# US 8,751,954 B2 · System and method for scrolling information in a UI table > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,751,954 B2 - Document ID: US8751954B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 12/372,820 - Filed: 2009-02-18 - Published: 2010-08-19 - Granted: 2014-06-10 - Earliest claimed: 2009-02-18 - Assignees: BlackBerry Limited - Applicants: Philip Luk; Matthew Lee - Inventors: Philip Luk; Matthew Lee - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8751954B2 ## CPC - G06F 3/0485: Scrolling or panning - H04M 1/72469: for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08) ## Abstract Displaying information in a column of a user interface (UI) on a display screen is enhanced by a column scroll control that displays information that is otherwise truncated from display in the space allocated to the column. The control is sensitive to a threshold limited scrolling input from a user to activate the display of the information ticker style. The display of the remainder of the user interface may be maintained while the column is scrolled. The controls are advantageous for trackball and similar pointing devices especially those used with handheld wireless communication devices (cellular phones, PDAs, smart phones, etc.) where one handed operation is desirable and where display screen sizes and resolutions often require truncation of information in a particular column entry or entries. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of scrolling information in a user interface on a display screen via an input device including a trackball, said method comprising: displaying information of a plurality of cells within a space of the user interface allocated on the display screen and wherein the information of a subset of the plurality of cells is truncated to fit the space; providing a scroll control that, when selected, is operable to scroll the information in the space to display the truncated information of the subset of cells in response to an input plurality of rolls of the trackball when the input number of rolls exceed user providing threshold limited scrolling input via a pointing device, the threshold limited scrolling input comprising a predetermined threshold number of inputs rolls performed in a selected direction along an axis of interest; and displaying the truncated information of the subset of cells ticker style automatically in the selected direction along the axis of interest in response to said user input to scroll the truncated information ticker style until all of the information is displayed without further user input; and wherein the user interface comprises a table having a one or more rows and one or more columns and wherein the scroll control is associated with a plurality of selected rows or a plurality of selected columns to scroll information in the respective cells of the selected rows or selected columns. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 comprising, in response to user input deselecting the scroll control, redisplaying the information in the space to remove the truncated information. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 comprising providing a plurality controlS: for operating the user interface including said scroll control, said controls selectable by moving a pointing device along a first axis and wherein said scroll control is Operable in response to scrolling input along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 comprising determining that the scrolling input via the pointing device meets a predetermined threshold to trigger the displaying of the truncated information. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 comprising stopping the scroll of the information it response to user input. ### Claim 6 A system for scrolling information in a user interface on a display screen via an input device including a trackball, said system comprising: the display screen and pointing device providing directional input along at least two axes; a processor and memory coupled thereto, said memory storing instructions and data for configuring the execution of the processor to: display information of a plurality of cells within a space of the user interface allocated on the display screen and wherein the information in a subset of the plurality of cells is truncated to fit the space; provide a scroll control that, when selected, is operable to scroll the information in the space to display the truncated information of the subset of cells in response to an input plurality of rolls of the trackball when the input number of rolls exceed user providing threshold limited scrolling a predetermined threshold number of inputs rolls performed in a selected direction along an axis of interest; and display the truncated information of the subset of cells in the space ticker style automatically in the selected direction alone the axis of interest in response to said user input to scroll the truncated information until all of the information is displayed without further user input; and wherein the instructions and data configure the execution of the processor such that the user interface comprises a table having a one or more rows and one or more columns and wherein the scroll control is associated with a plurality of selected rows or a plurality of selected columns to scroll information in the respectiye cells of the selected rows or selected columns. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein the instructions and data configure the execution of the processor to redisplay the information in the column to remove the truncated information in response to user input deselecting the column scroll control. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein the instructions and data configure the execution of the processor to move a focus about the user interface to select the column scroll control in response to user input. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein the instructions and data configure the of the processor to provide a plurality controls for operating the user interface including said column scroll control, said controls selectable by moving a pointing device along a first axis and wherein said column scroll control is, when selected, operable in response to scrolling input along a second axis. ### Claim 10 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein the instructions and data configure the execution of the processor to determine that the scrolling input via the pointing device meets a predetermined threshold to trigger the display of the truncated information. ### Claim 11 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein the instructions and data configure the execution of the processor to stop the scroll of the Information in response to user input. ### Claim 12 A computer program product having computer readable, code embodied therein, for execution by a processor for configuring a computer to display information in a user interface on a display screen Via an device including a trackball, the code configuring the execution of the processor to: display information of a plurality of cells within a space of the use interface allocated on the display screen and wherein the information in a subset of the plurality of cells is truncated to fit the space; provide a column scroll control that, when selected, is operable to scroll the column to display the truncated Information of the subset of cells in response to an input plurality of rolls of the trackball when the input number of rolls exceed user providing threshold limited scrolling input via a pointing device, toe threshold limited scrolling input comprising a predetermined threshold number of input rolls performed in a selected direction along an axis of interest; and display the truncated information of the subset of cells in the space ticker style automatically in the selected direction along the axis of interest in response to said user input to scroll the truncated information until all of the information is displayed without further user input; and wherein the code configures the execution of the processor such that the user interface comprises a table having a one or more rows and one or more columns and wherein the scroll control is associated with a plurality of selected rows or a plurality of selected columns to scroll information in the respective cells of the selected S or selected columns. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the code configures the execution of the processor to redisplay the information in the column to remove the truncated information in response to user input deselecting the column scroll control. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the code configures the execution of the processor to provide a plurality controls for operating the user interface including said column scroll control, said controls selectable by moving a pointing device along a first axis and wherein said column scroll control is, when selected, operable in response to scrolling input along a second axis. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the code configures the execution of the processor to determine that the scrolling input via the pointing device meets a predetermined threshold to the display of the truncated information. ### Claim 16 (depends on 12) The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the code configures the execution of the processor to stop the scroll of the information in response to user input.