Virtual address bar user interface control

• US 20040207666A1
• Filed: 04/17/2003
• Published: 10/21/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Hally, J. Craig, Ligameri, Mark R., Miner, Patrice L., Odins-Lucas, Zeke B., Banks, Richard M., Kaasten, Shaun A., Moore, Jason F., Sheldon, Michael, Vorchik, David G. De, Koch, Kenneth A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,240,292 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/854
• 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 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence

Abstract

A virtual address bar user interface control is presented. The virtual address bar includes a plurality of interactive segments, each segment corresponding to a predetermined filter for selecting content in a computer file system. Collectively, the interactive segments represent a virtual address for selecting content. Selecting an interactive segment in the virtual address bar causes those segments subsequent to the selected segment to be removed from the virtual address bar. A user may select a peer filter for a segment to replace that segment'"'"'s current filter and removes those segments subsequent to the updated segment. The virtual address bar can be selectively configured to operate as a conventional address bar, and reconfigured to operate as a virtual address bar. Additional filter segments are added to the end of the existing filter segments. Those existing filter segments that conflict with the added segment are removed from the virtual address bar.

Claims

1. A system for selecting content for display on a display device according to an virtual address bar, the system comprising:

a computing device having a processor and a memory;

at least one storage device communicatively coupled to the computing device for storing content; and

a display device communicatively coupled to the computing device for displaying a virtual address bar;

wherein the virtual address bar comprises a plurality of address segments, each address segment corresponding to a predetermined filter for selecting content from the content stored on the storage device; and

wherein the plurality of address segments'"'"' corresponding predetermined filters comprise a virtual address for selecting content for display on the display device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of address segments is an interactive address segment operable to respond to user interaction and modify the plurality of address segments.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein an interactive address segment is operable to respond to user interaction and modify the plurality of address segments such that, upon manipulating an interactive address segment, any of the plurality of address segments subsequent to the manipulated interactive address segment are removed from the virtual address bar.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein an interactive address segments is operable to respond to user interaction and modify the plurality of address segments such that, upon manipulating an interactive address segment, a list of selectable peer filters is presented to the user.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein, upon selecting a peer filter from the list of selectable peer filters, the predetermined filter of the manipulated interactive address segment is replaced with the selected peer filter.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein, upon selecting a peer filter from the list of selectable peer filters, any of the plurality of address segments subsequent to the manipulated interactive address segment are removed from the virtual address bar.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein manipulating an interactive filter segment in the virtual address bar comprises placing a cursor element over an interactive address segment and leaving the cursor element stationary over the interactive address segment for a predetermined amount of time.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein an additional address segment may be added to the virtual address bar according to user interactions external to the virtual address bar.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein an additional address segment is added to the virtual address bar at the end of the plurality of address segments in the virtual address bar.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein, upon adding an additional address segment to the virtual address bar, any of the plurality of address segments that conflict with the additional address segment are removed from the virtual address bar.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein any of the plurality of address segments conflicts with the additional filter segment when the corresponding predetermined filter of one of the plurality of address segments and the corresponding predetermined filter of the additional address segment are mutually exclusive.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein any of the plurality of address segments conflicts with the additional address segment when the corresponding predetermined filter of one of the plurality of address segments is broader in scope than the corresponding predetermined filter of the additional address segment.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein any of the plurality of address segments conflicts with the additional address segment when the corresponding predetermined filter of one of the plurality of address segments is narrower in scope than the corresponding predetermined address of the additional filter segment.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual address bar may be selectively configured to operate as a conventional address bar in response to a user interaction.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the virtual address bar, selectively configured to operate as a conventional address bar, may be selectively reconfigured to operate as a virtual address bar in response to a user interaction.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual address bar is embedded in a file viewer and displayed on the display device.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual address bar is embedded in an open file dialog view and displayed on the display device.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein an address segment'"'"'s corresponding predetermined filter comprises selection criteria for selecting content stored in a particular location on the storage device.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein an address segment'"'"'s corresponding predetermined filter comprises selection criteria for selecting content irrespective of the content'"'"'s particular storage location on the storage device.

20. A virtual address bar user interface control for selecting content accessible to a computer system for display, the virtual address bar comprising:

a plurality of interactive segments, wherein each interactive segment corresponds to a filter for selecting content for display.

21. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein the corresponding filter of an interactive segment further restricts the content selected by the corresponding filters of any preceding filter segments.

22. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein selecting an interactive segment in the virtual address bar causes any interactive segments subsequent to the selected interactive segment to be removed from the virtual address bar.

23. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein alternatively selecting an interactive segment in the virtual address bar causes a list of selectable peer filters to be presented to the user.

24. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 23, where the selectable peer filters are peer filters to the alternatively selected interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter.

25. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 23, wherein selecting a peer filter from the list of selectable peer filters causes the alternatively selected interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter to be replaced with the selected peer filter.

26. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 25, wherein selecting a peer filter from the list of selectable peer filters further causes those interactive segments subsequent to the alternatively selected interactive segment to be removed from the virtual address bar.

27. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 23, wherein alternatively selecting an interactive segment in the virtual address bar comprises placing a cursor element over an interactive segment and leaving the cursor element stationary over the interactive segment for a predetermined amount of time.

28. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein an additional interactive segment may be added to the virtual address bar according to user interactions external to the virtual address bar.

29. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 28, wherein the additional interactive segment is added to the virtual address bar to the end of the plurality of interactive segments.

30. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 29, wherein upon adding an additional interactive segment to the virtual address bar, any of the plurality of interactive segments that conflict with the additional interactive segment are removed from the virtual address bar.

31. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 30, wherein any of the plurality of interactive segments conflicts with the additional interactive segment when the filter corresponding to one of the plurality of interactive segments and the filter corresponding to the additional interactive segment are mutually exclusive.

32. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 30, wherein any of the plurality of interactive segments conflicts with the additional interactive segment when the filter corresponding to one of the plurality of interactive segments is broader in scope the filter corresponding to the additional interactive segment.

33. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 30, wherein any of the plurality of interactive segments conflicts with the additional interactive segment when the filter corresponding to one of the plurality of interactive segments is narrower in scope the filter corresponding to the additional interactive segment.

34. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein the virtual address bar may be selectively configured to operate as a conventional address bar according to a user interaction.

35. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein the virtual address bar, selectively configured to operate as a conventional address bar, may be selectively reconfigured to operate as a virtual address bar according to a user interaction.

36. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein the virtual address bar is embedded and displayed in a file viewer.

37. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein the virtual address bar is embedded and displayed in an open file dialog view.

38. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein the corresponding filter of an interactive segment comprises selection criteria for selecting content stored in a particular location on the computer system.

39. The virtual address bar user interface control of claim 20, wherein the corresponding filter of an interactive segment comprises selection criteria for selecting content irrespective of the content'"'"'s storage location on the computer system.

40. A method for providing a virtual path to content stored in a computer file system using a virtual address bar, the method comprising:

displaying a virtual address bar operable to include a first interactive segment, wherein the first interactive segment references content on the computer file system according to a corresponding filter for selecting content; and

adding one or more additional interactive segments to the virtual address bar, wherein each additional interactive segment further restricts the content referenced by the preceding interactive segments;

wherein the first interactive segment and the one or more additional interactive segments comprise a virtual path

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

monitoring for and detecting user actions on the virtual address bar; and

upon detecting a user action on the virtual address bar, updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the detected user action is a selection of an interactive segment, and wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action comprises removing those interactive segments subsequent to the selected interactive segment from the virtual address bar.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the detected user action is an alternative selection of an interactive segment, and wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action comprises presenting a list of selectable peer filters to the user.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action further comprises detecting a user selection of a peer filter from the list of selectable peer filters, and replacing the alternatively selected interactive segment'"'"'s filter with the selected peer filter.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action further comprises removing those interactive segments subsequent to the alternatively selected interactive segment from the virtual address bar.

46. The method of claim 43, wherein an alternative selection of an interactive segment in the virtual address bar comprises placing a cursor element over the interactive segment and leaving the cursor element stationary over the interactive segment for a predetermined amount of time.

47. The method of claim 41 further comprising adding an additional interactive segment to the virtual address bar according to external user actions.

48. The method of claim 47 further comprising adding the additional interactive segment to the end of the interactive segments in the virtual address bar.

49. The method of claim 48 further comprising, upon adding the additional interactive segment to the end of the interactive segments in the virtual address bar, removing those interactive segments that conflict with the additional interactive segment from the virtual address bar.

50. The method of claim 45, wherein an interactive segment conflicts with the additional interactive segment when the interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter and the additional interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter are mutually exclusive.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein an interactive segment conflicts with the additional interactive segment when interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter is broader in scope than the additional interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter.

52. The method of claim 49, wherein an interactive segment conflicts with the additional interactive segment when interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter is narrower in scope than the additional interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter.

53. The method of claim 41, wherein the detected user action is a configuration selection, and wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action comprises configuring the virtual address bar to function as a conventional address bar when the virtual address bar is not functioning as a conventional address bar.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the detected user action is a configuration selection, and wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action further comprises reconfiguring the virtual address bar to cease functioning as a conventional address bar when the virtual address bar is functioning as a conventional address bar.

55. The method of claim 40 further comprising displaying a user actionable scroll indicator when the virtual address bar is unable to display the first interactive segment and the one or more additional interactive segments due to size limitations.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the user actionable scroll indicator indicates a direction of undisplayed interactive segments.

57. The method of claim 56 further comprising:

detecting user actions on the user actionable scroll indicator; and

upon detecting a user action on the user actionable scroll indicator, scrolling the display of the interactive segments in the direction indicated by the user actionable scroll indicator such that the virtual address bar displays at least one of the previously undisplayed interactive segments.

58. The method of claim 40, wherein any one of the first interactive segment and the one or more additional interactive segments references content stored in a particular location in the computer file system.

59. The method of claim 40, wherein any one of the first interactive segment and the one or more additional interactive segments references content irrespective of the content'"'"'s particular location in the computer file system.

60. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions, which when executed, carry out the method comprising:

displaying a virtual address bar comprising a plurality of interactive segments, each interactive segment corresponding to a filter for selecting content to be displayed on a display device, wherein the virtual address bar selects content for display on a display device according to the corresponding filters of each of the plurality of interactive segments;

detecting user actions on the virtual address bar; and

upon detecting a user action on the virtual address bar, updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action.

61. The computer-readable medium of claim 60, wherein the detected user action is a selection of an interactive segment, and wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action comprises removing those interactive segments subsequent to the selected interactive segment from the virtual address bar.

62. The computer-readable medium of claim 60, wherein the detected user action is an alternative selection of an interactive segment, and wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action comprises presenting a list of selectable peer filters to the user.

63. The computer-readable medium of claim 62, wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action further comprises detecting a user selection of a peer filter from the list of selectable peer filters, and replacing the alternatively selected interactive segment'"'"'s filter with the selected peer filter.

64. The computer-readable medium of claim 63, wherein updating the virtual address bar according to the detected user action further comprises removing those interactive segments subsequent to the alternatively selected interactive segment from the virtual address bar.

65. The computer-readable medium of claim 60 further comprising adding an additional interactive segment to the virtual address bar according to external user actions.

66. The computer-readable medium of claim 65 further comprising adding the additional interactive segment to the end of the interactive segments in the virtual address bar.

67. The computer-readable medium of claim 66 further comprising, upon adding the additional interactive segment to the end of the interactive segments in the virtual address bar, removing those interactive segments that conflict with the additional interactive segment from the virtual address bar.

68. The computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein an interactive segment conflicts with the additional interactive segment when the interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter and additional interactive segment'"'"'s filter are mutually exclusive.

69. The computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein an interactive segment conflicts with the additional interactive segment when the interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter is broader in scope than the additional interactive segment'"'"'s filter.

70. The computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein an interactive segment conflicts with the additional interactive segment when the interactive segment'"'"'s corresponding filter is narrower in scope than the additional interactive segment'"'"'s filter.