Patent Application
20130091473
When working on some computing devices such as slate devices or smart phones, display screen space can be limited. This issue can be amplified when the device uses an on-screen soft keyboard which consumes additional screen space, often covering up to half the screen. By the time an application creates space for the additional application features (buttons, menus, scroll bars, etc.), there is frequently very little space available to show document content.
For grid views such as spreadsheets and tables, this issue can be even more noticeable because the data is often organized in a two-dimensional grid, which can be both wide and tall. Accordingly, a grid view may grow in multiple directions (horizontal and vertical), which can result in a user needing to perform many scroll operations to view desired content.
The tools and techniques described herein relate to changing a display of data from a grid view to a form view of the data in response to user input. The user input can be input that directs a change of orientation of a display of the data. For example, such input may be provided by rotating a device that includes the display. In response to that input, the display of the data can be changed between a grid view and a form view. As used herein, a grid view is a view where data can extend in multiple directions, such as in a table or a spreadsheet. A form view is a view that is focused on a single record, which is a group of related data from an area in the grid view. For example, the area may be a continuous area such as one row, multiple rows, one column, multiple columns, a block of cells (e.g., a 4 by 15 block of cells), etc.
In one embodiment, the tools and techniques can include displaying data in a display in a first orientation. The display can include a grid view of the data. A user input can be received, where the user input directs a change of orientation of the display from the first orientation to a second orientation. In response to the user input, the orientation of the display can be changed from the first orientation to the second orientation, and the grid view can be changed to a form view of the data.
In another embodiment of the tools and techniques, data can be displayed in a display of a device in a first orientation, where the display includes a form view of the data. A user input can be received, where the first user input includes rotating the device. In response to the user input, the orientation of the display can be changed from the first orientation to a second orientation. Also in response to the user input, the display can be changed from the form view of the data to a grid view of the data.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form. The concepts are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Similarly, the invention is not limited to implementations that address the particular techniques, tools, environments, disadvantages, or advantages discussed in the Background, the Detailed Description, or the attached drawings.
Embodiments described herein are directed to techniques and tools for changing a display of data from grid view to form view and/or from form view to grid view. Such improvements may result from the use of various techniques and tools separately or in combination.
Such techniques and tools may include responding to user input directing a change in orientation of a display (e.g., by rotating a device) by automatically changing a display of data from a grid view of the data, such as a spreadsheet or table, to a form view of the data. For example, changing the device from a landscape orientation (which shows the grid view) to a portrait orientation could result in this form view being automatically shown.
One or more substantial benefits may be realized from the tools and techniques described herein. For example, the form view may provide users with an easy way to dive into and view/edit the details of the data. Also, providing an indication to change orientation of the display (e.g., by rotating a display device) may be an intuitive way to provide user input to also direct a change between a grid and form view of data.
The subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the benefits described herein. A particular implementation of the invention may provide all, some, or none of the benefits described herein. Although operations for the various techniques are described herein in a particular, sequential order for the sake of presentation, it should be understood that this manner of description encompasses rearrangements in the order of operations, unless a particular ordering is required. For example, operations described sequentially may in some cases be rearranged or performed concurrently. Moreover, for the sake of simplicity, flowcharts may not show the various ways in which particular techniques can be used in conjunction with other techniques.
Techniques described herein may be used with one or more of the systems described herein and/or with one or more other systems. For example, the various procedures described herein may be implemented with hardware or software, or a combination of both. For example, dedicated hardware implementations, such as application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices, can be constructed to implement at least a portion of one or more of the techniques described herein. Applications that may include the apparatus and systems of various embodiments can broadly include a variety of electronic and computer systems. Techniques may be implemented using two or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and data signals that can be communicated between and through the modules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Additionally, the techniques described herein may be implemented by software programs executable by a computer system. As an example, implementations can include distributed processing, component/object distributed processing, and parallel processing. Moreover, virtual computer system processing can be constructed to implement one or more of the techniques or functionality, as described herein.
The computing environment (100) is not intended to suggest any limitation as to scope of use or functionality of the invention, as the present invention may be implemented in diverse general-purpose or special-purpose computing environments.
With reference to
Although the various blocks of
A computing environment (100) may have additional features. In
The storage (140) may be removable or non-removable, and may include computer-readable storage media such as magnetic disks, magnetic tapes or cassettes, CD-ROMs, CD-RWs, DVDs, or any other medium which can be used to store information and which can be accessed within the computing environment (100). The storage (140) stores instructions for the software (180).
The input device(s) (150) may be a touch input device such as a keyboard, mouse, pen, or trackball; a voice input device; a scanning device; a network adapter; a CD/DVD reader; or another device that provides input to the computing environment (100). The output device(s) (160) may be a display, printer, speaker, CD/DVD-writer, network adapter, or another device that provides output from the computing environment (100).
The communication connection(s) (170) enable communication over a communication medium to another computing entity. Thus, the computing environment (100) may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computing devices, such as a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or another common network node. The communication medium conveys information such as data or computer-executable instructions or requests in a modulated data signal. A modulated data signal is a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired or wireless techniques implemented with an electrical, optical, RF, infrared, acoustic, or other carrier.
The tools and techniques can be described in the general context of computer-readable media, which may be storage media or communication media. Computer-readable storage media are any available storage media that can be accessed within a computing environment, but the term computer-readable storage media does not refer to propagated signals per se. By way of example, and not limitation, with the computing environment (100), computer-readable storage media include memory (120), storage (140), and combinations of the above.
The tools and techniques can be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a computing environment on a target real or virtual processor. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Computer-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed computing environment. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media.
For the sake of presentation, the detailed description uses terms like “determine,” “choose,” “change,” and “operate” to describe computer operations in a computing environment. These and other similar terms are high-level abstractions for operations performed by a computer, and should not be confused with acts performed by a human being, unless performance of an act by a human being (such as a “user”) is explicitly noted. The actual computer operations corresponding to these terms vary depending on the implementation.
Referring now to
User input may be provided to the data display device (310) to indicate a change in the orientation of the display (320). For example, such user input may be provided by a user rotating the data display device (310) from the landscape orientation of
The form view (422) may be able to display all the data for a record that is the focus of the display. However, if all the data will not fit on the display (320), controls may be provided to scroll to additional data that is not currently displayed.
While the implementation of
Several techniques for changing display between grid and form views will now be discussed. Each of these techniques can be performed in a computing environment. For example, each technique may be performed in a computer system that includes at least one processor and memory including instructions stored thereon that when executed by at least one processor cause at least one processor to perform the technique (memory stores instructions (e.g., object code), and when processor(s) execute(s) those instructions, processor(s) perform(s) the technique). Similarly, one or more computer-readable storage media may have computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause at least one processor to perform the technique.
Referring to
Changing the display of the data from the grid view to the form view can include transposing directions of the display of the data. For example, transposing may include transposing rows and columns of the data. For example, a data record that was displayed as a row in the grid view can be displayed as one or more columns in the form view.
The form view of the data can focus on a single record of one or more records of the data at a time. Also, each of the one or more records can include one or more columns of data from the grid view. Each of the one or more records can include one or more rows of data from the grid view. The form view may also include one or more field titles for the data. For example, the one or more field titles can be from one or more headers in the grid view (i.e., the field title(s) can be the same as, derived from, or derived from the same source as field titles that are used as header(s) in the grid view).
The technique may also include receiving a user input directing a change of orientation of the display from the second orientation to the first orientation. In response to the user input directing the change of orientation from the second orientation to the first orientation, the orientation of the display can be changed from the second orientation back to the first orientation. Also in response to the user input directing the change of orientation from the second orientation to the first orientation, the form view can be changed back to the grid view.
Referring to
Changing (630) the display of the data from the form view to the grid view can include transposing directions of the display of the data. The form view may include one or more columns, and the form view can focus on a single record of one or more records of the data at a time. Each of the one or more records can include one or more rows of data from the grid view or one or more columns of data from the grid view. The form view can include one or more field titles for the data. The field title(s) can be from one or more headers from the grid view.
Referring to
The technique of
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
