Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Michael A Angiulo

Charles W Parker

Michael D Smith

Eric J Hennings

Lou Nell Gerard

Nadim Y Abdo

Zhenguang Chen

David G Garber

Benjamin E Canning

Stuart B Kolodner

Theodore J Stefanik

Chris Peters

Terrence R Crowley

Benjamin A Canning

Zhenguang (Robert) Chen

A tool that enables a user to easily and automatically create a photo gallery of thumbnail images on a Web page. A user selects a group of original images, and the tool automatically produces a corresponding group of thumbnail images on the Web page, with hyperlinks to the corresponding original images. Four predefined templates are included, each defining a different format for the thumbnail images including a vertically oriented gallery, a horizontally oriented gallery, a slide show gallery, and a montage gallery. Captions and descriptive text can also be entered and displayed for the thumbnail images in most of the style galleries. An edit function enables a user to add or delete images to existing galleries and to automatically modify the appearance of a photo gallery by selecting and applying a different template.

Auto thumbnail gallery

Contextual information concerning linked documents is promoted to display pages that contain hyperlinks to those documents. The contextual information can be immediately displayed, or it can be selectively displayed in response to a user selecting a text hyperlink anchor or a picture icon hyperlink anchor. Furthermore, the contextual information can include a variety of information about the linked document, including whether it has been modified within a predefined time period, such as the last 24 hours, a comment by the author concerning recent changes, and the size of the document. Preferably, the contextual information is automatically generated by a data promotion engine based on meta-data that is associated with the document and stored on a web site for the document. One of the types of contextual information stored in the meta-data is a manually defined category for a hyperlink in the display page.

Method for promoting contextual information to display pages containing hyperlinks

Contextual information concerning linked documents is promoted to display pages that contain hyperlinks to those documents. The contextual information can be immediately displayed, or it can be selectively displayed in response to a user selecting a text hyperlink anchor or a picture icon hyperlink anchor. Furthermore, the contextual information can include a variety of information about the linked document, including whether it has been modified within a predefined time period, such as the last 24 hours, a comment by the author concerning recent changes, and the size of the document. Preferably, the contextual information is automatically generated by a data promotion engine based on meta-data that is associated with the document and stored on a web site for the document. The contextual information may be either added to the document that corresponds to a display page at the time the document page is saved, or it may be dynamically uploaded to a browser when the display page is rendered by a browser. One of the types of contextual information stored in the meta-data is a manually defined category for a hyperlink in the display page.

A user interface toolbar and associated method for enabling a user to make a series of selections in a procedural order that can be used to assign properties to a component object in an application program document. The toolbar contains a plurality of selection controls, each containing a control value and a dropdown menu. The menu options that drop down in successive selection controls change in context with the menu choices made in a previous selection control. A user typically fills selection controls from left to right (or top to bottom) in a procedural fashion. As the user makes selections to fill in the controls, the menus corresponding to the selection controls that are downstream (to the right of or below) the last filled selection control are updated based on the content of the previous selections. The toolbar allows a user to select and change any selection previously made, as desired, with the resultant changes effecting the selections and menus to the right of or below the changed selection. The toolbar also allows a user to enter a secondary set of control values in the selection controls. Properties may be assigned to a component object in an application program document based on the control values in the selection controls. The toolbar preferably is implemented as a modeless window comprising a title bar and a close window icon, wherein the plurality of selection controls are arranged horizontally across the toolbar, or vertically.

Procedural toolbar user interface

A method and system for preserving attributes of objects within a file that was created in a different environment from that in which the file is opened, enabling the attributes to be maintained after the file is saved. For example, an HTML document created with a text editor includes elements such as plain text and HTML tags, with which attributes such as whitespace, line breaks, and indent level are associated. When such a document is opened in an HTML editor implementing the present invention, the attributes of these elements are preserved. Even when changes to these elements occur, to the extent possible, the method provides for determining attributes of related elements that were in the document as originally opened in the HTML editor, so that these attributes can be applied to corresponding objects that are added to the document or in regard to changes that are made by the user. The preservation of persistent object attributes is also applicable to other types of software applications such as language development systems and word processing programs. This invention thus insures, for example, that functions developed in newer versions of a program, although not recognized in an earlier version, persist when a file is opened in the earlier version and then saved.

Robust modification of persistent objects while preserving formatting and other attributes

An original (full size) image is automatically represented by a thumbnail (reduced size) image on a Web page. A user selects the original image that will be represented by the thumbnail image. The thumbnail image is produced and placed into a Web page that is being created or edited. While viewing the Web page, selection of the thumbnail image causes a hyperlink to the original image that is automatically associated with the thumbnail image to be traversed, so that the original image is retrieved and displayed. An auto thumbnail tool dialog box enables the user to define the size of the thumbnail image and to optionally select a border and/or a beveled edge for the thumbnail image. The coloring and the pattern of the border may also be optionally selected by the user.

Representing a graphic image on a web page with a thumbnail-sized image

A spell check or a find and replace editing operation is implemented on a plurality of documents on a web and is initiated from a single dialog box. The user is provided the option of selecting either all documents on the web site or alternatively, specifying each of the plurality of documents on which the editing operation is applied. A summary review or list of documents is created by opening successive files on the web site and identifying those for which the selected editing operation is applicable. Once the summary review list of files is completed, the user has the option of reviewing one or more of the files on the list to control how the editing operation is completed. For example, in a spell check editing operation, a file reviewed by the user is opened to the first apparently misspelled word and the user is given the option of changing the word, ignoring it, or moving to the next apparently misspelled word, if any. This review process can selectively be deferred for one or more of the files in the list until a later time.

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Redmond, WA, United States of America

Michael A Angiulo