Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-21
2001-03-27
Feild, Joseph H. (Department: 2771)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06209006
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of embedded help functions within computer applications. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method using hyperlinked help functions within non-Internet and non-help programs.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Throughout the prior art various methods have been developed attempting to provide a help function within a computerized program to assist the user in understanding the functions of the program. A standard menu located within Windows®-based application interfaces is
H
elp. The user, upon facing uncertainty about a function within the Windows®-based program, selects the
H
elp menu. Within this
H
elp window, alphabetic or contextual help screens may be selected. Selected help sections produce informational details regarding the selected topic.
Upgrades to the above help system have been made to include help functions such as bubble, contextual or intelligent word association text strings. Bubble help displays help sequences directly on the screen as various preselected sections are traversed. Contextual help displays help for a known function within the framework the user is working, at the time help is requested. The contextual help opens a separate GUI system opened to the appropriate location to provide help relative to the control that had focus when help was requested. Intelligent word association uses free-form textual input by the user to derive the closest estimate of the problem to be solved or the specific help actually being requested.
Each of the above help systems provides the user with a limited amount of information. The prior art help systems, however, fail to provide the user with a help function which is part of the primary user interface for the application program itself, which is non-intrusive, provides an immediate help function and where the user knows, in advance of selection, that the information provided will specifically correlate with the help information needed. In addition, while bubble-type help does provide instant help functions and is typically very brief (<=3 words), it fails to enable the user to selectively disregard using such help, i.e. the help bubbles are either on or off, but not selectively activated. Bubble help typically automatically appears over other displayed information or within a status bar. Such continuous help functions may be regarded as distractive by the user. What is needed is a help function which is immediate, requires no alphanumeric typing or searching input, and is selectively disregarded by the user.
Whatever the precise merits, features and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieves or fulfills the purposes of the present invention. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide for a primary interface built-in help function.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for a hypertext-linked help function.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for a non-intrusive help function.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide for a help function not requiring additional keyed input by the user.
These and other objects are achieved by the detailed description that follows.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention improves on the prior art and eliminates many problems associated with the prior art including, but not limited to, those previously discussed above.
The use of hyperlinks within an application program interface enables selective, non-intrusive, recall of help functions such as definitions of critical terms located within a textual or graphical interface panel. Elements of a user interface for an application program are predefined as help functions by the programmer or developer. These predefined help functions are then hyperlinked to the specified predefined element. When a user traverses the interface, highlighted elements corresponding to the predefined help functions may be selected by a mouse or mouse-type function. Upon selection of a highlighted hyperlinked element, a help window appears providing definitions, functional instructions, etc.
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patent: 5477447 (1995-12-01), Luciw et al.
patent: 5493658 (1996-02-01), Chiang et al.
patent: 5742768 (1998-04-01), Gennaro et al.
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patent: 5920855 (1999-07-01), Aggarwal
Person et al., Using Word Version 6 for Windows, Que, 54, 68, 210, 212, 380, and 995, 1993.
Bennion Lindsay Richard
Chang Jingwoan
Medl Robert E.
Feild Joseph H.
International Business Machines - Corporation
Kindred Alford W.
Lacasse Randy W.
Lacasse & Associates
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