Graphical user interface having contextual menus

• US 6,493,006 B1
• Filed: 05/10/1996
• Issued: 12/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Computer Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Cooley, Daniel, Gourdol, Arno
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh, Ba
• Application Number:
  US08/644,415
• Time in Patent Office: 2,405 Days
• Field of Search: 395/352, 395/353, 395/355, 345/810, 345/812, 345/817, 345/825
• US Class Current: 715/825
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A contextual pop-up menu of frequently used commands is displayed by an application whenever a user carries out a particular action. The contextual menu appears at the location of a cursor, so that the displayed commands are spatially very close to an item on which an action is to be performed. The commands which are displayed in the contextual menu are not limited to those provided by an application associated with the selected item. Other commands, such as system level commands, for help items or other types of user assistance features, can be added to the menu before it is displayed to the user. In addition, plug-in modules can be employed to provide other commands associated with the selected item.

Claims

1. A method for enabling a computer user to invoke actions that are to be performed on objects appearing on a computer display, comprising the steps of:

detecting a designated action by a user with respect to a selected object under the control of an application program executing on a computer;

determining a data type for the selected object;

retrieving a list of commands provided by the application program which are associated with the determined type of data;

providing a notification from the application program to an operating system executing on the computer, which identifies the designated action and the type of data for the selected object;

selecting, within the operating system, a set of commands based upon said type of data, in response to said notification;

providing said notification to plug-in modules which are registered with the operating system;

selecting, within said plug-in modules, additional commands based upon said type of data, in response to said notification;

providing said set of commands selected by the operating system and said additional commands selected by the plug-in modules to the application program; and

displaying a menu of commands appropriate to the selected type of data, which includes the list of commands retrieved by the application program and the commands selected by the operating system and the plug-in modules.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said menu of commands is displayed at a location adjacent the selected object.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said designated action is carried out by positioning a cursor on the selected object and performing a predetermined manual action, and wherein said menu is displayed at the location of the cursor.

4. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of detecting the selection by the user of one of said additional commands on the displayed menu, providing a notification to the plug-in module which provided the selected command, and performing an operation associated with the selected command via said plug-in module.

5. A method for enabling a computer user to invoke actions that are to be performed on objects appearing on a computer display, comprising the steps of:

detecting a designated action by a user with respect to a selected object under the control of an application program executing on a computer;

determining a data type for the selected object;

retrieving a list of commands provided by the application program which are associated with the determined type of data;

providing a notification from the application program to an operating system executing on the computer, which identifies the designated action and the type of data for the selected object;

selecting, within the operating system, a set of additional commands based upon said type of data, in response to said notification;

providing said set of commands selected by the operating system to the application program; and

displaying a menu of commands appropriate to the selected type of data, which includes the list of commands retrieved by the application program and the additional commands selected by the operating system.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said menu of commands is displayed at a location adjacent the selected object.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein said designated action is carried out by positioning a cursor on the selected object and performing a predetermined manual action, and wherein said menu is displayed at the location of the cursor.

8. The method of claim 5 further including the steps of detecting the selection by the user of one of said additional commands on the displayed menu, providing a notification to the operating system of the detected selection, and performing an operation associated with the selected command via the operating system.

9. A method for enabling a computer user to invoke actions that are to be performed on objects appearing on a computer display, comprising the steps of:

detecting a designated action by a user with respect to a selected object under the control of an application program executing on a computer;

determining a data type for the selected object;

retrieving a list of commands provided by the application program which are associated with the determined type of data;

providing a notification from the application program to a plurality of plug-in modules associated with an operating system executing on the computer, which identifies the designated action and the type of data for the selected object;

selecting, within said plug-in modules, additional commands based upon said type of data, in response to said notification;

providing said additional commands selected by the plug-in modules to the application program; and

displaying a menu of commands appropriate to the selected type of data, which includes the list of commands retrieved by the application program and the additional commands selected by the plug-in modules.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said menu of commands is displayed at a location adjacent the selected object.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein said designated action is carried out by positioning a cursor on the selected object and performing a predetermined manual action, and wherein said menu is displayed at the location of the cursor.

12. The method of claim 9 further including the steps of detecting the selection by the user of one of said additional commands on the displayed menu, providing a notification to the plug-in module which provided the selected command, and performing an operation associated with the selected command via said plug-in module.

13. A method for enabling a computer user to invoke actions that are to be performed on objects appearing on a computer display, comprising the steps of:

detecting a designated action by a user with respect to a selected object under the control of an application program executing on a computer;

retrieving a list of commands provided by the application program which are associated with the selected object;

providing a notification from the application program to an operating system executing on the computer, which identifies the designated action and the selected object;

selecting a set of additional commands which pertain to the selected object, in response to said notification;

providing said set of additional commands to the application program, via the operating system; and

displaying a menu of commands appropriate to the selected type of data, which includes the list of commands retrieved by the application program and the additional commands provided by the operating system.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein at least some of said additional commands are provided by plug-in modules associated with the operating system.

15. The method of claim 14 further including the steps of detecting the selection by the user of one of said additional commands on the displayed menu, providing a notification to the plug-in module which provided the selected command, and performing an operation associated with the selected command via said plug-in module.

16. A system for enabling a computer user to invoke actions that are to be performed on objects appearing on a computer display, comprising the steps of:

a user input device for selecting an object under the control of an application program executing on a computer and designating an action to be performed on the object;

means associated with the application program for determining a data type for the selected object and retrieving a list of commands which are associated with the determined type of data;

means for providing a notification to an operating system executing on the computer, which identifies the designated action and the type of data for the selected object;

means associated with the operating system for selecting a set of commands based upon said type of data, in response to said notification;

a plurality of plug-in modules which are registered with the operating system for selecting additional commands based upon said type of data, in response to said notification;

means for providing said set of commands selected by the operating system and said additional commands selected by the plug-in modules to the application program; and

a display controller for displaying a menu of commands appropriate to the selected type of data, which includes the list of commands retrieved by the application program and the commands selected by the operating system and the plug-in modules.

17. A computer-readable medium containing a program executable by a computer to perform the functions of:

receiving a notification from an application program executing on the computer, which identifies a selected object and the type of data for the selected object;

selecting a set of commands based upon said type of data, in response to said notification; and

providing said set of selected commands to the application program, to cause said application program to display a menu of commands appropriate to the selected type of data, which includes the commands selected in response to said notification.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein said program comprises at least one plug-in module that registers with an operating system that executes on the computer, for receiving said notification and providing commands to be displayed by the application program.