SNAPPING TO TEXT COLUMNS WHILE SCROLLING

• US 20110119620A1
• Filed: 11/18/2009
• Published: 05/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Opera Software ASA
• Original Assignee: Opera Software ASA
• Inventors: Schön, Johan, Barsk, Niklas, Söderstedt, Torbjörn
• Granted Patent: US 9,086,756 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/785
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

A method and apparatus for scrolling a electronic document including text, which is displayed on a display screen, including processing user input received via an input device of the computer, detecting an initiating event and pointer movement for a drag operation from the processed user input, scrolling textual content in the document according to the pointer movement of the drag operation, and automatically re-scrolling the textual content to offset a horizontal component of the scrolling of the textual content according to the drag operation.

Claims

1. A method of scrolling an electronic document including text, which is displayed on a computing device, the method comprising:

utilizing at least one processor in the computing device to perform the following;

process user input received via an input device;

detect an initiating event and pointer movement for a drag operation from the processed user input;

scroll textual content in the document according to the pointer movement of the drag operation; and

automatically re-scroll the textual content to offset a horizontal component of the scrolling of the textual content according to the drag operation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further utilized to:

detect the horizontal component of the scrolling of the textual content as a distance in a horizontal direction; and

determine whether the distance is within a correction threshold,

wherein the automatic re-scrolling is performed in response to a determination that the distance is less than the correction threshold.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is further utilized to:

detect a vertical component of the scrolling of the textual content, the vertical component being determined as a distance in a vertical direction,

wherein the correction threshold is determined based on the horizontal and vertical components of the scrolling of the textual content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further utilized to:

calculate a horizontal border for a block of the textual content; and

determine whether the scrolling of the textual content caused at least part of the horizontal border to exit a viewport of a display screen of the electronic device,

wherein the automatic re-scrolling is performed based on the determination.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the automatic re-scrolling is performed in response to determining that a portion less than the entire horizontal border exited the viewport as a result of the scrolling of the textual content.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further utilized to decrease a horizontal speed of the scrolling of the textual content as an edge of the horizontal border exits the viewport.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the drag operation is part of a series of one or more drag operations detected by the at least one processor from the processed user input,

wherein the at least one processor is further utilized to determine a total vertical distance and a total horizontal distance scrolled since the initiating event of the first drag operation in the series, and

wherein the horizontal speed of the scrolling of the textual content is decreased based on an analysis of the total vertical and horizontal distances.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is further utilized to calculate a factor by which the horizontal speed of the scrolling of the textual content is to be decreased, based on the total vertical and horizontal distances.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the width of the horizontal border is based on the dots-per-inch (DPI) at which the document is displayed by the electronic device.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a display screen configured to display a document including textual content;

an input device configured to receive user input; and

at least one processor programmed to;

process the user input received via the input device;

detect an initiating event and pointer movement for a drag operation from the processed user input;

scroll textual content in the document according to the pointer movement of the drag operation; and

automatically re-scroll the textual content to offset a horizontal component of the scrolling of the textual content according to the drag operation.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

detect the horizontal component of the scrolling of the textual content as a distance in a horizontal direction; and

determine whether the distance is within a correction threshold,

wherein the automatic re-scrolling is performed in response to a determination that the distance is less than the correction threshold.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

detect a vertical component of the scrolling of the textual content, the vertical component being determined as a distance in a vertical direction,

wherein the correction threshold is determined based on the horizontal and vertical components of the scrolling of the textual content.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

calculate a horizontal border for a block of the textual content; and

determine whether the scrolling of the textual content caused at least part of the horizontal border to exit a viewport of the display screen,

wherein the automatic re-scrolling is performed based on the determination.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the automatic re-scrolling is performed in response to the at least one processor determining that a portion less than the entire horizontal border exited the viewport as a result of the scrolling of the textual content.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to decrease a horizontal speed of the scrolling of the textual content as an edge of the horizontal border exits the viewport.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the drag operation is part of a series of one or more drag operations detected by the at least one processor from the processed user input,

wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to determine a total vertical distance and a total horizontal distance scrolled since the initiating event of the first drag operation in the series, and

wherein the horizontal speed of the scrolling of the textual content is decreased based on an analysis of the total vertical and horizontal distances.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to calculate a factor by which the horizontal speed of the scrolling of the textual content is to be decreased, based on the total vertical and horizontal distances.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the width of the horizontal border is based on the dots-per-inch (DPI) at which the document is displayed on the display screen.

19. A computer-readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program that, when executed by a computer, causes it to perform a method of scrolling an electronic document including text, which is displayed on a display screen of the computer, the method comprising:

processing user input received via an input device of the computer;

detecting an initiating event and pointer movement for a drag operation from the processed user input;

scrolling textual content in the document according to the pointer movement of the drag operation; and

automatically re-scrolling the textual content to offset a horizontal component of the scrolling of the textual content according to the drag operation.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting the horizontal component of the scrolling of the textual content as a distance in a horizontal direction; and

determining whether the distance is within a correction threshold,

wherein the automatic re-scrolling is performed in response to a determination that the distance is less than the correction threshold.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting a vertical component of the scrolling of the textual content, the vertical component being determined as a distance in a vertical direction,

wherein the correction threshold is determined based on the horizontal and vertical components of the scrolling of the textual content.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

calculating a horizontal border for a block of the textual content; and

determining whether the scrolling of the textual content caused at least part of the horizontal border to exit a viewport of a display screen of the electronic device,

wherein the automatic re-scrolling is performed based on the determination.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the automatic re-scrolling is performed in response to determining that a portion less than the entire horizontal border exited the viewport as a result of the scrolling of the textual content.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises decreasing a horizontal speed of the scrolling of the textual content as an edge of the horizontal border exits the viewport.

25. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the drag operation is part of a series of one or more drag operations detected by the at least one processor from the processed user input,

wherein the method further comprises determining a total vertical distance and a total horizontal distance scrolled since the initiating event of the first drag operation in the series, and

wherein the horizontal speed of the scrolling of the textual content is decreased based on an analysis of the total vertical and horizontal distances.

26. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises calculating a factor by which the horizontal speed of the scrolling of the textual content is to be decreased, based on the total vertical and horizontal distances.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the width of the horizontal border is based on the dots-per-inch (DPI) at which the document is displayed by the computer.