Patent US5835091A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5835091A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Manipulating and displaying a plurality of views in a graphical user interface
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
•
Filing: 1996-08-21
•
Granted: 1998-11-10
•
Expires: 2016-08-21
Abstract
Abstract A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for managing and displaying a plurality of views of information in a graphical user interface, with views grouped together to form a stack upon which operations that jointly manipulate the views may be performed. A viewclip mechanism is associated with a stack to provide one or more mechanisms for performing actions on the stack such as shuffling forward and backward through views, directly accessing specific views, and unlocking a stack to permit views to be added or removed from the stack. The stack is represented as a single frame which displays one of the views at a time as its contents. Frame manipulation mechanisms, e.g., minimizing, maximizing, resizing, and repositioning, may be applied to the frame to jointly manipulate display characteristics of the plurality of views in the stack.
Inventors
- 👤 John Hudson Bailey
- 👤 Stanley Edward Taylor
- 👤 Robert O. Turek
- 👤 Mary Anne Buttigieg
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 23:44
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09G; G09G5/00; G09G5/14; G06; G06F; G06F3/00; G06F3/01; G06F3/048; G06F3/0481
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 39
Claim 1
Independent Claim
104 words
A method of displaying information on a monitor attached to a computer, comprising the steps of: (a) displaying at least two views on the monitor attached to the computer; (b) receiving a selection of at least two displayed views from a user; (c) creating an arrangement of the selected views based on input from a user; (d) binding the arranged views into a stack using a viewclip associated with the stack, wherein the viewclip graphically represents command functions for manipulating the stack; and (e) displaying the stack comprised of one or more binded views on the monitor, wherein only a top view is visible.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
104 words
A method of displaying information on a monitor attached to a computer, comprising the steps of: (a) displaying at least two views on the monitor attached to the computer; (b) receiving a selection of at least two displayed views from a user; (c) creating an arrangement of the selected views based on input from a user; (d) binding the arranged views into a stack using a viewclip associated with the stack, wherein the viewclip graphically represents command functions for manipulating the stack; and (e) displaying the stack comprised of one or more binded views on the monitor, wherein only a top view is visible.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a frame for the stack, wherein the top view comprises the frame's contents.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of updating the frame's contents with a different view in the stack.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 3, wherein the viewclip includes a shuffle forward button, and the updating step includes the step of updating the frame's contents with an immediately subsequent view in the stack in response to a user's selection of the shuffle forward button.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 3, wherein the viewclip includes a shuffle backward button, and the updating step includes the step of updating the frame's contents with an immediately preceding view in the stack in response to a user's selection of the shuffle backward button.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 3, wherein the viewclip includes a direct access menu that has a list of every view in the stack, and wherein the updating step includes the step of updating the frame's contents with a view from the list in response to a user's selection of the view.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 3, wherein the updating step updates only the frame's contents.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of updating the frame's contents with a view associated with a selected object in response to a user's selection of the object.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of modifying a display characteristic of the frame, wherein the modifying step is selected from the group consisting of maximizing the frame, minimizing the frame, resizing the frame, closing the frame, opening the frame, repositioning the frame, and combinations thereof.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of unlocking the stack to permit views to be added or removed from the stack, the unlocking step including the step of displaying an open viewclip.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the unlocking step includes the step of automatically locking the stack and displaying a closed viewclip after a view has been added or removed from the stack.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of creating an association with the stack, such that opening a view associated with the stack automatically adds the view to the stack.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
131 words
A computer programming apparatus, comprising: (a) a computer having a monitor attached thereto; (b) means, performed by the computer, for displaying at least two views on the monitor attached to the computer; (c) means, performed by the computer, for receiving a selection of at least two displayed views from a user; (d) means performed by the computer for creating an arrangement of the selected views based on input from a user; (e) means, performed by the computer, for binding the arranged views into a stack using a viewclip associated with the stack, wherein the viewclip graphically represents command functions for manipulating the stack; and (f) means, performed by the computer, for displaying the stack comprised of one or more binded views on the monitor, wherein only a top view is visible.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
131 words
A computer programming apparatus, comprising: (a) a computer having a monitor attached thereto; (b) means, performed by the computer, for displaying at least two views on the monitor attached to the computer; (c) means, performed by the computer, for receiving a selection of at least two displayed views from a user; (d) means performed by the computer for creating an arrangement of the selected views based on input from a user; (e) means, performed by the computer, for binding the arranged views into a stack using a viewclip associated with the stack, wherein the viewclip graphically represents command functions for manipulating the stack; and (f) means, performed by the computer, for displaying the stack comprised of one or more binded views on the monitor, wherein only a top view is visible.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising displaying a frame for the stock, wherein the top view comprises the frame's contents.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising the means for updating the frame's contents with a different view in the stack.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
45 words
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the viewclip includes a shuffle forward button, and the means for updating includes the means for updating the frame's contents with an immediately subsequent view in the stack in response to a user's selection of the shuffle forward button.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
45 words
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the viewclip includes a shuffle backward button, and the means for updating includes the means for updating the frame's contents with an immediately preceding view in the stack in response to a user's selection of the shuffle backward button.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
52 words
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the viewclip includes a direct access menu that has a list of every view in the stack, and wherein the means for updating includes the means for updating the frame's contents with a view from the list in response to a user's selection of the view.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the means for updating updates only the frame's contents.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising the means for updating the frame's contents with a view associated with a selected object in response to a user's selection of the object.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising the means for modifying a display characteristic of the frame, wherein the means for modifying is selected from the group consisting of maximizing the frame, minimizing the frame, resizing the frame, closing the frame, opening the frame, repositioning the frame, and combination thereof.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising the means for unlocking the stack to permit views to be added or removed from the stack, the means for unlocking including the means for displaying an open viewclip.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for unlocking includes the means for automatically locking the stack and displaying a closed viewclip after a view has been added or removed from the stack.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
32 words
The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising the means for creating an association with the stack, such that opening a view associated with the stack automatically adds the view to the stack.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
128 words
A program storage device, readable by a computer, tangibly embodying one or more programs of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps of displaying information on a monitor attached to the computer, the method comprising the steps of: (a) displaying at least two views on the monitor attached to the computer; (b) receiving a selection of at least two displayed views from a user; (c) creating an arrangement of the selected views based on input from a user; (d) binding the arranged views into a stack using a viewclip associated with the stack, wherein the viewclip graphically represents command functions for manipulating the stack; and (e) displaying the stack comprised of one or more binded views on the monitor, wherein only a top view is visible.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
128 words
A program storage device, readable by a computer, tangibly embodying one or more programs of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps of displaying information on a monitor attached to the computer, the method comprising the steps of: (a) displaying at least two views on the monitor attached to the computer; (b) receiving a selection of at least two displayed views from a user; (c) creating an arrangement of the selected views based on input from a user; (d) binding the arranged views into a stack using a viewclip associated with the stack, wherein the viewclip graphically represents command functions for manipulating the stack; and (e) displaying the stack comprised of one or more binded views on the monitor, wherein only a top view is visible.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
23 words
The program storage device of claim 25, further comprising displaying a frame for the stack, wherein the top view comprises the frame's contents.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
23 words
The program storage device of claim 26, further comprising the step of updating the frame's contents with a different view in the stack.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
45 words
The program storage of claim 27, wherein the viewclip includes a shuffle forward button, and the updating step includes the step of updating the frame's contents with an immediately subsequent view in the stack in response to a user's selection of the shuffle forward button.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
46 words
The program storage device of claim 27, wherein the viewclip includes a shuffle backward button, and the updating step includes the step of updating the frame's contents with an immediately preceding view in the stack in response to a user's selection of the shuffle backward button.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
53 words
The program storage device of claim 27, wherein the viewclip includes a direct access menu that has a list of every view in the stack, and wherein the updating step includes the step of updating the frame's contents with a view from the list in response to a user's selection of the view.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
16 words
The program storage device of claim 27, wherein the updating step updates only the frame's contents.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
33 words
The program storage device of claim 26, further comprising the step of updating the frame's contents with a view associated with a selected object in response to a user's selection of the object.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
51 words
The program storage device of claim 26, further comprising the step of modifying a display characteristic of the frame, wherein the modifying step is selected from the group consisting of maximizing the frame, minimizing the frame, resizing the frame, closing the frame, opening the frame, repositioning the frame, and combinations thereof.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
37 words
The program storage device of claim 25, further comprising the step of unlocking the stack to permit views to be added or removed from the stack, the unlocking step including the step of displaying an open viewclip.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
35 words
The program storage device of claim 34 wherein the unlocking step includes the step of automatically locking the stack and displaying a closed viewclip after a view has been added or removed from the stack.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
34 words
The program storage device of claim 24, further comprising the step of creating an association with the stack, such that opening a view associated with the stack automatically adds the view to the stack.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US5237651A
Cited
US5438662A
Cited
US5430839A
Cited
US5416895A
Cited
US5392387A
Cited
US5515497A
Cited
US5668964A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-11-09 | 2002-05-11 | 2002-11-10 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-11-09 | 2006-05-11 | 2006-11-10 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-11-09 | 2010-05-11 | 2010-11-10 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |