System and method for changing the characteristics of a button by direct manipulation

• US 5,914,714 A
• Filed: 04/01/1997
• Issued: 06/22/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Brown, Christopher R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao H.
• Application Number:
  US08/831,045
• Time in Patent Office: 812 Days
• Field of Search: 345/331, 345/335, 345/346, 345/356, 345/357, 345/339, 345/348, 345/145, 395/683
• US Class Current: 715/866
• 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 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop

Abstract

In a computer employing a graphical user interface (GUI), a web browser displays a drop down menu bar, an address bar, and a links bar. Each button on the links bar has a customizable title and an associated URL. When the user clicks on a button, the browser is pointed directly to the URL associated with the button. The user may alter the title and URL associated with each button by dragging a GUI link element (e.g., a graphic or text representing a hypertext link) onto the links bar button. The browser determines the characteristics associated with the dropped GUI element and replaces the button'"'"'s characteristics with those of the dropped object. This allows the characteristics of the button to be altered by direct on-screen manipulation of the affected GUI object, instead of requiring use of a separate dialog box or other interface.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:

displaying a window having a links bar and a viewing area on a graphical display device;

displaying a link object within the links bar, the link object having a first object identifier and a first characteristic associated with a first link element;

displaying the first object identifier in association with the link object;

receiving a user command selecting the link object and, in response, using the first characteristic to retrieve the first link element and displaying at least a portion of the first link element in the viewing area;

displaying a drop object in the viewing area, the drop object having a second object identifier, a second characteristic, and a second link element;

receiving a user command selecting, dragging, and dropping the drop object onto the link object; and

in response to the drop and drag command, replacing the first object identifier and the first characteristic of the link object with the second object identifier, and the second characteristic respectively;

receiving a subsequent user command selecting the link object, and, in response, using the second characteristic to retrieve the second link element and displaying at least a portion of the second link element in the viewing area.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first link element is a first web page, the first object identifier is a title of the first web page, and the first associated characteristic is a uniform resource locator for the first web page.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second link element is a second web page, the second object identifier is a title of the second web page, and the second characteristic is a uniform resource locator for the second web page.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the drop object comprises content information within the first web page.

5. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:

displaying a window having a links bar and a viewing area on a graphical display device;

displaying a link button within the links bar, the link object having a first title and a first uniform resource locator associated with a first web page;

displaying the first title in association with the link button;

receiving a user command selecting the link button and, in response, using the first uniform resource locator to retrieve the first web page and displaying at least a portion of the first web page in the viewing area;

displaying a drop object in the viewing area, the drop object having a second title and a second uniform resource locator associated with a second web page;

receiving a user command selecting, dragging and dropping the drop object onto the link object; and

in response to the drop and drag command, replacing the first title, and the first uniform resource locator with the second title and the second uniform resource locator, respectively;

receiving a subsequent user command selecting the link button, and, in response, using the second uniform resource locator to retrieve the second web page and displaying the second web page in the viewing area.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the title of the link button corresponds to a title associated with the first web page.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the title of the link button corresponds to a title associated with the second web page.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the drop object comprises content information within the first web page.