Inline response to notification messages

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9766903-B2
Application number	US-85861610-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 18, 2010
Priority date	Aug 18, 2010
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

In response to a first message received at a desktop of a data processing system from a message source, at least a portion of the first message is displayed in an area along an edge of a desktop screen presented by the desktop. In response to a first signal indicating that a cursor has been positioned within a predetermined distance of the displayed first message, further detailed information of the first message is displayed by increasing size of the area towards the edge of the desktop screen in an animated fashion, including displaying an input field without launching a separate window or process to allow a user to respond to the first message. In response to a second message entered into the input field by the user, the desktop transmits the second message to the message source.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
executing, by a processor, a notification system as a component of an operating system (OS), the notification system is to receive a plurality of message types from a plurality of applications of different types executed by the processor and is to transmit notifications to a message tray on a graphical user interface (GUI) of the OS;
receiving, by the processor, a first message type of the plurality of message types at the notification system, the first message type comprising a first email message generated by an email application of the plurality of applications;
displaying, by the processor via the notification system in the GUI, a notification having a portion of information of the first email message without launching a separate process of the email application and without invoking a user interface of the email application, the notification displayed in a message tray of the GUI at a first position;
in response to a first signal indicating that a cursor is within a first distance of the notification:
increasing, by the processor, a size of the message tray in the GUI; and
displaying, by the processor via the notification system, further information of the first email message and an input field in the message tray having the increased size without launching the separate process of the email application and without invoking the user interface of the email application;

receiving a second message entered into the input field of the message tray having the increased size by the user;
forwarding, by the processing device via the notification system, the second message for transmission of the second message without invoking the user interface of the email application;
in response to a second signal indicating that the cursor is within the first distance of the message tray for a first predetermined time interval:
displaying, by the processor in the message tray having the increased size, a plurality of other email messages provided to the notification system by the email application, wherein each of the plurality of other email messages are different from the first email message and the second message and are displayed in the message tray without launching the separate process of the email application and without invoking the user interface of the email application, and wherein the one or more other email messages comprise most recently received email messages of the email application;
responsive to a third signal indicating that the cursor is directly over one of the email messages, displaying one or more action buttons corresponding to the one of the email messages, the one or more action buttons comprising at least a delete button; and
responsive to a fourth signal indicating selection of the delete button, causing the email application to delete the one of the email messages; and

in response to a fifth signal indicating that the cursor is beyond the first distance, decreasing, by the processor, the size of the message tray.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first email message and the input field are displayed in the GUI in a semi-transparent style on a foreground of the GUI.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
removing the first email message from a display of the GUI when the cursor has not been detected within a second predetermined time interval; and
displaying an icon on the message tray of the GUI, wherein the icon is displayed in a style to indicate that there is a pending message to be viewed.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising, in response to an activation of the icon, displaying the first email message within a second distance of the icon without using a separate window or process, including the input field to allow the user to respond to the first email message.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising transmitting the pending message to a message source, wherein the message source is one of a plurality message sources, wherein for each of the message sources having the pending message to be viewed, an icon associated with the corresponding message source is displayed on the message tray, which when activated from the message tray, the corresponding pending message is displayed.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of applications of different types comprise at least one of the email application, an instant messenger application, a calendar application, a media player application, or a system alert application.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first position comprises an edge portion of the GUI and a second position comprises the edge portion and a center portion of the GUI.

8. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
execute a notification system as a component of an operating system (OS), the notification system is to receive a plurality of message types from a plurality of applications of different types executed by the processor and is to transmit notifications to a message tray on a graphical user interface (GUI) of the OS;
receive a first message type of the plurality of message types at the notification system, the first message type comprising a first email message generated by an email application of the plurality of applications;
display, via the notification system in the GUI, a notification having a portion of information of the first email message without launching a separate process of the email application and without invoking a user interface of the email application, the notification displayed in a message tray of the GUI at a first position;
in response to a first signal indicating that a cursor is within a first distance of the notification:
increase a size of the message tray in the GUI; and
display, via the notification system, further information of the first email message and an input field in the message tray having the increased size without launching the separate process of the email application and without invoking the user interface of the email application;

receive a second message entered into the input field of the message tray having the increased size by the user;
forward, via the notification system, the second message for transmission of the second message without invoking the user interface of the email application;
in response to a second signal indicating that the cursor is within the first distance of the message tray for a first predetermined time interval:
display, in the message tray having the increased size, a plurality of other email messages provided to the notification system by the email application, wherein each of the plurality of other email messages are different from the first email message and the second message and are displayed in the message tray without launching the separate process of the email application and without invoking the user interface of the email application, and wherein the one or more other email messages comprise most recently received email messages of the email application;
responsive to a third signal indicating that the cursor is directly over one of the email messages, display one or more action buttons corresponding to the one of the email messages, the one or more action buttons comprising at least a delete button; and
responsive to a fourth signal indicating selection of the delete button, cause the email application to delete the one of the email messages; and

in response to a fifth signal indicating that the cursor is beyond the first distance, decrease the size of the message tray.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the first email message and the input field are displayed in th

Assignees

• Mccann William Jon
• Red Hat Inc

Inventors

• Mccann William Jon

Classifications

• H04L12/587

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G06F9/4443 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F3/04812

  Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects · CPC title

• H04L51/24

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L51/224

  providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages · CPC title