Graphic user interface display method

• US 6,353,448 B1
• Filed: 05/16/2000
• Issued: 03/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ez Online Network, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ez Online Network, Inc.
• Inventors: Florin, Bradley J., Scarborough, Matthew C., Scarborough, Jerry
• Primary Examiner(s): Cabeca, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vu, Kieu D.
• Application Number:
  US09/571,972
• Time in Patent Office: 658 Days
• Field of Search: 345/333, 345/357, 345/339, 345/334, 345/329, 345/335, 345/428, 345/431, 345/432, 345/762, 345/764, 345/854, 345/733, 345/744, 345/589, 345/838, 345/835, 345/810, 709/203, 709/219, 707/501, 707/513, 707/104
• US Class Current: 715/744
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation

Abstract

A method of displaying graphic user interface layouts including the steps of accessing a data repository storing an instruction set for constructing a graphic user interface layout through a network connection, rendering the graphic user interface layout associated with the instruction set and reducing the graphic user interface layout to a bitmap image. Once the graphics and text are laid out, the screen display is reduced to a bitmap image and associated with a uniform resource locator string. When a search query that retrieves the uniform resource locator string, the bitmap image and the uniform resource locator string are displayed to the end-user. As an alternative to displaying the actual text of the resource locator string, it may be embedded as an image hyperlink.

Claims

1. A method of displaying graphic user interface layouts comprising the steps of:

a. accessing a data repository storing an email associated to an end-user, said email having a sender email address;

b. accessing a data repository storing an instruction set for constructing a graphic user interface layout through a network connection directed to the second-level domain name of said sender email address;

c. reducing said graphic user interface layout to a bitmap image;

d. associating said email with said bitmap image; and

e. displaying said bitmap image.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein step a. Further comprises said email having a subject string and displaying said subject string with said bitmap image in step e.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein step e. further comprises the step of displaying said sender email address with said bitmap image.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein step a. further comprises said email having a received time-date string and displaying said time-date string with said bitmap image in step e.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said instruction set contains one or more hypertext markup language tags.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said instruction set contains one or more rich text format tags.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said instruction set contains one or more image references.