Method of displaying elements having a width greater than a screen display width

• US 6,952,220 B1
• Filed: 08/08/2000
• Issued: 10/04/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Purple Labs S.A. (Myriad Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Openwave Systems Incorporated (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Rossmann, Alain
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, CHANH DUY
• Application Number:
  US09/634,125
• Time in Patent Office: 1,883 Days
• Field of Search: 345/123, 345/124, 345/125, 345/684, 345/685, 345/682, 345/687, 345/169, 345/785, 345/786, 345/787
• US Class Current: 345/684
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/343 for systems having a character code-mapped display memory

Abstract

A structured screen display process presents structured information that includes a plurality of elements on any width screen display so that the user is able to see as many of the elements as possible at once, and is able to see the complete text of any element as needed. The process dynamically adapts the display of structured information to the screen display width of the device. Further, in this dynamic adaptation, the user sees at a glance as many as possible of the elements of the structure, and the user can see any of the elements at the user'"'"'s discretion in a way which is compatible with using structured information such as a menu of choices. The structured information is presented on a screen display by displaying at least a portion of each element in a plurality of elements on the screen display where at least one of the elements has a width greater than a width of the screen display. The at least one element is scrolled horizontally while continuing to display the portion of each other element in the plurality of elements.

Claims

1. A method of displaying structured information on a screen comprising:

displaying at least a portion of each element of a plurality of elements included in structured information on a screen wherein at least one of said elements has a width greater than a width of said screen, and wherein said displayed portion of said at least one element is a first pre-determined portion of said element and includes a plurality of words;

receiving a selection that identifies said at least one element as a selected element;

automatically scrolling in a predefined direction said at least one selected element while continuing to display a portion of each other element of said plurality of elements;

wherein said automatic scrolling of said at least one selected element operates to automatically scroll said at least one element with respect to said screen so that as a result of said automatic scrolling said first pre-determined portion of said at least one selected element is no longer displayed on said screen and a second pre-determined portion of said at least one selected element is displayed on said screen.

2. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 1 wherein said automatically scrolling in a predefined direction further comprises:

displaying said first portion of said at least one element selected for a predefined time.

3. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 2 wherein said automatically scrolling in a predefined direction further comprises:

displaying said second portion of said at least one selected element for said predefined time.

4. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 3 wherein said automatically scrolling in a predefined direction further comprises:

testing to determine whether said at least one selected element includes only two portions.

5. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 1 further comprising:

repeating said automatically scrolling of said at least one selected element a predefined number of times.

6. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 1 wherein said predefined direction is horizontal.

13. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 1 wherein said scrolling in a predefined direction further comprises:

displaying said first portion of said at least one selected element for a predefined time before automatically scrolling to a next portion,

wherein said first portion includes at least one word of said at least one selected element, and

wherein said next portion includes at least one word of said at least one element not within said first portion.

14. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 13 wherein none of said next portion is included in first portion.

15. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 14 wherein partial words are not displayed during said displaying or said scrolling.

16. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 13 wherein partial words are not displayed during said displaying or said scrolling.

17. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 1 wherein partial words are not displayed during said displaying or said scrolling.

7. A method of displaying structured information on a screen comprising:

determining whether a width of one element in a plurality of elements included in structured information on a screen is greater than a width of said screen, said one element including a first predetermined portion including a plurality of words which are displayed on said screen;

receiving a selection that identifies said one element as a selected element;

automatically horizontal scrolling said one selected element while continuing to display a portion of each other element of said plurality of elements upon receiving said selection; and

wherein as a result of said automatic horizontal scrolling of said selected element a second predetermined portion of said one selected element is displayed on said screen instead of said first predetermined portion of said selected element.

8. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 7 further comprising:

displaying a portion of each other element in said plurality of elements on said screen while horizontally scrolling said one selected element.

9. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 7 further comprising:

repeating said horizontally scrolling of said selected one element a predefined number of times.

10. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 7 wherein said horizontally scrolling said one selected element further comprises:

displaying said first portion of said one element for a predefined time.

11. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 10 wherein said horizontally scrolling of said one selected element further comprises:

displaying said second portion of said at least one selected element for said predefined time.

12. A method of displaying structured information on a screen as in claim 11 wherein said horizontally scrolling said one selected element further comprises:

testing to determine whether said at least one selected element includes only two portions.

18. A computer readable medium including at least computer program code for displaying structured information on a screen of a computing device, said computer readable medium comprising:

computer program code for displaying at least a portion of each element of a plurality of elements included in structured information on a screen wherein at least one of said elements has a width greater than a width of said screen and wherein said displayed portion of said at least one element is a first pre-determined portion of said element and includes a plurality of words;

computer code for receiving a selection that identifies said at least one element as a selected element;

computer program code for automatically scrolling in a direction said at least one selected element while continuing to display a portion of each other element of said plurality of elements; and

wherein said automatic scrolling of said at least one selected element operates to automatically scroll said at least one selected element with respect to said screen so that as a result of said automatic scrolling said first pre-determined portion of said at least one selected element is no longer displayed on said screen and a second pre-determined portion of said at least one selected element is displayed on said screen.

19. A computer readable medium as in claim 18,

wherein said computer program code for scrolling in a predefined direction further comprises computer program code for displaying said first portion of said at least one selected element for a predefined time before automatically scrolling to a next portion,

wherein said first portion includes at least one word of said at least one element, and

wherein said next portion includes at least one word of said at least one element not within said first portion.

20. A computer readable medium as in claim 19 wherein none of said next portion is included in first portion.

21. A computer readable medium as in claim 20 wherein partial words are not displayed during said displaying or said scrolling.

22. A computer readable medium as in claim 19 wherein partial words are not displayed during said displaying or said scrolling.

23. A computer readable medium as in claim 18 wherein partial words are not displayed during said displaying or said scrolling.