KR20080055425A - Method and apparatus for displaying menu of combo box in graphic user interface - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and a device for displaying a combo box in a GUI(Graphic User Interface) are provided to enable a user to select a desired menu among many menus of the combo box without moving a point, and move up or down, and display the menu automatically by responding to a button click signal of an input device linked with the combo box. A check box display unit(201) displays a check box in a combo box and checks whether the check box is displayed. A check box detector(203) detects selection of the check box when display of the check box is checked. A menu moving controller(205) moves up or down the menu of a selection window in response to a button click signal of an input device when the display of the check box is not checked or the selection of the check box is detected. A menu selector(207) automatically selects the menu moved by the menu moving controller. A list box display unit(209) displays a list box in a combo box and checks whether the list box is displayed. A list box detector(211) detects the selection of the list box when the display of the list box is checked. The menu moving controller moves up or down the menu of the selection window in response to the button click signal when the display of the list box is not checked or the selection of the list box is detected.

Description

Method and Apparatus for displaying menu of combo box in graphic user interface}

1 illustrates an embodiment of a computing system to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a flowchart showing the configuration of an item selection device of a combo box according to the present invention;

3 is an exemplary view showing a GUI environment and a combo box to which the present invention is applied.

4 is a view showing a procedure of proceeding when a list box display unit is selected according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view showing a procedure of the display method of the combo box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 and 7 illustrate a software structure and a function for implementing a method of displaying a combo box according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

Check box display: 201 Check box detection: 203

Item movement control section: 205 Item selection section: 207

List display unit: 209 List box detection unit: 211

List box display: 213

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for displaying a combo box in a graphical user environment.

BACKGROUND With the development of computing devices, a graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed. This GUI has the effect of allowing users to intuitively understand the functions by using graphics instead of the existing text-based control environment. It is becoming an essential user experience in most computing environments.

In such a GUI environment, a combo box is generally used as a method of selecting a menu item. In the case of using a combo box, the text of an item to be directly selected is entered in a selection window displayed on the display screen, or click an arrow in the selection window. If a list of selectable items is displayed as a pop-up window, the selected item list is searched using a mouse and then selected.

In the latter case, in order to select a desired item from the combo box, a pop-up window displaying an item list must be opened and an item to be selected from the item list needs to be checked.

In addition, if the list to be displayed is larger than the number of items that can be displayed in the pop-up window, the mouse point must be continuously moved to list up the items displayed in the pop-up window. In the case of positioning, the inconvenience that can be selected can be made only after list up all the items by mouse.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for displaying a combo box in a graphical user environment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for displaying a combo box in a graphic user environment in which a desired item can be easily selected among many items without directly moving a point display when selecting an item of the combo box.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a combo box display method and apparatus for automatically moving and displaying an item by moving an item of a combo box up or down in response to a button click signal of an input device linked to the combo box. have

In order to achieve the above objects, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the combo box display device for selecting an item of the selection window in conjunction with the input device, a check box is displayed in the combo box, and whether or not to display the check box A check box display unit for checking, a check box detector for detecting whether the check box is selected when the check box is displayed on the check box display unit, and a check box detector for detecting whether the check box is selected in the check box detection unit, A combo box display apparatus may include an item moving control unit for moving an item of the selection window up or down in response to a button click signal, and an item selecting unit for automatically selecting an item moved by the item moving control unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the combo box display device for selecting an item of a selection window in cooperation with an input device, (a) checking whether the check box is displayed, (b) the check box is displayed. Detecting whether the check box is selected if checked, and (c) if the check box is detected, selecting an item in the selection window by moving the item up or down in response to a button click signal of the input device. A combo box display method can be provided.

Referring to the third aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the combo box display method can be provided.

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a computing system to which the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, a computing system according to the present invention includes a computing device 110, a display 100, and a point input device 101.

The present invention relates to a screen input method using a point input device 101 in a computing device 110 capable of supporting a graphical user interface (GUI).

Computing device 110 includes not only general desktop PCs, but also general computing devices such as handheld PCs, notebook computers, and PDAs, as well as other types of computing devices equipped with embedded software and capable of graphic display output. Such a computing device 110 generally has a Windows-based operating system of Microsoft Corporation (MS), or a graphics operating system of Sun (UNIX), Apple's macOS, or Linux (LINUX) series Or other open graphical operating systems.

The display 100 may be any display that can properly display the GUI environment output from the computing device 110. In general, a color display supporting more than 256 colors may be applied.

The point input device 101 is a device that can view a graphic in a GUI environment and point a point on the display 100 using the input device. In general, the most commonly used point input device 101 may include a mouse, but may also include input devices such as a track ball, a touch pad, a touch screen, and a tablet.

In a computing system composed of such devices, when the GUI environment 103 including the combo box 105 is displayed on the display, the point input device 101 is used to move the pointer 107 to select the combo box 105. Can be.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration and a display method of a combo box display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a combo box according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, FIG. The present invention will be described in detail.

First, referring to FIG. 2, an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a check box display unit 201, a check box detection unit 203, an item movement control unit 205, a list box display unit 207, and a list box detection unit ( 211), a list display section 213, and an item selection section 207.

The check box display unit 201 displays a check box in the combo box if the check box is selected by the setting, and does not display the check box if the check box is not selected. When the check box is displayed, the check box may be displayed inside or outside each selection window, and when displayed in the selection window, the check box may be displayed on one side of the selection window so as not to cross an input item. One embodiment of such a check box can be seen in FIG. That is, in the case of the first selection window 307, the check box 301 is displayed on the left side of the combo box 310, and the second selection window 305 is not displayed. In addition, the third selection window 309 does not display both the check box and the list box.

Here, the selection window refers to a window portion for selecting and inputting a list in which the list is displayed or the user can input the list, except for the check box and the list box among the combo boxes 310.

When the combo box is selected from the pointer controlled by the point input device, the check box display unit 201 determines whether the check box is displayed in the combo box.

At this time, if the check box display unit 201 cannot confirm the display of the check box, the check box display unit 209 checks whether the list box is displayed. If the check box is displayed, checks the check box. Is detected by the check box detector 203.

The check box detector 203 is responsible for detecting whether the check box is checked when it is determined that the check box is displayed on the check box display unit 201. Referring to FIG. 3, a check box is displayed in the combo box, and a check box 301 is shown in the combo box, and a check box 313 is displayed in the combo box but the check box is not checked.

The check box detecting unit 203 performs the item moving process in response to the control signal of the item moving control unit 205 (when the check box is displayed and the check box is detected to be checked), the check box is displayed. However, if it is detected that the check box is not checked, the list box display unit 209 determines whether the list box is displayed.

The check box of the check box is checked, and the list box display unit 209 checks whether the list box is displayed.

The list box display unit 209 displays the list box in the combo box when the list box is selected by setting, and does not display the list box when the list box is not selected. When the list box is displayed, the list box may be displayed inside or outside each selection window, and when displayed in the selection window, the list box may be displayed on the other side of the selection window so as not to intersect an input item and a check box. One embodiment of such a list box can be shown in FIG. That is, in the case of the first selection window 307, the list box 301 is displayed on the right side of the combo box 310, and in the third selection window 309, neither the check box nor the list box is displayed. to be.

In addition, when the selection box is selected from the pointer controlled by the point input device, the list box display unit 209 determines whether the list box is displayed on the selection window, and when the list box is not displayed, the item moving control unit 205 The item moving process is performed in response to the control signal of the present invention. When the list box is displayed, the list box detecting unit 211 detects whether the list box is selected.

When the list box is displayed and the list box is detected as being selected, the list box detection unit 211 causes the list display unit 213 to display the list of items in the pop-up window, and the list box is displayed but the list box is displayed. When it is detected that it is not selected, the item moving process is performed in response to the control signal of the item moving control unit 205. However, even in this case, the list display unit 213 may display a list of selection items for the convenience of the user.

The list display unit 213 displays a list of items included in the combo box in a popup window in response to the list box selection signal received by the list box detection unit 211. In the item list, a plurality of item lists are sequentially arranged, and the number of item lists displayed in the popup window is not limited.

In addition, the list display unit 213 provides a corresponding selection signal to the item selection unit 207 when one of the displayed list items is selected.

If the check box display unit 201 and the list box display unit 209 do not display the box check, or the check box detection unit 205 detects that the check box is checked, the item movement control unit 205 of the point input device 205 Automatically move the item in the selection window by clicking the button.

In addition, even if the list box is displayed, if the list box is not detected by the list box detection unit 211, the item of the selection window is automatically moved by the button click of the point input device.

The method of moving the item in the item moving control unit 205, for example, when the left button of the point input device is set to 'down', the right button is set to 'up', the moving interval is set to 'n' selection window After clicking, each time the left button of the point input device is clicked, n items are moved downward from the current list item to display the corresponding item. In addition, when the right button of the point input device is clicked, n items are moved upward from the final list item to display corresponding items. The setting of the list point input device and the setting of the movement interval may be selectively set by the user.

When the item moved by the item moving control unit 205 is displayed, the item selecting unit 207 automatically recognizes the item as a selection item and displays the item on the screen. In addition, when the item selection signal is input from the list display unit 213, the item selector 207 recognizes the selected item and displays the corresponding item on the screen.

4 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of the case of selecting a list box display unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In the description of this figure, a mouse, which is the most common device among the point input devices, will be described as an example.

First, the list box in which the mouse point is included in the combo box is selected (step 401). Then, the list box detection unit detects the selection signal of the list box (step 403). Thereafter, the list box detection unit that detects the selection signal of the list box transmits a signal to the list display unit to display a list of items included in the selected combo box in the pop-up window (step 405).

Then, the user moves the mouse pointer to the desired item among the displayed item list (step 407), and if the desired item is selected (step 409), the item selection unit receives the selection signal of the mouse pointer and recognizes the selection item, Display the item on the screen.

This type of item selection is frequently used when selecting a list from an existing combo box. This can be useful when the amount of the list is small or when a desired item can be found in the list quickly. However, this method is disadvantageous when the amount of list items is large and it is difficult to find the desired item easily.

5 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of a combo box display method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In the description of this figure, a mouse, which is the most common device among the point input devices, will be described as an example.

Referring to FIG. 5, when a signal for selecting a selection window is first received from the mouse pointer (step 501), it is determined whether a check box exists in the selection window (step 503).

If it is determined that there is a check box in the selection window, it is determined whether the check box is selected (step 509). If it is determined that no check box exists in the selection window, it is determined whether a list box exists (step 505).

If the check box is selected in step 509, the item movement control mode is executed (step 511). If the check box is not selected, it is determined whether a list box exists (step 505).

If the list box does not exist in step 505, the item movement control mode is executed (step 511). If the list box exists, it is determined whether the list box is selected (step 507).

If the list box is not selected in step 507, the item movement control mode is executed (step 511). If the list box is selected, the item list in the combo box is displayed (step 513).

Subsequently, when a mouse button click signal for selecting a specific item is received from the list displayed in step 513 (step 514), the corresponding item is selected (516).

After the item movement control mode is executed in step 511, if a mouse button click signal is received (step 515), the item is moved to a selection window (steps 517 and 519), and the corresponding item is automatically selected (step 521).

When the item movement control (step 511) is executed, the item is moved by the click signal of the mouse button (step 515). When the first button is clicked, n items moved downward from the previously displayed item are displayed (step 515). 517) When the second button is clicked, n items moved upward from the displayed item are displayed (step 519).

When the desired item is selected by the mouse button click signal, the item is recognized as the selected item, and the corresponding item and details are automatically selected (step 521).

However, in the above method, the list display may display a list of selection items for the user's convenience before the signal is transmitted to the item movement control unit.

6 and 7 illustrate a software structure and a function for implementing a combo box display method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Combo box display method according to the present invention will be able to implement the present invention using the functions and structures of Figures 6 and 7 in general, general purpose functional computing device.

6, the structure of the software for providing the combo box display method according to the present invention is shown.

The declaration part of FIG. 6 is a part for predetermining a variable or the like which is called in order to use the method according to the present invention, and what is displayed on the right side of the declaration part means a detailed description of each declaration part. Hereinafter, the description will be made mainly on the part showing the features of the present invention in detail, and other parts will be omitted or outlined so as not to obscure the essence of the present invention. However, it will be apparent that parts that are not described can be used to differentiate the present invention from other inventions.

Looking at the important parts of these declarations, first, the hWndParent part represents the window window that contains the combo box. In addition, the nID part represents a control confirmation code. WStateFlags is a flag indicating the state of the combo box.

wStyl indicates an area for setting whether or not to display a check box and whether or not to display a list box. For example, you can set CBS_CHECK to display a check box, and set CBS_NOCHECK to not display a check box. In addition, CBS_BUTTON may be set when the list box is displayed, and CBS_NOBUTTON may be set when the list box is not displayed.

 BExtended is also an extension of the user environment flag. Also, EditControl is the part that edits or reappears window window containing combo box. ChecRect is the part that shows the display of a check box, and ListBoxRect is the part that shows the display of a list box.

Finally, nMultiStepNum represents the part that sets the item to be moved according to the button click of the input device. For example, when the LButton of the input device is set downward (-) and the RButton is set up (+), the up button moves upward when a click signal of the left button of the input device is received, and moves downward when a click signal of the right button is received. do. If the number of item movements is set to n = 1, the number of items moves up or down by one item in response to the click signal of the input device, and when n = 5, the number of item movements moves up or down by five items in response to the click signal of the input device. Is set to. Likewise, if n = 10, 10 items are set to move up or down.

Referring to Fig. 7, a list of functions of the software used to provide a method for selecting items of a combo box according to the present invention is shown.

7 is a collection of instructions for controlling the movement of the point device according to the present invention. When explaining the important parts of the functions, first, the DefComboboxProc () function is the left and right sides of the mouse in the combo box according to the present invention. This function shows the operation of the right button. Also, the static LRESULT DefCBProc () function is used to implement the original function of the combo box. In addition, static HWAND WindowFromPoint () has a function to find the window corresponding to the mouse pointer. In addition, static void CBoxSendMouseToLBox () allows you to display the mouse movement in a list box. In other words, the mouse moves to find the item displayed in the list box.

These functions allow you to control the behavior of the combo box.

The method for displaying a combo box according to the present invention can be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed by various computer means and recorded in a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks such as floppy disks. -Magneto-Optical Media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. The medium may be a transmission medium such as an optical or metal wire, a waveguide, or the like including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal specifying a program command, a data structure, or the like. Examples of program instructions include machine code, such as produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

In the present invention as described above has been described by the specific embodiments, such as specific components and limited embodiments and drawings, but this is provided to help a more general understanding of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and variations are possible from such description.

Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, and all the things that are equivalent to or equivalent to the claims as well as the following claims will belong to the scope of the present invention. .

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily select a desired item from many items without directly moving the point display when selecting an item of the combo box.

In addition, according to the present invention, the item of the combo box can be moved upward or downward in response to a button click signal of an input device linked with the combo box to automatically display the item.

Claims (12)

In the combo box display device for selecting an item of the selection window in conjunction with the input device, A check box display unit displaying a check box in the combo box and checking whether the check box is displayed; A check box detector for detecting whether the check box is selected when it is confirmed that the check box is displayed on the check box display unit; When the check box is not displayed on the check box display unit, or when the check box is detected by the check box detection unit, an item move to move the item of the selection window up or down in response to a button click signal of the input device. Control unit and And an item selector for automatically selecting an item moved by the item movement controller. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the combo box display device comprises: A list box display unit for displaying a list box in the combo box and confirming whether or not the list box is displayed; And a list box detector for detecting whether the list box is selected when it is confirmed that the list box is displayed on the list box display. The method of claim 2,  The item movement control unit may determine that the list box is not displayed on the list box display unit or the item of the selection window in response to a button click signal of the input device when the list box detection unit detects that the list box is not selected. The combo box display device, characterized in that for moving up or down. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The item moving control unit moves the item of the selection window upward in response to the click signal of the first button of the input device, and moves the item of the selection window downward in response to the click signal of the second button. Display device. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the combo box display device comprises: And a list display unit for displaying a list of selectable items when the list box detection unit detects that the list box is selected. The method of claim 4, wherein And the item selector selects an item selected by the input device from among items displayed on the list display unit. In the combo box display device for selecting an item of the selection window in conjunction with the input device, (a) checking whether the check box is displayed; (b) detecting that the check box is selected when it is confirmed that the check box is displayed; And and (c) when the check box is detected as selected, moving up or down the item in the selection window in response to a button click signal of the input device to select the combo box. The method of claim 7, wherein step (b), If it is determined that the check box is not displayed, it is determined whether the list box is displayed. The method of claim 7, wherein step (c) is (c-1) checking whether a list box is displayed if it is detected that the check box is not selected; (c-2) determining that the list box is selected when it is confirmed that the list box is displayed; And and (c-3) if it is determined that the list box is not displayed, selecting an item in the selection window by moving the item in the selection window up or down in response to a button click signal of the input device. . The method of claim 9, wherein step (c) comprises: (c-4) displaying a list of selectable items when it is confirmed that the list box is displayed; And and (c-5) selecting a corresponding item when an item selection signal for one of the item lists is received. The method of claim 7, wherein step (c) is And checking an item of the selection window by moving the item of the selection window up or down in response to a button click signal of the input device when the check box is not marked. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 7 to 11.

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