Method and apparatus for screen object manipulation
First Claim
1. A method for manipulating objects displayed on a display screen comprising the steps of:
- providing a first screen object with a multiband region of influence comprising a plurality of bands for invoking operations related to manipulating screen objects displayed on said display screen, said plurality of bands having a first band and a second band wherein said first and second bands are non-contiguous.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention comprises a method and apparatus for manipulating screen objects utilizing multiband regions of influence. Positioning a reference point of an object within a particular band invokes a particular functionality or operation related to that band. In one embodiment, three types of functionality are provided. Moving a reference datum (for example, a line representing an edge or a user defined reference point) of an object A into a first band of an object B places object A under the influence of object B'"'"'s gravity, causing object A to be pulled into precise alignment with object B. Moving the reference point of object A from the first band into a second band turns off object B'"'"'s gravity, allowing object A to be freely moved to any arbitrary position near the object B. Moving the reference point of the object A to a position outside all bands causes object B'"'"'s gravity function to be turned back on. In other embodiments, the bands of the invention provide other kinds of functionalities or operations. For example, one embodiment comprises bands that provide different types of precise positioning. In one embodiment, multiple bands are provided, each one causing objects to be positioned so as to be spaced apart by one of several precise, predetermined distances.
161 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for manipulating objects displayed on a display screen comprising the steps of:
providing a first screen object with a multiband region of influence comprising a plurality of bands for invoking operations related to manipulating screen objects displayed on said display screen, said plurality of bands having a first band and a second band wherein said first and second bands are non-contiguous. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for manipulating objects displayed on a display screen, said method comprising the steps of:
providing a first screen object with a multiband region of influence comprising a plurality of bands for invoking operations related to manipulating screen objects displayed on said display screen, said plurality of bands having a first band and a second band wherein said first and second bands are non-contiguous. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24)
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21. A method for manipulating objects displayed on a display screen comprising the steps of:
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providing a first screen object with a multiband region of influence comprising a plurality of bands for invoking operations related to manipulating screen objects displayed on said display screen; selecting a second screen object; establishing a reference datum for said second screen object; moving said reference datum such that at least a portion of said reference datum protrudes into a first band of said plurality of bands; invoking a first operation corresponding to said first band; moving said reference datum from a position at which said reference datum protrudes into said first band to a position at which said reference datum protrudes into a second band of said plurality of bands; and invoking a second operation corresponding to said second band wherein said second operation comprises turning off gravity with respect to an edge of said first object corresponding to said multiband region of influence. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for manipulating objects displayed on a display screen, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a first screen object with a multiband region of influence comprising a plurality of bands for invoking operations related to manipulating screen objects displayed on said display screen; selecting a second screen object; establishing a reference datum for said second screen object; moving said reference datum such that at least a portion of said reference datum protrudes into a first band of said plurality of bands; invoking a first operation corresponding to said first band; moving said reference datum from a position at which said reference datum protrudes into said first band to a position at which said reference datum protrudes into a second band of said plurality of bands; and invoking a second operation corresponding to said second band wherein said second operation comprises turning off gravity with respect to an edge of said first object corresponding to said multiband region of influence.
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25. A method for manipulating objects displayed on a display screen comprising the steps of:
providing a first screen object with a multiband region of influence comprising a plurality of bands for invoking operations related to manipulating screen objects displayed on said display screen, said plurality of bands having a first band and a second band wherein said first and second bands overlap.
Specification