Manipulating multiple objects in a graphic user interface

• US 9,886,188 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2011
• Issued: 02/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Saito, Akira, Shimura, Takeyuki, Takeuchi, Shigeki, Uenohara, Hayato, Yokoyama, Satoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Fibbi, Christopher J
• Application Number:
  US13/217,780
• Publication Number:
  US 20130055127A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,357 Days
• Field of Search: 715769, 715810
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/16 File or folder operations, e.g. details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/168 Details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems, e.g. browsing and visualisation, 2d or 3d GUIs query results presentation G06F16/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

An embodiment of the disclosure displays a plurality of icons for files and a plurality of icons for folders within a graphical user interface. A set of two or more icons can be selected via user input for inclusion within a group object. The group object can be moved within the graphical user interface responsive to user input to within a predetermined range of one of the icons for one of the folders. Responsive to moving, a subset of files of the group object can be determined. Selection of the files within the subset can be based on whether attributes of the folder match attributes of the files. Additionally, responsive to moving the group object, the subset of files can be moved or copied to the one of the folders to which the group object was moved.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying a plurality of icons for files and a plurality of icons for folders within a graphical user interface;

receiving a first user input to create a group object, which results in the group object being created and displayed in the graphical user interface;

selecting a set of two or more file icons via a second user input for inclusion within the displayed group object;

moving, within the graphical user interface responsive to additional user input, the group object containing the selected files to within a predetermined range of a first folder icon and a second folder icon;

responsive to moving the group object, determining a first subset of files and a second set of files of the group object to be moved or copied to the first folder and the second folder, wherein the first subset and the second subset each comprises at least one but less than a total number of files of the group object, wherein selection of the files within the subset is based on whether attributes of the at least one of the first and second folder match attributes of the files; and

responsive to moving the group object, moving or copying the determined first subset of files to the first one of the folders and the determined second set subset of files to the second one of the folders to which the group object was moved within the predetermined range of.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving user input to remove the group object from the user interface responsive to user input; and

responsive to the user input to remove the group object, returning each icon of the group object to its original location in the graphical user interface and removing the group object from the graphical user interface.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a displayed size of the group object each time a quantity of selected icons within the group object changes, wherein the displayed size of the group object is increased for each object added to the group object, wherein the displayed size of the group object is decreased for each object removed from the group object.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a display state for the group object, wherein display states comprises a full display state and a minimized display state, wherein icons of the files of the group object are displayed within the group object when it is in a full display state, wherein icons of files of the group objects are not displayed within the group object when it is in a minimized display state;

changing between the full display state and the minimized display state of the group object responsive to user input; and

responsive to the changing, adjusting the maintained display state for the group object in accordance with a current post-change state of the group object and adjusting a display within the graphical user interface of the group object in accordance with a current post-change state of the group object.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining the group object until an explicit user action to deactivate the group object;

after selecting a set of two or more icons for the group object, executing a plurality of user-interactive actions after the group object is established that have nothing to do with the group object, and taking programmatic actions for each of the user-interactive actions as appropriate for these user-interactive actions; and

after executing the plurality of user-interactive actions, moving the group object within the graphical user display to within the predetermined range of the folder icon.

6. A computer program product comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to display a plurality of icons for files and a plurality of icons for folders within a graphical user interface;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to receive a first user input to create a group object, which results in the group object being created and displayed in the graphical user interface;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to select a set of two or more file icons via a second user input for inclusion within the displayed group object, wherein the group object is able to read at least one attribute associated with each file within the group object;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to move, within the graphical user interface responsive to additional user input, the group object containing the selected files to within a predetermined range of one of the icons for one of the folders;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, responsive to moving the group object, determine a subset of files of the group object, wherein the subset comprises at least one but less than a total number of files of the group object, wherein selection of the files within the subset is based on whether attributes of the folder match attributes of the files; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, responsive to moving the group object, move or copy the determined subset of files to the one of the folders to which the group object was moved within the predetermined range of.

7. The computer program product of claim 6, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to receive user input to remove the group object from the user interface responsive to user input; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, responsive to the user input to remove the group object, return each icon of the group object to its original location in the graphical user interface and removing the group object from the graphical user interface.

8. The computer program product of claim 6, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to adjust a displayed size of the group object each time a quantity of selected icons within the group object changes, wherein the displayed size of the group object is increased for each object added to the group object, wherein the displayed size of the group object is decreased for each object removed from the group object.

9. The computer program product of claim 6, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to maintain a display state for the group object, wherein display states comprises a full display state and a minimized display state, wherein icons of the files of the group object are displayed within the group object when it is in a full display state, wherein icons of files of the group objects are not displayed within the group object when it is in a minimized display state;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to change between the full display state and the minimized display state of the group object responsive to user input; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, responsive to the changing, adjust the maintained display state for the group object in accordance with a current post-change state of the group object and adjusting a display within the graphical user interface of the group object in accordance with a current post-change state of the group object.

10. The computer program product of claim 6, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to maintain the group object until an explicit user action to deactivate the group object;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, after selecting a set of two or more icons for the group object, execute a plurality of user-interactive actions after the group object is established that have nothing to do with the group object, and taking programmatic actions for each of the user-interactive actions as appropriate for these user-interactive actions; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to, after executing the plurality of user-interactive actions, move the group object within the graphical user display to within the predetermined range of the folder icon.

11. A computer system comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, and one or more computer readable tangible storage devices;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to receive a first user input to create a group object, which results in the group object being created and displayed in the graphical user interface;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to select a set of two or more file icons via a second user input for inclusion within the displayed group object;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to move, within the graphical user interface responsive to additional user input, the group object containing the selected files to within a predetermined range of one of the icons for one of the folders, wherein the group object is able to read at least one attribute associated with an object stored in the folder to which the group object is moved within the predetermined range of;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to moving the group object, determine a subset of files of the group object, wherein the subset comprises at least one but less than a total number of files of the group object, wherein selection of the files within the subset is based on whether attributes of the folder match attributes of the files; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to, responsive to moving the group object, move or copy the determined subset of files to the one of the folders to which the group object was moved within the predetermined range of.

12. The computer system of claim 11, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to receive user input to remove the group object from the user interface responsive to user input; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to, responsive to the user input to remove the group object, return each icon of the group object to its original location in the graphical user interface and removing the group object from the graphical user interface.

13. The computer system of claim 11, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to adjust a displayed size of the group object each time a quantity of selected icons within the group object changes, wherein the displayed size of the group object is increased for each object added to the group object, wherein the displayed size of the group object is decreased for each object removed from the group object.

14. The computer system of claim 11, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to maintain a display state for the group object, wherein display states comprises a full display state and a minimized display state, wherein icons of the files of the group object are displayed within the group object when it is in a full display state, wherein icons of files of the group objects are not displayed within the group object when it is in a minimized display state;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to change between the full display state and the minimized display state of the group object responsive to user input; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to, responsive to the changing, adjust the maintained display state for the group object in accordance with a current post-change state of the group object and adjusting a display within the graphical user interface of the group object in accordance with a current post-change state of the group object.

15. The computer system of claim 11, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to maintain the group object until an explicit user action to deactivate the group object;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to after selecting a set of two or more icons for the group object, execute a plurality of user-interactive actions after the group object is established that have nothing to do with the group object, and taking programmatic actions for each of the user-interactive actions as appropriate for these user-interactive actions; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to after executing the plurality of user-interactive actions, move the group object within the graphical user display to within the predetermined range of the folder icon.

16. A method comprising:

selecting two or more of a plurality of displayed objects within a graphical user interface in response to a first operation performed by software executing on a device comprising hardware, wherein said first operation occurs responsive to a first user input;

displaying in the graphical user interface a group object used for manipulating selected objects, wherein the displaying occurs in response to a second operation performed by software executing on the device, wherein the second operation occurs responsive to a second user input;

displaying, in the graphical user interface, the selected objects within the group object in response to a third operation performed by software executing on the device; and

when the group object has been moved by additional user input within the graphical user interface from a starting position to within a predetermined range of a first destination object, dynamically sorting the objects in the group object according to a position or a distance between the group object and the first destination object, copying or moving a subset of the selected objects into the first destination object, wherein said subset comprises at least one object but less than a total number of objects contained within the group object, wherein a determination of which of the selected objects is to be copied or moved to the first destination object is made based on attributes associated with files to which the selected objects correspond, wherein the moving of the group object within the graphical user interface occurs in response to a fourth operation performed by software executing on the device, wherein the fourth operation is performed in response to user input.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein each of the selected objects is an icon displayed on the graphical user interface, wherein the first destination object is a folder displayed on the graphical user interface, and wherein the moving of the group object to the first destination object is a drag-and-drop action in which the group object is dragged and dropped onto the first destination object.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

responsive to copying or moving the subset of objects to the first destination object, removing the subset of objects from the group object.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

when the group object has been moved within the graphical user interface to within a predetermined range of a second destination object after the moving to the first destination object occurs, copying or moving a different subset of the selected objects into the second destination object, wherein said different subset comprises at least one object but less a total number of objects contained within the group object, wherein a determination of which of the selected objects is to be copied or moved to the first destination object is made based on attributes associated with files to which the selected objects correspond, wherein the moving of the group object within the graphical user interface occurs in response to a fifth operation performed by software executing on the device, wherein the fifth operation occurs in response to user input.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

reading one or more attributes associated with the first destination object; and

selecting the subset of objects to copy or move to the first destination object based on those objects that have one of the attributes associated with a corresponding file that matches the read one or more attributes of the first destination object.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the first destination object is a folder that has an attribute associated with it that indicates a type of file that is to be contained in the folder, wherein each of the selected objects have an associated extension that indicates a type of file represented by that object, wherein the subset of objects that are copied or moved are based on each of the objects in the subset of objects having a type of file matching the type of file associated with the folder.

22. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

when there are a plurality of attributes associated with the first destination object, calculating a percentage of presence of these plurality of attributes for each of the selected objects in the group object; and

determining which of the selected objects are to be included in the subset of objects to be moved or copied based on whether a calculated percentage associated with that object exceeds a previously established percentage threshold or not.

23. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

maintaining a display state for the group object, wherein display states comprises a full display state and a minimized display state, where icons of the group object are displayed with the group object;

changing between the full display state and the minimized display state of the group object responsive to user input; and

responsive to the changing, adjusting the maintained display state for the group object in accordance with a current post-change state of the group object and adjusting a display within the graphical user interface of the group object in accordance with a current post-change state of the group object.

24. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

adjusting the size of the group object as displayed within the graphical user interface each time a quantity of selected objects within the group object changes, wherein the size of the group object is increased for each object added to the group object, wherein the size of the group object is decreased for each object removed from the group object.

25. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving user input to removing the group object from the user interface responsive to user input; and

responsive to the user input to remove the group object, returning each selected object of the group object to its original location of the graphical user interface and removing the group object from the display of the graphical user interface.