Method of real-time incremental zooming
A method for navigating a pointer on a graphical user interface (GUI) includes the steps of: scrolling an input device to locate the pointer corresponding to the input device on a point of interest within the GUI, depressing an actuating button associated with the input device on the point of interest, obtaining a detailed view of the point of interest while centering the point of interest on the GUI and maintaining a position of the pointer on the point of interest.
1 . A computer readable medium containing executable instructions which, when executed in a processing system, cause the system to perform a method comprising:
moving a cursor from a first display point on a user interface to a second display point on said user interface;
receiving a selection input associated with said second display point;
providing a detailed view of the second display point and centering the user interface around the second display point; and
maintaining a position of the cursor on the second display point.
2 . The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the detailed view of the point of interest is obtained while zooming in on the second display point and simultaneously panning over the user interface.
3 . The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the detailed view is obtained in a series of intermediate zooming levels.
4 . The computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the cursor position is maintained over the second display point at each zooming level.
5 . The computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the number of zooming levels is at least two.
6 . The computer readable medium of claim 1 , further comprising:
computing a linear distance between the center of the user interface and the second display point;
drawing a virtual line representing the linear distance; and
animating a movement of the cursor along the virtual line in a series of intermediate zooming levels.
7 . The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the user interface corresponds to a location information program.
8 . The computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the user interface corresponds to a menu selection in a pay per view environment.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing information for each intermediate zooming level as a history.
10 . A method for handling a cursor on a user interface, comprising the steps of:
moving a cursor from a first display point on a user interface to a second display point on said user interface;
receiving a selection input associated with said second display point;
providing a detailed view of the second display point and centering the user interface around the second display point; and
maintaining a position of the cursor on the second display point.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the detailed view of the point of interest is obtained while zooming in on the second display point and simultaneously panning over the user interface.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the detailed view is obtained in a series of intermediate zooming levels.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the cursor position is maintained over the second display point at each zooming level.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the number of zooming levels is at least two.
15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
computing a linear distance between the center of the user interface and the second display point;
drawing a virtual line representing the linear distance; and
animating a movement of the cursor along the virtual line in a series of intermediate zooming levels.
16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the user interface corresponds to a location information program.
17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the user interface corresponds to a menu selection in a pay per view environment.
18 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising storing information for each intermediate zooming level as a history.