Method and system for providing an embedded application tool bar

• US 8,799,813 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2003
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Jobs, Steven P., Lindsay, Donald J., Wasko, Tim
• Primary Examiner(s): Pesin, Boris
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ell, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US10/741,598
• Publication Number:
  US 20040174396A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,879 Days
• Field of Search: 715/810, 715/779, 715/856, 345/853
• US Class Current: 715/810
• 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

Abstract

A method and system for providing menu tools directly from an operating system includes a computer system having a user interface including a display, a cursor, and a cursor control device, and an operating system. Menu tools are provided to one or more application windows. A menu item associated with a menu tool represents an available operating system function and an interactive icon associated with the menu item may be placed in a toolbar region in one of the application windows for access to the function. A special operating mode is activated for selecting menu items for use in the toolbar and making the function associated with the menu item available to the application by moving the menu item to the toolbar region. The menu item is represented as an interactive icon once the special operating mode is activated. The operating system function associated with the menu item is made available to the application window directly from the operating system by interaction with the icon. The menu item is further represented as an icon in regions of additional application windows which may either be active or subsequently instantiated through inheritance. The special operating mode is activated from a special key on an input device. Menu items are displayed along with menu tools corresponding to available operating system functions.

Claims

1. A method in a computer system having a user interface including a display, and having an operating system including a plurality of functions, the method comprising:

displaying at least one application window associated with an application;

displaying interactive icons representing at least a portion of a plurality of menu items within an operating system level menu outside of the application window indicating that one or more corresponding functions of the operating system are available to the application directly from the operating system; and

making at least one of the one or more functions of the operating system selectively available to the at least one displayed application window in response to receiving an input moving, into the application window, the corresponding one or more interactive icons located outside of the application window, such that the at least one function of the operating system is capable of operating on content of the application window upon selection of the corresponding one or more interactive icons.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected interactive icon is presented in the displayed application window.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed interactive icon is presented in an operating system based menu toolbar.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the interactive icon is user configurable.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein a copy of the interactive icon is draggable from the operating system based menu toolbar to the displayed application window.

6. A system, comprising:

a computing device including a user interface having a display and one or more processors having an operating system which includes a plurality of functions;

memory;

one or more programs stored in memory, the one or more programs comprising instructions to;

display at least one application window associated with an application on a display device;

display, outside the at least one application window, interactive icons representing at least a portion of a plurality of menu items within an operating system level menu indicating that one or more corresponding functions of the operating system are available to the application directly from the operating system on a display device; and

make at least one of the one or more functions of the operating system selectively available, by the computing device, to the at least one displayed application window in response to receiving an input moving, into the at least one application window, the corresponding one or more interactive icons outside of the application window, such that the at least one function of the operating system is capable of operating on content of the application window upon selection of the corresponding one or more interactive icons, wherein subsequently launched application windows associated with the application inherit the selected at least one function of the operating system.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the selected interactive icon is presented in the displayed application window.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the displayed interactive icon is presented in an operating system based menu toolbar.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the interactive icon is user configurable.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein a copy of the interactive icon is draggable from the operating system based menu toolbar to the displayed application window.

11. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, that if executed by a computing device having a processor and an operating system including a plurality of operating system functions for controlling the operation of the computing device including a user interface, cause the computing device to:

display at least one application window associated with an application;

display interactive icons representing at least a portion of a plurality of menu items within an operating system level menu outside of the application window indicating that one or more corresponding functions of the operating system are available to the application directly from the operating system; and

make at least one of the one or more functions of the operating system selectively available to the at least one displayed application window in response to receiving an input moving, into the at least one application window, the corresponding one or more interactive icons outside of the application window, such that the at least one function of the operating system is capable of operating on content of the application window upon selection of the corresponding one or more interactive icons.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein the selected interactive icon is presented in the displayed application window.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein the displayed interactive icon is presented in an operating system based menu toolbar.

14. The article of manufacturing of claim 13, wherein the interactive icon is user configurable.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 13 wherein the interactive icon is draggable from the operating system based menu toolbar to the displayed application window.