JPH1185443A - Window display device and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a window display device capable of improving the operability of a window system, by temporarily changing the display state of an upper layer window thereby visualizing a lower layer window or an icon when the window or icon to be selected is hidden under the other window and can not be visualized and then automatically returning the display state of the upper layer window into an original state. SOLUTION: When a 'temporary erase' menu is selected, the 'identifiers', 'display positions' and 'display order' of windows are stored in a window information memory, a tabulation program window 52 displayed on a display screen 50 is erased and an erasing icon 52a is displayed on an undisplayed area in the display screen 50. When a timer is up based on a prescribed waiting time, the window information is read out and windows based on 'identifiers' are successively superposed and displayed on the coordinate positions of the display picture 50 based on the 'display positions' in order from the window of the lowest 'display order'.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a window display device, and more particularly, to the operation of an icon hidden under a window, the icon can be visually recognized by temporarily changing the display state of the window. The present invention relates to a window display device that is in a state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in information processing apparatuses such as computer systems and word processors, window systems have been developed and used as GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) for facilitating operations. In this window system, a window screen is displayed, various application programs, commands, and the like are displayed as icons on the window screen, a cursor is moved to a desired icon by a mouse operation, and the mouse is moved over the specified icon. By clicking the button, the application program or the command processing is executed.

In the above-mentioned window system, a multitask (including a pseudo multitask) for simultaneously processing a plurality of tasks is divided into a plurality of areas by dividing a display area of a display into a plurality of areas. It is realized by a window. At the time of this multi-window display, the user can switch between a plurality of window screens by operating a mouse or the like.

For example, by clicking a mouse button on a window screen of an application program to be processed, the application program is displayed on the top layer and activated, or a window screen other than the application program to be processed is minimized. (Display of icons on the desktop or the task management program window screen), it is possible to switch between a plurality of window screens.

[0005]

However, in such an information processing apparatus using a conventional window system, when a plurality of window screens are displayed and a plurality of application programs are executed, the following problem occurs. There was a problem as described.

That is, in a conventional information processing apparatus using a window system, when a plurality of windows are opened as shown in FIG. 7, lower windows and icons are displayed in windows displayed in an upper layer. In order to select a window or icon that is hidden and not displayed on the display and is hidden in the lower layer by clicking the mouse, the window in the upper layer is first deleted. (The application program is terminated.) Shift the position of the window on the upper layer so that hidden windows and icons can be seen. Minimize the window in the upper layer and switch to displaying icons on the desktop or the task management program window screen. It is necessary to perform an operation such that a window or an icon to be selected is displayed by such a method.

[0007] In the example shown in FIG. 7, a task management program window 55 is displayed at the bottom of the display screen 50, and an application program whose window is currently open is displayed. According to the task management program window 55, there are four application programs that are currently opening the window: “image processing”, “communication”, “spreadsheet”, and “word processor”, which are displayed on the display screen 50. The windows that are open are a word processing program window 51 and a spreadsheet program window 5.
2, only three communication program windows 53,
The image processing program window is a lower layer of any of the windows 51 to 53, and is not displayed on the display screen 50. Some of the icons 54,... Arranged on the desktop are hidden in the lower layer of the word processing program window 51.

In such a case, in the above-described method, if the user wants to use the window once erased again, the user must perform an operation of opening the window again, which is troublesome.

In the above method, when many windows are open as shown in FIG. 7, even if the position of the upper layer window is shifted, the windows and icons 54,. There is a problem that other windows and icons 54,.

Further, in the above-mentioned method, it takes time and effort to minimize an upper layer window and return the minimized window to its original size until the window to be selected is displayed. In addition to the case where the minimized window is displayed as an icon on the desktop in addition to the case where the icon is displayed in the task management program window 55 as an icon or the like as shown in FIG. There was a problem of hiding.

[0011] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to temporarily change the display state of an upper layer window or a lower layer window or icon when the window or icon to be selected is hidden by the lower layer of another window and cannot be viewed. The present invention is to provide a window display device which improves the operability of the window system by making the state of the window system visible and thereafter automatically returning the display state of the upper layer window.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In a window display device that displays a plurality of windows on a display screen of a display unit, sets various processing programs for each window, and enables parallel processing of a plurality of programs on each window, Instruction means for instructing temporary erasure from the display screen of the display means, and whether or not an elapsed time after the temporary erasure is instructed by the instruction means has reached the redisplay time of the temporarily erased window Determining means for determining
When a temporary erasure of the displayed window is instructed by the instruction means, the window for which the temporary erasure is instructed is deleted from the display screen of the display means, and the redisplay time is determined by the determination means. And display control means for redisplaying the temporarily erased window on the display screen of the display means when it is determined that the number has reached the maximum number.

According to the window display device of the present invention, a plurality of windows are displayed on the display screen of the display means, various processing programs are set for each window, and a plurality of programs are set on each window. In the window display device enabling the parallel processing, the instruction means instructs to temporarily delete the displayed window from the display screen of the display means, and the determination means instructs the temporary deletion by the instruction means. After the elapsed time has reached the redisplay time of the temporarily erased window, the display control means, when the temporary deletion of the displayed window is instructed by the instruction means, Erasing the window for which the temporary erasure is instructed from the display screen of the display means, and arriving at the redisplay time by the determination means. And when it is determined was redisplays the temporary erased window on the display screen of the display unit.

Therefore, when a window or icon to be selected is hidden in the lower layer of another window and cannot be viewed, the upper layer window is temporarily erased so that the lower layer window or icon can be visually recognized. Can be automatically re-displayed, and the operation of the user who re-displays the window when the window is temporarily deleted can be omitted, and the operability can be improved.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a window display device 1 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a window display device 1 according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a window display device 1 comprises:
It comprises a CPU 2, an input device 3, a RAM 4, a display device 5, a printing device 6, a storage device 7, and a storage medium 8, and each unit is connected by a bus 9.

CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2
Is an application program designated from among various application programs stored in the storage device 7 and corresponding to the window display device 1, and the input device 3
Are stored in the work memory 4a in the RAM 4, various processes are executed in accordance with the application program stored in the RAM 4 in accordance with the input instructions and the input data, and the processing results are stored in the RA 4.
It is stored in the work memory 4a in the M4 and displayed on the display device 5. Then, the processing result stored in the work memory 4a is stored in a storage destination in the storage device 7 which is instructed to be input from the input device 3.

When "temporary erasure" is selected from the menu display of the active window, the CPU 2 reads out a program relating to the temporary erasure process from the programs developed in the work memory 4a of the RAM 4, and The temporary erasure process (see FIG. 3) is started. In this temporary erasure process, the CPU 2 first stores the "identifier", "display position", and "display order" of each window opened when the "temporary erasure" menu is selected in the window information memory 4b of the RAM 4. And remember, then
A display control signal is output to the display device 5 to erase each window displayed on the display screen 50 of the display device 5.

Then, for each erased window, the CPU 2 refers to each application program in the work memory 4a of the RAM 4 to generate an erase icon representing each window, and furthermore, the display device 5
The display control signal is output to the non-display area in the display screen 50 to display the respective erase icons. Next, when the display of each of the erase icons is completed, the CPU 2 sets a timer based on the internal clock based on a predetermined standby time set in advance, and the time count value of the set timer is set to the internal clock. If it is decremented to "0" based on the time, it is determined that the time is up, and the window information memory 4b of the RAM 4 is used.
The window information of each window is read from the window, and the windows based on the “identifier” are displayed in the display screen 5 based on the “display position” in order from the window having the lowest “display order”.
The superimposed display is sequentially performed on the coordinate position of 0.

The input device 3 includes a keyboard having cursor keys, numeric input keys, various function keys, and the like, and a mouse as a pointing device. The input device 3 outputs a pressing signal of a key pressed by the keyboard to the CPU 2. And outputs an operation signal from the mouse to the CPU 2. Other input devices may be used as needed.

A RAM (Random Access Memory) 4 includes a work memory 4a for storing a designated application program, input instructions, input data, processing results, and the like;
In a temporary erasure process (see FIG. 3) described later, there is provided a window information memory 4b for storing a plurality of "identifiers", "display positions", and "display orders" of currently opened windows in association with each other.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of window information stored in the window information memory 4b, corresponding to the display state of the display screen 50 shown in FIG.

The "identifier" is data for identifying each of the windows opened when "temporary deletion" is selected from the menu display of the active window. In FIG. 2, as an example, The application name of the window is stored, but any other information may be used as long as the data can identify each window.

The "display position" is data indicating the coordinates of the respective display positions of the windows that were opened when the "temporary deletion" was selected.

The "display order" is data indicating the order from the upper layer of the window that was opened when the "temporary deletion" was selected, and numbers are assigned in order from the window displayed on the uppermost layer. .

In FIG. 7, according to the window display of the display screen 50 and the display of the task management program window 55, the top layer window is "word processor", and the display state of the word processor program window 51 and the task management program "Word processor" in window 55
Indicates that it is currently active, unlike other application programs.

Then, in the following order from the upper layer, "spreadsheet",
"Communication" is displayed on the display screen 50, and "Image processing" in the lowermost layer is hidden by the upper layer word processing program window 51, spreadsheet program window 52, and communication program window 53. Therefore, the "display order" as shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the window information memory 4b.

The display device 5 is a CRT (Cathode Ray Tub).
e) The display data is displayed on the display screen 50 in accordance with a display control signal input from the CPU 2, which is constituted by a liquid crystal display device or the like.

The printing device 6 prints documents, tallying tables, and the like created by various application programs corresponding to the window display device 1.

The storage device 7 has a storage medium 8 in which programs, data and the like are stored in advance, and this storage medium 8 is constituted by a magnetic or optical recording medium or a semiconductor memory. The storage medium 8 is fixedly provided in the storage device 7 or is detachably mounted. The storage medium includes various application programs, menu display programs, and print processing programs corresponding to the window display device 1. And data processed by each processing program.

The program, data, and the like stored in the storage medium 8 may be configured to be received and stored from another device connected via a communication line or the like. The storage medium 8 is stored in another connected device.
May be provided, and a program, data, and the like stored in the storage medium 8 may be used via a communication line.

Next, the operation of the window display device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4 and examples of the window display states shown in FIGS.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the temporary erasing process of the window display device 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the mouse of the input device 3 when the displayed window is temporarily erased by the temporary erasing process. Icon 5
4 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the window display device 1 when 4, 4,... Is selected.

FIG. 5 shows a display screen 50 of the display device 5.
Only the spreadsheet program window 52 is displayed above, and shows a state in which the display state of the spreadsheet program window 52 is changed to the delete icon 52a by the temporary erasing process of the window display device 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a change in the display state.
Although the case where only the spreadsheet program window 52 is displayed on the display screen 50 is shown, the effect of the window display device 1 of the present embodiment is particularly exhibited when a plurality of windows are displayed. Needless to say.

In FIG. 7, when a menu button 51m of a word processing program window 51, which is an active window, is clicked by a user's mouse operation, a menu (not shown) is displayed by a pull-down menu or the like.

When "temporary erasure" is selected from the menu display, the CPU 2 reads out a program related to the temporary erasure processing from the programs developed in the work memory 4a of the RAM 4, and reads the program shown in FIG. The indicated temporary erasing process is started.

First, the CPU 2 determines the “identifier” of each window opened when the “temporary erase” menu is selected,
The “display position” and “display order” are stored and stored in the window information memory 4b of the RAM 4 (step S).
1). For example, when the display state is as shown in FIG. 7, each data as shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the window information memory 4b of the RAM 4.

Next, the CPU 2 outputs a display control signal to the display device 5 to delete each window displayed on the display screen 50 of the display device 5 (step S).
2). At this time, for example, even if a plurality of windows are displayed as shown in FIG. 7, if “temporary deletion” is instructed for one window, all the windows displayed on the display screen 50 are displayed. Is temporarily erased.

It should be noted that the menu display has two temporary erasure menus, "temporary erasure" and "temporary erasure of all windows", and all the windows are temporarily erased only when "temporary erasure of all windows" is selected. It is also possible to adopt a form in which the processing is executed and the temporary erasure processing is executed only for the active window when "temporary erasure" is selected. This is effective, for example, when it is desired to temporarily refer to a window displayed in a layer immediately below the active window.

Then, for each window erased in step S2, the CPU 2 refers to each application program in the work memory 4a of the RAM 4 to generate an erase icon representing each window (step S3). Further, a display control signal is output to the display device 5 to display each erasure icon in an undisplayed area in the display screen 50 (step S4). For example, FIG. 5 shows a state in which the spreadsheet program window 52 is temporarily erased. However, an icon representing the spreadsheet program set in the spreadsheet program is read from the work memory 4a, and the erase icon 52a is displayed on the lower right of the display screen 50.

Similarly, in the case of FIG. 7, the respective delete icons representing the respective windows are displayed side by side, for example, at the lower right of the display screen 50 (not shown).

When the display of each of the erase icons is completed,
The CPU 2 sets a timer based on the internal clock based on a predetermined standby time set in advance (step S5), and proceeds to step S6 to monitor whether or not the time is up. That is, the CPU 2 determines in step S5
If the time count value of the timer set in the step is decremented to "0" based on the internal clock, the flow shifts to step S7, and if not, it is continuously monitored whether or not the time is up.

During the time-up monitoring in step S6, the display screen 50 of the display device 5 maintains the state in which the respective erasure icons are displayed, and all the icons arranged on the desktop of the display screen 50 are displayed. Icon 5
4,... Are displayed without being hidden. Therefore, the user can select and execute an arbitrary icon 54,... By operating the mouse or the like of the input device 3, and in response to the user's icon selecting operation, the CPU 2 executes the icon selection shown in FIG. Execute the process.

In the icon selection process of FIG.
2 specifies a selected icon according to a coordinate signal at the time of icon selection input from the user via the input device 3 (step S20), and stores a program corresponding to the specified icon in the storage medium 8 of the storage device 7. Read from RA
It is developed in the work memory 4a of M4 and activated (step S21).

Next, the CPU 2 outputs a display control signal to the display device 5 to newly display a window corresponding to the program developed in the work memory 4a on the display screen 50 (step S22). The displayed window is activated (step S23), the icon selection process ends, and the process returns to the time-up monitoring of step S6 in the temporary deletion process of FIG.

In the time-up monitoring in step S6, if the time count value of the timer set in step S5 is decremented to "0" based on the internal clock, the CPU 2 determines that the time-up has occurred. , The window information of each window is read from the window information memory 4b of the RAM 4, and the "identifier"
Are superimposed and displayed sequentially on the coordinate position of the display screen 50 based on the "display position" (step S7).

Next, the CPU 2 determines whether or not there is a new window selected and opened during the time-up monitoring in step S6 (step S8). A window is set (step S9), and superimposed display is performed on the uppermost layer of the display screen 50 (step S10).

If it is determined in step S8 that there is no new window, or if the overlapping display of the new windows has been completed in step S10, the top window is set as the active window (step S11). , A series of temporary erasure processing ends.

In this embodiment, a case has been described in which individual deletion icons corresponding to each of a plurality of temporarily deleted windows are generated and displayed in a non-display area of the display screen 50. One erase icon may be displayed for a plurality of windows.

Further, in the present embodiment, the display screen 50 is displayed with reference to FIG. 5 showing a state in which the display state of the spreadsheet program window 52 changes to the delete icon 52a by the temporary deletion processing of the window display device 1. Has been described in which the display state of each window is changed to an erasure icon corresponding to each application program. However, the form of the present invention is not limited to this, and the display state may be changed to another display state. It may be.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the display state can be changed to a window frame 52f in which only the outer frame of the spreadsheet program window 52 is displayed.
In this case, since the inside of the window frame 52f is an area where no window is displayed, hidden icons 54,... Are displayed, and the hidden icons 5 are displayed.
.. Can be selected and activated. Then, similarly to the above-described embodiment, the display state is changed from the window frame 52f to the spreadsheet program window 52 again after a predetermined time has elapsed.

Further, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which the menu is displayed by a mouse operation or the like on the menu button 52m, and the "temporary deletion" is selected to execute the temporary deletion processing of the window display device 1. The instruction of the temporary erasure process to the window display device 1 may be issued by another method, for example, the desktop or the task management program window 5.
For example, a menu may be displayed by a mouse operation on the keyboard 5 or a shortcut key may be assigned to a keyboard as the input device 3.

As described above, according to the window display device 1 of the present embodiment, the CPU 2 performs the “temporary deletion”.
The "identifier", "display position", and "display order" of each window opened at the time of menu selection are stored and stored in the window information memory 4b of the RAM 4, and then a display control signal is sent to the display device 5. Output and display 5
Deletes each window displayed on the display screen 50 of FIG. 5, further refers to each application program in the work memory 4a of the RAM 4, generates a delete icon representing each window, and displays a display control signal on the display device 5. Is output, and the respective erase icons are displayed in the non-display area in the display screen 50.

When the display of each of the erasure icons is completed, the CPU 2 sets a timer based on an internal clock based on a predetermined standby time set in advance, and the time count value of the set timer is set to the aforementioned value. If it is decremented to “0” based on the internal clock, it is determined that the time is up, and the window information of each window is read out from the window information memory 4b of the RAM 4, and “ The window based on the “identifier” is sequentially superimposed and displayed on the coordinate position of the display screen 50 based on the “display position”.

Therefore, when the window or icon to be selected is hidden in the lower layer of another window and cannot be viewed, the display state of the upper layer window is temporarily changed to make the lower layer window or icon visible. Thereafter, the display state of the upper-layer window can be automatically returned to the original state, so that it is not necessary to temporarily save or delete the window, and the operability of the window display device 1 can be improved.

[0056]

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, when a window or icon to be selected is hidden in a lower layer of another window and cannot be viewed, an upper layer window is temporarily erased. It is possible to make the lower-layer windows and icons visible, and then automatically re-display the upper-layer windows. Performance can be improved.

According to the third, fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect, at the time of temporary erasure of the window, an identification display indicating the existence of the temporary erasure window is performed. The user can clearly distinguish between normal window erasure and temporary erasure.

According to the invention described in claim 6, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 2, a plurality of windows are collectively temporarily deleted and individual icons corresponding to each window are displayed. Each window that has been temporarily erased can be individually identified.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect, when a new window is opened during temporary erasure of the window, the new window is displayed on the top layer. Therefore, the window is displayed according to the user's intention, the operation is easily shifted to a new application, and the operability is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a window display device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of main parts of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of window information stored in a window information memory 4b in a RAM 4 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a temporary erasure process of the window display device 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining processing performed by the window display device 1 when an icon is selected by operating a mouse or the like of the input device 3 when a displayed window is temporarily deleted by a temporary deletion process.

FIG. 5 shows a temporary erasure process of the window display device 1;
The figure which shows a mode that the display state of the spreadsheet program window 52 changes into the deletion icon 52a.

FIG. 6 shows a temporary erasure process of the window display device 1;
The figure which shows a mode that the display state of the spreadsheet program window 52 changed into the window frame 52f.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which lower windows and icons are hidden by windows displayed in an upper layer and are not displayed on the display screen 50 when a plurality of windows are opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Window display device 2 CPU 3 Input device 4 RAM 4a Work memory 4b Window information memory 5 Display device 50 Display screen 51 Word processing program window 51m Menu button 52 Spreadsheet program window 52a Delete icon 52f Window frame 53 Communication program window 54,. Icon 55 task management program window 6 printing device 7 storage device 8 storage medium 9 bus

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A window display device which displays a plurality of windows on a display screen of a display means, sets various processing programs for each window, and enables parallel processing of the plurality of programs on each window. Instruction means for instructing the temporary deletion of the window being displayed from the display screen of the display means, and the elapsed time after the instruction to temporarily erase the window is given by the redisplay time of the temporarily erased window. Determining means for determining whether or not the window has been reached; and when the instruction means instructs temporary erasure of the displayed window, erasing the window instructed for temporary erasure from the display screen of the display means. When it is determined by the determining means that the redisplay time has been reached, the temporarily erased window is displayed on the display. Window display device characterized by comprising display control means for re-displaying the stages on the display screen, the. 2. A storage medium storing a computer-executable program, wherein a plurality of windows are displayed on a display screen of a display means, and various processing programs are set for each of the windows. Computer-executable program code for enabling parallel processing of a plurality of programs, and computer-executable program code for instructing temporary deletion of a displayed window from a display screen of the display means And a computer-executable program code for determining whether or not an elapsed time after the temporary erasure is instructed has reached a redisplay time of the temporarily erased window; and the displayed window. When the temporary deletion is instructed, the window in which the temporary deletion is instructed is displayed on the display means. A computer-executable program code for deleting from the screen and redisplaying the temporarily deleted window on the display screen of the display means when it is determined that the redisplay time has been reached; A storage medium storing a program including: 3. The window in which the temporary deletion is instructed while temporary deletion of the displayed window is instructed and the window in which the temporary deletion is instructed is deleted from the display screen of the display means. 3. A program, further comprising a computer-executable program code for performing an identification display on the display screen of said display means indicating that the file has been temporarily erased. The storage medium according to the above. 4. The computer-executable program code for performing the identification display includes:
4. The storage medium according to claim 3, wherein an icon corresponding to the window for which the temporary deletion has been instructed is displayed. 5. A computer-executable program code for performing the identification display, wherein the identification display includes:
4. A display frame indicating an area of the window in which the temporary deletion is instructed is displayed.
The storage medium according to the above. 6. When a plurality of windows are displayed on a display screen of said display means, when a temporary deletion is instructed, said plurality of windows are collectively deleted, and said plurality of deleted windows are displayed. And storing a program further including a computer-executable program code for generating an individual icon corresponding to each of the windows and displaying the icon on a display screen of the display means.
The storage medium according to the above. 7. When a temporary deletion of the displayed window is instructed and a new window is opened while the window for which the temporary deletion is instructed is deleted, the new window is moved to the uppermost layer. And when it is determined that the redisplay time has been reached, a computer for redisplaying the deleted window in a lower layer of the new window on the display screen of the display means is executed. 3. A storage medium according to claim 2, wherein a program further comprising a possible program code is stored.