System and method for managing software applications in a graphical user interface
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for managing at least two software applications on a display of a computer system comprising:
- instantiating a first software application on the computer system;
instantiating an other than a first software application on the computer system;
rendering the first software application in a first graphical window on a first portion of the display and in a first graphic control on a second portion of the display as a result of the instantiation of the first software application;
rendering the other than the first software application in an other than the first graphical window on the first portion of the display and in an other than the first graphic control on the second portion of the display as a result of the instantiation of the other than the first software application;
forming a group of software applications in the first graphical window, the group comprising the first software application and the other than the first software application, the forming comprising;
obtaining an indication to organize the first graphic control and the other than the first graphic control in a group, wherein obtaining the indication includes rendering a set of guides representing inclusion or exclusion from one or more possible groupings in the second portion of the display;
grouping the first and the other than the first graphic controls on the second portion of the display according to the obtained indication; and
rendering the grouping in a bordered group in the second portion of the display, the bordered group including the first and the other than the first graphic controls and a graphic group control;
receiving a single user action to act upon the group; and
performing, upon the receiving, the single user action to each of the software applications in the group substantially simultaneously without a user applying a sequence of user actions to each of the software applications individually in the group.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for managing software application windows in a graphical user interface having a desktop and taskbar display area are provided. Each instantiated program is represented as one or more graphical windows in the desktop and as a control tile in the taskbar. Control tiles are grouped into control tile groups that facilitate organization and single access control. Project control tile groups allow the grouping of multiple software applications. Additionally, minimized control tile group layout and state may be preserved and previewed prior to being restored.
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Citations
91 Claims
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1. A method for managing at least two software applications on a display of a computer system comprising:
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instantiating a first software application on the computer system; instantiating an other than a first software application on the computer system; rendering the first software application in a first graphical window on a first portion of the display and in a first graphic control on a second portion of the display as a result of the instantiation of the first software application; rendering the other than the first software application in an other than the first graphical window on the first portion of the display and in an other than the first graphic control on the second portion of the display as a result of the instantiation of the other than the first software application; forming a group of software applications in the first graphical window, the group comprising the first software application and the other than the first software application, the forming comprising; obtaining an indication to organize the first graphic control and the other than the first graphic control in a group, wherein obtaining the indication includes rendering a set of guides representing inclusion or exclusion from one or more possible groupings in the second portion of the display; grouping the first and the other than the first graphic controls on the second portion of the display according to the obtained indication; and rendering the grouping in a bordered group in the second portion of the display, the bordered group including the first and the other than the first graphic controls and a graphic group control; receiving a single user action to act upon the group; and performing, upon the receiving, the single user action to each of the software applications in the group substantially simultaneously without a user applying a sequence of user actions to each of the software applications individually in the group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A computer system including a display comprising:
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a plurality of software applications instantiated and executed in the computer system, each one of the plurality of software applications displaying one or more corresponding graphical windows and displaying a control tile representing each one of the plurality of instantiated and executed software applications; a desktop for displaying a plurality of graphical windows corresponding to the plurality of software applications on the display; a taskbar for displaying a plurality of control tiles corresponding to the plurality of software applications on the display; an organization component for grouping a portion of the plurality of software applications into a group of software applications by organizing the corresponding plurality of control tiles in the taskbar a corresponding group of control tiles; a rendering component for displaying the corresponding group of control tiles in the taskbar; a user input component for receiving a user action upon the corresponding group of control tiles in the taskbar; and an execution component for performing the user action to each software application in the group of software applications substantially simultaneously without a user applying a sequence of user actions to each software application individually in the group of software applications. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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81. A computer system for managing a plurality of software applications, the system comprising:
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means for displaying two or more software applications as corresponding graphical windows when the two or more software applications are instantiated on the computer system; means for displaying two or more control tiles corresponding to two or more software applications when the two or more software applications are instantiated on the computer system; means for forming, based on an action, a software application group comprising the two or more software applications by creating a control tile group comprising the two or more control tiles, each of the control tiles in the control tile group corresponding to one of the software applications in the software application group; means for automatically, displaying the two or more control tiles in a group; and means for executing a single user action upon the control tile group, where the act of executing comprises performing the single user action to each of the software applications in the software application group substantially simultaneously without a user applying a sequence of user actions to each of the software applications in the software application group. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91)
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Specification