Iconic subscription schedule controller for a graphic user interface

• US 6,057,834 A
• Filed: 06/12/1998
• Issued: 05/02/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pickover, Clifford Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Breene, John E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CUNNINGHAM, GREGORY F
• Application Number:
  US09/097,197
• Time in Patent Office: 690 Days
• Field of Search: 345/326, 345/329, 345/332, 345/333-335, 345/346, 345/348, 345/349, 345/352, 345/354, 345/355, 345/350, 345/351, 345/353
• US Class Current: 715/846
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop

Abstract

Using a graphical user interface (GUI), users manipulate, organize, classify, and/or arrange web-page icons by having the icons be consolidated in schedule-control icons (SCI) containing regions. Regions may be on icons, windows, or other graphical objects. For example, when an icon representing a web page is dragged close to a region on an SCI, the subscription update schedule for that web page is changed. The schedule value depends upon to which region on the SCI an icon is dragged.

Claims

1. A schedule-controller icon displayed on a graphical user interface of a computer system, the icon comprising:

one or more locations, each location associated with a subscription schedule rate and a first location being one of the locations; and

a threshold distance for each of the locations, where one or more icons, representing one or more web page links, is placed on the graphical user interface within the threshold distance of the first location causing the subscription for the icon to be assigned an update schedule of the first location.

2. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 1, where the threshold distance is zero, so that the icon is dropped on the schedule-controller icon first location.

3. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 1, where the locations also have one or more graphical attributes that are associated with one or more characteristics of the respective update schedule.

4. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 3, where the icon changes one or more of the graphical attributes when the update schedule of the first location is changed.

5. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 3, where the graphical attributes include any one of the following:

color, brightness, text font, texture, outline, blink rate, shape, and size.

6. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 1, where the locations are a continuous visual index.

7. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 6, where the update schedule at one or more of the locations on the continuous visual index are interpolated.

8. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 1, where one or more of the locations is a distinguished region of the graphical user interface.

9. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 8, where the distinguished region is visually distinguished.

10. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 9, where the distinguished region is visually distinguished by any of the following:

color, outline, texture, are brightness.

11. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 8, where the distinguished region is spatially distinguished.

12. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 1, where one or more of the locations is a cutout on the schedule-controller icon.

13. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 12, where there is a visual indication of binding when the icon is within the threshold distance.

14. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 1, that has a textual description display on the schedule-controller icon.

15. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 1, that is three dimensional.

16. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 15, that is used in a virtual reality graphical user interface.

17. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 16, that has any one of the following depictions:

shelf, cabinet, compartment, and container.

18. A schedule-controller icon, as in claim 1, that is used to organize one or more icons representing web pages by one or more icon classes.

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

a graphical user interface;

one or more schedule-controller icons displayed on the graphical user interface, each of the schedule-controller icons having one or more locations, each location associated with an update schedule, and a first location being one of the locations; and

a threshold distance for each of the locations, where an icon, representing a web page, is placed on the graphical user interface within the threshold distance of the first location causing the web page represented by the icon to be assigned the update schedule of the first location.

20. A system, as in claim 19, where one or more of the schedule-controller icons is associated with a class of one or more web pages and only can change the update schedule of the pages in the class.

21. A system, as in claim 19, where the computer is a server on a network of computers.

22. A system, as in claim 21, where the server uses one or more schedule-controller icons to alter the access schedule of one or more network users.

23. A system, as in claim 19, where one or more of the schedule-controller icons is used to alter the update schedule of one or more tasks controlled by an operating system of the computer.

24. A system, as in claim 19, further comprising:

a network connection to a network; and

a receiver that receives information over the network, information causing a graphic attribute to change.

25. A system, as in claim 24, where the changing graphical attribute belongs to the schedule-controller icon.

26. A system, as in claim 24, where the changing graphical attribute belongs to the icon.

27. A system, as in claim 24, where the changing graphical attribute changes a region of the schedule-controller icon.

28. A system, as in claim 24, where the changing graphical attribute changes a region of the icon.

29. A system, as in claim 24, where the information includes any one or more of the following:

a bandwidth status, an access requirement, a change in status, a memory requirement, an information format, an update, a presence of images, an absence of images, and an information content.

30. A system, as in claim 29, where two or more information items are combined by a mathematical relation to determine the change in the graphical attribute.

31. A system, as in claim 19, where one of the locations further specifies a nature of one or more updates.

32. A system, as in claim 31, where the nature is any one or more of the following:

an e-mail, a screen text, a web page, a file transfer protocol (FTP), and a notification.

33. A method of assigning an update schedule to a web page subscription running on a computer system comprising the steps of:

a. selecting an icon that represents the web page on a graphical user interface;

b. moving the icon to within a threshold distance of first location being one of one or more locations on a schedule-controller icon; and

c. assigning the web page represented by the icon an update schedule the is associated with the first location.

34. A schedule-controller icon displayed on a graphical user interface of a computer system, the icon comprising:

one or more locations means for designating an update schedule and a first location means being one of the location means; and

a threshold distance means, for each of the location means, for determining if an icon means, representing a web page, is placed on the graphical user interface within the threshold distance means of the first location means so that the web page represented by the icon means is assigned the update schedule of the first location means.