Patent US 6,433,797

Hierarchical menus provide end-users with an easy way to locate information. The underlying hierarchical menu structure is often scalable as there are no limits on the number of entries in a list menu. Yet, this feature is rarely used, if at all, because it can be very impractical for the end-user. As a list menu can contain hundreds, if not thousands of entries, scrolling for a particular entry can be extremely tedious. The present invention discloses a menu authoring system component that enables a developer to generate and build a tab list menu. The tab menu divides a target list menu into tab intervals that can include a specified number of letters or full words. The present invention discloses an interactive configuration window and the program logic that enables a developer to specify settings for these tab menus.