Screen change control apparatus and method using tabs

• US 20020174202A1
• Filed: 05/03/2002
• Published: 11/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Inventors: Kohyama, Naohide, Hamamatsu, Hiroshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,299,421 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0219 Special purpose keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor

Abstract

A plurality of displayable screens are classified into a plurality of screen groups in such a manner that two or more of the screens belong to each individual screen group. Once a desired one of the screen groups is designated by activation of a shift switch, respective tabs of the two or more screens belonging to the designated screen group are visually displayed on a display device. Then, once a desired one of the thus-displayed tabs is designated by activation of a tab switch, the screen corresponding to the thus-designated tab is displayed on the display device. Even when the tab display has been switched by designating another screen group, the screen corresponding to the last designated tab (i.e., main screen) is prevented from being changed unless another tab is designated. When one screen group is to be switched over to another in response to activation of the shift switch, there may be displayed a predetermined shiftability indicating guide mark to indicate whether there is any other designatable screen group.

Claims

1. A screen change control apparatus for selecting a desired screen from among a plurality of displayable screens and displaying the selected desired screen on a display device, the plurality of displayable screens being classified in advance into a plurality of screen groups in such a manner that two or more of the screens belong to each of the screen groups, said screen change control apparatus comprising:

a first operator section operatable to designate a desired screen group;

a processor adapted to perform first display control to cause said display device to display respective tabs of the two or more screens belonging to the desired screen group designated via said first operator section; and

a second operator section operatable to designate a desired one of the tabs displayed on said display device,

wherein said processor is further adapted to perform second display control to cause said display device to display the screen corresponding to the tab designated via said second operator section.

2. A screen change control apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plurality of screen groups are arranged in predetermined order, and said first operator section can sequentially designate, in response to sequential activation thereof, the screen groups in accordance with the predetermined order.

3. A screen change control apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first operator section includes a rightward shifting operator for sequentially designating the screen groups in a forward direction in accordance with the predetermined order, and a leftward shifting operator for sequentially designating the screen groups in a reverse direction in accordance with the predetermined order.

4. A screen change control apparatus as claimed in claim 2 which further comprises an indicator section that displays a guide mark indicating whether or not there is any screen group that can be designated next.

5. A screen change control apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein when the tabs of the two or more screens belonging to the screen group designated via said first operator section are to be displayed on said display device, said processor performs said first display control to switch only the display of the tabs in accordance with designation by said first operator section while still keeping a last-designated screen displayed on said display device.

6. A screen change control apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein the last-designated screen kept displayed on said display device is a screen corresponding to a tab designated last via said second operator section, and wherein when another tab is subsequently designated via said second operator section, the last-designated screen kept displayed on said display device is switched to the screen corresponding to the other tab through said second display control.

7. A screen change control apparatus as claimed in claim 1 which further comprises:

memory that stores, as display history information, information of the screen corresponding to the designated tab displayed on said display device, and

wherein said processor further adapted to perform history recall control for reading out the display history information from said memory to cause said display device to display the display history information.

8. A screen change control method for selecting a desired screen from among a plurality of displayable screens and displaying the selected desired screen on a display device, the plurality of displayable screens being classified in advance into a plurality of screen groups in such a manner that two or more of the screens belong to each of the screen groups, said screen change control method comprising:

a step of designating a desired screen group;

a step of causing said display device to display respective tabs of the two or more screens belonging to the desired screen group designated via said step of designating;

a step of designating a desired tab from among the tabs displayed on said display device; and

a step of causing said display device to display the screen corresponding to the desired tab designated from among the tabs displayed on said display device.

9. A computer program comprising computer program code means for performing all the steps of claim 8 when said program is run on a computer.

10. A machine-readable storage medium containing a group of instructions to cause a computer to implement a screen change control method defined in claim 8.

11. A screen change control apparatus for use in a tone reproduction apparatus for selecting a desired screen from among a plurality of displayable screens and displaying the selected desired screen on a display device, the plurality of displayable screens being classified in advance into a plurality of screen groups in such a manner that two or more of the screens belong to each of the screen groups, a plurality of channels in the tone reproduction apparatus being divided into groups in association with the screen groups, the plurality of channels being further divided into subgroups in association with the screens of individual ones of the screen groups, said screen change control apparatus comprising:

a first operator section operatable to designate a desired screen group;

a processor adapted to perform first display control to cause said display device to display respective tabs of the two or more screens belonging to the desired screen group designated via said first operator section; and

a second operator section operable to designate a desired one of the tabs displayed on said display device,

wherein said processor is further adapted to perform second display control to cause said display device to display the screen corresponding to the tab designated via said second operator section, the screen displayed in correspondence with the designated tab being a display screen related to two or more channels belonging to the subgroup.