Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a continuing application of U.S. Ser. No. 14/102,321, filed Dec. 10, 2013, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 101147869, filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Dec. 17, 2012, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This disclosure relates to a user interface and an operation method thereof and, more particularly to an application program preview interface and an operation method thereof. 
         [0004]    Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    A user can control and operate more intuitively via a graphical user interface (GUI). With the development of science, a computer system has various functions, thus the icons representing different programs that displayed on the user interface increase gradually. For users to browse all opened (executed) programs, a program preview interface is provided for the user to browse each opened program or switch to one of the opened programs. 
         [0006]    However, the conventional program preview interface only provides simple browse function and switch function, and the programs executed in various operation modes cannot be classified. Moreover, the user cannot manage and classify the running program completely and effectively on the conventional program preview interface. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    An application program preview interface and an operation method thereof are provided. When one of multiple operation modes displayed on a first display area is selected, selectable objects corresponding to the selected operation mode are displayed in a second displayed area, and the user can browse and manage the classified and grouped application programs which are opened or executed. 
         [0008]    In the operation method of the application program preview interface, the application program preview interface is stored in a storage unit and executed in a computer system. The operation method includes: displaying multiple operation modes in a first displayed area; selecting one of the operation modes according to an index signal; displaying at least one selectable object in a second display area, and the object is an application program which is opened or executed in the selected mode. 
         [0009]    The application program preview interface is stored in a storage unit and executed in a computer system. The application program preview interface includes the first display area and the second display area. The first display area displays at least one operation mode that can be selected, and each operation mode includes at least one opened or executed application program. The second display area displays at least one selectable object, and the object is the application program in the selected operation mode. 
         [0010]    In sum up, according to the application program preview interface and the operation method thereof, when one of the multiple operation modes displayed in the first display area is selected, the selectable objects in the selected mode are displayed in the second area, and the user can browse the classified and grouped application programs which are opened or executed. Moreover, the selectable object displayed in the second display area can be managed directly and operated by the user intuitively, and the application program which is opened or executed can be managed effectively and completely. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B  are schematic diagrams showing an application program preview interface in one embodiment; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2A  to  FIG. 2F  are schematic diagrams showing an operation of an application program preview interface in an embodiment; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart showing an operation method of an application program preview interface in one embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0014]    An application program preview interface is stored in a storage unit in a manner of an application program and executed by a computer system. The storage unit may be a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a cache memory, an optical disk, a magnetic storage device or a solid state hard drive (SSD). Moreover, the computer system may be a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer or a handheld electronic device (such as a mobile phone, a multimedia player), which is not limited herein. 
         [0015]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic diagram showing an application program preview interface  1  in one embodiment. In this embodiment, the application program preview interface  1  is executed by a notebook computer and displayed on a display of the notebook computer. The application program preview interface  1  includes a first display area  11  and a second display area  12 . The first display area  11  displays a first operation mode  111  and a second operation mode  112  by showing corresponding graphic objects. The first operation mode  111  may be a desktop mode, and the second operation mode  112  may be a modern mode. 
         [0016]    The second display area  12  shows the first operation mode  111  or the second operation mode  112  according to an index signal, and the second display area  12  displays a selectable object  121  which is executed in the selected operation mode. The selectable object  121  is an application program which is opened (in execution) in the selected mode. 
         [0017]    Furthermore, the index signal may be a signal generated by an input device such as a mouse, a keyboard or a remote control device, and it also may be a touch signal generated by clicking or touching a touch panel via a finger or a stylus. The “clicking” may be a selecting operation by clicking via a cursor, a finger or a stylus, or a browse operation by suspending the cursor above the first operation mode  111  or the second operation mode  112 . 
         [0018]    Additionally, in this embodiment, the first display area  11  displays two different operation modes, which is not limited, the number of operation modes displayed at the first display area  11  can be changed according to actual demands of products. Furthermore, the display positions of the first display area  11  and the second display area  12  can be changed according to demands, for example, the first display area  11  may be above, below, on the left of or on the right of the second display area  12 , which is not limited. 
         [0019]    As shown in  FIG. 1B , the application program interface  1  also can be executed by the tablet computer and displayed on the display of the tablet computer for the user to operate. 
         [0020]    The application program preview interface  1  is further illustrated accompanying  FIG. 2A  to  FIG. 2F . When the computer system starts the application program preview function, the display of the computer system displays the application program preview interface  1 . When the index signal selects the first operation mode  111  representing a desktop mode, as shown in  FIG. 2A , the second display area  12  displays the selectable object  121  (such as an application program) executed in the first operation mode  111 , and the content of the selectable object  121  displayed in the second display area  12  is same to that of the displayed application program opened or executed in the corresponding mode. 
         [0021]    For example, if the user open a web browser to browse in the desktop mode and a page is displayed, when the computer system enters into the application program preview function, the content of the selectable object  121  displayed in the second display area  12  is the page displayed by the web browser in the desktop mode. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 2B , when the index signal selects the second operation mode  112  representing a new module, the selectable object  121  displayed in the second display area  12  is corresponding to the application program executed in the second operation mode  112 . 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIG. 2C , when the index signal selects the first operation mode  111  representing the desktop mode and multiple selectable objects  121  are executed in the first operation mode  111 , the second display area  12  make the selectable objects  121  conforming to a defined condition shown in a stacking way to form a group. 
         [0024]    In other words, when the selectable objects  121  in execution are multiple, the second display area  12  sorts to display the application programs, the application programs of a sort is displayed in a stacking way, the application programs of different sorts are displayed in a spreading way at intervals. The defined condition includes a file path, a file name, a file type or a file format, and the defined condition can be determined by the user. 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIG. 2D , when the index signal (such as the mouse cursor) moves to the selectable object  121  in the second display area  12 , the selectable object  121  is zoomed in, other objects are zoomed out, or the periphery of the selectable object  121  shows a specific border or color to make the user confirm the selected operation mode clearly. 
         [0026]    As shown in  FIG. 2E , when the application program preview interface  1  selects the selectable objects  121  which are displayed in the second display area  12  in the stacking way according to the index signal, the selectable objects  121  which are selected are displayed in the second display area  12  in the spreading way at intervals. 
         [0027]    Moreover, as shown in  FIG. 2F , the application program preview interface  1  further includes a third display area  13  to display a list  131  or a program shortcut icon  132  of all programs corresponding to the first operation mode  111  and the second operation mode  112 . In one embodiment, the application programs in the list  131  displayed in the third display area  13  include all application programs installed on the computer system, the program shortcut icon  132  is an icon formed by dragging the selectable object  121  displayed in the second display area  12  or by other settings, and the user can open or browse the selectable object  121  represented by the program shortcut icon  132  directly. 
         [0028]    In the preview interface, the selectable object  121  can be managed in the second display area  12  according to an operation signal. For example, the selectable object  121  is closed directly by clicking a close symbol of the selectable object  121  or a specific touch trace or a specific gesture. The content of the selectable object  121  can be displayed directly, for example, when the selectable object  121  is a play application program, it can be operated directly at the preview interface. When multiple selectable objects are displayed in the second display area, the sequence of the selectable object  121  can be changed by dragging to adjust the position of the selectable objects  121 . The size of the selectable object  121  can be zoomed in or out by dragging the corner of the selectable object  121 . The text content of the selectable object  121  also may be edited. Additionally, the application program preview interface  1  includes a recovery option to back to a previous operation or an original state in order to avoid the misoperation of the user. 
         [0029]    Then, an operation method is illustrated in a flowchart in  FIG. 3  cooperating with the embodiments in  FIG. 2A to 2F . The operation method includes steps S 01  to S 03 . 
         [0030]    In Step S 01 , multiple operation modes are displayed in the first display area  11 . In this embodiment, when the computer system starts the application program preview function, the display of the computer system displays the application program preview interface  1 . The first display area  11  of the application program preview interface  1  displays multiple operation modes. 
         [0031]    In Step S 02 , an operation mode is selected according to a first index signal. In this embodiment, the user can select one from the operation modes via the input device. 
         [0032]    In Step S 03 , the second display area  12  displays the selectable object  121 . The selectable object is the application program opened or executed in the selected mode. 
         [0033]    In sum up, in the application program preview interface and the operation method thereof, when one of the multiple operation modes displayed in the first display area is selected, the selectable object corresponding to the selected operation mode is displayed in the second display area, and the user can browse the classified or grouped program which is opened or executed. Moreover, the object displayed in the second display area can be managed directly and operated by the user intuitively, and the application program which is opened or executed can be managed effectively and completely. 
         [0034]    Although the disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not for limiting the scope. Persons having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above.

Technology Category: 3