Computer program product, apparatus and method for displaying a plurality of entities in a tooltip for a cell of a table

• US 20070245241A1
• Filed: 04/18/2006
• Published: 10/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Molander, Mark, Bertram, Randal, Ortega, Kerry, Cox, Aaron
• Granted Patent: US 7,607,088 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/711
• 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 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

A computer program product, electronic device and method are provided that enable a user to easily view, in a tooltip, all of the entities of a plurality of entities contained in a cell of a table when the width of the cell prevents the cell display from showing all of the entities. In response to a tooltip being opened for a cell of a table, the cell having a plurality of entities, at least a portion of the plurality of entities is displayed in the tooltip. An indicia expressive of a total number of the plurality of entities is also displayed. Alternate embodiments provide navigation aids in the tooltip to assist a user in more conveniently viewing all of the entities.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising program instructions embodied on a tangible computer-readable medium, execution of the program instructions resulting in operations comprising:

in response to a tooltip being opened for a cell of a table, the cell comprising a plurality of entities, displaying in the tooltip at least a portion of the plurality of entities; and

displaying in the tooltip an indicia expressive of a total number of the plurality of entities.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein displaying in the tooltip at least a portion of the plurality of entities comprises displaying at least a portion of the plurality of entities up to a predetermined number of entities.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein displaying in the tooltip at least a portion of the plurality of entities comprises displaying at least a portion of the plurality of entities up to a predetermined number of characters.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the tooltip is opened in response to an interaction between a pointer and the cell and wherein the tooltip remains open while the pointer is located within the tooltip.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein execution of the program instructions results in operations further comprising providing at least one navigation aid to assist a user in navigating among the at least a portion of the plurality of entities displayed in the tooltip.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the at least one navigation aid comprises a navigation system in which a specific portion of the plurality of entities is displayed, wherein the specific portion displayed corresponds to a relative position of a pointer as compared to the tooltip.

7. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the at least one navigation aid comprises a scrollbar.

8. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the at least one navigation aid comprises at least one navigation point.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the at least one navigation point comprises a plurality of navigation points and wherein a user-selected navigation point is distinguished from unselected navigation points.

10. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein execution of the program instructions results in operations further comprising providing a user with an option to selectively enable or disable the at least one navigation aid.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein execution of the program instructions results in operations further comprising enabling a user to convert the tooltip into a separate object that is movable within a display screen.

12. An electronic device comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one data processor coupled to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one data processor is operable to perform operations comprising;

in response to a tooltip being opened for a cell of a table, the cell comprising a plurality of entities, displaying in the tooltip at least a portion of the plurality of entities; and

displaying in the tooltip an indicia expressive of a total number of the plurality of entities.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the set of operations further comprises providing at least one navigation aid to assist a user in navigating among the at least a portion of the plurality of entities displayed in the tooltip.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the at least one navigation aid comprises at least one navigation point.

15. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the set of operations further comprises providing a user with an option to selectively enable or disable the at least one navigation aid.

16. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the set of operations further comprises enabling a user to convert the tooltip into a separate movable object.

17. A computer program product comprising program instructions embodied on a tangible computer-readable medium, execution of the program instructions resulting in operations comprising:

in response to a tooltip being opened for a cell of a table, the cell comprising a plurality of entities, displaying in the tooltip at least a portion of the plurality of entities; and

providing at least one navigation aid to assist a user in navigating among the at least a portion of the plurality of entities displayed in the tooltip.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the at least one navigation aid comprises a navigation system in which a specific portion of the plurality of entities is displayed, wherein the specific portion displayed corresponds to a relative position of a pointer as compared to the tooltip.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the at least one navigation aid comprises at least one navigation point.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein execution of the program instructions results in operations further comprising providing a user with an option to selectively enable or disable the at least one navigation aid.