Abstract:
Disclosed herein are an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and information providing medium, more particularly, the present invention provides an information processing apparatus having a first executing means for executing a predetermined processing in response to a rotational operation; and a second executing means for executing another predetermined processing in response to a pushing operation. Accordingly, repeated, complicated operations required in a related art operating systems to select a desired application program on a taskbar having a start menu button to activating the selected application program is eliminated.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information providing medium and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information providing medium that are capable of executing predetermined processing by a simple operation.  
           [0002]    For personal computer (PC) operating systems such as Microsoft Windows 95 (trademark) and Microsoft Windows 98 (trademark), systems that provides a taskbar for providing graphical user interfaces such as buttons for application programs having an active window have come into wide use. A technology associated with a taskbar is disclosed in detail in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-255066.  
           [0003]    The following describes a taskbar with reference to the above-mentioned patent application. A taskbar provides users information about a currently active window as a visual notice in operating software programs. At the same time, a taskbar can be used to display the associated active window itself. A taskbar may have a start menu button that allows a user to access a menu for a program launching operation, a document open operation, a system setting operation, and other control operations.  
           [0004]    The following describes an example in which the start menu button as described above is operated in a computer system having peripheral devices such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a video display unit and a central processing unit (CPU). The start menu button functions as means for opening a start menu that operates as the center stage for a user to access a program, a document, system settings, and help information, for example. When the user places the mouse cursor on the start menu and clicks the left button on the mouse, the start menu is displayed.  
           [0005]    The start menu has such menu items as “Program,” “Search,” “Setting,” and “Help”, for example. The “Program” menu item allows the user to access from the start menu to the hierarchically displayed program menu. The program menu displays two or more application programs and program groups selectable by the user.  
           [0006]    It should be noted here that complicated operations must be repeated by the user to select a desired application program on a taskbar having the above-mentioned start menu and to start the selected application program.  
           [0007]    Namely, the user first points with the mouse cursor the start menu button on the taskbar and clicks the left button on the mouse for displaying the start menu. Then, the user points the “Program” menu item thereof to display the program menu. Next, the user points a desired application program shown on the program menu and clicks the left button on the mouse. In the case of an application program group, the user must repeat the pointing and clicking operation until the desired program is reached. When the user specifies by clicking a desired application program, the CPU starts it.  
           [0008]    Thus, to start a desired application program, the user must repeat cumbersome operations, thereby deteriorating the convenience of the user interface. This holds true with a situation in which the user clicks a menu item such as “Help” for example from the start menu program to execute desired processing.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information providing medium that allow users to execute desired processing by a simple operation using a rotary-type dial for example.  
           [0010]    In carrying out the invention and according to a first aspect thereof, there is provided an information processing apparatus including a first executing means for executing a predetermined processing in response to a rotational operation; and a second executing means for executing another predetermined processing in response to a pushing operation.  
           [0011]    In carrying out the invention and according to a second aspect thereof, there is provided an information processing apparatus including an operating means having a first operating block corresponding to a rotational operation and a second operating block corresponding to a pushing operation; and a control means for monitoring an operating state of the operating means and executing a predetermined processing in response to each of the rotational operation and the pushing operation.  
           [0012]    In carrying out the invention and according to a third aspect thereof, there is provided an information processing method including a first executing step for executing a predetermined processing in response to a rotational operation; and a second executing step for executing another predetermined processing in response to a pushing operation.  
           [0013]    In carrying out the invention and according to a fourth aspect thereof, there is provided an information processing method including a control step for monitoring an operation state of an operating means having a first operating block corresponding to a rotational operation and a second operating block corresponding to a pushing operation and executing a predetermined processing corresponding to each of the rotational operation and the pushing operation.  
           [0014]    In carrying out the invention and according to a fifth aspect thereof, there is provided an information providing medium for making an information processing apparatus execute a computer program including a first executing step for executing a predetermined processing in response to a rotational operation and a second executing step for executing another predetermined processing in response to a pushing operation.  
           [0015]    In carrying out the invention and according to a sixth aspect thereof, there is provided an information providing medium for making an information processing apparatus execute a computer program including a control step for monitoring an operation state of an operating means having a first operating block corresponding to a rotational operation and a second operating block corresponding to a pushing operation and executing a predetermined processing corresponding to each of the rotational operation and the pushing operation.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    These and other objects of the invention will be seen by reference to the description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 is an external perspective view illustrating a note-type personal computer to which the present invention is applied;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 is a top view illustrating the main frame of the note-type personal computer shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 is an expanded perspective view illustrating the surroundings of a jog dial that forms the main portion of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating the main frame as viewed from the side of the jog dial;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 is an external perspective view illustrating the jog dial;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the contact mounting board that forms the main portion of the jog dial shown in FIG. 5;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 is a front cross section illustrating the above-mentioned jog dial;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 8 is a side cross section illustrating the above-mentioned jog dial;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating the above-mentioned jog dial as mounted on an apparatus used;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 10 is a partial cutaway view illustrating the rotary encoder that forms the above-mentioned jog dial;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 11 is a top view for describing the push switch of the above-mentioned jog dial;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 12 is an electrical circuit diagram illustrating the note-type personal computer shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration in which an embedded controller monitors through a rotation detector the rotary encoder of the above-mentioned jog dial;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 14 is a flowchart indicative of the execution by the embedded controller of a jog dial state monitor program;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 15 is a timing chart illustrating the operation of the rotation detector shown in FIG. 13;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 16 is a flowchart indicative of the processing of the jog dial state monitor program to be executed by the CPU of the note-type personal computer shown in FIG. 1 when its power switch is turned on;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of a jog dial menu;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of another display of the jog dial menu;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of still another display of the jog dial menu;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of a sub menu;  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of another display of the sub menu;  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display displayed by a map display application program;  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of another display displayed by the map display application program;  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display displayed by an edit screen displaying application program;  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 25 is a flowchart indicative of the notification processing to be executed by a jog-dial-capable application program on the jog dial state monitor program executed by the CPU;  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a specific example in which the display of the jog dial menu is inherent in application program;  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of a first embodiment of the jog-dial-capable application program;  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of a second embodiment of the jog-dial-capable application program; and  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of a third embodiment of the jog-dial-capable application program. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0046]    Preferred embodiments of this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0047]    Now, referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, there are shown external views of a note-type personal computer as one example to which an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information providing medium according to the present invention are applied. The note-type personal computer  1  is basically made up of a main frame  2  and a display unit  3  pivotally attached to the main frame. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view in which the display unit  3  is open relative to the main frame  2 . FIG. 2 shows a top view of the main frame  2 . FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the surroundings of a jog dial  4  which forms the main portion of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side view of the main frame  2  as viewed from the side of the jog dial  4 . It should be noted that the jog dial  4  is one of rotary-type dials.  
         [0048]    The main frame  2  is arranged on the top surface thereof with a keyboard  5  through which a user inputs various characters and symbols, a touch pad  6  for use as a pointing device by means of which the user moves the mouse cursor, and a power switch  8 .  
         [0049]    The display unit  3  is arranged on the front side thereof with an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)  7  for displaying images. In addition, the display unit  3  is arranged in the upper right corner thereof with a power lamp PL, a battery lamp BL, a message lamp ML as required, and other LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights.  
         [0050]    The jog dial  4  is provided between a key A and a key B (rightmost keys) of the keyboard  5  on the main frame  2  and is generally flush with these keys.  
         [0051]    The jog dial  4  executes predetermined processing according to the rotary operation denoted by arrow “a” and the moving operation denoted by arrow “b” shown in FIG. 3. The predetermined processing to be executed by the jog dial  4  will be described later.  
         [0052]    First, the configuration of the jog dial  4  is described below. The jog dial  4  is an embodiment of the rotary-operation type electronic component with a push switch disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-203387 filed by the joint applicant of the applicant hereof and the applicant hereof.  
         [0053]    To be more specific, as shown in FIG. 5, the jog dial  4  is composed of a contact mounting board  11  and a rotary encoder  12  and a push switch  13  which are arranged on the contact mounting board  11 . The rotary encoder  12  is adapted to be horizontally movable within a certain range but the push switch  13  is firmly fixed thereon.  
         [0054]    As shown in FIG. 6, the contact mounting board  11  formed by a flat mold resin body has a recess  15  having a guide rail  14  for movably guiding the rotary encoder  12 , a recess  17  having a stopper wall  16  for fixing the push switch  13 , and a contact plate  19  having a terminal  18  for transmitting an electrical signal from the rotary encoder  12  to the outside.  
         [0055]    As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the rotary encoder  12  is composed of a mold resin box case  20  inserted in the recess  15  and held to be horizontally movable (in the direction denoted by arrow H1 shown in FIGS. 5 and 8) within a certain range along the guide rail  14 , elastic contact legs  21  and  22  projecting upward and downward respectively from an elastic contact body  45  attached to the bottom of the box case  20  in an insertion molding technique, a mold resin rotary body  25  rotationally held by a cylinder axis  23  integrally formed with the box case  20  at its center and having a disc radial contact plate  24  with the elastic contact leg  21  pressed against the lower surface thereof, and a disc-shaped operation knob  27  of periphery operating type mounted on the rotary body  25  with a screw  26  such that the rotary body  25  can be operated by rotating the operation knob  27 . In this arrangement, a twisted coil spring  29  positioned by a pin projection  28  (refer to FIGS. 6 and 10) disposed on the contact mounting board  11  horizontally urges the box case  20  at one side thereof such that the box case  20  is normally located away from the push switch  13 . At the same time, the elastic contact leg  22  projecting downward from the bottom of the box case  20  is pressed against the contact plate  19  of the contact mounting board  11 .  
         [0056]    As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the push switch  13  is engaged in the recess  17  of the contact mounting board  11  and fixed thereto such that an operation button  30  is opposed to the rotary encoder  12  with the rear end of the operation button  30  abutting against the stopper wall  16 .  
         [0057]    As shown in FIG. 8, a driving projection  31  arranged integrally with the box case  20  of the rotary encoder  12  abuts against the tip of the operation button  30  of the push switch  13 . The jog dial thus constituted is mounted on electronic apparatus as follows. Referring to FIG. 9, legs  11 A and  11 B provided beneath the contact mounting board  11 , the connection terminal  18  of the rotary encoder  12 , and a connection terminal  32  of the push switch  13  are inserted in mounting holes  34 A,  34 B,  35 , and  36  respectively and soldered therein. Thus, the jog dial is arranged so that the disk-shape operation knob  27  of the rotary encoder  12  partially projects from the clearance of a casing  37  of the electronic apparatus, the clearance being opposed to the push switch  13 .  
         [0058]    The following describes the operation of the jog dial  4 . First, referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, when the user rotates the operation knob  27  at its projected portion  27 A from the case  37 , the rotary body  25  rotates around the cylinder axis  23  located at the center of the box case  20 . This makes the upward elastic contact leg  21  slide on the radial contact plate  24  below the rotary body  25 . At the contact portion therebetween, a pulse signal is generated according to the rotary operation of the operation knob  27 .  
         [0059]    The pulse signal thus generated is transmitted from the upward elastic contact leg  21  to the downward elastic contact leg  22  and then to the contact plate  19  on the contact mounting board  11  to which the elastic contact leg  22  is pressed. The pulse signal is eventually transmitted to a printed circuit board  33  of the electronic apparatus through the terminal  18  for external connection.  
         [0060]    Referring to FIG. 11, when the user pushes the projected portion  27 A of the operation knob  27  against the pressing energy of the twisted coil spring  29  on the contact mounting board  11  in the direction indicated by arrow H2, the entire rotary encoder  12  moves horizontally along the guide rail  14  toward the push button  13  via the projection  31  arranged on the box case  20 , thereby pressing the push switch  13  for operation. A signal generated by this operation is transmitted to the printed circuit board  33  through the connection terminal  32  as shown in FIG. 9.  
         [0061]    When the user releases the operation knob  27 , the twisted coil spring  29  presses back the rotary encoder  12  to the original position shown in FIG. 10.  
         [0062]    In the above-mentioned example, the electrical signals generated in the rotary encoder  12  are transmitted to the connection terminal  18  of the contact mounting board  11  in the configuration in which the elastic contact leg  22  projecting downward from the bottom of the box case  20  of the rotary encoder  12  is pressed to the contact plate  19  of the contact mounting board  11 . It will be apparent that the signal transmission is also achieved by extending the elastic contact leg from the contact mounting board  11  to press the contact leg against the contact plate on the bottom of the box case  20 . So far mentioned is the explanation of how is operated the jog dial with the above configuration.  
         [0063]    It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the jog dial  4  may be arranged on the left side of the main frame  2 . It will also be apparent that the jog dial  4  may be arranged at the center of the main frame  2  so that the user can operate the jog dial while operating the touch pad  6  with her/his index finger. It will be apparent that the jog dial  4  may be arranged on the left or right side end of the display unit  3  on which the LCD  7  is arranged. Further, it will be apparent that the jog dial  4  may be arranged vertically along the left end or right end rim of the touch pad  6 . It will be apparent that the jog dial  4  may be arranged horizontally along the upper end or lower end rim of the touch pad  6 . It will be apparent that the jog dial  4  may be arranged vertically between the right button and the left button of the touch pad  6 . It will be apparent that the jog dial  4  may be arranged vertically between “G” key and “H” key of the keyboard  5 . It will be apparent that the jog dial  4  may not be limited to be arranged in the vertical or horizontal direction, but may be arranged at any easy-to-operate angles determined by considering the movement of fingers upon typing the keyboard. Furthermore it will be apparent that the jog dial  4  may be arranged on the mouse serving as a pointing device at one side thereof at which the jog dial  4  is operable with a thumb of the user.  
         [0064]    The following describes one example of the electrical configuration of the note-type personal computer  1  with reference to FIG. 12. A CPU (Central Processing Unit)  51  is constituted typically by the Pentium (trademark) processor of Intel Corporation and connected to a host bus  52 . The host bus  52  is connected to a north bridge  53 , which is connected to a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus  56 . The north bridge  53  is constituted typically by the 440BX of Intel Corporation and is adapted to control the CPU  51 , a memory  54 , and so on. It should be noted that this north bridge  53  and a south bridge  58  to be described later constitutes a so-called chip set.  
         [0065]    The north bridge  53  is also connected to a main memory  54  and a cache memory  55 . The cache memory  55  caches data to be used by the CPU  51 . Although not shown, the CPU  51  incorporates a primary cache memory.  
         [0066]    The main memory  54  is constituted by a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) for example and stores programs to be executed by the CPU  51  and data necessary for the CPU  51  for operation. To be more specific, the main memory  54  stores, at the time starting of the personal computer  1  has been completed, an electronic mail program  54 A, an autopilot program  54 B, a jog dial state monitor program  54 C, a jog dial driver  54 D, an operating system (OS)  54 E, and other application programs  54 F 1  through  54 Fn loaded from a HDD (Hard Disk Drive)  70 .  
         [0067]    The electronic mail program  54 A sends and receives electronic mail via a network through a modem  75  to be described later and a public telephone line  76 . The electronic mail program  54 A has an incoming mail acquisition capability as a specific capability. This incoming mail acquisition capability checks a mail box  79  in a mail server  78  of an Internet service provider  77  for a mail addressed to the user. If the mail is found, the incoming mail acquisition capability executes the processing for acquiring it.  
         [0068]    The autopilot program  54 B starts a plurality of preset processing (or programs) in a predetermined sequence for processing.  
         [0069]    The OS  54 E, which is an operating system typified by Windows 95 (trademark) and Windows 98 (trademark) of Microsoft Corporation and the Mac OS (trademark) of Apple Computer, Inc., controls the basic operations of the computer.  
         [0070]    The jog dial state monitor program  54 C receives information as to whether each of the above-mentioned application programs is jog-dial-capable or not. If a particular application program is found jog-dial-capable, the jog dial state monitor program  54 C displays what can be executed by operating the jog dial  4 . Normally, this program is waiting for an event generated by the jog dial  4 . In addition, this program has a list for receiving information from the application programs. The jog dial driver  54 D executes various functions in accordance with the operation executed on the jog dial  4 .  
         [0071]    A video controller  57  is connected to the PCI bus  56 . On the basis of data supplied through the PCI bus  56 , the video controller  57  controls the display operation of the LCD  7  of the display unit  3 .  
         [0072]    The PCI bus  56  is connected to a sound controller  64 , which captures the input of a microphone  66  or supplies an audio signal to a speaker  65 . The PCI bus  56  is also connected to the modem  75  mentioned above. The modem  75  allows the personal computer  1  to connect to a communication network  80  such as the Internet and the mail server  78  through the public telephone line  76  and the Internet service provider  77 .  
         [0073]    The PCI bus  56  is also connected to a south bridge  58 . The south bridge  58  is constituted by PIIX4E of Intel Corporation for example and controls various I/O (Input/Output) operations. To be more specific, the south bridge  58 , composed of an IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) controller/configuration register  59 , a timer  60 , and an IDE interface  61 , controls devices connected to the IDE bus and devices connected through an ISA/EIO (Industry Standard Architecture/Extended Input Output) bus  63  and an embedded controller  68 .  
         [0074]    The IDE controller/configuration register  59  is composed of two IDE controllers, which are so-called primary and secondary IDE controllers, and a configuration register (these IDE controllers and a configuration register are not shown in the figure).  
         [0075]    The primary IDE controller is connected to a connector (not shown) through the IDE bus  62 . The connector is connected to the HDD  67 . The secondary IDE controller is connected electrically to the connectors of bay devices upon installation, which are IDE devices such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM) drive, a second HDD, and a second FDD (Floppy Disc Drive).  
         [0076]    As described above, the HDD  67  stores a plurality of application programs  67 F 1  through  67 Fn in addition to the electronic mail program  67 A, the autopilot program  67 B, the jog dial state monitor program  67 C, the jog dial driver  67 D, and the OS  67 E. These programs  67 A through  67 Fn are sequentially loaded into the RAM  54  during starting (boot) processing.  
         [0077]    The ISA/EIO bus  63  is also connected to the embedded controller  68 , which is a microcontroller serving as an I/O controller. To be more specific, the embedded controller  68  is composed of an I/O interface  69 , a ROM  70 , a RAM  71 , and a CPU  72  connected to each other.  
         [0078]    The ROM  70  stores a LED control program  70 A, a touch pad input monitor program  70 B, a key input monitor program  70 C, a wakeup program  70 D, and a jog dial state monitor program  70 E in advance.  
         [0079]    The LED control program  70 A controls the operations of a power lamp PL, a buttery lamp BL, a message lamp ML as required, and other LED lamps. The touch pad input monitor program  70 B monitors the inputs made by the user operating the touch pad  6 . The key input monitor program  70 C monitors the inputs by the user operating the keyboard  5  and other key switches. The wakeup program  70 D checks whether a preset time has been reached on the basis of the current time supplied from the timer  60  in the south bridge  58 . If the preset time is found reached, the wakeup program  70 D controls each of chip power supplies, thereby starting the predetermined processing (or predetermined programs) at the preset time.  
         [0080]    The jog dial state monitor program  70 E always monitors whether the rotary encoder  12  of the jog dial  4  has been either rotated or pushed. This program  70  will be described in detail later.  
         [0081]    The ROM  70  also stores a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)  70 F. The BIOS is the software, which controls the data transfer (or input/output) between the OS and application programs and peripheral devices (the display unit, the keyboard, and the HDD among others).  
         [0082]    The RAM  71  has registers  71 A through  71 F, each serving as a register for LED control, touch pad input status, key input status, and setting time and the I/O register for jog dial state monitoring. For example, the LED control register  71 A controls the turn-on/-off of the message lamp ML indicative of the instantaneous start state of electronic mail program to be described later after pressing the jog dial  4 . The key input status register  71 C stores an operation key flag when the jog dial  4  is pressed for a single-touch operation to be described later. The setting time register  71 D sets a time as desired.  
         [0083]    The embedded controller  68  is also connected to the jog dial  4 , the touch pad  6 , and the keyboard  5  through connectors, not shown. The embedded controller  68  outputs the signals generated in accordance with the operations of the jog dial  4 , the touch pad  6 , and the keyboard  5  to the ISA/EIO bus  63 . The embedded controller  68  is further connected to the power lamp PL, the battery lamp BL, the message lamp ML, and other LED lamps.  
         [0084]    The embedded controller  68  is still further connected to a power supply controller  73 . The power supply controller  73 , connected to an incorporated battery  74  or an AC power supply, supplies necessary powers to the component blocks of the system and controls the charging of the incorporated battery  74  and the second batteries of peripheral devices. The embedded controller  68  also monitors the power switch which is operated to turn on/off the power to the system.  
         [0085]    Even if the power switch  8  is turned off, the embedded controller  68  can always execute the above-mentioned programs  70 A,  70 B,  70 C,  70 D, and  70 E by means of the internal power supply. Namely, these programs are always running, even if nothing is displayed on the LCD  7  of the display unit  3 . This indicates that the embedded controller  68 , if the power switch is turned off and the OS  54 E has not been started by the CPU  51 , always executes the jog dial state monitor program  70 E. Thus, though omitting details, without arranging a dedicated key on the note-type personal computer  1 , a programmable power key (PPK) capability which allows the user to start a desired software and script files only by pressing the jog dial  4  when the system is in the power saving mode or power-off state is imparted thereto.  
         [0086]    The following describes the operation of the embedded controller  68  to be executed when the jog dial state monitor program  70 E is executed with reference to FIGS. 13 through 15. FIG. 13 shows the hardware configuration in which the embedded controller  68  monitors the state of the rotary encoder  12  of the jog dial  4  through a rotation detector  85 . FIG. 14 is a flowchart indicative of the execution by the embedded controller  68  of the jog dial state monitor program  70 E. FIG. 15 is a timing chart indicative of the operation of the rotation detector  85  shown in FIG. 13.  
         [0087]    First, when the rotary encoder  12  of the jog dial  4  is rotated either left or right, the rotation detector  85  detects the rotational direction on the basis of the timings of a signal A and a signal B shown in FIG. 15. If the rotation is found in the right direction, the rotation detector  85  supplies a right-rotation pulse to a counter(1)  86  of the embedded controller  68 . If the rotation is found in the left direction, the rotation detector  85  supplies a left-rotation pulse to a counter(2)  87  of the embedded controller  68 .  
         [0088]    Based on the supplied pulse, the embedded controller  68  executes the jog dial state monitor program  70 E to monitor by 5 ms-polling the amounts of change in the counter(1)  86  and the counter(2)  87 , the difference between these amounts, and whether or not pressing the jog dial  4 .  
         [0089]    Referring to FIG. 14, a count value Counter1(T- 1 ) obtained at time T- 1  is subtracted from a count value Counter1(T) obtained at current time T of a right-rotation pulse to obtain the amount of change Counter1 in the count value of the counter  78  in step S 1 .  
         [0090]    In step S 2 , the count value Counterl(T- 1 ) at time T- 1  is subtracted from a count value Counter1(T) at current time T of a left-rotation pulse to obtain the amount of change Counter2 in the count value of the counter  87 .  
         [0091]    In step S 3 , the difference between the amounts of change in the count values, namely the difference between the amount of change Counter1 and the amount of change Counter2 is obtained. If the difference is found a negative value, it indicates that the jog dial  4  is rotated leftward.  
         [0092]    In step S 4 , the embedded controller  68  obtains the state of pressing of the jog dial  4 . In step S 5 , the embedded controller  68  determines the difference in the amount of change obtained in step S 3 . In step S 6 , the embedded controller  68  determines whether the state of pressing of the jog dial  4  has been changed or not. If the difference in the amount of change is found in step S 5 , or if found the pressing state is changed in step S 6 , then, in step S 7 , the embedded controller  68  sends, over the host bus  52 , to the jog dial driver  54 D to be started by the CPU  51 , the current push state and the amount of change of the jog dial  4  through the I/O register  71 F by causing an interrupt.  
         [0093]    If no change is found in the pressing state of the jog dial  4  in step S 6 , then, in step S 8 , the embedded controller  68  ends polling and repeats the processing from S 1  onward by 5 ms polling.  
         [0094]    When the power switch  8  has been turned on, the CPU  51  executes the jog dial state monitor program  54 C in a sequence shown in FIG. 16.  
         [0095]    To be more specific, in step S 31 , the jog dial state monitor program  54 C always monitors whether the jog dial  4  has been operated or not. This program also monitors whether the electronic mail program  54 A and other application programs  54 F 1  through  54 Fn have been activated or not. The jog dial state monitored here is used to monitor by the CPU  51  the processing of the jog dial state monitor program  70 E through the jog dial driver  54 D. This is substantially the same as the operation described above with reference to FIG. 13.  
         [0096]    In step S 32 , when the information indicative that the jog dial  4  has been operated comes from the jog dial driver  54 D, then, in step S 33 , the CPU  51  checks for any active application program. If no active application program is found, the CPU  51  starts a launching operation. If an active application program is found, the CPU  51  starts an event operation. The launching operation herein denotes the selection of an application program registered and added to a launching list in advance.  
         [0097]    In detail, the launching operation functions on condition that there is not currently active application program. The jog dial menu displays the application programs previously registered and added to the launching list. The launching list contains jog-dial-capable application programs.  
         [0098]    When a launching operation has been executed, a jog dial menu indicative of a launched state is displayed on the LCD  7 . The jog dial menu displays the list of jog-dial-capable application programs which are launched according to the rotation and pressing of the jog dial  4 .  
         [0099]    For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when the predetermined OS  54 E is in the activated state by the CPU  51 , assume that there is no activated application program and the user has pressed the jog dial  4  once in the direction of arrow “b” shown in FIG. 3. Then, as described with reference to FIGS. 13 through 15, the jog driver  54 D receives the pushed state of the jog dial  4  with the flag status from the I/O register by means of the interrupt operation of step S 7  of FIG. 13. The jog dial driver  54 D sends the information about the pressing of the jog dial  4  to the jog dial monitor program  54 C to be executed by the CPU  51 .  
         [0100]    Then, the CPU  51  starts listed jog-dial-capable application programs such as adjusting the volume of the speaker  65 , adjusting the luminance and contrast of the LCD  7 , and selecting application programs for example, upon which a jog dial menu as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed on the LCD  7  on the display unit  3  shown in FIG. 1. This jog dial menu displays the menu items (“Volume,” “Luminance,” “Contrast,” and “Select Application”) corresponding to the processing such as adjusting the luminance and contrast of the LCD  7 , and selecting application programs. In the above-mentioned example, selector A is located on menu item “Volume” as the initial setting.  
         [0101]    Next, when the user rotates the jog dial  4  in the direction of arrow “a” shown in FIG. 3 to move selector A, the embedded controller  68  performs computation described above with reference to FIG. 14 according to the jog dial state monitor program  70 E and sends the obtained amount of change to the jog dial driver  54 D to be executed by the CPU  51 .  
         [0102]    Then, the jog dial driver  54 D sends the information about the operation of the jog dial  4  to the jog dial state monitor program  54 C. In response, the CPU  51  moves selector A to the menu item representing the processing that the user wants to execute. For example, when the jog dial menu shown in FIG. 17 is displayed on the LCD  7  (in the state in which selector A is placed on menu item “Volume”), if the user rotates the jog dial  4  in the direction of arrow “a” downward shown in FIG. 3 by a predetermined amount (or a predetermined angle), selector A moves to menu item “Luminance.” If the user rotates the jog dial  4  further downward, selector A moves to menu item “Select Application” as shown in FIG. 19.  
         [0103]    When selector A has moved to the desired menu item, the user presses the jog dial  4  in the direction of arrow “b” shown in FIG. 3. This operation lets a sub menu corresponding to the selected menu item “Luminance” display as shown in FIG. 20, for example, if selector A is placed on menu item “Luminance.” In this example, the six sub menu items are “5” (brightest) through “0” (darkest). Then, the amount of change in the rotary operation of the jog dial  4  performed by the user is obtained by the embedded controller  68 . The obtained value is sent to the jog dial driver  54 D. The jog dial operation is further monitored by the jog dial state monitor program  54 C, thereby moving selector B.  
         [0104]    If selector A is displayed on menu item “Select Application” as shown in FIG. 19 for example, the sub menu corresponding to “Select Application” is displayed as shown in FIG. 21 by the selecting operation executed by the user. In this example, this sub menu displays “Wordprocessor” for starting a wordprocessor application program, “Electronic mail” for starting an electronic mail program, “Spreadsheet” for starting a spreadsheet program, “Internet” for starting an Internet program, and “Calculator” for starting a calculator program. It should be noted that, in this example, selector B for the sub menu is placed on the top item in the initial state.  
         [0105]    Next, the user rotates the jog dial  4  to move selector B to the desired sub menu item and presses the jog dial  4  to select this sub menu item. The sub menu item indicated by selector B is selected and the corresponding processing is executed. For example, referring to FIG. 20, if “3” from the sub menu item is selected, the luminance corresponding to the degree set for this sub menu item is set to the LCD  7 . If sub menu item “Internet” is selected in the example shown in FIG. 21, an Internet program (for example, a Web browser) is activated.  
         [0106]    The following describes the case in which, when the power switch  8  is turned on, the CPU  51  executes the jog dial state monitor program  54 C and an active application program is found in step S 33  shown in FIG. 16. This is the above-mentioned event operation started by the CPU  51 . The active application program must be jog-dial-capable. To be more specific, this sort of program is a predetermined application program having image display capability. In this example, it is assumed that a map of Japan shown in FIG. 22 is displayed on the LCD  7 . When the user rotates the jog dial  4  with the map displayed on the LCD  7 , the image is enlarged around the location indicated by the pointer as shown in FIG. 23.  
         [0107]    When the user rotates the jog dial  4  in the reverse direction against the above-mentioned direction, the image shrinks (returns to the original size). Thus, in any predetermined application program having the jog-dial-capable image display capability, the displayed image can be zoomed in (shrunk) or out (enlarged) by the rotation of the jog dial  4 .  
         [0108]    The following describes the operation of the jog dial  4  to be executed when a jog-dial-capable application program having a motion picture editing capability. In this example, it is assumed that an edit screen as shown FIG. 24 is displayed on the LCD  7  by such an application program.  
         [0109]    The edit screen is composed of a display section  88  (to the left of the screen) and a display section  89  (to the right of the screen). The display section  88  shows four time-sequential image frames S- 1  through S- 4  (hereafter simply referred to as image frame S if it is not necessary to make distinction between the image frames S- 1  through S- 4 ) among still images constituting a motion picture. The display section  89  shows one of the image frames S shown in the display section  88 , being selected by pushing the jog dial  4 . In this example, the selected image frame S is displayed in the display section  89  allowing to be edited in a predetermined manner.  
         [0110]    With the edit screen displayed on the LCD  7 , the user rotates the jog dial  4  to feed forward or backward image frames S, displaying a desired image frame S in the display section  88 . When the desired image frame S is displayed in the display section  88  (in this case, when the desired image frame S is displayed at the top of the display section  88 ), the user pushes the jog dial  4  for selection. The image frame S displayed at the top of he display section  88  is then selected and displayed in the display section  89 . This makes it ready for the user to edit the image frame S in the display section  89 .  
         [0111]    The above-mentioned application programs practiced as embodiments of the present invention are all jog-dial-capable. However, the application programs stored in the HDD  67  and loaded into the RAM  54  upon completion of the activation processing these programs are not always jog-dial-capable. For example, the application program  54 F 3  shown in FIG. 12 is not jog-dial-capable. The jog-dial processing to be assigned by the CPU to jog-dial-capable application is different from that assigned to jog-dial-incapable application. Hence, the jog-dial-capable application programs inform of themselves as being jog-dial-capable in advance to the jog dial state monitor program  54 C that is executed by the CPU  51  in a procedure shown in FIG. 25.  
         [0112]    First, in step S 61 , an application program declares to the jog dial state monitor program  54 C that the application program is jog-dial-capable. In step S 62 , the jog dial state monitor program  54 C adds this application program to the list of job-dial-capable application program.  
         [0113]    Then, although not described in the above-mentioned example, the jog dial menu may be displayed in a manner inherent in the application program to be supplied to the user as the form of a jog dial guide.  
         [0114]    To be more specific, in step S 63 , the jog-dial-capable application program notifies the jog dial state monitor program  54 C of the description of the jog dial operation in the current state by means of a character string. In step S 64 , a jog dial window  90  shown in FIG. 26 is displayed, in which characters such as “Jog dial guide,” “Zoom,” “In,” “Fit” and “Out” are displayed.  
         [0115]    In step S 65 , the jog-dial-capable application program changes character strings according to the state of the activated window to update the list of a jog dial state monitor program  54 C.  
         [0116]    Thus, when the jog-dial-capable application program is active, the display in the jog dial window  90  denotes the description in character string how this application program will be operated according to the jog dial operation.  
         [0117]    The following describes some embodiments of the jog-dial-capable application program.  
         [0118]    A first embodiment is PictureGear (trademark), which is an image viewer and an image manipulating tool. Details of PictureGear are found on the Internet at the URL;  
         [0119]    http://vaio.sony.co.jp/software/PictureGear/index.html. PictureGear is the software capable of managing in a centralized manner still and motion pictures stored on various removable information storage media including hard disc, floppy disc, MO (Magneto Optical) disc, PC card, and the other card-type memory media. The images can be displayed in a list by executing a predetermined operation, allowing the user to visually confirm desired images at a glance. The image manipulating capability allows the user to create 360-degree panorama images and labels attached with photographs. This capability also allows the user to create HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) albums that can be viewed by a WWW (World Wide Web) browser. FIG. 27 shows a PictureGear window  101 . In the figure, an image display section  104  lists many images in a given zoomed degree (this display is referred to as sheet view display). To view all of these images, the user can view another image display section  105  in which all images are displayed in a higher zoomed-in rate, in shrunk state. The image display section  104  can also display only one image selected from among those displayed in the sheet view display. The image display sections  104  and  105  can be zoomed in and out by means of slide-bars  102  and  103  respectively, which have zoom in/out gages. The slide-bar  102  having the zoom in/out gages allows the user to quickly zoom in or out the images in sheet view or a single selected image with the zooming ratio in a range of 12.5% through 800%, for example. Then, by application of the present invention, the user executes this zoom in/out operation by rotating the jog dial  4  (for scrolling) and pushing the same. In procedure, the jog dial window  90  is displayed at a predetermined position, at the lower right corner of the window  101  for example, when PictureGear has been activated as shown in FIG. 27. At this moment, what will happen by the current jog dial operation is displayed to the user through the processing of steps S 63  and S 64  shown in FIG. 25. Namely, in sheet view display, the jog dial window  90  displays that zoom in/out operations can be executed by rotating the jog dial  4  and listed images can be aligned in match with the window  104  by pushing the jog dial  4 . In single image display, the jog dial window  90  displays that zoom in/out operations can be executed by rotating the jog dial  4  and the zoomed image can be fit to the size of the window  104  by pushing the jog dial  4 .  
         [0120]    A second embodiment of the present invention is Navin&#39;You (trademark), a tool for displaying the map of a current location obtained on the basis of GPS (Global Positioning System). Details of the second embodiment are found on the Internet at URL http://vaio.sony.co.jp/software/NaginYou/top.html. Navin&#39;You is the software that allows the user to operate maps in a realistic view with a sense of distance, such that crossings, road signs and traffic signals approach toward the user as if the user looks down the map from the sky as the map is scrolled, in addition to the related art map display in which maps are shown in a two-dimensional, flat, top view manner. A predetermined operation allows the user to freely adjust the height of map navigating flight, so to speak. Further, simply moving the pointer in the advancing direction allows the user to navigate the map, as if the user were piloting an airplane. FIG. 28 shows a Navin&#39;You window  110 . In the Navin&#39;You window  110 , a three-dimensional display section  111  and a two-dimensional display section  112  are displayed in the window  110 . The jog dial window  90  is also displayed at the lower right corner for example of the window  110 . The jog dial window  90  in this case displays what will happen when the user executes the jog dial  4 , through the processing of step S 63  and S 64  shown in FIG. 25. To be more specific, the jog dial window  90  displays that the user can zoom in/out the map by rotating the jog dial  4  and a setting screen that affects the map navigating operation by pushing the jog dial  4 , and clear the setting screen by pushing the jog dial  4  again while displaying the setting screen through the processing of step S 65 .  
         [0121]    A third embodiment of the present invention is GigaPokect (trademark) that allows the user to record, reproduce, and manage television programs and video images for example in high image quality with a comfortable operation. Details of the third embodiment are found on the Internet at URL http://vaio.sony.co.jp/software/GigaPocket/recorder.html. The Giga video recorder of GigaPocket allows the user to record and reproduce, in high image quality of MPEG2 (Moving Pictures Expert Group 2), television programs received through the TV tuner installed on the MPEG2 realtime encoder board of a personal computer such as Vaio (trademark) or video images captured through an external input terminal. The video images can be recorded on the hard disk drive of the personal computer for reproduction in a random access method. Therefore, the user can reproduce a recorded scene while recording subsequent scenes or reproduce a previously recorded file not associated with the video currently being recorded. The Giga video recorder automatically detects the turn between scenes and stores a thumbnail picture. At the time of reproduction, the thumbnail picture is horizontally scrolled in synchronization with reproduction. This processing is executed by the film roll capability. This capability allows the user to feed the film forward. When the user specifies a desired point, the user can reproduce the film from that point. Therefore, the user can quickly jump to any desired scene to efficiently view it. GigaPocket is an embodiment of the technology associated with AV (Audio Video) contents recording/reproducing processing disclosed by the applicant hereof in the specification and drawings of Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 11-117267. FIG. 29 shows an embodied GigaPocket window  115 . The figure shows a state in which AV contents have been reproduced after activation of GigaPocket and plural still pictures stored in still picture data files are displayed. A still picture display window  171  displays, as thumbnail pictures having a predetermined size, still pictures (providing turns between scenes) stored in still picture data files. The horizontal axis of the still picture display window  171  corresponds to the time axis of the images to be reproduced. A position indicated by a current position indicator gage  172  corresponds to the current point of time, namely the image currently being reproduced. The left side of the figure indicates a predetermined point of time in past (at which images have already been reproduced), or a point of time retrospective by a predetermined time corresponding to the distance from the position of the current position indicator gage. The right side of the figure indicates a predetermined point of time in future (images will be reproduced afterward) corresponding to the distance from the current position indicator gage  172 . A thumbnail picture is arranged at the position corresponding to the point of time of the turn between scenes and is displayed in the still picture display window  171 . If the turn between scenes takes place in a short time, the thumbnail pictures are displayed in an overlapped manner. As going through display of images to be reproduced (namely, with the lapse of time), the display position of thumbnail picture moves from right to left in the figure.  
         [0122]    By dragging a thumbnail picture, the thumbnail picture thus displayed in the still picture display window  171  is scrolled separately from the image being reproduced. The distance between thumbnail pictures always reflects the period of time between the turns between scenes and remains unchanged. By the thumbnail pictures shown in the still picture display window  171 , the user can quickly recognize the turns between scenes in a predetermined range, viewing a desired scene immediately. Consequently, the above-mentioned film roll capability can be associated with the rotation and push operations of the jog dial  4  to feed the film portion forward or backward by rotation and determine the operation by pushing the jog dial  4 . Thus, the user can feed the film portion forward or backward, quickly determine a desired reproduction point, and start the reproduction from that point. This capability allows the user to quickly jump to a desired scene, enhancing the efficiency of video viewing.  
         [0123]    The following outlines other embodied jog-dial-capable application programs (fourth through tenth embodiments) and their operations. The fourth embodiment is SmartWrite (trademark), a simplified wordprocessor program. With SmartWrite, rotating the jog dial  4  allows the user to scroll a document up and down on the display and pushing the jog dial  4  allows the user to jump up to the top of the document. These capabilities are displayed in the jog dial window.  
         [0124]    The fifth embodiment is SmartScript (trademark) editor, which is an application automatic execution tool by means of script. With SmartScript, rotating the jog dial  4  allows the user to advance execution of procedures and pushing the jog dial  4  at reproduction or recording allows the user to temporarily stop the execution. These capabilities are displayed in the jog dial window.  
         [0125]    The sixth embodiment is DV Gate Motion (trademark), which is a digital video reproduction and edit tool. With DV Gate Motion, rotating the jog dial  4  allows the user to get back a frame feed operation in temporarily stopped state and pushing the jog dial  4  allows the user to perform a marking operation. These capabilities are displayed in the jog dial window.  
         [0126]    The seventh embodiment is Smart Capture (trademark), which is a shooting tool of still picture and motion picture for a digital video camera. With Smart Capture, the capabilities to be executed by rotation and pushing of the jog dial  4  are different in each of a finder screen, a still viewer, and a movie player. This is because character strings can be changed and displayed according to the state of the window activated by executing the processing of step S 65  shown in FIG. 25. On the finder screen, rotating the jog dial  4  allows the user to set effect levels. For example, this level setting includes attachment of white noise. On the still viewer, rotating the jog dial  4  allows the user to select a still picture to be displayed and pushing the jog dial  4  allows the user to start an electronic mail program (or a mailer). The mailer is effective when a still picture is used as an attached file. On the movie player, rotating the jog dial  4  allows the user to select a motion picture frame to be displayed and pushing the jog dial  4  allows the user to start the same mailer as mentioned above.  
         [0127]    The eighth embodiment is MediaBar (trademark), which is a tool for music-associated reproduction. With MediaBar, rotating the jog dial  4  allows the user to select the reproduction of a next or previous piece of music and pushing the jog dial  4  allows the user to temporarily stop the reproduction.  
         [0128]    The ninth embodiment is a jog dial browser, which is a tool for browsing folders using a jog dial. Rotating the jog dial  4  allows the user to scroll a list up and down and pushing the jog dial  4  allows the user, if a folder has been selected, to display a file list belonging to thereunder and, if data or a program has been selected, to execute the same. If cancel has been selected, the execution is ended. If return has been selected, the file list for a file one level up is displayed.  
         [0129]    The tenth embodiment includes, as hot key capabilities, the capabilities of changing levels and determining a changed level in luminance adjustment, volume adjustment, mute adjustment, LCD/VGA output setting, and LCD/TV output setting.  
         [0130]    In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, predetermined processings can be related to the rotation and push operations of the jog dial  4  and the related operations can be executed.  
         [0131]    The recording media for providing the computer programs for having the jog dial  4  execute the above-mentioned processing include recording media such as magnetic disc, CD-ROM, and solid memory, communications media such as network and communications satellite, and various interfaces such as router and modem for transferring the computer programs provided by these media. The information providing medium as used herein is a wide concept that includes all of the above-mentioned media and interfaces.  
         [0132]    As described and according to the invention, the rotation and pushing operations of a jog dial facilitate the execution of predetermined processing such as selecting two or more menus for example.  
         [0133]    While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims.