Patent Application
20100146425
The present invention relates generally to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and, more particularly, to indicating a drag and drop target indication within a GUI.
Many computer operating systems and computer software programs support “drag and drop” movement and/or copying of data objects within a graphical user interface (GUI). This technique involves the selection of an object using an input device (e.g., mouse, tablet, etc.), movement of the selected object within the GUI using the same or a different input device, and “dropping” or deselecting the object onto a target (e.g., an application window, a representation of an internal or external storage device, etc.). Upon dropping the object onto a target, some action of a plurality of actions may be taken automatically or manually with respect to the object (e.g., copying the object into a new electronic mail message, moving or copying the object to another location or device, etc.).
One deficiency of the drag and drop technique, however, is the fact that not all “targets” within the GUI are, in fact, suitable targets onto which the selected object may be dropped. For example, dropping a data object having an unsupported file format onto an application window may result, at best, in the application simply not recognizing the data object. Worse, the application itself may be corrupted or otherwise made unavailable as it attempts to process or access the data object.
Yet another deficiency of the drag and drop technique is that, unless determined by trial-and-error, a user may not know what actions will be taken when the object is dropped on a particular target.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.
The invention provides a method, system, and program product for indicating a drag and drop target in a graphical user interface (GUI).
A first aspect of the invention provides a method of indicating a drag and drop target in a graphical user interface (GUI), the method comprising: indicating at least one target within the GUI onto which a selected object may be dropped; and changing the indication of the at least one target based upon the selected object being dragged within the GUI.
A second aspect of the invention provides a system for indicating a drag and drop target in a graphical user interface (GUI), the system comprising: a system for indicating at least one target within the GUI onto which a selected object may be dropped; and a system for changing the indication of the at least one target based upon the selected object being dragged within the GUI.
A third aspect of the invention provides a program product stored on a computer-readable medium, which when executed, indicates a drag and drop target in a graphical user interface (GUI), the program product comprising: program code for indicating at least one target within the GUI onto which a selected object may be dropped; and program code for changing the indication of the at least one target based upon the selected object being dragged within the GUI.
A fourth aspect of the invention provides a method for deploying an application for indicating a drag and drop target in a graphical user interface (GUI), comprising: providing a computer infrastructure being operable to: indicate at least one target within the GUI onto which a selected object may be dropped; and change the indication of the at least one target based upon the selected object being dragged within the GUI.
The illustrative aspects of the present invention are designed to solve the problems herein described and other problems not discussed, which are discoverable by a skilled artisan.
These and other features of this invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that depict various embodiments of the invention, in which:
It is noted that the drawings of the invention are not to scale. The drawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements between the drawings.
In
While the indication of targets is shown in
In
At D, it is determined whether the selected object has been dragged within the GUI. If not, indication of the target is continued (i.e., C and D may be iteratively looped). If the selected object has been dragged within the GUI, the aggregated indication of targets (at B) may optionally be deaggregated at E. In any case, it is determined at F whether the dragged object has been moved closer to the indicated target. If so, the target may be emphasized (e.g., darker shading, magnification, etc.) at H. If not (i.e., the dragged object has been moved farther from the indicated target), the target may be de-emphasized (e.g., lighter shading, dimming, etc.) at G.
As noted above, at I, an indication of a result of dropping the selected object on the target may be provided. It should be noted that the provision of such an indication may be made at another point within the flow shown in
Computer system 14 is shown including a processing unit 20, a memory 22, input/output (I/O) interfaces 26, and a bus 24. Further, computer system 14 is shown in communication with external devices 28 and a storage system 30. As is known in the art, in general, processing unit 20 executes computer program code, such as target indicating system 40, that is stored in memory 22 and/or storage system 30. While executing computer program code, processing unit 20 can read and/or write data from/to memory 22, storage system 30, and/or I/O interface 26. Bus 24 provides a communication link between each of the components in computer system 14. External devices 28 can comprise any device that enables a user (not shown) to interact with computer system 14 or any device that enables computer system 14 to communicate with one or more other computer systems.
In any event, computer system 14 can comprise any general purpose computing article of manufacture capable of executing computer program code installed by a user (e.g., a personal computer, server, handheld device, etc.). However, it is understood that computer system 14 and target indicating system 40 are only representative of various possible computer systems that may perform the various process steps of the invention. To this extent, in other embodiments, computer system 14 can comprise any specific purpose computing article of manufacture comprising hardware and/or computer program code for performing specific functions, any computing article of manufacture that comprises a combination of specific purpose and general purpose hardware/software, or the like. In each case, the program code and hardware can be created using standard programming and engineering techniques, respectively.
Similarly, computer infrastructure 12 is only illustrative of various types of computer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, in one embodiment, computer infrastructure 12 comprises two or more computer systems (e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over any type of wired and/or wireless communications link, such as a network, a shared memory, or the like, to perform the various process steps of the invention. When the communications link comprises a network, the network can comprise any combination of one or more types of networks (e.g., the Internet, a wide area network, a local area network, a virtual private network, etc.). Regardless, communications between the computer systems may utilize any combination of various types of transmission techniques.
As previously mentioned, the target indicating system 40 enables the computer system 14 to indicate a drag and drop target in a GUI. To this extent, the target indicating system 40 is shown including an indicating system 42, an indication changing system 44, a result indicating system 46, a target aggregating system 48, and a target deaggregating system 50. Operation of each of these systems is discussed above. The target indicating system 40 may further include other system components 52 to provide additional or improved functionality to the target indicating system 40. It is understood that some of the various systems shown in
While shown and described herein as a method and system for indicating a drag and drop target in a GUI, it is understood that the invention further provides various alternative embodiments. For example, in one embodiment, the invention provides a computer-readable medium that includes computer program code to enable a computer infrastructure to indicate a drag and drop target in a GUI. To this extent, the computer-readable medium includes program code, such as target indicating system 40, that implements each of the various process steps of the invention. It is understood that the term “computer-readable medium” comprises one or more of any type of physical embodiment of the program code. In particular, the computer-readable medium can comprise program code embodied on one or more portable storage articles of manufacture (e.g., a compact disc, a magnetic disk, a tape, etc.), on one or more data storage portions of a computer system, such as memory 22 and/or storage system 30 (e.g., a fixed disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a cache memory, etc.), and/or as a data signal traveling over a network (e.g., during a wired/wireless electronic distribution of the program code).
In another embodiment, the invention provides a business method that performs the process steps of the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis. That is, a service provider could offer to indicate a drag and drop target in a GUI, as described above. In this case, the service provider can create, maintain, support, etc., a computer infrastructure, such as computer infrastructure 12, that performs the process steps of the invention for one or more customers. In return, the service provider can receive payment from the customer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the service provider can receive payment from the sale of advertising space to one or more third parties.
In still another embodiment, the invention provides a method of generating a system for indicating a drag and drop target in a GUI. In this case, a computer infrastructure, such as computer infrastructure 12, can be obtained (e.g., created, maintained, having made available to, etc.) and one or more systems for performing the process steps of the invention can be obtained (e.g., created, purchased, used, modified, etc.) and deployed to the computer infrastructure. To this extent, the deployment of each system can comprise one or more of (1) installing program code on a computer system, such as computer system 14, from a computer-readable medium; (2) adding one or more computer systems to the computer infrastructure; and (3) incorporating and/or modifying one or more existing systems of the computer infrastructure, to enable the computer infrastructure to perform the process steps of the invention.
As used herein, it is understood that the terms “program code” and “computer program code” are synonymous and mean any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a computer system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and (b) reproduction in a different material form. To this extent, program code can be embodied as one or more types of program products, such as an application/software program, component software/a library of functions, an operating system, a basic I/O system/driver for a particular computing and/or I/O device, and the like.
The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to a person skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.
