Method and computer-readable medium for interacting with a portion of an electronic document

• US 8,745,512 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2004
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Jones, Brian, Sawicki, Marcin, Taboada, Roberto C., Son, Sumkin, Davis, Tristan A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): ORR, HENRY W
• Application Number:
  US10/991,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20060107225A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,485 Days
• Field of Search: 715/764
• US Class Current: 715/764
• 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 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting

Abstract

A method and computer-readable medium are provided for interacting with a portion of an electronic document. According to the method, a UI control is displayed that includes a border surrounding the portion of the electronic document and one or more UI items that allow actions to be performed on the portion of the electronic document. The UI control may be displayed continually or displayed when user input is received within the portion of the electronic document. The border of the UI control may form a bounded region that is displayed transparently over the display of the portion of the electronic document. The transparency of the bounded region may be increased gradually when user input is received in the portion of the electronic document and removed gradually when user input is subsequently received outside the portion. A selectable region may be provided within the UI control for selecting and moving the portion of the electronic document to another location within the document.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage device having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to perform the following:

displaying a user interface control for interacting with a portion of an electronic document, wherein the portion of the electronic document encompasses a viewable subsection of the electronic document, the user interface control comprising a border surrounding the portion of the electronic document,

displaying text for providing a description of the portion of the electronic document, and

displaying a selectable region for performing at least one of a plurality of actions on the portion of the electronic document encompassed by the user interface control, wherein the plurality of actions are associated with editing contents of the encompassed portion of the electronic document, the border forming a bounded region and wherein the bounded region is displayed with a level of transparency over the portion of the electronic document, the user interface control being displayed when the portion of the electronic document receives input and not displayed when the portion of the electronic document does not receive input, wherein the user interface control regulates a size of the border, wherein the size of the border is automatically adjusted in response to growth and shrinking of the portion of the electronic document, wherein the portion of the electronic document is configured to be edited within the border, wherein the portion of the electronic document is configured to be inserted to a different location of the electronic document by dragging the user interface control to the different location of the electronic document, and wherein the user interface control is configured to be used as a place holder for at least one of an image and input text to be inserted into the electronic document.

2. The computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises a table of contents.

3. The computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises a math editing region.

4. The computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises a table.

5. The computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises repeating content.

6. The computer-readable storage device of claim 1, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises an image.

7. A method comprising:

displaying a user interface control for interacting with a portion of an electronic document, wherein the portion of the electronic document encompasses a viewable subsection of the electronic document, the user interface control comprising a border surrounding the portion of the electronic document,

displaying text for providing a description of the portion of the electronic document, and

displaying a selectable region for performing at least one of a plurality of actions on the portion of the electronic document encompassed by the user interface control, wherein the plurality of actions are associated with editing contents of the encompassed portion of the electronic document, the border forming a bounded region and wherein the bounded region is displayed with a level of transparency over the portion of the electronic document, the user interface control being displayed when the portion of the electronic document receives input and not displayed when the portion of the electronic document does not receive input, wherein the user interface control regulates a size of the border, wherein the size of the border is automatically adjusted in response to growth and shrinking of the portion of the electronic document, wherein the portion of the electronic document is configured to be edited within the border, wherein the portion of the electronic document is configured to be inserted to a different location of the electronic document by dragging the user interface control to the different location of the electronic document, and wherein the user interface control is configured to be used as a place holder for at least one of an image and input text to be inserted into the electronic document.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises a table of contents.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises a math editing region.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises a table.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises repeating content.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the user interface control for interacting with the portion of the electronic document comprises displaying the user interface control wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises an image.

13. A system comprising:

a memory storage; and

a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is operative to;

display a user interface control for interacting with a portion of an electronic document, wherein the portion of the electronic document encompasses a viewable subsection of the electronic document, the user interface control comprising a border surrounding the portion of the electronic document,

display text for providing a description of the portion of the electronic document, and

display a selectable region for performing at least one of a plurality of actions on the portion of the electronic document encompassed by the user interface control, wherein the plurality of actions are associated with editing contents of the encompassed portion of the electronic document, the border forming a bounded region and wherein the bounded region is displayed with a level of transparency over the portion of the electronic document, the user interface control being displayed when the portion of the electronic document receives input and not displayed when the portion of the electronic document does not receive input, wherein the user interface control regulates a size of the border, wherein the size of the border is automatically adjusted in response to growth and shrinking of the portion of the electronic document, wherein the portion of the electronic document is configured to be edited within the border, wherein the portion of the electronic document is configured to be inserted to a different location of the electronic document by dragging the user interface control to the different location of the electronic document, and wherein the user interface control is configured to be used as a place holder for at least one of an image and input text to be inserted into the electronic document.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises a table of contents.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises a math editing region.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises a table.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises repeating content.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the portion of the electronic document comprises an image.