Methods for quick selection of desired items from hierarchical computer menus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for selecting a desired option from among a plurality of hierarchical menu options comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
- defining said hierarchical menu options as a plurality of branches and sub-branches, each of said branches and sub-branches containing at leas one of said hierarchical menu options, each of said sub-branches descending from an option in a branch;
displaying on a display said defined hierarchical menu options;
designating a first fragment which is a portion of the desired option;
identifying a first subset of options consisting only of those hierarchical menu options containing said first fragment from the plurality of hierarchical menu options across all branches and sub-branches of said hierarchical menu options;
displaying on the display each hierarchical menu option that belongs to said first subset of options on each hierarchical menu option that has in any of its sub-branches an option from said first subset of options;
deleting from the display each hierarchical menu option that both does not belong to said first subset of options, and does not have an option from said first subset of options included in any sub-branches that descend from said deleted option;
designating a second fragment which is another portion of the desired option;
identifying a second subset of options consisting only of those hierarchical menu options containing both said first fragment and said second fragment across all branches and sub-branches of said hierarchical menu options;
displaying on the display each hierarchical menu option that belongs to said second subset of options, and reach hierarchical menu option that has in any of its sub-branches an option from said second subset of options;
deleting from the display each hierarchical menu option that both does not belong to said second subset of options, and does not have an option from said second subset of options included in any sub-branches that descend from said deleted option; and
selecting the desired option from the display second subset of options.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of conveniently making a selection from a set of options available in a computer program is described. As successive letters which make up the proposed selection are entered, successively smaller lists of options corresponding to the entered letters are displayed. At any point, the user makes a selection by moving a cursor to a desired selection and pressing a button or key to indicate that the selection has been made.
102 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for selecting a desired option from among a plurality of hierarchical menu options comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
-
defining said hierarchical menu options as a plurality of branches and sub-branches, each of said branches and sub-branches containing at leas one of said hierarchical menu options, each of said sub-branches descending from an option in a branch; displaying on a display said defined hierarchical menu options; designating a first fragment which is a portion of the desired option; identifying a first subset of options consisting only of those hierarchical menu options containing said first fragment from the plurality of hierarchical menu options across all branches and sub-branches of said hierarchical menu options; displaying on the display each hierarchical menu option that belongs to said first subset of options on each hierarchical menu option that has in any of its sub-branches an option from said first subset of options; deleting from the display each hierarchical menu option that both does not belong to said first subset of options, and does not have an option from said first subset of options included in any sub-branches that descend from said deleted option; designating a second fragment which is another portion of the desired option; identifying a second subset of options consisting only of those hierarchical menu options containing both said first fragment and said second fragment across all branches and sub-branches of said hierarchical menu options; displaying on the display each hierarchical menu option that belongs to said second subset of options, and reach hierarchical menu option that has in any of its sub-branches an option from said second subset of options; deleting from the display each hierarchical menu option that both does not belong to said second subset of options, and does not have an option from said second subset of options included in any sub-branches that descend from said deleted option; and selecting the desired option from the display second subset of options. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method for selecting a desired option from among a plurality of hierarchical menu options comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
-
defining said hierarchical menu options as a plurality of branches and sub-branches, each of said branches and sub-branches containing at least one hierarchical menu option, each of said sub-branches descending from an option in a branch; displaying on a display said defined hierarchical menu options; designating a first fragment which is a portion of the desired option; identifying a first subset of options consisting only of those hierarchical menu options containing said first fragment from said hierarchical menu options across all branches and sub-branches of said hierarchical menu options; displaying on the display a plurality of displayed options of said first subset of options, whereby said first fragment portion of each displayed option of said first subset of options is displayed in a visually distinct manner; designating a second fragment which is another portion of the desired option; identifying a second subset of options consisting only of those hierarchical menu options containing both said first fragment and said second fragment from across all branches and sub-branches of said hierarchical menu options; displaying on the display a plurality of displayed options of said second subset of options, whereby said first and second fragment portions of each displayed option of said second subset of options are displayed in a visually distinct manner; and selecting the desired option from the displayed options of said second subset of options. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification