Methods, systems, and computer program products for navigating between visual components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9423938-B1
Application number	US-201514924677-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Oct 27, 2015
Priority date	Aug 26, 2010
Publication date	Aug 23, 2016
Grant date	Aug 23, 2016

Abstract

Methods and systems are described for navigating between visual components. A first visual component, of a first application in a plurality of applications, is detected in a first application region of a presentation space of a display device. A first navigation area is presented, in a first navigation region determined based on the first application region, for navigating to a second visual component, of a second application in the plurality, in a second application region in the presentation space. A user input corresponding to the first navigation area is detected. In response to the detected user input, navigation information is sent to navigate to the second visual component.

First claim

I claim:

1. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising:
code configured to work in conjunction with an apparatus including:
at least one processor,
a display in communication with the at least one processor,
at least one input device in communication with the at least one processor, and
memory in communication with the at least one processor;

said code configured to:
utilize the memory to store a plurality of applications including a first application and a second application;
utilize the display to display a first window of the first application of the plurality of applications;
utilize the at least one input device to receive first user input;
utilize the at least one processor to determine if the first user input is predetermined to cause menu display, and to determine if the first user input takes a form of a first input or a second input;
utilize the display to display a menu in a first location with respect to a location of the first window, if it is determined that the first user input takes the form of the first input and is predetermined to cause menu display, where the menu in the first location is outside the first window and includes a plurality of elements corresponding to the plurality of applications that are operating except the first application since the first window is already displayed;
utilize the display to display the menu in a second location with respect to the location of the first window, if it is determined that the first user input takes the form of the second input and is predetermined to cause menu display, where the menu in the second location is outside the first window and includes the plurality of elements corresponding to the plurality of applications that are operating except the first application since the first window is already displayed;
utilize the at least one input device to receive second user input for at least one of moving or re-sizing the first window of the first application;
utilize the display to at least one of move or re-size the first window of the first application, in response to the second user input;
utilize the display to at least one of move or re-size the elements of the menu, in response to the second user input;
utilize the at least one input device to receive third user input on one of the plurality of elements of the menu corresponding to the second application; and
utilize the display to display a second window of the second application of the plurality of applications, in response to the third user input.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that:
the elements of the menu include a plurality of windows;
the moving or the re-sizing includes the moving and the re-sizing;
the menu is not displayed upon the first window being maximized, and re-displayed upon the first window being restored to a non-maximized state;
the first window is not maximized and not minimized upon the display thereof; and
an order of each of the elements of the menu is displayed based on a z-order attribute of a corresponding application.

3. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the elements of the menu include a plurality of window representations that are parents of the first window.

4. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the at least one of the moving or the re-sizing includes the moving.

5. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the at least one of the moving or the re-sizing includes the re-sizing.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the at least one of the moving or the re-sizing includes the moving and re-sizing.

7. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the first user input is determined to be predetermined to cause menu display, if the first user input includes a predetermined gesture preconfigured to automatically cause display of the menu in response thereto.

8. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the menu is capable of being displayed after the display of the second window so that the menu includes at least a portion of the plurality of elements corresponding to the plurality of applications that are operating except the first application and the second application since both the first window and the second window are already displayed.

9. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the menu is not displayed upon the display of the second window, and re-displayed upon the second window being removed.

10. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the menu is not displayed in response to the first window being maximized, and re-displayed in response to the first window being restored to a non-maximized state.

11. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the first window is not maximized and not minimized upon the display thereof.

12. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the elements are non-overlapping and each include a representation of a particular window of the corresponding application, and an identifier for the corresponding application, each spaced from the first window and overlaying at least a portion of a desktop.

13. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that the elements of the menu are each displayed based on a z-order attribute of a corresponding application.

14. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that an order of the elements of the menu is based on z-order attributes of corresponding applications.

15. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that an order of each of the elements of the menu is based on an attribute of a corresponding application that is a function of user input.

16. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured such that an order of each of the elements of the menu is each based on a state of a process context of a corresponding application.

17. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the computer program product is configured to:
receive fourth user input on the second window of the second application;
determine if the fourth user input takes a form of a first particular input or a second particular input;
display the menu in a third location with respect to a location of the second window, if it is determined that the fourth user input takes the form of the first particular input, where the menu in the third location is outside the second window and includes at least a portion of the plurality of elements corresponding to the plurality of applications that are operating except the first application and the second application since the first window and the second window are already displayed;
display the menu in a fourth location with respect to the location of the second window, if it is determined that the fourth user input takes the form of the second particular input, where the menu in the fourth location is

Assignees

• Sitting Man Llc
• Cypress Lake Software Inc

Inventors

• Morris Robert Paul

Classifications

• G06F3/04842 Primary

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/0483

  Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor · CPC title

• G06F3/0482 Primary

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

• G06F3/0481 Primary

  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

• G06F2203/04803

  Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas · CPC title