Data displaying apparatus with novel graphic position and ratio display means

• US 5,095,448 A
• Filed: 01/17/1990
• Issued: 03/10/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hamada, Akira, Miyoshi, Hideo, Akiyama, Hirokatsu, Obuchi, Yasuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Herndon, Heather R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Mark K.
• Application Number:
  US07/464,855
• Time in Patent Office: 783 Days
• Field of Search: 364/518, 364/521, 340/706, 340/709
• US Class Current: 715/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04855 Interaction with scrollbars
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/10 Text processing natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30; processing or translation of natural language G06F40/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/253 Grammatical analysis; Style critique
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/973 Scroll tool, e.g. window scroll bar

Abstract

A data displaying apparatus including a storing device for storing one or more data, a displaying device for displaying one or more data stored in the storing device on a screen and a processor, wherein the processor calculates a sum of the maximum lengths to the left and right of a predetermined position within each data which can be displayed on the screen by left scrolling and right scrolling from the predetermined position to determine the maximum display data, also calculates the position and the ratio in the lateral direction of display data displayed on the screen with respect to the maximum display data, displays the calculated position and ratio on the screen in a graphic form, and also displays the display data on the screen while justifying it at the above-mentioned predetermined position.

Claims

1. A data displaying apparatus comprising:

storing means for storing one or more data items,

displaying means responsive to said storing means for displaying one or more of said stored data items which can be displayed on a screen as display data, each said data item displayed corresponding to one lateral line of display,

data length calculating means responsive to said storage means for calculating a maximum data length in the lateral direction for data items which can be displayed by calculating a sum of maximum lengths to the left and right of a predetermined position within each said data item which can be displayed on the screen by left scrolling and right scrolling from said predetermined position,

said data length calculating means including position calculating means for calculating the position in the lateral direction of display data as displayed on the screen with respect to said maximum data length,

said data length calculating means further including ratio calculating means for calculating a ratio in the lateral direction of the length of the display data displayed on the screen to said maximum display data calculated by the data length calculating means, and

display controlling means responsive to said data length calculating means for causing the display of the position and the ratio of the display data calculated by the position calculating means and the ratio calculating means on the screen in a graphic form, said display controlling means including means controlling said displaying means to display said display data on the screen such that key data within each said displayed data item is position justified at said predetermined position.

2. A data displaying apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the data items stored in the storing means and the display data displayed on the screen of said displaying means comprise sentences including a retrieval keyword.

3. A data displaying apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein said predetermined position is a position of the retrieval keyword.

4. A data displaying apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the graphic form displayed on the screen by the display controlling means is formed by a bar-shaped frame and a scroll bar positioned in said frame.

5. A data displaying apparatus in accordance with claim 4, which further comprises marker displaying means for displaying a display marker at a position in said bar-shaped frame corresponding to said predetermined position.

6. A data displaying apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the data length calculating means, the position calculating means, the ratio calculating means and the display controlling means are constituted with a micro computer comprising a CPU, ROM, RAM and I/O port.

7. A data displaying apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the storing means is a RAM.

8. A data displaying apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said display controlling means further includes means for controlling said display data to be displayed within a display window of said screen.

9. A data displaying apparatus as in claim 8 further including means for determining the position and the ratio of the longitudinal length of said display window with respect to said one or more of said stored data items which can be displayed as display data.

10. A data displaying apparatus as in claim 9 wherein said display controlling means further includes means responsive to said means for determining for controlling said displaying means to display the position and ratio produced by said means for determining to be displayed on said screen in graphic form.