Two level hierarchy in-window gallery
First Claim
1. In a computer system having a display and a user interface selection device, a method of providing a graphical user interface on the display, comprising the steps of:
- (a) displaying a first level of categories of functions for performing an action on a displayed document or presentation;
(b) displaying a second level of categories of functions for performing an action on the displayed document or presentation, the second level of categories of functions being subcategories of a selected first level category of functions;
(c) displaying a visual representation of one or more functions for performing an action on the displayed document or presentation, the visual representation of one or more functions being one or more subcategories of a selected second level category of functions, and the visual representation of one or more functions providing a visual indication of the function represented by the visual representation; and
(d) displaying at least one of a title and description of a visual representation of a function when a screen cursor controlled by a user is positioned over the visual representation of the function.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A graphical user interface is disclosed which allows users to interface with a computer operating system and/or application programs running in conjunction with the operating system. For an Office-style suite application program, a gallery bar may be displayed under the main task row of functions. The gallery bar has a first tier of tabs, where each tab corresponds to a high level formatting option associated with the current application program being used from the suite. When a user selects one of the first level tabs, a row of second level tabs is provided for the first selected tab. These second level tabs provide users with a simple range of functionality associated with the user'"'"'s most commonly used formatting tasks. A gallery of thumbnail templates of various document types or other categories is also displayed in association with the second level options. These gallery thumbnails provide an easy and engaging manner for discovering and using advanced features in the Office suite of application programs.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. In a computer system having a display and a user interface selection device, a method of providing a graphical user interface on the display, comprising the steps of:
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(a) displaying a first level of categories of functions for performing an action on a displayed document or presentation; (b) displaying a second level of categories of functions for performing an action on the displayed document or presentation, the second level of categories of functions being subcategories of a selected first level category of functions; (c) displaying a visual representation of one or more functions for performing an action on the displayed document or presentation, the visual representation of one or more functions being one or more subcategories of a selected second level category of functions, and the visual representation of one or more functions providing a visual indication of the function represented by the visual representation; and (d) displaying at least one of a title and description of a visual representation of a function when a screen cursor controlled by a user is positioned over the visual representation of the function. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. In a computer system having a display and a user interface selection device, a method of providing a graphical user interface on the display, comprising the steps of:
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(a) displaying a first level of categories of formatting options; (b) displaying a second level of categories of formatting options, the second level of categories of formatting options being subcategories of a selected first level category of formatting options; and (c) displaying a visual representation of one or more formatting options, the visual representation of one or more formatting options being one or more subcategories of a selected second level category of formatting options, at least one of the second level of categories of formatting options and the visual representation of one or more formatting options being customizable by a user of the graphical user interface, wherein at least one of the second level of categories of formatting options and the visual representation of one or more formatting options being customizable by a user of the graphical user interface includes the step of allowing a visual representation of one or more formatting options to be repositioned on the display relative to other visual representations of formatting options. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for programming a processor to perform a method of providing a graphical user interface on a display, the graphical user interface provided in one or more of a word processing application program, a spreadsheet application program and a presentation application program, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) displaying a first level of categories of formatting options; (b) displaying a second level of categories of formatting options, the second level of categories of formatting options being subcategories of a selected first level category of formatting options; and (c) displaying visual representations of formatting options, the visual representations of formatting options being subcategories of a selected second level category of formatting options, at least one of the second level of categories of formatting options and the visual representations of formatting options being customizable by a user of the graphical user interface to allow a user to add additional visual representations of additional formatting options to the graphical user interface. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification