Method and system for improving selection capability for user interface

• US 20070022386A1
• Filed: 07/21/2005
• Published: 01/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chen, Yen-Fu, Hamilton, Rick, Seaman, James, Boss, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 7,559,033 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/543 User-generated data transfer, e.g. clipboards, dynamic data exchange [DDE], object linking and embedding [OLE]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0004 Industrial image inspection

Abstract

In a graphical user interface or other similar processing environment, functionality is provided that enables the selecting of multiple portions of non-contiguous content, and enables such functionality within the same application and also across different applications. Further, a “direct save” function is enabled that allows the user to directly save the multiple portions of selected content to a file. In addition, selected content portions can be categorized, and a mechanism is provided to allow the user to conveniently make use of these various categories for effective content viewing.

Claims

1. A system for selecting non-contiguous data in documents displayed on a display device, comprising:

means for designating a first portion of a displayed document for selection by highlighting the first portion;

means for designating a second portion of a displayed document for selection by highlighting the second portion;

whereby the highlighted first portion and the highlighted second portion are displayed simultaneously.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the highlighted first portion is displayed in a first software application and the highlighted second portion is displayed in a second software application.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for saving the first portion to a clipboard;

means for saving the second portion to the clipboard; and

means for saving the first and second portions to a file by actuating a save mechanism, without any intervening action.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for saving the first portion to a clipboard;

means for saving the second portion to the clipboard; and

means for displaying the first and second portions in a display window by actuating a save mechanism, without any intervening action.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

means for obtaining source information regarding the first portion and saving it to the clipboard;

means for obtaining source information regarding and second portion and saving it to the clipboard; and

means for displaying the source information in said display window with the displayed first and second portions.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising:

means for designating the first portion as belonging to at least one of plural categories;

means for designating the second portion as belonging to at least one of said plural categories; and

means for selectively displaying the first and/or second portions in said display window based on the categories to which the first and second categories are designated.

12. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

designating the first portion as belonging to at least one of plural categories;

designating the second portion as belonging to at least one of said plural categories; and

selectively displaying the first and/or second portions in said display window based on the categories to which the first and second categories are designated.

18. The computer program product of claim 5, further comprising:

computer-readable means for designating the first portion as belonging to at least one of plural categories;

computer-readable means for designating the second portion as belonging to at least one of said plural categories; and

computer-readable means for selectively displaying the first and/or second portions in said display window based on the categories to which the first and second categories are designated.

7. A computer-implemented method for selecting non-contiguous data in documents displayed on a display device, comprising the steps of:

designating a first portion of a displayed document for selection by highlighting the first portion;

designating a second portion of a displayed document for selection by highlighting the second portion;

whereby the highlighted first portion and the highlighted second portion are displayed simultaneously.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the highlighted first portion is displayed in a first software application and the highlighted second portion is displayed in a second software application.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:

saving the first portion to a clipboard;

saving the second portion to the clipboard; and

without any intervening steps, actuating a save mechanism to save the first and second portions to a file.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:

saving the first portion to a clipboard;

saving the second portion to the clipboard; and

without any intervening steps, actuating a save mechanism to display the first and second portions in a display window.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

obtaining source information regarding the first portion and saving it to the clipboard;

obtaining source information regarding and second portion and saving it to the clipboard; and

displaying the source information in said display window with the displayed first and second portions.

13. A computer program product recorded on a computer-readable medium for selecting non-contiguous data in documents displayed on a display device, comprising:

computer-readable means for designating a first portion of a displayed document for selection by highlighting the first portion;

computer-readable means for designating a second portion of a displayed document for selection by highlighting the second portion;

whereby the highlighted first portion and the highlighted second portion are displayed simultaneously.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the highlighted first portion is displayed in a first software application and the highlighted second portion is displayed in a second software application.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

computer-readable means for saving the first portion to a clipboard;

computer-readable means for saving the second portion to the clipboard; and

computer-readable means for saving the first and second portions to a file by actuating a save mechanism, without any intervening action.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

computer-readable means for saving the first portion to a clipboard;

computer-readable means for saving the second portion to the clipboard; and

computer-readable means for displaying the first and second portions in a display window by actuating a save mechanism, without any intervening action.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, further comprising:

computer-readable means for obtaining source information regarding the first portion and saving it to the clipboard;

computer-readable means for obtaining source information regarding and second portion and saving it to the clipboard; and

computer-readable means for displaying the source information in said display window with the displayed first and second portions.