User interface having movable sheet with click-through tools

Claim 1

A computer system in wnich a program displays data and a user interacts with the data through the use of a displayed cursor, wherein: the system displays a visual depiction of an overlay having a plurality of delineated regions, each specifying an operation and referred to as a click-through tool; the overlay is positionable relative to the displayed data; and a user interaction with the cursor on a portion of the displayed data through a given click-through tool causes the operation specified by the given click-through tool to be carried out on the portion of the displayed data.

Claim 2

A method of operating a processor-based machine, the machine including a user input facility, a display device, a processor coupled to the user input facility and the display device, a storage system for storing information including instructions defining at least one program to be executed by the processor and a set of associated data, the method comprising operating the processor to perform the steps of: executing the program so as to operate on the data and to display a visible representation thereof on the display device; and executing an overlay program that generates a visual depiction of a transparent overlay having a number of delineated regions thereon, responds to a first set of signals by positioning the overlay relative to the visible representation, responds to a second set of signals characterized by position information relative to the overlay and the visible representation, and generates a third set of signals and communicates the same to the program, the third set of signals depending on the relative position of the overlay and the visible representation and on the position information that characterizes the second set of signals.

Claim 8

A method of operating a processor-based machine, the machine including a user input facility, a display device, a processor coupled to the user input facility and the display device, a storage system for storing information including instructions defining at least one application program to be executed by the processor and at least one application data structure including a number of application data items, the method comprising operating the processor to perform the steps of: executing the application program so as to manipulate the application data structure and display a representation thereot, referred to as the visible representation, on the display device; generating a visual depiction of a transparent overlay having a number of delineated operation-specifying regions thereon; responding to a first set of signals for positioning the overlay relative to the visible representation; responding to a second set or signals characterized by position information relative to the overlay and the visible representation; and generating a third set of signals and communicating same to the application program, the third set of signals depending on the relative position of the overlay and the visible representation and on the position information that characterizes the second set of signals; the third set of signals specitying a particular operation when the position information is in a predetermined relationship with the delineated region of the overlay that specifies that particular operation.

Claim 9

A method for applying a software tool to a workpiece in an interactive computer system, the software tool having certain properties, the system comprising a processor coupled to a display screen and to at least one input device suitable for positioning an object with respect to the display screen, and user interface software that the processor executes, that controls at least a portion of the display screen, and that is responsive to said input device, the method comprising the steps of: using the processor, the user interface software, and the display screen to display a window whose contents represent the workpiece; using the processor, the user interface software, and the display screen to display a transparent object that represents the tool; using the processor, the user interface software, and the input device to select at least a portion of the workpiece for interaction with the tool by positioning the transparent object representing the tool with respect to the window representing the workpiece; using the processor, the user interface software, and the input device to selectively apply the tool to the portion of the workpiece thus selected, in such manner as to alter the contents of the selected portion of the workpiece, the nature of the alteration being determined at least in part by the properties of the tool.

Claim 10

A method of operating a processor-based machine, the machine including a display device, a pointing device for controlling the position of a cursor on the display device in response to user input, a processor coupled to the pointing device and the display device, the method comprising operating the processor to perform the steps of: executing an application program so as to manipulate an associated application data structure and display a representation thereof, referred to as the visible representation, on the display device; generating a visual depiction of a transparent overlay having a number of delineated operation-specifying regions thereon; positioning the overlay relative to the visible representation; positioning the cursor within a particular delineated region and in a predetermined relationship to a particular object in the visible representation; and performing the operation specified by the particular delineated region on the particular object in response to a cursor event at that position.