JPH10293673A - Window display method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select and instruct with a pointing device such as a mouse by checking the overlapping of each window and generating a balloon and an icon, etc., which correspond to a concealed window when it is detected that a window is concealed by other windows. SOLUTION: It is always checked whether the overlapping state of windows changes (S11). When there is change in the state of windows, a window overlapping test checks whether a window that is completely concealed by other windows exists (S12). For a window that is completely concealed, corresponding balloon and icon are generated according to the teat result. And when the window is newly and partially shown, the balloon and icon which correspond to a window that is directly selectable are eliminated (S13). With this, a window that is completely concealed by other windows is easily selected and instructed with a pointing device such as a mouse.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a display method of a window system in a computer system or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional window system, when a plurality of windows are displayed in the same display area, the entire surface of one window is generated by another window.
Depending on the state change such as selection, movement, size change, etc.
Hidden by one or more windows,
In some cases, it was impossible to directly select or indicate the hidden window. In this case, in order to select or instruct a hidden window, a part of the window is hidden by moving the window that is hiding it, reducing its size, or converting it to an icon. It was necessary to make a selection before leaving. Alternatively, it is necessary to use a different input device such as a keyboard to change the context of the window so that the window to be selected or instructed is moved to the front, and then perform the desired operation with the pointing device. there were.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-278872 discloses a device capable of selecting and instructing a desired window using a keyboard having a function of displaying an icon corresponding to each window.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-76960, a window graph is provided at the lower end and the right end of the display area to display a graph indicating the overlapping positional relationship of each window. There is disclosed a technology related to a window system that allows the user to select and move an image.

[0005] Further, Win of Microsoft Corporation (US)
In the windows system of dows95, by providing an area called a task bar which is displayed in a part of the display area, the function of selecting and specifying an arbitrary window is prepared by providing the headings of all the windows in the display area. I have.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned prior art, a window other than the currently used pointing device such as a keyboard is used to select a window whose entire surface is hidden, by moving another window or the like. It took time and effort to do so. Further, there is a problem that a part of the limited display area is taken for selecting a window. Further, when all the titles and the like of all windows are displayed as in Windows 95, when the number of displayed windows increases, even those windows which are in front and can be directly selected will be displayed. However, there was a possibility that it could hinder the selection.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for selecting and indicating an arbitrary window in a display area, including a window whose entire surface is hidden, using only a pointing device such as a mouse. It is to be realized without creating.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides means for inspecting the overlap of windows, and means for generating balloons, icons, and the like corresponding to hidden windows.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but this embodiment does not limit the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a core operation of a window system for realizing the present invention. In this system, it is always checked whether there is no change in the overlapping state of the windows according to 11. If the state of the window, such as movement, creation, selection, and size change of the window, has not changed, the process branches to NO and continues the same monitoring. If there is a change in the state of the window there, the process proceeds to YES, and a check is made to see if there is a window whose entire surface is hidden by another window in the inspection of the overlap of the windows 12, and the process proceeds to the next process. It should be noted that a method for inspecting the degree of overlap of the windows is not particularly disclosed since it can be easily realized by a conventional technique without using a new function. And according to the results of 12 tests, 13
In the processing of (1), a balloon and an icon corresponding to a window whose entire surface is hidden are generated, and a balloon and an icon corresponding to a window which can be directly selected because a part thereof is newly displayed are deleted. .

Next, an example of generation of a balloon or icon for a window whose entire surface is hidden will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 21 is a display area of a display device such as a display,
The state in which the entirety of the twenty-two windows is hidden by performing operations such as newly generating, selecting, or changing the size of the twenty-three windows is now shown. Conventionally, in this state, if it is desired to perform any operation on the 22 windows, it is necessary to first perform operations such as moving the 23 window, making it an icon, or reducing the size. According to the method of the present invention, when the state as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained, a balloon indicating that a part of the window seen from the front, such as 24, has a window hidden thereunder, for example. Is automatically performed by the window system. And the user
If you want to select 22 windows, callout 24
For example, if a mouse is clicked on and the pointing device is selected, 22 windows are displayed on the foreground, and the window becomes an active window in which operations on the windows can be performed. The balloon indicating that 22 windows are hidden in 23 windows is 25 even if it is not the illustrated 24
It can be attached to any position of the window on the front as shown in FIG. 26 or 26, and if necessary, there is no problem even if there are a plurality of balloons for one hidden window.

When there are a plurality of windows whose entire surfaces are hidden, there are a plurality of balloons for displaying at least one balloon for each hidden window. In such a case, in particular, as described in claim 2, if an identifier is attached to each balloon so that the balloon corresponds to which window, it is easier to select. The information of the title bar of the hidden window, the name of the application being executed, or the like may be used as the identifier.

By the way, in order to show that there is a window whose whole surface is hidden, instead of the balloon described above,
An icon corresponding to the hidden window 22 is generated in a vacant area at the corner of the display area 21, for example, at a position such as 27, 28, 29, and the 22 windows can be selected by selecting the icon. It is also possible to do so. In this case, unlike a normal icon, when the 23 windows no longer hide the entire surface of the 22 window, the icon automatically disappears, and the original window 22 appears in the display area. When assigning an identifier to this icon, the same method as in the balloon may be used, or the same icon as the icon used when the original window is normally converted into an icon may be used.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a display area in which one window 34 is hidden by two windows 32 and 33, and the window 33 is at the forefront. In this case, the balloon may be displayed by concealing a part of the display of another window as indicated by 35, but this is not a problem. Also, since the window 32 also hides the window 34, a balloon can be attached to the position 36, or both balloons 35 and 36 can be attached. In any case, if the balloon corresponding to the window 34 is selected, the window 34 appears on the entire surface, and the balloons corresponding to the window 34 such as 35 and 36 are deleted. In such a case, if you use a method such as 37 and put it in an empty place in the display area by using an icon, as in the case where the icon is hidden by one window, only one icon should be prepared It is enough. When this icon is selected, as in the case of selecting the balloon, 34 windows appear on the entire surface, and 37 icons are deleted.

Further, regardless of whether the window is a balloon or an icon, the windows 32 and 33 covering the window 34 have moved, disappeared, changed in size, and the like, and a part of the window 34 has become visible. In this case, the balloon and the icon corresponding to 34 are deleted.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, a window whose entire surface is hidden by another window can be easily selected and designated by a pointing device such as a mouse.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of the window system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of how to attach balloons and icons corresponding to hidden windows, which characterize the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of a display area in which one window is hidden by a plurality of windows.

[Explanation of symbols]

12: processing for inspecting window overlap, 13: processing for adding / deleting balloons and the like, 21, 31: display areas such as screens, 22, 34: windows whose entire surfaces are hidden by other windows, 23, 32 , 33… Window hiding other windows, 24-26,35,36… Blowout, 27-29,3
7… Icon.

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a window system having a function of displaying a plurality of windows in the same display area, means for inspecting the overlap of each window is provided, and as a result of the inspection, the entire window of one or more windows is inspected. A means for generating a balloon, an icon, or the like corresponding to the hidden window when it is detected that the window is hidden by a single window, and allowing a pointing device such as a mouse to perform selection and instruction; A window display method characterized by the following. 2. The window display method according to claim 1, wherein an identifier such as a name for identifying the hidden window is displayed on the balloon or the icon.