JPH10177466A - Multi-window processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily execute an operation for a window and to improve work efficiency by managing the information required for the display control of the window and synthesizing picture element information in a superimposed area so as to execute translucent plotting when the super imposing of the windows are judged from the management data. SOLUTION: Relating to an information processor capable of multiwindow display, a multiwindow control part 12 managed and controls window information and window information managing part 16 manages management information required for window display control. When it is judged that the windows are superimposed by data of a window information managing part 16, a opaque mode/translucent mode switching part 13 switches an opaque mode plotting part 14 for normally plotting the window into a translucent mode plotting part 15 by an instruction from the multiwindow control part 12 and the translucent mode plotting part 15 synthesizes picture element information in the superimposed area so as to execute the translucent plotting in the superimposed area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of multi-window display, and more particularly to window processing for a workstation, a personal computer, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information processing apparatus capable of multi-window display, the main contents of an application are displayed using a graphical user interface (GUI), a main window capable of directly inputting, command input and parameter setting. Many windows are displayed on the screen, such as a window for performing the operation and an online help window for guiding the operation of the application, and the user operates these using a pointing device such as a mouse.

FIG. 8 shows an example. FIG. 8A shows a main window. The main window displays the main contents of the application. In this example, images are searched, and the searched images are reduced and displayed in a list.

FIG. 8B shows a screen on which a menu is opened. The menu is a window for giving an instruction to an application by a pointing device, and is normally displayed temporarily only while a mouse button is pressed.

When "Search" is selected from the menu, a dialog box for search is displayed as shown in FIG. The dialog box includes elements such as check boxes for inputting character strings and selecting parameters.

There are two types of dialog boxes, modal and modeless. When the modal dialog box is displayed, the operation on the main window cannot be performed until the interaction with the modal dialog box is completed. On the other hand, in the case of a modeless dialog box, the result of the dialog can be immediately reflected in the main window without closing the window, or an operation on the main window can be performed while the modeless dialog box is displayed. FIG. 8C shows an example of a modeless dialog box in which a keyword serving as a search condition is input.
When the search is executed, a list of reduced images of the search result is displayed in the main window while the dialog box is displayed. Then, the user can input a keyword and repeat the search.

[0008] In FIG. 8 (d), the fact that the search result is 0 is displayed using a message box. The message box is used for notification from the application to the user. The display position and size of the message box and menu window are fixed, and are usually displayed so as to overlap the main window.

In such an information processing apparatus capable of multi-window display, when a plurality of windows are displayed in an overlapping manner, for example, when a dialog box is displayed in order to operate the main window, When a dialog box is displayed on top of a window, it is sometimes necessary to refer to the display contents of a main window hidden behind the window of the dialog box.

In such a conventional multi-window display system, in such a case, it is necessary to move a message box, end a modal dialog box without changing anything, or move a modeless dialog box. .

Particularly, in a small device called a PDA, a displayable area is small, and such a problem frequently occurs.

As a method of solving such a problem, a method of temporarily making a window transparent is used.
However, if the window is made transparent, the contents of the transparent window cannot be referenced. Therefore,
There is a technology that makes only the background of the window to be transparent and not the display content transparent. However, in the case of image data, etc.,
There was almost no portion to be transmitted, and the effect of transmission could not be obtained.

[0012]

As described above, in the conventional multi-window display system, when a request to refer to data displayed in a lower window hidden behind an upper window occurs, Since the display state is significantly changed, there is a problem that the display state cannot be applied to a temporary use or a specific screen.

In particular, when a window for dialogue with a user is simultaneously displayed in order to operate the main window, the above-mentioned state often occurs.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in order to operate the main window, even when a window for interacting with the user is displayed at the same time, the operation on the window while referring to the main window is performed. Is provided. Specifically, non-transparent and semi-transparent displays are selectively controlled depending on the type of window.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in an information processing apparatus capable of multi-window display, a multi-window control unit for managing and controlling window information and a display control unit for a window are required. Window information management unit that manages the appropriate management information, a non-transparent mode drawing unit that normally draws the window, and when it is determined that the windows are overlapped by the data of the window information management unit, the overlapping area is determined. The above problem is solved by providing a translucent mode drawing unit that performs translucent drawing by synthesizing the pixel information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window display information judging section for judging the type of window display information displayed in the window, wherein the specific ratio is determined based on the type of window display information in the overlapping area. The above-mentioned problem is solved by providing a translucent mode drawing unit for drawing translucently by synthesizing the pixel information of the overlapping area.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the window display information determining section solves the above-mentioned problem by determining the type of display information based on a statistical feature amount of pixel information of window display contents. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the overlapping area is further divided into a plurality of areas, and the window display information determining unit performs a determination for each of the divided areas,
The above object is achieved by providing a translucent mode drawing unit that performs translucent drawing by synthesizing the pixel information of the overlapping area at a specific ratio.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The contents of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for performing the functions of the present invention. 1 is a microprocessor (MPU) for controlling the operation of the apparatus, 2 is a main memory, 3 is a display device (CRT) for displaying images, 4 is a pointing device (PD) for giving various instructions, 5 is various data and programs. An input / output disk device 6 is an image memory (VRAM) for storing data to be displayed on the CRT 3.
In addition, a printer, an image scanner, or the like may be connected.

The present invention mainly relates to the above MPU1, VRAM
6. The processing in the main memory 2. FIG. 2 shows functional blocks of the processing. The right side of FIG. 2 shows the operation in MPU1. An application unit 10 processes various kinds of application software, and is an application for image search, document editing, and the like.

A multi-window system unit 11 manages and controls the display of multi-windows. A multi-window control unit 12 manages and controls window information.
Window drawing unit 18 that switches from a normal multi-window non-transparent mode to perform a translucent mode drawing process
have.

The multi-window control unit 12 includes a window information management unit 16 that manages the type, drawing information, and position information of the window, and a window display information determination unit 17 that determines the type of window display information displayed in the window. Have.

A window drawing unit 18 generates window display information, and switches between a non-transparent mode and a translucent mode in accordance with an instruction from the multi-window control unit 12.・
Non-transparent mode drawing unit 14 that performs a normal non-transparent mode drawing process switched by the translucent mode switching unit 13
And a translucent mode drawing unit 15 for drawing a window translucently.

The non-transparent mode is a mode in which an overlapping portion of the window of the lower image is covered and displayed by the upper window, and the translucent mode is a mode in which the lower image is displayed by the upper window. In this mode, the upper window and the lower image are mixed and displayed without hindrance.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of a window display method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of window display, and FIG. 5 is an example of a non-transparent mode / semi-transparent mode. FIG.

First, in the application section 10,
For example, when an image search application as shown in FIG. 8A is being processed by the user and a window display request related to the application is issued by the user (step S10), the type of the window requested to be displayed is changed. It is determined whether the target window type is the translucent mode (step S11).

For example, if the menu is not a target window type in the translucent mode, there is no need to switch to the translucent mode.
9) is performed and the process is terminated. In order to determine whether or not the target window type is the translucent mode, it is set in advance whether or not each window is set as the target window.

If the target window type is a translucent mode (for example, a dialog box), it is determined whether the window can be displayed so as not to overlap the main window (step S12).

The window information management unit 16 manages the size of the displayable area of the display device 3, the position and size of the main window, and the position and size of the dialog box, and uses this information to manage the dialog box. It is determined whether or not the current main window can be displayed so as not to overlap without changing the position.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the display can be performed without overlapping the windows, there is no need to switch to the translucent mode.
19) is performed, and the process ends. If the window cannot be displayed without overlapping, the window display is switched to the translucent mode (step S13).

Next, an area overlapping with the main window is calculated (step S14). Window information management unit 1
6 manages the position of the main window and the size of the dialog box, and uses this information to calculate the area where the main window and the dialog box overlap.

Next, the window display information determination section 17 extracts the window drawing information of the main window and the dialog box from the window information management section 16 and displays the display information displayed in the area calculated in step S14 with the main window and the dialog box. A determination is made for each of the boxes (step S15).

More specifically, the display contents of each window are classified into character information, graphic information, natural images, and the like by creating a histogram of color information for each pixel and analyzing the distribution of the color information.

Alternatively, the processing can be simplified by registering the content of the display information, for example, the type of a character, a graphic, or a natural image at the time of creating a window in the window information management unit 16.

Next, a translucent parameter is determined in accordance with the type of display information (step S16), and using the translucent parameter, the translucent mode drawing unit 15 converts the area calculated in step S14 into a semi-transparent mode. Drawing is performed in the transparent mode (step S17).

As a technique for translucent composition, α blending can be used. The blend ratio α (0 ≦ α ≦ 1) is stored in the blend ratio buffer for each pixel of the display, and the blend ratio α is read from the blend ratio buffer for each pixel, and the pixels A and B of the two windows are read.
Is drawn by the translucent mode drawing unit 15 according to α × A + (1−α) × B. The translucent parameter is the blend ratio α.

The display contents (character information, graphic information,
According to the combination of natural images), drawing is performed using a predetermined blend ratio α.

Since α-blending requires a large storage area and takes a long time to process, the blend ratio may be constant not for each pixel but for each area calculated in step S14.

Next, the window display is switched to the non-transparent mode by the non-transparent mode / semi-transparent mode switching unit 13 (step S18), and the remaining area is drawn in the non-transparent mode (step S19).

In this manner, a screen display in the translucent mode in which the main window (a) and the dialog box (b) are mixed as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing. First, in the application section 10, for example, when the user issues a window display request related to the application while the image search application as shown in FIG. 5A is being processed by the user (step S20), the display is performed. It is determined whether the requested window type is the target window type in the translucent mode (step S21).

For example, if the menu is not set as the target window type in the translucent mode, there is no need to switch to the translucent mode, so that the window is drawn (step S31).
And terminate the process.

If the target window type is a translucent mode (for example, a dialog box), it is determined whether the window can be displayed so as not to overlap the main window (step S22).

The window information management unit 16 manages the size of the displayable area of the display device, the position and size of the main window, and the position and size of the dialog box. It is determined whether or not the main window can be displayed without changing the position of the main window without overlapping.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the display can be performed without overlapping the windows, there is no need to switch to the translucent mode, so that the window is drawn (step S31) and the process is terminated.

If the window cannot be displayed without overlapping, the window display is switched to the translucent mode by the non-transparent mode / translucent mode switching unit 13 (step S23).

Next, an area overlapping with the main window is calculated (step S24). Window information management unit 1
6 manages the position of the main window and the size of the dialog box, and uses this information to calculate the area where the main window and the dialog box overlap.

Next, the window display information determination section 17 extracts the window drawing information of the main window and the dialog box from the window information management section 16 and converts the display information displayed in the area calculated in the processing of step S24 into the main window. And each of the dialog boxes.

At this time, the area calculated in the process of step S24 is divided into a certain size as shown in FIG. 7 (step S25). FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an overlapped area of the main window and the dialog box in FIG. 5. In the overlapped area, the background and the reduced image are displayed in the main window, and the dialog box is displayed in the background, each character string, a character input field, Figures such as an execution / end button and a check box for classification selection are mixed.

By dividing as shown in FIG. 7, each of the divided areas, for example, in FIG. 7 (e), the background and the reduced image in the main window, the background and a part of the character string, and one of the character input fields in the search window. Department.

Next, a histogram of the color information of the pixels is created for each section, and the distribution of the color information is analyzed, thereby classifying the display contents of the divided areas of the window into character information, graphic information, and a natural image. (Step S2
6).

Next, according to the type of display information for each section,
The translucent parameter is determined for each section. Step S2
A predetermined translucent parameter is determined in accordance with the combination of the display contents (character information, graphic information, natural image) of each window classified in the processing of step 6 (step S27).

It is determined whether the determination of the translucent parameter has been completed for all the sections (step S2).
8) If not completed, the flow returns to step S26 to determine the remaining divided areas.

When all the sections are completed, the translucent mode drawing section 1 is used by using the translucent parameters for each section.
5 draws all the divided areas in the translucent mode (step S29).

Next, the window display is switched to the non-transparent mode by the non-transparent mode / semi-transparent mode switching unit 13 (step S30), and the remaining area is drawn in the non-transparent mode (step S31).

By the above processing, even if objects such as characters, figures, images and the like and the background are mixed in the display contents of the window, it is possible to apply the semi-transparent parameter with high accuracy by dividing the window. The discrimination is improved.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when a window for interacting with a user is simultaneously displayed in order to operate the main window, the user can refer to the main window while referring to the main window. Operation can be facilitated and work efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a process according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a window display.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a non-transparent mode / semi-transparent mode.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example in which overlapping areas are partitioned.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 MPU 2 Memory 3 CRT 4 Pointing Device (PD) 5 Disk Unit 6 VRAM

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus capable of multi-window display, comprising: a multi-window control unit for managing and controlling window information; a window information management unit for managing management information required for window display control; A non-transparent mode drawing unit for normal drawing, and a half-transparent drawing unit for combining the pixel information of the overlapping area when it is determined based on the data of the window information management unit that the window is overlapped. A multi-window processing device comprising: a transparent mode drawing unit. 2. A window display information determining unit for determining the type of window display information displayed in a window, wherein pixel information of the overlapping area is determined at a specific rate based on the type of window display information of the overlapping area. 2. The multi-window processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a translucent mode drawing unit that performs translucent drawing by combining images. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the window display information determining unit calculates a statistical feature amount of pixel information of a display content of the window.
3. The multi-window processing device according to claim 2, wherein the type of display information is determined. 4. The overlapping area is further divided into a plurality of areas, a determination is made by the window display information determining unit for each of the divided areas, and pixel information of the overlapping area is synthesized at a specific ratio. 4. The multi-window processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a translucent mode drawing section for drawing in a translucent manner.