Reordering nodes in a hierarchical structure

• US 9,514,105 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2014
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Callens, Adam Spencer, Norelius, David Nelson, Marshall, James Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Chbouki, Tarek
• Application Number:
  US14/296,023
• Publication Number:
  US 20140289613A1
• Time in Patent Office: 916 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 40/14 Tree-structured documents parsing G06F40/205; validation G06F40/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

This disclosure describes a user interface and methods for quickly and easily modifying graphical content. Specifically, content having a hierarchical format may be received in a content pane. The hierarchical format may include one or more hierarchical levels and a plurality of content portions occupying one or more hierarchical positions within each of the one or more hierarchical levels. Further, a graphical definition may be applied to the content creating graphical content. As will be appreciated, the graphical content may comprise a hierarchical structure corresponding to the hierarchical format of the content. The hierarchical structure may include a plurality of nodes occupying one or more node positions within each of one or more node levels. A content portion occupying a hierarchical position may be reordered within a hierarchical level and may automatically cause a corresponding node in a corresponding node position to be reordered within a corresponding node level.

Claims

1. A computer storage device storing computer-executable instructions for editing graphical content that when executed by a processing unit cause a computing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving content in a first pane of a user interface, wherein the content comprises a plurality of content portions displayed in a hierarchical format, wherein a first content portion occupies a first hierarchical position and a second content portion occupies a second hierarchical position;

generating graphical content in a second pane of the user interface, wherein the graphical content comprises a plurality of nodes in a hierarchical diagram corresponding to the hierarchical format, wherein a first node corresponds to the first content portion and occupies a first node position corresponding to the first hierarchical position, and wherein a second node corresponds to the second content portion and occupies a second node position corresponding to the second hierarchical position;

receiving a change to the content in the first pane, wherein the change includes reordering the first content portion from the first hierarchical position to a different hierarchical position; and

automatically reordering the first node from the first node position to a different node position of the graphical content in the second pane, wherein automatically reordering the first node from the first node position to the different node position of the graphical content in the second pane corresponds to the reordering of the first content portion from the first hierarchical position to the different hierarchical position of the content in the first pane.

2. The computer storage device of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting one of the plurality of content portions for reordering, wherein the selected content portion further comprises a child content portion.

3. The computer storage medium of claim 2, further comprising:

displaying a menu comprising options for reordering the selected content portion.

4. The computer storage device of claim 3, wherein the selected content portion is in a highest hierarchical position within a hierarchical level of the content, the method further comprising:

only displaying an option for reordering the selected first content portion down within the hierarchical level.

5. The computer storage device of claim 3, wherein the selected content portion is in a lowest hierarchical position within a hierarchical level of the content, the method further comprising:

only displaying an option for reordering the selected content portion up within the hierarchical level.

6. The computer storage device of claim 2, wherein when the selected content portion is reordered the child content portion is reordered along with the selected content portion.

7. The computer storage device of claim 6, wherein a child node corresponding to the child content portion is customized, and wherein the child node remains customized when the child node is reordered with a node corresponding to the selected content portion.

8. A computer system, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and containing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform a method for editing a hierarchical diagram, the method comprising;

receiving content in a first window of a user interface, wherein the content comprises a plurality of content portions displayed in a hierarchical format, wherein a first content portion occupies a first hierarchical position and a second content portion occupies a second hierarchical position;

receiving a selection of at least one of a plurality of graphical definitions, wherein the at least one selected graphical definition comprises a layout and a style for presenting the content;

generating graphical content in a second window of the user interface, wherein the graphical content is generated based at least in part on the selected at least one graphical definition, wherein the graphical content comprises a plurality of nodes in a hierarchical diagram corresponding to the hierarchical format, wherein a first node corresponds to the first content portion and occupies a first node position corresponding to the first hierarchical position, and wherein a second node corresponds to the second content portion and occupies a second node position corresponding to the second hierarchical position;

receiving a change to the content in the first window, wherein the change includes reordering the first content portion from the first hierarchical position to a different hierarchical position; and

automatically reordering the first node from the first node position to a different node position of the graphical content in the second window, wherein automatically reordering the first node from the first node position to the different node position in the graphical content corresponds to the reordering of the first content portion from the first hierarchical position to the different hierarchical position in the content.

9. The computer system of claim 8, further comprising:

selecting one of the plurality of content portions for reordering, wherein the selected content portion further comprises a child content portion.

10. The computer system of claim 9, further comprising:

displaying a menu comprising options for reordering the selected content portion.

11. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the selected content portion is in a highest hierarchical position within a hierarchical level of the content, the method further comprising:

only displaying an option for reordering the selected first content portion in the first hierarchical position down within the hierarchical level.

12. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the selected content portion is in a lowest hierarchical position within a hierarchical level of the content, the method further comprising:

only displaying an option for reordering the selected first content portion up within the hierarchical level.

13. The computer system of claim 9, wherein when the selected content portion is reordered the child content portion is reordered along with the selected content portion.

14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein a child node corresponding to the child content portion is customized, and wherein the child node remains customized when the child node is reordered with a node corresponding to the selected content portion.

15. The computer system of claim 13, wherein a child node corresponding to the child content portion is customized, wherein a new selection of the one or more graphical definitions is received, and wherein the child node reverts to a default graphical definition when the child node is reordered with a node corresponding to the selected content portion.

16. A computer-implemented method for editing a graphical content, the method comprising:

accepting content in a first pane of a user interface, wherein the content comprises a plurality of content portions displayed in a hierarchical format, wherein a first content portion occupies a first hierarchical position and a second content portion occupies a second hierarchical position;

generating graphical content in a second pane of the user interface, wherein the graphical content comprises a plurality of nodes in a hierarchical diagram corresponding to the hierarchical format, wherein a first node corresponds to the first content portion and occupies a first node position corresponding to the first hierarchical position, and wherein a second node corresponds to the second content portion and occupies a second node position corresponding to the second hierarchical position;

receiving a change to the graphical content in the second pane, wherein the change includes reordering the first node from the first node position to a different node position; and

automatically reordering the first content portion from the first hierarchical position to a different hierarchical position of the content in the first pane, wherein automatically reordering the first content portion from the first hierarchical position to a different hierarchical position in the content corresponds to the reordering of the first node from the first node position to the different node position in the graphical content.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising:

selecting one of the plurality of nodes for reordering, wherein the selected node further comprises a child node.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising:

displaying a menu comprising options for reordering the selected node.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the selected node is in a highest node position within a hierarchical level of the hierarchical diagram, the method further comprising:

only displaying an option for reordering the selected node down within the hierarchical level.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the selected node is in a lowest node position within a hierarchical level of the hierarchical diagram, the method further comprising:

only displaying an option for reordering the selected node up within the hierarchical level.