JPH1165808A - Multi-window display controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-window display controller which can display a window hidden at the back on the most front face, which easily discriminates the plural windows hidden at the back and whose operational efficiency and user interface improve. SOLUTION: When an operation information input part 22 detects the operation of the shift of the window, an invisible state detection part 24 checks the presence or absence of the window which has become the invisible state. When the back window which cannot be viewed exists, a window rearranging part 26 moves it from the surface window hiding it so that the peripheral edge part of the back window protrudes. Thus, a part of the back window becomes a visible state. Since the arrangement relationship of the windows is not largely changed, spatial information on the arrangement of the windows can be used as the key of back window identification.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a multi-window display control device for displaying a plurality of windows on a display screen, and more particularly to an improvement in a user interface of a system for providing a work environment using multi-windows.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a multi-window system, a plurality of window screens can be displayed on a display screen. When it is desired to change the position of each of the windows, the user moves the mouse pointer to a predetermined portion such as a title portion of the window, moves the mouse to a desired position while pressing the mouse button, and releases the mouse button. With such a simple operation, each window can be arranged at an arbitrary position on the display.

However, in a multi-window environment, a plurality of windows can be displayed on the same display so as to overlap each other. Therefore, in the above-described window moving method, if the title of the window to be moved is under the other window and the mouse pointer cannot be set, the window cannot be moved immediately.

However, even in this case, if a part of the window is visible, that is, if there is a part displayed on the screen, the mouse pointer is moved to that part and the mouse button is pressed. , The window can be activated. The entire window of the window in the active state becomes visible, and the mouse pointer can be moved to the title portion. Therefore, even if the windows overlap each other, if a part of the window is visible, after activating the window,
It can be moved to a desired position by a mouse or the like.

[0005] However, when the entire area of the window is under another window, that is, in an invisible state, the invisible window cannot be activated by a pointing device such as a mouse. Therefore, the window in such a state cannot be moved with a pointing device such as a mouse.

As means for solving this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-3 is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 24239 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-189584 are known.

The multi-window display control device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-324239 discloses a multi-window display control device in which, when the entire area of a window is placed under another window and is invisible, only the title is displayed on a display independent of the window. A desired window can be activated by displaying it at a predetermined position and moving the mouse pointer to the title.

The multi-window display control device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-189584 displays an organization display processing menu for moving and displaying a window by a user operation, and a predetermined organization in the displayed menu. By selecting a display item, a plurality of windows displayed so as to overlap each other are rearranged.

[0009]

However, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-324239, the front window that makes a certain window invisible is moved, so that the window is hidden behind the invisible window. When the window that was in the visible state becomes visible, the title that was displayed when the window was previously invisible and that was displayed at a predetermined position on the display independent of the window still remains, and the window is still Could be misunderstood as being invisible.

In this apparatus, the title of the hidden window, that is, the title of the back window is moved to a position completely independent of the position of the window and displayed. Therefore, when there are a plurality of back windows and a plurality of titles are displayed, the user must identify the plurality of back windows based only on the information such as the title name represented in the independently displayed title. This means that when working in a multi-window environment, the user is forced to read and memorize the title of each window, or to infer the original window only from the display information of the independent display title. That is, there was a problem in terms of the user interface.

Further, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-189584 is arranged such that after a user performs an operation of selecting an organized display item, all the titles are displayed for a plurality of overlapping windows. To eliminate the invisible state. Thereafter, the user
By operating the title of a desired window with a mouse or the like, the window can be displayed active. In other words, in this device, when a window moving operation such as moving a window over another window causes an invisible state in which the entire window is hidden, the back window is immediately made visible immediately after the timing of the moving operation. However, there is a problem that the operation of making the window visible is troublesome.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems. Even when a window is moved so as to make a certain window invisible, the window is immediately hidden behind the screen by an easy operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-window display control device capable of displaying a window in the foreground, facilitating the discrimination of a plurality of windows hidden behind, and improving operational efficiency and a user interface. .

[0013]

A multi-window display control device according to the present invention comprises an invisible state detecting means for detecting a back window entirely covered by another window, and only a predetermined peripheral portion of the back window. So that it is exposed from the edge of the front window that covers the back window,
Window rearranging means for rearranging the windows.

In the multi-window display control apparatus according to the present invention, the window rearranging means may move the back window toward an end of the front window while detecting the back window by the invisible state detecting means. Means, and a visible state detecting means for detecting that the peripheral portion of the back window is exposed from an end of the front window by the movement, wherein the window moving means is configured such that the peripheral portion becomes visible. The movement is stopped.

In the multi-window display control device according to the present invention, the window rearranging means may move the front window toward an end of the back window while detecting the back window by the invisible state detecting means. Means, and a visible state detecting means for detecting that the peripheral portion of the back window is exposed from an end of the front window by the movement, wherein the window moving means is configured such that the peripheral portion becomes visible. The movement is stopped.

[0016] In the multi-window display control apparatus according to the present invention, the window rearrangement means searches for a minimum distance between an edge of the front window and an edge of the back window; Window moving means for moving the back window in the direction of the minimum distance by a distance corresponding to the minimum distance.

[0017] The multi-window display control device according to the present invention, when receiving an instruction to switch the back window to the active display, stores position storage means for storing a pre-movement position of the back window before being moved by the rearrangement. Display switching means for returning and displaying the back window at the position before the movement.

In the multi-window display control device according to the present invention, the window rearrangement means performs the rearrangement according to an instruction of an operator.

[0019]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a computer of a multi-window system according to an embodiment of the present invention. An input device 4 such as a pointing device such as a mouse and a display 6 for displaying an image such as a window are connected to the computer main body 2.

The multi-window display control device 10 according to the present invention is configured in the computer main body 2. The multi-window display control device 10 includes an operation information input unit 22, an invisible state detection unit 24, a window rearrangement unit 26, and a window display unit 28 with a window control unit 20 as a center.

When a window is generated, the window control unit 20 generates a window table corresponding to the window, and manages information of the window in this table. For example, the window table includes a window position (point coordinates of the upper left of the window), a vertical size, a horizontal size, and the like.

The window control unit 20 defines sensing points (sensors) at predetermined intervals within the screen area of the display and detects the overlapping state of the windows and their changes, and manages the state. For example, a sensor is defined for each pixel dot arranged vertically and horizontally on the display. The state of the sensor is defined by the number of overlapping windows at the position of the sensor. In other words, if no window exists at a certain sensor position, the sensor state is 0, 1 if there is one, 2 if there are two, and so on.

When a window is newly generated and displayed on the display, the window control unit 20 increases the sensor states in the window on the display screen area by one. The window table also holds, in addition to the above information, sensor states on four sides of the window (hereinafter, referred to as four-side sensor states).

Now, when a part of the window is clicked with a pointing device such as a mouse to make the window an active display state, or the window is moved by dragging while pressing a mouse button on the window,
The operation information is detected by the operation information input unit 22 and is notified to the window control unit 20.

The window control unit 20 notifies the window display unit 28 to display a window according to the operation information. When the mouse button is released, information to that effect is taken into the apparatus from the operation information input unit 22, and the window control unit 20 notifies the invisible state detection unit 24 of the information. Here, "invisible state" refers to a state in which a window is placed beneath another window and all areas of the window are no longer visible. Such an invisible window is called an "invisible window"
Alternatively, it will be referred to as a “back window”. On the other hand, a window that covers the back window is called a “visible window” or a “front window”.

The invisible state detecting unit 24 detects whether or not an invisible window exists among windows whose existence is defined by the window table.

The window rearrangement unit 26 is notified via the window control unit 20 that an invisible window has been detected, and performs window rearrangement processing.
The notification of the rearrangement and the rearrangement processing result are notified to the window control unit 20. The window control unit 20 updates the information of the window table based on the notified rearrangement processing result, and notifies the window display unit 28 that the rearrangement has been performed. Then, the window display unit 28 displays the window by using the updated information of the window table held in the window control unit 20.

Here, an example of processing of each of the above-described units using the above-described sensor will be described. When a window is moved with a mouse or the like, at the timing when the window title is moved by pressing the title of the window with the mouse or the like, the window control unit 20 sets the window based on the information in the window table of the target window. All the sensor states in the existing screen area are reduced by one. And
When the mouse operation indicating the end of the moving operation is performed, the window control unit 20 updates the information of the corresponding window table with the destination position and the size of the window, and updates the information in the screen area occupied by the destination window. Increment all sensor states by one. In addition, in response to this, the window control unit 20 updates the four-side sensor state held in the window table of the window.
At this stage, the four-side sensor states of the other windows are not updated.

When a moving operation or the like is performed on a certain window, the invisible state detection unit 24 performs inspection processing on whether or not another window other than the window to be inspected is in an invisible state. Specifically, the invisible state detection unit 24
Is to determine the positions of the four sides of the window to be inspected based on the information on the window position and size held in the window table of the window to be inspected, and from the sensor state of the screen area at that position, Recognize the current sensor state above. Then, the sensor state is compared with the four-side sensor state held in the window table. If there is no difference between the two, it means that the inspection target window was not covered by a certain window moving operation or the like. On the other hand, the current sensor state of all four sides is one more than the four side sensor state of the window table.
If the number has increased, the inspection target window has been completely covered by the window that has been moved. Therefore, in this case, the invisible state detection unit 24 determines that the inspection target window has become invisible.
The inspection is performed on all windows except the window on which the moving operation is performed, and all the windows that are invisible due to the moving operation are detected.

Next, the window operation will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a display example on the display screen 201 before the window operation, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a display example on the display screen 201 after the window operation. The window operation shown here is an operation of moving the window 202 to the window 203. Note that the window 204 is a window that is not an operation target. This moving operation is performed using a pointing device such as a mouse, and the position of the window to be moved is moved from the position of the window 202 to the position of the window 203. At this time, it is assumed that the window 204 which is not the operation target is placed under the window 203 which is the operation target and becomes invisible by this operation.

The invisible state detecting unit 24 detects that the window 204 has become invisible, for example, by processing using the above-described sensor. The window rearrangement unit 26 notified of this moves the window 204 to a position where the window 204 becomes visible. The window 301 represents the window 204 rearranged at a position where a part of the window 301 protrudes from the window 203.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart showing processing using the present apparatus. The operation information input unit 22 is always in a state of waiting for operation information from the input device 4. That is, when the operation information indicating that the window operation has been performed is not obtained from the input device 4, “No” is determined in the condition determination of the processing step 401, and the loop is repeated. If the operation information input unit 22 detects that a window operation has been performed, a process step 40
At 1, the process branches to “Yes”, and the process proceeds to processing step 402. Specifically, the operation information input unit 22 notifies the window control unit 20 of the detection of the window operation, and the window control unit 20 instructs the invisible state detection unit 24 to detect the invisible state window.

The processing step 402 is executed by the invisible state detecting section 24. In this step 402, the invisible state detection unit 24 checks whether or not there is a window in the invisible state. If there is no invisible window, “No” in the condition determination of step 402
, And the processing for the currently detected window operation ends. On the other hand, if there is an invisible window, “Yes” is determined in the condition determination in step 402,
The process proceeds to step 403.

The processing step 403 is executed by the window rearrangement unit 26. The window rearrangement unit 26
The detected invisible back window is moved in a predetermined direction by a predetermined small unit (window moving means). Here, the “direction designated in advance” is, for example, one of the upper, lower, left, and right directions on the screen, and is set in advance as a system setting. The “previously specified minute unit” is a movement unit set in advance as a system setting. After moving the invisible back window by a small unit, the window rearrangement unit 2
In step 6, it is checked in step 404 whether or not a predetermined peripheral portion of the back window is exposed from the edge of the front window and has become visible (visible state detection means). If the peripheral portion is not exposed by a predetermined amount, the processing step 403 is repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 404 that the rear window has become visible, the rearrangement processing of the back window ends, and the process returns to step 402 to repeat the same rearrangement processing for other back windows.

The function as the visible state detecting means is as follows.
Invisible state detection unit 2 not provided in window rearrangement unit 26
4 is also possible. In this case, the process of step 404 is included in step 402. That is, in step 403, when a small window is moved by a small unit, the process returns to step 402. In this case, the invisible state detection unit 24 first checks in step 402 whether the moved back window is still invisible, and if it is invisible, proceeds to step 403 again. On the other hand, if the invisible state of the moved back window has been resolved, the invisible state detection unit 24 performs a process of detecting an invisible window for another window in step 402. In this case, the amount of the peripheral portion protruding from the front window when the back window is made visible is about the minute movement amount in step 403.

With the above processing operation, even when one window is placed under another window by the window moving operation and becomes invisible, at least a part of the peripheral portion of all windows is made visible. . In this way, by making only a small part of the edge of the back window appear on the front, the back window that is not used for the work is made active and the front window used for the current work is displayed. There is no inconvenience of unnecessarily narrowing the range. If you want to work using the back window, you can easily activate the peripheral area by looking at the edge of the front window with a pointing device such as a mouse. Depending on the device, it can be easily moved.

According to the present apparatus, each back window is moved to the end of each front window that covers each window, and its existence is revealed to the operator. Considering the case where there are a plurality of back windows, there is a correlation between the moved back window position and the original back window position. That is, it is expected that the position of the moved back window is approximately the position of the original back window. The positional relationship on the screen between the front window and the back window hidden behind the front window is basically maintained. Therefore, the operator can distinguish the back windows from each other based on the positional relationship between the windows. In other words, the operator does not need to memorize the titles of a plurality of back windows, and based on the spatial arrangement information and visual information of the windows, it is possible to determine what work was performed in which back window. A desired back window can be selected easily and semi-intuitively. Of course, if the title of the window is displayed on the peripheral portion where the back window is visible, the identification of the back window can be further facilitated by the synergistic effect of the title information and the space information of the window.

[Second Embodiment] A schematic block diagram of a computer of a multi-window system according to a second embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of FIG. 1, and the description will be made with reference to this. In the present embodiment, contrary to the above embodiment,
The front window, which is to be made invisible by window operation such as moving operation, is shifted by a small unit, and the back window is made visible.

First, an outline of the processing of this embodiment as viewed on the display will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a display example on the display screen 201 after the window operation. This corresponds to the display example on the display screen 201 before the window operation shown in FIG. The window operation here is an operation of moving the window 202 to the window 203 as shown in FIG. This moving operation is performed using a pointing device such as a mouse. By this operation, as in the first embodiment, the window 204 that is not the moving operation target is placed under the window 203 to be operated and is in an invisible state.

When the present apparatus detects the invisible state of the window 204, it moves the operation target window to a position 501 where a part of the invisible window becomes visible. By doing so, a part of the underlying window becomes visible.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart showing processing using the present apparatus. When the operation information indicating that the window operation has been performed is not obtained from the input device 4, the operation information input unit 22 performs processing step 60.
"No" is determined by the condition determination of 1, and the loop is repeated.
If the operation information input unit 22 detects that a window operation has been performed, “Ye
s ”, and proceeds to processing step 602. Specifically, the window control unit 20 instructs the invisible state detection unit 24 to detect the invisible state window.

Processing step 602 is the same processing as processing step 402 described above, and the invisible state detecting unit 24
Is executed by If it is determined in this step 602 that there is no invisible window, "N
The process branches to "o", and the processing for the currently detected window operation is terminated. On the other hand, if there is an invisible window, “Yes” is determined in the condition determination in step 602.
, And the process proceeds to step 603.

The processing content of the processing step 603 is different from that of the processing step 403 of the above embodiment. The processing step 603 is executed by the window rearrangement unit 26. The window rearrangement unit 26 moves the front window to be moved and invisible by covering the detected back window by a predetermined small unit in a predetermined direction (window moving unit). Here, "direction specified in advance",
And "small units specified in advance" are set as system settings in advance, as in the above embodiment.
When the front window is moved by a small unit, the window rearrangement unit 26 determines whether a predetermined peripheral portion of the back window hidden in the front window is exposed from an end of the front window and is visible. Check at 604 (visible state detection means). If the peripheral portion is not exposed by a predetermined amount, the processing step 603 is repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 604 that the visible state has been attained, the rearrangement processing of the back window ends, and the process returns to step 402, where the same rearrangement processing is repeated for other back windows.

As in the first embodiment, the function as the visible state detecting means is not provided in the window rearrangement section 26,
A configuration realized by the invisible state detection unit 24 is also possible.

The same operations and effects as in the first embodiment are realized by the above processing operations.

[Third Embodiment] A schematic block diagram of a computer of a multi-window system according to a third embodiment of the present invention is similar to that of FIG. 1, and the description will be made with reference to this. In the present embodiment, the window rearrangement unit 26
Is not a fixed direction set in advance, but a direction that minimizes the moving distance until the back window is made visible. As a result, it is possible to further maintain the entire window arrangement image on the display.

First, the outline of the processing according to the present embodiment as viewed on the display will be described. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example on the display screen 201 after the window operation. This corresponds to the display example on the display screen 201 before the window operation shown in FIG. The window operation here is an operation of moving the window 202 to the window 203 as shown in FIG. By this operation, as in the first embodiment, the window 204 which is not the movement operation target is changed to the operation target window 203.
It becomes an underlay and becomes an invisible back window.

When the present apparatus detects the invisible state of the window 204, it calculates, for example, the moving distance required to move the back window to the visible state in the up, down, left, and right directions, and minimizes it. Select a direction. The window rearrangement unit 26 moves the back window in the selected movement direction. For example, in the example shown in the figure, the end of the front window 203 and the back window 204
Since the distance to the edge of the window is minimum between the lower sides, downward is selected as the moving direction of the back window,
The window rearrangement unit 26 rearranges the rear window 204 at the position of the window 701.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart showing processing using the present apparatus. When the operation information indicating that the window operation has been performed is not obtained from the input device 4, the operation information input unit 22 performs processing step 80.
"No" is determined by the condition determination of 1, and the loop is repeated.
If the operation information input unit 22 detects that a window operation has been performed, “Yes” is determined in processing step 801.
And the process proceeds to the processing step 802. Specifically, the window control unit 20 instructs the invisible state detection unit 24 to detect the invisible state window.

Processing step 802 is the same processing as processing step 402 described above, and the invisible state detecting unit 24
Is executed by

When the invisible state detecting unit 24 detects a window in the invisible state, the window rearrangement unit 26 determines the moving distance required for moving the invisible back window to make it visible. Calculation is performed for each of the upper, lower, left, and right directions (step 803, minimum distance searching means). Then, the window rearrangement unit 26 moves the back window in the direction obtained in Step 803 (Step 804, window moving means). The moving distance is set to be longer than the minimum distance obtained in step 803 by the predetermined amount so that the back window is extended beyond the front window by a predetermined amount. Note that the predetermined amount indicates the existence of the back window, and it is sufficient if the mouse operation or the like can be performed depending on the portion, and it is preferable to satisfy such conditions and set the amount as small as possible.

In the present apparatus, the amount of movement for obtaining the visible state is obtained, and the rear window is moved accordingly. Therefore, it is not necessary to repeat the movement of a minute distance, and the visible state can be realized by one movement. You. Therefore, step 804
Is completed, the process returns to step 802 to perform a rearrangement process for another back window.

With the above processing, a good user interface similar to that of the above embodiment can be realized with respect to window display. However, in this embodiment, the moving distance of the invisible window is particularly minimized. As a result, a change in the window arrangement image on the display before and after the movement is suppressed to a minimum, so that the effect of facilitating the distinction of the back window by the spatial information of the window arrangement image is more remarkably obtained.

[Fourth Embodiment] A schematic block diagram of a computer of a multi-window system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of FIG. 1, and the description will be made with reference to this. In the present embodiment, when the rear window relocated to the visible state is instructed to be activated by clicking with a pointing device such as a mouse, the window is activated at the position of the rear window before the rearrangement. Display with.

First, the outline of the processing according to the present embodiment as viewed on the display will be described. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a display example on the display screen 201 after the window operation. This corresponds to the display example on the display screen 201 before the window operation shown in FIG. The window operation here is an operation of moving the window 202 to the window 203 as shown in FIG. By this operation, as in the first embodiment, the window 204 which is not the movement operation target is changed to the operation target window 203.
It becomes an underlay and becomes an invisible back window. Then, the invisible state detection unit 24 detects this, and the window rearrangement unit 26 selects the direction in which the moving distance for bringing the back window into the visible state is the minimum, and performs rearrangement. The window 901 is obtained by this rearrangement. Since the processing up to this point is the same as that of the third embodiment, the window 901 is the same as the window 701.

However, at the time of this rearrangement, the present apparatus stores the position of the back window before movement. Then, when it is instructed to click the visible portion of the window 901 by a pointing device such as a mouse to make the window 901 active, the window 902 in the active state is displayed at the position of the stored back window before the rearrangement. .

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart showing a process using the present apparatus. If the operation information input unit 22 does not obtain the operation information indicating that the window operation has been performed from the input device 4, the operation information input unit 22 performs processing step
"No" is determined by the condition determination of 001, and the loop is repeated. If the operation information input unit 22 detects that a window operation has been performed, “Y” in processing step 1001 is performed.
es ", and the process proceeds to the processing step 1002. Specifically, the window control unit 20 determines that the invisible state detection unit 2
4 is instructed to detect an invisible window.

Processing step 1002 is the same processing as processing step 402 described above, and the invisible state detection unit 2
4 is performed.

When the invisible state detection unit 24 detects the invisible back window, first, the window control unit 20
Saves the position (original arrangement information) of the back window before the window rearrangement unit 26 performs the rearrangement process (step 1003, position storage unit).

Subsequently, the window rearrangement unit 26 rearranges the rear window with the minimum moving distance by the same processing as in steps 803 and 804 of the third embodiment (steps 1004 and 1005). When the rearrangement is completed for one back window, the process returns to step 1002. If there is another back window, steps 1003 to 1 are executed.
005 is repeated.

When all of the invisible windows have been made visible, “No” is obtained in step 1002, and the process proceeds to step 1006. If one of the inactive windows is not clicked with the mouse or the like in step 1006, the branch is “No” and the process ends. On the other hand, when one of the inactive windows is clicked with the mouse or the like, the window control unit 20 checks whether or not the original arrangement information is stored for the clicked window (step 1007). If the original arrangement information does not exist, the back window is switched to the active state and displayed at the position of the current back window that has been made visible (step 1010). This is the same processing as in the above-described embodiment.

The feature of this apparatus is that the original arrangement information is stored, and the active display of the back window is performed based on the stored original arrangement information. That is, step 10
If 07 is present, the window rearrangement unit 26 reads the original arrangement information stored in the window control unit 20, and moves the back window to the position before the rearrangement (step 1008). At the same time, the original arrangement information is cleared (step 1009). Thereafter, the window control unit 20 sets the back window to the active display state. In other words, in this device, the back window is
Basically, active display is performed at a position before rearrangement, not at a position rearranged in a visible state.

With the above processing, a favorable user interface similar to that of the first and second embodiments with respect to window display is realized. In addition, in this embodiment, in particular, when the back window is activated, the back window is displayed at the original invisible position, so that the operator has previously performed the work in the window. There is an advantage that the window can be easily recognized by using the storage of the window layout described above as a medium, and the contents of the work performed there can be recalled, thereby improving the work efficiency.

[Fifth Embodiment] A schematic block diagram of a computer of a multi-window system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of FIG. 1, and the description will be made with reference to this. In the above embodiment, the rearrangement of the back window was automatically performed in conjunction with the window operation. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the rearrangement process of the back window is performed in response to an instruction from the operator. It differs in that it is implemented. With such a configuration, when there is no problem even if there is a window in the invisible state, rearrangement can be suppressed. In the following description, “window visualization instruction” means an instruction to make an invisible window visible.

Next, the window operation will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a display example on the display screen 201 after the window operation. 11, the same elements as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the state shown in FIG.
Is under the window 203. That is, the window 204 is in the invisible state, and the rearrangement process for making the window visible in the above embodiment is not performed.

The present apparatus executes the rearrangement process for making the invisible window visible only when the "window visualization instruction" is issued in this state. FIG. 12 shows the display screen 2 after the apparatus rearranges windows in response to the “window visualization instruction”.
It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display on 01. By performing the rearrangement, the back window 204 is moved to the window 1201 in a visible state.

The window visualization instruction is given by, for example, an operation in which a specific icon is displayed on the display and the icon is clicked or an area other than the window on the display is clicked with a mouse. You.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart showing processing using the present apparatus. The operation information input unit 22 detects an operation of giving a window visualization instruction on the input device 4 and notifies the window control unit 20 of the operation. Here, if there is no window visualization instruction,
The window control unit 20 ends the process without performing anything, that is, without performing the window rearrangement process (step 1301). On the other hand, when notified of the window visualization instruction (step 1301), the window control unit 20 starts rearrangement processing of the back window. Specifically, first, the invisible state detection unit 24 detects the back window (step 1302). If there is an invisible back window, the window rearrangement unit 26 performs the same processing as in steps 403 and 404 of the first embodiment, moves the back window to a position where the back window is viewed from the front window, and
A visible state is set (steps 1303 and 1304).

When the rearrangement is completed for one back window, the process returns to step 1302, and if there is another back window, the processes of steps 1303 and 1304 are repeated. When there is no more invisible back window, the process ends.

By the above processing, a good user interface similar to the first and second embodiments with respect to window display is realized. In addition, in the present embodiment, when a certain window becomes an underlay of another window by the window moving operation and becomes invisible,
The process of making at least a part of each window visible can be reserved until there is a “window visualization instruction”. Thus, the visualization processing can be executed at a timing when the operator wants to make all windows visible. This means that rearrangement of windows that the user feels unnecessary can be suppressed, and operability can be improved.

[0072]

According to the multi-window display control device of the present invention, the rear window is detected and the rearrangement of the windows is performed so that the rear window is exposed from the end of the front window. Here, considering a case where a plurality of back windows exist, there is a correlation between the position of the moved back window and the position of the original back window. That is,
The moved back window position is expected to be approximately the original back window position. The positional relationship on the screen between the front window and the back window hidden behind the front window is basically maintained. Thus, according to the present invention,
The effect that the user can distinguish back windows from each other based on the positional relationship between windows is realized. In other words, the user can easily determine what work was performed in which back window based on the spatial arrangement information and visual information of the windows without having to store the titles of the plurality of back windows. This has the effect that a desired back window can be selected semi-intuitively.

According to the multi-window display control device of the present invention, when the back window is detected by the invisible state detecting means, the window rearranging means moves the back window toward the end of the front window in conjunction with the detection, or Start moving the front window towards the edge of the back window. That is, according to the present invention, when an invisible window is generated by a user's window operation, the window is automatically made visible, so that the operation burden on the user can be reduced and an excellent user interface is provided. The effect is obtained.

According to the multi-window display control apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a minimum distance search means for searching for a portion where the edge of the front window and the edge of the back window have the minimum distance. The rear window is moved in a direction corresponding to the minimum distance by a distance corresponding to the minimum distance. That is, the moving distance of the invisible window is minimized. Therefore,
As a result of minimizing the change in the window arrangement image on the display before and after the movement, the effect of facilitating the distinction of the back window by the spatial information of the window arrangement image is more remarkably obtained.

According to the multi-window display control device of the present invention, the position of the rear window before rearrangement is stored, and when the rear window rearranged to a visible state is actively displayed, the stored rear window is displayed. Displayed at the position before placement. In other words, the user can easily recognize the window through the storage of the layout of the window on the screen when previously working on the window,
Also, I can remember what I was doing there,
The effect of improving the user interface, that is, improving the work efficiency, is obtained.

According to the multi-window display control device of the present invention, the window rearranging means rearranges the window according to a user's instruction. In other words, the rear window can be made visible at an arbitrary timing desired by the user, and the rearrangement of the window that is not desired by the user is suppressed, thereby improving the operability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a computer of a multi-window system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a display example on a display screen before a window operation.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example on a display screen after a window operation according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart showing processing of the device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example on a display screen after a window operation according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart showing processing of the device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example on a display screen after a window operation according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart showing processing of an apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example on a display screen after a window operation according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart showing processing of the device according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a display example on a display screen after a window operation for explaining a fifth embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a display example on the display screen after the apparatus rearranges windows in response to a window visualization instruction.

FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart showing processing of an apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Computer main unit, 4 input devices, 6 display, 1
0 Multi-window display control device, 20 window control unit, 22 operation information input unit, 24 invisible state detection unit, 26 window rearrangement unit, 28 window display unit.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A multi-window display control device for displaying a plurality of windows on a display screen, comprising: an invisible state detecting means for detecting a back window entirely covered by another window; and a predetermined peripheral portion of the back window. And a window rearranging means for rearranging the windows so that only the window is exposed from an end of the front window covering the back window. 2. The multi-window display control device according to claim 1, wherein the window rearrangement unit directs the back window to an end of the front window when the invisible state detection unit detects the back window. A window moving means for moving the window, and a visible state detecting means for detecting that the peripheral portion of the back window is exposed from an end of the front window by the moving. Stopping the movement when the part is in a visible state, the multi-window display control device. 3. The multi-window display control device according to claim 1, wherein the window rearrangement unit directs the front window to an end of the back window when the invisible state detection unit detects the back window. A window moving means for moving the window, and a visible state detecting means for detecting that the peripheral portion of the back window is exposed from an end of the front window by the moving. Stopping the movement when the part is in a visible state, the multi-window display control device. 4. The multi-window display control device according to claim 1, wherein said window rearranging means searches for a portion in which an edge of said front window and an edge of said back window have a minimum distance. And a window moving means for moving the rear window in the direction of the minimum distance by a distance corresponding to the minimum distance. 5. The multi-window display control device according to claim 2, wherein: a position storage means for storing a pre-movement position of the back window before being moved by the rearrangement; and an instruction to switch the back window to active display. And a display switching means for returning the back window to the pre-movement position upon receipt of the received message, and displaying the back window. 6. The multi-window display control device according to claim 1, wherein said window rearrangement means performs said rearrangement according to an instruction of an operator.