Importance

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Abstract

The preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a method and apparatus for controlling the scroll rate of a scroll bar slider in a graphical user interface. The preferred embodiment uses a domain mechanism that divides large documents into multiple domains. The document is displayed in a viewing window with the slider moving the document from one of the current domain to the other end. Because the slider only moves within one domain, and not the whole document, the slider sensitivity is reduced such that it can be effectively used to scroll through documents. The document can be moved within the viewing window to other domains by activating one of a plurality of domain marks, where each domain mark represents a domain not currently scrollable with the slider. Thus, the entire document can be easily browsed while the scroll rate is maintained at an effective level. This provides a user with a high degree of control when viewing all sizes of documents.

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First Claim