Patent ID: 7249322

Claim:
A programmable apparatus to generate a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface comprising: a branding region, wherein the branding region displays indicia selected from the group consisting of: automobile manufacturer names, automobile dealership names, automobile service provider names and combinations thereof; a context region, wherein the context region displays information selected from the group consisting of: customer identifying information, automobile identifying information, automobile service order information, and combinations thereof; a task bar; a content region, wherein the content region displays information relating to functions selected from the group consisting of: sales, finance and insurance, accounting, human resources, payroll, parts, service, customer database, vehicle database, activities and processes, roles, users and departments, security, reports, printing, instant messaging, e-business enablers, supply chain integration, electronic time clock, system configurator, vehicle inspection, Internet service scheduling, electronic mail service reminders, intra-dealer parts inventory, inter-dealer parts inventory, intra-dealer vehicle inventory, inter-dealer vehicle inventory, dealer communication system and combinations thereof, and wherein the content region further displays data selected from the group consisting of: customer data, vehicle data, shop productivity data, loan data, billing system data, employee data, sales data, inventory data, ordering data, and combinations thereof; a user identification portion; a list button region; a user assistance region; relationship buttons; and action buttons, wherein, for a plurality of disparate applications, a location and size of each of the regions, buttons, task bar and portion remain substantially constant, despite changes in content displayed in each region.