JPH07261967A - Menu selecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a menu selecting device which can reduce the cursor shift extent and the direction changing frequency in a menu selection mode and can quickly select a desired menu. CONSTITUTION:A storage part 13 stores a main menu including plural main menu items and also stores the data on the submenus corresponding to each main menu item. When the right button of a mouse 10 is pushed, a main menu display processing part 14b displays the main menu items in the vertical and horizontal directions and around the present cursor position. At the same time the corresponding submenus are displayed in the directions where the main menu items selected at the present cursor position are positioned when these menu items are selected by mouse 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a menu selection device, and more particularly to a menu selection device for selecting an arbitrary menu from a menu displayed on a display section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to improve the man-machine interface, a menu is displayed on the display by a simple mouse input, and a menu for selecting a module to be executed is selected according to an instruction input to the menu. Selection devices are often used.

For example, Microsoft Corporation "Micros
oft Windows Version 3.1 Function Guide "(Flat 5-5
1) p. 17-19 discloses a menu selection technique of displaying a menu at the current cursor position in response to a mouse input and selecting a module to be activated by the user selecting a desired menu.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between mouse operation and screen display in this conventional technique.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the left button of the mouse is pressed while the cursor is displayed on the screen (step 601), the menu is displayed at the current cursor position (step 602).

Then, when the mouse is moved to the position of any menu item while the left button of the mouse is being pressed, the menu item is reversed (step 603). Then, when the mouse button is released in this state, the menu item is selected, the module corresponding to the menu item is selected, and the menu display is closed (step 604).

As described above, according to this conventional technique, there is provided a mechanism in which a menu is displayed by pressing down a mouse button, and a desired menu item is selected by opening the mouse button to select a module to be activated. It is disclosed.

However, according to this conventional technique, the number of menu items that can be displayed is limited by the size of the screen, and the amount of movement of the mouse is large when selecting a menu item located at the bottom of the menu. There is a drawback that

Therefore, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-3011 discloses a menu control device in which a menu to be displayed is divided into a main menu and a submenu, and the submenu is displayed when the cursor is moved to the position of the main menu. Is disclosed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a menu display in the case where this conventional technique is used. After the mouse button is pressed down to display the main menu 7a, the main menu 7 is displayed.
When the main menu item 76 in a is selected, the submenu 7b having the submenu items 76a to 76e is displayed.

In this example, the cursor 7c is moved to the position of the main menu item 76 while the mouse button is being pressed, the submenu 7b associated with the main menu item 76 is displayed, and then the submenu item 76c is displayed. Shows the case where is selected.

FIG. 8 is a submenu item 76 shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows a series of mouse operation and screen display until c is selected.

As shown in FIG. 8, the cursor is displayed on the screen as in the prior art shown in FIG. 6 (step 8).
When the left mouse button is pressed in 01), the main menu 7a is displayed at the current cursor position (step 8).
02). When the mouse is moved to the position of the main menu item 76 with the left button of the mouse held down (step 803), the submenu 7b associated with the main menu item 76 is displayed (step 8).
04).

Then, the mouse is further moved to the position of the submenu item 76c with the left button of the mouse held down (step 805), and the submenu item 76c is selected by releasing the left button of the mouse, and the menu display is displayed. It is closed (step 806).

[0015]

However, according to this conventional technique, since the main menu items are sequentially arranged in the vertical direction, it may take time to select the main menu item with the mouse. Many.

That is, when the number of main menu items increases, the amount of cursor movement is inevitably large when selecting a menu item located below the main menu, so that the time required for menu selection increases greatly. .

When selecting a sub-menu, the cursor must be moved rightward into the sub-menu and then the moving direction of the cursor must be changed to the downward direction. Becomes larger and the time required for menu selection increases.

In particular, in recent menu selection devices, new menus are being introduced one after another so as to meet the user's request, and the accumulation of such menu selection required time causes a reduction in work efficiency.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a menu selection device that can quickly perform menu selection by reducing the amount of cursor movement and the number of direction changes when selecting a menu.

[0020]

To achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a plurality of main menus and storage means (13 in FIG. 1) for storing data corresponding to submenus belonging to each main menu. Main menu display processing means for displaying the main menu by arranging the main menu in at least two directions in a predetermined direction with a designated position on the display screen or a predetermined position as a center position based on the data selectively read from the storage means. (14b in FIG. 1) and a submenu belonging to the main menu in the corresponding direction by an instruction operation indicating any one of the directions arranged from the center position is read from the storage means and is associated with the main menu. Sub-menu display processing means (14c in FIG. 1) to be displayed as a selection and selection for selecting an item of the sub-menu by a selection instruction operation for the displayed sub-menu. Characterized by comprising a stage (14d in FIG. 1).

[0021]

According to the present invention, data corresponding to a plurality of main menus and submenus belonging to each main menu are stored in the storage means, and the main menu display processing means operates the operation in response to an operation instruction. The data corresponding to the instruction is selectively read from the storage means, and the main menu is displayed in a predetermined direction, for example, at least two, for example, four directions in the up, down, left, and right directions with the designated position or the designated position on the display screen as the central position.
Then, in response to an operation instruction indicating any one of the up, down, left, and right directions from the center position, the sub-menu display processing means reads the data corresponding to the operation instruction from the storage means and displays the sub-menu in that direction. Then, in response to the selection instruction operation for the displayed sub-menu, the selection means selects the item of the sub-menu.

As a result, the menu can be selected quickly.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a menu selection device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, this menu selection device comprises a mouse 10, a display control unit 11, a display 12, a storage unit 13, and a menu processing unit 14.

The mouse 10 is an input device for moving a cursor displayed on the display section 12 to give a menu selection instruction and the like. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which it has two left and right mouse buttons.

The display control unit 11 is a control unit for controlling the display of the display 12, and the menu processing unit 1
The display corresponding to the instruction input of 4 is performed.

The display / display section 12 is a display device for performing a display corresponding to various instruction inputs, and is controlled by the display control section 11.

The storage unit 13 is a storage device for storing data relating to the main menu and the sub menu, and is accessed by the menu processing unit 14.

The menu processing section 14 is a processing section for performing main menu display processing, sub-menu display processing, and module selection corresponding to menu selection, and includes a menu control section 14a, a main menu display processing section 14b, and
Submenu display processing unit 14c and module selection unit 1
4d.

The menu control unit 14a is a control unit for performing menu processing control of the entire menu processing unit 14a. Specifically, in response to an instruction input from the mouse 10, the main menu display processing unit 14b and the sub menu are operated. The display processing unit 14c or the module selection unit 14d is notified of the processing content corresponding to the instruction input.

The main menu display processing section 14b is a processing section for performing display processing relating to the main menu. Specifically, by pressing the right button of the mouse 10,
The main menu item can be cyclically changed by displaying the main menu at the current cursor display position on the display 12 and clicking the left button.

Further, this main menu does not simply display each menu item in the form of a table, but the display 1
Each menu item is displayed at the upper, lower, left, and right positions with the current cursor position above 2 as the center.

It should be noted that each menu item in the main menu does not necessarily correspond to a submenu, and may directly correspond to a module like a submenu.

The sub-menu display processing unit 14c is a processing unit that receives an instruction from the menu control unit 14a and performs sub-menu display processing corresponding to each main menu.

The submenu display processing section 14c
Then, in order to reduce the amount of movement of the cursor, a submenu is displayed in the direction in which the corresponding main menu item is located, and each submenu item is associated with each processing module in a one-to-one correspondence.

The module selecting section 14d is a processing section for selecting a corresponding module in response to an instruction input from the mouse 10. Specifically, when a menu item associated with the module is selected, the module selecting section 14d Select a module.

Next, the contents of the processing performed by the menu processing unit having the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents of menu processing performed by the menu processing unit 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the menu controller 14a which recognizes that the right button of the mouse 10 has been pressed down.
Instructs the main menu display processing unit 14b to display the main menu. Upon receiving this instruction, the main menu display processing unit 14b switches the cursor to the menu display cursor 2a, then reads the data related to the main menu from the storage unit 13 and displays the main menu 2b on the display 12.

The main menu 2b displays the main menu item 1 at the top of the current cursor, the main menu item 2 at the right, the main menu item 3 at the bottom, and the main menu item 4 at the left. is there.

Next, after confirming that the left button is pushed down while the right button of the mouse 10 is pushed, the menu control section 14a instructs the main menu display processing section 14b to switch the main menu.

Then, in the main menu display processing section 14b which has received this main menu switching instruction, the main menu 2b composed of main menu items 1 to 4 is displayed.
To a main menu 2c composed of main menu items 5 to 8.

The menu control unit 14a confirms that the mouse 10 has moved the cursor on the display 12 to select and input the main menu item, and the menu control unit 14a opens the submenu 2d corresponding to the selected main menu item. The sub-menu display processing unit 14c is instructed to display.

Upon receiving this instruction, the sub-menu display processing unit 14c reads out the data regarding the instructed sub-menu from the storage unit 13 and displays the sub-menu in the direction in which the selected main menu item is located.

For example, menu item 1 of the main menu
When is selected, since the menu 1 is located above the current cursor, the submenu 2d corresponding to the main menu item 1 is displayed at the top.

After confirming that the mouse 10 has selected the submenu item 3 of the submenu 2d, the menu control section 14a instructs the module selection section 14d to select the corresponding module.

As described above, the menu processing unit 14 performs the series of processes described above to disperse the arrangement of the main menu items to speed up the selection of the main menu items and to extend the main menu items to be selected. By displaying the submenu, the cursor movement direction when selecting the submenu can be fixed.

Next, the processing procedure of the menu processing unit 14 and the mouse operation will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the menu processing unit 14 and the mouse operation.

As shown in FIG. 3, the menu processing unit 14 waits for input from the mouse 10 (step 30
1) When the right button 3a of the mouse 10 is pushed down,
The cursor display according to the present invention is performed (step 302), the main menu is displayed at the current cursor position (step 303), and the input is awaited (step 304).

When the left button 3b of the mouse 10 is pushed down while the right button of the mouse 10 is kept pushed, the menu control section 14a confirms that the left button is pushed down (step 305). The main menu display processing unit 14b is instructed to switch the main menu.

Upon receiving the instruction, the main menu display processing unit 14b performs a main menu switching process (step 306) and then waits for an input (step 3).
Move to 04).

On the other hand, in step 304, the mouse 1
If the mouse 10 moves 3c while the right button of 0 is pressed and one of the main menu items is selected (step 305), the menu control unit 14a which has confirmed the mouse movement, It is confirmed whether a submenu corresponding to the menu item exists (step 30).
7).

If the submenu does not exist, the module selection unit 14d selects the module corresponding to the menu item. If the submenu corresponding to the menu item exists, the submenu display processing unit 14
c displays the corresponding submenu (step 30
8) The system waits for input (step 309).

In this embodiment, the main menu item is displayed on all four sides of the cursor, and the sub menu is displayed in the extension direction of the selected main menu item. The time required is reduced.

When the menu control section 14a confirms that any menu item has been selected by the mouse 10, the module selection section 14d is instructed to select a module, and the module which has received the instruction is instructed. The selection unit 14d selects a module (step 31
0), the process ends.

If the right button of the mouse is released during the above series of processing, the menu display is terminated when the right button is released, the cursor display is restored, and the processing is terminated.

By performing the above series of processing, it is possible to reduce the amount of cursor movement when the submenu is selected.

Next, the above-mentioned processing performed by the menu processing unit 14 will be described in more detail using a concrete example.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a case where the menu screen according to the present invention is applied to a word processor application, and "File", "Edit", "Search", "Character",
It shows a case where a main menu including seven types of main menu items of “format”, “layout”, and “help” is displayed.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the right button of the mouse is pressed down, the menu item "file" is displayed at the upper part, the menu item "edit" is displayed at the right part, and the menu item "edit" is displayed at the lower part of the current cursor position. Select the menu item "Search"
The main menu 4a having the menu item "character" is displayed on the left side thereof (step 401).

When the left button is clicked while the right button of the mouse 10 is held down, the menu item "Format" is displayed at the upper part, the menu item "Layout" is displayed at the right part, and the menu item "Help" is displayed at the lower part. The menu display is switched to the included main menu 4b (step 402).

Then, when the left button is clicked again while the right button of the mouse 10 is held down, the main menu 4a is displayed again (step 403).

Next, while the right button of the mouse 10 is held down, the mouse 10 is moved to the right, and the cursor is moved to the position of the menu item "edit" (step 40).
4) and the sub-menu 4c corresponding to the menu item "edit" of the main menu 4a is displayed further to the right of the menu item "edit" (step 405).

The submenu 4c includes menu items "cut", "copy" and "paste".

When the cursor position is moved to the menu item "copy" by moving the mouse 10 (step 406), the display of the menu item "copy" is reversed.

When the right button of the mouse 10 is released at this position, the module corresponding to the menu item "copy" is selected, the menu display is terminated, and the display state before the right button is pushed down is displayed. It returns (step 407).

When the display is restricted, for example, when the cursor is located in the lower right corner of the display, the menu is displayed slightly in the upper left, or a prohibition condition is imposed on mouse movement. It is possible to deal with it by providing it.

Next, the data structure of the storage unit 13 for storing the main menu and the sub menu will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the data structure of the data stored in the storage unit 13. FIG. 5A shows the data structure when there is a submenu corresponding to the main menu item. FIG. 5 shows the data structure when there is no submenu corresponding to the main menu item in (b).
(C) shows specific examples of the data structure.

Whether or not the submenu is associated with the main menu item is determined by using the submenu flag. Specifically, if the submenu flag is "TRUE", the submenu corresponds. If the submenu flag is “FALSE”, the submenu is not associated.

When there is a submenu corresponding to the main menu item, as shown in FIG. 5A, the data relating to the main menu includes a main menu character string 5a and a submenu flag (TRUE) 5b. , A pointer 5c indicating the start address of the submenu character string 5d
The sub-menu data includes a sub-menu character string 5d and a pointer 5e indicating the start address of the processing routine 5f.

If there is no submenu associated with the main menu item, the data relating to the main menu is the main menu character string 5g and the submenu flag (FALSE), as shown in FIG. 5B. 5
h and a pointer 5i indicating the start address of the processing routine 5j.

By the way, in the menu display according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5C, main menu items associated with submenus and main menu items not associated with submenus can be mixed. I am trying.

That is, the data related to the main menu is a set of a combination of the main menu character string 5k, the submenu flag 5m, and the pointer 5n, and the data related to the submenu A and the submenu B is the submenu character string 5o. And a pointer 5p.

As described above, in this embodiment, data regarding the main menu having a plurality of main menu items and the sub-menu corresponding to each main menu item is stored in the storage unit 13, and the right button of the mouse 10 is pressed. As a result, the main menu display processing unit 14b is configured to display the main menu items in the up, down, left, and right directions centering on the current cursor position, so that the amount of mouse movement when selecting the main menu can be reduced.

Further, when the main menu item is selected by the mouse 10, the submenu associated with the main menu item is displayed in the direction in which the main menu item selected from the current cursor position is located. , It is possible to reduce the amount of mouse movement when selecting a submenu.

Furthermore, in response to the click of the left button,
Since the main menu display processing unit 14b is configured to update the menu items displayed on the main menu, the number of main menu items to be displayed is not limited.

In this embodiment, the case of using a mouse having two left and right mouse buttons has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and is similarly applied to the case where the number of mouse buttons is one and three or more, or the case where a pointing device such as a light pen and a trackball and a keyboard are used as the input device. can do.

Specifically, if the number of mouse buttons is one, pressing the button twice continuously is the condition for displaying the main menu and switching the menu, and if there are three or more mouse buttons, the rightmost button is selected. This can be realized by using the right button and the leftmost button as the left button.

In the above embodiment, the main menus are arranged in four directions of up, down, left and right, but if they are two or more, they may be arranged in at least two of predetermined directions other than up, down, left and right.
It is clear that the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

[0083]

As described above in detail, in the present invention, data corresponding to a plurality of main menus and submenus belonging to each main menu is stored in the storage means, and in response to an operation instruction, Since the main menu display processing means selectively reads the data corresponding to the operation instruction from the storage means and displays the main menu in four directions of up, down, left and right with the designated position or the designated position on the display screen as the central position. It is possible to quickly select the main menu.

Further, according to the present invention, in response to an operation instruction indicating one of up, down, left, and right directions from the center position, the sub-menu display processing means reads the data corresponding to the operation instruction from the storage means, and the data is stored in that direction. Since the sub-menu is displayed and the selection means selects the item of the sub-menu in response to the selection instruction operation for the displayed sub-menu, the sub-menu can be quickly selected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a menu selection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents of menu processing performed by a menu processing unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a menu processing unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a case where a menu screen according to the present invention is applied to a word processor application.

5 is a diagram showing a data structure of data stored in a storage unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing mouse operation and screen display in a conventional menu display technique.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display menu in a conventional submenu display technique.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a series of mouse operations and screen display until the submenu shown in FIG. 7 is selected.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 mouse, 11 display control unit, 12
Display, 13 storage unit, 14 menu processing unit, 14a menu control unit, 14b main menu display processing unit, 14c sub-menu display processing unit, 1
4d module selector

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A main menu display screen based on a plurality of main menus, storage means for storing data corresponding to submenus belonging to each main menu, and data selectively read from the storage means. By a main menu display processing means for arranging and displaying the above designated position or a predetermined position in at least two directions out of a predetermined direction as a center position, and an instruction operation indicating one of the directions arranged from the center position. Submenu display processing means for reading out a submenu belonging to the main menu in the corresponding direction from the storage means and displaying the submenu corresponding to the main menu, and an item of the submenu by a selection instruction operation for the displayed submenu A menu selection device comprising: a selection unit for selecting.