초록 ▼

A method and system for facilitating the selection of icons. Those icons which are next likely to be used are selected and automatically moved towards a cursor thereby facilitating selection of the icons. Additionally, those icons likely to be used or other icons selected by a user may track the cur

A method and system for facilitating the selection of icons. Those icons which are next likely to be used are selected and automatically moved towards a cursor thereby facilitating selection of the icons. Additionally, those icons likely to be used or other icons selected by a user may track the cursor such that those icons are always close to the cursor and capable of being easily selected. Further, in order to facilitate selection of icons, icons are provided with the capability of announcing themselves when a cursor comes close to the icon. In addition, it is possible to reduce the amount of clutter on a computer display so that icons may be easily selected. In order to clean up a computer display, icons which are least likely to be used are faded, eliminated or shrunk to a smaller size. In another embodiment, icons that are not used very often may disappear into a master icon and further, icons which have a conceptual relationship between them may be linked by a visual graphical representation.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for graphically linking one or more of a plurality of icons located on a computer display, said method comprising the steps of:determining, independent of user intervention, which of said plurality of icons are to be linked by determining for said plurality of ic

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for graphically linking one or more of a plurality of icons located on a computer display, said method comprising the steps of:determining, independent of user intervention, which of said plurality of icons are to be linked by determining for said plurality of icons a likeliness probability that one or more icons will be selected after at least one other icon, and selecting those icons which have a likeliness probability greater than a predetermined probability as those icons to be linked with said at least one other icon; anddrawing a graphical representation between said icons to be linked, wherein appearance variations within the graphical representation indicate the nature of a relationship between said linked icons.