Active tiled user interface
View Patent ↗A computer interface can be customized by a user at run time (instead of by a developer or administrator at an earlier time). A rectangular area can be divided into a plurality of sub-areas, and content sources assigned to each sub-area; or two adjacent sub-areas can be coalesced into a single, larger area. Content sources are assigned to each sub-area, and live content from the assigned source is displayed in the sub-area.
1. A system comprising;
a display screen to present information from a plurality of sources;
a window manager to coordinate display of a plurality of overlapping windows on the display screen;
logic including functionality to:
reconfigure a content area of one of the plurality of overlapping windows into a nested grid comprising non-overlapping parent tiles, at least one of the non-overlapping parent tiles comprising a plurality of non-overlapping child tiles, and
evenly adjust, according to a first option defined by a user in a user specified policy, a first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles and a second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles, the evenly adjusting being responsive to detecting selection and movement of a dividing line adjacent to the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles and non-adjacent to the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles, wherein the first option specifies even adjustment of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles responsive to detection of selection and movement of the dividing line;
adjust, according to a second option defined by a user in the user specified policy, the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles responsive to detecting the selection and movement of the dividing line, wherein the second option specifies adjusting the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles and not adjusting the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles;
and
a first content source supplying information for display in at least one of the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles or the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the logic includes functionality to change supplying of information for display in the at least one of the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles or the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles to a second content source.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the first content source is an Internet browser.
4. The system of claim 3 wherein a “Back” button of the Internet browser is inactive.
5. The system of claim 3 wherein a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) entry field is inactive.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein first content source is a database.
7. A method for providing a user interface, the method comprising:
displaying a window as a nested grid comprising non-overlapping parent tiles, at least one of the non-overlapping parent tiles comprising a plurality of non-overlapping child tiles;
detecting movement of a dividing line adjacent to a first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles, wherein the dividing line is non-adjacent to a second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles;
accessing a user-specified policy for resizing the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles and the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles, wherein the user-specified policy includes one of:
a first option to evenly resize the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles and the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles, and
a second option to resize the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles and not resize the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles;
adjusting, responsive to detecting the movement of the dividing line, a first size for the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles and a second size for the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles when the accessed user-specified policy includes the first option; and,
adjusting, responsive to detecting the movement of the dividing line, the first size for the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles while maintaining the second size for the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles when the accessed user-specified policy includes the second option.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising receiving an assignment of a content source for the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles or the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising displaying information from the content source in the first of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles or the second of the plurality of non-overlapping child tiles.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein the content source includes an Internet browser.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the content source includes a web service.
12. The method of claim 8 wherein the content source includes a database.
13. The method of claim 7 further comprising saving an interface configuration of the nested grid.
14. The method of claim 7 wherein displaying the window as a nested grid is based on a saved interface configuration.
15. A system for providing a tiled user interface, the system comprising:
a processor;
a memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform operations including:
displaying a nested grid comprising a plurality of non-overlapping tiles;
detecting movement of a dividing line adjacent to a first of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles, wherein the dividing line is non-adjacent to a second of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles;
accessing a user-specified policy for resizing the first of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles and the second of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles, wherein the user-specified policy includes one of:
a first option to evenly resize the first of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles and the second of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles, and
a second option to resize the first of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles and not resize the second of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles;
adjusting, responsive to detecting movement of the dividing line, the first of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles and the second of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles when the accessed user-specified policy includes the first option; and,
adjusting, responsive to detecting the movement of the dividing line, the first of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles while not adjusting the second of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles when the accessed user-specified policy includes the second option.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein the operations further include receiving an assignment of a content source for the first of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles or the second of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles.
17. The system of claim 16 wherein the operations further include displaying information from the content source in the first of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles or the second of the plurality of non-overlapping tiles.
18. The system of claim 16 wherein the content source includes a web service.
19. The system of claim 16 wherein the content source includes a database.
20. The system of claim 15 wherein the operations further include saving an interface configuration of the nested grid for restoring the nested grid during a subsequent display.