Method and system for changing visual states of a toolbar

• US 7,412,661 B2
• Filed: 03/04/2005
• Issued: 08/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sellers, Timothy D., Newton-Smith, Jeremy W. J., Grantham, Heather L.
• Primary Examiner(s): BAUTISTA, XIOMARA L
• Application Number:
  US11/073,190
• Publication Number:
  US 20060200777A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 715/744, 715/762, 715/764, 715/765, 715/779, 715/781, 715/810, 715/821, 715/856, 715/862
• US Class Current: 715/779
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04804 Transparency, e.g. transparent or translucent windows
• 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 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A method and system for changing the area in which to view the content of a document while maintaining access to various viewing options. In a first state, toolbar items are displayed in a toolbar area while a document is displayed in a document area. In changing to a second viewing state, certain items of the toolbar area are hidden while a menu toolbar item remains displayed. In addition, the document area is expanded to include the now-minimized toolbar area. The menu toolbar item may become semi-transparent during the second viewing state, provides access to viewing options, and also allows the viewing state to be changed back to the first viewing state.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, comprising instructions for:

displaying toolbar items in a toolbar area and a document in a document area, the toolbar area and the document area being non-overlapping and the toolbar items including a menu item and one or more other items;

hiding the one or more other items displayed in the toolbar area in response to a first state change associated with the toolbar; and

in response to hiding the one or more other items, causing the document area to overlap the toolbar area such that the document area expanded to include the entirety of the toolbar area and displaying the document therein.

2. The computer-readable storage media of claim 1, further comprising instructions for causing the menu item to become semi-transparent and to continue to display in the location where it displayed in the toolbar area before the first state change.

3. The computer-readable storage media of claim 2, further comprising instructions for causing the menu item to become opaque when a pointer is hovered near the menu item.

4. The computer-readable storage media of claim 3, wherein near the menu item comprises area occupied by the menu item and a blank area surrounding the menu item.

5. The computer-readable storage media of claim 4, further comprising instruction for displaying a menu in response to selecting the menu item or the blank area, the menu including items that correspond to the one or more other items that are currently hidden.

6. The computer-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein the menu item comprises a button having an image thereon.

7. The computer-readable storage media of claim 1, further comprising instructions for reducing the document area, returning the menu area and the document area to a non-overlapping state, and displaying the one or more other items in response to a second state change.

8. The computer-readable storage media of claim 7, further comprising instructions for causing at least a portion of the menu item to become opaque in response to the second state change.

9. The computer-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein selecting the menu item causes a menu to display, the menu including an option that when selected causes the first state change.

10. A method for viewing a document, comprising:

providing a document viewing control that includes a first and second state, wherein in the first state, toolbar items are displayed in a toolbar area and the document is displayed in a document area, wherein the toolbar area and the document area are non-overlapping, and wherein in the second state the document area is expanded to include the toolbar area, a semi-transparent toolbar item is displayed in the toolbar area and the document is displayed in an area comprising the expanded document area; and

accessing the document viewing control from an application to cause the document viewing control to change between the first and second states.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the document viewing control comprises properties and commands, wherein the properties provide access to data regarding the document viewing control, and wherein the commands cause the document viewing control to perform actions.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the document viewing control contains all necessary logic to reformat and redisplay the document based on selections of the toolbar items.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the document viewing control is constructed with a standard set of toolbar items which are potentially modified by the application.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising adding toolbar items to the document viewing control by the application.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the semi-transparent toolbar item is the only toolbar item that is displayed when the document viewing control is in the second state.

16. An apparatus for viewing a document, comprising:

a document viewing component including a first and second state, wherein the document viewing component is arranged to display a first set of toolbar items in the first state and to display a second set of toolbar items in the second state, wherein the document viewing component is further arranged to display the document in a first area in the first state and a second area in the second state, wherein the first area does not include area occupied by the first set of toolbar items, and wherein the second area does include area occupied by the first and second set of toolbar items; and

an application component arranged to interact with the document viewing component to change between the first and second states.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second set of toolbar items includes a menu item, and wherein displaying the second set of toolbar items in the second state comprises displaying the menu item semi-transparently.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first set of toolbar items includes the menu item and other items, and wherein displaying the first set of toolbar items comprises displaying the first set of toolbar items in a toolbar area.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the toolbar area is above, below, or at a side of the document.