KR20100056594A - Workspace management method, workspace management system, and computer readable medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A workspace management method, a workspace management system, and a computer readable medium are provided to manage a window, which is displayed through the response to the operation of an application, as a work space of a user interface. CONSTITUTION: When the movement of one window is detected from plural windows, an adjacent window detection device(250) refers to management information and another window adjacent to the one window is detected. When another window is detected, a margin display device(240) displays the positions docked with another window and the one window. When the stop of movement of the one window is detected, the one window is docked with another window.

Description

WORKSPACE MANAGEMENT METHOD, WORKSPACE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM

The present invention relates to a workspace management method, a workspace management method, and a computer-readable storage medium for managing a displayed window as a workspace of a user interface in response to activation of an application.

In recent years, more and more information is diversified, and the amount is also enormous. This is not an exception in the personal personal computer (PC). The user launches various applications on the PC and opens various documents at the same time to perform work. When displaying or editing a variety of information, various applications are used. This is because the operation system differs depending on the purpose and the type of information. For example, a text sentence uses a word processor, a draw tool for drawing, and a web browser for viewing documents on the web.

In such a situation, a large number of documents are opened by launching various applications on the PC, and the management is cumbersome. In Windows (registered trademark), which is a general-purpose OS (operating system), icons for running applications and open documents are listed in a bar called a task bar, and the currently running application or open document is listed. (I.e., window). However, as the number of windows increases, many icons are listed, and it is cumbersome to search for a desired icon on the task bar. In order to cope with this problem, in Windows, a plurality of documents opened in the same application (for example, Microsoft Word or Internet Explorer) are collectively iconized on the task bar.

However, there is one problem here. Actions (tasks) attempting to achieve a user's purpose do not necessarily correspond to an application. In other words, one task is not completed by one application. Rather, many applications require multiple applications to perform one task. For example, when writing a technical paper, in addition to the word processor, a dictionary, a paper read by him, his paper, and a draw tool for drawing, etc., are simultaneously executed. Display). In addition, when programming, an editor for editing source code, an environment for compiling or debugging, a manual, a web browser (to search as necessary), and the like are simultaneously used. Is used. When creating a mail, a mailer, a calendar, a schedule management system, a list management system, and the like are used simultaneously. In this task, individual applications or documents are arranged on the desktop according to the user's preferences to form the user's workspace. The workspace corresponding to the task of the user will be referred to as "workspace" in this specification.

Usually, a user often works in parallel with various tasks. After reading or writing an e-mail, reading someone else's paper, or writing their own. At this point, switching tasks is often cumbersome. You may need to click an icon several times to activate multiple applications or documents, or you may not be able to place the same document in different locations in different workspaces. The user wants to perform tasks, that is, switch between workspaces and manage. Application switching and management imposes only a system on the user's side. By arranging various applications or documents flexibly according to the user's preference, it is necessary to facilitate the configuration of the workspace so that the workspace can be easily switched due to the task switching.

As a technique for the user to configure the workspace and to facilitate the switching, a system called Rooms described in Non-Patent Document 1 supports the switching of the workspace using a room metaphor. You can preserve the layout of an application or document (that is, a window) as a Room, overview the Rooms in the overview, or switch the Room (workspace) using Doors.

Task Gallary is disclosed in Non-Patent Document 2 as a system in which an idea similar to the rooms of Non-Patent Document 1 is extended and realized in three dimensions. In Task Gallary, tasks can be managed using three-dimensional spatial memory, such as placing a specific set of windows on a wall.

In addition, in the system called Scalable Fabric of Non-Patent Document 3, it is assumed that a user mainly works in the center of a large display. It is possible to move a plurality of windows simultaneously, and moving the window from the central work space to the peripheral area of the display reduces the overall window. If you move the next set of windows (workspace) back to the center, the entire window grows and returns to the previous working state. In this way, it is possible to recognize the existence of another task (as a reduced size of the window image) during the operation of any task, and it is easy to switch the workspace.

As a study on the task bar of Windows (registered trademark), a system called GroupBar has been proposed in Non-Patent Document 4 and Non-Patent Document 5. The state of a plurality of windows displayed on the desktop can be arranged in a group so as to be preserved and reproduced. In this case, an icon is not displayed for each window on the task bar, but an icon is displayed for each group, thereby avoiding the problem of overflowing the icon in the task bar. In addition, switching of the workspace can be easily performed by switching icons corresponding to the groups.

In Elastic Windows shown in Non-Patent Document 6, a plurality of windows can be displayed in a multi-box structure, and the workspace can be managed hierarchically. It is possible to automatically adjust the layout so that a plurality of windows located in a substructure of the multi-box structure does not overlap, or to collectively operate (close, move, minimize, maximize, etc.) the plurality of windows.

Patent Literature 1 proposes a framework that allows a plurality of documents to be attached to a virtual board and reproduced. By opening the board, the state of closing the electronic board previously is reproduced. By treating the board like a workspace, it becomes possible to simply reproduce or switch the state of the previous workspace.

Patent Literature 2 proposes a method of changing the sizes and positions of a plurality of overlapping windows according to simple instructions and rearranging them so as not to overlap each other. Finally, Patent Document 3 proposes a method of automatically controlling the position of a window so as not to overlap with another window when opening a new window.

[Non-Patent Document 1] S. K. Card and A. Henderson. "A multiple, virtual-workspace interface to support user task switching." in Proceedings of CHI, pp. 53-59, 1987.

[Non-Patent Document 2] G. Robertson, M. van Dantzich, D. Robbins, M. Czerwinski, K. Hinckley, K. Risden, D. Thiel, V. Gorokhovsky. "The Task Gallery: A 3D Window manager." in Proceedings of CHI 2000, 494-501, 2000.

[Non-Patent Document 3] G. Robertson, E. Horvitz, M. Czerwinski, P. Baudisch, D. Hutchings, B. Meyers, D. Robins, G. Smith. "Scalable Fabric: Flexible task management," in Proceedings of AVI, pp. 85-89, 2004.

[Non-Patent Document 4] G. Smith, P. Baudisch, G. Robertson, M. Czerwinski, B. Meyers, D. Robbins, E. Horvitz, and D. Andrews. "GroupBar: The TaskBar evolved." in Proceedings of OZCHI '03, 2003.

[Non-Patent Document 5] M. Czerwinski, E. Horvitz, and S. Wilhite. "A diary study of task switching and interruptions." in Proceedings of CHI, pp. 175-182, 2004.

[Non-Patent Document 6] E. Kandogan and B. Shneiderman. "Elastic Windows: Improved spatial layout and rapid multiple Window operations." in Proceedings of ACM Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI), Gubbio, Italy, pp. 29-38, 1996.

[Non-Patent Document 7] E. Kandogan, B Shneiderman. "Elastic Windows: Evaluation of multi-window operations." in Proceedings of CHI, pp. 250-257, 1997.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 2715421

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1989-76114

[Patent Document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1990-28716

The above prior art is compared from the following three evaluation criteria.

1. Is the construction and switching of workspaces supported?

2. How much adjustment is made between windows to eliminate overlapping windows?

3. Is the existing application available or, if possible, with some difficulty?

TABLE 1

There are two problems to be solved by the present invention with respect to these prior arts.

1. Functional challenges in building and switching workspaces

2. The Challenge of Realization to Leverage Existing Applications

1. Functional challenges in building and switching workspaces

Among the above-mentioned conventional studies, it is possible to construct a workspace as shown in Table 1, as shown in Table 1, Rooms (Non-Patent Document 1), Task Gallery (Non-Patent Document 2), Scalable Fabric (Non-Patent Document 3), and GroupBar. (Non-Patent Documents 4 and 5), Patent Document 1, and Elastic Windows (Non-Patent Document 6). Studying the user interface for how to facilitate task switching, how to simply return to a previous task state, and so on are the core challenges of these technologies.

In the above proposal for enabling the construction of the workspace, the problems of the respective technologies will be described with respect to the construction method of the workspace.

In Rooms (Non-Patent Literature 1) and Patent Literature 1, it is necessary to prepare a room or a board and arrange a required window thereon prior to the arrangement of the windows. In other words, before building your workspace, you need to declare to the system that "I will now build an xx workspace".

In Task Gallery (Non-Patent Documents 2) and GroupBar (Non-Patent Documents 4, 5), an operation for arranging windows and preserving the state of the arranged windows is required. In other words, after building the workspace, you need to declare to the system that I keep the xx as the workspace.

In Scalable Fabric (Non-Patent Document 3), the act of arranging windows leads to the construction of the workspace as it is, but the workspace is limited to the center part of the display because it retracts the workspace that is not currently being worked on to the surrounding area. there is a problem.

In Elastic Windows (Non-Patent Document 6), it is necessary to sequentially open a new window of a multi-box structure in the window before arranging the window.

As described above, in the prior art, all of the prior arts need to designate "what should be the workspace" in addition to the operations related to the layout of the window, where and what should be placed when constructing the workspace. Another problem is that the display area cannot be utilized effectively. Preferably, an intuitive user interface where the act of arranging windows will lead directly to building a workspace. This is preferably realized by effectively utilizing the display area.

In addition, the prior art except for Elastic Windows (Non-Patent Document 6) merely maintains the arrangement of the plurality of windows as the workspace, and does not make any adjustments to the arrangement of the windows in the workspace. Normally, to perform one task, the information of a plurality of windows is referred to. At this time, it is cumbersome for the user to eliminate the overlap of the windows or to optimize the arrangement of the windows so that there is no useless space. These technologies do not support this. It is desirable to have the ability to automatically adjust the window's position within the workspace to eliminate overlapping or wasted space.

2. The Challenge of Realization to Leverage Existing Applications

In the above, the necessity of automatically adjusting the window position so that windows in the workspace do not overlap has been described. In Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3, this problem is partially solved. That is, the window arrangement is adjusted so that there is no overlap between windows at the instruction from the user or at the timing of opening the window. However, if the user later moves or resizes the window, the other window may be hidden.

In order to solve the problem of the above window arrangement, Elastic Windows (Non-Patent Document 6) manages windows hierarchically, and rearranges other windows according to the movement and size change of the window by the user. This framework does not handle existing applications because of the tight integration between windows. The problem is that you can only run your own application on Elastic Windows.

In a workspace management approach, it is desirable to handle existing applications on the framework (if possible, without making changes to existing applications, but with as few changes as necessary).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of this prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide an intuitive user interface for constructing a workspace without overlapping windows or useless space. In addition, the present invention enables configuration of a workspace by reproducing the arrangement of a plurality of windows by making as few changes as possible to the existing system, or adjusting the arrangement of the windows so that windows do not overlap within each workspace. It aims at making it possible. In other words, the present invention aims to make as few changes to the existing system as possible and to satisfy all three evaluation criteria for the prior art, or to provide a simple and intuitive user interface for this.

The workspace management method according to the present invention manages a window displayed in response to the application startup as a workspace for a user interface, the management step of managing management information about a plurality of windows displayed on the display, and the state of the window. A detection step for detecting a change in a window and a window detection for detecting another window in the vicinity or overlapping of the one window with reference to the management information when a movement of one window among the plurality of windows is detected by the detection step Steps,

When another window is detected by the window detection step, a display step of displaying a position docked to each of the one window and the other window; and when the stop of the movement of the one window is detected by the detection step. And a docking step of docking the one window to the other window through the docking position.

Docking a window means combining the windows. In addition, the display mode of a docking position can change the shape of the side of a window, the color of the side of a window, or both the shape and the color of the side of a window can change. For example, you can display margins in windows. In addition to this, an aspect in which a user can visually recognize a docking position may be sufficient, and an image of another color, a shape, etc. may be added additionally.

Although a plurality of windows are each started by different applications, this means that there are a plurality of applications, and the plurality of applications may be the same or different.

Preferably, the plurality of windows are rectangular, the one window is docked to a size suitable for the size of one side of the other window, and the docked window is a rectangle. The display step may display a docking position of at least two sides of one window and a plurality of other windows when there are a plurality of other windows.

In the workspace management method, when it is detected that the size of a subwindow included in the docked window is changed by the detecting step, the size of changing the size of another subwindow included in the docked window simultaneously with reference to the management information. The change step may further include.

The workspace management method may further include moving the docked window as a whole when the movement of the docked window is detected by the detecting step.

The workspace management method (and management program) according to the present invention manages a window displayed in response to the application startup as a workspace for a user interface, and manages window management information for storing a plurality of windows displayed on a display. Means, a detection means for detecting a change in the state of the window, and when the movement of one of the plurality of windows is detected by the detection means, the other, near or overlapping the one window with reference to the management information. Window detecting means for detecting a window, presenting means for presenting that the one window and the other window are dockable when another window is detected by the window detecting means, and the detecting means for the one window. When a stop of movement is detected, the one window is The dough has a docking means for docking a docked through the position shown.

Preferably, the management information includes at least identification information identifying the window, position information of the window, size information of the window, and also includes identification information, position information and size information of the docked window. Preferably, the presenting means includes display means for indicating a position at which the one window is docked with the other window, and the display means can give a display distinguishable from the other side to the specific side of the window. Preferably, the detection means periodically monitors the state of the active window and detects a change in the event of the active window. Alternatively, the detection means may detect the type of event operated for the window. Preferably, the plurality of windows are each activated by a different application.

The workspace management scheme may further include state preserving means for preserving the state of the docked window and state reproducing means for reproducing the docking window based on the state preserved by the state preserving means.

In addition, the workspace management method of the present invention manages a window displayed as a workspace for a user interface in response to an application startup, and includes docking means for docking one window to another window and a subwindow in the docked docking window. And use history holding means for holding operation history information for the second and placement recommendation means for recommending the arrangement of the sub-window in the docked window based on the operation history information.

Preferably, the arrangement recommendation means calculates at least the frequency of use of the sub-windows or the similarity between the sub-windows based on the operation history information, and determines the arrangement of the sub-windows according to the calculation result.

In addition, the workspace management method (and program) according to the present invention manages a window displayed in response to the application startup as a workspace for a user interface, and stores a management information about a plurality of windows displayed on the display. When the movement means of one of the plurality of windows is detected by the management means, the detection means for detecting a change in the state of the window, and the detection means moves near or overlaps the one window with reference to the management information. Window detection means for detecting another window, display means for displaying a position docked to each of the one window and the other window when another window is detected by the window detection means, and the detection means causes the 1 to be displayed. When a stop of movement of two windows is detected, the one window is The other window has docking means for docking through the docking position.

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(a) The operation of constructing a workspace by a window is intuitively simple compared with the conventional one.

(b) By automating the arrangement of windows in the workspace, it becomes easy to arrange windows and makes use of the limited display space effectively without creating useless spaces.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the basic idea of the workspace management system of this invention is demonstrated with reference to drawings. The idea of the present invention mainly falls into two categories.

1. User interface for building and switching workspaces

An architecture for realizing the user interface of 2.1, an implementation scheme for injecting existing applications into the framework of the invention as easily as possible.

1. User Interface and Its Operation

FIG. 1A shows a state in which two windows A and B are displayed on the display, and a window B is dragged near the window A. FIG. Windows A and B are displayed on the display by executing separate application software on the operating software of the computer, respectively, and Window B is selected and dragged (moved) by an input device such as a mouse. When the window A and the window B come to some extent, the sawtooth margins 10 and 12 indicating that both can be docked are displayed on opposite sides of the windows A and B, respectively. In this state, when window B is dropped (moving is stopped), as shown in Fig. 1B, both windows A and B are docked to become one window. At this time, the size of the window B is adjusted to a size suitable for the size of the side where the margin of the window A is displayed.

Here, a docked window (hereinafter referred to as a docking window) behaves similarly to a normal window that is not docked (hereinafter referred to as an undocked window).

(a) The shape of the window after docking is rectangular or rectangular.

(b) Windows after docking move at once. That is, by dragging the title bar, both windows A and B move simultaneously.

(c) It is possible to simultaneously close, maximize, and minimize individual subwindows included in the docking window.

In addition, since the docking window is an aggregate of a plurality of windows, the following points are different from the general windows.

(a) By changing the size of the specific subwindow, the size of the other subwindow (or the docking window which covers the whole) is also changed.

(b) Undock is possible. In some cases, you might want to release all of them, or you may want to release only certain subwindows.

(c) If necessary, the display of the title bar may be different from that of the normal window so as to indicate that it is docked.

(c1) The "undocking" button is added to the normal "minimize", "maximize", and "close" buttons.

(c2) Change the window icon to something special.

(c3) Change the background color of the title bar.

Next, the operation when the size of the subwindow is changed will be described. 2 shows that the size of the window A is changed by changing the size of the sub window B, and the size of the entire docking window (including the windows A and B) is changed at the same time. As shown in Fig. 2A, when the window B is enlarged (height and width are widened), the height of the window A is changed as shown in Fig. 2B. However, the width of the window A does not change.

3 shows a widening of the width of the window A in a window in which the sub-windows A, B, and C are docked. When the width of the sub-window A is widened from the state shown in Fig. 3A, as shown in Fig. 3B, the windows B and C are reduced while maintaining the width ratio.

4 is an enlarged view of the width of the sub-window A in a window in which the sub-windows A, B, C, and D are docked. If the sub-window A is enlarged from the state shown in Fig. 4A, the widths of the windows C and D are reduced accordingly as shown in Fig. 4B. At the same time, the width of window B is enlarged.

In the present invention, it is assumed that the docked window is used as the workspace. In that sense, docking windows and workspaces are often treated in the same sense.

2. Architecture (realization)

In realizing the framework of the above idea of the present invention (referred to as Docking Window Framework (DWF)), if it is possible to realize DWF only by adding a function to an operating system (OS), it is advantageous in the following aspects. .

(a) Benefit from DWF without any changes to existing applications (for example, Microsoft Office applications).

(b) Even if there is a bug in the system, only the modules added to the OS may be replaced, and there is no need to replace each application. This can also be done for system upgrades.

However, this is generally difficult. This is because it is difficult to know what event is occurring in the window of the application from outside the application, and in what state the window is. Here, two methods are proposed as this countermeasure. Here, the module managing the window added to the OS will be referred to as "manager".

Method A (Event Detection Method): The event detection method checks the state of all windows on a regular basis by the manager, and when there is a change in the window state, specifies the type of event from the type of change.

Method B (Event Notification Method): The event notification method notifies that the event is generated from the window to the manager when there is a change in the window state in each window.

The event detection method can realize DWF without any change on the application side. However, the following problems are accompanied.

(a) Since the manager regularly checks the status of all windows, it uses up a lot of computer resources.

(b) Since the event is detected by regular checks, a time lag occurs from the occurrence of the actual event until the event is detected. This causes a delay in the overall behavior of the DWF. Of course, the problem can be alleviated by making the check period small, but by reducing the cycle, computer resources are consumed by one.

The event notification method needs to perform a process of "notifying the manager that an event has occurred at the required timing" on each application side. In other words, changes need to be made for each application. Of course, the smaller the change, the better. In addition, it is cumbersome to make changes to all applications whenever there is a function change in the manager. Therefore, the function to be implemented in each application is preferably universal (stiff against function change). From there, as the minimum function that the application side should have, it raises "notify the manager when a specific event occurs". The important thing here is that the application only informs the manager of the occurrence of the event, and does nothing else (including two-way communication with the manager), and if it does, the manager takes care of everything else. In addition, although it demonstrates in detail in an Example, the kind of event to transmit is the following as a minimum structure.

Launching the Application "Execute"

Application Exit "Exit"

Windows is active "Active"

Move window "Move"

Drop window (end of movement) "Drop"

Resize Window "Resize"

In fact, the Exit corresponding to Execute is also added to the list, but it is not absolutely necessary for Exit. The exit is smarter, but not essential. Specifically, if Exit is not detected, it is impossible to delete the window from the table in response to the closing of the window, and thus the window becomes larger. This results in an increase in processing. In addition, the Resize event may be subdivided as a countermeasure to "maximizing", "minimizing", and "reverting" a window. For reference, some of these events are automatically detected on the manager side, and there is a possibility to notify others from the application side.

Type of dock

The docking shown in FIG. 1 is docked in a form in which the window B docked on the outside of the window A to be docked is attached (the B is pushed out of the outside of A). Such docking will be referred to as "extended docking". In contrast, the docking shown in Figs. 5A and 5B is docked with respect to the docking windows of windows A and B so that window C intervenes in the area of window B. This docking as a form of entering an existing window will be referred to as "embedded docking".

Next, a description is given regarding the difference between the extended docking and the buried docking. First, extended docking does not change the size of the window before or after docking, whereas buried docking does not change the size of the window before or after docking. Second, in the extended docking, "margin" is displayed on only one side of each window, whereas in the embedded docking, "margin" of two or more sides is displayed on each window. As shown in FIG. 5A, the margins 14a and 14b are displayed on each side of the docked windows A and B, and the margins 16 are displayed on the left and upper ends of the window C. FIG. .

The biggest feature of the present invention is that the workspace can be configured through an operation of docking an application that can be used alone. As in the prior art, rather than arranging the windows to preserve the layout, the operation of arranging it leads to configuring the workspace. In other words, creating a workspace is intuitive, and you get instant feedback on the results. In addition, a feature of the realization is that the workspace is managed without changing or changing the existing application.

In addition, the workspace management method of the present invention can be applied as follows.

Interaction with the docking window

(a) Make a particular window larger or smaller in the workspace. Relatively others become smaller or larger. It is not maximization or minimization, but corresponding to enlargement and reduction.

(b) Collapse specific windows in the workspace. Relatively different things get bigger.

(c) It is possible to preserve and reproduce the state of the docking window (relationship with the application of the subwindow).

(d) It is possible to save and reproduce the document state of the docking window (in addition to the window state, the document being opened in each window, scroll position, cursor position, etc.).

The system automatically detects the windows that make up the workspace and presents candidates

When the user uses the framework using the present invention, it may be used as a workspace construction support, and in normal use, a window that may be another candidate may be automatically recommended when the window is docked. The applications and documents of the docking candidate may be collected as follows.

(a) the date-time attributes (create, update, reference) of the document are close.

(b) Documents you've used together before

(c) Documents being used together in different workspaces

In window layout in the workspace, the system suggests the best layout method

(a) Analyze how the active subwindow will transition in the user's behavior in the workspace, and recommend appropriate window layout.

(a1) It is preferable that the movement of the operation and the movement of the neck line are small.

(a2) It is preferable to move an operation from left to right and top to bottom.

(a3) It is preferable that the sub-window in which the operation is frequently switched is near.

(Example)

Next, a workspace method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. The workspace method according to the present embodiment is executable by, for example, application software executable on an OS mounted on a PC or a program coupled to the OS.

In the following description, first, two event processing methods of 1. event detection and 2. event notification method will be described. Next, as the development, an embodiment of a system for storing and reproducing 3. the window state and the document state is shown. Next, an embodiment of the system for automatically presenting window candidates to be docked, and an embodiment of the system for presenting an optimal window arrangement in the workspace will be described. Finally, 6. An embodiment of a buried dock is shown. In the above embodiment, the docking method is described under the assumption of extended docking. A buried dock will be described later. Also note that extended docking is merely described as docking.

1. Event Detection Method

In the event detection method, no change is necessary to the window of each application, and the manager performs all the processing. In addition, the exit event is not detected when the event is detected.

6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an event detection method. As shown in the figure, the manager 100 that executes the event detection method includes a docking means 110 for docking a window, a margin display means 120 for displaying a margin in the docked window, and an adjacent window to be docked. It includes a near window detection means 130, an event detection means 140 and a window management means 150 for detecting the detection.

Event detection means

First, the event detection means 140 will be described. The event detecting unit 140 periodically detects an event by acquiring an active window state and comparing it with the previous window state while referring to the window event table.

Table 2 shows the data structure of the window event table. The window event table has the following columns.

The "window ID" holds the identifier of the window.

"Position" maintains the coordinates of the upper left corner of the window.

Size keeps the width and height of the window.

"Active" holds a flag indicating whether the window is currently active or not.

"Event" holds the event just before the active window.

TABLE 2

7 shows the operational flow of the event detecting means. As shown in the figure, the event detecting means 140 periodically acquires the window ID (id), position, and size of the active window W (step S10). Then, it is checked whether or not the active window W is already registered in the window event table (step S11).

If the active window W is not registered in the table, the window is known to be active for the first time. Therefore, the event is "Execute". The event "Execute" is detected (step S12), and this is added to the window event table as an item of the active window W and ends.

If the active window W already exists in the table, it is obtained from the table whether or not W is active (step S13). If W of the table is not active, the event "Active" is detected by being activated by this check (step S14). Then, the table is rewritten to finish (step S15).

If W in the table is already active, you know that it is not active at least this time. Next, the previous size "size_old" is obtained from the table, and compared with the current size "size" of the active window W, it is checked whether or not the size has been changed (step S16). If the values of "size" and "size_old" are different, it is understood that the size of the active window W has been changed, and the event "Resize" is detected (step S17). Then, the table is rewritten to finish.

If the values of "size" and "size_old" are the same, it is understood that the size change has not been performed. At this time, the previous position "position_old" is acquired from the table, and it is checked whether or not the position is changed by comparing with the current position "position" of the active window W (step S18).

If "position" and "position_old" are different, it is understood that the window position has changed, and therefore the event Move is detected (step S19). If "position" and "position_old" are the same, it can be seen that the movement is not performed. In this case, the previous event is obtained from the table, and it is checked whether or not the previous event was Move (step S20). In the case of Move, since it is known that Move is finished by this check, the event Drop is detected (step S21).

When the event is detected by the above-described method, even if the event is detected or not detected, the window event table needs to be rewritten (step S22). First, both the "active" and "event" columns of the table are cleared. Next, the W row of the "active" column is checked. When an event is detected, the detected event is written in the "event" column of W.

Window management tool

When the window management means receives the event message from the event transmission means of each window, the window management means refers to the window table and the docking table and performs operations on the necessary windows. First, the data structures of the window table and the docking table will be described, and then the behavior of the window management means will be described.

The Window Table manages all windows during startup. The data structure is shown in Table 3. The window table has the following columns. "Window ID" keeps the ID of the window. "Position" maintains the coordinates of the upper left of each window. "Size" maintains the width and height of each window. "Dock ID" maintains a set of window IDs of the docked windows when the windows are docked. If the window is not docked with any window, this column is blank.

[Table 3]

Table 3 shows that seven windows are currently open on the PC, W003 and W004 are docked (the docking information is in row D001 of the docking table), and W005, W006, and W007 are also docked. (The docking information is in row D002 of the docking table).

The "dock table" manages the entire docking window being activated. The data structure is shown in Table 4. The window table has the following columns. "Docking ID" holds the ID of the docking window. "Position" maintains the coordinates of the upper left of each docking window. "Size" maintains the width and height of each docking window. The docking set maintains a set of window IDs of the docked windows.

[Table 4]

In Table 4, there are two docking windows currently being activated, one of which is composed of two subwindows, and the other of which is composed of three subwindows.

Returning to the window management means, upon receiving the event message from the event transmission means of the window W, the window management means refers to the window table or the docking table according to the received event type and performs necessary processing on the necessary window. The operation for each event will be described.

In case of Execute

8 shows an operation flow when the Execute event is detected. The operation differs depending on whether W is a docking window or not. It is checked whether or not W is a docking window (step S20). In the case of a docking window, the position and size of W are obtained from the docking table (step S21), and the W information (ID, position, size, and subwindow) is displayed in the docking table. Set) (step S22), the position and size of the subwindow are obtained from the window table (step S23), and the subwindow information is added to the window table (step S24). If W is an undocked window, the size of W is obtained (step S25), and only the information of W is added to the window table (step S26).

In case of Move

The operation flow when detecting a Move event is shown in FIG. First, the position of W is acquired (step S30), and the information of W in a window table is updated (step S31). If W is docked or not (step S32), if docked, another window that is docked with W is searched for and the window position is recalculated (step S33). Next, the positional information in the window table and the corresponding information in the docking table are updated for the other windows docked with W (step S34). Further, in the near window detection means, the window table is searched for whether an adjacent window exists or not (step S35). If there is a window nearby, the margin is displayed by the margin display means (step S36). If there is no window nearby, the margin display means does not display the margin (step S37).

In case of Drop

The operation flow when a Drop event is detected is shown in FIG. First, the position and size of W are acquired (step S40). Next, the near window detection means searches for the near window of W (step S41). If there is no nearby window, do nothing and exit. If there is an adjacent window W '(step S42), the docking means recalculates the position and size of W and W', sets the window position, and docks both (step S43). In addition, the position and size information of W and W 'in the window table is updated (step S44), and the information in the docking table is also updated (step S45).

For Resize

11 shows the operational flow when a Resize event is detected. First, the position of W is acquired (step S50), and the information of W in a table window is updated (step S51). It is checked whether W is docked with another window (step S52), and the process ends if it is not docked. If W is docked with another window, the position and size are recalculated for windows other than the docked W, and the window position is set (step S53). In addition, the information of the window other than W in the window table and the docked W is updated (step S54), and the information of the position and size of the W in the docking table is updated (step S56).

Near window detection means

The operation of the "near window detection means" while the window W is moving (while the event Move is detected in the W) will be described. As shown in Fig. 12, in order to show the positions of the four sides of the window, the top is referred to as the top, the bottom is the bottom, the left is the left, and the right is the right. Let's do it.

Two windows can be docked when the positional relationship of the windows is any of the following sets.

Right? Left

Top? Bottom

In other words, the window W may be docked with the window X in the following cases.

Right of W and Left of X

Left of W and Right of X

Top of W and Bottom of X

Bottom of W and Top of X

X in which the distance of the window position is smaller than a certain threshold will be referred to as "near window" of W. Here, in searching for the window near the W, first, the window near the W is searched from the docking table. If it is, return it. If not, then the window is searched for a window table. In this way, only the window near W is searched for the docked window or the single window which is not docked.

Margin indicator

With respect to W during movement, when near window X is detected by the near window detecting means, the margin display means displays a margin indicating that "W and X can be docked" on both sides of W and X. When X is a window in the vicinity of W, and the left of W and the right of X are approaching, the margin display means shows a margin 20 in the window X, as shown in Fig. 13A. The margin 22 is displayed in the window W. As for the margin display mode, the shape of the side of a window may change, the color of the side of a window may change, or both the shape and the color of the side of a window may change. In addition to this, an aspect in which a user can visually recognize a docking position may be sufficient, and an image of another color, a shape, etc. may be added additionally.

Docking means

When a Drop event is detected from the window W, the window management means searches for a window near W. When the window X near W exists, the docking process of W and X is actually performed by "docking means."

In the docking process, the operation differs depending on which side of W is the docking target (the position of this side is referred to as the "docking position").

The docking position of W is left;

The height of W is made equal to the height of X, and W is moved to contact X to the right of X (see FIG. 13B).

The docking position of W is Right;

The height of W is made equal to the height of X, and W is moved to the left of X in contact with X.

The docking position of W is Top;

The width of W is made equal to the width of X, and W is moved below X to make contact with X.

The docking position of W is Bottom;

The width of W is made equal to the width of X, and W is moved above X to make contact with X.

2. Event Notification Method

In the present embodiment, the exchange of data and timing between windows is assumed to be performed in event-driven, but the embodiment is not limited to event-driven alone. This may be done via a memory or a file. First, a message is sent to the manager from each window by some means.

14 shows the system configuration of the event notification method of the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the event notification method has an event transmitting means 200 for each window. In addition, the manager 210 that manages the window includes a window managing means 220, a nearby window detecting means 230, a margin display means 240, and a docking means 250.

The difference in configuration from the above embodiment is that "event sending means" is added to each window, and "event detecting means" is removed from the manager. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the difference between the operation of the event transmitting means 200 and the window managing means 220 will be described.

Event sending means

When the following operation occurs in its window, the event transmitting means 200 transmits the event to the window managing means 220. Although the Exit event was not detected in the above embodiment, it is assumed that the Exit event is also transmitted from each window in this embodiment.

Table 5 shows the data structure of the event message that the event transmitting means 200 transmits to the window management means 220. Table 5 shows that the Move event is transmitted from the window whose window ID is W001. The "source window" holds the window ID of the window for sending the event. "Type of event" indicates the type of event to be sent.

TABLE 5

Window management tool

The window management means 220 is basically the same as the above-described event detection method. However, since the management of the Exit event is newly added, only the difference is explained.

When the window management unit 220 receives an event other than Exit, the operation is the same as that in the embodiment of the event detection method. The following describes the operation when the Exit event is received.

For Exit

15 shows an operation flow when an Exit event is detected. The operation differs depending on whether W is a docking window or not. It is checked whether or not W is a docking window (step S60), and if W is a docking window, information of the subwindow of W is deleted from the window table (step S61), and then information of W is deleted from the docking table. (Step S62). If W is an undocked window, only the information of W is deleted from the window table (step S63).

As described above, the size of the table is reduced by receiving the Exit event and deleting the closed window from the window table and the docking table. This leads to more efficient processing.

3.System of preservation and reproduction of window state / document state

First, it is specified that there are two saving forms in the state preservation of the window.

Preserve window state

The following information is retained when saving the window state.

Application of individual windows

The position and size of individual windows

Preservation of the document state

In saving the document state, the following information is held in addition to the window state.

Document opening in individual window

The scroll position in the individual window

Cursor position in individual windows

Since the configuration for saving the document state includes the configuration for saving the window state, a description will be given of the preservation and reproduction of the document state. Incidentally, the embodiment herein will be described based on the event notification method.

Fig. 16 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a system for executing saving and reproducing of a window state / document state. With respect to the above embodiment, the module of the state saving means 300 and the state reproducing means 310 is added to the window manager 212 side. In addition, the data structure of the window table is different from that of the past. Here, only the difference is explained.

Windows table

The data structure of the window table included in the window management means 220 is expanded as shown in Table 6. "Window ID", "Position", "Size", and "Docking ID" are the same as those in Table 3, and Table 6 expands the following fields. "Document" indicates the path or URL of the document opened in the window. Leave blank if no document is specified. The "scroll position" maintains the scroll position (ratio of the length of the document) of the document. If the "Document" field is blank, it will not scroll, so this field will also be blank. The "cursor position" maintains the cursor position (the number of characters from the head) in the document. If the "Document" field is blank, no cursor is placed, so this field is blank.

TABLE 6

In the window of W003 of Table 6, the document "C: \ work \ paper.doc" is opened, indicating that the scroll is 57% of the total, and the cursor is 1922 characters from the beginning of the document.

State preservation

When the docking ID is designated to save the docking window of D001, the state preserving means 300 designates the structured data including the information (see Table 7) obtained by extracting the part related to D001 from Table 6, or Save to a predefined file.

TABLE 7

State reproduction means

The state reproducing means 310 reads the file and reproduces the docking window based on the data structure described above. First, open the subwindow using the specified application, and determine the position and size of the window. It also opens the specified document and sets the scroll position and cursor position.

4. A system for presenting docking target window candidates

17 shows a system configuration for presenting a docking target window candidate. Here, with respect to the event notification method described above, the candidate document search means 400, the candidate document notification means 410, the candidate document presentation means 420, and the window generation means 430 are provided to the window manager 214 side. It is added.

The candidate document retrieving means 400 automatically retrieves the document to be docked from the user's PC at the following timing.

-When the user docks the window

-When the user is instructed to search for candidate documents

The following are considered as a search method.

(a) Searches for a document that is displayed in the currently active window that is close to the date and time attribute (creation date, update date, and reference date and time). If the active window is a docking window, the search finds ones close to the temporary properties of the document displayed in the subwindow.

(b) Searches for the document currently displayed in the active window and the document that has been used before. If the active window is a docking window, it searches for documents displayed in that subwindow and documents that have been used previously. To realize this, it is necessary to keep the use of the document so far as a history.

(c) Search for the document currently displayed in the active window and the document being used together in another workspace (docking window). If the active window is a docking window, it searches for the document displayed in that subwindow and the document being used in another workspace. To achieve this, it is necessary to keep the use of the document in the docking window as a history.

Here, the window manager is a resident type application which is always activated during the execution of the OS. In this case, it is assumed to be in a task tray of Windows (registered trademark) (on the right side of the task bar, and the icon of the resident application is displayed).

When the candidate document exists by the search in the candidate document searching means, the candidate document notifying means 410 changes the state of the icon of the window manager in the task tray and informs the user that the candidate document for docking exists.

When the user clicks on the icon because the state of the icon of the window manager has changed, the candidate document presentation means 420 lists up the candidate document. An example thereof is shown in FIG. 18. As shown in the figure, when clicked, a menu is displayed to list a candidate document, and when a document is selected, the document is opened and becomes draggable.

In the listed menu, when the user selects a specific document, the window generating means 430 opens the document by the corresponding application. The generated window is then dragged. As a result, the user can immediately find a document to be docked and dock it with another window immediately. A suggestion to support workspace creation.

5. A system that recommends optimal window layout within the workspace

19 shows a system configuration for recommending window arrangement. For the embodiment of the event notification method, the usage log acquisition means 500, the usage log analysis means 510, and the layout recommendation means 520 are added to the window manager 216 side.

Usage log acquisition means

The usage log acquisition means 500 acquires the log of the operation with respect to the subwindow in the docking window, and stores the history in the usage log table. The usage log table is a table for maintaining a user's operation history for the docking window. An example of the data structure is shown in Table 8. The table has the following fields. "Pause" keeps the date and time the operation occurred. "Docking ID" holds the ID of the docking window in which the operation was performed. Here, the docking ID is not different for each startup of the docking window. "Window ID" holds the window ID of the subwindow of the docking window. Here, it is assumed that the window ID does not differ from startup to startup. "Type of operation" keeps what kind of operation has been performed by the user. Once active, scroll, click, input, and other operations are maintained, but the most important of them is active. In the algorithm of the usage log analysis means described later, the recommendation is made by analyzing the active history.

[Table 8]

The usage log analysis means 510 analyzes the usage log DB 530 to search for an optimal subwindow arrangement in the docking window.

Here, as an example, a method for recommending an optimal subwindow arrangement in the docking window D is shown. First, two indicators are introduced.

(a) Frequency of use of subwindow

(b) Similarity between subwindows

The similarity between the subwindows is calculated as the height of the likelihood that other subwindows will be used simultaneously (within a relatively short time). The time interval is partitioned at regular time intervals T. Then, a matrix is created such that the row is divided by the subwindow, the column is divided by the length T, and the element is the number of times the subwindow has been activated within that time. The similarity between the subwindows A and B is defined as the cosine of the row vectors corresponding to A and B. As a result, the similarity between the number of windows used together in a certain time interval increases. Fig. 20 conceptually illustrates the relationship between the matrix and the similarity.

First of all, it is thought that it is effective only to present the user of this step (that is, the similarity between the use of the subwindow and the subwindow) to the user. This is because there is a possibility that a user may notice a problem in his or her workspace, such as a place where a high frequency of use is difficult to use, or two sub-windows which are frequently used together are arranged apart.

Next, a method of recommending the arrangement of sub-windows in the workspace using the above two indices will be described. In practice, this algorithm is complex because it also needs to consider the size of the window. Here, a very simple method is introduced.

(1) The most frequent subwindow is placed on the left side.

(2) The window with the most similarity to it is placed second from the left.

(3) Among the sub windows which are not yet arranged, the one most similar to the second sub window from the left is placed in the third from the left.

(4) By repeating the process of (3), the arrangement (the order from the left) of all subwindows is determined.

(5) The width of the subwindow is determined to be proportional to the area of the original subwindow.

By the determination of the arrangement by the above stance, the windows that are likely to be used together are arranged to be adjacent to each other. In addition, although the shape of the original subwindow changes, the ratio of the area is maintained.

The layout presentation means 520 presents a sample of the layout to the user. While viewing the sample, the user changes the layout of the subwindow within the workspace.

In addition to the recommendations for subwindow placement, it is also possible to remove subwindows that are not in use from the workspace or to reduce their size.

6. Landfill Docking

As described above, the buried dock has the following features with respect to its operation. Before and after docking, the size of the entire window (on the dropped side) does not change. "Margin" is displayed on a plurality of sides of the window.

Here, the implementation method of the embedding docking in the form which expands the Example of an event notification means is demonstrated. A system configuration diagram for a buried dock is shown in FIG. 21.

In the system configuration diagram of the event notification method, the neighboring subwindow detecting means 600 is added to the manager 218. In addition, the operations of the near window detection means 600, the margin display means 240, and the docking means 230 are different from the event notification method. Explain about these.

Near window detection means

The near window detection means 600 of the event notification method detects only windows in which two windows have a relationship of left-right and top-bottom. Also detect if two windows overlap.

The distinction between extended docking and embedded docking is extended docking when there is no overlapping in the window as shown in Fig. 22A, and embedded docking when there is overlapping as shown in Fig. 22B. In the figure, the thick line 30 showing the outline of the window shows a margin. In the case of the extended docking in which two windows do not overlap, the nearby subwindow detection means is not required, and the processing may be performed in the same manner as before.

Nearby subwindow detection means

When the neighboring subwindow detecting means 600 determines that the nearby window detecting means is buried docking, the neighboring subwindow detecting means 600 determines which position of which subwindow of the docking window to push the new window to. Conceptually, it is shown in FIG.

The neighborhood subwindow detection means 600 has the following two steps.

(1) The subwindow of the object to be pushed out is detected.

(2) The pushing position is detected in the subwindow of the pushing object.

Here, as shown in FIG. 23, a case where the new window C is buried docked somewhere in the docking window AB where the two windows A and B are docked.

In step 1, the subwindow to be pushed out is detected. Calculate the center of A (the center of the rectangle of the window) and the center of B. The distance between these and the center of C is computed, and the one nearer to the distance becomes the window to be docked of the window C. Here, suppose that B was a docking object.

In step 2, it is determined which position of window B to push out. First, the window area of B is divided into four areas divided by two diagonal lines as shown in FIG. Next, the distance from the center of each of the four areas of B to the center of C is calculated. However, the area close to the distance becomes the embedding position of C with respect to B. For example, if the center of C is close to the center of the left region of B (example of Fig. 23C), C is embedded at the left position of B and docked.

Margin indicator

The margin display means 240 is a buried position (left in the previous example) of the subwindow (B in the previous example) detected by the nearby subwindow detecting means 600, and a window being dragged therefrom (C in the previous example). Mark the margin at the corresponding position in. Here, the corresponding positions are sides 40B, 40C, 42B, 42C, 44B, 44C which come into contact with other sub-windows as a result of docking, as shown in Figs. 23A, 23B, and 23C. .

Docking means

The docking means 230 docks a new window (C in the previous example) to the portion of the margin displayed by the margin display means 240.

25 is a diagram showing an example of a processing apparatus that executes a workspace management method according to the present embodiment. The processing apparatus 700 according to the present embodiment includes an input device 702 including a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, an image scanner, and other inputs, an external interface (I / F) that enables transmission and reception of information with an external network. 704, display device 706, output device 708 such as a printer, a storage device 710 capable of storing various kinds of data, a memory 712 for storing an OS, a program, application software, and the like. Therefore, it is comprised including the CPU (Central Processing Unit) 714 which can control the operation | movement of each part.

The CPU 714 activates an application stored in the memory 712 to display a window for the user interface on the display device 706, and gives the user a workspace. The workspace management scheme of this embodiment is coupled to the OS and / or application software to enable docking of the windows as described above. The window displayed on the display device 706 is operated by the user through an input device 702 such as a mouse.

As mentioned above, although preferred Example of this invention was described in detail, this invention is not limited to this specific Example, A various deformation | transformation and a change are possible within the range of the summary of this invention described in a claim.

1A shows a state in which window B is dragged near window A, and FIG. 1B shows a state in which window B is docked in window A. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the size change of the subwindow of the docked window, FIG. 2A shows the size change of the subwindow B, and FIG. 2B shows the size change of the subwindow A. FIG. .

3 illustrates a state in which a size of a subwindow is changed in a window in which windows A, B, and C are docked, (a) of FIG. 3 shows a change in size of a subwindow A, and FIG. 3 (b) shows a subwindow. A figure which shows the size change of B and C. FIG.

4 illustrates a state in which a size of a subwindow is changed in a window in which windows A, B, C, and D are docked. FIG. 4A illustrates a change in size of a subwindow A. FIG. A diagram showing the resizing of subwindows B, C, and D. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a buried dock, FIG. 5A illustrates a state before the window C is docked to the docking windows A and B, and FIG. 5B illustrates a state after the window C is docked. drawing.

6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an event detection method of a workspace management method according to the embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the operational flow of the event detecting means of this embodiment.

8 is a diagram showing an operational flow in the case of Execute of the window management means of the present embodiment.

9 is a diagram showing an operation flow in the case of Move of the window management means of the present embodiment.

10 is a diagram showing an operation flow in the case of Drop of the window management means of the present embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing the operational flow in the case of Resize of the window management means of this embodiment.

12 is an operation explanatory diagram of a near window means.

13A is an explanatory view of the operation of the margin display means, and FIG. 13B is an explanatory view of the operation of the docking means.

Fig. 14 is a block diagram showing the structure of an event notification method in the present embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing the operational flow in the case of Exit of the window management means in the event notification method.

Fig. 16 is a block diagram showing the structure of a system for executing saving and reproducing of the window state / document state in this embodiment.

Fig. 17 is a block diagram showing a system configuration for presenting a docking target window candidate of the present embodiment.

18 is a diagram showing an example of list-up of candidate documents by candidate document presentation means.

Fig. 19 is a block diagram showing a system configuration for recommending the window arrangement of this embodiment.

20 is a diagram for explaining the concept of similarity calculation between sub-windows in the present embodiment.

Fig. 21 is a block diagram showing a system configuration for a landfill dock in this embodiment.

22A shows an example of extended docking, and FIG. 22B shows an example of a buried dock.

Fig. 23 is a diagram for explaining the operation of nearby subwindow detecting means.

24 is a diagram illustrating an example of division of an area in a window;

Fig. 25 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a processing apparatus for executing a workspace management method, a workspace management method, and a workspace management program according to the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

10, 12, 14b, 16, 30: margin display

40B, 40C, 42B, 42C, 44B, 44C: margin display

100: manager 110: docking means

120: margin display means 130: near window detection means

140: event detection means 150: window management means

200: event transmission means 210, 212, 214, 216, 218: manager

220: window management means 230: docking means

240: margin display means 250: near window detection means

300: state preservation means 310: state reproduction means

400: candidate document search means 410: candidate document notification means

420: candidate document presentation means 430: window generation means

500: usage log acquisition means 510: usage log analysis means

520: layout presentation means 600: nearby sub-window detection means

Claims (32)

A workspace management method for managing a displayed window in response to the application startup as a workspace for a user interface. A management step of managing management information about a plurality of windows displayed on the display; A detection step of detecting a change in state of the window; A window detection step of detecting another window in the vicinity of or overlapping with the one window with reference to the management information when the movement of one of the plurality of windows is detected by the detecting step; A display step of displaying a position docked to each of the one window and the other window when another window is detected by the window detection step; And a docking step of docking the one window to the other window via the docking position when the detection step stops the movement of the one window. The method of claim 1, And the plurality of windows are each activated by different applications. The method of claim 1, And said plurality of windows is a rectangle, said one window is docked with a size suitable for the size of one side of another window, and said docked window is a rectangle. The method of claim 1, And said displaying step displays a docking position on at least two sides of each of said one window and said other window. The method of claim 1, In the workspace management method, when it is detected that the size of a subwindow included in the docked window is changed by the detecting step, the size of changing the size of another subwindow included in the docked window simultaneously with reference to the management information. Workspace management method further comprising a change step. The method of claim 1, The workspace management method further comprises the step of moving the docked window as a whole when movement of the docked window is detected by the detecting step. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The workspace management method further comprises the step of undocking the docked window. A workspace management method for managing a displayed window in response to the application startup as a workspace for a user interface. When one window is dragged to access another window, the docking position of one window and the other window is displayed. A method of managing a workspace, wherein when a drag of one window is stopped while a docking position is displayed, one window is docked with another window to become one window. As a workspace management method for managing a window displayed in response to starting an application as a workspace for a user interface, Window management means for storing management information about the plurality of windows displayed on the display; Detecting means for detecting a change in state of the window; Window detection means for detecting another window in the vicinity or overlapping of the one window with reference to the management information when the movement of one of the plurality of windows is detected by the detection means; Presentation means for presenting that the one window and the other window are dockable when another window is detected by the window detection means; And docking means for docking said one window through said docking position in said other window when said stop of movement of said one window is detected by said detecting means. The method of claim 9, And the presentation means includes display means for indicating a location where the one window is docked with the other window. The method of claim 10, And the display means assigns a display distinguishable from another side to a specific side of the window. The method of claim 9 And the detecting means periodically monitors the state of the active window and detects a change in the event of the active window. The method of claim 9, And the detecting means detects the type of the event operated on the window. The method of claim 9, Workspace management scheme in which a plurality of windows are each launched according to different applications. The method of claim 9, And the management information includes at least identification information for identifying a window, position information of the window, and size information of the window. The method of claim 9, The plurality of windows are rectangular, and the docking means docks the one window to a size suitable for the size of one side of the other window, and the docked window is a rectangle. The method of claim 10, And said presenting means displays a docking position on at least two sides of each of said one window and said other window when said one window approaches a plurality of other windows. The method of claim 9, The workspace management method is a size for simultaneously changing the size of another subwindow included in the docked window with reference to the management information when a change in the size of the subwindow included in the window docked by the detection means is detected. Workspace management methods further comprising a means of change. The method of claim 9, The workspace management method further includes moving means for moving the docked window when the movement of the docked window is detected by the detecting means. The method of claim 9, The workspace management method further includes state preserving means for preserving the state of the docked window and state reproducing means for reproducing the docking window based on the state preserved by the state preserving means. As a workspace management method for managing a window displayed in response to starting an application as a workspace for a user interface, Docking means for docking one window to another window; Use history holding means for holding operation history information for the sub-window in the docked docking window; And a layout recommendation means for recommending an arrangement of sub-windows in a docked window based on the operation history information. The method of claim 21, The layout recommendation means calculates at least the frequency of use of the sub-windows or the similarity between the sub-windows based on the operation history information, and determines the arrangement of the sub-windows according to the calculation result. As a workspace management method for managing a window displayed in response to starting an application as a workspace for a user interface, Means for detecting that one window has been dragged to access the other window, Display means for displaying a docked position of one window and another window in response to the detection; And docking means for docking one window to another window to create one window when dragging of one window is stopped while the docking position is displayed. A computer-readable storage medium storing a workspace management program for managing a displayed window in response to the application startup as a workspace for a user interface, Window management means for storing management information about the plurality of windows displayed on the display; Detecting means for detecting a change in state of the window; Window detection means for detecting another window in the vicinity of, or overlapping with, the one window with reference to the management information when the movement of one of the plurality of windows is detected by the detecting means; Display means for displaying a position docked to each of the one window and the other window when another window is detected by the window detecting means; And a docking means for docking said one window to said other window via said docking position when said detection means detects a stop of movement of said one window. The method of claim 24, And the plurality of windows are rectangular, and the docking means docks the one window to a size suitable for the size of one side of the other window, and the docked window is rectangular. The method of claim 24, The workspace management method further comprises moving means for moving the docked window when the movement of the docked window is detected by the detecting means. The method of claim 24, The workspace management method further comprises state preserving means for preserving the state of the docked window, and state reproducing means for reproducing the docking window based on the state preserved by the state preserving means. A computer-readable storage medium storing a workspace management program for managing a displayed window in response to the application startup as a workspace for a user interface, Means for detecting that one window has been dragged to access the other window, Display means for displaying a docked position of one window and another window in response to the detection; A computer-readable storage medium storing a workspace management program having docking means for docking one window to another window and creating one window when dragging of one window is stopped while the docked position is displayed. 29. The method of claim 28, And the display means provides a specific side of the window with an identifiable indication of the other side. 29. The method of claim 28, And the detecting means periodically monitors a state of an active window and detects a change in an event of the active window. 29. The method of claim 28, And the detecting means detects a type of the event operated on the window. 29. The method of claim 28, And a plurality of windows, each of which is launched by a different application.

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