User interface for presenting a palette of items

• US 20070186183A1
• Filed: 02/06/2006
• Published: 08/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hudson, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US11/347,861
• Publication Number:
  US 20070186183A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/810
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

The present invention provides a user interface for presenting a palette of items. A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: arranging a plurality of items into a plurality of groups, each group including at least two items; and selectively displaying each group in either an expanded state, wherein all of the items in the group are displayed, or in a collapsed state, wherein only a most recently used item of the group is displayed.

Claims

1. A method for presenting a palette of items, comprising:

arranging a plurality of items into a plurality of groups, each group including at least two items; and

selectively displaying each group in either an expanded state, wherein all of the items in the group are displayed, or in a collapsed state, wherein only a most recently used item of the group is displayed.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selectively and temporarily displaying all of the items within a group that is in the collapsed state.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing each group that is in the collapsed state with a drop-down mechanism; and

temporarily displaying all of the items within the group in response to an actuation of the drop-down mechanism.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the temporarily displayed items are displayed in a separate window.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

reordering the temporarily displayed items based on recent usage.

6. A system for presenting a palette of items, comprising:

a system for arranging a plurality of items into a plurality of groups, each group including at least two items; and

a system for selectively displaying each group in either an expanded state, wherein all of the items in the group are displayed, or in a collapsed state, wherein only a most recently used item of the group is displayed.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a system for selecting an item from one of the groups.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein each group includes an expand/collapse mechanism, further comprising:

a system for selectively toggling each group between the expanded state and the collapsed state in response to an actuation of the expand/collapse mechanism.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a system for selectively and temporarily displaying all of the items within a group that is in the collapsed state.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein each group that is in the collapsed state includes a drop-down mechanism, further comprising:

a system for temporarily displaying all of the items within the group in response to an actuation of the drop-down mechanism.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the temporarily displayed items are displayed in a separate window.

12. A user interface (UI) for presenting a palette of items, comprising:

a plurality of groups of items arranged vertically within a defined area, wherein each group includes a plurality of items;

each group including a expand/collapse widget for selectively presenting the group in either an expanded state, wherein all of the items in the group are displayed, or in a collapsed state, wherein only a most recently used item of the group is displayed.

13. The UI of claim 12 wherein each group further includes an expand/collapse mechanism, wherein each group can be selectively toggled between the expanded state and the collapsed state in response to an actuation of the expand/collapse mechanism.

14. The UI of claim 12, wherein each group that is in the collapsed state further includes a drop-down mechanism, wherein all of the items in a group that is displayed in the collapsed state can be temporarily displayed in response to an actuation of the drop-down mechanism.

15. The UI of claim 14, wherein the temporarily displayed items are displayed in a separate window.

16. A program product stored on a tangible medium for presenting a pallet of items, the tangible medium comprising program code for performing the steps of:

arranging a plurality of items into a plurality of groups, each group including at least two items; and

selectively displaying each group in either an expanded state, wherein all of the items in the group are displayed, or in a collapsed state, wherein only a most recently used item of the group is displayed.

17. The program product of claim 16, further comprising program code for performing the step of:

selecting an item from one of the groups.

18. The program product of claim 16, wherein the item comprises a tool, a template, or a combination thereof.

19. The program product of claim 16, further comprising program code for performing the steps of:

providing each group with an expand/collapse mechanism; and

selectively toggling each group between the expanded state and the collapsed state in response to an actuation of the expand/collapse mechanism.

20. The program product of claim 16, further comprising program code for performing the step of:

arranging the groups vertically within a defined area.