Patent ID: 6459441
Filing Date: 2002-10-01
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A software control method comprising:Operationally associating a different graphical user interface (GUI) object with each of a plurality of functions of a software application, the plurality of functions being subdivided into a plurality of groups including a first group and a second group, each comprising at least two of the functions, and each one of the GUI objects comprising a first characteristic associating said one of the GUI objects with a one of the plurality of groups comprising the function associated with said one of the GUI objects, said first characteristic being common to each of the GUI objects in a same one of the plurality of groups, and, for each GUI object in the same one of the groups, a second characteristic that is different for each of the functions in the second group to distinguish the function associated with said one of the GUI objects from functions associated with other GUI objects in the same one of the groups, and each of the first and second characteristics of each GUI object being distinguishable by a user upon presentation of each GUI object; presenting ones of the GUI objects to a user as an interface enabling control of the software application; and wherein the first and second characteristics are non-spatial characteristics, functions in the first group have a first operationally related purpose, and functions in the second group have a second operationally related purpose different from said first related purpose.