U.S. patent application number 16/664887 was filed with the patent office on 2020-02-20 for method of displaying an axis of user-selectable elements with adjacent additional element.
The applicant listed for this patent is 9224-5489 QUEBEC INC.. Invention is credited to Mathieu AUDET, Francois CASSISTAT.
Application Number | 20200057795 16/664887 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47912638 |
Filed Date | 2020-02-20 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200057795 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
AUDET; Mathieu ; et
al. |
February 20, 2020 |
METHOD OF DISPLAYING AN AXIS OF USER-SELECTABLE ELEMENTS WITH
ADJACENT ADDITIONAL ELEMENT
Abstract
The invention pertains to a method and an apparatus adapted to
carry out a mechanism for managing navigation among information
elements displayed on axes thereof when information elements are
not displayed on a display area, the method generally comprising
displaying an array, or an axis, of information elements adapted to
receive thereon information elements, the array of information
elements virtually extending outside a viewing area, the array of
information elements including a portion thereof having no
information elements thereon, and displaying an indicator of a
non-displayed information element present on the axis of
information elements outside the viewing area.
Inventors: |
AUDET; Mathieu; (Orford,
CA) ; CASSISTAT; Francois; (Montreal, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
9224-5489 QUEBEC INC. |
Sherbrooke |
|
CA |
|
|
Family ID: |
47912638 |
Appl. No.: |
16/664887 |
Filed: |
October 27, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16410983 |
May 13, 2019 |
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16664887 |
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13624996 |
Sep 24, 2012 |
10289657 |
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16410983 |
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61538879 |
Sep 25, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/904 20190101;
G06F 40/103 20200101; G06F 40/106 20200101; G06F 3/04817 20130101;
G06F 3/0481 20130101; G06F 3/0485 20130101; G06F 3/0482
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/21 20060101
G06F017/21; G06F 16/904 20060101 G06F016/904; G06F 3/0481 20060101
G06F003/0481; G06F 3/0482 20060101 G06F003/0482 |
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon
computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a computer,
cause the computer to perform operations for displaying an axis of
information elements on a mobile device, the operations comprising:
providing a displayed portion of the axis of information elements
on a viewing area of the mobile device, and providing a
non-displayed portion of the axis of information elements virtually
extending outside the viewing area of the mobile device and
accessible through scrolling thereof, the information elements
being disposed along the axis of information elements in accordance
with a collation function, the information elements being located
along the axis of information elements in respect with collation
units on the axis of information elements; displaying, in a first
axial direction on the viewing area, a first axis of information
elements including a plurality of information elements; displacing
the display area along the first axis of information elements; and
displaying, in a second axial direction substantially orthogonal to
the first axial direction on the viewing area, a second axis of
information elements including a plurality of information elements
associated with a second common attribute, the second axis of
information elements locating the information elements displayed
thereon along a time-based order including a non-linear timescale
and a time distribution that is substantially variable, with equal
lengths of time being visually represented with equal lengths of
distance along the second axis of documents, the second axis of
documents including a plurality of time units wherein each time
unit is representing a duration of time along the second axis, the
time units being disposed at a substantially constant axial length
along the second axis of documents, the time units displaying the
information elements along the second axis of documents at
substantially constant intervals of distance between adjacent
information elements; and displaying an additional information
adjacent to an axial side of a subject information element
displayed on the second axis in the display area for notifying a
viewer there is at least one additional adjacent information
element on the axial side of the second axis when there is an
additional information element to be viewed on the axial side of
the subject information element displayed on the second axis.
22. The non-transitory computer-readable of claim 21, wherein the
additional information can be completely displayed upon scrolling
the second axis.
23. The non-transitory computer-readable of claim 21, wherein some
of the information elements include images.
24. The non-transitory computer-readable of claim 21, wherein the
collation function is time-based.
25. The non-transitory computer-readable of claim 21, wherein the
first axis includes a non-linear timeline.
26. The non-transitory computer-readable of claim 21, wherein the
first axis and the second axis are sharing a logical connector.
27. The non-transitory computer-readable of claim 21, further
comprising displaying another additional information adjacent to
another axial side of the subject information element displayed on
the second axis in the display area for notifying a viewer there is
at least one additional document on the another axial side of the
second axis when there is another additional adjacent information
element to be viewed on the another axial side of the subject
information element displayed on the second axis.
28. The non-transitory computer-readable of claim 21, further
comprising displaying, in the second axial direction substantially
orthogonal to the first axial direction on the viewing area, a
third axis of information elements including a plurality of
information elements associated with a third common attribute, the
third axis of information elements locating the information
elements displayed thereon along a collated order including a
non-linear timescale and a time distribution that is substantially
variable, with equal lengths of time being visually represented
with equal lengths of distance along the third axis of information
elements, the third axis of documents including a plurality of time
units wherein each time unit is representing a duration of time
along the third axis, the time units being disposed at a
substantially constant axial length along the third axis of
information elements, the time units displaying the information
elements along the third axis of information elements at
substantially constant intervals of distance between adjacent
information elements; and displaying an additional information
adjacent to an axial side of a subject information element
displayed on the third axis in the display area for notifying a
viewer there is at least one additional adjacent information
element on the axial side of the third axis when there is an
additional information element to be viewed on the axial side of
the subject information element displayed on the third axis.
29. The non-transitory computer-readable of claim 28, wherein the
third axis is scrollable independently from the second axis.
30. The non-transitory computer-readable of claim 28, wherein the
first axis of information elements including a plurality of
information elements associated a common first attribute.
31. A computerized system configured to read computer-executable
instructions adapted to enable a program enabling an interface
adapted to order and display user-selectable elements in axes
thereof, the computerized system comprising: a processing unit
configured to process the computer executable instructions; and a
display configured to display the interface; the program, when
executed, being operative for: providing a displayed portion of the
axis of information elements on a viewing area of the mobile
device, and providing a non-displayed portion of the axis of
information elements virtually extending outside the viewing area
of the mobile device and accessible through scrolling thereof, the
information elements being disposed along the axis of information
elements in accordance with a collation function, the information
elements being located along the axis of information elements in
respect with collation units on the axis of information elements;
displaying, in a first axial direction on the viewing area, a first
axis of information elements including a plurality of information
elements; displacing the display area along the first axis of
information elements; and displaying, in a second axial direction
substantially orthogonal to the first axial direction on the
viewing area, a second axis of information elements including a
plurality of information elements associated with a second common
attribute, the second axis of information elements locating the
information elements displayed thereon along a time-based order
including a non-linear timescale and a time distribution that is
substantially variable, with equal lengths of time being visually
represented with equal lengths of distance along the second axis of
documents, the second axis of documents including a plurality of
time units wherein each time unit is representing a duration of
time along the second axis, the time units being disposed at a
substantially constant axial length along the second axis of
documents, the time units displaying the information elements along
the second axis of documents at substantially constant intervals of
distance between adjacent information elements; and displaying an
additional information adjacent to an axial side of a subject
information element displayed on the second axis in the display
area for notifying a viewer there is at least one additional
adjacent information element on the axial side of the second axis
when there is an additional information element to be viewed on the
axial side of the subject information element displayed on the
second axis.
32. The computerized system of claim 31, wherein the additional
information can be completely displayed upon scrolling the second
axis.
33. The computerized system of claim 31, wherein some of the
information elements include images.
34. The computerized system of claim 31, wherein the collation
function is time-based.
35. The computerized system of claim 31, wherein the first axis
includes a non-linear timeline.
36. The computerized system of claim 31, wherein the first axis and
the second axis are sharing a logical connector.
37. The computerized system of claim 31, further comprising
displaying another additional information adjacent to another axial
side of the subject information element displayed on the second
axis in the display area for notifying a viewer there is at least
one additional document on the another axial side of the second
axis when there is another additional adjacent information element
to be viewed on the another axial side of the subject information
element displayed on the second axis.
38. The computerized system of claim 31, further comprising
displaying, in the second axial direction substantially orthogonal
to the first axial direction on the viewing area, a third axis of
information elements including a plurality of information elements
associated with a third common attribute, the third axis of
information elements locating the information elements displayed
thereon along a collated order including a non-linear timescale and
a time distribution that is substantially variable, with equal
lengths of time being visually represented with equal lengths of
distance along the third axis of information elements, the third
axis of documents including a plurality of time units wherein each
time unit is representing a duration of time along the third axis,
the time units being disposed at a substantially constant axial
length along the third axis of information elements, the time units
displaying the information elements along the third axis of
information elements at substantially constant intervals of
distance between adjacent information elements; and displaying an
additional information adjacent to an axial side of a subject
information element displayed on the third axis in the display area
for notifying a viewer there is at least one additional adjacent
information element on the axial side of the third axis when there
is an additional information element to be viewed on the axial side
of the subject information element displayed on the third axis.
39. The computerized system of claim 38, wherein the third axis is
scrollable independently from the second axis.
40. The computerized system of claim 38, wherein the first axis of
information elements including a plurality of information elements
associated a common first attribute.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES
[0001] The present invention relates to and claims priority from
U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/538,879, filed Sep. 25,
2011, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING INFORMATION
ELEMENT AXES, which is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to computer systems adapted
to manage information elements disposed on arrays and axes thereof.
The present invention more specifically relates to methods and
apparatuses for displaying, organizing and navigating among
information elements disposed in arrays and axes thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
[0003] Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are becoming more and more
graphically rich in displaying documents, icons and other
information elements. Today's lists of documents are turning
progressively into highly graphical sequences of documents from
which users can attain greater meaning and purpose than before.
This is due primarily to the fact that modern GUIs display
graphically complex thumbnails, icons and file previews; large
number of documents and highly customized ordering of sequences in
which the objects displayed are presented.
[0004] A sequence of documents may be presented in arrays of
various forms, such as an axis, a group of axes or a matrix. The
array, if it contains a large number of documents, can extend in
its virtual form, outside the display area that is visible to the
user. In such cases, the user can scroll or otherwise navigate the
array to bring documents that are not visible into the display
area. This can, however, be difficult or even confusing if the
visible portion of the array of documents displays few or no
documents. This can occur in the case when the distribution of
documents in the array is uneven. Documents may be unevenly
distributed on an axis or a matrix of documents. For example, this
can take place if the latter is configured to display documents on
a scale divided into successive collation units. For instance, an
array collating documents in chronological order would place
documents in time units (e.g. by day, month, year, etc.)
corresponding to the date assigned to each document by the system
or by the user. Some time units, for instance the days of the week,
may therefore contain no documents. The lack of documents for a
specific time unit would graphically result in empty space in the
display area.
[0005] If the display area shows large spaces that do not contain
any documents, it may then be difficult or impossible for the user
to know where the portion(s) of the array containing documents--if
any--is located in relation to the display area. On the one hand,
it may not be intuitive for the user to scroll a row or column of
an array of documents if no document is shown in the portion of the
row or column that is visible in the display area. It is also
possible that the next visible document in a row or column be
located in a time unit that is very far from the one(s) appearing
in the display area at that specific moment. The user would then
need to scroll for a very long time in order to reach the next
document. Likewise, an axis, row or column of an array of documents
might not display any document thereon because the display area has
gone beyond the first or last document on it. The user might then
wrongfully scroll the axis, row or column in a direction where
there are simply no more documents to be displayed. Finally, when a
group of axes, rows or columns is displayed, the zoom level of the
display area is set in such a way that makes it difficult for one
to visualize the total number of axes, columns or rows contained by
the array. Moreover, this would make it nearly impossible or
relatively difficult for one to know the number of axes, columns or
rows present in each direction outside of the display area.
[0006] In a related fashion, an axis or an array can contain
documents that display various degrees of relevance to a user based
on the attributes associated with each document or group thereof.
Documents, in general, can be unevenly distributed in an array in
dependence of they manner in which they are initially organized in
the respective array. Finding the documents, from an array, that
are deemed relevant by the user may, therefore, be difficult or
even confusing when few or no relevant documents appear in the
display area.
[0007] It is therefore desirable to provide proper indications and
means adapted for the navigation of an array of documents when the
distribution of documents therein is uneven over the existing
art.
[0008] It is also desirable to indicate to a user, when few or no
documents are displayed in the viewer's display area, if any
documents or axes remain in a given direction of an axis, row or
column of an array, and if so, how many documents or axes remain in
that direction.
[0009] It is equally desirable to indicate to a user how far the
next non-displayed document is located on a given axis, row, or
column of an array of documents.
[0010] It is also desirable to provide indications and means for
efficiently navigating an axis, row or column of an array of
documents when few or no documents are displayed in the display
area in order to help a user bring the next non-displayed document
into the display area without having to manually scroll through all
the empty collation units in the axis, row, or column of the
array.
[0011] It is also desirable to provide an improved method for
simultaneously navigating all the axes, rows or columns of the
array in order to change the portion of the array of documents that
is displayed in a display area.
[0012] It is yet also desirable to provide a method and system
adapted to find and navigate documents deemed relevant by a user
when such documents are located on an axis, row or column of a
display but are not displayed in the user's display area.
[0013] Other deficiencies will become apparent to one skilled in
the art to which the invention pertains in view of the following
summary and detailed description with its appended figures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] One aspect of the present invention is to alleviate one or
more of the shortcomings of the background art by addressing one or
more of the existing needs in the art.
[0015] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention
in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the
invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the
invention. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of
the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole
purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a
simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that
is presented later.
[0016] The invention is generally described as a method, a system,
a device and/or a graphical user interface used to represent
multiple computer files, documents, or other data on axes in an
axis-based graphical user interface (GUI).
[0017] Aspects of our work provide a method and system allowing a
user to efficiently navigate arrays of documents, or a portion
thereof, when document-less portions of the array displayed on the
screen bring uncertainty as to the number and location of documents
in the array. This is made possible by the indications provided by
the system concerning the number and location of documents in the
array and by means provided by the system to reach those documents
in an expeditious manner.
[0018] One aspect of the instant invention provides a method, an
apparatus and a graphical user interface adapted to present arrays
of documents as a single axis, row, or column or a plurality
thereof, and in which a distribution of documents is graphically
uneven, hence leaving empty spaces on the axes that can create
uncertainty concerning the presence, the number and location of
other documents disposed on the axes, and wherein mechanisms are
provided to identify the presence and the location of documents
disposed outside the display area to facilitate navigation
thereto.
[0019] Moreover, one other aspect of the instant invention provides
a method, an apparatus and a graphical user interface adapted to
present arrays of documents of various degrees of relevance to the
user, hence possibly leaving spaces in the display area where no
documents deemed relevant by the user are shown, and wherein
mechanisms are provided to identify the presence and the location
of relevant documents disposed outside the display area and to
enable filtered navigation of the array to the next relevant
documents.
[0020] An aspect of the instant invention provides a method, an
apparatus and a graphical user interface adapted to identify and
provide navigational capability associated with documents located
outside of the display area of a display at specific and
predetermined positions within an array of documents.
[0021] In one aspect of the instant invention, a functionality is
provided for indicating to a user the presence, the number of and
direction in which documents not visible in a display area are
located on an axis, row or column and is further adapted to bring
the non-displayed documents into a display area, and wherein the
functionality is provided when applicable.
[0022] Another aspect of the present invention provides a mechanism
adapted to indicate to a user that a document is the first or last
on the axis, row or column.
[0023] Another aspect of the present invention provides a mechanism
adapted to allow direct navigation to a document or axis that is
not displayed in a user's display area.
[0024] A further aspect of the instant invention provides a
functionality adapted to indicate to a user the number and
direction of axes not visible in a display area and is further
adapted to bring the non-displayed axes into the display area, and
wherein the functionality is provided when applicable.
[0025] In another aspect of the instant invention, a feature is
provided for collectively navigating all the axes displayed in the
display area (pan function) to axes or sections thereof located
outside the display area.
[0026] In one other aspect of the present invention, a mechanism is
provided adapted to move the display area over axes directly to a
next document thereon when the display area is moved to a location
where no documents were displayed.
[0027] In yet another aspect of the instant invention, a method is
provided for indicating to a user the presence, the number and
location of documents deemed relevant in a query when the documents
contained in an array bear a plurality of attributes possibly
designating varying degrees of relevance to the user.
[0028] In one other aspect of the invention, a mechanism is
provided to enable filtered navigational capability to documents
located outside of the display area at specific and predetermined
positions within an array of documents according to a query
specifying a criterion for relevance.
[0029] In another aspect, a mechanism is provided to enable direct
navigation of an axis, row, column or group of axes to
non-displayed relevant documents on the basis of a query.
[0030] In one aspect of the instant invention, a mechanism is
provided for indicating to a user where the next viewable documents
on one or many axes are when no documents are shown in the display
area.
[0031] In one other aspect of the instant invention, a mechanism is
provided to reach and display documents not visible in a display
area that are located at a specific and predetermined location of
an axis, row, or column.
[0032] Embodiments of the subject invention can be embodied as a
computer system, a method, an operating system and a graphical user
interface adapted to manage data and documents by juxtaposing the
data on axes of documents in a manner such that data, documents and
axes thereof are parametrizable and usable by a plurality of users
and can be displayed according to a selection of information,
metadata or attributes as deemed relevant by user or users in a
single-user or networked environment.
[0033] Another aspect of our work provides an object-oriented
computing system. The computing system comprises a processor, a
memory coupled to the processor, and an interface. The computer
system comprises a computer-readable storage medium storing
instructions, such as a software program adapted to carry out the
embodiments. The instructions that, when executed, provide a
processor-based system the steps to modify the type and quantity of
information used to build and display a document, axis, group of
axes and/or workspace on a variety of devices including but not
limited to computers, mobiles phones or tablets.
[0034] In another aspect of our work, a graphical user interface is
provided. The graphical user interface displays one or more axes of
documents in accordance with the implementation of a method that
manages documents and the data associated therewith.
[0035] An object of the invention provides a non-transitory
computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-readable
instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer
to perform operations for managing information elements, the
operations comprising: displaying an array of information elements
adapted to receive thereon information elements, the array of
information elements virtually extending outside a viewing area,
the array of information elements including a portion thereof
having no information elements thereon; and displaying an indicator
of a non-displayed information element present on the axis of
information elements outside a viewing area.
[0036] Another object of the invention provides a method of
managing information elements, the method comprising: displaying an
array of information elements adapted to receive thereon
information elements, the array of information elements virtually
extending outside a viewing area, the array of information elements
including a portion thereof having no information elements thereon;
and displaying an indicator of a non-displayed information element
present on the axis of information elements outside a viewing
area.
[0037] One other object of the present invention provides an
apparatus including a graphical user interface configured to
provides a graphical rendering of information elements along axes
of information elements and operations adapted to inform a user of
the apparatus of locations of information elements outside a
viewing area of the apparatus, the operations comprising:
displaying an array of information elements adapted to receive
thereon information elements, the array of information elements
virtually extending outside the viewing area, the array of
information elements including a portion thereof having no
information elements thereon; and displaying an indicator of a
non-displayed information element present on the axis of
information elements outside a viewing area.
[0038] Each of the embodiments of the present invention has at
least one of the above-mentioned objects and/or aspects, but does
not necessarily have all of them. It should be understood that some
aspects of the present invention that have resulted from attempting
to attain the above-mentioned objects may not satisfy these objects
and/or may satisfy other objects not specifically recited
herein.
[0039] Additional and/or alternative features, aspects, and
advantages of embodiments of the present invention will become
apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings,
and the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0040] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary
network;
[0041] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an alternate exemplary
network;
[0042] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary computer
system;
[0043] FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary software
system;
[0044] FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of an axis-based
interface and operating system;
[0045] FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary axis
layout;
[0046] FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of a linear and
non-linear axis configurations;
[0047] FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary axis
layout in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0048] FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary axes
layout in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0049] FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary axes
layout with a display area thereon in accordance with an embodiment
of the present invention;
[0050] FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display
area in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0051] FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of a magnified display
area with navigation means thereon in accordance with an embodiment
of the present invention;
[0052] FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a display area with
navigation means thereon in a context of axes layout in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0053] FIG. 14 is a schematic illustration of a display area with
navigation means thereon in another context of axes layout in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0054] FIG. 15 is a schematic illustration of a display area with
navigation means thereon in another context of axes layout in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0055] FIG. 16 is a schematic illustration of a display area with
navigation means thereon in another context of axes layout in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0056] FIG. 17 is a schematic illustration of a display area with
navigation means thereon in another context of axes layout in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0057] FIG. 18 is a schematic illustration of a display area with
navigation means thereon in another context of axes layout in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0058] FIG. 19 is a schematic illustration of a display area with
navigation means thereon in another context of axes layout in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0059] FIG. 20 is a schematic illustration of a vertical movement
of a display area with navigation means thereon in another context
of axes layout in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0060] FIG. 21 is a schematic illustration of longitudinal
movements of a display area in the context of an axes layout in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0061] FIG. 22 is a schematic illustration of orthogonal movements
of a display area in the context of an axes layout in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0062] FIG. 23 is a schematic illustration of orthogonal movements
of a display area with navigation means thereon in another context
of axes layout using more than one group of axes in accordance with
an embodiment of the present invention;
[0063] FIG. 24 is a schematic illustration of a display area with
navigation means thereon in another context of axes layout using
several groups of axes in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention; and
[0064] FIG. 25 is a schematic illustration of a display area moving
on an axis in response to a query seeking to display the next
relevant document on the axis (filtered navigation).
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION
[0065] Our work is now described with reference to the figures. In
the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous
specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough
understanding of the present invention by way of embodiment(s). It
may be evident, however, that the present invention may be
practiced without these specific details. In other instances, when
applicable, well-known structures and devices are shown in block
diagram form in order to facilitate describing the present
invention.
[0066] The features provided in this specification mainly but might
not exclusively relate to principles of computer software and
machine-readable code/instructions adapted to instruct a computer,
many computers or other machines adapted to use the instructions to
provide material effects on a display, or other means enabling
human-computer interactions to manage documents, menus,
user-selectable elements and other computer files. These
code/instructions are preferably stored on a machine-readable
medium to be read and acted upon with a computer or machine having
the appropriate code/instructions reading capability.
[0067] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network 10 in which a system
and a method, consistent with the present invention, may be
implemented. The network 10 may include multiple client devices 12
connected to multiple servers 14, 16, 18 via a network 20. The
network 20 may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area
network (WAN), a phone network, such as the Public Switched Phone
Network (PSTN), an intranet, the Internet, Wi-Fi, WiMAX or a
combination thereof. Two client devices 12 and three servers 14,
16, 18 have been illustrated as connected to network 20 for
simplicity. In practice, there may be more or less client devices
and servers 14, 16, 18. Also, in some instances, a client 12 device
may perform the functions of a server 14, 16, 18 and a server 14,
16, 18 may perform the functions of a client 12 device.
[0068] The client devices 12 may include devices such as
mainframes, minicomputers, personal computers, laptops, personal
digital assistants, phones, or the like, capable of connecting to
the network 20. The client devices 12 may transmit data over the
network 20 or receive data from the network 20 via a wired,
wireless, or optical connection.
[0069] The servers 14-18 may include one or more types of computer
systems, such as a mainframe, minicomputer, or personal computer,
capable of connecting to the network 20 to enable servers 14-18 to
communicate with the client devices 12. In alternative
implementations, the servers 14-18 may include mechanisms for
directly connecting to one or more client devices 12. The servers
14-18 may transmit data over the network 20 or receive data from
the network 20 via a wired, wireless, or optical connection.
[0070] In an implementation consistent with the present invention
illustratively embodied herein, the servers 14-18 may include a
search engine 22 usable by the client devices 12. The servers 14-18
may store documents 200, such as web pages, accessible by the
client devices 12.
[0071] With reference to FIG. 2, a network 20 includes the content
cloud 30, a content database 32, content devices 34-38, and other
devices 40-48. The network mediator 28 enables network devices
34-48 to communicate with each other without pre-configuring each
device 34-48. The content cloud 30 represents a content source such
as the Internet, where content exists at various locations across
the globe that could be reached through a wired connection and/or
with a wireless connection provided by an antenna 26. The content
includes multimedia content such as audio and video. The mediator
28 allows the content cloud to provide content to devices 34-48.
The database 32 is a storage device 166 that maintains content. The
database 32 may be a standalone device on an external communication
network. The mediator 28 communicates with the database 32 to
access and retrieve content. The content devices 34-48 include
intelligent devices, such as, for example, personal computers,
laptops, cell phones and personal digital assistants. The content
devices 34-48 are capable or storing content data. The devices
34-48 are intelligent devices that receive content from other
content devices 30-48. However, the devices 34-48 can also operate
as servers to distribute content to other client devices if
desirable.
[0072] The following discussion provides a brief, general
description of an exemplary computer apparatus in which at least
some aspects of the present invention may be implemented. The
present invention will be described in the general context of
computer-executable instructions, such as program modules 174 being
executed by a computerized device. However, methods of the present
invention may be affected by other apparatuses. Program modules may
include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures,
applets, WEB 2.0 type of evolved networked centered applications,
etc. that perform a task(s) or implement particular abstract data
types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that at
least some aspects of the present invention may be implemented with
other configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor
system, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,
network computers, minicomputers, set top boxes, mainframe
computers, gaming consoles and the like. At least some aspects of
the present invention may also be carried out in distributed
computing environments where tasks are performed by remote
processing devices linked through a communications network as
exemplified in FIG. 2. In a distributed computing environment,
program modules 174 may be located in local and/or remote memory
storage devices 166.
[0073] With reference to FIG. 3, an exemplary apparatus 100 for
implementing at least some aspects of the present invention
includes a general-purpose computing device in the form of a
computer 120 or in the form of a computerized portable apparatus.
The computer 120 may include a processing unit 121, a system memory
122, and a system bus 123 that couples various system components,
including the system memory 122, to the processing unit 121. The
system bus 123 may be any of several types of bus structures
including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and
a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system
memory may include read only memory (ROM) 124 and/or random access
memory (RAM) 125. A basic input/output system 126 (BIOS),
containing basic routines that help to transfer data between
elements within the computer 120, such as during start-up, may be
stored in ROM 124. The computer 120 may also include a hard disk
drive 127 for reading from and writing to a hard disk, (not shown),
a magnetic disk drive 128 for reading from or writing to a (e.g.,
removable) magnetic disk 129, and an optical disk drive 130 for
reading from or writing to a removable (magneto) optical disk 131
such as a compact disk or other (magneto) optical media. The hard
disk drive 127, magnetic disk drive 128, and (magneto) optical disk
drive 130 may be coupled with the system bus 123 by a hard disk
drive interface 132, a magnetic disk drive interface 133, and a
(magneto) optical drive interface 134, respectively. The drives and
their associated storage media provide non-volatile (or persistent)
storage of machine-readable instructions, data structures, program
modules 174 and other data for the computer 120. Although the
exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk, a
removable magnetic disk 129 and a removable optical disk 131, those
skilled in the art will appreciate that other types of storage
media, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital
video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories (RAMs),
read only memories (ROM), remote cloud storage and the like, may be
used instead of, or in addition to, the storage devices 166
introduced above.
[0074] A number of program modules 174 may be stored on the hard
disk 127, magnetic disk 129, (magneto) optical disk 131, ROM 124 or
RAM 125, such as an operating system 135 (for example, Windows.RTM.
NT.RTM. 4.0, sold by Microsoft.RTM. Corporation of Redmond, Wash.),
one or more application programs 136, other program modules 137
(such as Alice.TM., which is a research system developed by the
User Interface Group at Carnegie Mellon University available at
www.Alice.org, OpenGL.RTM. from Silicon Graphics Inc. of Mountain
View Calif., or Direct 3D from Microsoft Corp. of Bellevue Wash.),
and/or program data 138 for example.
[0075] A user may enter commands and data into the computer 120
through input devices, such as a keyboard 140, a camera 141 and a
pointing device 142 Other input devices (not shown) such as a
microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, a touch
sensitive screen, accelerometers or a motion-sensor detector such
as KINECT.TM. that are adapted to sense movements of the user or
movements of a device, or the like, may also be included. These and
other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 121
through a serial port interface 146 coupled to the system bus 123.
However, input devices may be connected by other interfaces, such
as a parallel port, a game port, blue tooth connection or a
universal serial bus (USB). For example, since the bandwidth of the
camera 141 may be too great for the serial port, the video camera
141 may be coupled with the system bus 123 via a video capture card
(not shown). The video monitor 147 or other type of display device
150 may also be connected to the system bus 123 via an interface,
such as a video adapter 148 for example. The video adapter 148 may
include a graphics accelerator. One or more speakers 162 may be
connected to the system bus 123 via a sound card 161 (e.g., a wave
table synthesizer such as product number AWE64 Gold Card from
Creative.RTM. Labs of Milpitas, Calif.). In addition to the monitor
147 and speaker(s) 162, the computer 120 may include other
peripheral output devices (not shown), such as a printer, a
hi-definition television and a scanner for example. As an
alternative or an addition to the video monitor 147, a stereo video
output device, such as a head mounted display or LCD shutter
glasses for example, could be used.
[0076] The computer 120 may operate in a networked environment
defining logical connections to one or more remote computers 120,
such as a remote computer 149. The remote computer 149 may be
another computer 120, a server 14-18, a router, a network PC, a
peer device or other common network node, and may include many or
all of the elements described above relative to the computer 120.
The logical connections depicted in FIG. 3 include a local area
network (LAN) 151 and a wide area network (WAN) 152, an intranet
and the Internet.
[0077] When used in a LAN, the computer 120 may be connected to the
LAN 151 through a network interface adapter (or "NIC") 153. When
used in a WAN, such as the Internet, the computer 120 may include a
modem 154 or other means for establishing communications over the
wide area network 152 (e.g. Wi-Fi, WinMax). The modem 154, which
may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus 123
via the serial port interface 146 or another type of port
interface. In a networked environment, at least some of the program
modules depicted relative to the computer 120 may be stored in the
remote memory storage device 166. The network connections shown are
exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link
between the computers 120 may be used.
[0078] The exemplary network and the exemplary computer system
described above are adapted to carry on the following
embodiments:
[0079] A system 170 is depicted in FIG. 4 which may represent the
functionalities described in the instant application when run on an
apparatus 100, for instance a computer 120, such as has been
previously described. The computer 120 may in turn be connected to
a server 14-18 comprising a set of program modules 174 enabling
functions including but not limited to: computing, document
rendering, network communication, application configuration and
local database management.
[0080] The software system 170 illustratively consists of a
collection of at least twelve modules 174 independent from those of
the server 14-18 that together carry out the method required for
the functionalities to be visible on a graphical user interface and
usable by the user. As illustrated, additional modules 226 may also
be used in conjunction with the twelve base modules.
[0081] A computing module 178 provides a means to circulate data
between users, the other modules 174 and the apparatus 100. The
computing module 178 is adapted to convert queries 230, which may
be system-based or user-based, into graphical rendering in
accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
The other modules 174 are configured to send to and receive data
from the computing module and to individually or collectively
interact with other modules 174.
[0082] An application configuration module 182 provides software
configuration to manage application settings and open connections
to other servers 14-18. Other modules 174 may use the application
configuration module 182 to manage their behavior to satisfy
user-specific needs.
[0083] A data elements management module 186 may be used in
conjunction with other modules to manage data elements such as
documents 200 contained in a database 32 in response to a query
230. The data elements management module 186 may use any kind of
database connection and may use a network communication module 190
in order to access a database 32 through a network 28, on a server
computer 14-18. The network communication module 190 may use
several protocols in order to communicate with a server computer
14-18, such as IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP, ODBC, HTTP, WebDAV, SSH, IMAP
and even define its own specific communication protocol. The data
elements management module 186 may also be used in conjunction with
an email connectivity module 194 and network communication module
190 in order to treat and represent emails in the same way as the
data elements of a database 32. The data elements management module
186 may also be used in conjunction with the permissions module 198
(on the client or server side) in order to control the user access
to elements based by some sort of sharing rules. The data elements
management module 186 may also work in conjunction with a caches
module 202, providing client-side cached versions of the database
32 and files in order to respond to future requests faster. Modules
174 may be made to communicate information in a standardized way by
the use of an Application Programming Interface (API) in order to
simplify the data elements management module's 186 interactions
with other modules 174.
[0084] The data elements management module 186 may sort through
documents 200 stored in the database 32 and connected to each other
via a variety of referencing modes, may apply a filter as specified
in a query 230 and may subsequently direct the filtered documents
200 to other modules 174 (this will be shown in FIG. 6). One such
module may be an axis-ordering module 206 which may distribute
documents 200 filtered by the data elements management module 186
onto an axis-like array 288 or axis 292 (illustrated in FIG. 6)
according to a collation function 300 that may be user- or
system-specified and analyzed by the computing module 178. An axis
292 or axis-like array 288 is an embodiment of graphical rendering
of the functionalities described in the present specification on a
device's display 150 that can be embodied as a substantially
rectilinear sequence of documents 200 from which a viewer can infer
meaning and/or relationships therebetween. An axial distribution
292 of documents 200 is adapted to accommodate and display a single
type of documents 200 or, if desirable, more than one type of
documents 200, computer files, multimedia contents, user-selectable
elements and/or user-selectable menu elements. Generally, an axis
292 is used to graphically group information elements 200 having a
commonality. Other functionalities related to axes 292 shall be
described in greater detail below.
[0085] The axis-ordering module 206 may manage the ordering of
single documents 200 and/or several documents 200 assembled into
document sets 220 onto one or more axes 292. In addition of
managing the collation of documents 200 onto an axis 292, the
axis-ordering module 206 may also manage the order of the documents
200 contained within secondary document sets 224 (not illustrated).
The positioning module 210 manages the positioning of documents 200
within axes 240 based on interactions with other modules 174
processing the various elements contained in a query 230. The
positioning module 210 is adapted to and may interpret data
contained in document sets 224 generated by the data elements
management module 186 in relationship to the query 230 to identify
a location for a given document set 228 within the collation of an
axis 292. Likewise, a visually distinctive features management
module 214 is adapted to interpret data contained in documents 200
or document sets 224 generated by the data elements management
module 186 in relationship to the query 230 to selectively apply
one or more visually distinctive features 284 (not illustrated in
this figure) to single documents 200 or document sets 224. Finally,
a display management module 218 may, inter alia, manage elements
related to the user interface 234, possibly interacting with a
graphics card and a monitor 147. The display management module 218
may use a document-rendering module 222 that provides instructions
to render specific documents 200, like images, text files,
word-processing files, spreadsheet files, presentation files, etc.
The document-rendering module 222 may also provide an API to allow
developers add their own extensions to provide renderers for other
document types.
[0086] FIG. 5 depicts a computer system 120 comprising an operating
system 135 with an integrated axis-based user interface 238. As
illustrated in FIG. 5, the axis-based user interface 238 could
serve as a desktop environment to manipulate documents 200 (such as
files, objects and applications), or could be used as a main
operating system 135 user interface 234. One can appreciate a
hierarchical description of a computer system 120 and software
system 170 with multiple components 242. First, hardware 246 is
used to provide users with a physical device 34-48. Second, the
axis-based system could be built on top of an existing operating
system core and kernel 250, such as, for instance, Unix.TM. or
BSD.TM.. A graphics API 254 like OpenGL.RTM. could also be used in
order to provide basic graphical capabilities to the system via a
video adapter 148.
[0087] Multiple core functionalities could be integrated to provide
core operating system 135 services. A graphical layer framework
component 256 could be built over the graphics API component 254,
and could be used to provide complex drawing capabilities. The
layer-based graphics layer framework component 256 may also
supports widgets rendering and handling (like buttons, text fields,
dialogs, etc.) A network management component 260 could be based on
pre-existing network management capabilities in the operating
system core and kernel 250. It could serve as a tool to manage an
Internet network connection through Ethernet, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,
Modem and other communication channels. A utility component 264
could handle all the other services needed to communicate with the
operating system core and kernel 250, providing functionalities
such as user login, user authentication, memory, disk-access
management, etc. Using these modules, the axis-based user interface
238 would use core functionalities from the graphical layer
framework component 256, the network management component 260 and
the utility component 264 to provide workspaces 306 comprising
multiple axes 292 or groups of axes 310 that display documents 200
(not shown in FIG. 5). The axis-based user interface 238 may also
provide more integrated actions, like interface buttons, preview or
magnification that may be directly docketed. Another component, a
system preferences management component 268, would provide multiple
functions needed by the axis-based user interface 238, such as
dialogs to manage document insertion, attribute definitions, users,
permissions, application configuration, etc. Finally, the operating
system 135 may comprise a window management system emulation module
272. This module may be based on an X Window System or X11.COPYRGT.
and may use other existing client application libraries to provide
a large number of applications as well as functionalities to run
windowed applications on top of the axis-based user interface 238.
To provide other functionalities, third-party application providers
could build third-party core modules 276 on top of the axis-based
user interface 238 and system preferences management module 268.
Third-party application providers could also develop third-party
software environments 280 and other applications that could be run
using the window management system emulation 272, providing the
user with useful applications such as an Internet Browser, Office
Business Applications, Multimedia Applications, Games, etc.
[0088] The Window Management System Emulation 272 could also
provide functions to provide a more axis-based user interface 238
integration, such as reviews, player and editors for the documents
200 displayed in the axis-based user interface 238. For example, a
rich text document 200 could use a third-party module 276 or
third-party software environment 280 to provide a previewer or
media player for the document 200, or a third-party application to
integrate a live editor on the axis-based user interface 238.
[0089] This computer system 120 could be used, for instance, as a
business solution to provide users with an axis-based user
interface 238 operating system 135 directly on multiple kinds of
devices 34-48 (computers, laptop, tablets, cell phones, etc.). The
computer system 120 may also illustratively be used as a business
solution to sell preconfigured devices 34-48 with the axis-based
user interface 284. Since the operating system 135 has a built-in
axis-based user interface 284, the device 34-48 is likely to have a
display 150 and other input devices like a keyboard 140, a mouse
142 or a touch-screen interface. The devices 34-48 may not
necessarily provide such parts and may be adapted to be used by
communicating information about the user interface 240 and input
methods with other devices 34-48 (television set, motion sensing
input device, computer or tablet over network, cell phone,
etc.)
[0090] FIG. 6 illustrates the interaction of the computer system
120 and software system 170 with an axis-based graphical user
interface 238. An interface program providing a graphical user
interface 234 for managing information elements 200 in accordance
with an embodiment of the invention are installed on a machine,
e.g. a computer system 120 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The interface
234 can be programmed using various programming languages e.g. C++,
Java or other suitable programming languages. The programming of
these languages is well known in the art and is adapted to be
stored on a machine-readable medium and readable therefrom to
provide executable instructions to a hardware system. It is
believed that a skilled reader in software art is going to
recognize this portion of the system that will, therefore, not be
further described herein.
[0091] The graphical user interface 234 may run through the
operating system 135 and the hardware 246 of the computer system
120 or, alternatively, through a network-based system e.g.
client-server, and cloud computing system as exemplified in FIG. 1
and FIG. 2. The interface 234 is adapted to display and manage
information elements 200, generally provided on a basis of a query
230, which may be stored in one or many databases 32 (as
illustrated in FIG. 6) that might be distributed in a combination
of locations (e.g. multiple databases, web, cloud, etc.).
Information elements 200 may include computer files, pictures,
multimedia content, applications (i.e. computer programs), menu
elements, sets of icons and/or other user-selectable elements, all
of which shall henceforth be indiscriminately referred to as
documents 200 to lighten the text without limiting the scope of the
present invention.
[0092] An axis-based graphical interface 238 is adapted to
graphically structure documents 200 in arrays 288 that arrange the
documents 200 in rows and/or columns in a reasonably regular
fashion and to allow navigation thereof by the user further to a
query 230. The axis-based layout and ordering provide the user with
information about the content of each document 200, its meaning and
its relationships to the other documents 200 disposed on the axis
292. Navigation tools are provided with the axis-based user
interface 238 to allow navigation through the documents 200 of a
single axis 292 and of various axes 292 when a plurality of axes
292 is enabled. The display of documents 200 on an array 288, or
axis 292, therefore allows contextual management of documents 200
as a flow, or as an ongoing rational sequence of documents 200. An
axis-based interface 238 thus helps to intuitively display a group
of documents 200 and facilitate the understanding and managing of
large sequences of documents 200 bearing a relation.
[0093] In a simplified exemplary form, an array 288 may be embodied
as an axis of documents 292 (hereinbelow referred to as axis 292 to
lighten the text), which groups documents 200 in a single row or
column, as illustrated in FIG. 6. An axis 292 can be embodied as a
substantially rectilinear arrangement of documents 200 adapted to
dispose each document 200 on a straight or curved line. The axis
292 can be embodied as completely straight (rectilinear), slightly
curved, substantially curved, circular, angled, following a
particular shape or have a consistent shape over which documents
200 are disposed in a reasonably consistent fashion. The exact
shape of the axis 292 can vary as well as its
disposition--horizontal, vertical or other--in relation to the
device's display 150. inter alia, is that the layout The structure
of an axis 292 provides a sequence of documents 200 from which a
viewer can infer meaning, logical connections, contextual location,
and/or relationships.
[0094] The axis 292 can be represented as a single axis 292, a
double axis 292, or as more axes 292. Axes 292 may be independent
from one another (using distinct scales, or orderings, henceforth
referred to as collation functions 300) or may form a group of axes
310 by sharing the same scale or collation function 300. Also, a
document 200, attribute 296 or other property of an element
contained in an axis 292 can be selected and used as a logical
connector to create an additional axis 292 from an existing axis
292. This subsidiary axis 294 is meant to be temporary in some
embodiments, serving as a way to view a specific set of additional
documents 200 or highlight certain documents 200 from the original
axis 292 without having to alter the entire workspace 306. It may
originate from the logical connector document 200 or information
element 200 and be disposed in a non-parallel fashion thereto. The
subsidiary axis's 294 position is preferably orthogonal to the
original axis 292 but the angle may vary. Like axes 292, logically
connected axes 294 may be scrollable. More such logically connected
axes 2924 can subsequently be created in the same fashion. This is
what could be called "relational navigation".
[0095] Axes 292 may be disposed horizontally and/or vertically.
Groups of axes 310 may be presented by using one of the layouts or
by combining both of them. Axes 292 presented in the embodiments
below are generally illustrated in the horizontal layout
configuration. However, they could, all or in majority, be disposed
vertically without departing from the scope of the present
disclosure. Other possible graphical layouts of documents 200 might
become obvious to a skilled reader in light of the present
application and would be considered within the scope of this
application.
[0096] When only a portion of the axis 292 is visible, a play of
zoom, pan and scrolling movements along the axis 292 allows a user
to navigate the axis 292 and change the series of documents 200
that is displayed in a display area 314 of the display 150.
Scrolling movements can be performed in a variety of ways including
but not limited to click-and-drag, pressing on the keys of a
keyboard, gesturing to a motion-sensor or on a touch-screen.
[0097] Documents 200 might overlap or decrease in size so as to fit
or maximize the space available in the display area 314. Selected
documents 200 on an axis 292 can be magnified to increase the level
of detail shown. Similarly, a small display area 314 could display
only one document 200 out of the entire axis 292. The remaining
documents 200 would not be displayed in the display area 314 but
would yet remain at their respective "virtual" position on the axis
292, ready to be displayed upon scrolling the axis 292. In other
words, if we consider a mobile platform like a mobile phone having
a small display 150, the small display 150 might only allow to
efficiently display one document 200 at a time. However, the
displayed document 200 being part of an axis 292, the other
documents 200 on the axis 292 would remain displayable in
accordance with their respective position on the axis 292 when the
axis is scrolled, navigated, gestured.
[0098] The documents 200 are selected to be disposed on the axis
292 on the basis of one or more attributes 296, and are ordered
thereon according to a collation function 300, namely an ordered
arrangement made by comparison, (e.g. a chronological order adapted
to use a time scale 318. The attribute(s) and collation function
300 parameters are specified in a query 230 that may be run by a
user or by an automated function of the system. Indeed, each axis
292 groups documents 200 in accordance with, for example, a
selected tag, category, keyword, document creator, or other
attribute 296 that expresses a characterization of one or more
document(s) 200 and that are configurable to represent intrinsic or
extrinsic characteristics. The term "attribute" 296 will generally
be used throughout the instant specification to lighten the reading
of the text and will encompass other document properties or means
for establishing commonality or relationships as described above
unless otherwise specified.
[0099] Attributes 296 may be user-specified or system-specified.
Generally, documents 200 bear a plurality of attributes 296
assigned by one or more user(s) (e.g. keyword, subject, project,
creator, category, etc.), and a plurality of attributes 296 that
are assigned by the system, such as, illustratively, file type,
time of creation, number of views, time of last modification, file
size, etc. Given the broad range of applicability of the present
invention, the attributes 296 that may be assigned by the system
and user, as well as the attributes 296 that can be desirable to
use in the management of axes 292 might substantially vary from one
field or user to another and however remain within the scope of
present specification.
[0100] The selection of one or more attributes 296 (using Boolean
logic for instance) in a query 230 determines which documents 200
will be displayed on the axis 292. If no specific attribute 296 is
selected, the axis 292 will display all documents 200 in a default
order, like the date of creation thereof. Thus, all documents 200
on the same axis 292 are normally associated with the selected set
or combination of attributes 296 that are used as parameters for
the axis 292. Third-party data, like publicity or user-targeted
information, could also be added to an axis 292, either arbitrarily
or according to user information, filtering and/or existing
collation of axes 292 without departing from the scope of the
present invention.
[0101] The documents 200 illustrated in FIG. 6 feature attributes
296 individually represented by a capital letter thereon, or none,
in which case the documents 200 are left blank. Letter attributes
296 are used in the present application for illustrative purposes
only: while letter attributes are theoretically possible, more
descriptive attributes 296 such as those described above are used
in embodiments of the present invention. As is shown in FIG. 6, any
document 200 can simultaneously feature multiple attributes 296,
some user-specified and others system-specified. In fact, a
preferred embodiment of the invention assigns a plurality of
attributes 296 to every document 200. Other documents 200
illustrated on FIG. 6 are blank, or without any associated
attribute 296, illustrating documents that could theoretically not
be assigned any attribute 296, but that could nonetheless be
created and found in a query 230 (e.g. a query 230 that would
select all documents 200 contained in the database 32).
[0102] The query 230 in FIG. 6 here illustratively filters and
selects documents 200 from the database 32 based on attribute 296
`A` for display on the axis 292. FIG. 6 further illustrates that
the documents 200 selected from the database 32 by the query 230
are placed on the axis 292 in chronological order 318, another
parameter that could be specified in the query 230. Indeed, an axis
292 also generally disposes the documents 200 resulting from the
query 230 in accordance with a specified order or collation
function 300, (e.g. chronological order, alphabetical order,
statistical order, increasing file size, etc.). A collation
function 300 might include dividing the axis 292 into successive
collation units 304 (e.g. time units 322 in the case of a
chronological order, which can illustratively be hours, days,
months, years, etc.). A collation function 300 would thus dispose
each document 200 along the axis 292 according to the value of a
specified attribute 296 in relation to the collation units 304 of
the axis 292 and the other documents 200 of the selected document
set 228. Among collation functions 300, a chronological
distribution of documents 200 on a time scale 318 is used in most
embodiments of our work because of its intuitiveness (because any
action or event takes place at a specific time and usually in
sequence with other events or actions). While an axis 292 disposing
documents in random fashion is also contemplated within the scope
of the present specification, axes 292 disposing documents 200
according to a collation function 300 are illustrated embodiments
because of the usefulness of ordering documents 200.
[0103] An axis 292 or a group of axes 310 may be embodied in a
linear configuration 326 or a non-linear configuration 330. Both
configurations are illustrated in FIG. 7 in a generic example. As
can be appreciated from FIG. 7, a linear configuration 326 displays
collation units 304 of the same graphical longitudinal size
regardless of the number of documents 200 contained in each
collation unit 304. The size of the documents 200 located within a
given collation unit 304 can optionally be adjusted in accordance
with the number of documents 200 located therein. For instance,
documents 200 will be larger if there are few documents 200 in the
collation unit 304 and smaller if many documents 200 are found
therein. Alternatively, the documents 200 can remain of the same
size and can overlap or be stacked when their quantity exceeds the
available space. Another possible way of making large numbers of
documents 200 fit into a fixed-size collation unit 304 is to equip
the collation unit 304 with a scroll bar allowing the user to
navigate the collation unit 304 to reveal hidden documents 200.
This also means that documents 200, in a linear configuration 326,
may be displayed as an uneven sequence from a graphical point of
view. Ultimately, a collation unit 304 in a linear configuration
containing no document will appear as empty, or as a blank space on
the display 150, but will still be the same size as the other
collation units 304 of the axis 292.
[0104] Conversely, the non-linear configuration 330 displays
collation units 304 of uneven longitudinal sizes because an even
distribution of documents 200 along the axis 292 prevails over the
linearity of the collation. In other words, document 200 size and a
constant flow of documents 200 along the axis 292 are given primacy
over having collation units 304 of equal graphical size. This
provides a more efficient use of the space on the axes 292 but may
provide less meaning to illustrate an evolution along time.
[0105] Turning now to FIG. 8, an axis-based graphical user
interface 238 displaying an exemplary axis 292 with a schematic
display area 314 thereon is illustrated. The axis 292 places a host
of documents 200 in chronological order along a time scale 318. The
time scale 318 divides the longitudinal side of the axis 292 into
time units 322. Documents 200 are placed therein according to,
illustratively, the time of their creation or other time-related
attribute 296 ascribed thereto by the system or by the user.
[0106] The axis 292 depicted in FIG. 8 features a linear
configuration 326, meaning that all time units 322 will be of equal
graphical size regardless of the number of documents 200 contained
in each one. A non-linear configuration 330 could have been used in
the example of FIG. 8 without departing from the scope of the
present invention. As is illustrated in FIG. 8, some time units 322
are filled with documents 200, while others containing few
documents 200 could have blank space therein and yet other time
units 322 containing no documents 200 could be completely empty.
This can result in a total absence of documents 200 in a display
area 314 even when documents 200 are located in other sections of
the axis 292 outside the display area 314 on the display 150. This
is illustrated in FIG. 8 where the display area 314 showing parts
of time units 322 "t28" and "t29" is devoid of any documents 200.
This can happen, illustratively, after an axis 292 is created
further to a query 230 and the portion of the axis 292 initially
displayed in the display area 314 is empty or, alternatively, as a
result of scrolling of the axis 292 to an area where it is empty.
As explained above, a document-less display area 314 can be
confusing to a user and, if it is too large for scrolling to be an
efficient way to find and reach the next documents 200.
[0107] On FIG. 9, an exemplary illustrative axis-based workspace
306 including a plurality of axes 292 sequentially identified with
capital letters (A to H) and each including a number of documents
200 thereon is illustrated. When more than one axis 292 is
represented, the present description is going to refer to this
plurality of axes 292 as a "group of axes 310" in order to
facilitate reading of the present specification and
conceptualization of the embodiments. Also, while the group of axes
310 illustrated in FIG. 9 and subsequent figures depict horizontal
axes 292, the group of axes 310 could alternatively be disposed
vertically in other embodiments. The group of axes 310 features a
shared collation function 300, meaning that axes 292 can only be
scrolled collectively. The scrolling of any single axis 292 will
result in a corresponding shift of all other axes 292 of the group
of axes 310. In this case the collation function 300 is a
chronological order represented by a time scale 318 composed of
time units 322.
[0108] To illustrate that time units 322 may represent any
duration, the axes 292 of FIG. 9 have time units 322 labeled with a
`t` and followed by successive numbers. Time unit markers 334
represent time units 322. Because all the axes 292 in the group of
axes 310 share the time scale 318, each time unit 322 is
represented at the same longitudinal location on each axis 292 and
a time unit 322 length is shared by all axes 292 of the group of
axes 310.
[0109] End markers 338, illustrated in FIG. 9 as a dotted line
thicker than the one used for time unit markers 334, mark the first
and last documents 200 in one direction of an axis 292. For
instance, an end marker 338 placed to the right of the two
documents 200 on the left-hand side of axis 292 `E` indicates to
the user that the two documents 200 are the last two located in
this direction of axis 292 `E`. Conversely, the end marker 338
displayed to the left of the three documents 200 on the right-hand
side of axis 292 `F` indicates that these three documents 200 are
the first ones on axis 292 `F` and that no additional documents 200
are located to the left of end marker 338.
[0110] Unlike in FIG. 8 where a linear axis configuration 326 is
illustrated, FIG. 9 shows a non-linear axis configuration 330
shared by all the exes 292 of the group of axes 310. As was
explained above, a non-linear configuration 330 determines the size
of each collation unit 304 based on the number of documents 200
contained in each one rather than on a constant time unit 334 size.
When only one axis 292 is displayed (not shown), a non-linear
configuration 330 results in collation units 304 that are
completely full of documents 200 with substantially equal
intervening spaces therebetween. However, when several axes 292 are
brought together to form a group of axes 310 sharing a unique
collation--such as in FIG. 9--the size of each collation unit 304
is determined by the largest number of documents 200 contained in
that collation unit 304 on any of the axes 292. By way of
illustration, time unit 322 `t27` in FIG. 9 is the same size on
every axis 292 in the group of axes 310, as determined by the
number of documents 200 in that time unit 322 on axis 292 `A` since
axis 292 `A` is the axis 292 on which time unit 322 `t27` has the
most documents 200. Similarly, the size of time unit 322 `t28` is
determined by the number of documents 200 in that time unit 322 on
axis 292 `B` since it is the axis 292 on which the most documents
200 are found in time unit 322 `t28`. And so on and so forth with
every time unit 322. Other embodiments using a different
distribution of documents 200 in axes 292 of a group of axes 310 or
in a plurality of groups of axes 310 are subjected to the same
rationale and encompassed by the present specification.
[0111] An alternate embodiment could determine the size of each
collation unit 304 according to an entire axis 292 which would be
used as reference for all collation units 304. In other words, the
documents 200 found on the axis 292 chosen (by default of by the
user) to act, as reference would guide the size of all collation
units 304. That axis 292 would thus present a continuous flow of
documents 200 in full collation units 304. Meanwhile, the other
axes 292 in the group of axes 310 may present collation units 304
that are partially or completely empty as well as collation units
304 that are over-full with documents 200. Collation units 304
containing more documents 200 than are found in the reference axis
292 for that same collation unit 304 could represent large numbers
of documents 200 in a variety of ways including but not limited to:
adapting the collation unit 304 for navigation with a scroll bar,
reducing the size of each document 200 in order to have each one
represented and user-selectable in the collation unit 304, and
making documents 200 overlap so as to make them fit into the space
defined by the collation unit 304. In this last mode of
representation, individual documents 200 may, for instance, become
visible and user-selectable as a subsidiary axis 294 upon selection
of the document stack by the user.
[0112] As a result of either of these processes, some of the axes
292 may display collation units 304 (in this case time units 322)
containing blank or document-less space.
[0113] While a viewer of the group of axes 310 depicted in FIG. 9
can appreciate the full distribution of the documents 200 on the
eight (8) axes 292 with this view of the group of axes 310, a
different story emerges if the display 150 used to display the
group of axes 310 is small or if the interface 234 is zoomed to
magnify documents 200 therein. FIG. 10 thus illustrates the same
group of axes 310 as in FIG. 9 but with a display area 314 added
thereon which defines the visible portion of the workspace 306. The
shape and size of the display area 314 may vary and display a
varying number of axes 292 and documents. The number of documents
20 and axes 292 displayed within the display area 314 may be based
on the zoom level configured. If the zoom level is high, only one
axis 292 or part thereof may be displayed. Conversely, if the zoom
level is low, several axes 292 may be displayed in the display area
314. In the following figures, many of the display areas 314
illustrated encompass approximately one (1), three (3) or four (4)
axes 292. However, any intervening or higher number of axes 292 can
theoretically be displayed in a display area 314 if desirable. In
turn, the dimensions of the display area 314 may also vary
according to the size of displays 150 or to the preferences of a
user. For instance, he or she may wish to work with many contiguous
or overlapping windows, corresponding to different applications,
and therefore increase or reduce the size of the display area for
each one. This could result in a smaller or larger number of
documents and axes 292 being displayed in the context of this
application. In FIG. 10, the display area 314 displays to a viewer
only two documents 200 and a portion of a third document 200 out of
the large number of documents 200 represented on the eight-axis
group of axes 310. One can appreciate from FIG. 10 how limited and
unintuitive a user's view of a group of axes 310 and the documents
200 therein can become if one's display area 314 is small or zoomed
in.
[0114] An exemplary magnified view of a display area 314 is
illustrated in FIG. 11. In this Figure, the display area 314 is
isolated in order to provide the actual point of view a user would
have of the axis-based user interface 238 using a small display 150
like, for instance, a mobile phone display. One can appreciate from
FIG. 11 that such a magnified view significantly limits what a user
can see out of the entire workspace 306 and greatly increases the
difficulty in navigating the axes 292 because of uncertainty
concerning the presence, number, direction and location of the
non-displayed surrounding axes 292 and documents 200. For example,
a user looking at this display area 314 could tell little about
axis 292 `D`. There are no documents 200 to start from or any
indication as to whether there are any documents 200 at all on axis
292 `D`. If there are documents 200 on axis 292 D, those might be
distributed on either or both sides of the axis 292 outside the
display area 314. Ultimately, axis 292 `D` could be empty axis 292
(providing no results to the query 230 using attribute `D` for
example). Either way, there are no indications informing the user
if there are documents 200 he or she can navigate to from one of
the two documents 200 visible in the display area 314 and, if so,
how far or how many there are. Also, if there are indeed documents
200 disposed on at least one of the longitudinal sides of the axis
292 `D` they might be so far that scrolling to reach them with a
mouse and a cursor, or with hand gestures on a touch screen, can
become a real burden.
[0115] FIG. 12 illustrates the same display area 314 as the one
illustrated in FIG. 11 with an embodiment using arrows 342 to
provide additional information and navigational capabilities
related to the surrounding axes 292 and documents 200 thereon.
Although the arrow 342 could be embodied differently (e.g. icon,
user-selectable element, gestures, navigation control, different
shape, color, size, etc.) and offer the same functions and yet
remain within the scope of the present invention the term "arrow"
342 will be used in this specification to facilitate the reading of
the text. For instance, the arrows 342 can be replaced with,
illustratively, a thumbnail of the next available document 200 in
the direction the arrow 342 points to. The selection of the next
available document 200 would be similar to the selection of the
arrow 342 leading to the next document 200. More than one "next"
document 200 could also be displayed without departing from the
scope of the present invention.
[0116] The arrows 342 have various functions in embodiments of the
invention. The arrows 342 indicate if there are documents 200 or
axes 292 outside the display area 314 in a direction. The arrows
342 may, inter alia, provide information about the number of
available documents 200 and allow the user to navigate directly to
the next document 200 or axis 292. Arrows 342 are intended to
complement rather than replace the axis-scrolling function whereby
the user selects an axis 292, for example by clicking and holding,
and subsequently navigates it by, illustratively, moving a mouse,
gesturing on a touch screen or, alternatively, using the
directional keys of a keyboard 140.
[0117] Two types of arrows 342 are illustrated in FIG. 12. The
first type of arrow 342 is aligned with the longitudinal direction
of the axis 292. A longitudinal arrow 346 thus informs about and
navigates to documents 200 of the axis 292 that are located outside
the display area 314 in the direction it points to. The second type
of arrow 342 is orthogonally disposed in relation to the
longitudinal direction of the axis 292. Orthogonal arrows 350
inform about and navigate axes 292 partially or entirely located
outside the display area 314 whether these axes 292 are independent
from those visible in the display area 314 or are part of a group
of axes 310.
[0118] Additional cues as to the function of a given arrow 342 may
be provided, such as in FIG. 12 where the to orthogonal arrows 350
illustrated therein feature dotted line type. Such visual
differentiation may be desirable for many reasons, for instance if
multiple arrows 342 are provided, if the display 150 of the device
36-48 used makes the direction of the workspace 306 unclear or, as
shall be seen in FIG. 13, if an axis layout presents both
horizontal and vertical axes 292. In such circumstances,
longitudinal arrows 346 that navigate vertical axes 292 or
subsidiary axes 294 may be mistaken for orthogonal arrows 350 if
all arrows are the same color, especially if the vertical axis 292
is centered with regards to the display area 314. Alternatively,
visual cues including but not limited to line type or background
color could be used to signal, for example, the actuation of an
arrow 342, the active axis 292, or the axis 292 or direction in
which documents 200 are located nearest the display area 314.
[0119] Still referring to FIG. 12, the portion of axis 292 `C.`
visible in the display area 314 (in the present situation the
display area 314 corresponds to the entire view offered by the
display 150, and could otherwise, if desirable, be smaller--in a
separate window, for example) illustrates a little more than two
documents 200 on the left side and no documents 200 on the
right-hand side. A longitudinal arrow 346 however appears on the
right, indicating that there are documents 200 on axis 292 `C.` in
that direction although they are not visible on the display area
314. The longitudinal arrow 346 further indicates that there are
twenty-three (23) documents 200 remaining to the left of axis 292
`C.` out of a total of thirty (30) documents 200 (numbers provided
for illustrative purposes only). Alternatively, the name of the
next document 200 or axis 292 can be added to arrows 342 of either
type to provide further information to the user. Selecting the
arrow 342, 346 disposed to the right of axis 292 `C.` will directly
lead to the next document 200 to the right thereof as will be
discussed in detail below.
[0120] Still considering FIG. 12, axis 292 `D` displays no document
200 at all on the available display area 314. A longitudinal arrow
346 is displayed on the left-hand side of the display area 314 and
another is displayed on the right-hand side of the display area
314. These longitudinal arrows 346 inform the user that there are
documents 200 further to both the left and the right of the display
area 314. More precisely, three (3) documents 200 out of a total of
seven (7) on the axis 292 remain on axis 292 `D` to the left of the
longitudinal arrow 346 located on the left-hand side of the display
area 314. In contrast, four (4) documents 200 out of seven (7)
remain on axis 292 `D` to the right of the longitudinal arrow 346
located on the right-hand side of the display area 314. Turning now
to axis 292 `E`, one can appreciate that there are two (2)
documents 200 out of a total of two (2) to the left of the display
area 314 and no more documents 200 to the right of the display area
314 since no longitudinal arrow 346 is displayed.
[0121] Still referring to FIG. 12, two orthogonal arrows 350 are
provided on the display area 314. The orthogonal arrow 350 located
on the upper portion of the display area 314 informs the user that
two axes 292 of a total of eight remain upward of the display area
314. By contrast, the orthogonal arrow 350 located on the lower
portion of the display area 314 informs the user that three (3)
axes 292 of a total of eight (8) remain downward of the display
area 314. Selecting the orthogonal arrow 350 located on the upper
portion of the display area 134 is going to move the display area
314 to encompass the adjacent 290 `B` located higher that the
current display area 314 (and therefore not visible on FIG.
12).
[0122] Following is Table 1 that describes possible functions
associated with the arrows 342. The directions of the arrows 342
are described in the context of the preferred embodiment for this
specification, namely one in which the majority of axes 292 are
substantially horizontally disposed in relation to the display area
314. Other axes layouts are however encompassed by the present
description of functions.
The list of functions presented in Table 1 is not necessarily
exhaustive and these functions could be embodied in a number of
ways. For instance, the different configuration options for direct
navigation to display only one or several of the next available
documents 200 or axes 292 could be presented to the user as part of
a general preferences menu or else be presented as options in a
contextual menu 354 made available to the user in response to an
action such as, illustratively, right-clicking of an arrow 342.
Such a contextual menu 354 is exemplified in FIG. 12. Likewise, the
direct navigation function may be configured to instantaneously
display the next available document 200 on an axis 292 or to
represent a slow or rapid progressive transition from one section
of the axis 292 or group of axes 310 to the next. However, other
configuration options and formats may become obvious to a skilled
reader and would be considered to be within the scope of the
present invention.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Direction # of arrow Axis layout Effect 1
Left Plurality of Direct navigation of the selected axis only,
independent axes making visible only the next document on the
selected axis and positioning it adjacent to the left-hand border
of the display area. Other axes visible in the display area remain
fixed at their original position. 2 Right Plurality of Direct
navigation of the selected axis only, independent axes making
visible only the next document on the selected axis and positioning
it adjacent to the right-hand border of the display area. Other
axes visible in the display area remain fixed at their original
position. 3 Left Plurality of Direct navigation of the selected
axis only, independent axes making visible as many of the next
documents on the selected axis as can fit into the display area,
positioning the first of these documents adjacent to the right-hand
border of the display area. Other axes visible in the display area
remain fixed at their original position. 4 Right Plurality of
Direct navigation of the selected axis only, independent axes
making visible as many of the next documents on the selected axis
as can fit into the display area, positioning the first of these
documents adjacent to the left side of the display area. Other axes
visible in the display area remain fixed at their original
position. 5 Left Plurality of axes Collective direct navigation of
all grouped grouped into a single axes, the position of the display
area being group determined by the documents on the selected axis
and only making visible the first document reached and positioning
it adjacent to the left-hand border of the display area. 6 Right
Plurality of axes Collective direct navigation of all grouped
grouped into a single axes, the position of the display area being
group determined by the documents on the selected axis and only
making visible the first document reached and positioning it
adjacent to the right-hand border of the display area. 7 Left
Plurality of axes Collective direct navigation of all grouped
grouped into a single axes, the position of the display area being
group determined by the documents of the selected axis and making
visible as many of the next available documents as can fit into the
display area and positioning the first of these documents adjacent
to the right-hand border of the display area. 8 Right Plurality of
axes Collective direct navigation of all grouped grouped into a
single axes, the position of the display area being group
determined by the documents of the selected axis and making visible
as many of the next available documents as can fit into the display
area and positioning the first of these documents adjacent to the
left-hand border of the display area. 9 Up Plurality of Direct
navigation to the first available axis independent axes/ upward of
the original display area, axes grouped into a positioning it
adjacent to the top border of the single group display area. 10
Down Plurality of Direct navigation to the first available axis
independent axes/ downward of the original display area, axes
grouped into a positioning it adjacent to the bottom border of
single group the display area. 11 Up Plurality of Direct navigation
to the first available axis independent axes/ upward of the
original display area that will axes grouped into a display
documents in the re-positioned single group display area,
positioning it adjacent to the top border of the display area. 12
Down Plurality of Direct navigation to the first available axis
independent axes/ downward of the original display area that will
axes grouped into a display documents in the re-positioned single
group display area, positioning it adjacent to the bottom border of
the display area. 13 Up Plurality of Direct navigation to the next
available axes independent axes/ upward of the original display
area, displaying axes grouped into a as many of these axes as can
fit into the single group display area and positioning the first
available axis adjacent to the bottom border of the display area.
14 Down Plurality of Direct navigation to the next available axes
independent axes/ downward the original display area, displaying
axes grouped into a as many of these axes as can fit into the
single group display area and positioning the first available axis
adjacent to the top border of the display area. 15 Up Plurality of
Direct navigation to the farthermost axis independent axes/ upward
the original display area, positioning axes grouped into a the
farthermost axis adjacent to the top single group border of the
display area. 16 Down Plurality of Direct navigation to the
farthermost axis independent axes/ downward the original display
area, axes grouped into a positioning the farthermost axis adjacent
to single group the bottom border of the display area. 17 Up
Plurality of groups of Direct navigation to the first available
group of axes axes upward of the original display area, positioning
the first available axis of the next group adjacent to the bottom
border of the display area. 18 Down Plurality of groups of Direct
navigation to the first available group of axes axes downward of
the original display area, positioning the first available axis of
the next group adjacent to the top border of the display area. 19
Up Plurality of groups of Direct navigation to the first available
group of axes axes upward of the original display area, displaying
as many of the next available axes as can fit into the display area
and including the first one of the group, positioning it adjacent
to the bottom border of the display area. 20 Down Plurality of
groups of Direct navigation to the first available group of axes
axes downward of the original display area, displaying as many of
the next available axes as can fit into the display area and
including the first one of the group, positioning it adjacent to
the top border of the display area. 21 Up Plurality of groups of
Direct navigation to the first available group of axes axes upward
of the original display area, positioning the display area in the
middle of the group of axes. 22 Down Plurality of groups of Direct
navigation to the first available group of axes axes downward of
the original display area, positioning the display area in the
middle of the group of axes. 23 Up Plurality of groups of Direct
navigation to the first available group of axes axes upward of the
original display area, positioning the farthermost axis of the
group adjacent to the top border of the display area. 24 Down
Plurality of groups of Direct navigation to the first available
group of axes axes downward of the original display area,
positioning the farthermost axis of the group adjacent to the
bottom border of the display area. 25 Up/Down Plurality of groups
of Direct navigation to a group of axes not axis adjacent to the
first one if one or more groups of axes located in between is/are
collapsed. 26 Left/Right/ All axes layouts Upon direct navigation
to a document-less Up/Down portion of a hitherto non-displayed
axis, automatic repositioning of the display area on the first axis
containing documents in that direction.
[0123] Table 1 illustrates a significant number of possible
functions that are not all necessarily represented in the figures.
However, a person skilled in the art would understand how to apply
all the functions illustrated in table one in light of the
examples.
[0124] FIG. 13 illustrates a display area 314 together with the
surrounding group of axes 310 and documents 200 to better
illustrate the use of the arrows 342. As is illustrated in FIG. 13,
arrows 342 may also be disposed on subsidiary axes 294, in this
case vertical axes 292 `I` and `J`. In this case, the longitudinal
arrows 346 disposed on the vertical axes are disposed in the same
direction as the orthogonal arrow 350 but are embodied in different
colors to distinguish the two kinds of arrows 342. The orthogonal
arrow 350, which is centered in the display area 314, is embodied
in grey, and the longitudinal arrows 346 of axes 292 `I` and `J`
are respectively embodied in white and black. While the
longitudinal arrows 346 of axes 292 `I` and `J` serve the same
function, one is embodied in white (a contrasting color chosen
arbitrarily for illustrative purposes) to show that the nearest
document 200 located outside the display area 314 is located on
axis `I`.
[0125] As FIG. 13 illustrates, a great many arrows 342 can be
displayed in a display area 314. If desirable, the arrows 342 can
be selectively turned on or off by the user. This may be desirable,
for instance, if the user wishes to see the display area
temporarily without arrows 342 thereon or if he or she knows how
many axes 292 are comprised in his or her workspace 306 as well as
where the other axes 292 are located in relation to the display
area 314. Alternatively, displaying arrows 342 could optionally be
omitted if documents 200 appear in the portion of an axis 292 that
is visible in the display area 314. Otherwise, the arrows 342 can
be displayed after some time or be displayed upon hovering above a
predetermined region of the display area 314 with a pointing
device.
[0126] In FIG. 14 a single arrow 342, namely an orthogonal arrow
350, is illustrated because there is only one navigational
possibility, i.e. toward non-displayed axes 292 `A` to `E` located
above. No longitudinal arrow 342 is displayed on axis 292 `F`
because, as indicated by end marker 338, no more documents 200 are
located to the left of it on axis 292. Likewise, no longitudinal
arrow 346 is illustrated to the left of axis 292 `G` or `H` because
documents 200 are displayed in the display area 314 that a user can
select. However, arrows 342 could optionally be displayed on axes
292 on which documents 200 appear in the display area 314 so as to
indicate whether documents 200 are present outside the display area
314 and, if so, how many and in which direction. Indeed, even when
documents 200 are found within the display area 314, large empty
areas could exist outside the display area 314 that could make
further navigation uncertain, long, or difficult.
[0127] In FIG. 15, multiple arrows 342 are illustrated,
respectively labeled with a first letter corresponding to the axis
292 on which they appear and a second letter to corresponding to
the direction in which they point. Orthogonal arrows 350 are
illustrated at the top and bottom of the display area 314 since
axes 292 are located above and below the display area 314. Two
documents 200 and part of a third one are visible in the display
area 314 on axis 292 "D". Arrow 342 `d.sub.R`, which is located to
the right of the display area 314 on axis 292 `D`, is actuated, as
illustrated by a bold line type, either as a result of being
selected by a user or on the basis of a system instruction
indicating the desired movement of the display area 314. The
actuation of arrow 342 `d.sub.R` enables a rightward movement of
the display area 314 to reach the next available documents 200 on
the axis 292, as is illustrated in FIG. 16. An illustrative
translation arrow 358 illustrates this rightward movement.
Illustrative translation arrows 358 are used in FIG. 16 and
henceforth mainly to facilitate understanding in the context of the
present specification and do not necessarily appear on the user's
screen since they are located outside the display area 314.
However, translation arrows 358 may appear inside the display area
314 in some embodiments of the invention. As explained above, the
duration of the translation via direct navigation may be very short
if the system is configured to instantaneously display the next
documents 200 or axes 292 but may also be slower if the system is
configured to effect a progressive movement. This is a context in
which the display of a translation arrow 358 may be desirable.
Translation arrows 358 may, for instance, be displayed along one of
the display area's inner edges or in any other location within the
display area's 314 frame, pointing in the direction of the
translation, and may be displayed for a duration substantially
similar to that of the translation. Like the movement of the
display area 314, which may not be embodied to be necessarily
strictly linear, translation arrows 358 may not be embodied in a
strictly linear shape. They may be curved or angled, preferably
corresponding to the movement of the display area, but may also be
embodied in a shape differing substantially from the movement of
the display area, for instance if this is deemed desirable for
visualization purposes.
[0128] From FIG. 16, one can appreciate that the display area 314
has moved horizontally to the right to seek the next documents 200
on axis 292 `D`. These next documents 200.1, 200.2, 200.3, 200.4,
200.5 and 200.6 are positioned adjacent to the left-hand side of
the display area 314, corresponding to movement #8 in Table 1. In
this movement, the display area 314 moves completely away from the
documents 200 originally displayed within it to encompass as many
new documents 200 as possible. Due to graphical constraints linked
to schematization however, only part of the display area 314 is
represented in FIG. 16. This movement which brings as many new
documents 200 into the display area 314, could be configured to be
triggered by a specific type of selection, for instance a simple
selection of longitudinal arrow 346 `d.sub.R` via a click, tap,
point or other form of selection or via an options menu 354 (not
shown in FIG. 16). Movement #8 could also be configured to be
brought about by another type of selection which could, for
example, be part of a set of selection types assigned to various
possible movements of the display area 314 according to the level
of their complexity or to the distance sought from the original
display area 314. In this case, movement #8 could be considered the
furthest from the original display area 314 as opposed to movement
#6, for instance, which only seeks to bring the first of the next
documents 200 into the display 314. Accordingly, movement #6 could
be configured to be brought about by a simple selection and
movement #8 by a double selection (e.g. double click, double tap,
circling the desired arrow on a touch screen, etc.) of the
longitudinal arrow 346 "d.sub.R". Such sets of selection types can
be configured to automatically enable as many movements as are
possible in a given axis 292 configuration. Conversely, all
movements could be triggered by the same type of selection,
repeated in sequence, until the display area 314 reaches the
desired location.
[0129] One can appreciate that the same movement of the display
area 314 would hardly have been possible without the arrow 342
`d.sub.R` (not displayed anymore in FIG. 16) because without the
action triggered by the arrow 342 `d.sub.R` a user would have
needed to blindly guess the existence and position of the documents
200 located on the right side of axis 292 `D`. One can also
appreciate from FIG. 16, comparing with FIG. 15, that the
longitudinal arrow 346 "e.sub.L" located on the left-hand side of
the display area 314 on axes 292 `E` remains visible since no
documents 200 are visible on the portion of axis 292 `E` that is
shown in the display area 314 but some documents 200 are
nonetheless located further left of the display area 314.
Meanwhile, arrow 346 `d.sub.L` has disappeared since documents 200
are now visible on the portion of axis 292 `D` that is displayed in
the display area 314. For the same reasons, no arrow 346 `c.sub.L`
has appeared on axis 292 `C.` in FIG. 16.
[0130] FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate another embodiment where
orthogonal arrow 350 `e.sub.D`, once selected, enables a downward
movement of the display area 314, bringing the next axis 292 `F`
within the display area 314 (shown on FIG. 17). This movement of
the display area 314, embodied to bring only axis 292 `F` into the
display area 314, corresponds to movement #10 of Table 1. Like in
the case of horizontal movements described above, different
configurations are possible to enable, further to specific types of
selection, the various vertical movements the display area can
perform. Indeed, as is explained in Table 1, a display area 314 can
move vertically according to any of the following configurations:
to encompass only the first of the next axes 292 (movements #9 and
#10); to encompass as many of the next available axes 292 including
the first one (movements #13 and #14); to encompass as many axes
292 as can fit into the display area 314 including the farthermost
axis 292 in the group of axis 310 (movements #15 and #16); or, as
shall be explained in the following figures, to reach the next
available axis 292 which will display documents 200.
[0131] FIGS. 19 and 20 together illustrate an embodiment where the
display area 314 is automatically repositioned after an initial
movement where no documents 200 were found to display in the
display area 314. In FIG. 19, the longitudinal arrows 346 are
displayed on axes 292 `B` and `C`, being adapted to seek the
documents 200 located further in their respective directions,
outside the display area 314, and an orthogonal arrow 350 pointing
downwards to axes 292 `D` through `H`. No orthogonal arrow 350
`a.sub.U` is displayed on axis 292 `A` because there are no axes
292 above axis 292 `A`. Orthogonal arrow 350 `c.sub.D` is
activated, as illustrated by bold line type, for the downward
movement of the display area 314 towards axes 292 `D`, `E` and `F`.
This movement corresponds to movement #14 in Table 1. In this
movement, clicking on the orthogonal arrow 350 of FIG. 19 causes
the display area 314 to move downward to take in as many new axes
292 as possible including the first one downward of the original
display area 314.
[0132] Accordingly, FIG. 20 illustrates an embodiment where the
display area 314 of FIG. 19 makes an initial downward movement on
the array 288 to display axes 292 `D`, `E`, `F`. The display area
314 thus leaves axes 292 `A`, `B` and `C` in FIG. 19 to encompass
axes `D`, `E`, `F` in FIG. 20, illustrated in this Figure as 314.1.
This corresponds to movement #14 of Table 1. Following this initial
downward movement however, no documents 200 are found on any of the
newly displayed axes 292. Therefore, according to an embodiment of
the instant invention, the display area 314 is automatically
re-positioned so as to encompass at least one new document 200.
This automatic repositioning can be configured to take place in
response to fruitless orthogonal or longitudinal movements in
either direction. It corresponds to movement #26 in Table 1. In
FIG. 20, this is done by repositioning display area 314.1 further
downward over axes 292 `E`, `F` and `G` so that documents 200.1 and
200.2 are visible in display area 314.2, further identified by
bolder line type for illustrative purposes although this may likely
not be reflected in an embodiment of the invention. New arrows 342
then appear in the display area 314.2. As with the other
aforementioned features, automatic re-positioning of the display
area 314 can be turned on or off by the user. Similarly, the
feature could be set to prompt the display area 314.1 to move to
the document 200 closest to it, regardless of its longitudinal or
orthogonal direction in relation to the movement initially
requested.
[0133] FIG. 20 also illustrates another possible movement of a
display area 314. Rather than a two-step process, a user could move
the display area 314 illustrated in FIG. 19 directly to the
location of display area 314.2 of FIG. 20 by requesting, via a
predefined type of selection, a movement of the display area 314 to
the first available axis 292 that will display at least one
document 200 in the display area 314. This corresponds to movements
#12 and #11 (upward) of Table 1. Both of the movements described in
the context of FIG. 20 have their distinct usefulness and can be
configured concurrently. Movements #11 and #12 may be useful, for
instance, when the user does not have a stated need or desire to
see a particular axis 292. He or she can then prompt the system to
move the display area 314 to the next available axes 292 in the
direction of the arrow 342 selected. In another context, a user may
not use the previous function because, for instance, he or she is
convinced, albeit mistakenly, that a specific document 200 is
located on the next available axis 292. Upon relocating on the next
axis 292 however, after the user sees that no documents are located
thereon, the display area 314 is automatically repositioned to the
next axis 292 containing documents 200. Alternatively, a user may
not wish to reach the next axis 292 containing documents 200 in the
portion that will be displayed in the display area 314 because he
or she may want to reach a specific document 200 following a series
of movements. For instance, he or she may want to get to the next
available axis 292 in a given direction even though no documents
200 will appear in the display area because it will then allow him
or her to scroll left or right subsequently.
[0134] FIG. 21 is a synthesis of the various possible longitudinal
movement configurations of the display area 314. In FIG. 21, a
single group of axes 310 is configured but the same movements apply
to configurations presenting more than one group of axes 310. One
can appreciate that the longitudinal arrow 346 located on axes `C`
and `D` on the left of the display area 314.1 can be configured to
cause a shift to the left that either brings only the first of the
next documents 200 available in that direction into the display
area 314 (illustrated as display area 314.2) or as many documents
200 as is possible to fit into the display area 314 that are
located in that direction (illustrated as display area 314.3).
These movements respectively correspond to movement #5 and movement
#7 in Table 1.
[0135] FIG. 22 is a synthesis of the various possible orthogonal
movement configurations of the display area 314 in a single-axis
group 310 context. The display area 314 is initially placed in the
top-right corner of the group of axes 310, illustrated by display
area 314.1. In this initial position, display area 314.1
encompasses displayable portions of axes 292 `A`, `B` and `C`. The
first possible orthogonal movement is downward to axis 292 `D`
(movement #10 in Table 1). Following this movement, display area
314.2 encompasses axes 292 `B`, `C` and `D`. However, no documents
200 are displayed on axis 292 `D`. Automatic repositioning can be
enabled for a single document-less axis. An alternative movement
would therefore be to prompt the system to relocate the display
area 314.1 on the next axis 292 where displayable documents 200 are
located (movement #26 in Table 1). This would bring display area
314.1 to the location of display area 314.3. One could also prompt
the system to move display area 314.1 to the next few axes 292
available contiguous to the initial display area 314.1, positioning
the next available axis 292 adjacent to the top border of the
display area (movement #14). This corresponds to display area
314.4. Finally, a user could prompt the system to bring display
area 314.1 to the last, or furthest, available axis 292 located
downward of the initial display area 314.1 (movement #16). This
would thus bring display area 314.1 to where display area 314.5 is
located.
[0136] FIG. 23 illustrates the various possible movement
configurations in the context of multiple groups of axes 292. In
this figure, two distinct groups of axes 310 are illustrated; each
of the groups of axes 310 having its own time scale 318 and its own
time unit markers 334. Arrows 342 are disposed in the display are
240 in accordance with embodiments presented above and now applied
to a plurality of groups 310. When, such as in FIG. 23, more than
one group of axes 310 is configured and each group presents a
plurality of axes 292, multiple means of selection of the arrows
342 can be configured and used to trigger different movements of
the display area 314. The display area 314 is initially positioned
at the top of the first group of axes 310.1, illustrated by display
area 314.1. Based on a first means of selection, the display area
314.1 could move within group 310.1 from displaying axes 292 `A`,
`B` and `C` to displaying axes 292 `B`, `C` and `D`. This is
represented by display area 314.2 (movement #10 in Table 1).
[0137] Further to a second type of selection, the initial display
area 314.1 could also move from group of axes 310.1 to group 310.2.
A first possible movement would be to position it at the top of the
next available group, in this case group 310.2 (movement #18). This
is represented by display area 314.3. An alternative movement is to
relocate the display area 314 in the middle of group 310.2
(movement #22). This may be desirable so as to provide the user
with a hint about the number and location of all the axes 292 in
this new group of axes 310. This is illustrated in FIG. 23 by
display area 314.4. Finally, the display area 314 could be
relocated to the farthermost edge of group 310.2, encompassing axes
292 `F`, `G` and `H` (movement #24). These same movements could be
used to navigate between several groups of axes orthogonally
disposed in any direction in relation to the first one. Moreover,
moving the display area 314 over one or more groups of axes 310
directly to a specified group 310 is also contemplated to be within
the scope of this invention and could be carried out, for instance
via an options menu 354. All these movements may be configured in
advance or upon selection of the orthogonal arrow 350 via a
contextual menu 354 or another menu, for instance one located in a
menu bar or in a preferences menu.
[0138] Turning now to FIG. 24 where a plurality of juxtaposed
groups of axes 310 is illustrated. Each group 310 has its own time
scale 318 with its own time unit markers 334. Arrows 342 are
disposed in the display are 240 in accordance with embodiments
presented above and now applied to a plurality of groups 310. In
FIG. 24, groups 310.1 to 310.5 are composed of a single axis 292
and can therefore be scrolled while other axes 292 remain in their
original position. In this case, the functions ascribed to
longitudinal arrows 346 may to some extent duplicate the scrolling
of the axis 292 on which they are located since selecting a
longitudinal arrow 346 on an axis 292 that is not part of a group
of multiple axes 292 will not cause the display area 314 to move
over all the axes 292 displayed in it. Nevertheless, arrows 346 may
be useful in saving scrolling time in cases where documents 200 are
located very far apart on the axis 292.
[0139] In the case of orthogonal movements, the movement options
applicable to the display area 314 and the behavior thereof are
similar to those described in FIG. 23 although they cannot all be
illustrated in FIG. 24.
[0140] FIG. 25 illustrates another aspect of the invention whereby
rather than using the presence or absence of documents 200 or axes
292 in order to determine the position of axes 292 or the display
area 314, the system is configured to use document 200 relevance as
the basis for movements of the display area 314. Document relevance
may be specified by the system, such as if system is configured to
gather data on user preference, or may be specified by the user,
for instance on the basis of one or more document 200 attributes
296. For instance, in FIG. 25, the display area 314.1, as
originally positioned on the right of the axis 292, contains only
documents 200 featuring attributes 296 `B` and `C`. Should a user
wish to view documents 200 featuring attribute 296 `A`, he or she
could build a query 230, for instance via a menu bar or contextual
menu 354, requesting to be provided a series of data and actions to
the effect of, for instance: 1) knowing whether any document 200
featuring attribute 296 `A` is contained on the axis 292; 2) being
provided with arrows 342 indicating the number and direction of
such documents 200; and 3) directly navigating thereto. FIG. 25
illustrates such a movement to documents 200 featuring the
attribute 296 `A`. A query arrow 362 illustrates this leftward
movement. Unlike the illustrative translation arrow 358 illustrated
in preceding figures, the query arrow 362 represents a movement
based not on distance from the initial display area 314 or on the
number of documents 200 to be displayed but on a condition
involving the presence of a specific type of document 200
presenting certain characteristics that present meaning to the
user. Like other types of arrows, query arrows can be embodied is a
variety of shapes, sizes and colors as is appropriate to for both
aesthetical or visual differentiation considerations. While a
longitudinal movement is illustrated in FIG. 25, filtered
navigation based on one or more attributes 296 can be performed in
any axis configuration (linear, non-linear) or layout (single axis
292, group of axes 310, several groups 310), and in any
direction.
[0141] Like in previous figures, a plurality of configurations
exists to set the parameters for positioning the display area 314
in relation to the relevant document 200. Like in previous figures
also, these possible configurations can be made available to the
user in a variety of ways (contextual menu, menu bar, preferences
menu, number and type of selection, etc.)
[0142] The description and the drawings that are presented above
are meant to be illustrative of the present invention. They are not
meant to be limiting of the scope of the present invention.
Modifications to the embodiments described may be made without
departing from the present invention, the scope of which is defined
by the following claims:
* * * * *
References