JPH0816349A - Display control system for function selection menu of hierarchical structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the moving amount of a cursor by relatively shifting a menu picture which has been selected without changing the position of a menu to be newly selected at the time of shifting the picture from a main menu to a low-order sub-menu through function selection. CONSTITUTION:A former menu shifting direction discriminating means 5b discriminates in which direction the former menu is shifted for preparing a position to the new menu. A former menu arranging means 5c of a menu display control part 5 arranges the former menu in the shifting direction discriminated by the shifting direction discriminating means 5b. In this case, the size of the former menu is decided and when it can be stored in a space area, respective menus are arranged in the moving direction but when the space area is deficient, the arrangement is performed by overlapping a part of the former menus one upon another or reducing the size of the former menu. When the former menus and the new menus are arranged, they are outputted to a display part 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a function control menu display control method for selecting a function from a hierarchically structured menu.

In recent years, in an information processing device such as a terminal device, a personal computer, a workstation, etc., a menu having a hierarchical structure having higher functions is displayed and the lower menus are sequentially displayed according to the selected contents. Method is used. In this case, since each subordinate menu corresponding to the item selected from the superordinate menu is displayed in order, the position for selecting the item moves as the subordinate menu is moved, which makes it difficult to perform the function selection operation. Was there.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a conventional example. In FIG. 8, the menu displayed on the screen of the display of the information processing device is displayed. As the first (upper) main menu A, "word processor" and "C" showing a plurality of operation modes
Four modes (functions) of "ALC", "MEDIT", and "image" are displayed. The user can use this menu A
Operate the mouse to position the mouse cursor (indicated by the arrow on the lower right) to the desired item, click the mouse button to select the function, and the processing of the information processing device supports "CALC". The menu B, which is a submenu prepared by the above, is displayed with the top line placed at the horizontal position on the right side of the selected "CALC" character. In this menu B, items such as "new", "update", "management", "reference creation", and "assistance" are displayed as a plurality of functions belonging to "CALC", and the user calls "reference creation" among them. When the function is selected by moving the mouse cursor, the menu C of the sub-menu whose top row is the horizontal position on the right side of the item "Create reference" in menu B is displayed as shown in the figure. This menu C is made up of items "CALC data 1" to "CALC data 7", and "CALC data 7" is selected from the items. Since this menu C is the lowest menu, this CALC
If you select data 7, the last submenu, "Y
Confirmation menu D for selecting either "ES" or "NO"
Is displayed. If "YES" is selected, the processing operation is started for the selected CALC data 7.

The function selection menu shown in FIG. 8 is displayed and selected in the same manner even in a conventional method of selecting a function in a menu format, such as a pull-down menu or a pop-up menu. Further, in the example of FIG. 8, the lower menus are arranged in the lower right in order, but they may be arranged in the upper left or the lower left.

[0005]

As described above, according to the conventional method, a mouse cursor is selected until a final function is reached by sequentially selecting a plurality of hierarchically provided submenus from a higher menu. The mouse must be operated in the horizontal (horizontal) direction and the vertical (vertical) direction in order to move the to the display position of the desired item (function) of multiple submenus. In the case of FIG. 8, the locus of movement of the mouse cursor is indicated by, and the amount of movement of the mouse cursor in the vertical and horizontal directions is large as indicated by the thick line. If the amount of movement of the mouse is large, it takes time and effort to move the mouse to position the cursor at the center of the desired item, and there is a problem in that the mouse operation becomes tired.

According to the present invention, the display control of the function selection menu can be simplified by reducing the operation of the pointing means for the user to select the item when selecting the items in order from the higher order to the lower order of the function selection menu. The purpose is to provide a scheme.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a basic block diagram of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the operation of display control. In FIG. 1, 1 is an input unit such as a mouse and a keyboard, 2 is a processing device, 3 is a command analysis unit for analyzing commands, 4 is a menu that holds the current and previously selected menus, and depending on the selected function. Menu management section to retrieve a new menu,
Reference numeral 5 is a menu display control unit that controls to create and display a selected menu and a new menu corresponding to the current position of the cursor, 6 is a menu file storage unit that stores each hierarchical menu data, 7 Is a display unit.

According to the present invention, when the function is selected from the main menu and the screen of the lower sub-menu is displayed, the position of the menu to be newly selected is not changed,
The amount of movement of the cursor is minimized by relatively moving the screens of the previously selected menus.

[0009]

In FIG. 1, the display unit 7 displays the menu A by the menu display control unit 5 as shown in FIG. 2A, and the cursor 10 whose position is controlled by the mouse or keyboard is the menu A (main It is positioned on the line X at the center of each item (function) of the menu.
In this state, when the input section 1 is moved up and down within the range of the menu A and an operation of selecting one item is performed, a corresponding command is generated from the input section 1 and the command analysis section 3 is input. Identify the command and request the menu corresponding to the selected item in menu A. Menu management section 4
Retrieves the requested menu information from the menu file storage unit 6 and outputs it to the menu display control unit 5.

The menu display control unit 5 creates a new menu display screen based on the display information of the currently displayed menu (including the previously selected menu) and the newly requested menu information. First, the new menu placement means 5a places the requested new menu. Explaining with the example of FIG. 2, the position where the newly displayed menu B (submenu of menu A) is placed is the same horizontal position as the selection item of menu A, and the center of the selection item of menu B is the current position. Vertical position of cursor (position on line X)
And

Next, the previous menu movement direction discrimination means 5
From b, it is determined in which direction (upper left, lower right, etc.) the previous menu is moved with respect to the new menu. Figure 2
In the example, it can be seen that the previous menu A is moved to the left of the menu B as shown in (b). Next, in the previous menu arranging means 5c of the menu display control section 5, processing for arranging the previous menu (may be a plurality of menus) in the moving direction judged by the moving direction judging means 5b is performed. . In this case, the size (or number) of the previous menus is determined, and when the space can be stored in the free area, the menus are arranged in the moving direction. However, when the free space is insufficient, the previous menus are partially overlapped. , Reduce the size from the old menu (main menu side) and place it.

When a menu including a new menu and a previous menu is arranged, it is output to the display unit 7 and displayed. 2 (b) shows the new menu B and the previous menu A
The screen which displays the result which was arrange | positioned is shown. Since the position of the cursor 10 does not deviate from the line X in this way, when the user next selects from the menu B, the user must move the cursor up or down by a minute distance to position the desired item position. You can select the menu of each layer just by doing.

[0013]

[Embodiment] FIG. 3 is a processing flow of an embodiment, which is shown in FIG.
It is executed in the processing device 2 (CPU and memory) of the basic configuration diagram of FIG. In this embodiment, the input unit 1 in FIG. 1 is a mouse, and the display unit 7 is a display.
The cursor on the display screen is a mouse cursor whose movement is controlled by the mouse.

First, when a function input menu is displayed on the display screen of the display and a selection input is made by clicking an item on the menu screen with the mouse (S1 in FIG. 3), the selected item is selected. When the (function) and the mouse click position are input, new menu data corresponding to the item is retrieved from the menu file storage unit (6 in FIG. 1) (at step S2). The extracted new menu data is arranged in the data for the new display screen (stored in the memory in the processing device 2), and its position is the area of the function (item) of the menu. The center line in the vertical direction is aligned with the current mouse cursor, and the top of the menu is positioned at the same horizontal position as the mouse cursor (at step S3).

Next, since the menu corresponding to the newly selected item is placed at the position of the mouse cursor, it is necessary to move the previous menu (including the main menu) to display it at the same time. Therefore, the direction in which the previous menu is newly moved with respect to the menu is identified (S4 in FIG. 3). The identification of the moving direction is automatically performed, and its contents will be described later.

When the moving direction is identified, it is identified whether or not there is an empty area for arranging the previous menu in the moving direction (at step S5). This identification is to determine whether or not the previous menu can be placed in the empty area in the moving direction as it is. If there is an area, the previous menu is moved to the empty area (S6), and there is no area. If (not enough), the previous menu is partially overlapped and placed so that the characters do not disappear (at step S7). The screen data in which the function selection menu generated this time and the previous menu are arranged is output to the display and displayed (at step S8).

FIG. 4 is a specific example of the menu display according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, the four display screens of are overlapped for convenience of explanation, but each screen is actually shown.
Are different screens, and show the changes in order according to the selection. The first shows the main menu A,
The mouse cursor 10 is arranged on the vertical line X located at the center of the selection item (function) of this menu. Mouse cursor 10 from the main menu A
When the item is positioned as one item "CALC" and the button is clicked, the screen (partially lacking) shown in is displayed by the above processing flow (FIG. 3). This means that the beginning of the new menu B is located at the position of the mouse cursor 10, and the previous main menu A is the menu B.
The item "new" at the head of the item is positioned so as to line up with the item "CALC" selected in the main menu A. This is to indicate that "CALC" has been selected in the main menu A.

When one item "Create Reference" is selected in the menu B shown in (1), the corresponding menu C is taken out and the screen data is created as shown in (3). On this screen, the previous main menu A and menu B move from the position shown in to the upper left direction,
Since it cannot be set as it is in the empty area at the upper left, the menu B is superimposed on the main menu A so that the characters are not erased. However, in the state of, the center of the new menu C corresponding to the item “Create reference” is not positioned on the line X. Therefore, as shown in, the menu C is moved to a position where a part of the characters in the menu B (the "create" portion in the "reference creation") is erased. When one item (“CALC data 7” in this example) is selected from this menu C, a confirmation menu (YES, N
O) D is displayed at the position of the item "CALC data 7" that has just been selected. By controlling the mouse cursor, positioning it to "YES" and clicking the mouse button, the function selection is completed, and the desired The processing of the function is started.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a method of discriminating the display direction of the previous menu. The determination of the display direction of the previous menu is performed in step S4 of the processing flow of FIG.
First, the current mouse cursor position is read from the screen. This is shown in FIG. As shown in,
Divide into one section and determine which section the current position of the mouse cursor is in. Actually, the screen display data is divided into four sections to identify which section the mouse cursor coordinate position falls within.

Next, according to the result of the determination, each menu including the main menu that has been selected before is moved in the direction in which there is an empty area. B. of FIG. For the menu having the same hierarchical structure as that shown in FIG. It is an example of being located in the section of the screen shown in, and in this case, the previous menu including the top (main menu) menu with respect to the mouse cursor will be moved in the direction of or, and the last confirmation The state where the menu is displayed is B. Is shown in.

Next, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a method of discriminating and displaying the number of previous menus to be displayed. In the processing flow of FIG. 3 above, it is determined whether or not there is an empty area for storing the previous menu in the moving direction (S5 in FIG. 3), and when there is no space, the menus are overlapped so that the characters are not erased (FIG. Although S6) processing of 3 is performed, the method of FIG. 6 is a modification thereof. A. of FIG. Is a processing flow, and B.
Is a concrete example, is a top-level main menu, and is a bottom-level menu (menu where the mouse cursor is located).

Referring to FIG. At, first, the position of the mouse cursor is read (S1 in A. of FIG. 6). Next, the number of previous menus is counted (at step S2). B. of FIG. In the example shown in, the count = 5. Next, the position of the mouse cursor is identified to identify the moving direction of the previous menu (at step S3), and B.B. In the example shown in (1), if the mouse cursor is located on the left side, the direction in which the previous menu is moved (shifted) is identified as the right side. Next, the distance (L) between the position of the mouse cursor and the end of the screen in the shift direction (the right end if the shift direction is right) is calculated (S4 in A. of FIG. 6).

This distance L is compared with the number of menus obtained in S2 above.times. (Width of one menu) = length of menu (denoted as Y) (at step S5). When the distance L and the length Y of the menu are the same or the distance L is larger, each menu is shifted to the right (at step S6). This example is shown in FIG. , Each menu is displayed in the same size.

On the other hand, when the value of the menu length Y is larger than the distance L, the width is reduced so that a part of the top main menu (menu B in FIG. 6) disappears ( For example, about 1/3) (S7). After this,
Returning to the above S5, the distance L is compared with the menu length Y ′ including the reduced menu, and if the distance L <the length Y ′, in the above S7, the next menu (B in FIG. 6). ．
In the example of, the menu) is reduced. In the same manner, processing is performed so that each menu fits within the distance L,
Finally, the length of the menu (including the reduced menu) is the distance L
When it is less than or equal to, each menu including the reduced menu is shifted in the moving direction.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a method of setting the display size of the previous menu to an optimum value. This method is a partial modification of the method shown in FIG. 6, and first reads the mouse cursor position (S1 in FIG. 7) and counts the number of menus (S2). Then, the moving direction of the menu is determined (at step S3), and the distance from the mouse cursor position to the edge of the screen in the moving direction is calculated (at step S4). Then, the distance is divided by the number of previous menus to determine the menu width per item (at step S5). However, at this time, the upper and lower limits of the menu width are set in advance and are determined to be values within the range. Each menu is shifted in the movement direction by the decided menu width (at step S6).

[0026]

According to the present invention, when sequentially selecting function selection menus having a hierarchical structure, the operation of the input means for moving the cursor can be minimized, and the burden on the user is greatly reduced. At the same time, the operation can be performed quickly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the operation of display control according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a processing flowchart of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a specific example of menu display according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a method of determining the display direction of the previous menu.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a method of determining and displaying the number of previous menus displayed.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a method of setting the display size of the previous menu to an optimum value.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input section 2 Processor 3 Command analysis section 4 Menu management section 5 Menu display control section 5a New menu placement means 5b Previous menu movement direction determination means 5c Previous menu placement means 6 Menu file storage section 7 Display section

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A display control method for a hierarchical function selection menu, comprising a display unit, an input unit, and a processing unit.
A function selection menu having a hierarchical structure is displayed on the display unit, and an input for selecting one from a plurality of function items of the function selection menu by operating the input unit to move the cursor is generated. Retrieves the data of the new menu corresponding to the selected function, sets the top position of the new menu at the same horizontal position as the display position of the selected item, and sets the vertical position of the center of the selected item of the new menu. The previous menu of the hierarchical structure in which the axis is placed at the current cursor position and the function selection is completed is moved to a position adjacent to the submenu to create display screen data and output to the display unit. A display control method of a function selection menu having a hierarchical structure, which is characterized by displaying the same. 2. The processing device according to claim 1, wherein, when a new menu corresponding to a function selected by operating the input unit is arranged, the processing device determines a moving direction of the previous menu, and the determined moving direction. It is characterized by determining whether there is an empty area in which to put the previous menu, and when there is an empty area, the old menu is placed and displayed as it is, and if there is no free space, the character type is superimposed so that the character type does not disappear. Display control method of hierarchical function selection menu. 3. The processing device according to claim 1, wherein, when a new menu corresponding to a function selected by operating the input unit is arranged, the processing device determines a moving direction of the previous menu, and the determined moving direction. In order to determine whether there is a vacant area for arranging the previous menu in, the distance from the position of the mouse cursor to the edge of the screen in the movement direction is calculated, and the product of the width of the movement target menu and the number of menus is calculated. If the product of the width and the number of menus is larger than the above distance, each menu is displayed by sequentially reducing and arranging the previous menus to display each menu. Display control method.