JPH08305484A - Data access method using picture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve operability not only for simply accessing data but also for additional operations. CONSTITUTION: When a zebra 328 is clicked in the state of laying the zebra 328, the display of the zebra 328 is switched into a standing state and at the same time, a help function is set to an ON state. When the zebra 328 is clicked in the state of raising the zebra 328, on the other hand, the display of the zebra 328 is switched into a lying state and at the same time, the help function is set to an OFF state. When an icon on a basic picture 300, namely, a television 304, CD stereo 306, telephone set 312 with built-in facsimile or calendar 314 is clicked in the raising state of the zebra 328, namely, in the ON state of the help function, a help message on that clicked icon is displayed on a screen.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is applied to a computer system provided with a display device and an indicating device, and uses the display device and the indicating device to access data such as an application program using a screen. Regarding the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a data access method using such a screen, a method using a menu screen is well known. The menu screen is a list showing operations, attributes, etc. displayed on the display, and items in the list are selected by the pointing device or a finger.

In the conventional menu screen, the items are composed of characters, and it has been difficult to operate intuitively. On the other hand, it has been proposed that an intuitive operation is realized by using an icon in which operations and attributes are represented in a hieroglyph as a menu item.

[0004]

However, the menu screen using the above icons has sufficient operability in that it simply accesses the application program, but additional operations such as calling the help function and menu items are performed. In the operation such as adding, there was a problem that the operability was poor.

The data access method using the screen of the present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object thereof is to improve the operability not only in accessing data but also in additional operations. To do.

[0006]

In order to achieve such an object, the following constitution is adopted as a means for solving the above problems.

A data access method using a screen according to claim 1 of the present invention is a display device for displaying a screen and a user operates to indicate an arbitrary area of the screen displayed on the display device. A method for accessing data using the display device and the pointing device, the method being applied to a computer system including an pointing device, comprising: a plurality of image parts that can be icons for accessing the data; and a predetermined icon. A step of displaying a screen on the display device,
A step of changing the display of the predetermined icon between the first shape and the second shape in accordance with the operation of the pointing device, and the step of changing the predetermined icon in the first shape to When an image part is instructed by the instructing device, a step of accessing data according to the instructed image part, and an image in the screen in a state where the predetermined icon is in the second shape When a component is designated by the pointing device, a step of displaying a message regarding data according to the designated image component is provided.

In the data access method using the screen having such a configuration, the data may be an application program, and the application program may be activated when the application program is accessed (claim 2).

Further, the message may be an explanatory sentence of a help function for explaining a precaution in using the application program (claim 3).

Furthermore, the predetermined icon may be an animated character, the first shape may be a state in which the character lies down, and the second shape may be a state in which the character stands up ( Claim 4.).

A data access method using a screen according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is a display device for displaying the screen and a user operates to indicate an arbitrary area of the screen displayed on the display device. A method for accessing data using the display device and the pointing device, which is applied to a computer system including an pointing device, comprising: a first screen including a plurality of image parts that can be icons for accessing the data; Similarly, a step of displaying a second screen including a plurality of image components that can be icons by switching to the display device, and when any image component in the first screen is instructed by the instruction device, A step of accessing data belonging to a predetermined first group according to an instructed image component, and an arbitrary image component in the second screen is transmitted to the instruction device. Ri when prompted, the according to the instruction image parts, is characterized by comprising the step of accessing the data belonging to the second group determined in advance.

A data access method using a screen according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is a display device for displaying the screen and a user operates to indicate an arbitrary area of the screen displayed on the display device. A method for accessing data using the display device and the pointing device, the method being applied to a computer system having an pointing device, wherein a first room including a plurality of image parts that can be icons for accessing the data is captured. Displaying the first screen on the display device, and when any image component in the first screen is instructed by the instructing device, a step of accessing data according to the instructed image component According to the operation of the pointing device, a screen displayed on the display device is changed from the first screen to a second room that includes a second room including a plurality of boxes that can be icons. A step of switching to a screen, a step of displaying a plurality of icons indicating a plurality of data of a sender on the display device when a predetermined box in the second screen is instructed by the instruction device, A plurality of selected icons and move the icon to another predetermined box on the second screen by the pointing device, and after the operation of moving the icon is performed When displaying the first screen on the display device, the icon on which the movement operation is performed is displayed on the first screen.
Is displayed on the screen.

In the data access method using the screen having such a configuration, the step of accessing the data includes a step of displaying a message regarding the data prior to the access of the data, and further displaying the second screen. It may be configured to include a step of changing the setting of the content of the message in a state where the message is displayed (claim 7).

In the data access method using the screen having such a configuration, the data may be an application program, and the application program may be activated when the application program is accessed (claim 8).

A data access method using a screen according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is a display device for displaying the screen and a user operates it to designate an arbitrary area of the screen displayed on the display device. A method of accessing data using the display device and the pointing device, which is applied to a computer system including an pointing device, wherein the display device includes a screen including a plurality of image parts that can be icons for accessing the data. A step of displaying, and a step of accessing data corresponding to the instructed image component when any image component in the screen is instructed by the instruction device,
A step of processing the data accessed in the step or the data related to the image component accessed by an external factor in a background different from the processing displayed on the display device; A data access method using a screen, comprising the step of pointing the image component corresponding to the data to be processed on the screen when processing the data.

In the data access method using a screen having such a configuration, the step of pointing to the image component includes the step of continuously changing the display of the image component between the first shape and the second shape. It may be configured (claim 10).

Further, in the data access method using a screen having such a configuration, the data may be an application program, and when the application program is accessed, the application program may be activated (claim 11). ).

Further, in this configuration, the data accessed due to the external factor may be an application program for receiving a facsimile (claim 12).

[0019]

According to the data access method using the screen of claim 1, the image component instructed by the instruction device is changed by changing the display of the predetermined icon between the first shape and the second shape. And a step of displaying a message regarding data corresponding to the image component instructed by the instruction device are switched. For this reason,
The user can easily call up the message regarding the data corresponding to the image component only by switching the display of the predetermined icon from the first form to the second form.

According to the data access method using the screen of the second aspect, it becomes possible to easily start the application program corresponding to the image component instructed by the instruction device.

According to the data access method using the screen of the third aspect, it is possible to easily call the explanation text of the help function for explaining the precautions in using the application program.

According to the data access method using the screen according to the fourth aspect, the help for explaining the precautions in using the application program only by switching the display of the animation character from the lying state to the standing state. The function description is called. Therefore, it is possible to easily know whether or not the help function is currently in operation simply by looking at the display of that character.

According to the data access method using the screen of claim 5, the first screen and the second screen are switched to each other, and the screen is displayed on each of the first and second screens. Data of a specific group can be accessed. Therefore, the user can quickly access the data by grasping which group the data he / she wants to access corresponds to.

According to the data access method using the screen of claim 6, the screen displayed on the display device is switched from the first screen to the second screen in accordance with the operation of the pointing device, By moving the icon in the predetermined box on the second screen to another box by the pointing device,
It becomes possible to add or edit an icon in the first screen. Therefore, the icon on the first screen can be easily added and edited by using the pointing device. In particular, the operation of adding and editing the icon is performed on a dedicated screen, which improves operability. Are better.

According to the data access method using the screen of the seventh aspect, a message regarding the data is displayed prior to the access of the data, and the content of the message is changed on the second screen. For this reason,
The setting of the message can be easily changed.

According to the data access method using the screen of the eighth aspect, the application program can be activated as data.

According to the data access method using a screen of claim 9, the process executed in the background different from the process displayed on the display device is an image on the screen (data access screen). Indicated as a part. Therefore, it is possible to know what kind of processing is being performed in the background while the data access screen is being displayed, and it is possible to know whether the processing related to that data has already been performed when accessing the data. . Therefore, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation such as accessing data that has already been accessed again.

According to the data access method using the screen of the tenth aspect, the image parts on the screen have the first form and the second form.
It is possible to enhance the visibility of the image component on the screen by continuously changing the shape of the image component.

[0029]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in order to further clarify the structure and operation of the present invention described above. FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually showing the structure of the program starting device in the present embodiment. This program starting device is realized on a computer running an operating system such as Windows (trademark of Microsoft Corporation). FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computer in which the program starting device of this embodiment is realized.

For convenience of description, first, the configuration of the computer 10 used in the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in the figure, the computer 10 includes an arithmetic processing unit 20 connected to a local bus 22 and a local bus 22.
To connect the PCI to the PCI bus 32, which is one of the external buses
The arithmetic processing unit 2 via the I-bridge 30 and the PCI bus 32.
I / O unit 6 in which a controller unit 40 that is accessed by the CPU 21 or the like of 0, a device that controls various I / O devices, etc. is connected to an ISA bus 42 that is a low-speed external bus
0, peripherals keyboard 72, speaker 7
4, monitor (CRT) 76, hard disk device 78,
It is composed of a compact disc device 79 and the like.

The arithmetic processing unit 20 is composed of a CPU 21 as a central arithmetic processing unit, a cache memory 23, a cache controller 24 thereof and a main memory 25. The PCI bridge 30 is a high-speed PCI bus 3
2 is a controller having a function of controlling 2. CPU
The memory space handled by 21 is expanded to a logical address wider than the actual physical address by various registers prepared inside the CPU 21.

The controller section 40 is a graphics controller (hereinafter, V controller) that controls the display of an image on the CRT 76.
44), a hard disk device 78, a compact disk device 79, and other SCSI devices connected to the SCSI controller 45 and PCI.
It is composed of a PCI-ISA bridge 46 that controls the interface between the bus 32 and a lower ISA bus, a video board 48 and a sound board 49 connected to a TV tuner 47, and the like. The VGA 44 can display 640 × 480 dots in 16 colors on the CRT 76.
A character generator that stores a display font, a graphic controller that receives a predetermined command and draws a predetermined figure, and a video memory that stores a drawn image are mounted on the VGA 44. Since the structure is well known, it is omitted in FIG.

The ISA bus 42 connected via the PCI-ISA bridge 46 is an input / output control bus to which various I / O devices are connected, and includes a DMA controller (hereinafter simply referred to as DMA) 50 and real time. Clock (R
TC) 52, composite I / O port 54, sound I / O5
6, a keyboard interface (hereinafter referred to as KEY) 64 that controls the interface with the keyboard 72 and the mouse 73, an interrupt controller (hereinafter referred to as PIC) 66 that performs interrupt control with priority, and generates various time counts and beeps. It is composed of a timer 68 and the like. An ISA slot 62 in which an expansion board can be mounted is connected to the ISA bus 42.

The composite I / O port 54 is provided with ports for inputting and outputting signals for controlling the floppy disk device 82 incorporated in the computer main body, in addition to parallel output and serial output. A printer 88 is connected to the parallel input / output via a parallel port 86, and a modem 92 is connected to the serial input / output via a serial port 90. A telephone 94 equipped with a facsimile is connected to the modem 92. Also, the sound I
In addition to the speaker 74 described above, a microphone 96 can be connected to / O56. Furthermore, composite I / O
An optical element 98 is connected to the port 54, and a remote controller 99 of the computer 10 can be connected to the optical element 98. In addition to these configurations, the computer 10
In many cases, standardized I / O channels are prepared, but illustration and description thereof are omitted in this embodiment.

The program start-up device of this embodiment is implemented on the computer 10 described above. FIG. 1 shows a conceptual configuration of this program starting device. As shown in FIG. 1, this program starting device is composed of four layers of a menu section, an application section, a driver section, and a hardware section. The menu section includes a desktop shell 100 as menu software for starting a plurality of application programs. Application part is fax / voice 1
02, virtual component 104, photo CD1
A plurality of application programs such as 06 are provided. The driver unit is a fax / voice driver 11
1, sound mixer driver 112, MPEG driver 113, overlay driver 114, TV driver 11
5, the remote control driver 116 and the like.

Desktop shell 100 includes fax / voice 102, virtual components 104,
The photo CD 106 or the like is connected. A fax / voice driver 111 is connected to the fax / voice 102, and a sound mixer driver 112, an MPEG driver 113, and a virtual mixer 104 are connected to the virtual component 104.
The overlay driver 114, the TV driver 115, and the remote control driver 116 are connected. In this way, the application program, the driver, and the hardware unit are connected to the desktop shell 100 like a bell. With this configuration, the desktop shell 100 can activate and execute a plurality of application programs. Various drivers 1
11 to 116 are the composite I / O ports 5 shown in FIG.
4, the modem 92, the SCSI controller 45, the video board 48, and other I / O units directly connected to the hardware unit.

The desktop shell 100 will be described in detail below. The desktop shell 100 is pre-stored in the main memory 25 in the form of a program, and is started by the CPU 21 immediately after the power of the computer 10 is turned on and after going through Windows. To the user, this desktop shell 100 appears to be activated directly. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a screen switching routine in the desktop shell 100.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the process is started, the CPU 21 first performs a process of displaying a basic screen on the CRT 76 (step S200). This display processing is performed by sending control commands and control data to the VGA 44, and the CRT 76 displays the basic screen shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the basic screen 300 is composed of a drawn image representing a living room in the house, and is as follows. In the living room, a reception set 302, a TV 304, a compact disc (CD) stereo 306
And a cabinet 308 are provided respectively. Telephone 312 with a built-in facsimile is placed on the desk of reception set 302.
Is installed. A calendar 314, a clock 316, and a lighting switch 318 are drawn on the wall surface of the rear portion of the television 304. In addition, first to third doors 320, 322, and 324 leading to other rooms are provided on the second floor after climbing the stairs, and a window 326 is provided above the stairs.

Furthermore, a character (hereinafter referred to as "Shima Kokuin") 328, which is an animated animal zebra, is lying on his / her back on the side of the reception set 302 in the living room (hereinafter, this is laid down). Call the state).

After displaying the basic screen 300 as described above, it is subsequently determined whether or not the following operation is performed on the basic screen 300 (step S in FIG. 3).
210). This operation is performed by the mouse 73, and the pointer P on the screen is moved to the first to third doors 320.
To 324, and clicks. Any of the first to third doors 320 to 3 is used here.
It is determined whether any one of the doors 24 has been clicked (step S210). Here, when it is determined that none of the doors 320 to 324 has been clicked, the process of step S210 is repeatedly executed, and the doors 320 to 324 are waited for being clicked.

On the other hand, in step S210, the first through third
If it is determined that any one of the doors 320 to 324 of the above is clicked, the door is subsequently opened from the first to the third.
It is determined which one of the doors 320 to 324 is hit (step S220). Where the first door 320
If it is determined that the C
The process of displaying a screen called "music room" on the RT76 is performed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a "music room" screen displayed on the CRT 76. As shown in FIG. 5, an item such as a musical instrument related to music is drawn on the “music room” screen 400. Specifically, a piano 402, an electric guitar 404, a CD stereo 406, a metronome 40
8 and a music stand 410 and the like. An exit door 412 and a window 414 are provided at the back of this room.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S220 that the clicked door hits the second door 322, the process proceeds to step S240, and a process called "submarine room" is displayed on the CRT 76.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen of the “submarine room” displayed on the CRT 76. As shown in FIG.
The inside of the submarine is drawn on the screen 450 of the “submarine room”. Specifically, the round window 452 and the instrument panel 4
54, a clock 456, and a desk-top telephone 458 and a television 460 are drawn on the desk. A door 462 leading to the exit is drawn above the stairs.

On the round window 452, jellyfish, anko, sea bream, dragon spawn, etc. are moved and displayed like a swim.

On the other hand, if it is decided at step S220 that the clicked door hits the third door 324, then the processing advances to step S250, at which a process called "communication room" is displayed on the CRT 76. The inside of a room equipped with various communication devices is drawn on the screen of “communication room”, but specific details are omitted here.

When the screens of various rooms are displayed in steps S230 to S240, it is then determined whether or not the exit door 412 (or door 462) is clicked in each room (step S260). If it is determined that the exit door 412 (or the door 462) is not clicked, the process of step S210 is repeatedly executed, and the exit door 412 is waited for being clicked.

On the other hand, in step S462, the exit door 41
When it is determined that 2 is clicked, step S200
Then, the process for displaying the basic screen, that is, the living room screen on the CRT 76 is performed.

According to the screen switching routine configured as described above, the following processing is performed in summary. When the power of the computer 10 is turned on, first, C
The basic screen 300 in which "Living" is drawn is displayed on the RT76. Then, on this basic screen, the first door 320
When is clicked with the mouse 73, the display of the CRT 76 is changed to the screen 400 showing the “music room”. Furthermore, on the screen of this "music room", the exit door 41
When 2 is clicked, the CRT 76 display is returned to the basic screen 300.

On the other hand, when the second door 322 is clicked with the mouse 73 on the basic screen, the display of the CRT 76 is changed to the screen 450 showing "room of submarine". Furthermore, on the screen of this "submarine room", the exit door 4
When 62 is clicked, the display on the CRT 76 is returned to the basic screen 300. In this way, the "Living" screen 30
Between "0" and "Music Room" screen 400, "Living"
Between the screen 300 of and the screen 450 of the "submarine room",
Alternatively, "living room" screen 300 and "communication room"
The screens of and can be switched to each other.

The basic screen 300 will be further described. As described above, the basic screen 300 includes the TV 3
04, a CD stereo 306, a telephone 312 with a built-in facsimile, a calendar 314, a clock 316, etc. are drawn, and these functions as an icon that determines an operation target. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the pointer P is moved to the location of the calendar 314 and clicked, a dialog box DB1 for setting the date is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen 300. Although not shown, when the clock 316 is clicked, a dialog box for setting the time is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen. Furthermore,
When you click on the TV 304, a dialog box for operating and starting the TV 304 is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen, and when clicking on the CD stereo 306, a dialog box for operating and starting the CD stereo 306 is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen. Telephone with built-in facsimile 3
If you click 12, telephone 31 with a built-in facsimile
A dialog box for operating and starting 2 is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen.

The television 304 and the CD stereo 3 are used.
When 06 is clicked, the dialog box may not be displayed once, but television reception or stereo performance may be started immediately.

Further, in the basic screen 300 of FIG. 4, the cabinet 308 has nine storages, and each storage has an individual picture drawn, but each picture is arbitrary by the user. It represents the application program set in, and acts as an icon that determines the target of operation. For example, when the icon drawn in the storage section 308a in the upper left corner is clicked, the application program related to the Windows file manager is started, and when the storage section 308b adjacent to the left is clicked, the application program related to the control panel is started. Each storage unit 3
A desired application program can be started by clicking 08a, 308b, ....

In the basic screen 300, a window 326 is displayed.
By clicking with the mouse 73, it is possible to exit to Windows which is the operating system.

The same applies to the "music room" screen 400
Can also be said. On the "Music Room" screen 400,
As mentioned above, the piano 402, the electric guitar 404,
Although the CD stereo 406, the metronome 408, etc. are drawn, they function as an icon that determines the operation target. For example, when the CD stereo 406 is clicked, a dialog box for operating and starting the CD stereo 406 is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen, and when the metronome 408 is clicked, a dialog box for operating and starting the metronome 408 is displayed on the screen. Is displayed at the position.

When the piano 402 is clicked, the piano tune is played while the keyboard of the piano 402 moves. The musical composition may be played on other musical instruments and the images on the screen may be linked.

Nine display columns are provided in the score of the music stand 410, and an individual pattern is drawn in each storage section. Each pattern represents an application program arbitrarily set by the user, and functions as an icon that determines the operation target. For example, when the icon drawn in the display field 410a in the upper left corner is clicked, the application program corresponding to the icon is started. As the application programs set in these nine display fields, various application programs relating to music suitable for the “music room” screen 400 are set.

The same applies to the screen 45 of the "submarine room".
The same can be said for 0. As described above, the clock 456, the telephone 458 with a built-in facsimile, the television 460, and the like are drawn on the screen 450 of the "submarine room", and these function as icons for determining the operation target.
For example, if you click on the clock 456, a dialog box to set the time will appear at a predetermined position on the screen,
When the TV 460 is clicked, a dialog box for operating and starting the TV 460 is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen.

Nine display boards are drawn on the instrument panel 454, but each display board is drawn with an individual picture. Each pattern represents an application program arbitrarily set by the user, and functions as an icon that determines the operation target. For example, when an icon drawn on the display board 454a in the upper left corner is clicked, an application program (for example, a card game) corresponding to the icon is started. As the application programs set on the nine display panels, various application programs suitable for the "submarine room" screen 400, for example, various game programs are set.

The description will be returned to the basic screen 300 of FIG. 4 again. On the basic screen 300, on the left side of the living room, an icon 328 of "Shima-kun" in the sleeping state (hereinafter referred to as "Shima-kun-328") is displayed.
This Shimakuyon 328 functions as a button for turning on / off the help function.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an ON / OFF switching routine of the help function in the desktop shell 100. The help function on / off switching routine is activated by an interrupt when the click operation by the mouse 73 is input. As shown in FIG. 8, when the processing is started, the CPU 21 first clicks with the mouse 73, which is 328
Or not (step S500). here,
If it is determined that the clicked address is 328, then the process proceeds to step S502, and 328 is performed.
It is determined whether the current state of is a sleeping state or a standing state.

In step S502, 328
If it is determined that the current state of is a sleeping state, the display of Shima-Kimon 328 is changed to the standing state (step S
504). FIG. 9 is a diagram of a screen displaying Shimakuton 328 in an upright state. As shown in this figure, the Shimakenon 328 that was in the sleeping state is brought to the standing state by step S504. After that, the help function is set to the on state (step S505).

On the other hand, in step S502, 3
When it is determined that the current state of 28 is the upright state, the display of Shimakonon 328 is changed to the lying state (step S506) and the help function is set to the off state (step S507).

Step S505 or step S507
After execution of, the procedure returns to "return" to end the processing of this routine once. In step S500, the mouse 73
When it is determined that the button clicked by is not Shimashinren 328, the process directly returns to "return" and the process of this routine is once ended.

That is, according to this help function ON / OFF switching routine, when the Shimakonion 328 is in a sleeping state, when the Shimaonion 328 is clicked, the display of the Shimaonion 328 is switched to the standing state, and at the same time, The help function is turned on. On the other hand, when the Shimashin 328 is standing,
When 28 is clicked, the display of Shimakonon 328 is switched to a sleeping state, and at the same time, the help function is set to the off state.

When the Shimaon-kun 328 is in a standing state, that is, when the help function is on, an icon on the basic screen 300, that is, a television 304, a CD stereo 306, a telephone 312 with a built-in facsimile, a calendar 314, etc. When you click, a help message about the clicked icon is displayed on the screen.
The case where the calendar 314 is clicked will be described in detail below as an example.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the calendar control routine in the desktop shell 100. This calendar control routine is activated by an interrupt when an input of a click operation by the mouse 73 is received. As shown in FIG. 8, when the processing is started, the CPU 21 first determines whether or not the calendar 314 is clicked by the mouse 73 (step S510). Calendar 3 was clicked here
If it is determined to be 14, the process proceeds to step S512,
The help function determines whether it is in the on state.

When it is determined in step S512 that the help function is on, the help message of the calendar 314 is displayed in the dialog box DB2 as shown in FIG.
Is displayed on the screen of the CRT 76 (step S514). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S512 that the help function is not in the on state, that is, in the off state, the process for displaying the date setting dialog box DB1 shown in FIG. 7 on the screen of the CRT 76 is performed ( Step S516).

As described in detail above, in this embodiment,
Desktop shell as menu software 10
0 is composed of an animation screen showing a room of a house. Since the room of the house has a close relationship with human beings, it is possible to increase the intimacy of the computer and to give intuitive instructions. As a result, operability can be improved. Further, since the desktop shell 100 is composed of an animation screen, it is possible to cope with areas with different languages without modifying the software.

Further, in this embodiment, the user simply clicks on the Shimakenon 328 with the mouse 73.
The help function can be turned on. In this ON state, by clicking an icon on the basic screen 300, a help message regarding the clicked icon can be displayed. For this reason, the help message corresponding to the icon can be easily called by simply clicking Shimashin 328, and thus the operability of calling the help message is easy.

In particular, in this embodiment, the Shimadzu 32
When 8 is set in the standing state, a plurality of help messages can be efficiently called by sequentially clicking a plurality of icons. Further, in this embodiment, since the animation character such as Shima-kun 328 is used as the on / off button for the help function, it is easy to know what the current help function is in by just looking at the display of that character. I can know.

Further, by using such a character, it is possible to make the user feel more intimate. Since the character makes the user feel some reaction to the operation of the user, the intuitive operation is further possible.

In this embodiment, as described above,
If the Shimaikun 328 is upright, the help function is turned on, and when the icon on the screen is clicked in this state, the help message will appear on the screen. Speak,
That is, the configuration may be such that sound is emitted from the speaker 74. In addition, in the configuration in which the help message is displayed on the screen, the configuration may be such that the Shimashin 328 moves in close proximity to the dialog box in which the help message is written, such that the Shimashin 328 moves in conjunction with the display of the help message. With such a configuration, it is possible to give a sufficient reaction to the user's operation and further improve the operability.

Further, in this embodiment, between the "living room" screen 300 and the "music room" screen 400, between the "living room" screen 300 and the "submarine room" screen 450, or You can switch back and forth between the "Living" screen 300 and the "Communication room" screen.
Moreover, in each of the "living room", "music room", and "submarine room", it is possible to access the application program specific to that room. Therefore, the user can quickly access the application program by grasping which room group the application program he / she wants to use corresponds to, and the operability is excellent.

The description returns to the basic screen 300 of FIG. On the basic screen 300, on the left side of the cabinet 308, that is, at the bottom of the stairs, a door 330 following the storage is depicted. When this door 330 is clicked with the mouse 73, CR
The display of T76 is switched to the screen showing the storage unit. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a screen of the storage unit displayed on the CRT 76. As shown in FIG. 12, shelves are drawn on the screen 600 of the storage unit, and a plurality of storage boxes 602, 604, are provided on the shelves.
, 606, ... And a door 610 is drawn in the left corner. The basic screen 3 is displayed on this storage screen 600.
00 can be added to or deleted from the application cupboard 308. Less than,
The procedure will be described in detail.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the first half of the application adding routine in the desktop shell 100. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the latter half of the application program addition routine. This application addition routine is started by interruption when the first storage box 602 is clicked when the screen 600 of the storage unit is displayed. FIG.
As shown in, when the processing is started, the CPU 21 firstly displays the first storage box 602 displayed on the screen 600 of the storage unit.
It is determined whether or not is clicked by the mouse 73 (step S650). Here, if it is determined that the first storage box 602 has not been clicked, the process returns to "return" and this process is temporarily terminated.

When it is determined in step S650 that the first storage box 602 has been clicked, as shown in FIG. 15, the group list L1 showing the group of application programs stored in the main memory 25 is displayed on the CRT7.
6 is displayed on a part of the screen (step S
652: Incidentally, in FIG. 15, the group list L1
There is another list L2 below, but this list L2
Is not yet displayed at this stage). Windows
In this example with s installed, "main",
Five groups of "accessories", "games", "startups" and "Japanese input" are provided.
These group names are displayed in the group list L1.

Returning to FIG. 13, the group list L is continued.
It is determined whether or not any group name in 1 is clicked by the mouse 73 (step S654). here,
When it is determined that the group name has not been clicked, step S654 is repeatedly executed to wait for the click. When it is determined in step S654 that the group name has been clicked, as shown in FIG. 15, the application list of the clicked group name (hereinafter referred to as the sender application list) L2.
Is displayed below the group list L1.

This sender application list L2
For example, in the case of an application list of a group name called "main", "file manager", "setup", "MS-DOS prompt", "control panel", etc. are displayed. Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the second storage box 604 next to the first storage box 602 has been clicked by the mouse 73 (step S658). If it is determined that the second storage box 604 has not been clicked, step S658 is repeatedly executed,
Wait for the click to be made.

If it is determined in step S658 that the second storage box 604 has been clicked, as shown in FIG.
A room list L3 in which four group names (room names) corresponding to each of the above-described screens, "living room", "music room", "submarine room" and "communication room" are described
Is displayed on a part of the screen of the CRT 76 (step S660: In FIG. 16, another list L4 exists below the room list L3, but this list L4 is not yet displayed at this stage. ).

Returning to FIG. 13, subsequently, the room list L3.
It is determined whether or not an arbitrary room name is clicked by the mouse 73 (step S662). If it is determined that the room name has not been clicked, step S662 is repeatedly executed to wait for the click. If it is determined in step S662 that the room name has been clicked, as shown in FIG. 16, the application list of the clicked room name (hereinafter,
It is called a destination application list. Here, since the case where an application program is added to the cabinet 308 of the basic screen 300 is considered, “living room” corresponds. ) A process of displaying L4 below the room list L3 is performed (step S664). By the above processing, the screen of the CRT 76 displays on the screen of the CRT 76 a group list L1 related to the first storage box 602, a sender application list L2, and a room list L related to the second storage box 604.
3 and the destination application list L4 are displayed.

After the execution of step S664, the CPU 21
Moves the process to step S666 in FIG. In step S666, the icon indicating the application program name in the sender application list L2 on the screen of the CRT 76 is dragged with the mouse 73. In a succeeding step S668, the icon of the application program name is dropped by the mouse 73 into the destination application list L4. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the drag & drop operation in steps S666 and S668. As shown in FIG. 17, according to steps S666 and S668, for example, "control panel" in the sender application list L2.
An operation is performed in which La is dragged to move it to the destination application list of the room name called "Living" and drop it, as indicated by the chain double-dashed line. After that, the process returns to "return" to end this process once.

According to the application adding routine having such a configuration, for example, the application program called “control panel” in the group called “main” stored in the main memory 25 corresponds to the “living room” corresponding to the basic screen 300. Will be copied in a group of rooms called. As a result, an application program called "control panel" is added to the room called "living room".

The addition of the application program also affects the display of the basic screen 300. That is, when the door 610 is clicked with the mouse 73 on the screen 600 of the storage unit shown in FIG. 12, the display of the CRT 76 is switched to the basic screen 300 shown in FIG. Has
An icon indicating the "control panel" will be displayed. By clicking the display of this icon, the "control panel" can be started as described above.

This application program is added not only in the "living room" but also in step S6.
By clicking on another room name at 62, any of the "music room", "submarine room", and "communication room" can be performed.

As described above, the application program can be started by clicking the icon indicating the application program written in the storage section of the cabinet 308. However, before clicking the icon, Pointer P linked to mouse 73
When comes to the position of the icon, as shown in FIG. 18, a dialog box DB3 describing a message is displayed on a part of the screen (above the clicked icon). This dialog box DB3 is called a "balloon", and a message is displayed prior to starting the application program.

The content of the balloon is initially stored with the name of the application program (for example, "file manager") as an initial setting value, but it can be changed according to the preference of the user. For example, FIG.
As shown in 8, it is also possible to change the sentence to "Manage files." A method of changing the contents of this balloon will be described next.

First, in the application list L4 of the room name shown in FIG. 16, the application program name, for example, "file manager" is entered by the mouse 73
Then, the icon labeled “Edit” is clicked with the mouse 73. Then,
A dialog box DB4 called "lunch icon" shown in 9 is displayed on a part of the screen of the CRT 76. The content of the balloon can be changed by changing the description in the "balloon" column in the dialog box DB4. That is, by changing the description in the "Balloon" column to "Manage files.", The contents of the balloon shown in FIG. 18 can be changed.

As described above in detail, in this embodiment, C
By copying the application program included in the first storage box 602 to the second storage box 604 by dragging and dropping with the mouse 73 while the screen of the RT76 is switched to the storage screen 600, "living room", An icon indicating an application program can be added or edited in the screens 300, 400, and 450 of "room of music", "room of submarine", and "room of communication". Therefore, each icon screen 300, 400, 4 for accessing the application program is displayed.
It is possible to easily add and edit in 50. In particular, the task of adding and editing the icon is the screen 60 of the door.
Since it is performed on a dedicated screen such as 0, the operability is excellent. It should be noted that deletion of the icon on the screen of each room can also be performed on the screen 600 of the storage unit.

Since "Nano" is like a workplace, the user intuitively knows that data such as an application program can be added, edited, deleted, etc. using the screen 600 of the Nado. Therefore, the operability can be further enhanced. Further, although the work of adding and editing data includes a security problem, as in this embodiment, adding data to the screen 600 of the storage unit,
Security can be enhanced by gathering and responding to tasks such as editing. Especially for beginners, the image of the door is difficult to enter, which enhances security. It is possible to further improve security by adopting a configuration in which switching to the screen 600 of the storage unit cannot be performed without inputting a password. In addition, on the screen 600 of the storage unit, not only the addition and editing of the above-mentioned icon but also other work such as installation work may be started from here.

When the above icon is clicked, a message called "balloon" is displayed on the screen of the CRT 76. The contents of this balloon can be obtained by using the dialog box DB4 called "lunch icon". It can be changed easily. Therefore, the operability of the desktop shell 100 can be further enhanced.

The description returns to the basic screen 300 of FIG. In the basic screen 300, as described above, the CD stereo 30
6, the telephone 312 with a built-in facsimile is drawn, but these can operate in the background even when the basic screen 300 is displayed. For example, when the basic screen 300 is displayed, the compact disc device 7
The music CD is set in 9, the music CD is played, a telephone call is made to activate the answering machine function of the telephone 312, or a fax is made to receive a fax signal.

That is, an application program for performing processing such as playing a music CD, activating an answering machine function, and receiving a fax signal is executed in the background of the main processing for displaying the basic screen 300. However, in this embodiment, the operating state of this application program is further displayed on the basic screen 300 in the main processing. This structure will be described in detail below.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the background display processing in the desktop shell 100. This processing routine is composed of various background side routines, here, a facsimile (FAX) application program routine and a front side main processing routine. In the FAX application program routine, when the process is started, the CPU 21 first performs a process of fetching a FAX signal from the modem 92 (step S700). This modem 9
2 is the signal sent from the telephone line is a voice signal or FA
If it is a FAX signal, the processing for sending the FAX signal to the FAX application program routine is automatically performed.

On the other hand, if the signal sent is a voice signal, the voice signal is sent to the application program for the answering machine function. In step S700, the modem 9
The above-mentioned FAX signal sent from 2 is taken in.

Then, a process for outputting a display request for displaying the basic screen 300 to the front side is performed (step S7).
02) After that, the original processing of the FAX application program routine, that is, the processing of receiving the FAX signal and printing the content on paper is performed.

On the other hand, in the front side main processing routine, the CPU 21 determines whether or not there is a display request from the FAX application program during the processing (step S710). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not there is a similar display request from a telephone application program routine (not shown) that performs a process for receiving an answering machine (step S712), and a similar display request performs a CD performance. It is determined whether or not it is from a CD application program routine (not shown) (step S714).

When it is determined in step S710 that there is a display request from the FAX application program, the display of the telephone 312 on the basic screen 300 is changed as follows (step S716). That is, by repeatedly displaying (a) and (b) in FIG.
A display indicating that the sheet 312a is ejected from 12 is displayed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S712 that there is a display request from the telephone application program, the display of the telephone 312 on the basic screen 300 is changed as follows (step S718). That is, by repeatedly displaying (a) and (b) in FIG. 22, display is performed such that the handset 312b of the telephone 312 is moved up and down.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S714 that there is a display request from the CD application program, although not shown, a display such that the lamp of the CD stereo 306 on the basic screen 300 blinks (step S720). . After executing step S716, S718, or S720, the process returns to "return" to end this routine once. Also, when a negative determination is made in any of steps S710 to S714, the process returns to "return" and this routine is once ended.

As described in detail above, in this embodiment, when a processing routine that can be executed in the background of the main processing, for example, a FAX application program routine, a telephone application program routine, a CD application program routine, etc., is being executed. The icon corresponding to the running application program routine is clearly displayed on the basic screen 300. Therefore, it is possible to indicate what kind of processing is being performed in the background while the basic screen 300 for accessing the application program is displayed.

Therefore, when accessing the application program, it is possible to know whether the application program has already been accessed, and it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation such as accessing the already-accessed application program again. As a result, the operability of the desktop shell 100 can be improved.

Further, in this embodiment, when receiving a facsimile, (a) and (b) of FIG. 21 are repeatedly displayed so that the paper 312a is ejected from the telephone 312, and the answering machine is also shown. While receiving the telephone 31
22A and 22B are repeatedly displayed so that the second handset 312b moves up and down. Therefore, the visibility of the telephone 312 on the screen is high.

The operation of the application program executed in the background is detected not only in the basic screen 300 described above, that is, in the "living room", but also in the "music room", the "submarine room", etc. Of course, it can be performed in other rooms.

The description returns to the basic screen 300 shown in FIG. On the basic screen 300, on the rear wall surface of the TV 304,
Although the lighting switch 318 is drawn, when the lighting switch 318 is clicked by the mouse 73, the CPU
The processing of 21 is switched to the standby mode. The standby mode is to save power by turning off the screen after terminating all application programs other than those designated in advance. Hereinafter, these processes will be described in detail. In this embodiment,
In addition to the operation of the illumination switch 318, the standby mode is configured even when the standby button 99a of the remote controller 99 is pressed.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart showing a standby routine executed by the CPU 21. FIG. 23
As shown in, when the processing is started, the CPU 21 first determines whether or not the lighting switch 318 is clicked by the mouse 73 (step S800). here,
If it is determined that the illumination switch 318 is not clicked, the standby button 99a (see FIG. 24) of the remote controller 99.
It is determined whether or not (see) is pressed (step S80).
2).

As shown in FIG. 24, the remote controller 99 includes a standby button 99a, a CD button 99b, a TV / video button 99c, a channel button 99d, a volume button 99e and the like. By operating the remote controller 99, the user not only switches to the standby mode, but also activates the CD device, the TV, etc.
Can be performed away from the body.

In step S802, it is determined whether or not the standby button 99a of the remote controller 99 has been pressed. If it is determined that the standby button 99a has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S804. Even when it is determined in step S800 that the lighting switch 318 is clicked, the process proceeds to step S804.

In step S804, a list of application program names to be continuously executed, specifically, a process of reading a dedicated initialization file called "E_POWER.INI" is performed. This “E_POWER.INI” file is a list of application program names, as shown in FIG. 25, and can be freely set and registered by the user. In FIG. 25, “PROGMAN” indicates a program manager in Windows, “FAX” indicates a facsimile application program, and “VOICE” indicates a telephone application program.

Then, a process for retrieving one application program currently running is performed (step S
806). Then whether or not the search is finished, that is,
It is determined whether or not the running application program cannot be found (step S808).

If it is determined in step S808 that the search is not completed yet, the process proceeds to step S810, and the searched application program is processed in step S8.
It is determined whether or not it is included in the list read in 04. If it is determined that the searched application program is not included in the list, the process advances to step S812 to end the searched application program. Then, the process returns to step S806 to search for the next activated application program. On the other hand, when it is determined that the application program searched for in step S810 is not included in the list, the process of step S812 is not executed and the process similarly returns to step S806.

If it is determined in step S808 that the search is completed, the power of the CRT 76 is turned off (step S814), the process ends and the process ends.

If it is determined in steps S802 and S802 that neither the illumination switch 318 nor the standby button 99a has been operated, the process returns to "return" and ends.

That is, according to the standby routine configured as described above, when the illumination switch 318 is clicked or the standby button 99a of the remote controller 99 is pressed, a dedicated call "E_POWER.INI" is made. All the application programs that are running except the application programs registered in the initialization file of are ended, and then the power of the CRT 76 is turned off. In this way, the power saving mode can be entered.

The standby mode is released so that it returns to the normal mode when the standby button 99a of the remote controller 99 is operated again or a release command such as a key input is received.

According to this embodiment described in detail above, the power saving mode for terminating or stopping all the application programs and the CRT 76 except those designated in advance is provided. Therefore, the entire apparatus can be almost stopped in a state in which the application program desired to be continuously processed without relatively requiring electric power is executed. Therefore, by setting the state in which the application program desired to be continuously processed is executed, it is possible to improve operability and save power.

In place of this embodiment, step S8
After the CRT 76 is turned off at 14, the fan of the computer 10 main body may be stopped. Generally, by reducing the number of running application programs, CP
It is possible to suppress the operation of U21, and as a result, the amount of heat generation is greatly reduced, so that there is no problem even if the fan is stopped.

The computer 10 further has the following functions. This function is called a tutorial and is executed when a predetermined key operation is performed in advance. The features of this tutorial are detailed below.

This tutorial is about animation,
In particular, a character is used to explain the computer 10 and its peripheral devices by voice narration. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of the screen of the CRT 76 when the tutorial is executed. Figure 2
As shown in FIG. 6, the screen of the CRT 76 displays an illustration 900 showing the computer 10 and a Shimakon 328. Shima-kun 328 explains the name and function of each part of the computer 10 by voice narration (actually, sound is output from the speaker 74 of the computer 10). At the time of the explanation, each part of the illustration 900 of the computer 10 is configured to blink according to the explanation. For example, when the description moves to the compact disc device 79, the illustration 902 of the compact disc device blinks.

As described above, this tutorial explains the operation of each part of the computer 10. At the time of the explanation, an illustration or animation on the screen is interlocked with the operation of each part of the computer 10. Is configured to. For example, when the user explains the use of the mouse 73 through the tutorial, the user operates the mouse 73, and the illustration of the mouse on the screen is linked according to the operation.

FIG. 27 shows the mouse 7 according to the tutorial.
It is explanatory drawing which shows how the usage description of 3 is made. As shown in FIG. 27, Shimakuton 328 teaches how to hold the mouse by speaking the content of the narration (see (a) and (b) in the figure), and then teaches how to move the mouse (see FIG. Medium (c)). When teaching how to move the mouse 73, a cursor 910 appears on the screen, and the cursor 910 moves in accordance with the user's operation of moving the mouse 73. This is part of the instructions for using the mouse.
Various explanations are given. At the time of the explanation, it is also possible to prompt the user to operate the mouse 73, and depending on whether the operation is correct or not, the Shimakomi 328 performs different operations.

Further, this tutorial will explain in detail the connection between the computer main body and the peripheral devices and the addition of memory. 28 to 30 are screen diagrams showing an explanation of the printer connection to the computer main body executed by the tutorial. As shown in FIG. 28, first, an illustration 920 showing the back of the computer and an illustration 930 showing the printer 88 are displayed on the screen of the CRT 76. Next, as shown in FIG. 29, an image in which the periphery of the printer connection connector 922 on the rear surface of the computer is enlarged is displayed on the screen of the CRT 76. Then, as shown in FIG. 30, an image in which the printer connector 924 is connected to the printer connector 922 is displayed on the screen of the CRT 76.

The user can easily connect the printer 88 to the computer 10 by looking at the screens shown in FIGS. 28 to 30.

FIGS. 31 and 32 are screen views showing the mounting of the additional memory board executed by the tutorial. As shown in FIG. 31, on the screen of the CRT 76, first, the illustration 9 showing the additional memory board is displayed.
50 and an illustration 960 showing the main board are displayed. Next, as shown in FIG. 32, on the screen of the CRT 76, an image in which the additional memory board is mounted in the memory board mounting socket 962 of the main board is displayed.

The user can easily attach the additional memory board to the main board by looking at the screens shown in FIGS. 31 and 32.

With the tutorial function having such a configuration, the operability of the entire computer can be improved.

Although the function of this tutorial is executed when a predetermined key operation is performed as described above, instead of this, preferably, a predetermined room constituted by the desktop shell 100 is used. (For example,
It may be configured to be executed when a predetermined instruction (by the mouse 73 or the like) is given in a "personal computer" room). In this case, by dragging the printer cable on the screen of the "personal computer" room and connecting it to the printer main body, the structure of starting the explanation of the connection between the computer main body and the printer which is one of the functions of the tutorial described above. You can also do it.

Another aspect of this embodiment will be described.
In this embodiment, when the window 326 is clicked with the mouse 73, the operating system, Windows
However, the window 326 may be configured to draw the outside scenery. In this case, the scenery of the window 326 may be changed according to the function of the calendar included in the computer main body. For example, cherry trees in spring, clouds in summer, snowmen in winter, and so on.

The user may freely change the pattern in the "living room" shown on the basic screen 300. In this case, the user can improve the intimacy with the computer and sometimes improve the operability by changing the arrangement of furniture in the "living room" to that of his / her own home.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment and can be carried out in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course, you can.

[0132]

According to the data access method using a screen of the present invention described in detail above, when data is accessed using the display device and the pointing device, the operability is improved in that it is added to the access. There is an effect that it can be increased.

Particularly, according to the data access method using the screen according to the first aspect, the user simply switches the display of the predetermined icon from the first form to the second form, and the data corresponding to the image part is displayed. Message can be easily retrieved. Therefore, the operability of calling this message can be further enhanced.

According to the data access method using a screen described in claim 2, the application program can be easily started.

According to the data access method using the screen of the third aspect, it is possible to easily call up the explanation text of the help function for explaining the precautions in using the application program, and to improve the operability. .

According to the data access method using a screen according to claim 4, it is possible to easily know whether or not the help function is currently in operation simply by looking at the display of the animation character, and the operability is improved. Can be increased.

According to the data access method using the screen of claim 5, the user can know whether the data to be accessed is the group corresponding to the first screen or the group corresponding to the second screen. , The data can be accessed quickly and the operability can be improved.

According to the data access method using a screen according to claim 6, the icon in the first screen can be easily added using the second screen. Is performed on a dedicated screen, the operability can be further enhanced.

According to the data access method using the screen of the seventh aspect, it is possible to easily change the setting of the message displayed prior to the data access, and the operability is also high in this respect.

According to the data access method using the screen of the ninth aspect, when accessing data, it is possible to know whether the process related to the data has already been performed in the background. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation such as re-accessing data that has already been accessed, and improve operability.

According to the data access method using a screen described in claim 10, the image parts on the screen are classified into the first form and the second form.
It is possible to enhance the visibility of the image component on the screen by continuously changing the shape of the image component. As a result, operability is enhanced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually showing the structure of a program starting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computer in which the program starting device of this embodiment is realized.

3 is a flowchart showing a screen switching routine in the desktop shell 100. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a basic screen 3 on the desktop shell 100.
It is a figure which shows 00.

5 is a diagram showing a "music room" screen 400 in the desktop shell 100. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a “submarine room” screen 450 in the desktop shell 100.

FIG. 7 C when the calendar icon is clicked
It is a figure which shows the screen of RT76.

8 is a flowchart showing a help function on / off switching routine in the desktop shell 100. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a screen displaying Shimakuton 328 in an upright state.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a calendar control routine in the desktop shell 100.

FIG. 11: CR with a calendar help message drawn
It is a figure which shows the screen of T76.

FIG. 12 "Nano" in the desktop shell 100
It is a figure which shows the screen of.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the first half of the application adding routine in the desktop shell 100.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the latter half of the application program addition routine.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a screen when the first storage box 602 is clicked.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen when a second storage box 604 is clicked.

FIG. 17 shows an application program in the first storage box 602, which is stored in the second storage box 6 by drag and drop operation.
It is a figure which shows the work sent to 04.

FIG. 18: Dialog box D describing a message
It is a figure which shows B3.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a dialog box DB4 called “lunch icon”.

20 is a flowchart showing background display processing in the desktop shell 100. FIG.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a display on the telephone 312 when a display request is made from the FAX application program.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a display on the telephone 312 when a display request is issued from a telephone application program.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a standby routine executed by the CPU 21.

FIG. 24 is a plan view of the remote controller 99.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing contents of files as a list in which application program names for continuing execution are described.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the CRT 76 when executing a tutorial.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram showing how to use the mouse 73 according to the tutorial.

FIG. 28 is the first diagram of the screen showing the description of the printer connection to the computer main body executed by the tutorial.

FIG. 29 is a second view of the screen.

FIG. 30 is a third view of the screen.

FIG. 31 is a first diagram of a screen showing an explanation of mounting an additional memory board executed by a tutorial.

FIG. 32 is a second view of the screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Computer 20 ... Arithmetic processing part 21 ... CPU 22 ... Local bus 23 ... Cache memory 24 ... Cache controller 25 ... Main memory 30 ... PCI bridge 32 ... PCI bus 40 ... Controller part 42 ... ISA bus 44 ... VGA 45 ... SCSI controller 46 ... ISA bridge 47 ... TV tuner 48 ... Video board 49 ... Sound board 54 ... Composite I / O port 56 ... Sound I / O 60 ... I / O section 62 ... ISA slot 68 ... Timer 72 ... Keyboard 73 ... Mouse 74 ... Speaker 76 ... CRT 78 ... Hard disk device 79 ... Compact disk device 82 ... Floppy disk device 86 ... Parallel port 88 ... Printer 90 ... Serial port 92 ... Modem 94 ... Telephone 96 ... Microphone 98 ... Element 99 ... Remote control 99a ... Standby button 99b ... CD button 99c ... TV / video button 99d ... Channel button 99e ... Volume button 100 ... Desktop shell 102 ... Fax / Voice 104 ... Virtual component 111 ... Fax / Voice driver 112 ... Sound mixer Driver 113 ... MPEG driver 114 ... Overlay driver 115 ... TV driver 116 ... Remote control driver 300 ... Basic screen 302 ... Reception set 304 ... Television 306 ... CD stereo 308 ... Closet 308a ... First storage 308b ... Second storage 312 ... Telephone 312a ... Paper 312b ... Handset 314 ... Calendar 316 ... Clock 318 ... Lighting switch 320 ... First door 322 ... Second door 324 ... Third door 326 Window 328 ... Icon 330 ... Door 400 ... Screen 402 ... Piano 404 ... Electric Guitar 406 ... CD Stereo 408 ... Metronome 410 ... Music Stand 410a ... Display Column 412 ... Door 414 ... Window 450 ... Screen 452 ... Round Window 454 ... Instrument Panel 454a ... Display board 456 ... Clock 458 ... Telephone 460 ... Television 462 ... Door 600 ... Screen 602 ... First storage box 604 ... Second storage box 610 ... Door

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A display device, which is provided with a display device for displaying a screen, and an instruction device which is operated by a user to indicate an arbitrary area of the screen displayed on the display device. And a pointing device for accessing data, the step of displaying a screen including a plurality of image parts that can be icons for accessing the data and a predetermined icon on the display device, The step of changing the display of the predetermined icon between the first shape and the second shape in accordance with the operation, and the state where the predetermined icon is in the first shape, the arbitrary image component in the screen is When instructed by the instruction device, a step of accessing data corresponding to the instructed image part, and an arbitrary state in the screen with the predetermined icon in the second shape. When the image part is instructed by the instruction device, the data access method using a screen, characterized in that it comprises a step of displaying a message on the data in accordance with the designated image components. 2. The data access method using a screen according to claim 1, wherein the data is an application program, and when the application program is accessed, the application program is activated. 3. The data access method using a screen according to claim 2, wherein the message is an explanatory sentence of a help function for explaining a precaution in using the application program. 4. The predetermined icon is an animated character, the first shape is a state in which the character lies down, and the second shape is a state in which the character stands up. A data access method using the screen of 2 or 3. 5. A display device applied to a computer system comprising: a display device for displaying a screen; and an instruction device operated by a user to indicate an arbitrary area of the screen displayed on the display device. A method of accessing data using a pointing device and a first screen including a plurality of image components that can be icons for accessing data, and a second screen including a plurality of image components that can also be icons. A step of switching to and displaying on the display device, and when any image component in the first screen is instructed by the instruction device, depending on the instructed image component,
A step of accessing data belonging to a predetermined first group, and when an arbitrary image component in the second screen is instructed by the instruction device, in accordance with the instructed image component,
And a step of accessing data belonging to a predetermined second group, the data access method using a screen. 6. A display device applied to a computer system, comprising: a display device that displays a screen; and an instruction device that is operated by a user to indicate an arbitrary area of the screen displayed on the display device. A method of accessing data using the display device and an indicating device, the method comprising: displaying on the display device a first screen showing a first room including a plurality of image parts that can be icons for accessing the data; When an arbitrary image component in the first screen is instructed by the instruction device, a step of accessing data corresponding to the instructed image component, and displayed on the display device according to an operation of the instruction device. Switching the screen from the first screen to a second screen showing a second room including a plurality of boxes that can be icons, and a predetermined box in the second screen. A step of displaying a plurality of icons indicating a plurality of data of a sender on the display device when instructed by the instruction device, and selecting the displayed icons to display the icons on the second screen. In the step of performing the operation of moving to another predetermined box body in the step of using the pointing device, and when the first screen is displayed on the display device after the operation of moving the icon is performed, And a step of displaying an operated icon in the first screen, the data access method using the screen. 7. The data access method using a screen according to claim 6, wherein the step of accessing the data includes the step of displaying a message regarding the data prior to accessing the data, A data access method using a screen, comprising the step of changing the setting of the content of the message while the second screen is being displayed. 8. The data access method using a screen according to claim 5, wherein the data is an application program, and the application program is activated when the application program is accessed. 9. A display device applied to a computer system, comprising: a display device for displaying a screen; and an instruction device operated by a user to indicate an arbitrary area of the screen displayed on the display device. And a pointing device for accessing data, the step of displaying a screen including a plurality of image components that can be an icon for accessing the data on the display device, and any image component in the screen is When instructed by the instructing device, a step of accessing data corresponding to the instructed image component, and data related to the image component accessed in the step or data externally In the process of processing in the background different from the process displayed on the display device, and during the processing of the data in the background, the process is performed. Data access method using a screen, characterized in that it comprises the step of pointing the image part corresponding to the data on the screen. 10. The screen according to claim 9, wherein the step of pointing the image component comprises a step of continuously changing the display of the image component between a first shape and a second shape. The data access method used. 11. The data access method using a screen according to claim 10, wherein the data is an application program, and when the application program is accessed, the application program is activated. 12. The data access method using a screen according to claim 11, wherein the data accessed by a factor from the outside is an application program for receiving a facsimile.