System and method for customizing note flags

• US 10,366,153 B2
• Filed: 08/05/2010
• Issued: 07/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Sellers, Timothy D., Kim, Myungsub, Cardon, Jeffry N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nunez, Jordany
• Application Number:
  US12/851,453
• Publication Number:
  US 20100306698A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,281 Days
• Field of Search: 715805, 715863, 345173, 382187
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1423 the instrument generating sequences of position coordinates corresponding to handwriting preprocessing or recognising digital ink G06V30/32

Abstract

A method and system for customizing note flags allows a user to change the look or “feel” of a note flag. A user can be provided with several options in order to create note flags that are visually distinguishable from one another. In this way, the note flags can be used to visually distinguish a first note or first set of notes from a second note or second set of notes. The method and system can also link note flags with a particular action or operation within a document editing module or with action or an operation in another application program relative to a document editing module. In other words, a note flag can initiate an operation in another application program or within the document editing module (or both) when a particular note flag is selected by a user.

Claims

1. A method for customizing note flags comprising:

receiving, via a touch user interface coupled to a processing device, handwritten gestures defining a first note that is displayed within a note-taking application executing on the processing device and recognizing the handwritten gestures as text;

receiving, via the touch user interface, a second note that is displayed within the note-taking application;

receiving input indicating that both the first note and the second note are to be flagged, wherein the received input comprises indication of a first note type for the first note and a second note type, which is different from the first note type, for the second note, and wherein the both the first and second note types are selected from the group comprising a calendar item associated with a calendar application, an e-mail item associated with an e-mail application, and an action item associated with a task application;

flagging, by the processing device, the first note with the first note type and the second note with the second note type;

when the first and second notes are flagged;

automatically linking the flagged first note with the application associated with the first note type;

automatically linking the flagged second note with the application associated with the second note type; and

automatically associating the flagged first and second notes with a note flag summary of the note-taking application that comprises a singular listing of the flagged first and second notes;

displaying in the singular listing the flagged first and second notes including the flagged first note in a typed text format;

receiving a selection of the flagged first note from the singular listing and, when the selection of the flagged first note is received, opening the application associated with the first note type, including opening with the application associated with the first note type a first new content receiving document, and placing the content of the first note in typed text format within the first new content receiving document; and

receiving a selection of the flagged second note from the singular listing and, when the selection of the flagged second note is received, opening the application associated with the second note type, including opening with the application associated with the second note type a second new content receiving document, and placing the content of the second note within the second new content receiving document.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the flagging further comprises displaying an icon that is associated with the flagged note, wherein the icon is indicative of the note type.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising presenting selectable icon options for flagging of the note, and receiving selection of one of the selectable icon options, and wherein the displaying displays a selected icon option for the flagged note.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving selection of the flagged note within the note flag summary.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising initiating an operation in another application in response to the selection within the note flag summary.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an ink gesture within the application, automatically processing the received ink gesture to determine a shape of the ink gesture, and wherein the flagging flags the note based on a determined shape of the ink gesture.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, within the application, selectable options within a graphical user interface of the application that when selected are used to customize an operation related to at least one of:

an appearance of a flagged note and a formatting of the flagged note.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving selection of at least one of the selectable options, and wherein the flagging further comprises assigning properties to the flagged note based on the at least one of the selectable options that is selected.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the selectable options are presented in a table format.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving input to link the flagged note to a particular action within the application, and wherein the flagging associates the flagged note with the particular action in response to the received input to link the flagged note to the particular action.

11. A processing device comprising:

a touch user interface;

at least one processor communicatively coupled to the touch user interface; and

a memory operatively connected with the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to execute a method that comprises;

receiving, via the touch user interface, handwritten gestures defining a first note that is displayed within a note-taking application executing on the processor and recognizing the handwritten gestures as text;

receiving, via the touch user interface, a second note that is displayed within the note-taking application;

receiving input indicating that both the first note and the second note are to be flagged, wherein the received input comprises indication of a first note type for the first note and a second note type, which is different from the first note type, for the second note, and wherein both the first and second note types are selected from the group comprising a calendar item, an e-mail item, and an action item;

flagging the first note with the first note type and the second note with the second note type;

when the first and second note type are flagged;

automatically linking the flagged first note with the application associated with the first note type;

automatically linking the flagged second note with the application associated with the second note type; and

automatically associating the flagged first and second notes with a note flag summary of the note-taking application that comprises a singular listing of the flagged first and second notes;

displaying in the singular listing the flagged first and second notes including the flagged first note in a typed text format;

receiving a selection of the flagged first note from the singular listing and, when the selection of the flagged first note is received, opening the application associated with the first note type, including opening with the application associated with the first note type a first new content receiving document, and placing the content of the first note in typed text format within the first new content receiving document; and

receiving a selection of the flagged second note from the singular listing and, when the selection of the flagged second note is received, opening the application associated with the second note type, including opening with the application associated with the second note type a second new content receiving document, and placing the content of the second note within the second new content receiving document.

12. The processing device of claim 11, wherein the respective application associated with the first note type or the second note type opens automatically when linked with the flagged first or second note.

13. An article of manufacture in the form of computer readable media storing instructions, wherein when the instruction are executed by a computing device, the computing device performs:

receiving, via a touch user interface of the computing device, handwritten gestures defining a first note that is displayed within a note-taking application executing on the processing device and recognizing the handwritten gestures as text;

receiving, via the touch user interface, a second note that is displayed within the note-taking application;

receiving input indicating that both the first note and the second note are to be flagged, wherein the received input comprises indication of a first note type for the first note and a second note type, which is different from the first note type, for the second note, and wherein the both the first and second note types are selected from the group comprising a calendar item associated with a calendar application, an e-mail item associated with an e-mail application, and an action item associated with a task application;

flagging, by the processing device, the first note with the first note type and the second note with the second note type;

when the first and second notes are flagged;

automatically linking the flagged first note with the application associated with the first note type;

automatically linking the flagged second note with the application associated with the second note type; and

automatically associating the flagged first and second notes with a note flag summary of the note-taking application that comprises a singular listing of the flagged first and second notes;

displaying in the singular listing the flagged first and second notes including the flagged first note in a typed text format;

receiving a selection of the flagged first note from the singular listing and, when the selection of the flagged first note is received, opening the application associated with the first note type, including opening with the application associated with the first note type a first new content receiving document, and placing the content of the first note in typed text format within the first new content receiving document; and

receiving a selection of the flagged second note from the singular listing and, when the selection of the flagged second note is received, opening the application associated with the second note type, including opening with the application associated with the second note type a second new content receiving document, and placing the content of the second note within the second new content receiving document.