Page bar control

• US 7,810,042 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2006
• Issued: 10/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Swanson, Shawna, Stephas, Tamara, Paulson, Kevin P., Switzer, David, Keely, Leroy B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chow; Dennis-Doon
• Assistant Examiner(s): TILLERY, RASHAWN N
• Application Number:
  US11/464,979
• Publication Number:
  US 20060294473A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,511 Days
• Field of Search: 715/776, 715/777, 715/779, 715/781, 715/817, 715/818, 715/819, 715/820, 715/854, 715/855
• US Class Current: 715/776
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04855 Interaction with scrollbars
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

Graphical user interfaces for computer display devices include a page bar control element that allows a user to easily and quickly navigate among the pages of a multiple page electronic document and/or among the pages of a plurality of electronic documents. In some examples, the page bar control element displayed on the computer system provides a visual representation of a multiple pages of the document(s), wherein the visual representation includes several tabs or markers, each marker representing one or more pages of the document(s). In some examples, the markers are rendered in colors that enable quick identification of the current page and/or the page being viewed as well as pages viewed in a riffling action. The page bar control element also may include a visual “flag” that helps users quickly locate text that they have previously flagged or that the system has automatically flagged for them.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a display device configured to display at least a portion of a current page of a document that includes multiple pages; and

a processor configured to render a page bar control element that provides a visual representation of a plurality of pages of the document,

wherein the visual representation includes a plurality of markers, each marker representing one or more pages of the document,

wherein a background of a marker corresponding to the current page corresponds to a background of the current page on the display device,

wherein backgrounds of markers not corresponding to the current page differ from the background of the current page and backgrounds of each of the markers not corresponding to the current page are the same,

wherein upon receipt of a preview request on the page bar control element, at least a portion of a non-current page can be instantly previewed on the display device at the same time the current page is displayed without receiving user selection of the non-current page,

and wherein if the system does not detect selection of the non-current page prior to termination of the preview request, the preview of the non-current page is removed from the display,

and wherein a marker associated with the non-current page that was previewed is automatically changed to a background that is the same as at least one other marker corresponding to another non-current page that has been previewed.

14. The system according to claim 1, wherein the display is a touch-sensitive display device that receives user selections from a touch input of a user input device.

2. A computer-readable storage medium including computer-executable steps for performing a method comprising:

rendering a content display including at least a portion of a current page of a document that includes multiple pages;

rendering a page bar control element that provides a visual representation of a plurality of pages of the document, wherein the visual representation includes a plurality of markers, each marker representing one or more pages of the document;

rendering at least a portion of a new page of the document upon receiving user input through the page bar control element indicating a desire to preview the new page, wherein the user input includes an indication that the user is hovering a user input device proximate a marker of the page bar control element corresponding to the new page without selecting the new page;

upon receiving the user input, simultaneously displaying the current page and at least a portion of the new page on the content display;

upon identifying that the user input device is no longer hovering proximate the marker corresponding to the new page, automatically returning the content display to the current page; and

rendering the page bar control element such that the marker corresponding to the non-current page being previewed is as large as the marker corresponding to the current page while being previewed and is automatically reduced to a size smaller than the marker corresponding to the current page upon identifying that the user input device is no longer hovering proximate the marker corresponding to the non-current page.

3. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

changing the current page to the new page upon receiving a user selection of the new page.

4. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

determining that the user input device has moved to a different marker of the page bar control element; and

changing the rendered new page portion to correspond to page represented by the different marker.

5. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2, wherein the rendering of at least a portion of the new page includes rendering a thumbnail view of the new page while the current page remains at least partially displayed.

6. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2, wherein the rendering of at least a portion of the new page at least partially replaces the rendering of the current page.

15. The system according to claim 2, wherein the display is a touch-sensitive display device that receives user selections from a touch input of a user input device.

7. A computer-readable storage medium including computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

rendering a content display including at least a portion of a current page of a document that includes a plurality of pages;

rendering a page bar control element that provides a visual representation of the plurality of pages of the document, wherein the visual representation includes a plurality of markers, each marker representing one or more pages of the document;

providing a flag on each marker that corresponds to a page on which a user has set a flag or on which a flag has automatically been set, wherein the flag provides that the marker that corresponds to a page on which a user has set a flag appears with a different background than markers that do not correspond to a page on which a user has set a flag,

and wherein the marker that corresponds to the page on which the user has set the flag appears with the same background as at least one other marker corresponding to a another page on which the user has set a flag;

upon receipt of a preview request, instantly displaying a preview of at least a portion of a non-current page at the same time the current page is displayed without receiving user selection of the non-current page; and

removing the preview of the non-current page if no user selection of the non-current page is detected prior to termination of the preview request.

8. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises rendering at least a portion of a new page of the document upon receiving a user input through the page bar control element indicating a desire to preview the new page, and wherein the user input indicating the desire to preview the new page includes an indication that the user is hovering a user input device proximate a marker of the page bar control element corresponding to the new page.

9. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting, movement of the user input device proximate to a different marker of the page bar control element; and

changing the rendered new page portion to correspond to a page corresponding to the different marker proximate to which the user input device is located.

10. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 8, wherein the rendering of at least a portion of the new page includes rendering a thumbnail view of the new page while the current page remains at least partially displayed.

11. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 8, wherein the rendering of at least a portion of the new page at least partially replaces the rendering of the current page.

12. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 7, further comprising:

displaying the preview of the at least a portion of the non-current page on a touch-sensitive display device.

13. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 7, wherein the touch-sensitive display device receives user selections from a touch input of a user input device.