Scrollable area multi-scale viewing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9417779-B2
Application number	US-201113305083-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 28, 2011
Priority date	Aug 29, 2008
Publication date	Aug 16, 2016
Grant date	Aug 16, 2016

Abstract

Utilizing a scrollbar handle for both zooming and panning a display comprising items in a user interface may be accomplished by monitoring an input device's interaction with the scrollbar handle. If the scroll handle is dragged in a direction away from an orientation of the scroll handle in the scrollbar, a display area zoom function can be activated. The zoom function allows a viewbox, comprising content, to be rescaled as a function of the distance the scroll handle is dragged. A displaybox can be created that distinguishes an area of the viewbox from the remainder of the display, which corresponds to content in the viewbox that would be displayed in normal zoom if the scroll handle were released at that location. Further, upon detecting that the scroll handle is released, the display area can zoom to a view of the content inside the distinguished area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving a selection gesture associated with a scroll handle of a scrollbar, the selection gesture including a drag gesture initiated on the scroll handle and extending in a drag direction that is substantially orthogonal to a movement direction of the scroll handle along the scrollbar; and
in response to the drag gesture in the drag direction:
adjusting a scale of content displayed on a display to obtain scaled content, wherein the adjustment is based on a distance extended by the drag gesture in the drag direction; and
providing, on the display, a distinguished area positioned over a portion of the scaled content, the distinguished area identifying the portion of the scaled content that would be displayed in response to a release of the selection gesture.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the drag direction corresponds to a vertical direction, and the movement direction corresponds to a horizontal direction.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the drag direction corresponds to a horizontal direction, and the movement direction corresponds to a vertical direction.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distinguished area is a shaded region.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a size of the distinguished area is based on the distance extended by the drag gesture in the drag direction.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the scale of the content comprises performing a zoom out operation as the drag gesture extends toward a center of the display.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the scale of the content comprises performing a zoom out operation as the drag gesture extends toward a center of the display.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising: adjusting a position of the distinguished area.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
in response to the release of the selection gesture, displaying, on the display, the content corresponding to the portion of the scaled content.

10. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
in response to receiving the selection gesture, adjusting a size of the scroll handle of the scrollbar.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the scaled content is visible through the distinguished area.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the scale of the content comprises performing a zoom in operation as the drag gesture extends away from a center of the display and outside an un-maximized window within which the scrollbar is positioned.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the scale of the content comprises performing a zoom out operation as the drag gesture extends away from a center of the display and outside an un-maximized window within which the scrollbar is positioned.

14. A system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory comprising instructions that when executed by at least one of the one or more processors perform operations comprising:
receiving a selection gesture associated with a scroll handle of a scrollbar, the selection gesture including a drag gesture initiated on the scroll handle and extending in a first direction different than a second direction within which the scroll handle is movable within the scrollbar;
in response to the drag gesture in the first direction: distinguishing an area of a display that would be displayed upon receiving an indication of a release of the selection gesture at a particular location within the display, wherein a first level of zoom of content within the distinguished area is determined based upon a distance extended by the drag gesture in the first direction to the particular location; and
in response to another drag gesture in the first direction: displaying a view of content in the distinguished area displayed at a second level of zoom different than the first level of zoom.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the second level of zoom is greater than the first level of zoom.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first direction is substantially orthogonal to the second direction.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein distinguishing the area comprises shading the area.

18. The system of claim 14 , further comprising in response to the release of the selection gesture, displaying, on the display, the content corresponding to content within the distinguished area.

19. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first direction extends away from a center of the display and outside an un-maximized window within which the scrollbar is positioned.

20. A computer storage medium comprising instructions that when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising:
receiving a selection gesture associated with a scroll handle of a scrollbar, the selection gesture including a drag gesture initiated on the scroll handle and extending in a drag direction that is substantially orthogonal to a movement direction of the scroll handle along the scrollbar;
responsive to received input indicating that the drag gesture extends from a first location inside the scrollbar to a second location outside the scrollbar, performing a zoom operation on displayed content to obtain scaled content; and
providing, on the display, a distinguished area positioned over a portion of the scaled content, the distinguished area identifying the portion of the scaled content that would be displayed in response to a release of the selection gesture.

Assignees

• Flake Gary
• Lindsay Donald James
• Weir Jeffrey Jon
• Brewer Brett
• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Flake Gary
• Lindsay Donald James
• Weir Jeffrey Jon
• Brewer Brett

Classifications

• G06F3/0485

  Scrolling or panning · CPC title

• G06F3/0481

  based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance · CPC title

• G06F2203/04806

  Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation · CPC title

• G06F3/0484

  for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range · CPC title

• G06F3/04855 Primary

  Interaction with scrollbars · CPC title