Method of inputting data entries of a service in one continuous stroke

A computer-implemented method for inputting data entries of a service for use with a portable electronic device having a touch screen. By detecting a continuous stroke moving on the touch screen to select desired items among multiple levels of menus which are displayed in a sequence for an object targeting to a service, the data entries according to the selected items are committed for the object when the continuous stroke ends. In addition, multiple items can be selected in one level of menu by using a pre-defined stroke indication in the continuous stroke. Furthermore, the selected items can be corrected by re-stroking back to the corresponding levels of menus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates in general to a computer-implemented method for inputting data entries of a service and, in particular, to a method for inputting data entries of a service for use with a portable electronic device having a touch screen.

2. Description of the Prior Art

As portable electronic devices become more and more popular and widely used, a variety of services, such as personal information management (PIM), social utilities, Web search, navigation and so on, are developed for device users. Development in portable devices continues to strive towards user interfaces which are user-friendly and suitable for the variety of services, because an efficient, user-friendly interface is vital for user acceptance of any consumer product.

For a portable device, one criterion by which the user interface is evaluated is the ease with which data entries may be inputted into the services themselves. One of the conventional implementations for users to input data entries is through a complex menu. Users have to get into each of the menu items to set the corresponding data contents by different graphic user interfaces (GUIs) or even by linking into another complex menu.

For example, if users would like to create an event in a calendar service, a list of menu items is provided to users. Users have to select one of the items for inputting topic information which leads users to a text input GUI. After text input finished, users have to select another one of the items for setting a date which leads users to a calendar GUI. After the desired date is set, users need to repeat similar actions for other menu items, until all the necessary data entries for the calendar event are set well.

Another implementation is to flatten the complex menu to generate a plurality of data entry fields and display them on a plurality of screen areas with buttons, text input GUIs and menus. In a typical point-and-touch user interface, a particular data entry field is chosen to receive corresponding data entries by stroking on a screen area corresponding to the particular data entry field. Then the corresponding data entries are entered or set in the respective screen area. A similar procedure is followed to correct or update the content in a particular data entry field wherein the user strokes on the corresponding screen area and corrects or updates the data within the screen area for that particular field.

In summary, the implementations mentioned above usually require a large quantity of complex user strokes and lead to an uncomfortable user experience. Accordingly, what is needed is a method to make inputting data entries of a service more intuitive and efficient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a method for inputting data entries of a service for use with a portable electronic device having a touch screen.

One embodiment in the present invention is to detect a continuous stroke moving on the touch screen to select desired items among multiple levels of menus which are provided for an object targeting to a service. The multiple levels of menus can be displayed sequentially wherein the items of next level of menu depend on to the stroked items of current level of menu. The continuous stroke can be initiated by dragging the object targeting to the service. Once the continuous stroke ends, the data entries according to the selected items are committed for the object targeting to the service.

In one embodiment, multiple items can be selected in one level of menu by using a pre-defined stroke indication in the continuous stroke. In addition, the selected items can be corrected by re-stroking back to the corresponding levels of menus.

In one embodiment, if the multiple levels of menus which are provided for an object targeting to the service cannot be display in a single page on the touch screen, an option is provided for users to use the continuous stroke to trigger additional menus shown in another page and continue the stroke to complete inputting data entries of the service.

Other objects, technical contents, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The detailed explanation of the present invention is described as following. The described preferred embodiments are presented for purposes of illustrations and description, and they are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

The invention illustrates a method for inputting data entries of a service for use with a portable electronic device having a touch screen.FIG. 1shows a schematic flow diagram for the method. Initially, an object is provided targeting to a service (step10). In one embodiment, the object can be a text content. In another embodiment, the object can be a media file, such as a music file, a still image or a video clip.

Next, as shown in step11, in one embodiment a plurality of menus for the object is displayed in a screen area on the touch screen in a sequence with multiple levels in one shot. In another embodiment, by detecting the continuous stroke over the screen area, each menu item stroked at current level of the plurality of menus decides the display of the corresponding next level of plurality menus for data entry respectively. Therefore, the plurality of menus are shown sequentially according to a plurality of movements in a continuous stroke over the screen area. Furthermore, any selected item of each stroked menu is the last item stroked before the continuous stroke leaves the menu (step12).

Once the continuous stroke ends, the corresponding data entries according to the selected items for the object along with the object itself are committed (step13). Thus inputting data entries of the service is completed.

FIG. 2AtoFIG. 2Fdepict an example to further explain the flow diagram mentioned above. Please refer toFIG. 2A. An object which is a text content210targeting to a calendar service is entered through a soft keyboard220. Continuing referring toFIG. 2B, in one embodiment, the text content210is dragged toward to the soft keyboard220through a stroke with movement240and the soft keyboard220is then replaced by a service menu230. Since the text content210is targeting for a calendar service, the movement240directs to the item231representing a calendar service.

In another embodiment, service menu230can be shown right after finishing the inputting of the text content. Therefore the continuous stroke can start directly from the calendar item in the service menu without the movement240.

Next, as shown inFIG. 2C, a menu250which comprises two sub-menus for date setting of the calendar service is triggered. The stroke continues through movements241,242and243to select a date as June 14th. In addition, referring toFIG. 2D, a menu260which comprises three sub-menus for time setting of the calendar service is triggered following the menu250. Then the stroke continues through movements244,245and246to select a time as 6:45 am.

Following menu260, a menu270with a name list is shown as inFIG. 2Efor setting an attendee of the calendar service and the movement246directs to a name “Steve” in the name list. If the continuous stroke ends with movement246, the text content, the set date, the set time and the attendee will be committed as data entries of the calendar service.

On the other hand,FIG. 2Fdemonstrates a way to change the selections made before ending the continuous stroke. Through the movement247,248and249which directs back to the time setting menu, the original selection will be deselected and replaced by the updated time 11:55 pm. In other words, if the continuous stroke ends with movement249, the text content, the set date, the updated time and the attendee will be committed as data entries of the calendar service.

In some menus, such as the attendee setting menu, a multiple selection mechanism is necessary. To fulfill the need, a pre-defined gesture through the continuous stroke can be applied on the items to be selected multiply.FIG. 3AandFIG. 3Bdepicts two embodiments for this purpose.

In one embodiment as shown inFIG. 3A, if “Steve”, “Ray” and “Jason” are all to be added into a attendee list, following movement246, a pre-defined route of movement310, such as a circle, is applied on item “Steve”. Then the stroke continues with movement311and a circle movement312applied on item “Ray”. Finally, the stroke continues with movement313and a circle movement314applied on item “Jason”. Please note that, if “Jason” is the last item to be selected for the attendee list, the circle movement314is optional. This is because the item “Jason” will be selected when the continuous stroke leaves menu270, even without the circle movement314. Consequently, the text content, the set date, the set time and the attendee list will be committed as data entries of the calendar service, if the continuous stroke ends with movement313or movement314.

In another embodiment as shown inFIG. 3B, following movement246, a pressing320is applied on item “Steve”. Then the stroke continues with movement321with a pressing322applied on item “Ray”. Finally, the stroke continues with movement323with a pressing324applied on an item “Jason”. Please note that, if “Jason” is the last item to be selected for the attendee list, the pressing324is optional, due to the same reason described in the previous embodiment. Consequently, the text content, the set date, the set time and the attendee list will be committed as data entries of the calendar service, if the continuous stroke ends with movement323or movement324.

Additionally, if the plurality of menus cannot be fully displayed in the screen area, an item “Next Page”420indicating the availability of additional menus is provided in the last level of menu450, as illustrated inFIG. 4A. To trigger the additional menus, the stroke continues with movement410to stroke on item420, following movement246. Thus, as depicted inFIG. 4B, two additional menus460and470for activity period setting and reminder ring-tone setting respectively are displayed above menu450. With the bottom-up arrangement for the additional menus, the stroke can continue with movement411and412and therefore the corresponding settings are selected through the continuous stroke.

Please refer toFIG. 4C. In one embodiment, an option for giving up the inputting of data entries is available by providing an “Abort” item430in the last level of menu450. With the continuous stroke ending with movement413to stroke on item430, the inputting of data entries is terminated and no selected items will be committed as data entries of the calendar service.

FIG. 5AandFIG. 5Bdemonstrate another example for the object targeting to mail service and also show another implementation for selecting names from a list.

Please refer toFIG. 5A. An object which is a text content510targeting to a mail service is entered through a soft keyboard (not shown). In one embodiment, the text content510is dragged toward to the soft keyboard through a stroke with movement540and the soft keyboard is then replaced by the service menu230. Since the text content510is targeting for a mail service, the continuous stroke further directs to the item232representing a mail service through movement541.

In another embodiment, service menu230can be shown right after finishing the inputting of the text content. Therefore the continuous stroke can start directly from the mail item232in the service menu230without the movement540and541.

Next, a menu520which comprises two items for mail category setting of the mail service is triggered. The stroke continues through movements542to select a mail category as Hotmail. Following menu520, a menu530with a name list is shown for setting a recipient of the mail service. In menu530, items with capital letters which indicate the first letter of each of all kinds of names are provided. As shown inFIG. 5A, “J” is selected through movement543. Thus names, such as John, Judy and Jason which start with “J”, appear. If the letter after “L” is to be selected, the right arrow item531can be selected through movement544and triggers a next view illustrated inFIG. 5B. In this case, the stroke continues with movement545which ends at item “T” and therefore the corresponding names appear.

In this example for the object targeting to mail service, it can change the selections made before ending the continuous stroke in the same way described in the object targeting to calendar service which is illustrated inFIG. 2F. It can add multiple names in the recipient list in the same way, which is illustrated inFIG. 3AtoFIG. 3B. Moreover, if the plurality of menus cannot be fully displayed in the screen area, it is capable of indicating the availability of additional menus in the same way, which is illustrated inFIG. 4AandFIG. 4B. An option for giving up the inputting of data entries is available in the same way, which is illustrated inFIG. 4C.

Other examples for the object targeting to SMS service, Facebook service and Search service are operated in the same way described above. They are not further described hereafter.

Moreover, to make the selection for menu items more user-friendly, the boundary of two adjacent menus can be indicated more clearly. For example, the boundary can be displayed by a bold line between each of two adjacent menus. Another way is to indicating the boundary by using two different colors for each of two adjacent menus.

To sum up, using a continuous stroke for inputting data entries of a service not only makes the user interface more intuitive but also improves the efficiency of inputting operations.