Method of window management for a windowing system
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsEric Masselle, Patrick McGowan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of organizing a plurality of windows for display to a user is described. The windows are displayed in a cascade stack. One of the windows is selected as an active window and is displayed in a preferred display state such as a maximized window, a window having a predefined window size or a window at a predetermined location in the display. Once the user no longer wishes to use the active window, the window is returned to the cascade stack in a position dependent on the particular cascade mode selected by the user.
Claims32
A method of organizing a plurality of windows for display to a user, comprising:
- displaying the windows in a cascade stack, each window having a first position in the cascade stack and an ordered position relative to the other windows;
- selecting one of the windows to be an active window;
- displaying the selected window in a preferred display state;
- and
- displaying the selected window in the cascade stack in a second position.
A computer readable medium for organizing a plurality of windows for display to a user, the computer readable medium comprising instructions to cause a processor to:
- display the windows in a cascade stack, each window having a first position in the cascade stack and an ordered position relative to the other windows;
- enable the user to select one of the windows to be an active window;
- display the selected window in a preferred display state;
- and
- display the selected window in the cascade stack in a second position.
A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave for organizing a plurality of windows for display to a user, the computer data signal comprising:
- program code for displaying the windows in a cascade stack, each window having a first position in the cascade stack and an ordered position relative to the other windows;
- program code for selecting one of the windows to be an active window;
- program code for displaying the selected window in a preferred display state;
- and
- program code for displaying the selected window in the cascade stack in a second position.
An apparatus organizing a plurality of windows for display to a user, the apparatus comprising:
- means for displaying the windows in a cascade stack, each window having a first position in the cascade stack and an ordered position relative to the other windows;
- means for selecting one of the windows to be an active window;
- means for displaying the selected window in a preferred display state;
- and
- means for displaying the selected window in the cascade stack in a second position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.