Method and system for grouping and manipulating windows

• US 5,694,561 A
• Filed: 12/12/1994
• Issued: 12/02/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Malamud, Mark, Johnson, Russell, Grauman, J. Alison, Barnes, David, Gavriluk, Erik A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): dela Torre, Crescelle N.
• Application Number:
  US08/353,717
• Time in Patent Office: 1,086 Days
• Field of Search: 395/157, 395/159, 395/156, 395/158, 395/155, 395/161, 395/340, 395/346, 395/342, 395/339, 395/332, 395/356, 395/683, 395/682, 345/119, 345/120
• US Class Current: 715/805
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports

Abstract

A method and system for grouping and manipulating windows in a window system is provided. In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of displayed windows are grouped into a project group. A project group has associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group, an associated project group appearance for differentiating the windows in the project group from other windows, and a set of project group commands for operating upon the project group. A window is designated as a project group folder, this window containing indicators to the other windows belonging to the project group. For each window belonging to the project group, project group commands are added to menus of the windows belonging to the project group. Later, when a window is activated and a project group command selected for operating upon the project group, certain behaviors occur. For example, when the project group command is a request to close the project group, the current state of each window in the project group is saved and each window is displayed according to the closed state of the window. Also, for example, when the project group command is a request to open the project group, then each window in the project group is displayed according to its previously saved state.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for operating upon windows as an aggregate, the computer system having a display device and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows associated with a program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, and having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, wherein each viewing state provides information for setting the appearance of the associated window and for setting an execution state of the associated program, the method comprising the steps of:

grouping a plurality of windows from amongst the plurality of displayable windows into a project group, the project group having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window and setting the current state of the window to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

upon receiving a request to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of grouping the plurality of windows groups a first window and a second window into the project group, wherein the first window is associated with a different program than the program associated with the second window.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the project group has a project group appearance that differentiates the windows belonging to the project group from other windows not belonging to the project group, and wherein the step of setting the current state of the window to the saved state includes the step of setting the current state of the window to incorporate the project group appearance.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the project group has a project group appearance that differentiates the windows belonging to the project group from other windows not belonging to the project group, and wherein the step of setting the current state of the window to the saved state includes the step of setting the current state of the window to incorporate the project group appearance.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of setting the current state of the window to incorporate the project group appearance further includes the step of displaying the window with the project group appearance.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the associated viewing states further include a minimized state, and wherein the method further comprises the step of, upon receiving a request to minimize the project group, for each window in a plurality of windows belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the minimized state of the window.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of, upon receiving a request to restore the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state of the window.

8. A computer system for grouping windows, each window having a current state that provides information for setting the appearance of the window and the execution state of an associated program for implementing what is displayed in the window, the system comprising:

a grouping mechanism for grouping a plurality of windows into a project group, wherein information is maintained in the computer system regarding which windows belong to the project group;

a saving mechanism for saving in the computer system the current state of each window belonging to the project group in response to a request to close the project group, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

a restoration mechanism for restoring the saved state of each window belonging to the project group in response to a request to open the project group.

9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein windows associated with different programs are grouped in the project group.

10. The computer system of claim 8, further comprising a window designation mechanism for designating a window as the project group folder, wherein the designated window provides access to requests to open and close the project group.

11. A computer-implemented method for operating upon windows as a group, the computer system having a display device and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows associated with a program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, and having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, and wherein each viewing state provides information for setting the appearance of the associated window and for setting an execution state of the associated program, the method comprising the steps of:

grouping a plurality of windows from amongst the plurality of displayable windows into a project group;

designating a window as the project group folder, the project group folder having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window and setting the current state of the window to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

upon receiving a request to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of designating the window as the project group folder comprises the steps of:

determining a window to be used as the project group folder, the determined window having an associated project folder property for indicating whether the window is being used as a project group folder; and

setting the associated project folder property of the determined window to indicate that the determined window is a project group folder.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the computer system has a file system with directories and a storage device for storing the file system, and wherein the step of determining the window further comprises the step of creating a directory in the file system.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of grouping the plurality of windows into the project group comprises the steps of:

providing a method to select a plurality of windows to include in the project group; and

incorporating a selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder using the provided method to select the plurality of windows.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the project group has a project group appearance that differentiates the windows belonging to the project group from other windows not belonging to the project group, and wherein the step of setting the current state of the window to the open state further comprises the step of setting the current state of the window to incorporate the project group appearance.

16. A computer-implemented method for operating upon windows as a group, the computer system having a display device and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows associated with a program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, and having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, and wherein each viewing state provides information for setting the appearance of the associated window and for setting an execution state of the associated program, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a method to select a plurality of windows for grouping into a project group;

designating a window as the project group folder;

incorporating a selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder using the provided method to select the plurality of windows, the project group having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window and setting the current state of the window to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

upon receiving a request to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder comprises the step of moving the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder comprises the step of creating copies of the selected plurality of windows and moving the copies into the designated project group folder.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group comprises the step of inserting links to the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the computer system has a user input device, wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder comprises dragging the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder using the user input device.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the computer system has a user input device, wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder comprises dragging a selected plurality of icons into the designated project group folder using the user input device.

22. A computer-implemented method for grouping windows, the computer system having a display device, a memory device for storing information, and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows associated with a program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, each of the plurality of the displayable windows having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, wherein each viewing state provides information for setting the appearance of the associated window and for setting an execution state of the associated program, the method comprising the steps of:

grouping a plurality of windows from amongst the plurality of displayable windows into a project group such that windows associated with different programs are grouped into the project group;

designating a window as a project group folder, the project group folder having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window and setting the current state of the window to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

upon receiving a request to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the associated viewing states further include a minimized state, and the method further comprises the step of, upon receiving a request to minimize the project group, for each window in a plurality of windows belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the minimized state of the window.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the step of, upon receiving a request to minimize the project group, setting the current state further comprises the substep of, for each of the plurality of windows, saving the current state of the window on the memory device before setting the current state of the window to the minimized state.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein each of the plurality of displayable windows has a menu for displaying the operations to be performed relative to the window, wherein the project group has project group commands for managing the project group, and wherein the method further comprises the step of, for each window belonging the project group, adding the project group commands to the menu.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the display device has a display surface and a logical plane corresponding to the display surface, wherein the window system has a logical z-axis perpendicular to the logical plane of the display device, wherein each of the plurality of displayable windows has an associated z-order position, the z-order position reflecting the ordering of displayed windows on the display along the logical z-axis such that a window occupying a successive position in the z-order can be obscured by a window occupying a preceding z-order position, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

activating a window from amongst the windows belonging to the project group;

setting the z-order position of the activated window to a topmost position relative to the logical plane of the display device; and

correspondingly changing the z-order positions of the other windows belonging to the project group such that the z-order positions of the windows in the project group preceed the z-order positions of displayed windows not belonging to the project group and such that the relative z-order positions of each of the other windows in the project group remains constant.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of designating the window as the project group folder comprises the steps of:

determining a window to be used as the project group folder, the determined window having an associated project folder property for indicating whether the window is being used as a project group folder; and

setting the associated project folder property of the determined window to indicate that the determined window is a project group folder.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the computer system has a file system with directories and a storage device for storing the file system, and wherein the step of determining the window further comprises the step of creating a directory in the file system.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of grouping the plurality of windows into the project group includes the steps of:

providing a method to select a plurality of windows to include in the project group; and

incorporating a selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder using the provided method to select the plurality of windows.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of designating the window as the project group folder includes the steps of:

determining a window to be used as the project group folder, the determined window having an associated project folder property for indicating whether the window is being used as a project group folder; and

setting the associated project folder property of the determined window to indicate that the determined window is a project group folder.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder comprises moving the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder comprises creating copies of the selected plurality of windows and moving the copies into the designated project group folder.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder comprises inserting links to the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein the computer system has a user input device, and wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder comprises dragging the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder using the user input device.

35. The method of claim 29, wherein the computer system has a user input device, and wherein the step of incorporating the selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder comprises dragging a selected plurality of icons into the designated project group folder using the user input device.

36. The method of claim 22, wherein the associated viewing states further include a maximized state, and wherein the method further comprises the step of, upon receiving a request to maximize the project group, for a plurality of windows belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the maximized state.

37. A computer system for grouping windows, each window having an associated program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having a current state that provides information for setting the execution state of the associated program, the system comprising:

a grouping mechanism for selecting and grouping a plurality of windows to be incorporated into a project group such flint windows associated with different programs are grouped in the project group and information is maintained in the computer system regarding which windows belong to the project group;

a window designation mechanism for designating a window as the project group folder, the designated window providing access to requests to close and open the windows belonging to the project group;

a saving mechanism for saving in the computer system the current state of each window belonging to the project group in response to a command request to close the project group, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

a restoration mechanism for restoring the saved stale of each window belonging to the project group in response to a request to open the project group.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the current state includes an appearance of the window, wherein the saving mechanism saves the appearance of the window as part of current state, and wherein the restoration mechanism displays the saved appearance of the window on the display.

39. A computer-implemented method for grouping windows, the computer system having a display device and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, each of the plurality of file displayable windows associated with a program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, and wherein each viewing state provides information for setting the appearance of the associated window and for setting an execution state of the associated program, the method comprising the steps of:

grouping a plurality of windows from amongst the plurality of displayable windows into a project group such that windows associated with different programs are grouped into the project group, the project group having a project group appearance that differentiates the windows belonging to the project group from other windows;

designating a window as a project group folder, the project group folder having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window and setting current state of the window to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing slate; and

upon receiving a request to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state and displaying the window according to the current state, wherein each window that is displayed according to the open state of the windows is displayed with the project group appearance.

40. A computer-implemented method for manipulating objects as an aggregate, the computer system having a display device and software for displaying objects on the device, each object having an associated program that implements the object behavior, each object having viewing states including an open state and a closed state, and having a current state, the current state being one of the open state and the closed state, each viewing state providing information for setting the appearance of the object on the display device and for setting an execution state of the program associated with the object, the computer system having at least one container object for containing other objects, the method comprising the steps of:

designating a container object as a project group object, the project group object having a project group appearance for differentiating objects contained in the project group object from those not contained in the project group object;

grouping a plurality of objects into the project group object, each object having different programs for implementing the behavior of the object, the project group object having data for keeping track of the plurality of objects contained in the project group object;

in response to a user request to close the project group, for each object contained in the project group object, saving the current state of the object and setting the current state of the object to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the program associated with the object to a no longer running state;

in response to a user request to open the project group, for each object contained in the project group object, setting the current state of the object to the saved state;

determining a selected objected from among the plurality of objects; and

in response to a user request to open the selected object, displaying the selected object with project group appearance.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein the step of designating the container object as the project group object further comprises the steps of:

determining a container object to be used as the project group object, the determined container object having a project folder property; and

setting the project folder property of the determined container object to indicate that the determined container object is a project group object.

42. A computer-implemented method for grouping windows, the computer system having a display device with a display surface and a logical plane corresponding to the display surface and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, the window system having a logical z-axis perpendicular to the logical plane of the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows having associated viewing states including an open state, a closed state, and a minimized state, each of the plurality of the displayable windows having a current state and a saved state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state and the saved state represents a viewing state, and wherein each viewing state provides information for determining the appearance of the window, each of the plurality of the displayable windows having an associated application for managing the contents of the window, an associated menu for displaying operations to be performed relative to the window, and an associated z-order position, the z-order position reflecting the ordering of displayed windows on the display along the logical z-axis such that a window occupying a successive position in the z-order can be obscured by a window occupying a preceding z-order position, the method comprising the steps of:

displaying windows from amongst the plurality of displayable windows on the display device;

grouping a plurality of the displayed windows into a project group, wherein windows associated with different applications are grouped into the project group, the project group having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group, a project group appearance that differentiates the windows belonging to the project group from other windows not belonging to the project group, and a plurality of project group commands for managing the project group;

designating a window as a project group folder for providing commands to operate upon the windows belonging to the project group and for holding the project group associated information;

for a window belonging to the project group, adding indicators of the project group commands to the associated menu allowing invocation of the project group commands;

after adding the indicators of the project group commands to the associated menu, activating a window from amongst those windows belonging to the project group, wherein the z-order position associated with the activated window is set to a topmost position relative to the logical plane of the display device and the associated z-order positions of other windows belonging to the project group are correspondingly changed such that the z-order positions of the windows belonging to the project group precede the z-order positions of displayed windows not belonging to the project group and such that the relative z-order positions of the windows belonging to the project group remain constant;

displaying the menu associated with the activated window;

providing a method to select a project group command from the displayed menu;

upon a selection of a project group command to close the project group using the provided method to select the project group command, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window as the saved state and displaying the window according to the closed state of the window;

upon a selection of a project group command to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, displaying the window in its saved state, wherein each window that is displayed according to the open state of the window is displayed with the project group appearance;

upon a selection of a project group command to minimize the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window as the saved state and displaying the window according to the minimized state of the window; and

upon a selection of a project group command to restore the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, displaying the window in its saved state, wherein each window that is displayed according to the open state of the window is displayed with the project group appearance.

43. A computer-implemented method for grouping windows, the computer system having a display device, a memory device for storing information, and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows having a menu for displaying the operations to be performed relative to the window and having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, each of the plurality of the displayable windows having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, wherein each viewing state provides information for determining the appearance of the associated window, each of the plurality of the displayable windows associated with code for managing the contents of the window, the method comprising the steps of:

grouping a plurality of windows from amongst the plurality of displayable windows into a project group such that windows associated with different code are grouped into the project group, the project group having project group commands for managing the project group;

for each window belonging to the project group, adding the project group commands to the menu;

designating a window as a project group folder, the project group folder having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window and setting the current state of the window to the closed state; and

upon receiving a request to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state.

44. A computer readable memory medium containing instructions for controlling a computer processor to operate upon windows as an aggregate, the computer system having a display device and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows associated with a program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, and having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, wherein each viewing state provides information for setting the appearance of the associated window and for setting an execution state of the associated program, by performing the steps of:

grouping a plurality of windows from amongst the plurality of displayable windows into a project group, the project group having associated information regarding which windows belong to tile project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window is belonging to the project group, saving tile current state of the window and setting the current state of the window to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

upon receiving a request to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state.

45. A computer readable memory medium containing instructions for controlling a computer processor to operate upon windows as a group, the computer system having a display device and a window system for displaying displayable windows displayable windows, each of a plurality of the displayable windows associated with a program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, and having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, and wherein each viewing state provides information for setting the appearance of the associated window and for setting an execution state of the associated program, by performing the steps of:

grouping a plurality of windows from against the plurality of displayable windows into a project group;

designating a window as the project group folder, the project group folder having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window and setting the current state of the window to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

upon receiving a request to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state.

46. A computer readable memory medium containing instructions for controlling a computer processor to operate upon windows as a group, the computer system having a display device and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows associated with a program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, and having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, and wherein each viewing state provides information for setting the appearance of the associated window and for setting an execution state of the associated program, by performing the steps of:

providing a method to select a plurality of windows for grouping into a project group;

designating a window as the project group folder;

incorporating a selected plurality of windows into the designated project group folder using the provided method to select the plurality of windows, the project group having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window and setting the current state of the window to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

upon receiving a request to open tile project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state.

47. A computer readable memory medium containing instructions for controlling a computer processor to group windows, the computer system having a display device and a window system for displaying displayable windows on the display device, each of a plurality of the displayable windows associated with a program for implementing what is displayed in the window and having associated viewing states including an open state and a closed state, each of the plurality of the displayable windows having a current state, wherein the current state represents a viewing state, and wherein each viewing state provides information for setting the appearance of the associated window and for setting an execution state of the associated program, by performing the steps of:

grouping a plurality of windows from amongst the plurality of displayable windows into a project group such that windows associated with different programs are grouped into the project group, the project group having a project group appearance that differentiates the windows belonging to the project group from other windows;

designating a window as a project group folder, the project group folder having associated information regarding which windows belong to the project group;

upon receiving a request to close the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, saving the current state of the window and setting the current state of the window to the closed state, thereby setting the execution state of the associated program to a no longer executing state; and

upon receiving a request to open the project group, for each window belonging to the project group, setting the current state of the window to the saved state and displaying the window according to the current state, wherein each window that is displayed according to the open state of the windows is displayed with the project group appearance.