TWI390440B - Method and system for switching windows - Google Patents

Description

Window switching method and system

The present invention relates to a window switching method and system, and more particularly to a window switching method and system for performing window switching by touch operation.

When using a computer, users often open multiple windows on the desktop. At present, the screens of all open windows are arranged in a stereoscopic manner, so that users can browse all open windows and Switch windows. Please refer to Figure 1. For example, in the case of the conventional Windows 7, press the window key + Tab key in Windows 7, and the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) in the operating system will open all with stereoscopic effects. The screens of the windows (not shown) are arranged to form a plurality of list windows 91 to 96. The user can press the Tab key to switch between windows, and each of the list windows 91 to 96 also has the feature of being updated instantly as the content of the window is changed. As shown in FIG. 1, when switching to the window administrator mode, it is assumed that the window currently being operated by the user is the top list window 91. When the user presses the Tab key, the plural list window will advance. Moving, the list window 91 is moved to the list window 96, and the list window 92 is moved to the top display, so that the window is switched by the Tab key until the one of the list windows 91 to 96 of the window to be operated is moved to the uppermost layer. When the window key and the Tab key are released, the window corresponding to the list window is switched to display as a main operation window.

However, with the maturity of the touch panel technology, many companies have introduced the software of the touch interface. After the keyboard and the mouse are removed, the operation of the computer is more humanized. The above method of switching windows cannot be switched by touch mode, and the tab key of the keyboard is required to be used. If the user is using the software of the touch interface, the keyboard is used when switching the window, so that the user is used. It is quite inconvenient, and the way to switch windows with the keyboard's Tab key is not user-friendly.

In addition, since each of the list windows 91 to 96 is updated with the window content, the CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the memory usage rate are too high, resulting in waste of computer resources.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide a method for switching windows, which can display the screens of all open windows in a stereoscopic visual effect and provide a user to switch windows by touch, and effectively reduce the CPU and memory usage.

In order to solve the above problems, the main object of the present invention is to provide a window switching method and system that can achieve the purpose of window switching by touch operation, and can effectively reduce the usage rate of the CPU and the memory, thereby achieving an energy saving effect.

In order to achieve the above object, the window switching method of the present invention is for switching to display a plurality of windows that have been opened on a computer desktop, and the method includes:

(A) determining that each window is a minimized window or a non-minimized window;

(B) When the window is a non-minimized window, one window of the window is captured for use in step (F); when the window is a minimized window, it is determined whether the window has been updated;

(C) When the window is not updated, it enters a hidden window mode, so that the window is not displayed on the desktop of the computer in a non-minimized state;

(D) reply window to non-minimum;

(E) capture the window of the window;

(F) forming a stereoscopic window list according to all the window images captured in step (B) and step (E), the stereoscopic window list includes a plurality of list windows corresponding to the plurality of windows, and the plurality of list windows are stereoscopic Displaying the manner in which the screens of the list windows are taken from the window of the corresponding window;

(G) receiving a touch operation instruction of one of the stereoscopic window lists;

(H) Move the plural list window or select one of the plural list windows according to the touch operation command.

In addition, the present invention also provides a window switching system that uses the aforementioned window switching method. The window switching system includes a picture capturing module, a window list module, a touch module, and a control module. The screen capture module is used to capture the window of each window. The screen capture module can determine whether each window is a minimized window or a non-minimized window; if the window is a non-minimized window, the screen capture module captures Window window; if the window is a minimized window, it determines whether the window has been updated. If not, it enters a hidden window mode, and returns the window to non-minimized to capture its window image. The window will not be displayed on the desktop of the computer in the non-minimized state. The window list module is configured to form a stereoscopic window list according to all the captured window images. The stereoscopic window list includes a plurality of list windows corresponding to the plurality of windows, and the plurality of list windows are arranged in a stereoscopic manner, wherein each The screen of the list window is taken from the window of the corresponding window. The touch module is configured to receive a touch operation instruction of one of the stereoscopic window lists. The control module is configured to move the plural list window or select one of the plural list windows according to the touch operation instruction.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more <

The window switching system 1 of the present invention is applicable to an electronic device (not shown), and the electronic device can be a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a desktop computer or the like to provide touch operation functions. Similar to electronic devices and the like. The electronic device stores an operating system for providing a desktop of the computer, so that the user can open the window of each application on the desktop of the computer for corresponding operation; and the window switching system 1 of the present invention provides the user with the touch mode. Switch to display the function of multiple windows that have been opened on the desktop of your computer.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the window switching system 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the window switching system 1 of the present invention includes a screen capture module 11, a window list module 12, a touch module 13, a control module 14, and a memory module 15, and the modules are connected to each other. Electrical connection. The screen capture module 11 is configured to capture and process the window of the plurality of windows that have been opened on the desktop of the computer. For example, the Windows operating system can use the Windows API (Application Programming Interface, The application interface "printWindow" performs the corresponding window image capture function, but the invention is not limited thereto. The window list module 12 is configured to form a stereoscopic window list according to all captured window images. The stereoscopic window list includes a plurality of list windows corresponding to the plurality of windows for the user to perform operation switching.

The touch module 13 is configured to receive a touch operation command input by the user for the stereoscopic window list. The touch control module 13 can be a touch panel of the electronic device, but the invention is not limited thereto. The control module 14 is configured to move the plurality of list windows or select one of the plurality of list windows according to the touch operation command to achieve the effect of the window switching display. The control module 14 can be a processing unit of the electronic device, such as a central processing unit. (CPU). The memory module 15 is configured to store the window images captured by the image capturing module 11. The memory module 15 can be a memory unit of the electronic device, such as a memory.

In addition, the screen capture module 11, the window list module 12, the touch module 13, the control module 14, and the memory module 15 of the window switching system 1 of the present invention may be software programs, hardware, firmware or The above modules may be separately present or combined with each other, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the screen capture module 11 and the window list module 12 may also exist in the same module form.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a flowchart of a window switching method of the present invention. It should be noted that although the window switching system 1 shown in FIG. 2 is taken as an example to illustrate the window switching method of the present invention, the present invention is not limited thereto, and any other system having a similar architecture may also be applied to the present invention. Window switching method. As shown in FIG. 3, the window switching method of the present invention includes steps 301 to 304. The various steps will be described in detail below.

As shown in FIG. 3, step 301 is first performed: determining each window as a minimized window or a non-minimized window, and capturing window images of each window in different manners according to the determination result.

The window list module 12 of the window switching system 1 first acquires the identification code corresponding to each window for each window that has been opened on the computer desktop, and transmits it to the screen capturing module 11. The screen capture module 11 determines, according to the identification codes, the state of each window as a minimized window or a non-minimized window, and captures and processes the window images of the windows in different manners according to the determination result, and provides the window list module. 12 to form a three-dimensional window list. Since the present invention is directed to minimizing the window or non-minimizing the window for each window, the window capture module 11 captures the window images of the windows in different ways. For convenience and clarity, regarding this step. The detailed flow of the screen capture module 11 to capture the window screen will be described later in steps 801 to 812.

Please refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 below. 4 is a schematic diagram of a computer desktop 5; and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional window list of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the user has opened the plurality of windows 41 to 46 on the computer desktop 5, and the plurality of windows 41 to 46 includes at least one minimized window and at least one non-minimized window, each of the windows 41 Up to 46 is used to display one of the corresponding window screens. In this embodiment, since the windows 41 to 44 are minimized windows, the windows 41 to 44 are only displayed in the work column 4, and the corresponding window screens are not displayed on the computer desktop 5; the windows 45 and 46 are not minimum. In addition to being displayed in the work column 4, the corresponding window screens 45s and 46s are displayed on the desktop 5 of the computer. At present, the user uses the window 45 as a main window 60, and the corresponding window screen 45s is displayed on the uppermost layer of the computer desktop 5.

When the window switching system 1 receives an execution command, the screen capture module 11 starts the window screen for the plurality of windows 41 to 46 that have been opened on the desktop 5 according to the window identification code obtained by the window list module 12. Perform a screen capture. In this embodiment, the user can select a shortcut (not shown) corresponding to the execution window switching system 1 on the computer desktop 5 through the touch mode, and input the foregoing execution instruction to execute the window switching system 1, but not This embodiment is limited. The screen capture module 11 performs corresponding image processing on the captured window image, such as zooming or morphing the window image for use by the window list module 12, and the captured window image is stored in the memory. In module 15.

Next, step 302: forming a stereoscopic window list.

After the window list module 12 obtains each window image from the memory module 15, a stereoscopic window list 50 is formed according to each window image. As shown in FIG. 5, the stereoscopic window list 50 includes a plurality of list windows 51 to 56 corresponding to the respective windows 41 to 46. The plurality of list windows 51 to 56 are arranged in a stereoscopic manner, wherein each of the list windows 51 to 56 The picture is taken from the window of the corresponding window 41 to 46. The stereoscopic window list 50 includes a visual range 58 that is set by the window list module 12 to display a list window currently viewable by the user in the visible range 58. As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, only four list windows 52 to 55 can be displayed at a time in the visible range 58, while the other list windows 51 and 56 are outside the visible range, but the visible range 58 can be displayed. The number of list windows can be increased or decreased depending on the display screen size, hardware performance or user settings, and is not limited to this embodiment.

In the formed stereoscopic window list 50, the window list module 12 updates the screens of the list windows 52 to 55 located in the visible range so as to change the window screens corresponding to the corresponding windows 42 to 45. The screens of the list windows 52 to 55 are updated; however, the screens of the list windows 51 and 56 located outside the visible range are stopped, which can reduce the CPU and memory usage to achieve energy saving effects.

When the window list module 12 performs screen update on the screens of the list windows 52 to 55 in the visible range, the screen capture module 11 executes different screens according to the different states of the opened windows 42 to 45. The capture mode captures the window screens of the windows 42 to 45 for the window list module 12 to perform screen update. The foregoing different states include window minimization or non-minimization.

Please refer to FIG. 5A for a schematic diagram of the screens of the list windows 52 to 55 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 5A, since the window 45 is a non-minimized window, it indicates that the window 45 is currently displayed on the desktop 5 of the computer, so the window list module 12 will be directed to the list window 55 corresponding to the window 45. The screen is updated instantly. The window list module 12 notifies the screen capture module 11 to periodically capture the corresponding window screen 45s of the non-minimized window 45 (for example, 2 times per second) for the window list module 12 to update the list window 55. The picture. For example, if the window 45 corresponding to the list window 55 in FIG. 5 is playing a movie, the screen of the list window 55 will update its screen according to the captured window screen 45s, such as the list window 55 in FIG. 5A. The displayed picture.

As shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 5A, since the windows 42 to 44 are minimized windows, it is indicated that the windows 42 to 44 are currently only displayed in the work column 4, and are not currently operated by the user, so the window list mode is The group 12 will update the screens of the list windows 52 to 54 corresponding to the windows 42 to 44 in one time, that is, the screen capture module 11 only captures the screens of the windows 42 to 44 once as the corresponding list window. The picture from 52 to 54 will not be updated until the stereoscopic window list 50 is closed. For example, if the window 44 corresponding to the list window 54 in FIG. 5 is playing a movie, and the screen of the window 44 is taken as the screen of the list window 54 when the stereoscopic window list 50 is formed, the screen does not follow The content of the movie is changed and then updated, so the screen displayed in the list window 54 in Fig. 5A is still the same as the one shown in Fig. 5.

Step 303: Receive one touch operation instruction of the stereoscopic window list 50.

The touch module 13 receives one of the touch operation commands input by the stereoscopic window list 50. The user can input a corresponding touch operation instruction by sliding or clicking on the touch module 13 .

Then, step 304 is performed: moving the plurality of list windows 51 to 56 or selecting one of the plurality of list windows 51 to 56 according to the touch operation instruction.

The control module 14 can control the movement of the plurality of list windows 51 to 56 in the stereoscopic window list 50 according to the touch operation command received by the touch module 13, or select one of the plurality of list windows 51 to 56 as Main window.

Please refer to FIG. 6, FIG. 6A and FIG. 7 together. 6 and FIG. 6A are schematic diagrams showing the front and rear of the plurality of list windows 51 to 56, and FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the switching of the window 46 corresponding to the selected list window as a main window 60. Assuming that the user slides from right to left anywhere in the stereoscopic window list 50 with a finger or any touch object (as shown by the arrow in FIG. 6), the touch module 13 receives the touch of the stereoscopic window list 50. When the operation command is executed, the control module 14 moves the plurality of list windows 51 to 56 according to the touch operation command (as shown in FIG. 6A). In this embodiment, depending on the distance or force applied by the user to slide the touch, the moving speed or moving distance of the plurality of list windows 51 to 56 also changes. Then, as shown in FIG. 6A, it is assumed that the user has clicked the list window 56 displayed in the stereoscopic window list 50 (for example, two points on the list window 56), and the touch module 13 receives the touch operation command. Then, the command is transmitted to the control module 14, and the control module 14 selects the list window 56 according to the command, and switches the window 46 corresponding to the list window 56 into a main window 60, as shown in FIG. By the touch operation on the stereoscopic window list 50, the user can switch the main window 60 from the window 45 in the original FIG. 4 to the window 46 in FIG. 7, so that the window screen 46s corresponding to the window 46 is displayed on the desktop of the computer. The top layer of 5, in order to achieve the purpose of window switching.

In addition, in the process in which the plural list windows 51 to 56 are moved, the window list module 12 stops updating the screens of the list windows 51 to 56 to avoid problems such as image sticking or image errors.

Please refer to FIG. 8 , which is a flowchart of a window screen of the capture window of the present invention, which details the capture technology of the window image in the foregoing step 301 . As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 8, the screen capture module 11 can capture its window screen for different windows 41 to 46 by steps 801 to 812. The steps will be described in detail below. For convenience of explanation, the window 44 of the minimized state and the window 45 of the non-minimized state are taken as an example, and the same steps are used for other windows.

Step 801: The determination window 44 or 45 is a minimized window or a non-minimized window.

The screen capture module 11 determines whether it is a minimized window or a non-minimized window after selecting a window 44 or 45, that is, according to the identification code of the window 44 or 45 obtained by the window list module 12.

Step 802: directly capture the window screen of the window 45.

When the step 801 determines that the window 45 is a non-minimized window, the screen capture module 11 can directly capture the window image of the window 45 and store the image in the memory module 15 for image list module 12 use.

Step 803: Transfer the window screen to the window list module 12.

The screen capture module 11 notifies the memory module 15 to transfer the window screen captured to the window 45 to the window list module 12 as a screen corresponding to the list window 55.

Step 804: It is determined whether the window 44 has been updated.

When the step 801 determines that the window 44 is the minimized window, the screen capture module 11 then determines whether there is a screen update record of the window 44 to confirm whether the window 44 has been updated.

Step 805: Turn off one of the windows 44 to display the animation.

When the step 804 determines that the window 44 has not been updated, the screen capture module 11 notifies the operating system to close the display of one of the windows 44. The display animation includes a window minimized animation and a reply window to a non-minimized animation. The so-called window minimization animation is to retract the window displayed on the desktop 5 of the computer to the animation displayed in the work column 4, and the reply window to the non-minimized animation is to reply the window displayed in the work column 4. This animation is presented to the process displayed on the desktop 5 of the computer. Since the entire screen capture process for minimizing the window is performed without the user's invisibility, the screen capture module 11 must first notify the operating system to close the display animation of the window 44 in order to meet the needs of the subsequent steps. If the decision window 44 has been updated, the process ends.

Step 806: Enter a hidden window mode.

The screen capture module 11 causes the window 44 to enter a hidden window mode. After entering this mode, the window 44 is not displayed on the computer desktop 5 in a non-minimized state, that is, the window 44 with the response being non-minimized is hidden. On the computer desktop 5, the user is not allowed to find out whether the window 44 has been restored to be non-minimized, so as to facilitate the subsequent steps.

Step 807: Reply window 44 to non-minimized.

After entering the hidden window mode by the foregoing step 806, the screen capture module 11 will restore the window 44 from minimization to non-minimization (not shown), since the reply window has been closed to minimize the animation in the foregoing steps, and The hidden window 44 replies to the display of the computer desktop 5 after being minimized, so the user will not see the execution of this step from the desktop 5 of the computer.

Step 808: Capture the screen of window 44.

After the window 44 is restored to the non-minimum, the screen capture module 11 captures the window of the window 44 and processes it for storage in the memory module 15 for use by the window list module 12.

Step 809: Minimize window 44.

After the window screen of the window 44 is captured, the screen capture module 11 minimizes the window 44 to return to the original state of the window 44. Since the window minimization animation has been turned off in the previous steps, the user will not see the execution of this step from the desktop of the computer.

Step 810: Leave the hidden window mode.

After the above steps are completed, the screen capture module 11 causes the window 44 to leave the hidden window mode. That is, if the window 44 is returned to be non-minimized, the user can see that the window 44 is displayed on the desktop 5 of the computer.

Further, after step 810, step 811 can be further performed: the record window 44 has been updated.

Since the window 44 has completed the process of capturing the screen, according to the design of the present invention, it is no longer necessary to perform other screen capture operations for the minimized window 44, in order to prevent the window list module 12 from updating the screen of the list window 54 each time. During the operation, the screen capture module 11 is notified to repeat the screen capture of the window 44, resulting in waste of computer resources. Therefore, the screen capture module 11 will update the record window 44. Therefore, when the window list module 12 performs the foregoing update operation again, the screen capture module 11 can determine that the window 44 has been updated via the foregoing step 804, and terminate the subsequent screen capture step.

After step 810 or 811, step 812 is performed: the display animation is turned on.

Since the window 44 has completed the process of capturing the screen, the screen capture module 11 will notify the operating system to open the display animation that the window 44 has been closed, so that the window 44 returns to the normal state. After the step 812 is completed, the process returns to step 803, and the screen capture module 11 notifies the memory module 15 to transfer the window image captured to the window 44 to the window list module 12 as the corresponding list window 54. The picture.

In addition, when the stereoscopic window list 50 is closed, the screen capture module 11 clears the previously updated records for the respective minimized windows, that is, the state is set to be unupdated, so as to avoid the next time the stereoscopic window list 50 is formed. An incorrect judgment was made on the window.

The window switching method and the window switching system 1 of the present invention can use a touch mode to operate a stereoscopic window list 50 to switch a plurality of windows, which is more user-friendly than a keyboard switching window in the prior art; and, in the present invention In the meantime, only the screen of the list window in the visible range is updated, and different screen updating modes are adopted corresponding to different states of the window, so that the usage of the CPU and the memory can be effectively reduced, and the energy saving effect can be achieved.

To sum up, the present invention, regardless of its purpose, means and efficacy, shows its distinctive features of the prior art. You are requested to review the examination and express the patent as soon as possible. It should be noted that the various embodiments described above are merely illustrative for ease of explanation, and the scope of the invention is intended to be limited by the scope of the claims.

1. . . Window switching system

11. . . Screen capture module

12. . . Window list module

13. . . Touch module

14. . . Control module

15. . . Memory module

4. . . Work column

5. . . Computer desktop

41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46. . . Windows

45s, 46s. . . Window screen

50. . . Stereoscopic window list

51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56. . . List window

58. . . Visual range

60. . . Main window

91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96. . . List window

1 is a schematic diagram of a stereoscopic window list of a prior art.

2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the window switching system of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart of a window switching method of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of a computer desktop.

Figure 5 is a schematic illustration of a three-dimensional window list of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of the screen of the list window of FIG. 5 after being updated.

6 and 6A show schematic diagrams of the plural list window before and after being moved.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the switching of the window corresponding to the selected list window as a main window.

Figure 8 is a flow chart of the window screen of the capture window of the present invention.

Claims (13)

A window switching method for switching display of a plurality of windows that have been opened on a desktop of a computer, the method comprising: (A) determining that each of the windows is a minimized window or a non-minimized window; (B) when the window is non-minimized In the window, capture one of the windows of the window for use in step (F); when the window is a minimized window, determine whether the window has been updated; (C) when the window is not updated, enter a Hidden window mode so that the window will not be displayed on the desktop of the computer in a non-minimized state; (D) replying the window to a non-minimized; (E) capturing the window of the window; (F) according to the step ( B) and all the window images captured in step (E) form a stereoscopic window list, the stereoscopic window list including a plurality of list windows corresponding to the plurality of windows, the plural list windows are arranged in a stereoscopic manner Displaying, wherein each of the list window screens is taken from the window screen corresponding to the window; (G) receiving a touch operation instruction of the stereoscopic window list; and (H) moving the plural according to the touch operation instruction List window or selection The complex list of one of the windows. The window switching method of claim 1, wherein when the one of the plurality of list windows is selected, the window corresponding to the selected list window is switched to be displayed as a main window. The window switching method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the stereoscopic window list includes a visible range for updating a picture of each of the list windows located within the visible range. The window switching method of claim 3, wherein the screen of each of the list windows located in the visible range is stopped during the moving of the plural list window. The window switching method of claim 3, wherein when the window corresponding to the list window is a non-minimized window, the window of the list window periodically captures the window of the window for immediate use. Sexual update. The window switching method of claim 5, wherein when the window corresponding to the list window is a minimized window, the screen of the list window only captures the window of the window for one time. Update. A window switching system for switching a plurality of windows that are opened on a desktop of a computer, the system comprising: a picture capturing module for capturing a window image of each of the windows, the image capturing module can determine Each of the windows is a minimized window or a non-minimized window; if the window is a non-minimized window, the image capture module captures the window of the window; if the window is a minimized window, the window is determined Whether it has been updated, if not, enter a hidden window mode, and return the window to non-minimum to capture the window screen, the hidden window mode is such that the window is not displayed in the non-minimized state a desktop list module, configured to form a stereoscopic window list according to all the captured window images, the stereoscopic window list includes a plurality of list windows corresponding to the plurality of windows, the plurality of list windows being a three-dimensional The display mode of each of the list windows is taken from the window of the corresponding window; a touch module is configured to receive the stereoscopic window column One touch operation instructions; and a control module for moving the plurality of list window or select one of the plurality of list window according to the touch operation instruction. The window switching system of claim 7, wherein the stereoscopic window list includes a visual range, and the window list module updates the screens of the list windows located in the visible range. The window switching system of claim 8, wherein the window list module stops updating the screens of the list windows located in the visible range during the moving of the plural list window. The window switching system of claim 8, wherein when the window corresponding to the list window is a non-minimized window, the screen of the list window is periodically captured by the screen capture module. The window screen of the window for the window list module to be updated in an instant. The window switching system of claim 10, wherein when the window corresponding to the list window is a minimized window, the screen of the list window is captured only by the screen capture module. The window screen is for one-time update of the window list module. The window switching system of claim 11, wherein when the window is a minimized window, after capturing the window of the window, the image capturing module minimizes the window and leaves the hidden window. Window mode. The window switching system of claim 12, wherein the screen capture module closes one of the windows to display an animation before entering the hidden window mode, and opens the display animation after leaving the hidden window mode, Display animations include a window minimize animation and a reply window to non-minimized animation.