JP3241032B2 - Information processing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, such as a palmtop (trademark) computer, suitable for displaying a window on a display unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an icon (a pattern used as a substitute for a character) displayed on a display unit or the like is selected, a window in which the content of the icon (for example, a plate for drawing a graphic, a plate for inputting a type) is enlarged. As a device that displays on the display unit, a palmtop (trademark) computer, a combination of a mouse and a keyboard, and the like are known.

In addition, since the window is displayed so as to overlap the content already displayed, for example, characters input during the preparation of a sentence are hidden by the window (print type input plate). Therefore, if the user wants to see the hidden characters, the window must be deleted once.

Therefore, as a conventional method of once deleting a window, for example, in a device using a mouse, a method of operating a mouse or a dedicated button provided on a keyboard to delete / redisplay the window is used. A button display area for erasing is provided in the window, the mouse cursor is moved to the area, and the mouse is clicked, the area is erased, and the icon corresponding to the erased window is displayed on the display unit, while the icon is displayed. Move the mouse cursor and click the mouse to redisplay.

[0005]

However, the method of providing a dedicated button on a mouse or a keyboard has a problem that the apparatus becomes complicated. In addition, the operation of moving the mouse cursor or the like is troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide an information processing apparatus and method in which the configuration of the apparatus is simple and the operation of erasing and redisplaying a window is facilitated. Is to provide.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method such as a palmtop (trademark) computer suitable for displaying a window on a display unit. The operation is erased and displayed again only by the operation described above, thereby facilitating this kind of operation and simplifying the apparatus.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention provides an information input unit for capturing coordinate information, a display unit having an icon group display area for displaying a plurality of icons, a coordinate information from the information input unit and a display on the display unit. A control unit that manages display data to be displayed; a window display unit that displays a window corresponding to the icon on the display unit in response to the information input unit operating one of the icons; When the information input unit instructs coordinate information corresponding to the erase button area displayed on the icon, the icon corresponding to the window is displayed.
And the window erasing means for erasing the win <br/> dough and displays the standby area of the display unit, the standby area
Corresponding to the window that has been erased is displayed by indicating the icon information input unit, a window that has been deleted
And the window re-display means for displaying again, coordinates corresponding to the particular region provided at a position different from the stand area
All windows are erased by instructing information on the information input unit to erase all windows displayed on the display unit
It is made to have a means.

Further, the present invention provides an information input unit for capturing coordinate information, a display unit having an icon group display area for displaying a plurality of icons, coordinate information from the information input unit and display data to be displayed on the display unit. And a control unit that manages the information processing device, wherein the information input unit responds to the operation of one of the icons in response to the operation of one of the icon groups. displays a window corresponding to the icon, by the information input unit coordinate information corresponding to the delete button area displayed on the window is instructed, c
The icon corresponding to the window is displayed in the standby area in the display.
Clear the window and displays the frequency, standby
By instructing the icon corresponding to the window that has been erased is displayed in the region information input unit again displays a window that has been erased, the coordinate information corresponding to the specific region provided at a position different from the stand area By giving an instruction from the information input unit, all the windows displayed on the display unit are deleted.

A preferred embodiment of an information processing apparatus and method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a palmtop (trademark) computer 1 to which the present invention is applied includes a main body casing 3 containing main electric components and the like, and a main body casing 3.
And a display unit casing 5 connected to the display unit via a hinge 9. In this case, a flexible board or the like is built in the hinge 9 (not shown), and power, various signals, and the like are transmitted from the main body casing 3 side to the display unit casing 5 side.
It is transmitted via the flexible substrate.

The main body casing 3 is provided with a concave portion 3a. The concave portion 3a houses an input pen (information input means) 11 and a cord 13 having one end connected to the input pen 11. You. The other end of the cord 13 is provided with a connection terminal 13a connected to a terminal 15 provided on the side surface of the display unit 15, and the input pen 11 is connected to the palm through the connection terminal 13a and the terminal 15. It is electrically connected to the top (trademark) computer 1.

That is, the display unit casing 5 is provided with a display unit 7 composed of a liquid crystal or the like, and an input side composed of a transparent touch sensor or the like is provided on the front side of the display panel provided on the display unit 7. A tablet 20 is provided.

When the input pen 11 is moved on the surface of the tablet 20 with the connection terminal 13a connected to the terminal 15, the pen tip of the input pen 11 and the tablet 2 are moved.
The static capacitance changes to 0, and the amount of change is detected and output from the connection terminal 13a. Further, even when the pen tip of the input pen 11 is not in contact with the tablet 20, the coordinates of the pen tip are detected, and the position where the pen tip faces the tablet 20 is displayed on the display unit 7. For example, a cross-shaped marker is displayed.

On the other hand, the main body casing 3 has a power switch 10 and an IC card such as a ROM or a RAM.
A C card socket 17 is provided, and an expansion socket 23 for connection to an external device is provided. In addition, a power supply 40 is stored in a concave portion provided with a lid 21 that can be opened and closed when the lock mechanism 19 is released.

Further, the display unit casing 5 is provided with a microphone 30.
The sound signal input from the device is recorded (solid-state recording) or reproduced by operating a switch group 27 provided on the side surface of the main body casing 3. That is, when the recording switch 17a is turned on, recording is started, and when the reproduction switch 17b is turned on, reproduction is started and sound is emitted from the speaker 25. When the stop switch 17c is turned on, recording or reproduction is stopped, and the volume or the like during reproduction can be adjusted by the volume adjustment switch 17d.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram showing main electrical components 100 of the palmtop (trademark) computer 1.
102, program ROM 104 and working RA
The overall operation is controlled by a control unit mainly composed of M106.

That is, in the CPU 102, display data is written to the V-RAM 116 via the display controller 114, and the display data is displayed on the display unit 7 by the display controller 114 controlled by the CPU 102. In the CPU 102, the output signals of the input tablet 20 and the input pen 11 are captured via the tablet interface 118, and the output signal (voice signal) of the microphone 30 is output to the solid-state recording processing unit 120.
A / D-converted, and the audio signal is supplied to a backup RAM 108 provided with a power supply 110.
Is stored in

Power is also supplied from the power supply 110 to the timer 111. The timer 111 calculates the number of clocks obtained from the crystal unit 112, and outputs the date and time data and the time data at that time. Is done.

The dialer circuit 122 has a CPU 102
For example, when data of a telephone number is supplied, an audio signal corresponding to a dual tone transmitted to a telephone line is generated. The analog signal obtained by D / A conversion of the audio signal stored in the backup RAM 108 by the solid-state recording processing unit 120 or the dual tone generated by the dialer circuit 122 is output to the speaker 2 via the mixer 124.
5 (sound emission).

Further, each output of the power switch 10 or the switch group 27 is taken into the CPU 102 through the power source 40 and the switch interface 124,
The IC card socket 17 and the extension socket 23
Are taken into the CPU 102 via the IC card interface 126 and the extension interface 125, respectively.

With the above configuration, for example, to input characters and display them on the display unit 7, first, the power switch 10
Is turned on, various icon groups 50 and the like are displayed on the display unit 7 as understood from FIG. Therefore, when the input pen 11 is brought into contact with the display area 50a of the icon “Kaku”, the display of the icon 50a changes to a shaded state, and, for example, a connection image (Φ) is displayed.

Next, when the input pen 11 is brought into contact with the display area 50b of the character input icon "katsuji" and the input pen 11 is moved (dragged) on the image (Φ) in this state, FIG. As will be understood, a window w (printed plate) in which the content of the icon 50b is enlarged is displayed superimposed on the image (Φ), and the icon “Katsuji” is deleted. In this state, the character input area w of the window w
_{From 1} , for example, handwritten Kana characters with the input pen 11,
When a predetermined operation is performed with the input pen 11, kana characters are converted into kanji and written on the image (Φ).

Next, a processing procedure performed by the CPU 102 when the window w is once deleted and displayed again will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

In FIG. 5, when the input pen 11 is brought into contact with the tablet 20 (pen down) (step S1Y).
ES), coordinates of the pen-down position is taken, if the coordinates in the erasing (Hyde) within region w ₂ (step S
2, step S3 YES), the current contact position coordinates are fetched and stored in the RAM 106, and the input pen 11 is separated from the tablet 20 at the stored coordinate position (pen-up) (step S4). ,
Step S6YES), with Hyde region w ₂ is black, a loop counter (not shown) is set to the value 100 (step S7, S8).

In this case, in this embodiment, the hide area w ₂
When the input pen 11 is pen-downed only once, the window w continues to be erased until the operation shown in FIG. 6 (pen-down to a specific area) is performed. Time), automatically reappears after the elapse, so that pen down will take a certain amount of time,
It is determined whether the loop counter is once or twice within the time from the value 100 to the value 0.

Therefore, it is preferable to use a timer (interrupt processing or the like) instead of the loop counter, and the set value of the loop counter can be appropriately selected in accordance with the use state or the like.

When the loop counter is set in step S8, the value 1 from the loop counter is sequentially subtracted (step S12) on condition that the pen is not down (step S11 NO), and the value of the loop counter becomes 0 (step S12). S10YES), since the pen-down operation is performed only once, the window w is erased (step S13),
The erasure is continued until the processing of FIG. 6 is performed.

In this embodiment, if the pen is down only once, the icon 50b corresponding to the erased window w is displayed in the standby area 50c (step S14). The contents of w can be easily confirmed.

On the other hand, if the pen down is performed before the loop counter value becomes 0 (step S11 YES), the coordinates of the pen down position are fetched (step S1).
5), if the coordinates are in Hyde region w ₂ (step S
16), the window w is deleted, and a time counter (not shown) is set to a value of 5 [seconds] (step S17,
Step S18). It should be noted that the time counter can be set to an appropriate value (time) according to the usage state and the like.

Further, pen-down in step S3 is that is not the Hyde region w ₂ are normal processing is performed (step S9).

Next, the redisplay processing (redisplay means) in which the erased window w is generated again will be described.

When the window w is erased in step S13, the CPU 102 enters a standby state to perform the processing shown in FIG. 6, and when the CPU 102 is pen-down to the standby area 50c (step S20, step S21 YES, step S22 YES). The deleted window w is displayed again (step S23).

When the pen is moved down to another standby area (NO in step S22), processing for displaying a window corresponding to the icon displayed in the pen-down area is performed (step S24).

On the other hand, when five seconds have elapsed since the window w was erased in step S17, the CPU 102 is interrupted, and the processing of FIG. 7 is performed.

First, in step S30, the content of the command is determined from the set time of the timer counter. That is, the RAM 104 is provided with a timer set list storage area. In the area, a set time and a task corresponding to the set time (for example, redisplay of a window, an alarm clock) are paired data. And stored in a so-called list format.

Therefore, if the set time is a value of 5 [seconds], it is determined that the command is a command to delete the window w (YES in step S30), and the deleted window w is displayed again (step S30). S31). In addition,
If the set time is not the value of 5 [seconds] (NO in step S30), processing for an alarm clock is performed (step S32).

As described above, in the present embodiment, if the pen is moved down to the hide area w ₂ once within a predetermined time, the window w is erased, and the standby area 50 is erased.
When pen-down is performed on c, the window w is displayed again.

[0039] In addition, in the Hyde area w ₂ within a predetermined period of time 2
When the pen is repeatedly pressed down, the window w is erased for 5 seconds and then automatically displayed again. That is, the window w is erased or redisplayed only by the operation of bringing the input pen 11 into contact with or separated from the tablet 20, so that this kind of operation is facilitated, and a dedicated button is provided as in the related art. Since there is no need, the configuration of the palmtop (trademark) computer 1 is simplified.

The processing for erasing or redisplaying the window w may be performed, for example, in a specific area 60 shown in FIGS.
It is also preferable to perform a process in which if the pen is moved down once, all of the displayed windows (in some cases) are erased, and if the pen is moved down again, the window is displayed again.

In the type plate (window w), it is also preferable that the type plate is erased for three seconds and automatically redisplayed every time the pen is moved down to a specific button (for example, a write button) area. It is.

Further, instead of deleting all the windows w, it is also possible to perform processing such as a change in the display area thereof.

The present invention is also applicable to other information processing apparatuses and methods in which a mouse cursor is moved on a display unit such as a CRT.

[0044]

As will be understood from the above description, in the information processing apparatus and method according to the present invention, the window once displayed is deleted or redisplayed only by operating the information input unit. The operation for once erasing becomes easy, and there is no need to provide a dedicated button as in the prior art, so that the apparatus can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a palmtop (trademark) computer in a preferred embodiment of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of the main electrical configuration of a Palmtop ™ computer.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing display contents of a display unit.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing display contents of a display unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a processing procedure performed by a CPU of a palmtop (trademark) computer.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a processing procedure performed by a CPU of a palmtop (trademark) computer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a processing procedure performed by a CPU of a palmtop (trademark) computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Palmtop (trademark) computer (information processing device), 7 ... Display part, 11 ... Input pen (information input part), 2
0: input tablet, 60: specific area, 102: CP
U, 104: Program ROM, 106: Working R
AM, w ... window, w ₁ ... predetermined area (hide area)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information input unit for capturing coordinate information, a display unit having an icon group display area on which a plurality of icons are displayed, and managing coordinate information from the information input unit and display data to be displayed on the display unit. And a window display means for displaying a window corresponding to the icon on the display unit in response to the information input unit operating one of the icons in the window. the coordinate information corresponding to the delete button region displayed by the information input unit is instructed, the U
The icon corresponding to the window is displayed on the
And c <br/> guiding erasing means for erasing the window and displays the Lee area, an icon corresponding to the erased window is displayed in the standby area by instruction by the information input unit, the erasing and WIN <br/> dough redisplay means for the displayed window again, the coordinates information corresponding to the specific region provided at a position different from the upper Symbol standby region by indicating in the information input unit, the display the information processing apparatus characterized by having a total window erasing means for erasing all of the plurality of windows being displayed in the section. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information input unit corresponds to the specific area .
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of erased windows are redisplayed by instructing the coordinate information again. 3. An information input unit for taking in coordinate information, a display unit having an icon group display area on which a plurality of icons are displayed, and managing coordinate information from the information input unit and display data to be displayed on the display unit. An information processing method used for an information display device comprising: a control unit that performs one of the icon group in response to an operation of one of the icon groups. A window corresponding to the icon is displayed, and the information input unit instructs coordinate information corresponding to an erase button area displayed in the window.
Standby icons corresponding to the guiding in the display unit
Clear the window and displays the Lee area, an icon corresponding to the erased window is displayed in the standby area by instruction by the information input unit again displays the erased window, above by instructing the serial coordinate information corresponding to the specific region provided at a position different from the stand area by the information input unit, information characterized that you erase all of the plurality of windows displayed on the display unit Processing method. 4. An information input unit corresponding to the specific area .
4. The information processing method according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of erased windows are redisplayed by instructing the coordinate information again.