System and method for scaling data according to an optimal width for display on a mobile device

• US 20040075673A1
• Filed: 04/14/2003
• Published: 04/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Koch, Zeke, Vale, Peter Ormand, McLain, Jay Franklin, Dadi, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 7,365,758 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/660
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/145 related to small screens
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/027 Arrangements and methods specific for the display of internet documents
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications

Abstract

A system and method is included for scaling blocks of data according to an optimal width to increase usability of the data when scaling the blocks of data to fit a screen on a mobile device. The optimal width provides a minimum width to which the block of data may be scaled, such that scaling the block of data to a level where usability of the data is compromised is avoided.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for scaling data according to an optimal width for display on a mobile device, the method comprising:

separating the data into blocks, such that each block corresponds to a particular type of data;

determining if a first block is one of a particular type of blocks, wherein each block of the particular type of blocks has an associated optimal width;

determining the optimal width of the first block when the first block is one of the particular type of blocks; and

scaling the first block according to the optimal width of the first block when the first block is one of the particular type of blocks, such that usability of the data is maintained.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular type of blocks corresponds to blocks that represent data in tabular form.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular type of blocks corresponds to blocks that represent data in the form of large chunks of text.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the optimal width of the first block corresponds to a specified width of the first block, wherein the specified width is set for the first block prior to determining the optimal width.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the optimal width corresponds to a default width of the first block, wherein the default width represents a minimal width for first block that corresponds to the data of the first block.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether all optimal widths have been determined for the blocks prior to scaling the first block according to its optimal width.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first block is scaled according to a width associated with a screen of the mobile device when the width associated with the screen is wider than the optimal width.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the optimal width for first block is determined according a width associated with a second block contained with the first block.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a separate scaling factor is applied to scale the first block, other than the scaling factor applied to fit a block of data within a screen of the mobile device, such that the format of the data is substantially maintained.

10. A mobile device, comprising:

a processor;

a display;

a memory into which a plurality of computer-executable instructions are loaded, the computer-executable instructions performing a method comprising;

separating a page of data into blocks for scaling the data to fit the display, wherein each block corresponds to a particular type of data;

determining if a first block is one of a particular type of blocks, wherein each block of the particular type of blocks has an associated optimal width;

determining the optimal width of the first block when the first block is one of the particular type of blocks;

scaling the first block according to a width associated with the display when the first block is not one of the particular type of blocks; and

scaling the first block according to the optimal width when the first block is on of the particular type of blocks, such that usability of the data is maintained.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, the computer-executable instructions further comprising determining whether all optimal widths have been determined for the blocks prior to scaling the first block according to its optimal width.

12. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the optimal width of the first block corresponds to a default width of the first block, wherein the default width represents a minimal width for first block corresponding to the data of the first block.

13. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the optimal width of the first block corresponds to a specified width of the first block, wherein the specified width is set for the first block prior to determining the optimal width.

14. A computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

separating a page of data into blocks to scale the data for display on a screen of a mobile device, wherein each block corresponds to a particular type of data;

determining each block is one of a particular type of blocks, wherein each block of the particular type of blocks corresponds to a particular type of data and has an associated optimal width;

determining the associated optimal width of the each block of the particular type of blocks;

determining whether the associated optimal width corresponding to each block of the particular type of blocks has been determined; and

scaling each block of the particular type of blocks according to its associated optimal width, such that usability of the data is maintained.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the particular type of blocks corresponds to blocks that represents data in the form of tables.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the particular type of blocks corresponds to blocks that represent data in the form of chunks of text.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the associated optimal width of the each block of the particular type of blocks corresponds to a specified width of each block of the particular type of blocks respectively, wherein the specified width is set for each block of the particular type of blocks prior to determining its associated optimal width.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the associated optimal width of each block of the particular type of blocks corresponds to a default width of each block of the particular type of blocks, wherein the default width represents a minimal width for each block of the particular type of blocks that corresponds to the data within each block of the particular type of blocks.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising scaling each block other than the blocks of the particular type of blocks according to a width associated with the screen of the mobile device.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein a separate scaling factor is applied in scaling each block of the particular type of blocks that is different than the scale factor applied to each block other than the blocks of the particular type of blocks.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein scaling one of the particular type of blocks is avoided when the optimal width associated with the one of the particular type of blocks corresponds to a specified width.