Inventions on Menu and Toolbar Coordination

Abstract

Both toolbar and dropdown menu are used popularly in a graphical user interface with a similar objective of providing easy access to the internal functions. Often the same functions are provided through both menu and toolbar. Both toolbar and dropdown menu have their own advantages and disadvantages. A menu can provide more options occupying less real estate, while toolbar can provide a single click access without navigating through trees and branches. As a menu and toolbar system shares many common objectives, it is often useful maintain some relationship to coordinate between both the elements of a GUI system. The relationships can be easy as both of them often share the same internal function. For example, the print option in a menu will (most likely) call the same function as the print button on the toolbar. This article discusses the similarities and differences between a dropdown menu and toolbar. Five inventions trying to focus on both menu and toolbar are illustrated in the article.