System for managing information in a three dimensional workspace

• US 5,312,478 A
• Filed: 04/11/1990
• Issued: 05/17/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lotus Development Corporation (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Tucker, Hugh S., Reed, David P., Boettner, Carolyn J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaw, Gareth D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Toplu, Lucien
• Application Number:
  US07/508,117
• Time in Patent Office: 1,497 Days
• Field of Search: 364/DIG. 1, 364/DIG. 2
• US Class Current: 715/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

An information management system for use with a computer having a display screen, the system including means for organizing information into an ordered sequence of worksheets in a workspace, each worksheet of the sequence of worksheets comprising an array of cells; and means for enabling a user to navigate through the sequence of worksheets on a worksheet to worksheet basis so as to display a selected one of the worksheets on the display screen. The system also includes means for selecting a plurality of worksheets from the ordered sequence of worksheets; and means for displaying on the display screen a perspective presentation of the selected worksheets.

Claims

1. An information management system comprising:

a display screen; and

a computer programmed to comprise;

means for generating a plurality of worksheets, wherein each worksheet of said plurality of worksheets comprises an array of cells for storing information;

means for enabling a user to generate for each worksheet of said plurality of worksheets a corresponding different set of visual presentation features;

means for displaying a selected one said plurality of worksheets on the display screen, wherein the set of visual presentation features of the selected worksheet determines the appearance of that worksheet when it is displayed on said display screen;

means for organizing said plurality of worksheets into a sequence of worksheets in a workspace, wherein the order of the worksheets in said sequence of worksheets is user selectable;

means for selecting a group of worksheets within said sequence of worksheets;

means for imposing a preselected set of visual presentation features on said selected group of worksheets within said sequence of worksheets, wherein when said preselected set of visual presentation features is imposed on said group, each worksheet of said group automatically inherits the preselected set of visual presentation features as its own; and

means for enabling a user to navigate through said sequence of worksheets on a worksheet to worksheet basis so as to display a region of cells of a given one of said worksheets on the display screen, wherein said navigating means causes each worksheet through which the user passes in getting to said given worksheet to appear on the display.

2. The information management system of claim 1 wherein said computer is programmed to further comprise means for imposing synchronization between said worksheets so that a same region of cells is displayed in each selected worksheet as the user navigates through said sequence.

3. The information management system of claim 2 wherein said computer is programmed to further comprise means for adding a new worksheet at any user selectable location in the sequence thereby creating a new sequence.

4. The information management system of claim 2 wherein said plurality of worksheets comprises a plurality of subsets of worksheets, each of said subsets defining a different one of a plurality of files, said sequence of worksheets thereby forming a sequence of said files, wherein said computer is programmed to further comprise means for enabling a user to move any selected one of said files as a file into and/or out of the workspace independently of the others of said files.

5. The information management system of claim 4 wherein said computer is programmed to further comprise means for enabling a user to navigate through said sequence of worksheets on a file to file basis so as to display a worksheet of a selected one of said files on the display screen.

6. The information management system of claim 4 wherein said computer is programmed to further comprise means for enabling a user to move from any file in said sequence of files directly to a last file in said sequence of files so as to display a worksheet of the last file on the display screen.

7. The information management system of claim 4 wherein said computer is programmed to further comprise means for enabling a user to move from any file in said sequence of files directly to a first file so as to display a worksheet of the first file on the display screen.

8. An information management system comprising:

a display screen; and

a computer programmed to comprise;

means for generating a plurality of worksheets, wherein each worksheet of said plurality of worksheets comprises an array of cells for storing information and has associated with it a corresponding different set of visual presentation features;

means for enabling a user to generate for each worksheet of said plurality of worksheets a corresponding different set of visual presentation features;

means for displaying a selected one said plurality of worksheets on the display screen, wherein the set of visual presentation features of the selected worksheet determines the appearance of that worksheet when it is displayed on said display screen;

means for organizing said plurality of worksheets into a sequence of worksheets in a workspace, wherein the order of the worksheets in said sequence of worksheets is user selectable; and

means for imposing a preselected set of visual presentation features on said selected group of worksheets within said sequence of worksheets, wherein when said preselected set of visual presentation features is imposed on said group, each worksheet of said group automatically inherits the preselected set of visual presentation features as its own.

9. The information management system of claim 8 wherein the visual presentation features include the format in which information stored in said cells is displayed.

10. The information management system of claim 9 wherein the information stored in the cells of an array includes values and dates and wherein format includes whether cell values are displayed as currencies, whether commas are inserted as thousands separators, a convention for displaying dates, and a location of a decimal point.

11. The information management system of claim 9 wherein the visual presentation features include the layout of the array of cells for a worksheet.

12. The information management system of claim 11 wherein one or more spreadsheets are organized into rows and columns and among which there are one or more title rows and wherein layout includes widths of columns, a location of the first title row, and the number of title rows.

13. The information management system of claim 11 wherein one or more spreadsheets are organized into rows and columns and among which there are one or more title columns and wherein layout includes widths of columns, a location of the first title column, and the number of title columns.

14. The information management system of claim 9 wherein the information stored in the cells of an array includes values and dates and wherein format includes whether cell values are displayed as currencies, whether commas are inserted as thousands separators, a convention for displaying dates, and a location of a decimal point.

15. The information management system of claim 14 wherein the visual presentation features include the layout of the array of cells for a worksheet.

16. The information management system of claim 15 wherein one or more spreadsheets are organized into rows and columns and among which there are one or more title rows and wherein layout includes widths of columns, a location of the first title row, and the number of title rows.

17. The information management system of claim 15 wherein one or more spreadsheets are organized into rows and columns and among which there are one or more title columns and wherein layout includes widths of columns, a location of the first title column, and the number of title columns.