Patent ID: 7770132

Claim:
A method for controlling the display of a plurality of objects on a screen comprising: storing, in a group configuration storage section, association information indicating the association between each of said plurality of objects and one of a plurality of groups; changing, in a group configuration changing section, said association information stored in said group configuration storage section; storing, in a group priority level storage section, group display priority levels which are priority levels for displaying each of said objects associated with one of said groups at the front of the objects associated with other of said groups; changing, in a group rank changing section, said group display priority levels stored in said group priority level storage section in response to a user input; storing, in an object priority level storage section, object display priority levels which are priority levels for displaying one of the objects associated with one of said groups at the front of the others; changing, in an object priority level changing section, said object display priority level while said association information is maintained; displaying, by means of a display section, said plurality of objects according to said group display priority levels and said object display priority levels; storing, in a recording section, a record of said displayed plurality of objects and the association between the objects in the groups at the time of display, wherein as each new object is generated said new object is associated with the group with which one of said object having a certain relation with the new object inside group record information stored in said recording section is associated; providing a setting as to whether such group recording section will be updated; and in response to selection of a displayed object by a user, heightening the display priority level of the group with which the selected displayed object is associated.