System and method for dynamic space management of a display space
First Claim
1. A method for space management of a workspace comprising:
- allocating at least one full-space rectangle of the workspace;
defining a first data structure for representing at least a portion of full-space rectangles to be present on the workspace, wherein said at least a portion of the full-space rectangles are permitted to overlap;
defining a second data structure of largest empty-space rectangles available on the workspace;
performing an operation on the workspace involving at least one full-space rectangle; and
redefining the first data structure and the second data structure in accordance with the workspace resulting from the performing step; and
retaining a copy of at least a portion of the first and second data structures prior to performing said redefining step.
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Abstract
A method for space management of a workspace provided on a display includes defining a first data structure of full-space rectangles present on the workspace, wherein at least a portion of the full-space rectangles are permitted to overlap. A second data structure of largest empty-space rectangles available on the workspace is also defined to complete the representation of the workspace. The methods include performing an operation on at least one full-space rectangle on the workspace and redefining the first data structure and the second data structure in accordance with the workspace resulting from the operation performed. The operations can include adding a new full-space rectangle, moving an existing full-space rectangle and deleting an existing full full-space rectangle from the workspace. Generally, the workspace is a display device coupled to an electronic device such as a personal computer, personal digital assistant, electronic book viewer and the like.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for space management of a workspace comprising:
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allocating at least one full-space rectangle of the workspace; defining a first data structure for representing at least a portion of full-space rectangles to be present on the workspace, wherein said at least a portion of the full-space rectangles are permitted to overlap; defining a second data structure of largest empty-space rectangles available on the workspace; performing an operation on the workspace involving at least one full-space rectangle; and redefining the first data structure and the second data structure in accordance with the workspace resulting from the performing step; and retaining a copy of at least a portion of the first and second data structures prior to performing said redefining step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of operating a display device in a computer system, the method comprising:
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providing a display workspace on the display device wherein content to be displayed to a user is defined in a plurality of full-space rectangles positioned on the workspace wherein at least a portion of the full-space rectangles are permitted to overlap; storing in computer readable media a first data structure representing at least a portion of the plurality of full-space rectangles present on a workspace of the display device; storing in computer readable media a second data structure of largest empty-space rectangles available on the workspace, the largest empty space rectangles being defined, at least in part, by the placement of the portion of the plurality of full-space rectangles stored in the first data structure; performing a user operation on at least one full-space rectangle on the workspace; and redefining the first data structure and the second data structure stored in the computer readable media in accordance with the workspace resulting from the performing step; and retaining a copy of at least a portion of the first and second data structures prior to performing said redefining step.
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23. A method for space management of a workspace provided on a display comprising:
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defining a first data structure for representing at least a portion of full-space rectangles to be present on the workspace, wherein said at least a portion of the full-space rectangles are permitted to overlap; defining a second data structure of largest empty-space rectangles available on the workspace; initiating an operation to be performed on the workspace involving at least one full-space rectangle which is to be added to the first data structure; and querying the second data structure to determine the candidate largest empty-space rectangles on the workspace which can accommodate the operation to be performed; selecting one of the candidate largest empty-space rectangles based on at least one selection parameter; performing the operation; redefining the first data structure and the second data structure in accordance with the workspace resulting from the performing step; and retaining a copy of at least a portion of the first and second data structures prior to performing said redefining step.
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Specification