Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-07
2004-04-27
Nguyen, Cao (Kevin) (Department: 2173)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06727919
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer systems, and more particularly to a graphical user interface (GUI) for a computer system which provides mouse-driven, dynamic customization of features of the interface such as pull-down menus, status bars, toolbars, and command items.
2. Description of Related Art
The basic structure of a conventional computer system
10
is shown in FIG.
1
. Computer system
10
has at least one central processing unit (CPU) or processor
12
which is connected to several peripheral devices, including input/output devices
14
(such as a display monitor, keyboard, and graphical pointing device for the user interface, and a permanent memory device such as a hard disk for storing the computer's operating system and user programs), and a temporary memory device
18
(such as random access memory or RAM) that is used by processor
12
to carry out program instructions. Processor
12
communicates with the peripheral devices by various means, including a bus
20
or a direct channel
22
. Computer system
10
may have many additional components which are not shown, such as serial and parallel ports for connection to, e.g., modems or printers. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that there are other components that might be used in conjunction with those shown in the block diagram of
FIG. 1
; for example, a display adapter connected to processor
12
might be used to control a video display monitor, and a memory controller may be used as an interface between temporary memory device
18
and processor
12
. Computer system
10
also includes firmware
24
whose primary purpose is to seek out and load an operating system from one of the peripherals (usually the permanent memory device) whenever the computer is first turned on.
With further reference to
FIG. 2
, conventional computer systems often employ a graphical user interface (GUI) to present information to the user. In the example of
FIG. 2
, a generic application program entitled “Document Manager” is presented by the GUI as a primary application window (parent window)
26
on a display device
28
(i.e., video monitor). In this example, the application window has several secondary, enclosed windows (child windows)
30
,
32
and
34
which depict the contents of various files that are handled by the program. A menu bar
36
with a standard set of commands, a toolbar
38
, and a status bar
39
may also be provided as part of the GUI, to simplify manipulation and control of the objects (e.g., text, charts and graphics) within the child windows.
Toolbars can be provided as rows or columns, and have several buttons comprising textual icons, non-textual (graphic) icons, or icons having both graphic and textual elements. The depicted toolbar
38
includes, for example, three common edit-type buttons
40
,
42
and
44
used respectively to “cut,” “copy” and “paste” file objects.
Each of these buttons can be easily activated using the graphical pointer
46
controlled by a pointing device (e.g., mouse) connected to the computer which is manually actuated.
Status bar
39
includes a message field providing an indication of, e.g., the current program state, or object attributes (such as the current font to be used for textual objects). The message changes as various objects or commands are selected. Sometimes programmers find it useful to include additional action objects, or buttons, on the status bar. Since status messages are typically less than the full length of the bar, these additional buttons take up otherwise unused space. Two buttons
45
and
47
are shown with status bar
39
.
As further seen in
FIG. 3
, when a given word on the menu command line
36
is activated, the GUI displays a pull-down menu, such as pull-down menu
48
. A pull-down menu has several lines, and a given line can provide a single command or provide a link to a further pull-down menu. A pull-down menu can offer even more helpful information by indicating, on the corresponding lines, special keystrokes or keystroke combinations that can be used to activate the pull-down commands even when the pull-down menu is not being displayed.
FIG. 3
also illustrates how the message on status bar
39
changes when the “Edit” command is selected, to read
37
Change this document (undo, undelete, cut, copy, paste, . . . )”. The pull-down menu items, toolbar icons, and status bar buttons are generally referred to herein as “command items.”
In graphical applications it is very common for there to be a one-to-one mapping between individual menu bar pulldowns and toolbar items. For instance, if the user selects the “Edit” feature on command line
36
(using either the pointing device or the keyboard), pull-down menu
48
is displayed, and includes pulldowns “Undo,” “Cut,” “Copy,” “Paste,” “Clear,” “Find,” and “Replace” (the underlined letters in these words correspond to the keystrokes on the keyboard which can be used to select the pulldowns while the pull-down menu is displayed). Of these seven pull-down items, three of them thus correspond to toolbar items;
namely, the second, third and fourth lines respectively correspond to buttons
40
,
42
and
44
. The other four lines on pull-down menu
48
have no corresponding buttons in the depicted toolbar
38
, although many application programs allow the user to customize toolbars (e.g., add buttons for other pulldowns).
Pull-down menus, toolbars and status bars (generally referred to herein as “command structures”) offer a mechanism for executing special program commands. However, in today's complicated applications, there are often functions presented via the user interface which are not regularly used, taking up display area, and possibly confusing the end user. There are also valuable functions which are not easily accessible. Present GUIs do not present an easy or intuitive way to allow end users (or system administrators) to tailor the user interface so that it makes sense and is more efficient for them.
Although many applications allow some level of customization of the interface, this functionality is limited. For example, alternate pull-down menus may be provided with short versus long menus, or advanced versus novice menus, but the alternate menus are restricted to certain preselected commands. Status bars can similarly allow the presence or absence of only certain preselected items, with no positional control. Toolbars can be modified to include different items, and allow some positional control, but the current methods involve displaying a separate window wherein the user can select items from an “available item” list box and add them to a “displayed items” list box, or use check-boxes to select the items desired for the toolbar. Once the user is done, an “OK” button in this window is selected, and the application GUI (toolbar, menu, or status bar) is then updated with the new item(s). This form of user control is indirect and the visual feedback is delayed. There is also very limited function capability provided to allow an administrator to create and maintain a customized, user interface layout. The few applications that provide for some level of administrator customization provide it through macro language programming, rather than direct manipulation.
In light of the foregoing, it would be desirable to devise an improved method of dynamically customizing menus, status areas, or tool bars of an application. It would be further advantageous if the method were to allow an administrator to create different customized versions of a product tailored to different users, and then preserve these altered user interfaces. For example, a systems administrator could create different interfaces for users with different security privileges or different skill levels.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an improved graphical user interface (GUI) having command structures such as pull-down menus, toolbars and status bars.
It is another object of the presen
McCallum Carole Ameila
Reder Paul Joseph
International Business Machines - Corporation
Nguyen Cao (Kevin)
Woods Gerald R.
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