Interface and system for manipulating thumbnails of live windows in a window manager
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of displaying a window containing a thumbnail on a display device, the method comprising:
- displaying a taskbar with a taskbar button corresponding to the thumbnail where each taskbar button corresponds to an active application;
displaying a source window, the source window comprising first content that is capable of being modified;
displaying a destination window wherein at least a portion of the destination window includes the thumbnail, the thumbnail including second content corresponding to at least a portion of the first content of the source window;
registering the thumbnail to establish a relationship between the source window and the destination window through an application programming interface host to point back to and redraw the second content corresponding to at least a portion of the first content of the source window;
dynamically modifying the second content of the thumbnail through the application programming interface host between the first content of the source window and the second content of the thumbnail that determines whether the first content has changed since a previous comparison of the first content of the source window with the second content of the thumbnail and whenever the first content of the source window changes, the second content is modified by redrawing the second content based on how the first content of the source window changes; and
allowing a user-initiated view of the redrawn second content when a user positions a pointing device over a minimized instance of the destination window.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides an interface, system, or method for displaying a window on a display in which a thumbnail corresponding to an application window is capable of being modified based on modifications in the application window. The modifications of the thumbnail may be accomplished in real-time. Also, the present invention provides an interface, system, and method for displaying a window or a thumbnail on a display in which a Desktop Window Manager (DWM) registers a source window and a destination window and/or may update or modify a thumbnail associated with the source window. Special effects may be applied to the thumbnail. The present invention further provides a method for registering and/or modifying a thumbnail and its properties or maintaining a list of thumbnail registrations.
150 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of displaying a window containing a thumbnail on a display device, the method comprising:
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displaying a taskbar with a taskbar button corresponding to the thumbnail where each taskbar button corresponds to an active application; displaying a source window, the source window comprising first content that is capable of being modified; displaying a destination window wherein at least a portion of the destination window includes the thumbnail, the thumbnail including second content corresponding to at least a portion of the first content of the source window; registering the thumbnail to establish a relationship between the source window and the destination window through an application programming interface host to point back to and redraw the second content corresponding to at least a portion of the first content of the source window; dynamically modifying the second content of the thumbnail through the application programming interface host between the first content of the source window and the second content of the thumbnail that determines whether the first content has changed since a previous comparison of the first content of the source window with the second content of the thumbnail and whenever the first content of the source window changes, the second content is modified by redrawing the second content based on how the first content of the source window changes; and allowing a user-initiated view of the redrawn second content when a user positions a pointing device over a minimized instance of the destination window. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29)
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13. Computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions for performing steps directed to a thumbnail displayed within a display window on a device comprising:
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displaying a taskbar with a taskbar button corresponding to the thumbnail where each taskbar button corresponds to an active application; displaying a source window on a display, the source window comprising first content that is capable of being modified; displaying a destination window wherein at least a portion of the destination window includes the thumbnail, the thumbnail including second content corresponding to at least a portion of the first content of the source window; registering the thumbnail to establish a relationship between the source window and the destination window through an application programming interface host to point back to and redraw the second content corresponding to at least a portion of the first content of the source window; dynamically modifying the second content of the thumbnail through the application programming interface host between the first content of the source window and the second content of the thumbnail that determines whether the first content has changed since a previous comparison of the first content of the source window with the second content of the thumbnail and whenever the first content of the source window changes, wherein the second content is modified by redrawing the second content based on how the first content of the source window changes; and allowing a user-initiated view of the redrawn second content when a user positions a pointing device over a minimized instance of the destination window. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 26)
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18. A system for displaying a window containing a thumbnail on a display device, the system comprising:
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a display for displaying a taskbar with a taskbar button corresponding to the thumbnail where each taskbar button corresponds to an active application; a display for displaying a source window comprising content that is capable of being modified and a destination window corresponding to said source window; a manager for registering the thumbnail, the thumbnail being in a destination window and corresponding to at least a portion of the source window, said registering comprising;
receiving a window handle for said source window through an applicationprogramming interface host to point back and redraw the destination window corresponding to at least a portion of the source window; establishing an association between the source window and the thumbnail so that at least a portion of the content of the source window is drawn into the thumbnail; receiving a window size parameter corresponding to the source window and storing the source window at a size corresponding to the size parameter; and receiving a unique handle representing the association between the source window and the thumbnail; a processor; and memory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform a method of dynamically modifying the thumbnail through a persistent interface between the first content of the source window and the second content of the thumbnail that determined whether the first content has changed since a previous comparison of the first content of the source window with the second content of the thumbnail and whenever the content of the source window changes and allows a user-initiated view of the redrawn destination window when a user positions a pointing device over a minimized instance of the destination window, said method comprising the steps of; determining at least a portion of the source window to draw into the thumbnail based on a first parameter for defining at least a portion of the source window, wherein the first parameter includes one or more coordinates of the source window; determining the thumbnail to render based on a second parameter for defining at least a portion of the destination window in which to render the thumbnail;
receiving acontrol value and setting the opacity of at least a portion of the thumbnail based on the value of the control value; receiving a Boolean value and setting the visibility of the at least a portion of the thumbnail based on the Boolean value. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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Specification