Patent Grant
10216388
Field
The present disclosure generally relates to the transmission of data over a network, and more particularly to the use of a computing device to view data communicated over a network.
Description of the Related Art
Mobile device web browsers typically have limited screen space with which to display a single web page, let alone multiple web pages. Accordingly, certain mobile device web browsers use a tabbed document interface (TDI) to open multiple tabbed web page windows within a web browser. When a user wants to select one of the tabbed web page windows (“tabs”) to view, the tabs can be displayed in a stack, where tabs are overlaid on top of one another like a stack of cards, with a limited top or side amount of each tab being viewable. The user may not, however, be able to identify a tab based on the limited amount of the tab being displayed, making it difficult for the user to choose between multiple tabs.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-implemented method for adjusting a display of multiple web page windows oriented in an overlaid configuration in a web browser is provided. The method includes receiving a selection of a visible portion of a first web page window in an overlaid configuration with a second web page window with a first touch input, receiving a selection of a visible portion of the second web page window in the overlaid configuration with a second touch input, and receiving a dragging motion of the first touch input and the second touch input to alter the visible portion of at least one of the first and second web page windows in the overlaid configuration. When the dragging motion includes dragging the touch inputs away from one another, the visible portion of the first web page window is increased and the visible portion of the second web page window is decreased, and when the dragging motion includes dragging the touch inputs towards one another, the visible portion of the first web page window is decreased and the visible portion of the second web page window is increased.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a system for adjusting a display of multiple web page windows oriented in an overlaid configuration in a web browser is provided. The system includes a memory that includes a first web page and a second web page, and a processor. The processor is configured to execute instructions to receive a selection of a visible portion of a first web page window displaying the first web page in an overlaid configuration with a second web page window displaying the second web page with a first touch input, receive a selection of a visible portion of the second web page window in the overlaid configuration with a second touch input, and receive a dragging motion of the first touch input and the second touch input to alter the visible portion of at least one of the first and second web page windows in the overlaid configuration. The overlaid configuration includes a plurality of web page windows in a stack. When the dragging motion includes dragging the touch inputs away from one another, the visible portion of the first web page window is increased and the visible portion of the second web page window is decreased, and when the dragging motion includes dragging the touch inputs towards one another, the visible portion of the first web page window is decreased and the visible portion of the second web page window is increased.
According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a mobile web browser for adjusting a display of multiple web page windows oriented in an overlaid configuration in a web browser is provided. The mobile web browser includes a stacking interface configured to provide a display of first and second web page windows oriented in an overlaid configuration, wherein a portion of each of the first and second web page windows is visible, and to receive a selection of the visible portion of the first web page window in the overlaid configuration with a first touch input and a selection of the visible portion of the second web page window in the overlaid configuration with a second touch input. When a dragging motion of the first touch input and the second touch input is received visible portions of the first and second web page windows in the overlaid configuration are altered.
According to yet a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a machine-readable storage medium includes machine-readable instructions for causing a processor to execute a method for adjusting a display of multiple web page windows oriented in an overlaid configuration in a web browser is provided. The method includes receiving a selection of a visible portion of a first web page window in a stack configuration with a second web page window with a first touch input, receiving a selection of a visible portion of the second web page window in the stack configuration with a second touch input, and receiving a dragging motion of the first touch input and the second touch input to alter the visible portion of at least one of the first and second web page windows in the stack configuration. When the dragging motion includes dragging the first touch input and the second touch input away from one another along an axis, the visible portion of the first web page window in the stack configuration is increased. When the dragging motion includes dragging the first touch input and the second touch input towards one another along the axis, the visible portion of the first web page window in the stack configuration is decreased.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate disclosed embodiments and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosed embodiments. In the drawings:
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a full understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one ordinarily skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and techniques have not been shown in detail so as not to obscure the disclosure.
The disclosed mobile web browser allows a user to manually increase the amount of each tab being displayed in a tab stack. On a touchscreen device, the user selects any two tabs in a tab stack by placing one finger on each tab. The user then drags the user's two fingers either closer together to decrease the space between the two selected tabs and any tabs in-between, thereby decreasing the amount of each tab being displayed, or drags the user's two fingers farther apart to increase the space between the two selected tabs and any tabs in-between, thereby increasing the amount of each tab being displayed. The tabs in-between the two selected tabs move proportionately with the two selected tabs being moved. If the user is viewing the mobile web browser in the mobile device's portrait mode, the user drags the user's two fingers along a y-axis, and if the user is viewing the mobile web browser in the mobile device's landscape mode, the user drags the user's two fingers along an x-axis. In certain aspects, the user can drag the user's two fingers in any direction (and not just along an axis) in order to create appropriate spacing for the tabs.
Turning to the drawings,
Each of the clients 110 is configured to download, install, and run a web browser as disclosed herein. The web browser is configured to run on clients 110 that are mobile or non-mobile. The clients 110 can be, for example, desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile devices (e.g., a smartphone, tablet computer, or PDA), set top boxes (e.g., for a television), video game consoles, or any other devices having appropriate processor, memory, and communications capabilities. In certain aspects, certain advantages of the web browser, such as less effort made by the user to adjust tab views, are more salient on clients 110 that are mobile devices e.g., tablet computers or smartphones) or that otherwise have limited display areas.
The web browser, once installed on a client 110, is configured to load web pages from any one or multiple servers 130 hosting the web pages. The servers 130 can be any device having an appropriate processor, memory, and communications capability for hosting the data for installing the web browser and for hosting the web pages. The network 150 can include, for example, any one or more of a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a campus area network (CAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a broadband network (BBN), the Internet, and the like. Further, the network 150 can include, but is not limited to, any one or more of the following network topologies, including a bus network, a star network, a ring network, a mesh network, a star-bus network, tree or hierarchical network, and the like.
The disclosed web browser, once downloaded from a server 130 and installed and executed on a client 110, is configured to display tabs (e.g., individual web page windows) for opened web pages in a stacked orientation, and adjust the view of the tabs using a two touch input dragging motion, with each touch inputs for a respective tab. When each touch input is brought closer together, the respective tabs, and any tabs in-between the respective tabs in the stack, are brought closer together, thereby decreasing the amount of each tab that is displayed on the screen (except for possibly the tab near the bottom of the screen). When each touch input is taken farther apart, the respective tabs, and any tabs in-between the respective tabs in the stack, are moved farther apart, thereby increasing the amount of each tab that is displayed on the screen (except for possibly the tab near the bottom of the screen). Although two touch inputs are described, more than two touch inputs can be used, with one touch input for each tab being moved/dragged.
The client 110 includes a processor 212, the communications module 218, and a memory 220. The memory 220 includes a web browser 222 and a client copies of n web pages 224b1 to 224bn to display in a stack of tabs in the web browser 222 using the output device 214 (e.g., a display) of the client 110. The client 110 also includes a combined input/output device 216, such as a touchscreen device 216. Alternatively, the client 110 can include a separate input device, such as a keyboard, touchscreen, or mouse, and an output device. The client copies of the web pages 224b1-n are obtained over the network 150 from the processor 236 of the server 130 using server copies of the web pages 224a1-n stored in the memory 232 of the server 130. Although the server copies of the web pages 224a1-n are illustrated as being stored on one server 130, they can also be stored on many different servers.
The processor 212 of the client 110 is configured to execute instructions, such as instructions physically coded into the processor 212, instructions received from software in memory 240, or a combination of both. For example, the processor 212 of the client 110 executes instructions from the web browser 222 to receive a request to display a first web page 224b1 in a first tab (e.g., web page window) and a request to display a second web page 224b2 in a second tab, and provide a display of the first and second tabs oriented in an overlaid configuration, wherein a portion of each of the first and second tabs is visible. The overlaid configuration can be a stack of tabs, where any new tab that is generated is added to the stack. The processor 212 is also configured to execute instructions to receive a selection of the visible portion of the first tab in the overlaid configuration with a first touch input, and a selection of the visible portion of the second tab in the overlaid configuration with a second touch input. A visible portion of a tab can be selected by selecting a tab indicator (e.g., a tab-shaped indicator attached to a portion of the web page window that does not display the web page).
The processor 212 is also configured to execute instructions to receive a dragging motion of the first touch input and the second touch input to alter the visible portions of the first and second tabs in the overlaid configuration. In certain aspects, movement of the first and second web page windows tabs can be limited to a single axis. For example, the tabs can be limited to moving along a vertical (or y-) axis when the touchscreen device 216 is in a portrait orientation and the tabs can be limited to moving along a horizontal (or x-) axis when the touchscreen device 216 is in a landscape orientation. The selected visible portions of the tabs can remain visible after the dragging motion is received. In other words, the portion of each of the tabs that is selected by the touch input remains visible after the tabs have been released from movement. In certain aspects, movement of the first and second web page windows tabs is not limited to an axis. For example, one tab can be moved up and to the left in response to a user dragging one finger selecting the tab up and to the left, and another tab can be moved down and to the left in response to the user dragging another finger selecting the other tab down and to the left.
The processor 212 is configured to increase the visible portion of the first tab and decrease the visible portion of the second tab in the overlaid configuration when the dragging motion includes dragging the first touch input and the second touch input away from one another. The processor 212 is configured to decrease the visible portion of the first tab and increase the visible portion of the second tab in the overlaid configuration when the dragging motion includes dragging the first touch input and the second touch input towards one another. The increase and decrease in the amount of the visible portions of the tabs can be proportional to the length of the dragging motion. For example, if there are 4 tabs in a stack, and the topmost and bottommost tabs are dragged towards one another, then, with the exception of the tab towards the bottom of the display (which is dragged onto the display thereby increasing its displayable portion), the visible portion of each of the remaining tabs decreases by the same amount (e.g., about 33%). Similarly, if there are 8 tabs in a stack, and the topmost and bottommost tabs are dragged away from one another, then, with the exception of the tab towards the bottom of the display (which is dragged off of the display thereby decreasing its displayable portion), the visible portion of each of the remaining tabs increases by the same amount (e.g., about 14%).
The processor 212 is also configured to increase or decrease the visible portions of at least one of the two tabs in the overlaid configuration when the dragging motion includes dragging one of the two touch inputs in a first direction and maintaining the second touch input in a substantially stationary position.
An example will now be described using the exemplary process 300 of
In step 305, the user touch selects a tab indicator of the first tab 224b1 in the stack by using a finger to provide a first touch input 402, and in step 306, the user touch selects the visible portion of the second tab 224b4 in the stack by using another finger to provide a second touch input 404. As illustrated in
Computer system 500 (e.g., client 110 and server 130) includes a bus 508 or other communication mechanism for communicating information, and a processor 502 (e.g., processor 212 and 236) coupled with bus 508 for processing information. By way of example, the computer system 500 may be implemented with one or more processors 502. Processor 502 may be a general-purpose microprocessor, a microcontroller, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a controller, a state machine, gated logic, discrete hardware components, or any other suitable entity that can perform calculations or other manipulations of information.
Computer system 500 can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them stored in an included memory 504 (e.g., memory 220 and 232), such as a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, or any other suitable storage device, coupled to bus 508 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 502. The processor 502 and the memory 504 can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.
The instructions may be stored in the memory 504 and implemented in one or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, the computer system 500, and according to any method well known to those of skill in the art, including, but not limited to, computer languages such as data-oriented languages (e.g., SQL, dBase), system languages (e.g., C, Objective-C, C++, Assembly), architectural languages (e.g., Java, .NET), and application languages (e.g., PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python). Instructions may also be implemented in computer languages such as array languages, aspect-oriented languages, assembly languages, authoring languages, command line interface languages, compiled languages, concurrent languages, curly-bracket languages, dataflow languages, data-structured languages, declarative languages, esoteric languages, extension languages, fourth-generation languages, functional languages, interactive mode languages, interpreted languages, iterative languages, list-based languages, little languages, logic-based languages, machine languages, macro languages, metaprogramming languages, multiparadigm languages, numerical analysis, non-English-based languages, object-oriented class-based languages, object-oriented prototype-based languages, off-side rule languages, procedural languages, reflective languages, rule-based languages, scripting languages, stack-based languages, synchronous languages, syntax handling languages, visual languages, wirth languages, and xml-based languages. Memory 504 may also be used for storing temporary variable or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 502.
A computer program as discussed herein does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, subprograms, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network. The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output.
Computer system 500 further includes a data storage device 506 such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, coupled to bus 508 for storing information and instructions. Computer system 500 may be coupled via input/output module 510 to various devices. The input/output module 510 can be any input/output module. Exemplary input/output modules 510 include data ports such as USB ports. The input/output module 510 is configured to connect to a communications module 512. Exemplary communications modules 512 (e.g., communications modules 218 and 238) include networking interface cards, such as Ethernet cards and modems. In certain aspects, the input/output module 510 is configured to connect to a plurality of devices, such as an input device 514 (e.g., input device 216) and/or an output device 516 (e.g., output device 214). Exemplary input devices 514 include a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which a user can provide input to the computer system 500. Other kinds of input devices 514 can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well, such as a tactile input device, visual input device, audio input device, or brain-computer interface device. For example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, tactile, or brain wave input. Exemplary output devices 516 include display devices, such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the client 110 and server 130 can be implemented using a computer system 500 in response to processor 502 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in memory 504. Such instructions may be read into memory 504 from another machine-readable medium, such as data storage device 506. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 504 causes processor 502 to perform the process steps described herein. One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the sequences of instructions contained in memory 504. In alternative aspects, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various aspects of the present disclosure. Thus, aspects of the present disclosure are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.
Various aspects of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification, or any combination of one or more such back end, middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. The communication network (e.g., network 150) can include, for example, any one or more of a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a campus area network (CAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a broadband network (BBN), the Internet, and the like. Further, the communication network can include, but is not limited to, for example, any one or more of the following network topologies, including a bus network, a star network, a ring network, a mesh network, a star-bus network, tree or hierarchical network, or the like. The communications modules can be, for example, modems or Ethernet cards.
Computing system 500 can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Computer system 500 can be, for example, and without limitation, a desktop computer, laptop computer, or tablet computer. Computer system 500 can also be embedded in another device, for example, and without limitation, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio player, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a video game console, and/or a television set top box.
The term “machine-readable storage medium” or “computer readable medium” as used herein refers to any medium or media that participates in providing instructions to processor 502 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as data storage device 506. Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as memory 504. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 508. Common forms of machine-readable media include, for example, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read. The machine-readable storage medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter effecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them.
While this specification contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of particular implementations of the subject matter. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiting that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the aspects described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all aspects, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.
The subject matter of this specification has been described in terms of particular aspects, but other aspects can be implemented and are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. As one example, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Other variations are within the scope of the following claims.
These and other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/312,973, entitled “GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE WINDOW SPACING MECHANISMS,” filed on Dec. 6, 2011, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
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