Attribute-enhanced scroll bar system and method
First Claim
1. A computer display system comprising:
- a central processing unit;
a memory accessed by the central processing unit;
a display screen which receives data from the central processing unit;
means for displaying a data field in a first region of said display screen;
means for displaying in said data field a portion of a data file stored in said memory;
means for displaying a scroll bar field in a second region of said display screen separate from said first region;
means for displaying in said scroll bar field a shaft representing a length of said data file;
means for displaying a car within said shaft representing a position of said portion relative to said length; and
means for displaying an attribute map within said shaft comprising indicia representing a position of each occurrence of selected information in said data file relative to said length, said attribute map being visually distinguishable from said car.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An attribute-enhanced scroll bar is presented. A selected portion of a stored data file, for example a document, is displayed in a window, and a scroll bar field including a scroll bar is used to indicate the position of the displayed portion relative to the entire data file. In addition, maps of significant task-specific attributes of the data file, for example particular character strings within a document, are displayed in the scroll bar field of the display along with the scroll bar. The attribute maps indicate the location of the significant attributes within the data file. In addition, the attributes are highlighted within the portion of the data file that is displayed in the window.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A computer display system comprising:
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a central processing unit; a memory accessed by the central processing unit; a display screen which receives data from the central processing unit; means for displaying a data field in a first region of said display screen; means for displaying in said data field a portion of a data file stored in said memory; means for displaying a scroll bar field in a second region of said display screen separate from said first region; means for displaying in said scroll bar field a shaft representing a length of said data file; means for displaying a car within said shaft representing a position of said portion relative to said length; and means for displaying an attribute map within said shaft comprising indicia representing a position of each occurrence of selected information in said data file relative to said length, said attribute map being visually distinguishable from said car.
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2. In a computer system including a display screen providing a data field and a scroll bar field in separate regions, a method of visually presenting an attribute-enhanced scroll bar comprising the steps of:
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displaying within said data field a portion of a data file; and displaying within said scroll bar field; (i) a shaft representing a length of said data file; (ii) a car within said shaft wherein a spatial relationship between said car and said shaft visually indicates a relative position of said displayed portion of said data file with respect to said length of said data file; and (iii) an attribute map within said shaft visually distinguishable from said car wherein a spatial relationship between said attribute map and said shaft visually indicates a relative position of each occurrence of selected information in said data file with respect to said length of said data file. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22)
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- 18. The method of 2, further comprising a second attribute map within said shaft visually distinguishable from said attribute map and said car wherein a spatial relationship between said second attribute map and said shaft visually indicates to said user a relative position of each occurrence of a second selected information in said data file with respect to said length of said data file, wherein said selected information is distinct from said second selected information, and said attribute map is displayed simultaneously with said second attribute map.
Specification