JPH0359710A - Resource control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently utilize a resource by setting up and controlling the storage period of the resource taken in a storage position by an icon taking-in means. CONSTITUTION:A resource icon such as a document is taken in a storage position icon for displaying a temporary storage position of a document or the like by the icon taking-in means 24 for taking-in a required icon among resource icons in the storage position icon. The number of icons to be displayed on a display 21 is practically reduced and the storage periods of the resources icon taken in by the means 24 is set up by a storage period setting means 25. Namely, the storage periods of respective resources of a dust box icon or the like are set up. Consequently, all the resources are not collectively erased in error, and when the set period has elapsed, these resources can be erased by a proper means such as an alarm display or transferred to another storage medium.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention is an information processing system that uses a computer to create, edit, or otherwise perform document creation, editing, and other tasks. The present invention relates to a resource management device that manages storage on media, etc.

"Prior Art" Computer devices such as workstations are now widely used to create and edit documents, as well as various other electronic processes. In some types of these computer devices, resources such as created documents are associated with pictograms called icons, and the icons are displayed and managed on the desktop.

FIG. 12 shows, for example, a display screen in a state where a document is being created.

A document window 12 for document creation is opened on the display screen 11, and a large number of icons 13 are displayed in the space to the right of the document window 12. Aiko / 13 Ha, Sentence 1
It shows various inventories such as folders, record files, file drawers, printers, etc. These are simulations of various documents and office machines placed on an office desk.

For this reason, for example, as office work progresses on a workstation and various documents are created, icons displaying these documents will be displayed on the display screen 11 as shown in FIG. It will be placed in a narrow space. Unnecessary ones among these iconized resources can be deleted, and those that are not currently used but will be used later can be saved in a storage device such as a hard disk and evacuated from this display screen 11. It is also possible to do so.

However, when trying to organize the display screen 11 from time to time, predetermined documents etc. are stored one by one in other storage areas,
Moreover, it is complicated to take it out from here. For this reason, an icon called a trash can exists as a useful tool in such cases.

The trash can icon 14 is used to store icons 13 such as documents that do not need to be displayed temporarily on the display screen 11. Since the l or plural icons accommodated in the trash can icon 14 are erased from the display screen 11, the space in that area can be used for new icons or the like.

Similar to a physical trash can placed in an office, the trash can icon 14 allows users to take out what they put inside. Of course, this is not possible once the items in this trash bin have been disposed of.

``Problem to be Solved by the Invention'' As described above, the trash can icon is very convenient as it allows icons on the desktop to be easily saved to a temporary storage location. However, by clearing the iconized resources stored in the trash can icon, all of them will be deleted in the same way as when trash is disposed of. Therefore, resources such as documents that are scheduled to be used later may be deleted by mistake. Therefore, this trash icon ends up storing unnecessary resources for a long time, mixed in with some useful resources.
There were problems that hindered effective management of resources.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a resource management device that can efficiently manage iconized resources stored in a trash can or a temporary storage location.

"Means for Solving the Problem" In the present invention, as shown in principle in FIG. resource icon display means 22 that displays the temporary storage locations of these resources as storage location icons on the display 21;
, an icon importing means 24 for importing a desired resource icon into the storage location icon, and a storage period for setting the resource retention period of the resource icon imported into the storage location icon by the icon importing means 24. The resource management device is provided with a setting means 25.

That is, in the present invention, by using the icon importing means 24 to import icons for resources such as documents into storage location icons that display temporary storage locations for documents, etc., the number of icons displayed on the display 21 can be substantially reduced. The storage period setting means 25 sets the storage period of the resource icons that have been reduced and imported into the icon importing means 24. In other words, since the storage period of each resource is set in the trash can icon, etc., all resources will not be deleted at once by mistake, and if the set period has elapsed, appropriate measures such as displaying a warning will be taken. You can use methods such as erasing these or moving them to another storage medium.

"Example" Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to Examples.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a resource management device in an embodiment of the present invention. This resource management device has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31 that serves as the center of control for the entire device.
It is equipped with The CPU 31 is connected to a RAM 33, a keyboard control circuit 34, an external storage device driver 35, a CRT control device 36, and a communication control device 37 via a bus 32 such as a data bus.

Here, the RAM 33 is a random access memory that temporarily stores data and programs. The keyboard control circuit 34 is a circuit that converts data input from the keyboard 41 or the mouse 42 connected thereto into code information and transfers it onto the bus 32. The mouse 42 is a type of pointing device.

The external storage device driver 35 is a device that controls the driving of the external storage device 43. As the external storage device 43, various devices such as a hard disk, a magnetic disk, a readable/writable optical disk, etc. can be used. External storage device 43
In addition to storing the control program for this resource management device, the storage also stores resources such as documents that will not be used for the time being. A CRT 44 that displays icons and the like is connected to the CRT control device 36. Communication control device 37
is connected to a communication line 45, via which it is connected to other devices such as a mail server (not shown), so that it can receive various services such as e-mail.

FIG. 3 shows a CRT in this resource management device. On the display screen 50 of the CRT 44, icons 512 to 51f for documents a to f are displayed.
, a trash can icon 52 representing a trash can, and a cleaner icon 53 are displayed. Here, the cleaner icon 53 is an icon used as a tool to take the icon 51 into the trash can 52.

Now, assume that the task is to import icons 51a and 51b representing documents a and b, respectively, into the trash can icon 52. The operation in this case will be explained with reference to FIG.

The operator operates the mouse 42 to position a cursor (not shown) on the cleaner icon 53, and clicks a predetermined button of the two buttons on the mouse 42 (Step 4; Y in FIG. 4). As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the display color around the cleaner icon 53 is inverted, indicating that this icon is in the activated state (step 2).

With the button clicked, the operator moves the mouse 42. Along with this, the cleaner icon 53
A mini icon (not shown) in the form of a small icon moves on the display screen 50 as a cursor. When the operator clicks another button of the mouse 42 with this mini-icon superimposed on, for example, the icon 51b, step ■;
Y), the CPU 31 examines the attributes of the b document corresponding to this icon 51b, and determines whether it is to be immediately taken into the trash can icon 52 (step ■). If such a setting is made as an attribute of the resource displayed by the icon 51b, the trash can icon 52 is immediately loaded. For example, −
In the case of resources such as documents that are created on the premise of temporary processing, such processing is performed. In such a case, (Y
), at the time of selection, the icon 51b is taken into the trash can icon 52 (step ■), and the icon 51b is deleted from the display screen 50 as shown in FIG.

After this, the CPU 31 monitors the button clicks of the mouse 42, and if the button is clicked on a part other than the icon (step ■; Y), the CPU 31 monitors the button click of the mouse 42, and if the click is performed on a part other than the icon (step It is determined that there is no intention to store the item in the trash can, and the screen is restored (step ■). That is, the inverted state of the display color of the cleaner icon 53 is returned to its original state, and the mini icon with the cursor function of the cleaner icon 53 is also deleted.

On the other hand, when the next icon (icon 51a) is to be imported into the trash can icon 52 as is assumed here, the operator moves the above-mentioned mini-icon to the icon 51a and moves it to the other above-mentioned icon. Click the button (step ■; N). In this case, the process proceeds to step (2), and the attributes of document a displayed by the icon 51a are checked. If this is also based on temporary processing (Y), then this icon 51
a is also taken into the trash can icon 52 (step ■),
It is erased from the display screen 50 as shown in FIG. After this, if you want to import other icons into the trash can icon 52, you can repeat the same operation (step ■; N
). Furthermore, if you intend to finish importing into the trash can icon 52, you can click the button of the mouse 42 in an area where no icons exist (step ■;
Y〉.

The above describes the case in which both document a and document b are immediately stored in the trash can in step ①; Y).

Next, a description will be given on the assumption that the attributes of these two documents are set to other values.

In a situation where the icon 51b is clicked (step ■;
Y) If the attributes of the resource are checked and it is impossible to immediately put it into the trash can, proceed to Step ■
;N), and the display color of the icon 51b is inverted as shown in FIG. 8 (step ■). This is to notify the operator that the icon 51b selected with the mouse 42 is in the selected state. In this state, the CPU 31 stores the IDCm-specific information of the selected icon 51b in the RAM 33.
It is registered in the internal information storage area of the cleaner icon 53 placed above (step 2).

Thereafter, the CPU 31 monitors whether a delete key (not shown) on the keyboard 41 is pressed or the mouse 42 is clicked (step @, ■). If the mouse 42 is clicked, step (1); Y), it is determined whether the click was made outside or inside the icon (step 2). If a button is clicked within this icon to select another icon 51a, (N
), the process advances to step (2) and the processing of the second icon 51a is started. If the icon 51a cannot be captured immediately (Step 2; N), the display color of the icon 51a is also inverted as shown in FIG. 9 (Step 2). And this icon 5
The ID of 1a is also registered (step ■).

When all the icons 51a and 51b to be included in the trash can icon 52 have been specified in this way, the operator presses the delete key (step O; Y). Then, the CPU 31 displays all the registered icons 51a, 5.
1b in the trash can icon 52 (step 0).

As a result, the display screen 50 is in a state similar to that shown in FIG. After this, the display screen 50 is restored to its original state and the entire operation is completed. Note that after registering one or more icons, you can move them to the trash can icon 5.
There may be cases where you want to cancel importing into 2. In this case, it is sufficient to click on a part other than the icon in step (2) (step 0; Y).

Next, storage management of icons such as documents imported into the trash can icon 52 as described above will be explained.

FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the trash can icon property sheet.

This trash can icon property sheet 61 is a sheet for measuring the elapsed time of each icon imported into the trash can icon 52 based on the time when it was imported, and managing these icons so that they are not left unnecessarily for a long time. . This trash can icon property sheet 6
1 on the CRT 44, the mouse 42 may be operated to move a cursor (not shown) to the trash can icon 52, and the button may be clicked, for example, twice in succession. Besides this, keyboard 41
It is also possible to call up the trash can icon property sheet 61 by pressing the above attribute key (not shown).

In the initial state, when the operator displays this trash can icon property sheet 61, for example, he or she sets the cursor on the "Import grace period" item on the desktop, enters a number using the numeric keypad (not shown) on the keyboard 41, and selects the period using the mouse 42. Specify units. here"
The term "import grace period" refers to the grace period from when the last change was made to when an icon such as a document is imported into the trash can icon 52. After this grace period has elapsed, the device takes the icon into the trash can icon 52 without any intervention from the operator. In this example,
The "intake grace period" is set at three months. Similarly, for "Set retention period" in the trash can, press Keyboard 4.
1 and the mouse 42. In this example, one week is specified.

"Recycle bin actual size" is an item that shows how much resources are stored in the trash can. Clicking here with the mouse 42 will display the number of documents, etc., or the amount of resources stored in the page. Displayed in units, etc. "Display" in the "Cleaner Icon" section means that when the trash can icon 52 is displayed on the display screen 50, the cleaner icon 53 is displayed in conjunction with it. Therefore, if you click on this "display" item with the mouse 42, these will always be displayed in pairs.

The "storage target" item is for selecting where the item selected by the cleaner icon 53 is to be stored. The trash can icon 52 does not necessarily need to be displayed on the display screen 50; if "trash can" is selected, the item selected with the cleaner icon 53 can be imported into the trash can icon 52, which is not displayed. In the figure, the trash can icon 52 is selected. If you select "Folder", you can enter its name in the "Name" section.

If you select "Email" in the "Notification Means" section, a warning text for the expired icon will be sent to a mail server (not shown) via the communication control means 37 shown in Figure 2, and from here the mail will be sent to your It will be returned and displayed on the resource management device. This allows the operator to know that there are resources such as expired documents in the trash can and take appropriate action. If you select "Window" in the "Notification Method" section, the CRT44 of this resource management device
A similar warning window will appear above. If you select the "Both" option, both warnings will be taken, and resources such as expired documents in the trash can will be managed more reliably.

In this way, by specifying the retention period and notification means in the trash can icon property sheet 61, resources whose expiration date has come are displayed, and processing can be entrusted to the operator.
It is possible to avoid a situation where important documents, etc. are unilaterally deleted.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a property sheet showing the contents of the resource taken into the trash can icon. When you open the trash can displayed by the trash can icon 52,
In this example, the sizes and modification dates of documents a and b or the date and time when they were imported into the trash can icon 52 are displayed. For example, for document a, its size is A4, for example.
It is a standard size format, 5 pages, and the modification date is XX.
It turns out that it is 1,000 minutes from the month yy day.

By displaying such a property sheet 71, the operator can delete resources such as documents for which a retention period has expired, or return them to the display screen 50 for further use.

In the embodiment described above, a grace period for retrieval is set and resources that have not been touched on the display screen for a long period of time are stored in the trash can icon without the operator's intervention. It has the advantage of automatically arranging the icons above.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, according to the present invention, since the storage period of the resources imported into the storage location by the icon importing means is set and managed, there is no risk of the resources being inadvertently deleted. Furthermore, by displaying a warning about resources after the storage period has passed, these can be reused or organized, making efficient use of resources possible. Furthermore, since a work environment with excellent operability can be provided, the time, economic, and mental burden on the user can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention;
Figures 1 to 11 are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, of which Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an overview of the circuit configuration of the resource management device, and Figure 3 shows an example of a display on a CRT. Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of work to import two icons into the trash can icon, Figure 5 is a plan view showing the display screen when the cleaner icon is activated, and Figure 6 is the initial 7 is a plan view showing the display screen at the time when the icon is incorporated into the trash can icon.
Figure 8 is a top view of the display screen with two icons captured in the trash can icon. Figure 8 is a top view of the display screen with the first icon inverted for capture. 10 is a plan view of the display screen showing the two icons with their display colors inverted for capture;
The figure is a plan view showing an example of a trash can icon property sheet, FIG. 11 is a plan view showing an example of a property sheet showing the contents of resources incorporated into the trash can icon, and FIG. FIG. 21...Display, 22...Resource icon display means, 23...
...Icon display means for storage location, 24...
Icon importing means, 5... Storage period setting means, 31... CPU. 3...RAM, 41...keyboard,
2... Mouse, 44... CRT. 0...display screen, 1...(resource) icon, 2...trash can icon, 3...cleaner icon.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A display, resource icon display means for displaying computerized resources such as documents as resource icons on the display, and temporary storage locations for these resources on the display. storage location icon display means for displaying a storage location icon; icon importing means for importing a desired resource icon into the storage location icon; and icon importing means for importing a desired resource icon into the storage location icon; A resource management device comprising: storage period setting means for setting a storage period for resources of resource icons.