User interface for providing consolidation and access
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsBas Ording, Steven P. Jobs, Donald J. Lindsay
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems for providing graphical user interfaces are described. To provide greater access and consolidation to frequently used items in the graphical user interface, a userbar is established which includes a plurality of item representations. To permit a greater number of items to reside in the userbar, a magnification function can be provided which magnifies items within the userbar when they are proximate the cursor associated with the graphical user interface.
Claims27
A method for displaying items in a graphical user interface, comprising the steps of:
- displaying a plurality of user-activated graphical representations of items on a dock within a display area, wherein activation of one of said representations in the dock by a user causes a corresponding item to be launched and displayed in said display area;
- detecting the positioning of a cursor within a predetermined distance from at least one of said representations;
- in response to said detection, increasing the representation closest to said cursor to a designated size while maintaining the aspect ratio of said representation, and increasing other representations in said dock to sizes which are an inversely related to their distances from said cursor, while maintaining their respective aspect ratios;
- and
- moving the representations within said dock away from the representations whose sizes are increased, so that representations in the vicinity of said increased-size representations are not obscured.
A method for displaying items in a graphical user interface, comprising the steps of:
- displaying a plurality of icons on a dock within a display area;
- detecting the positioning of a cursor within a predetermined distance from at least one of said icons;
- in response to said detection, increasing the size of the icon closest to said cursor to a designated size, and increasing the sizes of other icons in said dock by amounts which are less than said designated size and inversely related to their distances from said cursor;
- and
- moving the icons within said dock away from the icons whose sizes are increased, so that icons in the vicinity of said increased-size icons are not obscured.
A computer system, comprising:
- a display device;
- and
- a processor that controls said display device to display a user interface that performs the following operations:
- display a plurality of user-activated graphical representations of items on a dock within a display area on said display device, wherein activation of one of said representations in the dock by a user causes a corresponding item to be launched and displayed in said display area;
- detect the positioning of a cursor within a predetermined distance from at least one of said representations;
- in response to said detection, increase the representation closest to said cursor to a designated size while maintaining the aspect ratio of said representation, and increase other representations in said dock to sizes which are an inversely related to their distances from said cursor, while maintaining their respective aspect ratios;
- and
- move the representations within said dock away from the representations whose sizes are increased, so that representations in the vicinity of said increased-size representations are not obscured.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.