Document Viewer Table of Contents Overlay Navigation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing document viewer applications often require users to navigate away from their current position in a document to access a table of contents, which can disrupt the reading experience and increase the effort to locate specific sections.

Innovation Solution

A document viewer application that overlays a table of contents on top of the current document position, allowing users to navigate through it while retaining their place, with features for adjusting preview sizes and providing animation feedback.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the table of contents is displayed in a separate panel or at the beginning of the document, then the user can access the table of contents, but the user must navigate away from their current position in the document, disrupting the reading experience

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccess to table of contentsVSAvoidtime to locate current position

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent transforms the traditional table of contents from a linear sequence (at the beginning or in a separate panel) into a spatial overlay that exists in a different dimension - a semi-transparent panel superimposed on the document view. This allows simultaneous access to both the document content and the table of contents without requiring navigation away from the current position, effectively adding a spatial dimension to the information presentation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Solution Approach 2:

The table of contents is nested within the document viewing area itself, rather than existing as a separate entity. The TOC panel is contained within the main document view, allowing users to access the table of contents structure while remaining within the context of the document they are reading, eliminating the need to navigate away and lose their position.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

2Loss of information

If all pages of content are displayed in the table of contents, then the user can see the complete structure, but information overload occurs and reduces readability

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecompleteness of table of contentsVSAvoidinformation overload

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by making the table of contents entries selectively visible or emphasized based on their relevance to the current document position. Rather than uniformly displaying all pages with equal prominence, the system can highlight sections near the current position while dimming or condensing distant sections, providing complete information while managing visual overload through differential presentation quality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system displays the complete table of contents structure but uses partial action by allowing users to expand or collapse specific sections as needed. The full information is available but not all elements are simultaneously prominent - users can choose to expand only the sections relevant to their current reading position, obtaining complete information on demand while avoiding information overload in the default view.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Ease of operation

If the table of contents is displayed as an overlay, then the user can retain their current position in the document, but the preview size of pages may be too small to be useful

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveretention of current positionVSAvoidpreview size

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSArea of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamic sizing of the table of contents preview images. Rather than using fixed-size thumbnails, the system can adjust the size of preview images based on user interaction - allowing users to click or hover to expand previews to larger sizes for better readability. This dynamic adjustment maintains the overlay structure that preserves current position while providing flexible preview sizes that can be enlarged on demand.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces an intermediary action between the small thumbnail and full-page view - when users interact with a table of contents entry, the system can display an expanded preview or a transitional view that provides more detail than the thumbnail but less than the full page. This intermediary state resolves the contradiction by providing sufficient preview detail without requiring the user to navigate to the full page.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS8739073B2User interface for document table of contents

Publication Date: 2014.05.27 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for providing a table of contents for a document viewer application. A document viewer application is provided that can display a document that has multiple pages of content. Upon receiving a selection from the user to access a table of contents for the document, a table of contents is displayed that contains a representation of at least some of the pages of content in a manner that is overlaid on top of a current position in the document. A navigation feature allows a user to navigate through the table of contents while retaining the current position in the document. A preview size adjustment feature allows the user to adjust a size of the representation of the pages of content for the document.