Icon aggregation on a graphical user interface

• US 5,801,699 A
• Filed: 01/26/1996
• Issued: 09/01/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pickover, Clifford Alan, Winarski, Daniel James, McLean, James Gordon, Keller, Neal Martin, Hocker, Michael David
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US08/592,250
• Time in Patent Office: 949 Days
• Field of Search: 395/348, 395/349, 395/340, 395/339, 395/356, 395/333, 395/335, 395/326, 395/327, 395/334
• US Class Current: 715/837
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34

Abstract

Using a graphical user interface (GUI), users manipulate, organize, classify, and/or arrange icons by having the icons bind (stick) to one another and be moved as aggregates. Icons sticky sites may be on icons, windows, or other graphical objects. For example, when an icon with a sticky site is dragged close to another icon with a sticky site, the icons bind together and are subsequently moved as one graphical unit. In some embodiments, a visual indication or binding is given. The icons may be unbound by pointing to an unbinder icon, or using a button sequence on the mouse of keyboard.

Claims

1. A computer system with a computer memory and a central processing unit, comprising:

a graphical user interface;

two or more graphical objects displayed on the graphical user interface, two or more of the graphical objects being sticky objects having bonding sites, two or more of the sticky objects bound together to form a cluster when the sticky objects come within a threshold distance one another of on the graphical user interface, and the sticky objects in the cluster moving together as a single graphical object.

2. A computer system, as in claim 1, where the graphical objects include any one or more of:

icons, windows, root windows, and virtual reality objects.

3. A computer system, as in claim 1, where there is a visual change on the graphical user interface to indicate that two or more sticky objects are bound together.

4. A computer system, as in claim 1, where the cluster is in any one of the following shapes:

a block, an edge, a zig-zag, and a bounding region.

5. A computer system, as in claim 1, where the bonding is initiated by a user input.

6. A computer system, as in claim 1, where the bonding requires a user password.

7. A computer system, as in claim 1, where the graphical objects in the cluster have one or more common characteristics.

8. A computer system, as in claim 1, where the graphical objects in the cluster have one or more relationships.

9. A computer system, as in claim 1, where one or more of the bonding sites are in an interior part of the graphical object.

10. A computer system, as in claim 1, where one or more of the graphical objects becomes unbonded.

11. A computer system, as in claim 10, where one or more of the graphical objects becomes unbonded by a user input.

14. A computer system, as in claim 1, where a subset of the graphical objects being one or more of the sticky objects are placed by one or more naked sticky sites, the naked sticky sites being not associated with any graphical object on the display.

12. A computer system, where the computer memory and a central processing unit, comprising:

a graphical user interface;

two or more graphical objects for being displayed on the graphical user interface, two or more of the graphical objects being sticky objects having bonding sites; and

a cluster binding together two or more sticky objects when the sticky objects come within a threshold distance of one another of the graphical user interface, and the sticky objects in the cluster moving together as a single graphical object.

13. A method of organizing two or more graphical objects on a computer graphical user interface, comprising the steps of:

selecting one or more of the graphical objects to be a selected graphical object;

moving the selected graphical object to a new location;

determining that the new location is within a threshold distance of a second graphical object; and

visually indicating the binding of the selected graphical object to the second graphical object to form an object cluster when the selected graphical object is within the threshold distance.