User interface mechanism for maintaning quick access to important information in a windows-based computer environment

• US 6,043,816 A
• Filed: 05/29/1998
• Issued: 03/28/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus LLC (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Meyer, Shane D., Anspach, Mark S., Williams, Evelyn L., Webb, Jayson M.
• Primary Examiner(s): dela Torre, Crescelle N.
• Application Number:
  US09/087,583
• Time in Patent Office: 669 Days
• Field of Search: 345/340, 345/339, 345/341, 345/343, 345/347, 345/348, 345/349, 345/350, 345/351, 345/352, 345/356, 345/357
• US Class Current: 715/783
• 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

Abstract

A user interface mechanism of a single window in a windows-based computer environment, called a navigation tab, allows a user of the window to preserve and then to quickly re-access various locations within the window at some future time if the locations have been designated "keep accessible" locations. When the user navigates to a new location within the same application or a new application, a label of the navigation tab changes to show the new location. Until the user or application designates a location "keep accessible," the number of navigation tabs of the windows does not increase and the label of the existing navigation tab is replaced. If a location is designated as one to which the user wishes to return (i.e. "keep accessible"), a visual cue is presented in the label of the navigation tab to indicate that it is to be kept accessible. When the user navigates from this "keep accessible" location to a new location, a new replaceable navigation tab for the new location will appear within the window. Any number of navigation tabs may be used within the window.

Claims

1. A user interface of a window in a windows-based computer environment that provides means for preserving and re-accessing different locations within the window, comprising:

a scoping pane of the user interface having a plurality of locations that are available to be selected by a user of the user interface, wherein each location of the plurality of locations has a set of content information that on be presented to the user;

a content pane of the user interface that presents the set of content information associated with a location of the plurality of locations that is selected in the scoping pane by the user; and

one or more navigation tabs in the content pane, with each navigation tab of the one or more navigation tabs associated with a location of the plurality of locations and having a label representative of the associated location within the window;

wherein a label of an active navigation tab reflects a current location of the plurality of locations that is currently selected in the scoping pane within the window and presented in the content pane but the label of the active navigation tab changes to reflect a new location of the plurality of locations within the window when the user navigates from the current location to the new location by selecting the new location in the scoping pane unless the current location has been designated a keep accessible location,

wherein if the current location has been designated a keep accessible location, the label of the active navigation tab will have a keep accessible marker indicating the current location as a keep accessible location and when the user navigates from the current location to the new location, a new navigation tab having a label that reflects the new location will appear in the content pane of the user interface, and

wherein the user can navigate from the new location back to the current location via the active navigation tab of the current location and access the set of content information associated with the current location and previously displayed in the content pane.

2. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the keep accessible marker is a pushpin.

3. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the current location is designated a keep accessible location by the user.

4. The user interface of claim 3, wherein the user designates the current location a keep accessible location by selecting a keep accessible menu item.

5. The user interface of claim 3, wherein the user designates the current location a keep accessible location by selecting a keep accessible tool bar button.

6. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the current location is designated a keep accessible location by an application of the window.

7. The user interface of claim 6, wherein the current location is designated a keep accessible location by setting the current location to a keep accessible state when the current location is initially accessed, thereby causing the current location to be presented to the user when the window is initially opened.

8. The user interface of claim 6, wherein the current location is designated a keep accessible location because the active navigation tab has a keep accessible default state for the current location, thereby causing the active navigation tab to have a keep accessible state after the user has accessed the current location.

9. The user interface of claim 1, wherein a label of a navigation tab of the one or more navigation tabs provides a status information about a location within the window that is indicated by the label.

10. The user interface of claim 9, wherein a status information marker on the label of the navigation tab provides the status information about the location.

11. The user interface of claim 10, wherein the status information disappears from the label of the navigation tab after the user has selected the navigation tab to view the location.

12. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the current location and the new location are locations of an application of the window.

13. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the current location is a location of a first application of the window and the new location is a location of a second application of the window.

14. The user interface of claim 1, further comprising:

a means for scrolling the one or more navigation tabs.

15. The user interface of claim 1, further comprising:

a child window in which a view of the location of the active navigation tab is presented when a display in new window operation is performed on the active navigation tab, wherein the active navigation tab appears in a content pane of the child window and the window has a new active navigation tab equal to a most recently active navigation tab of the window.

16. A user interface of a window in a windows-based computer environment that provides means for preserving and re-accessing different locations within the window, comprising:

a scoping pane of the user interface;

a content pane of the user interface; and

one or more navigation tabs in the content pane, with each navigation tab of the one or more navigation tabs having a label that indicates a location within the window;

wherein a label of an active navigation tab reflects a current location within the window that is presented in the content pane but changes to reflect a new location within the window when the user navigates from the current location to the new location unless the current location has been designated a keep accessible location,

wherein if the current location has been designated a keep accessible location, the label of the active navigation tab will have a keep accessible marker indicating the current location as a keel accessible location and when the user navigates from the current location to the new location, a new navigation tab having a label that reflects the new location will appear in the content pane of the user interface, and

wherein the current location is designated a keep accessible location by an application of the window and wherein the application of the window designates the current location a keep accessible location if user navigation away from the current location will cause data to be lost or access to a status information to become unavailable to the user.

17. A method for preserving and re-accessing different locations within a window of a windows-based computer environment, said method comprising:

navigating to a first location within the window, wherein the first location has a set of content information that can be presented to the user in a content pane of the window;

navigating to a second location within the window, wherein the second location has a set of content information that can be presented to the user in the content pane of the window; and

changing a label of a first navigation tab in the content pane of the window to reflect the second location unless the first location has been designated a keep accessible location, in which case a second navigation tab having a label that reflects the second location appears in the content pane of the window and the label of the first navigation tab reflects the first location,

wherein if the first location has been designated a keep accessible location the user can navigate from the second location back to the first location via the first navigation tab and access the set of content information of the first location.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein a keep accessible location is indicated by a keep accessible marker of the label.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the keep accessible marker is a pushpin.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

if the first location has been designated a keep accessible location, selecting the first navigation tab to navigate to the first location within the window; and

if the second location has been designated a keep accessible location, selecting the second navigation tab to navigate to the second location within the window.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

providing a first status information about the first location within the window to the user.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the first status information is provided by a first status information marker on the label of the first navigation tab.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the first status information disappears from the label of the first navigation tab after the user has selected the first navigation tab to view the first location.

24. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

providing a second status information about the second location within the window to the user.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the second status information is provided by a second status information marker on the label of the second navigation tab.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the second status information disappears from the label of the second navigation tab after the user has selected the second navigation tab to view the second location.

27. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

performing a display in new window operation on an active navigation tab of the window;

presenting a view of the location of the active navigation tab in a child window; and

causing the active navigation tab of the window to revert to a most recently viewed navigation tab of the window.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

returning the child window to the window by causing the active navigation tab of the window to reflect the location presented in the child window, wherein the active navigation tab has an operation state that the active navigation tab had when the display in view window operation was performed on the navigation tab.

29. The method of claim 17, wherein the first location and the second location are locations of an application of the window.

30. The method of claim 17, wherein the first location is a location of a first application of the window and the second location is a location of a second application of the window.

31. A method for preserving and re-accessing different locations within a window of a windows-based computer environment, said method comprising:

navigating to a first location within the window, wherein the first location has a set of content information that can be presented to the user in a content pane of the window;

creating a first navigation tab of the first location in the content pane of the window, wherein the first navigation tab has a label that reflects the first location;

designating the first location a keep accessible location and causing the label of the first navigation tab to have a keep accessible marker;

navigating to a second location within the window, wherein the second location has a set of content information that can be presented to the user in the content pane of the window;

creating a second navigation tab of the second location in the content pane of the window, wherein the second navigation tab has a label that reflects the second location; and

navigating from the second location back to the first location by selecting the first navigation tab of the first location and accessing the set of content information associated with the first location that was previously displayed in the content pane before navigating to the second location.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the user designates the first location a keep accessible location.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the user designates the first location a keep accessible location by selecting a keep accessible menu item.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the user designates the first location a keep accessible location by selecting a keep accessible tool bar button.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein an application of the window designates the first location a keep accessible location.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the first location is designated a keep accessible location by setting the first location to a keep accessible state when the first location is initially accessed, thereby causing the first location to be presented to the user when the window is initially opened.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the first location is designated a keep accessible location because the first navigation tab has a keep accessible default state for the first location, thereby causing the first navigation tab to have a keep accessible state after the user has accessed the first location.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein after creating the second navigation tab, further comprising:

navigating back to the first location of the window by selecting the first navigation tab.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein selecting the first navigation tab causes the first navigation tab to become an active navigation tab of the window and the second navigation tab to become an inactive navigation tab of the window.

40. The method of claim 31, wherein after creating the second navigation tab, further comprising:

designating the second location a keep accessible location and causing the label of the second navigation tab to have a keep accessible marker; and

navigating back to the first location of the window by selecting the first navigation tab.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the user designates the second location a keep accessible location.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the user designates the second location a keep accessible location by selecting a keep accessible menu item.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the user designates the second location a keep accessible location by selecting a keep accessible tool bar button.

44. The method of claim 40, wherein an application of the window designates the second location a keep accessible location.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the second location is designated a keep accessible location by setting the second location to a keep accessible state when the second location is initially accessed, thereby causing the second location to be presented to the user when the window is initially opened.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein the second location is designated a keep accessible location because the active navigation tab has a keep accessible default state for the second location, thereby causing the second navigation tab to have a keep accessible state after the user has accessed the second location.

47. The method of claim 40, wherein selecting the first navigation tab causes the first navigation tab to become an active navigation tab of the window.

48. The method of claim 47, further comprising:

navigating back to the second location of the window by selecting the second navigation tab.

49. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

providing a first status information about the first location within the window to the user.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the first status information is provided by a first status information marker on the label of the first navigation tab.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the first status information disappears from the label of the first navigation tab after the user has selected the first navigation tab to view the first location.

52. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

providing a second status information about the second location within the window to the user.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the second status information is provided by a second status information marker on the label of the second navigation tab.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the second status information disappears from the label of the second navigation tab after the user has selected the second navigation tab to view the second location.

55. The method of claim 31, wherein the first location and the second location are locations of an application of the window.

56. The method of claim 31, wherein the first location is a location of a first application of the window and the second location is a location of a second application of the window.

57. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

performing a display in new window operation on an active navigation tab of the window;

presenting a view of the location of the active navigation tab in a child window; and

causing the active navigation tab of the window to revert to a most recently viewed navigation tab of the window.

58. The method of claim 57, further comprising:

returning the child window to the window by causing the active navigation tab of the window to reflect the location presented in the child window, wherein the active navigation tab has an operation state that the active navigation tab had when the display in view window operation was performed on the navigation tab.

59. A method for preserving and re-accessing different locations within a window of a windows-based computer environment, said method comprising:

navigating to a first location within the window;

creating a first navigation tab of the first location in a content pane of the window, wherein the first navigation tab has a label that reflects the first location;

designating the first location a keep accessible location and causing the label of the first navigation tab to have a keep accessible marker;

navigating to a second location within the window; and

creating a second navigation tab of the second location in the content pane of the window, wherein the second navigation tab has a label that reflects the second location,

wherein an application of the window designates the first location a keep accessible location and wherein the application of the window designates the first location a keep accessible location if user navigation away from the first location will cause data to be lost or access to status information to become unavailable to the user.

60. A method for preserving and re-accessing different locations within a window of a windows-based computer environment, said method comprising:

navigating to a first location within the window;

creating a first navigation tab of the first location in a content pane of the window, wherein the first navigation tab has a label that reflects the first location;

designating the first location a keep accessible location and causing the label of the first navigation tab to have a keep accessible marker;

navigating to a second location within the window;

creating a second navigation tab of the second location in the content pane of the window, wherein the second navigation tab has a label that reflects the second location;

designating the second location a keep accessible location and causing the label of the second navigation tab to have a keep accessible marker; and

navigating back to the first location of the window by selecting the first navigation tab,

wherein an application of the window designates the second location a keep accessible location and wherein the application of the window designates the current location a keep accessible location if user navigation away from the current location will cause data to be lost or access to a status information to become unavailable to the user.

61. A computer-readable medium having a computer program for preserving and re-accessing different locations within a window of a windows-based computer environment, said computer program comprising:

instructions for navigating to a first location within the window, wherein the first location has a set of content information that can be presented to the user in the content pane of the window;

instructions for navigating to a second location within the window, wherein the second location has a set of content information that can be presented to the user in the content pane of the window; and

instructions for changing a label of a first navigation tab in the content pane of the window to reflect the second location unless the first location has been designated a keep accessible location, in which case a second navigation tab having a label that reflects the second location appears in the content pane of the window and the label of the first navigation tab reflects the first locations,

wherein if the first location has been designated a keep accessible location instructions for displaying the set of content information of the first location in the content pane when the user navigates from the second location back to the first location by selecting the first navigation tab of the first location.

62. The medium of claim 61, further comprising:

if the first location has been designated a keep accessible location, instructions for selecting the first navigation tab to navigate to the first location within the window; and

if the second location has been designated a keep accessible location, instructions for selecting the second navigation tab to navigate to the second location within the window.

63. The medium of claim 61, further comprising:

instructions for providing a first status information about the first location within the window to the user.

64. The medium of claim 61, further comprising:

instructions for providing a second status information about the second location within the window to the user.

65. The medium of claim 61, wherein the first location and the second location are locations of an application of the window.

66. The medium of claim 61, wherein the first location is a location of a first application of the window and the second location is a location of a second application of the window.

67. The medium of claim 61, further comprising:

instructions for performing a display in new window operation on an active navigation tab of the window;

instructions for presenting a view of the location of the active navigation tab in a child window; and

instructions for causing the active navigation tab of the window to revert to a most recently viewed navigation tab of the window.

68. The medium of claim 67, further comprising:

instructions for returning the child window to the window that cause the active navigation tab of the window to reflect the location presented in the child window, wherein the active navigation tab has an operation state that the active navigation tab had when the display in view window operation was performed on the navigation tab.

69. A computer-readable medium having a computer program for preserving and re-accessing different locations within a window of a windows-based computer environment, said computer program comprising:

instructions for navigating to a first location within the window, wherein the first location has a set of content information that can be presented to the user in a content pane of the window;

instructions for creating a first navigation tab of the first location in the content pane of the window, wherein the first navigation tab has a label that reflects the first location;

instructions for designating the first location a keep accessible location and causing the label of the first navigation tab to have a keep accessible marker;

instructions for navigating to a second location within the window, wherein the second location has a set of content information that can be presented to the user in the content pane of the window;

instructions for creating a second navigation tab of the second location in the content pane of the window, wherein the second navigation tab has a label that reflects the second location, and

instructions for displaying the set of content information associated with the first location in the content sane when the user navigates from the second location back to the first location by selecting the first navigation tab of the first location.

70. The medium of claim 69, wherein designating the first location a keep accessible location comprises instructions for setting the first location to a keep accessible state when the first location is initially accessed, thereby causing the first location to be presented to the user when the window is initially opened.

71. The medium of claim 69, wherein designating the first location a keep accessible location comprises instructions for setting the first navigation tab to a keep accessible default state for the first location, thereby causing the first navigation tab to have a keep accessible state after the user has accessed the first location.

72. The medium of claim 69, wherein after creating the second navigation tab, further comprising:

instructions for navigating back to the first location of the window after the user selects the first navigation tab.

73. The medium of claim 69, wherein after creating the second navigation tab, further comprising:

instructions for designating the second location a keep accessible location and causing the label of the second navigation tab to have a keep accessible marker; and

instructions for navigating back to the first location of the window by selecting the first navigation tab.

74. The medium of claim 69, further comprising:

instructions for providing a first status information about the first location within the window to the user.

75. The medium of claim 69, further comprising:

instructions for providing a second status information about the second location within the window to the user.

76. The medium of claim 69, wherein the first location and the second location are locations of an application of the window.

77. The medium of claim 69, wherein the first location is a location of a first application of the window and the second location is a location of a second application of the window.

78. The medium of claim 69, further comprising:

instructions for performing a display in new window operation on an active navigation tab of the window;

instructions for presenting a view of the location of the active navigation tab in a child window; and

instructions for causing the active navigation tab of the window to revert to a most recently viewed navigation tab of the window.

79. The method of claim 78, further comprising:

instructions for returning the child window to the window that cause the active navigation tab of the window to reflect the location presented in the child window, wherein the active navigation tab has an operation state that the active navigation tab had when the display in view window operation was performed on the navigation tab.

80. A computer-readable medium having a computer program for preserving and re-accessing different locations within a window of a windows-based computer environment, said computer program comprising:

instructions for navigating to a first location within the window;

instructions for creating a first navigation tab of the first location in a content pane of the window, wherein the first navigation tab has a label that reflects the first location;

instructions for designating the first location a keep accessible location and causing the label of the first navigation tab to have a keep accessible marker;

instructions for navigating to a second location within the window; and

instructions for creating a second navigation tab of the second location in the content pane of the window, wherein the second navigation tab has a label that reflects the second location,

wherein the first location is designated a keep accessible location if user navigation away from the first location will cause data to be lost or access to a status information to become unavailable to the user.