HK1212061B - Method, system and touch sensitive device for processing touch events - Google Patents

Description

Method, system, and touch-sensitive device for processing touch events

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of invention patent application with international application number PCT/US2009/035858, international application date March 3, 2009, and Chinese national application number 200980000015.5.

Technical Field

This topic mainly involves web browsing services.

Background Art

Web pages are created using a markup language that provides a means for describing the structure of text-based information in a document and supplementing the text with interactive forms, embedded images, and other objects. A popular markup language is Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which is written in the form of tags surrounded by angle brackets. HTML can describe the appearance and semantics of a web page and can include embedded scripting language code (for example) that can affect the behavior of a web browser and other HTML processors. Developers are provided with the ability to add mouse event handlers or event listeners to web pages. These mouse event handlers can be assigned to specific areas in a web page and can be configured to receive mouse events in these areas, such as mouse release (mouse up) events or mouse press (mouse down) events.

In contrast, web pages navigated using touch-sensitive devices typically need to respond to touch events generated by users touching the web page with one or more fingers and performing gestures. Conventional mouse event handlers cannot correctly interpret these touch events. Therefore, these touch events require a different touch event model to correctly interpret the touch events and allow developers to fully utilize the capabilities of touch-sensitive displays or devices.

Summary of the Invention

One or more touch input signals may be obtained from a touch-sensitive device. If the touch input signals are associated with one or more regions of a web page displayed on the touch-sensitive device, touch events associated with the regions of the web page may be processed by the web page. If the touch input signals are not associated with regions of the web page, an application associated with the touch-sensitive device may process the touch input signals.

In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a touch input signal; determining whether the touch input signal is associated with one or more areas of a web page displayed on a touch-sensitive device; and forwarding the touch event to the web page for processing if the touch input signal is associated with the one or more areas of the web page.

Other embodiments related to systems, methods, and computer-readable media are also disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example web page document.

FIG. 2 illustrates a processing stack for an exemplary multi-touch capable device.

3 is a flow chart of an example process for handling touch events.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary multi-touch capable device.

5 is a block diagram of an example network operating environment for the multi-touch capable device of FIG. 4 .

6 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the multi-touch capable device of FIG. 4 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example web page structure and DOM

FIG1A shows an example web page 100 that can be displayed on a browser. The browser can be hosted on a portable device, such as the multi-touch capable device 400 in FIG4 . One or more cells can be displayed on the web page 100, namely cell 102 (“cell 1”), cell 104 (“cell 2”), and cell 106 (“cell 3”). These cells 102, 104, 106 can correspond to user-selectable areas on the web page 100 and can provide additional functionality as a result of the selection. For example, these cells can correspond to buttons on the web page 100. Furthermore, these cells can be nested so that one cell contains another cell. For example, cell 104 contains cell 108. In the example shown, cell 108 is, for example, a scrubber control nested within cell 104, which can be, for example, a user interface for a media player.

In some embodiments, a user can use a finger instead of a mouse to perform various functions in conjunction with the elements on the web page 100. For example, a user can use the touch-sensitive display 402 shown in Figure 4 to touch the elements of the web page 100. In one example, a user can select a certain element by touching the element with one or more fingers and/or by making gestures such as swiping, pinching, or rotating. In order to recognize touch input signals, certain areas of the web page 100 can be associated with a touch event handler. As will be described with reference to Figure 1B, this processing can be implemented with a DOM and an embedded scripting language.

FIG1B is an illustrative DOM 150 associated with a web page 100. DOM 150 provides a structural representation of the web page 100 and describes the web page content as a set of objects that can be interpreted by a scripting language (e.g., DOM 150). In some embodiments, DOM 150 provides access to the web page structure by mapping the elements 102, 104, 106, and 108 in the web page 100 to individual nodes of a tree. For example, element 102 corresponds to node 154. Element 104 corresponds to node 156. Element 106 corresponds to node 158. Element 108 corresponds to node 160. Root node 152 corresponds to the entire web page 100.

In some embodiments, one or more elements 102, 104, 106, and 108 in the web page 100 can be associated with one or more corresponding touch event handlers by associating corresponding nodes in the DOM 150 with touch event handlers. The touch event handler can be inserted into the HTML tags of the web page 100 and can run a scripting language to perform an action when, for example, a user touches or makes a gesture within a certain element on the web page 100. For example, the touch event handler can work with the DOM 150 to attach actions to different touch events.

In some embodiments, one or more of units 102, 104, 106, and 108 can receive touch input detected by an event handler or listener. As described with reference to FIG2 , the touch input can be detected and processed into touch events by a touch event model, which can be implemented in one or more layers of a software stack. The touch events can be further processed by web page 100. The touch events can be in a format (e.g., attributes) that is easier to use in applications than the raw touch input signals generated by a touch-sensitive device. For example, each touch event can include a set of coordinates where the touch is currently occurring.

Each element in web page 100 and its associated event handler can receive, process, and act on touch events. For example, if driver 202 ( FIG. 2 ) senses touch point 110 associated with element 102 or touch point 112 associated with element 104, the event handler associated with element 102 or 104 can receive a separate touch event indicating that the element has been touched and can optionally send the touch event to web page 100 for further processing. In some embodiments, if the area of web page 100 that is touched does not correspond to an event handler, the input can be processed by the browser in application layer 214 rather than by web page 100.

In some embodiments, a browser in the application layer 214 can receive all touch inputs. The browser can determine whether the touch input is associated with an area of the web page 100 that includes a touch handler. If the touch input is associated with an area of the web page 100 that includes a touch handler, the touch event model can generate a touch event and send the touch event to the web page 100 for processing. If the touch input is not associated with an area of the web page 100, the browser can process the touch input.

Referring to the example of FIG1 , a user can touch a second location on web page 100 without releasing the first touch (e.g., while keeping the finger pressed on the first touch point). For example, the user can touch touch point 110 with a first finger and, without releasing the first finger from touch point 110, touch a second touch point 112 with a second finger. Thus, the second touch on second touch point 112 can occur simultaneously with the touch on touch point 110. In this example, the browser determines that touch points 110 and 112 are areas of web page 100 that include a touch handler. The touch event model then generates a first touch event and a second touch event for the touch inputs on touch points 110 and 112, respectively, and sends the first and second touch events to web page 100 for processing.

However, there are cases where a user touches web page 100 at a third location (e.g., touch point 114). In this case, the browser will determine that the touch is not associated with the area of web page 100 associated with the touch handler. In this case, the browser will not send any touch events to web page 100 for processing. Instead, the browser will handle the event itself.

In some embodiments, if the browser is associated with a touch handler, the browser can process input according to the touch handler associated with the browser. For example, the browser can be associated with a touch handler that allows the user to zoom the browser display.

In some embodiments, touch events can be detected on a finger-by-finger and node-by-node basis in DOM 150. For example, a user can touch touch-sensitive display 402 at touch point 110 and touch point 112 at substantially the same time, and the touch event model can detect two separate touch events. Because each node 102 and 104 in DOM 150 is associated with a separate touch event handler, separate touch events can be detected for touch point 110 and touch point 112.

In some embodiments, touch events can be delivered to web page 100 as EventTargets. Some examples of touch events may include touchstart, touchmove, touchend, and touchcancel. Other touch events are also possible. A touchstart is a touch event detected when a user first places a finger on touch-sensitive display 402 within an area of web page 100 associated with an event handler. As the user moves their finger around on web page 100, one or more touchmove events may be detected. When the user lifts their finger off web page 100, a touchend event may be detected. A touchcancel may be detected when the system interrupts regular event processing. For example, a touchcancel event may occur when touch-sensitive display 402 is locked to prevent inadvertent touches.

In some embodiments, gesture events can also be detected by combining two or more touch events. Similar to touch events, gesture events (GestureEvent) can also be delivered to the web page 100 as event targets (EventTarget). Some examples of gesture events may be gesture start (gesturestart), gesture change (gesturechange) and gesture end (gestureend). Gesture events may include scaling and/or rotation information. Rotation information may include a rotation value, which is a relative increment in degrees. The unit on the web page 100 can be dynamically rotated based on the rotation value. Scaling information may include a scaling value, which is a relative increment in document pixels. For the unit on the web page 100 associated with the gesture event, its size can be dynamically adjusted based on the scaling value. In addition, other gesture events are also possible.

In some embodiments, a touch list containing touch event data identifying one or more touches on a web page 100 may be received. The touch event data may include a touch identifier and at least one set of touch location coordinates. Furthermore, the touch list may include touch event data related to a touch event target associated with each touch. In some embodiments, such a set of touch location coordinates may include client coordinates, page coordinates, and screen coordinates. In some embodiments, the touch event data may identify one or more touches that have changed.

In some embodiments, a GestureEvent can be sent to the web page 100 before a TouchEvent. For example, if a user places a finger on touch point 110 and touch point 112, and then uses those fingers to perform a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation gesture on the touch-sensitive display, the touch event model will detect these multiple touch events and combine them into a single gesture event. The gesture event can then be sent to the web page 100, followed by the individual touch events that were combined to form the gesture event. This allows developers to access both the gesture event and the individual touch events within the gesture event, providing them with greater flexibility when developing web applications.

In some embodiments, touch events are received in the following order: a touch-start event, one or more touch-move events, and a touch-end or touch-cancel event. Using the example of FIG. 1A , when a user touches touch point 110, a first touch-start event is detected by a first touch-event handler associated with element 102. When the user touches touch point 112, a second touch-start event is detected by a second touch-event handler associated with element 104. When the user rotates their finger without lifting it, the first and second touch-event handlers detect touch-move events, which can be interpreted as rotation gesture events by the touch event model. When the user ends the rotation and lifts their finger off web page 100, the first and second touch-event handlers detect touch-end events. All or some touch events can be made available to developers via a touch event application programming interface (API). The touch API can be made available to developers as a software development kit (SDK) or as part of an application (e.g., as part of a browser toolkit). The touch event API can rely on other services, frameworks, and operating systems to perform its various functions. As described with reference to FIG. 2 , these services, frameworks, and operating systems may be part of a software or processing stack where touch events are associated with properties that can be inserted into a document to define event actions in an application.

Example IDL

The exemplary touch event model will now be described using an interface description language (IDL). The functionality and data structures of the IDL can be accessed by web designers or application developers through an API. Access to touch events and/or gesture events can be associated with attributes that can be inserted into a markup language document (e.g., HTML, XML) to define event actions within an application. For example, these attributes can be inserted into one or more HTML tags within an HTML document to generate a web page displayed on touch-sensitive display 402. The event action can include running an embedded script (e.g.,

The following is an example of an HTML code snippet that handles touch events using the example IDL above. For example, the following HTML shows the touch event listeners TouchStart and GestureStart added to a cell using HTML code:

this.element.addEventListener('touchstart', function(e){returnself.onTouchBegin(e)}, false);

this.element.addEventListener(′gesturestart′, function(e){returnself.onGestureStart(e)}, false);

The HTML code corresponding to the above IDL can be as follows:

Instantiation processing stack for multi-touch devices

FIG2 is a diagram of a processing stack for an illustrative device with multi-touch capabilities. The touch event model described above can be implemented in one or more areas of the processing stack and various user resources in the stack. The layers of hardware 200 may include various hardware interface elements, such as touch-sensitive or enabled devices or touch-sensitive displays. The touch-sensitive device may include a display and a panel for sensing multiple touches simultaneously. The hardware layer 200 may also include an accelerometer for detecting the orientation (e.g., portrait, landscape) of the touch-sensitive display or device. Thus, the signal indicating the orientation can be used by the touch event model to scale the web page for optimal display.

One or more drivers in driver layer 202 can communicate with hardware 200. For example, these drivers can receive and process touch input signals generated by a touch-sensitive display or device in hardware layer 200. Core operating system (OS) 204 can communicate with one or more drivers. Core OS 204 can process raw input data received from one or more drivers. In some embodiments, these drivers can be considered part of core OS 204.

A set of OS application programming interfaces (APIs) 206 can communicate with the core OS 204. These APIs can be a set of APIs typically included with the operating system (e.g., Linux or UNIX APIs). A set of core base APIs 208 can use the OS APIs 206, while a set of base APIs 210 can use the core base APIs 208.

A web page software development kit (SDK) 210 may include a set of APIs designed for use by applications running on the device. A touch event API, for example, may be included in the web page SDK 210. The APIs of the web page SDK 210 may utilize the base API 208. The web page SDK 210 may include, for example, a Web KIT provided by Apple. The web page SDK 210 may be provided as an API or may be accessed through an application, for example, through a browser such as that provided by Apple.

Applications 214 running on the device can create web pages using the APIs of the web page SDK 210. The APIs of the web page SDK 210 can then communicate with various underlying components, ultimately communicating with the touch-sensitive display or device and various other user interface hardware. While each layer can utilize the layers below it, this is not always necessary. For example, in some embodiments, applications 214 may occasionally communicate with the OS API 206.

Example touch event optimization processing

FIG3 is a flow diagram of a process 300 for optimizing touch event processing. The process 300 begins by receiving a touch input signal from a touch-sensitive device (302). A determination is made as to whether the touch input signal is associated with one or more regions of a web page displayed on a touch-sensitive display device (304). One or more of the web pages may be associated with a touch event. For example, the determination may be made by an application (e.g., a browser) associated with the touch-sensitive device. If the touch signal is associated with one or more regions of the web page, then the touch event associated with the one or more regions of the web page may be processed by the web page (306). If the touch signal is not associated with one or more regions of the web page, then the application may process the touch signal.

Mobile Devices Overview

FIG4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multi-touch capable device 400. In some embodiments, multi-touch capable device 400 includes a touch-sensitive display 402. Touch-sensitive display 402 can implement liquid crystal display (LCD) technology, light emitting polymer display (LPD) technology, or some other display technology. Touch-sensitive display 402 can be sensitive to haptic and/or tactile contact with a user.

In some embodiments, the touch-sensitive display 402 may include a multi-touch-sensitive display 402. For example, the touch-sensitive display 402 may process multiple simultaneous touch points, including processing data related to the pressure, angle, and/or position of each touch point. Such processing facilitates gestures and interactions using multiple fingers, chording, and other interactions. In addition, other touch-sensitive display technologies may be used, such as displays that are contacted using a stylus or other pointing device. Some examples of multi-touch-sensitive display technology are described in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,323,846, 6,570,557, 6,677,932, and U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In some embodiments, the multi-touch-capable device 400 may display one or more graphical user interfaces on the touch-sensitive display 402 to provide the user with access to various system objects and to convey information to the user.

Functionality of an exemplary multi-touch capable device

In some embodiments, the multi-touch capable device 400 can implement the functionality of multiple devices, such as a telephone device, an email device, a network data communication device, a Wi-Fi base station device, and a media processing device. In some embodiments, the multi-touch capable device 400 can include a web browser 404 for displaying a web page (e.g., web page 100). The touch-sensitive display 402 can receive touch input signals generated on the web page 100, and the touch model described above can be used to determine touch and/or gesture events based on the touch input signals. In some embodiments, the multi-touch capable device 400 can implement network distribution functions. In some embodiments, the touch-sensitive display 402 can be locked when the multi-touch capable device 400 is close to the user's ear. This lock operation will result in the generation of a touch cancellation event as described with reference to FIG. 1B.

In some embodiments, as indicated by directional arrow 474, accelerometer 472 can be used to detect movement of multi-touch capable device 400. Accordingly, display objects and/or media can be presented based on the detected orientation, for example, portrait or landscape. In some embodiments, multi-touch capable device 400 can include circuitry and sensors for supporting location determination capabilities, where, for example, this capability can be provided by a global positioning system (GPS) or other positioning system (e.g., a system using Wi-Fi access points, television signals, cellular grids, uniform resource locators (URLs)). In some embodiments, a positioning system (e.g., a GPS receiver) can be integrated into multi-touch capable device 400 or provided as a separate device that can be coupled to multi-touch capable device 400 via an interface to provide access to location-based services. Such multi-touch capable device 400 can also include one or more wireless communication subsystems.

In some embodiments, a port device such as a universal serial bus (USB) port or a docking port, or some other wired port connection, may be included. The port device, for example, may be used to establish a wired connection with another computing device, such as another multi-touch capable device 400, a network access device, a personal computer, a printer, or other processing device capable of receiving and/or transmitting data. In some embodiments, the port device allows the multi-touch capable device 400 to synchronize with a host device using one or more protocols, such as TCP/IP, HTTP, UDP, or any other known protocols.

Network operating environment

FIG5 is a block diagram of an exemplary network operating environment 600 for the multi-touch capable device 400 of FIG4 . For example, the multi-touch capable device 400 of FIG4 can communicate via one or more wired and/or wireless networks 510 in data communications. For example, wireless network 512 can be, for example, a cellular network that can communicate with a wide area network (WAN) 514, such as the Internet, using a gateway 516. Similarly, access point 518 can be, for example, an 802.11g wireless access point that can provide communication access to the WAN 514. In some embodiments, voice and data communications can be established via wireless network 512 and access point 518. For example, multi-touch capable device 400a can make and receive phone calls (e.g., using VoIP), send and receive email messages (e.g., using POP3), and retrieve electronic documents and/or streams, such as web pages, photos, and videos, via wireless network 512, gateway 516, and WAN 514 (e.g., using TCP/IP or UDP). Similarly, multi-touch enabled device 400b can make and receive phone calls, send and receive email messages, and retrieve electronic documents via access point 518 and wide area network 514. In some embodiments, multi-touch enabled device 400b can be physically connected to access point 518 using one or more cables, and access point 518 can be a personal computer. In this configuration, multi-touch enabled device 400b can be referred to as a "tethered" device.

Multi-touch enabled devices 400a and 400b may also establish communication via other means. For example, multi-touch enabled device 400a may communicate with other wireless devices, such as other multi-touch enabled devices 400, cellular phones, etc., via wireless network 512. Similarly, multi-touch enabled devices 400a and 400b may establish point-to-point communication 520, such as a personal area network, by utilizing one or more communication subsystems, such as Bluetooth ^™ communication device 488 shown in FIG. Other communication protocols and topologies may also be implemented.

For example, the multi-touch capable device 400 can communicate with a network resource 530 via one or more wired and/or wireless networks 510. For example, the network resource can be a web server that delivers web pages that can be touched via the touch model, as described with reference to Figures 1-2.

Other services may also be provided, including a software update service that automatically determines whether a software update exists for software on the multi-touch capable device 400 and then downloads the software update to the multi-touch capable device 400, where the software may be manually or automatically unpacked and/or installed.

Example mobile device architecture

FIG6 is a block diagram 600 of an exemplary embodiment of the multi-touch capable device 400 of FIG4 . The multi-touch capable device 400 may include a memory interface 602 , one or more data processors, an image processor, and/or a central processing unit 604 , and a peripheral interface 606 . The memory interface 602 , the one or more processors 604 , and/or the peripheral interface 606 may be discrete components or integrated into one or more integrated circuits. In the multi-touch capable device 400 , the various components may be coupled via one or more communication buses or signal lines.

Sensors, devices, and subsystems can be coupled to peripheral interface 606 to facilitate various functions. For example, motion sensor 610, light sensor 612, and proximity sensor 614 can be coupled to peripheral interface 606 to facilitate the orientation, lighting, and proximity functions described with respect to FIG. 4. Other sensors 616 can also be connected to peripheral interface 606, such as a positioning system (e.g., a GPS receiver), a temperature sensor, a biometric sensor, or other sensing device, to facilitate related functions.

The camera subsystem 620 and optical sensor 622 , which may be, for example, a charge coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) optical sensor, may be used to facilitate camera functions such as recording photos and video clips.

Communication functionality may be facilitated by one or more wireless communication subsystems 624, which may include radio frequency receivers and transmitters and/or optical (e.g., infrared) receivers and transmitters. The specific design and implementation of the communication subsystem 624 may depend on the communication network or networks over which the multi-touch capable device 400 is intended to operate. For example, the multi-touch capable device 400 may include a communication subsystem 624 designed to operate over a GSM network, a GPRS network, an EDGE network, a Wi-Fi or WiMax network, and a Bluebooth ^™ network. In particular, the wireless communication subsystem 624 may include a host protocol so that the device 500 can be configured as a base station for other wireless devices.

Audio subsystem 626 may be coupled to speaker 628 and microphone 630 to facilitate voice-enabled functions such as voice recognition, voice replication, digital recording, and telephony.

The I/O subsystem 640 may include a touch screen controller 642 and/or one or more other input controllers 644. The touch screen controller 642 may be coupled to a touch screen 646. For example, the touch screen 646 and touch screen controller 642 may detect contact and movement or pause therewith using any of a variety of touch sensing technologies, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other means for determining one or more points of contact with the touch screen 646.

One or more other input controllers 644 can be coupled to other input/control devices 648, such as one or more buttons, rocker switches, thumb wheels, infrared ports, USB ports, and/or pointer devices such as styluses. The one or more buttons (not shown) can include up/down buttons for controlling the volume of the speaker 628 and/or microphone 630.

In one embodiment, the touch screen 646 can be unlocked by pressing and holding a button for a first duration; and if the button is pressed and held for a second duration, where the second duration is longer than the first duration, the multi-touch capable device 400 can be powered on or off. The user can customize the function of one or more buttons. In addition, for example, the touch screen 646 can also be used to implement virtual or soft buttons and/or a numeric keypad or keyboard.

In some embodiments, the multi-touch device 400 can present recorded audio and/or video files, such as MP3, AAC, and MPEG files. In some embodiments, the multi-touch device 400 can include the functionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod ^™ . Thus, the multi-touch device 400 can include a 32-pin connector compatible with an iPod. Other input/output and control devices may also be used.

The memory interface 602 can be coupled to a memory 650. The memory 650 can include high-speed random access memory and/or non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, one or more optical storage devices, and/or flash memory (e.g., NAND, NOR). The memory 650 can store an operating system 652, such as Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks. The operating system 652 can include instructions for handling basic system services and performing hardware-dependent tasks.

The memory 650 may also store communication instructions 654 to facilitate communication with one or more additional devices, one or more computers, and/or one or more servers. The memory 650 may include graphical user interface instructions 656 to facilitate graphical user interface processing; sensor processing instructions 658 to facilitate sensor-related processing and functionality; telephony instructions 660 to facilitate telephony-related processing and functionality; electronic messaging instructions 662 to facilitate electronic messaging-related processing and functionality; web browsing instructions 664 to facilitate web browsing-related processing and functionality; media processing instructions 666 to facilitate media processing-related processing and functionality; GPS/navigation instructions 668 to facilitate GPS and navigation-related processing and functionality; camera instructions 670 to facilitate camera-related processing and functionality; and/or other messaging instructions 672 to facilitate processing and functionality as described with reference to FIGURES 1-5.

Each of the instructions and applications identified above may correspond to a set of instructions for performing one or more of the functions described above. These instructions do not necessarily have to be implemented as separate software programs, processes, or modules. The memory 650 may include additional instructions or fewer instructions. Furthermore, the various functions of the device 400 with multi-touch capabilities may be implemented in hardware and/or software, including in one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

The described features can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. These features can be embodied in a computer program product tangibly embodied in an information carrier such as a machine-readable storage device or a propagated signal for execution by a programmable processor; furthermore, method steps can be performed by a programmable processor executing a program of instructions to perform functions of the described embodiments by operating on input data and generating output.

Advantageously, the described features can be implemented in one or more computer programs, wherein the computer programs are executable on a programmable system comprising at least one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from and transmit data and instructions to a data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. A computer program is a set of instructions that can be used, directly or indirectly, in a computer to perform some activity or bring about some result. A computer program can be written in any programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages (e.g., Objective-C, Java), and can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment.

By way of example, processors suitable for executing a program of instructions include general-purpose and special-purpose microprocessors, as well as the sole processor or one of multiple processors or cores in any type of computer. Typically, a processor receives instructions and data from read-only memory, random access memory, or both. The essential components of a computer are a processor for executing instructions and one or more memories for storing instructions and data. Typically, a computer also includes, or is operatively coupled to communicate with, one or more mass storage devices for storing data files; such devices include magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storage devices suitable for tangibly containing computer program instructions and data include any form of non-volatile memory, examples of which include: semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and memory may be supplemented by or incorporated into an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit).

To provide for interaction with a user, these features may be implemented on a computer having a display device such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor for displaying information to the user, and a keyboard and pointing device such as a mouse or trackball for the user to provide input to the computer.

These features can be implemented in a computer system that includes back-end components such as a data server, or middleware components such as an application server or an Internet server, or front-end components such as a client computer with a graphical user interface or an Internet browser, or any combination thereof. The system components can be connected via any form of digital data communication medium, such as a communication network. Examples of communication networks include LANs, WANs, and the computers and networks that make up the Internet.

A computer system may include clients and servers. The client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

A variety of embodiments have been described herein. However, it should be understood that various modifications are possible. For example, further embodiments may be constructed by combining, deleting, modifying, or supplementing elements of one or more embodiments. As another example, the logic flows depicted in the figures do not need to be in the specific order or sequence shown to achieve the desired results. Furthermore, additional steps may be provided, steps may be deleted from the described flows, and other elements may be added to or removed from the described systems. Therefore, other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (22)

1. A method for handling touch events, comprising: Receives touch input signals associated with multiple simultaneous finger touches on one or more units of a web page displayed on a touch-sensitive device, the web page including instructions for processing one or more touch events and instructions for processing one or more gesture events, the one or more gesture events being different from the one or more touch events; Determine whether the touch input signal associated with the plurality of simultaneous finger touches is associated with a touch gesture made relative to one or more units of the web page; The touch events associated with the multiple simultaneous finger touches are combined into a gesture event; If the touch input signal is associated with the touch gesture, the gesture event is forwarded to the web page for processing by executing instructions stored in the web page; and Receive touch input signals that are not associated with one or more units of the web page, and process the touch input signals that are not associated with one or more units of the web page using a browser application. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the web page has regions associated with nodes in the Document Object Model (DOM), and the nodes are located on the same or different layers of the DOM. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the touch event comes from a set of touch events consisting of a touch start event, a touch move event, a touch end event, or a touch cancel event. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the touch event is associated with an attribute that can be inserted into a document to define an event action in a web page. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the attribute is inserted into one or more HTML tags in an HTML document to generate the web page displayed on a touch-sensitive device. 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising processing the touch event based on the HTML tag associated with the one or more units of the web page. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the series of touch events is determined to include a touch start event, one or more touch movement events, and a touch end or touch cancel event. 8. A touch-sensitive device, comprising: A touch-sensitive display for displaying one or more areas of a web page and receiving touch input signals associated with multiple simultaneous finger touches on one or more units of the web page displayed on a touch-sensitive device, the web page including instructions for processing one or more touch events and instructions for processing one or more gesture events, the one or more gesture events being different from the one or more touch events; and A processor is configured to determine whether a touch input signal associated with the plurality of simultaneous finger touches is associated with a touch gesture made relative to one or more units of the web page; to combine touch events associated with the plurality of simultaneous finger touches into a gesture event; and to forward the gesture event to the web page for processing by executing instructions stored in the web page if the touch input signal is associated with the touch gesture. The processor is also configured to receive touch input signals not associated with the one or more units of the web page, and to process the touch input signals not associated with the one or more units of the web page using a browser application. 9. The touch-sensitive device of claim 8, wherein the web page has regions associated with nodes in the Document Object Model (DOM), and the nodes are located on the same or different layers of the DOM. 10. The touch-sensitive device according to claim 8, wherein the touch event originates from a set of touch events consisting of a touch start event, a touch move event, a touch end event, or a touch cancel event. 11. The touch-sensitive device of claim 8, wherein the touch event is associated with an attribute that can be inserted into a document to define an event action in a web page. 12. The touch-sensitive device of claim 11, wherein the attribute is inserted into one or more HTML tags in an HTML document to generate the web page displayed on the touch-sensitive device. 13. The touch-sensitive device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to process the touch event based on the HTML tag associated with one or more units of the web page. 14. The touch-sensitive device of claim 8, wherein a series of touch events is defined as including a touch start event, one or more touch movement events, and a touch end or touch cancel event. 15. A system for processing touch events, comprising: A touch-sensitive display device for displaying one or more areas of a web page and receiving touch input signals associated with multiple simultaneous finger touches on one or more units of the web page, the web page including instructions for processing one or more touch events and instructions for processing one or more gesture events, the one or more gesture events being different from the touch events; The means for processing the touch input signal includes means for determining whether the touch input signal associated with the plurality of simultaneous finger touches is associated with a touch gesture made relative to one or more areas of the web page; A means for combining touch events associated with the plurality of simultaneous finger touches into a gesture event; and A means for forwarding a gesture event to the web page for processing by executing instructions stored in the web page if the touch input signal is associated with the touch gesture; The means for processing the touch input signal further includes: means for receiving touch input signals that are not associated with the one or more areas of the web page, and means for processing the touch input signals that are not associated with the one or more units of the web page using a browser application. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more regions of the web page are associated with nodes in the Document Object Model (DOM), and the nodes are located at the same or different levels of the DOM. 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the touch event originates from a set of touch events comprising a touch start event, a touch move event, a touch end event, or a touch cancel event. 18. The system of claim 15, wherein the touch event is associated with an attribute that can be inserted into a document to define an event action in a web page. 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the attribute is inserted into one or more HTML tags in an HTML document to generate the web page displayed on a touch-sensitive device. 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the means for processing the touch input signal further comprises: means for processing the touch event based on the one or more HTML tags. 21. The system of claim 15, wherein a series of touch events is determined to include a touch start event, one or more touch movement events, and a touch end or touch cancel event. 22. A method comprising: Receive a touch input signal associated with a corresponding area of a webpage, wherein the corresponding area of the webpage is associated with a plurality of event handlers or event listeners, the plurality of event handlers or event listeners including event handlers or listeners for touch events and event handlers or listeners for gesture events, the gesture events being different from the touch events; and In response to receiving the touch input signal: A device for combining touch events associated with the plurality of simultaneous finger touches into a gesture event; the plurality of simultaneous finger touches correspond to the touch input signal; Send the gesture event to the webpage; Based on scaling information associated with the gesture event, the size of elements associated with the corresponding area of the webpage is dynamically adjusted using the event handler or listener for the gesture event; and The touch event is sent to the webpage for further processing.