. Then, in this state, the mouse button is clicked.

As a result, the window W ₂ is closed and erased from the screen of the display section 16, as shown in FIG. Then, the image data 61 on the window W ₂ is reduced at a predetermined ratio, and the reduced image data is displayed as an icon ICON _{2 in} the lower left corner of the screen of the display unit 16.

Next, an operation method for returning the icon ICON ₂ generated as described above to the original window W ₂ will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, first, as shown in FIG. 4A, the mouse 12b is operated to place the mouse pointer 51 on the icon ICON ₂ . Then, in this state, double-click the mouse button. As a result, the icon ICON ₂ is erased from the screen as shown in FIG. Then, the window W ₂ is opened at the same position as before being changed to an icon with the same size as the original, and the image data before being iconified is restored in the window W _2.
Is displayed. Then, it becomes possible to restart the operation on the window W ₂ .

Further, in the present embodiment, when the execution of the application programs 14a to 14d is completed, the file created or updated by the execution can be registered as an icon. still,
The registration of this icon may be omitted if it has already been registered. That is, when it is not necessary to update the image of the icon, the image need not be updated. However,
If you have created a new file and have not yet registered an icon for that file, you must do so. In this case, the icon image includes reduced data of the entire image data of the page containing the file,
It is possible to select a part of image data on a page. Note that the image data may extend over a plurality of pages. In this case, the size of the image data of the file that can be used as the image data of the icon is limited by the size of the window that the application is executing. That is, the maximum size of the image data of the file used for the image data of the icon is equal to the size of the window.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the icon of the file generated as described above can be used for file search. That is, C
The PU 11 manages the file management data memory 2 as described above.
Based on the file management data 21 registered in 0,
A file search screen is displayed on the screen of the display unit 16 so that various files such as a document, a table, a graph, or a graphic can be searched for by referring to image data of those files.

In this embodiment, this file search is
It is possible to specify both attributes and attributes. The attribute here indicates the property of data stored in a file such as "document", "table", "graph", or "graphic".

5 to 8 show examples of the file search screen as described above. 5 to 7 are file search screens displayed on the screen of the display unit 16 when an attribute is designated, and are a document file (FIG. 5), a table file (FIG. 6), and a graph file (FIG. 7), respectively. Is. On the other hand, FIG. 8 is a file search screen displayed on the screen of the display unit 16 when the attribute is not designated, and the screens of FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7 are integrated and displayed on one screen. That is, a list of files with all attributes is displayed.

The characteristic feature of this file search screen is that each file is displayed not only with its file name 71, but also with an icon 72 showing the contents of the entire or part of the image data of that file. . For example, as shown in FIG. 5, in the file search screen in which "document" is designated as an attribute, each document file whose file name is "document 1", "document 2", and "document 3" Icons 72 in which the file name 71 is a reduced image of the entire page containing the file or a part of the image data of the page is a pattern
It is displayed together with.

In this embodiment, in these file search screens, the file name displayed on the left side of the icon 72 or the icon 72 itself is designated by operating the mouse 12b, thereby making the file editable. , A window is opened, and the editing application program (14a to 14d) is immediately opened in the window.
You can start the program.

For example, in the file search screen in which the document is designated as the "attribute" displayed on the display unit 16 shown in FIG. 5, "document 3" is designated as the file name by the mouse pointer 51, and the mouse 12b is moved in this state. When clicked, a window with a predetermined size is opened at a predetermined position on the screen of the display unit 16, and a file of "Document 3" in which a part of the contents is displayed in the icon 72 to the right of the window is displayed in the window. The document processing program 14a is activated in the window. Then, the file of "Document 3" can be edited immediately in the window.

The file search screens shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 are displayed as follows. First, [File] is selected by operating the mouse 12b from a plurality of menus displayed at a fixed position (for example, a menu bar) on the screen of the display unit 16. As a result, a plurality of fixed icons are displayed on the screen of the display unit 16 as a menu. These icons are, for example, an “application” icon indicating an application program, a “file” icon indicating various data files such as “document”, “table”, “graph”, and “graphic”, and a “directory” indicating a directory of files. It is an icon or the like, and its design is fixed. Bit map image data of these fixed icons are stored in the fixed icon memory 17 shown in FIG. Next, when the "file" icon is selected from these fixed icons by operating the mouse 12b,
A dialog box is displayed in which two buttons, "New" and "Read File" are displayed. On the other hand, click the "Create" button with mouse 1
By selecting by the operation of 2b, a new file can be created. On the other hand, by operating the button for “read file”, a list of already created files can be referred to on the screen of the display unit 16. This file list display is in the format shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, and these display formats are selected by the above-mentioned “read file”.
After selecting the button, the icon indicating the desired file attribute is selected from the plurality of attribute icons displayed on the screen of the display unit 16 by operating the mouse 12b. That is, for example, when the attribute icon showing the pattern of "document" is selected, all the ready-made document files storing the document data as shown in FIG. 5 are displayed in a list by the icon indicating the content and the file name.

In this way, by the operations from to, the list of files can be referred to on the screen in the format shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 regardless of “attribute” or “attribute”. next,
The operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described.

First, FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the file-related processing performed by the CPU 11. This figure is an operation flowchart when the user selects the “File” menu on the screen of the display unit 16. That is, for example, a menu bar is displayed on the upper part of the screen, and a "file" menu is displayed in a part of the menu bar. This flowchart is an operation flowchart when the "file" menu is selected by operating the mouse 12b.

When the CPU 11 knows that the "file" menu has been selected from the operation information from the mouse 12b, it causes the "fixed icon" to be displayed on the screen of the display unit 16 as a menu. At this time, the CPU 11 reads out the bitmap image data such as the above-mentioned “application” icon, “file” icon, and “directory” icon from the fixed icon memory 17 and displays the fixed icon menu (S1).

Then, on the display screen of the fixed icon menu, the user operates the mouse 12b, that is, the mouse pointer 51 is placed on one of the plurality of "fixed icons", and then the icon is displayed. If you double-click, these operation information will be transferred from the mouse 12b to the CPU
It is sent to 11 (S2).

Since the CPU 11 manages the display position of each "fixed icon" on the screen in the area (not shown) provided in the RAM 13, the double click operation information is sent from the mouse 12b. Then, the display positions of those “fixed icons” are compared with the current position of the mouse pointer 51 currently managed in the RAM 13 (the click operation position), and which “fixed icon” is selected. It is selected whether or not (S2).

Then, when it is recognized that the "file" icon has been selected (S3, YES), a dialog box in which two selection buttons of "create new file" and "read (read file)" are arranged is displayed. Thirteen
Is displayed on the screen (S4).

On the other hand, the user operates the mouse 12b to select either one of the two selection buttons. That is, the mouse pointer 51 is overlaid on the desired selection button and the mouse button is clicked (S
5).

The CPU 11 inputs the operation information of the mouse 12b and manages in the RAM 13 the coordinate position (click operation position) of the mouse pointer 51 on the screen when the click operation is performed. The selection button in the dialog box is compared with the coordinate position on the screen to determine which button is selected (S6).

When it is determined that the "Create new file" button has been selected, the attribute icons indicating the "document", "table", "graph", and "graphic" patterns are displayed on the screen of the display unit 16. (S7).

The user operates the mouse 12b to select one of these attribute icons corresponding to the file format desired to be created. That is, for example, when a document file is created, the "document" attribute icon is selected, and when a graphic file is created, the "graphic" attribute icon is selected. The same operation is performed when selecting files with other attributes. This operation is performed by placing the mouse pointer 51 on the desired "attribute" icon and then double-clicking the mouse button (S8).

When the above operation information is input from the mouse 12b, the CPU 11 firstly, the RAM 13 and the coordinate position (double click operation position) of the mouse pointer 51 on the screen when the mouse 12b is double clicked.
The selected attribute icon is recognized by comparing the coordinate position on the screen of each of the attribute icons managed therein. Then, the selected attribute information is stored in the RAM 13
It is temporarily stored in the work area inside. The display unit 16
A window setting screen dialog box is displayed on the screen (S9).

The window setting screen dialog box is displayed in the window display section 16 in which the application program (one of 14a to 14d) activated to create the file having the specified attribute is executed.
Is a screen used for setting the position and size on the screen, the name of the file created in the window, and the like. In this dialog box, an input field field for the file name to be created, an operation method for designating the size and display position of the window, and the like are shown. The user inputs a desired file name in the file name input field by operating the keyboard 12a, and specifies the display position and size of the window on the screen by pointing the mouse 12b on the screen. (S10).

The CPU 11 inputs these operation information from the keyboard 12a and the mouse 12b, and obtains the file name designated by the user and the display position and size of the window to be opened on the screen from them. Then, these pieces of information are set in the file management data 21 newly secured in the file management data memory 20 together with the attributes of the specified file temporarily stored in the RAM 13 (S11).

Subsequently, the window is opened (displayed) at the designated position on the screen of the designated display unit 16 with the designated size, and the corresponding file management data 21 is displayed.
The open flag of is set to ON (S12). Then, next, an application program for creating a file having the specified attribute (one of 14a to 14d)
Is loaded from the external storage device 14 into the application program area of the RAM 13, and the program is activated in the opened window (S13).

By the above operation, the user opens a window at a desired position on the screen of the display unit 16 in a desired size by operating the keyboard 12a and the mouse 12b, and a file having a desired attribute is opened in the window. You can start a new creation.

On the other hand, when the CPU 11 determines in step S6 that the "read file" button has been selected,
Icons (fixed icons) of “document”, “table”, “graph”, “graphic”, and “all attributes” are displayed on the screen of the display unit 16. This is the fixed icon memory 17
This is performed by transferring the bitmap image data of these fixed icons stored in (1) to the relevant area of the display memory 15 (S14).

When such five types of fixed icons are displayed on the screen, the user selects one of these fixed icons by operating the mouse 12b,
Specify the display format of existing files. That is, for example, when only a list of “document” files as shown in FIG. 5 is desired, the mouse pointer 51 is overlaid on the “document” attribute icon and the mouse button is double-clicked.

When it is desired to display a file list of other attributes such as "table", "graph", or "graphic", the mouse 12b similar to the corresponding attribute icon is displayed.
Do the operation. On the other hand, when it is desired to display the list of all the established files regardless of the attributes, the mouse 12b operation as described above is performed on the "all attributes" icon (S15).

When the operation information as described above is input from the mouse 12b, the CPU 11 compares the double-click operation position of the mouse 12b with the display position of each fixed icon on the screen, and the fixed icon designated by the user. Is determined (S16). Then, when there is an attribute designation, that is, when any of the attribute icons is selected (S16, YES), all the files having the designated attribute are displayed as icons and files whose contents are a pattern. The name is displayed on the screen of the display unit 16 (S17).

As will be described later in detail, in the present embodiment, an icon using a reduced image or a part of the image of the contents of all files created in the system is created, and this is an image icon memory. 19 is registered. First, the CPU 11 sequentially reads all the file management data 21 from the file management data memory 20, extracts the file name and the icon pointer for the attribute information in the data 21 that matches the designated attribute, and operates this in the RAM 13 Sequentially write to the area. Then, when reading of all the file management data 21 is completed, the bitmap image data of the icon pointed to by the icon pointer written in the work area is read from the image icon memory 19, and these are displayed together with the extracted file name in the display memory 15. By writing to the relevant position of, the files having the designated attributes are displayed as a list on the screen of the display unit 16 by the file name and the corresponding icon (see FIGS. 5 to 7).

By the above operation, when the user selects the attribute icon on the screen of the display unit 16 and specifies the attribute of the file to be searched, all files having the specified attribute are displayed by the file name and icon. To be done. At this time, the image of the icon is a reduced image of the entire page of the file or a partial image of the page. Therefore, the user can easily select the target file (file name) from the displayed icon pattern.
You can find out. In particular, even when similar names are given to a plurality of identical attribute files, the names of the desired files can be found reliably and quickly without error.

On the other hand, the CPU 11 executes the above step S16.
When it is determined that the "all generations" icon is selected, that is, the user has not designated the attribute (S16, N
O), all the file management data 21 are read from the file management data memory 20, and the bitmap image data of the icon pointed to by the icon pointer set in the file management data 21 is read from the image icon memory 19 together with the file name. . Then, the bitmap image data is written in the area in the display memory 15 together with the file name set in the read file management data 21, and all the existing files are displayed on the display unit 16 as icons and file names. The list is displayed by (S18).

By this operation, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, all files of each format of “document”, “table”, and “graph” are vertically divided on the screen of the display unit 16 for each attribute. The list is displayed while being displayed. That is, also in this file list display, each file is displayed not only with the file name but also with an icon indicating the data content of the file. If all files cannot be displayed on one screen, the keyboard 12a or mouse 12
The remaining files can be displayed on the screen by instructing screen scrolling or the like by the operation of b.

The user has the above-mentioned step S17 or S1.
When the operation of finding the desired file from the list of files displayed in 8 is completed, whether or not to continue the process is specified by operating the mouse 12b. That is, if the only purpose is to refer to the file list (file search), for example, an “end” menu (not shown) in the menu bar is specified by operating (clicking) the mouse 12b to instruct the end of the process. . On the other hand, if you want to edit a file in the list, move the mouse pointer under the file name of the file and click the mouse button, or click the icon of the desired file. Hover the mouse pointer over and double-click the mouse button (S1
9).

When the operation information as described above is input from the mouse 12b, the CPU 11 determines from the operation information whether or not the user has given an instruction to end the processing (S20).
That is, if the click operation position of the mouse button corresponds to the display position of the “end” menu in the menu bar, it is determined that “end of processing” is designated. On the other hand, if the click operation position of the mouse button corresponds to any one display position of the file names displayed on the screen, it is determined that the file having the file name is designated. If the double-click operation position of the mouse button corresponds to any one display position of the icons currently displayed on the screen, it is determined that the file corresponding to the icon is designated.
In the file list display as described above, the CPU 11 stores the file names and icon display positions of all files displayed on the screen in a predetermined area in the RAM 13. Then, the determination is performed based on these pieces of information.

If a file is designated,
The file management data memory 20 is referenced with the file name of the specified file as a key, and the file management data 21 of the specified file is read from the memory 20. Then, a window is opened on the screen of the display unit 16 and the open flag of the file management data 21 is set to ON (S21).

Then, the file data pointed to by the file pointer in the file management data 21 is read from the file data memory 18, and this is displayed in the display memory 15.
The image of the file data is displayed in the window by writing in the area. Further, after the specified file is opened, an application program (14a to 14d) for creating a file having the attribute indicated by the attribute information in the file management data 21.
Any one of the above) is activated in the window (S13).

As described above, when an arbitrary file is designated by the file name or icon from the file list display screen by operating the mouse 12b, a new window is opened on the screen of the display unit 16 and the window is displayed. The application program is started in a state in which the designated file can be edited.

On the other hand, when the user specifies "end of processing" in step S20, the CPU 11 immediately ends the processing. Also, in step S3 above, "file"
When the icon is not selected and another icon is selected, the process corresponding to the selected icon is performed (S
22).

Next, FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining the operation performed by the CPU 11 when an arbitrary window is converted into an icon (iconified). In this case, first, the user finds the window to be converted into an icon from the windows displayed on the screen of the display unit 16, operates the mouse 12b to move the mouse pointer 51, and the pointer 51 On the iconized button 43 of the window.
Next, click the mouse button in this state (S
31).

The mouse operation information is sent to the CPU 11, and the CPU 11 finds the window in which the above-mentioned operation has been performed by referring to the file management data 21 shown in FIG. This file management data 21 holds the latest management information (display position, display size) for all windows currently opened on the screen of the display unit 16 as described above, and files for those windows are stored. The open flag of the management data 21 is set to "ON". Therefore, the CPU 11
Is file management data having the window management information indicating that the click operation position corresponds to the window corresponding to the display position of the iconized button 43 from the file management data 21 set to ON. 21 is detected, and it is determined whether or not the icon pointer is set in the file management data 21 (S32).

If the icon pointer is already set, it means that the image data of the file being created in the designated window has been converted into an icon and already registered in the image data memory 19. On the contrary, if the icon pointer is not set yet, it means that the icon of the designated file has not been created / registered yet.

If the icon pointer is not set in the file management data 21 (S32,
No), an empty area is secured in the image icon memory 19, and the address indicating the start position of the empty area is set in the icon pointer of the file management data 21 (S3).
3).

Then, the CPU 11 reads out the image data of the designated window, that is, the image data of the file currently displayed in the window from the file data memory 18, and reduces it to a predetermined size (S34). . The CPU 11 executes the above step S3.
If the icon pointer has already been set in step 2 (S3
2, YES), the process of step S34 is immediately performed.

The image data obtained by this reduction processing becomes the icon image of the window designated as an icon by clicking the icon pointer 43. Further, since the reduced image data is also the image of the file displayed in the window, this also becomes the icon image of the file. The window image data is reduced by a process such as thinning out pixels in the scanning direction at predetermined intervals.

Next, the CPU 11 uses the image data of the icon created as described above in the step S33.
It writes in the empty area in the image icon memory 19 secured in step S35.

Subsequently, the CPU 11 causes the application program (14a-1 to 14a-1) being executed on the window.
4d) any of the operating states (the page number of the file currently being displayed, various mode setting states such as kana-kanji conversion mode, the current value of the program counter and general-purpose registers in the CPU 11, etc.) Is written in the file management data 21 (S36).

Next, the CPU 11 closes the specified window on the screen of the display unit 16 and sets the open flag of the file management data 21 to "OFF" (S37). The specified window is closed by deleting the image data of the window from the display memory 15.

After that, the CPU 11 refers to the icon pointer of the file management data 21 to read the image data of the icon created as described above from the image icon memory 19, and appropriately reads the image data at the bottom of the screen of the display unit 16. Display this icon at the position. In addition, the display position of the icon on the screen (for example,
The coordinate position of the upper left corner of the display area) is set to the icon pointer of the file management data 21 (S38).

By the above operation, the user can convert an arbitrary window into an icon at any time by a simple operation of the mouse 12b, and display it in another window at the end of the screen of the display section 16. It can be displayed in a place that does not interfere with. At this time, the image data of the icon is not a predetermined fixed image data but a reduced image of the image data displayed on the window at that time. That is, in this embodiment, when the window is iconized,
The image of the icon always reflects the image of the file currently displayed in the window. Therefore, even when the window is made into an icon, the outline of the display state of the original window can be easily visually confirmed from the image of the icon.

Next, the operation of the CPU 11 when returning the icon created as described above to the original window (making the icon into a window) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In this case, the user operates the mouse 12b to move the mouse pointer 51 onto the icon to be returned to the window, and then double-clicks the mouse button in this state. Thereby, the icon to be returned to the window state is designated (S41).

When the CPU 11 receives the above double-click operation information from the mouse 12b, the CPU 11 uses the coordinate position of the current mouse pointer held in a predetermined working area in the RAM 13 as a key to open the open flag in the file management data memory 20. Reference is made to each file management data 21 that is turned off. Then, the file management data 21 in which the icon display position corresponding to the coordinate position of the icon designated by the double-click operation is set in the icon pointer is read (S42).

Next, based on the icon display position, the image data of the designated icon is deleted from the display memory 15. As a result, the display of the designated icon disappears from the screen of the display unit 16. In addition, the CPU 11
The image data of the designated icon is erased from the image icon memory 19, the area in which the image data is written is released, and the icon pointer of the file management data 21 is reset (S43).

Subsequently, the CPU 11 restores (opens) the original window on the screen of the display unit 16 with reference to the window display position and window display size of the file management data 21. Further, the image data of the file pointed to by the file pointer is read from the file data memory 18 by referring to the file pointer of the file management data 21, and this image data is displayed in the window. Further, the CPU 11 further refers to the contents of the environment information of the file management data 21 to restore the work environment in the window opened on the screen of the display unit 16 to the state before iconification as described above, The open flag of the file management data 21 is set to "ON" (S44).

As a result, the window once converted into an icon can be restored to its original state by a simple operation of the mouse 12b by simply double-clicking the icon. Then, the interrupted work can be continued in the restored window immediately.

Next, the operation of the CPU 11 when the operation of designating the close (end) of the window opened on the screen of the display unit 16 is performed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When closing a window, the user clicks the button for instructing the end of the window displayed at a predetermined position in the window with the mouse 12b (S51).

When the CPU 11 receives this window close operation information from the mouse 12b, the mouse 1
The file management data 21 with the open flag turned on is read from the file management data memory 20 by using the click operation position of 2b as a key. Then, by referring to the information on the display position of the window and the display size of the window in the file management data 21, the file management data 21 corresponding to the window on which the click operation is performed is found, and the file management data 21 is stored in the file management data 21. It is determined whether or not the pointer is set (S5).
2).

When the file pointer has been set (S52, YES), for example, a dialog box or the like is used at a predetermined position in the designated window.
A message asking whether to update the icon display image is displayed (S53).

In response to this message, the user presses the push button of either "update" or "no update" in the dialog box with the mouse 12b.
Is selected by the operation of (S54). That is, if the user wants to update the display image of the icon, the "update" push button is selected, and if the user does not want to update it, the "no update" push button is selected by clicking the mouse 12b. The fact that the file pointer has already been set means that the image data of the icon of the specified window, that is, the icon of the file displayed in the specified window, has already been registered in the image icon memory 19. To do. Therefore, only when it is desired to update the icon image data for the designated file, "update" may be selected.

The CPU 11 receives the above operation information from the mouse 12b and determines the result designated by the user (S55).
If "update" is specified, the process proceeds to step S56 described later. If no file pointer is set in the file management data 21 in step S52 (S52).
52, NO), and immediately proceeds to step S56 described later. By the way, the fact that the file pointer is not set means that the icon of the designated file is not yet registered in the image icon memory 19.
Therefore, when closing the window, if the icon of the file created in the window is not registered yet, or if the user wants to update the icon image even though it is already registered, the step Move to S56.

In step S56, the CPU 11 displays a message instructing the user to perform an operation for designating the area used as the image data of the icon, at a predetermined position on the screen of the display unit 16 ( S56).

In response to this message, the user selects the part (icon target part) that is desired to be used as the icon image in the file currently being created displayed in the designated window from the keyboard 12a or the mouse 1.
It is specified by the scroll operation using 2b (S5
7).

When the CPU 11 detects the end of the operation for designating the icon image by the operation information sent from the keyboard 12a or the mouse 12b, the image data currently displayed on the designated window is displayed from the display memory 15. It reads and creates icon / image data of the specified file based on this image data (S58).

There are the following two methods for designating the icon target image. The image data of the icon target portion is displayed in the entire designated window, and it is specified that the image data is reduced to create the icon image data. Directly specify a part of the image data (equal to the icon size) displayed in the specified window as the icon image.

The CPU 11 creates the icon image data of the designated file according to the above or the user's designation, and creates the icon image data of the designated area in the image icon memory 19 (empty area for the first registration, already for update / registration. It is registered in the reserved area) (S59).

Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the image data of this icon is registered in the image icon memory 19 for the first time. This determination is made based on whether or not the pointer is set in the icon pointer of the file management data 21 (S60).

Then, if it is the first registration (S60, Y
ES), the head address of the registration area of the icon / image data in the image icon memory 19 is set in the icon pointer of the file management data 21 (S61).

Subsequently, the CPU 11 closes the specified window displayed on the screen of the display unit 16 and closes the file created in the window. Along with this, the open flag of the file management data 21 is set to “OFF” (S
62).

On the other hand, if the user does not desire to update the icon image in step S55, the process of step S62 is immediately performed. Also, when it is determined in step S60 that the icon / image data is registered for the second time or later (S60, NO), this process is immediately performed.

With the above operation, when the application programs 14a to 14d are executed in the window to newly create or update files in the window, new creation / registration of icons for these files (first file Is created) or the icon is updated / registered (when the file is updated). Therefore, icon image data is created for all files created in this system, and these are registered in the image icon memory 19. Then, this registration position is the file management data 2
1 is set to the icon pointer. In this way, every time a file is created or updated, an icon reflecting the contents of the file is created, so the CPU 11
By executing the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 described above,
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, files can be displayed in a list together with an icon indicating an image of the internal data as well as the name.

Although the mouse 12b is used as the pointing device in the above embodiment, other pointing devices such as a trackball and a pen are used.
A device may be used. Further, the operation method is not limited to the method described above.

[0130]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a window is made into an icon, the icon is created using the image of the window at that time. The state of can be easily visually confirmed. Therefore, when it is only necessary to confirm the state of the original window, it is not necessary to perform the operation of returning the icon to the window as in the conventional case, and the work efficiency in the window system is improved. Also, if you only want to check the contents of the window, it is sufficient to make the window an icon and display only the icon, so that you can effectively use the iconization to save the screen display area. Effective use can be achieved, and the user's use environment is improved.

Further, at the time of file search, each file is displayed as a list by its file name and an icon whose internal data is a pattern, so that the desired file can be easily and quickly found from the icon display. Even if there are many files with similar file names, misidentification can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a file management data memory and a link relationship between the file management data memory, the file data memory, and the image icon memory.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation method when making a window into an icon.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation method for returning an icon to a window.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a file search screen when “document” is designated as a file attribute.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a file search screen when “table” is specified as a file attribute.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a file search screen when “graph” is designated as a file attribute.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a file search screen when a file attribute is not designated.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a file search or file creation process performed by the CPU.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a CPU for converting a window into an icon.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a process performed by a CPU to restore an icon into a window.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of closing (terminating) a window performed by the CPU.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 CPU 12 Input Section 12a Keyboard 12b Mouse 13 RAM 14 External Storage Device 14a Document Processing Program 14b Table Processing Program 14c Graph Processing Program 14d Graphic Processing Program 15 Display Memory 16 Display Section 17 Fixed Icon Memory 18 File Data Memory 19 Image Icon Memory 20 File management data memory 21 File management data 30 Bus

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A display control device for controlling window display in a multi-window system, comprising storage means for storing image data of a window displayed on a screen, and an instruction to change an icon to the window. In that case, the image data of the window is read from the storage means, an icon creating means for creating an icon based on the image data, and a window instructed to change the icon are erased from the screen. A display control device comprising: icon display control means for displaying the icon created by the icon creation means on the screen. 2. When a windowing is instructed for an icon displayed on the screen, the icon is erased from the screen, and the image data of the window corresponding to the icon is read out from the storage means. The display control device according to claim 1, further comprising window restoration display control means for restoring the window on the screen. 3. An icon creating means for creating an icon based on image data of each file created on a window, and an icon created by the icon creating means is stored in association with a corresponding file name. And a control means for reading the icon and the name of the requested file from the storage means when there is a request for displaying a list of files and displaying the icon together with the file name of the file. A display control device comprising: