State and data driven dynamic menu and toolbar architecture
First Claim
1. A method for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface, comprising the steps of:
- providing an application which can be displayed in a frame of a graphical user interface, the application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, the application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of the application being contained in a data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities; and
generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of the application.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is provided for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface. An application is provided which can be displayed in a frame of a graphical user interface and which has a set of menu/toolbar entities. At any given time, the application can be in one of a plurality of application states. Information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of the application is contained in a data file, and each application state characteristic defines a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities. The system generates a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of the application.
109 Citations
92 Claims
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1. A method for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface, comprising the steps of:
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providing an application which can be displayed in a frame of a graphical user interface, the application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, the application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of the application being contained in a data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities; and
generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of the application. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 57)
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2. A method for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface having a parent frame for displaying menu/toolbar items and a plurality of child frames, comprising the steps of:
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providing a set of applications which can be displayed in the plurality of child frames, each application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, each application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of each application being contained in a data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities, and generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of a currently focused one of the applications. - View Dependent Claims (3, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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8. A method of configuring a plurality of menu/toolbar entities for an application comprising the steps of:
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selecting a plurality of states for an application, the application having associated therewith a plurality of menu/toolbar entities for displaying on a graphical user interface;
selecting a state characteristic for each state, the state characteristic defining characteristics of a plurality of menu/toolbar entities of the application based on the state, information defining the state characteristics being stored in a data file;
entering the application into a current one of the plurality of states; and
applying the state characteristic of the current state of the application to the plurality of menu/toolbar entities displayed on a graphical user interface, based upon the information in the data file. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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9. A method of configuring a plurality of menu/toolbar entities for an application comprising the steps of:
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selecting a first plurality of states for an application, the application having associated therewith a plurality of menu/toolbar entities for displaying on a graphical user interface;
selecting a second plurality of state parts, each state part being associated with one or more of the plurality of states. selecting a state characteristic for each state and each state part, the state characteristic defining characteristics of a plurality of menu/toolbar entities of the application based on the state, information defining the state characteristics being stored in a data file;
entering the application into a current one of the plurality of states;
applying the state characteristic of the current state of the application to the plurality of menu/toolbar entities displayed on a graphical user interface, based upon the information in the data file;
entering the application into a current one of the plurality of state parts for the current state;
applying the state characteristic of the current state part to the plurality of menu/toolbar entities displayed on a graphical user interface, based upon the information in the data file. - View Dependent Claims (13, 17)
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19. A method for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface having a parent frame for displaying menu/toolbar items and a plurality of child frames, comprising the steps of:
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providing a set of applications which can be displayed in the plurality of child frames, each application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, information indicative of a policy for each menu/toolbar entity of each application being contained in a data file, each application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of each application being contained in the data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities; and
generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the policies of the menu/toolbar entities for a currently focused one of the applications and upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of the currently focused application.
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37. A computer-readable medium, having stored thereon, computer executable process steps operative to control a computer to generate menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface having a parent frame for displaying menu/toolbar items and a plurality of child frames, the steps comprising:
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providing a set of applications which can be displayed in the plurality of child frames, each application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, information indicative of a policy for each menu/toolbar entity of each application being contained in a data file, each application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of each application being contained in the data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities; and
generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the policies of the menu/toolbar entities for a currently focused one of the applications and upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of the currently focused application.
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51. A computer readable medium, having stored thereon, computer executable process steps operative to control a computer to generate menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface, comprising:
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providing an application which can be displayed in a frame of a graphical user interface, the application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, the application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of the application being contained in a data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities; and
generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of the application. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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52. A computer readable medium, having stored thereon, computer executable process steps operative to control a computer to generate menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface having a parent frame for displaying menu/toolbar items and a plurality of child frames, comprising the steps of:
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providing a set of applications which can be displayed in the plurality of child frames, each application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, each application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of each application being contained in a data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities; and
generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of a currently focused one of the applications. - View Dependent Claims (53)
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58. A computer readable medium, having stored thereon, computer executable process steps, operative to control a computer to configure a plurality of menu/toolbar entities for an application, comprising:
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selecting a plurality of states for an application, the application having associated therewith a plurality of menu/toolbar entities for displaying on a graphical user interface;
selecting a state characteristic for each state, the state characteristic defining characteristics of a plurality of menu/toolbar entities of the application based on the state, information defining the state characteristics being stored in a data file;
entering the application into a current one of the plurality of states; and
applying the state characteristic of the current state of the application to the plurality of menu/toolbar entities displayed on a graphical user interface, based upon the information in the data file.
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59. A computer readable medium, having stored thereon, computer executable process steps, operative to control a computer to configure a plurality of menu/toolbar entities for an application, comprising:
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selecting a first plurality of states for an application, the application having associated therewith a plurality of menu/toolbar entities for displaying on a graphical user interface;
selecting a second plurality of state parts, each state part being associated with one or more of the plurality of states. selecting a state characteristic for each state and each state part, the state characteristic defining characteristics of a plurality of menu/toolbar entities of the application based on the state, information defining the state characteristics being stored in a data file;
entering the application into a current one of the plurality of states;
applying the state characteristic of the current state of the application to the plurality of menu/toolbar entities displayed on a graphical user interface, based upon the information in the data file;
entering the application into a current of the plurality of state parts for the current state;
applying the state characteristic of the current state part to the plurality of menu/toolbar entities displayed on a graphical user interface, based upon the information in the data file.
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69. A system for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface having a parent frame for displaying menu/toolbar items and a plurality of child frames, comprising:
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a display device for displaying the graphical user interface;
a computer processor coupled to a memory;
a set of applications stored in the memory which can be displayed in the plurality of child frames on the display device, each application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, information indicative of a policy for each menu/toolbar entity of each application being contained in a data file, each application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of each application being contained in the data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities; and
the computer processor generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the policies of the menu/toolbar entities for a currently focused one of the applications and upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of the currently focused application.
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77. A system for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface, comprising:
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a display device for displaying the graphical user interface;
a computer processor coupled to a memory;
an application which can be displayed in a frame of a graphical user interface, the application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, the application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of the application being contained in a data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities;
the computer processor generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface on the display device based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of the application. - View Dependent Claims (80, 81, 82, 83, 86)
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78. A system for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface having a parent frame for displaying menu/toolbar items and a plurality of child frames, comprising:
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a display device for displaying the graphical user interface;
a computer processor coupled to a memory;
a set of applications which can be displayed in the plurality of child frames, each application having a corresponding set of menu/toolbar entities, each application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of each application being contained in a data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of menu/toolbar entities; and
the computer processor generating a displayed set of menu/toolbar entities on the graphical user interface based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of a currently focused one of the applications.
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79. A method for altering an input entity on a graphical user interface, comprising
providing, in a data file, information indicative of a corresponding set of input entities for each of a plurality of system conditions; - and
generating a displayed set of input entities based upon a current system condition.
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84. A method for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface, comprising the steps of:
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providing an application which can be displayed in a frame of a graphical user interface, the application having a corresponding set of input entities, the application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of the application being contained in a data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of input entities; and
generating a displayed set of input entities on the graphical user interface based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of the application. - View Dependent Claims (85)
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87. A method for generating menu/toolbar entities on a graphical user interface having a parent frame for displaying menu/toolbar items and a plurality of child frames, comprising the steps of:
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providing a set of applications which can be displayed in the plurality of child frames, each application having a corresponding set of input entities, each application being in one of a respective plurality of application states at any given time, information indicative of an application state characteristic for each application state of each application being contained in a data file, each application state characteristic defining a display characteristic of at least one of the set of input entities; and
generating a displayed set of input entities on the graphical user interface based upon the application state characteristic of a current one of the application states of a currently focused one of the applications. - View Dependent Claims (88, 89, 90)
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91. A method of configuring a plurality of input entities for an application comprising the steps of:
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selecting a plurality of states for an application, the application having associated therewith a plurality of input entities for displaying on a graphical user interface;
selecting a state characteristic for each state, the state characteristic defining characteristics of a plurality of input entities of the application based on the state, information defining the state characteristics being stored in a data file;
entering the application into a current one of the plurality of states; and
applying the state characteristic of the current state of the application to the plurality of input entities displayed on a graphical user interface, based upon the information in the data file.
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92. A method of configuring a plurality of input entities for an application comprising the steps of:
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selecting a first plurality of states for an application, the application having associated therewith a plurality of input entities for displaying on a graphical user interface;
selecting a second plurality of state parts, each state part being associated with one or more of the plurality of states. selecting a state characteristic for each state and each state part, the state characteristic defining characteristics of a plurality of input entities of the application based on the state, information defining the state characteristics being stored in a data file;
entering the application into a current one of the plurality of states;
applying the state characteristic of the current state of the application to the plurality of input entities displayed on a graphical user interface, based upon the information in the data file;
entering the application into a current one of the plurality of state parts for the current state;
applying the state characteristic of the current state part to the plurality of input entities displayed on a graphical user interface, based upon the information in the data file.
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Specification