Abstract:
An improvement to the known method/system for distribution of elements displayed in GUI windows and similar processing environments is disclosed. A visible, moveable, and size-adjustable bounding box is provided. The user can specify any size for the bounding box and locate the bounding box anywhere in the window. In this manner, the user adjusts the size and location of the bounding box as desired, rather than having to manipulate the various elements to try to define the desired spacing and location.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates generally to graphic user interfaces (GUIs) for computer programs and, more particularly, to a method, system, and computer program product for enabling variable distribution of graphics or other objects/elements on a computerized drawing surface such as a GUI window. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are routinely employed by software programs operating in data processing systems to simplify their user interfaces or make the software programs “user-friendly”. A GUI typically utilizes a “desktop” or “workplace” which is presented to a user via a display screen. In the pervasive windowing-based GUIs used by many operating systems and computer software programs, a user is required to recognize and utilize a myriad of GUI elements or objects. An object is a visual component of a user interface which a user works with to perform a task. An object can appear as text, a pictorial representation (also known as a glyph), or a combination of both. Different types of objects include icons, windows, toolbars, faceplates, buttons, etc. Objects are usually different in different programs, and often change for different desktops in the same program. 
   A window is an area with visible boundaries within which a user conducts a dialog with a computer system. A window is a GUI element that presents a view of an object, and is typically relatively large. A window makes available different functions to the user, depending upon the type of program with which the window is associated. For example, a drawing program utilized for drawing flowcharts, wiring diagrams, and the like will present the user with a window comprising a “drawing surface”. In a software development tool, the window might be referred to as a graphical editor surface, a visual design canvas, or a WYSIWIG preview surface. 
   GUIs allow users to manipulate the location of elements in the desktop using a technique known as “drag and drop”. By manipulating a mouse and a mouse button, users are able to drag one or more elements (e.g., icons, objects drawn with a drawing program, photographic images, etc.) to new locations within the desktop, where they are “dropped”. If desired, several objects can be designated for moving at one time, e.g., by “clicking” on the elements while holding down the “Ctrl” key on the keyboard. Once all desired elements are designated for moving, a right-click operation allows the designated elements to be dragged and dropped to a new location. 
   It is often desirable to distribute elements displayed in the window uniformly, e.g., for ease of use and/or for organizational or aesthetic reasons. For example, the icons displayed on a desktop can get so large in quantity that what is known as the “messy desktop” scenario becomes a problem, and a user may wish to tidy up the desktop. Similarly, in a drawing program, for example, it may be desirable to align two or more drawn images so that they are centered along a same axis or so they are spaced apart evenly. This alignment is generically known as distribution and the axis can be either vertical, horizontal, or both. The example described below is for vertical distribution along the vertical or “y” axis, but it can be applied equally to horizontal distribution along the horizontal or “x” axis. 
   To avoid the need to manually move each object and align it with precision in the desired location, automatic methods for doing this arranging were developed. On a Windows desktop, for example, a user may select a menu or toolbar option which allows the desktop icons to be arranged alphabetically, by date, file size, file type, etc., and be evenly spaced and distributed in alignment with an edge of the desktop window. Similarly, with respect to drawing programs, automatic selections exist which allow the designation of objects in the drawing window and their automatic alignment, spacing, etc. 
   The prior art automatic alignment/distribution systems described above rely on a concept known as “bounding box” distribution. In bounding box distribution, the elements to be distributed are conceptually “enclosed” in a box that is invisible on the computer screen. The box is either equal in size to the entire computer screen or, if elements are selected for inclusion in the distribution, its dimensions are defined by the outermost elements around which the imaginary or virtual box is to be formed. The sides of the bounding box define the area in which the elements will be distributed. The size of the box is not determined by the user but is instead defined by the position of the elements, and the box itself is invisible. 
   While this method functions sufficiently, it is not without its drawbacks. For example, to change the area of the window in which the elements will be distributed (and thus, albeit unknowingly, change the size of the invisible bounding box), the user must manipulate the elements themselves. Further, if no graphics are selected, the elements will be distributed within the bounds of the entire drawing surface as noted above. 
   Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method for distributing icons in which the size of the bounding box was selectable without regard to the positioning of any of the elements within the window. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is an improvement to the known element distribution process used in GUI windows and similar processing environments. In accordance with the present invention, a visible and size-adjustable bounding box is provided. The user can specify any size for the bounding box and locate the bounding box anywhere in the window. In this manner, the user adjusts the size and location of the bounding box as desired, rather than having to manipulate the various elements to try to define the desired spacing and location. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a view of a prior art GUI window, showing a series of elements unevenly distributed in the window; 
       FIG. 2A  is a view of the GUI illustrated in  FIG. 1 , showing the invisible bounding box of the prior art; 
       FIG. 2B  is a view of the prior art GUI illustrated in  FIG. 1 , after a distribution selection has been selected and executed; 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a prior art target distribution in which the elements displayed in  FIG. 1  are evenly spaced apart, along an axis vertical with respect to the GUI window; 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an alternative target distribution of the prior art; 
       FIGS. 5A-5C  illustrate a method of achieving the target distribution of  FIG. 4  using the method of the prior art; 
       FIG. 6  illustrates the visible, adjustable bounding box in accordance with the present invention; and 
       FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating an example of steps performed in accordance with the present invention to achieve the novel method/system/computer program product. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   To better understand the present invention it is important to understand how bounding box distribution functions in the prior art.  FIGS. 1 ,  2 A,  2 C,  3 ,  4 ,  5 A,  5 B, and  5 C illustrate the operation of a typical prior art GUI and automatic distribution of elements displayed in the GUI using a prior art invisible bounding box. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a GUI window or shell  102  displays an active surface  104  in which plural elements  106 - 114  are displayed. The exact nature of the program being displayed in active surface  104  is unimportant; of importance is the fact that the elements  106 - 114  can be manipulated, moved, sized, etc. using well known mouse or keyboard commands. A typical application that can perform these manipulations would be, for example, a drawing program such as Paint Shop Pro® by Jasc Software, slide preparation and presentation software such as Freelance Graphics® by Lotus, or document publishing software such as Adobe Acrobat®. 
   As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , element  106  is a rectangular box for display of a first name; element  108  is a rectangular box used for display of a middle initial; and element  110  is a rectangular box for display of a last name, element  112  is a rectangular box for display of an address; and element  114  is a rectangular box for display of a phone number. The elements are distributed in active surface  104 , with element  106  being near the top left of active surface  104  and element  114  being on the bottom, towards the right of active surface  104 . Elements  110  and  112  are close in proximity to each other, and element  108  is approximately midway between element  106  and  110 . 
   A user of the program may wish to evenly distribute the elements, in the vertical direction, across the active surface  104 .  FIG. 3  illustrates the same window and elements of  FIG. 1 , but with the elements distributed as desired by the user, referred to herein as the “target distribution”. As can be seen in  FIG. 3 , the desired target distribution has element  108  moved slightly up and elements  110  and  112  no longer in a closer proximity to each other than any of the other elements. Each of the elements is approximately the same distance from adjacent elements, in the vertical direction. 
   Using the prior art systems there are three ways of achieving the target distribution illustrated in  FIG. 3 . First, the user may drag each of the elements to the desired position using the drag and drop features of a mouse. While this will work, it is difficult for a user, without gridlines and screen-displayed rulers, to position the elements with any exactitude. 
   An alternative method is illustrated in  FIGS. 2A and 2B . Referring now to  FIG. 2A , a user may designate the elements to be distributed using the well known designation function whereby the user holds down the Ctrl key on the keyboard and then right clicks on each element desired to be part of the distribution with the mouse pointer. In  FIG. 2A , the user has clicked on each element  106 ,  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114 , as indicated by the selection handles in the corner of each designated box. 
   An invisible bounding box  216  automatically is formed, using the outermost elements in the X and Y directions to define the size and location of the four sides of the bounding box  216 . For example, element  106  is the uppermost and left-most element with respect to the active surface  104 , and element  114  is the lowermost and right-most element. Thus, as can be seen, bounding box  216  has its upper boundary and left boundaries coincident with the upper and left sides of element  106 , and its right and lower boundaries coincident with the right and lower sides of element  114 . 
   Of significance is the fact that bounding box  216  is completely transparent to the user; the user simply knows that the elements have been designated and that the distribution, when selected from a menu option, will be performed relative to the selected elements. 
   The function of distributing the elements in this manner is activated by selection of a menu or toolbar option (not shown but well known in the art). The user simply designates the items to be distributed, selects a menu option for vertical, even distribution (e.g., “distribute evenly in the vertical direction”), and using the boundaries defined by the transparent bounding box  216 , the elements are distributed, as shown in  FIG. 2B . As can be seen in  FIG. 2B , elements  110  and  112  are separated by a greater distance than they were in  FIG. 2A , and in fact, the distance between adjacent elements is now identical. The view that the user sees upon completion of the distribution is the same as the target view shown in  FIG. 3 . 
   The third method is similar to this method, except that the user does not designate any elements but instead just requests that the items on the screen in their entirety be distributed, relative to the active surface  104 . In this case, the system defaults to using the boundaries of the active surface  104  as the bounding box; therefore, if the view shown in  FIG. 1  were selected for this process, the transparent bounding box would coincide with active surface  104 , and element  106  would be moved up to be flush with the top of active surface  104 , element  114  would be moved down to be flush with the bottom of active surface  104 , and elements  108 ,  110  and  112  would be distributed evenly in the vertical direction within active surface  104 . 
   As noted above, the above described prior art methods function adequately. However, there is little flexibility in setting the size of the bounding box, since it is automatically defined by the outermost elements in the active surface. The inadequacy of this method is illustrated in connection with  FIGS. 5A-5C .  FIG. 4  illustrates a target distribution different from that of  FIG. 3 . Specifically, in  FIG. 4 , element  114  is approximately centered in the vertical plane, and elements  108 ,  110 , and  112  are evenly spaced from each other and between elements  114  and  106 . Element  106  is slightly below the top of active surface  104 . If the user were to manually move element  114  to the position shown in  FIG. 5A  (vertically centered on the screen), and then were to designate each of the elements  106  through  114  for distribution, since element  112  is now the outermost element on the bottom edge of a boundary box that would be used to redistribute the elements, the target distribution of  FIG. 4  will be not be achieved. Instead, element  112  would be on the bottom and element  114  would be above element  112 , between element  112  and element  110 . Alternatively, the user could manually move elements  108 ,  110 , and  112  into the position shown in  FIG. 5B , and then activate the distribution feature of the active surface. However, this requires additional steps. As shown in  FIG. 5C , once the distribution feature is activated, the elements will line up as desired. 
     FIG. 6  illustrates the novel method and operation of the present invention. As can be seen in  FIG. 6 , the positioning of elements  106  through  114  are identical to their positioning in  FIG. 1 , i.e. they are in a starting position that is not in conformance with the target distribution illustrated in  FIG. 4 . In accordance with the present invention, the user designates elements for redistribution, and in doing so, a visible, movable, and re-sizable bounding box  620  is displayed in the active surface  104 . By activating an adjustment handle  622 , an adjustment arrow  624  is displayed, giving the user the ability to resize the visible bounding box in a well-known manner. In accordance with the present invention, the user simply sizes the bounding box  620  to the desired size, moves it to the desired location in the active surface  104 , and then selects an option from a selectable list (e.g., a toolbar, drop-down menu, etc., not shown) that is displayed to redistribute the elements as desired. 
   For example, by placing the visible bounding box  620  as shown in  FIG. 6 , and then selecting the previously described “distribute evenly in the vertical direction” menu option, the elements  106  through  114  will be redistributed to position each within the bounding box  620 , in the same order in which they appear in  FIG. 6 . In other words, element  106  will remain the outermost top and left side elements, and element  114  will remain the lowermost bottom and right side element, and elements  108  through  112  will be positioned there between. This results in achieving the target distribution illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
   The user is given visible feedback regarding the positioning of the redistributed elements and the size of the bounding box in which the elements will be distributed, and can make adjustments before distributing the elements. This is in contrast to the prior art, which provides the use with no feedback regarding the size and location of the bounding box and requires a significant amount of trial and error to achieve the same result as the present invention. 
     FIG. 7  is a flow chart illustrating the steps of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 7 , the process begins at Step  700 . At Step  702 , the user selects or deselects elements in the active surface for distribution. All of the elements may be selected or only certain of the elements may be selected. At Step  704 , determination is made as to whether or not multiple shapes have been selected. If the number of shapes selected is not greater than one, then at Step  706 , the “show bounding box” option is deactivated and the process ends at Step  716 . If, however, at Step  704 , it is determined that more than one shape has been selected, then at Step  708 , the “show bounding box” is set for active, thereby causing the visible bounding box  620  of  FIG. 6  to appear in the active surface. By default, if desired, the visible bounding box  620  can be automatically set to include all selected elements within its confines. Obviously, however, since visible bounding box  620  is adjustable, this is not a necessary step, but merely for convenience. 
   If at Step  708  it is determined that the “show bounding box” is not active, then the process proceeds to Step  710 , where an assumption is made that the entire screen or area containing the selected elements is to be used for distribution. This essentially means that, if a user has not selected the “show bounding box” option, then the process reverts to the prior art methods. If, however, at Step  708 , it is determined that the “show bounding box” is active, then at Step  712 , the bounding box is displayed on the screen, and the user is free to resize it and/or move it around the screen until the screen is the appropriate size and in the desired location for the user. 
   At Step  714 , the user then makes the distribution selection (e.g. “distribute evenly in the vertical direction” or other distribution options) and at Step  716  the process ends. 
   The above-described steps can be implemented using standard well-known programming techniques. The novelty of the above-described embodiment lies not in the specific programming techniques but in the use of the steps described to achieve the described results. Software programming code which embodies the present invention is typically stored in permanent storage of some type, such as permanent storage of a workstation running the GUI described herein. In a client/server environment, such software programming code may be stored with storage associated with a server. The software programming code may be embodied on any of a variety of known media for use with a data processing system, such as a diskette, or hard drive, or CDROM. The code may be distributed on such media, or may be distributed to users from the memory or storage of one computer system over a network of some type to other computer systems for use by users of such other systems. The techniques and methods for embodying software program code on physical media and/or distributing software code via networks are well known and will not be further discussed herein. 
   It will be understood that each element of the illustrations, and combinations of elements in the illustrations, can be implemented by general and/or special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or steps, or by combinations of general and/or special-purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
   These program instructions may be provided to a processor to produce a machine, such that the instructions that execute on the processor create means for implementing the functions specified in the illustrations. The computer program instructions may be executed by a processor to cause a series of operational steps to be performed by the processor to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions that execute on the processor provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the illustrations. Accordingly, the Figures, and in particular,  FIGS. 6 and 7 , support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions, and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. 
   Although the present invention has been described with respect to a specific preferred embodiment thereof, various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art and it is intended that the present invention encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.