JPH04243422A - How to automatically enlarge the menu area - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the hitting of respective command with a cursor without requiring a scrolling operation even when a number of commands are displayed on the screen at the same time. CONSTITUTION:In a computer operation in which the work is conducted by locating a cursor 2 at the position of a specific command 1 in a menu area 20 displaying at least one command on a display screen 10 as a menu and hitting (selecting) the specific command 1, the menu area 20 is enlarged by moving the cursor 2 to the menu area 20 and when the cursor 2 moves outside an enlarged menu area 21, the enlarged menu area 21 is restored to its original size. Thus, the work of hitting the specific command when the cursor 2 is located in the enlarged menu area 21 can be facilitated.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for automatically enlarging a menu area.

0002

[Prior Art] When operating a computer, the next item (command) is displayed on the screen as a menu in a part of the display device, and the operator positions the cursor on the required command in the menu area where the above menu is displayed. When you hit (select) it, the screen necessary for the next process will appear.

[0003] In recent years, as the uses of computers have expanded, the number of commands displayed in the menu area has also increased.
Efforts have been made to make the menu area wider without overwhelming the display area for the computer's main tasks. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-100620 discloses a technique for scrolling a menu area on a display screen by operating a cursor key.

0004

[Problem to be solved by the invention] In recent years, as computers have become more multi-functional, the number of commands that need to be displayed in the menu area has also increased. The work area for working becomes smaller, which causes inconvenience. It is also conceivable to display a large number of commands in a narrow area by making the display characters smaller, but in this case, the density of commands increases, making it difficult to position the cursor and perform hit operations. For example, the position of a mouse-style cursor moves as the mouse moves, so on a screen with a high command density, the operator's subtle hand movements when pressing a key with a hit operation determine the desired command. Hitting another command often causes it to malfunction.

Furthermore, according to the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1-100620, it is necessary to scroll the screen;
What is displayed on one screen is only a portion of the entire command, and a disadvantage is that beginners cannot tell how far they have to scroll to see the desired command. This invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and provides a menu that does not require scrolling and is easy to hit each menu with the cursor even when multiple menus are displayed simultaneously. The purpose is to provide an automatic region expansion method.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention employs the following means to achieve the above object. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the cursor 2 is positioned at the position of a specific command 1 in the menu area 20 that displays at least one command as a menu on the display screen 10, and the specific command 1 is hit (selected). When operating a computer to proceed with tasks, the menu area 20
By moving the cursor 2 to , the menu area 20 is enlarged and displayed to form an enlarged menu area 21, and when the cursor 2 leaves the enlarged menu area 21,
The enlarged menu area 21 is converted to the original size menu area 2.
This is to return it to 0.

[0007]

[Operation] When cursor 2 is moved to menu area 20 using the mouse or cursor keys, menu area 2
0 is enlarged to form an enlarged menu area 21. Within this enlarged menu area, the characters constituting each menu also become larger, making it easier to hit with the cursor 2.

[0008]

Embodiment FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the state of the screen at each step in FIG. First, on the display screen 10,
), when the cursor 2 is in the work area 30, the operator moves the cursor 2 from the work area 30 to the menu area 20 as shown in FIG. ), the menu area 20 is displayed enlarged horizontally, for example, and the enlarged menu area 21
(Step S1→S2 in FIG. 2). Next, Figure 3 (d
), the cursor 2 is positioned on a specific command 1 in the enlarged menu area 21, and when the command 1 is hit, the CPU performs processing corresponding to the hit command 1 (S3→S4). Here, it is again determined whether the cursor 2 is in the enlarged menu area 21 (S5), and as shown in FIG.
As shown in (e), the cursor 2 is in the enlarged menu area 21.
If the enlarged menu area 21 is not in the original size, as shown in FIG. 3(f), the expanded menu area 21 returns to the original size menu area 20 (S6
). If the cursor 2 is located in the enlarged menu area 21 at step S5, the process returns to step S3 to determine whether the specific command 1 has been hit with the cursor 2. Further, if the specific command 1 is not hit within a predetermined time in step S3, it is determined whether the cursor 2 is in the command area without performing menu processing (S3:N→S5).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a device that implements the menu area enlargement function as described above. A keyboard 110, a mouse 111, etc. are connected to the input device 11, and inputs from the keyboard 110, mouse 111, etc. are input to the cursor coordinate control device 12 via the input device 11. The cursor coordinate control device 12 increases or decreases the coordinates of the cursor in response to a signal input from the input device 11 to move the cursor. In addition, the cursor coordinate control device 12
When a selection signal is input from the input device 11, the coordinates are sent to the menu processing device 13. Menu processing device 1
3 determines whether the coordinates input from the cursor coordinate control device 12 are within the menu area, and if the cursor 2 is within the menu area, executes the command displayed at the coordinates, and if outside the menu area, performs image processing on the coordinates. The data is sent to the device 14. When coordinates are input to the image processing device 14 in this manner, processing such as selecting a figure located at the coordinates is performed.

In the present invention, a menu area recognition device 15 is provided which determines whether or not the cursor 2 is within the menu area 20 (or enlarged menu area 21). The menu area recognition device 15 uses the coordinates of the cursor 2 output from the cursor coordinate control device 12 and the menu processing device 13
If the cursor 2 is located within the menu area 20 (or enlarged menu area 21), a menu area enlargement signal is sent to the menu processing device 13 (i.e., step S1 in FIG. 2: Y). →S6),
When the cursor 2 is outside the menu area 20 (or enlarged menu area 21), a menu area reduction signal is sent (ie, repeating step S1:N in FIG. 2, or step S5:N→S6).

[0011] In order to display the positional relationship and processing status of such processing, the cursor, menu, and image are synthesized by the image synthesis device 16. The image synthesis device 16 synthesizes an image obtained from the image processing device 14 with a menu area 20 (or enlarged menu area 21) outputted from the menu processing device 13 and, for example, a menu in which commands are listed, and also combines the cursor coordinates. A cursor 2 is displayed at the coordinates output from the control device 12. By outputting the image obtained by the image synthesis device 16 to the screen of a display device 17 composed of a display or the like, the operator can recognize the processing status and the positional relationship between the menu and the cursor.

[0012] When the menu area 20 is enlarged horizontally as described above, the characters constituting each command are displayed long vertically and short horizontally, and when the menu area 20 is enlarged. It is preferable that each character be displayed in a visually balanced manner. Also, menu area 2
0 is expanded only in the horizontal direction of the screen, but if the menu area 20 is vertically long as shown in FIG. Alternatively, a method may be adopted in which only the area where the cursor 2 is located is expanded vertically and horizontally.

[0013]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the present invention expands the command area when the cursor moves to the command area, making it easier to hit the desired command with the cursor, and eliminating the need for scrolling the command area. This has the effect of reducing

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an apparatus implementing the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Command 2 Cursor 10 Display screen 20 Menu area

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: Position the cursor (2) at the position of a specific command (1) in a menu area (20) in which at least one command is displayed as a menu on the display screen (10), and select the specific command (1). ) hit (select)
In a computer operation in which work is performed by moving the cursor (2) to the menu area (20), the menu area (20) is enlarged and displayed to form an enlarged menu area (21), and the cursor ( 2) When leaves the enlarged menu area (21),
A method for automatically enlarging a menu area, characterized in that the enlarged menu area (21) is returned to the original size menu area (20).