Facilitating multiple copy/past operations

Abstract

Copy and paste, or cut and paste, using a clipboard or paste buffer has long been the principle facility provided to users for transferring data between and within GUI applications. We argue that this mechanism can be clumsy in circumstances where several pieces of information must be moved systematically. In two situations - extraction of data fields from unstructured data found in a directed search process, and reorganisation of computer program source text - we present alternative, more natural, user interface facilities to make the task less onerous, and to provide improved visual feedback during the operation. For the data extraction task we introduce the Stretchable Selection Tool, a semi-transparent overlay augmenting the mouse pointer to automate paste operations and provide information to prompt the user. We describe a prototype implementation that functions in a collaborative software environment, allowing users to cooperate on a multiple copy/paste operation. For text reorganisation, we present an extension to Emacs, providing similar functionality, but without the collaborative features.