User Interfaces for Electronic Calendar Systems

• US 20080304367A1
• Filed: 06/11/2007
• Published: 12/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Forstall, Scott, Colom, Manuel
• Granted Patent: US 7,710,832 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 368/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

Methods, systems and machine readable media for operating a calendar in a data processing system. In one exemplary method, a calendar interface is displayed on a device, wherein the calendar interface is capable of zooming between a first or current time frame and a target time frame containing an invitation while preserving contextual continuity for the user.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method of processing data comprising:

displaying a first portion of an electronic calendar, wherein the first portion is in a display area and represents a first time unit;

receiving an invitation comprising a target date;

displaying a first animation comprising at least one of scaling and panning the first portion until an intermediate portion is in the display area, wherein the intermediate portion comprises the first portion and a target portion;

displaying a second animation comprising at least one of scaling and panning the intermediate portion until the target portion is in the display area, wherein the target portion comprises the target date and represents a second time unit; and

displaying an image representing the invitation on the target portion.

2. A method as in claim 1 wherein a time unit is selected from the group consisting of day, week, plurality of weeks, month, plurality of months, year, and plurality of years and wherein the first portion shows the current date.

3. A method as in claim 1 wherein the invitation further comprises a list of attendees, a title, and a sender.

4. A method as in claim 1 wherein the invitation further comprises a duration and wherein the method further comprises notifying a user of the invitation and receiving a request from the user to view the invitation.

5. A method as in claim 1 wherein the invitation further comprises a location.

6. A method as in claim 2 wherein the first time unit and second time unit are the same and the intermediate portion shows a third time unit which is larger than the first and second time units.

7. A method as in claim 4 further comprising the user accepting the invitation.

8. A method as in claim 1 wherein the displaying of the image representing the invitation is performed if an invitations calendar is selected.

9. A method as in claim 8 wherein the displaying of the image representing the invitation is not performed if the invitations calendar is not selected.

10. A method as in claim 2 wherein the intermediate portion represents a smallest time unit capable of concurrently displaying the first portion and the target portion.

11. A method as in claim 1 wherein the displaying of the second animation is not performed until a condition is satisfied.

12. A method as in claim 11 wherein the condition is satisfied by a user action.

13. A method as in claim 11 wherein the condition is satisfied when a specified period of time has elapsed following the displaying of the first animation.

14. A method as in claim 1 wherein the first portion does not comprise the current date.

15. A method as in claim 1 wherein the first animation and the second animation are pluralities of images displayed sequentially.

16. A method as in claim 7 wherein accepting the invitation sends a message to a second user who sent the invitation.

17. A method as in claim 1 wherein accepting the invitation causes a third animation from the target portion to the intermediate portion and causes a fourth animation from the intermediate portion to the first portion.

18. A method as in claim 1 wherein the displaying of the second animation further comprises displaying a visual indicator representing the target date.

19. A method as in claim 1 wherein the image representing the invitation comprises text, a fill color, and a rounded rectangle.

20. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause the data processing system to perform a method of processing data, the method comprising:

displaying a first portion of an electronic calendar, wherein the first portion is in a display area and represents a first time unit;

receiving an invitation comprising a target date;

displaying a first animation comprising at least one of scaling and panning the first portion until an intermediate portion is in the display area, wherein the intermediate portion comprises the first portion and a target portion;

displaying a second animation comprising at least one of scaling and panning the intermediate portion until the target portion is in the display area, wherein the target portion comprises the target date and represents a second time unit; and

displaying an image representing the invitation on the target portion.

21. A medium as in claim 20 wherein a time unit is selected from the group consisting of day, week, plurality of weeks, month, plurality of months, year, and plurality of years and wherein the first portion shows the current date.

22. A medium as in claim 20 wherein the invitation further comprises a list of attendees, a title, and a sender.

23. A medium as in claim 20 wherein the invitation further comprises a duration and wherein the method further comprises notifying a user of the invitation and receiving a request from the user to view the invitation.

24. A medium as in claim 20 wherein the invitation further comprises a location.

25. A medium as in claim 21 wherein the first time unit and second time unit are the same and the intermediate portion shows a third time unit which is larger than the first and second time units.

26. A medium as in claim 23 further comprising the user accepting the invitation.

27. A medium as in claim 20 wherein the displaying of the image representing the invitation is performed if an invitations calendar is selected.

28. A medium as in claim 27 wherein the displaying of the image representing the invitation is not performed if the invitations calendar is not selected.

29. A medium as in claim 21 wherein the intermediate portion represents a smallest time unit capable of concurrently displaying the first portion and the target portion.

30. A medium as in claim 20 wherein the displaying of the second animation is not performed until a condition is satisfied.

31. A medium as in claim 30 wherein the condition is satisfied by a user action.

32. A medium as in claim 30 wherein the condition is satisfied when a specified period of time has elapsed following the displaying of the first animation.

33. A medium as in claim 20 wherein the first portion does not comprise the current date.

34. A medium as in claim 20 wherein the first animation and the second animation are pluralities of images displayed sequentially.

35. A medium as in claim 26 wherein accepting the invitation sends a message to a second user who sent the invitation.

36. A medium as in claim 20 wherein accepting the invitation causes a third animation from the target portion to the intermediate portion and causes a fourth animation from the intermediate portion to the first portion.

37. A medium as in claim 20 wherein the displaying of the second animation further comprises displaying a visual indicator representing the target date.

38. A medium as in claim 20 wherein the image representing the invitation comprises text, a fill color, and a rounded rectangle.

39. A data processing system comprising:

means for displaying a first portion of an electronic calendar, wherein the first portion is in a display area and represents a first time unit;

means for receiving an invitation comprising a target date;

means for displaying a first animation comprising at least one of scaling and panning the first portion until an intermediate portion is in the display area, wherein the intermediate portion comprises the first portion and a target portion;

means for displaying a second animation comprising at least one of scaling and panning the intermediate portion until the target portion is in the display area, wherein the target portion comprises the target date and represents a second time unit; and

means for displaying an image representing the invitation on the target portion.

40. A machine readable medium containing executable program instructions which, when executed, cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

storing a first portion of an electronic calendar, the first portion including a first date;

receiving an invitation which comprises a target date;

displaying, in response to the invitation, an intermediate portion which includes the first date and the target date;

displaying a second portion of the electronic calendar, wherein the second portion includes the target date.

41. A medium as in claim 40 wherein the second portion is displayed after displaying the intermediate portion and wherein the second portion does not include the first date.

42. A medium as in claim 41 wherein the intermediate portion displays a larger time frame than the first portion in order to show both the first date and the target date.

43. A medium as in claim 42 wherein the electronic calendar is capable of displaying a plurality of time units comprising at least two of:

a day;

a week;

a plurality of weeks;

a month;

a plurality of months;

a year, and a plurality of years.

44. A medium as in claim 43 wherein the intermediate portion represents a smallest time unit capable of concurrently displaying the first date and the target date.

45. A medium as in claim 43 wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an acceptance of the invitation;

displaying, in response to the acceptance, the intermediate portion and then displaying the first portion.

46. A machine implemented method comprising:

storing a first portion of an electronic calendar, the first portion including a first date;

receiving an invitation which comprises a target date;

displaying, in response to the invitation, an intermediate portion which includes the first date and the target date;

displaying a second portion of the electronic calendar, wherein the second portion includes the target date.

47. A method as in claim 46 wherein the second portion is displayed after displaying the intermediate portion and wherein the second portion does not include the first date.

48. A method as in claim 47 wherein the intermediate portion displays a larger time frame than the first portion in order to show both the first date and the target date.

49. A method as in claim 48 wherein the electronic calendar is capable of displaying a plurality of time units comprising at least two of:

a day;

a week;

a plurality of weeks;

a month;

a plurality of months;

a year, and a plurality of years.

50. A method as in claim 49 wherein the intermediate portion represents a smallest time unit capable of concurrently displaying the first date and the target date.

51. A method as in claim 49 wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an acceptance of the invitation;

displaying, in response to the acceptance, the intermediate portion and then displaying the first portion.

52. A data processing system comprising:

means for storing a first portion of an electronic calendar, the first portion including a first date;

means for receiving an invitation which comprises a target date;

means for displaying, in response to the invitation, an intermediate portion which includes the first date and the target date;

means for displaying a second portion of the electronic calendar, wherein the second portion includes the target date.