The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 27, 2004
Filed:
Jul. 07, 1998
Paul Joseph Reder, Durham, NC (US);
Carole Ameila McCallum, San Jose, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method of customizing a graphical user interface (GUI) having one or more command structures (such as toolbars, pull-down menus, or status bars), by dynamically modifying the command structure in response to direct manipulation of the command structure using a graphical pointer of the GUI controlled by a pointing device (e.g., mouse). The structures may be modified using a direct manipulation “drag-and-drop” procedure. A command item can be dragged from a first location within a command structure to a second location within the same command structure, simply moving the position of the item within that structure. The command item can also be dragged from a first location within a command structure to a second location outside of the command structure, such as to a trash bin provided by the GUI (for deletion of the item), or to a second command structure (for moving or copying the item, e.g., from a toolbar to a pull-down menu). Customized interfaces can be saved and maintained with password protection, allowing a system administrator to lock an interface.