Patent ID: 6892360

Claim:
A method in a data processing system having a display device for selecting a widget to be displayed with focus from among a set of displayed widgets, comprising: receiving user-entered directional information indicating a direction of intended movement of focus from a current focused widget; determining a next focused widget from among the set of displayed widgets based upon the user-entered directional information and positional information for each of the displayed widgets, wherein determining includes: selecting as the next focused widget, when the directional information indicates movement in a vertical direction, a displayed one of the widgets having a minimum vertical distance and a minimum horizontal distance from the current focused widget, in the vertical direction of movement; and selecting as the next focused widget, when the directional information indicates movement in a horizontal direction, a widget having a minimum distance from the current widget in the horizontal direction of movement and on an equivalent horizon as the current widget; and transmitting information for use in displaying the selected widget with focus.