Graphical table of contents for a help system
US6587121B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 19, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jul 1, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 24, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/453
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Method and apparatus for providing a user customizable help system for a data processing environment which utilizes a graphical interface to identify solutions and/or topics of interest. This graphical help system displays partitioned groupings of help topics organized in a intuitively functional, positional manner such that a user will instinctively know where to find the desired help topic. These partitioned groupings of help topics preferably represent hardware platforms, operating environments, application groupings, or groupings of functions within an application. Further, and within each of the partitioned groupings, the invention contemplates providing multiple “views” of help topics, each “view” corresponding to a different type of user of the data processing system. By providing multiple views, the help system can be easily tailored to better address differences in experience, sophistication, and job requirements between widely disparate users of the same data processing system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.