Executing secondary actions with respect to onscreen objects
View Patent ↗In a computer system receiving input from a user via at least a keyboard and a pointing device, in which input via the pointing device causes corresponding movement of a pointing image on a display screen of the computer system, user input may be received via the pointing device to point the pointing image at an onscreen object on the display screen. In response to the user activating a key on the keyboard while the pointing image is pointing at the onscreen object, a secondary action with respect to the onscreen object may be executed.
1. In a computer system receiving input from a user via at least a keyboard and a pointing device, wherein input via the pointing device causes corresponding movement of a pointing image on a display screen of the computer system, a method comprising:
receiving user input via the pointing device to point the pointing image at a first onscreen object on the display screen;
analyzing at least a current keyboard input focus on a second onscreen object to determine whether (a) the first onscreen object is targeted via the pointing device despite the second onscreen object having current keyboard input focus, or (b) the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object but the first onscreen object is not targeted via the pointing device, wherein the analyzing comprises, in response to determining that the second onscreen object having current keyboard input focus is an HTML document, determining that the first onscreen object is targeted via the pointing device despite the HTML document having current keyboard input focus; and
in response to the user activating a key on the keyboard while the first onscreen object is determined to be targeted via the pointing device and the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object, executing a secondary action with respect to the first onscreen object, and suppressing execution of an action of the keyboard key with respect to the second onscreen object having the current keyboard input focus.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the keyboard key is a text input key.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the keyboard key is a letter key, a number key, a punctuation key, a symbol key, a spacebar, or a navigation key.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the keyboard key is a spacebar, and wherein executing the secondary action comprises magnifying the first onscreen object on the display screen.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to the user activating a different key on the keyboard while the first onscreen object is determined to be targeted via the pointing device and the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object, executing a different secondary action with respect to the first onscreen object.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising analyzing the user input received via the pointing device in determining whether the first onscreen object is targeted via the pointing device.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to the user activating the keyboard key while the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object but the first onscreen object is not determined to be targeted via the pointing device, allowing execution of a primary action of the keyboard key that is not a secondary action with respect to the first onscreen object.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing to the user, prior to the user activating the keyboard key, an indication of whether an onscreen object is determined to be targeted via the pointing device.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein suppressing execution of the action of the keyboard key comprises suppressing execution of a primary action of the keyboard key.
10. At least one computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform a method in a computer system receiving input from a user via at least a keyboard and a pointing device, wherein input via the pointing device causes corresponding movement of a pointing image on a display screen of the computer system, the method comprising:
receiving user input via the pointing device to point the pointing image at a first onscreen object on the display screen;
analyzing at least a current keyboard input focus on a second onscreen object to determine whether (a) the first onscreen object is targeted via the pointing device despite the second onscreen object having current keyboard input focus, or (b) the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object but the first onscreen object is not targeted via the pointing device, wherein the analyzing comprises, in response to determining that the second onscreen object having current keyboard input focus is an HTML document, determining that the first onscreen object is targeted via the pointing device despite the HTML document having current keyboard input focus; and
in response to the user activating a key on the keyboard while the first onscreen object is determined to be targeted via the pointing device and the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object, executing a secondary action with respect to the first onscreen object, and suppressing execution of an action of the keyboard key with respect to the second onscreen object having the current keyboard input focus.
11. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the keyboard key is a text input key.
12. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the keyboard key is a letter key, a number key, a punctuation key, a symbol key, a spacebar, or a navigation key.
13. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the keyboard key is a spacebar, and wherein executing the secondary action comprises magnifying the first onscreen object on the display screen.
14. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises, in response to the user activating a different key on the keyboard while the first onscreen object is determined to be targeted via the pointing device and the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object, executing a different secondary action with respect to the first onscreen object.
15. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises analyzing the user input received via the pointing device in determining whether the first onscreen object is targeted via the pointing device.
16. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises, in response to the user activating the keyboard key while the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object but the first onscreen object is not determined to be targeted via the pointing device, allowing execution of a primary action of the keyboard key that is not a secondary action with respect to the first onscreen object.
17. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises providing to the user, prior to the user activating the keyboard key, an indication of whether an onscreen object is determined to be targeted via the pointing device.
18. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein suppressing execution of the action of the keyboard key comprises suppressing execution of a primary action of the keyboard key.
19. A computer system comprising:
a display screen configured to provide output from the computer system to a user;
a keyboard configured to accept input from the user to the computer system;
a pointing device configured to accept input from the user to the computer system, wherein input via the pointing device causes corresponding movement of a pointing image on the display screen;
at least one processor; and
at least one storage medium storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform a method comprising:
receiving user input via the pointing device to point the pointing image at a first onscreen object on the display screen;
analyzing at least a current keyboard input focus on a second onscreen object to determine whether (a) the first onscreen object is targeted via the pointing device despite the second onscreen object having current keyboard input focus, or (b) the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object but the first onscreen object is not targeted via the pointing device, wherein the analyzing comprises, in response to determining that the second onscreen object having current keyboard input focus is an HTML document, determining that the first onscreen object is targeted via the pointing device despite the HTML document having current keyboard input focus; and
in response to the user activating a key on the keyboard while the first onscreen object is determined to be targeted via the pointing device and the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object, executing a secondary action with respect to the first onscreen object, and suppressing execution of an action of the keyboard key with respect to the second onscreen object having the current keyboard input focus.
20. The computer system of claim 19 , wherein the keyboard key is a text input key.
21. The computer system of claim 20 , wherein the keyboard key is a letter key, a number key, a punctuation key, a symbol key, a spacebar, or a navigation key.
22. The computer system of claim 21 , wherein the keyboard key is a spacebar, and wherein executing the secondary action comprises magnifying the first onscreen object on the display screen.
23. The computer system of claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises, in response to the user activating a different key on the keyboard while the first onscreen object is determined to be targeted via the pointing device and the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object, executing a different secondary action with respect to the first onscreen object.
24. The computer system of claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises analyzing the user input received via the pointing device to determine whether the first onscreen object is targeted via the pointing device.
25. The computer system of claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises, in response to the user activating the keyboard key while the pointing image is pointing at the first onscreen object but the first onscreen object is not determined to be targeted via the pointing device, allowing execution of a primary action of the keyboard key that is not a secondary action with respect to the first onscreen object.
26. The computer system of claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises providing to the user, prior to the user activating the keyboard key, an indication of whether an onscreen object is determined to be targeted via the pointing device.
27. The computer system of claim 19 , wherein suppressing execution of the action of the keyboard key comprises suppressing execution of a primary action of the keyboard key.