Patent Application
20150370463
Legacy calendar views in scheduling applications provide limited information. Alternatively, the legacy calendar views in scheduling applications provide excessive information. Legacy calendar views are usually used in detailed configurations for daily and weekly actions. However, users are underserved in long term synapsis of associated actions in legacy calendar views. Addition of actions and other items into legacy calendar views prove challenging for long term synapsis of associated actions.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to exclusively identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Embodiments are directed to visualizing events on a calendar with a timeline. In some example embodiments, a calendar application may receive a request to associate a calendar with a timeline. Events may be detected on the calendar to present on the timeline. The events may be displayed on the timeline, where the timeline is placed in a location that is below the calendar.
These and other features and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory and do not restrict aspects as claimed.
As briefly described above, events may be visualized on a calendar with a timeline by a calendar application. The calendar application may receive a request to associate a calendar with a timeline. Events may be detected on the calendar to present on the timeline. The events may be displayed on the timeline, where the timeline is placed in a location that is below the calendar.
In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustrations specific embodiments or examples. These aspects may be combined, other aspects may be utilized, and structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
While the embodiments will be described in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with an application program that runs on an operating system on a computing device, those skilled in the art will recognize that aspects may also be implemented in combination with other program modules.
Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and comparable computing devices. Embodiments may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.
Embodiments may be implemented as a computer-implemented process (method), a computing system, or as an article of manufacture, such as a computer program product or computer readable media. The computer program product may be a computer storage medium readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program that comprises instructions for causing a computer or computing system to perform example process(es). The computer-readable storage medium is a computer-readable memory device. The computer-readable memory device includes a hardware device that includes a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, a compact disk, a memory chip, among others. The computer-readable storage medium can for example be implemented via one or more of a volatile computer memory, a non-volatile memory, a hard drive, and a flash drive.
Throughout this specification, the term “platform” may be a combination of software and hardware components to visualize events on a calendar with a timeline. Examples of platforms include, but are not limited to, a hosted service executed over a plurality of servers, an application executed on a single computing device, and comparable systems. The term “server” generally refers to a computing device executing one or more software programs typically in a networked environment. However, a server may also be implemented as a virtual server (software programs) executed on one or more computing devices viewed as a server on the network. More detail on these technologies and example embodiments may be found in the following description.
In a diagram 100, a computing device 104 may execute a calendar application 102. The computing device may include a tablet device, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a smart phone, among others. The computing device 104 may display the calendar application 102 to a user 106. The user 106 may be allowed to interact with the calendar application 102 through an input device or touch enabled display component of the computing device 104. The user 106 may interact with the calendar application 102 with a keyboard based input, a mouse based input, a voice based input, a pen based input, a gesture based input, among others. The gesture based input may include one or more touch based actions such as a touch action, a swipe action, a combination of each, among others.
The calendar application 102 may include a timeline 120 as a component placed adjacent to and below a calendar. The timeline 120 may also be presented as a stand-alone component. The timeline 120 may include a linear presentation of events during a time period divided based on a time unit such as a day. Events presented on the timeline may be duplicates of the events on the calendar displayed by the calendar application 102. A user 106 may be allowed to interact with the calendar and the timeline 120 and visualize events of the calendar on the timeline 120. One or more events of the calendar may be duplicated on the timeline 120 to show the events in a linear presentation.
While the example system in
In a diagram 200, a calendar application 202 that displays a calendar 226 and a timeline 220 in a collapsed state may be described. The calendar application 202 may provide one or more components to manage the calendar 226 and the timeline 220. A date picker component 204 may allow a user to select a date from a displayed range. The selected date may be displayed in the calendar 226 that shows the date within a date range that is configurable. The date range of the calendar 226 may include a day, a week, a month, a year, among others. A current date range may be illustrated with a date range label 208. The date range may also be partitioned vertically based on a time unit such as a day 210. The time units may be scrollable. The calendar 226 may also be partitioned horizontally based on an hour based unit 212. The hour based units may be scrollable. An “all day” unit may persist on a top section of the calendar 226 to show one or more events that last during a time unit such as a day.
The calendar 226 may also be selectable through a calendar selection control 206. The calendar application 202 may display one or more calendars that may be selectable through the calendar selection control 206 and other calendar selection controls displayed adjacent to the calendar selection control 206.
The calendar application 202 may display an event 214 on the calendar 226. A content may also be stored in the event 214. Alternatively, the content may be presented as a link on the event 214 to a local or external storage that stores the content. The content may include an audio file, a video file, an image file, a document, among others. The event 214 may include attributes such as a subject, a summary, a duration, one or more dates, among others.
The timeline 220 may be displayed in a collapsed state to provide additional screen space to display events on the calendar 226. An expansion control 222 may be displayed on the timeline 220 in the collapsed state to expand the timeline 220 to an expanded state. The timeline 220 may be expanded to manage events on the timeline associated with the calendar 226 or other calendars in a linear form. Events from multiple calendars may be inserted into the timeline 220 in the expanded state. In response to detecting an activation of the expansion control 222, the timeline 220 may be expanded to the expanded state.
In a diagram 300, a calendar application 302 may display a timeline 320 of a calendar 326. The timeline 320 may include one or more events such as an event 304 that is a duplicate of an event 314 of the calendar 326. The event 304 may be placed on a date on the timeline 320 that corresponds to a date of the event 314 on the calendar 326. The event 314 of the calendar 326 and the event 304 of the timeline 320 may include content embedded within the events or stored as a link to a content stored at a data storage.
The timeline 320 may be displayed stand-alone or in conjunction with the calendar 326. The events displayed in the timeline 320 may be duplicates of events stored in the calendar 326. In addition, the timeline 320 may display a date range of events that may be scrollable through a scroll control 324. The date range may be presented with a date range label 322. The date range label 322 may include a start date and an end date of the date range displayed on the timeline 320. The date range may be partitioned based on time units such as an hour, a day 328, a week, a month, a year, among others. The date range may be selectable based on an activation of date range controls 310 by a user. The date range controls 310 may execute an operation that includes an expansion or a reduction of the date range displayed on the timeline 320. The date range controls may include date range selections of a week, a month, three months, six months, a year, among others.
In response to detecting an activation of one of the date range controls 310, the date range associated with the selected date range control may be displayed on the timeline 320. The date range may be centered on a date that was displayed in a middle section of the timeline 320 prior to the activation of the date range control.
Scroll controls 324 may also be provided on the timeline 320 to scroll through the events displayed on the timeline 320. A left scroll control may be displayed on a left edge of the timeline 320. A right scroll control may be displayed on a right edge of the timeline 320. In response to detecting an activation of the left scroll control, the timeline 320 may be scrolled in a backward direction by a length of a date range displayed on the timeline 320 prior to the activation. Similarly, in response to detecting an activation of the right scroll control, the timeline 320 may be scrolled in a forward direction by a length of a date range displayed on the timeline 320 prior to the activation.
A current date control 308 may also be displayed on the timeline 320. The current date control 308 may be presented in a location that includes an upper right section of the timeline 320. The current date control 308 may be displayed adjacent to the date range controls 310. In response to detecting an activation of the current date control 308, the timeline 320 may be scrolled to a date range that includes a current date 306. The current date may be displayed with a label that emphasizes the current date 306 on the timeline 320. The current date 306 may be emphasized with an animation or through a highlighting operation to color the current date 306 with a contrasting color compared to a background color of the timeline 320.
The event 314 may be detected to have a time duration that lasts within a date. The timeline 320 may be scrolled to a date range that includes the date of the event 314. The event 314 may be duplicated as the event 304 on the timeline 320. The event 304 may be displayed as a block at the date of the event 314 on the timeline 320. The event 314 on the calendar and the event 304 on the timeline may have common attributes such as a title, a subject, a summary, a description, a date, a time duration, a start time, an end time, among others.
In a diagram 400, a calendar application 402 may display a timeline 420 of a calendar 426. The timeline 420 may display types of events such as a deadline 406, a phase 408, among others. An event 414 displayed on the calendar 426 may be detected to include an attribute that identifies the event 414 as a deadline. An example may include the event 414 having an end date for an associated group of events. The event 414 may be duplicated on the timeline 420 as the deadline 406. The deadline 406 may be displayed as a deadline marker at a date on the timeline that matches the date of the event 414 on the calendar 426. The deadline marker may include a deadline label that shows a subject of the event 414 on the calendar 426.
In another example scenario, an extended event on the calendar 426 may be detected to have a time duration that lasts more than two dates. The timeline 420 may be scrolled to a date range that includes the two or more dates of the extended event. The extended event on the calendar may be duplicated as the phase 408 on the timeline 420. The phase 408 may encompass the two or more dates on the timeline 420.
The technical advantage of visualizing events on a calendar with a timeline may be improved usability and enhanced reliability of display devices in event display and presentation, among other features on a timeline of a calendar compared to static event presentation based solutions.
The example scenarios and schemas in
Client applications executed on any of the client devices 511-513 may facilitate communications via application(s) executed by servers 514, or on individual server 516. A calendar application may detect events on a calendar to present on the timeline. The events may be displayed on the timeline, where the timeline is placed in a location that is below the calendar. The calendar application may store data associated with the calendar and the timeline in data store(s) 519 directly or through database server 518.
Network(s) 510 may comprise any topology of servers, clients, Internet service providers, and communication media. A system according to embodiments may have a static or dynamic topology. Network(s) 510 may include secure networks such as an enterprise network, an unsecure network such as a wireless open network, or the Internet. Network(s) 510 may also coordinate communication over other networks such as Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or cellular networks. Furthermore, network(s) 510 may include short range wireless networks such as Bluetooth or similar ones. Network(s) 510 provide communication between the nodes described herein. By way of example, and not limitation, network(s) 510 may include wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.
Many other configurations of computing devices, applications, data sources, and data distribution systems may be employed to visualize events on a calendar with a timeline. Furthermore, the networked environments discussed in
For example, the computing device 600 may be used to visualize events on a calendar with a timeline. In an example of a basic configuration 602, the computing device 600 may include one or more processors 604 and a system memory 606. A memory bus 608 may be used for communication between the processor 604 and the system memory 606. The basic configuration 602 may be illustrated in
Depending on the desired configuration, the processor 604 may be of any type, including, but not limited to, a microprocessor (μP), a microcontroller (μC), a digital signal processor (DSP), or any combination thereof. The processor 604 may include one more levels of caching, such as a level cache memory 612, a processor core 614, and registers 616. The processor core 614 may include an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a floating point unit (FPU), a digital signal processing core (DSP Core), or any combination thereof. A memory controller 618 may also be used with the processor 604, or in some implementations, the memory controller 618 may be an internal part of the processor 604.
Depending on the desired configuration, the system memory 606 may be of any type including but not limited to volatile memory (such as RAM), non-volatile memory (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.), or any combination thereof. The system memory 606 may include an operating system 620, a calendar application 622, and a program data 624. The calendar application 622 may detect events on a calendar to present on the timeline. The events may be displayed on the timeline, where the timeline is placed in a location that is below the calendar. Components of the calendar application 622 (such as a user interface) may also be displayed on a display device associated with the computing device 600. An example of the display device may include a hardware screen that may be communicatively coupled to the computing device 600. The display device may include a touch based device that detects gestures such as a touch action. The display device may also provide feedback in response to detected gestures (or any other form of input) by transforming one or more user interfaces of the calendar application 622 such as the calendar and the timeline, displayed by the touch based device. The program data 624 may include, among other data, a timeline data 628, or the like, as described herein. The timeline data 628 may include events of various types, among others.
The computing device 600 may have additional features or functionality, and additional interfaces to facilitate communications between the basic configuration 602 and any desired devices and interfaces. For example, a bus/interface controller 630 may be used to facilitate communications between the basic configuration 602 and one or more data storage devices 632 via a storage interface bus 634. The data storage devices 632 may be one or more removable storage devices 636, one or more non-removable storage devices 638, or a combination thereof. Examples of the removable storage and the non-removable storage devices may include magnetic disk devices, such as flexible disk drives and hard-disk drives (HDD), optical disk drives such as compact disk (CD) drives or digital versatile disk (DVD) drives, solid state drives (SSD), and tape drives, to name a few. Example computer storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable, and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.
The system memory 606, the removable storage devices 636, and the non-removable storage devices 638 may be examples of computer storage media. Computer storage media may include, but may not be limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD), solid state drives, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which may be used to store the desired information and which may be accessed by the computing device 600. Any such computer storage media may be part of the computing device 600.
The computing device 600 may also include an interface bus 640 for facilitating communication from various interface devices (for example, one or more output devices 642, one or more peripheral interfaces 644, and one or more communication devices 666) to the basic configuration 602 via the bus/interface controller 630. Some of the example output devices 642 may include a graphics processing unit 648 and an audio processing unit 650, which may be configured to communicate to various external devices, such as a display or speakers via one or more A/V ports 652. One or more example peripheral interfaces 644 may include a serial interface controller 654 or a parallel interface controller 656, which may be configured to communicate with external devices, such as input devices (for example, keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc.) or other peripheral devices (for example, printer, scanner, etc.) via one or more I/O ports 658. An example communication device 666 may include a network controller 660, which may be arranged to facilitate communications with one or more other computing devices 662 over a network communication link via one or more communication ports 664. The one or more other computing devices 662 may include servers, client equipment, and comparable devices.
The network communication link may be one example of a communication media. Communication media may be embodied by computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and may include any information delivery media. A “modulated data signal” may be a signal that has one or more of the modulated data signal characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media may include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), and other wireless media. The term computer-readable media, as used herein, may include both storage media and communication media.
The computing device 600 may be implemented as a part of a general purpose or specialized server, mainframe, or similar computer, which includes any of the above functions. The computing device 600 may also be implemented as a personal computer including both laptop computer and non-laptop computer configurations.
Example embodiments may also include visualizing events on a calendar with a timeline. These methods may be implemented in any number of ways, including the structures described herein. One such way may be by machine operations, using devices of the type described in the present disclosure. Another optional way may be for one or more of the individual operations of the methods to be performed in conjunction with one or more human operators performing some of the operations while other operations may be performed by machines. These human operators need not be co-located with each other, but each may be with a machine that performs a portion of the program. In other examples, the human interaction may be automated such as by pre-selected criteria that may be machine automated.
Process 700 begins with operation 710, where a request to associate a calendar with a timeline may be received. At operation 720, events on the calendar may be detected to present on the timeline. The events may be displayed on the timeline, where the timeline is placed in a location that is below the calendar at operation 730.
The operations included in process 700 are for illustration purposes. A calendar application according to embodiments may be implemented by similar processes with fewer or additional steps, as well as in different order of operations using the principles described herein.
According to some examples, a method that is executed on a computing device to visualize events on a calendar with a timeline may be described. The method may include receiving a request to associate the calendar with the timeline, detecting events on the calendar to present on the timeline, and displaying the events on the timeline, where the timeline is placed in a location that is below the calendar.
According to other examples, the method may further include presenting the timeline in a collapsed state, detecting an activation of an expansion control displayed on the timeline, and expanding the timeline to an expanded state. The method may further include displaying a current date control, where the current date control is presented in a location that includes an upper right section of the timeline, detecting an activation of the current date control, scrolling the timeline to a date range that includes a current date, and displaying a label that emphasizes the current date on the timeline. The method may further include displaying date range controls that are configured execute an operation that includes one from a set of: an expansion of a date range and a reduction of the date range displayed on the timeline, where each one of the date range controls include one date range selection from a set of: a week, a month, three months, six months, and a year, detecting an activation of one of the date range controls, and displaying the date range associated with the date range control, where the date range is centered on a date displayed in a middle section of the timeline prior to the activation.
According to further examples, the method may further include displaying a left scroll control on a left edge of the timeline and displaying a right scroll control on a right edge of the timeline. In response to detecting an activation of the left scroll control, the timeline may be scrolled in a backward direction by a length of a date range displayed on the timeline prior to the activation. In response to detecting an activation of the right scroll control, the timeline may be scrolled in a forward direction by a length of a date range displayed on the timeline prior to the activation. A date range label may be displayed in an upper left section of the timeline, where the date range label shows a start date and an end date of a date range displayed on the timeline.
According to some examples, a computing device to visualize events on a calendar with a timeline may be described. The computing device may include a display device, a memory, a processor coupled to the memory and the display device. The processor may be configured to execute a calendar application in conjunction with instructions stored in the memory. The calendar application may be configured to receive a request to associate the calendar with the timeline, detect events on the calendar to present on the timeline, and display the events on the timeline, where the timeline is placed in a location that is below the calendar and, where the timeline is scrollable with scroll controls placed on a right edge and a left edge of the timeline, on the display device.
According to other examples, the calendar application is further configured to detect one of the events to have a time duration that lasts within a date. The timeline may be scrolled to a date range that includes the date of the event and the event may be displayed as a block at the date on the timeline, on the display device. The event may be detected to include an attribute that identifies the event as a deadline and a deadline marker may be displayed at the date on the timeline to represent the event, where the deadline marker includes a deadline label that shows a subject of the event. The calendar application is further configured to detect one of the events to have a time duration that lasts two or more dates, scroll the timeline to a date range that includes the two or more dates, and display the event as a phase encompassing the two or more dates on the timeline, on the display device.
According to some examples, a computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon to visualize events on a calendar with a timeline may be described. The instructions may include actions that are similar to the method described above.
According to some examples, a means to visualize events on a calendar with a timeline may be described. The means to visualize events on a calendar with a timeline may include a means for receiving a request to associate the calendar with the timeline, a means for detecting events on the calendar to present on the timeline, and a means for displaying the events on the timeline, where the timeline is placed in a location that is below the calendar.
The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the embodiments. 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 and embodiments.
This applications claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/015,350 filed on Jun. 20, 2014. The disclosure of the provisional application is incorporated herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62015350 | Jun 2014 | US |
