Cascading Menus for Remote Popping via Pop Reader
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current browser technologies limit interactive elements of webpages when displaying preview windows for remote links, making them non-interactive and inaccessible.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for constructing interactive cascading menus within webpages by using a pop reader to detect autopop links and insert commands into HTML code to enable the display of multiple layers of menus, allowing interactive access to remote webpages without relying on JavaScript or complex scripts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a preview window is used to display remote webpage links, then users can view a preview of the linked webpage, but the interactive elements of the webpage become inaccessible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements cascading menus where multiple menu layers are nested within each other. When a user hovers over a link, a first menu layer appears containing additional links. Hovering over these links reveals second menu layers, and so on, creating a nested structure that provides progressive access to interactive elements while maintaining preview functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the menu structure into multiple independent layers, each containing specific links and interactive elements. This segmentation allows the preview window to display one layer while other layers remain accessible through hover interactions, resolving the contradiction between preview capability and interactive access.
2Ease of operation
If JavaScript is used to create interactive cascading menus, then interactive access is improved, but compatibility with pop-up blockers and complex scripting requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the JavaScript-based mechanical system with a browser-native HTML event-driven system. Instead of using JavaScript to detect mouse movements and display menus, the patent uses HTML `<div>` elements with `onmouseover` and `onmouseout` event attributes that are natively supported by all browsers, eliminating dependency on JavaScript and pop-up blockers.
3Ease of operation
If complex scripts are used to enable interactive menus in preview windows, then interactive access is improved, but device complexity and ease of manufacture worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses simple, lightweight HTML `<div>` elements as disposable menu containers that are created and destroyed dynamically through browser-native event handling. Each menu layer is a simple div element that appears on hover and disappears on mouse-out, eliminating the need for complex script objects and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The menu system is self-service in that it automatically handles its own display and hiding through browser-native event attributes. The `<div>` elements have built-in `onmouseover` and `onmouseout` handlers that automatically control their visibility without requiring external script management, reducing the complexity of menu construction and maintenance.
Data Source
AI summary
A pop reader of a browser searches HTML code for a webpage with a plurality of links for a first link specified with a first target file name comprising a pop type element. The pop reader, responsive to detecting the first link specified with the first target file name comprising the pop type element, inserts a first command into the HTML code to disable the first link and set an event to pop up a first menu layer of a plurality of layers of a cascading menu and inserts a second command to specify the content of the first menu layer from a file accessed for the first target file name. The browser, responsive to detecting the event, displays the first menu layer with the specified content by the second command within the interface displaying the webpage.