(12) United States Patent
`Ording et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 7434,177 B1
`Oct. 7, 2008
`
`US007434177B1
`
`(54) USER INTERFACE FOR PROVIDING
`CONSOLIDATION AND ACCESS
`
`(75) Inventors: Bas Ording, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
`SR R S. CA
`y,
`s
`(US)
`(73) Assignee: Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
`-
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 1198 days.
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/467,074
`
`w K-1
`
`amping et al. ..
`
`- - -
`
`8/1996 Bowers et al. .............. 345,848
`5,546,529 A
`5,564,004 A 10/1996 Grossman et al.
`5,581,670 A 12, 1996 Bier et al. ................... 345,856
`3.
`A ck 12. Bis et al. tal.
`- - - i.
`5,623,588 A
`4/1997 Gould ..............
`... 345,787
`5,640.498 A
`6/1997 Chew ...............
`... 345,790
`5,657,049 A
`8/1997 Ludolph et al. ............. 345/856
`5,670,984. A * 9/1997 Robertson et al. ........... 345/427
`5,678,034 A 10/1997 Chew ..................
`... 345,520
`5,689.287 A * 1 1/1997 Mackinlay et al.
`... 345,427
`5,736,974 A * 4/1998 Selker ..............
`... 345,862
`5,745,096 A
`4/1998 Ludolph et al. ............. 345,764
`(Continued)
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`Dec. 20, 1999
`
`(22) Filed:
`(51) Int. Cl.
`(2006.01)
`G06F 3/00
`(2006.01)
`G06F 3/4
`(2006.01)
`G09G 5/08
`(52) U.S. Cl. ....................... 715/862; 715/779,715/860,
`715/977; 34.5/157
`(58) Field of Classification Search ................. 345/765,
`345/779, 810, 835, 840, 856, 859, 860, 861,
`345/862, 977; 715/765, 779, 810, 835, 840,
`715/856, 860, 861, 862, 977
`See application file for complete search history.
`References Cited
`
`(56)
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`1/1991 Muller ....................... 345,856
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`6, 1991 Wexelblat et al. ........... 345,853
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`9, 1992 Hullot et al. ................ 345,790
`5,146,556 A
`5,155,806 A 10, 1992 Hoeber et al. ............... 345,711
`5,276,785 A
`1/1994 Mackinlay et al. .......... 345/427
`5,295,243 A
`3, 1994 Robertson et al. ........... 345,848
`5,339,390 A
`8, 1994 Robertson et al. ........... 345,782
`5,359,703 A 10, 1994 Robertson et al. ........... 345/419
`5,459,488 A 10/1995 Geiser ........................ 345,173
`
`EP
`
`07 27730
`8, 1996
`(Continued)
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`MST Carpendale etal, “Distortion Viewing Techniques for 3-Dimen
`sional Data”, 1996, IEEE, pp. 46-53.*
`(Continued)
`Primary Examiner—X. L. Bautista
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Buchanan Ingersoll Rooney
`PC
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`Methods and systems for providing graphical user interfaces
`are described. To provide greater access and consolidation to
`frequently used items in the graphical user interface, a userbar
`is established which includes a plurality of item representa
`tions. To permit a greater number of items to reside in the
`userbar, a magnification function can be provided which mag
`nifies items within the userbar when they are proximate the
`cursor associated with the graphical user interface.
`
`129 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets
`
`O Fle Edit Image layer Select Filter View Window (3
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`
`
`
`
`UFO Newsletter
`
`TIFF
`
`Atomic Sonic
`
`
`
`Clock
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`6.30
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`s
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`
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`640
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`US 7,434,177 B1
`Page 2
`
`12/2002 Mernyk et al.
`6,496.206 B1
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`O 869 425 A2
`7, 1998
`10 269022
`10, 1998
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`5,745,110 A
`4, 1998 Ertemalp .................... 345,764
`5,748,927 A
`5/1998 Stein et al. .................. 345,711
`5,757,371 A
`5, 1998 Oran et al. ...
`... 345,779
`5,786,820 A
`7, 1998 Robertson ................... 345,853
`5,812,111 A
`9/1998 Fuji et al. ..................... 345,24
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`5,824,933 A 10, 1998 Gabriel ........................ 84.609
`Ben Shneiderman, “Designing the User Interface', Mar. 1998,
`5,825.348 A 10/1998 Ludolph et al. ............. 345,672
`Addison Wesley Longman Inc.. Third edition, pp. 462-465, 534
`5,825,357 A * 10/1998 Malamud et al. ............ 345,779
`539.
`g&
`s
`5,914,716 A
`6/1999 Rubin et al. ................ 345,779 Bay, Bleson "Fishes Menu". 19, University of May.
`5,920,316 A ck
`7, 1999 Oran et al. .....
`... 345,779
`Ray Smith et al., “Relating Distortion to Performance in Distortion
`5,943,679 A
`8, 1999 Niles et al........... 707/514
`Oriented Displays”, 1996, Gippsland School of Computing an Infor
`5,956,035 A
`9, 1999 Sciammarella et al. ...... 345,815
`mation Technology, Monash University, pp. 6-11.*
`5,973,694. A * 10/1999 Steele et al. ......
`... 345,835
`MST Carpendale et al. “Extending Distortion Viewing from 2D to
`6,073,036 A * 6/2000 Heikkinen et al.
`... 379,354
`3D". Jul/Aug. 1997. Simon Fraser University, pp. 42-51.*
`6,169,538 B1
`1/2001 Nowlan et al. ....
`... 345,168
`Declaration of Bas Ording with Exhibits A-C, dated Nov. 28, 2001.
`6.256,649 B1* 7/2001 Mackinlay et al.
`... TO7 503
`Alan Simpson, “Windows 95 Uncut'. Chapter 21, pp. 386-402, IDG
`6,310,633 B1 * 10/2001 Graham .................. 345,835 x
`Books Worldwide, Inc., Foster City, CA, Aug. 1995.
`6,469,722 B1
`10/2002 Kinoe et al.
`* cited by examiner
`
`EP
`JP
`
`
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 7, 2008
`
`Sheet 1 of 6
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`US 7434,177 B1
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`FILE EDIT VIEW SPECIAL COLOR
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`5
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`DOCUMENT 1
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`57-
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`DOCUMENT 2
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`s
`58
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`DOCUMENT 3
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`DOCUMENT 4
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`FIG. 1A (PRIOR ART)
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`FILE EDIT VIEW SPECIAL COLOR
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`75 20
`|
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`-56
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`DOCUMENT 1
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`41
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`2.
`MY DISK 50
`DOCUMENT S
`
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`FIG 1B (PRIOR ART)
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`U.S. Patent
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`Oct. 7, 2008
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`Sheet 2 of 6
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`US 7434,177 B1
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`2OO
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`FIG. 3 (PRIOR ART)
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`U.S. Patent
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`Oct. 7, 2008
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`Sheet 3 of 6
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`US 7434,177 B1
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`
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`4.
`Of
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`PROCESSOR
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`4O 5
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`407
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`4.08
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`FIG. 4
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`512
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`U.S. Patent
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`[]
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`Gjil
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`U.S. Patent
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`Oct. 7, 2008
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`Sheet 5 of 6
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`US 7434,177 B1
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`Dì
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`U.S. Patent
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`Oct. 7, 2008
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`Sheet 6 of 6
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`US 7434,177 B1
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`FIG. 8C
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`

`1.
`USER INTERFACE FOR PROVIDING
`CONSOLIDATION AND ACCESS
`
`US 7,434,177 B1
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`10
`
`The present invention relates generally to graphical user
`interfaces for computer systems. More particularly, the
`present invention relates to systems and methods for interfac
`ing applications and operating systems which provide for
`flexible customization of graphical user interfaces.
`The evolution of the computer industry is unparalleled in
`its rate of growth and complexity. Personal computers, for
`example, which began as little more than feeble calculators
`with limited memory, tape-driven input and monochrome
`displays are now able to tackle almost any data processing 15
`task. While this meteoric increase in power was almost suf
`ficient to satisfy the demand of application designers and end
`users alike, the corresponding increase in complexity created
`an ease-of-use problem which the industry was somewhat
`slower in solving. Thus, designers were faced with a new 20
`challenge: to harness this computing power in a form usable
`by even those with relatively little computer training to
`Smooth the transition of other industries into a computer
`based information paradigm.
`As a result, in the early to mid-1980s many new I/O 25
`philosophies, such as “user friendly”, “WYSIWYG' and
`“menu driven” came to the forefront of the industry. These
`concepts are particularly applicable to microcomputers, also
`known as personal computers, which are intended to appeal to
`a broad audience of computer users, including those who 30
`previously feared and mistrusted computers. An important
`aspect of computers which employ these concepts was, and
`continues to be, the interface which allows the user to input
`commands and data and receive results, which is commonly
`referred to as a graphical user interface (GUI).
`The success of this type of interface is evident from the
`number of companies which have emulated the desktop envi
`ronment. Even Successful concepts, however, must continu
`ally be improved in order to keep pace with the rapid growth
`in this industry. The advent of multimedia, especially CD- 40
`ROM devices, has provided vast quantities of secondary stor
`age which have been used to provide video capabilities, e.g.,
`live animation and video clips, as regular components of
`application displays. With these and other new resources at
`their disposal, application designers and users alike, demand 45
`additional functionality and greaterease of use from the desk
`top environment.
`To consider the challenges associated with continuing GUI
`design, consider as an example of a GUI which has evolved
`over time the FinderTM user interface and information man- 50
`agement system (simply "FinderTM user interface' hereafter)
`which runs on the Apple MacintoshTM computer. The
`FinderTM user interface is based on the aforedescribed display
`principles using “windows' and "icons' to help manage com
`puter information. The main or root window is called the 55
`"desktop' area, or more generally the primary display region.
`The desktop, or primary display region, is always open (dis
`played on the screen with its contents accessible or at least
`partially accessible), and takes up Substantially the full dis
`play screen area when other windows are not open. The 60
`desktop is usually visible in the background when other win
`dows are open.
`Existing inside any particular window, including the desk
`top itself, are other information identifiers called "icons. An
`icon is a screen identifier associated with a particular collec- 65
`tion of computer information. Typically an icon may repre
`sent a “file' which is either a collection of data or a program
`
`35
`
`2
`or program segment. An icon also may represent the closed
`state of a window. Icons are graphic images displayed on the
`computer Screen and usually correspond to the type of infor
`mation stored within the file. Icons give the user access to the
`particular file represented by the graphic image when the icon
`is visible. The use of icons and windows is well known in the
`art.
`The “file' is the information packet that the user wishes to
`utilize, create or modify; each particular file has an associated
`name identifying the file. Therefore, any given file may be
`located in the information management system by knowing a
`file name, an iconographic representation associated with the
`name, or a window locator name. All information (files) situ
`ated within a particular window are identified with that par
`ticular window’s own identification location within the com
`puter information management system. Therefore, any
`particular file information can be retrieved knowing its par
`ticular identification name and its window name. Accord
`ingly, the resulting screen display utilizing the FinderTM user
`interface may be broken down into multiple windows and
`graphic icons.
`Another important element of this (and other) conventional
`user interfaces is a screen cursor. The cursor allows direct user
`control over the user interface as described above. The
`FinderTM user interface is complemented with a “mouse' and
`a corresponding pointer which makes up the cursor control
`device. The user has control over the mouse, which is an
`electro-mechanical device that translates two-dimensional
`mouse movement into a two-dimensional screen position
`movement represented by, for example, a pointer or arrow
`head. The user contacts and directs the mouse. When the
`mouse is moved freely on a table top, then the pointer on the
`screen will move in a similar and proportional manner. The
`mouse also contains one or more push buttons which can be
`used to effectuate control over the cursor pointer by selecting
`or deselecting specific icons or other display tools. It is said
`that the cursor pointer is “activated when the mouse button is
`depressed and the pointer remains active until the button is
`released. Pointer activation may also be initiated by
`sequences of mouse button presses, such as a "double click”
`interaction which involves rapidly pressing the mouse button
`press twice in sequence.
`Access to information in a conventional user interface sys
`tem for a display management system is therefore based on
`windows, icons and pointer movement of the cursor. To
`access a file, the cursor pointer is placed on the visible icon or
`visible file name and the pointer is activated. A closed window
`may be represented by an icon or a window name. A window
`opens when the pointer of the cursor rests on the visible icon
`or visible name representing the closed state of the window
`and the pointer is activated. Within the open window, files
`may be displayed by icon or by name. An open window, of
`various geometries, may be rectangular and will exist within
`the display area of the main viewing screen on the desktop.
`Multiple windows may be open at one time, typically with the
`most foreground window corresponding to the most recently
`opened window and the background windows representing
`those opened previously. In the organization scheme
`described, it is appreciated that files are nested within win
`dows and windows can be nested within other windows; the
`main or root window being the desktop area, or primary
`display region.
`During a session using a window-based information sys
`tem, many windows can be open at one time with many
`displayed icons within. Windows may overlap and partially,
`or entirely, hide other windows or icons. What results is that
`the particular information the user wants to obtain may be
`
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`US 7,434,177 B1
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`5
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`hidden behind several layers of windows and may be difficult
`to access; when an icon is hidden by another window it is
`temporarily not accessible. This has been referred to in the
`industry as the “window overlap' problem. There are several
`instances where window overlap problems routinely arise in
`the usage of conventional user interfaces. A few of the more
`troublesome scenarios are described below.
`In order to complete a task, often the user must access a
`single icon within an open window that exists in the back
`ground, that is, covered or partially covered by other win
`dows. The desired icon (“target' icon) within the window is
`no longer visible, and therefore not presently accessible. The
`overlapping windows or those that lay "on top of the target
`window must be closed or moved away (“shuffled”) so that
`the target window and target icon are visible and thus acces
`sible. Window shuffling is time consuming, confusing and
`often very tedious for the user. If multiple routine icons need
`to be systematically accessed in sequence then multiple win
`dow shuffling procedures may be required.
`Another window overlap problem plaguing conventional
`user interfaces arises when the user requires two icons to
`complete a task and each icon is within a different window.
`The resulting screen display may contain several open win
`dows from past tasks that may clutter the screen display with
`unwanted information. This information may obscure the
`desired windows and icons. In many instances the overlap
`ping windows are not unwanted, but hold the first of the
`desired icons in displayable view. In order to access the sec
`ond desired icon, the user may close the overlapping window
`that holds the first icon, then gain access to the second desired
`icon. Since the previously closed window holds the first
`desired icon it must be opened again so that the present task
`can be completed. Again, this process is often time consum
`ing and confusing for the user—especially when the hidden
`second icon is one that is routinely required. In this case the
`user is engaged in constant “window shuffling as described
`above.
`Not surprisingly, these types of problems have received a
`significant amount of attention in recent years. Several user
`interface products have been developed which provide differ
`ent Solutions to the manner in which frequently used and
`currently active desktop objects are handled by the GUI. For
`example, consider the conventional GUI depicted in FIGS.
`1(a) and 1(b). Therein, a “Desk Drawer concept is imple
`mented to provide selectively hideable access to frequently
`used desktop objects. FIG. 1(a) depicts the screen 75 having
`a desktop area 20 with the Desk Drawer closed, wherein only
`the handle 10 of the Desk Drawer is visible. An open window
`60 containing several document icons 55-58 which are, there
`fore, accessible for operations by the user via cursor 50. The
`window 60 also includes a window title field 65 and window
`select region 74.
`When activated, e.g., by placing cursor 50 over handle 10,
`the Desk Drawer “opens’ to reveal its contents. In this case,
`icons 41, 42, 51 and 59 become visible. Now that these icons
`are visible, they too are available for manipulation by the user
`via cursor 50. Thus, the Desk Drawer concept provides a
`mechanism for placing frequently used icons in an out of the
`way, yet easily accessible location. The interested reader is
`directed to U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,049, entitled “Desk Drawer
`User Interface” for a more in depth discussion of this tech
`nique, the disclosure of which is incorporated hereby refer
`CCC.
`Another conventional GUI, i.e., that provided with the
`WINDOWS 95 Operating System, tackles the problem of
`desktop clutter by the provision of a taskbar to organize
`concurrently running applications as shown in FIG. 2.
`
`4
`Therein, the desktop window 200 includes a plurality of icons
`210 as well as the taskbar 220. The icons 210 provide “short
`cuts to applications or documents which can be invoked,
`e.g., by “double-clicking on the desired icon. The taskbar
`220 identifies windows which are active including both those
`which are maximized and “minimized', i.e., are not currently
`displayed on the desktop 200. Each such active application is
`represented on the taskbar 220 by a corresponding button,
`which typically has an iconic representation of the applica
`tion as well as Some descriptive text. As new applications are
`launched, representative buttons will be added to the taskbar
`220, from left to right. Each existing button will be scaled in
`length to permit the taskbar to accommodate new buttons. To
`“maximize an application residing on the taskbar 220, the
`user can single click on the representative button. Another
`feature sometimes seen in this type of conventional GUI are
`application bars, e.g., appbar 230. Appbar 230 typically
`includes a number of smaller buttons (relative to the length of
`buttons on the taskbar when only a few applications are resi
`dent there), which buttons can be depressed to launch a cur
`rently inactive application.
`This conventional GUI, however, suffers from the draw
`backs of having a rather rigidly structured layout (e.g., the
`user cannot select or organize the order of the buttons on the
`taskbar 220) and from difficulties in handling the representa
`tion of a large number of applications. As more buttons are
`added to the taskbar 220, each individual button becomes
`smaller. When, for example, between 20-30 applications have
`been launched and minimized, the taskbar 220 begins to add
`new buttons as a second layer rather than continuing the line
`of buttons illustrated in FIG. 2. To reach the second layer, the
`user must toggle the taskbar 220, i.e., not all of the buttons are
`visible simultaneously on the GUI. As the power of comput
`ers and number of interesting applications, documents and
`other objects increases, it is anticipated that users will wish to
`have ready access to a growing number of objects and, there
`fore, will find the approach depicted in FIG. 2 to be annoying
`and ineffective.
`Another conventional GUI which attempts to solve this
`particular problem can be found in the NeXTTM Operating
`System. As illustrated in FIG.3, and further described in U.S.
`Pat. No. 5,146,556, entitled “System and Method for Manag
`ing Graphic Images” (the disclosure of which is also
`expressly incorporated hereby reference), this GUI provides
`an application “dock'300 including a column of icons on the
`right side of the screen 310. The dock 300 is described as
`providing a visible mechanism for starting applications. Icons
`can be added and deleted to the application dock 300 by
`dragging them into a desired location proximate the docking
`area, at which time the operating system will integrate them
`into the dock 300.
`Although somewhat more flexible in terms of allowing the
`user to organize its content than the taskbar/appbar of FIG. 2,
`the application dock 300 still suffers from its limitations in
`terms of the number of applications which can be docked at
`any one time. The icons in the dock are of a fixed size and,
`according to the user manual, are therefore limited to a maxi
`mum of 13 which can be included in the dock at any one time.
`Thus, it can be seen that there remains a need in the art to
`design a GUI which provides the user with a larger degree of
`flexibility in terms of both the layout of the tool which man
`ages these types of frequently used objects, as well as permit
`ting a larger number of Such objects to be managed and
`simultaneously displayed.
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`US 7,434,177 B1
`
`5
`SUMMARY
`
`According to exemplary embodiments of the present
`invention, these and other drawbacks and difficulties of con
`ventional GUIs are overcome by providing a simple, consoli
`dated and easily extensible facility for handling, for example,
`frequently used objects. For example, user interfaces accord
`ing to the present invention provide a tool (referred to herein
`as the “userbar”) which consolidates features including:
`launching and managing running applications; opening and
`managing documents and their associated windows; access
`ing control strip functionality; navigation to all types of uni
`form resource locators (URLs); and status and notification on
`running processes.
`As mentioned above, existing tools of this type. Such as
`taskbars and docks, are constrained in one or more of at least
`two ways: having a rigidly structured layout and being limited
`in the number of objects that they can represent in the avail
`able screen space. With respect to layout, the userbar accord
`ing to the present invention is designed so that the organiza
`tion of the userbaris in the hands of the user. For example, the
`tiles that represent the individual items in the userbar can be
`reorganized at will. There is virtually no structure enforced on
`the user, with the exception of two “bookends' which define
`boundaries of the facility.
`With respect to Screen space, the userbar according to the
`present invention provides a method for scaling the entire
`contents of the object handling facility such that literally
`upwards of fifty objects (or more) can be accommodated in a
`single, visible structure. As the objects handled by the userbar
`become rather Small, e.g., due to the size set by the user or due
`to a large number of objects being added thereto, it naturally
`becomes more difficult to distinguish between different tiles.
`Accordingly, exemplary embodiments of the present inven
`tion provide a magnification effect, also referred to herein as
`a fisheye effect, for browsing the scaled contents of the user
`bar. This mechanism allows specified contents of the userbar,
`in particular minimized windows, to be presented at a larger
`size and in greater detail and legibility than other objects in
`the userbar. This feature permits, among other things, the
`individual tiles of the tool to retain their legibility and pre
`vents the user interaction with the tool from being compro
`mised by the scaled contents.
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`45
`
`These and other objects, features and advantages of the
`present invention will be readily understood by those skilled
`in the art by reading the following detailed description in
`conjunction with the drawings, in which:
`FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) depict a first, conventional user inter
`face;
`FIG. 2 depicts a second, conventional user interface which
`employs a taskbar and an appbar to handle objects;
`FIG. 3 depicts a third, conventional user interface which
`employs an application dock;
`FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary system in which
`the present invention can be implemented;
`FIG. 5 is an exemplary computer system which may con
`tain the functional blocks of FIG. 4 and in which the present
`invention can be implemented;
`FIG. 6 illustrates a user interface including a userbar
`according to an exemplary embodiment of the present inven
`tion;
`FIG. 7 depicts the user interface of FIG. 6 with the cursor
`disposed at another location within the userbar region on the
`screen; and
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`6
`FIGS. 8(a)-8(d) describe an exemplary magnification
`effect mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment of
`the present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`In the following description, for purposes of explanation
`and not limitation, specific details are set forth, Such as par
`ticular circuits, circuit components, techniques, etc. in order
`to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention.
`However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the
`present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that
`depart from these specific details. In other instances, detailed
`descriptions of well-known methods, devices, and circuits are
`omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present
`invention.
`Exemplary embodiments of the present invention can be
`implemented on an Apple MacintoshTM computer system
`using the FinderTM user interface. However, it will be readily
`appreciated by those skilled in the art that user interfaces and
`elements of user interfaces according to the present invention
`can be used in combination with any system having a proces
`sor and a display. In general. Such computer systems, as
`illustrated in block diagram form by FIG. 4, comprise a bus
`400 for communicating information, a processor 401 coupled
`with the bus for processing information and instructions, a
`random access memory 402 coupled with the bus 400 for
`storing information and instructions for the processor 401, a
`read only memory 403 coupled with the bus 400 for storing
`static information and instructions for the processor 401, a
`data storage device 404 Such as a magnetic disk and disk drive
`or CD ROM drive coupled with the bus 400 for storing infor
`mation and instructions, a display device 405 coupled to the
`bus 400 for displaying information to the computer user, an
`alphanumeric input device 406 including alphanumeric and
`function keys coupled to the bus 400 for communicating
`information and command selections to the processor 401, a
`cursor control device 407 coupled to the bus for communi
`cating information and command selections to the processor
`401, and a signal generating device 408 coupled to the bus
`400 for communicating command selections to the processor
`4.01.
`The display device 405 utilized with the computer system
`and the present invention may be a liquid crystal device,
`cathode ray tube, or other display device suitable for creating
`images and alphanumeric characters (and ideographic char
`acter sets) recognizable to the user. The cursor control device
`407 allows the computer user to dynamically signal the two
`dimensional movement of a visible symbol (cursor) on a
`display screen of the display device 405. Many implementa
`tions of the cursor control device are known in the art includ
`ing a trackball, mouse, joystick or special keys on the alpha
`numeric input device 406 capable of signaling movement of a
`given direction or manner of displacement. It is to be appre
`ciated that the cursor also may be directed and/or activated via
`input from the keyboard using special keys and key sequence
`commands. Alternatively, the cursor may be directed and/or
`activated via input from a number of specially adapted cursor
`directing devices, including those uniquely developed for the
`disabled. In the discussions regarding cursor movement and/
`or activation within the preferred embodiment, it is to be
`assumed that the input cursor directing device or pushbutton
`may consist any of those described above and specifically is
`not limited to the mouse cursor device.
`FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary computer system that in
`which the present invention can be implemented. It will be
`appreciated that this computer system is one of many com
`
`Facebook's Exhibit No. 1003
`011
`
`

`

`US 7,434,177 B1
`
`7
`puter systems that may can include the present invention.
`Therein, a keyboard 500 with keys 502 and keypad 504 is
`attached to the computer 506 along with a mouse device 508
`and mouse pushbutton(s) 510 for controlling the cursor. The
`mouse device 508 and push button 510 make up a cursor
`control device 407. It will be appreciated that many other
`devices may be used as the cursor control device 407, for
`instance the keyboard 500 may be substituted for the mouse
`device 508 and button(s) 510 as just discussed above. The
`computer 506 also typically contains a one or more media
`drives 511 (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk or CD ROM) and a
`display screen 512.
`Having described exemplary computer systems in which
`user interfaces according to the present invention can be
`implemented, the discussion now turns to a description of
`Such user interfaces. According to exemplary embodiments
`of the present invention, a userbar is provided to the user
`interface which solves many of the problems described above
`with respect to conventional user interface tools and facilities
`by providing extensibility, scalability and flexibility which
`are lacking in prior systems.
`Userbar Contents
`An example of the userbar according to the present inven
`tion can be seen in the user interface of FIG. 6. Other
`examples are seen in subsequent figures which will be further
`described below. Therein, the userbar 600 includes a number
`(in this example sixteen) of tiles aligned along a bottom
`portion of a user interface, the magnification level of which
`varies based on the position of the cursor 610 in a manner to
`be described below in the section entitled “Userbar Appear
`ance’. The contents of the userbar 600 may represent a user
`selected (or alternatively, an application or operating system
`selected) set of “super-favorite' items, i.e., items that the user
`has determined deserve greater ease-of-access than their
`broader collection of favorite items, which could be numer
`ous. The straightforward configuration mechanism of the
`userbar 600 according to the present invention facilitates
`frequent changes to its contents, which contents are based on
`a user's preferences and will, therefore, naturally vary from
`one user to the next. Any type of item or object may be
`handled by the userbar 600, however a few examples, includ
`ing applications, document files and windows will now be
`described in order to illustrate how exemplary userbars
`according to the present invention may represent and manipu
`late various items.
`Applications can be presented on the userbar 600 by, for
`example, one of two methods. First, the application's icon can
`be added to the userbar 600 as a permanent fixture, e.g., for
`most frequently launched applications. Alternatively, the
`application may not be a permanent fixture of the userbar 600,
`but may be added thereto because it is currently running. Such
`non-permanent applications may be represented in the user
`bar 600 only while the application remains running and may
`be removed automatically by the GUI when the application is
`terminated. Faceless background applications, e.g., virus pro
`tection applications, if not launched from the userbar 600,
`need not be represented on the userbar 600 while they are
`running. Similarly, application Sub-processes, such as a
`Finder copy, need not appear as a separate application tile on
`the userbar 600.
`Document files can also be placed on the userbar 600. This
`includes, for example, editable, n