JP2006139576A - Information processing device and directory management program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing device capable of displaying a name by which a user can associate the contents of a directory in order to discriminate directories having the same given name. <P>SOLUTION: In the information processing device adopting a file management method for forming the directory storing files hierarchically and performing display control for visualy displaying the directory together with its name to a user, when a name being the same as the already registered directory name is set for a directory which is newly registered or is changed for its name, the information processing device provides a comparison means for comparing a path showing a location of the already registered directory and a path showing a location of the newly registered directory, and a change means for changing a name of the directory visualy displayed for a user regarding at least one of the already registered directory and the directory which is newly registered or is changed for its name on the basis of a comparison result by the comparison means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus adopting a file management system in which directories (folders) for storing files are hierarchical (nested), and a directory management program executed by the information processing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer equipped with a general-purpose OS, as a file management method, a method in which directories that store files are structured hierarchically is generally adopted. In such a file management method, when a directory is newly registered or the name of an existing directory is changed, the name of the directory already registered may overlap, and in particular, those names may be simultaneously displayed on the same display screen. When a directory is displayed, there is a problem that it is confusing to distinguish between the two. As a method for dealing with such a problem, for example, a method of displaying a difference in directory contents by explicitly changing the color of the directory after registration of the directory with the same name has been proposed (for example, JP-A-5-216727). Issue gazette). As another method, there has been proposed a method of clarifying the difference in directory contents by displaying all the paths representing the location of the directories instead of the names of the registered directories.

JP-A-5-216727

  However, in the former method, it is necessary to confirm the contents of the registered directory, change the color of the directory, and further understand what kind of directory is what color. In the latter method, when the path is long, the name of the most necessary directory cannot be displayed in the directory display area.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above technical problem, and an information processing apparatus and directory management capable of displaying a name that a user can associate with the contents of the directory in order to determine a directory in which the same name is set. The purpose is to provide a program.

  Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application adopts a file management system in which directories for storing files are hierarchically configured, and information for performing display control so that the directory is displayed so as to be visible to the user together with its name. In the processing device, when a directory that is newly registered or renamed is set with the same name as a directory that has already been registered, a new path that indicates the location of the directory that has already been registered is registered. A comparison unit that compares a path that represents the location of the directory to be registered, and at least one of a directory that is already registered and a directory that is newly registered or renamed based on the comparison result of the comparison unit Changing means for changing the name of the directory displayed in a visible manner on It is obtained by said to have.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 2 of the present application, in the invention according to claim 1, the change means extracts different portions between paths compared by the comparison means, and names of directories already registered. In addition, the name of the directory displayed so as to be visible to the user is changed by adding to at least one of the names of the directories set by the user in accordance with new registration or name change.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 3 of the present application is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 2, the comparing means compares the paths from an upper layer.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 4 of the present application, in the invention according to claim 2 or 3, the changing means adds a character string to the name of the directory and compares the paths compared by the comparing means. Automatic selection means for automatically selecting one of the different parts between the paths extracted from the above, and manual selection for allowing the user to select one of the different parts between the paths extracted from the paths compared by the comparison means Means.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 5 of the present application employs a file management system in which directories for storing files are configured in a hierarchical manner, and display control is performed so that the directories can be displayed to the user along with their names. When the same name as an already registered directory is set for a newly registered or renamed directory in the information processing apparatus to be executed, a path indicating the location of the already registered directory and a new one And comparing the path indicating the location of the directory registered in the directory and the user to visually recognize at least one of the directory already registered and the directory newly registered or renamed based on the result of the comparison. Changing the name of the directory displayed as possible, and Is a directory management program.

  According to the invention according to claim 1 of the present application, the directory that has already been registered and the newly registered directory are newly registered while reflecting the result of comparing the path of the directory that has already been registered with the path of the directory that is newly registered. Alternatively, the directory name displayed so as to be visible to the user is changed for at least one of the renamed directories, so that the difference between the directories with the same name can be clarified.

  Further, according to the invention according to claim 2 of the present application, the directory name is changed by adding a different character string between a newly registered or renamed directory path and an existing directory path. Therefore, a name that can be associated with the contents of the directory by the user can be created, and the directory can be displayed together with the name to clarify the difference between the directories with the same name.

  Further, according to the invention of claim 3 of the present application, by adopting the character string at the highest level among the character strings that differ between the paths, the user has a greater concept of the directory difference from the name of the new directory. Can be recognized.

  Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim 4 of the present application, at the time of manual selection, it is possible to select a character string that is more convenient for the user to recognize a difference in the directory from among the extracted character strings. Is possible.

  Further, according to the invention according to claim 5 of the present application, the result of comparing the path of the already registered directory with the path of the newly registered directory is reflected, and the already registered directory and the newly registered directory path are reflected. Since at least one of the directories registered or renamed in the directory is renamed so that the user can see the directory, the difference between the directories with the same name can be clarified.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an information processing terminal (hereinafter referred to as PC) 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The PC 10 is based on a program such as an operating system (OS), which is basic software. The CPU 2 controls each component in the PC 10, a ROM 3 that records a boot program that is executed when the PC 10 is started, and is necessary for executing the program. RAM 4 used as a buffer area of a work area, a hard disk ("HD" in the figure) 5 for storing an OS, application programs, and various data, and an input operation by a user via an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse Between the operation control unit 6 that detects the input and executes control according to the input operation, the display control unit 7 that controls display of various information on the monitor display, and an external device such as a printer or MFP. Interface section ("I / F" in the figure) for transmitting and receiving various data 8 , The has. These components are connected to each other via a bus 9 so that data can be transmitted and received.

  In the PC 10, various data files (document files, image files, etc.) having file names are stored in predetermined directories (hereinafter referred to as folders), and file icons corresponding to the data files are stored in GUI format. The folder icon to be displayed is displayed on the monitor display together with its name.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a monitor display screen that displays folders configured in a hierarchical manner and file icons stored in one of the folders. In this example, folders “Documents”, “PSC”, “Drivers”, “BackUp”, “PSR”, and “Reports” exist one level lower than the top-level folder “Project”. Further, a folder “Temp” and a “specification” are present under the folder “PSC”, and a “GUI specification” is present under the folder “specification”. Further, under the folder “PSR”, there are folders “Temp” and “specifications”. In the state shown in FIG. 2, the folder “Temp” under the folder “PSC” is selected, and the file icons corresponding to the files included in the folder “Temp” are displayed in a list.

  The hard disk 5 of the PC 10 stores a folder management table (hereinafter referred to as a folder management table) reflecting the hierarchical structure of the folders (see FIG. 3). In this table, the name of a folder already registered and information (path) representing the location of the folder are held in association with each other.

  Hereinafter, when there is a user request for new registration of a folder in the PC 10, specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the name of “GUI specification” is set in the folder “PSR” (that is, its lower level). A case will be described in which the user requests registration of a new folder. In this case, if the name “GUI specification” is not used, the “GUI specification” is displayed as the name as it is on the monitor display shown in FIG. 2, but in this example, the folder Since the folders existing under “PSC” and “specifications” are already used, if they are displayed together with the folders as they are, the discrimination between them becomes confusing. In response to this, in the present embodiment, a folder management process is performed in which a name that can be associated with the contents of the folder by the user is displayed in order to determine a folder in which the same name is set.

  When the folder management table shown in FIG. 3 is referred to and it is detected that the folder name “GUI specification” set at the time of the user request has already been used, the paths indicating the locations of both folders are compared. Is done. That is, the path “C: ¥ Project ¥ PSC ¥ specification ¥ GUI specification” set for the folder already used and the path “C: ¥ Project ¥ PSR” to be set for the newly registered folder. The “¥ specification ¥ GUI specification” is compared. In the present embodiment, the character strings included in both paths are compared in order from the upper hierarchy. Then, first character strings that are different from each other between the paths are extracted, and an extraction result table as shown in FIG. 4 is created. Here, as the first character string different from each other, the character string “PSC” is extracted corresponding to the path set for the already used folder, and is set to the path to be set for the newly registered folder. Correspondingly, the character string “PSR” is extracted. This extraction result table may be temporarily stored in the RAM 4 or stored in the hard disk 5.

  Thereafter, the extracted character strings “PSC” and “PSR” are added to the name of the folder already used and the name of the folder set at the time of the user request, respectively, and a new name “GUI specification-PSC”. And “GUI Specification-PSR” is created. Then, folder information including a new name and its path is registered in the folder management table. FIG. 5 shows a folder management table after registration. In this example, the new name is not reflected in the path. However, the present invention is not limited to this, but a change that reflects the new name, that is, each path is changed to “C: ¥ Project ¥ PSR ¥. Changes such as “specification ¥ GUI specification-PSC” and “C: ¥ Project ¥ PSR ¥ specification ¥ GUI specification-PSR” may be added.

  Furthermore, in order to reflect the folder information registered in the folder management table, the names of already existing folders and newly registered folders displayed on the monitor display are “GUI specification-PSC” and “ “GUI Specification-PSR”. FIG. 6 shows the monitor display screen after registration.

  In the above-described embodiment, extraction of different character strings between paths and addition of character strings to folder names are automatically performed as a series of processes. However, the present invention is not limited to this. After extracting different character strings, the character string added to the folder name may be manually selected. Below, manually register the character string to be added to the folder name when newly registering the folder “GUI specification” under the folders “Project”, “PSR”, and “Spec” for the hierarchical structure shown in FIG. The case where it does is demonstrated. Such manual selection may be set automatically, but in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 in response to detecting that the folder name set at the time of the user request is already used. A dialog box for setting an environment for setting an appropriate character string selection method is displayed, and setting of manual selection or automatic selection is left to the user. When automatic selection is set, as described above, extraction of different character strings between paths and addition of character strings to folder names are automatically performed as a series of processes.

  On the other hand, when manual selection is set, the path registered in the file management table is divided for each character string. FIG. 8 shows a file management table in which paths are separated for each character string. Then, “Project”, “PSC”, “specification”, “GUI specification” included in the path set for the already used folder, and the path to be set for the newly registered folder The included character strings “Project”, “PSR”, “Spec”, and “GUI specification” are compared. As a result of the comparison, for each path, a character string not included in the other path is extracted, and an extraction result table as shown in FIG. 9 is created. Here, the character strings “PSC” and “specifications” are extracted corresponding to the paths set for the folders that are already used, and corresponding to the paths to be set for the newly registered folder. The character strings “PSR” and “Spec” are extracted. The extraction result table may be temporarily stored in the RAM 4 or may be stored in the hard disk 5 as in the table shown in FIG.

  After that, a dialog box for character string selection as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the monitor display in order to make the user select one of the extracted character strings. Here, for each path, the extracted character strings are listed and displayed so as to be user-selectable. In such a character string selection dialog box, when the user selects one character string for each path, the selected character strings are the names of folders already used and the names of folders set in response to user requests, respectively. And a new name is created. Then, folder information consisting of a new name and its path is registered in the folder management table, and the names of already existing folders and newly registered folders displayed on the monitor display are reflected so that the folder information is reflected. Are each changed.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the folder management process according to this embodiment. In this process, it is first determined whether or not there is a user request for new registration of a folder (# 11). As a result, if it is determined that there is no user request, the step # 11 is repeated, and on the other hand, for example, the command “Create New Folder” from the menu is selected and the name of the folder is set. If it is determined that there has been a user request, the process proceeds to # 12. In # 12, the folder management table is referred to and it is determined whether or not a folder having the same name as the name set at the time of the user request already exists (# 12).

  As a result of # 12, if it is determined that there is no folder with the same name, the folder information including the name set in response to the user request and the path based on the name is registered in the folder management table as it is (# 13). Thereafter, the folder is displayed together with the registered name (# 18), and the processing is completed. On the other hand, if it is determined as a result of # 12 that a folder with the same name already exists, an environment setting dialog box for setting the character string selection method is displayed (# 14), and further, automatic It is determined whether the selection method has been set (# 15).

  As a result of # 15, when it is determined that the automatic selection method has been set, the paths set for each folder are compared from the upper hierarchy, and the first character strings different from each other are extracted (# 16). Thereafter, the extracted character string is added to the folder name, and the new folder name and its path are registered in the folder management table (# 17). Then, the folder is displayed together with the registered name (# 18), and the process is completed.

  On the other hand, if it is determined as a result of # 15 that the manual selection method has been set, the path registered in the file management table is divided for each character string (# 19). Thereafter, the character strings are compared between the paths set for the folder having the same name, and all different character strings are extracted (# 20). Subsequently, a character string selection dialog box for listing the extracted character strings so as to be user selectable is displayed (# 21).

  Thereafter, it is determined whether or not one of the character strings has been selected (# 22). As a result, if it is determined that no character string has been selected, step # 22 is repeated, while the character string is If it is determined that is selected, the name of the new folder to which the selected character string is added and its path are registered in the folder management table (# 21). Then, the folder is displayed together with the registered name (# 18), and the process is completed.

  The folder management process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11 is executed by reading a program stored in the hard disk 5 of the PC 10, and this program is a part of a program that is a basis of control by the CPU 2 of the PC 10. As a folder management program, for example, by using an external recording medium such as a CD-ROM 8 or a floppy (registered trademark) disk 9 shown in FIG. It may be installed in the PC 10 and additionally stored in the hard disk 5.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the folder name is changed by adding a different character string between the path of the newly registered folder and the path of the existing folder. A name that can be associated with the user can be created, and the folder can be displayed together with the name to discriminate a folder in which the same name is set. Here, when automatically selecting a character string to be added to the folder name, by adopting the character string at the highest level among the character strings that differ between paths, the user can use a larger concept from the name of the new folder. Recognize folder differences. On the other hand, at the time of manual selection, it is possible to select a character string that is more convenient for the user to recognize folder differences from the extracted character strings.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments, and it goes without saying that various improvements and design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which a folder is newly registered has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied when a folder is renamed. In this case, in the folder management table, already registered folder information is changed instead of registering new folder information (name and path).
In the above-described embodiment, the character strings extracted as different parts from the paths of the already registered folder and the newly registered folder are both added to the corresponding folder name. Without limitation, if the difference between folders with the same name can be clarified, a character string is added to either the name of a folder already registered or the name of a newly registered folder. May be.

It is a figure which shows the basic composition of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display screen which displays the file icon stored in the folder and one of the folders which were comprised hierarchically. It is a figure which shows an example of the folder management table which matches and hold | maintains the name and path | pass of a folder. It is a figure which shows an example of the extraction result table showing the character string extracted as a mutually different character string between paths. It is a figure which shows the folder management table after new folder registration. It is a figure which shows the monitor display screen after a new folder registration. It is a figure which shows the dialog box for an environment setting for setting the character string selection method. It is a figure which shows an example of the folder management table by which the path | pass registered according to manual selection was divided | segmented for every character. It is a figure which shows an example of the extraction result table showing the character string extracted as a character string which is not contained in the other path | pass about each path | pass. It is a figure which shows the dialog box for character string selection which selects either of the extracted character strings. It is a flowchart about the folder management process which concerns on the said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

2 ... CPU, 3 ... ROM, 4 ... RAM, 5 ... hard disk, 6 ... operation control unit, 7 ... display control unit, 10 ... information processing device, 11 ... CD-ROM, 12 ... floppy disk.

Claims (5)

In an information processing apparatus that adopts a file management method in which directories for storing files are configured in a hierarchical manner, and performs display control so that the directory is displayed so as to be visible to the user along with its name,
When the same name as an already registered directory is set for a newly registered or renamed directory, the path indicating the location of the already registered directory and the newly registered directory A comparison means for comparing the path representing the location;
Based on the result of the comparison by the comparison means, a change means for changing the name of the directory displayed so as to be visible to the user for at least one of the already registered directory and the newly registered or renamed directory; And an information processing apparatus.   The changing means extracts different portions between the paths compared by the comparing means, and adds them to at least one of a directory name already registered and a directory name set by the user in accordance with new registration or name change. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the name of the directory displayed so as to be visible to the user is changed by adding.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the comparison unit compares the paths from an upper layer.   The changing means includes an automatic selection means for automatically selecting one of the different portions between the paths extracted from the paths compared by the comparing means when adding a character string to the directory name; The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a manual selection unit that allows the user to select one of the different portions between the paths extracted from the paths compared by the comparison unit. In an information processing apparatus that adopts a file management system in which directories for storing files are configured in a hierarchical manner, and performs display control so that the directory is displayed so as to be visible to the user together with its name,
When the same name as an already registered directory is set for a newly registered or renamed directory, the path indicating the location of the already registered directory and the newly registered directory A step of comparing with a path representing a location;
Based on the result of the comparison, the step of changing the name of the directory that is displayed so as to be visible to the user is executed for at least one of the already registered directory and the newly registered or renamed directory. Directory management program.

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