3-tier menu system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A three-tier menu system for use on a display terminal of a computer, comprising:
- a display surface on said terminal,means for simultaneously displaying, on said terminal display surface, first, second, and third sets of buttons,means, responsive to a user'"'"'s selection of a button in said first set of buttons, for displaying on said display surface labeling indicia in association with each button in said second set of buttons, whereby said labeling indicia associated with each button indicates a broad group of functions,means, responsive to the selection of a button in said second set of buttons, for displaying labeling indicia in association with each button in said third set of buttons, said labeling indicia associated with each button in said third set of buttons indicating a specific function to be performed by said computer when a button in said third set of buttons is selected,means, responsive to the user'"'"'s selection of one of the buttons in said third set of buttons, for executing the function associated with the button selection from the third set of buttons.
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Abstract
A menu system incorporates a display surface having sets of buttons displayed thereon. Some sets of buttons are operative to initiate various functions and other sets of buttons are operative to define which functions, from a monolithic set of functions, are made selectable at a given time. Accordingly, the system provides a generic menu system which can easily handle hundreds of menu options in a way which is easy to learn and master.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A three-tier menu system for use on a display terminal of a computer, comprising:
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a display surface on said terminal, means for simultaneously displaying, on said terminal display surface, first, second, and third sets of buttons, means, responsive to a user'"'"'s selection of a button in said first set of buttons, for displaying on said display surface labeling indicia in association with each button in said second set of buttons, whereby said labeling indicia associated with each button indicates a broad group of functions, means, responsive to the selection of a button in said second set of buttons, for displaying labeling indicia in association with each button in said third set of buttons, said labeling indicia associated with each button in said third set of buttons indicating a specific function to be performed by said computer when a button in said third set of buttons is selected, means, responsive to the user'"'"'s selection of one of the buttons in said third set of buttons, for executing the function associated with the button selection from the third set of buttons. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A menu manager, comprising:
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a display device, a cursor control device, a programmed apparatus for controlling said display device, said apparatus including, means, responsive to said cursor control device for simultaneously displaying on said display device, first, second and third sets of buttons, means, responsive to the use of said cursor control device in selecting a button in said first set of buttons, for displaying on said display device labels from a first set of labels, wherein each label displayed from said first set of labels is respectively associated with a button in said second set of buttons, wherein each said label in said first set of labels is associated with a sub-set of labels from a second set of labels, means, responsive to the use of said cursor control device in selecting a button in said second set of buttons, for displaying on said display device a sub-set of labels from said second set of labels, wherein each label displayed from said sub-set of labels from said second set of labels is respectively associated with a button in said third set of buttons, wherein each said label from said sub-set of labels indicates a function which is executed by said programmed apparatus, in response to the use of said cursor control device in selecting a respectively associated button from said third set of buttons, and means, responsive to the use of said cursor control device in selecting a button in said third set of buttons, for executing the function respectively associated with the selected button from said third set of buttons. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of providing a plurality of menu selections on a display screen of a computer, comprising the steps of:
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defining first, second, and third display zones on said display screen, simultaneously displaying first, second, and third sets of selection buttons in said first, second, and third display zones, respectively, displaying in said first zone, a first set of menu options, wherein each option is associated with a user'"'"'s selection of a button in said first zone, selecting and displaying a second set of menu options, in response to a user'"'"'s selection of one of the menu options in said first set of menu options, wherein each menu option in said second set is displayed in association with a selection button in said second set of selection buttons, and wherein each menu option in said second set is associated with a broad group of functions to be carried out by said computer, and selecting and displaying a third set of menu options, in response to a user'"'"'s selection of one of the menu options in said second set of menu options, wherein each menu option in said third set of menu options is associated with a specific function to be carried out by said computer. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification