JPS63199391A - Display device having multiwindow display function - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention is applicable to office computers, personal computers, workstations, word processors, DPs, etc.
The present invention relates to an improvement of a bitmap type display device having a multi-window display function, which is suitable for use in various data processing devices such as S (data processing system). When the display data of the lower window is displayed across the upper window, by condensing the display data of the lower window and displaying it, there will be no missing characters or characters in the display data of the lower window. This invention relates to a display device that prevents chipping.

In addition, as another example, it can be used for prohibition processing to prevent punctuation marks from being placed at the beginning of a line on the display device of a word processing system, allowing effective use of the screen and creation of natural and easy-to-read documents. Related to display devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, multi-window display systems have been used in various data processing devices.

Multi-window display uses CR, which is a physical display device.
This is a display method in which the display screen of a display device such as T is divided into an arbitrary number of sections and separate information is displayed in each section.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a multi-window display on the screen of a display device. In the drawing, D
1 to D3 indicate display devices.

In this FIG. 17, a plurality of display devices Di and D on the left side are provided in each section of the display device D3 shown on the right side.
Multi-window display is performed by displaying an arbitrary portion of the display contents of 2 surrounded by a broken line.

In this way, according to a display device having a multi-window display function, multiple windows can be opened on one real screen (such as RT, etc.).

The manner in which the windows overlap, the size of the windows, the display portion, the display position of the windows, etc. are changed by operating the control keys on the keyboard.

Such multi-window display is often used when a plurality of interrelated jobs are processed in parallel.

In the case of a multi-window display system, on the display screen of display device D3 in FIG.
Keystrokes can only be performed on one window, and operations such as keystrokes can only be performed on that window.

Activate this window (ACTIVE')
・Other windows are displayed to refer to the contents or to monitor the progress of parallel processing, and cannot be used for input.

By the way, in such a multi-window display, if the windows are displayed overlapping = 3-, and the display data of the lower window is displayed across the upper window, the lower Characters may be missing in the display data in the side window, leading to misreading.

Figures 18 (1) to (3) are diagrams showing an example of the correspondence between the positions of cutout windows in two virtual screen buffer memories and the display screen; A second virtual screen buffer memory (3) indicates a display screen. In the drawings, Wl indicates the upper window, W2 indicates the lower window, and the broken line indicates the area to be cut out.

As shown in FIG. 18 (1) and (2), the data within the range of broken lines is extracted from the two virtual screen buffers, and the two windows Wl are extracted as shown in FIG. 18 (3).
, W2 are displayed on the display screen.

In this case, in the cutout area of the second virtual screen buffer shown in FIG. 18 (2), the "i" part of the character "Sa" is
It is hidden by the upper window W1.

By the way, in the conventional multi-window display system,
As shown in Figure 18, when two or more windows are displayed, the windows overlap and the lower window W2
When the display data straddles the upper window W1, the display data can be broadly divided into two methods.

Figures 19 (1) and (2) respectively show how the display data on the bitmap display screen is displayed when the display data of the lower window W2 is displayed across the upper window w1. It is a figure which shows an example of the display data of the lower window W2.

The first method is to replace the display data with symbols, spaces, etc. and not display the original characters, as shown in FIG. 19(1).

With this display method, it is not possible to determine the contents of the displayed data at that position from the display screen, and especially when displaying with spaces, it is impossible to determine whether or not there are characters at that position. .

The second method is to display the characters as they are, ie, with missing characters, as shown in FIG. 19 (2).

Figures 20 (1) to (3) are display examples when the display data of the lower window W2 is displayed across the upper window W1 on the bitmap display screen. .

In the drawing, W2a indicates an area where the missing characters in the lower window W2 are shown.

Like the previous figure 19 (2) and this figure 20 (3),
In the method of displaying the data at that position with missing characters,
The missing letters in the lower window W2 are "tree" in area W2a.
It is unclear whether it is "bayashi" as shown in Figure 20 (1) or "kyu" as shown in Figure 20 (2), and in some cases it is read as "tree". , it may also cause misreading.

In this way, when two or more windows overlap and the display data of the lower window W2 straddles the upper window W1, in the conventional first and second display methods, the lower window Missing letters of W2 are area W2
Since the data of a is replaced with other specific symbols or spaces, and missing characters are displayed as they are, misreading may occur, resulting in a decrease in operability.

Since the display device having a multi-window display function according to the present invention relates to a bitmap type display device, the bitmap type display device will be described here.

In the case of a bitmap type display device, an image memory that stores bit information for each pixel is used as the screen memory (actual screen memory) that stores display data, and all pixel information of the CRT screen is stored. Ru.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between a screen memory and a CRT screen in a bitmap type display device.

In the case of FIG. 21, one bit of pixel information corresponds to one pixel of the CRT screen, and the pixel information of the entire CRT screen is stored in the screen memory.

The display positions of the CRT screen and the screen memory are associated with each other, and pixel information at a specific address is displayed at the corresponding position on the CRT screen.

In the case of a bitmap display device that has a multi-window display function, the virtual screen buffer also uses this 21st
A memory having the same configuration as the image memory shown in the figure is used.

Next, an overview of a conventionally used display device having a multi-window display function will be explained.

FIG. 22 is a functional block diagram showing the main configuration of a conventional display device having a multi-window display function. In the drawings, 1 is a data processing unit, 2A to 2n
are first to nth window control units, 21 is a virtual screen buffer memory thereof, 22 is a cutout control unit, 3 is a multi-window control unit, 4 is a display data buffer memory, and 5 is a display device.

The display device 5 is a bitmap type display device as described in connection with FIG. 21 above.

If the maximum number of windows that can be displayed on the CRT screen of the display device 5 is n, then n window control units are required.

The n window control units, that is, the first to nth window control units 2A to 2n, each include a virtual screen buffer memory 21 and a cutout control unit 22.

Data received from the CPU or the like is accompanied by information indicating in which window the data should be displayed.

Based on this information, the data processing section 1 sends the data to the window control sections 2A to 2n to be sent. In this case, the data includes not only bit information display data but also
Also includes cursor control code, etc.

Display data for the entire screen is stored in the virtual screen buffer memory 21 in the corresponding window control units 2A to 2n.

Further, each of the window control units 2A to 2n is provided with a window management register in order to manage the overlap, size, etc. of each window.

Here, the extraction position of the virtual screen buffer memory 21 will be explained.

FIG. 23 (1) to (3) show the virtual screen buffer memory 2
This is a diagram showing the correspondence between the cutout area on I, the window position on the display data buffer 4, and the window management register, in which (1) shows the virtual screen buffer memory 21, (2) shows the display data buffer 4, and (3) ) indicates the window management register.

In the drawing, X and y are the coordinate positions of the upper left end of the cutout area, ΔX and Δy are the horizontal and vertical lengths of the cutout area, and
l and Y, , X2 and Y2 indicate the coordinate position of the upper left corner of each window on the real screen.

The extraction position of the virtual screen buffer memory 21, ie, the display section, is indicated by the address.

For this purpose, the virtual screen buffer memory 21 is given a row address and a column address, as shown in FIG. 23(1). In the case of the bitmap method, the unit of coordinates is one pixel and is specified as coordinates (x, y).

In this virtual screen buffer memory 21, when data is extracted from an area of ΔX horizontally and Δy vertically surrounded by a solid line, the upper left coordinate (X) of the area is extracted.

y) That is, it is sufficient to specify the row address and column address.

Similarly, the position of each window on the display data buffer 4 (on the real screen buffer memory) is determined by the upper left coordinates of the window [coordinates (X1yYt) on the display data buffer 4], or (X2.Y2)) That is, it is managed using row addresses and column addresses.

In order to display a window as shown in FIG. 23(2), window information as shown in FIG. 23(3) is stored in the window management register.

Window information includes window level, cropping position (x
, y), horizontal and vertical lengths of the cutout area ΔX, Δy
), and the window position (X, Y) on the display data buffer 4.

The window level is information indicating the order of overlapping of each window. The window displayed at the top is 1, and the level number increases from 2 to 3.4 in the order of overlapping.

The cropping position (x, y) indicates the coordinates of the area to be cropped from the virtual screen buffer memory 21 (the coordinates of the upper left corner of the window), as shown in FIG. 23 (1), and is expressed in units of one pixel. is indicated by the coordinates (xt y).

The length of the cutout area is the horizontal and vertical length of the area Δ
X, Δy).

The window position is the window position on the display data buffer 4, and is also the coordinate of the upper left corner of the window (x
, y).

Each extraction control section 22 is provided with a mask management register, and the multi-window control section 3 writes mask information to each mask management register according to the contents of the window management register. The structure of this mask management register is similar to that of the window management register, and the method of determining coordinates is also the same as that of the window management register.

In this way, in multi-window display, it is necessary to instruct the size of each window and how to overlap each window in addition to the cutting position of the virtual screen buffer 21. A management register is provided.

Next, a specific example of the window management register will be explained.

FIGS. 24(1) and 24(2) are diagrams showing two virtual screen buffer memories and their cutout areas. The reference numerals in the drawing are the same as in FIG. 23, 21A is the first virtual screen buffer, 21B is the second virtual screen buffer, and the broken line indicates the area to be cut out.

Here, from the first virtual screen buffer 21A shown in FIG. 24 (1) and the second virtual screen buffer 21B shown in FIG.
Cut out the data of yΔy+) and (ΔX2.Δy2),
Suppose you want to display a window.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a window area on the display data buffer 4. As shown in FIG. The code in the drawings is the second
It is the same as Figure 3.

The data within the broken lines are cut out from the two virtual screen buffers 21A and 21B shown in FIG. 24 (1) and (2) above, and written to the display data buffer 4 as shown in FIG. Perform display.

For this purpose, each of the window control units 2A to 2n shown in FIG. 22 described above is provided with a window management register.

Here, a specific example will be described for the simplest case, that is, the case where two virtual screen buffers are used among the n virtual screen buffer memories 21.

FIGS. 26(1) and (2) are diagrams showing examples of data in the window management register for the two virtual screen buffer memories shown in FIGS. 24(1) and (2). The reference numerals in the drawings are the same as in FIGS. 24 and 25.

The window management register shown in FIG. 26(1) contains the virtual screen buffer 21.0 shown in FIG. 24(1). Management information for A is stored, and the window management register in FIG. 26(2) contains the virtual screen buffer 2 in FIG. 24(2).
Management information for 1B is stored. Although window level information indicating the order of overlapping of each window is omitted, it is assumed that the virtual screen buffer 21A has a higher priority.

The window information stored in the window management register is given as shown in FIG. 26 (1) and (2), and multi-window display as shown in FIG. 25 is performed.

By the way, each extraction control section 22 is provided with a mask management register, and the multi-window control section 3 writes mask information to each mask management register according to the contents of the window management register.

The mask management register has the same structure as the window management register, and the method of determining coordinates is also the same as that of the window management register.

Therefore, next, the mask management register will be explained using a specific example.

FIGS. 27(1) and 27(2) are diagrams showing cutout positions in two virtual screen buffers. The symbols in the drawing are the same as those in FIG. 23, and ■ and ■ indicate the cutout area of the second virtual screen buffer 21B.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing the window positions of the two virtual screen buffers shown in FIGS. 27(1) and (2) on the display data buffer. The code in the drawings is the 23rd
It is similar to FIG. 27 and FIG.

The cutout areas of the two virtual screen buffers 21A and 21B are as shown in FIG. 27 (1) and (2), and on the real screen, these are displayed overlapping as shown in FIG. 28. Suppose that

As previously mentioned, the mask management register has a similar structure to the window management register.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of a mask management register.

As shown in FIG. 29, the mask management register includes window information such as a pointer to the mask management register, a cutout position, a cutout length, and a window position.

First, the virtual screen buffer 2 shown in FIG. 27 (1)
The explanation will start from the mask management register corresponding to 1A.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a specific configuration example of a mask management register corresponding to the virtual screen buffer shown in FIG. 27(1).

Regarding the upper window W1, the window information can be stored in one mask management register, and data as shown in FIG. 30 is stored.

On the other hand, the lower window W2 is
), the virtual screen buffer 21B is divided into two areas, .

Therefore, the virtual screen buffer 2 shown in FIG. 27(2)
Two registers are required as mask management registers corresponding to 1B.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a specific configuration example of a mask management register corresponding to the virtual screen buffer shown in FIG. 27(2). The symbols in the drawings are the same as in FIG. 27.

Virtual screen buffer 2 shown in FIG. 27 (2) ], B
The mask management registers corresponding to the cutout areas ■ and ■ are as follows:
Each has a list structure as shown in the mask management registers ① and ② shown in FIG. 31, respectively.

The multi-window control section 3 shown in FIG.
Mask information is written to the mask register according to the contents of the mask management register shown in the figure and FIG.

Although not particularly illustrated, the mask register has the same size (vertical and horizontal size) as the virtual screen buffers 21A and 21B, and the coordinates, that is, the row and column addresses, also correspond to the coordinates of the virtual screen buffers 21A and 21B.

Therefore, if the contents of the mask register determined by the row address and column address are 1'', the virtual screen buffer 21A with the same row address and column address.

The contents of 21B are transferred to the display data buffer 4, and r
r If it is On, it will not be transferred.

Therefore, the image contents in the cutout areas (Wl, ■ and ■) of the virtual screen buffers 2LA and 21B shown in FIGS. 27(1) and (2) are transferred to the display data buffer 4, and the image contents shown in FIG. A window like this will be created and displayed.

Such transfer to the display data buffer 4 is performed every time new data (data received from the CPU) is written to the virtual screen buffers 21A and 21B, so the display data buffer 4 always contains virtual screen data. Buffer 21A
, 21B will be stored.

In the above embodiment, the case where there are two virtual screen buffers has been described, but the same applies to the case where there are three or more virtual screen buffers.

The contents of the window management registers provided in each of the window control units 2A to 2n are rewritten by instructions from the keyboard, and when the contents are rewritten, the contents of each mask register are also rewritten. Therefore, data is transferred from the virtual screen buffer 21 to the display data buffer 4 according to the new contents of the mask register.

For example, when the window level is changed by a keyboard operation, the contents of the mask register are also rewritten accordingly.

In a display device having a multi-window display function, the data of the display section cut out from the virtual screen buffer 21 is displayed in a window through the processing described above.

By the way, as already explained in relation to Figures 19 (1) and (2) and Figures 20 (1) to (3), in conventional multi-window display systems, two or more windows are displayed. When windows overlap and the display data of the lower window straddles the upper window, the first method is to change the display data to a specific symbol or space, as shown in Figure 19 (1). etc., and the original characters etc. are not displayed.As a second method, as shown in FIGS. 20(1) to (3), missing characters are displayed as they are.

Unlike display devices that use 5-character codes, you can select any character position on the actual screen, so if two or more windows overlap and the lower window It often happens that part of the displayed data is hidden by the upper window.

Therefore, if the display data is converted into specific symbols, spaces, etc. as in the first conventional display method, the displayed data cannot be seen on the screen, and as in the second display method, If the display data in the lower window is displayed with missing characters, there is a possibility that misreading may occur, and in any case, there is a problem in that the operability inevitably deteriorates.

Purpose Therefore, the display device having the multi-window display function of the present invention solves the problem that occurs in the conventional bitmap-based multi-window display system, namely, when two or more windows overlap and the lower window This solves the inconvenience that when display data spans the upper window, the characters at that position cannot be easily read, and in some cases may cause misreading. A display device with multi-window display function condenses the display data of the window and enables display without missing characters, prevents operators from misreading during editing operations, and reduces the operational burden. The purpose is to improve the operability of connected data processing devices.

Figures 32 (1) and (2) show that when two or more windows overlap and the lower window W2 straddles the upper window W1, part of the display data of the lower window W2 is hidden. (1) shows the case of the conventional display device, and (2) shows the case of the display device of the present invention.

In conventional display devices, as shown in Fig. 32 (1), if part of the display data, for example the character ``Sa'', is a hidden nine, only the left J will be displayed on the actual screen. , it was difficult to decipher.

On the other hand, in the display device of the present invention, when a part of the display data is hidden, the character "Sa" is condensed.
It is displayed as shown in FIG. 32 (2).

In this way, in the display device of the present invention, even if the lower window W2 straddles the upper window W1 and part of the display data of the lower window W2 is hidden, the entire display data is The first purpose is to prevent misreading and improve operability by making it possible to display the information.

Furthermore, the character condensation function proposed in the display device of the present invention can be applied to prohibition processing to prevent punctuation marks etc. from being placed at the beginning of a line in a word processor system having a document creation function. In addition to eliminating the need for the last column of lines that was used for lines, it is possible to make more effective use of the screen, and by placing punctuation marks at the end of the line, it is possible to obtain a natural and easy-to-read display (print). This is the second purpose.

For this purpose, the present invention includes a bitmap type physical display device, a display data buffer memory for storing display data of the display device, at least two virtual screen buffer memories, and the virtual screen buffer. A means for cutting out data in a partial area of the memory as display data, a window management information storage means for storing management information regarding the cut out area, and a combination of data in each area cut out from the virtual screen buffer memory. and outputting the display data to the display data buffer memory, in a display device having a multi-window display function, detecting whether display data of a lower window straddles an upper window in overlapping windows. and a data condensing means for condensing the display data of the lower window, and when the detection means detects that the display data of the lower window spans the upper window, the data condensation means The display data is condensed and displayed by the condensing means.

In addition, in a display device of a conventional word processor system that is equipped with an input means, a bitmap type display device, and a hummoum buffer memory for storing display data of the display device, and has a document creation function, punctuation mark detection means for detecting whether or not there is a punctuation mark, and data condensation means for condensing display data, and when the detection means detects that there is a punctuation mark at the beginning of a line, the data condensation means detects the presence of the punctuation mark. Display data such as punctuation marks and the characters before them are condensed and displayed.

Next, embodiments of the display device having a multi-window display function of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the main configuration of a display device having a multi-window display function according to the present invention. Reference numerals in the drawing are the same as in FIG. 22, and 6 indicates a display data rewriting processing unit for missing characters, 11 a data output unit, 12 a character drawing unit, 13 a graph drawing unit, 23 a window processing control unit, 24 is a window information storage section, 25 is a data transfer section, and 41 is a video signal generation section.

In the block diagram shown in FIG. 1, the newly added part in the display device of the present invention is the display data rewriting processing unit 6 shown with missing characters, and the other blocks are the circuit shown in FIG. 22 in detail. This is the part that was developed. The display data rewriting processing section 6 for character omission is added to each of the window control sections 2A to 2n in FIG. 22.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of essential parts of the window control section including the display data rewriting processing section 6 shown in FIG. Reference numerals in the drawing are the same as in FIG. 1, and 61 is a character display data rewriting unit, 62 is a display data detection unit for missing characters, 63 is a character data condensing unit, 64 is a display data rewriting control unit for missing characters, C81 to C83 indicate control signals, the single line indicates the flow of the control signal, and the white line indicates the flow of data.

In the following embodiment, a case will be mainly described in which two windows are displayed on the real screen, and a portion of the display data of the lower window is hidden by the upper window W1.

FIGS. 3 (1) and (2) are diagrams showing an example of the correspondence between the virtual screen buffer and the real screen when a part of the display data of the lower window W2 is hidden by the upper window W1. Here, (1) shows the virtual screen buffer for the lower window W2, and (2) shows the real screen.

As shown in FIG. 3 (2), in order to display the lower window W2 on the real screen, in the virtual screen buffer of FIG. 3 (1), the shaded area is cut out and the display data is is being transferred to the display data buffer. This process is the same as in conventional display devices.

However, in the display device of the present invention, the lower window W
When it is detected in step 2 that a part of the 1 display data "Sa" is hidden, this data is condensed and display data without missing characters is displayed.

FIGS. 4(1) and (2) are diagrams for explaining the character image condensation process performed by the character data condensing unit 63.
(2) shows the dot structure of a normal character, and (2) shows the dot structure of a condensed character.

This figure 4 shows the case of condensing one character "san", and as shown in figure 4 (1), normal character data of 29 x 29 (dots) is thinned out in the horizontal direction. , 29X13 (
Convert to character data of the dot) configuration.

This condensation process is performed by the character data condensation unit 63 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a virtual screen buffer for the lower window W2 in the display device of the present invention when a part of the display data of the lower window W2 is hidden by the upper window W1. be.

In the display device of this invention, as shown in FIG. 3 (2) above,
When part of the display data of the lower window W2 is hidden by the upper window W1, the display data is condensed and displayed without missing characters, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the process of condensing display data for missing characters in the window control unit shown in FIG. In the drawings, #1 to #6 indicate steps.

The display device having the multi-window display function of the present invention performs the same window control as in the conventional example when displaying a window, but in this case, the flow of FIG. It will be done.

That is, in the display device of the present invention, before cutting out the display data from the virtual screen buffer 21 and transferring it to the display data buffer 4 by the cutting control unit 22 shown in FIG.
The flow shown in FIG. 6 starts.

Then, in step #1, it is detected which area on the virtual screen buffer 21 is the display area.

First, in order to detect the presence or absence of display data in case of missing characters, the display data rewriting control unit 64 issues a command to the display data detecting unit 62 in case of missing characters.

Missing characters are detected by the display data detection unit 62 and cutout control unit 22.
The control signal C81 is output to the virtual screen buffer 2.
Detect the cutout area of 1.

In the case of this embodiment, it can be seen that the data in the shaded area is transferred in the virtual screen buffer for the lower window W2 shown in FIG. 3 (1) above.-Virtual screen buffer Once the data area to be transferred within 21 is known, in step #2 of FIG. Investigate whether it exists or not.

In the case of this embodiment, it can be seen that the display data "Sa" is missing characters in the virtual screen buffer of FIG. 3(1).

In this way, it is checked whether there is any display data with missing characters in the cutout area on the virtual screen buffer 21,
If there is display data with missing characters, please
At step #3 in the figure, the coordinates of the position on the virtual screen buffer 21 and its character data are saved.

Next, the display data rewriting control section 64 activates the character display data rewriting section 61 in case of missing characters.

Then, the character display data rewriting unit 61 is notified of the character display data detected by the display data detecting unit 62 and its coordinate position.

The character display data rewriting unit 61 performs step #4 in FIG.
Then, the control signal C82 is outputted to start the character data condensing unit 63, and the display data with missing characters is passed to the character data condensing unit 63, and as explained in FIG. The horizontal dot configuration of the character data is condensed, and the dot configuration of the character data is changed and condensed.

The character data condensing unit 63 returns the condensed character data to the character display data rewriting unit 61.

At step #5 in FIG. 6, the character display data rewriting unit 61
outputs a control signal C83 to rewrite the received condensed character data to the designated coordinate position on the virtual screen buffer 21.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the condensed character "Sa" is written at the coordinate position on the virtual screen buffer.

When there are two windows, this process completes the display data condensation process for missing characters in the lower window W2, but when there are multiple windows, it is necessary to perform the same process. be.

To this end, in the flow shown in Figure 6, step #2 above is performed.
- Repeat the process of step #5, and if it is detected in step #2 that there is no display data with missing characters, proceed to step #6.

In this step #6, the cutting control section 22 cuts out the display data from the virtual screen buffer 21 and transfers it to the display data buffer 4.

Through such processing, the display data is condensed to eliminate missing characters, and when the rewritten display data is cut out from the display area on the virtual screen buffer 21 and transferred to the display data buffer 4, it becomes as shown in FIG. 3 (2). The missing character data displayed in window W2 is condensed as shown in FIG. 5, and is displayed without missing characters.

As described above, in the display device of the present invention, the display data detecting section 62 detects the display data in which the characters are missing on the virtual screen buffer 21 and stores the missing characters in the virtual screen buffer 21 as shown in FIG. Save the coordinate position information.

Then, the character data condensing unit 63 condenses the character data in the horizontal direction, and the character display data rewriting unit 61 rewrites the character data at the coordinate position into the condensed data on the virtual screen buffer 21 and displays it. I try to do that.

Therefore, even if part of the display data in the lower window is hidden by the upper window, the display data with missing characters will not be displayed, and there is no risk of misreading or the like.

Next, the structure of the display data detection section 62 shown in FIG. 2 will be explained in detail.

In FIG. 7, the missing characters shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the main parts of No. 2. The symbols in the drawing are the same as those in FIG. 2, and 62'A is a display data area detection section, 62B is a display data detection section for missing characters in the display data area, and 62C is a display data detection control section for missing characters. shows.

The detailed configuration of the character missing display data detection section 62 is as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3(2), when displaying the window W2, the shaded area is cut out from the virtual screen buffer in FIG. 3(1) and transferred to the display data buffer 4.

The display data area detection unit 62A in FIG. 7 detects data in the window W2 in FIG. Then, the data and coordinate position are detected.

As already mentioned, first, the cutout control unit 22 checks which area of the virtual screen buffer 21 data is to be transferred to the display data buffer 4.

In FIG. 7, the display data detection unit 62B investigates the virtual screen buffer 21 for missing characters in the display data area. In the case of this embodiment, it is known that the display data is cut out from the shaded area in FIG. 3(1).

Once the display data area in the virtual screen buffer 21 is known, the display data detection unit 62B next checks whether there is any display data with missing characters in that area. .

In the virtual screen buffer in Figure 3 (1), one display data “
It can be seen that the letter "Sa" is missing.

Therefore, when a character is missing in the display data area, the display data detection unit 62B detects the character data and the virtual screen buffer 2.
The coordinate position information within 1 is saved in the save area.

The missing character display data detection control unit 62G controls the entire missing character display data detection unit 62 shown in FIG.

Next, the configuration of the character display data rewriting section 61 will be explained in detail.

FIG. 8 shows the character display data rewriting unit 61 shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the main parts. The symbols in the drawings are the same as in FIG. 2, and
61A is the display data and its coordinate position reading part,
61B is a display data conversion unit, 61C is a condensed display data writing unit, 61D is a display data rewriting control unit for missing characters, 6
2D indicates a save area for display data and its coordinate position information.

The character display data rewriting section 61 rewrites the display data of the missing characters shown in detail in FIG. 7 into condensed data based on the information investigated by the display data detection section 62.

In other words, the missing character described in connection with FIG. It is saved in the save area 62D in the figure (the missing characters are the save area 62D for display data and its coordinate position information).

Therefore, the missing characters are the display data and its coordinate position reading unit 6.
1A reads this information.

Next, the display data with missing characters is sent to the character data condensing unit 63 via the display data conversion unit 61B, and the display data with missing characters is condensed.

Then, the condensed display data writing unit 61G writes the condensed display data to the designated coordinate position in the virtual screen buffer 21.

In addition, when a character is missing, the display data rewriting control unit 61D
It controls the entire character display data rewriting section 61 shown in the figure.

In this way, the character display data rewriting unit 61 shown in detail in FIG. 8 uses the display data and coordinate position information (
Find out the missing character data and the coordinate position of that data on the virtual screen buffer 21 from the display data and its coordinate position information saved in the save area 62D. The data condensing unit 63 condenses display data with missing characters, and then rewrites the condensed display data at the position of the missing characters.

Therefore, in the virtual screen buffer for the lower window W2 shown in FIG. 3 (1), it is detected that the character "Sa" is missing in the area of the diagonal line where data is being transferred. The display data for this missing character is compressed in the horizontal direction and is rewritten as the character "Sa" as shown in FIG.

Next, another embodiment of the display device having a multi-window display function according to the present invention will be described.

In the case of this embodiment as well, the block diagram of the system configuration is basically the same as the block diagram shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 above, and also uses a bitmap type display device. This is the case.

However, in addition to the image memory, the virtual screen buffer
It is assumed that the computer has a character code RAM.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the virtual screen buffer.

As shown in FIG. 9, the virtual screen buffer is divided into sections of 5 lines and 5 columns, and windows are set in units of lines and columns.

That is, the character code R shown on the left side of FIG.
As shown in the virtual screen buffer on the right side, AM divides the image memory into lines and columns, and determines what characters are stored at the addresses of each line and column. The data shown is stored as a code.

In this way, the addresses on the character code RAM that make up the virtual screen buffer correspond to the positions of "lines and columns" on the image memory, and one byte of the character code RAM corresponds to one line and one column. are doing.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between the image memory of the virtual screen buffer and the character code RAM. Shaded areas and mesh areas in the drawings indicate cutout areas.

The next figure 11 shows the display data of the lower window W2.
This is an example of a real screen buffer showing a state in which a portion of the window W1 is hidden by the upper window W1.

As shown in FIG. 11, when two windows wi and w2 overlap, the 10th window corresponding to the lower window W2
On the virtual screen buffer shown in the figure, the areas indicated by diagonal lines and mesh areas are cut out.

As already explained, the cutout control unit 22 shown in FIG. 2 can determine that the display data area is the area of the hatched area and the mesh area on the virtual screen buffer on the left side of FIG. 10. can.

In the case of Fig. 10, the cutout areas on the virtual screen buffer are "2 lines, 3 columns", "3 lines, 2 columns", and "3 lines, 3 columns", and the data in these mesh parts is This becomes display data.

In the display device of the present invention, missing characters are detected by the display data detection unit 6.
2, the presence or absence of display data with missing characters is investigated among these display data.

By the way, in the real screen buffer of FIG. 11, if the character "Sa" is represented by a full-width Kanji code, 2 bytes are required.

Therefore, in the character code RAM, the kanji code for "Sa" is stored in the address of the 2nd line, 2nd column, and the address of the 2nd line, 3rd column.

The display data detecting section 62 searches for display data for missing characters from the addresses in the mesh portion of the character code RAM.

In the case of Figure 10, when examining the contents of the address in the "2nd line, 3rd column" of the character code RAM, it can be determined that only 1 byte does not constitute a character code. It can be seen that the data displayed by the eyes is data with missing characters.

Therefore, the 2-byte kanji code for "Sa" and information on the coordinate position (2 lines, 3 columns) of the character are saved in the save area as display data for this missing character.

Next, the data of the detected missing characters is condensed.

In the case of the natural character shown in FIG. 1O, the image pattern of the kanji character "SaJ" is compressed by the character data condensing unit 63 shown in FIG. 2 so that it fits within one line and one column.

FIGS. 12 (1) and (2) are diagrams showing the condensed state of the image data of the kanji character "Sa", with (1) showing the state before condensation and (2) showing the state after condensation.

In the case of the kanji ``Sa'', it is written as ``Sa'' as shown in Figure 12 (1).
The image pattern of "S." is compressed in the horizontal direction and converted into a dot configuration that can be displayed in one column, as shown in FIG. 12 (2).

The condensed display data [Sa] as shown in FIG. 12 (2) is first detected by the display data detection unit 62, and the position information is stored in the virtual screen buffer 21 where the position information has been saved in advance. Write at the coordinate position (2 lines, 3 columns).

The writing process of this condensed character data “Sa” is performed in the second
This is performed by the character display data rewriting unit 61 shown in the figure.

Therefore, on the real screen, the display data at the position partially hidden by the upper window W1 disappears, and all the display data, that is, the condensed image of the character "Sa" as shown in FIG. 12 (2). A pattern is displayed.

Figures 13 (1) and (2) are diagrams showing the correspondence between the image of the kanji "Sa" on the virtual screen buffer and the display data area; (1) is before condensation, and (2) is after condensation. Indicates the state of the image.

FIG. 14 shows the display data “SA” in the lower window W2.
This is an example of a real screen buffer showing a state where a part of is hidden by the upper window W1, (1) is before condensation, (
2) shows the state after condensation. The code in the drawings is the second
This is the same as Figure 0.

As already explained, as shown in (1) in FIG. 14, when part of the display data "SA" in the lower window W2 is hidden by the upper window W1, the display in the lower window W2 In the area W2a of the data "Sa", missing characters occur.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 13 (1), on the corresponding virtual screen buffer, among the images of the kanji "Sa",
The pattern of image "A" at the coordinate position (2 lines, 2 columns) is outside the range of the cutout area and is not displayed.

However, as mentioned in relation to (1) and (2) in Figure 12 above, the image of the kanji ``Sa'' is compressed and converted as shown in (2) in Figure 12, and the condensed character is If you rewrite the coordinate position (2 lines, 3 columns) on the virtual screen buffer,
As shown in FIG. 13(2), all images will be stored within the display area on the corresponding virtual screen buffer.

Therefore, on the real screen, display data without missing characters is displayed, as shown in (2) of FIG.

As described above, the display data area on the rewritten virtual screen buffer 21 is cut out by the cutout control unit 22,
When the data is transferred to the display data buffer 4, the first
As shown in (2) in Figure 4, the lower window W2 and the upper window w1 overlap, and the lower window W
Even if a part of 2 is hidden, the compressed "Sa" is displayed, no missing characters are displayed, and misreading is prevented.

In the above embodiments, the configuration and effects of the display device of the present invention have been explained in the case of a multi-window display system.

However, the display device of the present invention is not necessarily limited to multi-window display.

It is also possible to apply to a WP (word processor) system, especially its constraint processing.

Next, as another embodiment of the display device of the present invention, a case where it is applied to a WP system will be described.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram showing a display system for prohibition processing in the WP system. Reference numerals in the drawings are the same as in FIGS. 1 and 2, and 42 is a frame buffer, 65 is a display data condensing device, and 71 is a wp
A control section 72 indicates a data transfer section.

The display device of the present invention shown in FIG. 15 has the same basic configuration as the conventional display device except that one display data condensing device 65 is added, and the entire WP system is controlled by the WP control. 71.

This display data condensing device 65 has a function of condensing display data with missing characters, as in the case of the multi-window display described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2 above.

However, in the case of this WP system, when a punctuation mark is placed in the first column of a line on the screen, the character immediately before it, that is, the character in the last column of the previous line, is condensed. It differs from the window display system.

FIGS. 16(1) to 16(4) are display examples for explaining the conventional prohibition processing in the WP system and the display state by the display device of the present invention.

In the case of the WP system, prohibition processing has traditionally been performed to prevent punctuation marks "," and "." from becoming the first column of a line on the screen.

First, conventional prohibition processing will be specifically explained.

When creating a document, if a period mark "," is displayed in the first column of the line on the screen as shown in Figure 16 (1),
Occurs often.

One way to prevent such a situation is to provide a column dedicated to punctuation marks in the last column of a line on the screen, as shown in FIG. 16(2), in the conventional Kinsoku process.

When a punctuation mark "," or "." is placed in the first column of a line on the screen, it is displayed in a column dedicated to this punctuation mark. However, with this method, the last column of a line on the screen cannot be used for displaying characters, symbols, etc., so extra memory is required and the screen cannot be used effectively.

In addition, in other conventional methods, as shown in FIG. 16 (3),
For example, when the character string "moshi," is placed from the third line to the fourth line, a space is inserted after "moshi," and "mo," is displayed at the beginning of the next line.

Therefore, although this method does not require a column dedicated to punctuation marks, it is necessary to insert a space in the final column, which causes waste.

On the other hand, in the display device of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
), the condensed "Mo," is displayed in the last column of the line, as shown by the diagonal line.

That is, the full-width character "mo" and the full-width character "," are condensed, and two characters "mo," are rewritten into one full-width character.

By performing such processing, Kinsoku processing in the WP system can be realized, and there is no need to create a column dedicated to punctuation marks in the last column of a line or to insert spaces, as in the past, and the screen is easy to read. display and effective use of the screen.

The display device of the present invention is composed of blocks as shown in FIG.

In normal display operation, data to be displayed on the display device 5 is transmitted to an external CPU (not shown), similar to conventional display devices.
etc., is applied to the frame buffer 42 via the data transfer unit 72.

For example, as shown in FIG. 16 (1), when a full stop "," is displayed in the first column of a line, in the display device of the present invention, the WP control unit 71 detects this and displays the last column of the line. Condensing characters and punctuation.

That is, it is checked whether or not there is a punctuation mark in the first column of the line on the frame buffer 42, and if the punctuation mark ", J" is displayed in the first column of the line, the display data condensing device 65 determines whether or not there is a punctuation mark. For example, the two characters "mo," are each condensed into half-width characters.

Then, the data in the last column of the line on the frame buffer 42 is rewritten to this condensed character, as shown in FIG. 16 (4).
Display as the shaded area.

Through such operations, the prohibition processing of the WP system is performed.

Therefore, unlike conventional Kinsoku processing, there is no need to create a column dedicated to punctuation marks in the last column of a line or insert a space to prevent punctuation marks from appearing at the beginning of the line. This eliminates the need for extra columns, making effective use of the screen and providing a natural and easy-to-read display with punctuation marks placed at the ends of lines.

As described above in detail, the present invention includes a bitmap-type physical display device, a display data buffer memory that stores display data of the display device, at least two virtual screen buffer memories, and a virtual screen buffer memory that stores display data of the display device. Means for cutting out data in a partial area of the screen buffer memory as display data, window management information storage means for storing management information regarding the cut out area, and data in each area cut out from the virtual screen buffer memory. in a display device having a multi-window display function, in which display data of a lower window spans an upper window in overlapping windows. and a data condensing means for condensing the display data of the lower window, and when the detection means detects that the display data of the lower window spans the upper window, The display data is condensed and displayed by the data condensing means.

In addition, in a display device of a conventional word processor system that is equipped with an input means, a bitmap type display device, and a hummoum buffer memory for storing display data of the display device, and has a document creation function, punctuation mark detection means for detecting whether or not there is a punctuation mark, and data condensation means for condensing display data, and when the detection means detects that there is a punctuation mark at the beginning of a line, the data condensation means detects the presence of the punctuation mark. Display data such as punctuation marks and the characters before them are condensed and displayed.

Effects Therefore, according to the display device having the multi-window display function of the present invention, when windows are displayed overlapping and the display data of the lower window is displayed across the upper window, , the display data in the lower window is condensed and displayed as an image of all characters, so unlike the conventional first and second display methods, the data in the lower window is displayed as an image of other specific symbols. or -Dl- will not be replaced with a space or the like, or will not be displayed with missing characters, preventing misreading, etc., and improving the operating efficiency of the operator.

Furthermore, if the character condensation function of the display device of the present invention is used for prohibition processing in a display device of a word processing system that has a document creation function, punctuation marks can be displayed in the last column of a line like in a conventional display device. There is no need to create a dedicated column or insert spaces, so
Many excellent effects can be achieved, such as effective use of the screen and the ability to display (print) natural and easy-to-read characters with punctuation marks placed at the ends of lines.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing one embodiment of the main configuration of a display device having a multi-window display function of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a display data rewriting process for the missing characters shown in FIG. FIGS. 3 (1) and (2) are functional block diagrams showing an example of the configuration of the main parts of the window control unit including the window control unit 6.
) is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between the virtual screen buffer and the real screen when a part of the table-52= display data of the lower window W2 is hidden by the upper window w1, and (1) (2) is a diagram showing a virtual screen buffer for the lower window W2, and (2) is a real screen. FIGS. 4(1) and (2) are diagrams for explaining the character image condensation process performed by the character data condensing unit 63.
(2) is a diagram showing the dot configuration of a condensed character. Figure 5 shows a case where part of the display data of the lower window W2 is hidden by the upper window W1. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the virtual screen buffer for the lower window W2 in the display device of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows the flow of display data condensation processing. The flowchart for explanation, FIG. 7, shows that the missing characters shown in FIG.
2, FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the main configuration of the character display data rewriting unit 6I shown in FIG.
9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the virtual screen buffer, and FIG. 10 is an example of the correspondence between the image memory of the virtual screen buffer and the character code RAM. The diagram shown in FIG. 11 shows the display data "SA" in the lower window W2.
FIGS. 12 (1) and (2) are examples of real screen buffers showing a state in which part of the screen is hidden by the upper window W1.
) is a diagram showing the condensed state of the image data of the kanji ``Sa'', (1) is a diagram showing the state before condensation, (2) is a diagram showing the state after condensation, and Figure 13 (1) and (2) are virtual Figure 14 shows the correspondence between the image of the kanji ``Sa'' on the screen buffer and the display data area, where (1) shows the state of the image before condensation, and (2) shows the state of the image after condensation. The display data in the lower window W2 is
This is an example of a real screen buffer showing a state in which a part of is hidden by the upper window W1.
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing a display system for Kinsoku processing in the WP system, and FIGS. 16 (1) to (4) show the conventional Kinsoku processing in the WP system and the display state by the display device of the present invention. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a multi-window display on the screen of a display device, and FIG. 18 (1) to (3)
is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between the position of the cutout window in two virtual screen buffer memories and the display screen, where (1) and (2) are the positions of the first and second virtual screen buffer memories, (3) ) is a display screen, and FIGS. 19 (1) and (2) are bitmap display screens, respectively, when the display data of the lower window W2 is displayed across the upper window W1. , FIGS. 20 (1) to (3) are diagrams showing examples of display data of the lower window W2 on the display screen, and FIGS. 20 (1) to (3) respectively show that the display data of the lower window W2 is FIG. 21 is a display example when the screen is displayed across the upper window W1, and FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between the screen memory and the CRT screen in a bitmap display device. FIGS. 23 (1) to (3) are functional block diagrams showing the main components of a conventional display device having a multi-window display function.
This is a diagram showing the correspondence between the cutout area on I, the window position on the display data buffer 4, and the window management register, in which (1) shows the virtual screen buffer memory 21, (2) shows the display data buffer 4, and (3) ) is a window management register, FIGS. 24 (1) and (2) are diagrams showing two virtual screen buffer memories and their cutout areas, and FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a window area on display data buffer 4. , Figures 26 (1) and (2) are diagrams showing examples of window management register data for the two virtual screen buffer memories shown in Figures 24 (1) and (2), and Figure 27 (1). and (2) are diagrams showing the cutout positions in the two virtual screen buffers, and Figure 28 is a diagram showing the cutout positions in the two virtual screen buffers shown in Figures 27 (1) and (2). 29 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the mask management register, and FIG. 30 is a diagram showing the specific structure of the mask management register corresponding to the virtual screen buffer shown in FIG. 27 (1). FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a specific configuration example of the mask management register corresponding to the virtual screen buffer shown in FIG. 27 (2), and FIG. 32 (1) and (2) are diagrams showing a configuration example. An example of a display screen showing an example of a state in which a part of the display data of the lower window W2 is hidden when two or more windows overlap and the lower window W2 straddles the upper window W1. , (1) shows the case of a conventional display device, and (2) shows the case of the display device of the present invention. In the drawings, 1 is a data processing section, 11 is a data output section, 12 is a character drawing section, 13 is a graph drawing section, 2A to 2n
are the first to nth window control units, 2 is the virtual screen buffer memory thereof, 22 is the extraction control unit, 23 is the window processing control unit, 24 is the window information storage unit, 25 is the data transfer unit, and 3 is the multifunction 4 is a window control unit; 4 is a display data buffer memory; 41 is a video signal generator; 42 is a window control unit;
is a frame buffer, 5 is a display device, 6 is a display data rewriting processing unit for missing characters, 61 is a character display data rewriting unit, 61A is a display data and its coordinate position reading unit for missing characters, 61B is a display data converting unit, 61C is a condensed display data writing section, 61D is a display data rewriting control section for missing characters,
62 is a display data detection unit for missing characters, 62A is a display data area detection unit, 62B is a display data detection unit for missing characters in the display data area, 62G is a display data detection control unit for missing characters, and 62D is a display data detection control unit for missing characters. 63 is a save area for display data and its coordinate position information; 63 is a character data condensing unit; 64 is a display data rewriting control unit for missing characters; 65 is a display data condensing device; 71 is a wp control unit; and 72 is a data transfer unit. ■ ■

Claims (1)

[Claims] A bitmap type physical display device, a display data buffer memory that stores display data of the display device, at least two or more virtual screen buffer memories, and displaying data in a partial area of the virtual screen buffer memory. A means for cutting out data as data, a window management information storage means for storing management information regarding the cut out area, and a combination of data of each area cut out from the virtual screen buffer memory and outputting the combined data to the display data buffer memory. A display device having a multi-window display function, comprising: a detection means for detecting whether display data of a lower window straddles an upper window in overlapping windows; and a data condensing means for condensing the display data of the lower window, and when the detection means detects that the display data of the lower window spans the upper window, the data condensing means condenses the display data. A display device characterized by displaying.