In-document floating object re-ordering
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method comprising:
- displaying at least a portion of an electronic document in a first mode, the portion of the electronic document comprises a plurality of floating objects, the portion of the electronic document has a z-order stack, each floating object has an x-y location in the portion of the electronic document and has a position in the z-order stack, in the first mode the floating objects are displayed in an x-y plane based on the z-order stack;
displaying the portion of the electronic document in a second mode, in the second mode the electronic document is depicted as a plurality of x-y plane slices, each x-y plane slice corresponds to one position on the z-order stack and depicts the floating object that is associated with that position on the z-order stack, each x-y plane slice having a number indicator that specifies the position on the z-order stack that the floating object for that x-y plane slice is in, the x-y plane slices are displayed partially overlapping in a particular order to depict the position of the floating objects on the z-order stack, displaying the portion of the electronic document in a second mode includes displaying only a subset of the floating objects that are included in the portion of the electronic document;
receiving a request to re-order the x-y plane slices when in the second mode, receiving the request to re-order includes receiving a request to move a first x-y plane slice relative to the other x-y plane slices;
displaying a re-ordering of the x-y plane slices based on the request to re-order, the displaying a re-ordering includes displaying the first x-y plane slice moving relative to the other x-y slices, the displaying includes decreasing the amount of overlap displayed between neighboring x-y plane slices that the first x-y plane slice is near as it is being moved, the displaying including updating the number indicator on the first x-y plane slice that indicates the current position on the z-order stack for the first x-y plane slice, the number is updated as the first x-y slice is being moved to specify the relative position of the first x-y plane slice to the other x-y plane slices; and
displaying the portion of the electronic document in the first mode based on the re-ordering of the x-y planes slices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are disclosed herein for re-ordering floating objects in an electronic document. An electronic document having floating objects is displayed in a first mode. Each floating object has an x-y location in the document and has a position on a z-order stack. In the first mode the floating objects are displayed in an x-y plane based on the z-order stack. Then, the electronic document is displayed in a second mode in which the electronic document is depicted as x-y plane slices. Each x-y plane slice corresponds to one position on the z-order stack. The x-y plane slices are displayed in particular order to depict the position of the floating objects on the z-order stack. A re-ordering of the x-y plane slices is displayed based on a request. Then, the electronic document is displayed in the first mode again based on the re-ordering of the x-y planes.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method comprising:
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displaying at least a portion of an electronic document in a first mode, the portion of the electronic document comprises a plurality of floating objects, the portion of the electronic document has a z-order stack, each floating object has an x-y location in the portion of the electronic document and has a position in the z-order stack, in the first mode the floating objects are displayed in an x-y plane based on the z-order stack; displaying the portion of the electronic document in a second mode, in the second mode the electronic document is depicted as a plurality of x-y plane slices, each x-y plane slice corresponds to one position on the z-order stack and depicts the floating object that is associated with that position on the z-order stack, each x-y plane slice having a number indicator that specifies the position on the z-order stack that the floating object for that x-y plane slice is in, the x-y plane slices are displayed partially overlapping in a particular order to depict the position of the floating objects on the z-order stack, displaying the portion of the electronic document in a second mode includes displaying only a subset of the floating objects that are included in the portion of the electronic document; receiving a request to re-order the x-y plane slices when in the second mode, receiving the request to re-order includes receiving a request to move a first x-y plane slice relative to the other x-y plane slices; displaying a re-ordering of the x-y plane slices based on the request to re-order, the displaying a re-ordering includes displaying the first x-y plane slice moving relative to the other x-y slices, the displaying includes decreasing the amount of overlap displayed between neighboring x-y plane slices that the first x-y plane slice is near as it is being moved, the displaying including updating the number indicator on the first x-y plane slice that indicates the current position on the z-order stack for the first x-y plane slice, the number is updated as the first x-y slice is being moved to specify the relative position of the first x-y plane slice to the other x-y plane slices; and displaying the portion of the electronic document in the first mode based on the re-ordering of the x-y planes slices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer implemented method comprising:
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displaying a page of an electronic document in a first mode, the electronic document page comprises a plurality of floating objects and a plurality of ordered layers, each floating object has an x-y location in the electronic document page, each floating object is associated with one of the layers, in the first mode the floating objects are displayed in a single x-y plane based on the order of the layers; receiving a selection of a first floating object while displaying the electronic document page in the first mode; determining a subset of floating objects that are associated with the first floating object, the subset of floating objects are associated with a subset of the layers; displaying the electronic document page in a second mode, in the second mode the electronic document page is depicted as a plurality of transparent slices that partially overlap, each of the slices corresponds to a layer of the subset of layers, the slices overlap in a first order to depict the relative order of the subset of layers, each of the slices contains a floating object depicted in the x-y location in the electronic document page for the floating object, the transparent slices are displayed as panes of glass, each transparent slice having a number indicator that specifies what layer the floating object for that transparent slice is in; receiving a request to re-order the slices when in the second mode, receiving the request includes receiving a request to drag a first slice of the slices to a new location among the slices; displaying the first slice in different positions relative to the other slices in response to the request to re-order the slices, the displaying the first slice in different positions includes altering the overlap between the slices to provide visual cues as the first slice is being dragged, the displaying includes displaying a progressively narrower gap between slices further from the first slice, the distribution of gap widths approximates a Gaussian distribution; receiving an indication that the first slice is in a final position, the receiving the indication includes receiving a request to drop the first slice at the new location, the slices are in a final order when the first slice is in the final position; and displaying the electronic document page in the first mode based on the final order of the slices. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer storage medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed on a processor, implement a method comprising:
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displaying a page of an electronic document in a first mode, the document page comprises a plurality of floating objects and a plurality of layers, each floating object has an x-y location in the document page, each floating object is associated with one of the layers, in the first mode the floating objects are displayed in a single x-y plane based on the order of the layers, the first mode allows editing characteristics of the floating objects; providing an option for a user to request that all of the floating objects be displayed in a layer editing mode or that only floating objects that overlap a selected floating object be displayed in the layer editing mode; receiving a request to display the document page in the layer editing mode, the layer editing mode allows changing the layer that a floating object is in but does not allow changing other characteristics of the floating objects, the request is one of displaying all floating objects or only displaying floating objects that overlap a selected floating object; determining a set of the floating objects to display in the layer editing mode to satisfy the request, the set of the floating objects are associated with a set of the layers; displaying the document page in the layer editing mode, the layer editing mode depicts the document page as a plurality of windows, each window corresponds to a layer of the set of layers, the windows partially overlap each other in an order that corresponds to the relative order of the set of layers, each of the windows contains a floating object depicted in the x-y location in the document page for that floating object, the windows are transparent to allow a particular floating object to be seen through any windows that overlap the window containing the particular floating object, the windows are displayed as panes of glass each having a number indicator that specifies what layer the floating object for that window is in; receiving a request to re-order the windows when in the layer editing mode, receiving the request includes receiving a request to drag a first window of the windows to a new location; displaying the first window in different positions relative to the other windows in response to the request to drag the first window to the new location, the displaying the first window includes updating the number indicator on the first window as the first window is being dragged to highlight the position the first window is in relative to the other windows, the displaying the first window includes displaying a progressively narrower gap between windows further from the first window, the distribution of gap widths approximates a Gaussian distribution; receiving an indication that the first window is in a final position, the receiving the indication includes receiving a request to drop the first window at the new location; and receiving a request to display the document page in the first mode, the request to display the document page in the first mode is received when the first window is in the final position, the windows are in a final order when the first window is in the final position; and displaying the document page in the first mode in response to the request to display the document page in the first mode, the displaying the document page in the first mode is based on the final order of the windows. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification