Data entry user interface

• US 6,867,764 B2
• Filed: 03/22/2001
• Issued: 03/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ironworks Patents LLC, Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ludtke, Harold Aaron
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala, Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shapiro, Leonid
• Application Number:
  US09/816,273
• Publication Number:
  US 20010043198A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,454 Days
• Field of Search: 395173-175, 395/856, 395/864, 395/833, 395/784, 395/786, 395/440, 395/442
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A method and system for selecting a value from a range of values includes selecting a field having a value, selecting a location of a graphic to choose a value from the range, and then reselecting the field to store the value.

Claims

1. A method of selecting a value using a touch-sensitive screen comprising:

displaying a first value in a textbox on the screen and displaying a second value in a textbox on the screen,

displaying a graphic on the screen, the graphic having two ends and an indicator positioned between the two ends,

determining whether the user has selected the first or second textbox based on whether the user has tapped on the first or second textbox,

changing the appearance of the screen to indicate which textbox has been selected by the user,

determining whether the user has moved the indicator based on whether the user has slid on the graphic towards or away from one of the ends,

selecting a candidate value from a range of values based on the position of the indicator with respect to an end of the graphic, the range being a first range of values if the first textbox has been selected and the range being a different range of values if the second textbox has been selected,

displaying the candidate value in the selected textbox,

storing the candidate value as the value associated with the textbox if the selected textbox is tapped after the step of selecting a candidate value.

2. A method of selecting a value comprising:

displaying a first textbox on the screen and displaying a second textbox on the screen;

determining whether a user has selected the first textbox or the second textbox based on whether the user has tapped on the first textbox or the second textbox;

selecting a first or second set of data depending on whether the first textbox was selected or the second textbox, respectively, was selected, and wherein each data set includes a different range of values;

displaying a graphic on the screen, the graphic having two ends and an indicator positioned between the two ends, where a length between the two ends represents a range of values of the selected data set;

determining whether the user has moved the indicator based on whether the user has slid on the graphic towards or away from one of the ends;

selecting a candidate value from the selected data set based on the position of the indicator with respect to an end of the graphic; and

displaying the candidate value in the selected field.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the selected data set is an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) file.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of displaying the candidate value in the selected textbox replaces a previously displayed value in the selected textbox.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the data sets are XML (extensive Markup Language) documents.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the determined steps performed by a processor which sets the value for the selected one of the number of textboxes, the processor replaces a previously displayed value in the selected one of the number of textboxes.

7. A method of selecting a value with a device, the device providing a first and second textbox and a slider control having a moveable indicator, said method comprising:

associating the slider control with a first set of data if the first textbox has been selected;

associating the slider control with a second set of data if the second textbox has been selected, wherein the first data set contains a different collection of values than the second data set;

selecting a value in response to movement of the indicator such that moving the indicator will select a value from the first data set if the first textbox is selected, and moving the indicator will select a value from the second data set if the second textbox is selected;

displaying the value selected in response to the movement of the indicator; and

storing the displayed value.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the textboxes are displayed on a touch-sensitive and a textbox is selected by tapping the area of the screen occupied by the textbox.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of storing the displayed value comprises storing the displayed value if the selected textbox is tapped after the indicator is moved.

10. A method of selecting a value with a touch-sensitive screen, wherein one area of the screen is occupied by a first textbox, another area of the screen is occupied by a second textbox, and yet another area of the screen is occupied by a slider having a moveable indicator, said method comprising:

associating the slider area of the screen with a first set of data if the area of the screen occupied by the first textbox has been tapped;

associating the slider area of the screen with a second set of data if the area of the screen occupied by the second textbox has been tapped, wherein the first data set contains a different range of values than the second data set;

selecting a value in response to movement of the indicator such that moving the indicator will select a value from the first data set if the first textbox has been tapped, and moving the indicator will select a value from the second data set if the second textbox has been tapped;

displaying the value selected in response to the movement of the indicator, wherein the value is displayed in the area of the screen associated with the tapped textbox; and

storing the displayed value.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of selecting the value comprises selecting a value whose position with respect to the range of values is proportional to the position of the indicator with respect to the ends of the slider.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of selecting the value comprises continuously incrementing or decrementing a candidate value by an amount proportional to the to the position of the indicator with respect to an end of the slider.