JPH08147133A - System and device for screen display control - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To automatically restore the window, which is made into an icon, at the time of dissolution of overlap of windows by displaying windows and icons based on a display management table and updating the window display management table based on the erase processing at the time of detecting the occurrence of this processing. CONSTITUTION: A new window 604 is displayed as the result of push of a button 603. Since a window 602 is hidden behind the window 604 as the result, the window 602 is made into an icon 605. With respect to the operation method to erase the window 604, a button 607 in the window 604 is pushed with a marker 606 interlocking with an input device. When a user pushes the button 607, the window 604 is erased, and the icon 506 is restored to the window 602. Thus, the window where the work is performed at the beginning is automatically displayed when the window 604 is erased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a screen display control system for displaying one or more independent display areas on the screen of a display device such as a computer. The present invention relates to a screen display control method in which some of the display areas are automatically transformed into a reduced simple display object and restored to the original display area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of independent display areas (hereinafter referred to as windows) are set on a screen of a display device, and some of them are symbols or patterns (hereinafter referred to as icons).
As a conventional technology for realizing the above, for example, JP-A-1-26662
There is a multi-window display screen control system disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen when the window is reduced and restored to the original window. FIG. 2A shows a state in which two windows 202 and 203 are displayed on the display device screen 201. Here, when the window 204 is displayed, the windows 202 and 203 are displayed.
Since it was hidden behind this, its existence became difficult for the user to understand, and there was a problem in terms of usability, such as inviting operation. Therefore, in the conventional technique, a window that is hidden behind a window due to overlapping windows is identified, the window is replaced with an icon, and the window is displayed at a screen edge that does not overlap the window. For example, in FIG. 2A, the window 203 completely hidden behind the window 204.
Is displayed like an icon 205 shown in FIG. Further, after the window 204 has been erased, the icon 205 is restored to the state of the window 203 by the user inputting a restoration instruction. For example, in an information processing system having a pointing device such as a mouse, as shown in FIG. 2C, a marker 206 interlocked with the input of the pointing device is displayed on the screen, the marker 206 is superimposed on the icon 205, and the confirmation input is performed. By performing the above, it is possible to instruct the restoration processing to the original window. As a result, as shown in FIG.
4 was restored to the original window 203 and could be displayed.

[0004]

However, in the prior art, although it was possible to discriminate the overlapping of windows and automatically iconify them, the user must input a new instruction when restoring. I have to. FIG. 3 shows a basic flow of window restoration processing according to the conventional technique.
In other words, in step 301, after the windows that have caused the overlap are erased, in step 302, the user temporarily waits for input. Therefore, as a result of the user inputting a window restoration instruction, the determination is made in step 303, and the corresponding icon is restored and displayed in the window in step 304. Here, the purpose of iconizing the window is
This is a temporary evacuation to avoid overlapping of windows, and it is natural to return to the original state after the windows causing the overlap are erased. However, in the conventional technique, the user has to input an instruction again in order to restore the original state, and as a premise, remember the restore operation method itself and determine which icon should be restored. It was supposed to be possible, and it was not always easy to use.

An object of the present invention is to automatically restore an iconized window when the windows are no longer overlapped.

[0006]

The present invention provides a screen display system as a means for achieving the above object. That is, a display management table including a display position of each window, a size, a flag indicating whether or not the window is iconized, and a screen display unit for displaying the window and the icon based on the contents of the display management table. It is characterized in that it has an erasing detecting means for detecting the occurrence of erasing processing for the window being displayed, and a table updating means for updating the window display management table based on the detection result of the erasing detecting means.

It is also possible to have an overlap determining means for referring to the display management table and determining the overlap between the windows.

[0008]

In the present invention, the display management table stores the display position, size, and attribute information of a flag indicating whether or not each window is iconized. Also, for windows that are iconified, the order in which they were iconified,
Alternatively, it is desirable to store the time. The screen display means displays the window and the icon on the screen of the display device based on the setting contents of the display management table. The erasure detection means detects the occurrence of the process of erasing the window on the screen of the display device by receiving the user's instruction, the end signal of the related process, or the determination of the change in the number of display windows. The table updating means, when the window deletion processing is detected, regarding the window to be restored from the icon,
Change the data in the display management table. The window to be restored is determined by referring to the iconized order in the display management table, and it is desirable to restore from the window iconized recently. Further, the number of windows to be restored is not limited to one at a time, but may be plural.
The overlap determination means refers to the window display position and size in the display management table and determines the overlap between the windows.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 9 shows a hardware configuration for implementing the present invention.

The main components are a display device 903 such as a CRT or a liquid crystal panel for displaying windows, icons and various processing results, a keyboard, a mouse, a tablet for receiving various inputs from the user such as icon instructions. An input device 902 such as a display management table, a data memory 905 such as a RAM for storing data such as a display management table, a program memory 90 such as a RAM or a ROM for storing a processing program for updating the display management table, determination of window overlap, etc.
4. Auxiliary storage device 906, such as a magnetic disk, which stores some or all of data and programs, and a communication terminal for communicating data and programs with the outside through a public line or a dedicated line Communication device 907,
A control device such as a CPU that controls the above devices. The CPU preferably has a clock mechanism and a timer mechanism for measuring time.

The data structure of the display management table stored in the data memory 905 and the auxiliary storage device 906 will be described. An example of the data structure is shown in FIG. The display management table 401 includes, for each window, an identification number 402, an X coordinate 403, a Y coordinate 404 of the lower left vertex of the window, an X coordinate 405 of the upper right vertex 405, a Y coordinate 406, a reduction flag 407, and a reduction order 408. Is stored. Here, it is assumed that the window is rectangular, the X coordinate value increases from left to right, and the Y coordinate increases from bottom to top. Therefore, the lower left vertex of the window has the minimum coordinate value of the window, and the upper right vertex has the maximum coordinate value. Reduction flag 40
Reference numeral 7 stores binary data indicating whether or not the window is iconized. The reduction order 408 stores the iconization order of the corresponding window. However, for windows that are not iconified, invalid values such as 0 are stored in order. Further, the same function can be realized by storing the iconified time instead of the iconified order. In the display management table 401, each of the data 409 to 411 corresponds to one window.

Next, the flow of screen display control processing according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. First, step 10
At 1, the window erasing process is executed. The window erasing process is activated by the user's window erasing instruction or the completion of the process related to the window being displayed. In step 102, the window erasing process is detected. For example, it is possible to store the number of display windows and judge by the decrease. Alternatively, it may be determined by receiving a window erasing signal after the processing of step 101. If the deletion of the window is not detected, in step 103, the window restoration process is not performed and the process ends.
In step 104, it is determined whether or not there is an iconized window by referring to the display management table. For example, in the case of the data structure example of FIG. 4, it can be determined by referring to the setting value of the reduction flag 407.
If there is no iconified window, in step 105, the window is not restored and the process ends. In step 106, the display management table is referred to, and the window that has been iconified recently is searched for in order. For example, in the case of the data structure shown in FIG. 4, the last iconified window is searched by referring to the reduction order 408. In step 107, the display management table is referred to, and when the icon is restored to the window, it is determined whether or not there is an overlap with the already displayed window. For example, in the case of the data structure shown in FIG. 4, regarding the data 403 to 406 that define the display area of the window, it is performed by comparing the coordinate overlap of the window being displayed and the window restored from the icon. Here, there are 9 patterns mainly shown in FIG. 5 as cases where the windows overlap. FIG. 5A shows a pattern in which the window 503 on the display screen 501 completely overlaps the window 502. Set the lower left vertex coordinate of window 502 to (XA
1, YA1), the upper right vertex coordinates are (XA2, YA2), and the lower left vertex coordinates of the window 503 are (XB1, YB).
1), assuming that the coordinates of the upper right corner are (XB2, YB2), it can be determined that the patterns shown in FIG.

XA1 <XB1, YB1 <YA1 XA2 <XB2, YB2 <YA2 (however, including =) Similarly, for FIGS. 5 (b) to (i), XA1, Y
It can be determined by a relational expression of A1, XB1, YB1, XA2, YA2, XB2, and YB2. In step 107, it is freely set by the system whether to recognize only the overlapping pattern of FIG. 5A as the overlapping of the windows or all of FIGS. 5A to 5I as the overlapping of the windows. You can Step 1
In 08, when the occurrence of overlap is recognized, the window restoration process is not performed and the process ends. On the other hand, if overlapping of windows is recognized, the corresponding icon is restored to the window in step 109. In the case of the data structure of FIG. 4, the reduction flag 407 is updated to a value indicating that it has not been iconified. By displaying a screen based on the update result of the display management table, the corresponding icon is restored and displayed in the window.

Finally, an example of screen display and operation based on the surface screen control using the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 shows a case where the user erases the displayed window. Figure 6 (a)
On the display device screen 601, a window 602 in which the user is working and a button 603 for newly displaying another window are displayed. Here, FIG. 6B shows an example of a screen as a result of the user pressing the button 603. As a result of pressing the button 603, a new window 604 is displayed.
Is displayed. As a result, since the window 602 is hidden behind the window 604, it is iconized like the icon 605. As an operation method for erasing the window 604, in this example, a marker 606 linked with the input device is performed by pressing a button 607 in the window 604. As a result of the user pressing the button 607, the window 604 is erased and the icon 605 is restored to the window 602 as shown in FIG. 5C. In the case of the conventional technology, the result of pressing the button 607 is
The icon 605 is not restored, and it is indispensable for the user to give another instruction to restore. According to the present invention, when the window 604 is erased, the window 702 that was initially working is automatically displayed, and the work can be continued without wasteful operation. FIG. 7 shows a case where a window is displayed and erased by communication from the outside. As shown in FIG. 7A, a window 702 on which the user is working is displayed on the display device screen 701. Here, communication that the user does not expect arrives from the outside,
In the reception state, as shown in FIG. 7B, a window 703 indicating that reception is in progress is displayed, and the window 702 is reduced in size to become an icon 704. Then, when the reception state ends, the window 703 is automatically erased. Along with this, the icon 704 is automatically restored in the window 702. In the case of FIG. 7, a series of display and deletion regarding the window 703 is performed without the user's input. That is, the deletion of the window is detected by the end signal of the reception processing, and the window restoration processing is executed. According to the conventional technique, even if the work is interrupted by such unexpected display and deletion of the window by the user, the user must input an instruction for the window restoration process. Also, in this case,
Although the window erasing process is activated along with the end of the receiving process, the window erasing process may be activated by a signal generated by a timer incorporated in the system.

FIG. 8 shows a case in which restoration processing is performed on a plurality of windows. In FIG. 8A, a window 802 and iconized windows 804 to 806 are displayed on a display device screen 801. Icon 80
It is assumed that 4, 805 and 806 are iconified in this order. Here, as a result of deleting the window 802 by pressing the button 803, the icons 805 and 806 are restored to the windows 807 and 808 as shown in FIG. 8B. These two icons were restored to the window at one time because they were the last in the iconified order and overlap occurred when they were restored. Then, the window 8
When 07 is erased, the icon 804 is restored to the window, and the window 808 and the window 809 are displayed as shown in FIG. 8C. As described above, the present invention can restore the window even when the iconic relationship has a plurality of stages.

[0017]

According to the present invention, when an icon reduced in size due to overlapping windows is restored and displayed in the original window, it can be automatically performed without requiring a user's input operation. In particular, because the windows that caused the overlapping windows are restored when they are erased,
From the user's point of view, the interrupted work can be immediately resumed, and the usability can be improved as compared with the conventional technique. Further, by automating the restoration process, unlike the prior art, there is no burden of learning the operation method, and even a beginner or a user who is not familiar with the multi-window system can operate with peace of mind.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a processing flowchart of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for reducing and restoring a window.

FIG. 3 is a processing flowchart of a conventional technique.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of data used in Examples.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an overlapping pattern between windows.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing example according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing example according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing example according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of hardware for implementing the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 ... Window erasing processing step, 102 ... Window erasing processing detecting step, 103 ... Conditional branch accompanying detection of window erasing processing, 104 ... Reduced window presence / absence determining step, 105 ... Conditional branch accompanying reduced window presence / absence determination, 106 ... Restoration Target window search step, 107 ... Window overlap determination step.

Front page continuation (72) Yukari Matsubara Yukari Matsubara, 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Ltd.Inside of Hitachi Media Visual Media Research Institute (72) Yasumasa Matsuda, 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Hitachi, Ltd. Visual Media Research Center

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A screen for displaying one or more independent display areas on a display screen of a computer or the like, and replacing some of the display areas with simple display objects such as symbols and designs. In the display control method, the occurrence of the erasing process of the display area on the display device screen is detected, and when the occurrence is detected, some of the simple display objects are restored to the original display area. A screen display control method characterized by displaying as a screen. 2. The reduction display order, time, and the like of each of the simplified display objects are stored in each of the simple display objects, and the reduced display objects are displayed in the original display area in order from the last reduced display object. Screen display control method to restore. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the display areas overlap with each other based on a result of restoring the simple display object to the original display area. , Screen display control method without restoration. 4. The input device such as the keyboard or pointing device according to claim 1, 2, or 3,
A screen display control method that activates the process of erasing the display area according to the operator's input instruction. 5. The information processing system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein communication processing between the information processing system equipped with the screen display control method and the outside is terminated, or a timer device in the information processing system is preset. By the passage of a certain time interval,
A screen display control method that activates the process of deleting the display area. 6. A display position and size of each display area, a flag display management table indicating whether or not a simplified display object is displayed, and a display of the display area and the simple display object based on the contents of the display management table. In a screen display control device having a screen display means for performing, an erasing detection means for detecting occurrence of erasing processing for the display area being displayed, and a table updating means for updating a display management table based on a detection result of the erasing detection means A screen display control device comprising: