Distance dependent selection of information entities

摘要

The invention relates to the field of man-machine interfacing. In particular, it relates to a user interface allowing a unified approach for organizing and navigating data on a computing device. A method executed on a processor for displaying on a screen a set of entities associated with at least one of at least two particular entities, comprises the steps of: displaying on the screen indicia of the at least two particular entities; determining the distance on the screen between the displayed indicia of the at least two particular entities; determining the set of entities based on the distance on the screen between the indicia of the at least two particular entities; and displaying on the screen indicia for the set of entities.

主权项

1. A user interface method executed on a processor for displaying, on a screen, indicia for a plurality of entities associated with at least one of at least two particular entities, comprising the steps of:
displaying, on the screen, a first indicia for a first particular entity; displaying, on the screen in a circular arrangement around the first indicia, a plurality of indicia for a first set of entities associated with the first particular entity; determining that a user has dragged one of the plurality of indicia for the first set of entities associated with the first particular entity to a different position on the screen; displaying a threshold circle around the circular arrangement while the one of the plurality of indicia for the first set of entities is dragged out from the circular arrangement; determining a distance on the screen between the one of the plurality of indicia for the first set of entities that is dragged out from the circular arrangement and the first indicia, wherein the distance is determined based on coordinates of the displayed indicia representing the first indicia and the one of the plurality of indicia that is dragged out; when the determined distance is smaller than a pre-defined threshold distance corresponding to the threshold circle, determining a second set of entities, wherein the second set of entities is associated with the first particular entity, and displaying, on the screen in the circular arrangement around the first indicia, a plurality of indicia for the second set of entities instead of the indicia for the first set of entities; and when the determined distance is larger than the pre-defined threshold distance, updating the first set of entities by filling an emptied area in the first set of entities that was defined by dragging out the one of the plurality of indicia with another entity to define an updated first set of entities, and displaying, on the screen around the first indicia, the plurality of indicia for the updated first set of entities.