Mechanism for allowing applications to filter out or opt into tablet input

• US 7,986,307 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2005
• Issued: 07/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Rangasamy, Vijayakumar, Durojaiye, Olumuyiwa M, Zotov, Alexander J, Dodge, Steven P, Landstad, Todd M, Townsend, Reed L., Wick, Stefan
• Primary Examiner(s): Awad; Amr
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILLIS, RANDAL L
• Application Number:
  US11/246,567
• Publication Number:
  US 20060282574A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,114 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345/179, 345/173
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers

Abstract

A system for enabling a tablet input object is described. A tablet input object can take various inputs from touch, a mouse, and a pen and send their information to an application.

Claims

1. A computing system comprising:

a digitizer;

a processor that executes a client side application having an input sink; and

a tablet input object, including a tablet context ID that specifies a tablet name, that defines a plurality of different input types including touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, and pen input, wherein the computing system provides a corresponding set of options for each of the plurality of different input types, the tablet input object including;

a server side object that receives a message including a signature from said digitizer that differentiates between touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, and pen input; and

a client side object that receives the message from the server side object, the client side object exchanging the message with said input sink of the client side application, the client side object determining that the received message represents touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger based upon the tablet name, wherein a portion of the tablet name includes a term identifying the tablet as a touch tablet, wherein, upon a determination that touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, has been received, the client side application provides touch-specific options and disables areas of a user interface not affected by touch input.

2. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the client side object of said tablet input object exchanges the received messages with the input sink of said application using out of process remote procedure calls.

3. The computing system according to claim 1, said tablet input object receiving touch input and forwarding mouse events to said application.

4. The computing system according to claim 3, said tablet input object storing additional information in said mouse event indicating that said mouse event was generated based on touch input.

5. A computing system comprising:

a digitizer responsive to touch input; and

a processor that executes a client side application having an input sink, said processor supporting a tablet input object, including a tablet context ID that specifies a tablet name, that defines a plurality of different input types including touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, and mouse events, wherein the computing system provides a corresponding set of options for each of the plurality of different input types, wherein the tablet input object includes;

a server side object that receives a message including a signature from said digitizer that differentiates between touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, and mouse events; and

a client side object that;

receives the message from the server side object, the client side object exchanging the message with said input sink of said client side application,

checks the tablet name and determines that the received message represents touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger if a portion of the tablet name includes a term identifying the tablet as a touch tablet, said processor generating mouse events including a touch signature from said digitizer based on touch input, said mouse events being passed to said client side application, wherein, upon a determination from said touch signature that touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, has been received, the client side application provides touch-specific options.

6. The computing system according to claim 5, said processor modifying a user interface when said mouse events were created from touch input to said digitizer.

7. The computing system according to claim 6, said processor modifying said user interface to disable areas of the user interface not affected by touch input.

8. The computing system according to claim 6, said processor modifying said user interface to prevent touch from controlling at least a part of said user interface.

9. The computing system according to claim 5, said processor including an inking client, said processor restarting said inking client.

10. The computing system according to claim 5, said processor including an application programming interface that allows programmatical control when touch is enabled.

11. The computing system according to claim 5, said processor including an application programming interface that allows said processor to handle touch messages as pen messages.

12. The computing system according to claim 5, said processor including an application programming interface that allows control of touch modes.

13. The computing system according to claim 5, said processor including an application programming interface that allows touch input to be disabled.

14. The computing system according to claim 13, said application programming interface permitting disabling of touch input when additional information in messages indicates touch should be disabled.

15. The computing system according to claim 13, said application programming interface permitting disabling of touch input when a request to disable touch comes from a touch ink stream.

16. The computing system according to claim 13, said application programming interface determining when a user'"'"'s palm has contacted said digitizer and ignoring said contact.

17. The computing system according to claim 13, said application programming interface allowing touch input to be handled as both pen input and mouse input.

18. The computing system according to claim 13, said application programming interface exchanging information with the client side application using a shared memory.

19. The computing system according to claim 5, wherein the touch signature differs from a pen signature by one bit to allow determination of both pen input and touch input and differentiation between pen input and touch input.

20. A computing system comprising:

a digitizer responsive to touch input; and

a processor that executes an input object that defines a plurality of different input types including touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, and mouse events, wherein the input object includes;

a server side object that receives a message including a touch signature from the digitizer that differentiates between touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, and mouse events; and

a client side object that receives the message from the server side object and passes the message to an application executed by the processor, wherein, the application determines that the received message represents touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, based upon a portion of the name associated with the input object including a term identifying the tablet as a touch tablet, and an intentional contact confidence level, that touch input, made via a user'"'"'s finger, has been received, and provides touch-specific options.