Dynamic array presentation and multiple selection of digitally stored objects and corresponding link tokens for simultaneous presentation

• US 8,042,063 B1
• Filed: 04/06/2000
• Issued: 10/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Catherine Lin-Hendel
• Original Assignee: Catherine Lin-Hendel
• Inventors: Lin-Hendel, Catherine
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo, Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, MYLINH T
• Application Number:
  US09/544,036
• Time in Patent Office: 4,212 Days
• Field of Search: 345/838, 345/805, 345821-824, 345859-861, 715/838, 715/805, 715821-824, 715859-861, 705/26, 705/27
• US Class Current: 715/838
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/14 Tree-structured documents parsing G06F40/205; validation G06F40/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A system and method for the multiple selection of digitally stored objects and the link-tokens of each selected object for simultaneous presentation and examination of the selected objects with their associated linked objects and information, including organized array presentation for graphical thumbnails that represent the selected objects, as well as sub-framing, which allows intelligent partitioning of information associated with an object.

Claims

1. A system for selecting a plurality of objects displayed on a webpage and then simultaneously displaying a plurality of retrieved destination webpages linked to the selected objects, comprising:

a display screen for displaying objects on the webpage, each displayed object is associated with a link linking to a destination webpage with content containing information related to the displayed object;

a selection for selecting on the webpage a plurality of the displayed objects, each displayed object having at least one associated link linking to the destination webpage containing information relating to the object; and

a retrieval process for retrieving the at least one associated destination webpage for each selected one of the plurality of the displayed objects together from a storage medium, resulting in a plurality of retrieved destination webpages and then simultaneously displaying together multiple ones of the retrieved destination webpages in a single display screen;

wherein each of plurality of retrieved destination webpages is displayed in a separate and in a two dimensional array of sub-frame window without overlapping with other sub-frame windows.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising

means for providing a two-dimensional array of thumbnails of the digitally stored objects.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the thumbnails in the two-dimensional array can be selectively scrolled at any one of a plurality of speeds and can be selectively stopped from scrolling.

4. The system according to claim 2, wherein the thumbnails in the two-dimensional array can be selectively scrolled vertically.

5. The system according to claim 2, wherein the thumbnails in the two-dimensional array can be selectively scrolled horizontally.

6. The system according to claim 2, wherein the two-dimensional array of thumbnails has a selectively adjustable number of columns and rows.

7. The system according to claim 1, further comprising means for sub-framing information associated with the selected plurality of digitally stored objects.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the sub-framing means includes a horizontal dynamic scroll bar and a vertical dynamic scroll bar that allow an orderly arrangement and presentation of content extending beyond a viewable area of a sub-frame.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein each webpage is displayed without a header and a tab.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the retrieved webpages are displayed in a single window.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the retrieved webpages are displayed without overlapping another webpage.

12. A method for selecting a plurality of objects displayed on a webpage and then simultaneously displaying a plurality of retrieved destination webpages linked to the selected objects, comprising:

on a computing system having one or more processors that execute programs stored in memory of the computing system;

displaying a two dimensional array of more than two columns and two rows of objects on the webpage, each displayed object is associated with a link linking to a destination webpage containing information relating to the displayed object;

selecting a plurality of objects from the two dimensional array of displayed objects, wherein each one of the selected plurality of displayed objects has an associated link linking to at least one destination webpage containing information related to the selected displayed object;

after the selecting step, retrieving the at least one associated destination webpage associated with each one of the selected plurality of displayed objects, resulting in a plurality of retrieved destination webpages; and

simultaneously displaying together multiple ones of the retrieved destination webpages in a single display screen;

wherein each of plurality of retrieved destination webpages is displayed in a separate and in a two dimensional array of sub-frame window without overlapping with other sub-frame windows.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein a different check box is associated with each one of the plurality of digitally stored objects and,

said selecting step comprises:

selecting each one of the plurality of digitally stored objects one at a time by using a computer input device to invoke a different check box such that a check appears in the check box; and

said retrieving step includes;

invoking a button using the input device to retrieve and simultaneously display the retrieved webpages.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein said selecting step comprises:

selecting each one of the plurality of digitally stored objects one at a time by using a input device to point to a different link token associated with each different one of the plurality of digitally stored objects and single activation of the input device; and

said retrieving step comprises;

after a plurality of the digitally stored objects have been selected, double activation the input device button to retrieve and simultaneously display the retrieved webpages.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein a computer mouse having a first button and a second button is used to select the plurality of digitally stored objects and to retrieve the associated destination objects,

said selecting step comprises:

selecting each one of the plurality of digitally stored objects one at a time by pointing to a different token link associated with each different one of the plurality of digitally stored objects and clicking the first computer mouse button while holding down the second computer mouse button, and

said retrieving step comprises;

after a plurality of the digitally stored objects have been selected, clicking the first computer mouse button without holding the second computer mouse button to retrieve and simultaneously display the retrieved webpages.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein content associated with each one of the retrieved webpages is sub-framed such that content extending beyond the frame can be scrolled into view within the sub-frame.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein each webpage is displayed without a header and a tab.

18. The method according to claim 12, wherein a computer mouse having a first button is used to select the plurality of digitally stored objects and to retrieve the associated destination objects,

said selecting step comprises the step of:

selecting each one of the plurality of digitally stored objects one at a time by pointing to a different token link associated with each different one of the plurality of digitally stored objects and clicking the first computer mouse button, and

said retrieving step comprises the step of;

after a plurality of the digitally stored objects have been selected, clicking the first computer mouse button to retrieve and simultaneously display the retrieved webpages.

19. The method according to claim 12, wherein a computer mouse having a first button and a second button is used to select the plurality of digitally stored objects and to retrieve the associated destination objects,

said selecting step comprising:

selecting each one of the plurality of digitally stored objects one at a time by pointing to a different token link associated with each different one of the plurality of digitally stored objects and clicking the first computer mouse button without holding down the second computer mouse button, and

said retrieving step comprising;

after a plurality of the digitally stored objects have been selected, clicking the first computer mouse button while holding the second computer mouse button to retrieve and simultaneously display the retrieved webpages,

button to retrieve and simultaneously display the retrieved webpages.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the retrieved webpages are displayed in a single window.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein the retrieved webpages are displayed without overlapping another webpage.

22. A system for displaying information, the system comprising a computing device configured to:

enable a user using an input device to select from a webpage displayed on a display device a plurality of displayed objects each of the displayed object is associated with a link linking to a destination webpage containing information relating to the displayed object, resulting in a plurality of selected links, each of the selected links being linked with at least one destination webpage containing information relating to the selected object associated with the link;

enable the user to submit the plurality of selected links for processing;

retrieve the at least one destination webpage for each of the selected links, resulting in plurality of retrieved destination webpages associated with the selected objects; and

display multiple ones of the plurality of retrieved destination webpages in a single display screen on the display device;

wherein each of plurality of retrieved destination webpages is displayed in a separate and in a two dimensional array of sub-frame window without overlapping with other sub-frame windows.

23. The system according to claim 22, wherein:

a different check box is associated with each one of the plurality of digitally stored objects;

each one of the plurality of displayed digitally stored objects is adapted to be selected one at a time by using the input device to select a different check box such that a check appears in the check box; and

after a plurality of the digitally stored objects is selected and in response to invoking a button using the input device, retrieve together and simultaneously display together the retrieved webpages.

24. The system according to claim 22, wherein:

a different check box is associated with each one of the plurality of digitally stored objects;

each one of the plurality of displayed digitally stored objects is adapted to be selected one at a time by using the input device to select a different check box such that a check appears in the check box; and

after a plurality of the digitally stored objects is selected and in response to invoking a button using the input device, retrieve together and simultaneously display together the retrieved webpages.

25. The system according to claim 24, wherein single clicking on the selected check box de-selects a link to the associated destination object so that the check box reverts to being unchecked indicating that the associated webpage is un-selected.

26. The system according to claim 22, wherein:

the input device is a computer mouse;

each displayed digitally stored object of the plurality of selected displayed digitally stored objects is selected one at a time by pointing to a different link-token associated with each different one of the plurality of displayed digitally stored objects and single clicking the computer mouse button; and

after all of the selected plurality of displayed digitally stored objects have been selected and in response to double clicking the computer mouse button, retrieving together the plurality of digitally stored objects, and simultaneously displaying the retrieved webpages.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein each one of the different associated link-tokens is a first color and each time one of the plurality of digitally stored objects is selected by single clicking the computer mouse button, the first color changes to a second color to indicate the selection of the digitally stored object.

28. The system according to claim 27, wherein each one of the selected link-tokens changes to a third color when a browser returns to a list of the plurality of digitally stored objects from the retrieved and simultaneously displayed retrieved webpages.

29. The system according to claim 27, wherein single clicking on the selected link-token de-selects the link-token so that the link-token reverts to the first color indicating the de-selection of the link-token.

30. The system according to claim 22, wherein the selection comprises:

selecting the plurality of digitally stored objects one at a time by pointing to and selecting a different link-token associated with each different one of the plurality of digitally stored objects.

31. The system according to claim 30, wherein each one of the associated link tokens is a first color and each time one of the plurality of digitally stored objects is selected the first color changes to a second color to indicate the selection of the digitally stored object.

32. The system according to claim 31, wherein each time one of the plurality of digitally stored objects having a second color is selected the second color changes to the first color to indicate the de-selection of the digitally stored object.

33. The system according to claim 22, wherein the selection is employed and the retrieval is invoked using a computer mouse having a first button and a second button, the plurality of digitally stored objects being selected one at a time by pointing to a different link-token associated with each different one of the plurality of digitally stored objects and clicking the first computer mouse button, and then after all of the plurality of digitally stored objects have been selected, clicking the second computer mouse button to retrieve and simultaneously display the retrieved webpages.

34. The system according to claim 33, wherein a first one of the retrieved webpages simultaneously displayed for viewing is made larger than the other simultaneously displayed webpages by using a computer input device to invoke the first webpage.

35. The system according to claim 33, wherein when the computer input device is used to invoke a second one of the retrieved webpages simultaneously displayed for viewing, the first webpage returns to the same smaller size of the other simultaneously displayed webpages and the second destination object is made larger than the other simultaneously displayed-webpages.

36. The system according to claim 33, wherein each one of the different associated link-tokens is a first color and each time one of the digitally stored objects is selected using a computer input device, the first color changes to a second color to indicate the selection of the digitally stored object, and wherein the second color changes to a third color when a browser returns to a list of the displayed digitally stored objects from the retrieved and simultaneously displayed retrieved webpages, wherein the third color indicates that the digitally stored object in the list have been previously selected and that the retrieved webpages have been previously displayed.

37. The system according to claim 22, wherein the system is used on a personal computer.

38. The system according to claim 22, wherein the system is used on a computer network.

39. The system according to claim 22, wherein the system is used with a CD-ROM.

40. The system according to claim 22, wherein the system is used on a wireless device.

41. The system according to claim 22, wherein the system is implemented using software.

42. The system of claim 22, wherein each webpage of the plurality of retrieved webpages is displayed in a separate sub-frame without overlapping with other sub-frames.

43. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

on the display device displaying a two-dimensional array of sub-frames of the digitally stored objects.

44. The system according to claim 43, wherein the sub-frames in the two-dimensional array can be selectively scrolled at any one of a plurality of speeds and can be selectively stopped from scrolling.

45. The system according to claim 43, wherein the sub-frames in the two-dimensional array can be selectively scrolled vertically.

46. The system according to claim 43, wherein the sub-frames in the two-dimensional array can be selectively scrolled horizontally.

47. The system according to claim 43, wherein the two-dimensional array of sub-frames has a selectively adjustable number of columns and rows.

48. The system according to claim 22, further comprising sub-framing information associated with the selected plurality of digitally stored objects.

49. The system according to claim 48, wherein the sub-framing includes a horizontal dynamic scroll bar and a vertical dynamic scroll bar that allow an orderly arrangement and presentation of content.

50. The system of claim 22, wherein each webpage is displayed without a header and a tab.

51. A system for use with an electronic device, the system having a display and an input device, comprising:

a selection page displaying a plurality of data objects from a plurality of web pages, each of the data objects having an associated link linking to a retrievable destination web page containing information associated with the data object displayed on the plurality of webpages;

a multiple selection mechanism configured to enable a user to select a plurality of the data objects with the input device;

a submit element responsive to operation of the input device;

a single display screen simultaneously displaying, in response to user activation of the submit element, information for the selected plurality of the data object, the information being retrieved from respective ones of the retrieved destination web pages using the associated links;

wherein each of plurality of retrieved destination webpages is displayed in a separate and in a two dimensional array of sub-frame window without overlapping with other sub-frame windows.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the plurality of web pages are from a plurality of web sites.

53. The system of claim 51, wherein the single display screen presents the information in an array.

54. The system of claim 51, wherein the data object is a link identifier or a thumbnail.

55. The system of claim 51 wherein the data object further includes a check box responsive to user indication of selection.

56. The system of claim 51, wherein the data objects in the array scroll without user input.

57. The system of claim 51, wherein each webpage is displayed without a header and a tab.

58. The system of claim 51, wherein the destination webpages are displayed in a single window.

59. The system of claim 51, wherein the destination webpages are displayed without overlapping another webpage.