Patent Publication Number: US-2010125804-A1

Title: Object positioning in a graphical user interface

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates generally to object positioning in a graphical user interface (GUI) and, more particularly, to positioning an object within a GUI based on an input focus of the GUI. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) use focus to control where input (e.g., keyboard or mouse entries, audio input, etc.) is added. Typically, focus is used in conjunction with a visual indicator, such as a text entry caret, an outline, a mouse arrow, or some similar feature. However, when a dialog, such as a pop-up window, first appears in a GUI, it is often the case that the control with focus is not near the visual indicator. Generally, dialogs are positioned such that they are centered in the screen or cascaded from a parent dialog. Thus, the visual indicator will be near the focused control in a new dialog only by chance. As a result, a user often has to look around the dialog to discover where the focus is and, as is likely, reposition the visual indicator before inputting data. 
     Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a method, system, and program product for positioning an object in a graphical user interface (GUI). 
     A first aspect of the invention provides a method of positioning an object within a GUI, the method comprising: determining a position of focus within the GUI; and positioning an object within the GUI such that the position of focus is on the object. 
     A second aspect of the invention provides a system for positioning an object within a GUI, the system comprising: a system for determining a position of focus within the GUI; and a system for positioning an object within the GUI such that the position of focus is on the object. 
     A third aspect of the invention provides a program product stored on a computer-readable medium, which when executed, positions an object within a GUI, the program product comprising: program code for determining a position of focus within the GUI; and program code for positioning an object within the GUI such that the position of focus is on the object. 
     A fourth aspect of the invention provides a method for deploying an application for positioning an object within a GUI, comprising: providing a computer infrastructure being operable to: determine a position of focus within the GUI; and position an object within the GUI such that the position of focus is on the object. 
     The illustrative aspects of the present invention are designed to solve the problems herein described and other problems not discussed, which are discoverable by a skilled artisan. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features of this invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that depict various embodiments of the invention, in which: 
         FIGS. 1-7  show the positioning of a dialog according to various embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 8  shows a flow diagram of an illustrative method according to an embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 9  shows a block diagram of an illustrative system according to an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     It is noted that the drawings of the invention are not to scale. The drawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements between the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Turning now to the drawings, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1-2 .  FIG. 1  shows a display  100 , upon which is displayed a graphical user interface (GUI) window  200 . Also shown on the display  100  are a desktop  110 , a system toolbar  120 , and a dock  130 . The GUI window  200  may include any type of data or objects, as will be recognized by one skilled in the art. Here, the GUI window  200  includes text, a portion of which  210  has been selected using a mouse arrow  300 . As noted above, the mouse arrow  300  is a visual indicator of the position of focus. Other visual indicators may include, for example, a cursor, a caret, or an outline. 
       FIG. 2  shows the display  100  following selection of the selected text  210  (e.g., by double-clicking the selected text  210  using a mouse). A pop-up dialog  400  is displayed in response to such selection, the dialog  400  prompting the user for a user ID and password required to access the data represented by the selected text  210 . As can be seen, the dialog  400  includes a user ID text entry field  410  and a password text entry field  420 . The dialog  400  further includes enter and cancel buttons  432 ,  434 , as often is the case and will be referred to here generally as “selection buttons.” 
     As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , and according to one embodiment of the invention, the dialog  400  has been positioned such that the position of focus (represented by the mouse arrow  300 ) is on an area manipulable by the user; here, the user ID text entry field  410 . The dialog  400  could have been positioned such that the position of focus was on another area manipulable by the user, such as the password text entry field  420 , the enter button  432 , or the cancel button  434 . In any case, however, the position of focus within the display  100  does not change following display of the dialog  400 . That is, the dialog  400  is positioned such that the position of focus is on an area of the dialog  400  that a user would need to manipulate; here, the user ID text entry field  410 . Positioning the dialog  400  in such a manner greatly improves the ease-of-use of the software and improves a user&#39;s efficiency by avoiding the need for the user to search for the position of focus within the dialog  400  or, as is sometimes the case in known methods, within the GUI window  200 . As can be seen, a second visual indicator of the position of focus has been included in  FIG. 2  in the form of a text entry caret  500  within the user ID text entry field  410 . Alternatively, the text entry caret  500  could have been included in place of the mouse arrow  300 . 
     Another aspect of the invention is shown in  FIGS. 3-7  and relates to the positioning of a dialog according to positioning constraints. In  FIG. 3 , the display  100  is again shown, along with the dimensions of its “useful display region.” As used herein, a GUI&#39;s useful display region may be defined as the portion of the desktop  110  that is not occupied by a system toolbar  120 , a taskbar (not shown), a dock  130 , or similar feature. The GUI&#39;s useful display region has a height H and width W, within which a dialog or, as the case may be, a portion of a dialog, may be displayed. In some cases, the height and width of a dialog will be less than the height H and width W of the useful display region. In such a case, the dialog will be positioned entirely within the useful display region, as shown in  FIG. 2 . In other cases the height, width, or both, of a dialog will be greater than the height H, width W, or both, of the useful display region. 
     For example, in  FIG. 4 , it can be seen that the width W″ of the dialog  600  exceeds the width W of the useful display region. In such a case, the dialog  600  will be positioned such that a left edge  602  of the dialog  600  aligns with a left edge  112  of the useful display region (i.e., the portion of the desktop  110  not occupied by the system toolbar  120 , a taskbar (not shown), a dock  130 , or similar feature). The dialog  600  is shown so positioned in  FIG. 5 . 
     In  FIG. 6 , it can be seen that that height H″ of the dialog  700  exceeds the height H of the useful display region. In such a case, the dialog  700  will be positioned such that a top edge  704  of the dialog  700  aligns with a top edge  114  of the useful display region. The dialog  700  is shown so positioned in  FIG. 7 . It should be recognized, of course, that the positionings shown in  FIGS. 4-5  and  6 - 7  are not mutually exclusive. That is, a dialog could be positioned such that its left edge aligns with a left edge of the useful display region and its top edge aligns with the top edge of the useful display region. Such a case may arise, for example, where the height and width of the dialog are greater than the height and width of the useful display region. 
     It should be recognized that while the positionings described above related to the positioning of a dialog, the present invention is applicable to the positioning of any object within a GUI. Such objects include, for example, application windows, graphics, videos, etc. 
       FIG. 8  shows a flow diagram of an illustrative method according to the invention. At A, the position of focus within the GUI is determined. At B, an object (e.g., a dialog) is positioned within the GUI such that the position of focus is on the object. As noted above with respect to  FIGS. 2-7 , such positioning may include a number of additional decisions and actions. At B 1 , it is determined whether the object has an area manipulable by a user (e.g., a text entry field). If so (i.e., Yes at B 1 ), the object is positioned such that the position of focus is on the manipulable area at B 2 . If not (i.e., No at B 1 ), or following the positioning at B 2 , it is determined at B 3  whether a width of the object is greater than a width of the useful display region (UDR). If so (i.e., Yes at B 3 ), a left edge of the object is aligned with a left edge of the UDR at B 4 . If not (i.e., No at B 3 ), or following the aligning at B 4 , it is determined whether a height of the object is greater than a height of the UDR. If so (i.e., Yes at B 5 ), a top edge of the object is aligned with a top edge of the UDR at B 6 . If not (i.e., No at B 5 ), or following the aligning at B 6 , the positioning of the object is deemed complete at B 7 . 
       FIG. 9  shows an illustrative system  10  for positioning an object within a GUI. To this extent, system  10  includes a computer infrastructure  12  that can perform the various process steps described herein for positioning an object within a GUI. In particular, computer infrastructure  12  is shown including a computer system  14  that comprises an object positioning system  40 , which enables computer system  14  to position an object within a GUI by performing the process steps of the invention. 
     Computer system  14  is shown including a processing unit  20 , a memory  22 , input/output (I/O) interfaces  26 , and a bus  24 . Further, computer system  14  is shown in communication with external devices  28  and a storage system  30 . As is known in the art, in general, processing unit  20  executes computer program code, such as object positioning system  40 , that is stored in memory  22  and/or storage system  30 . While executing computer program code, processing unit  20  can read and/or write data from/to memory  22 , storage system  30 , and/or I/O interface  26 . Bus  24  provides a communication link between each of the components in computer system  14 . External devices  28  can comprise any device that enables a user (not shown) to interact with computer system  14  or any device that enables computer system  14  to communicate with one or more other computer systems. 
     In any event, computer system  14  can comprise any general purpose computing article of manufacture capable of executing computer program code installed by a user (e.g., a personal computer, server, handheld device, etc.). However, it is understood that computer system  14  and object positioning system  40  are only representative of various possible computer systems that may perform the various process steps of the invention. To this extent, in other embodiments, computer system  14  can comprise any specific purpose computing article of manufacture comprising hardware and/or computer program code for performing specific functions, any computing article of manufacture that comprises a combination of specific purpose and general purpose hardware/software, or the like. In each case, the program code and hardware can be created using standard programming and engineering techniques, respectively. 
     Similarly, computer infrastructure  12  is only illustrative of various types of computer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, in one embodiment, computer infrastructure  12  comprises two or more computer systems (e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over any type of wired and/or wireless communications link, such as a network, a shared memory, or the like, to perform the various process steps of the invention. When the communications link comprises a network, the network can comprise any combination of one or more types of networks (e.g., the Internet, a wide area network, a local area network, a virtual private network, etc.). Regardless, communications between the computer systems may utilize any combination of various types of transmission techniques. 
     As previously mentioned, the object positioning system  40  enables the computer system  14  to position an object within a GUI. To this extent, the object positioning system  40  is shown including a position of focus determining system  42  and an object positioning system  44 . As described above, the object positioning system  44  may include a positioning constraint system  46 . Operation of each of these systems is discussed above. The object positioning system  40  may further include other system components  48  to provide additional or improved functionality to the object positioning system  40 . It is understood that some of the various systems shown in  FIG. 9  can be implemented independently, combined, and/or stored in memory for one or more separate computer systems  14  that communicate over a network. Further, it is understood that some of the systems and/or functionality may not be implemented, or additional systems and/or functionality may be included as part of system  10 . 
     While shown and described herein as a method and system for positioning, it is understood that the invention further provides various alternative embodiments. For example, in one embodiment, the invention provides a computer-readable medium that includes computer program code to enable a computer infrastructure to position an object within a GUI. To this extent, the computer-readable medium includes program code, such as object positioning system  40 , that implements each of the various process steps of the invention. It is understood that the term “computer-readable medium” comprises one or more of any type of physical embodiment of the program code. In particular, the computer-readable medium can comprise program code embodied on one or more portable storage articles of manufacture (e.g., a compact disc, a magnetic disk, a tape, etc.), on one or more data storage portions of a computer system, such as memory  22  and/or storage system  30  (e.g., a fixed disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a cache memory, etc.), and/or as a data signal traveling over a network (e.g., during a wired/wireless electronic distribution of the program code). 
     In another embodiment, the invention provides a business method that performs the process steps of the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis. That is, a service provider could offer to position an object within a GUI, as described above. In this case, the service provider can create, maintain, support, etc., a computer infrastructure, such as computer infrastructure  12 , that performs the process steps of the invention for one or more customers. In return, the service provider can receive payment from the customer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the service provider can receive payment from the sale of advertising space to one or more third parties. 
     In still another embodiment, the invention provides a method of generating a system for positioning an object within a GUI. In this case, a computer infrastructure, such as computer infrastructure  12 , can be obtained (e.g., created, maintained, having made available to, etc.) and one or more systems for performing the process steps of the invention can be obtained (e.g., created, purchased, used, modified, etc.) and deployed to the computer infrastructure. To this extent, the deployment of each system can comprise one or more of (1) installing program code on a computer system, such as computer system  14 , from a computer-readable medium; (2) adding one or more computer systems to the computer infrastructure; and (3) incorporating and/or modifying one or more existing systems of the computer infrastructure, to enable the computer infrastructure to perform the process steps of the invention. 
     As used herein, it is understood that the terms “program code” and “computer program code” are synonymous and mean any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a computer system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and (b) reproduction in a different material form. To this extent, program code can be embodied as one or more types of program products, such as an application/software program, component software/a library of functions, an operating system, a basic I/O system/driver for a particular computing and/or I/O device, and the like. 
     The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to a person skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.