US2015161203A1PendingUtilityA1

Searching for user interface objects

51
Individually held — no corporate assignee on recordPriority: Sep 18, 2007Filed: Jul 5, 2012Published: Jun 11, 2015
Est. expirySep 18, 2027(~1.2 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Kenneth P. Fishkin
G06F 17/30398G06F 3/0482G06F 9/451G06F 16/903G06F 16/2428
51
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Claims

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes searching resources related to an application in response to receiving a query, identifying an operation in the application that satisfies the query, and exposing an object that provides access to the identified operation, within the application.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 . A method comprising:
 executing a software application on a computing device, the software application having a user interface, the user interface including a menu that provides access to operations that the software application is configured to perform;   receiving a user submitted query;   in response to receiving the user submitted query, searching software application resources to identify an operation that satisfies the user submitted query, wherein the identified operation is one of the operations that the software application is configured to perform, and wherein the identified operation corresponds to a menu item located within the menu of the user interface wherein activation of the menu item causes the identified operation to be performed; and   in response to identifying the operation, displaying the menu item corresponding to the identified operation in the user interface by at least visually expanding at least a portion of the menu to display the menu item.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating query results that include the identified operation that satisfies the query.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 displaying, in a result list of the user interface of the software application, the query results.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 receiving a selection of the identified operation using the result list; and   performing the selected operation.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein displaying the query results in the result list comprises:
 sorting, based at least in part on relevance of the query results to the query, the generated query results into a sorted order; and   displaying the query results in the sorted order.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying content in addition to the operation that satisfies the query; and   displaying an indication of the identified content.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the menu item in the user interface comprises highlighting the menu item. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the menu item in the user interface comprises displaying, in the user interface, a navigational structure of the menu that is used to navigate to the location of the menu item within the menu. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the menu comprises a hierarchical menu that includes two or more hierarchical levels of menu items, and wherein displaying the menu item in the user interface comprises visually expanding at least a portion of the menu to the hierarchical level at which the menu item is located. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises a display device for displaying the menu and one or more input devices for receiving input for the query. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more input devices includes a voice input device, and wherein the query comprises a voice-based query that is received via the voice input device. 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:
 execute a software application on a computing device, the software application having a user interface, the user interface including a menu that provides access to operations that the software application is configured to perform;   receive a user submitted query;   in response to receiving the user submitted query, search software application resources to identify an operation that satisfies the user submitted query, wherein the identified operation is one of the operations that the software application is configured to perform, and wherein the identified operation corresponds to a menu item located within the menu of the user interface wherein activation of the menu item causes the identified operation to be performed; and   in response to identifying the operation, display the menu item corresponding to the identified operation in the user interface by at least visually expanding at least a portion of the menu to display the menu item.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:
 generate query results that include the identified operation that satisfies the query.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 13 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:
 display, in a result list of the user interface of the software application, the query results.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:
 receive a selection of the identified operation using the result list; and   perform the selected operation.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions to display the query results in the results list comprise instructions to:
 sort, based at least in part on relevance of the query results to the query, the generated query results into a sorted order; and   display the query results in the sorted order.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the user interface comprises a display device for displaying the menu and one or more input devices for receiving input for the query. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more input devices includes a voice input device, and wherein the query is a voice-based query that is received via the voice input device. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions to display the menu item in the user interface comprise instructions to:
 highlight the menu item.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions to display the menu item in the user interface comprise instructions to:
 display, in the user interface, a navigational structure of the menu that is used to navigate to the location within the menu of the menu item.   
     
     
         21 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the menu is a hierarchical menu that includes two or more hierarchical levels of menu items, and wherein the instructions to display the menu item in the user interface comprise instructions to:
 visually expand at least a portion of the menu to the hierarchical level at which the menu item is located.   
     
     
         22 . A computing device comprising:
 a display;   one or more processors; and   one or more applications operable by the processor to present, on the display, a user interface having a menu that provides access to operations that the software application is configured to perform, and wherein the software application is operable by the processor to:
 receive a user submitted query, 
 in response to receiving the user submitted query, searching software application resources to identify an operation that satisfies the query, wherein the identified operation is one of the operations that the software application is configured to perform, and wherein the identified operation corresponds to a menu item located within the menu of the user interface wherein activation of the menu item causes the identified operation to be performed, and 
 in response to identifying the operation display the menu item corresponding to the identified operation in the user interface by at least visually expanding at least a portion of the menu to display the menu item. 
   
     
     
         23 . The computing device of  claim 22 , wherein the application is further operable by the processor to generate query results that include the identified operation that satisfies the query. 
     
     
         24 . The computing device of  claim 23 , wherein the application is further operable by the processor to present, in a result list of the user interface, the query results. 
     
     
         25 . The computing device of  claim 24 , wherein the application is further operable by the processor to receive a selection of an operation of the at least one operation that is responsive to the query using the result list, and perform the selected operation. 
     
     
         26 . The computing device of  claim 24 , wherein the application is operable by the processor to present the query results in the result list by at least being operable to:
 sort, based at least in part on relevance of the query results to the query, the generated query results into a sorted order; and   display the query results in the sorted order.   
     
     
         27 . The computing device of  claim 22 , wherein the application is operable by the processor to display the menu item in the user interface by at least being operable to:
 highlight the menu item on the display device.   
     
     
         28 . The computing device of  claim 22 , wherein the application is operable by the processor to display the menu item in the user interface by at least being operable to:
 display, on the display device, a navigational structure of the menu that is used to navigate to the location within the menu of the menu item.   
     
     
         29 . The computing device of  claim 22 , wherein the menu is a hierarchical menu that includes two or more hierarchical levels of menu items, and wherein the application is operable by the processor to display the menu item in the user interface by at least being operable to:
 visually expand at least a portion of the menu on the display device to the hierarchical level at which the menu item is located.

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