Patent Application
20050273778
The present invention relates generally to user interface software for use in computing equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to graphical user interface display methods for training and normal use.
It is known in computer user interface software to employ a variety of methods to provide access to computer functions. Because users with a broad range of skills may need to use particular software, greater or lesser levels of function integration may be included in software tools. Function integration can allow novice and occasional users as well as expert users to access computers as aids in the performance of tasks. Function integration can be provided in order to avoid errors, speed completion of tasks, and advance user proficiency.
It is further known in computer-based, graphical user interface (GUI) software to provide user access to functions via interface elements termed menus, by analogy to familiar functions such as restaurant service. Menus in some applications are known as pull-down or pop-up menus, in reference to the appearance of a display device in response to activation of a displayed category summary item that causes a normally hidden menu to be displayed. The pull-down or pop-up menu is in many configurations hidden again after the selection process is finished.
It is further known in computer-based, graphical user interface (GUI) software to provide user access to executable software functions via interface elements termed toolbars. In a toolbar, a region of a display, which may be organized as an oblong and contiguous region, presents one or more symbols representing the functions. User execution of a function represented on the toolbar can be realized in some systems by pointing, wherein a location selector such as a mouse-directed cursor is placed within a display zone associated with one symbol, and by subsequently providing an execution command, such as by clicking a switch on the mouse.
The two implementations, toolbars and menus, can meet operational requirements for software-based, hardware-dependent applications, but can each exhibit significant shortcomings. For example, a typical toolbar presents the functions with which it is associated in an extremely terse, even abstract, format, often with a single word, an abbreviation, or a symbolic picture known as an icon. As a consequence, the toolbar's functions may be readily available only to users sufficiently proficient to recognize an abstract symbol. A typical pull-down menu, in contrast, is likely to be slow and tedious for a proficient user, even though the same pull-down menu may be dauntingly complex to a novice or occasional user. Transition from pull-down menu use to toolbar use can be slow for a progressing user, since the two presentations can be furnished without reference to each other.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide user interface software that coordinates and integrates toolbar and pull-down/pop-up menu functions, allowing users to accelerate their performance as they advance in proficiency.
The above and other features and advantages are achieved in some embodiments by a novel combined toolbar and pull-down/pop-up menu or list function selection methodology, termed List-Bar User Interface Control, or list-bar, as herein disclosed. List-bar provides, when so selected by a user, one of a menu and a toolbar, wherein the two may in some embodiments have substantially similar or identical order and spacing in a display. A third user option is simultaneous, adjacent presentation of both the menu and the toolbar, so that a user can readily infer correlation between the two.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method of displaying and processing information is presented. The method includes providing a group of elements for display on a display component of an interface subsystem of a computing device, wherein each of the elements represents an executable function in a program associated with the computing device, identifying a first class of elements within the provided group of elements, wherein the elements in the first class comprise a menu, identifying a second class of elements within the provided group of elements, wherein the elements in the second class comprise a toolbar, allowing function execution by element selection from either class by a user, and selectably concealing from presentation on the display component a class of selectable elements.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an information acquisition, maintenance, and display system is presented. The system includes means for displaying a group of elements on a display component of an interface subsystem of a computing device, wherein each of the elements represents an executable function associated with the computing device, means for selecting for execution an element from the group, means for differentiating between two display classes of executable elements, means for formatting a first display class as a menu, means for formatting a second display class as a toolbar, and means for choosing between displaying only the first display class, displaying only the second display class, and displaying both display classes.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computer readable medium with program instructions for displaying and processing information is presented. The medium includes instructions for presenting a display image on a display component of an interface device whereupon are conditionally displayed at least two display elements, supporting selection-locus positioning and selection-locus activation hardware components of the interface device, and commanding execution of a function associated with a display element by selecting and activating the display element. The medium further includes instructions for identifying within the display image a menu display element, identifying within the display image a toolbar display element, establishing logic conditions enabling display of the menu element, establishing logic conditions enabling display of the toolbar element, providing user control of logic conditions for enablement of display of menu and toolbar elements independently of each other, and providing a mode in which menu and toolbar elements are displayed and enabled simultaneously.
In accordance with still another embodiment of the present invention, an information acquisition, maintenance, and display system is presented. The system includes a processing device, an input/output interface unit for the processing device, an information storage and retrieval unit providing modifiable record keeping for the processing device, and a processor-based instruction sequence actuating the processing device to control the interface unit and the information storage and retrieval unit. The system further includes an instruction sequence functioning as a user interface, wherein a group of user executable functions consisting of at least one of a menu having at least one item and a toolbar having at least one item is presented for user selection of a function to execute, wherein the menu and the toolbar provide substantially duplicated executable functions, and wherein placement of corresponding menu items and toolbar items is substantially parallel.
The input/output interface unit in the above information acquisition, maintenance, and display system further includes a processor-compatible touch-sensitive surface superimposed on the visible image presented on the display output device, wherein the touch-sensitive surface is configured to provide a data output signal representing a location on the surface on which a touch occurs, and wherein a mapping correlates the set of display elements and a set of touch-sensitive locations on the surface, whereby a touch applied to the surface is interpretable as both a position indication and an activation signal.
There have thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract included below, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be used as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout. A preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides a software interface that furnishes at least one pull-down menu for selection of a function to be executed, using a presentation format appropriate to a menu, and further furnishes a pull-down toolbar in which the functions presented in each menu are repeated in substantially the same sequence, using a presentation format appropriate to a toolbar. This concept admits of several embodiments, each of which may be preferred in a specific operational environment.
The computer software indicates, in menu, toolbar, or combined mode, disablement of functions. Disablement is indicated by changing the representation from a fully functional default representation to a second, less prominent representation. For example, “graying out” a command can show that a function is unavailable, while continuing to display the unavailable function. “Graying out,” i.e., lowering foreground-background contrast, as well as other display variations, can be used to indicate that selection and activation of specific items has no meaning or is otherwise not permitted at a step and is therefore disabled.
List-Bar user interface enhancement is dynamic at least in the sense that a user can, by selecting access and control options consistent with a self-described level of proficiency, cause particular classes of controls to be presented or hidden.
It is to be understood that hiding of a menu 20, as shown in
The above event may conditionally allow a “screen tip” 30 to be displayed in the vicinity of the cursor 26, where the term “screen tip” 30 refers to an informational item such as a text display related to the element 92 hovered over. The user interface software, in the embodiment shown, is structured so that, if available, a screen tip 30 can be superimposed on the screen display 24 in the vicinity of the cursor 26 when the cursor's focus falls within the selection box 28 for an item.
It is to be understood that a visible item requires, within the display device, a display position large enough to allow a user to identify the item, and it is further to be understood that a selection box 28 generally corresponds to the display position of the item. Positioning of a cursor 26 so that its focus falls within the selection box 28 can, in some embodiments, be interpreted as constituting selection, although not activation, of the item.
In
Continuing down the list, following another divider bar 52, the nonactivateable subhead INTERMEDIATE 54 is followed by a single menu item, Show Tool Bar 56. This item is the reverse of the Hide Bars item 50; in the embodiment shown, this item is neither collocated with Hide Bars 50 nor provided in a toggle modality, again with a goal of making the process as obvious as possible for beginners. Toggling between Show Bar and Hide Bar in a single menu item—that is, providing a single menu item location, of which the meaning, and, in some embodiments, the displayed label, change between at least two values when activated—may be preferred in some embodiments, but can be less obvious, particularly to inexperienced or infrequent users. In the presentation shown, a self-recognizing BEGINNER is implicitly encouraged to select among items that are plausible, while a self-recognizing INTERMEDIATE user is similarly presented with and implicitly encouraged to select from items of a moderately advanced nature.
A third group in the list, following yet another divider bar 58 and another nonactivatable subhead, ADVANCED 60, includes selections Hide List 62, Customize Tool Bar 64, and Disappearing Tool Bar 66. Hide List 62 reverses Show List 48 under BEGINNER 46. The rationale for separation of the Show Bars/Hide Tool Bar menu pair applies to the Show List/Hide List menu pair as well, with the menu item more likely for the ADVANCED user positioned away from that intended for the BEGINNER. The second ADVANCED menu item, Customize Tool Bar 64, is offered to allow a sufficiently proficient user to arrange the content of tool bars to support personal preference. The final ADVANCED item, Disappearing Tool Bar 66, supports an additional mode in which a tool bar is hidden until the activation soft key 34 is selected, after which the tool bar is displayed only until an immediate need for it, such as to select one function, is finished.
Alternate terms may be preferred in some embodiments in place of BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE, and ADVANCED, although the substance of providing menus alone, menus combined with toolbars, or toolbars alone can be retained with such alternate terms. It is to be understood that the presentation options of menus and toolbars as herein described are not limiting, but that other presentation options are possible. Presentation options for item selection can include display formats such as brief declarative statements for items and graphical examples corresponding to items, where sufficient display area exists to support such presentations. It is to be further understood that the display items can be shown individually, such as in response to a user's hovering a cursor over an option in a menu, where such presentation is preferable to continuous display of all items in a menu.
A fourth group in the list follows yet another divider bar 68 and another nonactivatable subhead, TOUCHSCREEN OPTIONS 70. This group addresses a specific hardware capability, namely support for touchscreen technology, which can be used in place of or in addition to keyboards, mice, touchpads, trackballs, joysticks, and other input devices.
As used herein, touchscreen technology refers to a data input technology in which a typical display device, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid-crystal display (LCD) configured to support a GUI, is further configured to detect physical contact on its display surface, for example by provision of a substantially transparent and somewhat electrically conductive overlay grid. A typical touchscreen can detect finger position with a particular level of precision. The touchscreen may be somewhat affected by pressure, so that acquiring a signal level sufficient for activation may require that the user's fingertip be deflected (i.e., flattened) slightly, which can in turn provide tactile feedback to the user.
Other methods of integrating two-dimensional display and data input position grids are known, such as light pens, and various detection methods are known, including capacitance- and resistance-based sensing, acoustical ranging, and the like. Any method for superimposing an activation input directly on a region of a display rather than using a pointing device located away from the display is intended to be included under the general terms “touchscreen” and “touch-sensitive display device” for purposes of this disclosure.
A user's finger is an example of a “specified activating entity,” that is, a physical object or entity complying with a specification established by a vendor for applying an activating signal to a location on the display device. Like a menu or a toolbar, a touchbar associates a physical mapping of a display with a software mapping, so that at least one discretely detectable location on the touchscreen is mapped to a location listed in the software mapping, and activation of that location on the touchscreen results in issuance of an activation command by the software. Although alignment of a mouse-based system, for example, is relatively straightforward, alignment of touchscreen positioning with display positioning may be more complex, and may be less stable over time than mouse-based systems, as the display and the touch surface have independent sources of position error. Such disadvantages may be offset by advantages in some systems, so that use of touchscreen hardware in a system can be desirable.
The basis for discussion herein is that at least some touchscreen input devices may exhibit lower effective precision than some other types of pointing devices. Further, by relying on hand contact by users, some touchscreen devices occasionally operate with portions of the display obscured from view. While not true in all cases, these attributes, along with the usefulness of integrating display and input functions in a single interface element, reveal a desirable aspect of list-bar-capable software applications, namely accommodation of lower-resolution position input.
The TOUCHSCREEN OPTIONS 70 group in the embodiment shown includes Show Touch Bar 72, Customize Touch Bar 74, and Disappearing Touch Bar 76. Activation of Show Touch Bar 72 can replace a standard toolbar with a touchbar, on which substantially the same elements are displayed, but with different (typically wider) spacing between elements. This will be shown in
The examples discussed below are related to a single case application for list-bar capability. As such, the examples illustrate the characteristics of the inventive technology and imply the software requirements for incorporating list-bar capability into a GUI-based software application.
It is to be understood that the term “vertically oriented” as used herein refers to a pull-down or pop-up menu, toolbar, or touchbar in which executable items from a list are presented for selection as successive entries in a display field, where a next list item is positioned below a previous list item, with successive list items in a range simultaneously visible. Such a presentation is suited to languages such as English, Urdu, Russian, Arabic, and other writing systems that are left-to-right or right-to-left reading by default. Vertically-oriented writing systems such as Mandarin may be preferentially supported with horizontally-oriented menu systems. In both orientations of writing systems, toolbars may be oriented vertically or horizontally according to preference. A “pull-down” is commonly associated with an identifying element at or near the top of a display or of a GUI process within a display, wherein selection of the identifying element causes the pull-down to be displayed, and wherein the upper extent of the pull-down is typically located approximately at the location of the identifying element, whereas a “pop-up” may be located elsewhere in a display, such as with its first or last element adjacent to the pointing device symbol on the display.
The toolbars and touchbars shown in the figures herein are vertically oriented for compatibility with menus, and use text abbreviations rather than icons to represent functions. It is to be understood that alternative orientations and function representations may be present in some embodiments. Placement of a menu and an associated toolbar adjacent and parallel to one another, with spacings between corresponding items in the menu and toolbar that are approximately equal, can aid in learning the equivalence between the two representations, and may thus be preferable. The use of icons—that is, graphical images that can function as “visual mnemonics”—rather than text abbreviations for one or more functions in a toolbar, may likewise be preferable in some embodiments.
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List-bar user interface control may be most readily applied to computer systems intended for users who are fully able to access typical resources, including at least a video display device, a keyboard, and a mouse or touch screen, as well as a sound generator. For users with reduced visual or aural acuity, range of motion, reading comprehension, and the like, the concept of list-bar user interface control may be nonetheless usable when appropriately adapted.
For a low-mobility user, for example, jumping to a preferred selection group in
Affirming user identity in a privacy or security sensitive environment restricted to trusted users may be similarly enhanced by comparing a present-session pattern of use to one or more patterns of use stored from previous sessions. Such an application of list-bar user interface control could, for example, begin execution of a session using a list-bar aware application as though list-bar capability were not supported, for example using BEGINNER mode, and a pattern of menu use could be compared to a user's previously established preferences while the session proceeded, in order to establish a confidence score regarding the identity of the user.
List-bar user interface control as shown is useful in improving and maintaining user proficiency with many types of software, including such tasks as the creation, interrogation, and modification of databases by health care facilities, schools, repair shops, and other users who may be concerned with ease of use and prevention of mistakes. List-bar capability can be used in many environments, such as manufacturing, warehousing, and food service, where speed and reliability may be principal considerations. It can find further application in military, law enforcement, courthouse, airline passenger support, and other environments where security may be a determining factor.
The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and, thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to that fall within the scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to provisional U.S. patent application entitled, “LIST-BAR INTERFACE CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD,” filed Jun. 2, 2004, having a Ser. No. 60/575,816, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60575816 | Jun 2004 | US |
