Linked contents browsing support device, linked contents continuous browsing support device, and method and program therefor, and recording medium therewith

• US 7,296,230 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2003
• Issued: 11/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
• Inventors: Akutsu, Akihito, Tonomura, Yoshinobu, Sasaki, Tsutomu, Fukatsu, Shinji
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo; Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): DAM, KIM LYNN
• Application Number:
  US10/721,633
• Publication Number:
  US 20040141016A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,449 Days
• Field of Search: 715/804, 715/856, 715/862
• US Class Current: 715/711
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing

Abstract

Pop-up display information is created and displayed in a dynamic manner even without establishing settings in advance related to pop-up display for an anchor or an icon or the like, and implementing simple and efficient browsing by a user of linked contents by varying the display size in accordance with the display region. Mouse events of a mouse cursor upon a screen of an information device by the user are observed, and the fact that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of an object which has a linked destination is detected from the mouse events; a new window is displayed upon the screen; linked contents which are connected to the object are acquired; contents for presentation are created based upon the linked contents which have been acquired; and they are displayed within the new window which has been displayed upon the screen.

Claims

1. A linked contents browsing support method which supports, via an object which has a linked destination, browsing of linked contents which are contents connected to the object, comprising:

a step in which a mouse event observation section observes a mouse event of a mouse cursor upon a screen of an information device by a user, and detects from the mouse event that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of the object which has the linked destination;

a step in which a window display section, when the mouse event occurs, utilizes an anchor position acquisition section to acquire a display position upon the screen of the object into the region of which the mouse cursor has entered;

a step in which the window display section utilizes a display size calculation section to acquire a display size for a window in which the object is displayed, and to calculate a display size for a new window which displays contents for presentation which correspond to the object, based upon the display size which has been acquired;

a step in which a display position derivation section takes the display position upon the screen of the object acquired by the anchor position acquisition section as an origin, and detects points upon a predetermined direction line for which, if each of the points upon the direction line is taken as a central position of the new window, the entire region of the new window is displayed upon the screen;

a step in which the display position derivation section detects, from among the points which have been detected, a point for which a window for which this point has been taken as the central position is not put upon the object;

a step in which the display position derivation section determines a display position upon the screen of the new window, based upon the point for which the window is not put upon the object;

a step in which, in response to the fact that the mouse event observation section has detected that the mouse cursor has entered into the region of the object which has the linked destination, the window display section displays the new window in the display position upon the screen which has been determined by the display position derivation section;

a step in which a linked contents acquisition section acquires linked contents which are connected to the object for which it has been detected by the mouse event observation section that the region has been entered into; and

a step in which a linked contents presentation section creates contents for presentation based upon the linked contents which have been acquired, and displays the created contents for presentation within the new window which has been displayed upon the screen.

2. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 1, further comprising a step in which a contents processing section performs a summarizing or editing procedure of the linked contents which have been acquired by the linked contents acquisition section, based upon a contents conversion rule for summarizing or editing contents in a display format or style,

and wherein the linked contents presentation section displays the contents upon which the summarizing or editing procedure has been performed by the contents processing section within the new window as the contents for presentation.

3. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 2, further comprising a step of the mouse event observation section detecting the fact that the mouse cursor has been put on an object which has the linked destination, and deciding that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of an object which has the linked destination.

4. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 1, further comprising a step of the linked contents presentation section, in response to an action by the user with respect to the new window, utilizing a window control section to perform window control corresponding to the action.

5. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 4, further comprising a step of, after the contents for presentation have been displayed within the new window, the window control section, in response to a window closing request from the user, closing the new window when the mouse cursor has come to be no longer put upon the new window.

6. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 4, further comprising a step of the window control section, after the contents for presentation have been displayed within the new window, responding to operation of a mouse wheel by the user, and scrolling the contents for presentation which are being displayed within the new window in accordance with rotation of the wheel.

7. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 4, further comprising a step of the window control section, after the contents for presentation have been displayed within the new window, responding to mouse movement operation to within the new window by the user, and establishing a state in which an object which has a linked destination within the new window can be selected.

8. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 4, further comprising a step of the window control section, after the contents for presentation have been displayed within the new window, responding to an action by the user which has been determined upon in advance, and, along with closing all the windows in which the contents for presentation are being displayed, displays, using an application which corresponds to a data format of contents to be displayed, the contents for presentation which have been displayed within the window which the action by the user, which has been determined upon in advance, has generated or the linked contents which are the source for the contents for presentation, within a window which is newly opened upon the screen by the application.

9. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 4, further comprising a step of the mouse event observation section detecting the fact that the mouse cursor has been put on an object which has the linked destination, and deciding that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of an object which has the linked destination.

10. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 1, further comprising a step of the mouse event observation section detecting the fact that the mouse cursor has been put on an object which has the linked destination, and deciding that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of an object which has the linked destination.

11. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 1, further comprising a step of the linked contents presentation section, when displaying the contents for presentation within the new window, increasing or decreasing the display magnification ratio in accordance with the size of the new window.

12. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 1, further comprising:

a step of the window display section, when displaying the new window in the display position which has been derived by the display position derivation section, recording a window number which indicates the display order of the windows which are being displayed upon the screen in a window management table in the order of window display; and

a step of the linked contents presentation section utilizing a window control section to detect that the mouse cursor has moved from the new window which has been popped up last to within any one of the windows which are recorded in the window management table, and, based upon the window numbers which are stored in the window management table, closing the other windows, other than the window after movement, among the windows which have been displayed in order from the window after movement to the new window which has been displayed last.

13. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 12, wherein the window control section does not perform the window closing when the mouse cursor has returned to the window which has been popped up last, until a predetermined time period has elapsed from detecting that the mouse cursor has moved to the window after movement.

14. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 12, further comprising a step of the display position derivation section, if it has not been possible to detect a point for which the window is not put upon the object, shifting the predetermined direction line by a predetermined angle each time, and detecting a point upon the direction line for which the entire region of the new window is displayed upon the screen.

15. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 1, further comprising a step of the display position derivation section, if it has not been possible to detect a point for which the window is not put upon the object, shifting the predetermined direction line by a predetermined angle each time, and detecting a point upon the direction line for which the entire region of the new window is displayed upon the screen.

16. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 15, further comprising a step of the display position derivation section, if it is not possible to derive a display position in which the entire region of the new window is displayed upon the screen and the new window is not put upon the object, changing the display direction of the new window, deriving a display position in which the entire region of the new window is displayed upon the screen, and determining a display position for which the size of the region of the object which is hidden by the new window when the new window has been displayed in each of the display positions is the minimum, as the display position for the new window.

17. A linked contents browsing support method as described in claim 15, further comprising a step of the display position derivation section, if it is not possible to derive a display position in which the new window does not hide the entire region of the object, demagnifying the size of the new window in a stepwise manner, and deriving a display position in which the entire region of the new window is displayed upon the screen and the new window does not hide the object.

18. A linked contents browsing support device which supports, via an object which has a linked destination, browsing of linked contents which are contents connected to the object, comprising:

a mouse event observation section which observes a mouse event of a mouse cursor upon a screen of an information device by a user, and detects from the mouse event that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of the object which has the linked destination;

a window display section which responds to the fact that the mouse event observation section has detected that the mouse cursor has entered into the region of the object which has the linked destination, and displays a new window upon the screen;

a linked contents acquisition section which acquires linked contents which are connected to the object for which it has been detected by the mouse event observation section that the region has been entered into; and

a linked contents presentation section which creates contents for presentation based upon the linked contents which have been acquired, and displays the created contents for presentation within the new window which has been displayed upon the screen,

wherein the window display section comprises;

an anchor position acquisition section which, when the mouse event occurs, acquires a display position upon the screen of the object into the region of which the mouse cursor has entered;

a display size calculation section which acquires a display size for a window in which the object is displayed, and calculates a display size for the new window which displays the contents for presentation which correspond to the object, based upon the display size which has been acquired;

a display position derivation section which takes the display position upon the screen of the object as an origin, detects points up on a predetermined direction line for which, if each of the points upon the direction line is taken as a central position of the new window, the entire region of the new window is displayed upon the screen, detects, from among the points which have been detected, a point for which a window for which this point has been taken as the central position is not put upon the object, and determines a display position upon the screen of the new window, based upon the point for which the window is not put upon the object;

wherein the linked contents presentation section displays the new window in the display position which has been determined by the display position derivation section.

19. A linked contents browsing support device as described in claim 18, further comprising a contents processing section which performs an summarizing or editing procedure of the linked contents which have been acquired, based upon a contents conversion rule for summarizing or editing contents in a display format or style,

and wherein the linked contents presentation section displays the contents upon which the summarizing or editing procedure has been performed by the contents processing section within the new window as the contents for presentation.

20. A linked contents browsing support device as described in claim 18, wherein the linked contents presentation section comprises a window control section which responds to an action by the user with respect to the new window, and performs window control corresponding to the action.

21. A linked contents browsing support device as described in claim 18, wherein the mouse event observation section detects the fact that the mouse cursor has been put on an object which has the linked destination, and decides that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of an object which has the linked destination.

22. A computer readable recording medium upon which is recorded a linked contents browsing support program which supports, via an object which has a linked destination, browsing of linked contents which are contents connected to the object, the linked contents browsing support program causing a computer to perform the steps comprising:

a step of making a mouse event observation section observe a mouse event of a mouse cursor upon a screen of an information device by a user, and of making the mouse event observation section detect the fact that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of the object which has the linked destination, based on the mouse event;

a step of, when the mouse event occurs, making a window display section acquire a display position upon the screen of the object into the region of which the mouse cursor has entered, by utilizing an anchor position acquisition section;

a step of making the window display section acquire a display size for a window in which the object is displayed by utilizing a display size calculation section, and making the window display section calculate a display size for a new window which displays contents for presentation which correspond to the object by using the display size calculation section, based upon the display size which has been acquired;

a step of making a display position derivation section take the display position upon the screen of the object acquired by the anchor position acquisition section as an origin, and detect points upon a predetermined direction line for which, if each of the points upon the direction line is taken as a central position of the new window, the entire region of the new window is displayed upon the screen;

a step of making the display position derivation section detect, from among the points which have been detected, a point for which a window for which this point has been taken as the central position is not put upon the object;

a step of making the display position derivation section determine a display position upon the screen of the new window, based upon the point for which the window is not put upon the object;

a step of, in response to the fact that the mouse event observation section has detected that the mouse cursor has entered into the region of the object which has the linked destination, making a window display section display the new window in the display position upon the screen which has been determined by the display position derivation section;

a step of making a linked contents acquisition section acquire linked contents which are connected to the object for which it has been detected by the mouse event observation section that the region has been entered into; and

a step of making a linked contents presentation section create contents for presentation based upon the linked contents which have been acquired, and of making the linked contents presentation section display the created contents for presentation within the new window which has been displayed upon the screen.

23. A computer readable recording medium upon which is recorded a linked contents browsing support program as described in claim 22, the linked contents support program further causing a computer to perform a step of making a contents processing section perform a summarizing or editing procedure of the linked contents which have been acquired by the linked contents acquisition section, based upon a contents conversion rule for summarizing or editing contents in a display format or style,

and wherein the linked contents presentation section is made to display the contents upon which the summarizing or editing procedure has been performed by the contents processing section within the new window as the contents for presentation.

24. A computer readable recording medium upon which is recorded a linked contents browsing support program as described in claim 22, the linked contents support program further causing a computer to perform a step of, in response to an action by the user with respect to the new window, making the linked contents presentation section perform window control corresponding to the action, by utilizing a window control section.

25. A computer readable recording medium upon which is recorded a linked contents browsing support program as described in claim 22, the linked contents support program further causing a computer to perform a step of making the mouse event observation section detect the fact that the mouse cursor has been put on an object which has the linked destination, and making the mouse event observation section decide that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of an object which has the linked destination.

26. A computer readable recording medium upon which is recorded a linked contents browsing support program which supports, via an object which has a linked destination, browsing of linked contents which are contents connected to the object, the linked contents browsing support program comprising:

a step of making a mouse event observation section observe a mouse event of a mouse cursor upon a screen of an information device by a user, and of making the mouse event observation section detect the fact that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of the object which has the linked destination, based on the mouse event;

a step of, when the mouse event occurs, making a window display section acquire a display position upon the screen of the object into the region of which the mouse cursor has entered, by utilizing an anchor position acquisition section;

a step of making the window display section acquire a display size for a window in which the object is displayed by utilizing a display size calculation section, and making the window display section calculate a display size for a new window which displays contents for presentation which correspond to the object by using the display size calculation section, based upon the display size which has been acquired;

a step of making a display position derivation section take the display position upon the screen of the object acquired by the anchor position acquisition section as an origin, and detect points upon a predetermined direction line for which, if each of the points upon the direction line is taken as a central position of the new window, the entire region of the new window is displayed upon the screen;

a step of making the display position derivation section detect, from among the points which have been detected, a point for which a window for which this point has been taken as the central position is not put upon the object;

a step of making the display position derivation section determine a display position upon the screen of the new window, based upon the point for which the window is not put upon the object;

a step of, in response to the fact that the mouse event observation section has detected that the mouse cursor has entered into the region of the object which has the linked destination, making the window display section display the new window in the display position upon the screen which has been determined by the display position derivation section;

a step of making a linked contents acquisition section acquire linked contents which are connected to the object for which it has been detected by the mouse event observation section that the region has been entered into; and

a step of making a linked contents presentation section create the contents for presentation based upon the linked contents which have been acquired, and of making the linked contents presentation section display the created contents for presentation within the new window which has been displayed upon the screen.

27. A computer readable recording medium as described in claim 26, wherein the linked contents browsing support program further comprises a step of making a contents processing section perform a summarizing or editing procedure of the linked contents which have been acquired by the linked contents acquisition section, based upon a contents conversion rule for summarizing or editing contents in a display format or style,

and wherein the linked contents presentation section is made to display the contents upon which the summarizing or editing procedure has been performed by the contents processing section within the new window as the contents for presentation.

28. A computer readable recording medium as described in claim 26, wherein the linked contents browsing support program further comprises a step of, in response to an action by the user with respect to the new window, making the linked contents presentation section perform window control corresponding to the action, by utilizing a window control section.

29. A computer readable recording medium as described in claim 26, wherein the linked contents browsing support program further comprises a step of making the mouse event observation section detect the fact that the mouse cursor has been put on an object which has the linked destination, and making the mouse event observation section decide that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of an object which has the linked destination.