JPH0760375B2 - Multi-window display - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Outline] In a multi-window display device capable of dividing a screen into rectangular windows that allow a plurality of overlaps and displaying character, graphic and image information independently for each window, The overlap between the roughly divided area and the target window is inspected, and the display process is performed based on the result. This reduces the number of overlap inspections at the time of drawing and speeds up.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display device, and in particular, a multi-window capable of dividing a screen into a plurality of rectangular partial screens, that is, windows and displaying image information such as characters and figures independently for each window. Regarding display device.

It is possible to improve work efficiency by displaying a plurality of windows on the screen and disclosing the windows for referring to related data when, for example, document editing is performed on the one window.

Also, by displaying a message such as a message sent from the host computer asynchronously in another window, it is possible to receive the message without interrupting the original work.

In such a multi-window display device, it is necessary to be able to freely set the position and size of the windows, so that the windows may overlap each other.

In such a case, it is necessary to control the overlapping portion so that it is not displayed in the portion hidden underneath, and a method for performing the overlap inspection at high speed is required for that purpose.

[Prior Art] FIGS. 6 and 7 show a multi-window display control system according to the prior art.

It is assumed that the window (W) as shown in FIG. 6 (a) is hidden by the overlapping of other windows with the upper right portion and the lower left portion as shown in FIG. 6 (b).

At this time, the conventional method will be described by taking as an example the case where a display request area (C) necessary for displaying a character string is set in the window (W) and drawing is performed in this area.

First, as shown in FIG. 7C, a region which is not hidden by overlapping of other windows with another window is divided by an extension line of the horizontal line of the window which hides the window and divided into three rectangular regions. . This divided rectangular area is called a division window (W1, W2, W3).

At the time of drawing, it is necessary to check the overlapping state of the display request area (C) and these divided windows (W1, W2, W3) in order to control not to display the hidden part of the display request area (C). is there.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the display request area and the display elements.

Display elements C1 to C9 are displayed in the display request area (C).
The display elements (C1 to C9) correspond to one character in the character string in this example.

Conventionally, for each display element in the display request area (C), the overlapping state with all the split windows (W1, W2, W3) is inspected, and the display element determines which split window (W1, W2, W
It was controlled not to display if there was no overlap with 3).

For example, the number of inspections in the examples of FIGS. 6 and 7 is: number of inspections = number of display elements × number of divided windows = 9 times × 3 = 27 times.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in the conventional multi-window display control method, when the display elements are displayed, the overlapping state with all the split windows is inspected. However, there is a problem that it takes a long time.

The present invention is intended to provide a novel multi-window display control system that solves the above-mentioned conventional problems.

[Means for Solving Problems] FIG. 1 shows a principle block diagram of a multi-window display control system of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a display request area dividing means, which divides the display request area horizontally or vertically into processing unit widths.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a display partial area inspecting means, which examines overlapping windows (related) which are related to each display partial area divided by the display request area dividing means 1.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a display element inspecting means, which inspects each display element for an overlapping state with the relational division window checked by the display partial area inspecting means 2.

[Operation] With the above configuration, in the inspection of the overlapping state with the divided windows for each display element at the time of drawing, the inspection with unrelated divided windows is omitted, and the number of inspections can be reduced.

The overlapping state inspection by this method has a large number of windows and a large number of overlapping windows, which complicates the effective area of the window, and becomes effective as the number of divided windows when this is divided into rectangular areas increases. The degree of reduction in the number of inspections increases.

This method is applied not only to drawing characters but also to drawing figures and images. That is, the drawing request area is decomposed into strips each having a drawing processing unit (for example, 32 dot width), and the overlap inspection between the divided window and the divided windows is executed prior to the actual drawing processing, thereby reducing the number of overlap state inspections. be able to.

[Examples] The present invention will be described more specifically with reference to Examples shown in Figs. 2 to 5.

FIG. 2 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to the same window and display request area as in FIG. 6, and the display request area (C) is shown.
Is divided into display partial areas (1, l2, l3), and a split window (W is created for each display partial area (1), (l2), (l3).
1, W2, W3) is checked for the overlap condition and the display area ((
1) is related only to the split window (W1), the display partial area (l2) is related to the split windows (W1) and (W2), and the display partial area (l3) is related to the split window (W2) only. Indicates that it was found.

FIG. 3 shows an overlap inspection of each display element (C1, C2, C3) in the display partial area (1) at the time of drawing, and the display element (C
It shows that only 1), (C2), (C3) and the split window (W1) are overlapped and inspected.

FIG. 4 shows an overlap inspection of each display element (C4, C5, C6) in the display partial area (l2) at the time of drawing, and the display element (C4),
It shows that (C5), (C6) and the split windows (W1) and (W2) overlap and are inspected.

FIG. 5 shows the overlap inspection of each display element (C7, C8, C9) in the display partial area (l3) at the time of drawing, and the display element (C7),
It shows that only (C8), (C9) and the split window (W2) are overlapped and inspected.

The number of inspections according to the present embodiment is as follows: inspection number = 1 to 13 inspection + C1 to C3 inspection + C4 to C6 inspection + C7 to C9 inspection = 3 x 3 times + 1 x 3 times + 2 x 3 + 1 x 3 times = 21 times, which can be reduced compared to the past. It is clear that the reduction in the number of inspections becomes more remarkable as the number of division windows increases.

As a result of the above inspection, the display element C3 that does not overlap with any of the divided windows is controlled not to be displayed. Display element C
Display elements at the boundaries of the split windows, such as 2, C5 and C6, are controlled to be displayed, and the areas outside the window boundaries are controlled to be erased and partially truncated.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the drawing time can be shortened by reducing the number of inspections of each display element in the display request area and the window information. Has a great effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 5 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are diagrams showing an embodiment according to the prior art. In the drawings, 1 is a display request area dividing means, 2 is a display partial area inspection means, 3 is a display element inspection means, W is a window, W1, W2, W3
Indicates a divided window, C indicates a display request area, 1, 12 and 13 indicate display partial areas, and C1 to C9 indicate display elements.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A multi-window display device in which a display screen is divided into a plurality of windows that allow overlapping, and each window can be independently displayed. One window having a portion hidden by overlapping with other windows. When a character string or the like is displayed in the window, the area of the window that is not hidden by another window is divided into a plurality of rectangular areas that are obtained by dividing by an extension line of the horizontal side of the other window. , The plurality of rectangular areas are defined as a window, and an area occupied by a character string or the like to be displayed in the window is set as a display request area, and the display request area is horizontally arranged in one or several display unit elements. Display required area dividing means (1) for dividing into strip-shaped display partial areas having a height corresponding to the height of the Display partial area inspection means (2) for inspecting each display partial area divided by (1) for overlapping with each of the divided windows, and one display unit element in each display partial area. Display element inspection means (3) for inspecting the overlap only for each divided window in which the overlap with the display partial area is detected by the inspection of the display partial area inspection means (2). In the drawing, the display unit area inspection means (2) and the display element inspection means (3) as a result of the overlap inspection, the display unit element having no overlap with any of the divided windows is controlled not to be displayed. Window display device.