Patent ID: 6970749

Claim:
A method of representing control functions in a user application, the user application providing a plurality of control palettes, each control palette representing a set of control data and/or control functions of the user application, the method comprising: providing a group of control palettes in an application window of the user application, the group of control palettes including two or more of the plurality of control palettes; receiving a first user input associating the group of control palettes with a first location within a region extending along one or more borders of a user interface; and generating a first stashed palette group in response to the first user input, the first stashed palette group having an active state and an inactive state, the active state including an expanded view of the group of control palettes, the expanded view including a representation of at least a portion of the control data and/or control functions of one or more of the group of control palettes, arranged in a floating, non-modal window that covers a portion of the user interface in an area proximate to the first location, and the inactive state including a collapsed view of the group of control palettes arranged along the border in an area proximate to the first location.