Electronic note taking features including blank note triggers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9508056-B2
Application number	US-201213423865-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2012
Priority date	Mar 19, 2012
Publication date	Nov 29, 2016
Grant date	Nov 29, 2016

Abstract

Embodiments provide electronic note-taking and application features and functionality, but the embodiments are not so limited. In an embodiment, a computer-based method can be configured to provide note-taking features, including using blank notes as focus placeholders and resurfacing triggers. Other embodiments are included.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer device comprising:
at least one processing unit, and
at least one memory resource storing computer-readable instructions that when executed by the at least one processing unit cause the computer device to:
generate one or more electronic notes, wherein the one or more electronic notes include a blank note, the blank note for application in any of a plurality of locations on an electronic surface and for application in any of a plurality of orientations and configurations;
receive application of the blank note at a location on the electronic surface;
capture a screen state in response to application of the blank note, wherein capturing the screen state includes capturing information associated with one or more open windows of a user workspace at a time of application of the blank note; and
configure a blank note trigger as a focus placeholder to restore the prior screen state, including use of the blank note trigger to automatically restore the user workspace captured at the time of application of the blank note, wherein a path traversed by the blank note at the time of application is used to determine which of the one or more windows of the user workspace to automatically restore.

2. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to:
accept handwritten, keyboard, touch screen, and other input types; and
display a note restore portion on the blank note to denote that a screen state has been saved and can be recovered.

3. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to restore personal information management (PIM) data.

4. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to use the blank note trigger as a focus placeholder to restore a prior computing configuration.

5. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to receive application of the blank note, to an email item, a contact item, a calendar item, an electronic document, and a window.

6. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to use font, size and color as additional note dimensions.

7. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to use the blank note trigger for restoration of a prior user computing workspace.

8. The computer device of claim 7 , further configured to use the blank note trigger to restore one or more of a device configuration and an application context.

9. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to use the blank note trigger to restore the user workspace based in part on a path of application of the blank note, wherein the path of application tracks items that the blank note traversed over or moved within during the path of application.

10. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to use a blank note to restore a window component using contextual and temporal information associated with application of the blank note, wherein a blank note indicator is used as part of a reminder protocol.

11. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to use the blank note trigger to restore a prior window configuration, wherein restoring the prior window configuration includes opening related items including one or more of: a contact, an email, a calendar, and an informational item.

12. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to restore a prior application state based in part on a blank note placement operation, wherein the prior application state includes a spatial arrangement and an orientation of one or more associated application items.

13. The computer device of claim 1 , further configured to use a context recovery icon as a restore click target.

14. A method executed by a computer device having a processor and memory, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the computer device to perform a method, the method comprising:
generating electronic notes in a plurality of configurations for associating with different contexts and application items of an electronic surface, wherein the electronic notes comprise at least one blank note;
receiving application of the at least one blank note at a location on the electronic surface;
generating a blank note trigger for the at least one blank note;
in response to receiving application of the at least one blank note, capturing information associated with one or more windows of a workspace context; and
restoring the one or more windows of the workspace context at a subsequent time using the blank note trigger, wherein the blank note trigger is configured to automatically restore the one or more windows of the workspace context captured at a time of application of the blank note, wherein a path traversed by the blank note at the time of application is used to determine which of the one or more windows of the workspace context to automatically restore.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the one or more windows include one or more of: an electronic document, an email, and a browser configuration captured at the time of application of the blank note.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising using the blank note trigger to restore the one or more windows of the workspace context by displaying a preview of the one or more windows of the workspace context as a replacement of a current user workspace.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein using the blank note trigger to restore the one or more windows of the workspace context includes minimizing and hiding existing windows prior to the restoring.

18. A computer storage apparatus, comprising computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause a computer system to:
provide electronic note-taking features, wherein the note-taking features include providing at least one blank note;
receive application of the at least one blank note at a location on the electronic surface;
capture a screen state in response to application of the blank note, wherein capturing the screen state includes capturing information associated with one or more open windows of a user workspace at a time of application of the blank note;
configure the at least one blank note and an associated blank note trigger to restore the one or more windows of the user workspace associated with application of the at least one blank note, wherein application of the at least one blank note comprises contextual and temporal information;
configure a blank note indicator as part of a reminder and restoration protocol; and
configure the associated blank note trigger to automatically restore the one or more windows of the user workspace captured at a time of application of the at least one blank note, wherein a path traversed by the at least one blank note at the time of application is used to determine which of the one or more windows of the user workspace to automatically restore.

19. The computer storage apparatus of claim 18 , including computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to store an application context for use in a restore operation after applying the at least one blank note.

20. The computer storage apparatus of claim 18 , including computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to provide blank note reminder notifications to remind a user of unattended blank notes.

Assignees

• Siu Chun Hin Nelson
• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Siu Chun Hin Nelson

Classifications

• G06Q10/10 Primary

  Office automation; Time management · CPC title