Patent ID: 7703036

Claim:
A method for providing functionality from a software application that is relevant to a selected object via an improved user interface, the method comprising: providing, by a computer, a plurality of software functionalities in a task-based interface presented in tab format, wherein each of the plurality of functionalities are presented as selectable controls, each selectable control being presented by a graphic representation and a textual representation; receiving an indication of a selection of an object for editing via the software application; upon receiving the indication of the selection of the object for editing, providing additional selectable controls representing a first subset of the plurality of functionalities, wherein the first subset of the plurality of functionalities allows for editing the selected object; grouping the selectable controls into logical groupings, wherein each of the logical groupings combines the first subset of the plurality of software functionalities, and wherein the textual representation of each selectable control and the graphic representation of each selectable control is varied to accommodate a display size of the logical groupings; and when the user interface lacks sufficient space for displaying selectable controls of a given logical grouping, reducing the display size of each of the logical groupings until each of the logical groupings may be displayed in the user interface.