Manipulating preview panels in a user interface

• US 8,819,571 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2010
• Issued: 08/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Robert, Julien, Jalon, Julien
• Primary Examiner(s): SALOMON, PHENUEL S
• Application Number:
  US12/895,669
• Publication Number:
  US 20120084688A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,426 Days
• Field of Search: 715/769, 715/784, 715/788
• US Class Current: 715/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing

Abstract

Methods, machine media, and systems that can manipulate preview panels are disclosed. In one embodiment, a preview panel can be transformed, in response to user interaction with the preview panel, into an icon representing the file containing the content displayed in the preview panel. The preview panel can, in one embodiment, be opened from a user interaction with a first icon and the preview panel can be transformed into a second icon that represents the file and can be manipulated as if it were the first icon.

Claims

1. A machine readable, non-transitory, tangible storage medium storing executable instructions that when executed cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

presenting, in response to a first input on a first icon, a preview panel which presents a content of an object represented by the first icon, wherein the preview panel is user manipulatable and is presented by a non-native application or service;

receiving a second input which is applied to the preview panel;

saving the contents of the preview panel into a second icon in response to the second input, the second icon being user manipulatable in a user interface and representing the object.

2. The medium as in claim 1 wherein the second input includes a movement of the preview panel and a separate command during the movement and wherein the object was created by an application that is different than the non-native application or service, and wherein the non-native application or service is a viewer application that does not include the capability to create or edit the object.

3. The medium as in claim 1 wherein the object is a file and wherein the second icon is user manipulatable to allow, through an interaction with the second icon, at least one of:

(a) moving the file from one location to another location;

(b) creating a duplicate of the file;

(c) printing a copy of the file;

(d) sending a copy of the file through an electronic network; and

(e) deleting the file by moving the file to a trash icon.

4. The medium as in claim 3 wherein the first icon is in a first location in a representation of a file management system at a time of the first input and the method further comprises:

receiving an input indicating that the second icon has been moved to a second location in the representation of the file management system, and in response to the input indicating that the second icon has been moved, removing the first icon from the first location.

5. The medium as in claim 4 wherein the first location is a first folder and the second location is one of a second folder or a trash container.

6. The medium as in claim 5 wherein a directory pathname of the file is changed to refer to the second location.

7. The medium as in claim 6 wherein the preview panel is moveable and resizable, and wherein the first icon and the second icon are representing the object and are concurrently displayed.

8. A machine readable, non-transitory, tangible storage medium storing executable instructions that when executed cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

storing metadata for a file stored in a file management system, the metadata including a first location of the file in the file management system;

displaying, in response to a first input, a preview panel which presents a content of the file, wherein the preview panel is user manipulatable and is presented by a non-native application or service;

receiving a second input, the second input being applied to the preview panel and indicating a change to the file'"'"'s location in the file management system;

changing the metadata to refer to a second location in response to the second input.

9. The medium as in claim 8, wherein the first location is specified by a first pathname and the second location is specified by a second pathname that is different than the first pathname.

10. The medium as in claim 9, wherein the first location is represented in part by a first folder in a graphical user interface for the file management system and the second location is represented in part by a second folder in the graphical user interface.

11. The medium as in claim 8 wherein the non-native application or service is a viewer application that does not include the ability to create or edit the file.

12. The medium as in claim 11 wherein the preview panel is user manipulatable to allow at least one of:

(a) scrolling through content of the file within the preview panel;

(b) paging through the content within the preview panel;

(c) zooming the content within the preview panel; and

(d) playing a movie within the preview panel; and

wherein the second input includes a movement of the preview panel in a user interface with at least one of a cursor or a touch input.

13. A machine implemented method comprising:

storing metadata for a file stored in a file management system, the metadata including a first location of the file in the file management system;

displaying, in response to a first input, a preview panel which presents a content of the file, wherein the preview panel is user manipulatable and is presented by a non-native application or service;

receiving a second input, the second input being applied to the preview panel and indicating a change to the file'"'"'s location in the file management system;

changing the metadata to refer to a second location in response to the second input.

14. The method as in claim 13, wherein the first location is specified by a first pathname and the second location is specified by a second pathname that is different than the first pathname.

15. The method as in claim 14, wherein the first location is represented in part by a first folder in a graphical user interface for the file management system and the second location is represented in part by a second folder in the graphical user interface.

16. The method as in claim 13 wherein the non-native application or service is a viewer application that does not include the ability to create or edit the file.

17. The method as in claim 16 wherein the preview panel is user manipulatable to allow at least one of:

(a) scrolling through content of the file within the preview panel;

(b) paging through the content within the preview panel;

(c) zooming the content within the preview panel; and

(d) playing a movie within the preview panel; and

wherein the second input includes a movement of the preview panel in a user interface with at least one of a cursor or a touch input.

18. A machine readable, non-transitory, tangible storage medium storing executable instructions that when executed cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

displaying, in response to a first input, a preview panel which presents a content of a file, wherein the preview panel is user manipulatable and is presented by a non-native application or service and is presented within a window of a first type;

receiving a second input to present the content in a window of a second type that is different than the first type, wherein the window of the second type has more functionality available than the window of the first type;

displaying the window of the second type in response to the second input, the content being presented in the window of the second type by the non-native application or service.

19. The medium as in claim 18 wherein the second input is directed to the preview panel and wherein multiple instances of windows of the second type can be concurrently displayed while only one instance of a window of the first type can be displayed at any one time.

20. The medium as in claim 18 wherein the second input is directed to the preview panel and wherein a window of the second type is displayable while obscured partially by other windows, and wherein a window of the first type is available only when a front most window.

21. The medium as in claim 19 wherein the non-native application cannot create or edit the file which can be edited or created by a native application.