Patent Document

PRIORITY CLAIM UNDER 35 USC §119 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/190,739 flied Mar. 20, 2000 under 37 USC §119. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention is directed to data organization in personal hand held organizers, and more particularly to a method and apparatus which maintains and organizes lists of and information about securities being monitored by a user in a personal hand held organizer operating over a wireless link. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    In the past, watch lists management has been focussed on maintaining a variety of different watch lists. The items in each watch list were maintained and changed independently of the other watch lists. These systems are sometimes referred to as a “bucket” system where multiple “buckets” of data are maintained, each bucket being maintained independently of the others. 
         [0004]    Examples of these “bucket” systems can be found, for example, at the URL investing.schwab.com of Charles Schwab &amp; Co., Inc., the assignee of the subject application, in the Charles Schwab Customer Center Watch List service, found in Quotes &amp; Research; or in the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter wireless product called “Traderunner” in which lists of securities being monitored are maintained in buckets. 
         [0005]    Bucket type systems lead to large numbers of items in the watch lists, with little coordination among the watch lists. This is particularly troublesome in the wireless world where it is important to limit the amount of information being transmitted. 
         [0006]    In the Palm Pilot personal organizer, manufactured by 3COM Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., applications are listed in a master list. When a user selects an application from the master list, the application is launched. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In the present invention, instead of separate independent watch lists, a pool of items being watched is maintained. In one embodiment of the present invention, the total number of items, which can be contained in the pool, is intentionally limited to a predefined number. 
         [0008]    Each of the items in the pool includes an associated tag, which defines a watch list to which it belongs. The pool of the items being watched can be viewed simultaneously as one coherent collection, or specific watch lists can be displayed. When a specific watch list is being displayed, the Items that are displayed are those which are assigned to that watch list as indicated by their associated tag. When the pool of items is being viewed in one embodiment of the present invention, the user is provided with a visual indication of the total number of items in the pool and the maximum number of items allowed in the pool of items. 
         [0009]    In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the items being watched are stocks or securities. Each stock being watched is assigned to a watch list or lists. For purposes of the predefined limit on the number of items in the pool, when a stock is assigned to more than one watch list, each assignment is treated as a separate item which counts toward the predefined limit. Thus, a stock assigned to two different watch lists is considered to be two separate items in the pool of items being watched. 
         [0010]    The above architecture provides a more compact and efficient organization for monitoring the status of the pool of items, permits the contents of specific watch list categories to be changed from one central location, yet provides the flexibility of viewing subsets of the pool in different combinations according to the criteria provided by the user. 
         [0011]    This is particularly important with modern portable devices, such as personal organizers, which have limited storage capacities as well as limited communication bandwidths. 
         [0012]    The subject invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a simplified conceptual block diagram illustrating an example of the environment within which the subject invention is operable. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  illustrates the organizational structure of the pool of items being monitored, the watch lists which can be assembled from the pool, and the relationship between them. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a simplified flow diagram which illustrates the operational flow of one embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  simplified diagram which illustrates the screen and functional layout of one embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer, where an example is shown of a pool of items which is being monitored. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  in an example of the relationship between the primary drop down and secondary drop down menus, and the navigation between the watch list manager and specific watch lists of the embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer. 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is an illustrative example of operations assigned to various buttons in the embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is an illustrative example of the navigational flow associated with the “New” button when operated in the Watch List Manager level of the embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  is an illustrative example of the navigational flow associated with the “Edit” button when operated, when a stock is not highlighted, in the Watch List Manager level of the embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer. 
           [0021]      FIG. 9  is an illustrative example of the navigational flow associated with the “Edit” button when operated, when a stock is highlighted, in the Watch List Manager level of the embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer. 
           [0022]      FIG. 10  is an illustrative example of information displayed and navigational flow, when a stock is highlighted or a stock is highlighted, in the Watch List level of the embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0023]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , one embodiment of the present invention is operable in a personal organizer  10 , which communicates via a wireless link  12  with central communications center  14 . The central communications center  14  can be self-contained so that it incorporates a central communications link  16 , brokerage services  18 , and exchanges  20 , or can be formed through links as shown in the figure. Located at the central communications center  14 , for example, at the brokerage service  18 , is a central server  19 , which holds information about the items in the pool of items being monitored. The information in the central server  19  can be gathered from the exchanges  20 , the brokerage service  18 , the personal communications device  10 , or from other sources. The central server  19  exchanges information with the personal communications device  10  in order to maintain the pool of items and to populate the watch lists. 
         [0024]      FIG. 2  illustrates the relationship between the pool of items being maintained in the personal organizer  10  in accordance with the present invention and the associated watch lists. The pool of items being monitored is maintained in a master list  22 . The master list  22  is intentionally limited in the number of items it can hold; in the illustrated example, the limit is 100 items. In the example of  FIG. 2 , each item in the master list  22  includes the name of the security being tracked, and a watch list tag, which indicates to which watch list or lists the item is assigned. For example, the 10 th  item in master list  22  corresponds to security S 9  and is assigned to watch list L 5 ; and the 68 th  item corresponds to security  36  which is assigned to watch list L 1 . Note that the same security can be assigned to several different watch lists, e.g. security S 7  is assigned to watch lists L 1  and L 15 . It is also to be noted that security S 7  assigned to watch list L 1  is considered as a separate and distinct item from security S 7  assigned to watch list L 15 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  also illustrates example watch lists L 1 , L 11 , L 15  and L 28 . Note that a watch list can contain as little as one item, or can contain many items. 
         [0026]    It is to be understood that the master list  22  and the specific watch lists shown in  FIG. 2  are merely illustrative. For example, it is not necessary within the spirit of the present invention to assign an item number to each item being watch, as long as the total number of items in the list is limited to a predetermined number. Nor is it necessary to organize the list in ascending alphanumeric order as is shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0027]    In order to better understand the present invention, a more detailed description of one embodiment of the present invention will now be provided in the context of a Palm Pilot personal organizer, manufactured by 3COM corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. It is to be understood that the present invention is suitable for use in other personal organizers or portable devices, and is not limited to the Palm Pilot device. 
         [0028]      FIG. 3  provides an operational flow diagram of the invention as it can be embodied in the Palm Pilot device. In this embodiment, the user works with the watch list data at two levels: the Watch List Manager Level  24  or at the Watch List Level  26 . In the Watch List Manager Level  24 , the user is able to manage watch lists by adding, editing, and deleting watch lists. He will also manage the creation of new entries to lists here and the deletion of them. At the Watch List Level  26  the user will be able to view information about the items in the watch list which is selected for viewing. 
       Watch List Manager Level  24 : 
       [0029]    At the Watch List Manager Level  24  communication is had with the central communications center  14  through the Send  28  and Request  30  operations. In the embodiment of the present invention described hereinafter, the preferred mechanism for communicating between the personal communications device  10  and the central communications center  14 , is a wireless modem (not shown). It is through the Send operation  28  that the central server  19  is informed of changes made by the user to the items within the master list  22 , including deletions and additions to the master list  22 , and edits to the items in the master list  22 . The Request operation  30  is used to retrieve up-to-date information from the central communications center  14  about the items in the master list  22 . 
         [0030]    At the Watch List Level  26  the user uses the Request operation  30  to communicate with the central communications center  14  to retrieve up-to-date for the items in the Watch List being viewed. If, while in the Watch List Level  26  the user wishes to add, delete or edit watch lists or items in a watch list, menu selections or buttons are provided which navigate the user back to the Watch List Manager Level  24 . 
         [0031]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the screen  25  and functional layout of one embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer is shown.  FIG. 5  illustrates an example of the primary drop down and secondary drop down menus used in the Palm Pilot embodiment of  FIG. 4  through which navigation between the Watch List Manager Level  24  and Watch List Level  26  is accomplished. It is to be understood that in the embodiment being described, the invention is implemented as one feature—the Watch List feature—among several features in an application designed for use on a Palm Pilot device. The user selects the Watch List feature from among the other features by using the Primary Drop Down menu  32 . 
         [0032]    In  FIG. 4 , the primary drop down menu  32  is shown at the top center of the screen layout and has an inverted arrow head which indicates, according to the Palm Pilot protocol, the presence of a drop down menu. As can be seen from  FIG. 5 , the items within primary drop down menu  32  includes the Watch List feature as a selection. In  FIG. 4 , the screen of information being displayed corresponds to the Watch List Manager Level  24 , and functional block  24 A of  FIG. 3 . 
         [0033]      FIG. 5  also illustrates the secondary drop down menu  34  which lists the available functions once the Watch List feature is selected from the primary drop down menu  32 . It is to be noted that the Manager function is listed at the bottom of the secondary drop down menu  34 , below the list of specific watch lists which can be accessed. By selecting the Manager function from Secondary Drop Down Menu  34 , the user will be navigated to the screen shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0034]    In  FIG. 4 , the secondary drop down menu  34  is shown in the upper right hand corner of the screen layout. The abbreviation “Mngr” is shown in the secondary drop down menu  34  location, thereby indicating that the device is in the Watch List Manager Level  24 . Thus, within the body of the screen  25 , seven of the items in the master watch list  22  are being displayed. For example, stock symbol ADBE is shown to be included in the two watch lists called “hitek” the watch list. It is to be noted, in the preferred embodiment, duplication of watch list items is permitted. It has been found that such permitted duplication makes reorganization and editing of the lists easier. 
         [0035]    The inverted arrowhead next to each listed watch list indicates that a Watch List pull down menu of other watch list selections can be invoked. When the Watch List pull down is invoked for a particular entry (Item being monitored), the Watch List associated with the entry can be changed. When this is done, that entry will be associated with the newly-selected Watch List and removed from the prior Watch List. For example, the item (entry) CYGN is associated with the Watch List “Medical.” The user can invoke the Watch List pull down menu by tapping on the inverted arrowhead which precedes the word “Medical.” The user can then select, for example, “Hitek,” and thereby cause CYGN to be removed from the “Medical” watch list, and to be added to the “Hitek” watch list. This operation corresponds to functional block  52  in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0036]    The columns shown in screen  25  are sortable. A header shown in bold indicates that the corresponding column is sorted. The column is by tapping on the header title. The default is ascending alphabetical on first tap. Subsequent taps reverse the sort order if an item is already selected. 
         [0037]    In the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , The user is allowed to have 100 stock or index entries and can manage them in any combination of lists, with the only rule being that there can be no more than 100 Watch Lists. If an entry appears twice, it is counted as two entries. The time stamp region  36  of the screen  25  informs the user of how many entries are in the list and that there are up to 100 allowed. It has been found that the use of the time stamp region  36  in this manner, to inform the user of the maximum number of items allowed, and the current (or running) total of items in the watch list, is an efficient, simple and effective method for instructing the user in the use and the organizational methodology of the present invention. 
         [0038]    When the device is in the Watch List Level  26 , the time stamp region  36  indicates the time the data was retrieved. The time stamp region  26  also has a dynamic indicator of how many minutes old the data is (i.e. If the user enters a screen when the data is 15 minutes old, then sits for two minutes, the screen shows that the data is 17 minutes old). The time and time zone are that of the data source. The time zone is included and is displayed as EST or EDT as appropriate. 
         [0039]    Referring now to  FIGS. 4 and 6 , there are several icons and buttons below the time stamp region  36 : “Request” icon  30 , “New” button  38 , “Edit” button  40 , “Send” button  28 , “Trade” icon  42 , and “Quick Access” icon  44 . Tapping the “Request” icon  30  causes the Palm Pilot Device to establish a link with the central communications center.  14  in order to refresh the data for the items in the Watch List. 
         [0040]    Tapping the “New” button  38  when no entry (item being monitored) is selected invokes the process  38  shown in  FIG. 3 , and described in more detail herein, through which a new watch list or new entry can be made. When the “New” button  38  is tapped, the dialog screen “New Watch List Information”  39  appears, through which the user can select between creating a new entry or a new watch list. See  FIG. 6 . 
         [0041]    Tapping on the “Edit” button  40  invokes the process  40  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 6 , and described in more detail herein, through which an existing watch lists or entries can be edited. When the “Edit” button is tapped, the dialog screen “Edit Watch List”  41  appears through which the user can select between renaming or deleting a watch list. See  FIG. 6 . 
         [0042]    The “Send” button  28  is presented to the user when a change has been made to the watch lists or entries. When the “Send” button  28  is tapped, the Palm Pilot Device establishes a link with the central communications center  14  and passes along the changes to the central server  19 . In this manner, both the remote Palm Pilot Device and the central server  19  will have the master list  22  and the identification of the watch lists assigned to each of the items in the master list  22 . 
         [0043]    If the user selects a particular entry, and then taps the trade icon  42 , he will be brought to a Trade screen with the symbol filled in. The Trade feature is one of the other features in the application of which the Watch List features is a part. 
         [0044]    The Quick Access icon  44  allows a user to invoke a pull down menu in which are listed five most frequently used screens, as defined by the user, and gives immediate navigation to them. See  FIG. 6 . 
         [0045]    Also shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , below the row of icons and buttons, are the Palm Pilot Device Applications button, Menu button  46 , and text and number entry screen. Tapping on the Menu button  46  invokes Options and Edit menus, to be described hereinafter, which are implemented in the Watch List Manager Level  24 ,  FIG. 3 . In the Options menu the “Edit Entry” selection will not be present unless the user has selected an entry on the screen  25 . 
         [0046]    The operations invoked by tapping the above icons or buttons will now be described in greater detail with reference to  FIGS. 3 and 7  to  9 . 
       Send  28 : 
       [0047]    As indicated above, the Send button  28  is not presented to the user unless a change has been made to a watch list or watch list entry using one of the drop down menus or dialogs. Once a change has been recorded, the button will become visible and will act to send the watch list back to the central server  19 , via the wireless link  12 . 
         [0048]    When a user is sending, a progress dialog will appear. If the send is successful, the user will get the “Send Watch List Mgr Confirmation ( 5517 )” message: 
         [0049]    Send Watch List Mgr Confirmation ( 5517 ):
       Title: Watch List Info Sent   Icon Indicator Info   Message: Your watch list information has been sent to (service provider) and successfully saved.
           Button: OK   
               
 
         [0054]    Tapping OK will bring the user back to the Watch List Manager Level  24  screen. If the user attempts to change screens without sending changed watch list information, he will get the “Send Before Leave? ( 5519 )” error message: 
         [0055]    Send Before Leave? ( 5519 ):
       Title: Send Watch List Information?   Icon Indicator Warning   Message: You have changes to your watch list information that you must send to (service provider) before use. What would you like to do with these changes?   Buttons: Send/Discard/Cancel       
 
         [0060]    Tapping Send will send the changes and take the user to the location he wants to go. Tapping Discard will ignore changes and take the user to the location he has requested. Cancel will do nothing but bring the user back to the Watch List Manager Level  24  screen, and the user&#39;s changes will be preserved but not sent. 
         [0061]    If the connection falls to send the watch list changes, the user gets the error message “Send Watch List Error”: 
         [0062]    Send Watch List Error:
       Title: Cannot Send Watch Lists   Icon Indicator Fail   Message: We were unable to send information about your watch lists to the server at this time. Would you like to revert to your last sent list or hold changes until they can be sent at a later time? Holding changes will disable watch lists until the changes can be sent.   Button: Revert/Hold       
 
         [0067]    If the user initiated the dialog via the Send command  28 , reverting will bring the user back to the previously sent version of the Watch List Manager Level  24 . Holding will bring the user to back to the Watch List Manager Level  24  screen with no changes made. The user&#39;s changes will be preserved but not sent, but if the user tries to leave, he will be presented with a Send dialog. 
         [0068]    If the user got to the “Cannot Send Watch Lists” dialog through the “Send Before Leave? ( 5519 )” dialog, reverting will bring the user to the newly requested location, and changes to the watch list information will not be retained, but watch lists will work. 
         [0069]    Holding will bring the user to the newly requested screen. The user&#39;s changes will be preserved but not sent. Holding will disable watch lists, so if the user goes to a watch list, he will get a “Send from Holding” dialog that will inform him he needs to send watch list changes before the watch lists will work. “No” will keep the user in the current watch list, with no information available. “Yes” will bring the user to the Watch List Manager, and will execute a send command automatically. 
         [0070]    Send from Holding Dialog:
       Title: Cannot Use Watch Lists   Icon Indicator. Fall   Message: You are holding changes in your Watch List Manager. In order to use any of your watch lists, you will need to send these changes. Would you like to go to your Watch. List Manager and do so now?   Button: Yes/No       
 
       Request  30 : 
       [0075]    The Request button  30  loads watch list information into the Palm Pilot Device off of the central server  19  located at the central communications center  14 . If a user has made changes at the Watch List Manager Level  24 , and taps the refresh button  30 , he will get the dialog “Request Before Send Error” indicating that the refresh will cause a data loss. 
         [0076]    Request Before Send Error Dialog:
       Title: Request Watch List Information?   Icon Indicator Warning   Message: Are you sure you want to request watch list information from the server before sending? Doing so will cause your changes to be lost.   Button: Request/Cancel       
 
         [0081]    In order to prevent the data loss, the user would press “Cancel” and then tap the “Send” button  28 . Hitting “Request” will result in a loss of the changes made by the user. 
         [0082]    If the connection fails during a request, the user will get the error dialog “Request Watch List Error.” The user will see a screen indicating “Watch List Manager (No Information).” 
         [0083]    Request Watch List Error:
       Title: Cannot Retrieve Watch Lists   Icon Indicator Fail   Message: We were unable to retrieve information about your Watch Lists at this time.   Button: OK       
 
       New  38 : 
       [0088]    Tapping the “New” button  38  will bring up the “New Watch List Information” dialog  39 ,  FIG. 7  that asks the user to choose whether he would like a new entry or new Watch List The dialog shows by default in the drop down the item the user last selected. If it is the first time, “Entry” will be selected as the drop down choice. In this way, if a user is trying to rapidly enter a number of entries, this choke will add only one more tap. 
         [0089]    The New button  38  is always present during the Watch List Manager Level  24  and the Watch List Level  26 . If there are no watch lists, the only choice will be to add a new watch list. This means that one can never add an entry as “not selected” (i.e., without assigning it to a watch list) with the intent of adding it to a list later. 
       New Watch List  48 : 
       [0090]    If, in response to the “New Watch List Information” dialog  39  the user selects “Watch List,” the “New Watch List” dialog box  48  will appear. See  FIG. 7 . Watch List names will consist of 1 to 10 letters and numbers. Other characters will not be allowed, nor will spaces. If the user doesn&#39;t meet this criterion, he will get the error message “Watch List Name Error.” 
         [0091]    Watch List Name Error:
       Title: Watch List Name Error   Icon Indicator Warning   Message: Your watch list name can be 1 to 10 letters or numbers and cannot have a space.   Button: OK       
 
         [0096]    If a user taps add and no information is filled in, he will get the error dialog “Watch List Incomplete Information.” 
         [0097]    Watch List Incomplete Information: 
         [0098]    Title: Incomplete Information 
         [0099]    Icon Indicator: Warning, 
         [0100]    Message: You must fill in a name for your watch list. 
         [0101]    Button: OK. 
         [0102]    If the user attempts to add a name that already exists, he will get the error dialog “New Watch List: Same Name ( 5518 ).” If the user taps OK, he is brought back to the “New Watch List” dialog with the old data still present for editing. 
         [0103]    New Watch List: Same Name ( 5518 ):
       Title: Name Already Exists   Icon Indicator Fall   Message: You already have a Watch List named [name attempted.] Please enter a different name for this Watch List.   Button: OK       
 
         [0108]    If the user reaches 100 watch lists, he will get the error dialog “Too Many Watch Lists ( 5502 )” when he taps the OK button in the “New Watch List Information” dialog  39 . Tapping OK will bring him back to the Watch List Manager Level  24  screen. 
         [0109]    Too Many Watch. Lists ( 55021 :
       Title: Too Many Watch Lists   Icon Indicator Warning   Message: You can only have 100 watch lists. You may not add another watch list until another watch list has been deleted.   Button: OK       
 
         [0114]    If the user successfully adds a new list, he will get the confirmation dialog “Add Watch List Confirmation.” When the user taps “OK,” he will be brought to the Watch List Manager Level  24  screen. 
         [0115]    Add Watch List Confirmation: 
         [0116]    Title: Watch List Added 
         [0117]    Icon Indicator Info 
         [0118]    Message: [Watch List name] has been successfully added. 
         [0119]    Button: OK 
       New Entry  50 : 
       [0120]    If, in response to the “New Watch List Information” dialog  39 , the user selects “Entry,” the “New Entry” dialog  50  is displayed. If the user successfully adds the entry to the watch list, he will return to the Watch List Manager Level  24  screen with the new entry added, and the list scrolled to reveal it. The defaults for the New Entry dialog  50  fields will be: A blank in Symbol. The drop down will consist of all watch lists that the user has. The default the first time will be the first alphabetical watch list. After the first time, the drop down will stay on the last list selected by the user. 
         [0121]    If the user enters an unknown symbol, such unknown symbols will appear in a watch list, but the watch list will have “Unknown” in the price list, and the user can later delete the entry. The use of “Unknown” as a price will not be limited to entries that are misspelled. A valid stock could become decommissioned during mergers or bankruptcy. 
         [0122]    If a user taps “add” in the “New Entry” dialog  50  and no information is filled in, he will get the error dialog “Watch List Entry Incomplete Information.” 
         [0123]    Watch List Entry Incomplete Information: 
         [0124]    Title: Incomplete Information 
         [0125]    Icon Indicator Warning 
         [0126]    Message: You must fill in a symbol.
       Button: OK       
 
         [0128]    The Palm Pilot device will perform local validation to see if a user has a valid form for a symbol. A valid stock symbol is 1-5 alpha characters. A valid index symbol is a period followed by 1-4 alpha characters. If the symbol field does not meet this description, the user will get the dialog “Invalid Symbol.” OK will return the user to the New Entry dialog. 
         [0129]    Invalid Symbol: 
         [0130]    Title: Invalid Symbol 
         [0131]    Icon Indicator Fall 
         [0132]    Message: This is not a valid symbol. Please re-enter. 
         [0133]    Button: OK 
         [0134]    If the entry already exists in the watch list, the user will get no error. The user will be able to list multiple occurrences of the same symbol in a single watch list. Each occurrence will count against the 100-entry limit. If there are already 100 symbols in the watch list manager, the user will be shown the dialog “Too Many Entries ( 5505 )” when he chooses the OK button in the “New Watch List Information” dialog. 
         [0135]    When the user taps OK, he will be brought back to the Watch List Manager Level  24  screen. 
         [0136]    Too Many Entries ( 55051 :
       Title: Too Many Entries   Icon Indicator Fall   Message: You have reached the maximum number of entries (100) allowed in your watch list manager. In order to add a symbol, you will have to delete another from the list.   Button: OK       
 
       Edit  40 : 
       [0141]    Referring now to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , in this embodiment of the present invention, the Edit button  40  is always present. If the user is on an entry (stock), it will bring him to the dialog: “Edit Watch List Entry”  52 . Otherwise, it will bring the user to a dialog that will prompt him to either rename or delete a watch list: “Edit Watch List”  54 . The user will have to select which watch list to edit as there will be no way to select one directly. 
       Edit Watch List  54 : 
       [0142]    The defaults for the Edit Watch List dialog  54  fields are: The watch list drop down will be the last selected by the user. If it is the first time, it will be the first alphabetical list. The default for the radio button will be the delete option  56 , and the rename field  58  will be empty. 
         [0143]    If the user chooses to rename the watch list and succeeds, he will get the “Edit Watch List Confirmation” dialog. 
         [0144]    Edit Watch List Confirmation:
       Title: Watch List Renamed   Icon Indicator Info   Message: Watch List “[Old watch list name]” has been successfully renamed to watch list “[new watch list name.]”   Button: OK       
 
         [0149]    If the user taps “OK,” he will return to the Watch List Manager Level  24  with changes made. If he fails, the same error conditions and dialogs will appear as in creating a new watch list. 
         [0150]    If the user chooses to delete the watch list and taps Make Change, he will be brought to the dialog “Delete Watch List”  60 . In either case, if the user taps Cancel, he will return to the Watch List Manager Level  24  with no changes made. 
         [0151]    If the user enters a new name which already exists, he will get the error message, just as in the creation of a new watch list discussed above, “New Watch List: Same Name ( 5518 ).” 
       Edit Entry  52 : 
       [0152]    Referring now to  FIG. 9 , the dialogs for editing watch list entries will now be discussed. The defaults for the Edit Watch List Entry dialog  52  fields are: The default for the radio button will be the delete option  62 . The watch list drop down will be the last selected by the user. If it is the first time, it will be the first alphabetical list. The rename field  64  will be pre-filed with the entry that was selected. 
       Delete Watch List or Entry: 
       [0153]    A user will come to delete either a watch list or an entry from their respective edit dialogs. There are no menus for the delete dialogs. If in the “Edit Watch List” dialog  54 , the user chooses to delete the watch list, he will be brought to the “Delete Watch List” dialog  60 ,  FIG. 8 , and asked to confirm the deletion. If in the “Edit Entry” dialog  52 , the user chooses to delete the entry, he will be brought to the “Delete Watch List Entry” dialog  66 ,  FIG. 9 , and asked to confirm the deletion. 
       Delete Watch List: 
       [0154]    If the user selects Delete in the “Delete Watch List” dialog  60 , and it successfully occurs, the user will get the confirmation “Delete Watch List Confirmation.” Tapping OK will bring the user in this dialog to the Watch List Manager Level  24  with the watch list, and its stocks deleted. If the user chooses to Cancel from the “Delete Watch List” dialog  60 , he will be brought back to the Watch List Manager Level  24  without any changes having been made. 
         [0155]    Delete Watch List Confirmation:
       Title: Watch List and Entries Deleted   Icon Indicator Info   Message: The watch list “[watch list name]” and all of its entries have been successfully deleted from your set of watch lists.   Button: OK       
 
       Delete Entry: 
       [0160]    If the user chooses to delete an entry in the “Edit Watch List Entry” dialog  52 , he will get the “Delete Watch List Entry” dialog  66 ,  FIG. 9 . If the entry appears in more than one list, a checkbox  68  will be available that will allow the user to delete the entry symbol from all lists in which it occurs. The default is off. (It is to be noted that the example illustrated in  FIG. 9 , the entry “ADBE” appears in more than one list.) If the user taps Cancel, he will be brought back to the Watch List Manager Level  24  with no changes made. 
         [0161]    If the deletion happens successfully, the user will see the dialog “Delete Entry from Watch List Confirmation.” If the user taps OK, he will be brought back to the Watch List Manager Level  24  with the changes made. 
         [0162]    Delete Entry from Watch List Confirmation—Entry Removed from One List:
       Title: Watch List Entry Deleted   Icon Indicator Info   Message: [Entry] has been removed from the Watch List “[Watch List name].”   Button: OK       
 
         [0167]    Delete Entry from Watch List Confirmation—Entry Removed from All Lists:
       Title: Watch List Entry Deleted   Icon Indicator Info   Message: [Entry] has been removed from all Watch Lists.   Button: OK       
 
       Watch List Level  26 : 
       [0172]    As discussed in connection with  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the user can navigate between the Watch List Manager Level  24  and specific watch lists in the Watch List Level  26  through secondary drop down menu  34 . If a user selects to see a watch list from the secondary drop down menu  34 , he will be shown the screens  70  or  72  in  FIG. 10 , for example. Screen  70  shows the information provided for the “hitek” watch list when an index, e.g. “.DJI” is selected. When an index is in a watch list and is selected, the bid and ask fields will be omitted. If volume information is not available, that field will have “n/a” entered. 
         [0173]    Screen  72  shows the information provided for the “hitek” watch list when an individual stock, e.g. “AAPL” is selected. Because there is no explicit support for decimal alignment on the Palm Pilot device, and in order to conserve space, the values for Bid, Ask, Volume, High, Low, and % Move are positioned as shown in screens  70  and  72 , aligned right after the field label. This is also because the longest labels happen to need the least value space. 
       Sorting: 
       [0174]    When the user is in the Watch List Level  26 , as illustrated in  FIG. 10 , tapping on the Symbol column header will sort the list by symbol. Tapping on the Last Trd (last trade) will sort by that column. These two will be bolded when each is the sort column. The change and volume radio box serve both to select what data appears in the last column as well as to indicate and execute the sort. The sort upon entry will be the state in which the user last left the watch list. If it is the first entry, the default will be sorted by Symbol. The first time the user taps either of the Chng or Vol boxes, it will go to descending numerical order. If the item is highlighted and is tapped again, the sort order will reverse. 
       Palm Pilot Menu: 
       [0175]    Also shown in  FIG. 10  are the navigational paths through which the user can add, edit or delete entries in the watch list. As shown, the Palm Pilot device menu  46  provides the New Entry and Edit Entry and Delete Entry functions for the user. In contrast with the Watch List Manager Level  24 , the New, Edit buttons have been removed from the screen in the Watch List Level  26  in order to conserve screen space. The New Entry menu item will bring the user to the dialog “New Entry”  50 ,  FIGS. 3 and 7 . The user will be navigated to Watch List Manager Level  24 , and all error conditions defined in the Watch List Manager Level  24  will apply. 
         [0176]    The Edit Entry menu item will bring the user to the dialog “Edit Entry”  52 ,  FIGS. 3 and 9 , based on the selected entry. The user will be navigated to Watch List Manager Level  24 , and all error conditions defined in the Watch List Manager Level  24  will apply. The Delete Entry menu item will bring the user to the dialog “Delete Entry”  66 ,  FIGS. 3 and 9 , based on the selected entry. The user will be navigated to Watch List Manager Level  24 , and all error conditions defined in the Watch List Manager Level  24  will apply. 
       Request: 
       [0177]    The Request button  30  will update the entry information. It is always active. 
       News: 
       [0178]    The News button  74  will appear when there is market moving news headlines for the selected stock. If the user selects news, he will effectively execute a search for market moving news on the company selected and will be brought directly to the headlines result screen for company news. If a stock does not have market-moving news, and it is selected, the News button will disappear. If the user jumps to headlines from this screen, a “Watch” button will appear that will allow the user to return to the watch list he left in order to see the news. This button will only appear from a direct jump to the headlines from the watch list news button. If the user navigates to any other primary and/or secondary, and then returns, the context-sensitive “Watch” button goes away. Also, if the user executes a new headline search, upon refresh, the button will go away. 
       Details: 
       [0179]    A user will be able to get details on a stock symbol. The Details button  76  will bring up the Quote Details dialog, for both stock and Indices, a feature associated with another function available from the primary drop down menu  32  in the application of which the present invention is a feature. Here, however, if the user doses the Quote Details dialog via the “Back to Watch,” he will return to the Watch List screen. 
         [0180]    The features and operations described herein are implemented in a conventional manner, and in conformance with the software development and application interface standards and user interface standards for the Palm Pilot device. While the content, and thereby the organizational features described above are novel, they are implemented using standard Palm Pilot programming techniques. 
         [0181]    The terms expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described, or portions thereof, it being recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

Technology Category: g