Advanced graphics controls

• US 6,177,945 B1
• Filed: 10/08/1998
• Issued: 01/23/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Pleyer, Sven
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): Padmanabhan, Mano
• Application Number:
  US09/169,183
• Time in Patent Office: 838 Days
• Field of Search: 345/430, 345/473, 345/348, 345/977, 345/349
• US Class Current: 345/473
• 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 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/977 Dynamic icon, e.g. animated or live action

Abstract

A graphics control for an interactive user interface includes a plurality of individually specified graphics components. Each graphics component has non-transparent portions and potentially also has transparent portions. In one embodiment, the graphics components include a background component, a face component, a frame component, and a focus component. The components are overlaid on each other from bottom to top, creating a layered effect. The face component is selectable by the user input to perform an action, and selecting the face component changes the appearance of the face component. Other than the background component, the components each are constructed of a texture bitmap and one or more luminance bitmaps. The texture bitmaps are tiled to conserve memory and data bandwidth. The luminance bitmaps can be supplied in a small size, and scaled using a special tiling technique.

Claims

1. A graphics control for display on an interactive user interface, comprising:

a plurality of individually specified graphics components;

wherein respective graphics components are overlaid on each other on the interactive user interface in a pre-determined order to create a composite control image, wherein at least one of the graphics components of the composite control image is selectable by a user to initiate a response in an associated application program.

2. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein an individual graphics component comprises a texture element and a corresponding luminance element, the texture element and luminance element being combined to form said individual graphics component.

3. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein an individual graphics component comprises a texture bitmap and a corresponding luminance bitmap, the texture bitmap and luminance bitmap being combined to form said individual graphics component.

4. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the graphics components comprises a texture element and a corresponding luminance element, the texture element and luminance element being combined to form said at least one of the graphics components, wherein the texture element is tiled to create a graphics component that has a larger area than the texture element itself.

5. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein an individual graphics component comprises a texture bitmap and a corresponding luminance bitmap, the texture bitmap being tiled and combined with the luminance bitmap to form said individual graphics component.

6. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein the graphics components include at least two elements that are displayed alternatively on the interactive user interface to indicate different control states.

7. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the graphics components include at least two elements that are displayed alternatively on the interactive user interface to indicate different control states;

the graphics components further include a plurality of animation elements that are displayed in sequence on the interactive user interface to indicate a transition between the different control states, the animation elements being displayed in combination with the other graphics components of the graphics control.

8. A graphics control as recited in claim 7 wherein each of the animation elements comprises a luminance element.

9. A graphics control as recited in claim 7 wherein each of the animation elements comprises a luminance bitmap.

10. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein the graphics components include a plurality of animation elements that are displayed cyclically on the interactive user interface, the animation elements being displayed in combination with the other graphics components of the graphics control.

11. A graphics control as recited in claim 10, wherein each of the animation elements comprise a texture bitmap and a corresponding luminance bitmap.

12. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the respective graphics components overlay a common rectangular region of the interactive user interface;

individual graphics components have portions that are transparent, thereby allowing non-transparent portions of underlying graphics components to remain visible.

13. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein:

each graphics component has non-transparent portions;

wherein the respective graphics components are overlaid by displaying them over each other in a sequence on a common region of the interactive user interface to create a composite control image of the graphics control, the non-transparent portions of an individual graphics component obscuring underlying portions of other graphics components.

14. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the graphics components comprise frame components, face components, and focus components;

at least some of the frame components, face components, and focus components are shared between the graphics components of different graphics controls.

15. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein:

each graphics component comprises one or more bitmaps;

common bitmaps are shared between the graphics components of different graphics controls.

16. A graphics control as recited in claim 1, wherein:

each graphics component comprises a texture bitmap and a luminance bitmap;

common texture bitmaps are shared between the graphics components of different graphics controls.

17. A method of displaying a graphics control on a portion of an interactive user interface, comprising:

overlaying a plurality of graphics components on each other in a pre-determined order to create a composite control image;

in response to a user selecting one of the graphics components, changing the appearance of at least one of the graphics components of the composite control image, and initiating a response in an associated application program.

18. A method of displaying a graphics control as recited in claim 17, further comprising sharing graphics components between graphics controls.

19. A method of displaying a graphics control as recited in claim 17, wherein each graphics component comprises one or more bitmaps, the method further comprising using common bitmaps in different graphics controls.

20. A method of displaying a graphics control as recited in claim 17, wherein each graphics component comprises a texture bitmap and a luminance bitmap, the method further comprising using common texture bitmaps in different graphics controls.

21. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the graphics components include a focus component that is displayed when the graphics control is the subject of a focus, the focus component having a plurality of animation elements.

22. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising sequentially displaying a plurality of animation elements when changing the appearance of said at least one of the graphics components.

23. A method as recited in claim 17, further comprising:

designating, for an individual graphics component, a texture element and a luminance element;

shading the texture element based on the luminance element to create said individual graphics component.

24. One or more computer-readable media containing instructions to display a graphics control on a portion of an interactive user interface, the instructions comprising:

instructions to overlay a plurality of graphics components on each other in a pre-determined order to create a composite control image; and

instructions to change the appearance of at least one of the graphics components of the composite control image in response to a user selecting one of the graphics components, and instructions to initiate a response in an associated application program.

25. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 24, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to designate, for an individual graphics component, a texture element and a luminance element; and

instructions to shade the texture element based on the luminance element to create said individual graphics component.

26. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 25, further comprising instructions to enlarge a particular graphics component, the instructions comprising:

instructions to divide the luminance element of said particular graphics component into repeating and non-repeating regions; and

instructions to duplicate one or more of the repeating regions to enlarge the luminance element.

27. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 25, further comprising instructions to enlarge a particular graphics component, the instructions comprising:

instructions to divide the luminance element of said particular graphics component into repeating and non-repeating regions;

instructions to duplicate one or more of the repeating regions to enlarge the luminance element; and

instructions to tile the texture element of said particular graphics component.

28. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 25, wherein the texture and luminance elements are bitmaps, further comprising instructions to enlarge a particular graphics component, the instructions comprising:

instructions to divide the luminance element of said particular graphics component into center, side, and corner region bitmaps; and

instructions to duplicate the center and side region bitmaps of the luminance element between corner region bitmaps of the luminance element to enlarge the luminance element.

29. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 28, further comprising instructions to sequentially display a plurality of animation elements when changing the appearance of said at least one of the graphics components.

30. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 25, wherein the texture and luminance elements are bitmaps, further comprising instructions to enlarge a particular graphics component, the instructions comprising:

instructions to divide the luminance element of said particular graphics component into center, side, and corner region bitmaps;

instructions to duplicate the center and side region bitmaps of the luminance element between corner region bitmaps of the luminance element to enlarge the luminance element; and

instructions to tile the texture element bitmap of said particular graphics component.

31. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 24, the instructions further comprising instructions to share graphics components between graphics controls.

32. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 24, wherein each graphics component comprises one or more bitmaps, the instructions further comprising instructions to use common bitmaps in different graphics controls.

33. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 24, wherein each graphics component comprises a texture bitmap and a luminance bitmap, the instructions further comprising instructions to use common texture bitmaps in different graphics controls.

34. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 24, wherein the graphics components include a focus component that is displayed when the graphics control is the subject of a focus, the focus component having a plurality of animation elements.

35. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 24, the instructions further comprising instructions to sequentially display a plurality of animation elements when changing the appearance of said at least one of the graphics components.

36. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 24, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to divide at least an element of one of the graphics components into repeating and non-repeating regions; and

instructions to duplicate one or more of the repeating regions to enlarge the graphics component.

37. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 24, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to divide at least an element of one of the graphics components into center, side, and corner regions;

instructions to duplicate center and side regions between the corner regions to enlarge the graphics component.

38. A graphics control for display on an interactive user interface, comprising:

a plurality of individually specified graphics components;

wherein respective graphics components are overlaid on each other on the interactive user interface in a pre-determined order to create a composite control image; and

wherein at least one of the graphics components changes its appearance independently of at least another of the graphics components to indicate different control states when the graphics control is focused.

39. A graphics control for display on an interactive user interface, comprising:

a plurality of individually specified graphics components;

wherein respective graphics components are overlaid on each other on the interactive user interface in a pre-determined order to create a composite control image; and

wherein at least one of the graphics components changes its appearance independently of at least another of the graphics components to indicate different control states when the user selects the graphics control.

40. A graphics control for display on an interactive user interface, comprising:

one or more individually specified graphics components, wherein at least one of the graphics components is selectable by a user to initiate a response in an associated application program;

wherein an individual graphics component comprises a texture element and a corresponding luminance element, the texture element and luminance element being combined to form said individual graphics component.

41. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein the texture element is a texture bitmap and the corresponding luminance element is a luminance bitmap.

42. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein the texture element is tiled to create a graphics component that has a larger area than the texture element itself.

43. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein the texture element is a texture bitmap and the corresponding luminance element is a luminance bitmap, the texture bitmap being tiled and combined with the luminance bitmap to form said individual graphics component.

44. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein the individually specified graphics components are overlaid on each other on the interactive user interface in a pre-determined order to create a composite control image.

45. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein the graphics components include at least two elements that are displayed alternatively on the interactive user interface to indicate different control states.

46. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein:

the respective graphics components overlay a common rectangular region of the interactive user interface;

individual graphics components have portions that are transparent, thereby allowing non-transparent portions of underlying graphics components to remain visible.

47. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein said at least one of the graphics components changes its appearance independently of at least another of the graphics components when the graphics control is focused.

48. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein said at least one of the graphics components changes its appearance independently of at least another of the graphics components when the user selects the graphics control.

49. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein said at least one of the graphics components includes at least two elements that are displayed alternatively to indicate the different control states, the graphics control further comprising a plurality of animation elements that are displayed in sequence on the interactive user interface to indicate a transition between the different control states.

50. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein:

the graphics components include at least two elements that are displayed alternatively on the interactive user interface to indicate different control states;

the graphics components further include a plurality of animation elements that are displayed in sequence on the interactive user interface to indicate a transition between the different control states, the animation elements being displayed in combination with the other graphics components of the graphics control.

51. A graphics control as recited in claim 50, wherein each of the animation elements comprises a luminance element.

52. A graphics control as recited in claim 50, wherein each of the animation elements comprises a luminance bitmap.

53. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein the graphics components include a plurality of animation elements that are displayed cyclically on the interactive user interface, the animation elements being displayed in combination with the other graphics components of the graphics control.

54. A graphics control as recited in claim 53, wherein each of the animation elements comprise a texture bitmap and a corresponding luminance bitmap.

55. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein the graphics components are shared between different graphics controls.

56. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein:

each graphics component comprises one or more bitmaps;

common bitmaps are shared between the graphics components of different graphics controls.

57. A graphics control as recited in claim 40, wherein:

each graphics component comprises a texture bitmap and a luminance bitmap;

common texture bitmaps are shared between the graphics components of different graphics controls.

58. A method of displaying a graphics control on a portion of an interactive user interface, comprising:

displaying a plurality of individually specified graphics components to create a composite control image;

combining a texture element and a corresponding luminance element to form an individual graphics component; and

initiating a response in an associated application program in response to selection of at least one of the graphics components by a user.

59. A method of displaying a graphics control as recited in claim 58, further comprising:

overlaying the graphics components on each other in a pre-determined order to create a composite control image;

changing the appearance of at least one of the graphics components of the composite control image in response to a user selecting one of the graphics components.

60. A method of displaying a graphics control as recited in claim 58, further comprising sharing texture elements and the corresponding luminance elements between different graphics controls.

61. A method of displaying a graphics control as recited in claim 58, wherein each graphics component comprises one or more bitmaps, the method further comprising using common bitmaps in different graphics controls.

62. A method of displaying a graphics control as recited in claim 58, the method further comprising using common texture elements in different graphics controls.

63. A method as recited in claim 58, wherein the graphics components include a focus component that is displayed when the graphics control is the subject of a focus, the focus component having a plurality of animation elements.

64. A method as recited in claim 63, further comprising sequentially displaying a plurality of animation elements when changing the appearance of said at least one of the graphics components.

65. A method as recited in claim 58, further comprising shading the texture element based on the luminance element to create said individual graphics component.

66. One or more computer-readable media containing instructions to display a graphics control on a portion of an interactive user interface, the instructions comprising:

instructions to display a plurality of individually specified graphics components to create a composite control image;

instructions to combine a texture element and a corresponding luminance element to form an individual graphics component; and

instructions to initiate a response in an associated application program in response to selection of at least one of the graphics components by a user.

67. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 66, further comprising:

instructions to overlay the graphics components on each other in a pre-determined order to create a composite control image; and

instructions to change the appearance of at least one of the graphics components of the composite control image in response to a user selecting one of the graphics components.

68. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 66, further comprising instructions to share texture elements and the corresponding luminance elements between different graphics controls.

69. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 66, wherein each graphics component comprises one or more bitmaps, further comprising instructions to use common bitmaps in different graphics controls.

70. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 66, further comprising instructions to use common texture elements in different graphics controls.

71. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 66, wherein the graphics components include a focus component that is displayed when the graphics control is the subject of a focus, the focus component having a plurality of animation elements.

72. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 66, further comprising instructions to shade the texture element based on the luminance element to create said individual graphics component.