Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02311859 2000-06-16
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
UNIVERSAL CONTACT AND SEARCH APPLICATION
s
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to computer software. In particular this invention
relates to
user interfaces for computer software and browser applications, including web
~o browsing, email and search engines.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
At the present time, if the user of any Internet or telecommunications capable
~s device wishes to send an email they must open an email application and
enter the
e-mail address of the recipient; if they wish to search for information, they
must
open a search engine and enter the search term (or employ a dedicated search
application whose sole purpose is to search for highlighted or otherwise
indicated
terms from within a document); if they wish to go to a web site they must open
a
2o browser and enter the URL of the site they wish to visit; and if they wish
to
contact someone over any telecommunications or VOIP medium, they must either
open a dialer and enter the telephone or other contact number, or they must
pick
up a telephone and enter the telephone number. The same principle applies for
all
applications associated with file extensions or contact information.
2s
The object of the present invention is to avoid the cumbersome need to select
and
open particular applications depending on the desired task, and to streamline
the
process of launching the desired application and of initiating the desired
task.
CA 02311859 2000-06-16
2
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a singles interface and entry point that identifies and
launches the appropriate application based on the input provided by the user.
s
According to the invention there is provided a user interface input field in
which
the user enters a single line command or input that is characteristic of one
of a
plurality of applications, including a URL, a search term, a telephone number,
an
MP3 file, an MPEG file, a WAV file, an email address, or any other type of
input
io format recognizably associated with a given application.
Upon the user entering a command or input into the field, the software
application
of the invention determines the application type corresponding to the format
of the
input. As appropriate it also determines whether the command or input includes
~s sufficient information to cause the applicable application to initiate
action.
Assuming these are successfully determined, the application of the invention
launches the application and directs the application to act on the input
provided in
the input field.
2o The invention therefore withdraws from the user the burden of determining
which
particular application applies and of personally organizing the launch of the
application.
The invention also allows the user to specify shortcuts that may be used in
the user
2s input field to substitute for the standard formatting of input for certain
applications.
In one aspect the invention comprises a software application for controlling
the
launch of other applications. The software produces a user interface (written
or
CA 02311859 2000-06-16
3
through voice or other recognition) enabling a user to provide input data. The
software analyzes the input data to determine whether the format and content
of
said data corresponds to one of the other applications and if it does it
initiates the
launch of the other application using the data as the initial input for the
other
s application.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a software application for
controlling
the launch of other applications. The software includes means for displaying a
user interface including a data entry input field, a string parser for
determining
to whether data inputted into said input field corresponds to the format and
content of
one of said other applications and a controller for initiating the launch of
said other
applications using said data as initial input to said other applications.
In another aspect the invention comprises a method of enabling a user to
launch
is any of a plurality of applications using a single user interface input,
comprising the
steps of providing to the user a user interface enabling the user to provide
input
data, analyzing said input data to determine whether the format and content of
said
data corresponds to one of said plurality of applications and initiating the
launch
of said application using said data as initial input to said application.
Other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description
which
follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a string parsing logic flowchart for the preferred embodiment of the
invention;
CA 02311859 2000-06-16
4
Fig. 2 is the shortcut creation interface for the preferred embodiment; and,
Fig. 3 is a launch interface input field according to the preferred
embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
According to the preferred embodiment, the application of the invention
(sometimes referred to herein as the launch application) resides on a remote
server
to and is browser based. In the alternative it can be installed as a
downloaded
application from an application service provided or as a software application
product in a stand alone or networked computing or communications device, thin
client with Internet connectivity or remote wireless devices such as PDAs or
cellular telephones.
The single line entry user interface input field shown in Fig. 3 is generated
in
HTML and is displayed in an input field box on any of a browser.
The user enters into the input field an IP address, URL, email address, search
term,
2o VOIP contact information, telephone number, or a file name with a file
extension
or custom preference trigger. Acceptable user inputs are those that contain
sufficient information to identify their character as being associated with
specific
user applications and for actions to be initiated within those user
applications.
The launch application uses string parsing to search for identifiable symbols
within the input field, as indicated by Fig. 1. When a symbol is identified,
the
launch application correlates the symbol with pre-assigned triggers in a
database
associated with the launch application to cause the remote server to launch
the
user application associated with the recognized symbol.
CA 02311859 2000-06-16
Thus, an email address such as fliancock@tbc.com <mailto:fhancock@tbc.com>
is recognized by the @ symbol. When such symbol is identified, the launch
application causes the default email application registered on the user's
system to
s be launched with the email address entered into the input field. The launch
application may also confirm that the input field information includes both a
prefix
to the @ symbol and a suffix that includes a dot thereby ensuring that the
format
of the entry corresponds to an email address and will be sufficient to cause
the
email program to initiate the dispatch of an email.
to
A web site URL such as Harvey.com or MBC.edu will always contain '.com',
'.edu' or other such suffix and will not contain an '@' symbol. This
characterizes
the input as a web address. Once it is so characterized, the launch
application
causes the default browser registered on the user's system to be launched and
the
s destination web site to be used as the initial URL destination.
In the same way any file extension such as .MP3, .MPEG, .WAV, .DOC or any
such file extension would cause the appropriate application to open.
2o Any telephone or other communications access number will be identified as
such
because it includes only numerals, possibly in a given format. The launch
application therefore causes the telephone or other communications link
registered
on the user's system to be initiated using the number in the input field as
the
number to be dialed or accessed. The launch application may first also confirm
25 that the number of digits and their identity corresponds to the digits for
known
telephone numbers including long distance and other such designator digits.
Any other word entries will cause appropriate applications to be opened and
activity to be commenced automatically but following a hierarchy of possible
CA 02311859 2000-06-16
6
applications. For example, if the user enters a name such as Bruce Mackenzie,
or
any other combination of letters, symbols and numbers, the application will
first
search through the user's system address book, or any other such contact
application, for a match to the entry term(s). If the application finds such a
match
s it will cause the contact list application to be opened using the inputted
name as a
record reference. Such contact list application may then offer the user
additional
functionality from its user interface screen.
If no matching input terms are discovered in the user's contact lists, the
launch
io application concludes that the entry item is the search term for a search
request.
Accordingly, it will cause a search engine to be launched with the said entry
information used as the query item.
If the user wishes to create a custom shortcut, the launch application
provides a
1 s "Create Shortcut" option which enables the user to create a unique name
for any
macro of any file and its associated application. A user interface for this
functionality is illustrated as Fig 2. The user need only click on the window
control box and select the "Create Shortcut" option. The user is then prompted
to
enter the input data to create a shortcut the user wishes to use. For example
if the
2o user wishes to play his favourite MPEG file he would enter
Beatles Hey Jude.MP3 and then the shortcut name Jude. Henceforth, entering
"Jude" in the user interface input field of Fig. 3 will cause the selected MP3
file to
play. The user customization feature increases the versatility and the
potential
universality of the launch application.
In an alternative embodiment, the user interface screen may include specific
application buttons located below the input field according to the invention.
Thus,
the user still enters the data into the single mufti-purpose input field and
may
CA 02311859 2000-06-16
7
choose to select the specific application to launch rather than allowing the
launch
application to perform the recognition and selection.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in relation
to
s keyboard entry, other embodiments such as the use of a voice recognition or
various other input means or platforms are within the scope of the present
invention.
Although the preferred embodiment has been described in a particular context,
it
to will be appreciated that variations thereto may be practised without
departing from
the principles and scope of the invention.
