Displaying a set of data elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10891018-B2
Application number	US-201213595213-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 27, 2012
Priority date	Apr 25, 2005
Publication date	Jan 12, 2021
Grant date	Jan 12, 2021

Abstract

A set of elements, such as, for example, a path, a directory list, a playlist, and a listing of information associated with a file or a song, may be truncated so that a partial set may be generated and displayed. The truncation may be performed in an intelligent manner to produce a meaningful truncated portion. Such a partial set may be beneficial when the space allotted for display of the set is small to begin with or is reduced. In one implementation, a display size of a set is compared with a size of a display area. A data element is selected based on the comparison, and a display space size is determined for the selected data element. A truncated, yet meaningful, portion is determined for the selected data element, the portion fitting within the display space size.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a request to display a path to a target data element, wherein the path includes a first path element and a second path element;
in response to receiving the request to display the path, displaying, on an electronic display, a representation of the path that includes a truncated representation of the first path element and a representation of the second path element, wherein a determination to display the truncated representation of the first path element is made based on relative importance of the first path element and the second path element, wherein the first path element includes a string of characters and the truncated representation of the first path element that is displayed includes less than all the characters included in the string of characters;
while displaying the representation of the path, receiving a user input at a location corresponding to the truncated representation of the first path element; and
in response to receiving the user input, displaying an expanded representation of the first path element on the electronic display.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination to display the truncated representation of the first path element further comprises:
receiving information describing a size of an area in which the path is to be displayed;
determining, based on the received information, that the area is sized such that not all of the first path element and the second path element can be displayed completely within the area; and
in response to determining that not all of the first path element and the second path element can be displayed completely within the area, determining to display the truncated representation of the first path element.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
determining a display size of the path;
comparing the display size of the path to the size of the area in which the path is to be displayed; and
truncating the first path element based on the comparison.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing an indication in the truncated representation of the first path element indicating that the first path element has been truncated.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the relative importance is based on a position of the first path element or the second path element in the path.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the path includes a root path element followed by at least one interior path element followed by a parent path element, wherein displaying a truncated representation of the first path element comprises selecting the interior path element as the first path element because of a relatively lower importance of the interior path element as compared to either the root path element or the parent path element.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
selecting the root path element after truncating the interior path element; and
truncating the root path element.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
selecting the parent path element after truncating the root path element; and
truncating the parent path element.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the representation of the second path element comprises displaying an expanded representation of the second path element, the method further comprising:
in response to receiving the user input, displaying a truncated representation of the second path element on the electronic display, wherein the truncated representation of the second path element includes fewer characters than the expanded representation of the second path element.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user input comprises a hovering input proximate to the displayed truncated representation of the first path element, the method further comprising:
detecting a termination of the hovering input; and
in response to detecting the termination of the hovering input, reverting to displaying the truncated representation of the first path element.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user input is a first user input, the method further comprising:
receiving a second user input to resize a graphical user interface window in which the representation of the path is displayed; and
in response to receiving the second user input to resize the graphical user interface window, displaying an expanded representation of the first path element followed by displaying an expanded representation of the second path element as the graphical user interface window is expanded.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first path element corresponds to a data element, the method further comprising:
in response to receiving the user input, displaying information associated with the data element.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein representations of path elements included in the path are displayed horizontally, and wherein displaying the expanded representation of the first path element on the electronic display comprises:
sliding displayed representations of one or more path elements that are to the right of the first path element further to the right.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user input is a first user input, the method further comprising:
displaying graphical separators between the first path element and the second path element;
receiving a second user input reducing size of a graphical user interface window in which the representation of the path is displayed; and
in response to receiving the second user input, removing the graphical separators from the display as the size of the graphical user interface window is reduced.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first path element includes a string of characters describing the first path element, wherein the truncated representation includes of the first element that is displayed includes less than all the characters included in the string of characters describing the first path element, and wherein the displaying the expanded representation of the first path element includes displaying additional characters of the string of characters describing the first path element that were not included in the truncated representation of the first path element.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request to display a path to a target data element, wherein the path includes a first path element and a second path element;
in response to receiving the request to display the path, displaying, on an electronic display, a representation of the path that includes a truncated representation of the first path element and a representation of the second path element, wherein a determination to display the truncated representation of the first path element is made based on relative importance of the first path element and the second path element, wherein the first path element includes a string of characters and the truncated representation of the first path element that is displayed includes less than all the characters included in the string of characters;
while displaying the representation of the path, receiving a user input at a location corresponding to the truncated representation of the first path element; and
in response to receiving the user input, displaying an expanded representation of the first path element on the electronic display.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the determination to display the truncated representation of the first path element further comprises:
receiving information describing a size of an ar

Assignees

• Chinn Robert M
• Cisler Pavel
• Mcclaughry Patrick E
• Van Os Marcel Mwa
• Ording Bas
• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Chinn Robert M
• Cisler Pavel
• Mcclaughry Patrick E
• Van Os Marcel Mwa
• Ording Bas

Classifications

• G06F9/451 Primary

  Execution arrangements for user interfaces · CPC title

• G06F16/168

  Details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems, e.g. browsing and visualisation, 2d or 3d GUIs (query results presentation G06F16/156) · CPC title

• G06F3/0482 Primary

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title