JPH07175620A - Menu system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate erroneous operations by preventing an unusable item from being displayed by deciding whether each item in a prepared menu item can be used or not by collating it with applied conditions, erasing the unusable item and performing menu display only of usable items. CONSTITUTION:When menu information 1a is received, a condition deciding part 2 decides whether the present operational environment or the like satisfies the conditions of use concerning the display conditions of respective menu items while referring to a state storage part 3 where the operational environment or the like is set. As a result of decision at this condition deciding part 2, data showing whether each menu item satisfies the conditions of use or not are transmitted to a menu display part 1. The menu display part 1 receiving this decided result performs processing for displaying only the menu item, for which it is decided to satisfy the conditions of use, and outputs display data to a display device. In this case, the menu not satisfying the conditions of use is erased and only the menu items satisfying the conditions are successively arranged and displayed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a menu system on an input screen for displaying a plurality of menu items and activating a process corresponding to an item selected from the displayed items.

In recent years, in an information processing device such as a personal computer or a workstation, a large number of menu items are displayed, and one item is selected from the menu items to execute a corresponding function. The method of displaying the menu item of as a drop-down (pull-down) menu and selecting one function from it has come to be used.

As described above, it is possible to display a large number of menu items and select any one of them, but it is possible to execute all the displayed menu items depending on the operating environment of the information processing apparatus. However, improvement is desired.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional menu display example. 9A. Menu display example when all items can be used in B. Shows a menu display example when some items are not available.

In the conventional window control method, a menu bar composed of a large number of menu items expanded in the horizontal direction of the screen of the input window and one item of the menu bar are used as menu items for accessing commands. A drop-down menu (a drop-down menu for "File" is shown in the example in the figure) including a large number of menu items that are expanded under the selected item is displayed.

FIG. 9A. The example of is a display in the case where all the fixed menus prepared in advance as the functions that can be provided corresponding to the windows can be used, and the characters and figures of each item are clearly displayed. However, among the menu items provided in advance by the program, there are menus that cannot be operated due to the operating environment at that time.

If there is a menu item that cannot be operated, the conventional method shown in FIG. As in the display example shown in (1), the operator is informed by displaying the unusable menu portion by dimming (shading the color) or shading. B. In case of, "Job operation" in the pull-down menu for "File"
The item that accesses the command and the menu item "Asset Management" on the menu bar are disabled.

[0008]

In the above-mentioned conventional menu display on the input screen, the unusable menu item is displayed by changing the display form with a display color different from the usable menu item. The number of items displayed in the window increases because the items that cannot be used are displayed. Also, the operator has to visually identify whether or not the corresponding menu item is available for each operation. Therefore, the conventional method has a problem that the operability such as an erroneous operation is poor and it is difficult for a beginner to use.

The present invention provides a menu system capable of eliminating an erroneous operation by not displaying an unusable menu item on an input screen for activating a process corresponding to an item selected from a plurality of displayed menu items. The purpose is to do.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows the principle of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a menu display unit, 1a is menu information in which a plurality of menu items set corresponding to execution contents and usage conditions corresponding to each item are set as parameters, 2 is a condition determination unit, and 3 is A state storage unit 4 in which a state such as an operating environment of the information processing device is stored, and an item registration unit 4 for registering menu items together with their usage conditions.

Each unit shown in this principle diagram is realized by a program and hardware that perform corresponding functions in the information processing apparatus. The present invention determines whether or not each item in the menu items prepared in advance by the program currently being executed is usable based on the conditions given in the determination unit, and is determined to be unusable in the determination result. Delete items before displaying them, and configure them so that only available items are displayed in the menu.

[0012]

The menu display unit 1 is activated when a display request is issued. When activated, the menu display unit 1 fetches a plurality of menu items corresponding to the processing function currently being executed and parameters of the menu information 1a in which the usage conditions are set, and determines the condition. It is supplied to the unit 2 and a determination request is generated.

Upon receiving the menu information 1a, the condition judging unit 2 refers to the state storage unit 3 in which the operating environment of the information processing apparatus at that time is set and displays each menu item specified in the menu information 1a. For the conditions, it is determined whether or not the current operating environment status satisfies the usage conditions. In addition to the conditions such as the operating environment, the condition storage unit 3 can store the conditions of menus that are desired to be set and displayed externally, and the condition determination unit 2 also uses the conditions of those menus. Determine if possible.

As a result of the judgment by the condition judgment unit 2, data indicating whether or not the use condition is satisfied for each menu item is sent to the menu display unit 1. Upon receiving this determination result, the menu display unit 1 performs a process of displaying only the menu item determined to satisfy the use condition, and outputs the display data to a display device (not shown). In this case, the menus that do not meet the usage conditions are deleted, and only the menu items that meet the conditions are displayed side by side.

The item registration section 4 is registered by inputting additional menu information including a menu item and its usage conditions from the outside. The display of the menu registered in the item registration unit 4 is executed when the menu display unit 1 calls the condition determination unit 2 and determines the condition of the menu information 1a. The condition discriminating unit 2 discriminates whether or not the use condition of the additional menu information can be used by referring to the state storage unit 3, and outputs the discrimination result to the menu display unit 1 together with the additional menu item.

As described above, the menu can be dynamically changed and displayed in accordance with the state of the operating environment or the input from the outside.

[0017]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a configuration example in which the present invention is implemented in a window system,
In the figure, 10 is a window display control unit, 11 is a window input / output unit, 12 is a display request unit, 13 is a menu information determination unit, and 14 is additional menu information (menu items etc.) registered from the outside (user's file etc.). And its usage conditions) are stored in a customization table, 15 is a display screen, 1
6 is system information indicating the operating environment of the information processing device, 17
Is related function information including installation information 17a and operation information (whether or not it is operating) 17b of this information processing apparatus. The system information 16 is held as system control information of the information processing apparatus, and the related function information 17 is held as a system initialization file.

The window system shown in this embodiment is realized by software, and it corresponds to a plurality of operating conditions in accordance with the configuration of the hardware on which the window system operates. For example, "standard mode", "enhanced mode" according to CPU performance,
"With RAM disk", which indicates the presence or absence of a RAM disk
"No RAM disk" is supported as an operating condition.

3 to 6 are process flows of the respective parts in the window display control part, FIG. 3 is a process flow of the window input / output processing part, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are process flows of the respective parts in the menu information judging part. . That is, FIG. 4 is a process flow of the operating environment determination unit, FIG. 5 is a process flow of the related function determination unit, and FIG. 6 is a process flow of the customized information determination unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of various information used in the embodiment. A. of FIG. Is an example of a parameter table, and B. Is an example of system information, C.I. Is an example of related function information, D is an example of a customization table, and E is an example of a determination result.

The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. When an activation instruction is input to the window display control unit 10 with a key (not shown) or a mouse, the display request unit 12 is activated. Display request unit 12
When is activated, a display request is issued to the window input / output unit 11, and the processing of FIG. 3 is started.

First, the window display acceptance section 11a shown in FIG.
Request is accepted (S1 in FIG. 3). Then, the menu information judging unit calling unit 11c prepares a parameter for calling the judging unit (S2 in FIG. 3). This parameter is
2 is the parameter table 11b in FIG. 2, and this window is menu information (corresponding to 1a in FIG. 1) prepared by the application program process (program) currently being executed.

An example of the parameter table is shown in FIG. Shown in. In this example, five items A to E are prepared as "menu items", conditions 1 to 3 are provided as "operating environment" conditions in the "condition setting field", and "related function" is provided.
Conditions 4 and 5 are provided as the conditions of, and a determination field represented by “determination” is provided in the last column. In this judgment field, all "0" are set before the judgment is executed.

The conditions 1 to 3 of the "operating environment" in the "condition setting field" are as shown in FIG. An example is given in
In this example, the condition 1 is “standard mode not possible”, the condition 2 is “enhance mode not possible”, and the condition 3 is “no RAM disk is not possible”.
A. In the corresponding conditions of the operating environment of, the menu item with a circle indicates that it cannot be used. In this example, menu item B is unavailable in the standard mode, menu item C is unavailable in the enhanced mode, and menu item E is unavailable in the absence of a RAM disk.

Further, the conditions 4 and 5 of the related functions are C.I. In this example, Condition 4 represents that the related function (representing application software) is valid only when Function A is installed, and Condition 5 represents that Function B is operating. Represents the condition that it is valid for a period of time. Therefore, in FIG. In the example of the parameter table of, the condition that the menu item C marked with ○ in condition 4 is valid only when the function A (application software A) is installed, and the menu marked with ○ in condition 5 is shown. Item D represents a condition that it is valid only when the function B is operating.

When the above parameter table is prepared, the menu information judging section is called (S3 in FIG. 3). Then, according to the parameters changed by the menu information judging unit, only the menu whose judgment field is "0" is displayed, and the menu item whose "1" is deleted is displayed (S4 in FIG. 3).

The menu information judging section 13 of FIG. 2 called up by the above-mentioned processing executes each processing shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. Operating environment determination unit 13 of the menu information determination unit 13
As shown in FIG. 4, a refers to the contents of the operating environment determination condition setting field for each parameter menu item, and shows the current operating environment (operating mode, operating mode, obtained from the system information 16 of FIG. 2) for the marked conditions. A device environment including a device installed and operating) is discriminated and it is checked whether or not a condition of being unusable is not satisfied (S1 in FIG. 4). This operation is repeated for all menu items (at step S2).

In this process, if the condition of being unusable is satisfied, "0" in the judgment field of the parameter table (A in FIG. 7) is changed to "1". E. of FIG. In the example of the determination result shown in, the menu items B and E are determined to be unusable by the operating environment determination, and "1" is set in the determination field.

In the menu information judging section 13, when the judgment of the operating environment judging section 13a is completed, the related function judging section 1
3b is driven and the processing flow shown in FIG. 5 is executed.
In FIG. 5, the installation status and operation status of the related function (application software) obtained from the related function information 17 of FIG. 2 are identified, and the usable condition is checked for the condition setting field of the parameter table (see FIG. 5). S1). This process is repeatedly executed for all menus (at step S2).

FIG. 7E. In the example of the determination result shown in (1), since the menu item D does not satisfy the condition 5 (function B is not operating) by the related function determination, “1” is set in the determination field of the item.

Next, in the menu information judgment unit 13, the customization information judgment unit 13c is driven and the processing flow shown in FIG. 6 is executed. In this process, the customization table 14 is used. This customized table 14
Is provided so that the user can easily register the menu information and add (including changing and deleting) the menu having the required function.

An example of the registered contents is shown in FIG. Shown in. In this example, X and Y are added as menu item names. A condition setting field similar to that is provided, and the operating environment (conditions 1 to 3) and related functions (conditions 4 and 5)
The usage conditions of are set as shown in the figure.

In FIG. 6, first, the menu information of the customize table 14 is checked to check the usable condition. That is, for each menu item, the operating environment determination unit and the related function determination unit are requested to determine whether or not the menu item can be used according to the condition of the condition setting field, and each determination result is obtained and used. If it is determined that, the menu item is added as a parameter of the menu information (S1 in FIG. 6). This process is repeated for all menus (at step S2).

FIG. 7D. In the example of the customization table shown in FIG. 7, the menu item X is added as usable and the menu item Y is determined to be unusable by the process of the customization information determination in FIG. 7A and FIG. The item X is added to the item shown in (1) as the determination field “0”.

The determination results according to the processing flows shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 are output to the menu information display section 11d of the window input / output section 11 shown in FIG. The menu information display unit 11d checks the menu information including the received determination result, deletes the menu item whose determination field is "1", and displays only the menu item of "0". It is displayed on the window display screen 15 (FIG. 2).

Menu items (menu bar and drop-down menu) can be dynamically changed by changing the menu using the customize table. The menu item of this embodiment can be applied to both the menu bar and the drop-down menu.

FIG. 8 shows a display example of the menu according to the present invention. 8A. A of the conventional example shown in FIG. Corresponding to, only the usable menus are displayed in a format in which the unusable menus ("Job operation" and "Asset management") are deleted. In FIG. When a usable menu item is generated due to a change in the operating environment, the menu is dynamically added when a display request is made thereafter, and the menu item shown in FIG. Is displayed.

In the configuration of the embodiment of FIG. 2 and the description related thereto, an example in the window system is shown.
It is needless to say that the menu system according to the present invention can be implemented even for an input screen with a menu that does not employ window processing.

[0039]

According to the present invention, a menu item that has been conventionally displayed in a fixed manner or that cannot be used by dimming is displayed, and only usable menu items are displayed according to the state. You can Therefore, the display of the menu information becomes compact, the visibility is good, erroneous operation can be prevented, and the operability can be improved.

According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a great improvement of HCI (Human Computer Interface) in the window system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a window input / output processing unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of an operating environment determination unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of a related function determination unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of a customization information determination unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of various kinds of information used in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a menu according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional menu display example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Menu display section 1a Menu information 2 Condition determination section 3 State storage section 4 Item registration section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A menu system for displaying a plurality of items of a menu and activating a process corresponding to an item selected from the displayed items. The menu system is activated every time a display request is generated. From the menu display section, a menu display section for requesting condition determination for menu information including a plurality of menu items and corresponding usage conditions generated in response to processing, a status storage section for storing information such as the current operating environment, and the menu display section. And a condition determination unit that determines whether or not the condition of use of each item of the menu information is satisfied by the state of the state storage unit and outputs the determination result to the menu display unit. A menu system that displays only menu items that satisfy the usage conditions based on the determination result from the condition determination unit. 2. The menu information of the menu display unit according to claim 1, wherein a related function including the presence of an application program corresponding to a menu item is used as a usage condition, and the current installation status of the application program in the status storage unit. The menu system is characterized by storing related function information including the above, and the condition determining unit determines whether the related function information of the state storage unit satisfies the use condition of the menu information. 3. The menu information according to claim 1, wherein a system state such as an operation mode is provided as a use condition corresponding to a menu item, and system information including a current operation mode is stored in the state storage unit. The menu system, wherein the condition determination unit determines whether the system information of the state storage unit satisfies a use condition of the menu information. 4. The item registration unit according to claim 1, further comprising: an item registration unit for registering menu information including an externally input menu item and its use condition, wherein the condition determination unit receives a determination request from the menu display unit. Upon receipt, it is determined whether or not the menu information registered in the item registration unit satisfies a use condition, and the usable menu item and the determination result are output to the menu display unit.