FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of user interfaces for computer systems, and, more particularly, to user interfaces, methods, and computer program products that can conserve space on a computer system display screen.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

New hand-held or palmtop computers have been developed and marketed that are typically smaller than a laptop computer. These new types of computers may be called a personal digital assistant (PDA). Small or hand-held computing devices including, but not limited to, PDAs, cellular telephones, and computing devices used within appliances and automobiles, are often collectively referred to as “pervasive” computing devices. Pervasive computing devices are typically small enough to be held by one hand and include such features as handwriting recognition, communication software for Internet access, and the ability to hook up to a personal computer (PC) to exchange information therewith.

FIG. 1

depicts a conventional pervasive computing device

22

, which includes a display screen

24

, operational buttons

26

a

,

26

b

, and

26

c

, and a stylus

28

. A more extensive keyboard (not shown) may also be included as an attachment or as an integrated part of the pervasive computing device

22

. The display screen

24

is typically made using “touch screen” technology, which allows a user to interact with the display screen

24

using, for example, their finger or the stylus

28

. As pervasive computing devices evolve their capabilities may continue to expand with contemporary pervasive computing devices providing such features as electronic date and address books, e-mail, memo pads (handwriting recognition), Internet browsers, and phone/facsimile access.

Unfortunately, because it is generally desirable to keep the size of pervasive computing devices small, the display screen

24

size may also be limited. For example, a text replacement operation for a word processing program running on a desktop computer having a conventional monitor may involve a single dialog with three pushbuttons-find, replace, and replace all-aligned along the bottom of the dialog. The same operation executed on a pervasive computing device may involve repetition of the text replacement dialog in connection with each pushbutton operation as there may not be sufficient room to display all three pushbuttons simultaneously on the display screen. Thus, depending on the size limitations of the display screen and the particular operation being invoked, a user may be forced to navigate through multiple screen panels or windows or even forego certain information that would otherwise be available on computer systems having a larger monitor or display screen.

Consequently, there exists a need to improve the manner in which information is displayed on a computer system display or monitor to make better use of the display screen area, which may be size limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved user interfaces, methods, and computer program products for computer systems.

It is another object of the present invention to provide improved, user interfaces, methods, and computer program products that can conserve space on a computer system display screen.

These and other objects, advantages, and features of the present invention can be provided by associating an icon with a plurality of operations. In an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, an icon's visual appearance is used to associate the icon with a particular operation. In response to input from a user, the icon's appearance changes to indicate that the icon is now associated with an alternative operation. Thus, a graphical user interface (GUI) for operating a computer system can use a single icon to represent and provide access to a plurality of operations that otherwise may require several icons, which can consume valuable space on a computer system display or monitor.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, an indicium, such as an arrow, is disposed on the icon to convey to the user that a plurality of operations can be invoked via the icon.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the indicium comprises a plurality of marks along with a pointer that can be moved by a user to point to each one of the marks. When the user moves the pointer to point to a specific mark or invokes a specific mark with, for example, a stylus or finger, the icon changes appearance to indicate that the icon is associated with a particular operation that corresponds to the identified mark.

In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, the icon's appearance can be changed by changing textual information disposed on the icon, by changing the color of the icon, or by changing the geometry (e.g., size or shape) of the icon.

Computer systems may have limited space on a display screen or monitor that can be used to provide the user with GUI elements such as icons, menus, and windows to perform various operations. Therefore, the user interfaces, methods, and computer program products according to the present invention may be particularly useful in small computer systems, such as laptop computers, handheld computers, palmtop computers, PDAs, and pervasive computing devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1

illustrates a conventional pervasive computing device;

FIG. 2

is a high-level block diagram that illustrates an embodiment of a computer system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3

is a more detailed block diagram of the computer system of

FIG. 2

that illustrates user interfaces, methods, and computer program products in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4

is a flow chart that illustrates operations of the user interfaces, methods, and computer program products of

FIG. 3

;

FIGS. 5A-5C

illustrate a first embodiment of an icon that can be used in the user interfaces, methods, and computer program products of

FIG. 3

; and

FIGS. 6A-6C

illustrate a second embodiment of an icon that can be used in the user interfaces, methods, and computer program products of FIG.

3

.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims. Like reference numbers signify like elements throughout the description of the figures.

The present invention can be embodied as a user interface for a computer system, a method, or a computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) embodiment, or an embodiment containing both software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention can take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program code means embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium can be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

Referring now to

FIG. 2

, an exemplary embodiment of a computer system

30

in accordance with the present invention typically includes a keyboard or keypad

32

, a display

34

, and a memory

36

that communicate with a processor

38

. The computer system

30

may further include a speaker

42

, a microphone

44

, and an I/O data port(s)

46

that also communicate with the processor

38

. The I/O data port

46

can be used to transfer information between the computer system

30

and another computer system or a network (e.g., the Internet). These components are included in many conventional computer systems (e.g., desktop, laptop, or handheld computers) and their functionality is generally known to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 3

is a more detailed block diagram of the computer system

30

that illustrates user interfaces, methods, and computer program products in accordance with the present invention. The processor

38

communicates with the memory

36

via an address/data bus

48

. The processor

38

can be any commercially available or custom microprocessor suitable for an embedded application. The memory

36

is representative of the overall hierarchy of memory devices containing the software and data used to implement the functionality of the computer system

30

. The memory

36

can include, but is not limited to, the following types of devices: cache, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash, SRAM, and DRAM.

As shown in

FIG. 3

, the memory

36

may hold four major categories of software and data used in the computer system

30

: the operating system

52

; the application programs

54

; the input/output (I/O) device drivers

56

; and the data

58

. Preferably, the operating system

52

is designed for embedded applications and is relatively compact to make the most efficient use of the memory

36

. The I/O device drivers

56

typically include software routines accessed through the operating system

52

by the application programs

54

to communicate with devices such as the keyboard

32

, the display

34

, the speaker

42

, the microphone

44

, the I/O data port(s)

46

, and certain memory

36

components. The application programs

54

comprise the programs that implement the various features of the computer system

30

. And, finally, the data

58

represents the static and dynamic data used by the application programs

54

, operating system

52

, I/O device drivers

56

, and any other software program that may reside in the memory

36

.

The operating system

52

includes a user interface module

60

that manages a user's interactions with a GUI or the commands entered through the keyboard

32

, the display

34

(e.g., a touch screen display), or other I/O device. For example, the user interface module

60

may be responsible for responding to a user's manipulation of a mouse, for responding to a user's interaction with various windows, for responding to a user's navigation and selection of menu items, and for responding to a user's manipulation of icons. In particular, the user interface module

60

, in accordance with the present invention, can conserve space on a display

34

by providing a GUI in which a single icon can be used to provide access to a plurality of operations or actions that can be performed by the computer system

30

.

The present invention is described hereinafter with reference to flowchart illustrations of user interfaces, methods, and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer usable or computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

With reference to

FIG. 4

, operations of the user interface module

60

are described hereafter that can conserve space on the display

34

. At block

72

, the user interface module

60

displays an icon on the display

34

.

FIG. 5A

illustrates one possible embodiment of an icon that can be used by the user interface module

60

. A pushbutton icon

74

includes text disposed thereon that associates the pushbutton icon

74

with a particular operation. In the present embodiment, the text describes a “Find” operation that may be used as part of a text replacement function in a word processing program. In addition, the pushbutton icon

74

includes an indicium

76

that indicates to a user that the pushbutton icon

74

can be used to access or invoke a plurality of operations. The indicium

76

used in the present embodiment is a downward pointing arrow disposed on the face of the pushbutton icon

74

. The type and placement of the indicium

76

can be varied to suit user preferences or for aesthetic purposes. It should also be understood that alternative types or styles of icons can be used without departing from the principles and concepts of the present invention disclosed herein.

Returning to

FIG. 4

, the user interface module

60

processes an input command from a user at block

78

. With regard to the pushbutton icon

74

of

FIG. 5A

, there may be two possible input commands entered by a user as represented by blocks

82

and

86

: First, because the pushbutton icon

74

can be used to access or invoke a plurality of operations, the user may request an alternative operation at block

82

. This can be implemented, for example, by invoking the pushbutton icon

74

on the display

34

with a stylus (see, e.g.,

FIG. 1

, stylus

28

) or finger, or with a cursor controlled by a mouse, while simultaneously invoking a “ctrl” or “alt” key from the keyboard

32

. If an alternative operation is requested by the user at block

82

, then the user interface module

60

causes the pushbutton icon

74

to change appearance at block

84

. This is illustrated in

FIG. 5B

where the text disposed on the pushbutton icon

74

is changed from “Find” to “Replace” to associate the pushbutton icon

74

with an alternative operation. The color, geometry (e.g., shape or size), or other aspect of the pushbutton icon's

74

appearance could also be changed to associate the pushbutton icon

74

with an alternative operation. Preferably, however, the change made to the icon's

74

appearance does not cause the icon

74

to use additional space on the display

34

. After the pushbutton icon's

74

appearance has been changed at block

84

, the pushbutton icon

74

is displayed on the display

34

at block

72

.

FIG. 5C

illustrates the pushbutton icon

74

after another alternative operation request by the user is input at block

78

and processed by the user interface module

60

at block

82

. As shown in

FIG. 5C

, the pushbutton icon

74

is associated with a “Replace All” operation.

In a preferred embodiment, repeated alternative operation requests by the user at block

82

cause the icon's appearance to change in cyclical and sequential fashion corresponding to each of the plurality of operations that can be accessed or invoked via the icon

74

. For example, the icon

74

will once again exhibit an appearance as shown in

FIG. 5A

upon receiving an alternative operation request by the user at block

82

when the icon

74

currently exhibits an appearance as shown in FIG.

5

C.

If the user does not request an alternative operation at block

82

, then a determination is made by the user interface module

60

at block

86

whether the current operation associated with the pushbutton icon

74

is requested. This can be implemented, for example, by invoking the pushbutton icon

74

on the display

34

with a stylus or finger or with a cursor controlled by a mouse, or by invoking the “enter” key from the keyboard

32

. If the current operation associated with the pushbutton icon

74

is requested by the user at block

86

, then the user interface module

60

invokes or initiates the current operation at block

88

.

FIGS. 6A-6C

illustrate a second possible embodiment of an icon that can be used by the user interface module

60

. As shown in

FIGS. 6A-6C

, a pushbutton icon

94

can be used that is similar to the pushbutton icon

74

of

FIGS. 5A-5C

. The pushbutton icon

94

includes text disposed thereon that associates the pushbutton icon

94

with a particular operation (ie., “Find,” “Replace,” and “Replace All”). The pushbutton icon

94

, however, differs from the pushbutton icon

74

of

FIGS. 5A-5C

in the indicium used to indicate to a user that the pushbutton icon

94

can be used to access or invoke a plurality of operations. As shown in

FIGS. 6A-6C

, the indicium comprises a plurality of marks

96

a

,

96

b

, and

96

c

that are positioned proximal to the pushbutton icon

94

in a preferred embodiment. Preferably, the number of marks

96

a

,

96

b

,

96

c

correspond to the number of operations that can be accessed or invoked through the pushbutton icon

94

.

In addition, to the plurality of marks

96

a

,

96

b

, and

96

c

, the indicium preferably comprises a movable pointer

98

that points to one of the marks

96

a

,

96

b

, and

96

c

to indicate that the pushbutton icon

94

is associated with a particular operation. For example, in

FIG. 6A

, the movable pointer

98

points to mark

96

a

, which indicates that the pushbutton icon

94

is currently associated with the “Find” operation. Similarly, in

FIG. 6B

, the movable pointer

98

points to mark

96

b

, which indicates that the pushbutton icon

94

is currently associated with the “Replace” operation. Finally, in

FIG. 6C

, the movable pointer

98

points to mark

96

c

, which indicates that the pushbutton icon

94

is currently associated with the “Replace All” operation. The type, appearance, and placement of the marks

96

a

,

96

b

, and

96

c

and the movable pointer

98

can be varied to suit user preferences or for aesthetic purposes.

The marks

96

a

,

96

b

, and

96

c

and the movable pointer

98

can also be used by a user to input a request for an alternative operation as discussed hereinbefore with reference to blocks

78

and

82

of FIG.

4

. To select an operation for the pushbutton

94

, a user can invoke the mark

96

a

,

96

b

, or

96

c

on the display

34

that is associated with the desired operation with a stylus or finger, or with a cursor controlled by a mouse. For example, if the pushbutton icon

94

is currently associated with the “Find” operation as shown in

FIG. 6A

, a user can invoke mark

96

c

to cause the pushbutton icon

94

to be associated with the “Replace All” operation as shown in FIG.

6

C. Alternatively, a user may use a stylus or finger to slide the movable pointer

98

along the display

34

to point to the mark

96

a

,

96

b

, or

96

c

that corresponds to the desired operation.

The flow chart of

FIG. 4

illustrates the architecture, functionality, and operation of a possible implementation of the user interface module

60

of the operating system

52

. In this regard, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in FIG.

4

. For example, two blocks shown in succession in

FIG. 4

may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

In concluding the detailed description, it should be noted that many variations and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present invention. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention, as set forth in the following claims.