System and method for managing software applications in a graphical user interface

• US 7,913,183 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2003
• Issued: 03/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Smith, Greg, Baudisch, Patrick Markus, Meyers, Brian, Robertson, George G., Czerwinski, Mary, Robbins, Daniel C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo; Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): Augustine; Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US10/679,796
• Publication Number:
  US 20040066414A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,724 Days
• Field of Search: 715/771, 715/764, 715/788, 715/810, 715/835, 715/840, 715/838, 715/792, 715/779, 715766-768, 715/781
• US Class Current: 715/779
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

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.

Claims

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.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein obtaining an indication to organize the first and the other than the first graphic controls includes obtaining a user manipulation of a selection device to drag and drop the first graphic control on the other than the first graphic control.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 further comprising rendering a set of guides indicating one or more possible groupings corresponding to a drag and drop within a selected guide.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the set of guides include a curved carat indicating the inclusion of a selected graphic control to a group and a straight line to indicate the exclusion of a selected graphic control from a group.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the graphic group control instantiates a simultaneous action on the first and the other than the first graphic controls and the respective graphical windows corresponding to the graphic controls.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein instantiating an action on the first and the other than the first graphic controls comprises minimizing the graphical windows corresponding to the first and the other than the first graphic controls, restoring the graphical windows corresponding to the first and the other than the first graphic controls, closing the graphical windows corresponding to the first and the other than the first graphic controls, saving data within the graphical windows corresponding to the first and the other than the first graphic controls, or resizing the graphical windows corresponding to the first and the other than the first graphic controls.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the rendering of the first and the other than the first graphic controls as the bordered group within the second portion of the display includes displaying at least a portion of the first and the other than the first graphic controls, the method further comprising:

obtaining an indication to collapse the group; and

rendering the group solely as a group graphic control on the second portion of the display.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein obtaining an indication to collapse the group includes:

monitoring the frequency of manipulation of the first and the other than the first graphic controls; and

automatically collapsing the group if the frequency of manipulation is below a threshold level.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein obtaining an indication to collapse the group includes obtaining a user indication to collapse the group.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein rendering the first and the other than the first graphic controls as a group within the second portion of the display includes associating a name with the group and rendering the name on a portion of a group indicator.

11. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

obtaining an indication to remove the other than the first graphic control from the group; and

rendering the first and the other than the first graphic controls as separate graphic controls.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein rendering the bordered group includes rendering a continuous border around the first and the other than the first graphic controls indicating the association of the first and the other than the first graphic controls to the group.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the bordered group corresponds to a project and wherein rendering the first and the other than the first graphic controls as a group within the second portion of the display includes rendering a project control for toggling the software applications corresponding to the first and the other than the first graphic controls between a minimized state and a restored state.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein rendering a project control includes rendering a project name and a number of software applications included with the project.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein obtaining an indication to organize the first and the other than the first graphic controls includes obtaining a user manipulation of a selection device to drag and drop the first graphic control on the other than the first graphic control to organize the first and the other than the first graphic controls as a project.

16. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the computer system includes a base project group separate from the project including the first and the other than the first graphic controls and wherein the first and the other than the first software applications belong to the base project.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 further comprising:

toggling the project corresponding to the first and second software applications in a minimized state;

obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows corresponding to the minimized project; and

displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display includes displaying a reduced size representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the first portion of the display.

19. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display includes displaying a full size representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the first portion of the display.

20. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display includes displaying at least semi-transparent representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the first portion of the display.

21. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows corresponding to the minimized project includes obtaining a manipulation of a user selection device to hover over a minimized project control.

22. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows corresponding to the minimized project includes obtaining a selection of a preview control corresponding to a minimized project control.

23. The method as recited in claim 13 further comprising:

generating a time-line associated with the project corresponding to the first and second software application;

generating at least one snapshot of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software application, wherein the at least one snapshot is dependent on a time value; and

displaying the snapshot on the time-line as a time-based icon.

24. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein the time-line is associated only with the project corresponding to the first and second software application.

25. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein storing at least one snapshot includes generating a snapshot according to pre-determined time criteria.

26. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein storing at least one snapshot includes:

obtaining an indication to generate a snapshot of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software application; and

generating a snapshot of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software application in accordance with the indication.

27. The method as recited in claim 23 further comprising:

obtaining a selection of the time-based icon; and

generating a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display.

28. The method as recited in claim 27 further comprising:

obtaining a subsequent selection of the time-based icon;

recalling the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display stored according to the time-based icon; and

restoring the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display stored according to the time-based icon.

29. The method as recited in claim 28, wherein generating at least one snapshot of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software application according to a time as a time-based icon includes storing state information corresponding to the first and second software application and wherein restoring the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display stored according to the time-based icon includes restoring state information stored for the first and second software application.

30. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

generating a record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications;

storing the record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications; and

generating a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display.

31. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display includes displaying a reduced size representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the first portion of the display.

32. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display includes displaying a full size representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the first portion of the display.

33. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display includes displaying at least semi-transparent representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the first portion of the display.

34. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows includes obtaining a manipulation of a user selection device to hover over the group corresponding to the first and second software applications.

35. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows includes obtaining a selection of a preview control associated with the group corresponding to the first and second software applications.

36. The method as recited in claim 30 further comprising:

obtaining an indication to restore the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software applications; and

restoring the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display stored according to the record of the layout.

37. The method as recited in claim 36, wherein generating a record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications includes storing state information corresponding to the first and second software application and wherein restoring the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the first portion of the display includes restoring state information stored for the first and second software application.

38. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second portion of the display corresponds to a taskbar.

39. The method as recited in claim 38, wherein the second portion corresponds to multiple toolbars.

40. A computer storage media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

41. A computer storage media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 13.

42. A computer storage media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 30.

43. A computer system having a processor, a memory and an operating environment, the computer system for performing the method recited in claim 1.

44. A computer system having a processor, a memory and an operating environment, the computer system for performing the method recited in claim 13.

45. A computer system having a processor, a memory and an operating environment, the computer system for performing the method recited in claim 30.

46. A computer system including a display comprising:

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.

47. The system as recited in claim 46, wherein the user input component receives a user manipulation of a selection device to drag and drop a first control tile adjacent to a second control tile.

48. The system as recited in claim 46, wherein the display of the system displays a set of guides indicating one or more possible groupings of control tiles corresponding to a drag and drop on a selected guide.

49. The system as recited in claim 48, wherein the set of guides include a curved carat indicating the inclusion of a selected control tile to a group and a straight line to indicate the exclusion of a selected control tile from a group.

50. The system as recited in claim 46, wherein the corresponding group of control tiles includes a group control.

51. The system as recited in claim 46 wherein the user action comprises one or more of minimizing the graphical windows corresponding to the plurality of control tiles, restoring the graphical windows corresponding to the plurality of control tiles, closing the graphical windows corresponding to the plurality of control tiles, saving data within the graphical windows corresponding to the plurality of control tiles, or resizing the graphical windows corresponding to the plurality of control tiles.

52. The system as recited in claim 46, wherein the displaying the plurality of control tiles as the group within the taskbar portion of the display includes displaying at least a portion of the plurality of control tiles, the system further comprising:

the organization component obtaining an indication to collapse the group; and

the rendering component displaying the group solely as a group control tile.

53. The system as recited in claim 46, wherein displaying the plurality of control tiles as the group within the taskbar portion of the display includes associating a name with the group and displaying the name on a portion of a group indicator.

54. The system as recited in claim 46 further comprising:

the organization component obtaining an indication to remove plurality of tiles from the group; and

the rendering component displaying the plurality of control tiles removed from the group as separate control tiles.

55. The system as recited in claim 46, wherein displaying the plurality of control tiles as the group within the taskbar portion of the display includes displaying a continuous border around a first and a second control tile indicating the association of the first and second control tiles to the group.

56. The system as recited in claim 55, wherein displaying a continuous border around the plurality of control tiles indicating the association of the plurality of control tiles to the group includes displaying the continuous border in a color separate from a color corresponding to the taskbar.

57. The system as recited in claim 56 wherein displaying a continuous border around the plurality of control tiles indicating the association of the plurality of control tiles to the group includes displaying the continuous border in a color separate from any other color of a group on the taskbar.

58. The system as recited in claim 46, wherein the group corresponds to a project and wherein displaying the plurality of control tiles as a group within the taskbar portion of the display includes displaying a project control for toggling the software applications corresponding to the plurality of control tiles between a minimized state and a restored state.

59. The system as recited in claim 58, wherein displaying a project control includes displaying a project name and a number of software applications included with the project.

60. The system as recited in claim 58, wherein the computer system includes a base project separate from the project including the plurality of control tiles and wherein the plurality of software applications belong to the base project.

61. The method as recited in claim 59 further comprising:

toggling the project corresponding to the first and second software applications in a minimized state;

obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows corresponding to the minimized project; and

displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display.

62. The method as recited in claim 59, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display includes displaying a reduced size representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the desktop portion of the display.

63. The method as recited in claim 59, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display includes displaying a full size representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the desktop portion of the display.

64. The method as recited in claim 60, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display includes displaying at least semi-transparent representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the desktop portion of the display.

65. The method as recited in claim 61, wherein obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows corresponding to the minimized project includes obtaining a manipulation of a user selection device to hover over a minimized project control.

66. The method as recited in claim 61, wherein obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows corresponding to the minimized project includes obtaining a selection of a preview control corresponding to a minimized project control.

67. The method as recited in claim 58 further comprising:

generating a time-line associated with the project corresponding to the first and second software application;

generating at least one snapshot of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software application, wherein the at least one snapshot is dependent on a time value; and

displaying the snapshot on the time-line as a time-based icon.

68. The method as recited in claim 67 further comprising:

obtaining a selection of the time-based icon; and

generating a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display.

69. The method as recited in claim 68 further comprising:

obtaining a subsequent selection of the time-based icon;

recalling the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display stored according to the time-based icon; and

restoring the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display stored according to the time-based icon.

70. The method as recited in claim 69, wherein generating at least one snapshot of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software application according to a time as a time-based icon includes storing state information corresponding to the first and second software application and wherein restoring the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display stored according to the time-based icon includes restoring state information stored for the first and second software application.

71. The method as recited in claim 46 further comprising:

generating a record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications;

storing the record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications; and

generating a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display.

72. The method as recited in claim 71, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display includes displaying a reduced size representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the desktop portion of the display.

73. The method as recited in claim 71, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display includes displaying a full size representation of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the desktop portion of the display.

74. The method as recited in claim 71, wherein displaying a preview of the display graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display includes displaying at least semi-transparent representation of the

graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application on the desktop portion of the display.

75. The method as recited in claim 71, wherein obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows includes obtaining a manipulation of a user selection device to hover over the group corresponding to the first and second software applications.

76. The method as recited in claim 71, wherein obtaining an indication to preview the graphical windows includes obtaining a selection of a preview control associated with the group corresponding to the first and second software applications.

77. The method as recited in claim 71 further comprising:

obtaining an indication to restore the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software applications; and

restoring the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display stored according to the record of the layout.

78. The method as recited in claim 77, wherein generating a record of the layout of the first and second graphical window corresponding to the first and second software applications includes storing state information corresponding to the first and second software application and wherein restoring the display of the graphical windows corresponding to the first and second software application in the desktop portion of the display includes restoring state information stored for the first and second software application.

79. A computer storage media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 46.

80. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein the toolbar portion is represented as two or more distinct areas on the display.

81. A computer system for managing a plurality of software applications, the system comprising:

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.

82. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the set of guides include a curved carat indicating the inclusion of a selected control tile to a group and a straight line to indicate the exclusion of a selected control tile from a group.

83. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the single user action includes:

minimizing the graphical window corresponding to each software application,

restoring the graphical window corresponding to each software application,

closing the graphical window corresponding to each software application,

saving data within the graphical window corresponding to each software application, or

resizing the graphical windows corresponding to each software application.

84. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the means for displaying the two or more control tiles as a group includes means for displaying a group control without displaying any portion of the two or more control tiles.

85. The system as recited in claim 81, wherein the means for displaying the two or more control tiles as a group includes means for displaying the two or more control tiles as a project for toggling the software applications corresponding to the two or more control tiles between a minimized and a restored state.

86. The system as recited in claim 85 further comprising means for displaying a time-dependent representation of the project.

87. The system as recited in claim 86 further comprising means for restoring a time-dependent representation of the project.

88. The system as recited in claim 81 further comprising means for previewing the layout of the graphical windows corresponding to the two or more software applications on the means for displaying two or more software applications as graphical windows.

89. The system as recited in claim 88 further comprising means for storing state corresponding to the two or more software applications.

90. The system as recited in claim 81 further comprising:

means for obtaining an indication to collapse the two or more control tiles into the group control tile; and

means for displaying the group solely as a group control tile.

91. The system as recited in claim 81 further comprising:

means for obtaining an indication to remove two or more control tiles from the group; and

means for displaying the two or more control tiles removed from the group as separate control tiles.