Automatic icon generation
First Claim
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1. A method for generating an iconic representation of a web browser session, said method comprising:
- accessing a web page from the World Wide Web in said browser session;
displaying said web page on a display;
selecting a subset of the page, said subset being defined according to at least one user input;
automatically transforming the subset to an icon, wherein the icon is smaller than the page, whereby the icon contains at least some information derived from said subset of the page; and
displaying the iconic representation of the web browser session on said display, said iconic representation being user selectable to invoke the web browser session.
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Abstract
A mechanism for automatically generating icons. In the preferred embodiment, a browser displays a web page in a window on a display screen. The browser selects a subset of the page, and transforms the subset to an icon. The browser then displays the icon, which represents the browser and the page, on the display screen. Thus, when multiple invocations of the browser are active, each invocation will have a different, associated icon, depending on each invocation'"'"'s current page. In this way, the user can easily distinguish between the browser invocations by viewing the different icons.
224 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method for generating an iconic representation of a web browser session, said method comprising:
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accessing a web page from the World Wide Web in said browser session;
displaying said web page on a display;
selecting a subset of the page, said subset being defined according to at least one user input;
automatically transforming the subset to an icon, wherein the icon is smaller than the page, whereby the icon contains at least some information derived from said subset of the page; and
displaying the iconic representation of the web browser session on said display, said iconic representation being user selectable to invoke the web browser session. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19)
scaling the subset on a x-axis and a y-axis by a ratio, wherein the ratio is calculated by dividing the icon width by the subset width.
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15. The method of claim 13, wherein when the determining step is true, the transforming step further comprises:
scaling the subset on a x-axis and a y-axis by a ratio, wherein the ratio is calculated by dividing the icon height by the subset height.
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16. The method of claim 12, wherein when the deciding step is false, the transforming step further comprises:
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scaling the subset on a x-axis by a first ratio, wherein the first ratio is calculated by dividing the icon width by the subset width; and
scaling the subset on a y-axis by a second ratio, wherein the second ratio is calculated by dividing the icon height by the subset height.
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19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the icon further comprises a shortcut to invoke the browser and display the web page.
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17. An apparatus for browsing the World Wide Web, comprising:
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a processor;
memory coupled to the processor;
a browser residing in the memory and executing on the processor, wherein said apparatus is capable of generating multiple browser sessions concurrently, each session accessing a respective web page, and wherein a browser session displays a web page on a display, selects a subset of the web page, said subset being defined according to at least one user input, and transforms the subset to an icon representing the browser session, wherein the icon is smaller than the page, whereby the icon contains at least some information derived from said subset of the web page, wherein a user may invoke the browser session by selecting said icon representing the browser session. - View Dependent Claims (18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
scales the subset on a x-axis and a y-axis by a ratio, wherein the browser calculates the ratio by dividing the icon width by the subset width.
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32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein when the determination is true, the browser further:
scales the subset on a x-axis and a y-axis by a ratio, wherein the browser calculates the ratio by dividing the icon height by the subset height.
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33. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein when the decision is false, the browser further:
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scales the subset on a x-axis by a first ratio, wherein the browser calculates the first ratio by dividing the icon width by the subset width, and scales the subset on a y-axis by a second ratio, wherein the browser calculates the second ratio by dividing the icon height by the subset height.
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34. A program product that generates an icon, comprising:
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a browser for use in a multitasking system that supports multiple concurrent browser sessions, each session accessing a respective web page, wherein a browser session displays a web page on a display, selects a subset of the web page, said subset being defined according to at least one user input, and transforms the subset to an icon representing the browser session, wherein the icon is smaller than the page, whereby the icon contains at least some information derived from said subset of the web page, whereby a user may invoke the browser session by selecting said icon representing the browser session; and
signal-bearing media bearing the browser. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
scales the subset on a x-axis by a first ratio, wherein the browser calculates the first ratio by dividing the icon width by the subset width, and scales the subset on a y-axis by a second ratio, wherein the browser calculates the second ratio by dividing the icon height by the subset height.
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49. The program product of claim 46, wherein when the determination is false, the browser further:
scales the subset on a x-axis and a y-axis by a ratio, wherein the browser calculates the ratio by dividing the icon width by the subset width.
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50. The program product of claim 46, wherein when the determination is true, the browser further:
scales the subset on a x-axis and a y-axis by a ratio, wherein the browser calculates the ratio by dividing the icon height by the subset height.
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51. A method of user interface in a multitasking system, comprising the steps of:
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presenting to a user a web page of data, said web page being presented in a window representing a session of an interactive web browser application for browsing the World Wide Web on a display of said multitasking system;
receiving a user selection to iconize said window;
identifying, according to at least one user input, a subset of said web page of data to be used in generating an icon;
automatically generating a customized icon for said window from said identified subset of said web page of data, said customized icon displaying at least some information constructed from said identified subset of said web page of data, said customized icon being smaller than said window; and
replacing said window with said customized icon. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53)
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Specification