International Business Machines Corporation

Bret P Smith

Blaine H Berger

Mark Scott Kressin

This method improves the user-friendliness of command-line driven programs by having a correspondence set up between possible commands which may be entered on a command line and a series of Graphic User Interface 'buttons'. These buttons are graphical symbols that appear on the screen and are selectable via a mouse. A display screen is divided into work areas, one of which is associated with the screen which a user would have seen while using the application program without the invention and a second of which displays an array of 'buttons,' each of which are associated with commands. When the user selects the specific button with a mouse pointer moving the mouse, the related 'command' is identified. A message is then created, the message comprised of the same data that would have been created by the series of keystrokes to spell out that command. The command is passed to the application program, which receives it in the same manner that it would have received input from the keyboard. Accordingly, the application program recognizes the data as a command and executes the desired function.

Method for adding a graphical user interface to a command line

A method which allows the user to convert several data layers from one GIS into another. The user creates a template map of the area of interest. The template is an 'all points' map which, when graphed, would appear as a black polygon identical in shape to the area of interest. Using the first GIS, the template is converted to a file in bit-mapped format. All zero bits in this file are identified and their position in the file noted. This information is referred to as the transform function. For each data layer to be converted, the first GIS is used to display a map of the proper extent. This display is converted to a file in bit-mapped format and the transform function used to delete non-data bits which correspond to the zero bits identified in the template file. The resulting, modified, bit-map is imported into the second GIS.

Method for geo-registration of imported bit-mapped spatial data

A technique is described for managing data storage devices and the data stored on them. A pair of data storage devices are maintained as identical copies. The dual copy function is provided without changing any current system or application software on the host. A set of status information is maintained for each record on the data storage devices. This status information includes information which allows only the changed records to be copied to a secondary device of the dual copy. This technique also provides high availability of data storage devices by swapping a failing data storage device with a good data storage device without host intervention. A joint array structure is used for routing host requests for information to and from the correct data storage device and keeping status information concerning the data storage devices.

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Longmont, CO, United States of America

Bret P Smith