JPH08123647A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make a display with which a target is easily determined at the time of specification on a coordinate input device by displaying a button that displays a menu in a round shape on the screen. CONSTITUTION: The shape of the button is made round and the button is given information on the center coordinates and radius of the circle to obtain the round button. Further, the circular menu is obtained by using the radius and the number of items of the circle for displaying the selection items. For example, when the selection items of the menu are made hierarchical, selection items in a lower layer are arranged in a sectional shape outside selection items in a higher layer so as to obtain a menu which is easy to understand at a glance. In this example, a 'color' menu has further three submenus, and one of them is a 'red' menu. Consequently, aiming at the time of the specification of a button on the coordinate input device is made easy and the correspondence of the hierarchical menu becomes easy to see.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing device,
In particular, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of displaying a menu having a plurality of selection items on a screen and selecting the menu item using a coordinate input device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art G of current personal computers and the like
Many UIs (graphic user interfaces) display and select menu items by pull-down menus or pop-up menus. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the cursor is moved to a predetermined point on the screen by using a coordinate input device such as a mouse or a pen.
When you point to it, a frame containing multiple menu items appears, and you can select the desired item from the frame. In the case of a hierarchical menu in which there are a plurality of menu items for the selected item, a further selection frame appears.

[0003]

The current menu frame has a rectangular shape as shown in FIG. Therefore, in order to select an item, the cursor has to be moved to the lower part of the screen and further to the right in the case of a hierarchical menu, and the amount of movement of the coordinate input device at the time of inputting becomes very large.

Further, since the menu items are vertically arranged in a rectangular frame, it is necessary to look at the menu items in order from the top to find the position of the desired item. The order of the menu items is not clear at a glance.

Further, since the size of each menu item is constant, the size when selecting a frequently used selection item and a selection item that is rarely used are the same. It is not considered that items that are frequently used are large and easy to select.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-317119, a method of displaying a menu in a curved band is realized in order to solve the above-mentioned problem of the movement amount. This is mainly considered for pen-type coordinate input devices such as stylus,
The menu is displayed on the circumference of the circle with the optimum radius for the hand holding the pen, centered on the point pointed by the pen. This radius is generally 15 cm or less from the size of a human hand, and is preferably 3 to 10 cm. It is also preferable that the menu is displayed on the upper left part of the curve when the operator is right-handed, and on the upper right part of the curve when the operator is left-handed.

A first object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that displays a button that makes it easy to set a target when designating with a coordinate input device.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus for displaying a circular menu in which the coordinate input device has to move in order to select a desired item after the menu is displayed. .

A third aspect of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus for displaying a circular menu in which desired items can be easily selected.
The purpose of.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus for displaying a circular menu which is less frequently selected by mistake.

A fifth object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus for displaying a circular menu which is easy to understand at a glance.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned first object is to provide means for displaying on the screen a button for displaying a menu on the screen when instructed by the coordinate input device. An information processing apparatus having the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the button is displayed in a round shape.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned second object is achieved by the information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the selection items of the menu are displayed in a circle outside the button.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned third object is to select the menu so that the contents of the selection item of the menu and the moving direction of the coordinate input device when selecting the selection item of the menu match. This is achieved by the information processing apparatus according to claim 3, which displays the items arranged in a circle.

According to the present invention, the fourth object is that the size of the selection item of the menu is changed and displayed according to the frequency of use of the selection item of the menu.
It is achieved by the information processing device.

According to the present invention, in the fifth object, when the selection items of the menu are hierarchized, the selection items of the lower layer are arranged in a fan shape outside the selection items of the upper layer. This is achieved by the information processing device according to claim 5 for displaying.

[0017]

According to the information processing apparatus of the first aspect, since the button for displaying the menu is displayed in a round shape, it becomes easy to set an aim when the button is specified by the coordinate input device.

According to the information processing apparatus of the second aspect, since the selection items of the menu are arranged in a circle outside the button, the movement amount of the coordinate input device from the button to the menu item desired to be selected is reduced.

According to the information processing apparatus of claim 3, the selection items of the menu are displayed in a circle so that the contents of the selection items of the menu and the moving direction of the coordinate input device when selecting the selection items of the menu match. This makes it easier to find the desired item.

According to the information processing apparatus of the fourth aspect, the size of the shape of the selection item of the menu is changed and displayed according to the frequency of use of the selection item of the menu, so that the frequently used items can be easily selected. , Items that are rarely used are less likely to be selected by mistake.

According to the information processing apparatus of claim 5, when the selection items of the menu are hierarchized, the lower selection items are displayed in a fan shape outside the selection items of the upper hierarchy, so that the hierarchical menu is displayed. It will be easier to see the correspondence.

[0022]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described based on the following examples. The present invention is not limited to this.

An embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the block diagram.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the ROM 81 and the RAM 8 are used for controlling the entire apparatus and transferring data.
A central processing unit (CPU) 71 which executes by executing the program stored in 2; an address and data bus 72 through which each component of the device transfers data;
CG that holds the bitmap and outline font data such as characters and symbols that can be displayed / printed by this device
The ROM 73 has an address configuration that corresponds to the coordinates on the screen of the display device on a one-to-one basis, and holds the displayed screen as a VRAM 74, and the display data for one screen held in the VRAM 74 is displayed on the liquid crystal. A display controller 75 for displaying in real time on a display 76 such as a CRT or a CRT, a disk controller 77 for storing and calling data by controlling a disk drive 78, and a printer 80 for printing data stored in a RAM 82. A printer controller 79, a ROM (read only memory) 81 holding a control program and other data that the CPU 71 refers to for controlling the apparatus, and a RAM holding data used when the CPU 71 controls the apparatus. (Random access memory) 8 , A sound controller 83 that controls the speaker 84 to produce a sound, a keyboard controller 85 that passes the key code input from the keyboard 86 to the CPU 71, a mouse controller 87 that passes the state of the mouse 88 to the CPU 71, and a pen input device 90. CP of the state of the pen and the coordinates when touching the screen with the pen
It has a pen controller 89 which is passed to U71.

Next, an embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, input means 61 for inputting coordinates on the screen, menu processing means 62 for processing the menu corresponding to the coordinates on the screen, and display means for displaying the menu on the screen. It has 63.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The coordinates of the menu are input using the input means 61 such as a mouse or a pen. The menu processing means 62 processes the menu according to the coordinates, and the display means 63 displays it on the display device.

In the present embodiment, the shape of the button is changed from the conventional rectangular shape shown in FIG. 8 to the circular shape shown in FIG. 2 in order to make it easy to set a target when designating with the coordinate input device.

Conventionally, when displaying a button or a menu, the frame of the menu is a rectangle, so that it is necessary to provide information on the upper left coordinates of the rectangle and the width and height for each item. On the other hand, a circular button can be realized by giving each button information about the center coordinates and radius of the circle. Furthermore, a circular menu can be realized by using the radius of the circle for displaying the selection items and the number of items. The screen drawing method for displaying buttons and menus is the same as the conventional method.

In this embodiment, data having the following structure is used to realize the round button shown in FIG.

[0031]

[Table 1]

Data having this structure is prepared for each button and is referred to when displaying. Draw a button with the specified radius at the specified XY coordinate position on the screen and insert the specified button name in it. When this button is pressed,
Execute the specified execution module.

An embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to claim 2 will be described below.

In this embodiment, in order to equalize the moving distance of the coordinate input device from the button to the selection item of each menu, the selection items of the menu are arranged in a circle outside the button as shown in FIG.

In order to realize the circular menu shown in FIG. 3, data having the following structure is used.

[0036]

[Table 2a]

[0037]

[Table 2b]

With this data, when this button is pressed, a menu with a specified radius is drawn, and a specified number of menu items are prepared therein. At this time, 360 degrees of one circle is divided by the number of items to obtain the angle of each item. In this example, since 360/3 = 120, one menu item has an angle of 120 degrees. Each menu item refers to the management data corresponding to the specified number, thereby obtaining the name of the item and the execution module when the menu is selected.

An embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to claim 3 will be described below.

In the present embodiment, in order to facilitate the selection of the desired menu selection item, the contents of the menu selection item and the movement of the coordinate input device when selecting the menu selection item are shown in FIG. The selection items of the menu are arranged in a circle so that they match.

In order to realize the circular menu shown in FIG. 4, data having the following structure is used.

[0042]

[Table 3a]

[0043]

[Table 3b]

Execution direction u for each item in each menu
Specify p, down, right, left, etc. This allows
When displaying the menu, the position is determined in consideration of each execution direction. In this example, the content of the menu is "move down", so the execution direction down is specified, and the position of the menu is thereby arranged below the circle.

An embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to claim 4 will be described below.

In the present embodiment, in order to reduce the degree of erroneous selection, the shapes of frequently used items are large and the shapes of infrequently used items are small, as shown in FIG.

In order to realize the circular menu shown in FIG. 5, data having the following structure is used.

[0048]

[Table 4a]

[0049]

[Table 4b]

The value of the frequency of use is designated for each menu item. When displaying the menu, the size of the item is determined in consideration of the value.

A menu item having a larger value has a larger size. In the example of FIG. 5, the menu item "previous page", "next page" has a usage frequency of 2, and the "first page" and "last page" has a usage frequency of
Is set, and the menus of “previous page” and “next page” are displayed in double size of “first page” and “last page”.

An embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to claim 5 will be described below.

In this embodiment, in order to realize a menu that is easy to understand at a glance when the selection items of the menu are hierarchized, the selection items of the lower layer are changed to those of the upper layer as shown in FIG. Fans are arranged outside the selection items.

In order to realize the hierarchical circular menu shown in FIG. 1, data having the following structure is used.

[0055]

[Table 5a]

[0056]

[Table 5b]

[0057]

[Table 5c]

If the menu item further includes a hierarchical menu, the number of items, the radius of the circle menu,
Also, specify the control number of the menu item. In this example, the "color" menu has three more submenus, one of which is the "red" menu.

The menu processing will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S1, the menu is pointed to by the coordinate input device. In step S2, it is checked whether or not the button having the menu information is pointed to. If the button is pointed in the button and the menu is present, the process proceeds to step S3. If the pointed position is not in the button, , And proceeds to step S4.

In step S3, a menu is displayed.
Return to step S1.

In step S4, it is checked whether or not the pointed position is in the menu item. If it is not in the menu item, the process returns to step S1. If it is in the menu item, the process proceeds to step S5.

In step S5, it is checked whether or not there is a submenu. If there is no submenu, step S7 follows. If there is a submenu, step S6 follows.

In step S6, a sub menu is displayed. Return to step S1.

In step S7, the contents of the selected menu item are executed.

Next, a method for checking whether or not the position pointed by the above coordinate input device is in the menu will be described.

(1) When implementing each menu as a window When implementing on a window system in which different event processing can be performed for each window and the window can be made into a free form, This can be easily realized by setting the menu items as one window. By checking which window the event is on when pointed by the coordinate input device, it is possible to check whether the menu corresponding to the window is selected.

This method is easy to implement because it relies on the function of the window system, but the system must have that function and cannot be realized by any device.

(2) In case of realizing by calculating coordinates from the equation of circle The coordinates pointed by the coordinate input device are displayed on the menu by using the center coordinates and radius information of the circular button and circular menu and the equation of circle. You can check whether it is inside. The detailed description is complicated and will not be repeated here.

In this method, the same check routine can be used in all cases, but since the process becomes complicated, it takes time to perform the check.

(3) When a menu corresponding to each coordinate is prepared and realized as a table When the position or size of the menu is fixed,
As shown in FIG. 11, it can be realized by preparing a menu number flag corresponding to each coordinate on the screen as a table in a memory in advance. Check the flag corresponding to the coordinates pointed by the coordinate input device from the table as shown in FIG. 11, for example, if the value is 0, it is not in the menu, if the value is 1, it is in the button, and if it is 2 or more, For example, it can be judged that it is in the menu corresponding to each value.

In this method, a table must be prepared in advance and a large amount of memory is required, but the processing is simple and the check can be performed at high speed. The above description is an example of implementing the present invention, and can be realized by a method other than this.

[0073]

According to the information processing apparatus of claim 1, since the button for displaying the menu is displayed in a round shape,
It becomes easy to set an aim when the button is specified by the coordinate input device.

According to the information processing apparatus of the second aspect, since the selection items of the menu are arranged in a circle outside the button, the movement amount of the coordinate input device from the button to the menu item desired to be selected is reduced.

According to the information processing apparatus of claim 3, the selection items of the menu are displayed in a circle so that the contents of the selection items of the menu and the moving direction of the coordinate input device when selecting the selection items of the menu match. This makes it easier to find the desired item.

According to the information processing apparatus of claim 4, the size of the shape of the selection item of the menu is changed and displayed according to the frequency of use of the selection item of the menu, so that the frequently used items can be easily selected. , Items that are rarely used are less likely to be selected by mistake.

According to the information processing apparatus of claim 5, when the selection items of the menu are hierarchized, the lower selection items are displayed in a fan shape outside the selection items of the upper hierarchy, so that the hierarchical menu is displayed. It will be easier to see the correspondence.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an example of a circular menu with layered items of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a round button of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of a circular menu of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a circular menu in which the positions of items of the present invention are considered.

FIG. 5 is an example of a circular menu in which item sizes of the present invention are considered.

FIG. 6 is a configuration block diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus that realizes this function.

FIG. 8 is an example of a conventional rectangular button.

FIG. 9 is an example of a conventional rectangular menu.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an example of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an example of a check table according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 61 Input Means 62 Menu Processing Means 63 Display Means 71 CPU (Central Processing Unit) 72 Address and Data Bus 73 CGROM 74 VRAM 75 Display Controller 76 Display 77 Disk Controller 78 Disk Drive 79 Printer Controller 80 Printer 81 ROM 82 RAM 83 Sound Controller 84 Speaker 85 Keyboard controller 86 Keyboard 87 Mouse controller 88 Mouse 89 Pen controller 90 Pen

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus having means for displaying a button for displaying a menu on a screen on the screen when instructed by a coordinate input device, wherein the button is displayed in a round shape. A characteristic information processing device. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection items of the menu are arranged in a circle outside the button and displayed. 3. The selection items of the menu are displayed side by side in a circle so that the contents of the selection items of the menu and the movement direction of the coordinate input device when selecting the selection items of the menu match. Information processing equipment. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the size of the shape of the selection item of the menu is changed and displayed according to the frequency of use of the selection item of the menu. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the selection items of the menu are hierarchized, the selection items of the lower layer are displayed in a fan shape outside the selection items of the upper layer.