Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Patent
1996-11-22
2000-04-04
dela Torre, Crescelle N.
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
G06F 3033
Patent
active
060467436
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to devices for displaying pages of electronically stored information. The present invention relates particularly, but not exclusively, to handheld computer devices with a pen/stylus for user input and a relatively small display screen.
BACKGROUND ART
There are many known approaches to reordering of pages (and parts of pages) of electronically stored information.
Most document management applications provide a `clipboard` to allow items to be `cut and pasted` from one location to another via the clipboard. An example of such an application is Microsoft Windows. Traditionally the clipboard is not represented on the screen so that the user is not aware of what is on the clipboard at any given time or whether there is anything on the clipboard at all. The item which is `cut` traditionally disappears without any indication to the user of what has happened to it.
One possibility is to display multiple full pages at the same time. For example, the screen is divided into quarters each showing a reduced-size image of a page. Reordering of pages can be achieved by moving pages between the different quarters of the screen. A disadvantage of this approach is that no page is shown to full size.
The Tandy Zoomer allows pages to be reordered from an index page. This approach has the drawback of not allowing the user to see the full contents of the pages being reordered. Furthermore, the index page needs to be accessed before page movement can occur which is rather counter-intuitive for the user.
A device for storing and displaying pages of electronic information is described in International Patent Application No. PCT/GB91/01984 (Eden Group Limited). That device is a notebook computer with a user interface which simulates a ringbinder. A user of the device is able to perform page management functions on selected pages. When a page is selected, by the user selecting a ring of the ring binder when that page is uppermost, it is shown reduced in size pending selection by the user of the particular page management function to be performed.
The shrinking of the page is not naturalistic and has the disadvantage that the shrunken page obscures the middle of the underlying page.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to the present invention we provide a device for storing information electronically comprising a screen for displaying pages of the stored information wherein each of the pages has a region for displaying a title;
means permitting a user to manipulate a displayed page wherein the display animates to show movement of the selected page so that at least a part of the title region of the page is displayed in a skewed manner until the user replaces that page.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a simple naturalistic way of manipulating pages in a device for storing electronic information.
The page manipulations typically comprise moving and copying of pages. However, in one possible embodiment a device according to the present invention further comprises means for communicating with other systems and means for a user to transmit pages.
Preferably, the skewed part of the page is displayed at the bottom of the display screen. This approach is particularly effective for maintaining two contexts on a small screen.
In the embodiment to be described, a toggle action is used to initiate and complete a page manipulation according to the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
A particular embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a device implementing the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram of the screen of the device of FIG. 1 showing a page in a first position;
FIG. 3 is a diagram of the screen of the device of FIG. 1 showing the page of FIG. 2 in a second position.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION & INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
FIG. 1 shows a pen-based handheld device 10 for storing and displaying pages of electronic information comp
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Thompson et al., "Ease of Use is Relative", BYTE, vol. 18, No. 11, Oct. 1993, pp. 89-94.
dela Torre Crescelle N.
Hewlett--Packard Company
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