Graphical user interface control for replicating data fields in forms

Claim 2

In a system for providing a graphical user interface for the entry of text data in a data store, the graphical user interface including a graphical document display having plural data entry fields, a method for replicating groups of said data entry fields, said method comprising the steps of: providing user-selected control inputs representing commands to said graphical user interface; generating a replication function indicator in said document display separate from but adjacent to said data fields; generating a pointer in said document display; positioning said pointer in said document display at said replication function indicator in response to a first control input; and in response to said positioning step and to a second control input representing a data field replicating command, replicating a group of said data fields in said document display.

Claim 3

In a data processing system including a menu-driven graphical user interface, a data processing unit, a video display for producing a visual display in response to control input signals from the data processing unit, user-operated control input means connected to the data processing unit for providing user-selected input commands, the graphical user interface providing on the video display a document for representation (document representation) which includes plural data entry fields for entry and display of text data, a replication combination for duplicating groups of said plural data entry fields in the document representation, the combination including: cursor means for generating the display of a positionable cursor in the document representation; positioning means for moving the positionable cursor in the document representation in response to first control inputs; function display means for displaying in the document representation a visual indication of a function for duplicating groups of said plural data entry fields in the document representation, said visual indication for duplicating being separate from said plural data entry fields; duplication means connected to the function display means and to the cursor means for duplicating groups of said plural data entry fields in response to movement of the positionable cursor to the visual indication for duplicating and to a second control input representing a data replicating command; and repositioning means for repositioning objects in the document representation in response to duplicating said groups of plural data entry fields.

Claim 4

In a data processing system including a menu-driven graphical user interface, a data processing unit, a video display for producing a visual display in response to control input signals from the data processing unit, user-operated control input means connected to the data processing unit for providing user-selected input commands, the graphical user interface providing on the video display a document for representation (document representation) which includes plural data entry fields for entry and display of text data, a replication combination for duplicating groups of said plural data entry fields in the document representation, the combination including: cursor means for generating the display of a positionable cursor in the document representation; positioning means for moving the positionable cursor in the document representation in response to first control inputs; function display means for displaying in the document representation a visual indication of a function for duplicating groups of said plural data entry fields in the document representation, said visual indication for duplicating being separate from said plural data entry fields; duplication means connected to the function display means and to the cursor means for duplicating groups of said plural data entry fields in response to movement of the positionable cursor to the visual indication for duplicating and to a second control input representing a data replicating command; and repositioning means for repositioning objects in the document representation in response to duplicating said groups of plural data entry fields.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1, further including the step of modifying a color of said replication function indicator in response to said position step.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1, further including the steps of: displaying a plurality of display elements in said graphical document display; and in response to said replicating step, repositioning one or more of said display elements in a predetermined direction with respect to said replication function indicator.

Claim 7

The method of claim 4, further including: storing positions of said one or more display elements in said graphical document display; and displaying said one or more display elements in corresponding position in said graphical document display.

Claim 8

The method of claim 1, further including: storing text data from a data entry field to be replicated in a data store; and displaying said text data in the replicated data entry field.

Claim 9

A computer program product for use in a data processing system for providing a menu-driven graphical user interface for the display of text data, the data processing system having a data processing unit, a video display terminal, a keyboard, a cursor control device for providing control inputs to said system and a data storage resource, and the graphical user interface providing a document form display separate from but representation (document representation) on said video display terminal including at least one data field for text entry and display, said computer program product comprising: a data storage medium for storing machine readable information thereon; replication function indicating means recorded on said data storage medium for generating a replication function indicator in said document display separate from but adjacent to said data field, said replication function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a direction in which said data field can be replicated; means recorded on said data storage medium for generating a pointer in said document display; means recorded on said data storage medium for positioning said pointer in said document display in response to a first control input from said cursor control device: and replicating means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicator and to a second control input from said cursor control device representing a data field replicating command for replicating said data field in said document representation.

Claim 10

A computer program product for use in a data processing system for providing a menu-driven graphical user interface for the display of text data, the data processing system having a data processing unit, a video display terminal, a keyboard, a cursor control device for providing control inputs to said system and a data storage resource, and the graphical user interface providing a document form display separate from but representation (document representation) on said video display terminal including at least one data field for text entry and display, said computer program product comprising: a data storage medium for storing machine readable information thereon; replication function indicating means recorded on said data storage medium for generating a replication function indicator in said document display separate from but adjacent to said data field, said replication function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a direction in which said data field can be replicated; means recorded on said data storage medium for generating a pointer in said document display; means recorded on said data storage medium for positioning said pointer in said document display in response to a first control input from said cursor control device: and replicating means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicator and to a second control input from said cursor control device representing a data field replicating command for replicating said data field in said document representation.

Claim 11

The computer program product of claim 7 further including means recorded on said data storage medium for modifying a color of said replication function indicator in response to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicator.

Claim 12

The computer program product of claim 7 wherein said display includes plural display elements and, said system further includes means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to replication of said data field for repositioning one or more of said display elements positioned in a predetermined direction from said replication function indicator.

Claim 13

The computer program product of claim 9 further including .means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to replication of said data field for storing positions of said one or more display elements.

Claim 14

The computer program product of claim 10 further including means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to the storage of said positions for displaying said display elements at corresponding positions in said document representation.

Claim 15

The computer program product of claim 7 wherein said data field is for displaying text data to be input in a data store.

Claim 16

A menu-driven graphical user interface control system computer program product the entry of text data in a data store, comprising: a data storage medium for storing machine readable information thereon; input means recorded on said data storage medium for receiving user-selected control inputs; display means recorded on said data storage medium for producing the display of a document representation having at least one data field for the entry of data in a data store; replication function indicating means recorded on said data storage medium for producing the display of a replication function indicator in said document representation separate from but adjacent said data field, said replication function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a direction in which said data field can be replicated; pointer means recorded on said data storage medium for producing the display of a pointer image in said document representation; positioning means recorded on said data storage medium for positioning said pointer in said document representation in response to a first control input; and replicating means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicator and to a second control input representing a data field replicating command for replicating said data field in said document representation.

Claim 17

A menu-driven graphical user interface control system computer program product the entry of text data in a data store, comprising: a data storage medium for storing machine readable information thereon; input means recorded on said data storage medium for receiving user-selected control inputs; display means recorded on said data storage medium for producing the display of a document representation having at least one data field for the entry of data in a data store; replication function indicating means recorded on said data storage medium for producing the display of a replication function indicator in said document representation separate from but adjacent said data field, said replication function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a direction in which said data field can be replicated; pointer means recorded on said data storage medium for producing the display of a pointer image in said document representation; positioning means recorded on said data storage medium for positioning said pointer in said document representation in response to a first control input; and replicating means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicator and to a second control input representing a data field replicating command for replicating said data field in said document representation.

Claim 18

The computer program product of claim 13 further including means recorded on said data storage medium for changing a color of said replication function indicator in response to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicating image.

Claim 19

The computer program product of claim 13 wherein said document representation includes plural display elements and said system further includes means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to replicating said data field for repositioning one or more of said display elements positioned in a predetermined direction from said replication function indicator.

Claim 20

The computer program product of claim 15 further including means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to replicating said data field for storing positions of said repositioned display elements.

Claim 21

The computer program product of claim 16 further including means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to the storage of said repositioned display elements for displaying said display elements at corresponding positions in said document representation.

Claim 22

The method of claim 1 further including the steps of: generating a removal function indicator in said document display separate from but adjacent to said data fields; and in response to said positioning step and to a third control input representing a data field removal command, removing a group of said data fields in said document display.

Claim 23

The data processing system of claim 2 wherein said function display means further include means for displaying a visual indication of a function for removing groups of said plural data entry fields in the document representation, said visual indication for removing being separate from said plural data entry fields, and wherein the system further includes replication means connected to the function display means and to the cursor means for removing groups of said plural data entry fields in response to movement of the positionable cursor to the visual indication for removing and to a second control input, and wherein said repositioning means further includes means for repositioning objects in the document representation in response to removing said groups of plural data entry fields.

Claim 24

The computer program product of claim 7 further including removal function indicating means recorded on said data storage medium for generating a removal function indicator in said document display separate from but adjacent to said data field, said removal function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a removal direction in which said data field can be removed, and removing means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to said pointer positioned at said removal function indicator and to a second control input from said cursor control device representing a data field removing command for removing said data field in said document representation.

Claim 25

The compute program product of claim 13 including removal function indicating means recorded on said data storage medium for producing the display of a removal function indicator in said document representation separate from but adjacent to said data field, said removal function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a removal direction in which said data field can be removed, and removing means recorded on said data storage medium responsive to said pointer positioned at said removal function indicator and to a second control input representing a data field removing command for removing said data field in said document representation.

Claim 26

In a data processing system for providing a menu-driven graphical user interface for the display of text data, the data processing system having a data processing unit, a video display terminal, a keyboard, a cursor control device for providing control inputs to said system and a data storage resource, and the graphical user interface providing a document form display representation (document representation) on said video display terminal including at least one data field for text entry and display, a combination comprising: replication function indicating means for generating a replication function indicator in said document display adjacent to said data field, said replication function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a direction in which said data field can be replicated: means for generating a pointer in said document display; means for positioning said pointer in said document display in response to a first control input from said cursor control device; and replicating means responsive to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicator and to a second control input from said cursor control device representing a data field replicating command for replicating said data field in said document representation.

Claim 27

In a data processing system for providing a menu-driven graphical user interface for the display of text data, the data processing system having a data processing unit, a video display terminal, a keyboard, a cursor control device for providing control inputs to said system and a data storage resource, and the graphical user interface providing a document form display representation (document representation) on said video display terminal including at least one data field for text entry and display, a combination comprising: replication function indicating means for generating a replication function indicator in said document display adjacent to said data field, said replication function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a direction in which said data field can be replicated: means for generating a pointer in said document display; means for positioning said pointer in said document display in response to a first control input from said cursor control device; and replicating means responsive to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicator and to a second control input from said cursor control device representing a data field replicating command for replicating said data field in said document representation.

Claim 28

A menu-driver graphical user interface control system for the entry of text data in a data store, comprising: input means for receiving user-selected control inputs; display means for producing the display of a document representation having at least one data field for the entry of data in a data store; replication function indicating means for producing the display of a replication function indicator in said document representation adjacent to said data field, said replication function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a direction in which said data field can be replicated; pointer means for producing the display of a pointer image in said document representation; positioning means for positioning said pointer in said document representation in response to a first control input; and replicating means responsive to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicator and to a second control input representing a data field replicating command for replicating said data field in said document representation.

Claim 29

A menu-driver graphical user interface control system for the entry of text data in a data store, comprising: input means for receiving user-selected control inputs; display means for producing the display of a document representation having at least one data field for the entry of data in a data store; replication function indicating means for producing the display of a replication function indicator in said document representation adjacent to said data field, said replication function indicator being positioned to provide a visual indication of a direction in which said data field can be replicated; pointer means for producing the display of a pointer image in said document representation; positioning means for positioning said pointer in said document representation in response to a first control input; and replicating means responsive to said pointer positioned at said replication function indicator and to a second control input representing a data field replicating command for replicating said data field in said document representation.