NOTIFICATION AREA THAT PERSISTENTLY REARRANGES ELEMENTS

• US 20090327940A1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Miller, Jeff, Duncan, Richard, Kirtane, Latika
• Granted Patent: US 8,972,893 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/765
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications

Abstract

Embodiments described herein are directed to managing elements within a notification area of a graphical operating system. The elements may include any graphic, logo, or image associated with running software. A user indicates which elements can be displayed in the notification area, consequently creating a list of potentially displayable elements. For each listed element, an order of display, file location, and display status is designated. The user may freely change the order in which elements are displayed in the notification area by repositioning the displayed elements. Elements may be permanently removed from the notification area, resulting in their deletion from the list. Only elements entered into the order list, at the discretion of the user, are displayable within the notification area.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for displaying one or more elements within a notification area of a computing device, the method comprising:

monitoring an order list that contains one or more entries associated with the one or more elements, wherein each of the one or more entries includes an order for display within the notification area (502);

receiving an indication to move a displayed element to a new position in the notification area, wherein the new position is in between a first and second element being displayed (504);

as a result of the indication to move the displayed element, changing the order associated with the displayed element to a value between a first order associated with the first element and a second order associated with the second element (506); and

presenting the displayed in between the first and second element (502).

2. The media of claim 1, further comprising updating one or more indications of order, within the order list, wherein the one or more indications of order are associated with additional elements.

3. The media of claim 2, wherein the one or more additional elements are being displayed within the notification area.

4. The media of claim 1, wherein the notification area is a separate graphical user interface window.

5. The media of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more entries includes a status indication specifying whether each of the one or more entries is being displayed in the notification area.

6. The media of claim 1, wherein the displayed element, first element, and second element are oriented in the notification area based on the order associated with the displayed element, the second order associated with the second element, and the third order associated with the third element, respectively.

7. The media of claim 1, wherein each entry within the indication to move the first element comprises a user dragging and dropping the first element using the mouse.

8. The media of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more entries includes the location of a graphic for an element.

9. The media of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication to remove the displayed element;

based on the indication to remove the displayed element, deleting an entry associated with the first element; and

refusing to display the display element because the entry no longer is contained in the order list.

10. The media of claim 9, further comprising:

identifying at least one element in an overflow area based on an associated entry in the order list; and

moving the at least one element to the notification area.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed element, the first element, and the second element are at least one of a graphic, logo, or image associated with portions of software or applications.

13. The media of claim 11, wherein the attempt to display the element is a portion of software calling a function to display the element.

14. The media of claim 11 further comprising changing a designation in the entry from dead to live.

15. The media of claim 11, wherein the order list does not indicate that the element is within an overflow area.

16. The media of claim 11, wherein the notification area comprises a separate graphical user interface (GUI) window.

17. The media of claim 11, wherein the element is positioned in the notification area according to one or more indications of order in the order list.

12. A method for displaying one or more elements within a notification area of a computing device, the method comprising:

receiving an attempt to display an element (512);

accessing an order list that contains a list of elements chosen designated by a user for display within the notification area (514);

determining whether an entry for the element exists in the order list (514); and

if the entry exists (502), displaying the element in the notification area.

18. A graphical user interface (GUI) embodied on a computer-readable medium and executable on a computer, said graphical user interface comprising:

a notification area configured for displaying only one or more elements within specified by a user for display within the notification area (204),

wherein the one or more elements are displayed according to an order assigned by the user, and

wherein additional elements not indicated for display by the user are not allowed to be displayed in the notification area.

19. The GUI of claim 18, wherein the notification area is a separate GUI window.

20. The GUI of claim 18, wherein the one or more elements are movable within the notification area by the user, and once one of the one or more elements is moved, the order list is updated to reflect the new position of the one of the one or more elements.