INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20100125806A1
• Filed: 11/11/2009
• Published: 05/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Igeta, Satoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,959,446 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/770
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop

Abstract

When a plurality of overlapping windows are displayed on a display screen, each window is displayed in a convenient state for a user operation, thereby reducing the load of the user operation. Upon detecting an object drag operation, an information processing apparatus displays the window of a predetermined application, which is displayed behind another window, as the topmost window. At this time, the window of the predetermined application reduces its size or changes the display position so as not to interfere with the other window displayed in front of it.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus for displaying a plurality of windows on a display screen, comprising:

a drag detection unit that detects a drag operation of an object arranged in a first window;

a drop detection unit that detects a drop operation of the object in a second window;

a change unit that changes a display size of the second window when said drag detection unit has detected the drag operation; and

a display control unit that executes control to display the second window having the changed display size as a topmost window of the display screen in response to the change.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said change unit changes the display size of the second window to a smaller size.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said change unit changes a display position of the second window on the display screen as well, and

said display control unit executes control to display the second window at the changed display position.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when said drop detection unit has detected the drop operation, said change unit returns the display size of the second window to an original size, and said display control unit displays the second window at the original display size.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the first window and the second window are displayed in accordance with operations of a first application program and a second application program which are different from each other and executed by the information processing apparatus,

said drag detection unit and said drop detection unit execute the detection in accordance with an operation of an operating system executed by the information processing apparatus, and

the information processing apparatus uses a result of the detection in accordance with the second application program.

6. An information processing apparatus for displaying a plurality of windows on a display screen, comprising:

a drag detection unit that detects a drag operation of an object arranged in a first window;

a change unit that changes a display size of a second window displayed behind the first window on the display screen when said drag detection unit has detected the drag operation; and

a display control unit that executes control to display the second window having the changed display size in front of the first window in response to the change,

wherein the display size of the second window is smaller when displayed in front of the first window than when displayed behind the first window.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a drop detection unit that detects a drop operation of the object in the second window,

wherein when said drop detection unit has detected the drop operation, said change unit returns the display size of the second window to an original size, and said display control unit displays, behind the first window, the second window having the original display size.

8. An information processing apparatus for displaying a plurality of overlapping windows on a display screen, comprising:

a drag detection unit that detects a drag operation of an object arranged in a first window;

a drop detection unit that detects a drop operation of the object in a second window; and

a display control unit that executes control, when said drag detection unit has detected the drag operation, to display the first window and the second window at positions where an overlap area between the first window and the second window becomes smaller than before said drag detection unit detects the drag operation.

9. An information processing apparatus for displaying a plurality of overlapping windows on a display screen, comprising:

a setting unit that sets a paste position in a file created in accordance with an application program executed by the information processing apparatus;

a detection unit that detects a drag operation of an object on the display screen;

a display control unit that executes control to display a list of the set paste positions on the display screen when said detection unit has detected the drag operation;

a selection unit that selects a paste position from the list; and

a paste unit that pastes data corresponding to the object at the selected paste position.

10. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus for displaying a plurality of windows on a display screen, comprising:

a drag detection step of causing a drag detection unit to detect a drag operation of an object arranged in a first window;

a drop detection step of causing a drop detection unit to detect a drop operation of the object in a second window;

a change step of causing a change unit to change a display size of the second window when the drag detection unit has detected the drag operation; and

a display control step of causing a display control unit to execute control to display the second window having the changed display size as a topmost window of the display screen in response to the change.

11. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus for displaying a plurality of windows on a display screen, comprising:

a drag detection step of causing a drag detection unit to detect a drag operation of an object arranged in a first window;

a change step of causing a change unit to change a display size of a second window displayed behind the first window on the display screen when the drag detection unit has detected the drag operation; and

a display control step of causing a display control unit to execute control to display the second window having the changed display size in front of the first window in response to the change,

wherein the display size of the second window is smaller when displayed in front of the first window than when displayed behind the first window.

12. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus for displaying a plurality of overlapping windows on a display screen, comprising:

a drag detection step of causing a drag detection unit to detect a drag operation of an object arranged in a first window;

a drop detection step of causing a drop detection unit to detect a drop operation of the object in a second window; and

a display control step of causing a display control unit to execute control, when the drag detection unit has detected the drag operation, to display the first window and the second window at positions where an overlap area between the first window and the second window becomes smaller than before the drag detection unit detects the drag operation.

13. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus for displaying a plurality of overlapping windows on a display screen, comprising:

a setting step of causing a setting unit to set a paste position in a file created in accordance with an application program executed by the information processing apparatus;

a detection step of causing a detection unit to detect a drag operation of an object on the display screen;

a display control step of causing a display control unit to execute control to display a list of the set paste positions on the display screen when the detection unit has detected the drag operation;

a selection step of causing a selection unit to select a paste position from the list; and

a paste step of causing a paste unit to paste data corresponding to the object at the selected paste position.

14. An information processing apparatus which operates in accordance with an operating system that runs on a computer having a memory and implements a multiwindow system having a display screen capable of displaying a plurality of windows, comprising:

a rendering unit that renders, on the display screen, a window of a first program that runs under control of the operating system;

a reception unit that receives, from the first program, drag information about an object dragged in the window of the first program;

an allocation unit that allocates, to the memory, a shared area accessible from a second program that runs under the control of the operating system; and

a storage unit that stores the drag information in the shared area.

17. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the drag information contains at least one of data associated with the object and a type of the data.

15. An information processing apparatus which operates in accordance with an operating system that runs on a computer having a memory and implements a multiwindow system having a display screen capable of displaying a plurality of windows, comprising:

a rendering unit that renders, on the display screen, a window of a first program that runs under control of the operating system;

a notification request reception unit that receives a notification request from a second program that runs under the control of the operating system when an object has been dragged in the window of the first program, the notification request requesting to notify the second program of drag information about the object;

a storage unit that stores the notification request in the memory;

a drag information reception unit that receives the drag information from the first program; and

a notification unit that notifies, when said reception unit has received the drag information, the second program corresponding to the notification request stored in the memory of the drag information.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising:

a deletion request reception unit that receives, from the second program, a deletion request to delete the notification request corresponding to the second program; and

a deletion unit that deletes, from the memory, the notification request corresponding to the second program when said deletion request reception unit has received the deletion request from the second program.

18. An information processing apparatus which operates in accordance with a program that runs under control of an operating system that runs on a computer and implements a multiwindow system having a display screen capable of displaying a plurality of windows, comprising:

a detection unit that detects drag of an object in a window of another program that runs under the control of the operating system, the window being rendered by the operating system; and

an acquisition unit that acquires drag information about the object from the other program when said detection unit has detected drag of the object.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the drag information contains at least one of data associated with the object and a type of the data.

20. A control method executed by an information processing apparatus in accordance with an operating system that runs on a computer having a memory and implements a multiwindow system having a display screen capable of displaying a plurality of windows, comprising:

a rendering step of causing a rendering unit to render, on the display screen, a window of a first program that runs under control of the operating system;

a reception step of causing a reception unit to receive, from the first program, drag information about an object dragged in the window of the first program;

an allocation step of causing an allocation unit to allocate, to the memory, a shared area accessible from a second program that runs under the control of the operating system; and

a storage step of causing a storage unit to store the drag information in the shared area.

21. A control method executed by an information processing apparatus in accordance with an operating system that runs on a computer having a memory and implements a multiwindow system having a display screen capable of displaying a plurality of windows, comprising:

a rendering step of causing a rendering unit to render, on the display screen, a window of a first program that runs under control of the operating system;

a notification request reception step of causing a notification request reception unit to receive a notification request from a second program that runs under the control of the operating system when an object has been dragged in the window of the first program, the notification request requesting to notify the second program of drag information about the object;

a storage step of causing a storage unit to store the notification request in the memory;

a drag information reception step of causing a drag information reception unit to receive the drag information from the first program; and

a notification step of causing a notification unit to notify, when the drag information has been received in the reception step, the second program corresponding to the notification request stored in the memory of the drag information.

22. A control method executed by an information processing apparatus in accordance with a program that runs under control of an operating system that runs on a computer and implements a multiwindow system having a display screen capable of displaying a plurality of windows, comprising:

a detection step of causing a detection unit to detect drag of an object in a window of another program that runs under the control of the operating system, the window being rendered by the operating system; and

an acquisition step of causing an acquisition unit to acquire drag information about the object from the other program when drag of the object has been detected in the detection step.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing an operating system that runs on a computer having a memory and implements a multiwindow system having a display screen capable of displaying a plurality of windows, the operating system causing the computer to function as:

a rendering unit that renders, on the display screen, a window of a first program that runs under control of the operating system;

a reception unit that receives, from the first program, drag information about an object dragged in the window of the first program;

an allocation unit that allocates, to the memory, a shared area accessible from a second program that runs under the control of the operating system; and

a storage unit that stores the drag information in the shared area.

24. A computer-readable storage medium storing an operating system that runs on a computer having a memory and implements a multiwindow system having a display screen capable of displaying a plurality of windows, the operating system causing the computer to function as:

a rendering unit that renders, on the display screen, a window of a first program that runs under control of the operating system;

a notification request reception unit that receives a notification request from a second program that runs under the control of the operating system when an object has been dragged in the window of the first program, the notification request requesting to notify the second program of drag information about the object;

a storage unit that stores the notification request in the memory;

a drag information reception unit that receives the drag information from the first program; and

a notification unit that notifies, when said reception unit has received the drag information, the second program corresponding to the notification request stored in the memory of the drag information.

25. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program that runs under control of an operating system that runs on a computer and implements a multiwindow system having a display screen capable of displaying a plurality of windows, the program causing the computer to function as:

a detection unit that detects drag of an object in a window of another program that runs under the control of the operating system, the window being rendered by the operating system; and

an acquisition unit that acquires drag information about the object from the other program when said detection unit has detected drag of the object.