JPH06266330A - Virtual 3D window display control method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] When displaying multiple windows, arrange multiple windows effectively on the display screen. [Constitution] When a start command is inputted from the input device 101, a window control program for virtually constructing a three-dimensional space on the screen of the CRT 107 and arranging and displaying windows three-dimensionally is stored. From the external storage device 104 to the program area 1 on the main memory 102
Loaded at 08. Further, data used for window control and display is loaded into the control area 110 and the information area 111, respectively, and the program is executed by the CPU 103 using the data. The display image data generated by executing the program is F
Sent to M105 and CRT10 via CRTC106
It is displayed on 7. When a zoom ratio of a specific window or all windows is instructed from the input device 101, the window is enlarged or reduced and displayed based on the rule of perspective drawing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-window display control method for providing a plurality of areas on a screen and displaying independent images on each of the areas.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When displaying a multi-window, C
It is necessary to arrange and display a plurality of windows in a limited display area of a display device such as an RT.

As a method conventionally used for this purpose, for example, there is a method of adjusting the size of windows so that all windows on the screen do not overlap each other. In this method, the images are not hidden because the windows do not overlap each other, but there is a problem that the size of the windows is limited by the number of windows on the screen.

As another method, there is a method in which the size of the windows is arbitrary and the windows can be overlapped with each other. In this method, the size of windows is not limited by the number of windows, but there is a problem in that the overlapping portion of the windows below is invisible.

As another method, in order to avoid overlapping windows, a virtual screen larger than the display size is set and the display is displayed as if it is one display area of the screen.
There is also a method of having multiple screens and switching between them.

[0006]

In the above prior art, in the method which does not allow overlap, the images are not hidden because the windows do not overlap each other, but the size of the window is limited by the number of windows on the screen. .
Therefore, there is a problem that too many windows cannot be opened.

In the method of allowing the overlap, the size of the window does not depend on the number of windows, but the portion of the window behind the overlapping portion of the windows becomes invisible. Therefore, in order to display the part hidden by the previous window, make the previous window an icon or repeatedly bring the front window to the bottom until the window you want to display is at the top. There was a problem that it was necessary to perform operations such as coming and going.

Further, in the method of virtually setting a screen larger than the display, there is a problem that the window of the non-displayed portion outside the display range cannot be seen.

Further, even in the method having a plurality of screens, there is a problem that the windows on the screens whose display is not selected cannot be seen.

Further, in these methods, since the windows are arranged on the same plane, there is a problem that it is difficult to determine the overlapping order of the windows.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, when displaying a plurality of windows on a display screen, a means for instructing a zoom ratio is provided to instruct the zoom ratio. By doing so, it is possible to provide a means for enlarging or reducing all the windows displayed on the screen at the same ratio in the direction of converging to one point (vanishing point) according to the rule of perspective drawing.

It is also possible to provide means for expanding or reducing the size of the instructed window in the direction of converging to one point (vanishing point) according to the rule of perspective drawing by instructing the zoom ratio.

Further, means for enlarging or reducing a window other than the specific window can be provided by instructing the zoom ratio.

Further, when a maximum value of size is provided for each window and the window is enlarged by instructing the zoom ratio, if the size of each window exceeds the maximum value, the window is hidden. Means for doing so can also be provided.

Further, it is possible to provide a means for changing the arrangement of the windows by moving the position of the vanishing point.

Further, it is possible to provide a means for changing the enlargement ratio or the reduction ratio of the window by changing the depth of the vanishing point.

Further, it is possible to provide a means for enlarging or reducing the window on the screen to enlarge or reduce the figure and the character displayed in the window at the same ratio.

Further, the window to be displayed may be provided with means for expressing a virtual thickness corresponding to the depth in the virtual three-dimensional space on the display.

Further, it is possible to provide means for making the virtual thicknesses equal in windows of the same depth.

Further, it is possible to provide means for increasing or decreasing the brightness inside the window in response to the expansion or reduction of the window.

Further, a help information display means may be provided, and means for displaying the window layout information by designating the help information display may be provided.

[0022]

In the multi-window display control method of displaying a plurality of windows on the display screen, by designating the zoom ratio, all the windows displayed on the screen are displayed as one point (erased) according to the rule of perspective drawing. Point) and expand or contract at the same ratio. This makes it possible to virtually arrange the windows in three dimensions and change the window size as if moving in the three-dimensional space without changing the arrangement.

By instructing the zoom ratio, the size of the specified window is enlarged or reduced in the direction of converging to one point (vanishing point) according to the rule of the perspective drawing method. This makes it possible to change the window size as if moving in the three-dimensional space.

Further, by instructing the zoom, the windows other than the specific window are enlarged or reduced. This makes it possible to always display a particular window in the same size.

Further, when a maximum value of size is set for each window and the window is enlarged by instructing the zoom ratio, if the size of each window exceeds the maximum value, the window is hidden. To do. This allows
It is possible to display another window hidden in the window without changing the layout of the window.

Furthermore, the position of the window is changed by moving the position of the vanishing point. This makes it possible to display another window hidden in one window without changing the context of the window.

Further, the expansion rate or reduction rate of the window is changed by changing the depth of the vanishing point. This makes it possible to change the window size as if the distance between the windows in the three-dimensional space was changed.

Further, by enlarging or reducing the window on the screen, the figures and characters displayed in the window are enlarged or reduced at the same ratio. This allows
By zooming the window, it is possible to handle the contents of the window with a desired size.

Further, a virtual thickness corresponding to the depth is expressed in the virtual stereoscopic space on the display in the displayed window. This makes it possible to make the virtual three-dimensional space look more three-dimensional.

Further, virtual thicknesses are made equal in windows of the same depth. This makes it possible to make the virtual three-dimensional space look more three-dimensional.

Further, the brightness inside the window is increased or decreased corresponding to the enlargement or reduction of the window. This makes it possible to make the virtual three-dimensional space look more three-dimensional.

Further, the window layout information is displayed by designating the help information display. This makes it easier to check the layout of the windows.

[0033]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a terminal device which is an embodiment of the present invention. An input device 101 is a keyboard, a mouse, a tablet, a trackball, a touch panel, a data pen, a microphone, etc., or a combination thereof. Reference numeral 102 denotes a program and data for controlling the terminal device according to the present embodiment, a window control program for performing virtual three-dimensional multi-window display according to the present invention, and data belonging to each window loaded from the external storage device 104. It is the main memory for storing.

Reference numeral 103 denotes a CPU (central processing unit) for executing control of the terminal device of this embodiment, and the main memory 1
The terminal control program 02 and the window control program 02 are executed using the window control data and the window data. Reference numeral 105 denotes a frame memory for displaying the display information calculated by the CPU 103 on the display. The display data of the frame memory 105 is displayed on the display 107 via the display controller 106. Data transfer between these
It is performed through the bus 112.

The actual operation is performed as follows. First, the virtual three-dimensional window system of the present invention is started by turning on the power or executing a start command by the input device 101 such as a keyboard. At this time, the window control program stored in the external storage device 104 such as a hard disk or a ROM (read only memory) is stored in the program area 108 on the main memory 102, and the data used for window control and display is the virtual 3D window control area 110. And window information area 111
Respectively, and is executed by the CPU 103.

Reference numeral 109 is a work area for program execution. The program has a function of virtually arranging windows on a display screen in a three-dimensional manner in accordance with the rule of the one-point perspective drawing which is one of the drawing methods for paintings and the like. The display image data determined by this rule is sent to the frame memory 105 and displayed on the display through the display controller 106.

Here, the rule of the one-point perspective projection method will be briefly described. In the one-point perspective view, the stereoscopic effect is expressed by drawing large when all drawing objects drawn on the screen are arranged in the front and drawn small when arranged in the back, that is, in the distance. At this time, one point on or off the screen is determined, and this point is defined as a vanishing point representing an infinite virtual distance.

A window control program according to the present invention is characterized in that windows to be displayed are virtually arranged three-dimensionally according to the rule of the one-point perspective projection method. The data used by the window control program in the present invention is stored in the main memory shown at 102 in FIG.

FIG. 2 shows details of the virtual three-dimensional window control area 110 shown in FIG. The virtual 3D window control area is a display space data area 21 that virtually defines a three-dimensional display space in which windows are arranged, and a window reference data area 2 that defines window reference values.
2. An area 23 for storing the zoom ratio of the window and a window drawing data area 24 for actually drawing the window.

FIG. 3 shows details of the window information area 111 for storing data relating to the contents of the window shown in the main memory 102 of FIG. Here, the contents of the window are images such as texts and figures displayed in the window. The window information area includes a window reference content data area 31 that stores the entire content belonging to each window and a window drawing content data area 32 that stores the content to be actually drawn.

FIG. 4 shows the display space data area 21 (see FIG.
FIG. The vanishing point position (xp, yp) is 41 and the display plane depth dp is 42 as attributes of the display space.
These are specified by storing in.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing details of the window reference data area 22 (see FIG. 2) which defines the reference value of the window. As the attribute of the window, the reference position (x
s, ys), depth ds, reference size (hs, ws), reference thickness ts, and reference brightness ls are stored and defined.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing details of the area 23 (see FIG. 2) for storing the window zoom ratio for calculating the drawing size of the window.

The terms used in FIGS. 4 to 6 will be described.

In FIG. 4, the display plane is one vertical section in the display space, and the window in the display space is projected and displayed on the display plane. Further, the depth represents a distance from infinity (vanishing point) in the virtual space, and the position, size, and thickness of the window as shown in FIG. 5 are determined by the relative positional relationship between the display plane and the window in the depth direction. ,
The brightness is specified. In this embodiment, in order to represent a virtual three-dimensional space on a display, the depth, that is, the distance from the vanishing point is processed as a certain finite value. Therefore,
The display plane depth dp represents the distance from the vanishing point, and similarly ds represents the distance from the vanishing point of the window. here,
When a window is on the display plane, its drawing size is equal to the reference size, that is, the zoom ratio is 1 in the zoom ratio shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the display plane matches the display screen, but they do not necessarily have to match. The drawing size of the window is determined by the zoom rate, and the zoom rate is smaller than 1 when the window is behind the display plane and larger than 1 when the window is in the front.

FIG. 7 shows details of the area for storing the window drawing data 24 (see FIG. 2) for actually drawing the window. The drawing data 24 follows the drawing position (xv, yv), the drawing size (wv, hv), the drawing thickness tv, the drawing brightness lv, the display flag fv indicating whether to display the window, and the zoom rule for each window. It is composed of a zoom flag fz which indicates whether or not.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing details of the window reference content data area 31 (see FIG. 3) for storing the entire content belonging to each window.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing details of the window drawing contents data area for storing the contents to be actually drawn.

The calculation method of the window drawing data 24 (see FIG. 2) and the window drawing content data 32 will be described below.
A method for determining (see FIG. 3) will be described.

In the virtual three-dimensional window control method according to the present invention, the windows in the virtual three-dimensional space are arranged using the method described below. However, the movement parallel to the display plane is performed by using a method similar to the conventionally used planar window display control method.

One of the methods of moving the window in the direction perpendicular to the display plane is moving window by window. First, after designating a window to be moved, a forward button or backward button prepared in advance on the input device, or a menu selection on the display is used to instruct forward or backward movement. The instruction can also be realized by providing a zoom button icon on the window, moving the cursor to the icon position, and clicking the mouse button. At this time, it is also possible to provide a forward button and a backward button as zoom buttons and associate them with enlargement and reduction, respectively. Also, by using a mouse having a plurality of buttons, one mouse button is used for one zoom button. One may be associated with enlargement and the other one may be associated with reduction.

The forward button icon as described above,
An example of a window having a backward button icon area is shown in FIG. 2101 represents a forward button icon, and 2102 represents a backward button icon, and the window is enlarged or reduced while the cursor is moved onto the icon and the mouse button is held down.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing drawing positions when the window is moved only in the direction perpendicular to the display plane. Further, FIG. 11 is a diagram of FIG. 10 viewed from the front.
10 and 11, 1001 is the vanishing point position,
Reference numeral 1002 represents the drawing size of the target window before the movement, and 1003 represents the drawing size of the window after the movement.

When a request to move a certain window is issued by a user's instruction, the vanishing point and the display plane position are fixed, and the window is enlarged or reduced based on the zoom ratio changed according to the amount of movement. .
Now, the depth of the window before moving is ds, the reference size of the window is (hs, ws), the drawing size is (hv, wv),
The reference thickness is ts, the zoom ratio is ε, the window depth after movement is ds', and the drawing size and thickness are (h
v ′, wv ′), tv ′, the zoom factor ε ′ of the window is

[0056]

[Equation 1]

It becomes At this time, the window drawing size (wv ', hv') and the thickness tv 'are

[0058]

[Equation 2]

[0059]

[Equation 3]

It is represented by In addition, the vanishing point position is (xp, y
p) and the reference position of the window is (xs, ys), the drawing position (xv ', yv') after movement is

[0061]

[Equation 4]

It becomes The drawing brightness lv 'of the window is
When the reference brightness is ls, the following formula is used.

[0063]

[Equation 5]

By setting the reference thickness of the windows to be the same in all windows, the three-dimensional effect can be emphasized.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing a process for continuously moving a window (window zoom). When a zoom request is issued by selecting the forward button or the backward button, the window zoom process is started.

In FIG. 22, when a zoom request is detected (2201), it is determined whether the zoom request is enlargement or reduction (2202). If it is enlargement, 220 is determined.
If 3, the zoom ratio is reduced, the zoom ratio is updated according to the expression 2204. Here, the zoom coefficient c is a constant such that c> 0, and represents the amount of change in depth per processing cycle. This c may be fixed by the system or may be changed by the user. Here, ds is the depth of the window.

Next, based on the changed zoom ratio, new drawing data and drawing content data are created from the window reference data and the window reference content data (220).
5, 2206), and the window is redrawn using this (2207). In 2208, it is determined whether or not the zoom request is completed. If not completed, the processing from 2202 to 2207 is repeated until the zoom request is completed. If it has ended, the zoom process ends. The zoom request is continued by continuing to select the forward button or the backward button, for example.

In FIG. 23, only the drawing data of the window is sequentially updated and redrawn to change only the window frame, and the window content data is updated and redrawn based on the finally determined zoom ratio. It is a flow chart which shows processing in a case. In this case, 23
From 01 to 2307, except for the window contents, FIG.
After the zoom request is completed, the drawing content data is updated using the final zoom ratio (230).
8) Redraw the window contents (2309). When this procedure is used, the drawing process is performed at high speed because there is little data to be continuously redrawn. In addition to the above continuous method, it is also possible to update the final drawing data and drawing content data by directly giving the zoom ratio, and perform redrawing.

The second method is to move the display plane. At this time, the drawing data of all windows according to the zoom rule changes. Whether or not the window complies with the zoom rule is specified by the user. When the window complies with the rule, the zoom flag fz is set to true, and whether or not to perform the zoom is determined based on this.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing changes in the window display size due to movement of the display plane. When a display plane movement request is issued by a user's instruction, the vanishing point position is fixed, and all windows for which the zoom flag is true are enlarged or reduced based on the zoom ratio changed according to the display plane movement amount. The display plane moving request may be issued by a button or the like prepared on the input device, similarly to the window zoom request. Further, it may be performed by selecting a menu, or by placing a button icon in an appropriate area on the display.
In FIG. 12, 1201 is a vanishing point, 1202 is a display plane before moving, 1203 is a drawing size of a window before moving, 1204 is a display plane after moving, 120
5 is a window 1203 when the display plane moves
Indicates that the drawing size of is changing. When the display plane moves to the front, the zoom ratio ε'of a certain window is

[0071]

[Equation 6]

It becomes The window drawing size and position at this time are expressed by the same formula as when the window is moved using the zoom ratio ε '.

By the way, when the zoom ratio of a window becomes larger than 1 under the condition that the display plane and the display screen match, the window is in front of the display plane in the display space, that is, the user side of the display screen. Will be located in. At this time, the window is hidden. This makes it possible to display the subsequent window hidden by the previous window, without changing the arrangement of the windows, simply by moving the display plane.

FIG. 13 shows how the window is hidden by moving the display plane as described above. Here, 1301 is a vanishing point, 1302 is a display plane, 1303 is a window on the display plane, 13
04 is a window hidden before the display plane, 1
Reference numeral 305 denotes a window that is reduced behind the display plane. The hidden flag has the display flag fv set to false and is not displayed. The threshold value of the zoom ratio for hiding the window can be set larger than 1. At this time, the window is enlarged from the standard value at the display plane position.

FIG. 24 shows a flowchart of the processing when the display plane is continuously moved. When the display plane moving request is issued by selecting the forward button or the backward button, the display plane moving process is started. In FIG. 24, it is determined whether or not a movement request is issued (2401), and when it is detected that a movement request is issued, first, the number of windows currently provided in the variable n is set to 0 in the counter variable i. Are set (2402).

Next, after adding 1 to the variable i (240
3), it is determined whether i is n or less (2404),
If it is determined that the number is n or less, the process for each window is performed as follows. That is, in 2405, it is determined whether or not the zoom flag fzi of the i-th window is true, and if it is determined that it is not true, 2403
It branches to and moves to the processing of the next window.

If true, it is determined whether the movement request is enlargement or reduction (2406). If the movement request is enlargement, the zoom ratio εi is updated according to the formulas 2407 and 2408, respectively. Here, c is the same zoom coefficient as in FIGS. 22 and 23, and dsi is the depth of the i-th window. Next, the window data is updated (24
09, 2410), and it is determined whether or not the zoom ratio εi is 1 or less (2411), and when it is 1 or less, the display flag fvi is set to true (2412) and redrawing is performed (241).
3). When εi is greater than 1, it is determined whether or not fvi is true (2414). If it is true, fvi is set to false (2415) and the i-th window is deleted from the display ( 2416), and proceeds to the processing of the next window.

When i is determined to be larger than n in 2404, it is determined in 2417 whether or not the movement request is completed. If the movement request is continued, the flow returns to 2402 to end the movement request. The above process is repeated until

Regarding window redrawing, it is needless to say that the window drawing content can be displayed after the completion of the movement request, as in FIG. Further, the process when the zoom ratio becomes larger than 1 can be applied to the case where the window zoom is performed.

The third method for changing the arrangement of windows is to change the vanishing point position. At this time, the position of the display plane is fixed, and the vanishing point is moved forward and backward (direction perpendicular to the display plane). When moving the vanishing point, if the zoom ratio of the window that complies with all the zoom rules is unchanged, the drawing information does not change, but the window depth changes. As a result, the changing speed of the window size or the like when the window zoom or the display plane is moved changes. Conversely, when the distance from the display plane is fixed, the window drawing size changes. Figure 1
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing changes in window display size and distance due to movement of the vanishing point. 1401 is a vanishing point before moving, 1
401 'is a vanishing point after the movement, 1404 is a display plane, 1
402 and 1403 are windows before movement, 140
2'and 1403 'represent the window after movement. (A) is a case where the zoom ratio is unchanged, and (b) is a case where the distance is unchanged. In (a), the depth ds 'of each window after the movement is represented by the following equation from the vanishing point depth dp' after the movement.

[0081]

[Equation 7]

In (b), the zoom ratio ε'after movement is

[0083]

[Equation 8]

It becomes like this. Here, the difference between the window depth ds' after the movement and the window depth ds before the movement is equal to the movement amount of the vanishing point depth. When a vanishing point movement request is made by providing a vanishing point zoom button etc. and selecting it,
When the zoom ratio invariant is selected at the same time, the depth of each window and the display plane depth are updated according to (Equation 7). When the distance invariant is selected, the zoom ratio is updated according to (Equation 8), and then the window drawing data and the drawing content data are updated based on this, and the window is redrawn.

FIG. 15 shows a case where the vanishing point position is at infinity on the display. At this time, the window size does not change by any movement. Therefore, if the brightness is not changed, it becomes the same as the conventional planar window display control method.

When a new window open request is issued, the window is displayed on the current display plane at the zoom ratio of 1 using the reference value. At this time, the display position of the window can be changed to data input by a pointing device or the like at the time of display. Also, by setting the depth of the new window in front of the display plane and zooming the entire screen so that the depth of the display plane becomes the depth of the window at the same time as the display, the illusion that the window has popped out will appear. It can be aroused to attract the user's attention.

FIG. 16 is an example of a display of a terminal device using the virtual three-dimensional window display control system according to the present invention. The vanishing point 1601 can be arranged outside the display. The window 1602 is a window that does not follow the zoom rule (non-zoom window), and is always located on the display plane. Reference numeral 1603 is an auxiliary information window representing the entire display space. The vanishing point may be hidden except when it is necessary to select it.

FIG. 17 shows a state in which the entire display is zoomed out by moving the display plane in FIG. 16 toward you. 1701, 1702, 1
Reference numeral 703 denotes 1601, 1602, 160 in FIG. 6, respectively.
Corresponds to 3. At this time, the non-zoom window 1602 in FIG. 6 does not change due to the movement of the display plane (1702).

FIG. 18 shows how the window position changes as the vanishing point position moves in a direction parallel to the display surface. The vanishing point position can be set inside or outside the display screen, but the vanishing point position is variable, and the arrangement of the windows is changed as the vanishing point position moves. When the vanishing point position 1801 is moved to 1801 ', the window 1802 on the display plane is 1802'
However, the position does not move, and the rear window 1803 moves to 1803 ′. This makes the window after it completely hidden by the previous window visible. Figure 1
9 is a front view of FIG. 18.

When the window size is changed by zooming, the display amount is changed according to the window size, or the content displayed in the window is enlarged or reduced according to the zoom ratio. When enlarging or reducing the contents of a window, in the method of displaying characters or images as a bitmap image, pixels are interpolated or thinned according to enlargement or reduction by a conventionally known method or the like. When characters and images are described in vector format, for example, using a display language called Postscript, and displayed using this, the character font size is changed according to the zoom ratio, and the image is changed according to the change of the drawing area. Can be resized to any size.

FIG. 20 shows 1603 of FIG. 16 or FIG.
Similar to 1703 of No. 7, it is another example of auxiliary information (help information) for the user to confirm the window layout situation. By displaying it on the display when requested by the user, it is used as auxiliary information for determining the arrangement of windows and the position of the display plane.

[0092]

By arranging windows in a virtual space based on the rules of perspective projection, it is possible to create an illusion that the display screen is three-dimensional. By utilizing this, by arranging windows in a space having a depth, it has become possible to effectively arrange a large number of windows on a display.

Further, by zooming the window, it becomes possible to handle the window in a size according to the user's request.

By arranging a window that is not focused on in the virtual space, the window is reduced,
This makes it possible to obtain the same effect as iconizing while maintaining the characteristics of the window. In this case, since the contents can be discriminated to some extent even if the window is reduced, it is not necessary to give a picture representing the contents or a shape like an icon.

By moving the vanishing point, the overlapping amount between the windows changes while maintaining the context, and the window completely hidden by the previous window can be made visible, so it was completely hidden. Windows can now be easily selected with a pointing device or the like.

By defining a certain depth in the space as the display plane, the windows arranged in front of the display plane are hidden so that the windows hidden behind can be hidden without changing the arrangement between the windows. It is possible to display.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a terminal device that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data area used for virtual three-dimensional window control.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a window information area for storing data related to window contents.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display space data area.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a window reference data area that defines a window reference value.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an area for storing a window zoom ratio.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an area for storing window drawing data.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a window reference content data area.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a window drawing content data area.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a drawing position and a window size when the window is moved.

11 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a change in window display size due to movement of a display plane.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state where a window is hidden by moving a display plane.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing changes in window display size and distance due to movement of vanishing points.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a case where a vanishing point position is at infinity.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a display display of a terminal device.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a state in which FIG. 16 is zoomed out.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing how the window position changes due to the movement of the vanishing point position.

FIG. 19 is a front view of FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of help information for a user to confirm a window layout situation.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a window having a zoom button icon.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing a flow 1 of window zoom processing.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a second flow of window zoom processing.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a flow of a display plane moving process.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Input device, 102 ... Main memory, 103 ... C
PU, 104 ... External storage device, 105 ... Frame memory, 106 ... Display controller, 107 ... Display, 108 ... Bus, 1001, 1201, 130
1,1401,1401 ', 1601,1701,18
01,1801 '... vanishing point, 1002, 1003, 120
3,1205,1303,1304,1305,140
2,1402 ', 1403, 1403', 1602, 1
702, 1802, 1802 ', 1803, 1803'
... window, 1302 ... display plane, 2101 ... forward zoom button, 2102 ... backward zoom button.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. In a system including at least a display device, an input device, and a computing device, when displaying a plurality of windows on the screen of the display device, a virtual three-dimensional space is considered on the screen, One point in the three-dimensional space is defined as a vanishing point, and each window has information on the position in the three-dimensional space, the size, and the distance from the vanishing point, and the window displayed on the screen is set as the information. Based on the rule of perspective drawing, the multi-window display control method is characterized by displaying on the display device so as to converge to the vanishing point. 2. The zoom ratio of a window to be displayed is input from the input device, and the window to be displayed is enlarged or reduced on the basis of the zoom ratio by the arithmetic device and displayed on the display device. A multi-window display control method characterized by displaying. 3. The multi-window according to claim 2, wherein a specific window is designated via the input device, and the designated window is enlarged or reduced based on the zoom ratio and displayed. Display control method. 4. The specific window according to claim 2, wherein a specific window is designated through the input device, and windows other than the designated window are enlarged or reduced based on the zoom ratio and displayed. Control method for multi-window display. 5. The size according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein a maximum value of the size of the window is provided in advance for each window to be displayed, and when the window is enlarged based on the zoom ratio, the size is the maximum. A multi-window display control method, characterized in that windows exceeding a value are hidden. 6. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the window arrangement is changed by moving the vanishing point on a plane including the position of the vanishing point and parallel to the screen of the display device. Characteristic multi-window display control method. 7. The multi-window display control method according to claim 1, wherein the enlargement ratio or the reduction ratio of the window is changed by changing the distance between the vanishing point and the screen of the display device. 8. The method according to claim 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, wherein when enlarging or reducing a window, figures and characters displayed in the window are enlarged or reduced at the same ratio as the window. A multi-window display control method characterized by the above. 9. The virtual thickness according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, wherein the window is given a virtual thickness based on a distance between the vanishing point and the window to be displayed. A multi-window display control method characterized by displaying. 10. The multi-window display control method according to claim 9, wherein the windows having the same distance as the vanishing point have the same virtual thickness. 11. The method according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, depending on whether the window is enlarged or reduced.
A multi-window display control method characterized in that the brightness inside a window is increased or decreased. 12. The multi-window display control method according to claim 1, wherein information on the arrangement of all windows that can be displayed on the screen is displayed on the screen.