International Business Machines Corporation

Didier Daniel Bardon

Richard Edmond Berry

Scott Harlan Isensee

John Martin Mullaly

Shirley Lynn Martin

Scott Anthony Morgan

David John Roberts

Craig Ardner Swearingen

Denise Marie Burton

Anthony Christopher Courtney Temple

Anthony C Temple

A method, program and system for displaying the consequence of an input in a graphical user interface (GUI) are provided. The invention comprises displaying a GUI including a plurality of interaction control mechanisms (controls) having a selected or a deselected state. An input to a first control may cause a change in state to at least one other of the plurality of controls. Responsive to a first input at the first control (e.g., holding down a mouse button with the pointer on the first control), the invention displays a preview of the change in state of the plurality of controls that would occur if a second input is made at the first control (e.g., releasing the mouse button with the pointer still on the first control). If the user does not want the previewed change in state to occur, the user has simply to avoid making the second input (e.g., move the pointer off the first control before releasing the mouse button).

Previewing next state based on potential action in current state

A Java applet sandbox, provided by restrictions originally set by the manufacturer of a Java enabled Internet browser, may be securely extended by introducing the notion of public and private client storage. In addition to the sandbox, users are given means of declaring a portion of the user machine's disk space as Public. The public disk space is accessible to executing applets and is installed in addition to the standard sandbox. The modality of access may be defined with various levels of restriction by the user within the security manager. Restriction levels of the Public space may range from clearing (from the Public space) any data left after the applet has terminated, to allowing an executable applet to be moved into the private area on the user's disk drive.

Method and system for extending Java applets sand box with public client storage

A method and system for providing visual hierarchy of task groups and related viewpoints of a three dimensional display of a computer system is disclosed. The method and system comprises providing a group of task related objects and positioning an object within an associated viewpoint when the object is to be utilized. In the present invention each task group is composed of objects related to a particular user task. Associated with each task group is a viewpoint in the 3D space. The visual organization of task groups and associated viewpoints allows the user to traverse the task-object hierarchy smoothly, seeing more or less of the surrounding task context as desired.

Method and system for providing visual hierarchy of task groups and

A data processing system (100) transforms the limited user interface toolkits currently in use in the software development industry to provide control interfaces which are sensitive to a user's operational context. The data processing system does not create control objects by assembling ready-made controls available in the user interface toolkit of the development system, but generates a control object which has a custom designed appearance that is relevant to the context of the action the control should perform, to the kind of object which includes the control, and to the type of data to which the control is applied. The data processing system performs these operations through the implementation of a methodology wherein a central processing unit of the data processing system identifies the control interfaces included in an object to be display on a display device (138). For each control interface included in the object to be displayed, the central processing unit determines whether the control interface is a custom design. If the control interface does not have a custom design, the data required for configuring the control interface is retrieved from a memory (116, 114) and displayed in accordance with the control interface provided by the development system. Conversely, if the control interface does have a custom design, data is retrieved from memory to configure the control interface in a manner desired by a designer of the graphical user interface. The data representing the object in the control interface, whether custom designed or standard, is then provided to a display adapter which transforms that data to enable a display device to display the object in the control interface.

Data processing system having context sensitive visual feedback for user

A system, method and computer program are provided for a virtual three-dimensional workspace, wherein certain 3-D objects can automatically provide a view point on themselves, that also make other neighboring objects visible according to a hierarchy of relevance and proximity, in three- dimensional workspace. The system subsequently serves to orient the viewer upon completion of an interactive task with one of the functional objects in the three-dimensional workspace.

Determining view point on objects automatically in three-dimensional

The present invention provides a method and system for providing an improved view of an object on a display in a computer system, via a user event. The method comprises the step of providing a three-dimensional environment on the display, the three-dimensional environment including a plurality of objects, each of the plurality of objects appearing to be three-dimensional. The method and system further comprises providing a two-dimensional representation of at least one of the plurality of objects responsive to the user event.

Method and system for providing an improved view of an object in a

A data processing system, software program, and method of operation realistically displays a users model of a device as an object, while providing additional functions which cannot exist in the devices real-world counterparts. The data processing system and software program allow a view or a realistically-rendered object and a function associated with that object to be selectively modified in response to a user input. During operation, a cursor displayed by a display device (138) is used to access a view changing mechanism displayed on the realistically-rendered object. By selectively accessing the view changing mechanism, a user is able to change a view of the realistically-rendered object from a base function view to a full function view.

Data processing system and method for controlling a view of a realistic

A data processing system, software program, and method scale the contents of a window or similar display area in unison and in proportion. During operation, all of the contained control, text, and images included in the window are scaled proportionately so that a user is still able to use the displayed object and the displayed object retains its characteristic image. Composite images of realistically-rendered objects are resized and moved in a manner which is dependent upon a common non-changing representation of a container and a contained object displayed on a display device. When the common non-changing representation is modified by resizing, a scaling operation is performed on the composite image as a whole. However, when the representation of a contained object is modified and the common non-changing representation is no longer displayed, a region of a contained object is 'clipped out' from the container before the image is displayed. The contained object is then allowed to display its image as is required in light of the movement and resizing operations desired by the user.

Data processing system and method for scaling a realistic object on a

A computer supported display control system for switching between and tracking of sequences in electronic media presentations having multisequences. During switching, the selected tracks or sequences may be accessed directly and the tracking is persistent and continual through a graphic scale of positions adjacent to and respectively corresponding to each sequence in a list of such sequences. The position of the current sequence is tracked by an indicator which is on the scale.

Interactive display interface for media presentation with direct access

In a data processor controlled display system having three-dimensional objects laid out in a three-dimensional virtual workspace, the objects have associated there with respective collision barriers which are stored with their corresponding objects. Then during navigation via changing the users viewpoint in to the workspace, when this changing viewpoint encounters any collision barrier which is offset from its object by a selected distance D, the viewpoint stops. This distance of the barrier from the object is selected so as to stop the viewpoint at a distance sufficiently removed from its particular object so as to leave the user or viewer with a view of the workscape of sufficient scope to permit the viewer to select a different navigation path or path branch. In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, the viewpoint is optionally provided with a similar collision barrier.

Navagation with optimum viewpoints in three-dimensional workspace

A system and method for utilizing face viewpoints of objects in a 3D environment includes three aspects. In a first aspect, the system and method is directed to defining a plurality of optimized viewpoints of an object referred to hereinafter as face viewpoints. In a second aspect a method and system is disclosed that provides for a preferred face viewpoint of the plurality of face viewpoints. Finally, the third aspect provides for a system and method for determining a navigation path to the preferred face viewpoint.

Method and system for providing preferred face views of objects in a

A system, method and computer program for a virtual three-dimensional workspace wherein certain three-dimensional objects represent or serve as proxies for a variety of user interactive application programs. Such objects may be selected or triggered by the user to bring forth planar two-dimensional interactive user interfaces having images resembling those of their respective representative 3D objects so that a user may intuitively note the resemblance and select the appropriate object to result in the planar two-dimensional interactive interface appearing in front of the three-dimensional workspace. This two-dimensional planar interface remains active and unaffected by changes to its representative three-dimensional object during the course of navigation or otherwise. A drag and drop technique facilitates viewer interaction between images in a two-dimensional workplane with three-dimensional objects in the virtual three-dimensional workspace.

Facilitating viewer interaction with three-dimensional objects and

The problem addressed by this invention is that of resolving what occurs when a user's viewpoint comes into contact with an object residing in a three-dimensional workspace as the viewer navigates through that workspace. There are several possibilities in such a situation. For example, the viewer's viewpoint may be stopped and prevented from advancing further or it may penetrate the object. The instant invention provides a climbability property for objects in 3-D virtual environments. This property, when stored in the software along with the properties which define that object, can alter the viewer's viewpoint such that it will automatically be adjusted to simulate the behavior of climbing over the object.

Climability: property for objects in 3-D virtual environments

A system, method and computer program are provided for a virtual three-dimensional workspace wherein the three-dimensional objects and the workspace in general are environmentally associated, particularly in real world size relationships. In the default or normal workspace, all of the objects are sized relative to each other so that the relative sizing is the same as it would be in the real world. However, in order to provide the viewer ease of use when the viewer has selected particular functional objects for interaction, the system has stored for each of such functional objects an enlarged image of the object. This image is stored associated with the object and is displayed upon the selection of the object by the user. When the user has completed the interaction with the object by way of its enlarged image, the three-dimensional object returns to its default or real world sized image in the three-dimensional workspace.

Growing community of inventors

Austin, TX, United States of America

Didier Daniel Bardon