Text entry dialog box system and method of using same
First Claim
1. A text entry dialog box system for use with a display device, data input means including pointing means, and processor means for executing an application program, and that displays on a screen of said display device a dialog box into which an associated user enters data during execution of said application program, said text entry dialog box system comprising:
- a text entry space in a dialog box displayed on said screen of the display device for free-form entry of text items into the system by the associated user;
a memory for storing previously entered text items which were previously entered into the text entry space by the associated user;
means for selectively displaying a selection button on the screen of the display device in association with the dialog box for selection by the pointing means, the selection button being displayed solely when the memory contains at least one previously entered text item; and
means for displaying a list of the previously entered text items stored in the memory responsive to selection of the selection button by the associated user.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A text entry dialog box (62) is disclosed for use with an associated window and associated user. A text entry space (64) is provided for text entry by the user. A memory (82) stores previous text entries. A selection button (70) is displayed when the memory (82) contains at least one previous text entry. A selection list (72) is displayed when the selection button (70) is selected by the user. The invention may alternately be viewed as a modified drop-down list box (62). The text line (64) is editable, and the visibility of the drop-down selection arrow (70) is conditional upon the selection list (72) containing at least one entry. Preferably, a parser (102) parses the edited text line contents, and the selection list (72) contains previous text entries entered in the editable text line (64), parsed by the parser (102), and containing at least one character after the parsing.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A text entry dialog box system for use with a display device, data input means including pointing means, and processor means for executing an application program, and that displays on a screen of said display device a dialog box into which an associated user enters data during execution of said application program, said text entry dialog box system comprising:
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a text entry space in a dialog box displayed on said screen of the display device for free-form entry of text items into the system by the associated user; a memory for storing previously entered text items which were previously entered into the text entry space by the associated user; means for selectively displaying a selection button on the screen of the display device in association with the dialog box for selection by the pointing means, the selection button being displayed solely when the memory contains at least one previously entered text item; and means for displaying a list of the previously entered text items stored in the memory responsive to selection of the selection button by the associated user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A computer implemented method for facilitating input of text by an associated user using a dialog box on a screen of a display device that is connected to said computer, the method comprising:
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(i) initializing a memory as empty; (ii) displaying a text entry section of a dialog box on the screen of the display device; (iii) counting entries stored previously in the memory; (iv) displaying a drop-down list selection button on the screen of the display device only if the counting produces a value greater than zero; (v) receiving a typed text entry from the associated user via the text entry section of the dialog box; (vi) updating the memory by adding a new entry corresponding to the typed text entry; and (vii) repeating the displaying (ii), counting (iii), and displaying (iv) at least once. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A program embodied in a computer readable medium, that when executed by a processor generates a graphical user interface text input dialog including:
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a free-form text entry portion displayed on an associated display device for receiving a free-form text entry from an associated user; a memory storing free-form text entries previously entered by the associated user into the free-form text entry portion; a drop-down list, selection button displayed in conjunction with the free-form text entry portion only when the memory contains at least one previously entered free-form text entry; and a drop-down selection list portion displayed in conjunction with the free-form text entry portion responsive to activation by the associated user of the drop-down list selection button, file drop-down selection list portion listing the previously entered free-form text entries stored in the memory for selection by the associated user. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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Specification