Method and/or apparatus for user selection of signals to be sent to a computer

Abstract

The present invention is a method and/or apparatus for user selection of signals to be sent to a computer for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data, or launching user pre-selected commands, and are associated with electronic switches that allow for at least three input stages; depressing and holding, pressing at least once, and pressing at least twice. In one embodiment, the present invention is a pointing device including a housing, electronic circuitry within the housing, means for pointing control, and a plurality of externally mounted buttons that are in addition to the standard depressible buttons currently available on a pointing device, which are exposed on the housing and are electronically connected with circuitry.

1 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a computer pointing device having a plurality of buttons;    a press and hold of a selected one of the buttons for a period of time loads a selected one of a plurality of templates;    the selected one of the templates defines at least a single dick macro data for each one of the plurality of buttons;    at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to an input on a displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the computer pointing device.    
   
   
       2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the period of time is in a range between 0.25 to 10 seconds.  
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the indicator is a selected one of a pointer and a point of control on the displayed document by the pointing device.  
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the pointing device is a selected one of a computer mouse, trackball, joystick, gaming device, PDA and remote control.  
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein pressing a selected one of the plurality of buttons moves the indicator of the computer pointing device from one field on the displayed document to another field.  
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the macro data is a selected one of text data, image data, audio data, video data, and programming code.  
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the displayed document is a selected one of a form, webpage, GUI, document, query, animated sequence, video sequence and interactive game.  
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to an input on a displayed document based on a position of an indicator moved by the computer pointing device.  
   
   
       9 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each one of the templates defines the at least one single click and a at least one double click macro data for each one of the plurality of buttons; 
 each one of the at least one single click and at least one double click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to the input on the displayed document controlled by the indicator moved by the computer pointing device.    
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of templates are programmed by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of the buttons.  
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein a markup language is recognized in the displayed document and; 
 the unique definitions in at least one of the plurality of templates are matched with tags in the markup language and the corresponding macro data of the template is sent to the input on the document associated with the tag with at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons.    
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein the unique definitions for each data field in the plurality of templates can be modified.  
   
   
       13 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein at least one of the templates in a database is selected by logging in a user with a username and password.  
   
   
       14 . The apparatus of  claim 13  wherein at least one of the templates in a database is selected by clicking on a sequence of buttons on a selected one of a keyboard and the pointing device representing the password.  
   
   
       15 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein at least one of the templates in a database is selected by input to a biometric sensor.  
   
   
       16 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein at least one database of templates is stored on a selected one of a permanent storage system, a removable storage system, and an online server with security features and is accessible by other devices on a network.  
   
   
       17 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein the pointing device is assigned a unique identity and signals sent from the pointing device are connected to the unique identity; 
 at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons determines the macro data to input on a displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the pointing device.    
   
   
       18 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a computer pointing device having a plurality of buttons;    a movement of the indicator controlled by the pointing device over an identifier on a displayed document is recognized and matched with identifiers unique to one of a plurality of templates to select a template;    the selected template defines at least a single click macro data for each one of the plurality of buttons;    at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to an input on a displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by a computer pointing device.    
   
   
       19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the indicator is a selected one of a pointer and a point of control on the displayed document by the pointing device.  
   
   
       20 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the identifier on the displayed document is a selected one of at least one word of text, an activation mark and a graphical image.  
   
   
       21 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the occurrence of an event in a videogame sequence is recognized and matched with identifiers unique to one of a plurality of templates to select a template; 
 the selected template defines at least a single click macro data for each one of the plurality of buttons;    at least a single dick on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to the input on the displayed document controlled by the indicator moved by the computer pointing device.    
   
   
       22 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein each one of the templates defines the at least one single and a at least one double dick macro data for each one of the plurality of buttons; 
 each one of the at least one single click and at least one double click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to the input on the displayed document controlled by the indicator moved by the computer pointing device.    
   
   
       23 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the macro data is a selected one of text data, image data, audio data, video data, and programming code.  
   
   
       24 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the displayed document is a selected one of a form, webpage, GUI, document, query, animated sequence, video sequence and interactive game.  
   
   
       25 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the pointing device is a selected one of a computer mouse, trackball, joystick, gaming device, PDA and remote control.  
   
   
       26 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein pressing a selected one of the plurality of buttons moves the indicator of the computer pointing device from one field on the displayed document to another field.  
   
   
       27 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the plurality of templates are programmed by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of the buttons; and 
 wherein the identifiers unique to each one of the plurality of templates are data definitions of each field.    
   
   
       28 . The apparatus of  claim 27  wherein at least one of the templates in the database is selected by logging in a user with a username and password.  
   
   
       29 . The apparatus of  claim 28  wherein at least one of the templates in the database is selected by clicking on a sequence of buttons on a selected one of a keyboard and the pointing device representing the password.  
   
   
       30 . The apparatus of  claim 27  wherein at least one of the templates in a database is selected by input to a biometric sensor.  
   
   
       31 . The apparatus of  claim 27  wherein a markup language is recognized in the displayed document and; 
 the unique definitions in the plurality of templates are matched with tags in the markup language and the corresponding macro data of the template is sent to the input on the document associated with the tag with at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons.    
   
   
       32 . The apparatus of  claim 27  wherein the unique definitions for each data field in the plurality of templates can be modified.  
   
   
       33 . The apparatus of  claim 27  wherein at least one database of templates is stored on a selected one of a permanent storage system, a removable storage system, and an online server with security features and is accessible by other devices on a network.  
   
   
       34 . The apparatus of  claim 27  wherein the pointing device is assigned a unique identity and signals sent from the pointing device are connected to the unique identity; 
 at least a single dick on a selected one of the plurality of buttons determines the macro data to input on a displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the pointing device.    
   
   
       35 . A method for filling in a displayed document with a computer pointing device having a plurality of buttons comprising: 
 assigning and storing a first unique macro data to each one of the plurality of buttons;    assigning and storing a second unique macro data to each one of the plurality of buttons;    clicking at least once on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends a first unique macro data corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of buttons to an input in the displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the computer pointing device and;    clicking at least twice on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends a second unique macro data corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of buttons to an input in the displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the computer pointing device.    
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the indicator is a selected one of a pointer and a point of control on the displayed document by the pointing device.  
   
   
       37 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the pointing device is a selected one of a computer mouse, trackball, joystick, gaming device, PDA and remote control.  
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 35  comprising: 
 moving the indicator controlled by the computer pointing device from one field on the displayed document to another filed by pressing a selected one of the plurality of buttons.    
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the steps of assigning and storing the first and the second unique macro data are repeated for a plurality of templates the number of which corresponds to the number of the plurality of buttons and comprising: 
 a pressing and holding for a time and release of a selected one of the buttons loads an assigned one of the plurality of templates.    
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the steps of assigning and storing the first and the second unique macro data are repeated for a plurality of templates the number of which corresponds to the number of the plurality of buttons and comprising: 
 organizing the plurality of templates in a database;    programming the plurality of templates by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and having associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of buttons;    recognizing an identifier in the displayed document under the pointing device indicator;    matching the identifier with the unique definitions corresponding to one of the templates and;    loading the matched template.    
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the identifier on the displayed document is a selected one of at least one word of text, an activation mark and a graphical image.  
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 40  comprising: 
 recognizing the occurrence of an event in a videogame sequence;    matching the event with the unique definitions corresponding to one of the templates and;    loading the matched template.    
   
   
       43 . The method of  claim 35  comprising: 
 organizing the plurality of templates in a database and;    programming the plurality of templates by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and having associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of buttons.    
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 43  comprising: 
 selecting at least one template from the database for a user by entering a username and password.    
   
   
       45 . The method of  claim 44  comprising a step of entering the password by pressing a sequence of buttons on a selected one of a keyboard and the pointing device representing the password.  
   
   
       46 . The method of  claim 43  comprising: 
 selecting at least one template from the database for a user by entering his biometric data.    
   
   
       47 . The method of  claim 43  comprising: 
 recognizing an identifier in the displayed document under the indicator moved by the pointing device and;    matching the identifier with the unique data field definitions corresponding to one of the templates;    loading the matched template.    
   
   
       48 . The method of  claim 43  comprising: 
 recognizing a markup language in the displayed document;    matching the unique data field definitions in at least one of the plurality of templates with tags in the markup language and;    sending the corresponding macro data of the template to the input on the document associated with the tag with at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons.    
   
   
       49 . The method of  claim 43  comprising: 
 modifying the unique definitions for each data field in the plurality of templates.    
   
   
       50 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the macro data is a selected one of text data, image data, audio data, video data, and programming code.  
   
   
       51 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the displayed document is a selected one of a form, webpage, document, GUI, query, animated sequence, video sequence and interactive game.  
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the steps of assigning and storing the first and the second unique macro data are repeated for a first and second one of a plurality of templates and comprising: 
 organizing the first and second plurality of templates in a database such that the number of the first and second plurality of templates correspond to the number of buttons;    programming the first and second plurality of templates by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and having associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of buttons;    when a markup language is recognized in the displayed document;    matching the unique definitions in the second plurality of templates with tags in the markup language;    sending the corresponding macro data of the second plurality of template to the input on the displayed document associated with the tag with at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons;    when a markup language is not recognized in the displayed document a pressing and holding for a period of time and release of a selected one of the buttons loading an assigned one of the first plurality of templates;    recognizing an identifier in the displayed document under the pointing device indicator;    matching the identifier with unique definitions corresponding one of the first plurality of templates and;    loading the template in the first plurality that has the definition that matches.    
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the unique definitions corresponding one of the first plurality of templates represent data definitions of each field.  
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the period of time is in a range between 0.25 to 10 seconds.  
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 40  comprising: 
 storing at least one database of templates on a selected one of a permanent storage system, a removable storage system, and an online server with security features and is accessible by other devices on a network.    
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 35  wherein the steps of assigning and storing the first and the second unique macro data are repeated for a plurality of templates the number of which corresponds to the number of the plurality of buttons comprising: 
 organizing the plurality of templates in a database;    programming the plurality of templates by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and having associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of buttons;    programming the plurality of templates by selecting at least one pointing device with a unique identity to receive commands from;    receiving commands attached with the unique identifier from at least one pointing device to send macro data of the template to the input on the document;    matching the attached unique identifier with one selected in the template programming step and;    sending the corresponding macro data of the template to the input on the document.