JPH0962473A - Multiwindow display method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform a process such as editing over a look at the contents of all windows by displaying the images of the respective windows one over another transparently. SOLUTION: On a display device, a plurality of, e.g. three windows 12-14 are displayed on its display screen while overlapping with one another and the contents of the display image of a low-layer window can be seen through the display image of a high-layer window. In this case, the display images of the respective windows 12-14 are different in luminance, contrast, etc., so an operator confirms the display images of all the windows 12-14, makes a desired window active, and can perform operation while recognizing the layer relation with other windows and also confirm the contents of the respective windows, so the operator can easily select the window to be made active and easily perform the operation for making the window active.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a portable information terminal (PD
A) Regarding a multi-window display method that is effective for display, etc., in particular, make the contents of the lower layer display screen visible through the upper layer display screen and check the contents of the lower layer display screen. It is possible to activate any window and perform processing such as editing while observing the contents of all windows. Also, operation to activate any window or display the lower layer display screen to the top layer. The present invention relates to a multi-window display method that can be easily performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a conventional overlap-type multi-window display method is designed so that the display contents of a window hidden in a lower layer of an upper layer cannot be seen because they are hidden in a display of the uppermost layer. Has become. For this reason,
If you want to see the contents of the display screen in the lower layer, you cannot see it unless you move the display screen in the lower layer to the uppermost layer, and you cannot know what is in the display screen in the lower layer. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm the contents of each window while sequentially displaying the windows on the uppermost layer, select the window to be moved to the uppermost layer, and perform a troublesome operation.

As a conventional technique relating to a multi-window display system which eliminates the above-mentioned troublesomeness and improves the operability of window selection, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-19378.
The technology described in Japanese Patent No. 6 is known.

This prior art is to display the overlapping state of windows in a dedicated window in a state of being viewed from the horizontal direction, and by pointing this with a mouse or the like, the windows are moved to the uppermost layer and displayed. , The operability is improved.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the contents of the windows in the lower layer can be seen only in a very small part that is not hidden in the uppermost layer, and the contents of the windows in the uppermost layer can be seen. There is a problem in that it is difficult to select a required window from a plurality of windows hidden below and move it to the uppermost layer for display. Further, the above-mentioned conventional technique has a problem that the window cannot be processed unless the window to be processed is moved to the uppermost layer and displayed.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and, in the overlap type multi-window display method, confirm the contents of the display screen of the window existing under the upper layer and check the contents of the arbitrary layer. It is possible to activate a window and perform processing such as editing while viewing the contents of all windows. Also, you can easily check the contents of the windows in the lower layer to make it active and the desired window to the top. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-window display method capable of easily performing an operation of moving to a layer.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the above object is to provide a multi-window display method in which a plurality of windows are overlapped and displayed on one screen by passing through the display screen of the upper layer window and the lower layer. This is achieved by displaying the display screens of the windows in a semitransparent manner so that the contents of the display screens of the windows can be seen.

An object of the present invention is to add the display data of each window by multiplying the display data of each window by a weighting coefficient corresponding to the layer in which the window is present, in order to display the display screen of each window in a semitransparent manner. The display of the lower layer display screen is displayed so that the brightness or the brightness of the lower layer is lowered, or the contrast of the display screen of the lower layer is lowered by using the method of shading the display screen of the window in the lower layer. And the display color of the display screen of each window is made different for each window.

Further, the above object can be achieved by activating a window in an arbitrary layer among a plurality of displayed windows to enable information processing on the display screen.

The operation of activating a window is performed by touching an arbitrary position on the display screen a plurality of times to instruct the lower layer window corresponding to the number of times, and selecting an arbitrary position on the display screen. These operations are an operation of touching and continuing to instruct, an operation of instructing one of the frames of a plurality of displayed windows, and an operation of instructing a display image of a portion of the plurality of displayed windows that do not overlap each other.

Further, the above-mentioned object is achieved by displaying only the display screen of the window in the uppermost layer, if necessary.

[0012]

[Operation] Since the display screens of a plurality of windows are overlapped and displayed at the same time, and the brightness, contrast, etc. of the display screens of the windows are different, the operator confirms the contents of the display screens of all the windows and makes a request. Window is active, you can work while recognizing the layer relationships of other windows, and you can check the contents of each window, so you can easily select the window to be activated. It is also possible to perform the activation operation easily. Also, moving to the uppermost layer of the lower window can be easily performed as in the case of the operation for activating the window.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a multi-window display method according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display example of a display window,
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the small information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. 1 and 2, 11 is a display screen, 12 to 14 are first to third windows, 21 is a window system control device, 22 is a touch panel, 23 is a memory, 24 is a data processing device, 25 is a mouse, and 26 is A display control device, 27 is a display device, 28 is a pointer, and 29 is an internal bus.

In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, the memory 23 stores a window management table (not shown), and the data processing device 24 has a window hierarchy number designated by the mouse 25 or the pointer 28. The data processing device 2 stores a program for
Reference numeral 4 refers to and updates the window management table as needed.

The window system control device 21 refers to the window management table to manage the multi-window display and gives the display control device 26 an instruction. The display control device 26 performs image control to perform multi-window display on the screen of the display device 27.

The touch panel 22 is used by being superimposed on the display device 27, and a display for inputting information is provided at a position where it does not interfere with the display on the display screen. The mouse 25 and the pointer 28 are used for a display window change menu, an instruction of a window to be displayed on the uppermost layer, and the like. When the small-sized information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention is carried and used, the pointer 28 is mainly used for information input, and the mouse 25 is used when used on a desk at home or the like. To be

The display device 27 is configured so that the display screens of a plurality of windows can be displayed in the display screen 11 so as to overlap each other. The display according to the embodiment of the present invention is performed so that the display screen of the lower layer window can be seen through the display screen of the upper layer window. In the example shown in FIG. 1, three windows 12 to 14 are displayed on the display screen 11 so as to overlap each other.

In the illustrated example, it is assumed that the first window 12 is in the uppermost layer and the whole is displayed in a normal state, and the second window 13 and the third window 14 are in the lower layer. Then, in the second window 13, only the portion that does not overlap the first window 12 is displayed in a normal state, and the portion that overlaps the first window 12 has a lower contrast or luminance than that in a normal state, that is, Its contents are displayed through this filter as if the first window were an optical filter with a predetermined transmission. Further, in the third window 14, only the portion which does not overlap with the first and second windows 12 and 13 is displayed in the normal state, and the portion which overlaps with the first and second windows 12 and 13 is more than the normal state. With low contrast or brightness, i.e.
The contents are displayed through these filters as if the second window were an optical filter with a predetermined transmission.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, 1-3 in FIG.
The first to third windows 12 to 14 shown as
Although they have the same size and are displayed at fixed positions on the display screen 11, the size and display position of each window can be set arbitrarily. In addition, the windows other than the uppermost layer are displayed such that the contrast becomes lower or the luminance becomes lower as the layers get deeper, so that the person who is looking at the display screen 11 is working. Can be made aware of the depth of each window.

The display control as described above is performed in the display control device 26, and when the display on the display screen 11 is performed in full color or in monochrome.
For example, in the display screen data of each window to be displayed,
The respective display screen data obtained by multiplying the weighting constant corresponding to the layer in which the window is present are added together to control the transmittance of each window and display on the display screen 11.

The control of the transmittance is performed by the display control device 26 in which R, G, and
It can be controlled by substituting the numerical value of B for calculation. The transmittance is, for example, 70% (adjustment width 60% to 80%) for the uppermost layer display screen, 50% (adjustment width 40% to 60%) for the second layer display screen,
30% for the display screen of the third layer (adjustment range 30% to 40%
%) To control the transmittance.

When the above-described control is performed, that is, when full-color display is performed and different layers are set with different transmittances and overlapped, the color of the overlapped portion is slightly changed, but the original color is lightened. It has been confirmed that the screen does not become difficult to see because the colors are the same and the color tones are uniform.

Further, the lower display screen may be shaded so that the lower display screen has a low contrast. Further, different monochromatic colors may be associated with the windows of the respective layers, and the windows may be simply overlapped and displayed. In this case, considering the characteristics of the human eye, the display screen of the top layer is blue,
It is easier to see if the layer display screen is displayed in pink and the third layer display screen is displayed in green.

Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to display only the screen of the uppermost window and perform operations such as information editing using the screen, and display the screens of a plurality of windows. In this state, you can activate the window of any layer and perform operations such as information editing.
Further, a part of the contents of the window of a certain layer can be taken into the window of another layer to perform an operation such as information editing.

The operation for activating a window of an arbitrary layer is performed by pointing the frame of the window to be made active with the pointer 28, or to a portion which does not overlap other parts of the image contained in the window to be made active. By pointing with the pointer 28,
Further, the menu for window selection is displayed, and the menu is designated by the pointer.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 1, three windows are displayed, but the number of windows to be overlapped and displayed is arbitrary. However, it is difficult to see if a large number of images are overlaid on each other, so about three are suitable. Then, when it is desired to display a window of another application that is not on the display screen, the display on the touch panel 22 provided outside the screen is instructed, the application selection menu is displayed, and then the application is selected. The application window is displayed on top. In this case, if the number of windows to be displayed is limited, the window in the bottom layer is deleted.

In the above description, when displaying a new application window, the user usually
This is the case when processing is to be performed with that window active, so in the present invention, the window of the new application is displayed at the top layer. It is possible to display the window of a new application from the bottom layer instead of the top layer, but if you do so, when the lower layer screen is shaded, the display screen of the window you want to see newly appears. It will be shaded and it will be hard to see compared to the top layer. In this way, by displaying the window of the new application on the top layer, the usability of the device can be improved.

Next, in the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, a process for editing information using information of an arbitrary layer while observing the display contents of the three displayed windows Will be explained.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flow charts for explaining the processing operation of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 5 to 17 are views showing the state of the display screen at each step of the flow chart of FIG. The flows shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The flow described in FIGS. 3 and 4 shows an example in which the contents of each of the three windows are “schedule”, “calendar”, and “address book”, and editing processing relating to the schedule is performed. . In the example described below, the processing is performed without changing the display layers of the three windows.

(1) When the small information terminal is turned on and editing is started, the display screen 11 of the display device 27 displays 1. "Schedule", 2. "Calendar", 3. A window with the contents of "Address Book"
1. The window of "Schedule" is displayed in the lower layer in this order with the uppermost layer (step 301).

(2) Now, it is assumed that the operator creates a schedule for the next month while looking at the calendar for the next month. It is assumed that the schedule is edited in advance on the window screen of the schedule. In this case, the operator first touches the pointer 28 on the frame of the window of the second layer calendar on the screen shown in FIG.
Select this window (steps 302, 30)
3).

(3) As a result, as shown in FIG.
The window frame of the second layer calendar becomes thicker, indicating that this window has become the active window (step 304).

(4) Since the operator wants to see the next month's calendar as a calendar, he or she touches the pointer 28 on the scroll button on the screen of FIG. 6 to display the calendar of the next month as shown in FIG. 7 (step 305-307).

(5) A schedule window is selected to edit the schedule. In this case, the frame of the window having the schedule may be touched, but in this example, as shown in FIG. 8, the active window switching button provided outside the frame of the display screen 11 is touched by the pointer 28. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, a menu for editing screen selection is displayed on the touch panel provided so as to overlap the display screen (step 308).

(6) When the schedule is selected by the pointer 28 from the menu on the display screen shown in FIG. 9, the schedule window frame becomes thicker and the active screen is changed from the calendar to the schedule as shown in FIG. (Steps 309 and 310).

(7) In order to copy the schedule data in the schedule window, double touch the arbitrary schedule data to be copied with the pointer 28 as shown in FIG. As a result, the schedule data is selected, and as shown in FIG. 12, the schedule data is surrounded by a dotted line and floats so that it can be moved to another window (steps 311 to 313).

(8) Select an arbitrary day for which the schedule data is to be pasted (embedded) from the calendar displayed in the second layer, and hold it by touching the pointer 28 with the pointer 28 as shown in FIG. (Step 314).

(9) As a result, as shown in FIG.
The frame of the calendar window becomes thicker, the active screen is changed from schedule to calendar, and subsequently,
As shown in FIG. 15, the selected day is highlighted and selected (step 315).

(10) When the pointer 28 is released from the screen,
As shown in FIG. 16, an animation of an image to be pasted on the date on which the schedule data is selected is displayed, and the schedule data on that date is registered (step 316).

(11) The above-mentioned processing is performed by displaying the display screens of the three windows in a semi-transparent display, but the semi-transparent display can be stopped. In this case, as shown in FIG. Point to the opaque display button inside. As a result, the window in the top layer, in this example, the schedule window, is displayed opaque as shown in FIG. 17 (steps 317 to 319).

(12) When further editing is performed in this state, the schedule can be edited in this state. Further, the editing can be continued by returning to the step 301 with the semi-transparent display (steps 320, 301).

In the above description, the processing is continued with the semi-transparent display as it is, but at any step during the processing, an arbitrary window is made opaque and the display data in the window is edited. You can

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to perform processing such as editing while observing the display contents of the multi-windows that are overlapped. Further, the small portable terminal device to which the present invention is applied inevitably has a small display screen, and according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to display a lot of information at a time even on such a small screen. You can

In the example described above, the processing is carried out without changing the display layers of the three windows, but the position of the window display layer can be changed during the processing. For example, the frame of the window to be moved to the uppermost layer is designated twice by the pointer 28, the image of a portion which does not overlap with the other in the window which is desired to be moved to the uppermost layer is designated twice by the pointer 28, or the display layer By displaying a selection menu for change and selecting it, each window can be easily changed to the top layer and displayed.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the overlap-type multi-window display method, the contents of the display screen of the window below the upper layer are confirmed, the window is made active, and , It is possible to perform processing such as editing while observing the contents of all displayed windows. If desired, a desired window can be displayed on the top layer. Further, the operation of switching the active window and the display layer of the window can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display example of a display window.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a small information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps of the flowchart of FIG.

6 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps of the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps of the flowchart of FIG.

8 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps in the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps of the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps of the flowchart of FIG.

11 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps of the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps of the flowchart of FIG.

13 is a diagram showing the state of the display screen during the processing of the steps of the flowchart of FIG.

14 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps of the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps in the flowchart of FIG.

16 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen during processing of steps of the flowchart of FIG.

17 is a diagram showing the state of the display screen during the processing of the steps of the flowchart of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Display Screens 12 to 14 First to Third Windows 21 Window System Control Device 22 Touch Panel 23 Memory 24 Data Processing Device 25 Mouse 26 Display Control Device 27 Display Device 28 Pointer 29 Internal Bus

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Matsubara 1-280, Higashi-Kengokubo, Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo Inside Hitachi Design Laboratory (72) Inventor Shinkichi Araki 1-280, Higashi-Kengokubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo Hitachi, Ltd. Design Institute (72) Inventor Ryuichi Nemoto 1-280, Higashi Koikekubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo Hitachi Design Lab. (72) Inventor, Hitoshi Yamadera 1-280 Higashi Koikeku, Kokubunji, Tokyo Hitachi Design Lab.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. In a multi-window display method in which a plurality of windows are displayed in an overlapping manner on one screen, each window is displayed so that the contents of the display screen of the window of the lower layer can be seen through the display screen of the window of the upper layer. A multi-window display method characterized in that the display screens of are displayed in a semi-transparent manner. 2. In order to superimpose the display screen of each window in a semi-transparent manner, means for multiplying the display data of each window by a weighting factor corresponding to the layer in which the window is present and adding the data are used. The display is performed so that the brightness or the brightness of the display screen is lowered.
Multi-window display method described. 3. In order to display the display screens of the windows in a semitransparent manner, a means for shading the display screens of the lower layers is used to reduce the contrast of the lower display screens. The multi-window display method according to claim 1, characterized in that 4. The multi-display according to claim 1, wherein display colors of the display screens of the windows are displayed differently in order to display the display screens of the windows in a translucent manner. Window display method. 5. The one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a window in an arbitrary layer among the plurality of displayed windows is activated to enable information processing on the display screen. Multi-window display method. 6. The multi-window display method according to claim 5, wherein the lower layer window corresponding to the number of times is activated by touching and instructing an arbitrary position on the display screen a plurality of times. . 7. The multi-window display method according to claim 5, wherein the windows in the lower layers are sequentially activated by touching an arbitrary position on the display screen and continuing to give an instruction. 8. The multi-window display method according to claim 5, wherein the window is made active by designating one of the frames of the displayed windows. 9. The multi-window according to claim 5, wherein a window to which the display data belongs is activated by designating a display image of a portion of the displayed windows which does not overlap each other. Display method. 10. Displaying and instructing a selection menu for a plurality of displayed windows,
6. The multi-window display method according to claim 1, wherein the designated window is activated. 11. The multi-window display method according to claim 1, wherein it is possible to display only the display screen of the uppermost window.