Method and system for facilitating access to selectable elements on a graphical user interface
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for facilitating the selection of at least one selectable element from a multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements on a graphical user interface (GUI) having a plurality of elements, at least one of the multiplicity of selectable elements having a character portion, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
- receiving one or more characters from a character based input keyboard device;
comparing said one or more characters received from said character based input keyboard device with said character portion from one or more of said multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements; and
matching said one or more characters received from said character based input keyboard device with said character portion of at least one selectable element within said multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements.
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Abstract
In one embodiment the present invention provides a method of selecting a selectable element with a character input device from a list of exically unordered selectable elements on a graphical user interface (GUI). Typically, these selectable elements include hypertext links and GUI buttons on the GUI of computer program executing on a computer system. Each selectable element includes a character portion of data which facilitates selecting the selectable element. The method typically begins the selection process when a user enters one or more characters from a character input device. In response to receiving the characters, the present invention inserts each character into a match string. The match string is then compared with the character portion of each selectable element on the GUI. A selectable element is "armed" when the character portion of a selectable element is found which matches the match string. Arming a selectable element prepares the element for selection and typically involves highlighting, underlining or otherwise distinguishing the hypertext link from other text on a page. The user can then select the armed selectable element by actuating the "enter" key. If a hypertext selectable element is selected then the information associated with a destination node (e.g., a web page) is displayed for the user. Instead of selecting the armed selectable element, the user may search for a different selectable element by entering additional characters and not actuating the "enter" key. The method disclosed provides an improved selection method over prior methods because a user can quickly search and select a selectable element by typing a minimum number of characters.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating the selection of at least one selectable element from a multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements on a graphical user interface (GUI) having a plurality of elements, at least one of the multiplicity of selectable elements having a character portion, said method comprising the computer implemented steps of:
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receiving one or more characters from a character based input keyboard device; comparing said one or more characters received from said character based input keyboard device with said character portion from one or more of said multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements; and matching said one or more characters received from said character based input keyboard device with said character portion of at least one selectable element within said multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for facilitating the use of a character input keyboard device in the selection of at least one selectable element from a multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements on a graphical user interface (GUI) program having a plurality of elements, at least one of said multiplicity of selectable elements having a character portion, said GUI executing on a computer system including a processor, a memory, a display device displaying the graphical user interface (GUI) the character input keyboard device, a storage device, and a mechanism for communicating between the processor, the character input keyboard device and the memory, the memory including the graphical user interface (GUI) program and a runtime system, said apparatus comprising:
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a receiver module configured to receive one or more characters from a character based input keyboard device; a comparison module configured to compare one or more characters received from the character based input keyboard device with said character portion from one or more of said multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements; and a match module configured to match said one or more characters received from said character based input keyboard device with said character portion of at least once selectable element within said multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for facilitating the selection of at least one selectable element from a multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements on a graphical user interface (GUI), at least one selectable element within said multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements having a character portion, said program comprising:
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code that receives one or more characters from a character input keyboard device; code that compares one or more characters received from said character input keyboard device with said character portion from one or more of said multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements; and code that matches said one or more characters received from said character based input keyboard device with at least one selectable element within said multiplicity of lexically unordered selectable elements. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification