JPS63214827A - Multi-window controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate operation by executing the change by replacing attribute data such as the control table, etc., of respective windows when the change-over of the displaying between windows is executed. CONSTITUTION:A window control device 20 is controlled by a microprocessor 21, and a multiwindow control device to simultaneously overlap and display plural windows to the screen of a CRT display 35 is composed. To the processor 21, a mouse 22 to input the control information, etc., to a window and a keyboard 24 are respectively connected through control devices 23 and 25. The processor 21 writes a cursor pattern to a graphic displaying memory based on the position information added from a mouse control device 23 and displays it at the CRT display 35 together with the displaying data of a displaying memory 33. Further, a window control table 26, a window memory 27, a window change-over control device 28, an overlapping control device 29, etc., are controlled.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a multi-window control device, and in particular, to a multi-window control device that simultaneously overlaps multiple windows corresponding to each job on a display screen when multiple jobs are processed in parallel. The present invention relates to a multi-window control device that can display the status of each job simultaneously and check the status of each job.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention allows you to easily move the screen between windows using the keyboard or mouse when the window is displayed in the back window when the windows are superimposed, or when the size of the window is small and it is difficult to see the zip status clearly. It allows you to switch the display so that you can refer to the state of the zip you want to see in an easy-to-see window such as a front window or a large window.

[Conventional technology]

When multiple jobs are started by a processor and processed in parallel, a window is assigned to each of these jobs so that the status of these multiple zips can be displayed on the CRT display and checked by the operator. 2. Description of the Related Art So-called multi-window control devices are known in which windows are superimposed on each other and displayed simultaneously on a CRT display. In a multi-window system, if multiple windows are displayed 1.
Key functions can only be performed on the active window, and when displaying overlapping windows, the active window is displayed at the forefront.Zip, which is normally executed in the active window, is executed as a foreground job in a window other than the active window. I call zip a background job.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

FIG. 7 shows an example of multi-window display.

In the same figure, CRTI 1 has windows winA,
Two windows, winB, are displayed, and window WinA is the active window. At this time, if you want to execute zip B (background zip) that is being executed in window winB on a large screen, you have to perform the following operations with conventional multi-window control devices.

■ Switch the active window to window winB by operating the mouse or the like.

■ Enlarge window winB again by operating the mouse or the like.

However, switching the active window,
When performing an enlargement operation, a menu selection or the like must be performed by moving the mouse or pressing down (clicking) a mouse button, which poses a problem in that the operation is cumbersome.

The present invention allows you to switch the display between windows with a simple operation when the window screen is difficult to see because it is displayed on the back side due to overlapping windows, or when the window size is small and it is difficult to see the job status clearly. This allows the status of a desired job to be viewed in an optimal window.

c. Means for Solving Problems] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a storage means that includes logical buffers corresponding to, for example, each window, and stores display data of each window corresponding to these logical buffers, and 2 stores display data of each window. A window management means 3 for managing addresses in the storage means 1, attributes and display order of each window, displays display data stored in the storage means 1 based on data managed by the window management means 2. 4 is an instruction means for instructing window switching. The window management means 2 switches the display between windows when the instruction means 4 instructs to switch the windows.

[For production]

To explain the operation of the present invention, when the instruction means 4 issues a window switching instruction, the window management means 2 changes, for example, some attributes of each window so that the display between the windows is switched. This attribute change is performed by replacing attribute data such as a management table of each window managed by the window management means 2.

The display means 3 reads the display data of each window from the storage means 1 based on the attribute information such as the management table managed by the window management means 2, and reads the display data of each window from the storage means 1 based on the display order of each window stored in the management table. Displaying each window on the display switches the display between the windows.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the window control device of the present invention. In FIG. 2, a window control device 20 is a so-called multi-window control device that operates under the control of a microprocessor 21 and can display a plurality of windows simultaneously on the screen of a CRT display 35. microprocessor 21
is operated by a program stored in a read-only memory (ROM) not shown. In order to process multiple zips in parallel and display the processing status of multiple jobs simultaneously on the CRT display 35 screen, the microprocessor 21 generates a window corresponding to each input job and displays these windows. The windows are displayed overlapping each other on the screen, or the windows are changed or deleted when a job is changed or deleted. In addition to the program, the microprocessor 21 also has a mouse 22 and a keyboard 24 for inputting control information, display data information, etc. to the window through operator operations via a mouse control device 23 and a keyboard control device 25, respectively. It is connected.

The mouse 22 is a simple coordinate input device, and when an operator slides the mouse 22 on a desk surface, for example, data is added to the mouse control device 23 corresponding to the amount of movement. The mouse control device changes the position coordinates of the mouse cursor displayed on the display screen of the CRT 35 using data corresponding to this movement amount, and adds the changed position data to the microprocessor 21.

The mouse 22 has a button switch 22a, and when the button is pressed by the operator, switch information indicating that the button has been pressed is sent to the microprocessor 21 via the mouse control device 23.

The microprocessor 21 is connected to the mouse control device 23 described above.
Based on the additional position information, a cursor pattern is written in an example Evergraphic display memory (not shown) and displayed on the CRT display 35 together with the display data stored in the display memory 33 via the display control device 34.

As a result, the mouse cursor moves within the display screen on the CRT display 35 in response to the movement of the mouse 22.

On the other hand, when the button switch 22a of the mouse 22 is pressed, the microprocessor 21 recognizes the current position of the mouse cursor, detects which menu on the display screen is being instructed, and responds to the instructed menu. Execute processing. For example, "Window switching" in the menu
When the item "t" is indicated, window switching processing is performed.

A keyboard 24 is connected to the microprocessor 21 via a keyboard control device 25, and key data from the keyboard 24 can also be used to command menus, process windows, and input other data. . That is, in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, data can be input from the mouse 22 and keyboard 24.

The microprocessor 21 further controls peripheral devices such as a window management table 26, a window memory 27, a window switching control device 28, and an overlap control device 29.

The window management table 26 shows the window size,
This table manages attributes such as location, logical buffer address, size, and link relationships between windows.A management table is formed for each window, and this management table is generated, changed, or deleted by the microprocessor 21. It looks like this. The window memory 27 is a memory that stores window display data. In the window memory 27, when the number of submitted jobs is n, for example, there is a buffer buffer that inputs and outputs window display data corresponding to each job. Logical buffers LBF1, LBF2, . . . LBFn are formed by the processor 11.

Note that the window is a display area for displaying display data in the logical buffer on the CRT display 35.

The window switching device 28 is activated when the “window switching” menu is selected using the mouse 22 or when the keyboard 24
When the window switching key (not shown) is operated,
In response to a window switching request signal applied from the microprocessor 21, attribute data such as the pointer to the logical buffer and the size of the logical buffer stored in the management table of each window in the window management table 16 is exchanged between the management tables of each window. It is something.

The overlap control device 29 extracts display control information for each window from the window management table 26 under the control of the processor 21 and stores the control data to be displayed on the screen in the display control memory 30. Further, the window display device 31 takes out the control data stored in the display control memory 30 by the overlap control device 29 and passes it to the bit mover 32. The focus mover 32 extracts window display data from the window memory 27 and stores this display data and control data from the window display device 31 in the display memory 33.0The display control device 34 controls the display of the CRT display 35. The display data for each window stored in the display memory 33 is displayed on the CRT display 35 based on the control data. The CRT display 35 is capable of displaying a plurality of windows simultaneously in an overlapping state under the control of the display control device 34.

To explain in more detail the multi-window overlap display method, when an overlap display signal is applied from the microprocessor 21, the overlap control device 29 performs the following steps:
First, by referring to the window management table 26, the display screen for displaying each window is divided, and display information instructing which window to display in each divided area is stored in the display control memory 30.

FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are diagrams showing divided regions when the number of windows to be displayed is one and two.

In the case of one rectangular area, it is divided into six areas, A and F1, and windows and other displays to be displayed are allocated to each rectangular area.

The same applies to the case of two, and windows and other displays to be displayed are allocated to the rectangular areas At to L. Although these areas are not shown in the embodiment of the present invention, one It is managed in rectangular units, and its area is limited by the upper left point of the rectangle and its horizontal and vertical lengths.

FIG. 4(a) is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the window management table generated in the window management table 26. This table is provided for each window, and includes the corresponding window width bpw (Figure 4 (C)), window height bph (Figure 4 (C)), and the display screen in the upper left corner of the display window. X coordinate bpx and Y coordinate b above
py, font size in window csize (4th
Figure (C)), pitch between lines (Figure 4 (C1)
), next window pointer, i.e., backward window management table start address fp, previous window pointer bp, first subwindow management table pointer 3 W 3 ps, last subwindow management table pointer S W 6 ps Parent window pointer parenis title bar data title,
A pointer to a logical buffer that stores window display data, a width LBW of the logical buffer, and a height LBH of the logical buffer are stored.

In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the parent window winP is
Multiple sub-windows (winA, winB, w
inC), the first subwindow winA is pointed to by the management table pointer swap of the first subwindow in the management table of the parent window winP, and the pointer of the next window in the subwindow WinA is The head of the management table of subwindow winB is indicated by fP+. Then, by the pointer rp to the next window of subwindow winB, subwindow win
The head of the management table of C is indicated. Note that since subwindow winc is the last subwindow, null data (NULL; '00') is stored in the pointer to the next window of subwindow winC, indicating that this subwindow winC is the last subwindow. In addition, these management tables are connected backwards by pointers bp3 and bpz sequentially pointing from the last subwindow swap of the parent window to the previous window.

Note that null data (NULL) is stored in the pointer bp+ to the frontmost window of the subwindow winA. These store the relationship of the subwindow to the parent window.

In most cases, a parent window represents, for example, one screen, but in cases where additional windows are provided within a plurality of windows, the parent windows are similarly used to establish a relationship between the parent windows. Note that at this time, a higher level window management table is provided.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4(b), a pointer parent to the parent window is provided in the subwindow winAswinBswinc, and the pointer pa
From rentl, parentz\parent3,
You can see which parent window this subwindow belongs to. Further, as shown in FIG. 4(d), the window memory 27 has a logic buffer L for the window winA.
BFA, logical buffer LBFB for window winB
A logic buffer LBFC for the window winc is formed by the microprocessor 21, and display data for the windows winA% winB and winC are stored in each logic buffer LBFASLBFBSLBFC.

Each area in the superimposed window display is divided using the management table for each of the sub-windows A, B, and C described above, and the control data for which part of which window is displayed in that area is stored in the display control memory 30. Stored. The control data stored by the window display device 31 is then read out. The window display device 31 transfers control data for each rectangular area divided as described above to a bit mover (via) for each rectangular area.
)32. Bit Mover
) 32 reads the display data of the rectangular area from the window memory 27 and stores it at a predetermined position in the display memory 33 when control data for each rectangular area is input.
The display memory 33 is a frame memory that stores pixel data that corresponds one-to-one to dot positions on the CRT display 35 as a screen image, and uses a bit mover (Bit mover).
The bit mover 32 stores the display data of each rectangular area shown in FIGS. 3(a) and (bl) in the display memory 33 in the form of a screen image on the CRT display 35. Display data for all divided rectangular areas (display data for one screen)
When stored in the display memory 33, the display control device 34 converts one screen worth of display data stored in the display memory 33 into a CR.
It is displayed on the T display 35.

Multi-window control device 20 configured as above
The operation will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of this embodiment when the "window switching" menu is designated by the mouse 22 or the window switching key on the keyboard 34 is operated.

Incidentally, although not shown in the window switching control device 28 shown in FIG.
Registers 2, WORK3, and WORK4 are provided. The flowchart shown in FIG. 5 shows the operation of window switching control when n sub-windows (n is any positive integer including 0) are displayed on the CRT display 35. In order to
As a specific example, the window switching operation when three sub-windows winASwinB and winc are displayed as shown in FIG. 6(a) will be described.

The structure of the window management table 26 when the multi-window display shown in FIG. 6(a) is performed is shown in FIG. 4(b).
), the management table for subwindow winA is stored in logical buffer LBFA, and the management table for subwindow winB is stored in logical buffer LBFB.
In addition, the management table of subwindow WlnC is linked to logical buffer LBFC.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6(a), on the CRT display 35, display data input and output from zip JOBA is displayed in subwindow winA, display data input and output from zip JOBB is displayed in subwindow winB, and display data input and output from job JOBC is displayed in subwindow winB. The display data to be output is a subwindow w
Each is displayed in inc.

At this time, since the size of the subwindow winA, which is the active window, is large, the subwindow w ln B %winc, which is the inactive window, is hidden by the subwindow winA. In this state, if you want to see the entire display of the subwindow winB, use the mouse 32 (not shown).
Move the mouse cursor to the "window switching" menu and click the button switch 22a or operate the window switching key on the keyboard 24.

Then, when the button switch 22a of the mouse 22 is clicked, a button switch 22a push signal and mouse cursor position information are output to the microprocessor 21 via the mouse control device 23, and the microprocessor 21 controls the "mouse switching" button. Detects that a menu has been selected.

On the other hand, when the window switching key on the keyboard 24 is operated, key data corresponding to the window switching key is input to the microprocessor 21 via the keyboard control device 25, and the microprocessor 21 receives the key data corresponding to the window switching key from the keyboard controller 25. Detect what happened.

When the microprocessor 21 detects that a request for window switching has been made, the microprocessor 21 controls the window switching control device 28.
A window switching request signal is output to.

The window switching control device 28 includes a microprocessor 2
When a window switching request signal is input from 1, the process shown in FIG.
The display data of JOBA is displayed in the sub-window winc.

The window switching process executed by the window switching control device 28 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Please also refer to FIG. 4. First, the window switching control device 28 performs a process STl of storing the swap of the parent window winP in the window management table 26 in the register WP. Next, a determination process ST2 is performed to determine whether the data (swap) in register WP is NULL data, and since 5w5p is not NULL data, based on the address (swsp) specified by WP, 'title' is retrieved from the management table of subwindow winA. l5
Read LBP 1, LBWI, LBHl and write registers WORKI, WORK2, WORK3, WOR respectively.
Processing ST3 for storing in K4 is performed. And WP(sw
Read fP+ from the management table of subwindow winA specified by ap) and store it in register NWP (
Processing 5T4).

Next, the data (fpl) in register NWP is NULL.
It is determined whether or not (processing 5T5), and NULL
Therefore, title 2, LBP2, LBW2, LB stored in the management table specified by NWP (fp+), that is, the management table of subwindow winB.
Title 1゜LBPI, LBWI, in the management table of the subwindow where H2 is specified as WP (swap)
Transfer to LBHL (processing 5T6).

Next, the data (fp+) of register NWP is transferred to register w.
In processing ST4, the data in register WP (fp+
) of the management table of subwindow B specified by
is stored in the register NWP, and the processing is repeated from ST5 to ST.
7 is repeated, and through process ST6, the data (fl) of register NWP! ) title3, LBP3, LBW3, LB in the management table of subwindow C specified by
H3 is title 2, LB of the management table of subwindow B specified by the data (fp+) of register WP
Transferred to P2, LBW2, and LBH2. Then, in process ST7, fpt is stored in register WP, and in process ST4
Since fps is stored in the register NWP *fj)s is NULL data, the NU
It is determined that the data is LL data, and processing ST7 is performed.

In process ST7, the register WORK in the above-mentioned process ST3 is
Sub window wi saved in I~WORK4
Title 1 of the nc management table.

The data of LBPI, LBWI, LBHL is stored in register W.
Subwindow wi specified by data of P (fpz)
nc processing table title 3, LBP3, LB
Stored in W3 and LBH3.

Through the above-described processes STI to ST7, the job JOBB is displayed in the management table of subwindow winA.
Logical buffer L into which display data to be input and output is written
Pointer LBP to BFB.

Width of logic buffer LBFB L B W, logic buffer L
BFB height LBH and title bar data titl
e is linked. In addition, the management table of the sub-window WinB contains a pointer LB to the logical buffer LBFC in which display data to be input and output from the zip JOBC is written.
P, logic buffer LBFCO width LBW, logic buffer L
BFC height LBHL and title bar data tit
le is linked, and the management table of the subwindow winc contains the pointer t to the logical buffer LBFA where display data input and output by JOBA is written, Bp, the width LBW of the logical buffer LBFAO, the height LBH of the logical buffer LBFA, and the title bar. The data title is linked. In this way, by changing the contents of the window management table 26, the sixth
A display as shown in (in the figure) is displayed. That is, the contents of the logical buffer LBFB are displayed in the subwindow winA, the contents of the logical buffer LBFC are displayed in the subwindow winB, and the contents of the logical buffer LBFA are displayed in the subwindow winA.

Although not shown, by further instructing window switching using the mouse '22 or the keyboard 24, the processes ST1 to ST7 are performed, and the contents of the logical buffer LBFC are displayed in the sub-window winA, and the contents of the logical buffer LBFA are displayed in the sub-window winB. When the contents of the logical buffer LBFB are displayed in the sub-window winc and further window switching is instructed, the screen shown in FIG. 6(a) is displayed.
Return to the screen.

In the above embodiment, only the window switching instruction is given and the screens are switched sequentially in the order in which the windows are stacked, but it is also possible to specify two windows to be switched. At the time, the screen is switched only between the two windows for which window switching has been specified, which improves operational efficiency when you only want to know the status of a specific job.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, switching display between windows can be achieved by a simple operation of the instruction means (for example, a mouse, a keyboard, etc.), so that the following effects can be obtained.

a. With multi-window overlapping display, the screen of the window displayed at the back can be displayed in the front window with a simple operation, so you can efficiently check the status of the job being executed in the window at the back. It can be carried out.

b. When multiple jobs are being executed in windows of different sizes, it is convenient because by switching the windows, the zip that is being executed in the smaller window can be executed in the larger window.

C. The screen can be freely switched between windows, improving operability.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a multi-window control device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a multi-window control device of the present invention, and FIG. 3(a) , (b) are diagrams showing divided areas when there are one and two windows, Figures 4 (a), (bl, and (C) are explanatory diagrams of the window management table 26, and Figure 4 (d) is Window memory 27
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 (41) is a diagram for explaining the display operation of the above embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the multi-window control device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Storage means, 2... Window management means, 3... Display means, 4... Instruction means. Patent applicant Casio Computer Co., Ltd. ((]) (b) Figure 3 (G) Figure in P Figure 4 Figure 4 I I L j (d) Figure 6 winA II Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] storage means for storing display data of each window; window management means for managing addresses in the storage means at which display data for each window is stored; attributes and display order of each window; display means for superimposing and displaying display data stored in the storage means on a display based on the data stored in the storage means; and instruction means for instructing switching of windows, and the window management means includes: 1. A multi-window control device that switches the display between windows when an instruction to switch windows is given by.