Method and system for controlling cascaded windows on a GUI desktop on a computer

• US 20040255254A1
• Filed: 06/10/2004
• Published: 12/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alphabase Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Alphabase Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Weingart, Barry S., Price, David B.
• Granted Patent: US 7,159,189 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/804
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system of maintaining and controlling the ordering and placement for display of individual GUI windows into groups or “decks” similar to a deck of playing cards on a desktop area of a computer display. The decks comprise collections of cascaded windows. The method and system control the decks such that the title bars of all windows of the deck are always simultaneously visible to the user no matter which window is selected as the active window. The act of moving the current top window back into a new position in the deck is defined as “shuffling” the windows. The method and system further provide auto-deck processes that automatically cascade defined applications, such as Internet Explorer windows, into a deck. In addition, the method and system may also include user-definable options as to the order of the shuffle, and includes the ability to drag the active window out of the deck and to drag any window into the deck. Also, the method and system may allow for the automatic resizing of all windows in a deck by just resizing the active window, and for a predetermined grouping of different applications into the same deck.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing a plurality of windows displayed on a computer, comprising:

arranging the plurality of windows into a deck; and

causing at least a portion of each window within the deck to be displayed regardless of which window in the deck is active.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

activating a first window within the deck;

moving the first window to the front of the deck; and

moving a second window, which was active before the first window, into another position in the deck.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

automatically removing a window from the deck when the window is activated and dragged away from the deck.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

automatically adding a window to the deck when the window is dragged onto the deck.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the windows in the deck are arranged in a cascaded manner.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

assigning an auto-deck property to an application;

detecting when the application is launched;

determining whether the application is in the deck; and

adding a window to the deck for the application if the application is in the deck.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

creating a new deck if the application is not in the deck.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting when a window in the deck is resized; and

automatically resizing all other windows in the deck to the new size.

9. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for managing a plurality of windows displayed on a computer, the method comprising:

arranging the plurality of windows into a deck; and

causing at least a portion of each window within the deck to be displayed regardless of which window in the deck is active.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

activating a first window within the deck;

moving the first window to the front of the deck; and

moving a second window, which was active before the first window, into another position in the deck.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

removing a window from the deck when the window is activated and dragged away from the deck.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

automatically adding a window to the deck when the window is dragged onto the deck.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the windows in the deck are arranged in a cascaded manner.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

assigning an auto-deck property to an application;

detecting when the application is launched;

determining whether the application is in the deck; and

adding a window to the deck for the application if the application is in the deck.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

creating a new deck if the application is not in the deck.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting when a window in the deck is resized; and

automatically resizing all other windows in the deck to the new size.

17. A data processing system for use on a computer comprising:

cascade logic for arranging a plurality of windows into a deck; and

display logic for causing at least a portion of each window within the deck to be displayed regardless of which window in the deck is active.

18. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

a shuffler for rearranging windows in the deck, the shuffler being adapted to;

activate a first window within the deck;

move the first window to the front of the deck; and

move a second window, which was active before the first window, into another position in the deck.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the cascade logic is further adapted to remove a window from the deck when the window is activated and dragged away from the deck, and add a window to the deck when the window is dragged onto the deck.

20. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

auto-deck logic that is adapted to;

assign an auto-deck property to an application;

detect when the application is launched;

determine whether the application is in the deck; and

add a window to the deck for the application if the application is in the deck.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the auto-deck logic is further adapted to create a new deck if the application is not in the deck.