SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIALOG POSITION MANAGEMENT

• US 20080235618A1
• Filed: 03/23/2007
• Published: 09/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Industry Software Inc. (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Sadouski, Siarhei
• Granted Patent: US 9,032,329 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/788
• 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

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program for managing objects within an application, comprising receiving information corresponding to a command accessed through a user interface; and in response to the received information, clipping said received information to one or more rail clips wherein said rail clip is positioned along said dialog rail in a computer window environment and appropriate means and computer-readable instructions.

Claims

1. A method for managing objects within an application, comprising:

receiving information corresponding to a command accessed through a user interface; and

in response to the received information, clipping said received information to one or more rail clips

wherein said rail clip is positioned along said dialog rail in a computer window environment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising re-positioning said rail clip following a plurality of position inputs.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising re-aligning said received information on said rail clip when re-positioning said rail clip at a 50%/50% workspace ratio.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising positioning the rail clip along the dialog rail in the computer window environment.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising unclipping said received information from said rail clip to cause said received information to float in said computer windows environment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said received information is a dialog box.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said received information is one of a menu and a sub-menu.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising positioning said dialog rail to at least one tab stop in said computer window environment.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising aligning said received information on said rail clip in one of a left-aligned location and a right-aligned location.

10. A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a machine readable medium to perform a method for managing objects within an application, comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to:

receive information corresponding to a command accessed through a user interface; and

in response to the received information, clip said received information to one or more rail clips

wherein said rail clip is positioned along said dialog rail in a computer window environment.

11. The computer-program product of claim 10, further comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to re-position said rail clip following a plurality of position inputs.

12. The computer-program product of claim 11, further comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to re-align said received information on said rail clip when re-positioning said rail clip at a 50%/50% workspace ratio.

13. The computer-program product of claim 10, further comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to position the rail clip along the dialog rail in the computer window environment.

14. The computer-program product of claim 10, further comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to unclip said received information from said rail clip to cause said received information to float in said computer windows environment.

15. The computer-program product of claim 10, wherein said received information is a dialog box.

16. The computer-program product of claim 10, wherein said received information is one of a menu and a sub-menu.

17. The computer-program product of claim 10, further comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to position said dialog rail to at least one tab stop in said computer window environment.

18. The computer-program product of claim 10, further comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to align said received information on said rail clip in one of a left-aligned location and a right-aligned location.

19. An information manager, comprising:

a displayable defined region that accepts received information; and

one or more docking locations positioned along said defined region;

whereby information received from a command execution is associated with said docking location.

20. The information manager of claim 19, wherein said defined region extends a length of a computer window environment.

21. The information manager of claim 20, wherein said defined region is a dialog rail.

22. The information manager of claim 19, wherein said docking location is a rail clip.

23. The information manager of claim 19, wherein said received information is a dialog box.

24. A system comprising:

a windowed environment; and

an application using said windowed environment that includes;

a menu bar with access to a plurality of dialog boxes;

a rail clip to provide a clipping location for said plurality of dialog boxes; and

a dialog rail upon which said rail clip moves along at least one plane of said application to rapidly position said dialog boxes in a preferred location to facilitate interaction within a workspace area and an optional resource area.

25. A data processing system having at least a processor and accessible memory to implement a method for managing objects within an application, comprising:

means for receiving information corresponding to a command accessed through a user interface; and

in response to the received information, means for clipping said command to said rail clip.