JP2010160655A - Information processor and object setting method - Google Patents

Abstract

In an information processing apparatus that can be operated by a pointing device, work efficiency and operability are improved.
A drag operation starting from each of a drag operation in which the pointer is moved while clicking on the pointing device and a drop operation in which the click is released after the movement is performed, and a position in which the drop operation is performed from the start position of the drag operation. The moving distance and moving direction are determined, and display parameters including the type, location, and size of the object are set based on the determination result. Among these display parameters, the location of the object is determined based on the information on the start position of the drag operation, and the size of the object is based on the information on the movement distance from the start position of the drag operation to the position where the drop operation was performed. The type of the object is determined based on the information of the moving direction.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus operable by a pointing device and an object setting method applicable to the information processing apparatus.

  In recent years, an interface of an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer or a workstation has become a GUI (Graphical User Interface), and a mouse is generally used as a pointing device. In these information processing apparatuses, in particular, when determining the “type”, “arrangement location”, and “size” of an object, each determination is performed one item at a time, and a mouse click operation and a drag and drop operation are performed. It was decided to go (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 09-330177 A

  However, in the prior art including the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, in order to set one object, one action for each, that is, a total of three actions or more by a click operation, a drag operation, and a drop operation must be performed. In the determination of "," it is necessary to move the mouse cursor from the work area to the tool bar or menu bar, and there is a problem that work efficiency is poor.

  Also, in the prior art, since there are many actions with the mouse and keyboard required to change the “type” of the object that has already been determined, it is difficult to say that the operability is good, and there is still room for improvement in operability. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and in an information processing apparatus that performs an operation process using a pointing device, an information processing apparatus capable of improving work efficiency and further improving operability An object is to provide an object setting method.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is a drag operation that moves a pointer while clicking on the pointing device in an information processing apparatus that can be operated by a pointing device, and a click after the movement From each one of the drop operations, the starting position of the drag operation and the moving distance and moving direction from the starting position of the drag operation to the position where the drop operation was performed are determined. Based on the determination result, A display parameter setting unit that sets display parameters including the type, location, and size of the object, and a display control unit that displays the object on the display screen based on the display parameters set by the display parameter setting unit And.

  According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the start position of the drag operation and the drag operation from each one of the drag operation of moving the pointer while clicking the pointing device and the drop operation of releasing the click after the movement are performed. The movement distance and movement direction from the start position to the position where the drop operation was performed are determined, and display parameters including the type, location, and size of the object are set based on the determination result, and the display parameters are set. Since the object is displayed on the display screen, it is possible to improve the work efficiency and the operability.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information processing apparatus to which the concept of the object setting method according to the present embodiment can be applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part that implements the functions of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a window display for explaining the object setting method according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the first object setting method according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the second object setting method according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a third object setting method according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a setting procedure based on the first to third object setting methods. FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating window display (movement for object selection) according to an example of a conventional object setting method. FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating window display (object selection) according to an example of a conventional object setting method. FIG. 8C is a diagram illustrating window display (arrangement of selected objects) according to an example of a conventional object setting method. FIG. 8D is a diagram illustrating window display (changing the size of the selected object) according to an example of a conventional object setting method.

  Exemplary embodiments of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention and an object setting method applicable to the information processing apparatus will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by embodiment shown below.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information processing apparatus to which the concept of the object setting method according to the present embodiment can be applied. In FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 10 is connected to a CPU 12, a ROM 14, a RAM 16, and the like by a bus 18 including a data bus, an address bus, and a control bus. The information processing apparatus 10 is provided with an input / output interface (I / O interface) 20 connected to the bus 18. A typical example of the information processing apparatus 10 is a personal computer (PC, so-called personal computer), a workstation (WS), or the like.

  An HDD 22 is connected to the I / O interface 20. The HDD 22 stores a program file such as various application programs and a data file including various data together with the OS. The CPU 12 reads the OS and application program (application software) from the file stored in the HDD 22 and executes processing (information processing) on various data such as application data and image data.

  The I / O interface 20 is connected with a keyboard 24 as an input device, a mouse 26 as an example of a pointing device, and a video card 32 having a video RAM (VRAM) 28 and a graphic controller 30. A monitor 34 as display means is connected to the video card 32.

  In the information processing apparatus 10 configured as described above, various processes based on the display screen and desired screen display can be performed by operating the keyboard 24 and the mouse 26 while displaying various screens on the monitor 34. ing.

  In addition, the I / O interface 20 is provided with an interface of a predetermined standard such as USB (universal serial bus) or IEEE1394, and the information processing apparatus 10 can input and output various data via these interfaces. It has become.

  On the other hand, the OS and application of the information processing apparatus 10 can perform various displays and input operations using a GUI (Graphical User Interface). In other words, the information processing apparatus 10 can display a plurality of windows 40 as GUIs on the monitor 34.

  In this window 40, for example, various data files, files such as images, and icons storing these files are displayed as objects. The window 40 displays an image of the image file to be processed, a document based on the data file, and the like. In addition, the display in the window 40 can apply an arbitrary configuration according to the application, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

  In the information processing apparatus 10, the pointer 42 displayed on the monitor 34 can be operated with the mouse 26 connected as a pointing device. For the operation of the pointer 42 using the mouse 26, known contents such as movement of the pointer 42 and selection of the object indicated by the pointer 42 are applied. That is, in the information processing apparatus 10, an operation (click operation) for selecting the window 40 or selecting an icon in the window 40 by an operation of the mouse 26, an operation for expanding or reducing the window 40, or an icon Various operations such as an operation of selecting and moving (drag and drop) are possible.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part that implements the functions of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus 10 includes a display control unit 51 and a display parameter setting unit 53. The mouse 26 generates a signal corresponding to the moving direction and moving amount by the mouse operation and outputs the signal to the information processing apparatus 10. The keyboard 24 generates a signal by a key operation and outputs it to the information processing apparatus 10. The display control unit 51 performs display control of the pointer 42 displayed on the monitor 34 and display control of the selected object on the monitor 34 according to the operation of the mouse 26. The display parameter setting unit 53 starts the drag operation from each time of the drag operation for moving the pointer 42 while clicking the mouse 26 and the drop operation (drag and drop operation) for releasing the click after the movement, and this drag operation. The movement distance and movement direction from the start position of the object to the position where the drop operation was performed are determined, and display parameters such as the type, location, and size of the object are determined based on the determination result. Set.

  Each function of the display control unit 51 and the display parameter setting unit 53 provided in the information processing apparatus 10 may be configured by hardware, or formed by executing software (program) by the CPU 12. It may be.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a window display for explaining the object setting method according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, a window 100 includes a menu display unit 101, a toolbar display unit 102, a work area display unit 105, and the like. The toolbar display unit 102 displays a standard toolbar 102a, a graphic toolbar 102b, and an object toolbar 102c, and the work area display unit 105 displays an object 103 and a pointer 104 that represents the position indicated by the pointing device. In FIG. 3, a numerical display object 103a, a graphic object 103b, graphic symbol objects 103c and 103d, character graphic objects 103e, 103f, and 103g are displayed as examples of objects. In particular, the graphic symbol object 103c is an example of an object having a type “lamp”, and the graphic symbol object 103d is an example of an object having a type “bit switch”.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the first object setting method according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 4, the work area display unit 105 displays a first type guide 301 and a size frame 302 in addition to the objects shown in FIG. 3. The first type guide 301 is a guide display that represents a candidate of a selectable object, and is displayed when a drag operation is performed (in FIG. 4, four objects of switches, lamps, figures, and numerical values (ASCII)). The size frame 302 is a display frame for designating the size of the object, depending on the distance between an arbitrary point P1 where the drag is started and the current point P2 of the pointer. The size of the object (object size) is determined, and finally the type and size of the object are determined by the point where the drop operation is performed.

  FIG. 4 shows an example in which the object placement position is determined by the drag start point information, but is not limited to this. For example, the object placement position is determined by the drag end point information. It doesn't matter.

  In the example of FIG. 4, although not shown, among the objects in the first type guide 301, an object in the direction in which the drag operation is performed, that is, an object that is a selection candidate is displayed with a color. By doing so, it is possible to provide a display screen with excellent operability and visibility.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the second object setting method according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 5, the work area display unit 105 displays a toolbar type list 303 in addition to FIG. 4. For example, in FIG. 4, when a switch is selected as the object type, since the switch has a further subdivided type, the type is provided in the form of a list 303. By selecting any one of the lists 303, the operator can display the object, that is, the switch object classified in detail.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a third object setting method according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 6, the work area display unit 105 displays a confirmation display frame 304 and a second type guide 305 in addition to FIG. 5. When this third object setting method is used, it is assumed that a predetermined object type is assigned to a predetermined key of the keyboard 24 in advance. On the screen shown in FIG. 4, when a predetermined keyboard key is pressed and dropped in the display area of the switch in the upper left direction of the first type guide 301, it is further subdivided as shown in FIG. 6. The second type guide 305 displaying the switch object is replaced. On this display screen, by clicking on any of the four areas, the object assigned to the area is displayed in the finalized display frame 304.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a setting procedure based on the first to third object setting methods described above. The details of the setting procedure based on the first to third object setting methods will be described below according to the flow of FIG. Each process shown in the flow of FIG. 10 is executed by the display control unit 51 or the display parameter setting unit 53 provided in the information processing apparatus 10.

  First, it is determined whether or not the mouse has been dragged (step S11). If the mouse has been dragged (step S11, Yes), it is further determined whether or not an object has been selected (step S12). Is not selected (step S12, No), the arrangement coordinates of the object are fixed (step S13), and the process proceeds to step S14. The case where the object is selected in step S12 (step S12, Yes) is, for example, a case where the type of the object displayed on the screen is changed. In this case, the arrangement of the object Since the coordinates are determined, the process of step S13 is bypassed and the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S14, it is determined whether or not there is a keyboard input when the mouse is being dragged. If there is no keyboard input (No in step S14), the first type guide (see FIG. 4) described above is used. Display (step S15), and the process proceeds to step S17. On the other hand, if there is a keyboard input (step S14, Yes), the above-described second type guide (see FIG. 6) is displayed (step S16), and the process proceeds to step S17.

  In step S17, it is determined whether or not the mouse has been dropped. If the mouse has not been dropped (step S17, No), a keyboard input waiting state is entered (step S14). On the other hand, if the mouse has been dropped (step S17, Yes), it is further determined whether or not the pointer has moved in the drag and drop operation (step S18). If the pointer has not moved (step S18). , No) Returning to the process of step S11, if there is a movement of the pointer (step S18, Yes), it is further determined whether or not an object has been selected in the process of step S12 (step S19).

  Here, when the object is not selected (step S19, No), the size of the object is determined by the drag and drop distance (the distance between the drag point and the drop point) (step S20). The process proceeds to S21. If it is determined in step S19 that the object has been selected (step S19, Yes), the object has been selected in step S12. In this case, the arrangement coordinates of the object are Since it is confirmed, the process of step S20 is bypassed and the process proceeds to step S21.

  In step S21, the type of the object on the dropped guide (first type guide or second type guide) is determined, and it is further determined whether or not there is a type subdivision (step S22). If there is no subdivision (No in step S22), the process is terminated. If there is a type subdivision (step S22, Yes), a list frame subdivided by the vicinity of the dropped point is displayed ( In step S23), the type of object is determined from the list frame (step S24, Yes), and the process is terminated. If no object type is selected (No at step S24), the process returns to step S11.

  In the above processing flow, the flow determined to have keyboard input (step S14, Yes) corresponds to the third object setting method, and the flow has been determined to have subdivided types (step S22, Yes). Corresponds to the second object setting method, and flows other than these correspond to the first object setting method.

  Next, with respect to the effect when the object setting method according to the present embodiment is applied, refer to each drawing of FIGS. 8-1 to 8-4 shown as an example of the window display according to the conventional object setting method. I will explain. FIG. 8A is a window display showing a movement operation for object selection, FIG. 8B is a window display showing a selection operation for object selection, and FIG. FIG. 8D is a window display showing a size change operation of the selected object.

  First, in the conventional object setting method, when determining the type of object, it is necessary to move the pointing device to the menu display section or toolbar display section and then return to the display position of the work area. There is a problem that the movement amount of the pointing device is large and the working efficiency is poor (see FIGS. 8A and 8C). Further, the conventional object setting method has a problem that the operability is poor because the number of actions required for determining the object type, changing the object type, or changing the object size increases (FIG. 8). -2, see Fig. 8-4). Furthermore, in the conventional object setting method, in order to designate and arrange one object, it is necessary to perform three action operations of setting the “type”, “placement location”, and “size” of the object. There is a problem that it takes time to set (see FIG. 8-4).

  On the other hand, in the object setting method according to the present embodiment and the information processing apparatus to which the object setting method is applied, the “type”, “arrangement location”, and “size” of the object can be performed by each drag and drop action. ”Can be set, so that work efficiency and operability can be improved.

  In addition, according to the object setting method according to the present embodiment and the information processing apparatus to which the object setting method is applied, guide display is performed during dragging, so which object is assigned in which direction. The type of object can be determined without remembering.

  Further, according to the object setting method according to the present embodiment and the information processing apparatus to which the object setting method is applied, when the number of displays displayed in the guide display is a predetermined number (“4” in this embodiment) or more Since the list frame of further subdivided objects is displayed in the vicinity of the drop point, work efficiency and operability related to the object setting operation even when there are more than a predetermined number of objects Can be improved.

  Further, according to the object setting method and the information processing apparatus to which the object setting method is applied according to the present embodiment, a drag and drop operation in a state where an object type is assigned to a predetermined keyboard key and the keyboard key is pressed Since the object type is displayed during dragging, the object type can be determined without remembering which object is assigned to which keyboard key.

  Further, according to the object setting method according to the present embodiment and the information processing apparatus to which the object setting method is applied, by performing drag and drop with a pointing device in a state where the object is selected, guide display and , You can set the "type", "placement location", and "size" of the object, so you can change the object type without having to remember which object is assigned in which direction It is possible to improve the work efficiency and operability related to the object change operation.

  Note that when using the mouse, which is an example of a pointing device, by assigning the above functions to the right button of the mouse, the conventional object setting method can be left as the function of the left button. The functions can be used properly according to the user's preference, or the functions can be switched according to the skill level of the operator.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus and the object setting method according to the present invention are useful as an invention that can further improve work efficiency and operability in an information processing apparatus that can be operated by a pointing device.

10 Information processing device 18 Bus 20 I / O interface 22 HDD
24 keyboard 26 mouse 28 VRAM
30 graphic controller 32 video card 34 monitor 40 window 42, 104 pointer 51 display control unit 53 display parameter setting unit 100 window 101 menu display unit 102c object toolbar 102 toolbar display unit 102a standard toolbar 103 object 103a numerical display object 103e, 103f, 103g Character / Graphic Object 105 Work Area Display Unit 301 First Type Guide 302 Size Frame 303 List 304 Final Display Frame 305 Second Type Guide

Claims (9)

In an information processing apparatus that can be operated by a pointing device,
From a drag operation that moves the pointer while clicking the pointing device and a drop operation that releases the click after the movement, from the start position of the drag operation and from the start position of the drag operation to the position where the drop operation was performed A display parameter setting unit that determines a movement distance and a movement direction of the object, and sets display parameters including the type, placement location, and size of the object based on the determination result
Based on the display parameters set by the display parameter setting unit, a display control unit that displays the object on a display screen;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The display parameter setting unit determines the location of the object based on information on the start position of the drag operation, and determines the size of the object based on information on the movement distance from the start position of the drag operation to the position where the drop operation is performed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: determining an object type based on information on a moving direction thereof.   The display control unit can display a guide area for determining the type of the object, and displays the guide area when a drag operation is executed. 2. The information processing apparatus according to 2.   When the display control unit displays an object having a larger number of types than the number of types of objects that can be displayed in the guide area, the object displayed in the guide area in the vicinity of the point where the drop operation is performed The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a list display including objects further subdivided is performed. Furthermore, when a connection with a keyboard is possible and a predetermined object type is assigned to a predetermined key of the keyboard,
When the operation of pressing the predetermined key is executed when the drag operation is executed, the display control unit displays the type of the object assigned to the predetermined key according to the drag operation in the guide area. In a predetermined area of
When the operation of pressing the predetermined key is executed when the drop operation is executed, the display parameter setting unit selects the type of the object assigned and displayed in the area where the drop operation is executed The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the size of the object is determined based on information on a distance from a starting point of the drag operation to a point where the drop operation is performed. When a drag operation and a drop operation are performed while holding at least one of the objects displayed on the display screen in a selected state,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays a guide area for changing the selected object to another object. In the case where the pointing device is a mouse,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each function of the drag operation and the drop operation is given to a right button of the mouse. An object setting method applicable to an information processing apparatus that performs an object setting process using a pointing device,
From a drag operation that moves the pointer while clicking the pointing device and a drop operation that releases the click after the movement, from the start position of the drag operation and from the start position of the drag operation to the position where the drop operation was performed An operation determining step for determining the moving distance and moving direction of
A display parameter setting step for setting display parameters including the type, location, and size of the object based on the determination result of the determination step;
Based on the display parameters set in the display parameter setting step, a display control step for displaying the object on a display screen;
An object setting method comprising:   In the display parameter setting step, the location of the object is determined based on the information on the start position of the drag operation, and the size of the object is determined based on the information on the movement distance from the start position of the drag operation to the position where the drop operation is performed. 9. The object setting method according to claim 8, wherein the object type is determined based on information on a moving direction of the object.

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