JPH0628026B2 - Input management method in multi-window - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a multi-window input management method in a workstation, and particularly to an input device management method suitable for a system that displays online data in a plurality of windows. Regarding

[Conventional technology]

In a workstation with a multi-window display function, as for the method of switching the exclusive right of the input device for each window, the IPSJ 32nd National Convention Proceedings Proceedings (1986, pp. 1757 to p. Virtual terminal group specification development ”). The method discussed there is a method in which the operator explicitly indicates the input device occupation right, and from the window A which currently has the occupation right B
When transferring the exclusive right to the window called, hold the mouse cursor on the screen on the window B and press the mouse button, and the part called "turning part" of the window that has the exclusive right. By pushing the mouse button at, the exclusive right is passed to the window displayed immediately behind the exclusive window, and the window having the exclusive right is moved to the innermost position. By using the former method when the window you want to pass the exclusive right to is visible on the screen, and the latter method when the window you want to pass the exclusive right is covered by another window, The exclusive right can be transferred to any window. This method is very convenient when the order of occupation of the input device is not defined between the windows on the screen. However, when there is a sequence of occupation of input devices between windows, or when the occupation sequence is not determined at first, but the destination of the occupation right is determined by the operating state of the system or the operator's data input. Is not always effective. The intervention of the operator is required each time, and it is necessary to know to which window the exclusive right is to be passed next, which imposes a burden on the operator. As a method of reducing the burden on the operator, there is a display method of the operating procedure of JP-A-60-183611. This is to display the operation guidance at that time according to the skill level of the operator.If this method is adopted, the operator who does not know to which window the exclusive right will be passed next will be By displaying the guidance of the window name for passing the exclusive right, the operation can be performed without knowing the transfer order of the exclusive right, but this is not a solution to save the operator's labor.

[Problems that inventions try to make]

The above-mentioned prior art does not consider the point that the number of operations of the operator is reduced, and has a problem of causing the operator to perform unnecessary operations.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the burden on the operator by eliminating intervention of the operator as much as possible when transferring the exclusive right of the input device.

[Means for solving problems]

The purpose is to transfer the exclusive right of the input device by using the window state management table that stores the display state of each window and the input device exclusive right transition rule between windows according to the display state of the window. This is achieved by determining the window to be used and then inquiring to the operator only when the window to which the exclusive right is to be transferred cannot be determined as one window.

[Action]

The window state management table gives, for all windows to be displayed, the presence or absence of display indicating whether or not the window is currently displayed, the window name (parent window name) that generated the window, and the input device occupation right to the window. In addition to the window name, the initial position of the window display, the currently displayed position, and the like, when the window is a display related to online data and the like, it also manages window states such as normal, light failure, and severe failure.

The rule for transitioning the exclusive right of the input device between windows is that "a window state is X
When the figure is selected with the mouse at the time of X, the input device exclusive right is transferred to the window A. If like
~ Then type rules are defined. Of course, the transfer destination of the exclusive right should be selected by the operator when the own window (in this case, the window still has the exclusive right) or when the transfer destination cannot be determined in advance. When it is good, the system does not decide the migration destination, but uses a rule that asks the operator about the migration destination.

When the mouse button is pressed and a figure is selected on the window having the input device occupation right, the input device occupation right determining unit retrieves the state of the window from the window state management table, and selects the state of this window and the mouse. The created figure is used as a key to search the exclusive right transition rule, and then the window to which the exclusive right is transferred is determined. When the window determined here is not displayed on the screen, the command procedure registered in advance is interpreted and executed to generate the window. After that, the exclusive right is transferred to the window. Even if you search the exclusive right transition rule, if the window to transfer the exclusive right cannot be determined, or if there is a rule to ask the operator,
The window name currently displayed is displayed on the screen, and the operator selects the window name portion of the window to which the input device exclusive right is to be transferred with the mouse to determine the transfer destination of the exclusive right.

In this way, even when the transfer destination of the input device occupying right is determined in advance between the windows, and further, even when the transfer destination of the occupying right is different depending on the display state of the window, the input device can be operated without intervention of the operator. The exclusive right can be transferred.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the embodiment. Process 1 to process n are application programs that display one window on the screen of the workstation and request input from the mouse. The input request management unit accepts an input request from each process, puts a process having no input device exclusive right into a dormant state, restarts the execution of the process when the input device exclusive right is transferred, and executes the process from the mouse. Is a known technique. The feature of the present invention is that the input device occupation right transition rule 1, the window state management table 2, the input device occupation right determination unit 3 are provided.
The above will be described in detail below.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of Table 1 of the input device occupation right transition rule. This table is each window table 11
The three tables, the figure number table 12 and the rule table 13, are connected by a pointer. As many window name tables as the number of displayed windows are prepared, and each window name has a pointer to a figure number table.

The figure number table 12 has pointers to the rules used when the figure is selected, for each figure number to be selected with the mouse in the window. Rule table 1
3 can have as many cases as display states that the window can have for one figure number. The state number is represented as, for example, 0 for a normal state, -1 for a light failure state, -2 for a severe failure state. The rule number is
FIG. 3 shows a method of deciding an exclusive right transfer destination window, and FIG. 3 shows a correspondence table of rule numbers and transfer destination determining methods.
When the rule number is 2 or 3, the window name that gives the exclusive right is entered in the rule table, and the rule number is 3
In the case of, you will have a command procedure for creating a window that gives you exclusive rights.

FIG. 4 shows a window A and a window B on the screen.
In the example in which two windows are displayed, in window A, the figures displayed as menu 1, menu 2, ... Menu 6 correspond to figure number 1, figure number 2, ... Figure number 6, respectively. .

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the window state management table 2. At the top, the window name that currently has the exclusive right of the input device is stored. After that, each window consists of 7 items including the window name, and has the number of cases of all windows to be displayed. The presence / absence of display indicates whether or not the window is being displayed. 1 indicates that the window is being displayed and 0 indicates that the window is not being displayed. The window name that generated the own window and the window name that has given the exclusive right to the own window are referred to at the time of rule numbers 4 and 5, respectively, and become the window name of the exclusive right transfer destination. The window initial display coordinates indicate the original display position when the window is generated,
(X ₀ , Y ₀ ) indicates the coordinates of the lower left point of the window, and (X ₁ , Y ₁ ) indicates the coordinates of the upper right point of the window. What is the original display position?
It means the position where another window is displayed when no other window is displayed on the screen. As will be described later, when the window is displayed, the display position is determined according to the empty state of the screen, so the current display coordinates are also required. (X ₀ , y ₀ ) and (x ₁ , y ₁ ) indicate the coordinates of the lower left point and the upper right point of the window, respectively. The status number indicates the display content of the window, 0 is normal,
-1 represents a light disorder and -2 represents a serious disorder.

Next, the processing flow of the input device occupation right decision unit 3 is shown in FIG.
It is shown in FIG. In process 31, the operator selects the mouse input target graphic in the window having the exclusive right of the input device to determine the graphic number. Next, the state number of the window is retrieved from the window state management table 2 (FIG. 5). Next, input device occupation right transition rule 1
At, the rule table is searched from the window name and the figure number, and the rule table having the matching state number is found to determine the rule number. When the determined rule number is 1, nothing is done because the transfer destination of the exclusive right is the own window. When the value is 2, a process 35 of transferring the exclusive right to a window defined in advance in the rule table
Do. The detailed flow is shown in FIG. Process 351
Then, the window name to which the exclusive right is given is fetched from the rule table, and then the window state management table is searched to determine whether or not the window is displayed. If the window is displayed, the name of the window that currently has the exclusive right in the window state management table is rewritten, and the window name that has given the exclusive right to the own window is set. Finally, the window with the exclusive right is displayed at the top of the screen. This ensures that the entire window can be seen even if the windows overlap. When the window to which the exclusive right is given is not displayed, the abnormal message is only displayed and the exclusive right of the input device is not transferred.

The rule numbers 4 and 5 are similar to the process in FIG. 7, except that the window name management table is extracted from the window state management table even when the rule name is 4 or 5.

The process 39 when the rule number is 6 is shown in FIG. In process 391, the window state management table is searched,
Extract the name of the window that is being displayed. Next, the list of window names is displayed on the screen, and the operator waits for an instruction to transfer the exclusive right. The operator can select the window name portion of the window to which the exclusive right is to be passed from the list of window names with the mouse. After the operator selects the window, the window name list previously displayed is deleted, and then steps 395, 396, and 397 are performed. This process is the same as the processes 353, 354 and 355 in FIG.

When the rule number is 3, a window is newly generated and the exclusive right is passed to the generated window. FIG. 9 shows the processing flow at that time. If the window to which the exclusive right is to be given has already been displayed, processing 368,
369 and 36A are performed. This process is the process 3 of FIG.
The same as 53, 354 and 355. If the window to which the exclusive right should be given is not displayed, the window generating command procedure in the rule table is read, the display position of the window is then determined, the command procedure read earlier is interpreted and executed, and the window is opened. To generate. Next, in the window status management table, the window name that generated the own window (which becomes the window name that has the exclusive right of the input device until now) is set, and after setting 0 indicating the normal status as the status number, the process 368 is executed. , 369,36
Perform A.

The state number of the window is set so that when the process displaying the window detects a light failure or a serious failure, the process itself is rewritten.

FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the screen vacancy management table used when determining the display position in the process 364. As shown in Fig. 11, the display screen is divided into four parts, the upper left part, the lower left part, the upper right part, and the lower right part, and the vacant area of each and the standard of the display coordinates when displaying the window. And the empty reference coordinates. The free area is the area of the part where the window is not displayed. 11th
The portion indicated by X in the drawing is the empty reference coordinates of each divided screen, and the portion indicated by O is the empty reference coordinates for the upper left screen before the window A is displayed.

FIG. 12 shows a detailed flow of the window display position determination processing 364. First, by referring to the screen free space management table, the one with the maximum free area is obtained from the four divided screens, and the free area is 1 of the area of the window to be created.
/ 5 or more is determined. (The area of the window to be generated is calculated from the window initial display coordinates in the window state management table.) If the available area is ⅕ or more of the area to be displayed, the display coordinates are set based on the empty reference coordinates. decide. (If the display position is the upper left part, the empty standard coordinates are the coordinates of the upper left point of the display window. If the lower left part is the lower left point, if the upper right part is the upper right point, and if the lower right part is the lower right point. If the space is smaller than ⅕, the window initial display coordinates are used as the display coordinates. Next, the free area of the 4-split screen after displaying the window and the free space standard coordinates are recalculated.

As described above, the input device exclusive right is transferred.
According to the present embodiment, (1) the transfer of the input device occupation right between windows can be defined by a rule table independent of the screen display program, so it is necessary to be aware of the transfer of the input device occupation right when creating the screen display program. It makes programming easier.

(2) Even if there is a change in the transfer of input device occupancy due to the addition / deletion of windows, it can be done simply by changing the rule table.

(3) When a new window is created, the display position is determined according to the free space on the screen, so the display screen can be used effectively.

Further, the above embodiment can be expanded as follows. In the case of the above-described embodiment, the window to which the input device occupying right is passed is determined based on the state of the own window at that time and the transition rule, but not only the state of the own window but also the states of other windows. It is also possible to decide the window to which the exclusive right is passed next, taking into consideration the above. FIG. 13 shows a table configuration diagram of the input device occupation right rule in that case. The difference from the table configuration of FIG. 2 is that a window name is added to the head of each case of the rule table. The processing of the input device occupation right decision unit is almost the same as that of the flow in FIG. 6, except for the status number extraction and the rule table search in the processing 32 and 33. FIG. 14 shows the processing of different parts. To explain this part, first, the top case of the rule table is read, and the window name and the window name are extracted. This window name may be the same as the own window name or another window name, but the following processing is the same. The window state management table is searched to determine whether or not a window having the extracted window name has been created. If the window is not generated, the next case of the rule table is read and the same determination is performed. If there is no next case rule table to read,
Rule number 1 (rule that exclusive right does not move)
And When the window is generated, it is determined whether the state in the state management table and the state in the rule table match. If they match, the rule number is fetched from the rule table and used as the rule for moving the exclusive right. If the states do not match, the next case of the rule table is read. In this method, since the rule table is searched from the first case when the rule number is determined, the priority is higher in the rule table that precedes it. Therefore, even if there are multiple rule tables that satisfy the condition part of the rule table (the window name / state number in the rule table matches the state number in the state management table) at the time of determining the rule number, The preceding rule table is applied to always determine one rule number.

By adopting the above method, the decision to move the exclusive right can be made not only from the state of the own window but also from the state of other windows being displayed, and moreover, the decision rule is prioritized. In addition to the effects of the embodiment described above, in a system that displays a plurality of online data in multiple windows, when an abnormality occurs in the displayed online data, a window that asks the operator what to do is displayed. Since the process of moving the exclusive right of the input device to the window can be performed by adding / modifying the rule table, it is possible to construct the system step by step.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, in the multi-window display, the exclusive right can be transferred without the intervention of the operator, which has the effect of reducing the burden on the operator.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a table block diagram of an input device exclusive right rule, FIG. 3 is an example of an exclusive right transfer method, and FIG. A window display example, FIG. 5 is a table configuration diagram of the window state management table, FIGS. 6 to 9 and 12 are process flows of the input device occupation right decision unit, and FIG. FIG. 11 is a table configuration diagram of the screen space management table, FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a split screen, FIG. 12 is a window display position determination processing flow, FIG. 13 is an ownership table configuration diagram, and FIG. 14 is a rule. Each table search flow chart is shown. 1 ... Input device exclusive right transition rule, 2 ... Window state management table, 3 ... Input device exclusive right determining unit, 4 ... Screen free space management table.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In an input management method in a multi-window, an input device occupation right transition rule between windows is stored, and when an input is made to a window having the input device occupation right, the input device occupation right is concerned. An input management method in a multi-window, wherein an input device occupation right transition rule corresponding to a window having the input device possession right is searched to determine a window to which the input device possession right is given next to the window having the input device possession right. 2. The display state of each window according to claim 1, the display state of each window is stored in a window state management table, and the input device occupation right transition rule between the windows associated with the display state of the window is stored. When an input is made to a window having an input device occupation right, the display state of the window and the input device occupation right transition rule corresponding to this display state are read out, and the window to which the input device occupation right is to be given is read. An input management method in multi-window characterized by making a decision. 3. A function according to claim 1, wherein a command procedure for window generation is added to the input device occupation right transition rule, and the input device occupation right decision unit interprets and executes the command procedure. The input management method in a multi-window, wherein when the window to which the exclusive right of the input device is given is not created, the exclusive right is transferred after the window is created.