Pop-up menu interface

• US 9,317,182 B2
• Filed: 04/11/2013
• Issued: 04/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Bernstein, Mark, Lehrian, Matthew R., Olshavsky, Ryan M., Yip, Yik Shing, Weeldreyer, Christopher Douglas, Chronis, Jane H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pan, Yongjia
• Application Number:
  US13/860,939
• Publication Number:
  US 20140310649A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,104 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174

Abstract

Approaches are disclosed for generating a menu that may be used to provide a set of bounded options for populating associated cells of a table. In certain embodiments, the menu is automatically generated based at least in part on the initial content of one or more cells to be associated with the menu. In certain embodiments, the options listed in the menu may be edited by a user or reformatted based on logic associated with the menu generation process.

Claims

1. A method for automatically generating a pop-up menu, the method comprising:

displaying, on a screen of an electronic device, a table comprising one or more cells, wherein at least one of the one or more cells is populated with content comprising a character string;

receiving a selection of the one or more cells populated with content;

receiving an instruction to create a menu listing allowable entries for the one or more cells, wherein the allowable entries include at least the content present in the selected cells; and

automatically creating the menu, wherein the menu comprises a list of selectable options, wherein one or more options of the list are based on the content present in the selected cells such that each unique instance of a character string of the content is provided as a respective option in the menu.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

displaying the menu when a respective cell of the one or more cells is selected;

receiving a selection of a respective option from the list; and

populating the respective cell with the respective option.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising:

reformatting one or more of the character strings when automatically creating the menu.

4. The method of claim 3, comprising:

replacing the one or more character strings in the one or more cells with the reformatted character strings present in the menu.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more cells is blank and wherein the automatically created menu comprises a selectable blank option.

6. The method of claim 5, comprising:

leaving the at least one of the one or more cells blank when automatically creating the menu.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising:

automatically populating the one or more cells with an initial value comprising one of;

a blank;

or

a specified default option of the list.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the specified default option is the first listed option of the list.

9. The method of claim 7, comprising:

displaying a selection between the blank and the specified default option; and

receiving a selection of the blank of the specified default option.

10. A processor-implemented method for automatically generating a pop-up menu, the method comprising:

receiving a selection of one or more cells of a table, wherein at least one of the one or more cells is populated with content in the form of respective character strings;

receiving an instruction to create a pop-up menu that lists options for populating the one or more cells;

automatically creating the pop-up menu based on the content of the populated cells, wherein each unique instance of a respective character string is represented once in the pop-up menu.

11. The processor-implemented method of claim 10, wherein automatically creating the pop-up menu comprises reformatting at least one character string to one of a data format, a time format, a number format, a currency format, a duration format, or a text format.

12. The processor-implemented method of claim 10, wherein automatically creating the pop-up menu comprises reformatting an output of a valid formula and providing the output as an option in the pop-up menu.

13. The processor-implemented method of claim 10, comprising:

receiving an edit or an automatic reformat of a respective character string present in the one or more cells;

providing the edited or reformatted respective character string as an option in the pop-up menu in place of the respective character string; and

repopulating the respective cells initially containing the respective character string with the edited or reformatted character string present in the pop-up menu.

14. The processor-implemented method of claim 10, wherein, upon creation of the pop-up menu, each of the one or more selected cells displays a value present in the cell when the pop-up menu was created or a corresponding edited or reformatted value as it appears in the pop-up menu options.

15. A processor-based system, comprising:

a display;

a memory storing one or more routines; and

a processing component configured to execute the one or more routines stored in the memory, wherein the one or more routines, when executed by the processing component, cause acts to be performed comprising;

displaying a table comprising a plurality of cells;

receiving a first input selecting one or more of the plurality of cells, wherein at least one of the selected cells contains displayed character content;

receiving a second input formatting the one or more selected cells to be populated by a pop-up menu;

creating the pop-up menu based at least in part on the displayed character content such that each unique character content is provided as a respective option in the pop-up menu.

16. The processor-based system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the selected cells is blank and wherein the created pop-up menu includes a blank option.

17. The processor-based system of claim 15, wherein the order in which the respective options are listed in the pop-up menu corresponds to the order in which displayed character content occurs in the one or more selected cells.

18. The processor-based system of claim 15, wherein creating the pop-up menu comprises reformatting one or more of the character content to correspond to a data format determined to be suitable for the respective character content.

19. The processor-based system of claim 15, wherein creating the pop-up menu comprises receiving one or more edits to the character content provided as respective options in the pop-up menu.

20. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions executable by a processor of an electronic device, the instructions, when executed, performing acts comprising:

automatically creating a menu of options for populating a selected set of cells of a table, wherein the menu of options is initially created based on the contents of the selected set of cells such that each unique character string instance within the selected cells is provided as a respective option in the menu;

reformatting one or more of the options in the menu to a different data format if the respective option is determined to correspond to a different data type;

processing any edits of the one or more options if edits are provided;

displaying the selected set of cells of the table, wherein each selected cell is displayed having contents corresponding to an option that corresponds to;

an initial value present in the selected cell when the menu was generated, a reformatted value derived from the initial value, or an edited value derived from the initial value.

21. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 20, further comprising instructions, which when executed, perform acts comprising:

displaying the menu when one of the selected set of cells is picked;

receiving a selection of a selected option from the menu; and

displaying the selected option in the respective picked cell.

22. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 20, further comprising instructions, which when executed, perform acts comprising:

receiving an instruction specifying the selected set of cells to initially display one of a blank or a specified option from the menu.

23. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the specified option comprises a first listed option.

24. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the menu of options includes a blank option.