Method and system for organizing document information

• US 6,310,633 B1
• Filed: 03/23/1999
• Issued: 10/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Graham, Jamey
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vu, Kieu D.
• Application Number:
  US09/274,829
• Time in Patent Office: 952 Days
• Field of Search: 345/353, 345/431, 345/123, 345/326, 345/339, 345/341, 345/347, 345/351, 345/974, 345/356, 345/350, 345/349, 345/348, 707/104, 707/3, 707/4, 707/6
• US Class Current: 715/839
• 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 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A graphical user interface that presents document organization in terms of objects readily familiar to the user is provided by the present invention. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for managing documents in a computer system includes a step of producing a representation of a document that indicates to the user the contents of the document. A step of associating the representation with the document in the memory of the computer is also part of the method. The method includes a step of displaying a document closet image on the display. The document closet image can include a plurality of document images. A step of selecting a document image from the document closet in response to an input from the user is also part of the method. The method can also include turning the document image selected for display to the user so that the user can readily view the representation of the document'"'"'s contents.

Claims

1. A method for managing documents in a computer system, the computer system having a processor, a memory, a user input device, and a display, the method comprising:

producing a representation of a document created by an application program running on the processor to a location in the memory;

associating the representation with the document in the memory;

displaying a document closet image on the display, the document closet image including a plurality of document images, each document image displaying a representation of the contents of an associated document in memory, wherein each document image possesses a title of the document printed down a side of the document image facing a user;

selecting a document image from the plurality of document images in response to a first signal from the user input device; and

orienting the document image selected for display to the user for viewing the representation of the contents.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying at least one of a plurality of concepts of interest to the user, each concept of interest being selectable by an indication from the user;

highlighting at least one document image from the plurality of document images in response to a second signal from the user input device, the second signal indicating at least one of a plurality of concepts of interest to the user, the at least one document image being associated with a document having content corresponding to the concept of interest.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the highlighting further comprises:

coloring the document image with a color corresponding to the concept of interest.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

accepting further input from the user indicating other concepts of interest;

highlighting additional document images from the plurality of document images in response to the further input from the user.

5. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

displaying a graphical indicator of relevancy of each document to the concept of interest, the graphical indicator being displayed with the at least one document image associated with the document having content corresponding to the concept of interest.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing a sliding window in the document image, the sliding window being scrollable through the document image responsive to a third input from the user;

accepting the third input from the user;

moving the sliding window responsive to the third input from the user, the sliding window displaying a subset of the contents of the document associated with the document image.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

providing a pop-up window in which the subset of the contents of the document displayed in the sliding window is displayed to the user.

8. A computer program product for managing documents in a computer system, the computer system having a processor, a memory, a user input device, and a display, the computer program product comprising:

code for producing a representation of a document created by an application program running on the processor to a location in the memory;

code for associating the representation with the document in the memory;

code for displaying a document closet image on the display, the document closet image including a plurality of document images, each document image displaying a representation of the contents of an associated document in memory, wherein each document image possesses a title of the document printed down a side of the document image facing a user;

code for selecting a document image from the plurality of document images in response to a first signal from the user input device;

code for turning the document image selected for display to the user for viewing the representation of the contents; and

a computer readable storage medium for containing the codes.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising:

code for displaying at least one of a plurality of concepts of interest to the user, each concept of interest being selectable by an indication from the user;

code for highlighting at least one document image from the plurality of document images in response to a second signal from the user input device, the second signal indicating at least one of a plurality of concepts of interest to the user, the at least one document image being associated with a document having content corresponding to the concept of interest.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the highlighting further comprises:

code for coloring the document image with a color corresponding to the concept of interest.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 further comprising:

code for displaying a graphical indicator of relevancy of each document to the concept of interest, the graphical indicator being displayed with the at least one document image associated with the document having content corresponding to the concept of interest.

12. The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising:

code for providing a sliding window in the document image, the sliding window being scrollable through the document image responsive to a third input from the user;

code for accepting the third input from the user;

code for moving the sliding window responsive to the third input from the user, the sliding window displaying a subset of the contents of the document associated with the document image.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 further comprising:

code for providing a pop-up window in which the subset of the contents of the document displayed in the sliding window is displayed to the user.

14. An apparatus for managing documents in a computer system, the apparatus comprising:

a memory;

a display;

a user input device; and

a processor operatively disposed to;

produce a representation of a document created by an application program running on the processor to a location in the memory;

associate the representation with the document in the memory;

display a document closet image on the display, the document closet image including a plurality of document images, each document image displaying a representation of the contents of an associated document in memory, each document image having a title of the document printed along a side of the document image;

select a document image from the plurality of document images in response to a first signal from the user input device; and

turn the document image selected for display to the user for viewing the representation of the contents.

15. A computer system for managing documents, the computer system including a user input device coupled to a processor, a display and a memory having a plurality of documents, the computer system further comprising:

a machine configured to produce a representation of a document created by an application program running on the processor to a location in the memory;

a machine configured to associate the representation with the document in the memory;

a machine configured to display a document closet image on the display, the document closet image including a plurality of document images, each document image displaying a representation of the contents of an associated document in memory, each document image having a title of the document printed along a side of the document image;

a machine configured to select a document image from the plurality of document images in response to a first signal from the user input device; and

a machine configured to turn the document image selected for display to the user for viewing the representation of the contents.