Layered graphical user interface

• US 8,006,192 B1
• Filed: 10/04/2000
• Issued: 08/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Shih, Priscilla, Reid, Glenn
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo; Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, MYLINH T
• Application Number:
  US09/679,692
• Time in Patent Office: 3,975 Days
• Field of Search: 345/700, 345/760, 345/762, 345/763, 345/765, 345/788, 345/522, 345/768, 345/793
• US Class Current: 715/762
• 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 method of creating a graphical user interface having control(s) to direct any task through a computer system is provided. One application of the user interface is for manipulating a time based stream of information to create a presentation. The methods use a layered graphic file that is accessed by an application program to generate the user interface. Each layer of the graphic file contains a control object to an element of the user interface. The control objects are capable of being revised in order to make alterations to the user interface. Other aspects of the present invention relating to the graphical user interface are also described.

Claims

1. A method for producing a graphical user interface of an application program, the method comprising:

storing a graphic file created by a multi-layered type computer program, the graphic file containing a list of control objects, wherein each control object is in at least one layer, dictates at least one attribute of a control element, is editable by a user, and is independently editable relative to a different control object, wherein each of a plurality of the control objects is in a different layer, wherein each layer, when presented on a user interface used to create or edit the graphics file, appears as a series of transparent overlays of the layers on the user interface, and wherein each layer contains an image of the user interface of the application program; and

creating an application program other than the multi-layered type computer program to access the graphic file and to display a control element from the graphic file on the graphical user interface of the application program, the control element having at least one attribute dictated by one of the control objects in the at least one layer of the graphic file.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one layer of the first control object is grouped with other layers in the graphic file.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the control element is an edit control to manipulate a time-based stream of digital video information by moving a play-head along a course of frames of a clip of a digital video scene of interest.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one attribute is at least one of an appearance and location and size and element type and state and function and behavior in a particular environment.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one layer is linked with other layers.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the graphics file program displaying the control objects and allowing the control objects to be edited using the graphics file program to change the control element attribute as dictated by the editing of the control objects.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the multi-layered type computer program comprises a graphics editor;

and

the control object comprises a picture-related control object embodied in an image page and depicting a control element as the element would appear on the graphical user interface or comprises a textual description of an attribute of a control element listed on a layer list page;

further comprising;

the graphics editor forwarding through, reversing through, and editing frames of a clip of digital video.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the application program comprises a video editing program to edit video and movies having a time based stream of video information;

wherein the control objects may be edited by adding, deleting, or changing the control object to revise the control elements of the graphical user interface of the application program without converting the graphical user interface of the application program to an intermediate format or recompiling the graphical user interface of the application program; and

wherein the control elements have at least one of an appearance of an element, a location of an element, a size of an element, a type of a graphical user interface environment, a state of a graphical user interface environment, function of a graphical user interface environment or a behavior of a graphical user interface environment dictated by the control objects.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein editing a control object causes a control element to be edited.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the control objects may be edited by adding, deleting, or changing the control object to revise the control elements of the graphical user interface of the application program without converting the graphical user interface of the application program to an intermediate format or recompiling the graphical user interface of the application program.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the layers has an order relative to the other layers in the series of transparent overlays.

12. A computer system comprising:

a storage;

a display device; and

a processor coupled to the display device and the storage for;

storing a graphic file created by a multi-layered type computer program, the graphic file containing a list of control objects, wherein each control object is in at least one layer, dictates at least one attribute of a control element, is editable by a user, and is independently editable relative to a different control object, wherein each of a plurality of the control objects is in a different layer, wherein each layer, when presented on a user interface used to create or edit the graphics file, appears as a series of transparent overlays of the layers on the user interface, and wherein each layer contains an image of the user interface of the application program; and

creating an application program other than the multi-layered type computer program to access the graphic file and to display a control element from the graphic file on a graphical user interface of the application program, the control element having at least one attribute dictated by one of the control objects in the at least one layer of the graphic file.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one layer is grouped with other layers.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the control element is an edit control to manipulate a time-based stream of digital video information by moving a play-head along a course of frames of a clip of a digital video scene of interest.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one attribute is at least one of an appearance and location and size and element type and state and function and behavior in a particular environment.

16. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the at least one layer is linked with other layers.

17. A processing system for producing a graphical user interface of an application program, comprising:

means for storing a graphic file created by a multi-layered type computer program, the graphic file containing a list of control objects, wherein each control object is in at least one layer, dictates at least one attribute of a control element, is editable by a user, and is independently editable relative to a different control object, wherein each of a plurality of the control objects is in a different layer, wherein each layer, when presented on a user interface used to create or edit the graphics file, appears as a series of transparent overlays of the layers on the user interface, and wherein each layer contains an image of the user interface of the application program; and

means for creating an application program other than the multi-layered type computer program to access the graphic file and to display a control element from the graphic file on the graphical user interface of the application program, the control element having at least one attribute dictated by one of the control objects in the at least one layer of the graphic file.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one layer is grouped with other layers.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the control element is an edit control to manipulate a time-based stream of digital video information by moving a play-head along a course of frames of a clip of a digital video scene of interest.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one attribute is at least one of an appearance and location and size and element type and state and function and behavior in a particular environment.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one layer is linked with other layers.

22. A machine-readable storage medium having stored executable instructions, which, when executed by a computer system for producing a graphical user interface of an application program, cause the computer system to:

store a graphic file created by a multi-layered type computer program, wherein each control object is in at least one layer, dictates at least one attribute of a control element, is editable by a user, and is independently editable relative to a different control object, wherein each of a plurality of the control objects is in a different layer, wherein each layer, when presented on a user interface used to create or edit the graphics file, appears as a series of transparent overlays of the layers on the user interface, and wherein each layer contains an image of the user interface of the application program; and

create an application program other than the multi-layered type computer program to access the graphic file and to display a control element from the graphic file on the graphical user interface of the application program, the control element having at least one attribute dictated by one of the control objects in the at least one layer of the graphic file.

23. A machine-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the at least one layer is grouped with other layers.

24. A machine-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the control element is an edit control to manipulate a time-based stream of digital video information by moving a play-head along a course of frames of a clip of a digital video scene of interest.

25. A machine-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the at least one attribute is at least one of an appearance and location and size and element type and state and function and behavior in a particular environment.

26. The medium of claim 22, wherein the at least one layer is linked with other layers.

27. A method for producing a graphical user interface of an application program, the method comprising:

creating a graphic file containing a list of layers, wherein each layer dictates at least one attribute of a control element, wherein each layer is editable by a user, and is independently editable relative to a different control object, wherein each of a plurality of the control objects is in a different layer, wherein each layer, when presented on a user interface used to create or edit the graphics file, appears as a series of transparent overlays of the layers on the user interface, and wherein each layer contains an image of the user interface of the application program;

creating an application program to access the graphic file and to display a control element from the graphic file on the graphical user interface of the application program, the control element having at least one attribute dictated by one layer of the graphic file; and

storing the graphic file and the application program.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the graphic file is created using a multi-layered type computer program other than the application program, and wherein each of the plurality of the control objects in the different layers is selected and changed without affecting any other layer of the layers on the user interface.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein the layers are grouped.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein allowing the control objects to be edited comprises allowing use of a graphics file program to independently change the control objects to cause the corresponding attribute of the control element to change.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein the layers are linked.

32. A processing system for producing a graphical user interface of an application program, comprising:

means for storing a graphic file containing a list of layers, wherein each layer dictates at least one attribute of a control element, wherein each layer is editable by a user, and is independently editable relative to a different control object, wherein each of a plurality of the control objects is in a different layer, wherein each layer, when presented on a user interface used to create or edit the graphics file, appears as a series of transparent overlays of the layers on the user interface, and wherein each layer contains an image of the user interface of the application program; and

means for storing an application program to access the graphic file and to display a control element from the graphic file on the graphical user interface of the application program, the control element having at least one attribute dictated by one layer of the graphic file.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein the graphic file is created using a program other than the application program.

34. The system of claim 32 wherein the layers are grouped.

35. The system of claim 32 wherein the layers are linked.

36. A machine-readable storage medium having stored executable instructions, which, when executed by a computer system for producing a graphical user interface of an application program, cause the computer system to:

store a graphic file containing a list of layers, wherein each layer dictates at least one attribute of a control element, wherein each layer is editable by a user, and is independently editable relative to a different control object, wherein each of a plurality of the control objects is in a different layer, wherein each layer, when presented on a user interface used to create or edit the graphics file, appears as a series of transparent overlays of the layers on the user interface, and wherein each layer contains an image of the user interface of the application program; and

store an application program to access the graphic file and to display a control element from the graphic file on the graphical user interface of the application program, the control element having at least one attribute dictated by one layer of the graphic file.

37. The medium of claim 36 wherein the graphic file is created using a program other than the application program.

38. The medium of claim 36 wherein the layers are grouped.

39. The medium of claim 36 wherein the layers are linked.