U.S. patent application number 12/795514 was filed with the patent office on 2010-11-11 for enabling and disabling hotkeys.
Invention is credited to Michael James Paquette, Eric Charles Schlegel.
Application Number | 20100287507 12/795514 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38234183 |
Filed Date | 2010-11-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100287507 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Paquette; Michael James ; et
al. |
November 11, 2010 |
Enabling and Disabling Hotkeys
Abstract
A computer program product may include instructions that, when
executed, cause a processor to perform operations that include
monitoring an electronic device to determine whether the electronic
device is in a specific state. The electronic device may define one
or more hotkeys, and each hotkey may correspond to an input from
one or more input components of the electronic device. If the
electronic device is in the specific state, a rule associated with
the specific state may be retrieved, and one or more hotkeys may be
enabled or disabled based on the retrieved rule. In some
implementations, enabling or disabling one or more hotkeys includes
enabling or disabling one or more operations associated with
corresponding one or more hotkeys.
Inventors: |
Paquette; Michael James;
(Benicia, CA) ; Schlegel; Eric Charles; (Redmond,
WA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FISH & RICHARDSON P.C.
PO BOX 1022
MINNEAPOLIS
MN
55440-1022
US
|
Family ID: |
38234183 |
Appl. No.: |
12/795514 |
Filed: |
June 7, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11327839 |
Jan 6, 2006 |
7757185 |
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12795514 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/827 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/0238
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/827 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/048 20060101
G06F003/048 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: determining, from an
operating system process that is independent of an application
process, that a computing device is in a specific system state out
of a plurality of possible system states, wherein each of the
possible system states is associated with a respective rule, and
wherein the determining is in response to an event comprising at
least one of activating the application process, terminating the
application process, or opening, moving, or closing a graphical
user interface window associated with the application process; in
response to the determination, retrieving the rule associated with
the specific system state, where the rule specifies one or more
hotkeys corresponding to the application process that are to be
enabled or disabled by the operating system process; and enabling
or disabling, from the operating system process, one or more of the
one or more hotkeys corresponding to the application process, based
on the retrieved rule.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling or disabling one or more
hotkeys comprises enabling or disabling one or more operations
associated with the one or more hotkeys.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving first input
from one or more input devices, the input corresponding to a first
hotkey; determining from the operating system process that the
first hotkey is enabled; and initiating a first operation
associated with the first hotkey.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein initiating the first operation
comprises at least one of issuing an interrupt to a processor,
issuing an exception to a processor, executing specific
instructions associated with the first operation, modifying a flag
in the computing system, or reporting detection of the hotkey to a
component of the computing system.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein initiating the first operation
comprises: retrieving a rule associated with the hotkey and the
determined system state; and causing a processor to execute a set
of instructions based on the retrieved rule.
6. The method of claim 3, further comprising, determining to accept
input from the one or more input devices.
7. The method of claim 3, wherein the first hotkey is associated
with the first operation and a second operation, the method further
comprising initiating the second operation.
8. The method of claim 3, wherein the first hotkey is associated
with the first operation and a second operation, and the first
operation has a first priority for the first hotkey and the second
operation has a second priority for the first hotkey, the method
further comprising: determining that the first priority is higher
than the second priority; and only initiating the first operation
in response to the determination.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving first input
to an electronic device from one or more input devices; determining
whether the first input corresponds to a defined and enabled
hotkey; and forwarding the first input to an input processing
component of the electronic device if the first input does not
correspond to a defined and enabled hotkey, and causing an
operation associated with the defined hotkey to be performed if the
received input does correspond to a defined and enabled hotkey.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein each hotkey comprises a keyboard
shortcut, the keyboard shortcut comprising concurrent input from
two or more keyboard keys.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein each hotkey comprises specific
input from one or more input devices.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the system state comprises a
state of one or more of an input, an output, an operating system,
or a process.
13. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a storage
device, the computer program product comprising instructions that,
when executed, cause a processor to perform operations comprising:
determining, from an operating system process that is independent
of an application process, that a computing device is in a specific
system state out of a plurality of possible system states, wherein
each of the possible system states is associated with a respective
rule, and wherein the determining is in response to an event
comprising at least one of activating the application process,
terminating the application process, or opening, moving, or closing
a graphical user interface window associated with the application
process; in response to the determination, retrieving the rule
associated with the specific system state, where the rule specifies
one or more hotkeys corresponding to the application process that
are to be enabled or disabled by the operating system process; and
enabling or disabling, from the operating system process, one or
more of the one or more hotkeys corresponding to the application
process, based on the retrieved rule.
14. The computer program of claim 13, wherein the operations
further comprise: receiving first input from one or more input
devices; determining whether the first input corresponds to a
defined and enabled hotkey; and causing an operation associated
with the defined hotkey to be performed if the received input
corresponds to a defined and enabled hotkey, and otherwise
forwarding the first input to an input processing component.
15. A system, comprising: one or more computers configured to
perform operations comprising: determining, from an operating
system process that is independent of an application process, that
a computing device is in a specific system state out of a plurality
of possible system states, wherein each of the possible system
states is associated with a respective rule, and wherein the
determining is in response to an event comprising at least one of
activating the application process, terminating the application
process, or opening, moving, or closing a graphical user interface
window associated with the application process; in response to the
determination, retrieving the rule associated with the specific
system state, where the rule specifies one or more hotkeys
corresponding to the application process that are to be enabled or
disabled by the operating system process; and enabling or
disabling, from the operating system process, one or more of the
one or more hotkeys corresponding to the application process, based
on the retrieved rule.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the operations further
comprise: receiving first input from one or more input devices from
which the one or more computers can accept input; determining that
the first input corresponds to a first hotkey, and determining that
the first hotkey is enabled; and initiating a first operation
associated with the first hotkey.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein determining that the first
hotkey is enabled comprises determining, from the operating system
process, that the first hotkey is enabled.
18. A system, comprising: an electronic device having one or more
input components; an input controller that receives input from the
one or more input components; an application process executing on
the electronic device, wherein the application process is
associated with one or more hotkeys; a monitor separate from the
application process, wherein the monitor monitors a state of the
electronic device in response to an event comprising at least one
of activating the application process, terminating the application
process, or opening, moving, or closing a graphical user interface
window associated with the application process; an enabler and
disabler engine that enables or disables the one or more hotkeys
corresponding to the application process according to a current
state of the electronic device.
19. The system of claim 18, further comprising a hotkey manager
that stores hotkey definitions for defined hotkeys, hotkey
operations associated with the defined hotkeys, and enablement data
for each hotkey operation, wherein the enablement data indicates an
enabled or disabled status of the sets of hotkeys based on the
state of the electronic device.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the hotkey manager forwards
received input to an input processing component of the electronic
device if the received input does not correspond to an enabled
hotkey, and wherein the hotkey manager causes an operation
associated with the defined hotkey to be performed if the received
input does correspond to an enabled hotkey.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.120(e) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/327,839, titled
"Enabling and Disabling Hotkeys," filed Jan. 6, 2006, which is
incorporated here by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This document generally relates to input and output
systems.
BACKGROUND
[0003] A user of an application program running on a computing
device (e.g., a word processing program) may interact with the
application program through one or more input devices, such as a
keyboard or a pointing device. By entering specific input, the user
may cause the application program ("application") to perform
specific functions, such as opening a document, receiving text
input in the document, formatting the entered text, saving the
document and exiting the application. For example, to save a
document that is currently open, a user may employ a pointing
device to open a drop-down menu in a user interface window
associated with the application, then select a "save" function from
the drop-down menu.
[0004] Some applications may provide several methods of performing
a given function. Some of the methods may be keyboard "shortcuts"
that allow the user to perform the function by, for example,
concurrently selecting two or more keys. For example, the user may
be able to invoke the "save" function of an application by entering
a combination of keys, such as "Command" and `S,` or "CTRL" and
`S.` In addition to shortcuts within a specific application, a
computing system may receive concurrent input from one or more
input devices that correspond to "hotkeys" defined in the computing
system. The hotkeys may cause the computing system to perform
actions either inside or outside of the currently active
application.
[0005] Hotkeys may be used to control various physical aspects of a
computing device or various aspects related to an operating system
running on the computing device. For example, an input device, such
as a keyboard, may include specialized keys or buttons that, for
example, mute or adjust volume associated with an audio output
device. As another example, a slider control on an expanded
keyboard may allow a user to control magnification of a view of a
window associated with an application. As another example, an
expanded keyboard may provide a number of user-configurable buttons
that may be associated with various system or application program
operations (e.g., buttons that control display brightness; open or
close a CD/DVD tray; or launch a particular program, such as an
email client, etc.). As another example, a hotkey may be used to
invoke or control an operating system function, such as, for
example, to open a task management interface, to open or control a
memory manager or monitor, to open or control a CPU performance
monitor, to open a registry interface, etc.
[0006] Application developers may enable or disable certain hotkeys
during operation of an application (e.g., to improve an overall
user experience of the application or to improve system stability).
For example, a presentation application that uses a full display
screen may be programmed to disable system hotkeys associated with,
for example, closing the application. If an application that
disables hotkeys crashes without properly restoring the hotkeys'
previous state, a substantial loss of functionality may result.
Similarly, if an application that enables specialized hotkeys,
particularly hotkeys that may not be properly coded or configured,
and the application crashes before properly disabling the
specialized hotkeys, the computing system may be less stable or
predictable.
SUMMARY
[0007] This document generally relates to methods, apparatus and
computer program products for enabling or disabling hotkeys or
operations associated with hotkeys. "Hotkey," as used herein, may
refer to a specific input or set of concurrent inputs from one or
more input devices that, when enabled, may cause an operation to be
performed either within a currently active application on a
computing system, within another background application or process
running on the computing system, or on the computing system itself
(e.g., on physical computing system hardware or on an operating
system or background processing running on the computing system);
thus, as used herein, the term "hotkey" includes the concept of an
application shortcut, and may correspond to input from any input
device or combination of input devices (e.g., pointing device,
touch screen, voice command processor, keyboard, etc.). Moreover,
"hotkey" may refer both to the specific input or set of concurrent
inputs, or to an operation associated with the specific input or
set of concurrent inputs that is to be performed if the hotkey is
enabled. In some implementations, system state for a computing
system may be monitored, and hotkeys may be automatically enabled
or disabled based on the system state. In some implementations, a
user may manually disable hotkeys. Hotkeys may be grouped to
facilitate concurrent processing of multiple hotkeys, and the
hotkey groups may be nested or arranged in a hierarchy.
[0008] This document hereby incorporates by reference application
Ser. No. 11/020,875,entitled "Window Server Event Taps," client
reference P3581, which was filed on Dec. 22, 2004, by Michael James
Paquette.
[0009] In one general aspect, a computer-implemented method of
controlling hotkeys may include associating, in a computing system
that runs two or more application programs and that defines a set
of hotkeys, the set of hotkeys with a first application program.
System state of the computing system may be monitored to determine
whether the first application is a foreground application, and if
the first application is a foreground application, the set of
hotkeys may be disabled. The computer-implemented method may
further include enabling the set of hotkeys if the first
application is not the foreground application.
[0010] In some implementations, each hotkey may include a keyboard
shortcut, and the keyboard shortcut may include concurrent input
from two or more keyboard keys; in some implementations, each
hotkey may include specific input from one or more input devices;
in some implementations, each hotkey may include two or more inputs
that are simultaneously active, where the inputs are provided by at
least one of a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a stylus, a touch
screen or a voice-command processor.
[0011] In another general aspect, a computer-implemented method of
enabling and disabling hotkeys may include determining whether a
computing device is in a specific system state; retrieving a rule
associated with the specific system state, if the computing device
is in the specific system state; and enabling or disabling one or
more operations associated with one or more hotkeys, based on the
retrieved rule.
[0012] In another general aspect, a computer-implemented method of
processing a hotkey operation in a computing device may include
receiving input corresponding to a hotkey from one or more input
devices; determining whether a group comprising the hotkey is
enabled; and if the group is enabled, initiating an operation
associated with the hotkey. The computer-implemented method may
further include determining a system state corresponding to the
received input.
[0013] In some implementations, initiating the operation includes
retrieving a rule associated with the hotkey and the determined
system state, and causing a processor to execute a set of
instructions based on the retrieved rule. In some implementations,
initiating the operation includes issuing an event to a processor.
The event may include an interrupt or an exception.
[0014] In another general aspect, a computer program product may
include instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to
perform operations that include receiving input in a computing
system from one or more input devices; determining whether the
received input corresponds to a defined and enabled hotkey;
appropriately processing the received input, if the received input
does not correspond to a defined and enabled hotkey; and if the
received input corresponds to a defined and enabled hotkey,
initiating an event associated with the defined hotkey.
[0015] In some implementations, determining whether the received
input corresponds to a defined and enabled hotkey includes
comparing the received input to stored hotkey entries and
determining if the received input corresponds to a specific entry.
The computer program product may further cause a processor to
determine whether the specific entry is enabled. In some
implementations, initiating the event comprises identifying an
operation associated with the defined and enabled hotkey and
performing the operation. The operation may include at least one of
issuing an interrupt to a processor, issuing an exception to a
processor, executing specific instructions associated with the
operation, setting or clearing a flag in the computing system, or
reporting detection of the hotkey to a component of the computing
system.
[0016] In another general aspect, a computer program product may
include instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to
perform operations that include monitoring an electronic device to
determine whether the electronic device is in a specific state. The
electronic device may define one or more hotkeys, and each hotkey
may correspond to an input from one or more input components of the
electronic device. If the electronic device is in the specific
state, a rule associated with the specific state may be retrieved,
and one or more hotkeys may be enabled or disabled based on the
retrieved rule. In some implementations, enabling or disabling one
or more hotkeys includes enabling or disabling one or more
operations associated with corresponding one or more hotkeys.
[0017] In another general aspect, a system for managing hotkey
events within an electronic device may include an input controller
that receives input from one or more input components associated
with an electronic device; a monitor that monitors a state of the
electronic device; a hotkey manager that stores hotkey definitions
for defined hotkeys, hotkey operations associated with the defined
hotkeys and status for each hotkey event, where the status
indicates whether a corresponding hotkey operation is enabled or
disabled; and an enabler and disabler engine that modifies status
of one or more hotkey operations based on the monitored state of
the electronic device.
[0018] In some implementations, the hotkey manager determines
whether received input corresponds to a defined and enabled hotkey,
forwards received input to an input processing component of the
electronic device if the received input does not correspond to a
defined and enabled hotkey, and causes an operation associated with
the defined hotkey to be performed if the received input
corresponds to a defined and enabled hotkey.
[0019] In some implementations, state may include a state of one or
more of an input, an output, an operating system, or an application
or process. The state of an input may include a current
input-component focus, or input that is currently being received by
one or more input components. The state of an output may include
output that is currently displayed in an output device. The state
of the operating system may include current operating system
processes that are running on the device or system. The state of an
application or process may include a current mode of an application
or process, or whether the application or process is a foreground
application or process.
[0020] Advantages of the systems and techniques described herein
may include any or all of the following. Computing system stability
may be improved; in particular, the effect on hotkey functionality
of application crashes or application bugs may be mitigated.
Hotkeys may be managed with little or no user interaction. An
overall user experience of a computing system, and of the
applications running on the computing system, may be enhanced.
Security or usability of a computing system may be improved.
Hotkeys may be managed in groups and in hierarchies.
[0021] The general and specific aspects may be implemented using a
system, a method, or a computer program, or any combination of
systems, methods, and computer programs. The details of one or more
embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the
description below.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0022] These and other aspects will now be described in detail with
reference to the following drawings.
[0023] FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a computing system in which
hotkeys may be enabled or disabled.
[0024] FIG. 1B illustrates several example system state rules that
may be used to automatically enable or disable hotkeys or groups of
hotkeys.
[0025] FIG. 1C illustrates example entries in a table that may be
used to manage hotkey groups.
[0026] FIG. 1D illustrates example entries that may appear in a
summary status table used to track parameters associated with
hotkeys.
[0027] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method that may be
used to enable or disable hotkeys or groups of hotkeys.
[0028] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method that may be
used to process hotkeys.
[0029] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method that may be
used to enable and disable hotkeys based on whether an application
program is a foreground application.
[0030] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a computing device that may be
used in the operations described herein.
[0031] Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like
elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0032] This document generally relates to methods, apparatus and
computer program products for enabling or disabling hotkeys or
operations associated with hotkeys. "Hotkey," as used herein, may
refer to a specific input or set of concurrent inputs from one or
more input devices that, when enabled, may cause an operation to be
performed either within a currently active application on a
computing system, within another background application or process
running on the computing system, or on the computing system itself
(e.g., on physical computing system hardware or on an operating
system or background processing running on the computing system);
thus, as used herein, the term "hotkey" includes the concept of an
application shortcut, and may correspond to input from any input
device or combination of input devices (e.g., pointing device,
touch screen, voice command processor, keyboard, etc.). Moreover,
"hotkey" may refer both to the specific input or set of concurrent
inputs, or to an operation associated with the specific input or
set of concurrent inputs that is to be performed if the hotkey is
enabled. In some implementations, system state for a computing
system may be monitored, and hotkeys may be automatically enabled
or disabled based on the system state. In some implementations, a
user may manually disable hotkeys. Hotkeys may be grouped to
facilitate concurrent processing of multiple hotkeys, and the
hotkey groups may be nested or arranged in a hierarchy.
[0033] FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a computing system 100 in
which hotkeys may be enabled or disabled. As shown, the computing
system 100 includes a computing device core 101 (e.g., processor,
memory, storage devices--see FIG. 5), which runs an operating
system 104 and various applications 105, 108 and 109. A user may
interact with the computing system 100, and with the applications
105, 108 and 109 running on the computing system, through various
input devices or components, such as a keyboard 112 and a pointing
device 113 (e.g., a mouse, trackball or tablet and stylus), and
through various output devices, such as a display screen 116. An
input controller 117 and an output controller 120 couple the
computing device core 101 to the input devices and output devices,
respectively.
[0034] Various applications running within the computing device
core 101 may have corresponding windows or icons in the display
screen 116, through which a user may interact with the
applications. For example, Application A 105 may display a window
121 in the display screen 116; Application B 108 may display a
window 124 in the display screen 116; and Application C 109 may
display an icon 125 in the display screen 116.
[0035] Some applications may run on the computing device core 101
without displaying corresponding windows or icons in the display
screen 116. For example, various background processes 128 may run
as part of the operating system 104. A specialized background
process, for example, an application/system monitor 129, may
monitor the overall state of the computing device 100. For example,
the application/system monitor 129 may track which applications are
running and various information about those applications, as well
as information about the general state of the computing device core
101. State of the computing device core 101, or of the computing
device 100 in general, may include, for example, background
processes 128 that are currently running; application programs 105,
108 or 109 that are currently running; operating states of running
application programs; whether an application program or process is
the foreground application or process; application programs 105 and
108 that have corresponding windows 121 and 124 currently displayed
in the display screen 116; whether a window 121 or 124 is to be
associated with a specific state or operation when it is in the
foreground; whether a window 121 or 124 is to be associated with a
specific state or operation when it is displayed either in the
foreground or the background; whether a window, application or
process is to be associated with a specific state or operation when
it has the focus of an input device; whether a current user is to
be associated with a state or set of states; whether a control
panel 132 (described below) is currently displayed; whether the
computing system 100 is currently receiving input from input
devices; various implementation parameters of a hotkey manager 140
(described below); whether an application has unexpectedly
terminated (e.g., "crashed") and, if so, state information
associated with the unexpected termination; or various parameters
related to the operating system, such as operating system
application or task information.
[0036] Background processes may provide windows, icons or control
panels with which a user may organize, launch and control various
applications. For example, the computing device 100 may display a
control panel 132 (e.g., a dashboard or a "dock"), from which users
may quickly launch applications. In addition to displaying
applications that may be launched, the control panel 132 may
display icons representing application programs that are currently
active but that have windows in the display screen 116 that are
minimized, such as the icon 125 that represents Application C
109.
[0037] Applications that run in the computing device core 101 may
have various states. For example, as described above, an
application may be active (e.g., loaded into dynamic memory and
possibly executing tasks) but the application may not have a
corresponding window displayed on the screen 116; instead, the
application may be associated with a minimized icon, such as the
icon 125. As another example, an application may be active, have a
corresponding window in the display screen 116, and may be in one
of two states: the application may be a "foreground" application,
or the application may be a "background" application. As another
example, an application may have various operating states, such as
an authentication state (e.g., in which a user may be required to
enter a password), an input entry state, a processing state,
etc.).
[0038] "Foreground application," as used herein, may refer to an
application that is currently configured to receive certain input,
such as input from a keyboard. Such an application may be referred
to as having the "keyboard focus" (or "focus" of other input
devices) of the computing system 100, meaning any keyboard input
that is received is likely to be routed to that application.
Moreover, a foreground application may be an application whose
corresponding window is displayed on top (i.e., in the
"foreground") of other application windows. As shown, application A
105, with its corresponding window 121, is the foreground
application.
[0039] In contrast, "background application," as used herein, may
refer to an active application that has a corresponding window on
the screen 116 but that is not the foreground application. For
example, as shown, Application B 108, with its corresponding window
124, is a background application. Windows associated with
background applications may be physically behind (i.e., in the
background) a window associated with the foreground
application.
[0040] Generally, a user may change the state of an application
from background to foreground in one of a number of ways. In some
implementations, a user may manipulate the pointing device 113 to
control the position of a cursor, or pointer 133, on the screen 116
to be within a visible portion of a desired window. Once the
pointer 133 is within the visible portion of the desired window,
the user may "click" a button associated with the pointing device
113 to select a corresponding application to activate as the
foreground application. For example, since the pointer 133 is shown
as being within a visible portion of the window 124, additional
input, such as a click from the pointing device 113, may activate
the corresponding application B 108 as the foreground application.
In some implementations, an application may be activated as a
foreground application through input from the keyboard 112. For
example, in many systems, the combination of an ALT key (or a CMD
key) and a TAB key may cause the computing system to display a
window 134 having various icons 135 and 138 that represent the
applications that are currently running on the computing device. If
a user holds down the ALT key while releasing and subsequently
depressing the TAB key, a selector 139 may be advanced. When the
user releases both the ALT and the TAB keys, the application
corresponding to the current position of the selector 139 may
become (or remain) the foreground application.
[0041] The combination of two discrete inputs, such as the
combination of the ALT and TAB keys that is described above, may be
defined as a hotkey. In many systems, hotkeys may be defined to
allow a user to efficiently perform various tasks in the computing
system. For example, as described above, the "ALT-TAB hotkey" may
allow a user to navigate from a first application to a second
application, thereby causing the second application to become the
foreground application. As shown in FIG. 1A, the two shaded keys
136 may represent a particular hotkey (e.g., CMD-TAB). Other
combinations of keys may be defined as other hotkeys. Some hotkeys
may be associated with operating system tasks. For example, a
hotkey may be used to invoke a memory management or reporting
interface, to start or stop an operating system performance
monitor, to open a registry interface, or to perform other tasks
related to an application program, the operating system or the
physical computing device.
[0042] As described above, the term "hotkey," as used herein, may
refer to specific input or concurrent input from one or more input
devices. For example, a combination of input from the keyboard 112
and input from the pointing device 113, such as the combination 137
of the shaded key and the shaded button on the pointing device 113
(e.g., CTRL-click), may be associated with a hotkey.
[0043] A computing system in which hotkeys are defined, such as the
system 100, may employ a hotkey manager 140 to process hotkey
input. As will be described with reference to various figures, the
hotkey manager 140 may associate various hotkeys with various
applications in the computing system 100. The hotkey manager 140
may include an event processor 141 that correlates an appropriate
system operation with each hotkey. When hotkey input is detected,
the event processor 141 may cause a corresponding operation to be
executed. For example, when the event processor 141 detects the
CMD-TAB hotkey 136, the event processor 141 may cause an operation
to be executed that changes a background application to a
foreground application and vice versa. In some implementations, the
event processor 141 may issue instructions to a kernel 142 in the
computing device core 101. In some implementations, the event
processor 141 may simply report detection of hotkey input to
another computing system component, without directly causing the
computing system to process the hotkey input.
[0044] As will be described in greater detail below, hotkeys may be
processed in various ways. For example, hotkeys may be enabled or
disabled. To enable or disable hotkeys, the hotkey manager 140 may
employ an enabler/disabler engine 144. Hotkeys may be grouped, and
hotkeys within a group may be processed together. For example, a
group of hotkeys may be collectively enabled or disabled. Hotkeys,
or groups of hotkeys, may be configured in a hierarchical manner.
For example, a first group of hotkeys and a second group of hotkeys
may be organized within a third group; if the third group (top of
the hierarchy) is disabled, all hotkeys within the first and second
groups may be disabled; on the other hand, if the third group is
enabled, the first and second group of hotkeys may be enabled or
disabled independently of one another. To group hotkeys, the hotkey
manager 140 may employ a group manager 145.
[0045] Groups of hotkeys may also be automatically enabled or
disabled. That is, the computing device 100 may automatically
enable or disable a group of hotkeys based on some aspect of the
system state of the computing system 100. For example, in some
implementations, the hotkey manager 140 may automatically enable or
disable groups of hotkeys based on which application is the
foreground application. To automatically enable or disable groups
of hotkeys, the hotkey manager 140 may employ system state rules
148 in conjunction with the enabler/disabler engine 144.
[0046] To track overall processing of hotkeys, the hotkey manager
140 may maintain a summary status table 149. In some
implementations, the summary status table 149 may capture various
information about hotkeys, such as hotkeys that are defined in the
computing system 100, groups the hotkeys are in, the operations
associated with the hotkeys, and the status of the hotkeys or of
their corresponding operations (e.g., enabled or disabled). Upon
receipt of hotkey input from, for example, the input controller
117, the hotkey manager 140 may analyze the summary status table
149 to determine whether to launch an operation that is associated
with the hotkey input.
[0047] The functional blocks in the computing system 100 may be
arranged differently than they are shown in FIG. 1A. For example,
the input controller 117 is shown as a distinct component, separate
from the hotkey manager 140. However, the components 117 and 140
may be integrated into a single component, partially integrated, or
arranged differently than shown. Similarly, the various other
components of the computing device core 101 may be arranged
differently. In general, the precise design of the hotkey manager
140 or of the example computing system 100 is not critical to this
document and can take any suitable form.
[0048] FIG. 1B illustrates several example system state rules 148
that may be used to automatically enable or disable hotkeys or
groups of hotkeys. As shown, an example rule 152 specifies that the
"Group B" hotkeys should be enabled if Application B is the
foreground application; if Application B is not the foreground
application, then the Group B hotkeys are to be disabled.
[0049] As a second example, rule 153 specifies that the "Group D"
hotkeys are to be enabled if a particular system navigation element
is displayed, and disabled if the system navigation element is not
displayed. In some implementations, a system navigation element may
include the control panel 132; in such a case, Group D hotkeys
would be enabled anytime the control panel 132 is displayed on the
screen 116. In certain modes, such as a "presentation mode" or
"full screen mode," where one of the windows corresponding to an
application program completely fills the screen 116, the Group D
hotkeys may be disabled (e.g., since the navigation element would
not be present). Disabling hotkeys during a presentation mode may
prevent inadvertent disruption of the presentation.
[0050] As a third example, rule 156 specifies that "Group C"
hotkeys are to be enabled when Application B has an open user
interface window, and disabled when Application B does not have an
open user interface window. Referring to FIG. 1A, window 124 is
"open," even though it does not correspond to the foreground
application. According to the rule 156, Group C would be enabled,
since Application B has an open window. In contrast, icon 125,
corresponding to application C 109, is minimized and does not have
an open window; if the rule 156 were associated with Application C,
rather than with Application B, then Group C hotkeys would be
disabled.
[0051] FIG. 1C illustrates example entries that may appear in a
table 157 in the group manager 145. As shown, the table 157 lists
each group 160 of hotkeys, the individual hotkeys 161 corresponding
to a group, and a status of the group of hotkeys (e.g., enabled or
disabled). As shown, a group may include a single hotkey (e.g.,
Group A), or a group may include multiple hotkeys (e.g., Group B).
A hotkey may be part of more than one group (e.g., HOTKEY.sub.--1).
In some implementations, a hotkey that appears in more than one
group may be associated with multiple operations, depending on
context. For example, HOTKEY.sub.--1 may be associated with one
operation in the context of Group A, and another operation in the
context of Group B. Hotkey groups may also include other groups of
hotkeys (e.g., Group E). That is, as described above, hotkeys may
be arranged hierarchically. The status 164 of a highest-level group
in the hierarchy may apply to each hotkey or group of hotkeys in
lower levels of the hierarchy.
[0052] FIG. 1D illustrates example entries that may appear in a
summary status table 149. As shown, the summary status table 149
includes a column 165 of hotkeys and a column 168 of operations
corresponding to each hotkey. The operations 168 may be events or
operations that occur when the computing system 100 receives hotkey
input, and the corresponding hotkey is enabled.
[0053] An operation may be a series of instructions that are
executed by the kernel 142, or an operation may result in a change
in state of some aspect of the computing device 100. In some
implementations, the operations may be "published," or "pushed" to
an application or a portion of the computing system 100. For
example, the operation may cause an interrupt or an exception to be
issued to the kernel 142. In some implementations, the operation
may be "pulled" from kernel 142 or by a specific operation. For
example, an operation may set or clear a flag associated with the
computing system 100 or with a specific application, and a
component of the computing system 100 or the specific application
may periodically poll the flag to determine its state. In some
implementations, the operation may simply report detection of
hotkey input, or detection of hotkey input associated with an
enabled hotkey; that is, in some implementations, the hotkey
manager 141 may simply pass hotkey input to another device or
computing system component, without directly performing a function
or operation associated with the hotkey input.
[0054] The table 149 further includes a column 169 of groups with
which each hotkey may be associated. In some implementations, as
described above, groups may be arranged in hierarchies (e.g., the
hotkeys in Groups C and D may also be part of Group E).
[0055] The table 149 includes a column 172 of flags associated with
each hotkey; individual flags may indicate whether a hotkey is
enabled. For example, as shown, HOTKEY.sub.--1 is enabled relative
to Group B, but HOTKEY.sub.--1 is disabled relative to Group A.
Whether a hotkey is enabled or disabled may be determined by
several factors, including, for example, overall group parameters
(see column 164 in FIG. 1C) and system state rules (see table 148
in FIG. 1B). In particular, referring to the rule 156 in FIG. 1B,
Group C is shown as enabled, since Application B has an open user
interface window (window 124 in FIG. 1A); however, Group E, which
includes Group C (see table 145 in FIG. 1C) is disabled; therefore,
hotkeys in Groups C, D and E are disabled because of the hierarchy,
even though Group C hotkeys would otherwise be enabled.
[0056] In some implementations, a hotkey may be associated with a
priority, as depicted by the priority column 173. A priority value
may allow the hotkey manager 140 to properly handle a hotkey that
is common to two distinct groups or operations. For example, as
shown, HOTKEY.sub.--1 is common to both Group A and Group B, and is
associated with either OPERATION.sub.--1A or OPERATION.sub.--1B,
depending on the group. If both Group A and Group B were enabled,
the hotkey manager 140 may use the priority flag 173 to determine
which operation--OPERATION.sub.--1A or OPERATION.sub.--1B--to
perform. In some implementations, a hotkey may have a priority,
even if the hotkey is only associated with a single operation. For
example, HOTKEY.sub.--5 and HOTKEY.sub.--6 are shown as having a
priority value of `1,` even though each hotkey is only associated
with a single operation. A priority value associated with a
hotkey's definition that is not initially "overloaded" (e.g.,
assigned to two or more operations) may enable the hotkey manager
140 to preserve a priority associated with a specific operation,
even if additional operations are subsequently assigned to the
hotkey.
[0057] A hotkey may further be associated with a filter value, as
depicted by the filter column 176. A filter value may focus a
hotkey's relevance to, for example, a particular function,
application, operating system thread or process, or portion of the
computing system 100. For example, OPERATION.sub.--1A, associated
with HOTKEY.sub.--1, may only be relevant to system operations
(e.g., operating system background processes 128, rather than
processes associated with specific applications). As another
example, OPERATION.sub.--1B, also associated with HOTKEY.sub.--1,
may only be relevant to application A.
[0058] In some implementations, hotkey input corresponding to
enabled hotkeys may be pushed to or pulled from all corresponding
applications, regardless of a priority value. For example, in some
implementations, if both Group A and Group B were enabled, and the
computing system 100 received HOTKEY.sub.--1 input, the
OPERATION.sub.--1A may be pushed to or pulled from the system, and
OPERATION.sub.--1B may be pushed to or pulled from Application
A--regardless of priority. In some implementations, only a single
operation (or a number equal to less than the total number of
enabled "subscribers") may be pushed to or pulled from an
application or system process, based on a priority 173 value. For
example, in some implementations, if both Group A and Group B were
enabled, and the computing system 100 received HOTKEY.sub.--1
input, only the OPERATION.sub.--1A may be pushed to or pulled from
the system.
[0059] In some implementations--independent of a group priority
173, a group 169 or a general flag 172--an individual hotkey may be
manually enabled or disabled by user input. As shown, the table 149
includes a user-override column 177 that may cause one or more
hotkeys to be enabled or disabled, independent of the status or
group of which the hotkey is a member. For example, HOTKEY.sub.--3
is shown as disabled in the user-override column 177, even though
Group B, of which HOTKEY.sub.--3 is a member, is enabled. In some
implementations, a user-override may only persist for a specific
period of time. For example, the hotkey manager 140 may employ
system state rules 148 and the enabler/disabler engine 144 to
periodically reevaluate and possibly modify user-override values
177--as well as filter values 176, priority values 173, group
assignments 169 and status flags 172. In this manner, the hotkey
manager 140 may cause the computing system 100 to be more
deterministic and resistant to application error or
user-configuration error.
[0060] Various aspects of the hotkey manager 141 may be
user-configurable. For example, each of the system state rules 148,
the hotkey group manager 145 and the hotkey status and operation
table 149 may have a corresponding configuration window (not shown
in the figures) through which a user may customize various aspects
of the hotkey manager 140. As one example, a user may override
individual hotkey states with a user-override value 177. As another
example, a user may enter or modify system state rules 148 through
a user interface associated with the hotkey manager 140. As another
example, a user may assign or reassign hotkey group assignments and
group states (e.g., the assignments and states that are shown in
table 157 in FIG. 1C) through a user interface associated with the
hotkey manager 140.
[0061] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 200 that may
be used to enable or disable a hotkey or a group of hotkeys in a
computing system. Using the method 200, a computing system may
automatically enable or disable hotkeys.
[0062] As shown, the method 200 determines (202) whether to begin
or continue monitoring the computing system 100, and based on the
determination (202), the method 200 monitors (205) system state of
the computing system 100. In general, system state may refer to any
aspect of the hardware, operating system or application program
state of the computing system 100. For example, referring to FIG.
1A, the system state may include background processes 128 that are
currently running; application programs 105, 108 or 109 that are
currently running; operating states of running application
programs; whether an application program or process is the
foreground application or process; application programs 105 and 108
that have corresponding windows 121 and 124 currently displayed in
the display screen 116; whether a window 121 or 124 is to be
associated with a specific state or operation when it is in the
foreground; whether a window 121 or 124 is to be associated with a
specific state or operation when it is displayed either in the
foreground or the background; whether a window, application or
process is to be associated with a specific state or operation when
it has the focus of an input device; whether a current user is to
be associated with a state or set of states; whether a control
panel 132 (described below) is currently displayed; whether the
computing system 100 is currently receiving input from input
devices; various implementation parameters of a hotkey manager 140
(described below); whether an application has unexpectedly
terminated (e.g., "crashed") and, if so, state information
associated with the unexpected termination; or various parameters
related to the operating system, such as operating system
application or task information.
[0063] If the method 200 detects (208) that the computing system is
in a specific state, then a rule associated with that state may be
retrieved (211). For example, the application/system monitor 129
may include various "trigger" states that, when detected, may cause
the hotkey manager 140 to retrieve a rule from the system state
rules 148 corresponding to the detected state. More particularly,
the application/system monitor 129 may monitor (205) the computing
system 100, detect (208) that a specific system navigation element
(e.g., the control panel 132), or another element, is displayed on
the display screen 116, and retrieve (211) the rule 153 associated
with the detected system navigation input.
[0064] Based on the retrieved rule, the method 200 may enable or
disable (214) one or more hotkeys operations. For example, based on
the retrieved rule 153, the hotkey manager 140 may enable the Group
D hotkeys and their corresponding operations. To enable the Group D
hotkeys, the hotkey manager 140 may employ the enabler/disabler
engine 144 to update, if necessary, the group flags 164 in the
table 157 (see FIG. 1C). Updates to the group flags 164 may affect
other flags, such as the overall hotkey flags 172 (see FIG. 1D). In
this example, the flags 172 are not affected by the
enabler/disabler engine 144 update of the flag 164 associated with
Group D, since a group higher in the hierarchy (Group E) is
disabled.
[0065] By enabling or disabling hotkeys based on system state, the
hotkey manager may provide the computing system 100 with more
stability and determinism. Moreover, the computing system 100 may
be more secure and user-friendly. For example, if an application
program enables or disables certain hotkeys, then crashes before
restoring the hotkeys, performance or functionality of the
computing system 100 may be adversely impacted. Similarly,
performance or functionality of the computing system 100 may be
adversely impacted if application program code that affects or
implements hotkeys is corrupted or poorly written. By automatically
enabling or disabling hotkeys, the hotkey manager 140 may mitigate
impact on performance or functionality by restoring status of
hotkeys following an application program crash or following
evaluation of corrupted or poorly written programming code.
[0066] In some implementations, system state of the computing
system 100 may be monitored (205) periodically. For example, the
application/system monitor 129 may be scheduled to run periodically
with a specific period (e.g., the application/system monitor 129
may run every few seconds, every few minutes, etc.). The period may
be user-configurable or may itself depend on system state. In some
implementations, system state of the computing device 100 may be
monitored (205) in response to certain events. For example, the
application/system monitor 129 may run every time a new application
is activated, an application terminates (e.g., naturally, or as a
result of a "crash"); a window associated with an application is
opened, moved or closed; or input is received in the computing
system 100.
[0067] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 300 that may
be used to process hotkey input and other input. Using the method
300, a computing system may perform an operation associated with a
hotkey, according to status of the corresponding hotkey.
[0068] As shown, the method 300 initially determines (301) whether
to accept input. For example, referring to FIG. 1A, the input
controller 117 may enable or disable receipt of all input from one
or more input devices. If the method 300 is accepting input, then
upon receiving (304) input, the method 300 may determine (307)
whether the input is a defined hotkey. For example, the input
controller 117 may receive discrete input from a single key on the
keyboard 112 or input corresponding to movement of the pointing
device 113, and the input controller 117 may determine that the
received input does not correspond to a defined hotkey. More
particularly, the method 300 may compare the received input to
entries in the summary and status table 149 to determine whether
the received input corresponds to a specific entry. If not, the
input controller 117 may then process (310) the non-hotkey input
accordingly, such as by forwarding the input to the computing
device core 101 for further processing.
[0069] As another example, the input controller 117 may receive
concurrent multiple input corresponding to a hotkey, such as, for
example ALT-TAB 136 input or a CTRL-click 137. The input controller
117 may identify such concurrent multiple input as a hotkey based
on entries in the overall status table 149. For example, although
the column 165 in FIG. 1D displays hotkeys as "HOTKEY_N," this
label may represent actual input, such as an ALT-TAB 136 or a
CTRL-click 137. Thus, the table 149 may inherently define the
hotkeys and store definitions of the hotkeys. In the example above,
a hotkey includes concurrent multiple input (e.g., two discrete but
concurrent inputs), but in some implementations, a hotkey may be
associated with a single discrete input. For example, a hotkey may
be associated with input from a single key or button on the
keyboard 112, such as, for example, a multimedia "mute" button, or
a view-magnification slider control.
[0070] In some implementations, the method 300 may retrieve (313)
system state information corresponding to the received hotkey. For
example, upon determining (307) that particular received input is a
hotkey, the input controller 117 may cause the hotkey manager 140
to obtain system state from the application/system monitor 129.
Relevant system state may include, for example, an application
program that is currently a foreground application, or an
application program that currently has a focus associated with the
keyboard 112 or with another input device. In some implementations,
system state may be pertinent to "filtering" the relevance of the
hotkey (see the filter column 176 in FIG. 1D).
[0071] The method 300 may determine (316) whether the hotkey is
enabled. If the hotkey is not enabled, the method 300 may not take
further action. If the hotkey is enabled, the method 300 may issue
(319) an event or otherwise initiate an operation associated with
the received hotkey. For example, the hotkey manager 140 may
determine (316) whether a received hotkey is enabled by analyzing
the summary status table 149. In particular, the event processor
141 may analyze the summary flag 172 associated with a hotkey, and
may further analyze whether the summary flag 172 is overridden by a
user-override flag 177. If the hotkey is enabled and not subject to
a user-override, the event processor 141 may cause a corresponding
operation 168 to be performed. As described above, the operation
may involve issuing an interrupt or exception to the kernel 142,
executing certain instructions in the kernel 142, or setting or
clearing a flag in the computing system 100 that may be polled by
some other portion of the computing system 100 or by an application
program running on the computing system 100. Moreover, the
operation may initiate another action, such as reporting detection
of hotkey input without directly processing the hotkey input.
[0072] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 400 that may
be used to enable and disable hotkeys based on whether an
application program is a foreground application. The method 400
provides a specific example of the general method 300 that may be
used to process hotkeys.
[0073] As shown, the method 400 associates (401) one or more sets
of hotkeys with a first application. For example, associations may
be made between HOTKEY.sub.--1, Group A and a system process; other
associations may be made between HOTKEY.sub.--1, Group B and
Application A. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1D, a filter value 176
associating a hotkey 165 with an application or with a portion of
the computing system 100 may be stored in the summary status table
149. In some implementations, the association may be made
automatically, for example, by the hotkey manager 140, which may
employ the system state rules 148. In some implementations, the
association may be made by a user, employing a user interface
corresponding to the hotkey manager 140.
[0074] The method 400 monitors (404) system state of the computing
system and determines (407) whether the first application is the
foreground application. For example, referring to FIG. 1A, the
application/system monitor 129 may monitor application state to
determine (407) if Application A 105 is the foreground application.
If the first application (e.g., Application A) is the foreground
application, as shown in FIG. 1A, then the method 400 may disable
(410) a set of input device hotkeys. For example, the
enabler/disabler engine 144 may disable (410) the Group A hotkeys
by modifying values in the table 157 (see FIG. 1C) and the
corresponding values in the summary status table 149 (see FIG.
1D).
[0075] If the method 408 determines (407) that the first
application (e.g., Application A) is not the foreground
application, the method 400 may enable (413) a set of hotkeys. For
example, the enabler/disabler engine 144 may enable (413) the Group
B hotkeys by modifying values in the table 157 and the summary
status table 149. In some implementations, as described above,
operations corresponding to the hotkeys that are disabled (410) or
enabled (413) may be different (e.g., OPERATION.sub.--1A and
OPERATION.sub.--1B) but may be associated with a common hotkey
(e.g., HOTKEY.sub.--1). In some implementations, operations
corresponding to the hotkeys that are disabled (410) or enabled
(413) may be the same. For example, system hotkeys, such as media
player control hotkeys, may be disabled (410) when an application
is the foreground application, and enabled (413) when the
application is not the foreground application.
[0076] The method 400 may determine (416) whether to continue
monitoring the system. In a manner similar to that described with
reference to FIG. 3, the method 400 may monitor the computing
system 100 in response to specific events (e.g., activation or
termination of an application; opening, closing or moving of a user
interface window; receipt of input in the computing system; etc.).
Or, the method 400 may periodically monitor the computing system
100.
[0077] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a computing device 500 that may
be used in the operations described herein. The computing device
500 includes a processor 510, a memory 520, a storage device 530
and an input/output device 540. Each of the components 510, 520,
530 and 540 are interconnected using a system bus 550.
[0078] The processor 510 is capable of processing instructions for
execution within the computing device 500. In some implementations,
the processor 510 is a single-threaded processor. In other
implementations, the processor 510 is a multi-threaded processor.
The processor 510 is capable of processing instructions stored in
the memory 520 or on the storage device 530 to display graphical
information for a user interface on the input/output device
540.
[0079] The memory 520 stores information within the computing
device 500. In some implementations, the memory 520 is a
computer-readable medium. In some implementations, the memory 520
is a volatile memory unit. In some implementations, the memory 520
is a non-volatile memory unit.
[0080] The storage device 530 is capable of providing mass storage
for the computing device 500. In some implementations, the storage
device 530 is a computer-readable medium. In various other
implementations, the storage device 530 may be a floppy disk
device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, a tape device,
or a block of non-volatile memory.
[0081] The input/output device 540 provides input/output operations
for the computing device 500. In some implementations, the
input/output device 540 includes a keyboard component and/or
pointing device component. In some implementations, the
input/output device 540 includes a display unit for displaying
graphical user interfaces.
[0082] The methods described herein may be implemented in digital
electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software,
or in combinations of them. Apparatus may be implemented in a
computer program product tangibly embodied in an information
carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable storage device or in a
propagated signal, for execution by a programmable processor; and
actions of the method may be performed by a programmable processor
executing a program of instructions to perform functions of the
invention by operating on input data and generating output.
Implementations may include one or more computer programs that are
executable on a programmable system including at least one
programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions
from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage
system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.
A computer program is a set of instructions that may be used,
directly or indirectly, in a computer to perform a certain activity
or bring about a certain result. A computer program may be written
in any form of programming language, including compiled or
interpreted languages, and it may be deployed in any form,
including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component,
subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing
environment.
[0083] Suitable processors for the execution of a program of
instructions include, by way of example, both general and special
purpose microprocessors, and the sole processor or one of multiple
processors of any kind of computer. Generally, a processor will
receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random
access memory or both. Elements of a computer may include a
processor for executing instructions and one or more memories for
storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also
include, or be operatively coupled to communicate with, one or more
mass storage devices for storing data files; such devices include
magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks;
magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storage devices suitable
for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data
include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of
example semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and
flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks
and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM
disks. The processor and the memory may be supplemented by, or
incorporated in, ASICs (application-specific integrated
circuits).
[0084] To provide for interaction with a user, a computing device
may include a display device such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) or
LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor for displaying information to
the user and a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse or a
trackball by which the user may provide input to the computer.
[0085] Apparatus and methods disclosed herein may be implemented in
a computing system that includes a back-end component, such as a
data server; or that includes a middleware component, such as an
application server or an Internet server; or that includes a
front-end component, such as a client computer having a graphical
user interface or an Internet browser, or any combination of them.
The components of the system may be connected by any form or medium
of digital data communication such as a communication network.
Examples of communication networks include, e.g., a LAN, a WAN, and
the computers and networks forming the Internet.
[0086] The computing system may include clients and servers. A
client and server are generally remote from each other and
typically interact through a network, such as the described one.
The relationship of client and server may arise by virtue of
computer programs running on the respective computers and having a
client-server relationship to each other.
[0087] The computing system may be embodied in a portable device,
such as a handheld electronic device (e.g., a personal digital
assistant) or a mobile communication device (e.g., a cell phone or
smartphone). In some implementations, non-volatile memory, such as,
for example, flash memory, EEPROM or removable storage media may
provide mass storage to the computing system. In some
implementations, a mass storage device may be provided outside of
the computing system, and data in the mass storage device may be
accessible to the computing system via an interface, such as a
wireless interface, a wired interface, or a card or device reader
interface.
[0088] A number of implementations have been described.
Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may
be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this
disclosure. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope
of the following claims.
* * * * *