Taskbar configuration tool for computer systems

• US 7,882,448 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2005
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Haug, Tobias
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore; William L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Takele; Meseker
• Application Number:
  US11/319,790
• Publication Number:
  US 20070157099A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,860 Days
• Field of Search: 715/779, 715/769, 715/810, 715/864, 715/835, 717/168
• US Class Current: 715/779
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop

Abstract

A taskbar control permits system operators to group application instances according to their own preferences. The taskbar control system groups application instances according to a default grouping scheme but permit the default grouping to be managed by operator control. The operator may move application instances among groups or to new groups via drag and drop commands, commands entered through context menus and the like.

Claims

1. A computer system including:

memory for storage of program instructions, and

a processor programmed to;

execute application programs, and

produce a user interface, comprising;

means for opening multiple instances of application programs under user control,

a taskbar having indicators of application groupings, the indicators of the application groupings representing respective collections of open application program instances, and

means for organizing the instances of the application programs indicated at the application groupings under user control,

wherein the means for organizing responds to an operation that selects an indicator of an application instance from a grouping and moves it to the taskbar by creating a new application grouping and assigning the selected application instance to the new application grouping.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the means for organizing responds to a drag and drop operation.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the means for organizing responds to a context menu revealed with respect to a first application grouping.

4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the context menu includes a prompt to create a new application grouping.

5. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the context menu includes a prompt to create a sub-group within an application grouping.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the user interface provides a prompt to name an application grouping.

7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the open application program instances are programs that are currently executing on the computer system.

8. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the open application program instances include simultaneously open web pages.

9. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the open application program instances include simultaneously open word processing documents.

10. A computer system including:

memory for storage of program instructions, and

a processor programmed to;

execute application programs, and

produce a user interface, comprising;

means for opening multiple instances of application programs under user control,

a taskbar having indicators of application groupings, the indicators of the application groupings representing respective collections of open application program instances, and

means for organizing the instances of the application programs indicated at the application groupings under user control,

wherein the means for organizing responds to an drag and drop operation that selects an indicator of an application instance from a first application grouping and moves the indicator of the application instance to a second taskbar indicator by reassigning the selected application instance from the first application grouping to a second application grouping corresponding to the second taskbar indicator.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the means for organizing responds to a drag and drop operation.

12. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the means for organizing responds to a context menu revealed with respect to a first application grouping.

13. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the context menu includes a prompt to move a selected entry to another application grouping.

14. A method, comprising:

displaying a taskbar on a computer display, the taskbar displaying group identifiers each representing a collection of application instances executing on the computer,

in response to operator interaction with a group identifier, displaying a first taskbar group in a popup window, including displaying identifiers of each application instance currently executing on the computer and assigned to the first taskbar group; and

in response to an operator interaction with one of the displayed identifiers reassigning the identifier from a first taskbar group to a second taskbar group.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising prior to the reassigning:

in response to a prior operator selection of a group identifier, displaying a selected taskbar group in a popup window, the taskbar group including displayed identifiers of each application instance that is currently executing on the computer and associated with the selected group identifier;

in response to an operator induced drag and drop operation that drags a selected application identifier from the displayed taskbar group to the taskbar, creating the second taskbar group on the taskbar that includes the selected application identifier and reassigning the application identifier from the first taskbar group to the second taskbar group.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the reassigning occurs in response to a drag and drop command from an operator.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the reassigning occurs in response to an operator selection of a command from a context menu revealed with respect to a first taskbar group.

18. The method of claim 17, where in the context menu includes a prompt to create a new taskbar group.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the context menu includes a prompt to create a sub-group within a taskbar group.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the context menu includes a prompt to move a selected entry to another taskbar group.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising renaming the second taskbar group in response to a user command.

22. A method, comprising:

displaying a taskbar on a computer display, the taskbar displaying a plurality of group identifiers each representing a collection of application instances executing on the computer, in response to operator selection of a group identifier, displaying a first taskbar group in a popup window, the taskbar group including displayed identifiers of each application instance that is currently executing on the computer and associated with the selected group identifier;

in response to an operator induced drag and drop operation that drags a selected application identifier from the displayed taskbar group to the taskbar, displaying a new taskbar group on the taskbar that includes the selected application identifier and reassigning the application identifier from the first taskbar group to the new taskbar group.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising, after the new taskbar group is displayed:

in response to new operator selection of a group identifier, displaying a selected taskbar group in a respective popup window, the selected taskbar group including displayed identifiers of each application instance that is currently executing on the computer and associated with the newly selected group identifier;

in response to an operator induced drag and drop operation that drags an application identifier from the selected taskbar group to the new taskbar group, reassigning the application identifier from the selected taskbar group to the new taskbar group.