Apple Inc.

Andrew L Shalit

Jeremy A Jones

Neil Lawrence Mayle

Steven Henry Strassmann

Paige K Parsons

Oliver W Steele

Derek R White

William W St Clair, Jr

A graphical user interface comprises aspect and style elements for controlling the type of information associated with objects displayed on a display screen of a computer system when browsing through the objects. The aspect element controls the particular type of information displayed for an object on a portion of a window, called a pane, while the style element controls the types of information displayed for all objects within that pane.

Aspect and style elements of an improved graphical user interface

An interactive user interface for a computer controlled system to simplify browsing and navigating through information structures. The interface uses a split-pane icon on a window scroll bar, or input and output icons on a window title bar. When activating the split-pane icon by dragging a selected object to it, a new pane opens up displaying the contents of the object. Where a first or second pane exists, dragging a selected object to the first or second panels input icon, or dragging the output icon of the first pane to the second panels input icon, will display the contents of a selected object in the first or second pane respectively. Other ways of controlling the displays in the same or different windows or panes are also described.

Split bar and input/output window control icons for interactive user

An improved graphical user interface comprises novel status indicators pertaining to state attributes associated with objects displayed on a display screen of a computer system. These status indicators are preferably portrayed on a window pane of a display screen as distinct visual cues and are located adjacent to their associated objects to provide a customizable browser framework to a user. A dynamically-adjustable side bar panel provides a designated area within each pane for displaying the status indicators.

Status indicators of an improved graphical user interface

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Somerville, MA, United States of America

Andrew L Shalit