JPH02214927A - Method and device for control of multi-window - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always and newly produce a designated window regardless of a fact whether the number of existing windows reach a prescribed level or not by preparing a window number limit releasing part. CONSTITUTION:A window production request part 1 has a request for production of a new window and a window number limit deciding part 2 decides whether the number of existing windows reach a prescribed level or not. If so, a window number limit releasing part 3 erases selectively one of those existing windows to decrease the number of windows less than the limit level. Then a window production part 4 produces newly a designated window. Thus it is possible to always a new window as designated regardless of a fact whether the number of existing windows reach a prescribed level or not.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing multi-windows in a computer system.

Background of the Invention In recent years, with the spread of bitmap displays and Pointin3 paging devices, a multi-window function has been introduced that divides the only display in a system into multiple rectangular areas called windows and treats each window as one virtual terminal. Computer systems with this technology are widely used.

A general multi-window system has functions such as creating new windows, erasing existing windows, and changing the shape and arrangement of windows.

However, it is not possible to generate an unlimited number of windows due to system memory capacity and other constraints, and generally there is a limit on the number of windows that can be generated at the same time, and more windows than that can be generated. I am no longer able to do that.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional Vf window management device. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a window generation requesting unit, which requests the generation of a new window according to an operator's operation or a command written in an application program. Reference numeral 12 denotes a window number limit determining unit, which determines whether the number of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit number when the window generation requesting unit 11 requests new window generation. be. Reference numeral 13 denotes a window generation unit, which generates the window specified by the window generation request unit 11 when the window number limit determination unit 12 determines that the number of existing windows has not reached a predetermined limit. It is something that is newly generated. In fact, in addition to this,
Although various components are required to realize the function of erasing an already existing window, the function of changing the shape and arrangement of windows, etc., they are not the main focus of the present invention and will therefore be omitted.

The operation of the conventional multi-window management device configured as described above will be described below.

(1) The operator performs an operation to generate a new window. Alternatively, the application program executes a command written within it to generate a new window.

5 Page (2) In response, the window generation request unit 11 activates the window number limit determination unit 12.

(3) The window number limit determination unit 12 determines whether the number N of already existing windows has reached a predetermined limit number WAX.

If N (MAX), proceed to C (4). If N=MAX (4), an error indicating that no more windows can be generated occurs and the process ends.

(4) Finally, the window generation unit 13 generates a new window specified by the window generation request unit 11.

The specific operation of the conventional multi-window management device that operates as described above will now be described.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the process of creating a window using a conventional multi-window management device. Here, we will consider an overlapping window system that allows windows to overlap each other, and assume that newly generated windows will be displayed in the foreground. Further, the maximum number of windows that can be simultaneously generated is set to three.

Page 6 (5) In order to generate a new window from the state (a) where two windows A and B exist, the window generation request unit 11 is activated.

(6) The window number limit determining unit 12 started from the window generation requesting unit 11 determines the number N of windows that already exist.
It is determined whether or not the number has reached a predetermined limit number MAX. In this case, N=2, MAX=3, so N
(Since MAX is i, the window number limit determining unit 12 activates the window generating unit 13.

(η The window generation unit 13 is the window generation request unit 1
A new window C specified in step 1 is generated, resulting in the state shown in (b).

(8) Next, in order to generate a new window from the state (b) where three windows A, B, and C exist, the window generation requesting unit 11 is activated.

(9) The window number limit determining unit 12 started from the window generation requesting unit 11 determines the number N of windows that already exist.
It is determined whether or not the number has reached a predetermined limit number MAX. In this case, if there are 7 pages, N=3 and MAX=s, so N=MAX and %, so the window number limit determining unit 12 generates an error indicating that no more windows can be generated and ends the process. As a result, no new window is generated and [
]) will remain in the state.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional multi-window management method and device, as explained in the above-mentioned specific example, after the number of already existing windows reaches the limit number specified by the system, the operator's Requesting the generation of a new window according to an operation or a command written in an application program simply results in an error, and the desired window is never generated. Therefore, when an operator or an application program attempts to create a new window, it must always be aware of the number of existing windows, and selectively delete one of them as necessary. operation or processing that would reduce the number of windows.

In view of the above-mentioned problems that the conventional multi-window management method and device had, the present invention provides that windows are always designated regardless of whether or not the number of already existing windows reaches a predetermined limit. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-window management method and device capable of creating new windows.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a window generation request unit that requests new generation of a window, and a window generation request unit that requests new generation of a window, and a window generation request unit that requests generation of a new window. a window number limit determination unit that determines whether the number of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit; and a window number limit determination unit that determines whether the number of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit. Window number limit 9 which selectively deletes one window among them to reduce the number of windows to less than the limit number when it is determined that the number of windows already exists by the page release unit and the window number limit determination unit When it is determined that the number of windows has not reached a predetermined limit, and when the window number limit state is canceled by the window number limit release section, a new window specified by the window generation request section is created. M) A Vf window management device is configured, characterized by comprising a window generation unit that generates a window.

Operation The multi-window management device of the present invention has the above-described configuration, so that when the window generation request unit requests the generation of a new window, the window number limit determination unit determines that the number of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit. If it is determined that the number of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit, the window number limit release unit selectively deletes one of them. This allows the window generation unit to generate a new window specified by 10 pages under the condition that the number of windows is guaranteed to be less than the limit number. .

Embodiment Hereinafter, one embodiment of the multi-window management device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multi-window management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a window generation request unit, which requests new generation of a window according to an operator's operation or a command written in an application program.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a window number limit determining unit, which determines whether the number of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit number when a new window generation is requested by the window generation requesting unit 1. be. 3 is a window number limit release unit, which selects one of the windows when the window number limit determination unit 2 determines that the number of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit number. This is to make the number of windows less than the limit number. 4 is an 11 page window generation unit, and 111 is determined by the window number limit determination unit 2 that the number of existing windows has not reached a predetermined limit;
When the limit state of the number of windows is canceled by the window number limit release section 3, a new window specified by the window generation request section 1 is generated. In reality, various other components are required to realize functions such as erasing existing windows and changing the shape and arrangement of windows, but these are not the main focus of the present invention. Omitted.

The operation of the main window management device of this embodiment configured as described above will be described below.

(1) The operator performs an operation to generate a new window. Alternatively, the application program executes a command written within it to generate a new window.

(2) In response, the window generation request unit 1 activates the window number limit determination unit 2.

(3) The window number limit determining unit 2 determines whether the number N of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit number MAX.

If N<MAXO, proceed to (5). When tJ is N=MAX, the window number limit release unit 3 is activated.

(4) The window number limit release unit 3 selectively erases one of the existing windows and sets the number of windows to (N-1)(MAX).

(6) Finally, the window generation unit 4 generates a new window specified by the window generation request unit 1.

The specific operation of the multi-window management device of this embodiment, which operates as described above, will now be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the process of creating windows by the multi-window management device of this embodiment. Here, we consider an overlamp window system in which windows overlap each other by 9 degrees, and assume that newly generated windows are displayed on a quantitative plane. The maximum number of windows that can be created at the same time is set to 3. Sara 13
As a method for determining a window to be selectively deleted by the window number limit release unit 3 on a page, it is assumed that the window displayed at the end of the existing windows is selected.

(6) In order to generate a new window from the state (a) where two windows A and B exist, the window generation requesting unit 1 is activated.

Child) The window number limit determining unit 2 activated by the window generation requesting unit 1 determines whether the number N of already existing windows has reached a predetermined limit number MAX. In this case, N-2°MAX=-3 so pN(MA
Since it is X, the window number limit determining section 2 starts the window generating section 4.

(8) The window generation unit 4 newly generates the window C specified by the window generation request unit 1, and as a result, Φ
).

(9) Next, the window generation request unit 1 is activated to generate a new window from the state (b) where three windows A, B, and C exist.

OQ Lie 1 started from window generation request unit 1
4 The page window number limit determination unit 2 determines the number N of windows that already exist.
It is determined whether or not the number has reached a predetermined limit number MAX. In this case, N= from N-3°MAX-3
Since it is MAX, the window number limit determining section 2 activates the window number limit canceling section 3.

0]) The window number limit release unit 3 selectively erases the last window A displayed among the already existing windows A, B, and C. As a result, the state (C) is temporarily reached. At this point, the number of windows N decreases by one to 2, and becomes N(MAX), and the limit state of the number of windows is canceled. Thereafter, the window number limit release unit 3 activates the window generation unit 4.

(6) Window generation unit 4 is window generation request unit 1
Creates a new window D specified by , and as a result,
The state is as shown in (d).

As described above, in the multi-window management device of this embodiment, if a request is made to create a new window of 16 pages after the number of existing windows reaches a predetermined limit, one of the existing windows will be deleted. By selectively deleting one window, the limit state of the number of windows is temporarily released and another window is newly generated, so a request to generate a new window does not cause an error due to the constraint on the number of windows, and the system It becomes possible to always guarantee new generation of a desired window. Therefore, an operator or an application program can request the creation of a new window without being aware of the number of existing windows. In particular, when requesting the generation of a new window when running an application program, no errors will occur due to the window limit, so there is no need to write an error handling program, and the program will not behave abnormally due to errors. It becomes possible to suppress this.

Note that in this embodiment, the window number limit release unit 3 selects the last window displayed among the existing windows as a method for determining the window to be selectively deleted. The present invention is not limited to this method, and other methods can be used. Generally, in a multi-window management device, the only active window that can interact with the operator at a certain time is determined, so by maintaining the transition history of such active windows, the so-called LRU algorithm, or the most It is also possible to adopt a method in which a window that has been inactive for a long period of time is set as a window to be deleted. Alternatively, a method may be adopted in which the window with the oldest generation time is simply set as the window to be deleted.

In this embodiment, we have considered an overlapping window system that does not allow windows to overlap each other, but it is clear that the present invention is equally applicable to a tiled window system that does not allow windows to overlap each other. .

Furthermore, in this embodiment, it is assumed that any window can be deleted at any time, but it is necessary to delete the window in advance for the application program that uses the window to be deleted. A function that deletes the window after notifying the user that the window has been deleted after performing the necessary termination processing, and a function that selects the next candidate window to be deleted if the window selected for deletion cannot be deleted for some reason. It is also possible to increase the security of the system by adding such functions.

Effects of the Invention In the multi-window management method and device of the present invention, even after the number of already existing windows reaches a predetermined limit, when a new window generation is requested, one of the existing windows is By selectively deleting the number of windows, the limit state of the number of windows is temporarily released and a new window is generated, regardless of whether the number of existing windows has reached the predetermined limit. Since it is possible to always generate a new specified window, the practical effect is great.

Page 18

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multi-window management device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the process of generating windows by the multi-window management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional multi-window management device, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the process of creating a window by the conventional multi-window management device. 1... Window generation request section, 2...
Window number limit determination section, 3... Window number limit cancellation section, 4... Window generation section.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) When generating a new window, there is a window number limit determination step that determines whether the number of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit, and the number of windows that already exist is determined by the window number limit determination step. a window number limit release step of selectively erasing one of the windows to reduce the number of windows to less than the limit number only when it is determined that the number of windows has reached a predetermined limit number; , a window generation step of newly generating a specified window. (2) A window generation request unit that requests the generation of a new window, and whether or not the number of existing windows has reached a predetermined limit when the window generation request unit requests new generation of a window. a window number limit determining unit that determines whether the number of windows is a predetermined limit; a window number limit release unit that selectively deletes windows to make the number of windows less than a limit number; and a window number limit determination unit that determines that the number of existing windows has not reached a predetermined limit; and A multi-window management device comprising: a window generation unit that newly generates a window specified by the window generation request unit when the window number limit release unit releases the window number limit state.