Computer user interface architecture wherein both content and user interface are composed of documents with links

• US 7,458,014 B1
• Filed: 12/07/1999
• Issued: 11/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cluts, Jonathan C., Rubin, Darryl E., Woolf, Susan D., Beezer, John L., Baird, Andrew C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hutton; Doug
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Maikhanh
• Application Number:
  US09/457,109
• Time in Patent Office: 3,276 Days
• Field of Search: 715/500.1, 715/501.1, 715/513, 715/511, 715/516, 715/526, 715/200, 715/201, 715/205, 715/207, 715/226, 715/229, 715/234, 715/240, 715/251, 715/255, 715/273, 715/277, 715/738, 715/752, 715/760, 715/762, 715/804, 715/805, 715/851, 345/738, 709/201, 709/203, 709/206, 707/1, 707/10, 707/E17.111
• US Class Current: 715/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A user interface architecture wherein user content and user interface are composed of documents with links is described. Links have properties that indicate how links should be displayed. Link display may depend upon characteristics of the linked-to frame. Commands are implemented as links that link to command code. The display format of a document page depends upon the path a user navigated in order to get to the displayed page. User content documents and user interface documents are both displayed in a single viewing frame. A non-linear navigation history is maintained such that a user can navigate along a first path, back up using a previous link, navigate along a second path, back up along the second path using the previous link, and re-navigate along the first path again using a next link. Every document page to which a user navigates is saved in the user'"'"'s navigation history.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the steps of:

providing a plurality of user interface document pages to a user, at least one of the user interface document pages having at least a first link;

providing a plurality of user content document pages to the user, at least one of the user content document pages having at least a second link, wherein at least one of the user content document pages is an e-mail message having at least one second link within an e-mail message document page, the at lest one second link upon activation causing command code to be executed to perform an operation selected from the group consisting of;

reply, reply to all, forward, and delete;

indicating via at least one link property a display format for at least one of the first and second links;

generating for display, in a display frame associated with a link in a linked-from document page, content of a linked-to document page;

generating updates for the display of the linked-to content at a rate specified by a property of the link linking the linked-from and linked-to document pages;

using heuristics to automatically provide most-likely-to-use links to additional material and to automatically provide a set of command choices to the user;

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents created during a first time period substantially the same as a time period during which a document being viewed by the user was created; and

including at least one command in the set of command choices based upon commands the user has invoked most frequently in the past from contexts substantially the same as the user'"'"'s current document context.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 having further executable instruction for performing steps comprising:

displaying, in a display frame associated with a link in the linked-from document page, information about the linked-to document page.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, having further executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents previously navigated to by the user.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, having further executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents having subject matter similar to the document being viewed by the user.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, having further executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents created by an author who is the same as an author of the document being viewed by the user.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, having further executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

including at least one command in the set of command choices based upon analysis of the user'"'"'s current document context.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, having further executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

including at least one command in the set of command choices based upon a set of commands recently invoked by the user.

8. A computer-implement method, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of user interface document pages to a user, at least one of the user interface document pages having at least a first link;

providing a plurality of user content document pages to the user, at least one of the user content document pages having at least a second link, wherein at least one of the user content document pages is an e-mail message having at least one second link within an e-mail message document page, the at lest one second link upon activation causing command code to be executed to perform an operation selected from the group consisting of;

reply, reply to all, forward, and delete;

indicating via at least one link property a display format for at least one of the first and second links;

generating for display, in a display frame associated with a link in a linked-from document page, content of a linked-to document page;

generating updates for the display of the linked-to content at a rate specified by a property of the link linking the linked-from and linked-to document pages;

using heuristics to automatically provide most-likely-to-use links to additional material and to automatically provide a set of command choices to the user;

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents created during a first time period substantially the same as a time period during which a document being viewed by the user was created; and

including at least one command in the set of command choices based upon commands the user has invoked most frequently in the past from contexts substantially the same as the user'"'"'s current document context.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprising:

generating for display, in a display frame associated with a link in the linked-from document page, information about the linked-to document page.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents previously navigated to by the user.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents having subject matter similar to the document being viewed by the user.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents created by an author who is the same as an author of the document being viewed by the user.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

including at least one command in the set of command choices based upon analysis of the user'"'"'s current document context.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

including at least one command in the set of command choices based upon a set of commands recently invoked by the user.

15. In a computer system having processors coupled to memories configured to execute instructions for a method, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of user interface document pages to a user, at least one of the user interface document pages having at least a first link;

providing a plurality of user content document pages to the user, at least one of the user content document pages having at least a second link, wherein at least one of the user content document pages is an e-mail message having at least one second link within an e-mail message document page, the at least one second link upon activation causing command code to be executed to perform an operation selected from the group consisting of;

reply, reply to all, forward, and delete;

indicating via at least one link property a display format for at least one of the first and second links;

generating for display, in a display frame associated with a link in a linked-from document page, content of a linked-to document page;

generating updates for the display of the linked-to content at a rate specified by a property of the link linking the linked-from and linked-to document pages;

using heuristics to automatically provide most-likely-to-use links to additional material and to automatically provide a set of command choices to the user;

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents created during a first time period substantially the same as a time period during which a document being viewed by the user was created; and

including at least one command in the set of command choices based upon commands the user has invoked most frequently in the past from contexts substantially the same as the user'"'"'s current document context.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating for display, in a display frame associated with a link in the linked-form document page, information about the linked-to document page.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents previously navigated to by the user.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents having subject matter similar to the document being viewed by the user.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

providing at least one of the most-likely-to-use links based upon documents created by an author who is the same as an author of the document being viewed by the user.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

including at least one command in the set of command choices based upon analysis of the user'"'"'s current document context.

21. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

including at least one command in the set of command choices based upon a set of commands recently invoked by the user.