Method of utilizing a three-dimensional mouse in the windows operating systems
First Claim
1. A method for utilizing a 3-D mouse in a graphic-user-interface based operating system which uses an active window having scrolling means including at least a horizontal scroll bar and a vertical scroll bar to interact with the user, said method comprising the steps of:
- (1) manually operating the 3-D mouse to generate a third-dimensional signal representing either a standard scrolling operation mode, an auto-scrolling operation mode, or a fast-scrolling operation mode;
(2) checking current setting of User Windows Operation Mode;
(2-1) provided that the current User Windows Operation Mode is set to Inhibit Mode, ignoring the third-dimensional signal;
(2-2) provided that the current User Windows Operation Mode is set to wheel activated control Mode, generating a corresponding 3D mouse-compliant windows command in response to the third-dimensional signal to the active window;
(2-3) provided that the current User Windows Operation Mode is set to Standard Mode, jumping to step (3); and
(2-4) provided that the current User Windows Operation Mode is set to Auto Mode, checking whether the active window is able to read any 3D mouse-compliant windows commands;
if yes, generating and sending a corresponding 3D mouse-compliant windows command in response to the third-dimensional signal to the active window;
whereas if no, jumping to step (3);
(3) checking whether the third-dimensional signal represents the standard scrolling operation, the auto-scrolling operation, or the fast-scrolling operation;
(3-1) provided that the third-dimensional signal represents the standard scrolling operation mode, performing a standard scrolling operation on the document currently being displayed in the active window;
(3-2) provided that the third-dimensional signal represents the auto-scrolling operation mode, performing an auto-scrolling operation on the document currently being displayed in the active window; and
(3-3) provided that the third-dimensional signal represents the fast-scrolling operation mode, performing a fast-scrolling operation on the document currently being displayed in the active window.
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Abstract
A method for utilizing a three-dimensional (3-D) mouse in a graphic-user-interface based operating system, such as the WINDOWS operating systems from Microsoft Corporation, is provided. This method allows the 3-D mouse to emulate the functions of the IntelliMouse from Microsoft Corporation, including control of the scroll bars of the active window and special functions such as the auto-scrolling operation and the fast-scrolling operation. Provided that the active window is able to read IntelliMouse-compliant windows commands, the 3-D mouse can also be used to carry out the standard IntelliMouse functions, such as scrolling the scroll bars and resizing the active window.
130 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for utilizing a 3-D mouse in a graphic-user-interface based operating system which uses an active window having scrolling means including at least a horizontal scroll bar and a vertical scroll bar to interact with the user, said method comprising the steps of:
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(1) manually operating the 3-D mouse to generate a third-dimensional signal representing either a standard scrolling operation mode, an auto-scrolling operation mode, or a fast-scrolling operation mode; (2) checking current setting of User Windows Operation Mode; (2-1) provided that the current User Windows Operation Mode is set to Inhibit Mode, ignoring the third-dimensional signal; (2-2) provided that the current User Windows Operation Mode is set to wheel activated control Mode, generating a corresponding 3D mouse-compliant windows command in response to the third-dimensional signal to the active window; (2-3) provided that the current User Windows Operation Mode is set to Standard Mode, jumping to step (3); and (2-4) provided that the current User Windows Operation Mode is set to Auto Mode, checking whether the active window is able to read any 3D mouse-compliant windows commands; if yes, generating and sending a corresponding 3D mouse-compliant windows command in response to the third-dimensional signal to the active window; whereas if no, jumping to step (3); (3) checking whether the third-dimensional signal represents the standard scrolling operation, the auto-scrolling operation, or the fast-scrolling operation; (3-1) provided that the third-dimensional signal represents the standard scrolling operation mode, performing a standard scrolling operation on the document currently being displayed in the active window; (3-2) provided that the third-dimensional signal represents the auto-scrolling operation mode, performing an auto-scrolling operation on the document currently being displayed in the active window; and (3-3) provided that the third-dimensional signal represents the fast-scrolling operation mode, performing a fast-scrolling operation on the document currently being displayed in the active window. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification