US 5,859,639 AGranted

Mechanism to control visible presence of desktop objects in a graphical user interface

AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation

InventorPeter Agha Ebrahim

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Abstract

Disclosed is a mechanism to control presentation of visible desktop objects in a graphical user interface (GUI). It is particularly related to a scenario where application windows are masking icons with regard to a window overlaying technique. The concept of the invention is to move hidden icons or windows to visible locations of the desktop when they are obscured by other windows, or other desktop objects like icons themselves. Desktop objects which are provided with the above presence functionality regularly call up a routine which compares the actual positions of all windows or other desktop objects with the own location. Calling-up can be initiated also by changes of the desktop contents. If an icon is covered by an other object, it determines a visible target location and will be presented at the new position. The motion of a desktop object can be performed without need of any interaction by the user. Therefore, this mechanism enables a very intuitive comprehensible solution of the above problems.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A method to control presentation of visual desktop objects in a graphical user interface of an information handling system, wherein the graphical user interface comprises at least two visual desktop objects, comprising the steps of:

identifying at least one desktop object which is at least partially visually hidden by at least one other desktop object, said identifying being performed continuously in the background of the graphical user interface;
determining a target area within a presentation space of said graphical user interface which does not include any desktop objects, said presentation space being divided into at least two partitions for visually non-hidden presentation of previously hidden desktop objects;
presenting said hidden desktop object in said target area which is a visually non-hidden portion of the graphical user interface by moving said hidden desktop object towards a visually non-hidden portion of the graphical user interface without altering the size of said hidden desktop object, said visually non-hidden portion of the graphical user interface being determined with respect to a user-defined specification;
said graphical user interface comprising at least one desktop object being a user's current focus (UCF) and at least one desktop object not being the user's current focus (NON-UCF);
identifying at least one NON-UCF desktop object being visually hidden by at least one other desktop object;
and
associating a different priority with each of said at least two partitions, wherein one of said at least two partitions is associated with a higher priority and is searched first to determine if said one of said at least two partitions includes an area at least as large as said target area, wherein said hidden desktop object is presented in said target area in said one of said at least two partitions if said one of said at least two partitions includes an area at least as large as said target area.

4 more elements

A device to control presentation of visual desktop objects in a graphical user interface of an information handling system, wherein the graphical user interface without altering the size of said hidden desktop object comprises at least two visual desktop objects, comprising:

means for identifying at least one desktop object which is at least partially visually hidden by at least one other desktop object, said identifying being performed continuously in the background of the graphical user interface;
means for determining a target area within a presentation space of said graphical user interface which does not include any desktop objects, said presentation space being divided into at least two partitions for visually non-hidden presentation of previously hidden desktop objects;
means for presenting said hidden desktop object in said target area which is a visually non-hidden portion of the graphical user interface by moving said hidden desktop object towards a visually non-hidden portion of the graphical user interface, said visually non-hidden portion of the graphical user interface being determined with respect to a user-defined specification;
means for said graphical user interface comprising at least one desktop object being a user's current focus (UCF) and at least one desktop object not being the user's current focus (NON-UCF);
means for identifying at least one NON-UCF desktop object being visually hidden by at least one other desktop object;
and
means for associating a different priority with each of said at least two partitions, wherein one of said at least two partitions is associated with a higher priority and is searched first to determine if said one of said at least two partitions includes an area at least as large as said target area, wherein said hidden desktop object is presented in said target area in said one of said at least two partitions if said one of said at least two partitions includes an area at least as large as said target area.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 08/723,173Filed 30 Sep 1996
Priority: EP 96 111 50617 Jul 1996
Granted: 12 Jan 1999
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

G06F 3/0481
Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]: based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a…
Y10S 715/977
Data processing: presentation processing of document, operator interface processing, and screen saver display processing: dynamic icon, e.g.…
G06F
Computing and data processing
Y10S
Technical subjects covered by former uspc cross-reference art collections [xracs] and digests