Dynamic multi-dimensional scrolling

• US 20060242603A1
• Filed: 04/22/2005
• Published: 10/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Anthony, Colin R., Hoefnagels, Stephan, Van Dok, Cornelis K., Wong, Lyon K.F.
• Granted Patent: US 7,536,410 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/853
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

A system and method of automatically dynamically scrolling content in a dimension to enhance user navigation and display of a relevant node is disclosed. In one example, when a user scrolls vertically to a node in a folder tree control where the node/folder name is not visible, the folder tree view may be automatically dynamically scrolled horizontally such that the full name of the folder is viewable. The automatic dynamic scrolling alleviates the effort and stress related to requiring a user to manually scroll a view in two dimensions in a tree control.

Claims

1. In a computer system having a graphical user interface and a data storage subsystem in which data items are displayed as a hierarchical tree on the graphical user interface, a computer-implemented method of user navigation of data, comprising:

(a) displaying a first view of a hierarchical tree control in a viewable area, wherein the tree control has a plurality of nested nodes;

(b) in response to user input indicative of navigation of the hierarchical tree control, determining if said user input will result in a relevant node in said hierarchical tree control being at least partially obscured;

(c) if said user input results in the relevant node being at least partially obscured, then automatically scrolling the first view of the hierarchical tree control for a predetermined distance; and

(d) displaying a second view of the hierarchical tree control, wherein the relevant node is substantially entirely visible.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said predetermined distance is not less than an amount necessary to approximately align said relevant node with a right edge of said viewable area.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising delaying for a predetermined amount of time if said user input results in the relevant node being at least partially obscured.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input indicative of navigation comprises the user vertically scrolling the first view of a hierarchical tree control, and wherein said automatically scrolling comprises horizontal scrolling.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the user input indicative of navigation comprises non-scrolling user input that interacts with the hierarchical tree control.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said non-scrolling user input comprises a user selecting an expand widget displayed in the viewable area.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said non-scrolling user input comprises a user providing focus to a node in said hierarchical tree control.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said relevant node is a node in said hierarchical tree control that has focus.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said relevant node is a node in said hierarchical tree control that is closest in proximity to a mouse pointer displayed on the graphical user interface.

10. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing the computer-implemented method of claim 1.

11. A computer-implemented method for navigating a folder tree control displayed in a predetermined viewable area on a graphical user interface, comprising steps of:

(a) providing focus to a first node in said folder tree control;

(b) navigating to a second node in said folder tree control in response to user input, wherein said second node is at least partially obscured in said viewable area; and

(c) automatically scrolling said folder tree control to a state where said second node is substantially entirely visible in said viewable area.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said folder tree control does not contain a displayed horizontal scroll bar, and wherein said automatically scrolling comprises horizontal scrolling.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising waiting at least a predetermined amount of time after step (b) before performing step (c).

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said predetermined amount of time is approximately 100 milliseconds.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein said second node comprises one or more sub-nodes relating to said first node, and wherein said user input comprises non-scrolling user input.

16. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing the computer-implemented method of claim 11.

17. A system for user navigation of data in a hierarchical tree control in a graphical user interface, comprising:

(a) a component for displaying a first view of a hierarchical tree control in a predetermined viewable area, wherein the tree control comprises a plurality of nested nodes;

(b) a component for determining if, in response to user input, a relevant node in said hierarchical tree control is at least partially obscured in said predetermined viewable area;

(c) a component for automatically scrolling the first view of a hierarchical tree control for a predetermined distance, if said user input results in the relevant node being at least partially obscured, wherein said predetermined distance is not less than the amount necessary to approximately align said relevant node with a predetermined edge of said viewable area; and

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said component for automatically scrolling further comprises a component for waiting for a predetermined amount of time before automatically scrolling the first view of a hierarchical tree control,

19. The system of claim 17, wherein said relevant node is a node in said hierarchical tree control that has focus.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein said relevant node is a node in said hierarchical tree control that is closest in proximity to a mouse pointer displayed on the graphical user interface.