patents.google.com

CN110851039B - Menu display method and electronic equipment - Google Patents

️Fri Jul 02 2021

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that "/" in this context means "or", for example, A/B may mean A or B; "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. "plurality" means two or more than two.

The terms "first" and "second," and the like, in the description and in the claims of the present invention are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular order of the objects. For example, the first input and the second input, etc. are for distinguishing different inputs, rather than for describing a particular order of inputs.

It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present invention, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "e.g.," an embodiment of the present invention is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

The electronic device in the embodiment of the present invention may be an electronic device having an operating system. The operating system may be an Android (Android) operating system, an ios operating system, or other possible operating systems, and embodiments of the present invention are not limited in particular.

The following describes a software environment to which the menu display method provided by the embodiment of the present invention is applied, by taking an android operating system as an example.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a possible android operating system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In fig. 1, the architecture of the android operating system includes 4 layers, which are respectively: an application layer, an application framework layer, a system runtime layer, and a kernel layer (specifically, a Linux kernel layer).

The application program layer comprises various application programs (including system application programs and third-party application programs) in an android operating system.

The application framework layer is a framework of the application, and a developer can develop some applications based on the application framework layer under the condition of complying with the development principle of the framework of the application.

The system runtime layer includes libraries (also called system libraries) and android operating system runtime environments. The library mainly provides various resources required by the android operating system. The android operating system running environment is used for providing a software environment for the android operating system.

The kernel layer is an operating system layer of an android operating system and belongs to the bottommost layer of an android operating system software layer. The kernel layer provides kernel system services and hardware-related drivers for the android operating system based on the Linux kernel.

Taking an android operating system as an example, in the embodiment of the present invention, a developer may develop a software program for implementing the menu display method provided in the embodiment of the present invention based on the system architecture of the android operating system shown in fig. 1, so that the menu display method may operate based on the android operating system shown in fig. 1. That is, the processor or the electronic device may implement the menu display method provided by the embodiment of the present invention by running the software program in the android operating system.

According to the menu display method provided by the embodiment of the invention, under the condition that the electronic equipment respectively displays the ith-level menu to the (i + m) -level menu in m +1 areas, a user can input a first input according to needs, wherein the display content of the first area in the m +1 areas is the jth-level menu; the electronic device may display a j + p-th level menu in the first area in response to the first input after receiving the first input; when j is at least two integers from i to i + m, i, m and j are all positive integers, p is an integer, the electronic device can update and display the jth level menu in a first area corresponding to at least two j as a corresponding jth + p level menu, j is any integer from i to i + m-1, i, m and j are all positive integers, and p is 1, the electronic device can update and display 1 jth level menu displayed in a first area on a screen as the jth + p level menu corresponding to a first input, the jth + p level menu displayed in the first area and the jth + p level menu displayed in a second area are different submenus of the same level menu, namely the electronic device can update only one level menu therein or simultaneously update multiple levels, if a user needs to search menu options in the multiple levels, compared with the current searching mode in a deep level menu, the method has the advantages that the operation steps are simplified, the user does not need to trigger the electronic equipment to return to the previous level menu, and therefore the user can search options in the menu more conveniently.

A menu display method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a menu display method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 2, the menu display method includes S201 and S202:

s201, the electronic equipment receives a first input of a user under the condition that the i-th level menu to the i + m-th level menu are respectively displayed in the m +1 areas.

Wherein, the display content of the first area in the m +1 areas is the j level menu.

For convenience of example description, in the embodiment of the present invention, a first-level menu represents a 1 st-level menu, a second-level menu represents a 2 nd-level menu, a third-level menu represents a 3 rd-level menu, and so on; the options in the menu at each level may be referred to as the level options, for example: the first 2 options in the first-level menu may be sequentially referred to as a first-level option 1 and a first-level option 2, and the options in the other-level menus are similar and will not be described again.

It can be understood that in the case where m +1 regions display the ith to i + m th menus, respectively, m +1 level menus, which are m +1 menus of consecutive levels, are displayed in the electronic device.

For example, the m +1 level menu is a menu of continuous levels, then, for example, the electronic device may display a first level menu in the area 1, a second level menu corresponding to the first level option 2 in the area 2, and a third level menu corresponding to the second level option 4 in the area 3 according to the operation of the user.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first input may be a sliding input of a user on a screen, or a clicking input of the user on the screen, or an input of a user selecting an object in an interface on the screen and then sliding, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Optionally, the object may be a selection in a menu, a control in a menu interface, or the like.

S202, responding to the first input, the electronic equipment displays the j + p-th level menu in the first area.

Specifically, the electronic device may update and display the jth level menu displayed in the first area as the j + p level menu.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, when j is at least two integers from i to i + m, and i, m, and j are all positive integers, p is an integer.

It should be noted that, when j takes a plurality of values, it indicates that a plurality of m +1 regions update the displayed content, and when j takes i + m from i, the displayed content is updated for each of the m +1 regions.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, when j is any one integer from i to i + m-1, and i, m, and j are all positive integers, p is 1, and the j + p-th level menu displayed in the first area and the j + p-th level menu displayed in the second area are different submenus of the same level menu.

That is, before receiving the first input, the j-th level menu is displayed in the first area, and the j + 1-th level menu is displayed in the second area, and after receiving the first input, the electronic device may display the j + 1-th level menu corresponding to the first input in the first area, that is, the electronic device may display different levels of sub-menus of the same level menu.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, when the first input is an input selected by the user for any one of the i + m th-level menus, the i + m + p th-level menu is a menu triggered and displayed by the first input, and p is equal to 1. The (i + m) -th level menu may be a menu which is triggered and displayed last time by a user, and the (1) th level menu to the (i + m) -th level menu are menus which are triggered and displayed by the user before the electronic device receives a first input of the user.

For illustrative purposes, it is assumed that m +1 regions on the screen sequentially display the ith through (i + m) th menus from left to right. As shown in fig. 3 (a), if m +1 is 3, then m +1 areas are area 1, area 2 and area 3 from left to right, the electronic device displays a first-level menu in area 1, a second-level menu corresponding to first-level option 3 in area 2, and a third-level menu corresponding to second-level option 2 in area 3. The user may select a third-level option 3 in the third-level menu in the area 3 shown in (a) in fig. 3 (i.e., the first input is an input selected by the user for any one of the i + m-th-level menus), and as shown in (b) in fig. 3, the electronic device may display a second-level menu corresponding to the first-level option 3 in the area 1, a third-level menu corresponding to the second-level option 2 in the area 2, and a fourth-level menu corresponding to the third-level option 3 in the area 3. The four-level menu is a menu which is triggered and displayed by the first input.

It should be noted that fig. 3 only exemplarily shows that the electronic device displays a menu at one level in each of a plurality of areas on one screen, and if the electronic device includes a plurality of screens, the electronic device may further display a menu at one level on each of m +1 screens by implementing the menu display method provided by the present invention.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, when the first input is a sliding input of a user or an input to a target control, the i + m + p-th-level menu is a menu displayed in the m +1 regions before the first input, and p is a positive integer or a negative integer.

It is understood that the level 1 menu to the (i + m + p) th menu are menus that the user has triggered the electronic device to display before the electronic device receives the first input from the user.

For example, the target control may be any one of a left control and a right control displayed on the menu interface by the electronic device, where the left control is displayed on the left side of the screen, the right control is displayed on the right side of the screen, the left control is used to instruct the user to view the hidden menu to the left, and the right control is used to instruct the user to view the hidden menu to the right.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, for convenience of description, the level of the first-level menu is higher than that of the second-level menu, and the level of the second-level menu is higher than that of the third-level menu, and so on.

Assuming that the electronic device displays menus of 3 levels in 3 areas, respectively, the electronic device displays a second-level menu in an area 1, a third-level menu in an area 2, and a fourth-level menu in an area 3, as shown in (a) of fig. 4. The second-level menu displayed in the area 1 comprises a second-level option 1, a second-level option 2, a second-level option 3 and a second-level option 4; the three-level menu displayed in the area 2 comprises a three-level option 1, a three-level option 2, a three-level option 3, a three-level option 4 and a three-level option 5; the four-level menu displayed in area 3 includes four-level option 1, four-level option 2, and four-level option 3. The left area of the screen displays a

left control

31a, and the right area of the screen displays a

right control

31 b.

Alternatively, the "first input is a sliding input of the user" may be an input in which the user directly slides in the menu interface, and may be an input in which the user selects a certain level of menu and then slides (for example, selects a border of the certain level of menu and then slides in one direction).

Specifically, the electronic device may determine, according to the first input parameter, the positive and negative values of p and the value of p, which may be specifically as follows (1) and (2):

(1) in the case that the first input is a sliding input, the electronic device may determine the positive and negative values of p according to the sliding direction of the first input, and determine a specific value of p according to the sliding distance of the first input, where the longer the sliding distance is, the larger the absolute value of p is, the shorter the sliding distance is, and the smaller the absolute value of p is. For example, where the first input is a user sliding right to left on the screen, the electronic device may determine that p is a negative value; in the case where the first input is the user sliding left to right on the screen, the electronic device may determine that p is a positive value. The electronic device may determine that p is a positive value when the first input is that the user selects any one of the menus to slide left, and may determine that p is a negative value when the first input is that the user selects any one of the menus to slide right.

(2) Under the condition that the first input is input to the target control, the electronic device may determine, according to the target control selected by the first input, the positive and negative of p, and determine, according to the input duration of the first input, a specific value of p, where the longer the input duration of the first input, the larger the absolute value of p, the shorter the input duration of the first input, and the smaller the absolute value of p. In the case that the first input is user selection of a left control, the electronic device may determine that p is a negative value; in the event that the first input is the user selecting the right control, the electronic device can determine that p is a positive value.

Illustratively, in conjunction with fig. 4 (a), the user slides to the left at any position on the screen, and assuming that the electronic device determines that p is 1 according to the distance slid by the user, the electronic device may display a three-level menu in an area 1, a four-level menu corresponding to the three-level option 1 in an area 2, and a five-level menu corresponding to the four-level option 3 in an area 3, as shown in fig. 4 (b), where the five-level menu includes a five-level option 1, a five-level option 2, a five-level option 3, a five-level option 4, a five-level option 5, and a five-level option 6. In conjunction with fig. 4 (a), the user slides to the right at any position on the screen, and assuming that the electronic device determines that p is-1 according to the distance that the user slides, the electronic device may display a primary menu in an area 1, a secondary menu corresponding to a primary option 3 in an area 2, and a tertiary menu corresponding to a secondary option 2 in an area 3, as shown in fig. 4 (c).

Optionally, the electronic device may display a dividing line (or referred to as a middle side bar) between every two levels of menus (or every two regions) displayed on the interface.

For example, assuming that the electronic device displays 3-level menus in 3 areas, for example, as shown in fig. 5 (a), the electronic device displays a

dividing line

32a between the first two levels of menus (i.e., between area 1 and area 2), and the electronic device displays a

dividing line

32b between the second two levels of menus (i.e., between area 2 and area 3). The user may also select the dividing line to slide to the left or the right, and if the user selects the

dividing line

32b and slides to the right to the edge of the screen, and p is-1, the interface shown in (c) in fig. 4 may be displayed after the sliding; if the user selects dividing

line

32b and slides to the right to the position of dividing

line

32a, and p is 1, the interface shown in (b) in fig. 4 may be displayed after the sliding.

As shown in (b) of fig. 5, the electronic device displays a

left arrow

31a and a

right arrow

31b on both sides of the screen, and the user can also operate in (b) of fig. 5, assuming that the user presses the target control for 1 second for a long time and the absolute value of p is 1. If the user presses the

right arrow

31b for 1 second, that is, p is 1, the electronic device may display the interface shown in (b) in fig. 4; if the user presses the

left arrow

31a for 1 second, i.e., p is-1, the electronic device may display the interface shown in (c) of fig. 4.

It can be understood that, if the user selects the

dividing line

32b and slides to the edge of the screen to the right, and the user has triggered the electronic device to display the six-level menu corresponding to the five-level option 6 in any one of the areas 1 to 3 before sliding, that is, p is 2, the electronic device may display the four-level menu corresponding to the three-level option 3 in the area 1, display the five-level menu corresponding to the four-level option 3 in the area 2, display the six-level menu corresponding to the five-level option 6 in the area 3, and if the lowest-level menu triggered to be displayed by the user before sliding is the five-level menu corresponding to the four-level option 3, p is 1.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, j may take one value or multiple values.

Specifically, the electronic device may determine the value number of j according to a specific input parameter of the first input. For example, the electronic device may determine the value number of j according to at least one of an input position, an input distance, an input direction, an input duration, and an input selected object.

For example, in the case that j takes only one value, and p takes a value of 1, the electronic device may update only the jth level menu displayed in one first area to a jth +1 level menu, and the menus displayed in other areas may not need to be updated. For example, the electronic device displays a first level menu in area 1, a second level menu corresponding to first level option 3 in area 2, and a third level menu corresponding to second level option 2 in area 3. If the first input is input by the user to the second-level option 3, the electronic device may update the second-level menu corresponding to the first-level option 3 in the area 2 to the third-level menu corresponding to the second-level option 3, and maintain the first-level menu displayed in the area 1 and the third-level menu displayed in the area 3 and corresponding to the second-level option 2.

For example, in the case that j takes multiple values, p is an integer other than 0, and the electronic device may update the jth level menu of each j value to the jth + p level menu. For example, the electronic device displays a first-level menu in the area 1, a second-level menu in the area 2, and a third-level menu in the area 3, the first input is a sliding input of the user on the display screen, the electronic device determines j to be 1, 2, and 3, respectively, according to the input parameters of the sliding input, and if p is 2, the electronic device displays the third-level menu in the area 2, displays the fourth-level menu in the area 2, and displays the fifth-level menu in the area 3 in response to the first input.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, for convenience of description, the level and the number of the option are used for description, in an actual application process, each level of the menu displays the name of the level of the menu, and the option in each level of the menu displays the actual name of the option in the level of the menu. The number of the options in each level of the menu may be the same or different, the number of the options in each level of the menu may be smaller than 6 items shown in the maximum display in the figure or larger than 6 items, and after the number of the options in the target level of the menu exceeds 6, the user may also adjust the menu options displayed in the screen by sliding up and down, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, m +1 is the maximum number of stages of the menu displayed by the electronic device at one time.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device may display each level of menu in a split screen manner, and the maximum screen number of the split screen may be set in the electronic device. For example, the electronic device may display 3 hierarchical menus at most on the screen of the electronic device at maximum by dividing the electronic device into 3 screens at maximum, and display 4 hierarchical menus at most on the screen of the electronic device at maximum by dividing the electronic device into 4 screens at maximum. Of course, the user may also set the maximum screen splitting times when the menu is displayed according to the requirement, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, if the electronic device has a plurality of screens, the electronic device may also display the multi-level menu on different screens. For example, the electronic device comprises 3 screens, at least three levels of menus can be displayed on the 3 screens of the electronic device, the electronic device comprises 4 screens, and at least four levels of menus can be displayed on the 4 screens of the electronic device. Of course, the user can also set the number of screens and screens used in displaying the menu as desired. For example, the electronic device includes 4 screens, and only 3 screens may be used when displaying the menu, which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

It should be noted that, when the number of stages of the menu displayed on the current interface of the electronic device is greater than the maximum number of stages, the left control and the right control may be displayed, for example, when the number of stages of the menu on the left side is greater than 1, the left control may be displayed on the left side of the screen by the electronic device, and when the number of stages of the menu displayed on the rightmost side is greater than the maximum number of stages and is higher than the menu of the number of stages triggered at the last time, the right control may be displayed on the right side of the screen by.

It should be noted that, in the process of triggering the electronic device to display the menu once, if the number of levels of the menu displayed in the interface of the electronic device does not exceed the maximum number of levels (i.e. the number of levels of the menu displayed on the screen at most), for example, the maximum number of levels is 3 (at most, 3 levels are displayed), when the screen includes an area, the menu at one level is displayed in the area; or the screen comprises two areas, wherein one area displays a primary menu, and the other area displays a secondary menu; or the screen includes three regions, where one region displays the first-level menu, one region displays the second-level menu, and one region displays the third-level menu, the electronic device does not display the target control, and when the user triggers the electronic device to display the fourth-level menu and hides the first-level menu to the left (for example, the three regions respectively display the second-level menu, the third-level menu, and the fourth-level menu), the electronic device may start displaying a left-direction arrow. For example, as shown in fig. 3 (a) and fig. 3 (b).

With reference to fig. 4, after the user has triggered the electronic device to display the five-level menu corresponding to the four-level option 3 in any one of the areas 1 to 3, the electronic device may further display a

left arrow

31a (i.e., a left control) on the left side of the screen and a

right arrow

31b (i.e., a right control) on the right side of the screen. If the five-level menu corresponding to the four-level option 3 is displayed by the electronic device which is triggered by the user for the last time, the electronic device cancels the right arrow displayed on the right side in the case that the five-level menu is displayed on the rightmost side (i.e., the area 3) of the electronic device, and cancels the

left arrow

31a displayed on the left side in the case that the user triggers the one-level menu displayed on the leftmost side (i.e., the area 1) of the electronic device and the 3-level menus are displayed in the interface in total, as shown in (c) of fig. 4.

Furthermore, in the menu display method according to the embodiment of the present invention, before S201, the following S203 and S204 may be further included:

and S203, the electronic equipment receives a second input of the user under the condition that the 1 st level menu to the n +1 st level menu are respectively displayed in the n +1 areas.

Wherein n is more than or equal to 0 and less than m, and n is an integer.

It is understood that in the case where n is 0, the electronic device displays the level 1 menu.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the n +1 regions may be the same in size or different in size, and this is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

Optionally, the second input may be an input for the user to select an option in the (n + 1) th level menu, or an input for the user to select an option in the (n + 1) th level menu and slide.

And S204, responding to the second input, and displaying the 1 st level menu to the n +2 th level menu in the n +2 areas by the electronic equipment respectively.

Specifically, the electronic device may update the level 1 menu to the (n + 1) th menu to the level 1 menu to the (n + 2) th menu.

Optionally, the n +2 regions may be the same in size or different in size, and this is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

It should be noted that, in the case that the electronic device displays the menu in a split screen manner, the second input may also be used to trigger the split screen of the electronic device.

It should be noted that if n +1 regions are regions for dividing the screen equally, n +2 regions may also be regions for dividing the screen equally, and the area of each of the n +2 regions is smaller than that of each of the n +1 regions.

For example, as shown in (a) in fig. 6, taking a landscape-screen display menu of the electronic device as an example, assuming that the electronic device displays a primary menu in a full screen, the user may select a primary option 3 in the primary menu, for example, the user clicks the primary option 3, or the user clicks the primary option 3 and slides to the right, and then the electronic device may be triggered to split the screen, as shown in (b) in fig. 6, the electronic device displays the primary menu in a screen area on the left side of a

dividing line

32c and displays a secondary menu corresponding to the primary option 3 in a screen area on the right side of the

dividing line

32 c. The user may select the second-level option 2 from the second-level menus, and may trigger the electronic device to continue to split the screen, as shown in fig. 6 (c), the first-level menu is displayed in the screen area on the left side of the

dividing line

32a, the second-level menu corresponding to the first-level option 3 is displayed in the screen area between the dividing

line

32a and the

dividing line

32b, and the third-level menu corresponding to the second-level option 2 is displayed in the screen area on the right side of the

dividing line

32 b.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the screen of the electronic device is a foldable screen.

For example, a folded screen electronic device having multiple screens, a flexible screen electronic device, and the like. In the case that the electronic device is a folding-screen electronic device, assuming that the folding-screen electronic device includes 3 screens, a user may trigger to display a primary menu on one screen of the electronic device, and the user may select one menu option in the primary menu to trigger the electronic device to display a secondary menu of the menu option on a second screen.

For example, assuming that the electronic device includes 3 screens, the electronic device may display a level 1 menu on one screen, as shown in fig. 7, the electronic device displays a level 1 option, a level 2 option, a level 3 option, a level 4 option, a level 5 option, and a level 6 option of the level one menu on the first screen. If the user selects the first level option 3 on the first screen in fig. 7 and slides to the second screen, as shown in fig. 8, the electronic device may display a second level menu corresponding to the first level option 3 on the second screen and keep displaying the first level menu on the first screen, where the second level menu includes a second level option 1, a second level option 2, a second level option 3, and a second level option 4. If the user selects the second level option 2 on the second screen in fig. 8 and slides to the third screen, as shown in fig. 9, the electronic device may display a third level menu corresponding to the second level option 2 on the third screen, and keep displaying the first level menu displayed on the first screen and the second level menu displayed on the second screen, where the third level menu includes a third level option 1, a third level option 2, a third level option 3, a third level option 4, and a third level option 5.

Based on the scheme, the electronic device displays m +1 level menus at most once, and the electronic device displays the n +1 level menus in the n +1 areas respectively, and if n is smaller than m, that is, the electronic device does not reach the maximum level of the menu displayed at the maximum currently, if the electronic device receives a second input of the user, for example, the user selects an input of an option in the n +1 level menus, the electronic device may display the n +2 level menus in the 1 level menus in the n +2 areas respectively until the m +1 level menus displayed at most, so that the user can view the m +1 level menus in the display interface at the same time.

Optionally, the menu display method provided in the embodiment of the present invention may further include the following S205 and S206a, or S205 and S206 b:

and S205, under the condition that at least two levels of menus are displayed, the electronic equipment receives a third input of the user.

And the third input is input to the first target level menu displayed in the third area. The first target level menu is any level of menu except the last level of menu in the at least two levels of menus.

For example, as shown in (a) in fig. 10, it is assumed that the electronic device displays a second-level menu in an area 1 of the interface, displays a third-level menu corresponding to a second-level option 2 in an area 2, displays a fourth-level menu corresponding to a third-level option 3 in the area 1, hides the menu (i.e., the first-level menu) on the left side, and hides the menu (i.e., the user has triggered to display a fifth-level menu corresponding to the fourth-level option 3 and a lower-level menu thereafter) on the right side. The first target-level menu may be any one of the second-level menu and the third-level menu of fig. 10 (a).

S206a, in response to the third input, the electronic device displays the second target-level menu in the third area and keeps displaying the menus displayed in the other areas.

And the second target-level menu is a menu corresponding to the third input in the next-level menu of the first target-level menu.

Specifically, the electronic device may update the first target-level menu to the second target-level menu, and keep displaying the menus of the at least two levels except for the first target-level menu.

For example, if the user clicks the third-level option 1 in the third-level menu, the second target-level menu is a fourth-level menu corresponding to the third-level option 1, and if the user clicks the second-level option 4 in the second-level menu, the second target-level menu is a third-level menu corresponding to the second-level option.

Optionally, after S206a, the m +1 menus displayed on the electronic device are discontinuous menus, that is, the m +1 level menus displayed on the electronic device include menus at the same level.

The m +1 level menu displayed on the electronic device includes menus of discontinuous levels, for example, the electronic device may display a first level menu in a region 1, a second level menu corresponding to a first level option 1 in a region 2, and a second level menu corresponding to a first level option 2 in a region 3.

For example, in conjunction with (a) in fig. 10, if the user clicks the third level option 5 in the third level menu displayed in the area 2, the electronic device may display a fourth level menu corresponding to the third level option 5 in the area 2, as shown in (b) in fig. 10, where the fourth level menu includes a fourth level option 4, a fourth level option 5, a fourth level option 6, a fourth level option 7, and a fourth level option 8.

For example, after S206a, the electronic device may also update the content displayed on the electronic device according to the input of the user. Specifically, if the electronic device displays the kth level menu in the area 1, displays the (k + 1) th level menu corresponding to the k level option 1 in the area 2 (i.e., the next level menu corresponding to the option 1 of the kth level menu), and displays the (k + 1) th level menu corresponding to the k level option 2 in the area 3 (i.e., the next level menu corresponding to the option 2 of the kth level menu), if the user slides to the left on the electronic device, the electronic device may display the (k + 1) th level menu corresponding to the k level option 1 in the area 1, display the (k + 1) th level menu corresponding to the k level option 2 in the area 2, and display the (k + 2) th level menu in the area 3.

S206b, in response to the third input, the electronic device updates all lower menus of the first target-level menu to the second target-level menu.

For example, if at least two levels of menus are included on the screen after the first target-level menu, the electronic device may re-partition the region to display the menus after receiving the third input.

Specifically, if the first target-level menu includes a first-level menu, the electronic device may display a second target-level menu in the area of the first-level menu, and cancel the right-side control.

Of course, as shown in fig. 10 (c), if the user clicks the third-level option 5 in the third-level menu displayed in the area 2, the electronic device may display the fourth-level menu corresponding to the third-level option 5 in the area 3 of the fourth-level menu corresponding to the third-level option 3, and cancel the display of the right arrow.

Based on the scheme, under the condition that the electronic equipment displays at least two levels of menus, the electronic equipment can update a first target level menu to a second target level menu and keep displaying other menus under the condition that the electronic equipment can receive the first target level menu of the at least two levels of menus from a user. The method and the device have the advantages that a user can conveniently search a certain high-level menu from deep-level menus without exiting from a low-level menu under the condition that the multi-level menus are displayed, and the user can conveniently return to the originally displayed menu to continue checking after selecting the high-level menu.

Further, in the case where the screen of the electronic device is a foldable screen, the menu display method of the embodiment of the present invention may further include S207 and S208 described below.

And S207, under the condition that at least two levels of menus are displayed on the screen, the electronic equipment receives fourth input of the user.

Wherein the fourth input is an input that triggers a fourth area in the screen to collapse.

For convenience of understanding, with reference to fig. 9, if the user triggers the third screen to fold toward the second screen, the fourth area is a display area on the third screen, and if the user triggers the second screen and the third screen to fold toward the first screen, the fourth area includes the display area on the second screen and the display area on the third screen.

And S208, in response to the fourth input, the electronic equipment cancels the display of the menu in the fourth area.

For example, in conjunction with fig. 9, if the user triggers the third screen to fold toward the fourth screen, the electronic device may cancel the three-level menu displayed on the third screen.

It should be noted that, if the user clicks the "cancel" control in the jth level menu, the electronic device may also cancel the display of the level menu.

Based on the scheme, under the condition that the screen of the electronic equipment is a foldable screen, the user can cancel the display of the menu on the screen by controlling the folding of the screen, the operation mode is more convenient, and the user experience of the user is improved.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 11, the

electronic device

700 includes a receiving

module

701 and a

display module

702; a

receiving module

701, configured to receive a first input of a user when m +1 regions respectively display an i-th-level menu to an i + m-th-level menu, where display content of a first region in the m +1 regions is a j-th-level menu; a

display module

702, configured to display, in response to a first input received by the receiving

module

701, a j + p-th-level menu in a first area, where j is at least two integers taken from i to i + m, i, m, and j are positive integers, and p is an integer; or, any integer from i to i + m-1, i, m and j are all positive integers, p is 1, and the j + p-th level menu displayed in the first area and the j + p-th level menu displayed in the second area are different submenus of the same level menu.

Optionally, when the first input is an input selected by the user for any one of the options in the i + m-th level menu, the i + m + p-th level menu is a menu triggered and displayed by the first input, and p is 1; or, in the case that the first input is a sliding input of the user or an input to the target control, the (i + m + p) -th level menu is a menu that was displayed in the (m + 1) regions before the first input, and p is a positive integer or a negative integer.

Optionally, m +1 is the largest majority of menus displayed by the electronic device at one time; the receiving

module

701 is further configured to receive a second input of the user when the displaying

module

702 displays the 1 st-level menu to the n +1 st-level menu in n +1 regions, respectively, before receiving the first input, where n is greater than or equal to 0 and less than m, and n is an integer; the

display module

702 is further configured to display the level 1 menu to the level n +2 menu in the n +2 regions, respectively, in response to a second input.

Optionally, the receiving

module

701 is further configured to receive a third input of the user when the

display module

702 displays at least two levels of menus, where the third input is an input of a first target-level menu displayed in a third area, and the first target-level menu is any one of the at least two levels of menus except for a last-level menu; the

display module

702 is further configured to, in response to the third input received by the receiving

module

701, display a second target-level menu in the third area, and keep displaying menus displayed in other areas, where the second target-level menu is a menu corresponding to the third input in a next-level menu of the first target-level menu.

Optionally, the screen of the electronic device is a foldable screen; the receiving

module

701 is further configured to receive a fourth input of the user under the condition that the screen displays at least two levels of menus, where the fourth input is an input for triggering a fourth area in the screen to be folded; the

display module

702 is further configured to cancel the display of the menu in the fourth area in response to the fourth input received by the receiving

module

701.

The

electronic device

700 provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the electronic device in the above method embodiments, and is not described here again to avoid repetition.

According to the electronic device provided by the embodiment of the invention, under the condition that the electronic device respectively displays the ith-level menu to the (i + m) -level menu in m +1 areas, a user can input a first input according to needs, wherein the display content of the first area in the m +1 areas is the jth-level menu; the electronic device may display a j + p-th level menu in the first area in response to the first input after receiving the first input; when j is at least two integers from i to i + m, i, m and j are all positive integers, p is an integer, the electronic device can update and display the jth level menu in a first area corresponding to at least two j as a corresponding jth + p level menu, j is any integer from i to i + m-1, i, m and j are all positive integers, and p is 1, the electronic device can update and display 1 jth level menu displayed in a first area on a screen as the jth + p level menu corresponding to a first input, the jth + p level menu displayed in the first area and the jth + p level menu displayed in a second area are different submenus of the same level menu, namely the electronic device can update only one level menu therein or simultaneously update multiple levels, if a user needs to search menu options in the multiple levels, compared with the current searching mode in a deep level menu, the method has the advantages that the operation steps are simplified, the user does not need to trigger the electronic equipment to return to the previous level menu, and therefore the user can search options in the menu more conveniently.

Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of an

electronic device

100 for implementing various embodiments of the present invention, where the

electronic device

100 includes, but is not limited to:

radio frequency unit

101,

network module

102,

audio output unit

103,

input unit

104,

sensor

105,

display unit

106,

user input unit

107,

interface unit

108,

memory

109,

processor

110, and

power supply

111. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the electronic device configuration shown in fig. 12 does not constitute a limitation of the electronic device, and that the electronic device may include more or fewer components than shown, or some components may be combined, or a different arrangement of components. In the embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device includes, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a vehicle-mounted electronic device, a wearable device, a pedometer, and the like.

The

user input unit

107 is configured to receive a first input from a user when m +1 regions respectively display an i-th level menu to an i + m-th level menu, where display content of a first region in the m +1 regions is a j-th level menu; a

display unit

106 for displaying a j + p-th level menu in the first region in response to the first input; wherein j is an integer from i to i + m, i, m and j are positive integers, and p is an integer; or j is any integer from i to i + m-1, i, m and j are all positive integers, p is 1, and the j + p-th level menu displayed in the first area and the j + p-th level menu displayed in the second area are different submenus of the same level menu.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the

radio frequency unit

101 may be used for receiving and sending signals during a message transmission or call process, and specifically, after receiving downlink data from a base station, the downlink data is processed by the

processor

110; in addition, the uplink data is transmitted to the base station. Typically,

radio frequency unit

101 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like. In addition, the

radio frequency unit

101 can also communicate with a network and other devices through a wireless communication system.

The electronic device provides wireless broadband internet access to the user via the

network module

102, such as assisting the user in sending and receiving e-mails, browsing web pages, and accessing streaming media.

The

audio output unit

103 may convert audio data received by the

radio frequency unit

101 or the

network module

102 or stored in the

memory

109 into an audio signal and output as sound. Also, the

audio output unit

103 may also provide audio output related to a specific function performed by the electronic apparatus 100 (e.g., a call signal reception sound, a message reception sound, etc.). The

audio output unit

103 includes a speaker, a buzzer, a receiver, and the like.

The

input unit

104 is used to receive an audio or video signal. The

input Unit

104 may include a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) 1041 and a

microphone

1042, and the

Graphics processor

1041 processes image data of a still picture or video obtained by an image capturing device (e.g., a camera) in a video capturing mode or an image capturing mode. The processed image frames may be displayed on the

display unit

106. The image frames processed by the

graphic processor

1041 may be stored in the memory 109 (or other storage medium) or transmitted via the

radio frequency unit

101 or the

network module

102. The

microphone

1042 may receive sound and may be capable of processing such sound into audio data. The processed audio data may be converted into a format output transmittable to a mobile communication base station via the

radio frequency unit

101 in case of a phone call mode.

The

electronic device

100 also includes at least one

sensor

105, such as a light sensor, motion sensor, and other sensors. Specifically, the light sensor includes an ambient light sensor that can adjust the brightness of the

display panel

1061 according to the brightness of ambient light, and a proximity sensor that can turn off the

display panel

1061 and/or the backlight when the

electronic device

100 is moved to the ear. As one type of motion sensor, an accelerometer sensor can detect the magnitude of acceleration in each direction (generally three axes), detect the magnitude and direction of gravity when stationary, and can be used to identify the posture of an electronic device (such as horizontal and vertical screen switching, related games, magnetometer posture calibration), and vibration identification related functions (such as pedometer, tapping); the

sensors

105 may also include fingerprint sensors, pressure sensors, iris sensors, molecular sensors, gyroscopes, barometers, hygrometers, thermometers, infrared sensors, etc., which are not described in detail herein.

The

display unit

106 is used to display information input by a user or information provided to the user. The

Display unit

106 may include a

Display panel

1061, and the

Display panel

1061 may be configured in the form of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED), or the like.

The

user input unit

107 may be used to receive input numeric or character information and generate key signal inputs related to user settings and function control of the electronic device. Specifically, the

user input unit

107 includes a

touch panel

1071 and

other input devices

1072.

Touch panel

1071, also referred to as a touch screen, may collect touch operations by a user on or near the touch panel 1071 (e.g., operations by a user on or near

touch panel

1071 using a finger, stylus, or any suitable object or attachment). The

touch panel

1071 may include two parts of a touch detection device and a touch controller. The touch detection device detects the touch direction of a user, detects a signal brought by touch operation and transmits the signal to the touch controller; the touch controller receives touch information from the touch sensing device, converts the touch information into touch point coordinates, sends the touch point coordinates to the

processor

110, and receives and executes commands sent by the

processor

110. In addition, the

touch panel

1071 may be implemented in various types, such as a resistive type, a capacitive type, an infrared ray, and a surface acoustic wave. In addition to the

touch panel

1071, the

user input unit

107 may include

other input devices

1072. Specifically,

other input devices

1072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (e.g., volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, and a joystick, which are not described in detail herein.

Further, the

touch panel

1071 may be overlaid on the

display panel

1061, and when the

touch panel

1071 detects a touch operation thereon or nearby, the

touch panel

1071 transmits the touch operation to the

processor

110 to determine the type of the touch event, and then the

processor

110 provides a corresponding visual output on the

display panel

1061 according to the type of the touch event. Although in fig. 12, the

touch panel

1071 and the

display panel

1061 are two independent components to implement the input and output functions of the electronic device, in some embodiments, the

touch panel

1071 and the

display panel

1061 may be integrated to implement the input and output functions of the electronic device, and is not limited herein.

The

interface unit

108 is an interface for connecting an external device to the

electronic apparatus

100. For example, the external device may include a wired or wireless headset port, an external power supply (or battery charger) port, a wired or wireless data port, a memory card port, a port for connecting a device having an identification module, an audio input/output (I/O) port, a video I/O port, an earphone port, and the like. The

interface unit

108 may be used to receive input (e.g., data information, power, etc.) from an external device and transmit the received input to one or more elements within the

electronic apparatus

100 or may be used to transmit data between the

electronic apparatus

100 and the external device.

The

memory

109 may be used to store software programs as well as various data. The

memory

109 may mainly include a storage program area and a storage data area, wherein the storage program area may store an operating system, an application program required by at least one function (such as a sound playing function, an image playing function, etc.), and the like; the storage data area may store data (such as audio data, a phonebook, etc.) created according to the use of the cellular phone, and the like. Further, the

memory

109 may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid state storage device.

The

processor

110 is a control center of the electronic device, connects various parts of the entire electronic device using various interfaces and lines, performs various functions of the electronic device and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the

memory

109 and calling data stored in the

memory

109, thereby performing overall monitoring of the electronic device.

Processor

110 may include one or more processing units; preferably, the

processor

110 may integrate an application processor, which mainly handles operating systems, user interfaces, application programs, etc., and a modem processor, which mainly handles wireless communications. It will be appreciated that the modem processor described above may not be integrated into the

processor

110.

The

electronic device

100 may further include a power source 111 (such as a battery) for supplying power to each component, and preferably, the

power source

111 may be logically connected to the

processor

110 through a power management system, so as to implement functions of managing charging, discharging, and power consumption through the power management system.

In addition, the

electronic device

100 includes some functional modules that are not shown, and are not described in detail herein.

Optionally, an electronic device is further provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and with reference to fig. 12, the electronic device includes a

processor

110, a

memory

109, and a computer program that is stored in the

memory

109 and is executable on the

processor

110, and when the computer program is executed by the

processor

110, the processes in the foregoing menu display method embodiment are implemented, and the same technical effect can be achieved, and details are not described here again to avoid repetition.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program implements each process of the menu display method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and in order to avoid repetition, the detailed description is omitted here. The computer-readable storage medium may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the method of the above embodiments can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases, the former is a better implementation manner. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes instructions for enabling an electronic device (such as a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, which are illustrative and not restrictive, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.