Data processing: presentation processing of document – operator i – Presentation processing of document – Layout
Reexamination Certificate
1997-11-26
2003-09-02
Hong, Stephen S. (Department: 2178)
Data processing: presentation processing of document, operator i
Presentation processing of document
Layout
C715S252000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06613100
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer system applications and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for displaying miniaturized graphical representations (i.e., thumbnails) of documents for alternative viewing selection by a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet, a vast network of computer systems worldwide, has undergone astronomical growth over the past several years. A significant contribution to this growth has been the introduction and widespread use of web browsers, which, from a software point of view, interface a computer user to the Internet. The web browser permits the user to select, view, and interact with a myriad of informational documents (i.e., web pages) from various network servers coupled to the Internet. The web browser effectively places this selection of vast information at the user's fingertips in a matter of seconds. As a result, the web browser has become one of the most popular computer applications in use today.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a typical prior art web browser
100
, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.02, is shown displayed on a computer screen
110
. Generally, when the user desires to access a specific web site of the Internet, he or she enters a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) in an entry field
120
of the web browser
100
. The URL is an address that uniquely identifies a specific web site and will cause the web browser
100
to download the main web page (commonly referred to as a “home” page) of that web site. The web browser
100
will then subsequently display the downloaded home page in its display section
130
for viewing by the user. The home page provides the user with various sorts of information, and, typically, also provides options to select “links” to other web pages of the currently accessed web site and/or links to alternative web sites .
As a user “surfs” the Internet by accessing various web pages through the selection of these links, the web browser
100
records a list (or “stack”) of URLs corresponding to the web pages accessed by the user. The user may desire to re-visit a previously viewed web page for a variety of reasons (e.g., to access more information from the page, have access to alternate links, etc.). For this reason, the web browser
100
includes a “back” button
140
and a “forward” button
150
to enable the user to re-visit a previously accessed web page by sequentially accessing such web pages via the buffered stack of URLs. These “back” and “forward” buttons
140
,
150
provide some convenience to the user by preventing the need to re-enter the URL of the previously visited web page in the entry field
120
. However, while these buttons
140
,
150
may provide some ease in accessing previously visited web pages, their use also poses several disadvantages to the user. The buffered stack of URLs is effectively transparent to the user when using these buttons
140
,
150
. Accordingly, the user cannot visualize the buffered stack and, thus, must rely on his or her memory for a rough estimate of where the previously accessed web page's URL appears in the stack. Generally, the user will tediously actuate the “back” button
140
until the desired web page reappears in the display section
130
. However, this action tends to be inefficient since it can take considerable time to reload (within the display section
130
) each sequentially accessed web page while using the “back” button
140
. Additionally, if the user desires to access a web page that appears at the beginning of a lengthy buffered stack, he or she wastes considerable time “stepping” through web pages that are intermediate in the URL stack before being able to access the desired web page. In some cases, it may have been quicker to manually enter the URL of the desired web page into the entry field
120
, thus causing the arduous effort and time expended of “blindly” stepping through the stack of URLs to be completely useless.
An additional feature of the web browser
100
, which may alleviate some of the disadvantages associated with the “back” and “forward” buttons
140
,
150
, is a “Go” feature
160
. This feature allows the user to view and select from the buffered stack of URLs to re-visit a previously accessed web page. However, the “Go” feature
160
also suffers from its own disadvantages. That is, it does not constantly permit the display of the buffered stack contemporaneously with the display of the currently accessed web page, and, thus inconveniently requires the user to “pull down” a menu to view the buffered stack. Additionally, the “Go” feature
160
only displays a subset of about 5 URLs from the entire buffered stack of URLs (which could easily be 20-30 URLs, for example). Accordingly, the user is not provided with a full view of the URL stack and must tediously step through intermediate URLs of the displayed stack to view the entire stack. Therefore, this feature, while being somewhat convenient for accessing one of the 5 displayed URLs of the stack, still does not provide any visualization for the other URLs in the stack. Accordingly, the “Go” feature
160
does not provide the user any additional advantage over the “back” and “forward” buttons
140
,
150
for those URLs that are not displayed.
Some “new generation” web browsers (currently being released) now provide “back list” and “forward list” options that display a list of the URLs either back or forward, respectively, in the URL stack for selection by the user. However, these options also inconveniently require the user to “pull down” a menu to view the list of URLs. Accordingly, these options, like that of the “Go” feature
160
, do not permit the constant display of the URL stack contemporaneously with the currently accessed web page. Furthermore, these lists of URLs do not provide any actual visualization of the web pages that they represent. This becomes particularly difficult when the user desires to access several web pages of a particular web site, where only subtle distinctions between such web pages are seen in the URL. Accordingly, the user may waste a significant amount of time accessing undesired web pages by improper URL selection via these lists of URLs.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for displaying miniaturized graphical representations of documents for alternative viewing selection by a user. The method includes displaying a current document of a computer application and determining if at least one other document is relevant to the current document based upon a predetermined criterion. The method further includes displaying a miniaturized graphical representation, uniquely identifying the at least one other document, contemporaneously with the current document in response to determining that the at least one other document is relevant to the current document.
In another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus includes a display screen adapted to display a current document of a computer application and a processor adapted to determine if at least one other document is relevant to the current document based upon a predetermined criterion. The processor is further adapted to display a miniaturized graphical representation, uniquely identifying the at least one other document, contemporaneously with the current document providing that the at least one other document was deemed relevant to the current document.
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Blakely , Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
Hong Stephen S.
Intel Corporation
Paula Cesar B
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