Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1998-02-09
2002-07-16
Dela Torre, Crescelle N. (Department: 2173)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C345S215000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06421065
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to providing easier access to online information by a computer user. More specifically, the present invention provides a user-friendly interface to a computer user seeking online or help information pertinent to a task or operation that the user wants to perform or understand. In addition, the present invention provides the capabilities for programs and help authors to create named window types, and define the properties of those windows for use in providing online information to a computer user.
2. Related Art
For years, software developers have sought effective ways to provide users with information concerning the operation and features of a program in a timely and effective manner. The term “program” as used here refers to a class of items, including applications software, operating systems, applets, etc. and is not limited to any particular embodiment. For example, software developers have faced the problem of providing information concerning the operation and features of a program, such as an operating system, as well as for a particular application, such as a word processor. These examples are provided as illustrations only; software developers have been challenged with finding ways to provide user information for all types of programs.
One approach to the problem is to provide user information online, for example, by including the information within the program itself The user is then able to call up the desired information from dedicated files stored in association with the program. With such an online approach, a user typically accesses information concerning how the program operates and answers to specific questions through the use of a so-called “Help” feature. Such an on-line help feature typically includes the use of “windows.”
A window is a graphical feature on a display screen, which can have borders, a particular size, placement, color and/or other unique attributes. A window generally contains its own document or messages. In window-based programs, the screen can be divided into several windows, each of which has its own boundaries and can contain a different document (or another view into the same document). Each window might also contain its own menu or other controls, and the user might be able to enlarge and shrink individual windows at will. In some programs, windows are opened side by side on the screen; in others; open windows can overlap one another. A program such as an operating system controls the display of windows by writing instructions to a graphics display mechanism; the instructions will include information regarding the placement of the window on the display screen, the characteristics of the graphics elements such as the borders, menus, buttons, etc., and the information regarding the window contents, such as a word processing file, which will be displayed within the graphical window.
Many operating systems provide services to applications that allow the application to easily create a window by providing the window characteristics, as well as information regarding moving and resizing of the window to the operating system. Thus, operating systems and application programs can “own” windows that display information for the user. In fact, a window can be created and/or controlled by any program that is capable of communicating with a graphics display mechanism.
A dialog box is a particular form of window. Typically, a dialog box is used to convey information to the user or to gather information from the user.
With the prior art help systems, a menu of available help information is typically displayed in a navigational window pane when the user requests help by accessing a displayed help button or prompt. The user can select desired information by accessing an item in the navigational window pane. This results in the display of selected information in a separate selected content information window pane. The navigational window pane may be presented in a variety of formats. For example, the navigational window pane may contain a choice of help contents, a search function for finding a specific piece of information, or a listing of frequently asked questions. The information presented in the navigational window pane may be indexed via so-called “hash functions” to the desired information itself which is displayed in the selected content information window pane. The information in the selected content information window pane is related to the navigational window pane information and is the information sought by the user.
The prior art help system is generally provided as a separate program from the program for which it is supplying help. In addition, the information provided by the prior art help system is typically stored in association with the program itself. This means, for example, that the help capability is delivered to the user along with the application or operating system itself. With the prior art help systems, typically no history of the user's access to help is maintained; with each help access, the previous help access is lost.
When managing windows between programs, for example, between the help program and the program for which it is supplying help, it is particularly important that a window from one program does not block a window from another program such that the user is prevented from seeing and accessing the information in the first window. In particular, many prior art help systems suffer this particular problem because the help system is completely separate from the program and/or application, and the help system competes for a location on the display screen and for control with other programs and/or applications, especially the one with which it is associated.
Many prior art systems for providing user help also suffer from the problem that a navigational window pane and a selected content information pane displaying help contents are separate windows and cannot be simultaneously displayed. An example of online help in the prior art is shown in Microsoft's WINHELP 4 software provided in Windows95. In WINHELP 4, when a user accesses the help feature, a dialog box opens displaying the list of available help information. An example of such a dialog box is shown in FIG.
1
. As seen in
FIG. 1
, when a user requests help information, a navigational window pane is displayed containing a Table of Contents, for example. In the example shown, the user has selected the topic “Finding a file or folder.” The specific help content is accessed by clicking on a “Display” button. At that point, the navigational window pane containing the Table of Contents is closed and a selected content information window pane is displayed containing the content information corresponding to the selected topic, as shown in FIG.
2
. The selected content information window pane shown in the example of
FIG. 2
contains information to instruct the user on how to find a file or folder. Significantly, the window panes shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
are actually separate and independent windows. It is impossible to display the selected content information pane while simultaneously displaying navigational window pane containing the help Table of Contents.
If the selected content information window pane of
FIG. 2
does not contain the information needed or desired by the user, the user is required to click on the “Help Topics” button in
FIG. 2
to return to the navigational window pane shown in FIG.
1
. The net result is that the user is required to “jump” back and forth between the navigational window pane and the selected content information window pane to find the needed information. This procedure may be cumbersome if the user is uncertain of the topic name or is looking up multiple topics.
It should be noted that the navigational window pane of
FIG. 1
may contain alternate ways to access the help information in addition to a Table of Contents. As shown in
FIG. 1
, an “Index” tab and a “Find” tab are provided in addition to a tab for selecting a Table of Contents.
Harper Kathleen K.
Walden Ralph E.
Banner & Witcoff , Ltd.
Dela Torre Crescelle N.
Luu Sy D.
Microsoft Corporation
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