Object-oriented computer user interface
First Claim
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1. A computer user interface, comprising:
- means for graphically representing objects that collectively are instances of a plurality of object types, wherein an object has a plurality of fields of which at least one field may contain information of any type; and
means for creating and editing object types, and for creating, editing and displaying each instance of an object type using a template;
wherein the means for graphically representing objects, and the means for creating and editing each object type and creating, editing and displaying each instance, present each object to and permit action upon and editing of each object by a user in a substantially uniform way, regardless of type, andwherein the means for graphically representing objects includes means for displaying a summary of a collection of objects showing one or more fields selected by a user from each of the objects.
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Abstract
A computer user interface includes a mechanism for graphically representing and displaying user-definable objects of multiple types. The object types that can be represented include data records, not limited to a particular kind of data, and agents. An agent processes information automatically on behalf of the user. Another mechanism allows a user to define objects, for example by using a template. These two mechanisms act together to allow each object to be displayed to the user and acted upon by the user in a uniform way regardless of type. For example, templates for defining objects allow a specification to be input by a user defining processing that can be performed by an agent.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A computer user interface, comprising:
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means for graphically representing objects that collectively are instances of a plurality of object types, wherein an object has a plurality of fields of which at least one field may contain information of any type; and means for creating and editing object types, and for creating, editing and displaying each instance of an object type using a template; wherein the means for graphically representing objects, and the means for creating and editing each object type and creating, editing and displaying each instance, present each object to and permit action upon and editing of each object by a user in a substantially uniform way, regardless of type, and wherein the means for graphically representing objects includes means for displaying a summary of a collection of objects showing one or more fields selected by a user from each of the objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer user interface, comprising:
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means for graphically representing a collection of objects of more than one type in a selected one of formats, wherein one format is a table and another format is a graphical view wherein the structure of the graphical view shows relationships among objects in the collection, wherein an object has a plurality of fields, wherein at least one field may contain information of any type; means for creating and editing object types and instances of object types using a template; and means for permitting the user to customize the formats utilized by the means for graphically representing the collection of objects, according to one or more selected fields defined for the object types. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A computer user interface comprising:
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means for easily creating and editing object types with different fields, wherein information in at least one of the fields of each object may be of any type; means for easily creating and editing instances of objects of the defined object types; and means for easily creating different user-tailorable summary views of collections of the instances of objects, wherein a view is defined by one or more selected fields defined for the object types. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. An object-oriented computer user interface system, comprising:
a generic semi-structured object type comprising; a collection of fields, wherein at least one field may contain information which may be of any type; a create subclass method for permitting a user to create a new subclass of an object type; a create instance method for permitting a user to create a new instance of an object type; an edit method for permitting a user to edit the object type; and a display method permitting a user to select fields of an object type for displaying a summary of a collection of objects including objects of at least the object type, thereby providing user-tailorable summary views. - View Dependent Claims (35)
Specification