System and method for providing dynamic prioritization and importance filtering of computer desktop icons and program menu items
AssigneeNovell, Inc.
InventorsJason Allen Sabin, Jeremy Ray Brown
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
System and method for displaying an item on a display of a computer, wherein the item represents a file installed on the computer, are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises, responsive to a determination that a usage rate of the file exceeds a predetermined minimum rate, displaying the item representative of the file on the computer display; determining whether the usage rate of the file has changed; and responsive to a determination that the usage rate of the file has changed, updating at least one visual attribute of the item representative of the file to indicate the usage rate change.
Claims15
A method for displaying an item on a display of a computer, the item representing a file installed on the computer, the file comprising a user file or an application file, the method comprising:
- after using the file, increasing a usage rate of the file;
- comparing the usage rate of the file to a predetermined minimum rate;
- determining, based on the compare, whether the usage rate of the file exceeds the predetermined minimum rate, wherein when the usage rate of the file is determined to exceed the predetermined minimum rate the item representative of the file is displayed on the computer display, and wherein when the usage rate of the file is determined not to exceed the predetermined minimum rate the item representative of the file is not displayed on the computer display;
- displaying the item representative of the file as a desktop icon and as a program menu selection of a Start menu on the computer display, responsive to determining that the usage rate of the file exceeds the predetermined minimum rate;
- determining whether the usage rate of the file has changed;
- responsive to a determination that the usage rate of the file has changed, updating at least one visual attribute of the item representative of the file to indicate the usage rate change;
- wherein the updating at least one visual attribute comprises changing at least one of a font size, an icon size, a font color, and a brightness of both the desktop icon and the program menu selection.
A system for displaying an item on a display of a computer, the item representing a file installed on the computer, the file comprising a user file or an application file, the system comprising:
- the computer including a processor operable to perform:
- increasing a usage rate of the file after the file has been used;
- comparing the usage rate of the file to a predetermined minimum rate;
- determining, based on the compare, whether the usage rate of the file exceeds the predetermined minimum rate, wherein when the usage rate of the file is determined to exceed the predetermined minimum rate the item representative of the file is displayed on the computer display, and wherein when the usage rate of the file is determined not to exceed the predetermined minimum rate the item representative of the file is not displayed on the computer display;
- displaying the item representative of the file as an icon of a desktop and as a program menu selection of a Start menu of the computer display, responsive to determining that the usage rate of the file exceeds the predetermined minimum rate;
- determining whether the usage rate of the file has changed;
- and
- responsive to a determination that the usage rate of the file has changed for updating at least one visual attribute of the item representative of the file to indicate the usage rate change;
- and
- wherein updating at least one visual attribute comprises changing at least one of a font size, an icon size, a location in the program menu display, and a brightness of both the desktop icon and the program menu selection.
A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for displaying an item on a display of the computer, the item representing a file installed on the computer, the file comprising a user file or an application file, the instructions comprising:
- instructions for increasing a usage count of the file to a first value;
- instructions for comparing the first to a predetermined minimum;
- instructions for determining, based on the compare, whether the first value exceeds the predetermined minimum value, wherein when the first value is determined to exceed the predetermined minimum value the item representative of the file is displayed on the computer display, and wherein when the first value is determined not to exceed the predetermined minimum value the item representative of the file is not displayed on the computer display;
- instructions for displaying the item representative of the file as an icon of a desktop and as a program menu selection of a Start menu of the computer display, responsive to determining that the first value exceeds the predetermined minimum value;
- instructions for determining whether the usage count of the file has changed;
- and
- instructions responsive to a determination that the usage count of the file has changed for updating at least one visual attribute of both the desktop icon and the program menu selection.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.