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Claims  |
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What is claimed:
1. A method of operating a system that includes a display and an input
device for receiving signals from a user; the method comprising the steps
of:
presenting on the display a first workspace; the first workspace including
a first set of display features, each display feature in the first set
having a respective position within the first workspace; the first set of
display features including a selectable link creation unit; the selectable
link creation unit including a first bounded area of the display at the
selectable link creation unit's respective position within the first
workspace; the signals from the user including a first signal indicating a
position within the first bounded area;
upon receiving from the input device the first signal, presenting on the
display at a respective position within the first workspace a selectable
linking unit indicating a link to a second workspace; the selectable
linking unit including a second bounded area of the display at the
selectable linking unit's respective position within the first workspace;
the step of presenting the selectable linking unit including a substep of
accessing location data indicating a relation between the selectable link
creation unit's respective position and the selectable linking unit's
respective position and using the location data to obtain the selectable
linking unit's respective position; the signals from the user including a
second signal indicating a position within the second bounded area; and
upon receiving from the input device the second signal, presenting on the
display the second workspace, the second workspace including a second set
of display features, each display feature in the second set having a
respective position within the second workspace.
2. The method of claim 1 in which the step of presenting the selectable
linking unit comprises a substep of presenting an icon in the second
bounded area of the display.
3. The method of claim 1 in which the first set of display features
includes a sequence of display features, the first bounded area of the
display and the second bounded area of the display each including a
respective one of the sequence of display features, the step of presenting
the selectable linking unit further comprising a substep of presenting the
selectable linking unit so that the respective display feature of the
second bounded area is positioned immediately after the respective display
feature of the first bounded area in the sequence.
4. The method of claim 1 in which the first set of display features
includes a sequence of text, the step of presenting the first workspace
comprising presenting the selectable link creation unit within the text
sequence in the first workspace.
5. The method of claim 1 in which the step of presenting the selectable
linking unit comprises ceasing to present the selectable link creation
unit, the second bounded area of the display including a part of the first
bounded area of the display.
6. The method of claim 1 in which each of the first and second workspaces
is a card.
7. A method of operating a system that includes a display, an input device
for receiving signals from a user, and a workspace network data structure
that can be accessed for presenting workspaces on the display; the
workspace network data structure including a first workspace data unit
relating to a first workspace that can be presented on the display, the
first workspace including a first set of display features, each display
feature in the first set having a respective position within the first
workspace; the first set of display features including a selectable link
creation unit, the selectable link creation unit including a first bounded
area of the display at the selectable link creation unit's respective
position within the first workspace; the signals from the user including a
first signal indicating a position within the first bounded area; the
workspace network data structure including a link creation data unit that
can be accessed after accessing the first workspace data unit; the link
creation data unit including link creation data for creating in the
workspace network data structure a linking data unit linking the first
workspace data unit and a second workspace data unit relating to a second
workspace; the link creation data including location data indicating a
relation between the selectable link creation unit's respective position
and a selectable linking unit's respective position within the first
workspace; the method comprising steps of:
accessing the first workspace data unit and presenting the first workspace
on the display, the first workspace including the selectable link creation
unit; and upon receiving the first signal, presenting the selectable
linking unit at its respective position within the first workspace; the
step of presenting the selectable linking unit comprising substeps of:
accessing the link creation data unit;
using the link creation data to create the linking data unit in the
workspace network data structure; and
using the location data to obtain the selectable linking unit's respective
position within the first workspace.
8. The method of claim 7 in which the first workspace is a first card and
the second workspace is a second card, the link creation data including an
identifier of the second card.
9. The method of claim 7 in which the selectable linking unit includes a
second bounded area of the display at the selectable linking unit's
respective position within the first workspace; the signals from the user
including a second signal indicating a position within the second bounded
area; the method further comprising a step of presenting the second
workspace on the display upon receiving the second signal from the input
device, the second workspace including a second set of display features,
each display feature in the second set having a respective position within
the second workspace.
10. The method of claim 9 in which the first workspace includes a sequence
of text; the selectable link creation unit being within the text sequence,
the location data indicating the location of the second bounded area
relative to the first bounded area in the text sequence.
11. The method of claim 10 in which the location data indicate the location
of the second bounded area as immediately after the first bounded area,
the step of presenting the selectable linking unit comprising a substep of
presenting the selectable linking unit with the second bounded area
positioned immediately after the first bounded area in the text sequence.
12. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:
prior to receiving the first signal, including a workspace creation data
unit in the workspace network data structure, the workspace creation data
unit being accessible after accessing the first workspace data unit, the
workspace creation data unit including workspace creation data for
creating in the workspace network data structure the second workspace data
unit; and
upon receiving the first signal, accessing the workspace creation data unit
and using the workspace creation data to create the second workspace data
unit in the workspace network data structure.
13. A workspace network data structure for use in a system that includes:
a display;
an input device for receiving signals from a user; and
control means for receiving the signals from the input means, for accessing
the workspace network data structure, and for controlling the display;
the workspace network data structure comprising:
a first workspace data unit relating to a first workspace; the first
workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for use in
presenting the first workspace on the display; the first workspace
including a first set of display features, each display feature in the
first set having a respective position within the first workspace; the
first set of display features including a selectable link creation unit,
the selectable link creation unit including a first bounded area of the
display at the selectable link creation unit's respective position within
the first workspace; the signals from the user including a first signal
indicating a position within the first bounded area; and
a link creation data unit that is accessible by the control means when the
control means has accessed the first workspace data unit, the link
creation data unit including link creation data for use by the control
means in responding to the first signal by creating in the workspace
network data structure a linking data unit linking the first workspace
data unit and a second workspace data unit relating to a second workspace;
the second workspace including a second set of display features, each
display feature in the second set having a respective position within the
second workspace; the link creation data including location data
indicating a relation between the selectable link creation unit's
respective position and a selectable linking unit's respective position
within the first workspace; the location data being for use by the control
means in responding to the first signal by presenting the selectable
linking unit at its respective position within the first workspace; the
second workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for use
in presenting the second workspace on the display.
14. The workspace network data structure of claim 13, further comprising a
workspace creation data unit that is accessible by the control means when
the control means has accessed the first workspace data unit, the
workspace creation data unit including workspace creation data for use by
the control means in responding to the first signal by creating the second
workspace data unit in the workspace network data structure.
15. The data structure of claim 14, further comprising a sequence of link
and workspace creation data units, the data units in the sequence being
accessible by the control means when the control means has accessed the
first workspace data unit, the sequence beginning with the first
above-mentioned link creation data unit and workspace creation data unit
and including at least one additional link creation data unit, each
additional link creation data unit including link creation data for use by
the control means in creating in the workspace network data structure an
additional linking data unit, each additional linking data unit linking
the second workspace data unit and a respective additional workspace data
unit relating to a respective additional workspace; each respective
additional workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for
use in presenting the respective additional workspace on the display; each
respective additional workspace including a respective set of display
features, each display feature in each additional workspace's respective
set having a respective position within the additional workspace.
16. The workspace network data structure of claim 15 in which each of the
additional link creation data units includes link creation data for use by
the control means in creating a plurality of the additional linking data
units.
17. The workspace network data structure of claim 13 in which the first
workspace is a first card and the second workspace is a second card, the
link creation data in the link creation data unit including an identifier
of the second card.
18. A method of using a workspace network data structure in a system that
includes:
a display;
an input device for receiving signals from a user; and
control means for receiving the signals from the input means, for accessing
the workspace network data structure, and for controlling the display;
the workspace network data structure including:
a first workspace data unit relating to a first workspace; the first
workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for use in
presenting the first workspace on the display; the first workspace
including a first set of display features, each display feature in the
first set having a respective position within the first workspace; the
first set of display features including a selectable link creation unit,
the selectable link creation unit including a first bounded area of the
display at the selectable link creation unit's respective position within
the first workspace; the signals from the user including a first signal
indicating a position within the first bounded area;
a workspace creation data unit that is accessible by the control means when
the control means has accessed the first workspace data unit, the
workspace creation data unit including workspace creation data fur use by
the control means in responding to the first signal by creating a second
workspace data unit in the workspace network data structure; the second
workspace data unit relating to a second workspace; the second workspace
including a second set of display features, each display feature in the
second set having a respective position within the second workspace; the
second workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for use
in presenting the second workspace on the display; and
a link creation data unit that is accessible by the control means when the
control means has accessed the first workspace data unit, the link
creation data unit including link creation data for use by the control
means in responding to the first signal by creating in the workspace
network data structure a linking data unit linking the first workspace
data unit and the second workspace data unit; the link creation data
including location data indicating a relation between the selectable link
creation unit's respective position and a selectable linking unit's
respective position within the first workspace; the location data being
for use by the control means in responding to the first signal by
presenting the selectable linking unit at its respective position within
the first workspace;
the method comprising steps of:
accessing the first workspace data unit and presenting the first workspace
on the display;
in response to the first signal, accessing the workspace creation data unit
and using the workspace creation data to create the second workspace data
unit; and
in response to the first signal, accessing the link creation data unit and
using the link creation data to create the linking data unit.
19. A method of using a workspace network data structure in a system that
includes:
a display;
an input device for receiving signals from a user; and
control means for receiving the signals from the input means, for accessing
the workspace network data structure, and for controlling the display;
the workspace network data structure including:
a first workspace data unit relating to a first workspace; the first
workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for use in
presenting the first workspace on the display; the first workspace
including a first set of display features, each display feature in the
first set having a respective position within the first workspace; the
first set of display features including a selectable link creation unit,
the selectable link creation unit including a first bounded area of the
display at the selectable link creation unit's respective position within
the first workspace; the signals from the user including a first signal
indicating a position within the first bounded area;
a sequence of link and workspace creation data units, the data units in the
sequence being accessible by the control means when the control means has
accessed the first workspace data unit, the sequence beginning with a
first link creation data unit and a first workspace creation data unit;
the first workspace creation data unit including respective workspace
creation data for use by the control means in responding to the first
signal by creating a second workspace data unit in the workspace network
data structure; the second worskapce data unit relating to a second
workspace; the second workspace including a second set of display
features, each display feature in the second set having a respective
position within the second workspace; the second workspace data unit being
accessible by the control means for use in presenting the second workspace
on the display;
the first link creation data unit including respective link creation data
for use by the control means in responding to the first signal by creating
in the workspace network data structure a respective linking data unit
linking the first workspace data unit and the second workspace data unit;
the link creation data including location data indicating a relation
between the selectable link creation unit's respective position and a
selectable linking unit's respective position within the first workspace;
the location data being for use by the control means in responding to the
first signal by presenting the selectable linking unit at its respective
position within the first workspace; the sequence of link and workspace
creation data units including at least one additional link creation data
unit, each additional link creation data unit including link creation data
for use by the control means in creating in the workspace network data
structure a respective additional linking data unit, each respective
additional linking data unit linking the second workspace data unit and a
respective additional workspace data unit relating to a respective
additional workspace; each respective additional workspace data unit being
accessible by the control means for use in presenting the respective
additional workspace on the display; each respective additional workspace
including a respective set of display features, each display feature in
each additional workspace's respective set having a respective position
within the additional workspace
the method comprising steps of:
accessing the first workspace data unit and presenting the first workspace
on the display; the fist workspace including the selectable link creation
unit; the selectable link creation unit including the first bounded area
of the display; and
upon receiving the first signal, accessing the link and workspace creation
data units in the sequence, using the respective link creation data in the
first link creation data unit to create the respective linking data unit,
using the respective workspace creation data in the first workspace
creation data unit to create the second workspace data unit, and accessing
the second workspace data unit and presenting on the display the second
workspace, the second workspace including a respective selectable link
creation unit for each additional link creation data unit; each respective
selectable link creation unit including a respective bounded area of the
display.
20. The method of claim 19 in which the workspace network data structure
further comprises a third workspace data unit relating a third workspace,
the third workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for
use in presenting the third workspace on the display; the third workspace
including a third set of display features, each display feature in the
third set having a respective position within the third workspace; the
signals from the user including a copy signal requesting a copy operation
on the selectable link creation unit in relation to the third workspace
data unit; the method further comprising, upon receiving the copy signal,
including a copy of the first link creation data unit in the workspace
network data structure, the copy being accessible by the control means
when it has accessed the third workspace data unit.
21. A method of using a workspace network data structure in a system that
includes:
a display;
an input device for receiving signals from a user; and
control means for receiving the signals from the input means, for accessing
the workspace network data structure, and for controlling the display;
the workspace network data structure including:
a first workspace data unit relating to a first workspace; the first
workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for use in
presenting the first workspace on the display; the first workspace
including a first set of display features, each display feature in the
first set having a respective position within the first workspace; the
first set of display features including a selectable link creation unit,
the selectable link creation unit including a first bounded area of the
display at the selectable link creation unit's respective position within
the first workspace; the signals from the user including a first signal
indicating a position within the first bounded area;
a sequence of link and workspace creation data units, the data units in the
sequence being accessible by the control means when the control means has
accessed the first workspace data unit, the sequence beginning with a
first link creation data unit and a first workspace creation data unit;
the first workspace creation data unit including respective workspace
creation data for use by the control means in responding to the first
signal by creating a second workspace data unit in the workspace network
data structure; the second workspace data unit relating to a second
workspace; the second workspace including a second set of display
features, each display feature in the second set having a respective
position within the second workspace; the second workspace data unit being
accessible by the control means for use in presenting the second workspace
on the display;
the first link creation data unit including respective link creation data
for use by the control means in responding to the first signal by creating
in the workspace network data structure a respective linking data unit
linking the first workspace data unit and the second workspace data unit;
the link creation data including location data indicating a relation
between the selectable link creation unit's respective position and a
selectable linking unit's respective position within the first workspace;
the location data being for use by the control means in responding to the
first signal by presenting the selectable linking unit at its respective
position within the first workspace;
the sequence of link and workspace creation data units including at least
one additional link creation data unit, each additional link creation data
unit including link creation data for use by the control means in creating
in the workspace network data structure a respective additional linking
data unit, each respective additional linking data unit linking the second
workspace data unit and a respective additional workspace data unit
relating to a respective additional workspace; each respective additional
workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for use in
presenting the respective additional workspace on the display; each
respective additional workspace including a respective set of display
features, each display feature in each additional workspace's respective
set having a respective position within the additional workspace;
the sequence of link and workspace creation data units including a
plurality of levels of link creation data units, the first link creation
data unit being included in a first one of the levels, the link creation
data in the first link creation data unit including level number data
including a number of levels;
the method comprising steps of:
accessing the first link creation data unit to retrieve the level number
data; and
creating in the workspace network data structure the number of levels of
linking data units and workspace data units indicated by the level number
data.
22. A method of using a workspace network data structure in a system that
includes:
a display;
an input device for receiving signals from a user; and
control means for receiving the signals from the input means, for accessing
the workspace network data structure, and for controlling the display;
the workspace networkd data structure including:
a first workspace data unit relating to a first workspace; the first
workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for use in
presenting the first workspace on the dispaly; the first workspace
including a first set of display features, each display feature in the
first set having a respective position within the first workspace; the
first set of display features including a selectable link creation unit,
the selectable link creation unit including a first bounded area of the
display at the selectable link creation unit's respective position within
the first workspace; the signals from the user including a first signal
indicating a position within the first bounded area; and
a link creation data unit that is accessible by the control means when the
control means has accessed the first workspace data unit, the link
creation data unit including link creation data for use by the control
means in responding to the first signal by creating in the workspace
network data structure a linking data unit linking the first workspace
data unit and a second workspace data unit relating to a second workspace;
the second workspace including a second set of display features, each
display feature in the second set haviing a respective position within the
second workspace; the link creation data including location data
indicating a relation between the selectable link creation unit's
respective position and a selectable linking unit's respective position
within the first workspace; the location data being for use by the control
means in responding to the first signal by presenting the selectable
linking unit at its respective position within the first workspace; the
second workspace data unit being accessible by the control means for use
in presenting the second workspace on the display;
the method comprising steps of:
accessing the first workspace data unit and presenting the first workspace
on the display;
upon receiving the first signal, accessing the link creation data unit; and
using the link creation data in the link creation data unit to create the
linking data unit.
23. The method of claim 22 in which the step of accessing the first
workspace data unit and presenting the first workspace comprises a substep
of presenting the selectable link creation unit in the first workspace;
the selectable link creation unit including the first bounded area of the
display; the method further comprising steps of:
receiving a second signal from the input device, the second signal
indicating a position within the first bounded area of the display, the
second signal requesting link creation from the first workspace to a third
workspace, the third workspace including a third set of display features,
each display feature in the third set having a respective position within
the third workspace; and
in response to the second signal, creating a second linking data unit
within the workspace network data structure in addition to the first
above-mentioned linking data unit, the second linking data unit linking
the first workspace data unit and a third worskapce data unit relating to
the third workspace. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to user interface techniques for link
creation. More specifically, the invention relates to creation of links
between cards or other workspaces that may be linked into a network.
Halasz, F. G., Moran, T., and Trigg, R. H., "NoteCards in a Nutshell,"
CHI+GI'87 Conference, Toronto, Canada, Apr. 5-9, 1987, incorporated herein
by reference, describe a hypertext-like system, identified by the term
NoteCards, a trademark of Xerox Corporation. This system employs
workspaces called cards, each of which occupies a part of the screen space
and may contain text, graphics, bitmap images, etc. Multiple cards can be
displayed simultaneously, each in a separate window as shown and described
in relation to FIG. 1. A card can be connected to another card by a link,
represented within the contents of the originating card by a display
object called a link icon, which may be a box with the title of the
destination card. When a user selects a link's icon with a mouse button
click, the destination card of that link is displayed.
NoteCards.TM. Release 1.2i Reference Manual, Xerox Corporation, 1985, ("the
NoteCards Manual"), also incorporated herein by reference, describes the
conventional technique for creating a link in NoteCards. This technique,
described at pages 13-14 and 22, includes a number of steps each performed
by selecting a location on the display with a mouse and clicking a button
on the mouse at the selected location. First, the user selects and clicks
the location of the new link in the text of the source card. Then, the
users selects and clicks a new link operation within a menu. The user
selects and clicks the type of the new link on another menu. Unless the
destination card is an existing card, the user selects and clicks the
creation of a new destination card on yet another menu. The user selects
and clicks the type of the new card on a further menu. The user performs
additional selection and typing operations to name the new card.
Techniques for moving or copying an existing link icon from one card to
another are described at page 75. Techniques for creating a link from the
NoteCards browser are described at page 80. Insertion of multiple links is
described at page 82.
Meyrowitz, N., "Intermedia: The Architecture and Construction of an
Object-Oriented Hypermedia System and Applications Framework," OOPSLA '86
Conference Proceedings, Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 1986, Portland, OR., pp. 186-201,
describes a hypermedia system, Intermedia, that also includes link
creation. As described at page 188, the process of creating links includes
a number of steps: create a source selection, called a block; choose the
"start link" command; pick a destination block; and choose the "end link"
command. The result of this linking operation is a bidirectional tie
between the source block and destination block such that when a user
selects a block and issues the "follow" command, the document containing
the companion block is retrieved from storage, if necessary, and
displayed, as shown in FIG. 1. Page 192 describes how links are records
that keep track of two connected blocks as well as link keywords, creation
and modify time, author, and other link-specific data. Garrett, L. N.,
Smith, K. E., and Meyrowitz, N., "Intermedia: Issues, Strategies, and
Tactics in the Design of a Hypermedia Document System," Proceedings of
CSCW '86, Austin TX., Dec. 3-5, 1986, pp. 163-174, also describe
Intermedia. Pages 163-164 describe the linking of information including:
indicating a source selection in a document, choosing the Start Link
command, indicating a destination selection, and choosing the Complete
Relation command. The selection of commands is illustrated in FIGS. 1a and
1b. Linking is discussed in more detail at pages 165-168. Pages 167-168
describe enhancing link functionality by techniques including
automatically-created links for an on-line encyclopedia; a footnote link
type represented by an automatically-numbered icon; a vocabulary link type
that automatically finds the definition to link to in a dictionary file;
user-defined links; and conditional links whose destination depends on
user's expertise or previous path.
Henderson, D. A., Jr., and Card, S. K., "Rooms: The Use of Multiple Virtual
Workspaces to Reduce Space Contention in a Window-Based Graphical User
Interface," ACM Transactions on Graphics, Vol. 5, No. 3, July 1986, pp.
211-243, describe a window management system for a workstation that
includes virtual workspaces called Rooms that are linked, the links being
represented by icons called Doors as shown and described in relation to
FIG. 9. As described at page 222 and in more detail at pages 229-230, when
a user selects a Door's icon to leave one Room and enter another, the
entered Room contains a Back Door that can be selected to return to the
Room from which the user came. This Back Door is created at the time the
user selects the icon to enter that Room, and its purpose is to simplify
the task of returning to a previous Room. Techniques for creation of other
Doors are described at pages 233-234. Rooms, Doors and Back Doors are
trademarks of Xerox Corporation. This system is also described in detail
in copending, coassigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 030,766,
entitled "User Interface with Multiple Virtual Workspaces for Sharing
Display System Objects," incorporated herein by reference and discussed
below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides techniques for accelerating link creation
that are especially useful in a hypertext-like system.
One aspect of the present invention is based on the recognition of a
practical problem in a hypertext-like system such as NoteCards. Such a
system typically includes a data structure with a number of data units,
each of which corresponds to a card or to some other set of displayable
workspaces. These data units are linked into pairs by data in the data
structure. As a result, the data structure provides a network of linked
data units, each corresponding to a card.
The user interface of such a system typically enables the user to view one
or more of the cards. A displayed card includes linking icons or other
selectable linking units that represent links to other cards. When the
user selects a linking icon, the system responds by accessing the linked
data unit and displaying the corresponding card.
A user of such a system will often find it useful or necessary to create a
new link between cards. To add a link between cards, the user must
conventionally go through a series of several steps, as described above.
To create the large number of links necessary to build a complex network
of cards, the user must repeatedly perform those steps, an extremely
inefficient process.
The present invention solves this problem by enabling a user to create a
link between cards with a single manual operation such as a mouse click.
This solution can be implemented by providing an area within a card that
the user can select to create a new link between that card and another
card. This area, referred to herein as a selectable link creation unit,
can be an area within text in a card, for example. When the user selects
the selectable link creation unit with a mouse click or other operation, a
selectable linking unit such as a link icon is added to the displayed
card's contents, representing the new link. This link icon can, for
example, be displayed adjacent to the selectable link creation unit; if
the card contains a sequence of text, the link icon can appear immediately
after the selectable link creation unit in the text. The user can then
follow the new link to the other linked card by selecting the new linking
unit.
A closely related aspect of the present invention is based on the
recognition that several kinds of data may be necessary for creation of a
new link. The data necessary for creation of a link include at least
identifiers of the linked cards, which may be a source card and a
destination card, for example. The link creation data may also include a
display position of the link's icon within the source or destination card;
a link type in systems that permit more than one link type; the card type
of the destination card; the title and other characteristics of the
destination card, including whether it is displayed when the link creation
unit is selected. The link creation data can also include characteristics
of the link creation process.
Conventional link creation techniques require a series of steps to create
each link because the user must provide this link creation data. If the
sole action needed to create a link is to select a link creation display
unit, this data must be provided in some manner other than a series of
input actions by the user. Similarly, to enable the user to rapidly create
a chain of linked cards, the data to create all of the links and cards in
the chain must be provided in some other manner. Furthermore, if the user
can rapidly create a complex network of data units including a number of
branches that are substantially the same or can rapidly create a number of
similar networks, much of the data for link and card creation is the same
for many of the links and cards. In all these cases it would be
inefficient for the user to repeatedly provide a series of input actions
to enter these redundant parameters.
The present invention solves these problems by having link and card
creation data available prior to the user's selection of each link
creation display unit. Some of the link creation data can be obtained
based on the position of the selected link creation display unit, which
indicates, for example, the identifier of the source card. Other data can
be included in the underlying workspace network data structure in the form
of a link creation data unit. This link creation data unit can be
associated with a workspace data unit corresponding to the source of the
new link, so that when the user selects the link creation display unit,
the link creation data unit can be accessed and a linking data unit for
the new link can be created in the workspace network data structure.
Furthermore, if the link's destination is a new card, data necessary for
creating a data unit corresponding to that card can also be associated
with the source card's data unit, so that the new card's data unit can
similarly be created in the workspace network data structure. As discussed
below, other techniques according to the invention build on the technique
of creating link and card creation data units in a workspace network data
structure prior to link and card creation.
It is sometimes desirable to be able to create a number of links and cards
without repeating the steps necessary to include link creation data in the
data structure. For example, the same link creation data unit can be
repeatedly accessed to create a number of links. Each of these new links
can lead to a respective new card, for example, with each of the links and
each of the new cards being initially alike when created. The link
creation data unit can include an indication of whether the corresponding
selectable link creation unit can be repeatedly selected to create a
number of links in this manner, or can only be selected once after which
it is replaced by the new link's icon resulting from that selection. Also,
the link creation data unit can include data indicating a location of the
selectable linking unit in relation to the selectable link creation unit,
such as whether it should appear immediately before or after the
selectable link creation unit in the text of a card.
It is also desirable to be able to create a chain or branch of linked
cards. This can be done by accessing a sequence of link and card creation
data units when a selectable link creation display unit is selected.
Selection of the display unit can cause creation of one level of the
network or it can cause creation of several levels.
A single-level technique could be implemented by creating one link and its
destination card in response to each selection of a link creation display
unit. In this technique, each link creation data unit in the sequence can
have an associated card creation data unit, and the link creation data
unit and associated card creation data unit can accordingly be accessed to
create a link to a new card. Each unit of card creation data in turn can
have an associated unit of link creation data, so that when a link to the
corresponding new card is followed, the card can appear with a link
creation display unit. This link creation display unit in the new card can
then be selected to create a new link to a further new card, and so on.
With this single-level technique, a chain or branch of linked cards can be
rapidly created simply by selecting link creation display units in
successively created new cards.
The single-level technique described above may still be somewhat
inefficient, especially if a chain or branch of several linked cards
occurs frequently. Therefore, it is useful to have a multi-level technique
that creates links at more than one level of the network in response to a
selection. To implement this technique, a link creation data unit can
include data indicating the number of levels of the network to be created
when the user selects the corresponding selectable link creation unit. In
response, that number of levels of the network are created by successively
creating, for each link creation unit at a level, the corresponding link
and its destination card. The next level of the network can then be
created based on the link creation units in the destination cards of the
previous level, until the indicated number of levels is created. The link
creation data unit can also include data indicating the number of levels
of the newly created cards that should be displayed.
In summary, a sequence of link and card creation data units like that
described above can be used for rapid link and card creation. Each link
creation data unit can be accessed to create a number of links to new
cards to initiate a number of similar chains or branches. Each card
creation data unit can in turn lead to a number of link creation data
units, so that when a link to the corresponding new card is followed, the
card will appear with a number of selectable link creation units, allowing
the user to initiate several different kinds of sub-branches. Each of
these can then be selected to create new links to further new cards, and
so on. And the multi-link technique described above can be applied to
determine how many levels of links and cards are created and displayed
when the user selects a selectable link creation unit. In this way, a
complex network can be rapidly created.
To provide further power, the selectable link creation display unit
corresponding to the beginning of a sequence of link and card creation
data units can be copied, and the user can select the resulting selectable
link creation unit to create another branch. In this way, a variety of
complex networks can be created starting from a single selectable link
creation unit by copying it and developing a different network from each
copy.
In general, the technique of providing link and card creation data prior to
selection of a link creation display unit can be implemented by providing
standard link and card creation data units that the user can copy as
described above. On the other hand, a user may desire to set up a
non-standard link creation data unit. This can be implemented, for
example, by obtaining link creation data interactively from the user prior
to display of the selectable link creation unit. The resulting link
creation data unit in the workspace network data structure can then be
accessed each time the corresponding selectable link creation unit is
selected.
The following description, the drawings and the claims further set forth
these and other objects, features and advantages of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a schematic view of a card, including a selectable link creation
unit according to the invention.
FIG. 1B is a schematic | | |
